Direct Mail Getting More Attention

A DMA survey recently identified direct marketing pieces are getting more attention than in the past. Recipients are seeking better deals, coupons, and special offers. When these offers are combined with multimedia technology, many will make a purchase right online. In other cases they will give up personal information in return for subsequent offers and specials.

The key is to market with proven direct marketing techniques. Use pieces that are designed well, speak directly to your audience, and call the audience to action.

Contact a marketing company like Vauntium for direct marketing solutions that work.

DoFollow and NoFollow Explained

Search engines do not see all web links the same. In fact, it is possible for a web master to request that a search engine NOT follow certain links to keep SEO value from "leaking" from a website. Some websites, blogs, and other web tools may allow you to link as a professional without providing you with search engine credibility.

Search engines use special properties within link tags to determine whether or not they should spider the link and follow it to the next page. The property may be set to "dofollow" or "nofollow". The search engine then knows what it should do when it arrives at a link.

Professionals work diligently to promote their websites to search engines. What pros may not know is that a site they believe is providing great SEO benefits may simply be using their content for their own purposes without providing linkthrough credibility.

Many online professional services like ProSPOTLIGHT and others offer the ability to make posts and submit content with "dofollow" status. Any time a pro links from that service to another website, they receive the SEO benefit.

The key is to find websites that are known for their "dofollow" practices.

Maximize Your ROI with Powerful Direct Marketing Solutions

The return on some forms of direct marketing campaigns is often difficult to track. However, powerful direct marketing campaigns can produce powerful results and drive significant business.

Direct marketing campaigns include (not all inclusively):

• Postal mailings
• Email
• Door hangers, flyers and magnets

When executed correctly, the ROI can be significant compared to other passive types of marketing. The message to the audience must be clear and compelling. It must be delivered to the right audience, segmented by demographics, psychographics, life style variables, etc.

Multi Media Campaigns

Media is powerful in direct marketing activities. Often multi-media solutions integrate the best of each activity. For example, a post card or email may be sent to a customer with an offer redeemable online at a conversion website. One audience may be more compelled by one technology than another. The key is to know which technologies and media types are available and then understand how to execute a campaign for the highest results and returns.

The Vauntium direct marketing team offers solutions across many technologies and media. Contact the team to learn what we can do to achieve your marketing objectives.

Attracting and Converting Leads Online Using SEO Concepts

How many leads did you convert from natural search engine traffic last month? how about over the last year?

Your natural search engine rank is key to your online web traffic and converted business. We're not talking here about paid search engine advertising but natural results that result from successful SEO practices.

There are 2 key concepts to successful SEO activities:

1. Relevance
2. Popularity

SEO and Website Relevance

Website relevance means that your content and tools match the keywords search engine users search on. For example, if I search for "las vegas realtors" search engines return the top results for "Las Vegas" and "Realtors", "Real estate agents", etc. They want to return results that best match the inquiry. They provide the best results for users based on relevant, well written content.

SEO and Website Popularity

Search engines give significant credibility to websites that appear to be authoritative. An authority site is one that others recognize  as credible and accurate. Search engines tally the quantity and quality of inbound web links to a website.

SEO Activities

Several key activities will promote websites significantly.

• Keyword analysis - search engine keyword analysis to determine which keywords should be targeted on a website.
• On-page keyword optimization, including meta tag optimization - page by page keyword placement to accurately make a page relevant to an audience.
• Inbound link campaigns - campaigns by which content, articles, blog posts, and other forms of content from popular websites link to a website creating popularity.

Lead Conversion

Once a visitor has found a website via search engine results, it's key to make sure the conversion tools are powerful. Compelling calls to action drive prospects to conversion elements. These prospects become converted as visitors accept special offers for service or products in return for the sale or for their contact information. Websites can be powerful conversion tools as the drives sale and lead engines.

SEO and Conversion Solutions

Find an SEO company that is expert at website optimization. Realize that SEO results don't occur overnight and they may require a significant budget of time or money depending on how strong the competition is for a particular website.

Also find a design company that can convert prospects once they arrive on a website.

Contact Vauntium to learn more about our SEO and web design solutions. Also consider using an SEO friendly website like ProSPOTLIGHT to promote your professional assets.

6 Costly Mistakes in Content/Copy Creation

A marketing message is only effective as its ability to engage and compel its recipients. It is common for a message to become confusing or forgotten unless it is written clearly with direction and purpose. Several mistakes make content ineffective. 

1. Poor Grammar
   Great grammar is expected whereas poor grammar gets noticed. Copy writers are expected to compose content that is expressed with proper verb conjugation, voice, tense, pronoun use, etc. Readers appreciate well written grammar because they are able to understand and digest the material without being distracted by mistakes and mishaps.
2. Poor Spelling
   Many people are quickly distracted and turned off of a message by poor spelling. It is important to use spell checkers and review copy before it is published. It is key to make sure the was’s and were’s  and the there, they’re, and their type words are used appropriately.
3. Poor Formatting
   A run on sentence may be confusing and emotion killing. At the same time, a list of 50 bullets is intimidating. Content should be written with headers, paragraphs, and appropriate fonts and sizes. Blinking or scrolling text is rarely appropriate. The format of a document should help the reader find and read what they are looking for quickly.
4. Lacks Competence
   Copy should appear credible and indicate that some thought went into it. Writers should research some to approach an audience with valid and valuable information. All to often, blog writers and other editors allow content that seems useless. Readers will abandon it quickly. 
5. Lacks Relevance
   Copy should target an audience. It should be relevant to that audience. Examples, stories, links, etc. should all apply as valid, pertinent content. Content is made relevant when the composer writes for the audience with a purpose in mind. The copy should contain facts and concepts the audience expects.
6. Too Long
   Many points can be made in very few sentences or words. Long winded explanations become cumbersome and the audience becomes bored. The goal should be to get a point across in as few words a possible so the target may move on to the next step in the process.

