As we approach the end of the year we are all wondering what 2011 has waiting in store for us in the digital marketing sector. While online marketing tactics are super-important, marketing through leads generated by phone calls looks set to be a popular trend next year.

The advent for marketing for fresh leads through phone calls will represent a huge shift in the way that marketers acquire their customers making 2011 look like a promising year for anyone looking to refresh their marketing strategies. The beauty of marketing via phone calls is that you are in complete control of your target so converting leads from phone calls is far simpler than any other form of marketing.

For many years, clicks were a valuable tool to utilize as advertisers wanted to drive their revenue through e-commerce and other online monetization regimes (often ironically the same click!).

So why is call marketing looking so promising for next year and why are so many people predicting its domination over click marketing?

The one-on-one form of advertising is what makes it so exciting. The idea that people will actually get to speak to real people again is a prospect really worth speaking about! The durable and personal level of communication that is available through phone calls is what makes it such a fun prospect and the intimate communication allows marketers to stay in control of what they are marketing to a far more satisfactory level.

When it comes to marketing via phone leads in 2011, here are a few of the macro trends that will make it as successful as everyone is predicting:

Phones Are Now Computers!

Phones as so technologically advanced that they work in the same way as a small computer and with 23% of 18-44 year olds already owning a smart phone and many more owning simpler devices; access to a phone is as effortless as getting access to a computer. The information and technology available on a phone is as diverse as a computer and dialing a number is just as easy as clicking a mouse.

Computers Are Now Phones!

Computers are now working in a similar way as a phone with more than 500 MILLION downloads of Skype found on computers all over the world. Using your computer to make your phone calls is likely to prove invaluable and with programs such as Skype; customers can complete an online search for a product and speak to an agent without the need to pick up the phone making it convenient and simple.

You Can Save Money!

With click advertising, buying 50 clicks at $5 per click just to generate one call seems excessive when you compare it to a budget set out for phone calls. i.e. anything less than a $250 budget for your phone calls will ensure that you are saving money in comparison to click marketing.

Phone Calls Allow Marketers To Be In Control

As an advertiser you will be in the driving seat of your conversion rates as you will be on complete control of your call in a way that you can never be when it comes to people clicking or not clicking through. Speaking to live people is far preferable than communicating with a computer…

Mobile phones are constantly upgrading and improving so it is easy to see how much potential that they hold for marketing purposes. With the turn of a New Year always holding lots of promise and excitement; 2011 is likely to enjoy a massive change in the way that we advertise to ensure that the economy is marketed efficiently.

You don't want your own site competing against itself

301 Redirects are crucial to the SEO of your website.

Let’s start with why they are important.

The search engines do not like seeing duplicate content across the web, and a website that has not been optimized can usually end up having multiple URL’s for for the same webpage.  This means that even though example.com and www.example.com take you to the same place, the search engines see them as two competing pages with the same content, and thus rank you lower.  A 301 Redirect code means that the information on the redirected URL has been “moved permanently” to the appropriate URL.  What you end up with is one stronger webpage, instead of two weaker pages that are competing against themselves, instead of your competitors.  301 redirects are a very efficient method for increasing your rankings, because they are a change that can be made very quickly, with very little effort, but can have a big impact on your rankings.

Here are some common URL’s you should check to make sure are redirecting to the www. version of your URL on your homepage:

- yourhomepage.com
– yourhomepage.com/index.html (or .php, or whatever language your site is written in)
- www.yourhomepage.com/index.html (or .php, or whatever language your site is written in)

Optimizing Your Company’s Products & Services via Linkedin

As being the main social media tool in between the business world, Linkedin is about to

make things well rounded by integrating a ‘Products and Services’ tab into users profiles.

This addition to Linked in is not only important because it makes the site easier to

navigate, but it makes it even more business friendly to connect not only businesses, but

people as well.

Company Pages will allow businesses to build their brand through network conscious

recommendations, giving users useful, credible insights into how any given

products/services are being perceived by their collegues.

Businesses can list off what they do best, and other LinkedIn members can provide

direct recommendations to the each of the products and services, or to the company as

a whole. This takes “liking” a page to a whole new level; Mark Zuckerberg beware.

Creating Your Products & Services Showcase

1. First, select the company’s tab on the top tool bar

2. Second, if your company is not listed in Linkedin, add the company on the

“Add a Company” button on the right

One of the most interesting options in your Products and Services page is the ability to

create separate page versions to target specific audiences. This will give medium to

large companies a chance to increase their conversion rate with an exclusive copy of

images based on specific demographics.

Customizing your Services & Products Page

The best advice for this area of your page is to grab your designer. LinkedIn asks for a

640×220 pixel image and if you use an image of any other size, it might just look like it

was ran over with a semi.

Other than that, customizing the page is a piece of cake.

It’s easy to build up your LinkedIn profile. The hard part is using this social network to

your advantage. If you do it right, your LinkedIn profile will rank reasonably in search

engine results pages for your brand, giving you added reputation management.

Facebook is a vital part of modern marketing but unless you get people to ‘like’ you; your marketing strategy will be as useless as Matthew Perry’s career since Friends.

Most of the interactions that take place on Facebook happen on walls rather than on fan pages and research actually shows that 199 out of 200 interactions will occur on a wall. So, what does this tell us and why is it important to know?

It basically means that after someone joins your fan page they are unlikely to ever return to it and this will make for utterly pointless marketing. Think about the amount of times that you have ‘liked’ something and never given it a second thought from that click onwards! I apparently ‘like’ 247 pages and around 246 of these I have no recollection of ever visiting after my initial click.

The Like Button

Create a custom landing tab so that when visitors come to your page for the first time – they will be greeted with a customized tabbed page rather than your wall. Some of the best news about custom landing tabs is that they are FREE and they increase conversion rates massively.

Check out these top five ways that you can create a custom landing tab on FB:

1. North Social

This fan page application developer maintains an increasing stable of widgets that will add to the power of your Facebook presence. The custom tab is known as First Impression and it works alongside video applications and photo galleries and the set up is simple with the customization occurring in Facebook only to increase its speed.

2. Tabsite

This works on the same lines as North Social and it specializes in offering tab pages that are easy for businesses to customize. This developer allows users to manage their Facebook content as a blog site of web page and it is easy to use multiple images and videos.

3. Pagelever

Pagelever is arguably the simplest custom landing tab creator and could be used by someone with the intellect levels of Paris Hilton and a welcome tab can be created in just two minutes!

4. SplashTab

Similar to the much-loved WordPress theme, SplashTab provides a whole gallery filled with templates in order for customers to choose their tab layout from. Non-designers will love the ease of this application and while a little more intricate than Pagelever; Paris should still be able to manage if needs must…

5. FanBldr

Created by my good friend Tommy, this app is so easy to use and creates a fantastic landing page that’s easy to customize and perfect for businesses that want to keep their company look integrated into facebook.

Useful Tips!

Whatever type of system you choose to use, remember that the custom tabs can only be 520 pixels. Once the tabs are completed, make sure that you click on ‘Settings’ and use the pull down section that is titled ‘Default landing tab for everyone else’ so that you can choose which is your landing page for anyone who is not a ‘fan’…

Have you customized your landing tabs and if so, what difference has it made to you?