You’re doing everything right to market and brand your business. Radio and TV ads? Check. Direct mail? Yes. A Web site? Naturally. Email marketing? Of course! But here’s something you may never have considered. Every time you send an email to your customers, there’s a big chance they have no clue who in the heck it’s coming from. Here’s why.

If your business sends bulk email or one-on-one correspondence from a generic email address such as info@abcfurniture.com or sales@abcfurniture.com, you’re alienating customers. Your customers may be asking themselves, “Who’s Info?” or “Can I call stop in and talk to Sales?” The digital divide caused by impersonal electronic mail is intensified when the sender is a nameless, faceless department.

Think of your email address as your digital John Hancock, a firm handshake through cyberspace. It should foster a sense of security and trust for your customer. You wouldn’t put ‘Info’ on your salesperson’s nametag, would you? Your email address shouldn’t leave your customers scratching their head

in bewilderment wondering who they’re actually communicating with at info@abcfurniture.com. The easiest way to assure your customer that a real, live person will read their message is to use real, live names on all email addresses.

If Larry is your Sales Manager, give Larry an email address such as larry@abcfurniture.com. Identify Larry as the Sales Manager on your Web site and provide his email address for all customer inquiries. And if you don’t want to overwhelm poor Larry, you can have messages sent to Larry’s address forwarded to several different email addresses to ensure that every customer receives a prompt and appropriate response. Brand loyalty and confidence will blossom in your customers when they know they can turn to real people for questions instead of an automated team of Info and Sales bots.

Beyond good customer service, there’s a law that regulates sender names. The CAN-SPAM Act, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, creates rules for all commercial and transactional emails. It gives recipients the right to opt out and request you stop sending them email. Even if you don’t participate in bulk email blasts, the CAN-SPAM Act covers all commercial messages, which are defined as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.” Even emails that promote content on your web site fall into this category of commercial emails and must comply with the rules established by the CAN-SPAM Act

Now, these rules aren’t harsh. They don’t ask you to disclose your date-of-birth, social security number or anything like that. In fact, most of us naturally adhere to CAN-SPAM guidelines by being truthful and conscientious senders. The rules simply state that all commercial emails must:

• Use truthful heading information. The “To,” “Reply-To,” and “From” lines must be accurate and identify the business sending the message.
• Use truthful subject lines. The subject line cannot be deceiving and it must mirror the content in the message.
• State your message is an advertisement. There is a lot of breathing room here for interpretation. But there must be no shadow of a doubt in the recipient’s mind that your email is an advertisement.
• Disclose your business’s physical address. Simply provide a valid postal address.
• Tell recipients how to stop receiving your email. If you’re sending bulk mail, be sure to visibly allow customers to ‘unsubscribe.’
• Quickly honor opt-out requests. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. Your opt-out mechanism must be in place for each message for 30 days after the message is sent.
• If you hire a third party for email marketing, monitor their activities. Both your company and the third party can be held responsible for not complying with the law.

If you don’t use email marketing, you may believe most of the aforementioned rules are not applicable to you—but keep this in mind: If a customer calls your store and Larry – or the unknown sales force behind sales@abcfurniture.com – follows up with an email promoting the store’s latest big bargains and sizzling savings, this email is considered a commercial email. However, if Larry follows up with an email discussing item dimensions or warranty information, this email would be considered a transactional email.

Emails are a fantastic way to brand your business and promote your store. Remind your customers that a real, living and breathing sales force stands ready to care for their needs by using staff names in email addresses and follow the CAN-SPAM Act to avoid penalties in your email marketing.

About Jeff:

Jeff Bennett is an Online Specialist for Imagine Retailer, the furniture industry’s only SaaS platform that fully integrates a website, an ecommerce shopping cart, email marketing, traditional marketing, blogging, analytics, and now craigslist in one simple yet powerful tool that gives you complete control of your online strategy. Call 800-549-9606 ext. 6, email jeff@imagineretailer.com or go to www.imagineretailer.com to see for yourself how everything we do is designed to help you sell more stuff, keep more customers and make more money.

