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Food and Restaurant Trends to Watch From the Fancy Food Show

April 5th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

If you own a restaurant, specialty food business or even a grocery store, you’ll want to know about some of the food trends spotted at the Fancy Food Show earlier this year. PizzaMarketplace recently reported on some trends that small business owners can make their own:

Gluten-free foods: Gluten-free product offerings were plentiful at the show, and today’s gluten-free products taste better than those of years past. One reason gluten-free is a growth industry is that people with Celiac disease (an allergy to wheat-based products) have a lifelong reason to commit to a gluten-free diet, so this is a trend with staying power. Of course, plenty of other consumers are going gluten-free either to show support for family members who need to, or because they believe it helps with weight loss, bloating or other health and beauty issues.

Coconut: Coconut is a hot ingredient in all types of food (including on pizza!). Think of how you can use coconut milk in alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, in sauces and in desserts. Of course, traditional coconut also has a role in menu items.

Vegetable and fruit oils: Gourmet and flavored olive oils have shown their staying power and have even inspired olive-oil-only stores. Now, the passion for oils is expanding to include fruit and vegetable oils such as walnut oil, truffle oil, pumpkin seed, chili oil, cherry pit oil or tomato seed oil.

Beer as an ingredient: Craft beers are here to stay, and the latest iteration is using microbrews as ingredients in recipes. Beer Flats Crackers (in porter and pilsner flavors), beer candy and even beer jelly were spotted at the Fancy Food Show. In addition to prepared, packaged foods, restaurant owners can also feature meats cooked in beer, breads made with beer or beer-infused sauces. Of course, don’t forget to offer suggestions for pairing beers with foods on your menu or providing a beer tasting menu.

Salty and sweet combinations: Sea salt caramels, chocolate with bacon—salty-sweet combinations continue to be popular. Think about new ways you could mix salty and sweet flavors to break customers out of their familiar flavor combinations.

Image by Flickr user Sing Chan (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Marketing, restaurants, small business
Posted in Marketing, Small Business, small business | No Comments »

The Online Marketing Project: How to Improve Your Online Presence One Step at a Time – Part 3

April 4th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Online Marketing Project

In this four-part series on online marketing, I have taken inspiration from The Happiness Project. Instead of improving your life one month at a time, I am breaking down the essential pieces of marketing so you can stay organized and focused as you tackle each element.

You can read my first blog post on updating your website, putting together a mobile site, and listening to what people are saying online and my second, on putting together an editorial calendar, improving social media engagement, and blogging. Let’s move on to steps 7 – 9.

Step 7: Share Images and Videos

When you look at the rapid growth and success of YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, there is no doubt that people respond to and connect with images and videos.

Become a shutterbug – Get in the habit of taking photos during the day-to-day and of new products, employees, customers, and events. Share them on social media.
Have a goal for videos – Before you spend time on making a video, decide whether you’re making it to build awareness around your business, increase sales, or strengthen your brand. Once you have a goal in mind, your video will be more focused and relevant for your audience.
Hold contests – If you really want to engage your audience, hold a photo or video contest. Choose a theme and prize, and consider making the contest open to community voting to really up the social sharing quotient.
Use YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram – You can create your own channel on YouTube for videos, and, if you’re not using them yet, share your photos on Pinterest and Instagram to reach new audiences.

Step 8: Start a Monthly Newsletter

Because newsletters arrive via email and require the recipient to at least read the subject line, newsletters are a great way to reach your audience and stay top-of-mind with them.

Keep it focused – Skip the introduction, focus on one to three short and relevant articles, and put your best information at the very top.
Make it worthwhile –Include something special in each issue to reward your audience for reading it, whether it’s a coupon or early access to a new product or service.
Get creative with the subject line – As I mentioned above, your subject line can make or break how many people read your newsletter. Get creative to pull people in, whether it’s through humor or irreverence.
Include images – People are drawn to photos in newsletters, especially ones that include people, so try to include relevant images in each newsletter.

Step 9: Put Together an Ebook or SlideShare Presentation

Bundling blog posts on one topic into an ebook or SlideShare presentation is a smart strategy to employ, as it lets you reuse content you’ve already created. While your ebook is great to share with your audience, SlideShare comes with a built-in audience: It is the world’s largest content-sharing community for professionals, with 60 million visitors a month who view 3 billion slides.

