Which web marketing activities perform best: email or Twitter?

How do you decide which web marketing activities to do? 

Do you try every web marketing initiative out there? I hope not, as even big corporates do not have the time and money to try everything. Should you focus on email or SEO or PPC or Twitter or Facebook or SMS or Blogs etc?

In two recent surveys, senior marketers vote on which web marketing channels perform best and are most effective. The results are revealed along with key learning for companies big and small. Read more...

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Email and a second bite at the cherry

Even the best email marketing campaigns do not achieve a 100% open rate. It may be that recipients were on holiday or out of the office or just too busy to read the email that day. They may have left it in their In Box with the intention of opening it later but never got around to it. So they may have missed out on reading something highly relevant. However it is possible to increase email open rates and improve marketing ROI. Read more...

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Case study - the power of joined-up marketing and high Google search rankings

Given Google's dominance, getting a high Google ranking is extremely important for most brands. It can take  from 3 to 6 months to start to see results from search engine optimisation. However, this example from a mid-sized Wiltshire company shows that it's possible to get more rapid results when SEO is part of a joined-up web marketing strategy. Read more...

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Lloyds TSB demonstrate how sloppy database management could create a brand terrorist

I received a letter this morning from Lloyds TSB relating to account changes that was addressed 'To the Parent / Guardian.' It didn't say the parent or guardian of Fred or Ginger or Madonna or Ringo but as it was addressed to my house, I assumed they meant me. Now unless my 7 & 9 year olds have opened an account with Lloyds TSB without telling me, I am not aware that we have any accounts with them.

The letter had the heading 'We're working hard to make things easy.' Under a sub heading 'We're here to help' there was a telephone number which I called. I explained that my children hadn't got an account with Lloyds TSB and presumably their database records were inaccurate as we have lived here for 6 years. I asked who the account holder was just in case my 7 year old had applied for a mortgage, given the UK banks rather relaxed attitude to lending in recent years. However, the 'Customer (lack of) Service Manager said he couldn't tell me and if I wanted to know any more I had to go to a branch.

I am now worried that my 7 year old has started dealing in investments or derivatives and some financial calamity is around the corner? It may explain why he has taken an unhealthy interest in listening to the BBC news whenever Robert Peston is reporting.

I assume that some client protection rule prevented the Lloyds TSB person from revealing the name of the account holder. However, he could have enquired who lived at our address to establish whether the names matched. If they didn't, he could simply have apologised for making a mistake without divulging who the account holder was.

Mistakes can happen in even the best run businesses. It's how you deal with the mistake that is crucial. See my article Are you getting enough customer mistakes?

How likely am I to buy a product from Lloyds TSB now?

Am I likely to be a brand advocate for them?

Am I likely to be a brand terrorist?

Should I:-

1. go to the branch to find out more?
2. write to the Information Commissioner?
3. Forget about it?

What do you think?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

UK Companies See Improvement In Paid Search ROI

Econsultancy recently reported that 43% of companies said paid search ROI increased this year, compared with 15% who said it decreased. 45% of respondents plan to increase their Paid Search budget this year.

This trend has helped Google and their net profit for the quarter ending June 09 rose 35% to £616 million. This was apparently slightly below forecasts which given the world recession, makes one wonder who forecast net profits to rise more than 35% in June Quarter!

Google's paid clicks were up 15% compared with the same period last year.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Online search remains top advertising format in Europe

In IAB Europe's recent research survey across 19 European countries, online search remains the top advertising format accounting for 43% of online ad spend. This is up 26% on the previous year. In more mature markets like France, UK, Germany & Sweden, the growth rate was slightly lower at 19%.

Source: IAB Europe

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Online shopping - a star performer in the recession

Verdict Research recently reported UK online internet shopper numbers at an all-time high. They forecast that online spending (in 2009) will be £21 billion up 13.3% on last year. Continued growth is forecast and in 2013, online spending is expected to reach over £31 billion representing 10% of total UK retail spending.

