Category Archives: PR Marketing Strategies

Keywords. Why they are important for web marketing.

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Optimizing a web site is not for amateurs. If you are not versed in how SEO’s view keywords in a web site, then it is time to call a professional web marketing company, like Carson Marketing, Inc.

Web site optimization is an art. It requires careful research and placement as well asweb site marketing, keywords modification to a web site in order to accomplish your goal…get a #1 ranking on Google, or Yahoo. For over the past 8 years, many web-marketing companies have emerged because optimization has become big business. It is not a hobby that you can do on the side. If you treat this form of business as a part-time activity with your company’s web site, or you pr clients web site, then expect little return.

I’ll explain a few inside tricks to getting a top ranking.

If you do nothing else, at least implement these simple tips.

First, you need to select the best keywords that describe your company and your web site. For example, if you are in the weight loss industry, you need to search for keywords that will generate traffic to your web site. Most commonly used term would be “weight loss”. Although this is the most popular term, you should not use it. Why? Because you will be competing with over 66 million other web sites (web pages). That means it may take a couple of years before you even get to be on page 20.

It is important to analyze terms that people will type, but select terms that are not the highest searched. Such as “weight loss story” is a good example. This still has the words weight loss, but now you narrowed the field and it will give you a better opportunity to build ranking.

There are several search tools that will help you find keywords and their popularity. You need to know how to interpret the data in order to make it work for you. A few good resources for keywords are: www.goodkeywords.com, www.overture.com, www.wordtracker.com. Remember, these are only one of the many tools you need, so use them wisely. Having other web marketing knowledge to make your site increase traffic and ranking would be helpful.

Second, research the competition that has the highest ranking/position. View their source code to see what keywords are used. Then look at how and if they use the correct header tags as well as title tags. If this is all sounding confusing, that’s because web marketing isn’t a part-time job.

Third, check to see if they underlined any keywords, or made them bold. The text in your web site is very important and needs to reflect what is in your source codes.

Last (at least for this part of the topic), check for images. How are they positioned, how are they titled, and if correctly tagged and placed in the keyword.

It would take a hundred pages to explain this subject in more detailed. What I am trying to do here is give you a better understanding of what web marketing is all about. Now the challenge is up to you. If you are ready for a web-marketing program and cannot do this yourself, call Carson Marketing Inc. We’ll make things happen!

Core Branding with PR Marketing Strategies

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Few CEO’s, and presidents will admit that they get sidetracked when growing their company. This can cause negative branding as well as losses. Usually a weak pr marketing strategy or none is in place when this happens.

What is the answer? Keep the focus on your core products and services that are offered. As companies grow, they tend to diverse into other areas to expand their market reachPR Marketing Strategy or to increase profits. What happens typically, a company will either purchase smaller competitors or find “similar” products to market. If the strategy is to become more diversified within the company, then the direction the CEO and president had initially intended to grow the company, soon gets lost.

Having a strong pr marketing strategy is important. Connected with any pr marketing strategy is the branding of your company and/or the products you offer. A recent article in Brandweek illustrates this topic that discusses how Heinz made a turnaround to become more profitable. A man named Nelson Peltz had to re-direct the companies products and begin to focus on those that were the core to the company’s future. By increasing spending on marketing the company will gain the awareness to have a successful pr marketing strategy tied into higher profit core products. Peltz is known for his turnaround at Snapple, so he is both liked and hated by various leaders in the industry because he strategizes for what makes a company survive rather than be an executive with blinders.

We are in an age of branding. It is now more important to understand how to create a branding campaign along with a strong pr marketing strategy. Together these can be powerful when implemented correctly. If you need to increase your brand identity, then start now, not later. If you need help, give George Carson a call at Carson Marketing, Inc. You will be pleased with the results when you become one of his clients.

Publicity Strategy, or Real Marketing?

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Another “Publicity is Everywhere Series”

Starting a new business can be difficult and sometimes very challenging when you are in a “me-too” industry. What if you started a unique business and got a lot of free publicity. Was the business started because of a need, or because it could generate a lot of publicity? Let memarketing and publicity strategy tell you about a story that appeared in a recent issue of Inc magazine. Then you decide if it was a pr marketing strategy or a campaign for a business really needed.

The company is called SpotScout. What makes this business unique..it is an online company that helps find “Parking spots for drivers”. Yes, the company makes available what parking garages, private spaces, and on-street parking spots are available. The company, SpotScout focuses his business in congested markets such as New York City, Boston and San Francisco.

