The Blog
Making Email Marketing Work for your Business
Email has been around for so long now that we all take it for granted – and as a means for growing your business it has probably been forgotten about as the newer, shinier mediums such as social media have come to the fore.
It is, however, still one of the very best ways to maintain and grow a business due to its low cost and nature of being able to get directly in front of customers and potential customers. In fact, for almost every website that we work, getting website visitors to part with their email address is one of, if not the, most important objectives. After all, you’ve worked hard on your SEO/PPC/PR/Social Media (you pick the one(s) that apply!) to get visitors to your site in the first place – wouldn’t it more than careless of you to let them go without at least being able to start a direct relationship with them?
But getting people to part with their email addresses is harder than ever – as people get spammed and their email addresses abused by unscrupulous con artists. So how can you ethically get people’s email addresses? Here are a few ideas you might like to consider:
Ask Them Directly
If you have any sort of business where people are visiting your offline store, you are meeting people at networking events or you have an existing customer base (hopefully that will cover everyone!), then simply ask them if they would like to receive your emails or ezine. Yes, your emails and/or ezine will need to contain something worthwhile/interesting – but of course they do!
Put a Link in Your Email Signature
Everyone sends out regular work emails – so why not take advantage and put a link in the signature section of your emails? It’s very easy done on email clients such as Microsoft Outlook and can be a great way to prompt people to signup with you
Put a Signup Form On Your Website
As I mentioned above, getting hard-earned website visitors email addresses is the least you should be doing! Don’t just use a boring ‘Sign Up For Our Newsletter’ either – make it sound interesting and worthwhile for them. Something like ‘Get Great Monthly Tips and Tricks on [topic]‘ or download our free report ‘The Top 10 Mistakes People Make When Buying [product]‘ is much more likely to get people to give their email address.
Run Competitions
People love to win stuff – especially when it doesn’t cost them anything to try! Well, this isn’t strictly true as they are going to have to give their email address to enter – but it’s still a great way to get email addresses, both on a website and in an offline environment.
Send Out Direct Mail Pieces
If you have a database of customers for whom you have names and physical addresses, but no email addresses, then why not put some sort of mailer together with an offer/competition/survey and direct them to go to your website to get the details (and give their email address).
I hope this has given you a new or renewed interest in email marketing and some ideas on how you can collect email addresses and build your database. If you’re already successfully using email marketing and have other ways of collecting email addresses do let us know – we’d love to hear from you!
Eye-tracking: Science or shlock?
A phrase that you hear from time to time in reference to website and interface design is Eye-tracking. Eye-tracking is the study of where the website user’s eye travels over the page when confronted with a new page layout. The user¹s eye movements are usually captured by a small head mounted camera and the statistics recorded and used to make conclusions about how site visitors react to site layouts.
A number of different studies into Eye-tracking provide some general conclusions about website design. Here’s some of the major findings:
1. The eyes most often fixate first in the upper left of the page, then hover in that area before going left to right. Only after perusing the top portion of the page for some time did their eyes explore further down the page.
2. Navigation placed at the top of a home page performed best
3. Shorter paragraphs performed better in (Eyetrack III) research than longer ones.
4. Partial viewing of headlines and blurbs was found to be common
For a more comprehensive list read Poynters findings here (http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm)
So the long and short of it is that there’s some simple rules that you can follow to get your website really working. Well, yes and no.
The problem with some of the generalisations made by Eye-tracking studies are this:
1. The study is based on an average user looking at a number of different websites, all with different designs. But ultimately the test is not being carried out on ‘your’ website. Graphically your site may have radically different, content, contrasts, design and balance. So what’s generally right for an average site may not be correct for your site.
2. Through application of design theory most of the findings can disputed or disproved. For example, if we take it to extremes, if you designed your site with a very bright right-hand side using a lot of contrast and colour, and the left-hand side of the sight was kept relatively sedate, the user¹s eye will be drawn to the right more readily than the study suggests. Design View’s Andy Rutledge (http://www.andyrutledge.com/poynters-eye-track-follies.php#fragment-4)
“Virtually every one of their past conclusions from eye-tracking studies can be refuted or reversed with even the most basic application of design or a varied context. Further, they fail to account for the effect of perhaps the most important element in the study material: the content. The results can be nothing less than irresponsibly flimsy data.”
3. And finally, in the real world, people visit websites with a specific purpose of finding some information or making a purchase etcŠThe Guinea pigs in the Poynter¹s test aren’t truly interested in the sites they are viewing.
They are merely viewing images of web pages sequentially without a true investment in the content they are seeing, so ultimately they will react differently to genuine user who is truly seeking real answers from a site.