Source: Verdict Research: UK e-Retail 2009

Some questions for you to consider?

• Can your customers buy from your website?
• Are you online sales growing at 13% this year?
• Are you attracting target prospects to your website?
• Are you converting web visitors to customers?
• Are you growing your customers' lifetime value?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Does your brand give a strong first impression?

In the days before Starbucks, Cafe Nero & Pret a Mange I worked in the Research Department at General Foods. One of our brands was Maxwell House Instant Coffee. On the packing line, a tiny amount of oil (pressed from high quality coffee beans) was sprayed into the top of the jar immediately before the cap was screwed on. When the consumer opened the jar for the first time, it resulted in an instant coffee aroma sensation that 'replicated' the smell of ground coffee.

Adding the aroma by using more expensive high quality beans added cost but the cost per jar was negligible, especially as it significantly improved the consumers perception of the brand and the coffee quality.

'Good' smells can be powerful and supermarkets often circulate the aroma from the bakery to increase sales.

For other companies, playing the right background sound may increase consumers positive perception : for others, it might be silence or setting the right temperature (cool or warm).

When I first visited the Apple Store in Regent Street, London, I was knocked out by the amazing visual display of their terrific range of great looking equipment combined with friendly knowledgeable staff and a great buzz.

What do you do to give your prospects and customers a great first impression? Take a look at your company reception / office / meeting rooms, your website, your emails, your company literature, your advertising and the way you answer the phone.

Is your web landing page visually strong? Does it have powerful copy? Does it have a nugget of great information or a compelling offer? Does it make people smile or go wow?

First impressions count, so what's your version of the Maxwell House aroma?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

BBC's Strictly Come Dancing To Introduce Twitter To The Masses

The BBC is a very strong brand and has helped niche innovations become mass. Their use of the red button during the Olympics encouraged many people to view alternative sports.

The new series of Strictly Come Dancing launches mid September and this time the series is also on Twitter. Twitter is clearly the most talked about marketing strategy this year and knowing how loyal Strictly's following is and the promotion the series gets, I expect the programme to introduce many new people to twitter.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Does Borders email marketing walk the talk?

I normally like emails from Borders but this one disappointed me.

Although the copy refers to 'used' books, my overriding takeout from the headline and opening copy is that Borders can now help me find rare book favourites and out of print copies.

However, the images on the email of their top used & rare picks included Harry Potter, Delia's How To Cook, Dawn French's Dear Fatty, an Oxford English dictionary and books written by Barack Obama & Bill Bryson. I hadn't heard of the 2 remaining books featured, but both are available new from Amazon.co.uk.

They featured books may well be used but I wouldn't consider any of them rare. If Borders are promoting that they sell rare books, they should have included some examples in the email.

Instead of engaging me and attracting me to browse and buy, the email actually resulted in a negative impact on my perception of Borders.

So to walk the talk, make sure that your supporting copy actually supports the headline: otherwise it's just spin and these days consumers are better than ever at spotting spin.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Are you choosing the right keywords?

Most people know how important it is to achieve a high ranking on Google if you want to attract 'zero cost' leads to your website. The first requirement for success is choosing the right keywords.

When I start a keyword research project with a client, I always ask them to supply an initial keyword seed list which I then supplement with my own research. To discover tips to improve your Google rankings read more...

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Using Google PPC as a research tool to refine your brand messages?

Many of Britain's best brands will research their brand proposition and messaging before developing new web sites and marketing communications. However, they tend to be the exception and many companies fail to do much research. Either they:-

• are in a hurry & don't want to wait to get results
• will not want to allocate any budget to research
• don't have the resource or expertise to manage research effectively
• believe they know what their customers want without the need for any research or insight

If you always guess what your prospects / customers are thinking you are highly likely to get it wrong. If this is the case and results are not as good as expected, you may have to re-do the previous website / brochure / advertising campaigns etc resulting in longer lead times and higher costs.

