Digital Marketing Consultant

by BRADLEY JOHNSON  •  APRIL 30, 2012 from aDAGE.COM

You need more than 10 digits to count digital.

Last year, U.S. agencies generated 30.3% of revenue, or $10.1 billion, from digital, compared with 28.0% in 2010, according to Ad Age DataCenter.

Digital revenue at agencies surged 16.4% in 2011, with growth across agency disciplines.

But agencies of all types are dialing up digital. The shift is most evident in customer-relationship management and direct marketing, where agencies pulled in an estimated $2.8 billion in U.S. digital revenue.

For the first time, digital services last year accounted for more than half of U.S. revenue at CRM/direct-marketing agencies.

The rest of the digital cache -- $1.4 billion -- was spread across other agency disciplines.

At Cramer-Krasselt, a major independent ad agency, 39% of revenue was generated from digital. At Huntsworth Health, a health-care agency network, digital accounted for 30%. Edelman, the nation's biggest public-relations agency network, drew 14% of revenue from digital -- you can't do PR without understanding social media.

Ad Age DataCenter's 30.3% digital tally came from a bottoms-up analysis based on Agency Report data compiled for nearly 1,000 agencies, agency networks and agency companies.

The figures track with the global digital claims of two agency giants. Publicis Groupe said digital accounted for 30.6% of 2011 worldwide revenue, up from 28.0% in 2010. WPP reported direct, digital and interactive revenue equal to 29.7% of revenue last year, vs. 28.9% the year before.

Omnicom Group, the second-largest agency company, has largely stayed on the sidelines while its rivals pull out the checkbook for big digital acquisitions. Omnicom does not release a digital percentage, but it makes the case that digital is integrated throughout its ad and media agencies.

Omnicom President-CEO John Wren told stock analysts in February: "We believe that 2011 was the year in which the historical distinction between so-called traditional and digital media disappeared, as we had always said it would. ... Everything we do has a digital component to it."

In a sign of the times, Omnicom last year changed the name of its biggest operating segment from "traditional media advertising" to simply "advertising."

Say this three times: Will there be a repeat or a retreat on the retweet?  No prize, however.

Some uses of Twitter though are far from subtle. The sponsored placements in trending topics and at the top of timelines are meant to be unobtrusive but they’re always a bit pushy. They get eyeballs, might win clicks and may deliver sales but viewers know they are seeing advertising.

This year, Wendy’s, the fast food chain, took two approaches to marketing on Twitter: one subtle and the other bold.

The subtle campaign, which was run by ad agency the Kaplan Thaler Group, just came to an end. Using an account called @GirlBehindSix, the company ran a Twitter-based game show with prizes that began with $1,000 to six followers who retweeted the rules, then ran through mopeds, sleeping bags, turntables and host of other expensive goodies. The aim was to raise awareness of a new burger that would take sixth place on the chain’s menu.

Within about a month, the timeline had picked up 33,000 followers. In mid-November, it revealed its true identity and has since been trying to shift those followers over to Wendy’s timeline by promising more prizes over in that timeline.

I want you to keep reading, so I am inserting this picture of Wendy herself to keep you interested:

But I digress...

As that stealth campaign was coming to an end, Twitter announced that the chain had won the Golden Tweet Award for the most retweeted post. The tweet? “RT for a good cause. Each retweet sends 50¢ to help kids in foster care. #TreatItFwd”

That was a pretty blatant piece of advertising. It was essentially a bribe offered to Twitter’s community to spread the name of the company across the site. The original tweet was sent on June 15^th, and although Wendy’s has not said how many retweets it received, the campaign has been reported as raising $50,000 for charity which would translate into 100,000 posts.

So that is two different campaigns: one complex and subtle, the other simple and direct. Both had an impact and both worked… at least as far as winning followers and views are concerned.