See, I told you it wasn’t that simple. So who do we believe? Do the stats lie? Or does design theory dispel all the findings that Eye-tracking has provided us with? As with most things you need to take a balanced view of both disciplines to achieve the most effective website layouts.
Firstly, although Poynter¹s tests are seriously flawed what they do show is that human psychology and learned behaviour have a key part to play in site design. Designers need to pay service to the fact that a user will always have an impulse to look to the top left of a page first precisely because it is a learned behaviour. In the western world we read left to right and the majority of sites we encounter place navigation and other key information in the top left area of the screen. So naturally we feel most confident that we will find our required information here. Human psychology has to be considered when designing a usable web layout.
So in short, look at your own site design on its own merits, know the rules but don’t let your site become strangled by them. Good page design can solve your communications problems without having to cram everything into the top left of a page just because a flawed study says so. Know your stats, know design theory and pay attention to user psychology and you should have a good foundation for effective website design.
The Cynic, the Mouse and the Vigilante
What kind of marketer are you? And you definitely are one. Well, you’re one of the following:
The Marketing Cynic: We all know this type. Prone to outbursts of “Money for old rope”, these individuals appear to have an allergic reaction to all the “fluff” that is marketing. Their approach to marketing is to send Malcolm a bottle of whiskey at the end of the year with a note attached explaining that they’re open again at 8.30am on 27th December.
The Marketing Mouse: Perhaps the most prevalent of marketers. They live in fear of the mystical world of marketing. They see it taking place all around them and it seems to keep changing each and every day. The Marketing Mouse understands that it’s something other companies and individuals get. Somehow, they don’t. For some odd reason they believe that it’s a “Permits only” entrance into the world of marketing. Looking from the outside in, they tend to stick to what they know. “We’ll update the company brochure for 2011. That’ll be fine.”
The Marketing Vigilante: They eat, sleep and breathe marketing. They seek out the company of other marketing ambassadors and play “Trump” card with the brands and ad campaigns they like. Their “We can change the world” attitude will either inspire you or want to make you throw up (if you’re a Marketing Cynic.) I must confess, there’s no help for me, I fall into this category.
But listen up cynics and mice, I have some non-glossy marketing speak at hand. I intend to demystify and condense the essence of marketing strategy. And that is, drum roll please, there are only ever 4 marketing strategies you need to consider. This applies if you own Coca-Cola or Roy’s Rolls (a Coronation Street reference for all you Corrie fans). They are:
1. Nurture your existing customer base
2. Expand your customer base
3. Expand your offering
4. Raise your profile
And that’s it. When somebody starts talking marketing, it’s going to be linked to one of these strategies. My plan for this blog from Business Consultancy is to take each of these areas in turn and simplify all the hype and distil the key considerations for your business, any business.
That’s it for now. More of an introduction from Business Consultancy than anything else. But in the interim, if anybody wants to play marketing trump card with me, I believe that the most consistently impactful brand for advertising is Guinness. You can’t trump that? Any contenders?
Internet Marketing Seminar Feedback
Our seminar proved to be an Internet Marketing minefield on the 2nd of June in Ramada Encore, Belfast. Feedback was fantastic; everyone enjoyed the day and left with tried and tested tips on how they can start delivering a return on investment from their websites and Internet marketing efforts.
To access the video, please enter your details below:
Love it to Death?
Why the new John Lewis ad is dividing opinion at PC HQ
The first time I saw the new ad for John Lewis, it brought a tear to my eye. Not because it was beautifully shot, which it most certainly is. Not because I wished I’d come up with the idea. And not even because, as yet, we don’t have a John Lewis store in Northern Ireland. No, it made my lip quiver and my eyes moist because it made me think about the inevitable death of all the women in my family: my mother, my wife and even my two young daughters. Now I know that death eventually comes to us all and it’s something we have to deal with. Last week I read a quote that went something like this: “From the moment we are born we are all dying one minute at a time” but I found that inspirational and life-affirming. It made me feel that I had to urgently go out and make the most of all the minutes I have left. But the John Lewis ad simply made me feel sad and a bit upset. I hated them for reminding me about the brief nature of human existence.
If you haven’t seen the John Lewis TV Ad, it’s showing on youtube:
At first I thought it was just me. I am, it has to be said, a bit of a sentimentalist. A mentalist, some might say. But I noticed on Twitter that some people I follow in the ad business felt exactly the same way. Copywriter Jill Tomlinson (@shelikestowrite) conducted a straw poll on the very subject asking her followers how the JL ad made them feel. The consensus was ‘sad’ and the reason, ‘death.’
