Their work so far has been varied from digital picture frames and health supplement drinks to a local catering establishment and recruitment company.

The guys are settling in well and progress has been impressive! Their addition to the team will allow Market Avenue to grow internally and offer additional services to clients.

Always try and question customers who are already using the products or service. They are already advocates of your business because they have purchased from you in the past and they have a positive reason for making this decision. Think about giving a demonstration of machinery or products if you have time and talk to the operators to gain a different viewpoint.

2. 50 to 100 words, when starts to flag divide into segments. Include personnel who deal with customers.

When writing always try to keep it between 50 – 100 words, if it looks to long divide it, and include quotes from people who deal with customers.

3. Mind mapping – Subject, 4 main header sections, and additional points. Look at trends and similarities.

Always plan what you are going to write first, mind-mapping is always good as you can write down the different ideas you have and how you can take them.

4. Have existing literature present and methods of selling.

Having existing literature allows you to take ideas from documents already written, this also allows you to see what has already been covered.

5. Write stories/scenarios about potential customers. What are their challenges, problems? Different types of people within the same segments. Readers, who are they and what is their level of understanding?

Writing stories about potential customers allows you to start building relationships with those customers, which then can lead to more people using your product/service.

So overall don’t use don’t if you want the correct message to get to your clients.

1. 70% Brain Storming, 5% Writing and 25% Editing.

When writing a document make sure you spend 70% of the time brain storming, 5% writing and then 25% editing to ensure it is written how you want it to be.

2. Understand the types of questions people will want to ask about your product or service and then answer them in the copy.

Think about the questions customers or potential customers might ask and try to write the answer in the document, so that they don’t have any unanswered questions.

3. Readers, who are they and what is their level of understanding?

Think about the people who are going to be reading the documents you are creating and what type of information would be relevant to the readers. Also think about whether the reader can understand what is written by the use of language.

4. Understand problems people might have with situations, services, products and provide a solution.

Think about problems that customers could have with the service/product and try to think of a way that particular problem can be solved, and then provide it to the customer.

5. Never use words that do not need to be there.

Don’t unnecessary words as it makes the document long and the reader can begin to lose interest.

Have you any more tips to add?

To make matters worse his sign writing skills (or proof reading) were a little to be desired because ‘no job to big or to soon’ stuck out like a sore thumb!

I know it’s only a minor mistake but it was glaringly obvious and made me hope that he takes more pride in his actual trades work than he does in his promotional messages!

In the age of UGC (user generated content) it’s to be expected that the odd typo may slip into  a blog or Twitter post. But really, it doesn’t take too much extra time to read through your words and check that the spelling, grammar and message correct and reads how it should.

When you’re in business, credibility is everything. Spend some valuable time checking before you go public.  This relates to anything in the public eye – blogs, advertisements and promotional leaflets.

And if you know that our beautiful English language has never been your strong point, have your work proof read by someone or several colleagues prior to submission/production.

There are so many options out there these days, with many offering rich content across a variety of disciplines, so how do you know what to choose?

Below are just a few of the key elements in choosing the brand new professional BTEC accredited Social Media for Business.

1. Mentored by an expert social media practitioner

2. Gain an internationally recognised BTEC qualification

3. There is currently a digital marketing skills shortage and job opportunities

4. Become a registered ‘Social Media Practitioner’

5. Apprenticeship and internship options available

6. Gain a qualification and credible work experience

By creating the BTEC Award, innovative digital marketing training company Digital Marketing Mentor hopes to establish a platform of professional qualifications within the digital marketing sphere. A series of qualifications that will increase the employability for the individual and the in-house skills for the organisation.

Benefits of working through and achieving the qualification to improve your skills include:

1. You will be registered on the practitioners national database

2. Your skills will be accredited and recognised by employers

3. You will increase your employability as a result of applying your skills in a business context

For more information please contact us direct on 0845 459 619 or visit the Digital Marketing Mentor website.

There are so many options out there these days, with many offering rich content across a variety of disciplines.

The brand new BTEC Level 3 Award in social media for business offers the following key elements for employers:

1. The future of marketing is digital

2. Skills learnt are applied directly to your business

3. Mentored by an expert social media practitioner

4. Qualifications are accredited by BTEC

5. Maximise your marketing budget by optimising your marketing activities

6. Funding options are available

By creating the BTEC Award, innovative digital marketing training company Digital Marketing Mentor hopes to establish a platform of professional qualifications within the digital marketing sphere. A series of qualifications that will increase the employability for the individual and the in-house skills for the organisation.

