Posted by Brian Snider
When tasked with trying to beat really good creative work, what is the best way to get your creative team to get breakthrough results?
Our agency brainstorms areas such as product positioning, offer, and formats for starters. For now, I'd like to focus on how the presentation of the products' key selling proposition (KSP) can offer big dividends as we just proved for one of our major clients --a Fortune 500 Insurance firm. Although we can't give out specifics (confidentiality), I can say that our new approach is giving the client a 73% lift in response!
What we can say, is that the "aha" breakthrough was in the copy approach ---using more numbers than words ---changing the strategy such as showing dollar amounts vs. percentages, that sort of thing...plus I'm sure the clean, crisp design and format had a part as well.
We also found out that shorter, straight-to-the point copy worked better as well. In creating breakthrough results, it's all about finding the right formula for driving home that unique selling proposition and getting the customer to act on your offer...and that's why you need to test...test...test!
Posted by Brian Snider
How Much is a Google Top Spot Worth?
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Chitika, search-based online advertising network, reckons that top rankings on Google is worth double the traffic of ranking in the number 2 spot, in a report announced on their blog today.
It's an important metric for search marketers everywhere, as it's the single most important consumer behavior in our business. Aside from emerging trends in social media sharing, this single behavior surrounding the top spot of Google is the most monetized on the internet.
Just think what would happen to our industry if users did actually look beyond the first set of results? Yes, that's right, we'd all be librarians. Anyway, even if you have known that being number one is important, did you know *how* important it was?
Chitika decided to find out what it was worth to them by looking at a sample of traffic coming into its network from Google and broke it down by Google results placement. The top organic position drove 34.35% of all traffic in the sample, almost the combined total of positions 2 through 5 slots, and more than the combined total of traffic to longtail positions, 5 through 20 (the end of page 2).
"Obviously, everyone knows that the #1 spot on Google is where you want to be," says Chitika research director Daniel Ruby. "It's just kind of shocking to look at the numbers and see just how important it is, and how much of a jump there is from 2 to 1."
The largest behavioral jump, measured as a percentage-change, is from the top of page 2 to the bottom of page 1. Going from the 11th spot to 10th sees a 143% jump in traffic, proving that a very small percentage of users click through to the second page whilst searching online.
This research confirms what many search marketers know or suspected already from behavioral experiments on SERPs involving heatmaps and other research. Yet it's nice to see an independent study from the webmasters point of view. Let's hope other large networks in other industry niches conduct a similar experiment.
It proves, once again, that your website really needs to be on the first page of results to get any real chance of being seen. And to build a successful business online you really need to get your website into positions 1-4 for a variety of terms - those specific Google positions, combined, command a whopping 70% of all traffic to websites!
Posted by Brian Snider
Twitter blew onto the scene with its 140 character limit to messages, offering a succinct way to stream information to anyone who chooses to read them. On the surface it seems inane. Who wants to hear about what someone fed their dog or how they can make $1000 a day by paying $39.95 to buy into someone else's system? And yes, there are loads of inspiring quotes from famous and non-famous people. These sorts of things are on Twitter, but how can they help your business?
In most cases, they won't, at least not directly. But neither will a lot of traditional media, which costs much more money. One beautiful thing about Twitter is that it only costs time. You can have someone send out a tweet once or twice a day and go on to other tasks. Once you get a feel for how it can help you and your business, Twitter can become an invaluable tool.
Here are a few suggestions about what you can do with it:
- Use Twitter to create a list of potential clients. Tweeting only about your business, however, won't usually get you too many followers. Many of the top tweeters have quotes or a catchy phrase followed by a link that encourages someone to visit a website and in turn buy a product or service.
2. Develop relationships with customers. The brevity of tweets means people have to cut to the heart of a matter, or else lose the interest of other tweople (yes, that will be a word one day). It allows you to share information about your products or services and allows customers to briefly tell you what they like (or don't like) about them.
3. Share information. It is excellent for engaging people in this digital age, and if you want to share more information, just Twit it, which will create a tinyurl out of any domain that will fit neatly into a Tweet. Thus with the push of a button you can share information directly with hundreds or thousands of people. An additional bonus is if others distribute your message for you by re-tweeting it.
4. Use it for market research. You can see what other words people are using to find out information about your area of business, which helps with choosing SEO words for websites or blogs.
5. Networking. By building a network of people in your industry, you will expand where and to whom you market. Say your business involves roofing. A sizable construction company that's been following you (perhaps even without your knowledge) sees your tweet and asks you to bid on a project. So all that time you were wasting Twittering wasn't really a waste after all.
