Email Marketing Strategy

5 Tips to Creating Raving Fans

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 by Jenn Lisak

As we all know, last Thursday was the official release of the infamous iPhone 4, complete with new features, such as FaceTime and multitasking. People camped overnight, stood in long lines, and even missed work to buy this hot commodity. All day long, I was surrounded by talk of the new phone on Twitter, Facebook, the news, and chit chat between friends. But amongst all of the hype, I started thinking about all the commercial commodities that have been popular throughout my own life. Some of the things that came to mind were Furbys, Beanie Babies, Tamagotchis, Harry Potter books, Halo, Backstreet Boys CD's, etc. Then, I asked myself what do all of these have in common? They are all physical, tangible products, and all of them have generated a "raving fan" following.

In recent years, most businesses have transitioned into the service industry, even if there is a product component to their business. Service, in layman terms, is intangible work completed for the benefit of others, and I would venture to say that it is harder to create the "raving fan" mentality for a service as opposed to a product. In the last week, we have seen the raving fan mentality with the iPhone 4, and it is just as much a service as it is a product, even if the product component is what initially rives the customer to your service. So how do you create the "raving fan" if you're in the service industry? Here are some ideas:

1. Provide a quality product.
It doesn't matter if you have great service if you don't have a quality product to back it up. For example, as a website design company in Indianapolis, we have to give our customers not only an aesthetically pleasing website, but one that fits the client's web based strategy. The final product is what the client is going to see and use every day, so creating the product with care and precision will ensure client satisfaction.

2. Provide exceptional customer service.
This might seem obvious, but you won't retain clients without giving them a reason to stay with your business. Respond to your client's emails/calls quickly, ask questions about what they need, give them all the information they need to make an informed decision, and work with them to give them what they want without sacrificing your business. It is your job to make your clients happy without giving up your ideals, as well as producing a return on investment for each project.

3. Execute and represent an effective brand.
Clients want to be able to identify with a brand when deciding on who to use for a service. A well-defined brand is one of your greatest marketing tools if executed properly. If you say you're a "green" company, practice environmentally safe policies. Do as you say and say what you do.

4. Provide value by advertising your clients' products/services (B2B).
Instead of just marketing for your brand, feature your clients in blog posts, or mention them to your social media community. By doing this, you can provide extra value for both you and your client. It helps promote their brand and services while enhancing your testimonials and portfolio.

5. Give back to your community.
Whether it be a national corporation or a small business, people are more attached to businesses that provide their communities with resources and a helping hand. It's a way of showing that you care about the people who have contributed to your business.

These tips might seem simple and obvious, but it's important to revisit the basics of what makes a customer drawn to your brand. You want raving fans? Provide them with raving fan business!

Perry Marshall's Email Marketing Strategy

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 by James Hueston

A few years ago, I elected to receive emails periodically from a Google AdWords marketing expert. Little did I know, he is also an Email Marketing Strategy genius. I've received several emails from Perry Marshall, but one yesterday titled "A Special Message from George W. Bush" is the best. Click on the thumbnail below to see a larger image.

Perry Marshall's Email Marketing Strategy

There are several items in Perry's email that caused me to interact:

First of all, Perry carried consistent branding from his website to his email marketing strategy. The image header of the email clearly identifies his company, which is built on his name. The style and colors are also consistent from the website. Immediately, I felt comfortable knowing that the communication came from him. In a world of scams, consistent branding develops trust.
Content is centered, which differentiates his email from standard communications. Combined with a colored background, the focus is on the message inside.
Content is short. Today more than ever, we have less time available to evaluate whether an ad message deserves our attention.
Embedding a Video in email can increase conversion rates by 50%, according to a case study by MarketingSherpa. The term 'embedding' is used loosely and can mean a variety of methods for inserting video into email. Perry chose to simply insert a flat screenshot of the video player with a frame of video, which links to a landing page on his site specifically setup for the video. Also to draw attention, he inserted what appears to be a hand-drawn caption to check it out. I know you want to see it, so watch Perry's Bobsled Run Video with George W. Bush.
Only four links are available for clicking in this email, which makes this communication an email blast rather than a newsletter. Perry wants us to do a very specific thing: Watch the video to learn about his Bobsled Run. There are no links in a navigation menu to distract.

