With Christmas looming – and with the opportunity to profit from an increasingly large proportion of festive sales – there has never been a better time to hone your web marketing strategy. In this article we’ll look at 4 simple ways you can make the most of the Christmas rush.

Sophisticated Web Marketing Methods for the Christmas Season
Ideally, your Christmas marketing activities are a continuation of the best online business practices you should already have in place – just with a little tweaking.

1. Keyword Blogging
The use of keywords or phrases forms part of everyday blogging best practice for the budding internet marketer. Digging a little deeper, however, can often yield surprising results. ‘Long-tail’ keywords (three or four word phrases which are very specific to your product) are a great way to widen the net a little, particularly involving universal themes such as Christmas.

Producing content that promotes your product or service in conjunction with generic Christmas terms such as:

• Christmas
• Christmas presents
• Present ideas
• Christmas gifts etc…

…is a simple but effective tool for boosting your website rankings in niche areas. Don’t forget to include a ‘call to action’ and link back to the relevant promotions/content on your site.

2. Focussed Landing Pages

Landing pages are a great way of experimenting with new strategies/layouts or simply to promote specific products in a targeted manner. Consider using time-sensitive, seasonal offers to give your readers an incentive to purchase a product or sign up to your newsletter:

• “15% off until x”
• “Free gift when spending £50 or more before x”
• “Sign up now to receive x” etc.

The key here is to include a time-sensitive offer that provides an incentive to take action.

3. Marketing Emails
Much like a mini landing page, targeted email messages can be a useful tool for promoting specific products and presenting exclusive offers to existing customers. Consider sending a pre-emptive mail-out, reminding existing customers on your database that Christmas is fast approaching.

People love nothing more than to feel organised – particularly at such a hectic time of year – so appeal to this basic human need in conjunction with a limited-time reward for that killer one-two combination.

4. Social Media & Keywords
Once you have a grasp on your basic keywords and search terms, this information can be used to broaden your seasonal marketing strategy. Take Twitter for example, which includes a facility to search and track certain words and phrases.

This is mainly achieved through the use of hashtags, Twitter’s version of popular tags used in posts. By monitoring the use of certain hashtags, internet marketers can ‘collect’ related Tweets and their associated authors. This information can then be used to target tweeters in an appropriate manner, for example by providing a link to your promotional landing page.

However you choose to promote your business this Christmas, being genuine and sharing some good will will ensure you are remembered for a long time.

So why is LinkedIn so popular? What’s it all about? Well, for one thing it’s free and relatively simple to set up a profile. Of course in this world ‘free’ doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘quality’, so just how has LinkedIn been able to break the mould? In this two-part article we’ll try and find the answer to these questions and more.

What’s It All About?
LinkedIn was established in 2003, principally as a social networking site for the global business community. Since then, the site has grown to encompass a user base of 75 million members spanning some 200 countries and is available in the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

The site basically allows users to build their own business profile, whilst expanding a network of trusted business contacts (or ‘connections’ as they are known). Of course, in turn each of those contacts has their own pool of contacts and so the network expands exponentially. Figures indicate that a new member joins approximately each second, so it’s not difficult to see the far reaching potential of the LinkedIn community.

Connections can then be used in various ways, but principally to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by a connection from within one’s own network. Of course this also extends to second and third-party connections (friend of a friend, friend of a friend of a friend and so on!). It’s basically one giant, global 24hr networking event.

LinkedIn or Facebook?
How does LinkedIn compare with other social media platforms such as Facebook? The first and most obvious difference between LinkedIn and Facebook (which we’ll use here to illustrate the point) is their principal purpose – LinkedIn has been designed with business and professional interaction in mind, whilst Facebook is aimed at social, light-hearted fun. Of course as the social media marketing phenomenon has gathered momentum, the lines have inevitably become a little blurred.

