It was bound to happen, we all knew we would eventually see the day when this Denver Marketing company wrote an article about Pinterest. Why is that? Because everyone is writing articles about Pinterest.

This year we are going to try and write a few blog posts about different trends in social media. Every year we see different social media trends. Last year we were able to see how Google+ was built by those who work online and systematically failed to catch on. We were also able to see how Spotify became a new way to socially listen to music. There are many trends each year and to kick us off we have Pinterest.

Many people are posing questions about what exactly is pinterest, does it have long term viability, why it quickly rose to success, and who should be involved in their community. This article is going to weigh in with our thoughts on each of these questions and then at the end of the year, we’ll be able to see if it was a boom (like Spotify) or a bust (like Google+).

What is Pinterest?

It operates like a virtual pinboard. This allows for users to “pin” items that they would like to come back to later. Marketed towards women, users can typically find recipes, clothing projects, jewelry projects, clothing or jewelry they would like to purchase, the list grows daily.

Is Pinterest Here to Stay?

The unique thing about Pinterest is that it is the first social media site to have this large of a woman demographic. Whether this helps them in the end is yet to be determined since it’s the first of its kind. It is growing rapidly and appears to be retaining active users better than Google+ has been able to. So if Pinterest keeps up what they are doing and women don’t grow tired of the site then we don’t see why it wouldn’t continue to grow. Especially if men and businesses begin to gravitate to the site as well.

Why is Pinterest Popular?

Simplicity. Though it requires work in the beginning as it grows the users knowledge grows. People are able to finally place the things they find online in one place and manage them the way they should be managed. They are able to take and share items they love while following and gathering items they love from other friends who are sharing. When usability and commonality meet then it spurns growth for that site, which is how Pinterest has become so popular.

Who should Utilize Pinterest?

Any company which falls under the categories we listed when describing Pinterest would work. We know of a company which has fit beautifully into Pinterest and is seeing great returns on their pins, even more so than what they were posting on Facebook and Twitter. People who are interested in good clothes, accessories, crafts, and food would love Pinterest as well. Really it’s what you make of it. In the UK Pinterest is nearly 50/50 gender wise and the males are sharing information very similar to what was being shared on Google+ when it first launched.

We can see that Pinterest is a new fad here in 2012. Will grow and make a name for itself online? That’s yet to be seen. We close with this question, do you use Pinterest?

Can Pinterest Help You?

We have several stories of Inbound Marketing success from our clients. Though there isn’t anything in there about us working with Pinterest, we can and will use it to help build your business. Download our success stories today. Once you read them, you’ll know why Chris Strom LLC is the company for you.

Download Today!

A social media peer of ours lives by the rule: “Know thy Audience” and states to him that is the first rule of public relations. Many other industry leaders will agree that knowing your audience is key for any business. As a Denver Marketing company we live by this quote as well. This week we will look at the many benefits a company can gain from knowing their audience. We refer to this as the 4 “S’s” of knowing thy audience.

Sales

Everyone is concerned about the bottom line. Knowing their audience is going to generate sales. Sales generation is good but more sales are always expected for a company. Theoretically knowing a company’s audience is going to build the foundation to move beyond sales and create other points of business. The next would be getting the word out to more people.

Sharing

Having an understanding of a company’s audience will foster a sharing environment. What happens when consumers begin to share about a company? Since this sharing is positive this translates into larger brand recognition which should mean a higher generation of sales. As a company begins to be shared by its consumers the audience begins to syndicate together around their common interest.

Syndicate

We aren’t talking about businesses working together (though we aren’t saying that isn’t a valuable part of business; simply for this article we are talking audience as in consumers) — we are talking about the connections which people have with each other because of knowing the audience. When a company knows their audience well, the audience begins to connect with each other. Their connections mean they have banded together and are beginning to take stock in the company.

Stock

This isn’t something which is traded on Wall Street. We are talking stock in relation to trust. When a company’s audience feel they have that syndication we mentioned above, they begin to take stock in the company. This trust is what builds brand loyalty which goes beyond sales. Stock takes a company and provides supporters which will stay through thick and thin. When a company has any issues, knowing their audience has stock in them stands above any of the rest of the points mentioned above.