Although, I had already clicked to watch the video before seeing the signature block, the hand-writing is a nice touch, not to mention the closing phrase that precedes "To Your Success," which is a benefit to the reader.

I cannot vouch for any of Perry Marshall's techniques in Google AdWords at this time, but I can say that his email marketing strategy is effective.

Learn about Fusework Studios' Email Marketing package.

Do your email blasts stand out from the crowd? Do clients and potential customers engage with your emails? That’s where we come in. If you're ready to inquire, simply submit our email marketing inquiry form.

Is Your Business Ready for the Final Four?

Thursday, April 1, 2010 by Brandon Coppernoll

The Final Four is coming to Indianapolis. It's important for your web based strategy to be prepared for the influx of patrons coming to witness the finish to a wild tournament. This week it is important to be involved in your social media community and focus on your email marketing strategy to attract the vast sea of potential customers.

If you haven't done these things yet - don't worry! You have two more days before the first two games. Get out there and let everyone know your specials. Update your website and address your corporate blog. You have a chance to increase your business' visibility.

Learn about our Business Blog package.

There are many ways to tackle the task of winning organic search. At Fusework Studios, we believe the most affordable and effective way to increase your search engine optimization (SEO) is through a business blog.

Importance of Search Engine Marketing in a Full Web Based Strategy

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Brandon Coppernoll

A complete web based strategy can be an excellent forefront to a solid Internet marketing strategy. The goal should be to be able to reach all of your customers through different "vehicles" to promote your products, services and even your customers. The focus the past year has been on social media marketing, and the year before that there was a great increase in email marketing. This year, the focus has shifted to search engine marketing, and it is important to include this in your strategy.

Here are benefits to good search engine marketing:

Search engines are the number one resource for people to find websites
Targeted search engine marketing can have a high conversion rate
Search engine marketing can be completely free (do not have to use pay per click)
You win search by writing about what people are looking for

If your website is not winning the traffic through search that you're looking for, contact Fusework Studios about putting together an Internet marketing strategy including search engine optimization.

Fusework Studios Launches Web Site for IU Kokomo

Thursday, January 21, 2010 by Nellie Stout

Original article by Indiana University Kokomo: http://www.iuk.edu/news/?naid=19&ncid=.

Kokomo, Ind. - Indiana University Kokomo has launched a new and improved Web site, www.iuk.edu, featuring easier navigation, online video, vibrant flash images, and socia media integration.

"The new site will allow us to share IU Kokomo in a more engaging and dynamic way. It brings with it a content management system that allows us to better manage updates and changes, as well as the ability to implement analytics that measure site usage and give us the tools to make constant improvements that better serve our users," said Katrina Janes, director of the Office of Communications and Marketing at IU Kokomo. "The redesign and launch of a new university Web site is a huge undertaking, and we are very excited to unveil this new Web presence to the students, campus and community that we serve."

The site, developed by Indianapolis-based Fusework Studios, provides easier navigation for the user, improved search functions, and a consistent look, design, and feel. The first step in the redesign was an audit of the old Web site that included an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses. This evaluation enforced the need for IU Kokomo to clearly indentify and match target audiences with specific marketing objectives, as well as the need to transform the site from a static information source to a dynamic and engaging marketing tool.

This direction is supported by a recent TeensTALK®survey of high school sophomores which found that 74 percent of the respondents conducted general college research on the Web, and 67 percent visited a specific college Web site. It is clear that higher education institutions are positioning their Web sites as a primary marketing tool and relying more on electronic communication tools. The average Web user today is highly skilled and able to communicate through many technological formats, from text messaging to IM to Twitter. This is particularly true for prospective and current college students.

"This was a huge project and encompassed two years from vendor selection to launch. Every unit on campus participated," said Paul Nowak, vice chancellor for external relations. "A special recognition is due to our marketing and IT departments, and especially Rudy Kizer, our campus Web manager, and Katrina Janes."

Indiana University Kokomo serves a seven county, primary service area in north central Indiana. The campus offers more than 40 academic programs including four graduate degrees.
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Fusework Studios provides service in Business Blogging, IT Services, SEO Indianapolis, Indiana Website Design, Indiana Website Development, Web Based Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Indiana Video Production, Email Marketing Strategy, Corporate Blog, Internet Marketing Indianapolis, and much more.

