Blog | Fruition Interactive :: toronto interactive strategy, web design and development, online marketing

Paid Advertising: How It Helps Generate Earned Media

June 2, 2011 by Mitch Fanning 1 Comment

A few months ago, I wrote about the basics of PPC advertising (Pay-Per-Click). Since then, I’ve been thinking a lot about how “paid” media can help generate “earned” media (advertising that is shared among friends and beyond).

To clarify, when I refer to PPC advertising, I’m simply referring to any platform that allows you to advertise on a pay-per-click or cost-per-click basis (example: Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads).

Why Do It?

Ultimately, our clients want to generate leads, inquires, and sales from the PPC campaigns we run on their behalf. However, there are also other valid reasons to do PPC advertising, which may not achieve an immediate ‘hot lead’ or ‘sale’, but may do so down the road.

For example, if it makes sense for your business to have a Facebook Page you might want to consider using Facebook Ads to generate initial awareness and demand by driving people to your Facebook Page.

Running a Facebook Ad campaign, might help you get the first 1,000 people to “like” your Page. From that point, you still have to keep them engaged, but in time, you may earn their trust and convert them into advocates, clients, or buyers.

In addition, a relatively small investment in Facebook Ads could generate a huge ROI considering the very same people who first “liked” your Page from clicking your ad also create an organic viral effect.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words:

photo credit: Facebook

Overtime, once you’ve “earned” their trust, the same people who originally came to you via your paid Facebook Ad campaign (and who referred others) might eventually turn into a lead, inquiry, or sale.

About the Author

Mitch Fanning is VP of Fruition Interactive. He’s spent 11 plus years working with businesses of all sizes, from global brands to some of Canada’s fastest growing web start-ups ranked in the PROFIT 100.

Filed Under: All, Interactive Strategy, Online Advertising, Social Media Tagged With: adwords, conversion, conversion strategies, Google Adwords, interactive strategy toronto, online marketing, social media toronto, toronto interactive strategy, traffic generation

Featured Client: Laredo Law

May 28, 2011 by admin

This midtown law firm approached Fruition to create a site that was clean-looking and that didn’t look and sound like every other law firm on the planet.

Key Features: Web Content Management System (CMS) makes content updates quick and easy; clear and resonant calls to action designed to drive conversions; Social media sharing allows the firm’s loyal clients to spread the word; advanced analytics allow complete tracking of business results

Video: Planning your marketing podcast (#mesh11)

May 26, 2011 by Kent Wakely Leave a Comment

I’m at Mesh 2011, “Canada’s Web Conference” at The Allstream Centre in Toronto on Wednesday and Thursday May 25 and 26. I’ll be posting updates periodically over the course of the conference.

Donna Papacosta of Trafalgar Communications on best practices for before you start your marketing podcast.

Filed Under: All, Interactive Strategy

What your business can learn from the online porn business (#mesh11)

May 25, 2011 by Kent Wakely Leave a Comment

Regardless of how you feel about porn, the industry has long been at the leading edge of the technology curve. It was one of the first to ummm… embrace the VCR, it was one of the first to extensively use digital media.

Online porn pioneer Pink Visual’s Allison Vivas says, “most of us are looking at code and statistics and financial performance, not looking at the content.”

The adult industry is grappling with the impact of user generated content and piracy. Hard to convince people to pay for something they’re used to getting for free. Sound familiar? It does to every media company exec out there.

Why I’m THRILLED to be sponsoring #Mesh11

May 25, 2011 by Kent Wakely Leave a Comment

This is my 4th year at the Mesh conference for Fruition, but it’s Fruition’s first as a sponsor. And it’s about time.

Here’s why we decided to dive in deeper with our support for the conference:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Company News Tagged With: Mesh

New Site Launch: Laredo Law

May 17, 2011 by Kent Wakely Leave a Comment

I’m chuffed as always to announce Fruition’s latest site launch, for Laredo Law.

From the case study:

This midtown law firm approached Fruition to create a site that was clean-looking and that didn’t look and sound like every other law firm on the planet.

Lot’s of white space as well as visuals and copy designed to connect with the hearts and minds of prospective clients help Laredo Law stand out from the crowd.

You can:

Filed Under: Clients, Company News

New Site Launch: Catalyst Learning Group

April 29, 2011 by Kent Wakely Leave a Comment

I’m super pleased to announce Fruition’s latest site launch, for the Catalyst Learning Group.

