E-marketing adventures!

News this week back in the UK surrounds Google+ and their latest push to overtake Facebook as the most popular social networking site. They certainly have a long way to go, with my own experience I don’t know anyone that uses it! Currently there appears to be such a strong loyalty to Facebook. Users have deep roots with the social network site due to the amount of information they have stored on there in the form of photo’s and friends. So this all begs the question how are Google attempting to encourage new customers to their social network?

The basic answer is through a new marketing campaign whereby they aim to teach viewers the benefits of Google+ over its rivals. Applications such as hangout call are being championed as well as other key features. I still don’t find myself being convinced however, I’m sure the facilities may appeal to some users but Facebook and Twitter are just so well established in the minds of users that I cannot see them giving up too much market share.

Obi Felten, Google’s EMEA director of consumer marketing told marketing weekly that the new campaign is not expected to make people flock away from Facebook to Google+ but it should act to educate people on how the service can interlink with other areas such as YouTube. It would appear therefore that this war is not over. Certainly it may be the beginning with Google potentially following up their educative campaign with more commercials that encourage the use of their social network. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Brand extension is a key component of any growing company, both online and offline. This post is all about examining when you are ready to launch your new brand and whether it is beneficial to do so. Seth Godin gives his opinion in his article “The question to ask before extending your brand”. His belief revolves around the idea that for a brand extension to be successful it must bring something “New” to the market. An obvious example of a company who is successful at this process is Apple, take its launch of the Ipad. If a company simply attempts to extend its brand image simply because it can, it is far more likely to be received with lukewarm support and is unlikely to add much value to the company.

I would certainly agree with Godin in some aspects. A companies brand extension is going to be far more successful if it is able to launch a new product that is groundbreaking and desired by consumers. But what about small companies? Not all businesses can spend huge sums on R&D to find the next big thing. Therefore I would argue that it is dependent upon the size of the business as to the type of brand extension. Smaller companies will look to integrate new ideas and muscle in on new markets and in my opinion this does provide them new found value even if it is not bringing something new to the table.

To wrap up I believe that a brand extension is an important if not critical process for any business. Companies are surely on the look out for growth opportunities and this is done through adopting new strategies and new markets. It is the timing of such adoption that is imperative for the success of the business and although being able to launch new product categories such as Starbucks ice cream, most companies do not have the assets to do so.

*For more on brand extension check out Seth Godin’s blog article article; http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/03/the-essential-question-to-ask-before-extending-your-brand.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher*

So Facebook has recently announced it is going to integrate advertising into its mobile application. On the face of it, it is a very cunning move as at least half of Facebook users also access the website through their mobile devices. That’s almost 400,000,000! Not a bad market that they are able to reach.

So what does this mean for advertisers who want to be successful online? Well certainly it is a better opportunity to reach customers especially those on the move. It is a step forward for the companies that petition online advertising and those who do not may find themselves left further behind. The biggest benefit to marketers is surely the positioning aspect; being able to hit potential customers while they are on the move. Imagine a consumer checking in at a location and then the adverts being tailored towards them of businesses that are located nearby their current location. This certainly highlights what a great advertising tool Facebook mobile may be.

Of course the pitfalls of this type of advertising cannot be overlooked. Consumers may not wish to be bombarded with advertisements whenever they log on. It may potentially turn people off from using the Facebook app and adverts will have to be closely monitored to ensure they are targeted correctly. As long as the new system is integrated and managed well it is likely that it will be a success for both Facebook but also the users of the service, and hopefully the end users who can take advantage of the location targeting.

*For more on Facebook’s new marketing system check out Aris Abramian’s article; http://www.ewebmarketing.com.au/blog/facebook-ads-going-mobile/

Bounce rate I hear you ask, what is that? Well it may not be as exciting as the name suggests but it is certainly crucial to any online business. Basically a websites “Bounces” are the amount of visits that consist simply of a single page visit to a website. The bounce rate is the measurement of this discouraging action. Of course a website is going to want to keep this number as low as possible as it represents the users “useability” of the webpage or in layman terms; how well locked in they are.

The bounce is calculated by dividing the number of single page views by the entry pages. What we must remember here is that bounce rate is not the be all and end all. Of course it highlights if users are simply clicking away from your website and as such may reveal significant problems with the site however there may be other factors as Bryan Ong describes, “what type of websites you have and the industry you are in.” Also, where they user is coming from and what source or keywords they used to find you.