In my experience, (and I have worked with brands like Asda & Egg who have an enviable track record for achieving great results in shorter lead times than average) doing some essential research to quickly find out what works and what doesn't, means that you are significantly more likely to achieve the desired objective in less time & for less cost.

Using Google PPC as a research tool

I frequently use Google PPC to do research for my clients and find this a fast & low cost way of doing some research and getting results that enables clients to make objective decisions designed to maximise their Marketing Return On Investment (ROI).

With Google PPC it is possible to get a research test campaign running incredibly fast. e.g. suppose a company wants to test different propositions such as whether cost, service or quality is more important to prospects. An ad could be created for each of the 3 propositions & depending on the search volumes it is possible to get valuable results the same or next day. The results will show which proposition is more compelling to the target audience by comparing how many clicks or conversions each version gets. This principle could also be applied to researching headlines, ad copy, product names etc.

Google research example

A campaign was created with 3 different Google ads each communicating a different message. The ads were clicked 1,000 times in 48 hours at an average cost of 25p click, giving a Google campaign cost of £250.

• Ad version 1 accounted for 27% of the clicks
• Ad version 2 accounted for 58% of the clicks
• Ad version 3 accounted for 15% of the clicks

Clearly, message 2 had significantly more appeal to the target prospects.

Can Google research pay for itself?

If the client had progressed version 1 or 3, the test results suggest that their ongoing business results would only be a half or a quarter of the winning test's results. This would have a huge impact in lost sales revenue / profits. At some point, sooner rather than later, the proposed brochure, ad campaign, website etc would need to be redesigned duplicating the original development costs.

In the above example the advertising cost was £250. Even adding in a set-up cost if this is managed by a web marketing specialist the total research cost is likely to be significantly lower that redesigning everything in a few months time.

Depending on the value of the product or service, it may be that if just 1 of the 300 visitors attracted by the research test actually buys, then the value created is higher than the cost of the test. e.g. One of my clients ran a Google PPC research test investing just £300 on Google PPC media and attracted a client worth £140,000. Not a bad marketing ROI.

If you need help on using Google PPC as a research tool then contact a web marketing expert.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Tesco use Clubcard data for personalised emails

UK retail giant Tesco is to start using its Clubcard data to broadcast personalised emails. For many years they have been sending Clubcard members personalised coupons by direct mail but this is the first time they have sent personalised emails.

The coupons by post are sent out quarterly as part of a massive logistical operation. By using email, they have the potential to send coupons more frequently. The huge savings in paper, distribution & postage will also be appreciated by Tesco.

Tesco's loyalty card scheme has consistently provided an excellent marketing return on investment and importantly provides Tesco with great insight to improve its customer offer on a store by store basis.

Important lessons for companies big or small

• are you collecting customer data?
• how could you use this data to improve your understanding of their requirements?
• could you develop personalised offers relevant for each individual?
• do you have an advanced email system to broadcast personalised and dynamic emails?
• is there an adquate reporting process in place to highlight what's working and what isn't?

It is perfectly possible and affordable for a small or mid sized company to replicate a simplified version of the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme to grow customer lifetime value.

If you need help to do this then contact a web marketing expert.



Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Is your email marketing getting through? - Part 2 - Inbox Preview

If you use more than 1 email client (or reader) like Outlook or AOL or Gmail then you will probably have seen that the same email can look totally different when viewed in different email clients. So you may have prepared a great looking email with powerful sales messages but it could look a complete mess when viewed in Outlook or Gmail or Windows Live.

It's important to make sure that your email template is designed by someone who has a good working knowledge of the major email client systems used by your email list. However, the various email clients are constantly updating their specifications and what worked with Outlook 2007 last month, may not render correctly this month.

One way round this is to open up a series of test email accounts with all the major email clients and send yourself a test email to see how it renders before broadcasting it to your full list. However, there is an easier option.