You can:

Filed Under: Clients, Company News

Why Going Green Can Be Profitable (part 3 of 3)

April 21, 2011 by Mitch Fanning Leave a Comment

As a tribute to Earth Day, which is tomorrow, we decided to share some of the things we’ve done at Fruition Interactive that’s not only good for the environment, but profitable.

In part two, we discussed the benefits of telecommuting as a way to not only reduce pollution and costs, but to increase employee productivity. Here’s our final suggestion on what you can do to help your business go green while boosting your bottom line.

Green Marketing

Obviously, I had to sneak in marketing somehow.

According to Wikipedia, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Using this definition, green marketing could mean a lot of things. To keep things simple, I’ve decided to take another route. By recycling offline marketing online in order to be more cost effective and environmentally friendly.

Where to begin

Do you really need a brochure for customers to take home and throw out, or would a business card be enough to lead customers to your web site? Again, try eliminating first then recycle what’s left.

With online marketing, content creation is important., however, many businesses struggle to create good original content on a regular basis. Recycling content from one format to another or for different distribution channels solves this problem.

Here are just three ways you can recycle content for marketing purposes that are not only cost-effective and good for the environment, but can help build a loyal audience.

1. Press releases. Rewrite using a conversational tone for a blog post, without the hype or PR speak.

2. PowerPoint presentations. If you do a lot of public speaking using PowerPoint try recycling the content. Presentations can be converted into a series of blog posts. However, it can also be easily extended to Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube.

3. Interviews. If you give interviews, the responses given can be aggregated into blog content. Important: do not post content from an interview before the journalist or blogger who interviewed you has published their piece first.

Now it’s your turn

Whether you recycle offline content for online use, mine CRM conversations to develop an online FAQ or even turn your print newsletter into e-mail, there’s plenty of room for creativity when it comes to green marketing. I’ve only given you a starting point.

My thesis is simple: switching to technology-based solutions not only reduces your carbon footprint and overhead, it can boost productivity and profits.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

BTW, if you want more ideas on how you can re-purpose your content you might be interested in our free guide, 9 Ways to Turbo Charge Your Online Marketing. It’s full of tips to help you make the most of the Web, search and social media marketing.

If you haven’t already, you can sign up here.

About the Author

Mitch Fanning is VP of Fruition Interactive. He’s spent 11 years working with businesses of all sizes, from global brands to Canada’s fastest growing web start-ups ranked in the PROFIT 100.

Filed Under: How We Work

Why Going Green Can Be Profitable (part 2 of 3)

April 20, 2011 by Mitch Fanning Leave a Comment

As a tribute to Earth Day, which is this Friday, April 22nd, we decided to share some of the things we’ve done at Fruition Interactive that’s not only good for the environment, but profitable.

In part one, we discussed the benefits of switching to a Cloud Computing solution to reduce your carbon footprint and costs. Well, here’s one more thing you can do to help your business go green while boosting your bottom line.

Go Remote

One could argue the greenest improvement in the workplace has been the evolution of telecommuting, which is now possible thanks to technologies like cloud computing, online collaboration tools and apps like Skype.

Working from home not only reduces traffic and pollution, it reduces costs. Best of all, it increases employee productivity.

Think about it.

Do you constantly work late and on your weekends? Sure, everyone does it once and awhile, but perhaps the reason is you’re not getting enough done at work. The culprit: office interruptions. When do you get the most work done? If you’re like most people it’s when nobody else is around.

At Fruition, our office is powered exclusively by wind, solar and low-impact hydro electrical energy, provided by Bullfrog Green Energy. However, we also give employees the choice to work remotely.

Our phone system runs on Voice over IP (VoIP). We manage projects using Assembla.com. We make presentations using Yugma.com, a web conferencing tool. We get proposals approved using an elegant online e-signature service called Echosign.com. We even invoice clients by email and give them the option to pay using PayPal.com.

Not only does working remotely using these tools have considerable green benefits, it makes our employees happier. They save money, can work on their own terms and produce good results.

However, employees aren’t the only one’s reaping the rewards. According to Sun Microsystems, their telecommuting program not only saved $387 million in IT and office space costs, it also reduced annual CO2 emissions by about 28-thousand-pounds.

That’s just good business.

Stay tuned for part 3 tomorrow.

About the Author

Mitch Fanning is VP of Fruition Interactive. He’s spent 11 years working with businesses of all sizes, from global brands to Canada’s fastest growing web start-ups ranked in the PROFIT 100.

Filed Under: How We Work Tagged With: bullfrog green energy, cloud computing, earth day 2011, telecommuting

Green Marketing

Where to begin

Now it’s your turn

Go Remote

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