Publicity Strategy or Marketing?
Is this for real? According to the many agreements the company has, which is over a few hundred arrangements with commercial garages and even private spaces advertised by people offering their driveways or garage, it seems so. Now what do you think, is this a publicity stunt to draw attention to a possible new business venture, or someone wanting and finding a solution to congested parking?

No matter your thoughts, it is an excellent pr marketing strategy that is getting a lot of publicity. The company has been mentioned in publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Financial Times among many others.

Who knows, it may not be long before you start seeing signs above people’s cars when parked that read “Parking Spot For Sale/lease”. Do you get the feeling that our major cities are becoming so overcrowded that we are now looking to sell our parking spot? Maybe it is time to consider moving to the suburbs and take a train, or bus to get around in the metro cities.

How to Retain Customers and Increase Business

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Publicity is Everywhere Series- “Follow-ups”

Almost all companies, including PR Clients, advertising agencies and  major manufacturers do not make follow-up calls to exisitng customers. Why? Because sales people are too busyincrease business making calls to “potential”, or new customers. Usually it is considered a sure account when a customer is already buying from your company.

That type of thinking is what causes PR Clients to fall and loose profits. Stop for a minute and think about that. If you, as a pr client, or any company has the sales team always calling “new and potential” customers, who are they calling? It is your competitors customers, right? Well, then wouldn’t you think they (competitors) are calling YOUR customers as well! Why not have your sales team use some pr marketing strategies and other publicity tactics that are a sure fire winner. One of those tactics is called “follow-up calls”. Simple, isn’t it? Consider yourself being the customer. Or better yet, isn’t it great when a vendor calls just to see if everything they are doing is working for you.

Makes you feel good about them because they took the time to be interested in your company. This simple form of publicity can gain you favorable and positive rewards with clients. We try to remind our pr clients that they can increase sales by staying in close communication with existing customers. Why wait until you get a letter of cancelation from them to make a call. Or find out later that your competitor is gaining a tight relationship with the new buyer.

If you don’t believe me, then go to an expert in the communication field who speaks of this exact topic. His name is Ari Galper. His company is called Unlock The Game. Ari has many different topics to help companies look beyond their traditional work habits and change their thinking to be more proactive.

After you listen to a few of his topics, then give us a call. We can then help you with the marketing, publicity and promotional programs to make great things happen for your company.

How To Get Listed In Fortune Magazine’s 500 Issue

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To get into this elite club you need to earn a gross of at least $14 billion. Just ask Nike, who this year is rated number 499 with a total revenue of $14,954,000,000 (that’s billion dollars).

Ok, so it might not be in your near future to be on the list, but if you don’t set a goal that is at least attainable, then you are doing business for nothing. So how do you reach those goals? Set some pr marketing strategies that the top executives in your company will all agree on and create a plan. Not just any plan. It should be a marketing plan that includes the marketing strategies, publicity and how you intend to develop your company’s branding.

Hey, if you don’t include branding into your marketing strategy, then your efforts are for what? You need a focus. Oh, you think that increase sales is your marketing goal, right? Ok, that’s part of it. But you cannot sell products alone. No matter how much better or improved your product is than the competition, branding will outsell and outlast all products.

To help illustrate my point, Fortune magazine commented that this years issue people thought the “high tech” companies would be at the top of the list. Well to those people…surprise! It was again the big corps, with Wal-Mart as #1 ($351+ billion), Exxon Mobil #2, BP (Arco gas) #3, General Motors #4, Toyota, then Chevron and the list goes on. No high tech company appears until HP  which placed #33. Microsoft was #140 with $44+ billion in revenue. This is “BRANDING”. These names are all well known. Even Nike which placed #499 has a strong branding campaign. It took years to build these. So don’t think a one-time campaign will establish your brand.

To start a branding campaign, a pr marketing strategy needs to be implemented. Along with an aggressive publicity campaign. Whether you are a local Orange County company, or a national or worldwide company, all PR Clients need to continue with their marketing campaigns to become successful.

If you have a limited budget, then get “street smart”. This is what we do for our clients. We develop programs, campaigns that will focus on the PR Clients core business. Many times companies will loose sight of their core business and then failure kicks in. To stop this from happening, you need to identify your position in your industry. Know your competitors strengths and weaknesses. Develop your product or service to meet customers demands and start a marketing strategy that communicates these benefits/features you offer. The way to capture more market share is to take it from your competitor. If they are on the Fortune 500 list, then it is easier, because as a smaller company you should be more flexible and quicker that they are.