The real question, of course, is whether those views translated into sales and whether those sales more than made up for the cost of the campaign. $50,000 is not a small sum but not all of those who saw it would have retweeted the post, making the cost per viewer a fraction of 50 cents each. If a typical customer spends $10 in Wendy’s then the company would need that campaign to produce 5,000 extra sales — 5 percent of the 100,000 people who retweeted or perhaps half a percent of all the people who saw Wendy’s name in other people’s timelines and didn’t retweet. That sounds feasible, and it doesn’t include the halo (and the tax deduction) that the company gains from donating money to charity.

The game show campaign may have cost a similar amount in prizes alone. Again, we don’t have figures that show whether it paid its way but not all of @GirlBehindSix’s followers have moved to Wendy’s timeline and some were no doubt put off by the campaign’s stealthy approach.

The campaign was clever and complex — as you would expect from an ad agency — but whether it was more effective than simply bribing Twitter followers with a charitable donation is questionable.

But, then again, I only eat their chili, so what do I know?

A new report (shown above) by email marketing firm Constant Contact and researchers Chadwick Martin Bailey has thrown up a bunch of interesting statistics about Twitter and the relationship between brands and customers on the site. Many of those figures, taken from a survey of 1,491 US-based consumers aged over 18, are reason to put a smile on any marketer’s face.

In particular:

• 60% of people are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after following it.
• 50% of people are more likely to buy from a brand after following it.
• 75% of people who follow brands have never un-followed one.

For businesses that already have long lists of Twitter followers, that’s great news. It means that those lists are rich with both evangelists and customers, and they’re stable — a valuable asset indeed.

But here’s what really stands out from the survey. When it came to the top five reasons that people chose to follow a brand on a site, the breakdown was:

• 64% — “I am a customer of the company”
• 61% — “To be the first to know information about the brand”
• 48% — “To receive discounts and promotions”
• 36% — “To gain access to exclusive content”
• 28% — “To receive content/information to re-tweet and share with others”

Just under half of brand followers then were looking for discounts while the top two reasons had nothing to do with anything as solid as saving money on their next purchase. Instead, the biggest factors driving people to follow a brand on Twitter — with all that says about the prospect’s willingness to provide recommendations, purchase and stay loyal — are a more amorphous sense of belonging.

People follow brands on Twitter because they associate themselves with the company and want to feel that they have a special relationship with it. It’s the same reason that Apple fanboys read sites like MacRumors and CultofMac, even though much of the information the sites contain is wrong and the accurate details filter into the mainstream press eventually anyway. They read because they’re already fanboys and keeping tabs on Apple’s rumors is what fanboys do.

Companies that don’t have Apple’s cult appeal will need to work a little harder. If people are following brand streams because they already feel a sense of loyalty, the hard work is being done before they reach the social media site. It’s being done through image, through the company’s story, through all of the branding techniques that marketers have used for years to build loyalty among customers.

It’s a valuable lesson to remember: social media sites like Twitter are invaluable tools for measuring brand loyalty, harnessing brand loyalty, generating referrals, sparking purchases and keeping customers loyal. But they’re not complete replacements for the traditional marketing methods that create that loyalty in the first place.

If we go back to the statistics above about the top five reasons that people chose to follow a brand on a site, I would suggest that the top two statistics are because of the following three. In other words, use Twitter to offer the discounts/special offers and then you will gain more of those who like to be fans.

Scott Klososky is a very adept consultant for getting businesses to adapt present and future technology, including the need for digital marketing.  He produces a regular enlightened newsletter called “Technology Story.”  In his latest newsletter he advises businesses (of some size) to create a technology adoption process with the following five steps:

1. Appoint or hire a specialist to sniff out the company needs.
2. The specialist creates a list of technology needs.
3. The specialist creates a presentation for each of his/her finds.
4. The specialist presents them to a technology team, who has the power to adopt the technology.
5. The specialist controls the adoptions of the technology in each case to rate success rate.

Alas, there is a fly in the ointment.

Having worked in some large multinationals (and who thought they were pretty advanced in their technology), I find the flaw in the process above to be in the top management of corporations.  Too many times (most times?) the very top management is made up of rather change-resistant, risk-adverse types of people who like to put on a show of progress, but have little understanding (and considerable fake interest).

