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I loved this little drawing. It can help you to finally pin down your company value proposition by finding the “three legs of the stool”.

I’ll let the article and the pictures do the talking, just click through the link above.

Posted via web from Brooks Digital Marketing

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I’ve recently been exploring the opportunities for professional services firms within the sphere of social media and I found a great piece by Suzanne Lowe & David Kipp of Ross & Baruzzini (consultancy) that supports my findings.

It is startlingly clear that due to cultural and structural barriers many firms are not allowing themselves to leverage their internal resources for marketing and selling activities and are thus side stepping the potential returns that shifting towards engaging with social networking environments could return.

To be effective social media marketing relies directly on experts imparting knowledge to those asking the questions. For example if I’m interested in a conveyancing service from a law firm for example then a quick tip from an actual conveyancing solicitor via a LinkedIn discussion would be more welcome than a nod towards the firm from a marketing practitioner.

The case for allowing staff to market on behalf of the firm is doesn’t need to be made any clearer to some firms and there are many that are already taking the initiative (especially in the States) as this quote from the article suggests “This “new normal” professional firm more effectively harnesses people for marketing and selling, no matter what their function or station”.

So the question is not whether you move towards a culture and internal structure where “every person gains competency in marketing and business development”, it’s when.

Another reason why your people are your greatest asset.

Check out the article  http://www.management-issues.com/2009/11/27/opinion/82442-7607.asp#

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When dealing with potential clients I always use this question as the acid test to discover whether I’m dealing with a business that is serious about getting results online or is just looking for a presence; “How much of your budget as a percentage are you prepared to invest in the preparation of a digital marketing strategy”.

Even a commitment as little as 10% tells me that we have someone that is at least aware that proper planning is important. If I get a ‘zero’ then I spend five more minutes explaining the key reasons they should reconsider and if it’s still a ‘zero’ then it’s goodbye.

For those that buy into the digital strategy phase this isn’t the end of the problems. Adam Singer of the Future Buzz eloquently reminds us of 12 of the most common issues that can derail our good intentions in his brilliantly written recent article.

For me as a digital strategist addressing as many of these problems as possible at the outset is the clear aim and as my clients can attest my documents cover off most of them. The trick however as we all know is not getting it on paper but actually getting the implementation right when the project kicks off.

Read and enjoy…

Posted via web from Brooks Digital Marketing

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Setting Up a Killer Campaign

Now you’ve got your first data set ready as discussed in part 1 of the email marketing series it is time to set up a new campaign. Most good email marketing software will allow you to segment your data into lists.

Before you send we need to decide who we are targeting. Segmentation is the path to high conversion rates so personalisation and relevancy focused offer targeting are the keys to success.

Segmentation can start right at the point of data capture. For example in our data capture preparation we could have set up two sign up forms on our website, one for software related offers and another for hardware.

So, for your first communication you could either send a separate email to both of these lists targeted at their preference or you could just send a generic email to both of the lists however, the former is more bound to get better results due to the targeted nature of the approach.

Next we will talk about the types of campaigns and how to set them up to get stellar results.

How to Design an Email that Converts

Here are our top 6 tips for creating highly successful campaigns.

• 1. An effective subject line should be concise preferably under 70 characters and include a strong call to action. You must avoid spammy subject lines and content as being blacklisted by ISP’s will seriously hamper your future efforts.
• 2. Include a friendly ‘from’ name -this could be the brand name or a well know representative of the company.
• 3. Design should be consistent with your content and your brand should be clearly visible.
• 4. Images can increase the click through rates but beware that email clients render emails differently so it is important to choose software that allows for this technicality.
• 5. Content should be punchy and to the point and offer real value to the recipient – this is vital as most people are tuned into their own desires 95% of the time.
• 6. have multiple calls to action encourage those valuable click throughs to your site.
• 7. Try to have a well proportioned number of highly visible links to avoid looking spammy.
• 8. You should also put as much as possible at the top since most recipients preview emails in preview panes.
• 9. Viral capability is important so try to choose software that allows you to include a forward to a friend link. Friendship by its nature encourages trust and emails sent from friends have high open rates.
• 10. Your Landing page should tally up with your offer in terms of design and message. Your landing page is where you want the conversion to happen. It is critical that the offer you made in the email is ready and waiting for your new potential customer.
• BONUS TIP. Have a distinct landing page separate from your main website content, this will lessen distractions and encourage conversions.

This concludes part 2 of the Email marketing series.

Thank you for joining us, see you in part 3.

Related posts:

1. Building a Hot Email List – Part 1 The money is in the list as the mantra goes...

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In this article we are going to look at methods for building a receptive email list that you can market to again and again.

First of all let’s consider the significance of email marketing today and the importance of continued communication.

Email marketing averages 6% returns, that’s a 300% increase on direct mail.

Think about this too, 48% of businesses never follow up with a prospect, 25% only make a second contact and 12% only make three contacts.

It has been proved that maintaining a relationship with your prospects is the real key to making fantastic money online. Once you’ve got a customer base that you’ve sold to already you will find it 10 times easier to sell to them than it would be to a new prospect.

Believe it or not, it is the third contact where your conversion rates start to soar and by the fifth contact they will skyrocket. Email marketing is the perfect opportunity to tap into these amazing figures and start doubling or even tripling your profits today.

Choosing the Right Software

In order to market via email you will need an email marketing system that is easy to use, reliable and has the power to do what you need it to.

There are many systems out there but we recommend using a company with solid support and a good reputation in the market and there are loads out there.

A software system with a long history of sending email to major email providers such as Hotmail and AOL is critically important as this will ensure that your messages reach your intended recipients.

