Is Measuring Marketing ROI A Key Part Of Your Web Marketing Strategy?

"95% of business websites fail to deliver"
I passionately believe that every business could benefit from having a website. However, I am concerned that 95% of business websites fail to deliver value to the business? Is yours one of them?

Just putting up a website, or opening a shop, or inventing a product, or launching a new service is no guarantee of success. It requires an effective marketing strategy and for me marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably. 

How do you choose which web marketing strategies to invest in?

There have never been so many ways to waste money and you don't have enough time, resources or money to try everything. It's not about spending more, it's about doing the right things and doing them well.

Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) should be a key component of your overall web marketing strategy. Simply, this involves measuring marketing activity and making sure that the value of the return is higher than the cost of the activity e.g. Given a choice of 5 activities, each costing a £1,000 ($2,000), which one generates the highest value to the business? 

At this point if your eyes are beginning to glaze over, just think about it as getting more for less. I have no doubt that when you want to buy a new car or TV or holiday you compare alternatives and consider what you are paying and what you get for it. Marketing ROI is just applying the same principle to your business activities.

Everyone can evaluate Marketing ROI now

I have been evaluating Marketing ROI for over 15 years for some of Britain's biggest brands. Although, the principles are fairly simple, the application used to be complex, challenging and costly. However, there are some great tools available that make it significantly easier to do Web Marketing ROI than it used to be. 

For example, Google AdWord analysis includes a simple but powerful tool to measure the return on Google AdWord investment. Google Analytics takes this on to a higher level and provides data on hundreds of web metrics. 

However, for some people the data is scary and they often can't see the wood for the trees. That's why many of my web marketing clients ask me to do their Marketing ROI analysis which empowers them to make wiser choices in deciding which marketing activities to invest in.

Web marketing tips that any business (large or small) could apply to attract and retain valuable customers

• Make measuring marketing ROI a key part of your web marketing strategy

• Have a business objective for every marketing activity e.g. attract x target web visitors per week at less than £z per visitor or achieve p sales per week with an average revenue of £q at less than £r per visitor 

• Measure your web performance against your key objectives on a regular basis. The more you spend, the more frequently you should measure
  

• Identify what's working and what isn't

• Make improvements based on the learning

• Continue measuring & improving

• If it's too daunting for you or you need help then get a Web Marketing ROI expert to help

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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Is the web channel the enemy of the call centre?

Privilege Insurance sent me a renewal notice for my car insurance a few weeks ago & I was surprised to note that it had gone up over £70 ($140) since last year. I went online to find a lower cost alternative and used the Tesco Car Insurance Comparison  Site. This is an independent search and comparison website. 

Getting quotes online saves significant time

It must take at least 10 minutes to get one car insurance quote by phone. On the Tesco site, it took about 10 to 15 minutes to enter all my details but a minute or so later I had quotes with a summary of cover from 23 companies. It is possible to select 4 quotes to compare in more detail against nearly 30 criteria which took another 15 seconds or so.

And Saves Significant Money

22 out of the 23 quotes were lower than my renewal quote offering a potential saving between £60 & £334 ($120 - $668) which is not bad for 15 minutes effort.

Same company, different costs

Imagine how surprised I was to see my existing insurer (Privilege) with the 2nd lowest cost, £209 ($418) lower than my renewal quote. 

Same company, more worried about internal competition than helping customers

I clicked the 'Buy' button to get more details to make sure I was comparing like for like. However, there was a problem on the Privilege website and all the text for the price and terms and conditions was jumbled up and not legible. I called their call centre and explained the problem. They said that their website never has problems and therefore the problem was at my end and they couldn't help.

I asked as an existing customer, could they transfer me to the web prices to match my web quote. They said no: I would have to re-enter my data on the website and start again.

I explained they were about to lose a customer of 4 years and they said they couldn't help.

Web marketing tips that any business (large or small) could apply to attract and retain new customers

• How could you help your target audience solve their problem? In my case, Tesco helped me save over £200 ($400) in around 15 minutes (by taking all the hard work out of contacting more than 20 companies) which is worth doing. Their site was easy to use, provided good information to make a decision and followed up with emails making it easy to log in again.

• Many businesses have different pricing strategies for different channels with the internet often being a lower cost? Too many companies see other channels within their company as the 'competitor'. Do you make it easy for customers who want to switch channel or would you rather lose their business to an 'external' competitor?

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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Your name is beautiful

He remembered my name

I recently went to our dry cleaners and as I walked in the manager said "Hello Mr Hawtin." I had only met him once before, 3 to 6 months earlier and didn't recall saying or doing anything particularly memorable. He may have a photographic memory but the simple fact that he remembered my name was impressive and made me feel that I made the right decision by going to his shop. 

When I worked at UK supermarket Asda, Tom Leonard, (CEO of US Dairy Supermarket, Stew Leonard's with a reputation for legendary customer service) gave a talk to the top 100 Asda managers. He said that the most beautiful word to a customer is their name. It is standard policy in his store for the checkout operator to thank every customer by name when they leave. Someone asked, "How do you know their name?" He replied "It's easy. We read it off their credit card or cheque book."