Think like a children’s book author – Make it fun, visual, and interactive with videos, games, or surveys.
Use stories – Stories are highly engaging, and the more success stories you can weave in, the more you will position yourself as a go-to expert and problem solver.
Teach your readers – Add tips, tricks, helpful hints, or other actionable information to make your content more usable.
Focus each page/slide – Stick to one point per page to keep the layout clean and uncluttered.
Include a strong call-to-action – Tie it back to the subject of your ebook or SlideShare, and explain the benefit of working with you.
Add contact info – And not just a phone number! Include your website address, email address, and social media follow buttons.

Stay tuned for the fourth and final blog post in this series, where I’ll cover advertising, hosting an event, and content centers.

Of the above marketing steps, which do you find easy to do – and which do you find hardest?

Image by Flickr user Capt’ Gorgeous (Creative Commons)

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Tags: ebook, Marketing, newsletter, slideshare, visual content
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Mogreet Express (Text Messaging Platform)

April 2nd, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich

Mogreet Express

Mogreet Express is a self-service text messaging platform that gives small- and midsized businesses the power to initiate text message marketing campaigns and send multimedia messages (MMS)—all at their fingertips. MMS messages step up your mobile marketing game by creating visual customer interactions including video, pictures and audio. Text message marketing gives small businesses the highest open rate of all types of mobile marketing (98 percent), and Mogreet Express makes your messages more intriguing and therefore more memorable. Business owners are able to build a mobile customer database and drive sales with branded promotional offers.

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Tags: Marketing, mobile marketing, small business resources, Technology
Posted in Marketing, Resources, Small Business, small business, Technology | No Comments »

The Online Marketing Project: How to Improve Your Online Presence One Step At A Time – Part 2

April 2nd, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Online Marketing Project

When you think about online marketing, there are a lot of pieces to consider. To make your life easier, I have ripped a page from The Happiness Project and put together a one-step-at-a-time plan to improve your life.

In my first blog post, I covered Steps 1 – 3: updating your website, putting together a mobile site, and listening to what people are saying online. Let’s move on to steps 4 – 6.

Step 4: Put Together an Editorial Calendar

After looking at Google Analytics and listening to what your target market says, you know what topics to cover as you create content. Stay organized by putting them in an editorial calendar:

List topics – Start by narrowing down the topics to the ones that are most relevant to your expertise. Then brainstorm – what areas can you cover for each topic?
Choose content platforms – Decide what pieces of content go where. Blog posts are great for how-to’s and advice, which can then be shortened into newsletter articles. Quick tips, offers, updates, photos, event announcements, and company news are perfect for social media.
Decide on timing – Finally, decide how often you want to publish content. Blog posts work best when you publish at least once a week, but it’s perfectly fine to publish your newsletter monthly. When it comes to social media, though, you must be active on it every day, so plan your schedule accordingly.

Step 5: Improve Social Media Engagement

Because social media is constantly evolving, I think improving social media engagement is an ongoing goal for all of us small business owners. Here are 3 basic things we should always be doing, no matter what social media platform we’re using.

Find your audience – Research social media networks beyond the biggies – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+. Look at Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Viddy, and others to see if your target market uses them.
Learn what to share where – Because each social network is used differently, the information you share on each should be different. For instance, you could keep social messaging on Facebook and Google+ and social alerts on Twitter.
Respond – The best way to increase engagement on social media is to throw out questions to your audience and respond to their comments and questions.

Step 6: Start a Blog

Because search engines reward sites that are regularly updated with fresh content, starting a blog makes a lot of sense if you want to increase traffic to your site and improve search rankings. A blog will also boost your thought leadership and position you as an expert in your field.

Set up a blog schedule – In the previous blog post in this series, you learned how to set up an editorial calendar; time to add your blog to it. While blogging every day is ideal, it is not always realistic. Aim to publish one blog post a week on the same day at the same time so people will come to expect it.
Choose your topics – In the first blog post in this series, you learned how to listen to your target market. Since you know what topics they care about most, sit down and write out a month or two of blog post ideas at once to make the writing process go faster.
Make your content actionable – The most useful and shareable blog posts are the ones that teach your audience how to do something. Focus on making all of – or most of – your blog posts actionable.
Write clearly – No matter how much you know, focus on writing in a straightforward style that is easy to read and understand. Keep your content as concise as possible, and don’t repeat yourself.
Back up what you say – When possible, use examples, stories, and statistics to back up the point you are making.

