Online commerce is becoming a bigger and bigger piece of the pie for retailers of all sizes. A recent survey of Chief Financial Officers at retailers across the country by the professional services firm BDO USA, found nearly three-quarters expect e-commerce sales to increase by 6.9% this year. If you’re a small business retailer, are [...]
Let’s face it: when it comes to online marketing, it’s not always easy to pick the right tools for your retail business. Whether it’s keeping up with the hottest social media sites or up-and-coming trends like mobile marketing or local deals—it’s hard to figure out what you should or should not be using to get [...]
No, I’m not kidding … socks can teach you a valuable lesson for getting more fans on Facebook. That’s what Deena Breed, Owner of Orange Cycle, found out when she ran a social campaign for her family-owned bike shop using Social Campaigns from Constant Contact. For one week at the end of July, she offered [...]
Have you heard about Instagram? Instagram is a wildly popular photo-sharing app that lets average people turn everyday pictures into works of art. With just a few touches on a smartphone screen, users can: snap a photo, apply a digital filter and border, enhance the image quality, and share it across their social networks. Instagram [...]
People do not love being sold to. Whether it’s hanging up on a telemarketer, slamming the door on a salesman, or driving their car until the wheels fall off in an effort to avoid the sales pitch at the car lot—most people don’t respond well to sell, sell, sell. But there are things they do [...]
What a difference a year makes! According to Kate Swanson, customer relations manager of Art Impressions Inc., 2011 was a lackluster year of marketing for the family-owned company that has been designing, manufacturing, and selling handcrafted rubber stamps to craft stores and individuals for the past 25 years. “We were one of the businesses that [...]
For some people, marketing is an art form. They don’t just create newsletters or Facebook pages, they design them. They use their knack for style or fashion to reach new customers and promote their brand. Hillary Tattersall, the woman behind Chick’s Picks by Hillary, in Sterling, VA, is one of those people. “I’m a consultant [...]
Yeah, yeah, you’ve heard it all. You know you’re supposed to pin your posts on Facebook. You even know all of the ins and outs of Timeline. Heck, you may even know how to run a social campaign to boost sales. That’s good – as small businesses get familiar with Facebook marketing, the innovation starts [...]
Grant Cloud had been looking for any new way to advertise his business for the past few years. Getting the word out about his pottery store, Cloud’s Porcelain, isn’t easy. The Folsom, Calif., location isn’t a place that people pass every day, which means that word-of-mouth is crucial to growth. Grant has relied primarily on [...]
Have you been struggling to build up your email subscribers with Facebook? You’re not alone. As we’ve said before, Facebook is like a customer concert – and emails are the backstage passes. It’s important to find a way to encourage fans to sign up for your email list, but thinking of ways to do it [...]