Strangely, this made me feel a bit better. My advertising radar and emotional sensibilities weren’t as skew-whiff as I had first thought. But then I happened to mention the ad when I was in Pierce Communications – an agency I freelance in on a regular basis.
“Oh, it’s brilliant.”
“Fantastic”
“One of my favourites, ever”
These were just three of the positive responses I got, and all from female colleagues. On further quizzing (actually, I think I might have said, ‘Are you out of your mind?’) it turns out that they liked the ‘cradle to grave’ approach John Lewis offered women. “It’s there for you, every step of the way,” they argued, which I suppose is the central proposition of the commercial. If that was the brief then Adam & Eve, John Lewis’s ad agency, delivered it in spades.
I just wish they could have done it without making me think about my loved ones dying.
Granted, my analysis is pretty one-dimensional. Selfish even. But Alison McElroy at PC who was effusive in her praise for the ad, also sent me a link to a piece on The Times’ website.
and although its headline purports to being in admiration of the ad, there is a darker analysis going on.
The writer, Shane Watson, ruminates on the current female zeitgeist when she says:
“[The ad is] a rose-tinted world, untouched by modern pressures (though, note, the mum does come home with a briefcase), that makes our own lives seem messy and fraught by comparison. Not only that, but, watching it, you are reminded how fast time goes when you have so much to get right.
That’s the other sense in which this ad is timely: it has arrived at a moment when there’s an overwhelming sense that women are unhappy with their lives. In the past couple of weeks alone, two high-profile columnists have confessed to crippling depression, hot on the heels of Emma Thompson and Marian Keyes — more evidence that even those who appear to have everything can feel inadequate. What John Lewis has stumbled on is the simple truth that women are at the peak of an identity crisis. The soundtrack to the ad is Billy Joel’s She’s Always a Woman, because Billy was crystal clear what being a woman involves — unlike us, who are struggling to find the right formula. That’s why we gulp when we see that ad: so much hope and potential at the start, and still so far from living the fairy tale.
Then look what happened to the perfect life of Mad Men’s Betty Draper. Or Princess Di’s. Or Martha Stewart’s. Life never did, and never will, quite measure up to a John Lewis ad. That’s why we’re all so obsessed with soft furnishings and kitchen equipment and styling our homes to look like the ideal nest for the happy family. Clever John Lewis.”
Is John Lewis ‘clever’ by making the women of the UK feel inadequate or unfulfilled when they watch this ad?
Does that very insight make it uber-aspirational or ultra-crass?
Personally I think using human mortality is a bit of a duff way to try to sell nice curtains. But that’s just my opinion. I noticed that two weeks ago, Campaign Magazine made it their ‘Pick of the Week’, so maybe my sentiment is getting in the way of my creative judgment.
The good news for John Lewis is of course, that because they don’t have any stores where I live, I can’t refuse to shop in them. I’m sure they are breathing a huge sigh of relief!
Let me know what you think.
Google Up To No Good?
In our profession (search engine optimisation specifically) we spend a lot of time researching the keywords that people are typing into the search engines. One of our main tools for doing this is Google’s Keyword Tool – especially as Google has approximately 90% of the UK search market. In recent weeks, Google has been rolling out a new version of the keyword tool, with a redefined interface.
This is fair enough, I’m always in favour of technological advancement! One of the key things that changed as part of this redesign was the loss of the dropdown box that allowed users to show or hide columns of data. Things like the average cost per click, the search trends, etc. This was replaced by a piece of text saying that you could ‘Sign in with your AdWords login information to see the full set of ideas for this search’.
This was slightly annoying, but not the end of the world, and we just got on with it (the ‘old’ interface is still available and we are able to use it). However, in recent days we’ve started to notice that after a period of time using the new interface, Google automatically re-direct you to their ‘Sign Up for Adwords’ page – even when you are in the middle of doing keyword research. This is really, really annoying! Of course, if you do sign in to your Adwords account or go ahead and create a new Adwords account then the automatic re-directs stop – but talk about a hard sell!
I thought Google’s core brand thought was ‘Don’t Be Evil’ – I don’t think this fits very well! Obviously, the $1.96 Billion net profit figure quoted for the first quarter of 2010 wasn’t enough ….
Google’s New Search Results Pages
I’m sure you’ve seen Google’s new search engine results pages by now – very interesting! As a user, there are now a lot more obvious options for getting results from Google in the left hand column. These options have, of course, been available for quite some time now – it’s just that they were sitting up in the left hand corner of the screen and weren’t so obvious. Results from blogs, for example, were hidden in the ‘more’ options and so a lot of people probably weren’t even aware that this was an option.