Indiana Video Production is not dead

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by Laurie Buschmann

Indiana video production is alive and well, and there are many production houses in central Indiana that do a fine job at it.

In this age of social media marketing, business blogging and email newsletters, it's important to remember the viability of video in your Internet marketing efforts.

You've heard it before, "Video tells a story." But more than that, it's a necessary tool that can impact your bottom line in a variety of ways. Through visuals and sound, your customers can:

Learn more about your business (history, products, process, etc.)
Hear testimonials from your customers about how great your product/service is
See step-by step how your product works, so customers will buy it themselves
Follow how-to instructions for accomplishing a certain task
Be inspired and empowered to donate to your cause
Be entertained by a different type of advertising
Advertise for you by sharing your video across their social media networks
And the list goes on....

Doing video is a no-brainer, so let us show you how easy it can be. Just think of all that content that's just waiting to be put out into the world.

Add video production to your web based strategy for 2010, and contact Fusework Studios today to get started.

Practicing discipline in a Web based strategy

Monday, January 4, 2010 by Brandon Coppernoll

Discipline.

For most people it's an ugly word. It makes you think of a dog that misbehaves, an athlete making wrong choices during a sporting event or sometimes even more frustrating of a child that just won't listen and needs...discipline.

Discipline is an important intangible in your Web strategy.

Throughout 2009, I spoke of many different ways to utilize tools and third-party programs to enhance your web based strategy, and I spoke in many ways how Fusework Studios is a great Indianapolis web development company that can help touch all facets of an effective strategy. In 2010, I want to focus on things that are a little more intangible.

By now, most of you know about the tangible objects that go into a web based strategy such as business blogging, web development, website design, social media communities, search engine optimization and an email marketing strategy. When used correctly, all of these tools work, but there are things that are never seen that go into a successful strategy.

Discipline is accepting a challenge and having the fortitude to see it through. When embarking on a new marketing strategy, whether it's television, radio, print or the web, you will never know the true extent of its results until you see it through.

What are ways you can practice discipline in your web based strategy?

Make a plan. A web based strategy is a plan to achieve a goal. Put it on paper and keep it where you can see it.
Make a habit. Practice working on your strategy every day until that goal is achieved.
Do it when you don't want to do it. Some days it feels like too much work to participate in a social media community for your business, but those days are probably the most important to do the work.
Have a coach. Even professional athletes have a coach to help set goals and achieve them.
Form a team. Don't try to do this alone. Find skill sets that are needed to accomplish your goals, and find the people with similar discipline and passion to achieve your goals.

Find the intangibles that make your web based strategy great. I certainly hope this can energize you when you embark on 2010.

Need a coach or a team? Contact Fusework Studios today to discuss your goals and ambitions in 2010 and to create a web based strategy to work for your business.

Web Based Strategy: Spreading joy in the holidays

Thursday, December 17, 2009 by Brandon Coppernoll

There's only a week between Christmas Eve and today, and everybody is finishing up their Christmas shopping, planning their breaks and starting to think about those neatly wrapped boxes under the tree. As a part of your Web based strategy, have you thanked your customers and business partners for doing business with you? Have you incorporated holiday wishes as a part of your email marketing strategy? Have you said "Merry Christmas" to your social media community?

Companies are becoming more transparent due to social media, email marketing and as they take on more and more of a personal role in their customers' lives. Your fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter are following you to keep in touch and learn more about your business. Make it a part of your social media strategy to wish everyone well this holiday season. Your followers would like to hear from you.

From everyone at Fusework Studios, have a happy and safe holiday season.

Best Day and Time for Your Email Marketing Strategy

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 by Kevin Hood

Your email marketing strategy should include a schedule and analysis of the best time to send an email. Tuesday has historically been the best day to send an email, but the best day and time to send an email depends on a lot of factors. The retail industry has had recent success with sending email newsletters on Mondays and has coined the phrase "Cyber Monday." Business to Business email newsletters have usually done better on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, several industries have the most success when they send their email blasts on the weekend.

What defines success for an email marketing strategy? The day and time you send an email newsletter campaign can have a great effect on the open rate of the email. Your clients may have more free time on Tuesday to open and read your email newsletter. With a cohesive email marketing strategy, a company will send emails to a small portion of their list on different days and determine the day with the highest open rates.

