Archive for category Marketing
Tracking Offline Sales to Your Web Site
Posted by Kevin in Marketing, Track Offline Sales on January 11th, 2010
If you have a web site and are having a difficult time tracking offline sales listen up. If there are no systems in place which enables you to track your offline sales to your web site, all is not lost. It is not difficult to set up special phone numbers or print discount coupons.
If you are still having difficulties following the steps above try to estimate them.
- Ask the customers when they buy if they used your web site prior to buying.
If your company uses warranty cards, update your warranty cards that asks about the use of your web site.
Add a question to a survey. Your business may regularly send surveys to your customers. Add a question regarding whether customers used your web site prior to their last purchase.
You can use estimates to perform trend analysis checking ups and downs from month to month. Furthermore, you can also implement systems which accurately track sales.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is an integral part in your success in marketing. Email remains one of the most powerful tools for marketers. Email is inexpensive, targeted, direct and offers immediate returns. Email marketing increases traffic to web sites, drives results, awareness and engagement. According to a June 2009 Marketing Trends Survey, 42 percent of nearly 1,000 global leaders plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2009. 81% percent of the global businesses leaders plan to increase what they spend on e-mail marketing. Veronis Suhler Stevenson reports spending on email marketing will expand at double-digit rates for the next five years expanding at 18.5%.
Email marketing is trackable and cost effective. It is more result oriented for performance. Look at your web statistics when you do an email marketing campaign. This will show an increase in traffic on your web site. There is email marketing software that track whether your email is opened such as E-listmail Click here for e-listmail.
E-mail allows an opportunity to connect to your customers and prospects. There is a limitation if email does not engage in results or users unsubscribe.
Three methods to increase the chance of success in email marketing include:
1. Personalization
2. Branding
3. Call to Action
Click here to watch a video on email marketing
The time is now to utilize email marketing to increase branding and results.
YouTube is an Effective Way to Advertise
Posted by Kevin in Marketing, Social Media, User Generated Content on October 1st, 2009
Video is important way to increase brand awareness and reach a large audience. Video is just as significant as network TV. A Comscore April 2009 report states that 72 percent of US Internet users watch video clips monthly.
A program advertisers should use is YouTube. YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. It allows Internet users to able to create their own accounts and channels with profiles and plenty of favorite videos. Anyone who goes to the site can view the videos that are posted on this site. Youtube Channel offers fans a brand platform to comment and share their opinions of the products.
Here is a video smallbiztrends.com/2009/08/youtube-small-businesses.html that demonstrates how to use YouTube.
Youtube also allows businesses to show off their products. It offers high visibility for their brands to connect to consumers. The Nielsen Company reports that YouTube reached 87.7 million unique visitors a 22% year over year jump in June. In addition, it is a great way to increase brand awareness by natural search, which allows for videos to be picked on search results with site links, images, videos, and news links.
Shopping Search Engines
Posted by Kevin in E-Commerce, Marketing on September 23rd, 2009
Online merchants need more sales online and a higher conversion rate? If your site sells products available in shopping search engines do not miss out on the opportunity. Try shopping search engines.
A growing section of search marketing is shopping search. Comparison Shopping Engines benefit consumers by researching products; user reviews, locating stores with best customer ratings, find the best price. Shopping search engines allow comparison features and prices for many different products. Customers are searching them. According to Matt Tatham of Hitwise, US shopping search sites are increasing at 51 percent between 2006 and 2007.
Consumers enjoy comparison shopping search engines because they allow for comparison of similar products across purchasing factors, such as price, reviews, and availability. Shopping search engines carry an assortment of consumer products, such as electronics, office supplies, DVDs, toys, and others. Internet users on these shopping search engines know what they want with price and availability, which are crucial factors in their purchasing decisions.
A comparison shopping engine survey of the comparison shopping engines that merchants use reports that comparison shopping engines produce better qualified leads than pay per click. The person clicking on the listing is further along in the buyer process. The listing includes product picture, short description. Also, merchants do no have to compete for as much attention as in the pay per click in search engines. Less competition leads to your products have a better chance for qualified leads.
Watch video on comparison shopping
Below are the results of comparison shopping engines survey that merchants use:
Price Grabber 41.2%
Nextag 27.5%
Shopping.com 47.1%
Yahoo!Shopping 64.7%
Shopzilla 33.3%
Take advantage of shopping search engine marketing and make sure no data is missing of the products. Provide product availability data such as in stock and ships within two weeks. By leaving out this critical information about your products, your products will fall to the bottom of the list when shoppers sort the product list.