The Break Down

This may not seem like public relations subject matter as much as it seems more like an in-depth marketing strategy. Having an understanding of a company’s audience works both ways. The similarities between public relations and marketing are many. We gave this article this title because before a company should even begin reaching out to consumers they should understand their audience. When a company goes to understand their audience they look to the public relations specialists.

Obviously these are just the beginning of the benefits which can come from knowing a company’s audience. What are some that you have in mind? Leave them in the comments below.

Need Help?

We are here to help businesses. We focus specifically with helping businesses online. Simply drop us an email and we will see what we can do to help you and your business.

Email Us

Last week, we gave you plenty of ideas on how to use Google Apps for Education to make for easier and more efficient coordination and relations between administrators, teachers, students, and even parents!  Today, we are delving into the business world with the benefits of Google Apps for Education, but listen closely… we are looking at non-profits and how these organizations can benefit from Google Apps for Education.  Maybe a non-profit isn’t the first kind of business that comes to your mind when you envision the typical business structure, but rest assured, it’s beneficial for any kind of business to learn a little more about how Google Apps for Education can benefit a multi-faceted organization.

So, why are we focusing on non-profits today?  Google Apps for Education is free for any 501(c)(3) organization (a non-profit) that has less than 3000 employees.  Considering that many non-profits are on the smaller side, and often look for grants to fund their business, that’s a pretty great deal!  Therefore, we would really like to encourage any non-profit to take advantage of Google Apps for Education as they go through the web development process.  Here is why:

First off, Google Apps for Education gives users the ability to collaborate with others not only nationwide, but worldwide as well.  This could be extremely useful for a non-profit.  Partnering with an organization that maintains similar goals and practices could certainly help spread the good that two non-profits do for the community.  For example, two non-profits that house cancer patients in separate cities could coordinate through Google Apps for Education to sponsor 5k races around the nation to raise money for cancer patient housing.  The great organizational tools within Google Apps for Education, such as the ability to share spreadsheets and other documents, could help these two (or more!) organizations team up to find additional sponsors and keep tabs on financial stats for the 5k races project.

Secondly, let’s talk marketing.  Hey, a little marketing never hurt anyone!  Now, we don’t necessarily mean pay-per-click ads or social media campaigns this time around.  We’re thinking more along the lines of educational marketing.  A big part of a non-profit’s business practice is to inform the community about the problem (and, consequently, the non-profit’s solution) so that people are encourage and motivated to get involved.  Webinars and presentations can be archived and organized in Google Apps for Education by a non-profit business.  In turn, these non-profits can distribute these informative tools to other organizations.  For example, non-profits can connect with schools and universities via Google Apps for Education.  For any non-profit, a college campus is a great place to start giving people information about the organization, as college-aged students are often very interested in and driven to make a difference in the community.  Google Apps for Education can help get that process started, and hopefully make the entire journey a little more simple.

Last but not least, Google Apps for Education can help connect everyone in one non-profit organization.  Non-profits, although often small, are also often multifaceted when you consider that non-profits also include the surrounding community as part of the organization.  Let’s use the example of a non-profit that owns a community garden with 50 to 100 plots, and allows gardeners to sell their produce at a small neighborhood farmer’s market once a week during growing season.  Google Apps for Education can help connect the people within the non-profit infrastructure to the gardeners who own plots.  Everyone who works for and who supports the organization can find out who is selling what every week, can get input from other gardeners on the best growing practices, and can find out more ways to spread the word about what we will call the growing “slow food” movement.

We hope this series on Google Apps for Education has given you a few brainwaves here and there, it sure has for us!  What do you think Google Apps for Education can do for you?

Free Download: Inbound Marketing Success Stories

See the concrete results and tangible ROI that inbound marketing has brought to our clients.

Download Now

It’s been a good year here at Chris Strom LLC.  As a Denver Marketing company we are excited to take a look and plan out what the new year will look like for us. There are several ways in which every company can improve online. With the coming of the new year it would make sense for a business to make new years resolutions just like an individual would. However instead of pledging to lose weight or conquer a fear, companies will be looking to make that big sale or reach a new peak in online traffic.