“The more you show, the more you sell!”

78% of shoppers research their future purchase online. And—just like when they shop in your store!—if they find what they’re looking for in your online Product Catalog, they’re more likely to stay on your site longer and make a purchase, either from your store or ecommerce shopping cart.

The “Products” page on your Imagine Retailer website includes up to 1,000 products that you may choose, change and rearrange as you wish. Your job is to determine which products to feature. Here’s how:

• Choose from our ever-growing Master Product Catalog. In the furniture industry, our Master Product Catalog has nearly 30,000 items from 100 different manufacturers to instantly add to any website.
• Request a Custom Product. We’ll create a set number of products for you free of charge during the lifetime of your account, which is determined by the base price of your website. Creation of additional Custom Products is only $5 each. Contact your Online Specialist to learn more.
• Create a Custom Product yourself to showcase special buys, closeouts and one-of-a-kind items in your store. Upload your own photos, add descriptive text, dimensions and specifications. Custom products will only be shown on your website and are not included in the Master Product Catalog.

“Product Count” is the total number of products you’ve added to your website’s Product Catalog. You can add and remove products from your website’s Product Catalog at any time. And if you sell online or want to show more and sell more, you can easily increase your Product Count:

• Up to 200 products for an additional $50 per month
• Up to 500 products for an additional $100 per month
• Up to 1,000 products for an additional $200 per month
• Call for a quote for more than 1,000 products

So what are you waiting for? Use your Product Catalog to your advantage and sell, sell, sell!

This famous line from Field of Dreams might apply to baseball diamonds, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to websites. Your Imagine Retailer website has many built-in features that make it easy for your customers to come and find you when they surf the web, but there are other methods you should also use to increase your internet exposure.

These strategies are called Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and they move your website to the top of the list of search results and attract more people to your site. You can pay for SEO campaigns, just like you pay for advertising campaigns, but this series of articles will show you no-cost and low-cost ways you can maximize your website investment.

Tip # 1: Never Stop Talking

• Never stop talking about your website. Add your website address to EVERYTHING – business cards, store signs, delivery trucks, television ads, radio spots, flyers, direct mail pieces, newspaper advertisements, billboards and anything else you can think of. Need help with offline advertising and traditional media? Contact your Online Specialist, who has solutions for every event, every price point and every medium.
• Use your website domain in all your corporate email addresses to reiterate your website in every communication. FurnitureGuy@TeenyBopperEmail.com is amateur and unprofessional, but RealPerson@YourWebsiteAddress.com – now, that’s more like it. Branded email addresses are already included with your Imagine Retailer website. Contact your Online Specialist to request professional email addresses (we’ll even teach you how to use them).
• Tell every in-store customer about your website. Pass out candy or dollar bills as an incentive every time you hear an associate mention your website to a customer.
• Use your website as a selling tool on the sales floor. Put a netbook on the sales floor so your customers can interact with your site as they shop. Show them how to put their favorite catalog item on their Facebook wall, or email a picture to their spouse.
• Make sure your suppliers include a link to your site on their website’s store locater, too.

SEO strategies that increase website visitors are great, but at Imagine Retailer we never forget that your only goal (both in-store and online) is to sell more stuff. Constant repetition of your website address ensures that your name is ingrained in your customers’  mind when they shop and search from home in their pajamas.

Consider these facts for why Facebook is a great marketing platform:

• More than 400,000,000 people are active users
• 50% of active users log on to Facebook on any given day
• More than 35 million users update their status each day
• More than 60 million status updates are posted each day
• More than 3 billion photos are uploaded to the site each month
• More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) are shared each week

These figures alone demonstrate that millions of people turn to Facebook on a daily basis to keep in touch with the world around them.