Ok, so once you’ve settled on a system that suits your requirements, we need to then look at how to build your list of hot emails.

Where to Start

In order to market to customers effectively you have to a receptive audience. So where better to look first than your existing customer data.

Now you might already have a database of email contacts that you’ve built over time and this is a potential goldmine. Put simply though if you’ve not been keeping in touch this data needs to be purified.

1. Mining the gold in your existing customer list

Our first suggestion is to blow the dust of that spreadsheet or database and re-introduce your company to past customers with a compelling email.

Now if you are concerned that you haven’t been in touch for a while and might get your hand slapped for spamming don’t worry, business law is slightly more forgiving than that which applies to the general public and it is perfectly acceptable to send an email to the business if you have had at least one contact with them and you provide a clear route for them to ‘opt out’ of further emails (check this email marketing legal document out if you are worried).

In fact your first email to ANY new sign up via your web site should always include an opt in link verifying their interest.

Failure to provide this step drastically reduces your credibility so don’t think that ignoring will help you.

The email should contain an interesting update about your product or service and a special offer of some sort like a ‘secret report’ to download or a limited time discount coupon – your offer will be something that fits in with your business of course.

The key here is to make it an offer that they can’t refuse as the aim is to get them to stay opted in to your list. If you do this properly you will now have a list of re-qualified customers that you can really get into.

2. Attracting New Customers

For this next strategy there is the assumption that you are getting traffic to your web site already (see here for more on traffic generation).

Now this can be more tricky and time consuming than purifying your own customer database
but remember, this business of data capture isn’t about snaring unsuspecting people so that you can spam them to death.

Your goal is to build a hot customer base through providing them with useful content (and your offers later!). If you don’t stick to this goal your new sign ups will unsubscribe and you will never see them again – simple as that.

So what is the best way to get the list growing?

Again, just make them an offer on your web site that they can’t refuse!

Our first technique for building a list is to provide access to a free downloadable report packed with useful facts or access to an e-course in the form of videos, mp3s or PDF’s.

For this to be most effective you should make your offer highly compelling like revealing insider tips, industry secrets, competitions etc. This technique will generate a nice list for you to work with.

The trick here is to ensure that your offer is quick and easy to sign up to, so only ask for their name and email otherwise you are complicating the issue.

So there you go, two tried and tested methods of getting a qualified list together that you can action now.

Part 2 of building a hot email list discusses how to set up your campaign for maximum potency.

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Pay Per Click Advantages

Pretty much instant exposure – even in competitive markets – as long as you have bid high enough and have got a good quality score for your page (actually creating a page that lowers the bid price and converts well into sales is an area where many novices fall down).

Campaign control - Google provides tools that make your advertising campaign easy to track the conversion ratios and monitor budgets.

Targeted – You can use the keyword matching options to target specifically e.g. ‘Tennis shoes or you can target the phrase e.g. ‘Red Tennis shoes’ or ‘Tennis shoes red’ or you can broadly match to a keyword so ‘Discount shoes for tennis’. You can also exclude words using the negative keyword option.

Pay per click is great for testing the market with new products and services. By posting an advert for your latest idea leading to a ‘squeeze page‘ you can collect data and gauge the interest over a few days and avoid potentially costly market flops.

Pay Per Click Disadvantages

Continuous investment – Pay per click is like just renting space and when you stop paying for your listing it disappears and click prices can fluctuate and in many markets are likely to rise.

Not as trusted as the main listings – Users are 60-80% more likely to click on the organic listing (underneath the top advertising slots) meaning less exposure. However a point to note is if you are getting a lot of clicks for your ad it is a good idea to check out the organic competition to see if there is an opportunity to get an organic listing as your ad copy could be well worthwhile deploying there too.

Profit margin can be small or non-existent – Keywords can be very expensive and outweigh the returns in very competitive markets so you have to be very careful how you select them. It is critical that you quickly discover the ‘buying keywords’ early on and optimise your pages for them.

Organic SEO Advantages

Long term value – Organic listings can be cheaper to attain in less competitive markets but very difficult to achieve in competitive markets, however once attained maintenance can be lower. The graphic shows the initial investment to be higher but as time goes by performance increases and investment lowers.



Organic SEO requires bigger initial investment

Graphic supplied courtesy of Elliance.com

Better click thru rate - SEO is responsible for around 60-80% of the clicks available (in most markets – not all) since users tend to prefer to visit the web sites found at the top in the main organic listings.

Element of stability – Organic listings once attained can be cheaper to maintain and don’t disappear overnight once the funds dry up!

SEO activity benefits your entire web presence – Organic SEO focuses on building reputation through links and content on the web site and at web properties where you have posted content such as blogs, article directories and forums. Investing in your web presence will have satisfying long term rewards.

Organic SEO Disadvantages

Need lots of patience! – It can often take many months to get top ranked for mid/high competition keywords

Less control – Changes in the search engine algorithms, although usually not too volatile, can destabilise rankings without warning.

Resource heavy - Organic SEO can take up more marketing resources initially due to it being a content based strategy

Conclusions

Unsurprisingly both methods are highly effective, especially when compared to offline channels however, the key is to select the the right approach for your business. I often advocate an SEO campaign backed up by pay per click.

The reason for this is that with SEO we only target a handful of keywords and these are often the cream in terms of volume. This leaves us sort of invisible (I say sort of because our well written SEO copy will have long tail phrases salted within it) for a huge swathe of long tail keywords that receive fewer searches but are often higher converting.

A pay per click campaign targeting broad match versions of our main keywords will work towards hoovering up any potential customers that use these long tail phrases where our main organic listing page do not show up. Sweet!

Click here for some free SEO training videos or call 05603 145 278 for a free no strings consultation.

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