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Does Twitter Generate Traffic? |
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Click the image above
to see the results of
our test.
It's important to know whether or not the latest and greatest 'thing' is going to profitable for your business before you spend a lot of time and resources on it. I thought that it would be a good idea to test and track a Twitter strategy before investing a lot of time into the technology. To be honest with you I was shocked at the results.
How I tested it was very simple, instead of pasting direct links into Twitter I used my tracking program. Click the image to the right to see the results of this very small test.
Here's simple way to do your own test:
- Create your tracking link in your tracking program
- Paste your tracking link into a short URL generator (here's one: http://starturl.com/)
The click track for this would look like this: Twitter>Short URL>Tracking Program>Destination URL
People that are using Twitter are used to seeing shortened urls (due to character restraints) BUT they do not like to click on links where people are doing nothing but promoting their sites. Using the shortened URL masks where the user is going, thus making likelihood that the link will be clicked even greater.
Additionally, I could have received better results if I used some basic headline writing in the actual tweets, basic copywriting would have made my results even better!
Granted this is not a large scale test (it started February 10th) but it was never intended to be. The test had 389 clicks in total but they were the result of about 5 minutes worth of work, very good results in my opinion!
It's fair to assume that Twitter generates traffic when used properly!
If you notice, we put a "Follow Us on Twitter" module on the right as well. :-)
Please follow our Twitter updates and we will keep sharing the results of our tests with you: CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW
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Michigan Text Message Marketing Secrets |
 Have you noticed the usage of text messaging for marketing purposes lately?
A good example of this in action: the promos that Arby’s is using in the Metro-Detroit area. They promote Arby’s on the local Fox-Detroit affiliate during the Tigers game. Basically, they ask you to text a word to a number (text ‘Tigers’ to 12345), this helps them to track their ads. If someone texts “Tigers” for example, they know that the customer came from a Tigers broadcast. The great thing about this type of advertising is: you can instantly tell ‘what is profitable, and what isn’t’ (a strategy that we REALLY support).
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Your web site and the internet in general is an extension of your efforts to promote and brand yourself locally. Don’t look at your Internet marketing campaigns as being separate from local marketing efforts. It will connect your customers to your business and enhance it.
In case you haven’t checked, your local print advertising space and media time slots are very costly. If you are like the rest of us, you don’t have time to give complete descriptions of everything you do or every product that you decide to sell. However, if you can use that media to drive valuable traffic to your site, then you can provide your visitors with a wealth of information. When you have a professional designed site coupled with strong sales copy, you have a great chance at closing a sale. I know that it’s hard but, you need to think of your web site as your sales staff, who takes orders 24 hours a day…as well and working for nothing.
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 A lot of folks get into Internet marketing, and then after a while, think that certain aspects of running their business are logical and simple. Really? If it’s that easy, why didn’t we think of all the things that it took us months or even years to think of if everything is so darn easy? Here are a few things that people would assume are logical, I’ll show you how they are not so easy.
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Controversy Sells, Use It In Your Marketing |
You ever wonder why talk shows are so confrontational? It’s probably because no one wants to watch a show where everyone agrees with each other. In marketing you very quickly learn that people say one thing, but DO another.
People say they don’t like controversy but shows like: Dr. Phil, Judge Judy, The Hills and even the lame Brett Michaels career revival tour ‘Rock of Love’ are wildly popular.
Here’s a real world example for you on how much controversy sells.
Last week on ESPN’s Sports Center, Mel Kiper (ESPN’s veteran draft guru) and Todd McShay (new draft guru guy) were arguing about who the Detroit Lions should take with the number 1 pick in the NFL draft. McShay’s point was that the Lions should not take Matt Stafford as the number 1 pick because he doesn’t have the talent of a number 1 pick. Kiper’s point was that Detroit needs a quarterback and they should take Stafford.
The conversation deteriorated to the point where McShay told Kiper that his point was asinine (which it was, you take the most talented player on the board) and from there the whole show melted down.
The next time that Sports Center ran through they had edited out all of the controversy which was a big, BIG mistake. The argument was almost reaching critical mass on the local Sports Radio network. It got to the point that the local guys were polling listeners whether or not they agreed with McShay or Kiper. Everyone was waiting to see the argument when they reran Sports Center but they didn’t repeat it. However, by the end of the day the shirts at ESPN figured out that they were getting some buzz, so they reran the clip but by then it was too late. People are engaged in Sports Radio while they are at work, by the time ESPN decided to play the tape again it was too late.
Gene Simmons, the bassist for the rock band KISS famously observed that ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity’. It would serve ESPN well to learn the meaning of this phrase. They could have used these clips to drive traffic to their website and give their sponsors some exposure, but they blew it.
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Michigan Website Promotion