Another great thing about Facebook is that it’s free.  I hear many retailers say they are currently spending around $25,000 a month to advertise in the print, radio, TV and online media.  But with Facebook, you can display your business’s vision, values, service standards and procedures to your customers at no charge.  It even allows you to add your company logo, upload video and audio content, and even post blogs to your account.  These are the exact same marketing strategies you’re probably spending a lot to implement.  Therefore, it makes sense to compliment your current strategy with a free marketing tool.

Just because you have a Facebook page, people will not automatically visit it.  Make people aware of your page and draw them to it.  Begin by inserting your Facebook logo on all of your current ads, brochures, emails and even business cards.  You’ll quickly notice an increase in your online ‘friends.’ Take the opportunity to utilize Facebook’s many features – mailing list, sharing videos, importing blog posts, listing events, conducting polls, starting conversations – to share your business’s goals with your new online friends.

Facebook has helped facilitate growth and proven to be a key marketing tool for numerous businesses.  Because of this, I’m confident Facebook will allow your company to reach a broad demographic that traditional marketing may have missed.

This article was authored by David Lively, a contributor for publications such as Western Retailer and Furniture World, for Imagine Retailer.

Great marketing is about how well you tell your story – regardless of the medium.

Here are proven marketing techniques to make your Facebook page a powerful piece of your marketing mix:

• Direct marketing is key: Facebook allows you to communicate to your entire fan base with a single post. Drive traffic to your page, announce events, or share news, design tips, or other customer friendly communication. But don’t overuse it. Just as you wouldn’t email a customer five times a day, do not send Facebook direct messages five times either.

• Get new email subscribers: Facebook provides a powerful static FBML. This tool allows you (with a very small amount of help from your webmaster) to create a landing page designed to help you communicate directly with your potential customers what you want them to do. I suggest this is the perfect opportunity to build the size of your email list.

• Know your fan base: The Insights tool allows you to see metrics on your fans, such as how many comments and interactions you have, the number of active fans you have in various age categories, the growth of your fan base, where your fans live, and more. I’m not telling you this is the only research information you will ever need, but it is a nice high level view of the people who are following you.

• Shop your competition: You had better be shopping your competitors everywhere else, so why not on Facebook? See what they’re doing to promote their page and engage fans. Take note of the features they’re using, how they interact with visitors, the type of content and how frequently they post, and their growth rate.

• Use every feature: Facebook is packed with tools for sharing videos, importing your blog posts, listing events, conducting polls, starting conversations, and on and on. Literally there are hundreds of ways to interact use them all to your advantage. Don’t expect to gain maximum following without maximum effort.

Facebook is a powerful tool. Take a few hours to learn how to use its many options to drive traffic to your business. Don’t fall into the trap of companies like Concord or Bennett. “Who?” you ask. In 1907, these buggy companies believed they would always have a customer base. Three years later the number of automobiles surpassed buggies in the United States.

If traditional media is all you’re willing to consider, perhaps you should buy a Bennett wagon on eBay to deliver it.

This is part two of a series recently published in the June-July issue of Western Retailer magazine.

Great marketing is about how well you tell your story – regardless of the medium.

Here are proven marketing techniques to make your Facebook page a powerful piece of your marketing mix:

• Advertise your page: People will NOT come just because you build it. That only happens in the movies. In order for people to know your Facebook page exists, you have to tell them. Include the Facebook icon on your and TV advertising, and link to your page from your website and blog. Make sure your Facebook page is properly set up to link back to your website.

• Build your brand: Mention your page in brochures, direct mail, business cards, email signatures, advertisements, packing slips, fulfillment materials – in short, everywhere. Don’t assume your customers will find you. Using Facebook and other social media logos in your traditional advertising will help potential customers know you have an understanding of how communication is done today.

• Share your soul. Facebook Fan Pages are a great place to share lots of company information. This is the perfect place to share your mission or value statement, explain your policies, procedures, and special services to your customer base – even post store hours and parking information. Your Facebook page is also a great place to include links for newsletter sign ups, email sign ups, and links to your other social media outlets like YouTube or Twitter.

