Category: Marketing & PR (Page 3 of 9)

by Steve Hans

I think its interesting that a lot of startup CEO’s think they need a tagline. I guess having a tagline makes startups feel like they have something “official” that defines their brand. In my experience, the time spent creating a tagline could be spent much more effectively developing more important pieces of the branding and marketing plan.

I’ll bet most people can only remember a handful of taglines, at most, despite millions of dollars of marketing exposure in many cases. In my view, taglines are a legacy of the television-advertising era. “Just Do It” is probably the most memorable tagline in history and it is only relevant because Nike spent hundreds of millions on TV ads that gave it meaning.

When it comes to successful startups, I can think of very few that have had lasting taglines. Go to the homepages of Google, Amazon, Ebay and Facebook and let me know how many taglines you see. Read More...

by Suzen Pettit at Omaginarium

My goal over the next 3 months is to quadruple the traffic to my website and blog to and to grow my list to at least 8,000 strong subscribers. Read More...

by Suzen Pettit at Omaginarium

An old wise man once said: Read More...

This is an excellent video on optimizing Adwords using Google Analytics. Anyone with a website business should know this!

In this tough economy when many advertisers are cutting their online ad budgets, it’s important for all of us to review optimization tactics. What do you do when you start or are handed an AdWords account? Here’s an optimization “how-to” primer for you all.

We’ve been exploring all sorts of ways to get our apps on as many iPhones and iPads as possible.

One good platform we found is App-o-Day.   Their model is to offer their users a free app every day.  They do this through their own app, which features a single free app each day.

This will only work if you can make your app free for a few days and then turn it back to paid.  The result is a huge number of downloads in a single day. Read More...

Karen Milde, CEO and Co-Founder, Reframe Marketing Inc.

When naming your company there are a number of things to consider. A name too common and it will be disregarded without a second thought, too original and abstract and the function of the company may be missed. This can be an overwhelming task, as a name is capable of making or breaking a company. Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.

Firstly, what do you want the name to say about the company? It needs to be memorable and descriptive, encapsulating your vision and drive. This name has to separate your company from the competition, and be big enough to grow into. This means avoiding common words, taken names, abbreviations, or including geographical names. These can be hindrances in growing and differentiating your company by making it less than memorable, or attached to a certain area. You can be certain to not do these things by checking the trademark on a name before settling on it, or simply searching for a certain name online. If no results come up, you’ve got a winner. Read More...

With each day comes new emails marketing random products from floor rugs to prescriptions to spa services 1.) it’s overwhelming. 2.) It’s frustrating. Society has gotten to the point where these generic messages go to a junk folder that you don’t ever look at. As a small business, are you wasting your time, energy and resources for nothing? Can you get ROI out of your email campaigns or should you skip this form of advertising all together?

Absolutely invest the time and energy into email marketing right along with direct, social and mobile. Your return on investment relies on your marketing campaign and your brand identity depends on it.

So, what do you do to retain current customers and generate new leads without being a pain? The new year is a great time to take steps to realign company priorities. Read More...

by Lyne Noella, CEO, WavePlay

If you are a CEO managing your startup day to day, it’s time to stop putting out fires or jumping from one perceived opportunity to the next without results. To get organized and grow your business in 2013, create a strategic marketing plan to focus your team on gaining traction and attracting investors. Read More...

by Lyne Noella, CEO, WavePlay

For a startup, as well as an established business, sharing a compelling story is the fastest way to secure funding and attract customers. There are several reasons why storytelling delivers a tremendous advantage. Competition for funding, media attention, partners and customers is fierce–storytelling can help you get noticed and gain visibility. When competitors are offering comparable products and services, the key perceivable difference often comes down to branding, and storytelling is an excellent tool for expressing your brand. Read More...

Karen Milde, CEO and Co-Founder, Reframe Marketing Inc.

It’s not uncommon for me to see Founders wearing multiple hats, particularly the sales and marketing hat. A typical situation they would tell me is that they just burned through  a 6 figure marketing budget and need help with fixing their marketing, but now have limited access to funds.

What surprises me is when they tell me they burned through their funds via a bunch of online marketing campaigns and justified the amount spent by saying they needed to stay ahead of the competition and to acquire more customers. I find that Founders sometimes get so caught up with the idea that the more they spend the more customers they will gain that they lose sight of what marketing is all about and that is when marketing mistakes happen.

Some common mistakes I have come across in my experience working with startups: Read More...