Dos And Don’ts Of Online Marketing

Marketing yourself online is a must these days if you hope to compete against other companies in your sector. But this is not something you should just throw yourself into blindly, as if it’s done wrong you can do yourself more harm than good. Take time to learn about the most effective methods and which are most likely to suit the kind of company you are. If you want to be really thorough you can even get advice from an online marketing consultant.

To give you an idea of what generally works and the potential pitfalls to avoid, here are some basic dos and don’ts of online marketing:

Do

Keep your website simple and easy to navigate. Don’t be tempted to try and incorporate flashy graphics or unnecessary content as this will distract from your central message. Visitors to a website generally want to be able to find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily without having to wait for graphics etc to load.

Communicate with customers. These days it’s important to encourage a dialogue with clients. Make sure your website has clear contact details – and it’s a good idea to have an area for visitors to leave comments and suggestion as well. And of course, Facebook and Twitter et al are perfect ways to encourage informal interaction so make sure you develop a strong social media presence.

Work on your SEO. This will allow you to rank higher in search engine results and gain you greater online visibility. If you don’t optimise your web content then it doesn’t matter how good your website is, no-one will see it. This can be a tricky area to navigate to it’s worth hiring a consultant, at least initially.

Don’t

Be pushy. There’s a fine line between marketing your business successfully and ramming it down people’s throats. For example, if you’re using email marketing then be selective about which customers you send each message to. Don’t send every message to everyone on your mailing list: think about whether it will be helpful to them. When it comes to Facebook or Twitter, the idea is to share information and ideas, and communicate with clients in a laid-back way rather than aggressive advertising. If you fall foul of this rule you will quickly see your online reputation plummet.

Be long-winded. Whether you’re writing website copy, compiling marketing emails or creating a Facebook campaign, less is always more. Internet users tend to scan and don’t have time to read paragraph after paragraph of text. Learn how to get your message across quickly, simply and effectively.

Be tempted by ‘black hat’ techniques. This is an absolute no-no. Cloaking, keyword stuffing, duplicating content etc are simply not worth it, even if they seem like the quick route to establishing an online presence. They can result in severe penalties and even being banished from search engines altogether.

Does Email Marketing Still Work?

These days it can sometimes feel as though getting your company noticed is all about social media and viral marketing. Once such a revolutionary concept, it can now seem as though the humble email is already fading into the background when it comes to devising an effective marketing campaign. 

Many of us assume that marketing emails are not even read anymore, but simply dismissed as junk mail and deleted instantly. Consumers have got wise to it, we may think, and so we have to find new ways of reaching them. 

But this is not the case at all: customers will still take notice of email, provided that companies can adapt and learn to use it in new ways. For example, the Direct Marketing Association’s 2012 Email Tracking Study reported that consumers are still signing up to receive marketing related emails. 

According to the organisation, consumer approval of the content of marketing emails is actually on the increase, with 25 per cent saying that they still find more than half the emails they receive relevant and of interest to them. Put simply, it is not the medium itself that is lacking but simply that some companies are still employing it in fairly obsolete ways that no longer suit today’s consumer. 

So what are the kinds of changes companies need to be making to their email marketing activities? For one thing, it is not good enough to simply send out hundreds or thousands of generic emails to random consumers and hope that a high enough percentage respond. Nowadays people are wise to this, so if you want to achieve an acceptable level of success you need to take a targeted approach. Take the time to build up a detailed database of existing clients and break them down into sub-categories. This way you can send them emails that are relevant to their interests and needs. Anything else is a waste of both yours and the recipient’s time. 

You can personalise emails still further when it comes to emailing previous customers by employing a method known as behavioural targeting. People will be much more inclined to read their emails if they feel the seller has really taken on board their needs. You should, therefore, be looking at how they responded to previous emails, what their website browsing patterns are and what kinds of things they have tended to purchase in the past.

Remember also that mobile marketing has been a real game changer. Nowadays people are relying increasingly on smartphones to read their emails or catch up on the news. This is something that many companies are still failing to take on board when it comes to adapting their marketing emails. Layout is absolutely vital for mobile: responsive design is key as it should be easy for users to take action within seconds of opening the email. The wording should also be extremely concise so they can get the gist of what you are trying to sell them in the first couple of sentences. There is very little room on a mobile screen for long-winded, wordy messages. Consumers don’t like ‘clever’ marketing jargon these days. They want to be told things simply and quickly.

Finally, contrary to what some companies seem to think, you shouldn’t make it difficult for recipients to unsubscribe to your emails. If your marketing department is doing its job properly then your messages should be working with the people who genuinely want your products. If uninterested people unsubscribe then you will not be wasting your efforts on them when you could be concentrating on genuine customers.
It’s really worthwhile taking all these points on board, because if you get it right then email is still one of the lowest cost marketing methods available to you

Is The AIDA Framework Still Relevant For Online Marketing?

