PSPINC Official Company Blog

How To Market Your Business with QR Codes

Feb

14

Within the last few years, QR (quick response) codes have become more popular, serving as a contactless, and therefore, sanitary, way of providing customers with information in person. A QR code is a graphical representation of digital data like a barcode. However, the difference between the two is that people can use a smartphone to scan QR codes because most have a QR reader built in.

Engineer Masahiro Hara first invented QR codes in 1994 to track vehicles and assembly line parts, but they didn’t become popular until the invention of smartphones. But even then, users still had to download an app to scan the QR code, crippling its adoption. Then, there was another surge in 2017 when Apple integrated a QR reader into their phones, and other smartphone companies followed suit. But that also died out shortly afterward. Then, the popularity of QR codes returned in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marketing with QR Codes

One of the most popular use cases involves companies marketing their business with QR codes. For businesses with physical locations, QR codes bridge the gap between digital and non-digital marketing efforts. Not to mention, they’re generally free or inexpensive and easy to use. With QR codes, marketing to customers in person becomes much easier to track and measure. Some marketing examples of QR codes in use include:

QR code menus. They lead users to digital menus online, providing a touchless option for health-conscious restaurant-goers.

business card front and back with a qr code on the front

Business cards with QR codes. They quickly guide users to someone’s website, online portfolio, or social media pages.

someone scanning a qr code from an in-store sign that a retail worker is holding up for them

Retail store signage encourages shoppers on the go to check out your loyalty programs, review storefronts and overall customer experiences, or view online catalogs when pieces go out of stock or are no longer available in store.

Museum, library, and/or park brochures. They provide visitors with additional information on displays and exhibits.

a woman scanning a qr code on a package while sitting in the front seat of a car

Audio QR codes. They help brands personalize their messaging on product packaging or greeting cards.

The adoption and popularity of QR codes have wavered in the past but grew exponentially within the last three years because of the Covid-19 pandemic. And the trend only continues today. The reasoning behind why is simple: they're fast, easy, sanitary, and inexpensive. And it's exactly why businesses like ours continue working in QR code software development.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

The term "QR Code" is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

#app #apple #blog #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerservice #digitalmarketing #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #mobile #officetips #sales #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #web

Enter to Win One Year of Pass Wizard Pro for Free

Feb

13

Fill out this Pass Wizard survey to enter to win one year of Pass Wizard Pro for free. With this information, we’ll be able to improve our customers’ experiences and get a better idea of what features we should prioritize in our future development work.

To enter this giveaway, users must already be a Pass Wizard user (free or Pro), fill out the survey, and enter their Pass Wizard email at the end of the survey. This contest ends at 11:59 pm PST on Thursday 3/9.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cybersecurity #giveaway #mobile #passwizard #passwordmanager #pspinc #security #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #survey #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 154 “Organizing Your Workflow”

Feb

9

Managing your business can be difficult, juggling both your customers and employees. But you need both when running a business of any size. An organized management system reduces the chance for mistakes to happen and increases overall productivity. It also improves the overall work culture, giving employees more transparency, trust, and control over their job.

On the client side, you want all the important data you have on them to be secure and organized. That way, you can provide great customer support and gain insights you wouldn’t otherwise have. For employees, an organized management system will help prioritize tasks and optimize the overall workflow. That’s why we created PSP Pilot, a CRM (customer relationship management) designed to simplify managing, operating, and logging daily tasks for your business. Get started for free today by signing up for PSP Pilot.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerfeedback #customerservice #customersupport #officetips #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pilot #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #psppilot #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webtools

How to Set Up a Facebook Ad

Feb

7

One of the easiest ways to increase visibility online as a small business is through paid ads. As we’ve mentioned before, organic social posts have a limited reach. One of the easiest and most affordable paid advertising options is Facebook ads.

Facebook makes it easy for marketers to create and run ads. After logging into Facebook, you’ll find the Meta (Facebook’s parent company) Business Suite on the left navigation bar, which is where you’ll be able to set up, monitor, and review your Facebook Ads. After opening Meta Business Suite, you can start by clicking on Ads on the left-hand side after selecting the Facebook page you’d like to run ads from. Then, click on Create Ad in the top-right corner. From there, you have three different options:

From There, You Can:

meta business suite create ad screenshot

Create Automated Ads

Facebook offers this option to make it easier for beginners, as it adjusts over time based on its algorithm. However, automated ads don't give marketers as much control over their ads to make them as specific as they might like them to be.

Boost Existing Content

If you already have a well-performing social post on either Facebook on Instagram, this option lets you boost that post. Boosting essentially helps that post be seen by more people, increasing the likelihood that users will take whatever action you'd like them to, whether it's engaging with the post or clicking on a link.