In addition to optimizing the day of the week for your email newsletter campaign, you can also delve further and optimize by testing the timing of your email. Email open rates can be improved by finding the best time of day for your clients to receive email. In addition, there are statistics that show the click-to-open rate can greatly differ depending on the time of day your client opens the email. Many companies have found the highest click-to-open rate at around 8 a.m. and lowest at 5 p.m with a difference of 10 percentage points. This shows that attention for an average email decreases during the workday, and they may be more inclined to click on an email call to action earlier in the day.

The time and day are just two of the many aspects you should consider when planning your email marketing strategy. Optimize and then capitalize on your internet marketing strategy.

I Don't Have Time for Business Blogging!

Thursday, November 5, 2009 by Kevin Hood

"I don't have time to blog for my business." That has to be one of the catch phrases of 2009. Heck, maybe it will make a Rolling Stone Top 50 List. It is probably the most popular reason for business owners or employees to not start a corporate blog.

It's a lame excuse. Every business provides a product or service. The majority of human beings on the planet Earth use the Internet, not the Yellow Pages or Highflyer, to find your product or service. You need to be found on the Internet, and business blogging is one of the easiest ways to improve your search engine optimization. You include keywords in your content, get links to your blog, Google starts to like you and then you increase your search engine ranking (and sometimes get two results for the same keywords).

So how do we find you time for your all important business blogging? I'm going to be honest; sometimes it's hard. You're out of the office for a few days on sales calls or busy with a project, and you really are stressed to find time to blog. We need to change your approach to blogging, so here are a few tips:

Set a schedule to blog. Or, if you're not a fan of structure, promise yourself you will write a certain number of blogs every week. We have blogging lunches which helps increase our business blogging.
Take notes with blogging ideas. Not a day goes by that don't I come up with some good idea for a blog post, but I don't always write them down. Carry a notepad, use your phone or create a draft blog post with your idea. Just write the title and a sentence or two. Then, come back to turn it into a real blog post. If you know you have ideas ready to develop, it can motivate you to finish them and end up with more frequent blog posts.
Turn your emails into business blogs. There are those projects, those quotes, those conversations where you spent hours selling why you are the best. You worked hard, it sounded good and hopefully got you the sale. Use that content in a blog post, just copy and paste! Don't feel like blogging? Find an email!
Blog about another blog post. Giving links to another website with a similar topic can be good for your search engine optimization. Quote a paragraph of theirs and then give a paragraph of your own thoughts. Easy peasy!
Embed a Youtube video and then comment about it. The video can be from a competitor, a partner or a customer. Add content with keywords, make it interesting, and off you are to the blogging for search races. Yee Haw!
KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). It doesn't have to be a thesis, or brain science, or rocket surgery ... it just has to be interesting and provide some kind of value. Don't sweat over it; maybe your next blog post will be better.
Blog about employees, corporate events, industry news. The business blogging ideas are endless.

Hopefully, that gives you a few corporate blog ideas and attitudes to help you forget those lame excuses. A blog is kind of like the green beans you wouldn't eat as a kid. It tastes good and has value once you try it. Any Internet marketing strategy is a long term process, but with constant effort and best practices, you can turn business blogging into a return on investment. That's the bottom line, whether mommy wants you to blog or not.

Internet Marketing in Indiana

Friday, October 16, 2009 by Derek McClain

When looking for a company to help with Internet marketing in Indiana, you will likely have a long list from which to choose. Some will tell you it's all about social media optimization, and others will say spend your money on Pay Per Click (PPC) search marketing. Some will stress the importance of an email marketing strategy, while others will say it is all about having a business blogging strategy. At times, it can probably get downright confusing. Well, let me add just a bit more confusion and tell you that all of them are right!

internet-marketing-indiana-business-woman-ejoys-benefits

You see, it is not just ONE of these things that leads to successful Internet marketing in Indiana. It is a combination of all! This is why finding a true Internet marketing agency in Indiana is so important.

An Internet marketing agency can provide stratgies for all of these services. They have either taken the time to develop this part of their business in house, or they have built partnerships with other agencies that specialize in a paticular area. Either way, the ultimate goal is providing YOU (the consumer) with the best solution from the people with the most experience and success. It is only then that you will enjoy ALL of the Internet marketing benefits that will help your company grow.

