Guest Post by Marianne Pratt

You may not have a smartphone yet, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 million other people do. And the number of iPhones and Androids in use is growing at a steady clip. No wonder more than 20% of Google searches now originate from mobile devices.

Perhaps even more important for your business, studies show people using their smartphones to search are in the latter stages of shopping – looking for your location, hours, etc. as opposed to basic research. They are ready to buy, or nearly so.

Unfortunately your regular website isn’t necessarily very welcoming to those conducting a mobile search. You need special optimization. Otherwise your site may appear super-slow not even function properly. Even the smallest laptop screen is far larger than a smartphone screen, so you can easily see the problem.

Now is a good time to get in the mobile game. Most businesses aren’t there yet, so you can get a jump on the competition. However mobile SEO is more complex, so you’ll need to think a little differently about what you offer searchers. [Read more...]

If you’ve ever been to an industry tradeshow, you’ve seen them. Those booths that look like they have an interesting product you’d like to learn more about, but the booth set-up and staff say, “go away, we have more important things to do.”Tradeshows are a high stakes gamble with your precious marketing resources. Where else do you spend $20,000 in 2-3 days and take multiple people out of the office who could be working on other things, with virtually no opportunity to course correct once you’re there? If you’re going to make tradeshows a profitable marketing program, you have to bring you’re A-game or your risk blowing a bunch of money with nothing to show for it.

Here are 10 tips to make your next tradeshow a success:

1. Have a goal, and hold everyone to it.

In my view, tradeshows aren’t a branding tactic. Sure, there is value in having your brand visible to your prospects attending tradeshows, but at the end of the day, all of our marketing programs at Trada are about generating qualified opportunities that lead to sales.  So before you decide to attend a tradeshow, determine what it’s going to cost you, what your target cost per lead or close is, and then set goals for leads and qualified opportunities for the show. If you don’t think there are enough attendees at the show to meet that goal, skip it.

Everyone working the booth should know what the goals are and be held accountable for meeting them. It will set the tone for everyone working with the booth and keep them focused on the task at hand. Your booth team should track their progress to goals hourly throughout the show to be sure they’re on pace to meet the goal. [Read more...]

Check out Trada’s other posts in our online marketing series: How to Market Your Business on Twitter, How to Market Your Business on Facebook, How to Market Your Business with a Blog, and  How to Market Your Business with Video. Leave us a tip of your own on marketing with email, and the best comment will win a $25 Amazon gift card. Comments must be made by Sunday, January 29 at 11pm ET.

E-mail marketing is an extremely effective tool — if used correctly. I learned from the lessons of hard knocks on what to do and what not to do. As with everything, it’s always better to ask the experts. This time we asked experts from Marketo, SendGrid and social media agency Room 214 for their thoughts on how to use email marketing, understanding regulations and how to create email marketing lists.

Meet the Experts:

Tim Falls, a Community Manager for SendGrid, an email delivery system that simplifies the process and produces better results. Check out his SendGrid’s blog and follow him on Twitter @timfalls.

Maria Pergolino, Sr Director of Marketing at marketing software automation system, Marketo.  Check out the Marketo blogs and follow Maria on Twitter @InboundMarketer.

Ingrid Getzan, Group Practice Director at social media agency Room 214. Check out the Room 214 blog, Capture the Conversation and follow Ingrid on Twitter @igetzan.

Email marketing is one of the most heavily regulated online marketing components. What do companies need to know before getting started with email marketing?

Ingrid Getzan: Companies need to know the very basics;  go with a trusted email software company, don’t buy lists, don’t use certain words in the subject line that will be marked as spam, know an acceptable frequency to send emails, and most importantly, know your plan.

Too many businesses send out emails because they think they should, without having a clear agenda of what they would like to communicate. There is no better way to get blacklisted then sending out irrelevant or spammy emails – a sure way to kill your email marketing efforts immediately. Sit down and figure out at least a 6 month plan of what you want to tell to your subscribers. Figure out why they want to receive your email and make the information within your email valuable to them. Don’t just pick a template or extend promotional offers to them – make it exclusive and worth their time.

Maria Pergolino: Get familiar with Can-Spam Laws – this goes far beyond the laws in your country, extending to anywhere you market.  Just because you are in the US, doesn’t mean can ignore laws in other countries you sell your goods.  To learn about Can-Spam Laws, check out this great guide by the FTC.   [Read more...]