If you want to discuss more about this pr marketing strategy, give us a call. We can make “great” things happen for your company.

How to Create a Superbrand

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Unless you have the time and the millions of dollars to spend, it is not overnight success that builds a brand to become a superbrand. When you hear or see the logos for Starbuck’s, and companies like Google, or exotic cars like Lamborghini you immediately have an image in your mind. So how didSuperbrands these names get so big in recognition? Like I said, it wasn’t overnight. These PR Clients built their names over time. Each of them started out with small pr marketing strategy and publicity campaign. As the companies grew, they created identity campaigns, targeting their specific audiences.

Different methods of advertising and marketing are applied to become a superbrand. This can include local publicity, direct mailers, Internet marketing through YouTube, social networks, even word-of-mouth. All of these pr marketing strategies will work, but only few names become “super”. Just like an athlete, or a rock star, you may have heard of them, but only a few standout when you think of a sport, or a rock band.

Brandweek magazine publishes yearly the Superbrands issue. This year one article discusses what makes a brand super. The writer says Brandweek uses a score method to decide which are superbrands. The scoring is based on comparisons. Although a complex method is used, some of the stats used are the amounts of money each spends on advertising and marketing. This in turn creates awareness and builds an identity. The writer also explains that doing this is why you say to yourself, “I really shouldn’t be spending $4 on coffee, but…”or “I know the Dell notebook is $500 cheaper, but…” These examples tell us that when you say this to yourself, you then have identified a superbrand. When a PR Client reaches this status, it then requires a lot to maintain that position.

Branding sells more than the name but a lifestyle. It is how we want to be perceived by our peers. If you drive a BMW or a VW bug, those around you perceive you differently. This applies to how and what you wear. Fashion has been how we brand ourselves. It is through the “branded names” we buy that helps us to become a specific brand in the minds of those who sees us.

When you want to build a brand, then you need a plan. PR Clients who become successful start with a pr marketing strategy. This marketing plan is the roadmap that will get your name to become super. Oh, one more thing, you need a budget to get there. So be prepared before planning your company’s future.

PR Marketing Strategy– New or Old Idea?

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I saw an article in Brandweek, as well as in other major newspapers that pitched the greatness of Chrysler offering “Lifetime” warranty for their power train to their vehicles. This sounds great, doesn’t it? Or is this a PR Marketing Strategy or a PR Promotion so that the lagging manufacturer can show consumers they are building better cars than their competitors. Well, one thing for sure, why now after all these years and overnight, can a manufacturer offer such great products?

Actually it has been going on for years. This marketing campaign and ad campaign for this PR Client isn’t new in the auto industry. Several years ago, about 17, Ford Motor Company had a similar campaign. They would give a lifetime warranty to any part that was installed in your car. This was not with the new cars, it was for any used Ford vehicle you had a part repaired. For example, if you owned a 1968 Mustang, and the alternator had to be replaced, the dealer/manufacturer would install another one with a lifetime warranty for as long as YOU owned the car. If you had the car for 20 years and it went bad again, it would be replaced for free. The problem was that FordPR Marketing Strategy never did any serious marketing with this great concept. Then one day we were called. Our agency was chosen at that time to develop the creative and publicity for this division. We won the campaign against many of the nationally known agencies. After finalizing the TV and print campaign, we received the bad news.

After a few years of the division being quiet about this concept, Ford canceled the entire PR Marketing Strategyprogram. I wonder if those people who had bought parts during that time are still covered?

So did Chrysler come up with a brilliant idea? Maybe not, but at least they are trying to get the word out. It might not bring thousands of people to the showrooms, but it will build a better brand loyalty and brand awareness to the name. Creating a brand is one thing, keeping that brand awareness is an on-going task. You should never feel that your marketing campaign is safe without any branding included. Keep your company’s brand awareness high with a smart PR Marketing Campaign.

Internet Marketing Tips

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If you already have a well designed web site and structure but the site still doesn’t get a lot of traffic, you probably have not optimized the site and ignored doing any web marketing. The word “optimize” is so overused that most companies ignore it when heard. Why? Probably due to the fact it has become a catch-all term for SEO’s and web marketers. Let’s clear this up. Optimization is when a site has keyword density and the words and key phrases are optimized by the placement in your text. Using the correct Meta Tags is another part to successful optimizing.