The Advantages of “Pull” Marketing on the Internet
Posted by Cory in Content, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media on August 28th, 2009
In general marketing practices, there are two main methods of marketing. “Push” marketing, and “Pull” Marketing. In a Push-Marketing scenario, you push your content or product at your target market. Examples of this are newsletters trying to get people to sell, mail marketing campaigns, etc. In a Pull-Marketing scenario, your clients are pulled toward your content or product/service. Examples are Pay Per Click Ads, Search Engine Optimization, Viral Marketing, etc.
In a traditional market it is good to balance out your push/pull marketing. However in a market like the web, you want to have a much greater emphasis on pull marketing than push marketing. Here’s why. When someone gets on the computer, they choose where they are going to go. If they don’t want to go to your website, they aren’t going to go. Therefore, if you attempt push marketing on the majority of internet users, you’ll find that you will not much a response. An example is your website. If you put a website up online, and then market it using push tactics, not many people are going to go. They don’t want to be sold. They’d rather be on sites like Facebook, YouTube, or CNN. However if you make your site attractive, and give users a reason to go, you are using pull marketing, and you will see an increase in visitors to your site.
Although this defies some marketing convention, it actually makes a lot of sense. Think about it this way. A traditional medium is something like TV. Someone wants to watch their favorite show, but during that show, they are going to be served advertisements. They may not enjoy watching these ads, but they will do so to continue watching their show. This is push marketing. On a new medium like the web however, users choose what they see. Software exists to block advertisements, and people decide on whether they are going to click on them. In other words, most users don’t even need to look at ads to see the content they want. This is why a push marketing strategy will be largely unsuccessful on the web. The Internet is a democratic environment, so the users are going to decide what they see.
So how do you market to this new medium? Pull marketing. It is extremely effective on places like the web, mainly because of the ways the web works. Pull marketing on the Internet is highly related to Social Media and Viral Marketing. When using Social Media to market, you need to utilize the network so that users are attracted to what you are presenting. This is pull marketing in a nutshell. When using viral marketing, you need to create something that will attract users solely because it is something that will benefit them, instead of just advertising your brand.
Here are some ways that you can take advantage of pull marketing on the web:
- Perform extensive Search Engine Optimization on your website, so that when someone is using Google, your listing “pulls” them in.
- Use Google AdWords to serve ads to users that will pull them in.
- Create a new blog with useful content. Give users tips, news, opinions, ideas, etc. Use the blog to link back to your main site sparingly, but always focus on having the blog be beneficial to users.
- Commence a comprehensive Viral Marketing strategy. Come up with things that you can offer users that they will be attracted to due to the benefit they will receive. Then lightly brand the useful content, objects, etc before they are delivered to users.
- Utilize social media networks extensively. Post update about your business, or things you think may be useful on microblogging sites like Twitter. Create a page for your business on Social Media sites like Facebook.
- If you are a web related company, do something useful for the web community. Examples: release a free website template. Work on the development of an Open-Source project such as Wordpress or Drupal. Provide industry insight.
- Offer something for free. Nothing sells, or pulls better, then the word free.
Now that you have some ways you can take advantage of Pull Marketing, get to it. There is a whole range of ways to get started. Not exactly sure how? Need some help? Want someone else to do it? Perhaps you should contact RP Design. (Or you can click on the banner to the right.)
Web Analytics: How and Why You Should Use It
Any Web Marketer worth his salt knows that you can’t be successful without goals. And you can’t set goals without being able to measure them. So how do you measure goals in something as obscure as web marketing? Simple. Web Analytics. Web Analytics is technology that tracks how your website is being used. For example it can tell you how many visitors you have, where they are coming from, and what they are doing on your site.
There are two main types of web analytics softwares, server based, and client based. Server based software periodically scans the server logs to determine who was accessing your site. One of the most popular forms of server statistics software is AWStats The overview of AWStats is shown below:
As you can see, AWStats gives you an overview of information, mainly the number of visits organized by the time. There is a lot of other information that AWStats gives you. For example, The specific pages that were accessed, the countries of the visitors, their operating system, etc.