But what effect is this going to have, if any, on companies trying to get rankings on Google? Quite a lot! Why? Well, if it’s much more obvious for people to be able to refine their results by clicking on ‘images’ or ‘blogs’ then that’s what people will do. So, getting rankings on Google’s normal web results pages is going to be just part of the battle. Getting results on the ‘images’, ‘blogs’, ‘news’ and ‘map’ pages is going to become increasingly important as more and more people explore these results.
How will this be done? Through a lot of effort and applying appropriate seo strategies for each category. Getting listed via Google Maps requires the use of Google Places (formerly Google Local), the blog results (obviously) require a blog that is updated on a regular basis with appropriate keywords. Google Images? Well designed pages and good use of Google Sitemaps will get you on the right path.
The bottom line here is that we’re going to have to work harder to get Google rankings across all the different categories of Google Search – are you ready?
As a separate footnote, what do you think of the new search results pages? Do you like the layout? Will you be more likely to use the options in the left column?
Shiny New Website?
Well here it is! Our shiny new website. Well perhaps shiny isn’t quite the right word. We were aiming more for clear, concise, friendly or unique. Hopefully we hit the mark, let us know what you think.
It’s been some time in the making but we’re proud of our new online space, not only with the finished product but of the process that brought it to fruition. This time we thought we should put our money where our mouth is and start doing some of the things we are so good at telling our clients to do. So we took our time and did things the right way. We did our market research, looked at what makes us different, branded ourselves accordingly, looked at best practice for online marketing and SEO (search engine optimisation) and bundled it all up in some user-friendly web design. And hey presto a new website.
As with all sites its a work in progress, and for us the launch is only the beginning. In the weeks and months to come we plan to keep the site alive with articles, opinions, useful tips and videos that will help you (and us) keep up to date with the all things marketing, brand and online. And we promise to try not to bore you in the process!
How to Turn Internet Marketing Strategy into ROI Reality
Date: 02/06/2010 (9:00am – 4:15pm)
Venue: Ramada Encore, St. Anne’s Square, Belfast (CS Lewis Room)
Cost: £95pp + VAT ( or book 2 places for £160 + VAT)
SPEAKERS:
Mike Fleming
Pierce Communications’ Creative Consultant
Mike is a consultant copywriter, advertising creative and verbal identity writer. He has written for some of the world’s best known brands and for some of the world’s biggest agencies: Saatchis, Ogilvy and The Brand Union among them.
Richard Clement
Pierce Communications’ Internet Marketing Director
As one of Ireland’s foremost Internet Marketing and SEO specialists, Richard lives and breathes all things web, ensuring he and his team deliver ROI for each and every client.
Jaime Steele
Pierce Communications’ Social Media Consultant
One of Northern Ireland’s most digitally connected people, Jaime is a social media evangelist and living proof of the power of collaboration through social media platforms.
Yvonne Moore
General Manager Galgorm Resort & Spa
Reaping the rewards since launching the resort’s new website, Yvonne has never been busier with the unprecedented demand from online bookings.
Stuart Armstrong
As the brainchild of deals4u.co.uk, a £3m white goods company based in Lisburn, Stuart has proven that investing in Internet Marketing really works.
John Richardson
Northern Ireland native and author of ‘Dream On: One Hacker’s Challenge to Break Par in a Year’, John has gained international acclaim using social media and online PR to become a successful online entrepreneur.
SCHEDULE:
9:00 – 10:00am Registration/T&C
10:00 – 10:10am Introduction – Martin Blaney MD of Pierce Communications
10:10 – 10:40am ‘In the beginning was the word’ – The importance of language in Internet Marketing
Mike Fleming
10:40 – 11:30am
Getting Results from Internet Marketing – Strategies that deliver a difference to your bottom line
Richard Clement
11:30 – 11:50am T&C
11:50 – 12:05pm The success story of www.galgorm.com – How to make a website ‘work’
Yvonne Moore
12:05 – 12:40pm How Internet Marketing helped me create a £3m online business in Northern Ireland
Stuart Armstrong
12:40 – 1:00pm Q&A
1:00 – 2.00pm Lunch
2:00 – 2:45pm How other UK companies are using Social Media for business success
Jaime Steele
2:45 – 3:45pm How my book became a Top 10 Amazon bestseller using Social Media and online PR
John Richardson
3:45 – 4:15pm Q&A
TO REGISTER:
Register online or email details of booking to: internetmarketing@piercecommunications.co.uk
Alternatively feel free to call us on 028 9037 2549.
