Thanks to Facebook’s free business pages, companies are able to create their own space on the website and promote it without cost. They’re able to monitor and analyze people’s interaction with this page and communicate directly with those who view it, “like” it or comment on its Wall. So why pay extra for small, non-interactive banner? Well, one reason is simply for the promotion of brand awareness – getting your logo out there and keeping it top-of-mind on a site where people spend an average of 16 hours of viewing time each month in the U.S.

If you’re currently advertising directly through Facebook, you may want to analyze the results and cost efficiency for doing this rather than activating and maintaining a business page. If you’re active enough with your contacts, you can still get your brand out there in the social media sphere, but in a much more impactful way. If you already have a business page as well, there may be ways to invest marginal fees and more page management time to get greater – and more measurable – results. Then you, too, may find it best to stop paying for advertising. On the other hand, your company may be better suited to the Facebook audience than automobile brands.

Chrysler and Ford continue to buy advertisements with the popular social media network, which stands to launch its public stock offerings this Friday, May 18.

Last year, Bud Light Lime saw a decline in sales nationwide, with 13% fewer shipments and only 20th placing among all national beer brands. In a timely interview – considering that lime-flavored drinks are often associated with Cinco de Mayo, Mexican food flavor profiles and other south-of-the-border contexts – Ad Age interviewed Mike Sundet, Bud Light’s vice president, to discuss that loss of sales and what the brand is doing about it in order to compensate for 2012.

Sundet said that one strategy is ensuring that all of Bud Light’s branches reflect the same core brand message. Bud Light is getting rid of its Golden Wheat beer, which didn’t match the intended brand profile. By strengthening the way people perceive Bud Light, with a consistent message, it will also serve to bolster people’s opinions of Bud Light Lime. Bud Light is also releasing Bud Light Platinum at the same price point, so that when one special or sale is advertised, the ramifications can easily expand to both of the beers in question since they won’t be segregated by contradictory costs or competing in-store displays. Last but not least, this drink is getting an image makeover with some fresh new television ads featuring a remix of Will Smith’s “Summertime.”

For those who like the lime flavoring, there’s another Bud Light option to consider – though it’s not technically a beer. The Lime-A-Rita is a sweeter, saltier drink that might translate to a more whimsical occasion or suit the needs of people who tend to like Bud Light but are more in the mood for a cocktail or something different. As Sundet points out, many people like margaritas, but those aren’t the easiest drinks to bring to parties or make away from the kitchen, where you have a blender and a complete set of ingredients. Instead, the Lime-A-Rita fulfills that craving but is easy to transport. He says it’s for the same demographic as Bud Light Lime, but for different kinds of occasions.

The lesson here is clear: A brand’s products should all enforce a consistent image, for a consistent audience and with a consistent price point. Deviating or diversifying too much puts a brand at risk of alienating its audience, splitting their loyalties or confusing them about the nature of your product. If you find yourself in a similar situation, remind your audience why they liked your brand in the first place, but then add a fresh new spin on it to tempt them to give you a shot again – whether it’s issuing a new promotion, launching an edgy campaign or piquing their interest with a complementary product.

The dashboard offers such features as:

• Campaign tracking, with a focus on SEO and SEM
• Search engine optimization reports, showing where your business really stands with sites like Yahoo, Google and more
• Live online feedback aggregated from Facebook, Twitter and other sources
• Technical support 24 hours a day, with free and paid options
• Traffic analytics reports showing how a company’s website is performing
• News from across the World Wide Web that’s regularly updated and specific to the needs of small businesses

Yahoo hopes to provide those in charge of interactive marketing with a clear-cut, easy-to-understand platform by which they can monitor and analyze all of their online advertising in one central location.

Some may say that Yahoo is a little behind the curve with launching new systems for collecting website and social marketing data – most preexisting companies have, hopefully, already established a way to monitor their marketing by now. But hopefully Yahoo can introduce new formulas and improve upon existing platforms after looking at what’s popular or what doesn’t seem to work for other, similar dashboards. By directly facing the competition with more established options, like Google Analytics, they may be forced to step up to the plate with a system that’s truly a viable and rewarding options for those in charge of small business marketing on the Web.

What do you think? Will this help Yahoo stay relevant in a fast-changing field that’s dominated by such social media titans as Google? Or is it just a desperate bid to keep up with the status quo?

Here are some of the points made in the comic, which we elaborate upon:

1) Don’t make your entire page about your “like” button. Hopefully you have more interesting content to offer than a bunch of reasons why someone should like you. If your page is designed well, easy to use and informative, then people probably will. They won’t if you beg, plead and cajole. It might look like you care more about yourself than you do the people that you’re hoping to serve, and if there’s one thing we can’t say enough, it’s to think about serving your potential clients and customers first. On Facebook or in real life, this always pays off.

