Tag: marketing

Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2017

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date December 12, 2016
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In a recent blog post, we wrote about how the implementation of search functionality in Facebook will be a major focus in 2017. Though this will be an important transition for online marketing, many other trends are noticeably taking precedence. Adopting these trends now, or working them into your budget, can help prepare your business for 2017.

Increased Video Importance

With the arrival of live video streaming across several networks, notably Facebook Live, the already impressive video medium is finally branching out. As live video streaming becomes more refined, businesses will be able to promote their new services in real time or show consumers behind the scenes. Video has always been a powerful way to get your message across to consumers, visual reinforcement can demonstrate products much easier than words ever could.

Business App Prevalence

Google recently began indexing apps, making the viability of mobile apps for businesses much more likely. Dedicated apps for brand news, special perks and mobile shopping are becoming more and more prevalent each day. By giving consumers the option to be attached to your business on the go, the likelihood of sales conversions becomes much greater.

Focused Content

The collective consumer attention span has dwindled with the explosion of social media. Though current SEO practices sometimes require long walls of texts to meet indexability criteria, it’s likely this will eventually change with current trends. Most consumers will only skim through content or share a story just based on the title. Creating content that is easily read while focusing only on important information will cut down reading time and convey messages properly.

Augmented Reality and VR Capabilities

With the introduction of Pokémon GO and various affordable virtual reality headsets, it is expected that many different businesses will begin experimenting with augmented reality and VR capabilities. Though designing the content for these platforms is currently relatively expensive, new, cheaper ways to deliver content will be developed. With the current rise of 360° cameras, the ability to create your own VR experiences may be just around the corner.

You can always call the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your business listing, website development, marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2017 your business’ best year yet. You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags marketing, social marketing, social media

Marketing

The Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date November 21, 2016
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It’s no secret that social media marketing is one of the best steps businesses can take to further their business goals. With over 1.71 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become the go to social media network for businesses of all sizes. With the addition of social media in your marketing plan, several major benefits can be achieved.

Content Syndication

Social media profiles function as an easy accessible content distribution channel for businesses that they may have not had previously. Content syndication across social media platforms can help build brand recognition and introduce potential new customers to your brand or products. When a user shares content previously posted by your business, even more individuals will be introduced to your business, encouraging further growth.

Company Humanization

Social media marketing allows businesses to connect with their customers on a human level, creating a bond that otherwise would not have been possible on such a massive scale. This connection can help build brand loyalty and result in sales conversions that might never have been available. By building your social media networks you will be consistently improving your conversion rates.

Cost-Effective Marketing

Paid advertising through Facebook or Twitter is affordable to any business large or small. By determining your budget and gradually increasing it with more product demand, social media advertising couldn’t be easier or more effective. Some social media marketing efforts can even be done at no-cost for business owners if they invest the time necessary for growth.

You can always call the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your business listing, website development, marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags marketing, social marketing, social media, socialmedia

Marketing

Growing Your Email Marketing Lists

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date November 14, 2016
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Studies have shown that email marketing lists are outdated by 22.5% every year. This is mostly due to the transition of email addresses being used or the use of a junk email when signing up for certain lists to receive a bonus. It is important for marketers to consistently update their email marketing lists to keep marketing efforts from becoming ineffective.

Promote Sign-Up Links

If you have a newsletter, the easiest way to build your email marketing lists is to promote your newsletter sign up links whenever possible. Most often, this can be seen within the closing tag of a blog. By promoting your sign-up link as an incentive to receive new content that consumers find beneficial, they are more likely to opt in.

Promote on Social Media

Facebook recently allowed business pages to include call to action buttons. Perhaps the most beneficial way to use these call to action buttons is to add the option to sign-up for a newsletter list. If your Facebook already has high engagement levels and followers, this can be a quick way to add leads to your email marketing lists.

Incentivize Newsletter Sign-Ups

If your company can give away something of value, use it to help build your email marketing lists. Giveaways could be as simple as how-to guides, free samples or a free consultation. The easiest way to leverage this is to require a newsletter sign-up to unlock special content or receive something free.

You can always call the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your business listing, website development, marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags Email, marketing

Marketing

The Value of Google Plus for Businesses

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date September 12, 2016
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Google Plus, or Google+, is one of the best opportunities for small businesses to connect with potential customers. With several changes in functionality and significant user growth since its inception, Google+ has become pivotal in successful growth at local levels.

Since Google spearheads this platform, Google Plus can deliver unprecedented SEO impacts and increase website traffic with a little bit of effort on the business’ behalf. Anyone who has performed a search for local services through Google is probably already familiar with the listings that appear at the top of the search results.

These results utilize Google+ listings to give individuals various options in the immediate area. The top results will always have completed profiles, showing map listings, contact info, websites and social media links. This helps smaller businesses be easily discoverable! Google Plus can also have an incredible impact on organic rankings within Google search results.

When Google+ members follow a business, any recent posts that are relevant to their search will become visible in the top search results. This can be extremely beneficial with SEO based blog posts that link back to a primary website to fuel organic traffic. One of the best additions to a Google+ account is the availability for customers to leave reviews. If a company is customer service oriented, great reviews can make a business shine.

Recent studies have shown that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they do a personal recommendation. For this reason, it’s important to strive to keep reviews positive. Reviews can’t be edited or deleted unless they are irrelevant or have content that is against Google policies, so reviews have the ability to make or break a business.

