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Sage MAS 500 ERP
Newsletter for Sage MAS 500 ERP
February 2010 • Volume 8 • Issue 1 |
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Harnessing The Internet
Leveraging The Web For Marketing And Business
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The Internet is a powerful force in the business environment, and it continues to evolve rapidly. Harnessing the power of the Internet marketplace is an
essential part of an effective sales and marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy must evolve as the Internet evolves. In this article we offer some ideas
for leveraging some of the many opportunities currently available.
Increase Traffic To Your Web Site
Of course it is important to have a Web site, a central point for customers to learn about your organization, but in order for prospects to find your company,
your Web site must be near the top of a search engine’s result set. You can accomplish this goal through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO requires careful
thought and ongoing maintenance. You might consider hiring a consultant who specializes in search engine optimization. You can improve your ranking in search
results through the proper use of keywords. Keywords, when used well, are one of the most cost-effective tools of online marketing. They can be placed in your
Web site’s content and tags, and should be the same terms that you consistently use in your marketing materials. Use keywords appropriately though; keyword
stuffing or using a keyword too many times can be looked upon unfavorably by search engines and can actually harm your site’s ranking.
Online Communities
Online communities are an excellent way for your organization to become more agile, in everything from running your software to finding best practices
information for your industry. Have you checked out the Sage MAS 500 ERP Online Community? The forum is already generating lots of activity:
http://community.sagemas.com/sagemas/. There are blogs with useful information from Sage
executives and support staff, as well as a discussion forum. You can jump in and share your thoughts and perspectives, and get ideas from other Sage MAS 500
users on best practices, such as optimizing SQL Server or the pros and cons of moving to a 64-bit processor. You may even want to consider starting your own
online community for your organization. There are online services available, such as Lithium.com, that can help you get started quickly.
Social Media
Social media is a powerful force that is growing rapidly. Utilizing this important marketing tool is not just smart, but is quickly becoming essential.
Many people have a misapprehension that social media is only for the young. In fact, according to statistics published by iStrategy-Labs in July 2009, the 55+
age group is the most rapidly growing segment on Facebook, and the largest segment of users is the 34-54 age group. And according to Facebook’s published
statistics, there are more than 5.3 billion fans of the more than 700,000 businesses that have active Facebook Pages.
Through the effective use of social media, the Obama campaign was able to collect 13 million e-mail addresses, which then became contacts in their CRM system to
be used for soliciting additional support. With these statistics, there is little doubt that there is a huge potential for developing your business through
social media.
The number of social media sites and methods can be confusing. A good place to start is with Facebook. From there you can expand into other social media such as
Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
As a business, you start by creating a Facebook Page, as opposed to a Profile used by individuals. Creating a Facebook Page allows businesses to collect Fans.
You can link your Facebook Page to your company’s Web site and to e-Commerce sites that sell your products. Ask friends and family to become fans of your business so you have a respectable crowd of supporters when you debut your page with customers. When you are ready, invite customers to become fans. If you are
using Sage SalesLogix, you can use the e-mail marketing capability to invite customers to your Facebook Page. Or use Business Insights Explorer’s mail
merge capabilities to send the request. Then, engage your fans by posting comments on their pages and encourage them to pass the word about your fan page and
company.
The personality of your Facebook Page should enhance the brand image of your Web site and other marketing pieces. “The pages that are most successful are
the ones that really replicate the personality of the business,” said Tim Kendall, the director of monetization at Facebook. Keep content fresh. Tell fans
about specials and events, and regularly add photos, comments, and other useful information.
Relationships are at the heart of a successful social marketing strategy. You may find your time spent on Facebook feels less like marketing and more like
customer service. When people ask for information, even if not related to buying your product, you need to respond to keep them engaged. Listen to what people
are saying, good and bad, you may pick up ideas on how you can improve your business.
Because Facebook members complete profiles with information such as hometown, employer, interests, and education, it is tailor made for targeted marketing. Profile information can help you deliver messages to specific demographic slices. You can create a Facebook ad, and as you do so add demographic criteria and keywords and see how many Facebook users fall into your target audience.
Find Out What They Are Saying About You
There is a lot of chatter on the Web; customers, competitors, and associates may already be talking about you. You may want to step in to keep the record straight. You can find out what people have said and get analyses of positive and negative feedback, on sites such as http://twitrratr.com and http://socialmention.com.
E-Commerce
If you are not already engaged in e-commerce, it may be a good time to reevaluate your options. Even if you don’t sell online, consider providing your customers with the convenience of checking their account over the Web, or risk the perception that your organization is out of step with technology.
The e-Customer module for Sage MAS 500 makes it easy to get an integrated e-commerce site up quickly. The e-Customer module is a business-tobusiness Internet storefront. Customers can order items from a general catalog that you customize for your Web site. Your customers receive the full strength of Sage MAS 500 product- and customer-specific pricing, and when new items are created in the Inventory Management module, the system will automatically update your Web storefront and add the items to the catalog categories you specify.
Perhaps even more compelling than the online ordering capability is online customer self service. You can give customers a secure view into their account activity, including their account balance, on-order balance, credit limit, and available credit. They can drill down to line-item content from the openorder view, and customers can even specify an account administrator to create and manage their own employee users.
We would be happy to talk to you in more depth about any of the ideas presented here for harnessing the Internet to make your business more effective. Please give us a call for more information.
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© Copyright 2004-2010 Tango Marketing, LLC. www.tango-marketing.com All Rights Reserved. This newsletter and its content have been registered with
the United States Copyright Office. This content is licensed by Tango Marketing LLC and can be distributed by licensee until 07/31/2010 at which time the licensee must cease
distribution and use of this content unless permission in writing is obtained from Tango Marketing LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
The capabilities, system requirements and/or compatibility with third-party products described herein are subject to change without notice. Sage, the Sage logos, and the Sage product
and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
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