So these people can appoint all the technology people they want, but the result is so often one or both of two things:

1.  Top Management appoints someone they like, rather than someone that is capable.  Trying to appoint someone who is capable requires an understanding of the requirements for judging technology.  An example I ran into in one technologically advanced company was the hiring of programmers who were completely incompetent, but who spoke well for themselves.  The top management had hired a manager for the team who was a total bluff and who again hired incompetence.
2. Top Management hires someone competent, but having little or no understanding of the competent person’s presentation of needs, judge everything on their (the top management) own personal risk involved…usually killing the project.  You may think this is not so common, but it is all too widespread. 

A Few Additional Stats You Will Want to Know about Mobile Marketing

Google’s research says…

• One in seven searches on Google are performed on a mobile device.
  
• 59% of smart-phone users report using the mobile Internet while waiting in line.
  
• 48% of smart-phone users report using the mobile Internet while eating.
• 44% of smart-phone users report using the mobile Internet while shopping

Additionally, you need to realize according to Google…

Local results are more likely in mobile search.

Image search optimization and video SEO often have a low priority in enterprise SEO, but will play a crucial role in Mobile search.

So how does this influence your business mobile marketing?  We will get into more detail tomorrow.  

But what is important to stress is that low competition in Mobile marketing means big opportunities for your business.

Digital Marketing also called Internet Marketing has the purpose to promote your products and services to influence your online customers.  Involving Digital Marketing strategies in your business strategies is not enough; to be successful, having smart marketing is even more important.  Smart marketing is not just about ranking; it’s about phone calls, mailings, socializing, interacting, and connecting etc.  In short, you must have traffic. 

To be even more specific, it is about the right type of traffic.  Of course, Digital Marketing can provide all such advantages through its digital tools - SEO, Google AdWords, Social Media, email marketing to name a few.  Hence, it is true that Digital Marketing can be smart marketing.

Digital Marketing has emerged from the Internet and has had a very profound impact on all businesses.  As you have millions of users who are dependent on the Internet, Digital Marketing is the way to get to such a vast crowd without spending an arm and a leg.  Digital Marketing focuses on customer relationships, shopping benefits, products, and service information, and almost anything that you can relate to your business.  Digital Marketing if made a serious part of your business will lead your business to new levels by generating awareness of your products. 

Digital Marketing is a never ending chain.  This means that if you are able to positively influence a single customer, he will promote your business to another and the chain goes on.  So, are you ready to make Digital Marketing part of your business plan?  Then it’s time you should know what Internet Marketing is offering:

• Encouraging thousands of people to take interest in your website
• Making people aware of your business (products and services that you offer)
• Establishing your brand image and your business reputation
• Keeping friends updated on the forums of their choice
• Capturing free traffic

Hence, to reach a wider demographic and to benefit from all the above-mentioned advantages, you must let the Internet Marketing power work for your business.  Why?

Reason 1

Digital Marketing is already successful for many businesses.  This means it is a proven strategy which goes beyond personal promotion.  More importantly, it is not just for corporate or well-structured businesses, but any size business to take advantage of its unlimited opportunities.

Reason 2

You can have Digital Marketing strategies that your customers are looking for.  This means you are providing your current and potential customers with information they need on the forums they want.  For example you can know if your website analysis shows that most of your web traffic is diverted from a Social Media network like Facebook, you can market on such forums in the future. 

Reason 3

None of your customers need to remain unattended.  This is the best thing about Digital Marketing as there are various ways to maintain your target audience and communicate with customers. 

Digital Marketing has opened horizons for marketers.  It has made it easy for businesses to include online customers as part of their target audience.  As we have stepped into the Internet world, marketing has opened doors for new fields and Digital Marketing is one of these.

