WDTalk

I pay a lot of attention to affiliate marketers - because their livelihood depends on accurately analyzing and predicting market trends, then tweaking their marketing and SEO strategies to match. The problem with an awful lot of affiliate marketers is that they’re stuck in 2000-2004 strategies – that worked like clockwork then, but “Mom and Pop” e-commerce has transitioned over the last few years … becoming exceedingly difficult. Market share for small to medium sized companies on the Internet is shrinking, while the top 10% of web sites on the Internet continue to grab more audience, leaving scraps for the rest of us.

To complicate matters - the trend to mobile apps has caused an overall decrease in Internet use – with mobile content predicted to double within a year. This results in a smaller piece of a smaller pie for entrepreneurs just entering the Internet with e-commerce strategies – and dreams of working from home instead of fighting rush hour traffic to and from work.

I suspect an alarming number of Mom and Pop shops will – go under or at least by the wayside on the Internet – in as little as one to two years down the road – if they don’t transition with the industry. Let’s be honest here – how many of you understand how to market on Facebook or Twitter, or use any number of hundreds of social media platforms to advance your business – while the future of your business rides on the fence. Your competition isn’t sitting back waiting for you to fail – they’re accelerating the process by incorporating Internet strategies that work TODAY – pushing you further back in organic SERPS (search engine results pages).

My recommendation – follow the guidelines that the major search engines put out there – so you can succeed. Do split testing to determine what works from what doesn’t work, then repeat what works over and over and over. Be open to change.

One of my favorite quotes - “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” — by Aristotle, applies to business across the board. Typically, one or two individuals in an organization will be assigned to develop and follow up on Internet strategies, but I contend that each and every employee in businesses of every size, can add intrinsic value to their business (online). In a world that is trending toward peer-to-peer evaluation, each employee brings with them intellectual assets and their own sphere of influence. Encourage each of them to share what makes them special and your business special – on your corporate blog, industry forums, social media platforms – and the list goes on forever.

Ok, I admit that – I didn’t jump on the Twitter bandwagon right away. I didn’t perceive a great deal of value with a lot of tweets I read. Twitter has evolved though, and I now realize there are plenty of super ways to leverage Twitter to grow your business.

Brand awareness – is huge on Twitter. The key to branding is keeping your business in the public eye, using promotions to increase conversions for your products and services.

Engagement with your target audience – lends to a heightened perception of know, like and trust, a crucial element in the sale of ANYTHING. And you don’t have to be the originator – simply show an interest in their tweets by reposting them or commenting on them.

Listening to tweets can identify market trends – What are people interested in today – RIGHT NOW?

Gain a competitive advantage – by monitoring your competition’s tweets. Are they coming out with a new product or service? Or are they using Twitter in a way you haven’t thought of yet?

Reputation management – is another critical app for Twitter as it allows you to know what’s being said about your brand in real-time. Quite often, simply by responding that you’re working on an issue helps quell any negativity.

Directing tweets to landing pages – can help with conversions, especially if the offer is so compelling that your tweet gets reposted. A significant side effect would be higher ranking in SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) leading to increased organic conversions.

Participating in industry discussions – may help others perceive your business as EXPERTS in the field.

Set up your corporate blog – to feed Twitter your URLs automatically. WordPress plug-ins are great for this.

Don’t forget mobile apps – for people on the move. Twitter is ideal as a mobile communications tool.

Just issued a Press Release – and want to get your announcement out quickly? Spread the word by Tweeting it.