Changes in Social Media Marketing for Customers & Businesses?

In recent white papers on Social Media, many professionals are predicting a shift in the way customers & businesses use social media tools. There are several factors that will drive this predicted trend. The number of potential customers involved in social media will continue to grow with additional advances in technology and easier access to these technologies. In today’s difficult economic environment, it is a challenge to find and interact with customers. Thus, social media will become an increasing priority in the marketing mix as well as a cost effective channel for marketers. In addition, social media will gain acceptance across all demographic and socioeconomic groups.

As marketers, we will continue to be challenged to use social media by clients or management. We must be careful to develop guidelines around these practices and to ensure that we are implementing social media for the “right reasons,” not just because the competition is doing it! If we do not practice using social media properly, the customers will no longer see social media as their space but as a way for businesses to interrupt their conversation.

Email Marketing Metrics Report

According to the “Email Marketing Metrics Report” by MailerMailer, 12.5% of unique marketing emails were opened in the second half of 2009. The figured shown a .7% decline in comparison to the first half of 2009, then the open rate was 13.2%. The report shows that email open and click through rates vary by industry & the size of the list.

The report stated that for large email lists, the religious and spiritual organizations had the highest open rates. The report suggested that smaller lists may be better target email communications with more relevant content.

We would agree that smaller lists typically perform better in email blasts and campaigns. In general, the lists are developed through local networking, events, industry events or friends. The content of the emails is relevant to the local market or is usually measured with off-line and online sales/leads. This report demonstrates the importance of targeted, relevant, and measurable email marketing practices.

Let us know how email marketing is impacting your bottom-line & trending for your industry.

Email Marketing with Value Added Features

It seems like every organization under the Sun is using email marketing. The major question is “are they doing it effectively & efficiently? This is not just in regards to sending targeted promotions but developing, maintaining, and communicating on an ongoing basis.

We think that one of the biggest challenges is efficiency. Many businesses or marketers have a list and an email template, but are they organizing their websites, online forms, and other touch points to gather or verify the email list? In our experience, we do not see a collective effort to nurture or verify leads. Too many of the processes are manual and require numerous hours of work and manpower. It’s time to start integrating databases, email software, and verifying at every possible touch point.

The most effective way to do this is by using email/event triggers and online forms that connect your website with your email marketing tool. There are numerous email service providers in the marketplace that provide this feature. Be sure that when you are comparing email service providers that they offer email/event based triggers, online forms, and are connected to email marketing database or email list.

Don’t forget to Test!

Google Analytics

Google Analytics provides businesses & marketers of all skill levels with the necessary information to track, measure, record, and react to various marketing environments. Google Analytics also offers training videos to help all users better understand how Google Analytics operates. There is even a Google Analytics IQ test that users can take after viewing the free training videos. There are a number of “Seminars for Success” that Google offers to help users improve their skills. Check out www.google.com/analytics for the tools, tips, education, support and the latest information on web analytics trends.

Article Submissions: Valuable for SEO or Not?

The general purpose of an article submission is to increase the links to your website(s). If utilized effectively, article submission can help you increase the number of links; however, it is not the most effective method. Many article submission sites have limitations with regards to the type of information that can be displayed within an article. Article Submission can help to establish you or your organization as an industry expert. If you provide an article on a specific topic, there is a good chance that someone interested in that industry will come across it on the web and use it. Remember that relevant content is key when on the web. To maintain this relevance, be sure to include your username, keywords, content, your address, company name, phone number, and contact person for each and every article submission.

A/B Testing: Small Business Competitive Advantage?

We are aware of numerous companies that do not utilize A/B or Split testing as a marketing tactic. In some cases, smaller local businesses can capitalize on this opportunity. A/B testing, or split testing, is a method of testing advertising, in which a baseline control sample is compared to a variety of single-variable test samples in order to improve response rates. This testing method is often used to measure which single variable is most effective in increasing response rates or conversion rates. Many large scale corporations do not allocate significant resources to A/B testing within smaller local markets. By using A/B testing, local businesses are able to create a competitive advantage by testing and measuring online marketing tactics, such as banner ad placement, email campaigns, and pay-per-click campaigns. Simply running an A/B testing is not enough; the marketer should have a solid understanding of statistical analysis to determine the correct sample size, confidence level, and confidence interval. Check out www.sempo.org or www.webanalyticsassociation.com for additional details on A/B testing methods.

Next Generation of Web Analytics & Conversion Tracking

Within organizations, many of the departments work in silos to achieve a business goal and one department is credited with the success or failure. Unfortunately this silo mentality leaks over into the marketing channel distribution or communication that all Internet marketing tactics are separate interactions with prospects or customers. Generally, the last tactics prior to a purchase or lead is often associated with a conversion with no value associated with any other tactic to the prospects or customers. In reality, all the prospects or customers see is “ABC Company” marketing communications (i.e. email, banner ads, PPC, etc.). All Internet marketing tactics to prospects and customers have value and a cost. If you value your time and money, you should be measuring your interactions/marketing channel communications in a holistic fashion. This will lead to a collective understanding of your Internet marketing efforts and effective way to evaluate your online marketing campaign performance across multiple channels (Attribution Model).