The acronym AIDA is used to describe an age old marketing framework, developed in the late 19th century and pioneered by several experts in the early 20th century. The acronym itself first appeared in 1921 and has since been used to describe this traditional method of promotion and advertising.

The framework developed throughout the first half of the 20th century although marketing companies and consultants largely stuck to the four point process. The most significant development was the development of the funnel diagram, used to illustrate that there become fewer potential customers each step along through the framework.

For those new to marketing, AIDA describes how a promotion or advertisement should:

Grab the Attention of the potential customer

Raise Interest in the potential customer by demonstrating the product or services benefits

Persuade the potential customer that they Desire the product or service

Inform and lead the customer towards taking Action and purchasing the product or service.

Whilst the framework is traditional and in no way pioneering, many online marketing companies still practise the Attention, Interest, Desire and Action process. On the other hand, there are a number of newer frameworks (such as REAN, developed by a digital marketing agency in 2006) that focus far more on developing customer relationships; something AIDA simply does not do.

Is AIDA still relevant? Can this century old framework be applied to online marketing?

1. Attention

Grabbing the attention of potential clients has never been as challenging, particularly as we are bombarded with advertisements and promotions online every day. Some experts believe we actually encounter over 500 adverts every single day, many of which are online, meaning there is incredible competition.

Online, tools such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media marketing can help attract potential client attention although it is certainly no easy task.


2. Interest

We live in a world where many people believe themselves immune to advertising. Fortunately for those in the marketing business, the majority of these people are misguided. Whilst it is true that it is becoming far harder to persuade potential clients that a product or service will truly benefit them, there are always new, ingenious ways company marketing experts drum up to do so.

In the online world this is often done through social media by engaging customers and potential customers in real debate. Websites must be carefully designed to direct potential customers to exactly the right page, providing exactly the right amount of information to keep them hooked on your product or service.

3. Desire

There are a number of tools companies use online to encourage potential clients into desiring a product or service. Blogging, customer interaction and social media debate can offer potential clients the information they require to be convinced that a product will benefit them. Moreover, companies encourage happy clients to share their experiences on social media sites such as Facebook or Pinterest, encouraging desire amongst their social networks.

4. Action

Websites must be informative, attractive but also very simple to navigate through. An easy to use website is instrumental in the success of any online company and is the focal point of the final step in the AIDA framework.

A potential client is far more likely to purchase from your company if the website leads them efficiently towards the checkout page without bombarding them with unnecessary questions and adverts.

So to conclude, it appears that whilst dated, the AIDA framework can (and does) still have its uses in the online marketing world. Whilst newer frameworks focus on important marketing strategies such as retaining and developing customer relationships, AIDA provides the foundations upon which a company can build a successful online operation.

How Content Marketing Can Work For You

Savvy marketers now understand that traditional forms of advertising are no longer enough to reach out to today’s consumer. Content marketing is the method of creating and distributing relevant material to your customer base in order to drive profitable consumer action. Rather than directly selling, what you are doing is keeping the lines of communication open and the Internet is the perfect medium for doing this. But is content marketing just the latest in a long line of marketing buzz words, or is it something that can have real benefits. In short, is it worth the effort?

The answer is yes. And you don’t need to take our word for it: most of the major brands such as P&G and Microsoft are using content marketing techniques today. As just one example of where it has paid off, look at L’Oréal’s recent campaign. In 2012 it collaborated with Rolling Stone Magazine on its ‘Women Who Rock’ annual issue. This invited consumers to get involved by voting to decide which female emerging musician would be on the flip cover of the issue.

According to Debora Koyama, AVP Marketing at L’Oréal USA, “We are very satisfied with the program having much stronger results this year achieving or surpassing our targets and benchmarks from a number of page and video views, earned impressions to brand health tracking metrics.”

If you want to get the best results from content marketing then there are three key areas you have to cover.

These are:

Images: Highly visual content such as images or infographics can be much easier for your audience to absorb and if done well it can make a big impact. It’s a good way to share tips or information on your latest products and this kind of content is also very easy to share so it has the potential to go viral quickly. Make sure you add your company’s name and web address somewhere within the graphics.

Blog posts and articles: As an expert in your sector you will no doubt have valuable advice and tips to share with your customers. A relevant and regularly updated blog is a great way to keep visitors flowing in to your website. You can also think about spreading the net further by posting articles on relevant blogging sites. It will showcase your knowledge and help you connect with clients, presenting an image of you as a reliable and competent supplier.

