Free Marketing Tip – Forward Web

3 Reasons Why Social Media Matters For Your Business

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Forward_Web

In today’s day and age, marketing your business on social media is imperative in order to succeed in this competitive market. A large percentage of marketers agree that social media is important for successful business growth but, if you are not sure why, keep reading because Forward Web shares 3 reasons why social medial matters for your business in this article!

Reason #1: Increased Traffic to Your Website

One of the greatest struggles for a digital marketer is getting people to your site and keeping them there. The advantage of using social media is that it has the benefit of directing people straight to your site. For instance, Forward Web writes blogs regularly which are then shared across a selection of social sites and all links lead back to our website. Each interaction pushes that content in front of more people and this results in more opportunities for people to find our website.

You too can accomplish the same results by implementing this process. A lot of the social profiles now have the option to adding a link back to your website too. For example, Facebook and Instagram now encourages this connection with the implementation of the call-to-action button that links people directly to your app or website. Bottom line, the goal is to increase traffic to your website.

Reason #2: Increase Your Brand’s Exposure And Authority

For people to be more aware of your company, it is important to have a strong social presence and to constantly be engaging. Social media makes it possible to demonstrate not only that you exist but also that your business is functional and responsive, with current, interesting and relevant things going on. A simple share or retweet from your followers can change the way the message is delivered. This helps increase your brand’s exposure and authority tremendously as it amplifies your message, thus exposing you to more people.

Reason #3: Social Media Provides An Avenue For Contact and Feedback

As a business, social media is a fantastic and effective avenue for contact and feedback, it really opens up some doors of opportunity that might not have otherwise been available. This is a real opportunity to not only understand your customers’ experiences and quickly respond to their concerns or complaints, but it also helps you understand how your business is perceived. This information is a essential to make any necessary adjustments for constant and regular growth.

One of the reasons why so many people rely on social media nowadays is because users know they will get a speedy response through social media. It is pretty standard for customers to expect a reply within an hour and with that in mind it is important to monitor your accounts regularly. Feedback is highly useful and welcomed (even if it’s not always what you want to hear). In fact, unhappy customers could be considered a great opportunity for improvement and growth, after all, wouldn’t you want to know if a customer is unhappy or if your business has a problem? Think about it, if you can turn an unhappy customer around, they will be completely satisfied with the experience and be more inclined to spread the word.

As you can see, social medial can play a major role in the success of your business. Not because it can be used to push your way to the top of the results page but because it allows you to engage with your audience and build strong, long-term relationships, listen and respond to trends and feedback, and make and share amazing content. It takes some patience but the process is well worth the investment because over time, your influence will increase as people will find value in what your business offers. Would you like more information on this topic? Contact Forward Web today!

3 Reasons Why Having Business Cards Matter

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Forward_Web

Technology is a big part of our every day lives and just about everything we do in business is digital; we sign contracts online, send countless emails back and forth, attend meetings and even our networking is now done digitally! But, even though our technology is constantly evolving, there is one thing that will not be replaced any time soon, the business card. In this article, Forward Web provides 3 reasons why having a business card matter:

Having a Business Card Shows You Are Prepared

Imagine this: you are having a great conversation with someone and they ask you for your business information but for one reason or another, you have no business cards with you. What do you do? Do you write your contact information on a napkin and hand it over to them? Or perhaps you suggest they save your information in their phone but their phone happens to be dead? Either way, none of those approaches are professional.

Instead, if can simply pull out a business card and hand it over to the person who wants to do business with you will demonstrate that you are prepared and a great indicator that you are professional. Ending conversations with “let me give you my business card” is still very effective.

A Professional Business Card Is The First Impression Of Your Brand

Anytime you make contact with someone, you want to make a great first impression (especially when they could potentially be a great prospect or connection). What better way to make a great impression than with a professional business card! A memorable business card does a lot more than just pass on an email address or phone number.

Investing in a professionally designed business card is extremely valuable. The last thing you want your new connection to do is associate your business brand with the word cheap. An professionally designed business card not only makes a great first impression but they can also serve as an effective icebreaker. Conversations don’t always have to end after handing over your card, in fact, oftentimes a unique business card will fuel a conversation even further!

Business Cards Are The Most Effective Direct Marketing Tool

When it comes to marketing tools, there are many options available; from email marketing to effective search engine optimization and paid media, they all do a fantastic job of attracting leads and prospects however, they will never be AS effective as an face to face meeting sealed with a handshake and a business card exchange.

You could potentially run into lead or prospect opportunities every time you walk through your front door. Whether your day consists of a going to a conference, an airport, lunch, doctor appointment, grocery store even happy hour, opportunities are all around you. For this reason, it is important to make sure you have business cards with you at all times to ensure you will never miss an opportunity to make a valuable connection.