The advanced email system I use has an Inbox preview facility which automatically sends a test email to over 50 different email client options. A few hours later I can preview how the same email renders with each email client. Better still, it shows how the email renders with images switched on and images switched off. It also shows how the email will look if the recipient uses horizontal or vertical preview panes.

This enables me to identify if there are specific problems with one or more email clients. Amendments can be made to the email before being retested to ensure the email renders as well as possible. Importantly, I can also ensure that the intended message is communicated effectively regardless of whether images are turned on or off or they are using horizontal or vertical preview panes.

For me, the Inbox Preview is an essential email check that offers my clients a high degree of confidence that the email will arrive in the recipients in box as intended and maximise campaign effectiveness.

If you need help in developing email marketing that increase customer lifetime value then contact an email marketing expert.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Is your email marketing getting through? - Part 1 - Hard bounces

Earlier in the year, I attracted a new customer who asked me to manage their email marketing campaigns. They were sending a B2B monthly newsletter to over 2,000 global corporate customers. They were doing a good job using a basic email system. However, the quality of report data available was poor and nobody was spending much time doing any analysis.

When I did the first email campaign, there were a significant number of hard bounces indicating that many of the email addresses on their database were invalid or no longer live. For a customer database, especially a high value B2B database, this has to be a concern, as potentially, customers will not be getting your email communications announcing new products or special offers or changes in specifications etc.

As a result of my first email campaign report, my client investigated the hard bounces. In some cases, the email address was found to be incorrect and updated. In other cases, the individual had left the organisation and they were able to update their records with the correct contact. As a result of cleaning up the data, the hard bounces for each campaign are now less than 0.5% which means each month's follow up takes little time and they are reassured that their client database is in good shape.

Learning for companies big and small

• Review the hard bounce rate after broadcasting an email campaign
• Remove hard bounces from your mailing list to avoid ISP's considering you a potential spammer and blocking your broadcasts
• Depending on the volume & value to you of the recipients, consider contacting them (if you have their phone number) to update their contact details
  

If you need help in developing effective email campaigns that increase customer lifetime value then contact an email marketing expert.


Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Are you making the most of your customer & prospect data?

Many companies have customer or prospect data but fail to use this data effectively to grow sales & profits.

One SME retailer I met had 15 years customer data and attracted over 2,000 customers per month. However, they never did anything with that data. Having worked so hard to be distinctive to the competition, develop a compelling message to target prospects and finally achieve a sale, it is bizarre that they chose never to contact the customer again.

A significant number of those customers would have been happy to:-

• provide a glowing testimonial for the retailer
• buy additional products and services from the retailer in the future
• refer them to friends and colleagues to grow the customer base
  
• provide important feedback on customer service

However, this retailer didn't believe in seeking customer opinions or allocating any budget or resource to any marketing activities beyond the first sale.

Many of Britain's best brands know the true value of 'retention' marketing to customers after the first sale. Previous companies, I have worked with including RAC & AA get incredibly high customer retention levels which are proven to deliver high Marketing Return On Investment (ROI).

Amazon develop bespoke personalised email messages that provide relevant offers based on previous purchasing / web viewing history. Brands like Sky & BT invest heavily in Friends & Family referral programmes.

Historically, many of these data-driven marketing programmes were outside the scope of small and mid sized companies due to technical resource & cost requirements. However, these barriers to entry no longer exist given the explosion in web development software & systems in recent years. The barrier to entry is knowledge.

I believe that 90% of the data-driven marketing programmes that I developed with some of Britain's best brands to grow sales & customer lifetime value could be successfully applied to small and mid sized companies.

A customer database is an asset but only if you make use of it. If you do it well it will help grow customer lifetime value and increase your marketing ROI.

