​I will start by stating the obvious. Most of us if not all of us buy goods and services online. How we make buying decisions is not that different from the offline, storefront world, with a few exceptions. For example, if I see a colourful poster in the store window with a James Bond looking guy in a cool leather jacket, I may contemplate buying that jacket right before I actually step in to the store, locate the jacket on the rack, and look at the price tag. Hmm... 

Now, online, when you search for something, and see relevant ads, note, "relevant", you may start thinking about a product or service, including it's benefits and price. Oh, wait, you are also capable of getting all the necessary information to support you buying decision, including pricing, specifications, user reviews, etc., at your own pace without being attacked by an army of sales folks (no pun intended, my dear sales folks) at the store. In addition, as you navigate away from the original search results, smart folks at Google and smart advertisers get busy with "remarketing". Basically, the product or service ads follow you from that point forward reminding that you were interested in a product or service, probably liked it, though something may have been missing since you have not yet made a decision to purchase.

Last Sunday, I had a great discussion with a good friend David as he showed me his brand new wallet. The wallet was somewhat unique. It had a very slim profile, however, somehow fit a significant number of cards, bills and also change spotting an invisible change pocket. The leather was also high quality and soft to the touch, and according to David, it come with RFID protection, protecting your cards from being scanned and "copied" by criminals. Cool, right? 

David instantly asked me to guess the price, and based on quality and features, I guessed between $250-$300. In reality, he paid slightly over $100 online, and considered it to be a great deal given how functional the wallet was.

Since I knew that he bought it online, my inner marketer asked David to describe the purchase process, and he was more than happy to oblige. Originally, he started looking for a new wallet about 3-4 months ago. Having searched online, he noticed a few ads corresponding to this one particular brand, and, decided to go and check out more options at the store. On top of it, he was getting ready to go on a business trip to Europe, and was convinced that he will find a great wallet along the way. As you've already guessed, he did not find what he was looking for during the trip. In the meantime, he forgot the brand that he noticed and liked online, and searched again using similar, but not the same keywords, and bingo, the ad from the same brand was right in front of him. It only took a few minutes to complete the purchase.

What we learned is that this particular brand was knowledgeable and sharp when it came to online advertising, especially understanding what works and what does not. If you are currently advertising online and don't see the results you've expected, push your folks or the agency harder. Ask the right questions prior to burying the project in disappointment. For example, have they implemented remarketing, if yes, ask for the remarketing performance reports. Ask if they A/B test the landing pages and split test the ads. If the answer is yes, ask for performance reports. This way, you'll understand your online customers much better without any additional investment, and will be able to tailor your products and services in the way that allows you to grow. Analytics is key, and getting your hands on the right data at the right time is truly priceless.

Remember, most online advertising campaigns are either poorly managed, or not managed at all. Make sure that you always select the right staff, agency or partner to support your online success.

While the video is from 2011, it resonates very well with today's reality. 

Everyone has an opinion, and they sure express it on variety of social platforms. The term "Social Marketing" is still confusing to many, including both business owners and marketing professionals. It seems it's buried deeply within Marketing departments, and no one, not even marketing leaders speak of it loudly. Perhaps they fear the unknown or perhaps it's simply not something that they believe in. In any event, Social Marketing is crucially important to the success of your business. Even though you are very busy growing your sales, Social Marketing is not something to take lightly.

In reality, it's all about time to market. When you have a kick-ass product or service, getting it to market quickly should be your number one priority. Remember, if you truly are proud of your product or service prior to hitting the market, most likely you are too late. Fortunately, if you master the Social Marketing, you can get your brand, product or service to market almost instantly. As a small or medium business, even if you compete with larger companies, you have  unfair advantages such as flexibility and speed. Use it before your competitors eat your lunch. 

A few tips to get you started, provided you have the time, and more importantly the desire to succeed. Since not all social platforms are beneficial to all business, testing is key. The more you test the more invaluable insight you will get, and the more successful you will become in your particular niche. Never settle, and always A/B test your posts, promotions, specials, etc. Find social media influencers and play nicely with them. More often than not, they will be nice back. Research, and hashtag your posts using your industry hashtags. This way, you'll have more chances for the word about your business being received by the right audience.

Since we've already determined that you are extremely busy, hire a professional to help you, or automate your processes as much as possible. When you are fast to market, and have a desire to succeed, with Social Marketing done right, sky is the limit. 

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This is one of the top questions we are asked, either on the sales call or during a casual conversation on the subject. Since we are "numbers" people, below are the reasons why online reviews are so important.

Online reviews:

• Influence page rank up to 10%
• Increase website visits 25%
• Showcase your success
• Gain trust of prospects
• Increase your revenue

Online reviews are more important than ever, and, it truly drive the decision to either buy from you or from your competitor.