Blog

PRESS RELEASE: Sweet Valentine’s Day 20% Off Special for NJ Businesses that Help Shelter and Rescue Animals

02 February 2012 / Blogs, Ebay, Facebook, Google Plus, hyper local marketing, Linkedin, local marketing, Marketing, Online marketing, Twitter, Yahoo / 1 Comment

Matawan, NJ– Repaz Marketing is celebrating Valentine’s Day by offering New Jersey businesses 20% savings on all marketing services during the month of February when they devote time, money or supplies to any New Jersey animal shelter or rescue organization.

Repaz is a Monmouth County NJ marketing company specializing in Internet marketing, marketing strategy, reputation management and website design. “Due to the economy there are tens of thousands of loving dogs and cats seeking new homes in NJ,” said Repaz Marketing owner Mechele Shoneman, “what better way to show a little Valentines Day love then giving back to needy pets?”

Businesses can qualify for this deep 20% discount by donating money, goods or time to local shelters like the Associated Humane Society in Tinton Falls or the SPCA in Eatontown. Or, they can contribute the same, plus time walking dogs with local rescue groups like Rescue Ridge in Spring Lake or All Critters Rescue.  “Any human interaction helps shelter animals stay social, and hence, more adoptable. Plus, what could be a better tribute to Valentine’s Day than giving a little puppy love to animals that need it the most” said Mechele. As part of this promotion, Jersey Shore Pet Care  also offer a 10% discount on all pet care services to those who give back to homeless cats and dogs during the month of February.

Repaz Marketing loves dogs and makes no secret of it. Every month Repaz devotes ten hours a month to local Monmouth County rescue organizations like Rescue Ridge and Little Silver Animal Hospital Foundation, helping to raise funds, plan events and walk dogs. Additionally, Mechele runs a virtual rescue site, www.largedogs.com, and has 5 rescue dogs of her own— in addition to guinea pigs and hamsters.

“Hopefully,this spirit of giving will strike a chord with business owners in the area that love their dogs and cats and want spread the love— while at the same time helping their business.

The average consumer is assaulted with over 2,400 ads a day via radio, TV, Internet and print media. “You've got to ask yourself— what will it take for my message to break through the noise?"  Repaz has over 20 years expertise in marketing communications, strategy and web development helping clients get found.

Over 1 billion searches are performed daily on Google and many of these are directly attributable to the 63% of a company’s market value that stems from their reputation. Repaz takes a different approach to marketing strategy by focusing on reputation management. The idea is based on the principle that a referral from a trusted source can have more impact than an expensive campaign.

Google indexes more than 20 billion pages of content, and the fastest growing portion is user-generated content, largely fueled by blogs, microblogs, social sites and the syndication apps that drive them. Consumer opinion (also known as crowdsourcing) drives reputation more than ever before and social media is like word of mouth (WOM) on steroids.

“In this age of hyper-connectedness, WOM can do more for sales than traditional marketing tactics,” said Mechele. “However, it needs to be handled very delicately as the tide can turn very quickly; and ’reputation sting’ isn't just a large company problem.  Local businesses run similar risks.”

Some bad reviews on local search sites like MerchantCircle, SuperPages or Kudzu, can quickly turn away prospective clients. Repaz Marketing helps clients stay in control of what people are saying about their businesses with targeted marketing that supports their reputation.

According to Mechele, “Donating time and money to animal rescue groups and shelters is a great way to build your reputation in the community!”

Google+ is growing like crazy

04 January 2012 / Facebook, Google, Google Plus, iPhone applications, Linkedin, Marketing, Online marketing, Uncategorized / 1 Comment

According to Experian Hitwise, Google+ is hot on the trail of Facebook.  Last month was it's best yet and according to an Experian Hitwise analyst's tweet. Google+ is projected to grow to 400 million users by the end of 2012...creeping up on Facebook with 900 million users

The tweet was sent two days ago saying that Google’s social networking site more than doubled its traffic in December 2011.

The Tweet...http://ow.ly/i/oT3R

“Google+ total US visits reach more than 49 million in Dec-11, biggest month to date & up 55% compared to Nov-11 ow.ly/i/oT3R,”

It's rumored that Google+ has over 62 million members.  This is significant since Facebook didn’t pass the 60 million member mark until nearly four years after its debut.

Image courtesy of Experian Hitwise.