New Followers

Most companies have a goal to gain a certain number of followers in the new year. Gaining new followers can come in many different forms. Whether it’s through a traditional marketing campaign, online marketing campaign, word of mouth, contests, giveaways, the list grows everyday. With new followers comes great responsibility, however if a company is experiencing growth or wants to experience growth having new followers will definitely play a part.

Better Content

Companies want to offer their viewers only the best content. It would make sense that a new years resolution would be to offer better content.  When we offer content to our viewing audience we do it on three levels. The first level is preplanned posting which we plan out a quarter at a time. The next level is blog posts which we try to group together and make relevant to the time of year or what is changing online. Our third level is sharing other content which we find interesting throughout the week. The key is to share content that is relevant to the companies followers that they will want to read and share with their friends as well.

Better Response Time

As a company experiences a growth in followers and begin to share relevant content they will most likely begin to seek out a faster response time to online media. The best way to ensure a rapid response is to have mobile capabilities. This includes not only mobile emails but notifications through social media applications as well. The more spread out a person is when it comes to updates through mobile devices the quicker and more efficient response time.

More Engaged Audience

Each of these new years resolutions build upon themselves to where if a company wants to have a more engaged audience in the new year they should expect to either have the previous three resolutions in place or working on them to reach this point. A more engaged audience means higher brand loyalty. Things like these help grow a company beyond its past years reach and helps them move forward to an even better year. It shows other companies and potential clients that the company knows what they are doing and are a worthy company to do business with.

We would like to wish you a happy new year. We’d love to hear what your new years resolutions are either as an individual or for your company! Simply share them in the comments below.

Bring in the New Year right!

We provide Inbound Marketing Services.  We have some success stories compiled which will hopefully convince you to use our services.  Take a read!

Download Now

We gave you a run-down on the basics of email marketing last week.  In addition to using other tools such as social media and a well-run website, we told you that successful email campaigns are as important to Denver online marketing as ever.  The fact that there are so many ways to digitally market for enhanced business doesn’t mean that email marketing (a relatively old form of e-markeitng in comparison to some newer techniques) holds any less importance.  Email marketing is still a vital piece of the e-marketing puzzle!  Today, we’d like to offer up some guidelines to ensure that email marketing can really help your business’s Denver marketing techniques.  We hope these guidelines can help you begin to sketch out a frame for a successful email marketing campaign.

Guideline #1: Ensure that your message can be delivered to your targeted customers

One of the most important considerations when ensuring delivery of emails is that particular internet service providers have no reason to block any of your dispersed content.  Last week, we discussed the importance of customer permission to market to, and the importance of customers’ ability to unsubscribe to your business’s emails.  Make sure you are clear about internet service provider spam policies, and if need be, contact ISPs about whitelisting, so that your content is not blocked by the ISP’s spam filters.  In terms of delivery, it is also important to ensure that your message gets across and can be seen by everyone.  Folks, in the year 2011, this means your email marketing campaign had better be visible to anyone using a mobile device!

Guideline #2: Keep track of metrics to measure success

This means keeping track of email open rates, subscription list numbers, and other considerations such as click through rates from your emails to your website.  These metrics can be measured in tandem with time of day, day of the week, etc.  Click through rates in particular are important to measuring the success of your email campaign.  CTR can also help you determine and pick through your target market.  For example, if you see that a consumer on the email list has not clicked through to anything in a calendar year, it is perfectly logical to remove this consumer from your list.  Excess certainly does not equal success!

Guideline #3: Be creative, and think about what your customer wants

We did touch on this guideline a little bit last week, so we will go into a little more detail here!  Customers often require incentives for high open rates and higher click through rates.  This means, sales and ways to save money, contest entry opportunities, new products, new information, etc., …anything you can think of, really.  Think about what gets you to read through a marketed email that pops up in your inbox.  A clear message, and solid incentive are key for success.  Perhaps, you may want to define your own email value proposition: what is it you want your customers to get out of this email?  Is it simply information, or are you hoping customers will make an online sale, or perhaps convert to a real life sale?  Quite simply, set goals in order to attain them.