Now let’s discuss a few tips on Internet marketing. This should be included in your pr marketing strategy campaign. First you should establish links to your web site. One term that is used to describe this process is link popularity. This means the number of web sites that currently link to your site. The key secret here is to have as many inbound links asInternet Marketing possible. But there is a risk. Do not have links from web sites not related to your industry. Some companies will sell you a web marketing campaign that gets you 1,000 or 5,000 inbound links. If these links are from bogus sites, mirror sites, or unrelated industry sites, then the search engines will just drop you to the bottom of the list.

Quality inbound links is needed, not just quantity. Several methods can be used to create inbound links. If you have a web master or an in-house web marketer, have them contact companies in your industry or related industries and ask to have a link placed on their site. You would also offer a reciprocal link to theirs. Create a site map, or a “links page” to place the other web sites.

Another tip is to have your publicity agency, or in-house pr director write articles and press releases that are distributed to the on-line media. Be sure that you “optimize” your press release and articles. This will add to the higher rankings.

One more tip, get a blog site. This is another excellent way to create links and build traffic to the main site. The blog needs to have all the RSS feeds in order to get noticed and create traffic.

Ok, I’ve given you a few tips on how to build quality traffic using Internet Marketing tips. This pr marketing strategy should help get your web site to the level you want. If you need further assistance, then give us a call. We have the expertise to “make things happen”.

Email. How to make your message user-friendly.

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We all get dozens, if not hundreds of email each week. How do you sort through all that”Stuff”? Which ones are important? How do you know if the new email you received is what you want to open?email make them user-friendly

By using some pr marketing strategies in your email campaign will help answer some of these questions. Think for a minute. If these types of questions are asked by you about emails you receive, then consider the person(s), or companies that you send emails to. They are also concerned about which email is the one to open, and which one is a spammer or junk mail.

I saw an article that I would like to share with you. Jonathan Henke, Lyris’ new Usability Engineer, had these tips to help pr marketing companies and pr clients get more user-friendly with email. Some of his twelve tips included:

  • OPT-IN email lists are best when you use a “hello” message to confirm people’s membership.
  • Send your regular emails from the same address every-time. Remember, when people signed up to receive your newsletter, or other messages, they can then add your address to their “Safe” list, assuring it is received.
  • Use an Informative FROM name and SUBJECT Line.Users will decide which email to open based on these two important areas.
  • Limit SUBJECT lines to 50-60 characters. Make sure your important information is in the first six to eight words.

Check out his other informative tips. When you better understand email and its powerful ability to communicate, then your pr marketing campaign will be much more successful. If you have a publicity project, or marketing campaign you would like to be reviewed before implementing, give us a call. We’ll make sure your on the right track.

PR Marketing Strategies. Learn How To Use MySpace Correctly.

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Today’s topic follows yesterdays with a little more input on reaching this social network.

Listen up pr clients and all of those public relations agencies who think it is still a fad that is going to disappear, social media is stronger than ever, and it’s growing. Until another type of media in cyberspace is developed, social media should be part of your public relations services. If your pr agency cannot provide this service, then go outside and hire a company that can. All pr strategies must now include some type of social media in their overall publicity campaigns.We all know and have heard good and bad things about MySpace. But what a publicity agency needs to do for their pr clients, is to better understand this type of media in order to gain favorable publicity for clients.

Let’s look at how to use social media correctly. For example, a BusinessWeek article by Kerry Miller asked several experts what they think are tips for social media, specifically MySpace. I like to refer to these as rules. The author lists them as 8 tips. Here are a few:

  • Forget the Hard Sell. This means it is time to give than receive. Offer the visitors, and viewers of MySpace something. Whether it is a receipe, a newsletter but give them something, don’t do the hard sell.
  • Focus on Quality Over Quantity. One of the experts, named Key, says to provide useful information to the community, that will develop into friends, which will give you better publicity.
  • Think Long Term. Just like any other pr marketing plan, or publicity event, you need to think in long terms, not immediate.Too many pr clients want “instant” ROI’s, and forget this is a network of people. You need to “give them something” in order to build a relationship. That takes time.

As I have said before, you need to plan this type of publicity activity. It should be part of your overall pr marketing strategy, not a one-shot approach.