• Get them to your Web site: While we all believe our logos are super cool and easily recognizable, I would suggest you use the space designed for uploading a photo to show your company web address. Just because there is space available in the body of your page doesn’t mean your customers will find it down there.

• Content is king: Marketing experts have known the power of content for years, and the same holds true online. The more information you provide, the better your page will be at attracting, converting, educating, turning on, and retaining your customers. Post something to your wall at least once a day, though two or three times is better. Also, adjust your wall settings to allow fans to post comments, photos, links, and videos. Train your staff to help you.

These five tips will help you to begin making your Facebook page a powerful marketing tool.  However, I have five more great pieces of advice to give you in the upcoming days.  Be sure to return and get the full-scoop on how to successfully tell your story using non-traditional media.

This is part one of a series recently published in the June-July issue of Western Retailer magazine.

Beyond technology, here are three principles to remember when planning and executing an SEO campaign:

Flow

Remember, the reason you are trying to get your website to the top of the first page is because you want people to come to the site and look at your content, then buy what your selling. Don’t get so involved in SEO that you junk-up your site with links and keywords beyond the user’s ability to read the page. Balance your site design your site between bots and people. Don’t lose your users for the sale of search engines. Remember, bounce rate (the time your users spend on your site) is a part of SEO as well.

Patience is a virtue

SEO campaigns are not for instant gratification junkies. Give your site about three months to sink in. Check your analytics, watch to see how the site is doing and adjust accordingly. Keep your efforts simple; make a minimal amount of changes so that you can accurately see what works and what doesn’t.

Updates

Stay on top of things. Keep an eye on the search engine guidelines to ensure your SEO is always up to date. The last thing you want is for your long sought efforts to slowly wash down the drain as technology advances.

By applying different techniques used to achieve organic search results, you’ll find online marketing to be a cost-effective, simple solution to promoting your business and products.

Part 1 of this 3-part series explained why SEO is the new normal and how companies can budget for search engine optimization campaigns. Part 2 defined a Glossary of Key SEO Terms. This article was published in its entirety in the March 2010 issue of Western Retailer magazine, a publication of the WHFA.

Understanding these key SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ideas and terms will help you make the best decisions for your search marketing strategy:

Title

Each page on your website is coded with a unique title that is different than the page name. Depending on your internet browser, check the name of the tab or the command bar to see if your site optimizes titles. The title should contain carefully chosen keywords, because this is the first thing search engine web crawlers, bots and spiders read (these are automated computer programs that methodically browse the web gathering information). Your titles should be no longer than 100 characters; however, Google will truncate the title if it is more than 60 characters including spaces.

• Example: “Home Furnishings, Home Décor, Outdoor Furniture & Modern Furniture”
• Example: “Bedroom Furniture, Dining Room Furniture, and more quality Home and Office Furniture”

Keywords

Keywords and phrases drive SEO campaigns and fuel your site’s success. Keywords are a tricky business though so take your time, research your keywords and make sure you select keywords that are in your niche. Often amateurs will not take much time in this area, simply plugging in obvious words. For example, suppose a small store called ABC Furniture automatically chooses the key phrase “furniture store.” They’ve unwittingly gone to head with major players who are throwing big bucks at the “furniture store” key phrase. While not impossible, it will be very difficult for ABC Furniture to outspend these players and reach the first page of the major search engine search results. Unique niche phrases can yield effective results and cost pennies by comparison.

• Example: furniture store, sofas, dining room furniture, mattresses
• Example: “pillow-top mattresses Oakland CA” or “leather rocker recliners Oakland CA”

Body text

The main content of your website should also contain keywords. The keywords should be used naturally to avoid being pegged as a “keyword spammer,” someone who uses the word “sofa” 48 times on your living room page in attempt move your site up in the rankings. This will get you booted from Google and other search engines, who carefully measure your “keyword density.” Too low, and you may not achieve optimum results. Too high, and you’re considered a spammer. Google will only tolerate a 2% keyword density; Yahoo and MSN are considerably higher at around 5%. Qualified web designers who use qualified and trained copywriters can help creatively optimize your keyword density, unlike hackers who jam nonsensical words into your body and footer.

