A great website that few people will see will not get the marketing results you desire, this is much more important now since the explosion of online marketing. The internet is now the dominant platform for online marketing yet too many businesses are failing to fully capture the potential from online marketing. Why is this you may ask? Simple, the answer is lack of knowledge of available tools and a fear of spending money without measuring the ROI.

The use of Google Analytics has made it easier to measure online performance. With enhancements to its AdWords platform, it is now common to hear the terms PPC, pay per click and sponsored links. The use of Analytics has made it easier to capture data about how people are using your website.

Configuring Analytics to achieve full accountability

Online marketing involves making decisions, to make this easier you need to have the right data at hand. Having full accountability of where traffic is coming from is necessary. This can be done through the web analytics tool that you are using.  Analytics will tell you how customers are shopping and what they are buying. This is valuable data to help us build custom metrics that capture exactly what we want to see and how we want to see it. Goals can be set to drive traffic to your website.

Traffic generation using PPC

Over the next few years online ad spending is set to grow by 16% and is an area which as a business you need to be involved in. However, Id your PPC campaign is poorly constructed and managed it is likely to fail. Many people will click on the PPC ad but fail to follow through and convert to a customer if the advert displayed and the search term are not relevant to the landing page. It is not realistic for all visitors to convert to customers but a certain number a required to convert for the investment in PPC to pay off.

Using AdWords to achieve high relevance and higher conversion rates

To achieve a successful PPC campaign, many methods and strategies can be adopted.  The main factor has to be relevance – the customers’ desire and the business offering. Relevance is what it takes to obtain a high level of conversion.  Different landing pages achieve different results when setting up PPC campaigns.

Optimising for local searches

Any local business should consider getting optimised for a local map listing as this is essential if your business is relevant to the customer experience. Not all businesses require to be optimised for the customer, for example amazon.com does not require optimisation for local search as the transaction takes place online. If a customer has to come to a physical address for goods e.g. local DIY store or pizza place then it is imperative the business has optimised presence on local map listings.

The right data combined with PPC marketing is winning strategy.

But with Christmas, Marketing for your business the planning should start now!

Where to start?

Last year’s marketing

What did you do last year?

What worked best?

Did you have offers on, did you set up tracking and conversions so that you can analysis what was and wasn’t effective?

Your sales teams and competitors

What did you competitors do last year, do you know how effective it was?  Do you think you could improve on their results and could you have done it better? Speak with your sales teams and get their feedback on results from last year.

Your Sales/Accounts

Run reports on financial returns generated for key products and offers.

Based on all your findings, you can then start your outline plan, which will include:

What you want to offer in your pre-Christmas

How you will offer it

And who you offer it to

The Christmas list

This is the busiest time of the year for in boxes – your e-mail needs to have  relevant content.

Collecting required data

Its never too late to collect the information you need for targeting your campaigns. Why not run a  customer survey or a competition now, and build-in an element of data collection.

Send a Christmas e-cards

Christmas e-card allows you to build customer loyalty and brand awareness. These are not an advertisement or promotion.  But it may make your customers smile!  We often build in something entertaining and iterative.

Viral and social

Make sure your message and offers, be it in your website or e-mail campaigns, can be shared on social networks so that they can send it to friends.

And Finally Key Christmas Marketing Dates

12 December: (Second Monday in December) – Traditionally, the largest online shopping day of the year.

22 December: Last chance email offering next day delivery

23 December: Too late for any online ordering and delivery, but not too late to direct customers to your business.

26 December: (Boxing Day) – Announce your best offers and sellers. Today is a heavy traffic shopping day.

Click here to reserve your spot now! | Thursday, October 6, 2011 @ 1:00PM EDT

We’re pleased to invite you to a special webinar geared to unraveling the phenomenon of Facebook. Reserve your spot now!