Google was top brand in 2011, beating out Facebook and Twitter

29 December 2011 / Blogs, Facebook, Google, Google Plus, iPhone applications, Linkedin, Marketing, Online marketing, Pandora, Twitter, Uncategorized, Yahoo, YouTube / 0 Comment

With 2011 coming to a close, VentureBeat took a look back over the year, noting the most popular social sites and smartphone devices in the U.S.  While Facebook is growing astronomically fast (try over 695,000 status updates every 60 seconds), Google is still the monster brand with an average 153.4 million people visiting every month.

Facebook gets about 137.6 million visitors per month, beating out beating out Blogger, Twitter, and Google+. It will be interesting to see where Google+ places in this next year.

According to Nielson, "Google was the most-visited U.S. Web brand, while Facebook held its lead among social networks and blogs.  Smartphones were popular in 2011, making up the majority of new phone purchases with Apple as the top smartphone manufacturer and Android as the leading OS."

Alternatively, Experian Hitwise gave Facebook the grand prize, saying it had more U.S. visits than Google.com. However, if you combine visits to all Google properties (not just Google.com),  Google did have an edge over Facebook in 2011.

Sidenote— why is Yahoo still so popular?!  Is my grandmother's Mah Jongg crew that busy searching?

Every 60 seconds...millions of mind-boggling online activities take place

27 December 2011 / Blogs, Ebay, Facebook, Google Plus, iPhone applications, Linkedin, Marketing, Online marketing, Pandora, Twitter / 1 Comment

Thanks to Barry Ritholz for this graphic depicting the tidal wave of online activity that happens every 60 seconds. It's mind boggling.  In a single minute there are over 695,000 status updates on Facebook ... 417 million per hour ... over 1 billion per day. With the US population at about 312 million, this means there are more than 688 million Facebook updates per 24 hours than there are US citizens. That's a lot of chatter!

The other infographic shows the number of electronic "transactions" per second. Hold onto your anti-virus software Batman (I recommend ClamWin, free open-source) — over 232 computers get infected by malware.

The great inbound vs. outbound (non) debate

31 October 2011 / Uncategorized / 0 Comment

A recent article in Mashable contrasted inbound marketing (aka. online facilitated by social media) against outbound (traditional media like print ads, commercials, direct mail). The premise is that economies of scale and response rates render older methods ineffective.

Some stats cited:

• 44% of direct mail goes unopened
• 86% of viewers skip or fast-forward television commercials
•  84% of 25 to 34-year-olds have clicked out of a website because of an “irrelevant or intrusive ad.”
• The cost per lead of outbound marketing cost less than inbound marketing

While it's true that trust and credibility are earned with via inbound marketing tactics like blogs, podcasts, white papers and social media commentary— brand awareness can still be bought with an enormous budget. Witness consumable brands like Lush, Subway and Toms. Their online traction was a direct result of their offline promotion and the quality of their products.

In truth, the best marketing strategies contain multiple channels that leverage the best of all worlds. Any seasoned marketer knows that once a marketing plan is deployed there are always surprises. Some tried and true methods may flop, while more experimental means take off. The smart company stays nimble in order to capitalize on success quickly and leverage opportunities of the moment.

This means having more than one oar in the water and staying agile. It's just not an either/or proposition. It's a matter of strategically selecting the best media, messaging and tools to get to the end goal as seamlessly and cost effectively as possible.  It's common sense.

J43U3PJ4RMH8

Is your professional reputation at stake?

23 October 2011 / Uncategorized / 0 Comment

You no doubt know by now that your professional reputation goes beyond the office walls. Your name, your credentials and your connections are now amplified across the web.  With the advent of social media your digital reputation is now at least, if not more important, to actively manage.

Known as online reputation management (ORM), the practice of directing and monitoring how your name shows up online is critical if you’re in any kind of client-facing, deal making or business development role.  Your digital reputation is like a shadow you can’t shake, reflecting not only your own actions and statements, but others’ impressions of you as well. If you’re not actively watching and building that online image you risk being misrepresented or simply not "existing" at all.

It’s estimated that over 90% of potential clients, employers and business partners will search on your name as part of a background search or just out of curiosity. If only a personal Facebook or Google Plus page comes up in the results or nothing at all, their perception will be negatively skewed.  It’s also important to make sure that someone with the same or similar name isn’t posting drunken party photos that could be mistaken for your own.

You need to take hold of your ORM now before someone else does it for you. And, handle it with care, because the search engines have a long, long memory.

5 personal reputation must-do’s

1. Google your name to see search results

2. Open a Linkedin account and try to build a network of at least 50 connections. Make sure to fill in the experience section of your profile.