At Fusework Studios, we stress the importance of developing this complete Internet marketing strategy for you because we know that it's not all about ONE thing. It's all about understanding your business and providing you with a package of Internet marketing services that will allow you to see the best end results.

So the next time you are confused and everyone is telling you all about the latest trend, find a complete Internet marketing company in Indiana and enjoy all of the Internet marketing benefits you deserve!

Get Back to Basics - Social Media Advertising Works When You Have a Great Product

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Bruce McClain

I was on Facebook yesterday evening and came across the Ruby Tuesday fan page. On it, I found a coupon for their new Sunday Brunch. The coupon is "Buy One Brunch, Get One FREE."

I have already enjoyed their brunch two times since they introduced it, so I immediately printed out the coupon! Then, I promptly shared this link with all my Facebook friends.

Why did I print off the coupon? Why did I share it with my friends? Was it because of Social Media advertising? Yes, that was part of it. Was it because of Ruby Tuesday's Web business strategy? Of course, that was part of it as well. However, the #1 reason I reacted the way I did was because of the product. I LOVE THEIR BRUNCH.

You see, you can hire companies like Fusework Studios. We can help you create a fantastic Internet Marketing Strategy. We can help you with Email Marketing, Pay Per Click Advertising and the works. You can do every single thing right on the Internet Marketing front, but if your product is lacking, you will fail every single time.

Get back to basics. Make sure your product is the best in the business. Once that's done, execute your overall marketing plan, and enjoy your success!

Then, kick back with me and enjoy a free brunch.

Don't Miss Out On a Creative Web Based Strategy for "Coming Soon" Pages

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 by Brandon Coppernoll

You are launching your new business. You have done all the right things. Now you need to at least get something on the internet letting the world know about your brand, and you'll be coming soon while you put together a winning web business strategy. You have joined nearly every social media community and have invited everyone you know (and some you don't) to follow you as you embark on an amazing journey.

There have been several articles in the blogosphere that have been circulating recently that ended up getting my gears turning again. How to make a great "Coming Soon" page is a great tip sheet that will help you develop a winning "splash page" for your business. The final tip, "Offer links to social networks," I feel is unfinished and can be improved.

Social media optimization is a tricky term and can be used loosely by many people. My interpretation is to optimize your social media community by providing avenues to interact with your brand and company. Here are various ways to interact with social media and provide interaction with your "Coming Soon" page:

Send updates to your fans and followers on news about your company
Create an email marketing campaign offering discounted services or products upon launch
Offer a code to be entered on your "Coming Soon" page to receive special discounts
Get feedback from your community on ideas about your new Web site
Offer an email registration on your "Coming Soon" page to keep updated
Advertise and talk about your social media plans with your company site
Offer "Refer a Friend" promotions to grow your base

Incorporating some or all of these ideas can make a big impact on your business when you officially launch your site and continue to market your business.

Complete Internet Marketing and Landing Pages

Monday, October 12, 2009 by Derek McClain

Landing pages are a key ingredient when creating a complete internet marketing strategy. A landing page is developed to be a conversion generating tool for a specific call to action. Whether it be an email marketing campaign, Google AdWords campaign or just a few graphics on your home page, they all must drive the visitor somewhere for conversion. While landing pages play huge role in the success of a complete internet marketing strategy, they are often times overlooked.

Next time you spend all of that time on planning and executing to get the qualified visits to your site, remember to spend that same amount of time on the page in which you are driving the traffic Here are a few tips in creating a conversion friendly landing page:

Make the Landing Page Relevant to Your Campaign - As obvious as this may seem, many times the home page of a web site is used as the landing page. What's worse, more times than not it doesn't even mention the campaign that drove the traffic there!
Make the Call to Action Clear - Now that your visitor is on the page, what do you want them to do? It should be so clear, a monkey could figure it out.
Remove Points of Friction - If your goal is to obtain contact information, make sure you are asking for ONLY the information that you must have. Eliminate unnecessary required fields in your form.
Remove the Navigation Bar - This can be very hard to part with and does not always HAVE to be done, but when doing email marketing or AdWords it can yield the best results. Remember: everything they need to convert should be on that ONE page.
Monitor the Analytics and Adjust - You must have Google Analytics installed on your landing page to get the most out of if. Likely the first try is not going to be your best. Remember to adjust and test new things to increase conversion.

