Entries Tagged 'internet marketing' ↓

Most online marketers engage in content marketing in one form or another.

They understand the benefits it brings to their website’s visibility, customers’ satisfaction levels and of course, their bottom line.

But content marketing is only any good if people can find your blogs and articles. So, how can you be sure it’s being found and being read?

It all comes down to measuring the 3 pillars of content marketing:

Visibility

This one is concerned with how easily people can find your content.

When you check your Google Analytics, if your page views are low, it would suggest your content is less than prominent in the search results.

You can remedy this by comparing the keywords that people are using to find your content with the ones that are part of your strategy. You’ll also need to check your META tags and META descriptions. And remember, your META description is the initial hook you can write to encourage someone to click through to your website so make sure it’s enticing.

Relevance

Assuming people can find your content, they’re only going to read it if it resonates with the. Are you offering a solution to their problem? Are you providing the answer they’ve been looking for?

In your Analytics, this can be judged by your bounce rate (the percentage of people that land on your site and then leave immediately). A high percentage suggests they are not engaging with your content. So, make sure it is packed with benefits and written from your customers’ point of view – not blatant promotion for your company.

Value

The type of post you produce is also important.

We’ve already said how important it is that your content resonated with your reader, but it’s equally as important that the format of your post appeals to them.

How to articles, statistics, templates etc., are all very popular because they give your reader something for nothing.

The number of sign ups to your RSS feed and the number of shares you receive on social media will reflect how ‘on target’ your information is.

You see, content marketing is essential for any online business – from copywriters to solicitors, software houses to photographers – it will:

• Promote you as an expert in your field
• Give you more ownership of the web
• Boost your visibility in the search results
• Generate links to your website

But to get the most from it, make sure you always think of your customer and measure your results.

Social media is gradually taking over our lives – at least that’s how it feels.

With over a quarter of all adults and nearly half of all teens now owning a smart phone (Ofcom, 2011) connecting to the internet on the move has never been so easy. In fact, it is now so easy it is beginning to affect the way we shop.

Social media has opened up access to retailers like nothing else before it. Now, it’s easy to send a tweet or comment on a Facebook page. Our complaints, compliments and questions can be fired at them with ease.

So how is that affecting our shopping habits?

Well, according to recent research by Reevoo, consumers said that social content is now beginning to shape their online shopping behaviour. Over half of all consumers found social media comments helpful when shopping online, with user reviews (48%) and friend recommendations (52%) being the biggest influencers.

The vast majority (88%) said they always consulted reviews before proceeding to the checkout, with 60% adding they were more likely to purchase from a site that carried such reviews.

Ignore social media at your peril

With online social interaction carrying that much clout, it’s imperative that businesses today engage in social media.

And that really does mean ‘engage’.

Merely having the accounts is not enough. You must also monitor them, respond to comments and questions, and be proactive by offering advice. And that means having a strategy.

More often than not, your customers’ first point of interaction with you will be through a social media channel. That means you must be alert to their tweets and Facebook comments and ensure your staff have a firm understand of what your policy is regarding complaints and compliments.

Taking in the bigger picture

You may think that your social media interaction with customers and their product reviews are separate entities.

To a certain extent they are, but your interaction as a company with your customers is bound to have an effect on the review they leave for others. Frequently, you see such comments not only talking about the qualities of the product in question, but also about the service levels received from your company.

Reviews are therefore seen as an endorsement (or not) of your company as a whole.

Therefore it is essential that you have a social media strategy in place, provide the best possible service at all times and respond to your comments in a timely manner.

Can that really be true?

Well, it is according to a recent article in The Drum.

Apparently, a recent survey undertaken by TalkTalk Business discovered that only 1% of UK SMEs use social media sites such as Twitter and Linked In to generate new business.

Out of the 500 SMEs surveyed, 43% said they weren’t comfortable using social networking sites.

As a copywriter, I’ve been using social media for a while to offer advice, promote my business and make new contacts. It really isn’t scary – it’s just like chatting with friends.

Finding the comfort zone

Social media allows customers unprecedented access to companies these days. They can instantly send messages, ask queries and make complaints – perhaps that’s part of the problem.

But there really isn’t any reason for companies to be afraid of social media. Used wisely, it can open up new markets and even find new business partners.

Of course, once you put something out on the web, it’s there for good, so any company looking to use social media as part of their marketing must have a strategy in place.

Understanding your social media strategy

The first thing that must happen is for everyone to understand (that includes senior management) that the main goal is not to sell.

Social media is a long term commitment that should add value to your relationships with your customers.

Then you must determine what your goals are – whether you’re using it for PR, customer service or marketing. However you use it, your goals must be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).

Of course, not every social media outlet is going to be right for your business, so do your research. Work out where you customers hang out and where your activities will have the greatest impact.

Once you start to use the platform(s) join in the conversation, don’t just lurk on the fringes. Chat with people, answer questions and offer advice. All of these activities will help get you noticed and increase your levels of engagement.

After a while, you may start getting questions coming your way. If you do make sure you answer them. Also, it’s worthwhile bringing your social media activities into the real world by going along to networking events and tweetups so people can put a face to the profile.

One more thing about Twitter, if a specific person within your company runs the account, make sure they sign their name to their tweets, or have their bio on your Twitter page. People like to know who they are tweeting with.