From the Vauntium article: 6 Costly Mistakes in Content/Copy Creation

7 Elements Every Creative Piece Should Exhibit

Effective creative materials are key in any type of marketing. Sometimes the creative is simple, sometimes it is elaborate. Sometimes it is monochromatic and sometimes it is vibrant in color. The key to great creative is to design it for the target audience based on the channel in which the message will be delivered. Here are some suggestions every creative piece should exhibit.

1. Forethought
   Every creative piece should appear as though it was intended for the audience. If it looks last-minute, targets know it. A creative piece should be planned and well thought out. The message should be clear and the piece created with purpose.
2. Structure
   A message gets lost in a mess. On the other hand, a message can jump out and grab a target when if the campaign is structured around it. Most creative pieces use some sort of logical structure. Even when a piece intentionally has little structure, there is logic to it. Materials should exhibit some sort of structure.
3. Graphical Presence
   A picture is worth how much? ...a thousand words...or more. Intentional, appropriate graphics can deliver a message much quicker than words in some cases. Whenever possible, there should be some professional graphical element to a creative piece.
4. Attention Grabbers
   Every message should sum up to a brief point. Whether tastefully formatted text or a well placed image, some element should strike the audience and grab their attention. Sometimes the most simple elements may serve the purpose.
5. Calls to Action
   Every marketing message should have some purpose. Most should call the audience to take action. A call to action is usually one of the attention grabbers and is enhanced graphically with formatted text or an image.
6. Color Theory
   Most creative pieces should have a professional color scheme. They should have pallets that appeal and attract; colors that match. The colors should match logos, images, and fonts. On occasion, clashing colors may be used to draw attention to something but for the most part, recipients want to feel a professional presence with a message.
7. Layout Principles
   A professional creative piece will have a specific layout tailored to drive the audience to take some action. In some cases the layout can be so important that it is the key factor to driving business. The layout should play an intentional roll and when possible it should match the layout of other media the message is presented in.

Parts of this post were cited from the Vauntium Creative article: 7 Elements Every Creative Piece Should Exhibit

Successful Methods to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Internet websites are key business generators for many businesses. Traffic to those site is as good as gold. It is common now to bank on certain conversion rates for great websites. If search engines trust them as authority sites and other online services link to it there will be significant traffic from your audience. Several key search engine optimization (SEO) factors will drastically improve the traffic to a website.

1. Keyword Analysis
   Search engines and readers alike rely on relevant content. They give credit to pages and sites where the content matches what they want. It is key, then, to use online tools to analyze the keywords that best fit your business for both competition and actual offering. Not everyone can be in the top ten for a single keyword. Those who are pay considerably for those positions. Others are better off shooting for keyword phrases instead of single keywords.
2. On-Page Keyword Management
   Once the keyword analysis is complete, every single pages must be adjusted for keyword relevance so it can stand alone for the topic it targets. This is called on-page keyword management. Every page must be written, both publically and in the meta tags for search engines and readers to gleam the topics and view them as credible and well written.
3. Inbound Link Programs
   Popularity is as important or more important to search engines and readers as the content itself. Popularity indicates credibility on a specific subject. There are programs to generate non-reciprocal inbound links. Links from credible sites are weighed more heavily than others. There is a real science to nailing down solid inbound link programs.
4. Blog Traffic
   Consistent blog activities can generate significant website traffic. Readers and search engines thrive on new relevant content and blogs create the perfect format for it. Every website should have a related blog.
5. Link Bait
   Applications and great, accurate content attract links from other websites. Webmasters strive to become credible and valid and want to present the best the web has to offer. Link bait applications and content can attract that type of attention driving significant traffic.
6. Publish the URL Everywhere
   Every publication by a company should include a link to a converting website. Every ad, every campaign, every business card, every single publication should reference a companies website.
7. Create a Great Site
   Bottom line, if a website is great and it is relevant the audience will visit it. Web designers and copy composers must be conscious of great web site principles and spend the time and resources to establish a professional online brand visitors will frequent and commit to.

Related marketing article: 7 Methods to Drive More Traffic to Your Website
Other marketing resources: Marketing Toolkit

10 Methods to Convert More Online Business

Online activities can generate significant business for a business or organization. The website design may be responsible for as much of the traffic conversion as the content and offer.

1. Graphically Pleasing and Professional
2. Navigation
3. Layout
4. Content Rich
5. Funneled Approach
6. Calls to Action
7. Up to Date
8. Well Supported
9. Socially Connected
10. Consistent with Other Marketing Efforts

The key is to plan out online activities and maintain a consistent direction. As a brand is created and a website is designed to convert traffic, a business will begin to realize a maximized ROI.

Read the full article "10 Methods to Convert More Online Business"

Convert Leads and Drive Business Online

Businesses and professionals often leverage the internet to drive business and convert potential prospects into leads and subsequent sales. Many incorporate website interactions into their overall marketing plans to generate interest and disseminate valuable information. Some brands see phenominal results as they push their brands online.

What do successful websites and applications offer that engage visitors to take action becoming a lead or sale? We've identified key elements every website must have to convert traffic. A few of those elements include:

• Convincing value proposition
• Attractive design elements
• Clear calls to action
• Compelling content and applications

Vauntium web solutions are designed to retain visitors and capture their interest such that they take action and convert. Our analytical tools allow our clients to track successes and key metrics for analysis. Contact the Vauntium team to learn more about attracting and capturing internet visitors for your business.