Over the last few years both Facebook and its users have demonstrated a remarkable amount of adaptability and innovation when it comes to business and marketing – principally through the ability to create a profile (or page) for your business, promote and then market it through a variety of channels. Other users have the option of joining the page by becoming ‘fans’, and administrators then have free reign to update content and posts as desired. Updated content is automatically fed through to fan pages via the content feed.

It’s a tremendously dynamic marketing and networking tool. By comparison LinkedIn has remained relatively static. This said, however, when making a comparison one has to bear in mind the intended audience. Facebook business is ideally suited to small, dynamic SME’s who wish to get their name out there – however LinkedIn caters far better to the more established professional wishing to interact purely on a professional basis.

What Does The Future Hold?
At this stage, integration between the two platforms seems unlikely. It is highly doubtful Facebook will ever present a viable threat to LinkedIn – a limit of 4000 ‘connections’ ultimately prevents it from being a suitable business networking solution for serious networkers and professionals. And of course the same applies in reverse. Indeed many users currently have opted for a profile on each platform, and for very different purposes. Ultimately it seems that it is this inherent difference that will prevent their paths from crossing.

However, with the introduction of social media being added to the mix, the landscape has inevitably shifted once more. Whilst some may prefer to stick to more ‘traditional’ methods, as any good digital marketer will tell you, one must adapt to succeed.

In part two of this two-part article, we’ll take a look at some simple techniques for building inbound links using social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

6. White It Down
White papers are quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ currency for marketers hungry for credible source/reference material. A well-written, authoritative white paper is worth its weight in gold, and will quickly gain popularity within your network and beyond as others link to the material. It’s pretty much the perfect marketing tool in that authors gain credibility and publicity in one hit – and an essential tool for any serious internet marketer.

7. Help Your Fellow Man (or Woman)
In much the same way as a white paper will lend the author credibility and gain publicity – informative blog posts are a great way of building links within the online community. Internet marketing is founded on the concept of an ‘Econsultancy’ – and marketers must be prepared to give in order to receive. If executed efficiently, allowing others to benefit from your own experience is the gift that just keeps giving.

8. Be The Life Of The Party
It’s not all work, work, work. Punctuating more serious content with witty, irreverent material is a great way of maintaining interest in your brand. Even better – try and combine the two (www.private-eye.co.uk would be a great example here) in a knockout combination. Folk love nothing more than to show friends how ‘in-touch’ they are by sharing a clever joke.

9. It’s All in The Title
As with the press release, formulating an attention-grabbing headline represents half the battle. We’re not just talking about people here, but search engines. A keyword-rich, bold headline is far more likely to be picked up by those friendly little search engine bots.

10. And Now For Something a Little Different…
Don’t be afraid to try something new. No one ever began a new trend without swimming against the tide. Okay, so maybe starting an internet marketing revolution may sound like a lofty ambition, but as they say – you never know unless you try. At worst it will set you aside from the crowd. When you sit down to write that next blog post – consider doing something a little different.

However, with the introduction of social media being added to the mix, the landscape has inevitably shifted once more. Whilst some may prefer to stick to more ‘traditional’ methods, as any good digital marketer will tell you, one must adapt to succeed.

In this two part article we’ll take a look at some simple techniques for building inbound links using social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

Social Media – Are You In?
For those marketers willing to embrace the social media phenomenon, the rewards can be great. The opportunity to build links exists virtually without limitation, but things work a little differently here.

Take for example this article – if it was re-tweeted 100 times by readers, the effects would be limited by the fact that all links would extend from a single domain (twitter.com). If, however 100 readers each linked to the article from their individual blogs, the effects would be that much more powerful.

Ideally, Twitter, Facebook and other popular social networking sites are used as a portal through which information is collected and distributed in a viral manner. The key to achieving this type of organic growth lies in the author’s ability to know their audience and write content specifically for them.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at some handy tips for capturing the hearts and minds of the content hungry….