Since its inception, Facebook has established itself as an essential communication tools for students, professionals and – most recently – for businesses.  As a social media tool it has effectively ingrained itself into our culture and ensuring your business’ marketing team is equipped with the fundamentals of leveraging Facebook is a strategy you can’t afford to ignore.

This webinar will cover how-to’s for monetizing Facebook to grow your business. REGISTER NOW! Some of our other objectives on the webinar’s agenda include:

• 7 Proven steps for monetizing your company’s Facebook page
• How to integrate Facebook into your customer nurturing strategy
• Techniques for populating your Facebook page with valuable content
• How-to’s for using Facebook to generate leads and deliver ROI
• …and much more useful Facebook tips and tools!

We hope you can join in for this special webinar. Here are the registration details:

TOPIC: “The Facebook Effect: 7 Ways to Monetize Facebook for Your Business”

DATE: Thursday, October 6, 2011

TIME: 1:00PM EDT *Please check your local time zone!*

REGISTER: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/765308504

At WSI Yorkshire we like to think we approach Marketing  from a different angle.  Having worked as  the Managing Director of a leading on-line photo library company I’ve sat on the other side of the desk and had meetings with Marketing Companies.  I know how important seeing a return on Marketing is for a company.

As a Full Service Digital Agency, we offer a range of Marketing Options.   We will meet to discuss the correct blend of marketing strategies at any particular time to get the best Return On Investment from your marketing budget.

Some of these strategies are:

Campaign Set Up

•    Baseline current performance for future benchmark back to base.
•    Install Analytics and Goal Paths  to measure any campaigns or improvements

Pay Per Click

•    Tactical Use of PPC (Pay Per Click)
•    Last minute running of PPC campaigns close to  key buying periods
•    Keyword & Advert Testing to establish profitable keywords

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

•    An Initial SEO Tidy up to correct worst issues and get quick wins
•    Optimisation of most important Web Pages such as the Home page and Key Category Pages, especially if these pages are very image based and require much more optimised text content

•    If budget allows, the creation of optimised pages for most desired keywords
•    Monitor best PPC  keywords and develop SEO strategies to increase traffic on these keywords
•    Part of the efforts with SEO will be focussed on increasing the Google Page Rank, to increase search positions across the whole of the website.

Social Media

Most Industries now take advantage of Social Media:
•    To improve branding
•    To increase SEO on existing  web properties (higher positions and found on more keywords)
•    To increase conversion rates (increases of 300-400% can be attained).

Key campaign features:
•    Creation of a Blog as part of the Social Media Platform
•    Creation of Twitter, Facebook and Linked in
•    Integrate the Blog into other Social Media Properties
•    Content Planning for the seasons
•    Tactical Display Advertising on Linked in and Facebook by demographic
•    Weekly Blogging & optimisation
•    Tweet offers

Conversion Analysis & Architecture

Small changes to pages can make large difference in conversion rates, a typical conversion rate is around 1%, Social Media and conversion testing can dramatically increase this.
•    Utilisation of analytics
•    Deployment of best practice
•    Testing on worst converting pages or on high drop-out zones in the website and checkout

E-mail Marketing

•    Having developed visitors and buyers, a key target should be to capture and develop a subscribed database that can be email marketed to.

Key Activities
•    Database the demographic and buying habits
•    Design offers and campaigns to co-ordinate with the seasons and website offers
•    Analysis of interests

Consultancy and Reporting

As a matter of course we will report back to you every month with the results of the campaign.

After an initial 3 months we will visit you to discuss and review results and progress.

After that, should you wish, we are happy to develop a top level consultancy arrangement to submit key reports on performance, competitors or search volumes to you or your board, attending key marketing or board meetings.

Training & Consultancy

Business relationships change over time, if you wish to build resource into your own business we are happy to train staff on key aspects of our services such as:
•    Social Media Policy
•    Social Media Strategy & Implementation
•    E-mail Marketing
•    Blogging

WSI Approach Budget Limited

Inevitably everyone is budget limited.  As a full service digital agency we are best placed to create the best plans to suit your budget and to evolve the plans according to conditions and results.