2) Don’t contact everyone you know and ask them to “like” you. It’s not enough to ask to be liked, you have to earn it. People don’t typically enjoy it when you reach out simply for the sake of solicitation. They’ll see straight through that. Instead, you can promote a sweepstakes or post something on your page that would genuinely interest your target audience. Then reach out to them and tell them about that thing. Hopefully, they’ll click “like” just because they want to. Even if you have to offer some kind of incentive to click “like,” people will do it when there’s a benefit for them. And they’ll feel way better about it than if you just said, “Hey, click “like” for me! Thanks!” Give them a real reason.

3) Treat it like meeting a potential friend for the first time in real life. If you were meeting a potential client for lunch, you wouldn’t walk in and say, “Hey, you should like me and give me money!” You wouldn’t do that with a friend or potential romantic interest, either. When you want to impress someone you’re meeting for the first time – especially someone you want something from – then you would be on your best behavior, act respectful and find a way to tactfully bring up your potential partnership. This etiquette should also extend to online.

The Oatmeal closes by listing a bunch of creative ways to draw people to your Facebook business page. But the heart of the matter is that you want to think about your audience and what they’d enjoy reading about. Put this on your Facebook page, and your audience will find the content. Sure, you may need to market your inherent awesomeness a bit before it catches on, but in the end you’ll get an infinitely bigger response than if you’re hoping and praying that people are hitting “like” just because you asked – or worse, begged – them to do it.

Here’s the comic, enjoy!

Here’s how to do it:

1. Visit Google.com/alerts

2. There are five forms to fill out:

• Search query (the word or phrase as you’d want it searched – with correct spelling and punctuation; Google search tools apply, so use “ “ around your phrase for an identical match)
• Result type (such as videos, blogs, news, etc.)
• How often (you can choose daily, weekly or as it happens and get periodic round-ups from an automated scope of the Web)
• How many (you can choose from only the best results (best matches, newest, most relevant) or all results)
• Deliver to (this is your e-mail address; if you choose “as it happens” and expect a lot of results, you may want to create a label, filter or unique e-mail address to receive your alerts to keep from cluttering your inbox)

3. Next you hit “Create Alert” and you’re brought to a page saying that you’ll receive the e-mail for confirmation before the alerts begin.

4. When you receive the confirmation e-mail (which should happen pretty immediately), you just have to click a link that says “Verify” and you’re all set. Just be sure you don’t click the link under it, which is to cancel your alert!

5. Now you should start receiving any relevant notices as soon as they happen. You can visit the same website and click “Manage Alerts” anytime to change your settings. Accuracy and effectiveness may take some tinkering but are worth the more specific matches to satisfy your searches.

Setting up and monitoring Google Alerts is just one of the services that comes along with our website development, social media management, search engine optimization and interactive marketing. Let us know if you have any other questions about how to amplify and administrate your presence online!

With today’s fast-paced social media growth, and countless spaces to monitor online, it’s hard for you to stay on top of every instance where your name is coming up in the world – even if you do a periodic search for your name or your business’s. The most effective way to keep up with what’s being said about you on the Internet is to create a Google Alert.

You simply set up an account through Google and type in the key words or phrases pertinent, specifically, to your company. (This is also useful to do for your own name and perhaps some of your competitors as well.) Whenever these certain codes come up anywhere on the Internet, Google sends you an e-mail “alert” telling you about it. Then you can check out what’s being said immediately.

This can help you be more active in any conversations about your business. You can network with people who are interested in your brand or seeking more information. You can also more actively engage with any and all claims and commiserations about your products and services. This can help you stay on the ball and take part in your overall brand marketing and management. Plus, showing that you’re interested in hearing what people have to say and improving or engaging based on those details always garners a great response from the public.

Ready to get started? Check back next week and we’ll walk you through how to do it!

The primary adjustment is to its secretive algorithm, which determines how to rank and analyze certain keywords in order to match and rank content.

For starters, AdWords will now allow advertisers to place ads based on more specific keywords. Instead of trying to match content using less descriptive means, marketers can choose the narrowest and most niche keywords so that their creative appears only next to extremely specific phrases and articles. And, of course, they’ll be able to track how certain keywords fare as compared to others in order to determine what those designations should be. Google is calling this option “next-gen keyword contextual targeting.”

And it’s important to note that this upgrade is coming along with a new and easy to use display grid that makes it simple to manage and monitor these campaigns.

In terms of targeting and tweaking campaigns, Google will be releasing a visualization aid that shows marketers how their campaign is faring on a grid that will help them quickly locate and assess the information they’ve collected. This graphic map plugs into analytics data and can be reorganized according to specific features that are an individual advertiser’s top priorities, such as keyword, location or topic. The Google AdWords visualization aid provides a bird’s eye view of trends, clusters and other historical data.

What do you think of these updates? And what other changes do you think AdWords still needs to stay at the top of its game in an increasingly competitive Web marketing world?

For most shows, disappearing for that long would be a death knell. But missing this smash hit only made fans more ravenous, and the buildup toward its return sparked intense speculation and anticipation. In fact, creator Matthew Weiner said the move was, in fact, actually a vote of confidence – both in “Mad Men” and the people that love it. He reported that a scheduling crunch demanded at least one of the network’s series being pushed back. And AMC believed this show was popular enough to hold off, whereas other shows would surely flounder. Many people believed that financial obligations contract negotiations factored into the dispute. Other cited reasons including plot and story arc conflicts.

