Reviewing Your 2011 Web Marketing Strategy

Due to the sustained growth of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, together with the increasing popularity of video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, 2010 will probably be remembered as being the year that social media marketing came into its own.

This shouldn't imply however, that more traditional internet marketing techniques such as email and search marketing should fall by the way and be excluded as a means of attracting and retaining customers. With this in mind, if you are looking for ways to help make 2011 an outstanding year, now is an excellent time to review your online sales and marketing plan.

Does Your 2011 Marketing Plan Fit The Bill?
Growing a profitable business without a solid internet marketing plan is similar to building a house without using a blueprint. Your house may end up with some great features, but it is almost guaranteed that nothing will fit together properly. Without a plan, the likelihood is you'll spend two or three times your budget to prevent it from collapsing around you.

To help you get it right first time, here are five steps to creating an effective online marketing plan:

1. Define your Marketing Goals
What are you trying to achieve with your web presence? Increased brand awareness, market share, lead generation, direct sales and establishing your company as a leader in its field are just a few of the possible objectives that your online strategy can include.

2. Determine How to Measure Your Success
Unless you can measure your online achievements, you won't be able to determine how well you are doing or evaluate the impact of any changes.

3. Create a Strategy to Achieve Your Goals
Generate a list of ideas that will help you achieve the goals you have defined in step one. Offering a free e-book for signing up for the newsletter, increasing social media presence, changing your navigation to make your site easier to use, and hiring a copywriter to supply a constant flow of content are just a few ideas for achieving common website goals.

4. Determine the Resources You Need
Once you have an idea of the steps you want to take to achieve your online goals, you can identify the best routes to take to engage your target audience. Considerations may include which social media platforms to use, what format to publish your content, which keywords you should be targeting or how to further personalise your email marketing messages.

5. Track Your Results
Keep a careful record of which strategies work and which bear no fruit. This will enable you to adapt your online marketing plan accordingly in order to make the most of your budget.

By breaking your website's performance down into measurable goals, you will be able to quantitatively assess the results of any changes and determine which marketing campaigns are working best for you. If you would like help with creating an online marketing plan that will work for you, call 01454 261111.

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e-Commerce The Right Way

In this golden age of e-commerce, a fully-featured online shop should form the cornerstone of any retailer's web strategy. According to retail experts Experian, Boxing Day was again the busiest day of the year for online retailers: "UK Internet visits to online retail websites were 12% higher than on the pre-Christmas peak in traffic (December 5th) and 26% higher than on Christmas Day" (source: Hitwise.com).

It is surprising however, how many businesses feature nothing more than a catalogue and telephone number or email address, offering the user little or no incentive to make a purchase and weakening their brand in the process. If you're considering your first foray into the world of internet retailing or perhaps need to revise your strategy, then this article has been created to provide some useful pointers to getting it right.

Make It Secure
The surge in popularity of online shopping has, inevitably, seen an exponential rise in instances on online fraud. Of paramount importance to any savvy shopper is security. Provide as many assurances as you can, including a secure payment facility.

Comply With Consumer Rights
Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 mean you must provide customers with your full company name and address prior to any purchase. Any purchase should be followed by a confirmation email and obligatory cool-off period.

Pay Attention To User Experience
Web usability is everything when it comes to online shopping. Take some time out to navigate the user experience checking for ease of use, broken links and so on. Remember, if you don't bother to get it right for the customer, why should the customer bother with you?

Coordinate Online With Offline
If you have a corresponding offline business (such as a shop, etc.) – ensure the two integrate seamlessly. Most importantly, make sure your prices correspond and that stock levels are consistent and up-to-date. If you are offering an online only promotion, make sure the terms are clearly visible so that customers do not expect to find it in store.

Add a Personal Touch
It may sound obvious, but offering a telephone number and email address will go a long way towards improving the customer experience – even on the web, good customer service remains the cornerstone by which all businesses are judged. Answer queries promptly and professionally. Consider using more recent innovations such as live chat/ help for that added personal touch.

Show Some Personality
Installing an online blog and engaging customers over social media platforms is a great way to correspond with customers on a more personable level. Twitter for example can be used as a very effective customer service tool, or an opportunity to publish answers to frequently asked questions.

However you choose to approach online retail, taking some time out to formulate a online marketing strategy is essential. If you would like help to improve your ecommerce web site, call 01454 261111.

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5 Essential Blogging Tips For Success

Unhindered by boundaries (social, political or otherwise) and cloaked in anonymity, blogging has offered billions of internet users the opportunity to articulate their views onto endless reams of digital paper for all to read. The freedom to post whatever about whomever is precisely what attracts most newcomers to this brave new world of digital expression.