Can you do this online?

The simple answer is yes. When I visit Amazon it recognises me and serves appropriate content. It remembers recent searches and suggests products to buy based on my purchase history. My purchase to visit rate is probably higher for Amazon than any other store. They make it so easy to buy, but in a smart way rather than a crass heavy-handed way. Sadly, so few sites do this. 

Web marketing tips that any business (large or small) could apply to attract and retain new customers

• If part of your web marketing strategy is to increase customer lifetime value by encouraging customers to make regular repeat visits then use cookies (with visitor registration) to recognise customers when they return
  
• You have to do more than just say "Hello Peter" - Offer appropriate content based on their previous history. 

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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Why is UK web marketing growing so fast?

UK web marketing spend up 40%

UK internet marketing spend grew by over 40% in the first half of 2007 and achieved a 15% share of all advertising spend according to the UK Internet Advertising Bureau. They forecast that UK web marketing spend in 2007 would be £2.8 billion ($5.6 billion).

Paid for search (Pay per Click) accounted for 57% of internet advertising and was up 44% over the previous year.

The UK internet advertising market is the largest in Europe (39% share) and the UK ad spend per web user averages £56 ($112) compared with the European average  of £26 ($52) & the US figure of £40 ($80).

UK media agency ZenithOptimedia forecast that by 2010, internet  advertising in the UK, Denmark, Norway & Sweden will exceed a 20% share of advertising spend. 

So why is web marketing growing so fast?

Bigger brands are under more pressure to account for the return on their marketing investment. In many cases. conventional advertising fails to show an adequate return or it is often too complex to measure sufficiently robustly.

This is partly due to media fragmentation and there are now hundreds of TV channels, radio stations, press, magazines, outdoor posters etc to reach your audience. It's harder to reach a mass audience but arguably easier to reach niches.

Consumers are more savvy than ever at decoding advertising. They are also bombarded with thousands of messages every day and as a result, tune out of virtually all of them. How many ads can you recall seeing or hearing today? I often ask this question at my web marketing seminars and generally only 1 person can recall only 1 or 2 ads.

So most advertising fails to score. If you are not looking to buy a new mini you will largely not notice their advertising. When you are looking to buy a new Mini, suddenly you notice Mini's everywhere and you are also more likely to notice a Mini ad campaign.

The old way of trying to reach masses of people is largely broken and too expensive for all but the biggest brands. Demonstrating a marketing return on investment is far from easy but I have done this on projects with Asda, Egg, AA & ITV.

The new web marketing model enables target customers to find you rather than you trying to find them. Pay per click advertising does this brilliantly. If I am looking to buy a new TV or find an accountant, I sit down on my Mac and see what comes up on Google Search. Bigger brands are seeing this and switching funds from traditional media to web marketing.

Small and medium size companies using Pay Per Click advertising can compete on a level playing field alongside a big corporate. This wasn't possible in the old world as the production and media cost was often a barrier to entry. So lots of smaller businesses are getting into web marketing too.

I love it that a small business in my village can compete globally against big corporates 24 * 7 and the consumer wins.

Web marketing tips that any business (large or small) could apply to attract and retain new customers

• Do you have web marketing strategies in place to attract high numbers of targeted prospects?
  
• Is your Search Engine Optimisation strategy delivering good results against your target key words?
• Have you invested sufficiently in Pay Per Click advertising? The UK average is around 9% of advertising spend. However, as small and medium sized businesses are unlikely to be using more expensive media like TV, then their investment in web marketing should be much higher.
• Is your web marketing working?
• Have you got a programme in place to measure web performance against key business metrics? 
• Do you have the skills in house to do this?

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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

When was the last time you delighted a customer? - A great web marketing example from Amazon

Most businesses focus on making the first sale but fail to focus on growing customer lifetime value. However, what separates the good from the great is the way businesses deal with customer problems. Discover how Amazon's great customer service sets it apart from the competition. 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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

More Great Web Marketing From The Clever People At Apple

It's clear that Apple want ALL your money. 

First they tempted us with their brilliant range of iMacs & PowerBooks. Then they added great user friendly software like iLife. Not forgetting the iPod range with recent additions and now the iPhone.

Are Apple satisfied? 

No they are not. 

Constantly introducing new categories

They are constantly developing iTunes to take even more money off people like us.  I have just noticed a new category called 'Music This Week' which includes sub categories like Music On TV, Music on the Radio & Music On Tour. 

The UK version of Music on TV lists popular TV programmes like Later With Jools Holland, Jonathan Ross & Parkinson and features albums from artists that appeared on last week's shows.

What a brilliant idea. It immediately caught my eye, I glanced at the Parkinson show and 30 seconds later had purchased the new Michael Buble album. iTunes is a great example of a website that makes it easy for people to buy. It has an exceptionally wide product range which is well categorised, making it simple to find what you are looking for. 

Great for browsing

If you are just browsing, it is jam-packed with ideas. I find it difficult to go into iTunes without buying. 

Simple fast buying process

And with 1 click buying, it is up there with Amazon in making it super simple and fast to buy.