• Example: Central Oklahoma Furniture. ABC Furniture is a family company. Browse our selection of Central Oklahoma Furniture or visit our store to sample Central Oklahoma Furniture. You deserve Central Oklahoma Furniture form ABC Furniture!
• Example: From San Antonio to Austin, ABC Furniture delivers beauty, quality, and value to your home.

Heading Tags – Each page on your website has a heading tag that should also contain your keywords. Ideally, the tag should be right up there at the beginning of the page, as close as possible to the top of the page.

• Example: Living Room Furniture
• Example: Directions to ABC Furniture

URL

Consider purchasing a domain name containing your keywords. If ABC Furniture sells solid wood furniture in Columbus, Ohio, they should consider columbussolidwoodfurniture.com. Search engines use the domain name as an SEO qualifier so keep that in mind when choosing your domain names. With a little savvy programming, keywords can also be incorporated into the URL of each page. If your keywords for a particular page are solid wood bedroom, the page name should be www.abcfurniture.com

• Example: www.abcsolidwoodfurniture.com
• Example: www.phoenixsolidwoodfurniture.com

Links

Make sure there are no broken links in your site. Search engine algorithms consider broken links as incomplete, so the overall rating of the site is affected. Restrain yourself from the traditional “click here” link. When web bots, crawlers and spiders come across a “click here” link, they will associate the destination page with the words “click here” instead of your valuable keywords. Instead, optimize your site’s searchability and usability with full-sentence links that use verbs to direct the user what to do.

• Example: “Click here for a price quote.”
• Example: “Explore your furniture design possibilities.”

Inbound links

Links from other websites are supreme to the rating of your site. Inbound links are like personal referrals, so these links should be from sites that are of high quality. The higher the rating of the sites that link to yours, the higher search engines will rate you. Getting inbound links is the hardest part of SEO by far. You can pay for quantity, but quality is often compromised if you do so.

• Example: www.popularlocalblog.com/abc-furniture-is-the-place-to-shop
• Example: www.marketplacespammer.com/abc-furniture

Part 1 of this 3-part series explained why SEO is the new normal and how companies can budget for search engine optimization campaigns. Part 3 will outline an SEO Strategy. This article was published in its entirety in the March 2010 issue of Western Retailer magazine, a publication of the WHFA.

Used to be, the company with the biggest Yellow Page ad won the local search wars. Businesses vied for newspaper ads above the fold, billboards at prime intersections, drive time radio and prime time TV.

Now, when print media is experiencing cutbacks, layoffs, and declining readership, it comes as no surprise that businesses are turning to online marketing alternatives to reach customers. Where many print media companies require a minimum commitment to display an ad over so many issues, website space and domain names can be purchased for low annual fees. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising on sites like Google and Yahoo allows site owners to set their own budgets and targets when setting up campaigns.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the new normal for businesses looking to compete in the 21st century. Once a niche product, SEO will continue to gain ground into the near future. According to the “Search Marketing Trends: Back to Basics” report from eMarketer, $1.5 billion was spent on Search Engine Optimization in 2008 – a number that is expected to increase 153% to $3.8 billion by 2013. (Source: Brafton.com)

Taking even a fraction of money from your radio or print budget and setting it aside for online strategies can have a profound effect on the visibility of your business. Be sure to research the best SEO companies to determine what services are offered and which company is suited to meet your needs.

Part 1 of this 3-part series explains why SEO is the new normal and how companies can budget for search engine optimization campaigns. Part 2 will define an SEO Glossary. Part 3 will lay out an SEO Strategy. This article was published in its entirety in the March 2010 issue of Western Retailer magazine, a publication of the WHFA.