Business cards are not outdated yet, and as you can see, there are many great reasons why you should invest in professionally designed business cards. True, it is an expense but it is an expense well worth investing in because the fact of the matter is that you can never have too many business cards and they are an fundamental part of your business! For more information or if you are interested in our professional and custom business card design service, make sure to contact Forward Web.

5 Steps for Avoiding Newsletter Related Abuse Complaints

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Forward_Web

As a small business owner, it is important to stay on top of new marketing strategies and by now, you’ve probably realized that online marketing is one of your best marketing tools available. If you have been doing your research about online marketing then you know that creating an email newsletter list is a fantastic marketing strategy. Although this is a very effective tool, there might be some challenges that arise from time to time and in this article, Forward Web provides us with this helpful guide of 5 steps for avoiding newsletter related abuse complaints.

One thing you should be aware of is the potential for getting email newsletters complaints (such as reports of spam and email abuse). If not handled properly, this could lead to some serious repercussions such a negative reputation for your business or even legal trouble for you and your business (in the worst of situations). However, there are steps that you can take to help avoid these types of situations and in turn, run a more effective and reputable newsletter. Take a look at the following 5 steps:

Step #1: Identify Yourself Clearly

To make sure your readers know exactly where their emails are coming from, use your company or website name ans the “sent from” name. Not only will this encourage the reader to open the email but it will eliminate any confusion. For example, some email newsletters add their first and last names or some other name in the “sent from” field, but this can oftentimes look and feel like spam mail to your readers (even if they recognize your website or company name but might not recognize your first and last name at all).

Step #2: Allow for Easy Unsubscribing

Even though this might seem counter-productive, it is important to give your subscribers the option to unsubscribe if they desire to do so. This is mainly to establish good rapport between your leads/clients and your company. From your subscriber’s perspective, it can be very frustrating to try to unsubscribe from a newsletter only to continue to receive these emails regularly therefore, avoid putting your subscribers through this by adding a simple “unsubscribe” link on the bottom of each email. If your subscribers have any difficulties with this process and they contact you because they are frustrated or upset, make sure to assist them. It is certainly better to help them unsubscribe and keep them happy than to deal with complaints about your newsletter or company later.

Step #3: Require a Double Opt-In Process

What is a double opt-in? This is the process where after the subscriber signs up through your website, they then receive an email confirming that subscription. Once the subscriber opens that email and goes to the link within, then the subscription is confirmed (otherwise, the person will not be added to the email list). This process gives the subscriber another opportunity to make sure they want to be a part of the list and also helps ensure that people do not enter other peoples’ email addresses in the field to sign them up.

Step #4: Send Quality Emails

I’m sure we have all signed up for some sort of email newsletter at some point and once we did regretted it because we thought they would be better than they actually turned out to be. That is a very negative experience. One which you don’t want your subscribers to experience. You don’t want them to be disappointed by your emails or even change their mind and assume that your company newsletters are spam. Putting effort in creating quality newsletters is therefore very important. Create a newsletter that is useful, helpful and interesting and avoid any overbearing sales verbiage. Your goal should be for your newsletter to be just that, a newsletter; one which readers can enjoy. Doing so will help ensure that your emails are well received and effective (and will prevent any issues for “spam” emails).

Step #5: Do NOT Spam Your Subscribers

People do not like spam. I don’t like it, I’m sure you don’t like it and frankly, I can’t think of a single person who does. With this in mind, let’s discuss frequency; the frequency with which you should send out your newsletters varies on a lot of factors but ultimately you shouldn’t be sending out newsletters more than once a day. In fact, many companies have found that once a week is more than enough. A great option is to allow your subscribers to choose the frequency of their newsletters. Allowing them to customize their subscription (whether they prefer to receive newsletters daily, weekly or monthly) is a good way to ensure they are satisfied.

Avoiding newsletter related abuse complaints is pretty simple if you follow these steps. Not only will you have less complaints to worry about but your newsletters will be much more effective and even enjoyed by your subscribers! At the end of the day, you want happy and satisfied subscribers. For more information and tips on creating effective newsletters or if you have any questions regarding any of our services, please feel free to contact Forward Web.

Free Marketing Tip By Forward Web (Marketing and Promotion)

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Forward_Web

Forward Web cares about the success of your business. Having an audience to market your services through is going to be vital to the success or survival of your business. With that being said, if your business does not have at least 3 channels you are marketing your services through (Google, Youtube, Grassroots..ect), you are not doing the basic requirement needed to succeed as a business. Notice the word basic, as you should not stop at 3 channels, while still keeping a focus on quality vs quantity.

Happy Web Surfing 🙂