Benefits of working through and achieving the qualification within your company include:

1. You will learn the latest techniques to give you an edge over your competitors

2. Your existing employees will be up skilled

3. New skills will be introduced to your business

4. You will create a better ROI from your marketing budget

5. You will receive mentoring worth over £1,000

6. Your business will receive a digital marketing audit to help focus your budget and efforts

For more information please contact us direct on 0845 459 619 or visit the Digital Marketing Mentor website.

Now how do you persuade people to connect?

Well, there are numerous ways that take a little techie knowledge and sometimes a little money and time investment across all platforms but initially we’re going to go back to basics and utilise traditional marketing tactics and the earlier digital forerunners!

Follow these simple effective tips:

• Add social media profile usernames to business stationery including business cards, compliment slips, invoices, letterheads and delivery notes.
• Add usernames to promotional collateral including leaflets, banner stands, brochures, vehicle livery, corporate gifts and giveaways, presentations and even branded clothing.
• Ensure profiles are promoted on the main company website with visual icon links as well as text links and include share/tweet/like badges and widgets to allow easy connecting and sharing by others (this can be a little technical as it involves importing html code so seek advice from a web developer if unsure).
• Finally, send out a targeted email to your database inviting people to join, again ensure all the relevant links are present within the email to make it an easy task for people to connect.

If you’re unsure about what to write in an email message, put your own spin on the following example; it’s written colloquially in a conversational approach because that’s what social media is all about:

What has worked for you, any tips on crafting introductory messages?

Have a look at these helpful template sizes below for Facebook

]]> http://www.marketavenueltd.co.uk/2011/08/facebook-template-sizes/feed/ 0 http://www.marketavenueltd.co.uk/2011/08/474/ http://www.marketavenueltd.co.uk/2011/08/474/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 08:28:30 +0000 admin http://www.marketavenueltd.co.uk/?p=474 I have a lot of time for LinkedIn and training companies how to use it effectively.

Having the knowledge from studying with the Chartered Institute of Marketing I understand the importance of effective market research. Many elements on LinkedIn offer ways to source industry brands, products and services, market and competitor information and opinions, making it a somewhat marketer’s dream!

There are three main areas on LinkedIn you can use for Market Research:

• Group Discussions
• Answers App
• Polls App

And to a certain extent the Skills App and general company searches can be informative for sample industry statistics.

LinkedIn Group Discussions

If you are proactive in LinkedIn Group Discussions you will know that regular participation in conversations can be very rewarding for lead generation and relationship building. Being active in discussions creates awareness amongst your peers, a perception of knowledge, and a certain obligation to support your cause. Asking a series of questions within your group will provide quantitative and even qualitative data straight from the horse’s mouth.
Useful feedback can still be gained if you don’t regularly participate in discussions however responses tend to be less forthcoming. Try adding a promotion within your group advertising a prize draw of some nature for all who participate. Even though you are offering an incentive, the promote tab is a blatant sales arena and naturally, some people will never venture in there.

LinkedIn Answers Application

The Answers App on LinkedIn is an extremely effective area to show off your expertise. Basically, you ask a question for users to answer, or similarly, you answer another user’s question. Again, another sorely underused benefit of being an active LinkedIn member and by answering questions you can easily build a credible reputation and prospect following.

The open tab refers to current questions that you can answer and the closed tab refers to questions you can no longer contribute to but the conversation thread remains visible for your research.

For market research, topics, industries and keywords can be searched within a number of categories and sub categories. Valuable opinions, concerns and benefits concerning products, services, brands and industry can be found. You will even find a few competitors and thought leaders along the way.

LinkedIn Polls Application

LinkedIn Polls are a great way to gain opinions from LinkedIn members. The poll in some ways could replace elements of the traditional focus group, certainly when you do not require sensory research. Polls are simple to initiate and invites can be sent to all connections.

Combine the direct invites to your connections with Group Discussion posts inviting people to participate.

General Hints

Utilise your other social media profiles and online activity to generate more awareness and participation if you create a poll.

Post a shortened URL link to your Twitter followers and pull them back to answer your poll – followers do not need to be connected to your personal LinkedIn profile in order to complete the poll.

Create a tab on your Facebook Page promoting the poll. This will depend on how savvy you are and whether you wish to create a second poll within Facebook Apps.

Send an email to your opt in database. Be mindful at being selective with who receives the invite as you don’t want people to feel they are being spammed if the subject matter has no relevance to them.

And finally, create a blog article promoting the poll with a link for users to complete.

Let us know if you have already conducted successful research through LinkedIn and what your findings were.