Case Study: Internet Marketing Branding

Monday, September 21, 2009 by Derek McClain

We are in the midst of executing an internet marketing branding campaign for one of our long time clients, Jay-Crew Landscape, Inc. This campaign combines social media advertising, email marketing and other internet marketing efforts to help increase Jay-Crew's online brand awareness. The campaign also allows Jay-Crew to expand its list of contacts for further internet marketing efforts.

While social media internet marketing tools can be very effective, there must be a core idea behind the campaign to ensure our clients will enjoy all of the interent marketing benefits they deserve. As an interactive advertising agency, it is our job to develop these ideas and strategies to help make these online campaigns successful.

Here is an overview of the Green for Green Sweepstakes promotion we developed for Jay-Crew:

Basic Idea: Entering this sweepstakes will give you a chance at winning a $1,000.00 landscaping upgrade. You may pick from services that will meet your needs up to $1,000.00 in value.

Theme: Green (Money) for Green (Landscaping) Sweepstakes

Goal: To increase the internet marketing branding awareness for Jay-Crew Landscape, Inc. while developing a list of contacts interested in landscape services for future follow-up efforts.

How to Register: We set up GreenForGreenSweepstakes.com to redirect to a page on Jay-Crew's site asking for basic contact information via a web form. This form was designed to be as straight forward as possible, promoting the ease of registration. We also ask that all registrants give a brief, creative explanation on why they deserve the $1,000.00. This is a key element in capturing all of the internet marketing benefits from this campaign. Now Jay-Crew has background information to add to their contact list for further follow up.

Getting the Word Out: Email marketing allowed us to jump start this campaign. We have worked with Jay-Crew over the past year or so to develop a high quality, opt-in, email list. This helped get the word out immediately and encouraged existing contacts to tell others.

We have also used social media marketing tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIN to share word about this promotion. Several employees at Fusework and Jay-Crew have posted the GreenForGreenSweepstakes.com link on their personal profiles in addition to posting on our company profiles. This allows everyone involved to share the word with our personal and business network as anyone within 60 miles of Muncie, Indiana can enter this sweepstakes.

Blogging has also played a role in driving people to the site to register. Several employees here are Fusework Studios maintain personal blogs. Some have taken it upon themselves to do a blog entry there as well. A blog post was also added to SmallerIndiana, the niche social network for Indiana And of course, we have posted on the company blog which you are reading right now.

Covering the Basics: Updating the Web site itself has also played into our web based strategy. Creating a new graphic for this campaign has given us the ability to use and repurpose it across all of the online outlets above, including the main page of the web site. This graphic has also been a key part to the success of this campaign and increasing the internet marketing branding awareness.

Check out the graphic below and click on it to register!

Web Business Strategy Case Study - Muncie Children's Museum

Thursday, September 10, 2009 by Derek McClain

Prior to revamping an existing web site it is important to take a step back and reflect upon the web business strategy. What are you trying to accomplish with the new website layout? What is your Website strategy moving forward? At Fusework Studios we are faced with these questions every day. The Muncie Children's Museum website is a great example on executing a Website strategy to hit 4 unique target markets effectively.

Let's take a look at the web business strategy that went down behind the scenes of this website:

The Muncie Children's Museum approached Fusework Studios with an outdated website that was difficult to update and was not accomplishing their internet marketing objectives. After doing an in depth discovery meeting with the client, we were able to determine that the museum really has 4 target markets: Parents, Children, Teachers and Members. Each of these groups has a specfic set of needs, but there are also certain areas that apply to all groups. We were able to work collectively in designing a home page that acts as a portal for each of the target markets to access information that is important to them. The end result are 4 mini sections to a web site, each with it's own feel that address the needs of a particular user while still maintaining the Muncie Children's Museum overall brand.

In doing this redesign we have seen a dramatic increase in the quality of traffic coming to the site. Let's take a look at the stats:

An average of 1,500 visits per month
Visitors are going to roughly 6 pages per visits
Bounce rates are right around 25% or less in some months
Average time spent on the site consistently hovers around 3 minutes

Parents, Children, Teachers and Members are now finding the site when Googling search terms like:

Muncie Indiana attractions
children's activities in Indiana
Indiana children's museum
places to hold parties in Muncie
field trips indiana
field trips for schools

This redesign in combination with the client keeping the website updated on a regular basis with fresh content has resulted in field trips and birthday parties being scheduled online. We have also been able to provide them with an effective tool to communicate to prospective members and existing members online.