The second type of web analytics software is client based. What this means is that instead of the software running in the background on the server, it is activated every time a visitor accesses the website. This software can either be hosted on your site, or hosted externally. The most popular client-based analytics software is Google Analytics. Google Analytics works by embedding a small tag on each page of your site. This tag activates javascript hosted on Google’s Servers, which then retrieves data and information for analysis. The overview of Google Analytics is shown below:
As you can see, this overview is more intuitive than AWStats. It shows information in a more visual way, and is able to tell you if your traffic is coming from referring sites, or search engines. Google Analytics allows you to set up goals and conversions so you can get a detailed look at the traffic to your site(s).
This video should give you a nice overview of the Google Analytics Interface
As you can see, Google Analytics is very detailed, powerful software. However I would recommend you use both for your analytics needs. They each have their own pros and cons, so using them together is a better way to harness the power of the software.
Now that you know the basics of using analytics, here’s why you should:
- Gives you an overview of how many people are coming to your site.
- The only way to be successful is to measure success, and web statistics allows you to do so.
- Allows you to better focus your marketing efforts on the worst-performing parts of your site.
- Let’s you see the most popular keywords that people are hitting your site from.
- Allows you to set goals based on your traffic, so you can have measurable marketing results.
To get started with analytics right now:
- AWStats: Talk to your administrator or contact your web host to see if you have AWStats currently enabled.
- Google Analytics: visit http://google.com/analytics and sign up. Insert the provided tracking code into all of the pages of your site.
Social Media: The New Word of Mouth
Posted by Cory in Content, Marketing, Social Media on August 17th, 2009
If you ever took a marketing class in school, you learned that word-of-mouth is the best kind of marketing. Wikipedia defines word of mouth marketing as:
Word of mouth is a reference to the passing of information from person to person. Originally the term referred specifically to oral communication (literally words from the mouth), but now includes any type of human communication, such as face to face, telephone, email, and text messaging.
In this article, I’m going to discuss how, when utilized properly, Social Media networks are the foundation of a new type of word-of-mouth. This new marketing is different than old marketing. Mainly because of the time it takes for one person to make a recommendation to someone else over an existing social network. We see this all the time, we just don’t know it. A great example is product reviews on things like blogs. One person posts the review on the blog, and people read it. This is word of mouth marketing, just in a different form.
The reason word of mouth marketing is so effective is because its personal. Humans are the most social creature on Earth, and this is directly reflected in marketing. Remember, word of mouth marketing doesn’t mean that it has to be someone that a person knows who is passing them information, just that it be a personal exchange. Either face to face, over the phone, etc. Information like this is passed in huge numbers all of the time. In fact, according to Internet Retailer Magazine, Facebook is now more popular then email.
Whenever you pass information on to someone using the internet, whether it be email, a blog post, a forum, or even something like Twitter, that is word of mouth. Now the question is, how do you take advantage of this enormous advertising potential? Simple, you pass on information. Write blog articles about your business, post comments on blogs, send emails, post in forums. Actively participating in social media is the only way to take advantage of it. Once you participate in the community, you become part of the community, and then you have the ability to spread your message throughout the community.
In essence, like normal word of mouth marketing, social media marketing is the hardest path to undertake, but the most rewarding in the end. By tapping into resources like facebook, blogs, etc however, your job can be a little bit easier.
Register with Bing’s Local Listing
Are you spending too much money on the Yellow Pages and not getting the results? My office building has a huge stack of the Yellow Pages that no one has picked. If you are an advertiser in the Yellow Pages, how does that make you feel? People are searching for your business online in Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s local listing but the bulk of your budget was spent in the Yellow Pages.
We do not know about you; we search the search engines local listing to find a business. Can we find your business online?
It is a good idea to become familiar with Microsoft’s new search engine Bing. Bing is branded as the decision engine providing faster more relevant search results. For instance, Bing is broken down in four categories: Travel, Shopping, Health and Local.
Bing Local allows users to find businesses near them, where they want to go. Listings are returned in search results, removing the tedious tasks of businesses searching for new customers. The customers have already located the company.
For now we will discuss local search, which is an enormous part of Bing.
A free local listing to add your business is Bing’s Listing Center. Visit https://ssl.bing.com/listings/BusinessSearch.aspx and check to see if your business is listed on Bing Maps Search. If not add your profile in the Listing Center. Make sure if your business is listed to verify the accuracy of the information.
Add all of your business locations separately. The following information can be changed:
- Web page
- Business description
- Hours of operation
- Payment methods
- Photos
- Year established
- Company tagline
- Brands carried
- Professional affiliation
- Languages spoken
- Parking options and personal contact
Fill out as many fields as possible that are applicable to your business. The more information filled out will lead to a higher probability of doing business with your company. Remember, people like to do business with companies close to them and it is integral that you sign up in the listing center.