Start a New Ad Campaign

This option lets you choose a specific goal that you'd like your marketing campaign to accomplish. To start, you'll choose a goal, which could be:

· Getting more website visitors.

· Promoting your post.

· Promoting your business locally.

· Getting more leads.

· Getting more messages.

From there, you'll input the information to create the ad, which could include targeting options, ad copy, images, ad scheduling and duration, placements, and payment information. Then, clicking on "Promote now" will start your ad campaign.

Monitor Your Ads

meta business suite ads summary screenshot

After setting up your ad campaign, you can continually monitor it as it runs as well as after it ends. To see how your ads are performing, check Ads Summary, which is the default screen you'll see when clicking on Ads on the left navigation bar. From there, you'll see the Advertising Summary, Recent ads, Recommendations, and Audience sections.

The Advertising Summary shows you:

Overall reach: the number of people who saw your ad. This, however, doesn’t include multiple views from the same people.

Post engagement: the number of engagements people made involving your ad. This could include liking, commenting, sharing, or clicking on the link included in your ad.

Link clicks: the number of clicks your ad received.

Page likes: the number of likes your Facebook page gained because of your ad.

Recent ads will show you your most recent ad campaigns, with the option to view all ads if you’d like to see how a past ad performed. Recommendations, as the name suggests, show suggestions Facebook recommends to help you improve your overall ads. And lastly, Audience gives you more insight into your audience, i.e. your Facebook page followers and those who interacted with your past posts and/or ads. That information includes demographic data like age, gender, and location as well as where your ads were placed.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#ads #advertising #b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #facebook #facebookads #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #meta #metabusinesssuite #smallbusiness #socialads #socialmedia #tech #technology #web #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 153 “Lead Generation with Online Forms”

Feb

2

While increasing overall sales is the ultimate goal for small businesses, working to generate leads is just as important. Lead generation involves generating customer interest for a product or service, hopefully resulting in a sale. It’s an important part of conducting business because it helps your company continue to grow and expand as time goes on. And it’s even more important for those selling products and services to other businesses. If you nurture your leads well, it’ll increase the chance of customers coming back time and time again, resulting in a steady flow of business for your company.

In marketing, lead generation usually involves collecting your customers’ or web visitors’ information (a lead) through some kind of form. Within that form, it usually asks for basic customer information and a way to contact them. That way, even if users don’t immediately purchase from you, businesses can reach out to them to drive interest, hopefully inching them closer to the purchase stage. So, create and embed an online form easily with InforMakers. No coding necessary!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #form #forms #informakers #leadgeneration #leadnurturing #leads #marketing #marketingtips #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web

The Difference Between Building a Site from Scratch Versus Using a CMS

Jan

31

As of November 2022, there are nearly two billion websites on the internet, according to How to Geek. Before content management systems (CMS) existed, users created sites from scratch, which took a considerable amount of time. But it gave web developers a lot more control over all elements of a website, and that continues to be the case today. But creating websites with a CMS is even more popular today. In fact, more than 84 million websites are built with a CMS. The reason why is simple: it lets anyone create a website easily. Web developers have knowledge of coding languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, among others. With a CMS, users can create websites without the need for a web developer or designer.

While using a CMS can be easier and faster, there are still reasons why some may prefer to build a site from scratch. A CMS will generally offer a free plan, but they’re relatively limited feature- and storage-space-wise unless users upgrade to a paid account. Building a website without one gives developers more control over the hosting environment, giving them more freedom to add unique features to their site. Templates featured on a CMS are attractive, but it also results in multiple sites with the same or very similar site designs. Starting from scratch results in a much more unique site design as well as the ability to add other features that may not be available through a CMS.

Building a Website from Scratch

To create a website from scratch:

Add text, images, navigation bars, and other site building blocks with HTML

Add styling elements with CSS to design your site. A business site should match the look and feel of your brand.

Add more advanced functionality to your site by writing some JavaScript.

Upload the HTML file to your server to be filed away in your database.

From there, you can update the content or make other changes by downloading the files from the server and changing the HTML code by hand. Then upload the files back to the server after checking to make sure the code changes you made don’t result in an unexpected or undesirable result, like breaking a link.

Building a Website with a CMS

A CMS, or content management system, allows users to create, edit, and publish content online without any coding knowledge or experience. To build a site using a CMS:

Create an account on a CMS platform. We recommend WordPress or WebdeXpress, which is free with our Dreamersi web hosting.

Open the content editor to create and edit the content on your site. Without needing to write out any code, you can bold text, add links, and insert images among other things by dragging and dropping blocks or clicking a few buttons.

When you’re done creating or editing content, click on the Publish button and the CMS will display it for your website visitors.