Now it is time to move onto the next part of ther web based strategy and begin email marketing. As web consultants it can sometimes be challenging to accomplish all of the objectives within a web business strategy. It is always great to see all of the hard work pay off!

Below is a screen shot of the Muncie Children's Museum home page. You may click on the image to visit the website.

Is Social Media a Fad?

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 by Bruce McClain

In my last post about how I think of my blog topics. I mentioned, that I received an email from somone asking me a question that would be the inspiration for this post. So here we go.

This potential client asks, " I am hearing a lot more buzz about Facebook and some of these other sites, is Social media stuff just a fad, or should I get involved with this?"

Working at an Indianapolis Internet Marketing Company we tend to get this question a lot. I am not sure if it is because we are in the Midwest and are slow to catch on to the technology around us, but never the less, I am hearing this almost every day.

Social Media and Marketing is here to stay. Make no mistake about it, this is not a fad or a trend or something that is going to go away. Unfortunately if you are just now asking the Social Media question you are greatly behind some of your competitors. Social Media needs to be a part of your Website strategy immediately.

Now another part to the question, I always get asked, is how do I decide which Social Media Network to use? This is where the fad part comes in. Or as I would rather say the "trend" part comes in.

The trend a couple of years ago was to be on Myspace.com . That is where the action was, now it rarely is mentioned when talking to business, but it shouldn't be forgotten. It is just not part of the current Social Media trend.

The big buzz these days of course surrounds facebook.com and twitter.com . We have heard these names from Oprah to Ashton, from CNN to the Indianapolis Star. They are everywhere and with good reason. Their traffic is astronomical. And yes you should have a presence there as well. However, I am here to tell you one year from today we will be talking about a new Social Media darling, that may not even be in existence today, and do you need to have a profile on it as well. My answer would be yes, yes, and yes.

Today your audience can be world wide, they can find you 24/7/365, but you have to make it easy for this to happen. Your audience is more diverse now then ever before, they have more interests than ever before and they are all part of some sort of social network. Is it the one you are marketing too. If you are only on the biggies probably not.

Don't forget about your smallerindiana.com's and your indylink.com's . They are just as important as anything you are doing in the Social media community. They are local and can influence your business today.

My suggestion would be to develop a overall social media profile. How do you want your company to be viewed on the web? It needs to be very consistant to align with your brand, but can be specialized to each social network if you like. Take the time to set these up, place time on your schedule to monitor these, and understand how to manage your company's reputation on them as well.

Finally if you still believe social media is a fad take a look at this video. While I am not positive I agree with all the data it shows, I do believe it will change your mind. Enjoy!

Searching for Topics

Thursday, September 3, 2009 by Bruce McClain

As part of Fusework Studios Internet marketing initiative we have been blogging as a team for over a month now, trying to improve our search engine results as well as educate our current or potential partners.

Being the president, of course, I feel I need to set a good example and blog something each and every day. I mean I am "old guy" (at least that is what my staff says) when it comes to Internet marketing with over 15 years of experience in web based strategy. However as I logged in to my blogging software today, my mind went totally blank.

Wow. What am I supposed to do. I am one of the biggest blogging evangelists at our company, I try to offer this service to everyone of our clients. I tell everyone how easy it is to do and how it only takes a few minutes to make a post, but today my mind won't think of anything.

I begin running through the usual topics in my head. Social media, how to retain customers, search engine optimization, or website strategy. I could speak on any of these topics for hours on a normal day, but today I am completely blank.

I decided to just start typing and something would come to me. I would look at my keywords and I am sure the thoughts would just flow, but they still didn't.

Next I went to my usual sites for inspiration, digg.com, slashdot.org, and a bunch of the Internet marketing sites I read on a daily basis. Still nothing.

Finally, just when I had give up hope, I received an email, and BAM there it was, a topic. One of my clients had asked me a question via email. It was a question I get asked a lot. Is also one that is a perfect topic for a CEO blogging about Internet marketing.