Immediate Satisfaction

A few months ago I was watching a BBC late night music programme on my iMac. There were a number of artists I had not heard of but I liked what I heard. I did a quick search on Wikipedia to find out more about the artists and ended up buying 3 or 4 albums on iTunes at 11 p.m. 

In the 'old world' I would have watched the TV programme with the intention of buying a CD or 2 but probably never got around to it. 

Web marketing tips that any business (large or small) could apply to convert browsers to buyers and increase customer lifetime value

• Constantly refresh your website to encourage repeat visits and to attract web visitors attention

• A website can have 'rubber walls!' - In a real store, you have space limitations and if you provide more space for a new product you have to take space from another. Generally there is no limit to the number of products you can add.

• Better still, the same product can be featured in numerous categories, recognising different people have different mindsets and search in different ways. Taking the iTunes example Leona Lewis's single can be found in the Music on The Radio section, Music On TV, Video, Dance etc

• Make the buying process, simple, fast (& safe). Study your web metrics to find out what's working and what isn't.

• Think about your customer. What are they likely to find compelling? How can you position your story and offer so that is distinctive from your competition?

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

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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

How could Harry Potter help improve your web marketing and attract valuable customers?

UK online newspaper, Guardian Unlimited has reported that 'Harry Potter fans will get the chance to appear in the franchise's next film, thanks to a deal between producers Warner Brothers and Microsoft UK. 

Fans will have to complete an online quiz on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as part of the competition, arranged by Warner Home Video and Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions' UK division. 

Those who answer all the questions correctly will get the chance to appear in the next film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.'

Do you think that Harry Potter fans or aspiring actors are likely to enter the competition and visit the MSN site each week until the competition closes on December 20th? As an ex work colleague of mine used to say 'Does a fish swim?'

Obviously, this is a brilliant prize that 'money couldn't buy'. However, you could take the competition principles and apply it to your web marketing to attract valuable customers.

Marketing tips that any business (large or small) could apply to attract new customers

• What competition prize could you offer that would be perceived as high value by your target customers (something money couldn't buy) but ideally be a low cost to you? - Having the winner appear as an extra for a few seconds is hardly like to have any impact on the film's production cost. 

• Could you partner with another non-competitive company who shares your target audience? - This could either improve the prize or the marketing support or the number of target customers you could reach.
  

• How could you tailor the competition to not only appeal to your target customers but also effectively communicate your brand story & values? - Every communication should enhance your brand story and try to differentiate you from your competitors. 

• How could you integrate the competition with your website and other web marketing activities as well as your non-web marketing activities? - The Harry Potter competition requires people to come back too the site each week to get the next question. Clearly, the effort needs to be linked to the prize. You are unlikely to get people to visit 10 times to win a £5 ($10) bottle of wine.

• How could you encourage the competition to be talked about and make it easier for people to involve their friends, family and work colleagues and to become a viral success?

More from the Guardian Unlimited article

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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Is your web marketing strategy ready for Christmas?

Christmas is a key period for most retailers and each year more people are buying more gifts online. Data just released confirms that UK online sales are significantly higher in November due to Christmas shopping. 

Which poses the question, what web marketing strategies do you have in place  to capture more sales between now and Christmas? 

Here are some marketing tips to consider. 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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Welcome to the The Web Marketing Agency UK blog

Hello and welcome to the Web Marketing Agency UK blog. My name is Peter Hawtin and for over 20 years I have pioneered brand new ways of marketing to help some of Britain's best brands like AA, Egg, ITV, RAC & Asda transform their business results. 

Web marketing that caught my attention

In this blog I will comment on web marketing that caught my attention. Sometimes it might be for good reasons: because it stopped me in my tracks and made me think differently; or touched me in some way, or made me smile; or encouraged me to take action. But, I will also comment on web marketing that stood out when the company really got it wrong.

Some background

But first, a little background. I have been lucky to have been doing web marketing since 1996. Back then, I had loads of ideas of how the internet could help companies to achieve business objectives but everything was really hard to implement and required big budgets. I was fortunate to work with some great people who shared the vision and importantly had the technical skills to implement. People like Mark Curtis at CHBI then RazorFish (RAC project), Tim Carrigan at NoHo, then Ogilvy (Egg project) & US agency MarchFirst (Egg project).

How the internet has changed since 1996

Today, a lot of the technical / cost barriers have been removed and I am excited that many of the formerly 'tough' tasks are now relatively simple for large, medium & small businesses to implement. A one person business making jewellery in my village (Great Somerford in Wiltshire, England) can have an international presence 24 * 7 and be earning money when they are sleeping. They can promote their business, take online payments and monitor website performance metrics to a higher capability and for a fraction of the cost compared with big corporates back in 1996. 

'95% of business websites fail to deliver value to the business'

However, despite things getting significantly easier, I believe that 95% of business websites fail to deliver value to the business. This blog will include tips and web marketing secrets that could be applied to improve the marketing performance of any internet business, (large or small). I will focus on internet marketing that:-

• attracts valuable customers
• converts web visitors to buyers
• increases customer lifetime value

Don't forget to leave a comment.

Enjoy! 

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 (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.