Behavioral Advertising

Behavioral advertising is used to try to match the ads you see while browsing online with your interests. This is done by companies placing cookies on your computer (and I’m not talking about the edible, yummy cookies). Based on the sites you visit, interest categories are attached to these cookies and they allow advertisers to build up a picture of your browsing interests and habits. I’m not going to lie, sometimes those ads have helped me find something I was looking for cheaper. But sometimes it can get quite annoying being shown and reminded things I cannot afford that I’ve previously searched for.

There are a few ways that you can avoid these ads. Different browsers have settings and features that can help you control your personal information online. Checking these options can help you decide which browser is right for you. For example, some browsers options include whether you want to accept cookies or not and how long to allow them to stay on your computer. Some browsers have additional privacy features that you can download and install.  Also, certain browsers allow you to browse in “private mode”. Browsing in private mode will not save any history that you are browsing.

Another option will be to opt out. Some companies will give you the option to opt out of receiving targeted ads. Even though it won’t stop you from receiving ads but it will stop them from sending you ads from your interests. Here are a few sites that can help you control information collected about you :

http://www.youronlinechoices.com.au/

http://www.evidon.com:8080/consumers-privacy/ad-notice

http://www.privacychoice.org/

Resources:

http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-resources/privacy-fact-sheets/other/privacy-fact-sheet-4-online-behavioural-advertising-know-your-options

3 Social Media Mistakes

Social media websites can either make or break your company. In order to be on the right path when it comes to your social media marketing, make sure you're not doing any of these three things.

1. Only talking about your services and products.
No one want's to have their Twitter or Facebook feed full of advertisements or promotions. Make sure you follow the 80-20 rule. 80 percent of the content you post should be about your customers and 20 percent should be about your company and what you do. This will help you not come off as too corporate or self-serving.

2. Not sharing well with others. 
It's hard not to want to Tweet or Facebook promotional messages about your products, but you have to let your followers know that they are important too. Instead of posting things about your company, Re-tweet or share your followers content. Even reply to a few if you have to. This will show that you have a sense of community within your social networks and it will help you earn your followers trust.

3. Posting insensitive content about sensitive subjects. 
There's a saying that says keep religion and politic opinions to yourself. ESPECIALLY on your companies social media site. If you want people to start trash-talking your brand over social media, then go ahead and post poorly-timed, offensive remarks about sensitive topics. Sometimes it's better to stay away from those topics, even if you want your opinion to be heard. Talk to your family and friends about it, not your thousand of followers on your companies social media site.




Resources:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228574

Pinterest, The New Marketing Strategy

According to Vertical Response, 71% of small businesses have never used Pinterest. Since 2012, Pinterest usage has doubled in size. Other websites can still being used like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, etc, but Pinterest is not one you should ignore if you want your business to be recognized.

The first step to getting your business recognized on Pinterest is by using a Pinterest Automation Software. This automatically follows many users and usually people that get followed, follow you back.

Next is scheduling your pins. You can create an album of all your pins and select the board you want them to go on, as well as the URL to your company website. Once you've done that you can schedule your pins so they can upload one pin per day.

The next step is to spend about 30 minutes on Repinly in order to see what pins are popular at the moment and what boards are people really interested in. Doing that will help you decide where to place your pins and where you will get more views.

The last step is to add a Pin It button on your website. If someone were to run into your site and wants to share it, they can just click "Pin It" and it will show up on their board for everyone else to see. It's just like sharing a post on Facebook or re-tweeting on Twitter. You can use the Pinterest RSS WordPress Plugin to display your pins on your website.


By following these steps, your company will be exposed. The better images or ideas you post, the faster people will repin your images and your audience will grow faster.

                               ( Here is an example of a Pin on Pinterest that links to an eBay account that sells necklaces )  

Sources : http://blog.kissmetrics.com/automate-pinterest-marketing/ 

Social Media sites are here to stay!

Social Media sites are getting even more popular as the years go by. I think the reason MySpace fell like it did was because of Facebook and how it was used to keep in touch with friends and family, as to MySpace, which was used mostly for music. I still think MySpace is  a good way to advertise your music, but when it comes to marketing, I think Facebook is a companies best bet. Twitter, Tumblr, Instgram, etc. are being used more now because it’s a way of advertising. I don’t think these websites will fall anytime soon because there is always something new coming out, and people need to use these sites to advertise.

Companies like to use Facebook, Twitter, and all these other social media sites as a way to connect to their customers. Whether it be advertising, giving coupons away, having giveaways, these companies need these websites to keep their revenue up. 93 % of marketers use these sites for business. Without having these sites, I’m sure we wouldn’t know about half the things that are out there now.

With that being said, I don't think these websites will be falling down anything soon. But who knows ! I may be wrong. Something bigger and better always tends to come out every few years. 

Resources:

http://socialmediatoday.com/tompick/1647801/101-vital-social-media-and-digital-marketing-statistics-rest-2013

Tax On Online Purchases

I don't know about you, but when I want to purchase something that is quite expensive, I turn to Amazon or eBay to see if I can find this product for a cheaper price. Not only will it be cheaper than the store, but I also would not have to pay for tax and even sometimes you can qualify for free shipping. I think that sounds like a good deal to me. Unfortunately, if they start putting taxes on online purchases, I don't think online companies will continue to benefit from it. Some people will just find it easier and cheaper to just buy the product at the store and not have to wait for it to be shipped.

When it comes to buying beauty products, you may get very lucky finding items cheaper on different websites.

As you can see in this picture, the original price of this product is $28.89 with tax. You can find this item on Amazon or eBay for a few bucks cheaper. If these websites were to add taxes, customers will only be saving about 3 dollars. Instead of saving those three dollars and having to wait 4-5 days for the item to arrive, I think customers are just going to buy the product at the store. Unless they find a good deal, for instance the product on eBay, you would still be saving $9.21.

I honestly don't think it's going to have a major impact because of the way technology is now a days. People like to purchase things at home because sometimes they don't have the time to go to the store, or maybe they're too lazy. They can even purchase items with just a click on their phone ! (Guilty of doing this many times.) I believe this taxation may bring down the revenue for these websites, but not to a point where everyone is going to start purchasing things at the stores instead of the internet.

E-Marketing in the Beauty Industry

When it comes to the beauty industry, without e-marking, beauty products would not be so popular as they are now. For instance, YouTube has had the biggest impact on beauty related products because of vloggers advertising products. Companies usually contact them and send them items to review for their viewers. Most viewers believe every single opinion and off they go buying the product.

E-marketing has changed at least one step of buying decision process for ULTA and Sephora (makeup stores) . Vloggers and Bloggers share their opinions and right after they do, they go straight to these stores and purchase these items. Sometimes the people reviewing the items might be lying because they paid them to say what the company wanted to say. That doesn’t stop anyone from purchasing the items though. I am totally guilty of doing so! Everyday there’s something new and it makes you want to try it out!

As for social media marketing, I believe the best way to influence a particular step of the buying decision process would be adding COUPONS! People LOVE coupons. Even if it’s a coupon for free shipping or 10% off. Once someone sees that they can save money, they will most likely purchase something. 

Without E-marketing, sales would definitely wouldn’t be as high as they are because products wouldn’t be advertised as they are doing now. People would only see commercials instead of listening to people go into depth of the product, or having them try it out themselves and giving viewers first impressions.