So now I have my topic. In my next post you will see what it was, but for now, think about what a valuable tool this could be for you and your blog. Instead of answering a similar question over and over again to multiple people via email, type the answer once in a blog entry. Anytime you get the question you can simply send the link along with a simple, "Check out my blog, it has a lot of great answers to questions like yours." Now you have not only answered the question, but that visitor may subscribe to your blog and you can then interact with them daily.

Don't forget Conversion.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 by Bruce McClain

Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Advertising, Blogging, Pay Per Click, Interactive Strategy, Email Marketing, the list can go on and on. These days it seems everyone has a new area of expertise for generating traffic to your site, or your social networks.

While I believe in almost all of these Internet Marketing Strategies, I often wonder when do we talk about your Corporate Internet Marketing, or you Social Media Strategy, why do so many Internet Marketing companies fail to talk about the most important piece to the puzzle, CONVERSION.

Sure I can drive thousands of visitors to your site. I have used Google's pay per click service with great success. I have seen companies drive a 100,000 visitors a month to their site using this service. I worked with one company in particular who would spend over $40,000 per month, just to generate traffic. Believe me, it does work.

However, when I asked this company the percentage of visitors they converted on their marketing objective they had no idea. After further review, we discovered it was less than 1%. I may not be a rocket scientist, but that seems like a waste of money. What about CONVERSION?

I now see all these companies who claim they are a Social Media Agency. I even saw a proposal that promised to increase the number of fans a company had on Facebook, and to increase their Twitter followers. Again, this is not a bad thing, but what about CONVERSION?

You need to have a Web Business Strategy for how you are going to convert your traffic to be customers or clients. You need to give them multiple opportunities to execute your objective, and you need to make it so straightforward your visitors have no doubt what you want them to do on your site.

As you make your plan, think about the typical grocery store. Where do they put all of everyday items like milk, eggs, meat, etc? Yep, you are correct in the back of the store. Do you think they have a strategy behind that. Absolutely. They are trying to convert their business objective, and to get you to purchase, look at, smell, and sample, other items on your way to the things you really need. They are all about CONVERSION.

As you look at this blog post you may notice small buttons, or self promotional ads all over the page. Do you thing that we just put them there for design purposes? Absolutely not, we have an objective in mind. We blog to get you to our site. We want to get you to our site to tell you more about Internet marketing and what we do as a Internet Marketing Agency in Indianapolis Indiana. We hope you find the information helpful and also candidly we want you to talk to us more and ultimately become your trusted business partner.

So before you spend next years advertising budget with Google, take a few moments to think about what you will do when you drive traffic to your site. Google may be great at driving traffic, but what about CONVERSION?

How To: Retain Customers Through Effective Email Marketing

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by Derek McClain

Email marketing should be part of any complete internet marketing strategy because of its effectivness in helping to retain customers. Getting started with email marketing, like many other things, can seem overwhelming at first. We have established a set of key elements or guidelines at Fusework Studios that can help make your next email marketing campaign a success. Check it out

The List
This is a HUGE part for your success and you must start here by generating a list of contacts that have opted in to receive your emails via your web site, mailings, in-store, or other types of contact points. A quality internet marketing agency would never recommend buying or renting an email list.

Subject Line
Your customers will ask - why should I open this email? What’s in it for me? The subject line must be attention getting- but to the point to get people to take the next step of actually opening the email.

Design
This will be the first thing the recepient will see when opening the email. Must look good, but not be overwhelming with design elements. Remember the person receiving the email will likely have to click "display images" so it is important to have something come through prior to that.

Message
I opened the email. What is the core message? Keep it short and to the point. We have seen the best results when limiting it to ONE topic per email.

Clear Conversion Point
What do you want me to do? What is the point in this email? If there is not a call to action from the email, then why send it? Take some time to think about how this will play in with your website strategy, social media and marketing strategies.

Incentive
Why should I take the time to respond or take the next step? What are you offering me for my time? Time = money. If you want to retain customers through email marketing you should be offering incentives for repeat purchases.

Landing Page
An effective email marketing message will drive the recipient to a customized landing page for that specific message. If you are talking about a particular promotion, do not take me to the home page of your site which mentions nothing about that promo.

Follow-Up
Establish a regular schedule for sending emails and stick to it. Don’t be annoying, be relevant.