To customize your website even further with unique features or design elements, invest in custom development or custom design services. For more informational videos, check out our "What Is" series on our YouTube channel.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cms #contentmanagementsystem #dreamersi #hosting #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webdexpress #webhosting #website #websitebuilder #websites #webtools #wordpress

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 152 “Customer Feedback”

Jan

26

While making sales and converting leads is important in business, it’s also important to know how your customers feel about your overall company and your products. Getting their overall feedback will help you figure out what the best aspects of your products are. And it’ll give you a good idea of what you could improve. If there are features that really hinder your product or service, customers won’t want to buy the product. Or they’ll return it not long after purchasing it. So, knowing where you can improve will result in a better overall product.

There are various ways you can gather your customer’s feedback. While it’s easier to just ask for a review, many people aren’t willing to write out their thoughts. Instead, companies usually ask customers to rank products based on the number of stars they’re willing to give, or the number they give from one to five, or one to ten. But we personally love using faces as a scale with our customer feedback system, Opinion Stand. It’s quick, easy, and much more expressive than a star or number. Sign up to get started.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #marketingtips #newsletter #opinionstand #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #technology #webtools

Social Media Marketing: Paid Versus Organic

Jan

24

Over the last few years, research found that people spend even more time on social media now than in the past, making your business’s potential audience even larger. And it makes it more likely that they’ll convert as well. However, social platforms’ algorithms are constantly changing, and many now make it hard for brands to increase their exposure through organic methods. As an example, Hootsuite reported that an organic post on a Facebook page gets an average reach of 5.2% in 2021.

But despite organic social’s decline in reach, it still has its place in an effective marketing strategy. While paid efforts will help reach more people, organic social helps establish your brand’s overall reputation and can be a way to connect with your audience. It also is a great way to test content to see which ones are more effective before using them for a paid campaign. So, it’s important to employ paid and organic social efforts to get the most out of social media marketing.

Why Your Business Needs Both

Women typing on the notebook laptop open to Facebook

While reach can be fairly limited, organic social media marketing can still give businesses a good idea of who their audience is and what they’re interested in. Plus, it’s great for businesses that are just starting and may not have funds to pay for advertising. Through organic social posts, you can build out your community and demonstrate your brand values and tell your brand story, which will reach the growing number of customers who prioritize buying from companies whose values align with their own. It may not directly lead to sales, but it will help establish trust and transparency. And it’s a good opportunity to see how effective different kinds of content perform.

Paid social ads, however, will help immensely in increasing the overall reach of your marketing campaigns. With how algorithms on social media work today, businesses can’t rely on organic efforts alone to market their products. Paid social ads, unlike organic posts, can break through the algorithm to be seen by more users that probably wouldn’t discover them otherwise. But other than increasing visibility, paid social ads also allow brands to target their audience to reach the right customer at the right time. With the increase in online shopping, it makes it even easier for brands to integrate ads into users’ timelines without disrupting a user’s overall experience. Paid social ads can also further enforce the messaging and values your organic social posts release. you can even convert your best-performing promotional organic content into a paid social ad, increasing the likelihood that they’ll perform well. So, employing both organic and paid social media efforts will let you take advantage of everything social media marketing has to offer.

If your business needs any digital marketing help, our team is standing by to help you increase your business’s visibility online.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#ads #advertising #blog #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #facebook #instagram #linkedin #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #organicsocialmedia #paidads #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #twitter #web

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 151 “Email File Size Limits”

Jan

19

One of the most frustrating parts of email is when you click send, and it tells you your file attachment is too big. Emails limit file sizes mainly for security reasons. Email file size limits prevent users from bombarding the server with large emails. And that would cause it to stop working altogether. But from a business perspective, it also allows companies to create free and paid tiers with different prices and size limits. Generally, the more a customer pays, the more space they get.

To solve this problem, users usually attach the file as a link, a feature many major email clients like Gmail offer. But it creates an extra step where users view the file online, sometimes as a different file type, rather than just opening it. And depending on the file type, viewing it in a browser may undesirably alter the format. That’s why we created MegaMail, which lets users send or transfer large files to anyone. The best part is that it won’t change the file type and you can even add a password to the file, which would only allow those with a password to access it. Sign up for MegaMail to get started.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cybersecurity #email #emailhosting #marketingtips #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #security #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webtools

Tap-To-Call: FaceTime Feature Now Available!

Jan

17

Starting today, you can now FaceTime with a tap of a button with Tap-To-Call! We’ve updated the iOS app to fix a few bugs pertaining to our Japanese language support and added a new FaceTime feature. Designed to help less tech-savvy users, calling has never been easier with Tap-To-Call. Just register with your name and phone number, add your favorite contacts and tap on their name to call. It’s that easy! Now with FaceTime capabilities!

Download Tap-To-Call today in the App Store for the ultra-low price of $0.99.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.