Coming up next in Part 3, we’ll look at visual content, newsletters, ebooks, and SlideShare presentations. Since most of this post was on content marketing, what’s your biggest challenge when creating content?

Image by Flickr user kewl (Creative Commons)

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Tags: blogging, editorial calendar, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

The Online Marketing Project: How to Improve Your Online Presence One Step at a Time – Part 1

April 1st, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Online Marketing Project

If you’re familiar with the book (and blog) The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, the title of this blog post series might sound familiar. In the book, Rubin works on improving a different part of her life one month at a time and offers suggestions on how to do it yourself at the end.

The Happiness Project is the inspiration for this 4-part blog post series. Because it is so much easier to reach your goals in small, doable steps, I broke down the elements of what goes into a comprehensive online marketing strategy. I don’t know if it will make you happier, but my plan will certainly make online marketing easier to put your arms around. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Audit Your Website

Because the foundation of your online presence is your website, that’s where we’re starting:

Look at your Google Analytics data – What keywords are you being found for? Where is your traffic coming from? What pages are visitors spending time on?
Update your website – Add new information and remove anything that is outdated. Bulk up the pages visitors spend the most time on and remove any that get no traffic.
Proof your website – Check that all links work, spelling and grammar are correct, and the keywords you are being found for are being used throughout the site.
Optimize your website – Work with a search engine optimization expert (ask your web developer for recommendations) to ensure your site is properly optimized. Set up a maintenance schedule with the SEO person to make sure your site keeps up with changes in technology and search engine algorithms.

Step 2: Build a Mobile Site

Thanks to the increasing use of mobile devices to access and shop on the Internet, now is the time to put together a great mobile site:

Prioritize content – Because mobile sites have smaller screens, you want to add only the content that is most relevant to a mobile user, like hours of operation, location (with a map!), a brief overview of products and services, and contact info.
Streamline navigation – To cut down on scrolling or tapping, make sure the developer keeps navigation super simple.
Make contact info actionable – If you add an email address or phone number, a user should be able to tap on it and instantly connect with their email or phone functions.

Step 3: Start Listening

Now that your website and mobile sites are in good shape, time to find out what your customers and target market care about:

Set up Google Alerts – Find out what people are saying about your business, industry, products, and services by setting up Google Alerts using relevant keywords.
Follow trends on Twitter – If you are active on Twitter, trending topics are automatically customized for you based on who you follow. You can find them in the left-hand column.
Ask your customers – Sometimes the most obvious solution is the simplest. Ask your customers what they care about on Facebook or with a survey. To increase the amount of feedback you get, offer a freebie.

In my next post, we’ll look at editorial calendars, social media, and blogging, but til then, what aspect of marketing do you most want to improve?

Image by Flickr user fra-NCIS (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Marketing, mobile website, online marketing
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The Future of Online Retailing

April 1st, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

Spurred by the rapid adoption of mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, as well as by major retailers’ investment in their websites, ecommerce sales in the U.S. are projected to rise from $231 billion last year to $262 billion this year—an increase of 13 percent–according to the latest forecasts from market research firm Forrester. Three product categories account for one-third of that total: apparel and accessories, consumer electronics and computer hardware.

Ecommerce currently accounts for some 8 percent of overall U.S. retail sales (or 11 percent, if grocery sales are excluded). Growth in online retail sales is projected to outpace the growth of traditional retail sales in the next five years. By 2017, total ecommerce sales in the U.S. should hit $370 billion.

Forrester says the increased use of smartphones and tablets is a major factor powering ecommerce growth. With over 50 percent of U.S. online users owning smartphones, many smartphone owners use any spare moment to go online. As a result, people are spending more time overall online than they would if they had to go to their PC or laptop to shop—and that means more browsing, shopping and purchasing.