Yahoo and Microsoft Agreed to a 10-year Partnership
Posted by Kevin in Marketing, News, Search Engine Optimization on August 10th, 2009
Yahoo and Microsoft agreed to a 10-year partnership. Combining both Yahoo and Microsoft creates a market share of 28% of the Internet search market still lower than Google’s 65% in the United States. The combined companies Yahoo and Microsoft makes it the number 2 search engine behind Google. According to ComScore Inc., Google is even more dominant in the rest of the world, with a global share of 67 percent compared to a combined 11 percent for Microsoft and Yahoo.
- Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies.
- Microsoft will be able to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing web search platforms
- Yahoo! will keep its existing search affiliate partnerships.
- Microsoft’s Bing will also be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! Continues to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display-advertising technology.
- Each company will have separate display advertising business.
- Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.
The partnership still has to be approved by the Federal Trade Commission. Sen. Herb Kohl said the Senate antitrust subcommittee he chairs will review the deal “because of the potentially far-reaching consequences for consumers and advertisers and our concern about dampening the innovation we have come to expect from a competitive high-tech industry.”
In our perspective this deal does not really change anything from the search point of view. It will create more advertising opportunities, bringing the share to 28%. The advertisers gain more exposure. We do not believe that there will be much of an impact. Furthermore, the search problem for Yahoo and Microsoft still remains and Google clearly is the dominating force and this will not make a significant difference.
RSS: What it is, and why you should be using it.
Posted by Cory in Content, Marketing, Social Media on August 7th, 2009
RSS, usually translated as “Really Simple Syndication,” and sometimes “Rich Site Summary,” is a standardized web file format used to publish frequently updated works: such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video. An RSS Document (called a “feed” or “web feed,”) includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship.
Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an “RSS reader”, “feed reader”, or “aggregator”, which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based.
An Example of an RSS 2.0 Feed:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Lift Off News</title>
<link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/</link>
<description>Liftoff to Space Exploration.</description>
<language>en-us</language>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2003 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2003 09:41:01 GMT</lastBuildDate>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
<generator>Weblog Editor 2.0</generator>
<managingEditor>editor@example.com</managingEditor>
<webMaster>webmaster@example.com</webMaster>
<ttl>5</ttl>
<item>
<title>Star City</title>
<link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/news-starcity.asp</link>
<description>How do Americans get ready to work with Russians aboard the
International Space Station? They take a crash course in culture, language
and protocol at Russia's Star City.</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT</pubDate>
<guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/06/03.html#item573</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title>Space Exploration</title>
<link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/</link>
<description>Sky watchers in Europe, Asia, and parts of Alaska and Canada
will experience a partial eclipse of the Sun on Saturday, May 31.</description>
<pubDate>Fri, 30 May 2003 11:06:42 GMT</pubDate>
<guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/05/30.html#item572</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title>The Engine That Does More</title>
<link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/news-VASIMR.asp</link>
<description>Before man travels to Mars, NASA hopes to design new engines
that will let us fly through the Solar System more quickly. The proposed
VASIMR engine would do that.</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2003 08:37:32 GMT</pubDate>
<guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/05/27.html#item571</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title>Astronauts' Dirty Laundry</title>
<link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/news-laundry.asp</link>
<description>Compared to earlier spacecraft, the International Space
Station has many luxuries, but laundry facilities are not one of them.
Instead, astronauts have other options.</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 20 May 2003 08:56:02 GMT</pubDate>
<guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/05/20.html#item570</guid>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Now that you have a general overview of how RSS works, you can use it to send content to your users. Remember that RSS is only useful if you publish content often. If you have a basic website that doesn’t get updated, RSS isn’t something you need to worry about.
Now, if you do have a website that is frequently updated, it may already have a web feed. Go to Feed Validator, and type in the URL of your site, blog, etc. If it shows up as having an RSS feed, that means it is most likely automatically generated by your software, and there is nothing more you need to do. If not, I would recommend that, instead of hand-writing your RSS, you sign up for a site like Rapidfeeds. Their online tools allow you to create and publish RSS feeds for your site in realtime.
If your site doesn’t publish frequently, starting a blog can help. I will discuss using wordpress to create a blog in a later post. For now, keep on publishing!
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