According to a 2012 Washington Post report, one mistake small businesses make when establishing their brand is failing to be open and engaging to customers. Small business owners have a lot on their plate. Most of them work extremely long days just keeping their doors open — reviewing contracts, reading resumes, checking payroll and taxes, and making sure the bills are paid. And that’s just the beginning. So it’s no surprise that marketing and advertising [...]
How Small Business can have a Big Brand
A brand is more than the name of a business printed on a piece of promotional material. Your brand is a constant reminder of what you stand for; therefore, for many people, it serves as a powerful emotional connection between them, and your business. Your brand is similar to a contract between you and your customers — a promise that your product or service will meet or exceed their utmost expectations. What are the key [...]
Identifying and Delivering Customer Value [Infographic]
In an age of empowered customers, it is ever-more difficult for marketers to diagnose pain points and influence behavior. Furthermore, accurate segmentation models, targeted value propositions, compelling content, and timely and accessible delivery continue to be key imperatives for Marketing. Identifying and Delivering Customer Value infographic by jwhippy.
Display Advertising: Direct Buy vs RTB
A common question we hear from marketing execs is what the difference is between purchasing ad space directly from a website publisher and buying indirectly through a real-time bidding (RTB) system. Here, we take a look at how these work, the pros and cons of each, and what makes the most sense for local campaigns. The Direct Buy The first place that newcomers to the online display ad market often look to find advertising space [...]
Announcing the New Vantage Local Website
You may already have noticed. But just in case you have not seen it yet, we want to point out that the Vantage Local website has had a recent makeover. Along with a cool new design, we have reorganized our content around what we do (see the Products sections on Rich Media, Targeting and Reporting) and who we do it for (see the Solutions sections geared towards Media Agencies and Local Businesses). Here are some [...]
How To Do Social Media Fast [Infographic]
Today’s blog post comes to us courtesy of Pardot, a company that provides tools to automate your social media marketing. Social media has become an important part of a marketer’s toolset, since it allows them to talk to their customer base directly. For anyone who is doing some amount of content marketing (and if you have an online presence with a blog attached, that means you), it is also a great way to get more [...]
Advertising For Small Companies
If you’re running a small business, many other costs trump advertising – like payroll, rent and purchasing. Many small business owners think advertising is out of their reach due to tiny budgets, but there are many low-cost advertising opportunities for small companies and start-ups. Here are some of the most cost efficient advertising options to give you a bang for your buck. Facebook Ads – If you have a strong social media presence, you should [...]
The Local Shift in Online Display Advertising
When it comes to Internet advertising, display ads were once mainly used by online businesses or national brands that could benefit from the global nature of online audiences. Instead of running ads that show to all viewers to a website, web publishers now allow advertisers to geo-target different ads based on where the viewer is physically located. This has caused a major shift in how banner ad campaigns are planned and delivered, including changing the [...]
How To Use Twitter Effectively For Your Business
Twitter is one of the biggest social networks in the world. It also has a unique format that appeals to a lot of users, in that it provides a direct and immediate line of communication between anyone, including users that have millions of followers. This is one of the things that makes it so appealing to businesses wanting to reach out to both current and potential customers. Twitter is not a marketing magic wand that [...]
3 Reasons Why Banner Ads Rock
Out of all the myriad of options that are available for online advertising today, banner ads tend to get a bum rap. But the bad reputation they have earned is rooted in their past shortcomings and largely ignores the fact that display advertising today is an entirely different medium than it once was, and has been shown to be extremely effective. Below are three of the many reasons why banner ads rock, and why any [...]