If you are struggling to get your business seen, Skynet Solutions can help you use cutting edge SEO practices to ensure the best possible Search Engine Ranking. You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags google, marketing

Marketing

Skynet Solutions Recieves Congressional Commendation

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date June 14, 2016
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The team at Skynet Solutions was recently honored with a Congressional Commendation by U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine, in recognition of all the work we have been doing to educate, enhance and strengthen the small business community in Oklahoma. A Congressional Commendation is awarded by a member of Congress to officially recognize outstanding public achievement by those in their districts. One of the most rewarding parts of being an official Google Partner is all the events we get to host and speak at where Skynet Solutions marketing experts get to share their knowledge and interact with other local businesses.

Here at Skynet Solutions, we love being a part of the small business community and using our skills to help other local entrepreneurs succeed as well. Since fall 2015, we have been hosting and participating in “GYBO” (Get Your Business Online) seminars throughout Oklahoma to help small business owners get their businesses online. Thanks to our partners at Google, the REI Women’s Business Center, the Tulsa chapter of SCORE, area chambers of commerce and others, we have been able to help dozens of local business—like yours—improve their online presence in a variety of ways!

We’ve hosted workshops across the state, from Ponca City to Stillwater and Muskogee to Bartlesville and have covered topics ranging from how to use Google Analytics effectively to what S.E.O. is and how you can use it to amplify your business’ online presence. We also covered and held entire workshops dedicated to helping business owners get their business listed on Google Maps and other maps listing services, like Bing and Apple, and other effective tactics to make sure potential customers are able to easily find their business online. We have found maps listings to be one of the most effective ways to help a small, local business grow.

Skynet Solutions also recently co-hosted a special event in May to celebrate and promote National Small Business Week. Along with Tulsa SCORE, we created and hosted the inaugural SCORE Small Business Summit Tulsa, which brought together about 100 mentors, business experts and entrepreneurs from around the region to network and discuss all aspects of starting, owning and running a small business. Speakers from The Small Business Administration, Constant Contact, Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, the Tulsa chapter of SCORE, Skynet Solutions, REI Women’s Business Center and other local and regional institutions discussed everything from email marketing and small business taxes to bookkeeping for small businesses and social media marketing.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of a robust and up to date online presence for a local business; 50 percent of all mobile searches are conducted in hopes of finding local results, and 61 percent of those searches result in a purchase, according to Search Engine Watch. In addition to that, 56 percent of mobile searches are from users seeking local information, like business hours, directions or a physical address for your store—which is why maps listings are so critical. If your business can’t be easily found online, customers are going to go elsewhere. You also have to make sure your business website is mobile friendly.

With the majority of internet searches originating from mobile devices, not desktops or laptops, according to Google, the majority of people who end up on your business’ website are going to get there from a mobile search. The majority of customers believe it is easier to find information on a mobile-optimized site and 48 percent of people who visit a site that’s not friendly feel that the company doesn’t care about their business. That’s definitely not the impression you want to give off to your valued customers!

To learn more about all of the educational small business-focused events that Skynet Solutions participates in and hosts, you can keep up with our blog, follow us on social media or give us a call. In the meantime, you can always get in touch with the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your online business listing, website development, social media marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’ best year yet. You can fill out our online contact form on our website to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Marketing

Skynet Solutions Helps Eufaula Cove Marina Set Sail

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date May 31, 2016
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Just in time for summer, Skynet Solutions helped Eufaula Cove Marina, one of Oklahoma’s best summer spots, launch a new and improved website. The new website, which is also hosted by Skynet Solutions, features new design and graphics to give it a cleaner look, a redesigned backend to make it easier for employees to use and customers to navigate and fresh content to provide all the relevant information for Marina visitors. Our content team also wrote an introductory, welcome blog post for the blog page on their site, to help Eufaula Cove Marina get their blogging efforts off the ground. Blogging is an overlook and often underutilized marketing resource for many small businesses that has many benefits. It gives you a free opportunity to promote your business, your products or services and any ongoing promotions or specials on your site and social media (we know how paid advertising can add up). It also gives you another chance to show your business’ personality and humanize your brand, which is important because people are more likely to use services or buy goods from a business they feel they have a personal connection with. Most importantly, however, blogging gives you a chance to regularly produce new website content. This is important because the more quality content you have on your site and the more often it is refreshed, the higher your website is going to be ranked in search engine results. It won’t happen overnight, but in time, regular blogging will improve SEO (search engine optimization). Google (the most used search engine) uses a complex algorithm to rank websites. But they have said that length and quality of content are big factors in that algorithm. The best thing for you to do is blog at least once a week, to include relevant links in your content and aim for your blog posts to be between 700 and 1,000 words long. Keeping your entire website, not just your blog, up to date is extremely important for any business, no matter your industry or your size. Did you know that the lifespan of a website is only about three years? Technology changes rapidly in the span of three years, meaning everything could be looking, and running, a little behind the times. Your website also might not be mobile friendly anymore, which is a huge roadblock to success—especially for a local business. According to Google, more searches now happen from mobile devices than laptops or desktops. And the majority of mobile searches are made with the hope of finding local results. What this all boils down to, is that if your website doesn’t work on mobile, it doesn’t work. No matter your business or your target clientele, customers are looking for you online, via mobile devices. And if they can’t find you, or they can’t use your website quickly and easily, they will go to a competitor who has a website that is easy to use from a mobile device. You work hard to make sure your business is as good as it can possibly be. And as the digital face of your company, your website should work just as hard to please your customers as you do. You want a website that looks good, has relevant information about your business that customers seek, loads quickly and is easy to use on every device under the sun! Take some time today to look at your business’ website and see if it is up-to-date. Is it mobile friendly? Is it less than three years old? Do the pages load quickly? If the answer to all three of these questions isn’t yes, it is definitely time for you to overhaul your site. In the meantime, you can always get in touch with the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with any design, development or marketing needs, including your online business listing, website development, marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. You can fill out our online contact form on our website to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

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