Regardless, the hiatus gave the “Mad Men” cast, crew and creative team the time necessary to completely write, film and wrap the entire fifth season. Weiner also said that it was a first, and he feels content that they’ve got a complete and refined finished product thanks to the yearlong-plus break. At Mad 4 Marketing, we have to wonder what advertising and content partners thought about that tradeoff, considering that “Mad Men” was known for formerly breaking ground with its impressive partnerships with brands that tied into its retro-classic aesthetic and also wove neatly into the show’s storylines.

Last night, in a special two-hour premiere, “Mad Men” returned to our airwaves. The four-time Emmy-winning TV triumph about the marketing executives on Madison Avenue in the 1960s didn’t just pick up where it left off, either. We join enigmatic ad man Don Draper just in time to catch his 40th birthday party in 1966. And yes, he’s now married to his former secretary, Megan.

Looking forward, scheduling should hopefully be a lot less shaky. The team is now locked in for the next two seasons. If the show gets extended beyond that, there are widely affirmed speculations that it would conclude with Season 7. But now isn’t a time to worry about the eventuality of the show’s end – for now, fans can simply sit back and finally enjoy the return of “Mad Men.”

What do you think? Was the season premiere worth the wait?

But there are other ways to think about the concept of “try before you buy.” For example, clothing retailers commonly invite you to try on clothes at the store before you take them home. This has always been so successful that many stores have recently been seeking ways to emulate the tactic online by creating simulated dressing rooms for customers to “try on” clothes before making a purchase. When it comes to e-commerce, customers are also likely to shop online when there’s no cost for shipping the item to them or back from their house in the case of a return or exchange. This diminishes the risk of trying out something that a person is not yet sure he or she wants, and makes it easier to complete a transaction up front.

Having a loose return policy in person also helps. People can buy from you and then return it without any hassle or cost within a certain period of time if they don’t like it. The message is that your company can pay for and deal with any returns because you don’t expect there to be many. And if there are, you want to help the buyer exchange or replace their merchandise as easily as possible because you’re a helpful brand.

Beauty counters at department stores have traditionally allowed potential customers to try products without needing to make a purchase first. That used to involve making an appointment or giving a beauty expert free reign over your face. One great example of modernizing this classic concept is the beauty franchise Sephora. Sephora built its brand on being a concept store where people can freely touch and explore all of the beauty products before making their purchases. They can also consult with makeup professionals about which products might suit them best. Sephora also sends home samples of new products with any online purchase so that customers can explore other items they might consider buying.

Not every business type has a product that can be passed around. You might sell contracts or offer consultation services – or similar intangible things. This is where you might have to get a little creative. Consider creating a webinar that’s hosted online where people can see you at work. This might mean giving a lecture, teaching a lesson or being interviewed by another industry professional. Just give your potential customers the chance to see you at work in addition to your professional resume and recommendations. And it’s almost always a good policy to consider offering free first consultations to get new people in the door.

Got any questions about how you can implement “try before you buy” or free sample marketing? Don’t hesitate to contact us with your inquiries – we pride ourselves on an ability to get creative with any type of client or company.

Many companies can build their fan base by sending out samples of their products and services. Simply making a try-before-you-buy offer shows confidence. It means that you know your investment in creating and distributing the free samples will pay for itself because people are sure to enjoy – and ultimately buy – what you’re offering. Here’s some examples of familiar free sample marketing:

• Food. We’re all familiar with those little samples given out at grocery stores that can make any shopping adventure just a bit more exciting. And let’s not forget the food court at the mall, where an alluring bite can get you to buy your meal from the stall you’re passing rather than the one next to it. What about wine tastings? Vineyards have made an entire pastime out of inviting potential customers to come try the seasonal wines before they purchase a corked bottle (or, who are we kidding, a crate of corked bottles). Sometimes you also get samples in the mail from snack companies who want you to taste first, buy later. Getting to open up a package of treats and try them out is so much more attractive than a coupon, isn’t it?

• Cars. Of course you want to test drive that new model before you lay out a few thousand bucks for that new car! Test driving doesn’t just go for motor vehicles, but it applies to all kinds of bikes, boats, tractors and carts, too. For the most part, this has become common policy for selling anything on wheels or with an engine. Just don’t expect to test-fly that jet without a pilot’s license – that’s not quite how it works when you buy a plane ticket, thankfully.

• Software. Remember when AOL used to send out all of those CDs with 15 or 30 hours of free trial membership? It certainly got a lot of people to try and trust this service they’d never seen before. Computer and mobile applications are a huge part of our society today, and it’s easy to create limited-access trial packages that allow prospective buyers to tinker around, create a profile and test out their need for your product before purchasing the complete product.

When giving out samples on a budget, it’s a great idea to target your ideal audience. Consider donating goods or distributing samples where industry professionals might gather. For example, if you make toys, sponsor a school or kid’s charity.

Look for more insights and ideas on this subject next week!