Another driver behind ecommerce growth is that major retailers are rapidly making investments in their ecommerce divisions in order to better integrate their in-store and online shopping experiences. Even customers who head to a brick-and-mortar store now often end up buying merchandise online within the store, or using smartphones to find the same products elsewhere and order them online.

Surprisingly, new shoppers coming online for the first time are not a major factor in the growth of ecommerce. Just 4 million people are projected to buy online for the first time this year. Instead, growth is coming because people who are already comfortable with online shopping are now spending more money online, ordering more often, and buying a wider range of products from a variety of sites. Forrester says online shoppers typically become comfortable with ecommerce by purchasing low-risk items such as downloadable music or movies. Only then do they move up to more expensive purchases such as appliances or home furnishings.

Forrester’s report has some more good news, not just for ecommerce vendors but also for the economy as a whole: Ecommerce companies are powering employment growth. Currently, Forrester says, U.S. ecommerce businesses employ over 400,000 people, and that figure is expected to hit 500,000 by 2017.

Image by Flickr user Mosman Council (Creative Commons)

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Tags: ecommerce, Marketing, online marketing, small business, Technology
Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business, Technology, Web Design | No Comments »

Are You Making the Wrong Offers on Social Media?

March 28th, 2013 :: Karen Axelton

By Karen Axelton

If you’re trying to grab fans and followers on social media just by offering discounts, deals and special offers, you might be making the wrong move, according to a study by mobile video advertising firm Rhythm NewMedia.

The study, which looked at how customers engaging with brands on mobile social media platforms, found that discounts and deals (although important) aren’t the only or even the biggest factor in whether customers like or follow companies. What mattered more was simply showing loyalty to the companies.

Rhythm found that while 51.9 percent of mobile social media users follow brands on Twitter to get discounts, 60.7 percent do so because they want to support the companies and show their loyalty. Similarly, 55.9 percent like brands on Facebook in order to get deals or discounts, 57.6 percent do so to show support for and loyalty to the businesses.

The study reports that customers are engaging with businesses on mobile social media in increasing numbers. Some 74 percent use Facebook on their mobile devices several times per day, and 68 percent engage with brands on Facebook on their mobile devices. A slightly smaller figure (63 percent) use Twitter on mobile devices multiple times per day, and 56 percent say they engage with businesses or brands via Twitter.

Brands are engaging, too, with about one-quarter (24 percent) of marketers in the study reporting that they have mobile social media campaigns. That’s an increase of more than 400 percent from a year before the study was conducted in late 2012.

Try these three tips to improve your engagement on mobile devices:

As you create your social media campaigns, think about how they will play out on mobile devices. That means keeping posts short and sweet, using images that display well on mobile devices, and thinking about the kinds of content users will want to see on the go.
If you use mobile advertising, consider putting social media buttons within the ad so that users can easily share, tweet or like it. The study reports that social media buttons in ads increased using engagement by 36 percent.
If your current social media campaigns are focused on discounts and deals, expand what you do to appeal to loyal customers. Consider spotlighting customers, encouraging them to share photos or make comments, or asking questions so users will feel like they’re part of your brand.

Image by Flickr user Beverly & Pack (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Marketing, small business, social media
Posted in Marketing, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media | 1 Comment »

What the New American Household Means to Your Business

March 27th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

How are the demographics of U.S. households changing—and what does it mean to your small business? SmartBlog on Leadership recently rounded up some data from the U.S. Census that paints a picture of the new makeup of the “average” American household. Here’s some of what they found:

Husband and Wife on the Decline: The traditional, husband-and-wife household is on the decline. In 2000, 51.7% of households were husband and wife; that went down to 48.4% in 2010. While the percentage decreased, the sheer number increased: In 2000, there were 54.5 million husband/wife households and in 2010, there were 56.5 million. One area where husband/wife households tend to dominate is near military bases.

While the percentage of husband/wife households shrank, the percentage and number of unmarried, opposite-sex partners rose from 4.8 million (4.6 percent of all households) in 2000 to 7.7 million (5.9 percent of all households) in 2010.

Non-family Households on the Rise: Correspondingly, the number of non-family households (people living together who are not related and not married) increased. As of 2010, 33.6% of U.S. households were identified as non-family.