The best way to learn is to do

“Social media can prove invaluable as a new business tool and so it’s worrying to see that so few SMEs are embracing it. Its business benefits range from being able to engage and understand the needs of customers and prospects through to gaining insights into target markets and perceptions of your organisation or brand.

“There’s certainly scope for more SMEs to be educated on how social media channels can be applied to business and ne harnessed to benefit the bottom line.” Paul Lawton, Managing Director of TalkTalk Business.

I couldn’t agree more Paul.

Over to you

Are you one of the 43% or have you embraced social media as part of your marketing strategy?

Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts.

It is a well-known fact that customer service is the one area that will make your company stand out from the crowd. With limited budgets, it’s one way smaller companies can compete, and at times outdo the big boys.

Let’s face it, we all love to be made to feel special and great customer service is a prime example of that.

Small details such as calling customers by name, retuning calls quickly and keeping customers informed can make a huge impact on your company’s reputation.

But of course, high levels of customer service tend to come with high wage bills, not something every business wants to absorb. That’s why, according to a recent article in Business Matters, many companies (21% of those surveyed) are now investing in tools that will allow their customers to deal with issues without needing to speak to an employee.

Is that really a good thing?

Do we really want to be on our own?

When it comes to queries and complaints, today’s technology and social media have opened up businesses to a 24 hour demand. Customers want immediate answers and, for most companies, a fully manned customer help line that’s available 24/7 simply isn’t feasible.

I’m all in favour of auto responders to emails (provided I actually get a response to my query too), accessibility through social media and the live chat facility, but what really gets my goat (now you understand the relevance of the image) are the companies that seem simply not to care.

Speaking from experience, in my mind, there is nothing more frustrating than wanting to find contact details for a company only to be faced with page upon page of FAQs. Not only that, but no matter how thoroughly you search, there is no sign of a phone number, email or postal address.

To me (and I’m sure I can’t be alone here) that would suggest a lack of regard for their customers. I immediately begin to think why don’t they want me to be able to get in touch with them? What are they trying to hide?

I can understand offering 24/7 accessibility to staff is not practical, but surely an email address (not contact form, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve tried to contact companies through those only to never receive a response) isn’t too much to ask?

Most customers are reasonable and won’t expect an immediate email response if they are contacting you out of hours, but a simple auto responder saying ‘thanks for your email, it will be answered shortly’ (or something along those lines) instils confidence that their query or complaint has been received and will be dealt with.

And every now and then, it is quite nice to be able to find a phone number and speak to a real person.

Making life easier all round

The best of both worlds would be a company that offers FAQs (you never know, one day they might cover my query) and a way of getting hold of someone – either by phone or email.

Don’t let technology take over completely. Customers do still crave the human touch now and again.

An ability to speak or interact with a real person is a very precious thing, so don’t go down the route that some of the massive corporations have ventured along, thinking page upon page of FAQs offers the same level of service as the ability to contact a person.

Over to you

What are your thoughts on this?

Do you think it’s OK to have a website without any contact details listed and just FAQs?

Leave a comment and have your say.

Sally Ormond – Copywriter and occasionally disgruntled customer

Link building is probably, the most important element in your search engine optimisation strategy.

Why?

Well, it is the most important factor Google uses when working out how relevant your web page or website is for ranking purposes.

When someone types in a search query, Google heads off to find the most relevant pages that satisfy the query. It ranks them in authoritative order and the factor used to determine that is, you guessed it, its link profile.  

The ayes have it

Every inbound link that points to your website and web pages is seen by Google as a vote for it.

The more ‘votes’ it has, the higher its perceived authority.

The higher its perceived authority, the higher it’s ranking.

But not just any old links will do, Google’s far cannier than that.  Every link must have:

• Relevance – it must come from a site of the same, or closely related topic
• Authority – the site should be seen as authoritative in its own right
• Trust – the links pointing to the initiating site should be good quality links

So the key is to attract authoritative links from related sites. But how do you do that?

Attracting link love

Knowing you need to attract links is one thing; actually getting them is something else entirely.

Where do you start?

First, there are links from directory submissions, but make sure you opt for directories that are relevant to your industry or market.

Then you need to produce great content that people will want to link to. Generating a lot of high quality, useful information can be time consuming, which is why many companies choose to contract it out to professional copywriters. However it is created, make sure it offers expert advice, opinions, and demonstrates your authority.

Once this has got out into the search engines it may well attract links straightaway, but you may also have to do some legwork. If one of your articles compliments another authority site, get in touch with them and direct them to it to see if they want to link to your content.

You should also hang out on the same online forums as your target audience. This is a great way to interact with other industry experts and could lead to a few links.

Another method is by writing guest blogs and articles. Authority bloggers always need great content, so if you write something that’s targeted for their readers that’s well researched and put together, they will publish it and include an all important link back to your site.

Link building campaign

Setting yourself a link building strategy is vital as it should be an on-going process.

Your campaign should look at attracting:

• Links from authoritative sites
• Links from a number of different domains (50 links from 50 different sites is much better than 50 links from 1 site)
• Deep links – i.e. not just linking to your Home Page, your other pages need links too
• Anchor text links – where you keywords are used as the link text
• Local links – don’t forget local directories and your Chamber of Commerce as they will help with your local rankings

But one word of warning, never ever be tempted to pay for links. This practice is well and truly frowned upon by Google and any short-term gains you may experience will soon be lost once Google discovers what you’re up to.

A natural link building strategy is by far the best way to go. Try to build your strategy into your working week to make sure it is a constant process.