3. Open a Twitter account. Even if you don’t use it you’ll ‘own’ your own name so no one else can claim it. Create a posting that links back to your Linkedin account.

4. Open Blogger and WordPress blogs in your name. If you don’t have anything in particular you would like to blog about, post repost an article relevant to your industry and comment on it.

5. If available, buy a URL of your own name (ie. www.johnsmith.com). Use a simple WISWYG template designer like Godaddy’s Website Tonight or Weebly and post your professional bio.

Reputation is the new marketing

23 October 2011 / Uncategorized / 0 Comment

In this new age of hyper-connectedness, reputation is rapidly becoming one of the most potent forms of marketing.  Consumers have become jaded to the thousands of ads and promotions they’re assaulted with daily.

The new mantra of marketing is ‘credibility and believability’. Does your company do what it says it will, and do you deliver on your brand promise?  The idea of truth in advertising has taken on new meaning.  And, to fall short on your claims is to be disingenuous and not believable.

Consumers want to have a discussion, not be shouted at with claims of sales and miracle products.  And, companies that live up to their own hype quickly form a reputation for being authentic.  Net result– your company takes on a voice and personality that people will listen to…and buy from.

When the "tried and true" no longer works

23 October 2011 / Uncategorized / 0 Comment

One of the biggest complaints we hear from clients frustrated with lagging sales is that traditional vehicles like Money Mailers and print ads aren't working anymore— usually due to a saturated market and one-off attempts  During our consultation, we’ll reveal common mistakes that can be avoided and make recommendations.

Google indexes more than 20 billion pages of content, and a growing proportion of this is user-generated content, largely fueled by blogs, microblogs, social sites and the syndication apps that drive them. Consumer opinion (also known as crowd sourcing) drives reputation more than ever before and social media is WOM (word of mouth) on steroids.

In this age of hyper-connectedness, WOM can do more for sales than traditional marketing tactics.  "Reputation sting"  like the recent Toyota debacle, isn’t just a large company problem.  Local businesses run similar risks.

A few bad reviews on MerchantCircle, SuperPages or Google, can quickly turn off prospective clients, and sometimes even current ones.  Prospects will wonder why take the chance when there are 15 similar businesses to choose from. Repaz helps you stay in control of what people are saying about your business with targeted marketing that supports reputation perception. The strategic focus is on building trust and credibility into every marketing campaign.

Repaz evaluates market impact and competition, finds a company’s ‘sweet spot’ and then leverages it with an integrated marketing campaign.  The average consumer is assaulted with over 2,000 ads a day via radio, TV, Internet and print media.

You've got to ask yourself -- what will it take for my message to break through the noise?"

Yes, advertising does impact reputation

23 October 2011 / Uncategorized / 0 Comment

In the dawning era of hyper-connectedness it’s hard to imagine that advertising can compete with WOM (word of mouth), when it comes to influencing reputation perception. Yet according to a Corporate Communication and Reputation Building study, advertising helps provide firms with a measure of goodwill from consumers and other stakeholders—if the company is credible.

A company is held in high regard and esteem when it is visible and credible. The study found that advertising enhances a brand’s reputation, and reputation, in turn, augments the effectiveness of advertising by perceptually enhancing a brand within its product category, often leading to greater sales for the brands.

According to the study, advertising not only signals product and firm characteristics that may be (or may not be) accurate, but also presents firms in a favorable light. Advertising is viewed as a source of product and imaging cues designed to influence the perceptions of the public.

While managing a corporate reputation involves many factors, this research suggests that advertising has been successful in promoting the corporate reputation to various audiences. It can help better position American products against the competition, to meet increased pressure from consumer groups and politicians, and to repair the corporate reputation of American companies that are criticized for their roles in creating adverse environmental conditions.

The research suggests that potential customers receive advertising claims more favorably if the reputation of the firm making those claims is more positive. Subjects who formed a negative evaluation of the company based on a bad reputation found the claim of advertising less credible and rated the products less favorably than those who received positive reputation information about the company.

Reputation is everything

15 October 2011 / Uncategorized / 0 Comment

A growing number of studies argue that good corporate reputations have strategic value for companies.  Although many factors influence a business or corporate reputation, marketing communications are generally regarded as the most effective reputation-building activities to develop and improve reputation.

Corporate reputation is based on how the company conducts or is perceived as conducting its business. In today’s corporate world, there is little or no distinction between product qualities, prices, or technologies. A company’s reputation,therefore, can be not only the primary basis for a consumer’s purchasing decision, but also everything from stock value of the company to employee satisfaction or attitude toward the brand or product itself.