Seeing its advantages, it is hard to ignore its importance.  You must be aware of some of the following Digital Marketing strategies, making sure you include most of these if not all, as your business strategies to cope with the ever increasing competition and stay ahead of the game.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Competent SEO structures your individual web pages as well as the website so that they are easily discovered, analyzed, and indexed by the various search engines.  Competent SEO knows the changes in search rules and helps your website stay at top of the various search result pages by anticipating logical algorithms such as most used keywords and other techniques.  It lets web crawlers work at the back end and doing their job in the most accurate and automated form. 

Advanced Link Building

This is another Digital Marketing strategy which involves getting your content rich with links and is also known as social bookmarking.  This requires you to know your audience in order to aware of the site they visit most frequently.  Avoid using hidden links and make sure visitors find your links useful.

Online Copywriting

This form of Digital Marketing strategy is the content of your site and your blog.  You must make sure your website’s content is not copied and is 100% authentic.  It will make your website unique which can be the reason for your improved website traffic. 

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing makes the biggest part of the Digital Marketing strategies.  It includes the entire Social Media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, and other such forums.  Hence, if you want your business to stay ahead of the competitors you will have to keep your audience interacting at such platforms.  There are professional consultants who are ready to help you if you are unaware how or don’t have time to use Social Media Marketing efficiently.  In fact, competent consultants probably will save you time and money.  

Email Marketing

This is another Digital Marketing strategy that businesses have been following.  It includes promoting your products and services by sending informational mails to a list of subscribers.  Some very advanced systems, such as WSI Digital Marketing Pro, can make sure that your email works efficiently and according to the regulations.

Google AdWords

Google AdWords is a service that is used to create and run ads to promote your business.  These ads run along with search engines and you are only required to pay when people click on these ads. 

Pay-per-click (PPC) or Paid Search Marketing is a form of online advertising where you can attract traffic to your website or landing page via ads hosted on a search engine. Google, Yahoo, MSN or any other search engine you choose to advertise with will display your PPC ad when a keyword query matches your keyword list, or when a content site displays relevant content.

How does PPC benefit your online marketing initiatives?

• Immediate Results. Your ad will be visible on the search results page as soon as your PPC campaign with a search engine goes live.
• Cost Control. As an advertiser, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, not each time it shows up. You can control your spending on each PPC campaign. This is one way to ensure that your marketing plan for different categories of your products or services achieves targeted results. Not to mention, it is an inexpensive and easy way to get search traffic.
• Geographically Targeted. You have the ability to select a particular area or region as the target market by adjusting your PPC campaign settings accordingly.
• Seasonal / Time-specific Marketing Approach. You can actually define ad scheduling; choosing to run your campaign only on the precise days and in fact during the hours you want.

If you would like a better understanding of how to do this economically, contact us.

Search engines care about page titles and so should you.  The page title should provide a clear indication of what information is on the page.  There are some basic dos and don’ts that should be used when selecting a page title.

The Do List

Descriptive

Each page of your website should have a distinct purpose.  The page title should simply describe what is included on the webpage.  The key here is to keep it simple but descriptive.

Distinction

You have probably spent a lot of time developing your webpage and your page title should be given the same consideration.  The more distinction you give to your webpage, the easier it is to provide complete but simple page titles.

Journalistic Thinking

Think of each page as a newspaper article.  Form it so that it is easy to scan by human eyes.  You will then, most likely, make it perfect for those robotic spider eyes.

The Spiders’ Search

The page title is one of three things on your website that Google uses to obtain search ranking that we will reviewed by the search engines.  The three items include:

• Page Title
• Page Description
• Page URL

The Do Not List

Don’t use repetition

Avoid using variations of the same title page on different pages of your website.  Do not be repetitive with your title pages or the key words in your title page.

Don’t use long titles

Keep your page title to less than 70 characters.  Pages that are not able to described with less than 70 characters should probably be broken down into additional pages.   Google eliminates characters above 70, making your work useless.

Your Business Name

Don’t include your business name in the beginning of the page title.  Your keywords should be the first words of the title page for the best ranking.

Summary

Careful planning for your title pages can benefit your website with excellent ranking by the search engines.  A little effort on this task can put your website in front of more prospective clients with little expense.