As a company we are getting asked more and more to put together workshops for companies and groups, and as a result have been pretty much across the UK fulfilling these demands, both in Social Media with Twitter Facebook and LinkedIn being the most commonly asked for but also for the more traditional topics like WEbsite design and SEO.

IRUN were recently approached by the ‘Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence’ (www.ceme.co.uk) to deliver a one day workshop on ‘Internet Marketing & Business Growth Essentials’, during the interactive session delivered by Daniel Plowright and Bode Olaniyan 13 local business owners explored a range of opportunities for further development and growth of their business.

Topics included:

• Setting deliverable business objectives 
• Essential tools to market your business 
• How to develop a credible online presence 
• Search Engine Optimisation 
• Converting website visitors into customers 
• Social Media / Networking / PR 
• Contact Management / Email Marketing 
• Planning for results (Test & Measure) 

The day was an intense day of learning for the delegates but the immediate feedback from some of the attendees was 

“Very well presented with informative content. I will be able to use some of what I have learned with Linens Direct. Daniel communicated well and answered the questions directly. On the whole this was extremely valuable.”

David Saville, Website Manager www.linensdirect.co.uk 

“Really interesting day. It is useful to recap on this information regularly in relation to your business in order to keep moving forward.”

 Jackie Kashman, Director www.japeconsulting.co.uk

“Very good and give you the tools to better optimize your website.”

Evelyn Dougan, Proprieter www.ed-accounting-and-bookkeeping-services.co.uk

 “Thoroughly enjoyed this internet marketing business growth seminar. Having come in with a rather vague and dated knowledge of the internet as a marketing tool, I am leaving far more knowledgeable and optimistic that we can gain much better use of a medium which can reach all our target customers, especially through social networking sites. Thank you.”

Guy Jenkins, General Manager www.zest4food.co.uk

“Very comprehensive, and very informative. Feel I know a great deal more about SEO and utilising social media to consolidate / develop new business opportunities. Also some very helpful information on general business strategy – and how to fit web / online planning into that strategy.”

Jonathan Pyke, Top Frog Design

These days having a website is just not enough, with the proliferation of smartphones your customers are spending a lot of their online hours on a device they can hold in their hand. The reality is that consumers are now spending time using smartphone apps instead of the search engines and are using social media sites to interact with each other to discuss what restaurant they might visit tonight before they book to see a film (on their smartphone of course?)

So consumer behaviour is changing – radically, and you need to make sure your business is changing with it, or you might be swept away in the tide. Nowadays the traditional two way conversation between business and consumer has a third dimension to it, and that is the consumer-consumer conversation, you may not be able to make an ‘app’ for your business but you should be able to take part in the conversation, and actually isn’t it vital that you do so that you understand their exact needs and wants to enhance your product or service offering – and it doesn’t matter what device your customer is using to interact as long as you can respond!

So can you get involved in interacting in a mobile market – well the answer is yes, some ideas to adding value in to your clients in the mobile world are:

The whole purpose of using Twitter for your business is to gain new contacts and find new target markets, but how do you make this tool work for you? How do you get the right traffic and followers?

Any form of marketing takes effort and commitment to an end goal, social media is no different, and in fact has the highest rewards in the shortest time for those who master it. Generating incoming traffic has to be your number one priority as this provides you with: 

1. A stream of prospects and subscribers
2. New customers and increased sales
3. Branding opportunities
4. Broadcasting your message to mass markets

So how do you get the right kind of traffic and followers to your site? Here are a few ideas to consider.

1. You must know who you are looking to attract – know your ideal audience. Just getting followers is almost pointless. You need to know what kind of people want and need your service and then use tools like search.twitter.com to find those people. You also can’t just launch into a pitch; you must follow and engage with them. Remember the basics; nobody wants to be pitched to when first meeting you.
2. Get the right type of follower – it’s not really a numbers game. Quality not quantity is the key. You want people to read and be interested in what you are saying, this way they re-tweet to their contacts and so the opportunity grows.
3. Add a “Follow me on Twitter” button everywhere, on your website, your email footer, any marketing info you send out, invoices etc.
4. You must engage with your followers. Re-tweet, DM (Direct Message), reply to their tweets by asking questions, encourage feedback and then hold conversations – you are trying to build a relationship one to one so don’t be a robot – show your personality.
5. Tweet out some valuable links. You need to be seen as a giver and so if something interests you, shrink the web link and send it to your followers – they almost certainly will find it interesting too.
6. Measure performance of articles and tweets sent. Vary the times and see if this has an effect on response. Good times are between 8am and 9am, lunchtime and 6pm – 8pm. Change the time and see when your followers and tweeting as well and try to map this pattern.
7. Once you find a formula that works, keep doing it but more. Always test and change headlines, calls to action and style to see if any results improve.
8. When you publish an article, always add a TweetMeme button to make it easy for your followers to share your content – again you are after your followers, followers too and making it simple to share will increase your popularity.

By doing these few things, your following will increase with the right type of follower and improve the results you will see. The main thing is to get a strategy formed and action it. Do not just give up on this valuable marketing tool. Better still contact your IRUN representative and let us provide a strategy for you and help you achieve the goals you want.