Solo Households Increase: Most non-family households are made up of people living alone. The percentage of single-person households rose from 25.8 percent (27.2 million people) in 2000 to 26.7 percent (31.2 million people) in 2010. One-person households exist in all parts of the country—not just in the urban areas that you might expect. There are two key demographic segments that make up a large percentage of the one-person households, and they’re pretty much polar opposites. The first is young, well-educated singles who are starting their professional careers; they tend to live in large urban areas. The second is older retirees, who are frequently living in rented apartments or subsidized housing.

Multi-generational Households Surge: The percentage of multi-generational households (defined has having three or more generations of relatives living together) has also grown, from 3.7% of households in 2000 to 4.4% in 2010. This is partly due to economic hard times and the difficulty of finding affordable housing, but also due to the growth of the immigrant population. The Census Bureau says multi-generational households are most commonly found in areas with a lot of new immigrants or where a lot of children are born to single mothers. Hawaii, California and Texas have the highest percentage of multigenerational households, partly because these areas have a large immigrant and minority population.

What do these trends mean to your business? If your products or services, or the way you market them, are tailored to traditional, two-parent households, it may be time to shake things up—or get left behind as America’s average household continues to change.

Image by Flickr user Images of Money (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Generational Marketing, Marketing, small business
Posted in Generational Marketing, Marketing, Small Business, small business | No Comments »

Your Advanced Facebook Page Checklist: 14 Things You Might Not Be Doing

March 26th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

Just when I think I know all there is to know about Facebook, guess what? I learn something new – a new tip, trick, idea – that I then turn around and share with you.

Here are 14 new tidbits for you, only a few of which I already knew about, but all of which will improve your Facebook page:

General

Pick a vanity URL: If your Facebook page does not yet contain your company name in the URL, it’s easy to change that. Just go to your admin panel, click on edit page, click on update info, and change your username.
Use the tabs: Under your cover photo are tabs – photos, likes, about, etc. Create new ones (you can use Shortstack).
Create milestones: Use milestones to tell your company’s story – when you were founded, got your first customer, hired your first employee, etc. (you can add milestones from the top menu bar).

About

Link to website – In your About writeup, provide a link to your website right at the beginning.
Link to other social media accounts – Just because you’re on Facebook doesn’t mean you can’t add links to other social media channels you use.
Add a call-to-action – Include a call-to-action – give them a reason to interact on your page or visit your website.
Use keywords – Google and other search engines crawl Facebook during searches, so be sure you are using all relevant keywords in your description.

Photos

Focus on sharing photos – In case you missed it, Facebook is updating timelines to showcase visual content over text. Get in the habit of sharing photos and videos over words.
Relate your cover photo to your brand – Your cover photo can be anything, but for the biggest impact, make sure it’s somehow related to your brand.
Describe your cover photo – Because people can click on your cover photo, be sure to include a description, call to action, and link to your website.
Use your logo as profile photo – Use your logo as your profile photo, or get creative an use your logo on something – a bag, hat, etc. – instead.

Content

Share unique content – Be sure some of the content you share on Facebook is only available there, and not on your blog, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Allow fans to message you – Yes, fans can comment on your updates, but let them also send you direct messages. Just go to your admin panel, click on edit page, and click on manage permissions. Scroll down to “Messages” and check the box.

Did I miss anything that’s a little more advanced but also very important to do with your Facebook page?

Image courtesy of kgi.org

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Tags: Facebook, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 4 Comments »

Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Pinterest Web Analytics (Web Analyzer)

March 25th, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich

Pinterest Web Analytics

If you’ve been waiting to see if Pinterest would catch on in the social media world, you really shouldn’t wait any longer. Especially if your target audience is women. Women make up 80 percent of Pinterest users and since women make 85 percent of all consumer purchases, you don’t want to miss out on all these eyes seeing information about your business. Now, Pinterest is offering Web Analytics so you can measure how well your Pinterest business account is performing. Be sure to set up your Pinterest account as a business account and then sign up for Pinterest Web Analytics. You’ll find out how many people are pinning from your website, seeing your pins and clicking on your content. Plus, pick a specific timeframe to see how your numbers trend over time.

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Tags: Marketing, Pinterest, small business, social media, web analytics
Posted in Marketing, Resources, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media | 1 Comment »