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.