There are numerous strategies and sub-strategies that can help grow your business, and these are but a few. The main thing is you keep at it, tweet several times a day and keep it interesting for your audience.
Posted by Brian Snider
Social media marketing is all about developing more personal relationships with customers, so on the surface it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to outsource your social media marketing efforts. You want people who know your business, who are intimately involved in it, and these same people should have a real stake in the business.
Yet marketing through social media takes time, and lots of it. Many companies until recently considered social media sites as time sinks, and it was often company policy among many businesses just a few years ago to ban employees from going onto Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other social media sites. That has changed as businesses realize the true scope of the marketing opportunities that social media presents.
Before exploring whether to have an employee conduct a marketing campaign through social media or getting someone outside the company to do it, a business should take a look at what they hope to accomplish through using it for marketing. Bigger businesses can utilize social media to create a friendlier image to the public and to relate on a more personal level with their customers. Small businesses can benefit too by expanding their reach without sinking a lot of money into an advertising campaign, though the time it takes for an employee to effectively market should be considered in this as well.
Big businesses can designate a whole team of people to interact with a company's customers on social media sites. They can also afford to hire people who are experts in social media marketing. A small business may find that one of their employees with experience in the area may be the best for the job.
For example, a couple hours a day will allow John, who has been on Facebook for a couple years and who has thousands of friends but who mainly just plays Mafia Wars and Farmville, to promote the business. Perhaps you can see where this is heading...
Who will more efficiently achieve a company's business objectives? That is the key question that any business needs to answer before considering whether its employees or an outside consultant should run a company's social media marketing campaign.
There are benefits and drawbacks to both scenarios. Perhaps ABC Social Media Marketing Consultants has a flashy website and an impressive clientele, but most of their staff are actually college drop outs who figured out how to grow networks but know very little else about social media, or the companies for which ABC works for that matter. Nor do they particularly care. Then suppose that Lisa, a company salesperson, has used Twitter to effectively increase her own sales. Which person will do a better job? Now, you could say that taking a couple hours a day away from Lisa's sales position could decrease the company's sales. Yet looking at it from a more long term perspective, Lisa knows the company, knows the products the company produces, and her enthusiasm for social media and the company are intertwined, making her a logical choice.
The truth is, if a business has someone who is savvy about what social media can do to help a business, they should use that person's knowledge when planning to run any social media marketing campaign. At the very least, this person should liaise with whoever ends up running the company's social media marketing campaign. If outsourcing, then the consultant involved in helping a business promote itself through social media should have an excellent understanding of the company's products/services, and know how to effectively engage with the target audience.
Yet before companies consider strategies regarding social media, they should understand what it does and can do for them. Social media is a little like online customer service that interacts with people in real time, where companies listen to and interact with their customers. Unlike customer service lines, however, where mostly people call with complaints about a product or service, social media engages consumers personally, though without any real expectations. If a company's goals for its social media marketing can be achieved through use of an expert consultant and there is no one in-house with ample experience, then outsourcing should definitely be considered. If, on the other hand, a company has a competent employee or employees with experience, who understand the company's social media marketing vision, and they have the proper amount of time to devote to this effort, then social media marketing should stay in-house.
To put it simply, when considering outsourcing or doing it yourself, it depends on what the company hopes to accomplish with any social media program and what resources are available (both monetary and personal).
Posted by Brian Snider
Tip 1: Keep testing your landing pages – make them relevant to your offer or search terms!
In addition to testing the creative elements (copy/design) and offer on your landing pages, making the pages more relevant to your audience can have a big impact on conversion rates.
According to a recent Marketing Sherpa survey of marketers, 68.2% of those who tested “altering landing pages dynamically depending on offers or search terms” reported that their conversions were “definitely better” after implementation. According to the survey, linking to a landing page with a search term was the single most effective tactic for improving conversions. Out of the 3,451 marketers surveyed, only 3% are already automatically generating landing pages when specific items are searched for.
Tip 2: Create Direct mail – to Web applications
Direct mail lists are still the “king” when you are looking to pinpoint your direct response marketing. “Cold” email solicitations just do not measure up –the lists are not as targeted, and most messages are deleted and treated as “spam”. If you are looking for a way to reduce mail costs, then one solution is a “web driver” approach.