Data marketing tips for companies big or small

• Give a specific individual in your company responsibilty for managing customer / prospect data
• Try and collect relevant customer / prospect data whenever possible - make sure every employee knows the importance of doing this well
  
• Use this data to help profile your customers / prospects especially your high value customers
• Use email to get customer feedback on your service shortly after purchase
• Email customers to ask for a testimonial shortly after purchase
• Email customers with a relevant offer to incentivise referrals to friends & family
  
• Emailing customers with relevant & targeted offers based on their purchase or web browsing history
• Make sure you comply with the UK Data Protection Act
  

If you need help in using data effectively to attract and grow customer lifetime value, then contact a web marketing expert.


Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Garden email review - "Not bad but could do better"

One of our local garden centres sends out monthly emails to customers. For them, email marketing is a great web marketing strategy. It enables them to regularly communicate with customers & prospects who have opted in to receive emails with relevant messages. This would be a fraction of the cost compared with printing & distributing a traditional paper version which I suspect would be unaffordable. However, the email I received this morning left me with mixed views.

What are their objectives?

I don't work for them so I do not know for sure but I suspect their objectives are to grow profitable sales by increasing:-

• the number of valuable customers
• the frequency of shop
• the average spend per visit

Attracting new customers

The email could help attract new customers in a number of ways:-

• firstly, they should be increasing their email list by capturing prospect email addresses and their opt-in permission at every opportunity 
• one way of doing this is by placing a prominent message on the email to encourage people to 'forward this email to a friend'. n.b. I will cover this in more detail in another blog. They do this but it is far from prominent, being just a small link at the bottom of the page near the legal copy. 
• if someone did receive a forwarded email, there is no obvious place (unless I missed it) where they could subscribe to receive subsequent issues

The importance of content 

The garden centre has a lot to talk about. Given the economic pressures more people are likely to 'grow their own' this year and their email sensibly leads with this with simple steps to grow tomatoes, cucumbers & chillies. They include links to their online store for associated products like Miracle Grow but not for the tomato plants which presumably are not suitable for standard home delivery. It is almost as if they are encouraging me to buy fertiliser online rather than visit the store.

A great advantage of best standard email marketing is the ability to tailor messages to different audiences. With advanced email systems (like mine), it is possible to send different content to different audience groups.  e.g.

• people who live close to the store(s), could be sent copy version 1 with an incentive to buy 'Grow Your Own' packs which includes tomato plants, compost, fertiliser. Better still, it could also include additional cross selling opportunity such as a small greenhouse.
• people who live further afield and are unlikely to visit the store could receive a different version which includes more links to their online store

Make it personal

People are much more likely to open the email and read it if it is personalised. However, something has gone wrong with this email and the first name & last names are repeated twice.

There is some good content in the email such as a photo competition & details of talks & events. However, the overall layout is a bit dull & may not encourage people to explore all the content. They appear to be using a system that tracks clicks to some degree. An advanced email system would provide lots of data on how the email performs which provides useful insight to help improve the overall content & layout.

In my email client, their email layout looks odd with different elements not aligning properly and there are some font problems which compromises the appearance. There is a huge gap under the main image at the top. Best practice would include a prominent link at the top of the email to 'click through to an html version' which should render perfectly.

Rendering problems are not uncommon and an email may look fine with one email client but can often look a mess in another. My email system has a preview facility which shows how the email will render in over 40 different email clients. Before you send it, you can see how it looks with images turned on or off in AOL or Outlook or Google etc which is an essential check to minimise email rendering problems.

Overall view

It is terrific to see a medium sized business incorporating smart email marketing as a key part of its overall marketing strategy. Their business has great potential to incorporate compelling content. This is especially relevant in gardening where many people are actively interested in seeking more information. I can immediately think of a dozen different initiatives that would help them achieve the objectives I outlined at the start of this blog.

Right now, it looks as if they are still learning their way and I suspect doing it in-house. The downside of this is that some errors are being made and they are probably only seeing a fraction of the potential value that best practice email marketing would bring.