We will work with you to ensure that we deliver the best blend of marketing strategies to deliver the maximum result for you.  This will be under constant review and measured against your expectations.

It is surprising however, how many businesses feature nothing more than a catalogue and telephone number or email address, offering the user little or no incentive to make a purchase and weakening their brand in the process. If you’re considering your first foray into the world of internet retailing or perhaps need to revise your strategy, then this article has been created to provide some useful pointers to getting it right.

Make It Secure

The surge in popularity of online shopping has, inevitably, seen an exponential rise in instances on online fraud. Of paramount importance to any savvy shopper is security. Provide as many assurances as you can, including a secure payment facility.

Comply With Consumer Rights

Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 means you must provide customers with your full company name and address prior to any purchase. Any purchase should be followed by a confirmation email and obligatory cool-off period.

Pay Attention To User Experience

Web usability is everything when it comes to online shopping. Take some time out to navigate the user experience checking for ease of use, broken links and so on. Remember, if you don’t bother to get it right for the customer, why should the customer bother with you?

Coordinate Online With Offline

If you have a corresponding offline business (such as a shop, etc.) – ensure the two integrate seamlessly. Most importantly, make sure your prices correspond and that stock levels are consistent and up-to-date. If you are offering an online only promotion, make sure the terms are clearly visible so that customers do not expect to find it in store.

Add a Personal Touch

It may sound obvious, but offering a telephone number and email address will go a long way towards improving the customer experience – even on the web, good customer service remains the cornerstone by which all businesses are judged. Answer queries promptly and professionally. Consider using more recent innovations such as live chat/ help for that added personal touch.

Show Some Personality

Installing an online blog and engaging customers over social media platforms is a great way to correspond with customers on a more personable level. Twitter for example can be used as a very effective customer service tool, or an opportunity to publish answers to frequently asked questions.

However you choose to approach online retail, taking some time out to formulate a online marketing strategy is essential.

This shouldn’t imply however, that more traditional internet marketing techniques such as email and search marketing should fall by the way and be excluded as a means of attracting and retaining customers. With this in mind, if you are looking for ways to help make 2011 an outstanding year, now is an excellent time to review your online sales and marketing plan.

Does Your 2011 Marketing Plan Fit The Bill?

Growing a profitable business without a solid internet marketing plan is similar to building a house without using a blueprint. Your house may end up with some great features, but it is almost guaranteed that nothing will fit together properly. Without a plan, the likelihood is you’ll spend two or three times your budget to prevent it from collapsing around you.

To help you get it right first time, here are five steps to creating an effective online marketing plan:

1. Define your Marketing Goals

What are you trying to achieve with your web presence? Increased brand awareness, market share, lead generation, direct sales and establishing your company as a leader in its field are just a few of the possible objectives that your online strategy can include.

2. Determine How to Measure Your Success

Unless you can measure your online achievements, you won’t be able to determine how well you are doing or evaluate the impact of any changes.

3. Create a Strategy to Achieve Your Goals

Generate a list of ideas that will help you achieve the goals you have defined in step one. Offering a free e-book for signing up for the newsletter, increasing social media presence, changing your navigation to make your site easier to use, and hiring a copywriter to supply a constant flow of content are just a few ideas for achieving common website goals.

4. Determine the Resources You Need

Once you have an idea of the steps you want to take to achieve your online goals, you can identify the best routes to take to engage your target audience. Considerations may include which social media platforms to use, what format to publish your content, which keywords you should be targeting or how to further personalise your email marketing messages.

5. Track Your Results

Keep a careful record of which strategies work and which bear no fruit. This will enable you to adapt your online marketing plan accordingly in order to make the most of your budget.

By breaking your website’s performance down into measurable goals, you will be able to quantitatively assess the results of any changes and determine which marketing campaigns are working best for you.