Creating simple direct mail packages that drive responses directly to the web have several advantages. First of all, they cost less. The direct mail piece is primarily creating excitement and giving the recipient a reason to check out the offer —the landing page does the selling. And, that leads to the second benefit— the low cost variable landing page. It’s low cost to produce (generally $1000-$3000 if outsourced) and there are no printing/production costs. Today’s technology allows you to produce 1:to:1 communications based on your database. For example, in a B-to-B application, the landing page can be personalized by industry segment or by purchase history. In a B-to-C application, the landing page can be personalized by demographics.
Tip 3: Lift Conversion with Personalized URL’s
Personalized URL’s in a direct mail piece is a powerful device in reaching your consumer. Advertisers can expect to see a 20% lift, in fact, on conversion by implementing personalized URL’s (or PURL’s) according to a MarketingSherpa study.
When a consumer receives a piece of direct mail, postcard or an email, they are driven to their own customized landing page via their PURL. So how does this work? When the PURL is entered into a browser the database is triggered and will then serve a landing page for this specific consumer based on that unique URL. The consumer is given a direct, and personalized, communication that requires little or no effort on their part. The customization evokes a sense of comfort with the consumer prompting them to respond. Furthermore, the more simplified the consumer process, the higher the response. Utilizing this method increases the advertiser’s conversion performance dramatically.
PURL’s are also powerful in aggregating valuable data. The respondent’s behavior will be in invaluable, as you have captured information that can be helpful in understanding how your services are viewed to a consumer as well as individual consumer data.
Always tailor your PURL’s based on these learning’s in order to continue increasing your conversion and response rate.
Tip 4: Harness the Power of Social Media
According to MarketingSherpa’s recent February statistics 46% of firms have not accepted and adapted to social media, citing a lack of understanding as their main reason for their leisurely approach to involvement. Social Media has been paving the way for itself over the course of the past few years. As the channel evolves in leaps and bounds and economic downturn is just the sort of spark to ignite the blaze. More and more companies are cutting back on their budgets in response to more and more consumer’s uncertainty in the current economic climate. Both are consequentially spending less. Consumers are more cynical than ever. So how does a company maintain, and even expand, its consumer base and ultimately sales during a recession?
Social Media and Guerilla Marketing tactics allow companies and brands to effectively communicate with their audience. They also, when effectively harnessed, allow for an increase in their consumer base in the most efficient way the web has seen. Having and honest and public conversation with your consumers will fuel brand ambassadorship, igniting trust and furthermore loyalty. Allowing consumers to voice their concerns, issues and generally engage with the brand creates a direct line of trust. In years past this sort of dialogue could not be obtained or purchased. The savvy marketer understands that these conversations are currently happening all around them and they can authentically join in or continue to struggle with budget cuts and consumer’s ability to publicly rant or rave about their company or brand.
Tip 5: Fine tune your Pay Per Click Campaigns
As you know, Pay Per Click advertising is one of the most cost effective ways to target sales via the internet. Countless advertisers seek this tactic due to the highly appealing nature off allowing an advertiser to only pay when their ad is clicked. For this reason, many advertisers manage their own PPC campaigns. However, creating and maintaining an efficient and effective PPC campaign requires a breadth of research and skill.
Keyword selection requires more than just selecting words that relate to your industry and services. Avoid doing so, as it can easily return irrelevant clicks that may increase site traffic but ultimately do not return valid inquiries. This translates to a wasted budget. Be cautious when selecting the number of keywords you are bidding on. Quantity is not quality in matters of PPC. Select only well researched and relevant keywords.
Ensure that you have written engaging copy. What is normally considered as engaging copy in the marketing world does not necessarily translate to the confining limitations of a PPC ad. A professional or firm can guide you as to what is enticing and will generate action in this specific marketplace.
Pay close attention to your Click Through Rate! Monitor your campaign, as a slight variation can greatly impact its performance. One of the biggest mistakes an advertiser will make is launching a PPC campaign and letting it sit, without consistently analyzing and optimizing based on performance. Allow the campaign to ramp up after changes are made and closely monitor the impact of the changes. Give the modifications you’ve made enough time to settle and confirm their actual impact, then analyze.
Many factors contribute to your overall PPC campaign performance: the relevance of the keyword, how well your copy is tailored to this audience and the consistent analysis of your campaign. Be sure to consider all of these factors when engaging in and fine-tuning a PPC campaign. As always, practice makes perfect.
PURLS:
Frank Hudetz of Solar Communications reports a 33 percent lift in pURL campaigns.
Marketing Sherpa. May 7th, PURL’s can increase conversion 20%