But at least they are doing email marketing which is more than most & I would rate this email 3.5 out of 10. However, given major players like Tesco are looking at this sector, 3.5 is a good start but 9/10 would be a better target.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Are you using enough keywords?

Keywords are an essential part of web marketing effectiveness as many initiatives (e.g. search engine optimisation & Pay Per Click advertising) require the consistent use of relevant keywords likely to drive revenue producing traffic.

The keywords that work for browsers / researchers might be different to those used by people who want to buy now. Web searchers are increasingly using more specific searches as part of the research & buying process. Financial service companies can often use more than 3,000 keywords. Online retailers can use anything from 100,000 to 1 million keywords.

In some markets, sophisticated data analysis has demonstrated that key words can vary by day of week and even by time of day.

There are a number of tools available to help identify potential keywords. However, it is important to overlay marketing expertise and insight to fine tune the list to avoid wasting time, resource & money on keywords that will not work for your brand.

As ever, regular analysis of web metrics to identify what's working and what isn't is a key factor for business success.


Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Are you an outbound marketer or an inbound marketer?

Traditionally, companies have used 'outbound' marketing to communicate their messages to large numbers of people. Examples include, radio advertising, TV, national press, local press, cinema & outdoor posters. In over 20 years of marketing with Britain's best brands I have done plenty of mass 'outbound' advertising.

But traditional mass 'outbound' advertising is costly & often unaffordable for smaller companies. Increasingly much of this advertising is wasted as a large proportion of the audience (that are paid for) may not be the brands target audience. e.g. By placing an ad in a magazine you pay to reach all readers, even if only a small percentage are the ones you want to reach. The web is not immune to this e.g. banner advertising & emailing a cold audience can also suffer if old thinking is applied to new technology.

Secondly, people are so bombarded with marketing messages that we have all got pretty good at filtering out these 'interruption' based messages: either by using systems (e.g to detect junk email) or just mentally ignoring stuff that is not on our 'personal radar'. When I speak at seminars, I always ask the audience, how many marketing messages they recall seeing that day. They will have been exposed to thousands of messages but typically only a few people can recall two messages.

Looking for a needle in a haystack
When I talk with my B2B clients, I often say traditional 'outbound' marketing is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Potentially, there might be a huge number of companies across the UK that would benefit from their expertise. There could be over 500,000 companies within 80 miles of their location. However, only a small proportion of these prospect companies would be thinking about their solution in any particular week. The chances of reaching the right individual in the right company at the right time with the right message is like finding a needle in a haystack. For many companies the cost of doing this using traditional outbound marketing is prohibitive.

The effectiveness of inbound search
Increasingly, businesses & consumers search online as part of the research process before making a purchase decision. Comscore reported there were 135 bn searches across the world in Feb 09.

Inbound marketing is about making it easy for target prospects to find you and contact you when they are ready to buy. It includes search engine marketing (such as search engine optimisation & Pay Per Click) social media, blogging, podcasts and smart email marketing using autoresponders. e.g. With Pay Per Click advertising you decide which keywords should trigger your ad to appear and then only pay if the click the ad to be taken to your website.

Permission marketing not interruption
Outbound marketing is about interrupting consumers, hoping the messages stick long enough until the recipient is ready to buy. Inbound marketing is about attracting target prospects to visit your website, when they are ready to buy. It is about seeking their permission to follow up with smart marketing that addresses their individual problem.

Your website is critical for success
If new inbound marketing is about attracting target prospects to your website, then it is obvious that the website needs to perform. However, in my view 95% of websites fail to deliver. Just sticking a logo on a brochure wasn't good enough for a web site 13 years ago and it certainly isn't good enough now.

It requires well thought out optimised content, with appropriate offers relevant for the target prospects & designed to convert visitors to leads or customers. It depends on regular analysis of website performance against key metrics or key performance indicators.

Companies that want to succeed, especially in tough times, need to switch their focus from outbound to inbound permission based marketing in order to maximise their marketing ROI.


Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Facebook UK traffic up 75% but does it deliver better business results?

Digital research agency comscore has just released data showing Facebook's impressive growth in Europe over the last year. In Feb 09, Facebook had a 4.1% share of internet minutes up from 1.1% in Feb 08. Its share of networking minutes increased from 12.32% to 30.4% over the same period.

The largest audience is in the UK with 22.7 million unique visitors up 75% year on year. Across Europe, it is the number one social networking site in all countries except Germany (ranked 4th), Russia (7th) & Portugal (3rd).

Will Facebook help me get better business results?

Understandably, there is a lot of talk (some might say hype) about using Facebook as a web marketing option. Clearly, any medium that has mass reach and takes a 4% share of internet minutes should be taken seriously as a web marketing option.

However, most companies already have thousands of ways of spending marketing budgets and resources. Unless you have the resources of a Coca Cola you have to make choices and focus your money, time & resources on a limited number of activities designed to help you achieve your strategy and business objectives.

So despite its popularity, using Facebook is not guaranteed to work for your business nor that it will deliver a great marketing ROI. Like all web marketing strategies, it is unlikely you will be successful without joined up web marketing.

e.g. Is your target audience likely to engage with your brand on Facebook? Just because I have bought a Dyson and use Facebook does not automatically mean that I want to engage with Dyson on Facebook. 

Is it more likely to be positive engagement or negative engagement that might damage your brand? How does it fit with your brand thought?

So the challenge is how can you use Facebook to help you achieve your business objectives in a way that recognises why people use Facebook (which is not to receive 'traditional interruption marketing messages'). As ever, without a sound strategy there is little chance of success.

What's new?

My first experience of social media (probably before the name was coined) was at the RAC in 96. We were repositioning the brand. Customer research told us we had some great brand values: we were trusted and expert. However, we were also patronising & unapproachable. For many people we were considered once a year for breakdown membership and we wanted to be more relevant for more of the year. When I developed the new RAC website as part of the brand repositioning I included a forum called Your Voice which was designed to encourage user generated content about motoring related issues. i.e. make us much more approachable and demonstrate the year round benefits of RAC membership

All posts were published if:

• it was motoring related
• they did not contain swear words
• they didn't blatantly promote or criticise a 3rd party brand which might involve me appearing in court
  

The first post we received was from an individual who hated the new corporate identity that had just been launched and the fact that we had removed the royal crown from the RAC logo. My heart told me that the forum was all about engaging customers / prospects and encouraging dialogue (positive or negative). My head told me hardly anyone else at the RAC wanted a website and especially a forum which was 'out of our control' & if the 1st thing I published was a negative criticism of the biggest thing the RAC had done in 20 years, I half expected to be fired. 

I published the post and minutes later I received a 2nd post from someone who said they 'loved the new corporate identity. It was colourful and modern and made the RAC less like old fashioned farts'. Of course, I published this in nanoseconds. 

The lesson for me was if you genuinely have a strong brand and offer a great service than don't be afraid to encourage dialogue. With even the best brands, there will be some negative comments. However, these are likely to be significantly outweighed by positive comments. Having both on the website, showed the RAC had confidence and was big enough to display good and bad comments which reinforced our integrity.

The negative comments may also contain helpful clues to areas in the business that require improvement. Read more in my article Are you getting enough customer complaints? 

Had Facebook been around in 96, it would have made life much easier for me and I could think of a number of strategies that would engage the RAC's  target audience on a regular basis (making us more approachable) and encourage user generated content such as maintenance tips, debates on motoring issues e.g. speed cameras, my favourite drives / rides, my favourite cars etc. 

So, Facebook could help your business, as long as it is part of a joined up web marketing strategy that focusses on initiatives most likely to deliver a good marketing ROI. But without the thinking and strategy it's unlikely to deliver great results and will probably be put in 'another marketing fad that didn't work' box.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.