Videos: These days it is relatively quick and easy to put together a professional looking video – you don’t necessarily need much special knowledge and expertise. Once you have your video then it’s a valuable tool to connect with your audience over platforms such as YouTube. Be imaginative and come up with something really unique that people will want to share.

But remember that whatever you post, your content marketing strategy should always be coherent. Have the same themes and brand message running through everything and this way you will create a strong identity for your company. And keep plugging away! You are unlikely to see results straight away but this does not mean it will not pay off in the end.

A Devolution Of Power From Big Business In The Marketing World?

Traditionally, most companies employing more than thirty or so staff would have their own in-house marketing department, dedicated to market research and running marketing campaigns. In a post credit crunch world however, the face of in-house marketing is changing as departments have their budgets slashed and workloads increased. Exactly how this is affecting UK companies is an interesting tale.

In the past, SMEs were the main clients for a typical marketing company. Whilst larger companies outsourced to some of the more global players in marketing, traditionally marketing campaigns were run in house by specific marketing departments. Since the economic downturn, however, marketing departments have shrunk whilst workloads have increased meaning marketing companies are suddenly seeing an increase in business from medium and larger companies.

A report published this year by Charterhouse, the market services company, surveyed 200 marketing professionals in the UK and Western Europe. The results were music to the ears of marketing companies although rather unwelcome news to some marketing departments.

The results of the survey largely suggested that marketing departments in medium to larger sized firms are struggling to cope and, as a result, outsourcing more and more work to their respective marketing company. As a result, personnel in marketing departments have become more like administrators than marketers, coordinating the relationship between the department and the marketing firm.

On the other hand, the report is fantastic news for the UK’s marketing companies with 52% of UK respondents stating their departments were now dependent in some capacity on marketing companies. Over a third of respondents said their companies were entirely dependent on third party marketing firms for creativity in their marketing campaigns, with over half saying they had outsourced creativity in some form or another. One might argue that this devolution in power from some of the larger companies is no bad thing and in line with the governments call to SMEs to prop up the UK’s flat-lining economy.

Moreover, the report signals good news for the marketing industry on the whole, with 67% of respondents agreeing their companies or departments were doing more work. Social media was at least partly responsible for this increase in work, with 61% of respondents agreeing that this relatively new marketing tool had contributed to their increase in workloads.

In conclusion, the report’s findings polarise opinions within the marketing world. Whilst large companies with sizeable marketing departments have to outsource more work as their current staff levels cannot cope, smaller businesses and third party marketing companies are benefiting as a result. For the marketing industry on the whole, however, the news seems positive with more work and jobs in small businesses as a result.

Hiring A Marketing Consultant: What To Consider

In today’s competitive marketplace, business owners can no longer expect to be able to manage every aspect of their business themselves. Indeed, it’s considered intelligent to outsource particularly important functions to experts. Marketing is a case in point: every company today needs a solid marketing strategy in place, but this is by no means as easy to develop as you might think. There are now so many different techniques for marketing a business that it often requires a specialist in the field to do it properly. But what do you need to consider if you’re looking for a marketing consultant to get your company noticed by your target audience?

Identify Your Goals: Before you start interviewing any potential marketing consultants to hire, you need to decide exactly what you want to achieve. This way you will be able to communicate your needs effectively. For example, do you want to increase your visibility online; are you looking to break into new market sectors or do you want to expand your sales network further afield. As with any kind of service, different consultants will have different specialist skills so your needs will help to dictate who you choose.

Get Referrals: You will be able to find plenty of consultants in your area if you do an online search, but how do you know which are worth your time? The best thing to do, once you have a list of possibilities, is ask around your professional network to find out which ones people have used and which brought them real results. Word of mouth really means something in this field, so you should use it. You can try looking at online reviews as well, although it’s always best, when possible, to get the opinion of someone you know and trust.

Interviewing: Once you’ve completed the above steps you should have been able to compile a shortlist of at least three consultants. At this point you can make an appointment with each one to discuss your ideas for your business and find out how they could help you.

There are several points you should remember to bring up during these talks: what experience do they have in your particular field; what kind of strategy might they employ for you; and do they have any contacts with business networks that could be useful to you? You should ask them to describe their processes in a way that you can understand, and ask to see examples of previous projects they have worked on. They should be able to show you some concrete results that prove they have enhanced a company’s reputation or visibility.

Be Aware: Finally, you should know when it’s best to avoid a certain consultant. Anyone who makes you unrealistic promises or offers you a ‘foolproof’ strategy is not to be trusted. Any good consultant knows that successful marketing takes time to implement and not everything will work every time. You should also make sure that you discuss and confirm costs before you sign anything so you can be sure you are not going to be charged for any undisclosed ‘extras’ further down the line.