1. If It Moves – List It
   Quick snippets of easily digestible information, people just can’t get enough of lists. Informative, obscure, amusing or a bit of everything – lists are great for serving readily linkable content on a plate.
2. Open It Up To The Floor…
   Spark a debate on a hotly debated subject because, after all, people love nothing more than to add their own opinion. This approach often creates a snowball effect which is ideal for building external links.
3. …And Add a Dash of Controversy
   Don’t shy away from using a little contrary opinion to ruffle a few feathers and encourage a response.
4. A Little Competition
   If you have the means and a great idea, launching a competition is a fantastic way of spreading brand awareness. Make it worthwhile, quirky and fun – then watch the applicants and links roll in.
5. Be the First Off the Line
   People love nothing more than getting the inside scoop on the latest hot bit of gossip or scandal – and then sharing it with their friends. Spending a little time seeking out some juicy hot-off-the-press nuggets will pay dividends.

Keep an eye out next month for Part Two and more helpful hints on getting the most from your content.

10 years ago SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) was basic and simple, competition was limited. Success with PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns (on Yahoo then on Google) was simple. Link Building (to improve Google page rank) was less selective.

Latest developments in online Marketing now mean that Internet Marketing is far more complex and even in-house teams can now benefit from the advice an Internet Consultantcan give: For example an Internet Marketing Strategy and  integrated campaign will include all of the following elements:

E-mail Marketing
Landing Page Development
Conversion Analysis
Website & Web Page Optimisation
Social Media Marketing
Pay Per Click Marketing

and more..

Indeed any of these elements can be broken down into discreet strategies by the consultant, for example Social Media may cover such elements as:

♦Social Media Monitoring
♦Social Media Advertising activities such as: Facebook Advertising; MySpace   Advertising; Linked In etc
♦Social Media Portal Personalisation on site such as:

•FaceBook
•Linked In
•MySpace
•YouTube

♦Profiles and entries on Propeller & Squidoo
♦Questions and Answer Sites
♦Wiki Entries
♦Blogging
♦Article Writing
♦PR & PR Distribution
♦Mobile & FaceBook Applications
♦and of course Twitter!

It is therefore vital that in selecting a consultant that you know that they have the tools to analyse your website with such tools like the WSI Webscan , and that they have the expertise to advise and execute as required, whether it is overarching strategy or detailed execution of the strategy.

Clients must no longer be satisfied with the one trick ponies who do a bit of PPC or a bit of SEO. Internet Consultancy is now a fully integrated marketing science, but this space is developing so quickly University Courses are out of date before their intake has started.

So some pointers in choosing a consultant might include:

♦The pedigree of their clients
♦The pedigree of their testimonials
♦Do they practice what they preach?
♦What tools do they use?
♦Can they explain each element of the strategy clearly and non technically?
♦All elements of any campaign should stack up. Does what they say make sense?
♦If you feel uncomfortable or it seems too god to be true, follow your instincts.
♦Look at a selection of their campaigns is it one size fits all? It shouldn’t be, each clients’ campaign should be unique.

Anyone looking to expand their business should look online, identify a great Internet Consultant who can help and guide them through the maze of Jargon, and will deliver a an Internet marketing strategy to match their budget and ambitions and that they will be accountable for.

After all Internet Marketing when done properly is the best value for money investment, but it is down to clients to make sure that they get value from their Internet Consultants by holding them to account on the results, nearly every aspect of Internet marketing is provable, and the deliverables should be quite easily demonstrable.

Make sure you have a documented, probable Internet Marketing Strategy developed for your business by your chosen Internet Marketing Consultant

WSI based in Huddersfield, Yorkshire operates nationally throughout the UK, even though our primary client base is concentrated into Leeds & West Yorkshire, Sheffield & South Yorkshire, Manchester, Cheshire & Lancashire. We aim to provide real value for money marketing to large multinationals and SMEs who believe that their future success and survival  is online. WSI is an Internet Marketing Consultancy providing all leading edge Internet Services.