Yet it is this freedom which poses perhaps the greatest challenge when it comes to blogging for business. The humble blog remains one of the most powerful tools in any internet marketer's arsenal, however for many the real challenge lies in maintaining control and producing a steady flow of quality content.

Fresh, engaging and optimised content is the order of the day here – it's important to remember that blogging for business is about attracting traffic and keeping the reader coming back for more. In this article, we'll take a look at some tips for building a consistent blogging strategy.

1. Planning and Preparation
Why does your business exist? It may sound obvious, but having a clear purpose regarding your goals, clients and purpose from the outset will provide a basis for a solid strategy and engaging content.

The preparation phase should also include a little keyword research – after all, what's the point in putting it out there if no one's going to find it? Your blog can be a very effective tool for attracting search engine traffic.

2. Content and Identity
Give your blog an identity. Start with the author's name – it may sound obvious, but placing a name, photo and identity behind the content will help to breathe a little life into your posts.

Keep in mind your blog isn't a business whitepaper, consider the following:

• Find a tone and style that suits you, whilst lending the content a little personality
• Educate, enrich, entertain and engage
• Is your format scan-friendly to the eye or an impenetrable mass of text?
• Use attractive, keyword-focused headers and titles

3. Design
Your blog should reflect your business brand, not detract from it. Ideally, your blog should be integrated into your corporate website with seamless navigation and a consistent look and feel. Include a supplementary menu to make it easy for visitors to look through your bog categories and archives.

Add social media buttons to your content which will enable readers to effortlessly share, bookmark & discuss your content with friends and colleagues.

4. Marketing
Marketing should form the basis for any successful internet strategy. Don't make the mistake of believing people will just find your blog once you've put it out there. Use your social media profiles to help spread the word by syndicating your content across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for example – offering a wealth of exposure for minimal effort.

5. It's a Two Way Street
Engaging your audience is critical to success. A great rule of thumb is to spend as much time engaging your audience as you do creating content. This shouldn't be confined to your own blog either – take the time to post comments on related blogs and profiles from clients, professional associates, industry specialists etc. Remember, to give is to receive.

Blogging provides businesses with a versatile online publishing tool – which can also be used as a hub to coordinate your social media activities. If you need some help and advice to get your business blog up and running, call 01454 261111.

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Social Media Spotlight: Groupon

Hot on the heels of rising star Foursquare comes the latest contender eager for a share of the social media spotlight. Similar in nature to Foursquare's promotion-driven focus on local business, Groupon refines the idea further.

The appeal of any platform that promises new ways to help local businesses connect with customers is undeniable. The success of Groupon will, as always, be decided by the fickle consumer and how quickly (or indeed whether) they adopt the platform. In this article, we'll take a brief look at what Groupon is about, and how it could help your business to succeed.

Reaching Out To New Customers
One of Foursquare's key selling points to business users is that it offers promotion-driven incentives for users to visit businesses in their area. Whereas Foursquare adopts a wider, socially interactive user experience similar to Facebook's Places app, Groupon takes a purely business-centric angle. Focusing solely on offering promotions for local businesses, the website promises to 'deliver customers to your door' through offers fed to users via email, Facebook and Twitter.

More than a simple online promotion, the site hopes to engage users via 'a witty, positive write-up that is seen by our tens of thousands of email subscribers and website visitors.' The company go on to claim that 'subscribers religiously read the entertaining descriptions of our featured businesses, delivering a promotion that is far more engaging than traditional advertising.'

How Does It Work?
Groupon offers are based on a certain number of takers for any given offer. If the required amount of customers sign up to the offer, then it becomes active. If this minimum is not reached, then the offer remains dormant however. This 'no-win, no-fee' basis, it appears, is designed to remove the element of risk for businesses investing in the platform's online promotion scheme.

In addition to promising 'huge exposure' via featured offers, the company claim the ability to generate a significant ROI over a short period. Much of this premise appears to be based on word-of-mouth via current users, so it is somewhat difficult to quantify at this early stage.

Groupon do not require a long-term contract and adopt a 'no-win, no-fee' approach to billing. Whilst GO claim to 'guarantee' a certain amount of customers however, this is clearly negated by the fact that the promotion is free should this number not be reached.

As with any new social media innovation, the success of GO will ultimately be decided by how many users (potential customers) choose to adopt the platform. In truth, at present the website could perhaps use a little more distinction between users and businesses, but there is no doubting its potential as an extremely useful tool in any internet marketers' arsenal.

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