So there we have it. Bounce rate covered, it shouldn’t be underestimated but it certainly is not the crucial end to all online businesses. Kissmetrics reports a 40.5% bounce rate on average, relatively high! I would certainly argue that the bounce rate should be used as a guide only and that other factors such as the keywords used to find your site must be taken into account a strong external variables.

When businesses begin integrating their online activity with pay per click campaigns such as Google ad-words it is interesting how much focus is placed upon driving traffic to their websites. However when we think about it are businesses missing the point and losing focus of their end goals? In laymen terms, business is about turning a profit. The point therefore of an online campaign should not be to drive traffic to the businesses website but to convert more viewers into purchasers when on the website.

Nathan Richter’s article on traffic conversion explains a shocking statistic that their is a “92:1 ratio in the amount of money spent to encourage consumers to visit a website versus the amount spent to convert them after they’ve clicked through to the brand.” Therefore if we are to believe that conversion is so crucial for the success of a business why are businesses not focusing more resources on this specific area? Surely they should be going beyond driving traffic to their site and should in fact place an increased amount of funds  into the critical process of converting viewers.

Conversion rates are the next step of search engine optimisation and PPC campaigns. As Richter (2012) explains it is a “demanding” process, businesses should look to aggressively pursue ways to adapt and change their webpages to significantly improve their online performance, rather than simply investing in driving traffic that is less likely to make end purchases.

*For Nathan Richter’s articles on 3 proven ways to convert traffic follow this link; http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2157738/proven-covert-traffic-search*

OK so I am coming to the party a bit late with this one. The new upgrade to YouTube’s video analytics was unveiled in December last year. However I have found myself searching through YouTube on a more regular basis recently (Most likely due to the increase in work deadlines). I realised that the new YouTube analytics upgrade is certainly meeting some of its objectives.

I find many of the recommendations for video’s to watch are better tailored to my previous viewing habits.This is not only beneficial to the viewers but also imperative to YouTube and its up-loaders. By having video’s well tailored to the viewer it allows them to remain “locked” into the website moving more confidently from video to video, a hypothetical “Stepping stone” situation. It is obvious therefore that with recommended videos accurately meeting viewer requests based on their history and characteristics it is going to prolong the consumers “Stepping stone” scenario.

It is arguable that the above is more beneficial to the viewer than the up-loader.  YouTube analytics however does not simply allow for better recommended content, it’s key criteria or value is in the increased amount of cache tools that are placed at the hands of up-loaders and in turn marketers. One major development is the ability to analyse which channels on the internet drive the most engaged viewers to a video. This allows for increased value for any marketer who wishes to target their selected personification. The system also allows for marketers to see at which point viewers may lose interest in the video, A crucial tool which allows for a better understanding of the businesses Online target market.

To sum up it is apparent that the upgrade to YouTube’s video analytics is certainly a giant leap forward, both for the viewer and the up-loader. It is representative of the modern eras new form of Online marketing; using a viewers history to allow for better increased tailoring of both adverts and recommendations. It is not just YouTube that has adapted this form of data collection, Google and Facebook have adapted similar systems of web analytics. In this Blog post I haven’t analysed the obvious ethical concerns that arise from this type of analytics and data collection but it is certainly a concern. Ethical concerns or not this type of Online tailoring seems to be the trend that will continue in the near future at the very least.

In an earlier blog posting I already questioned the hype surrounding the importance of social media to marketers. The interesting aspect of that article was the crucial lack of conversion that occurs when a user simply views social media and does not purchase a good or service from the business.

This article is closely related to the previous post. It is based on Brian Porters recent report on the “10 Biggest Facebook marketing mistakes of 2011.” The key finding from the article is the reiteration that simply setting up some form of social media (In this case on Facebook) does not guarantee success. In fact if the campaign is relatively poor there is likely to be negative implications for the business.

In a brief summary of the report by Porter (2012) it is obvious that the key behind online marketing success is strategic relationship marketing with those who have taken the effort to be involved within your social media campaign. As Porter describes in his second mistake; It is not how many fans you may have, but how many you are able to reach. Therefore visibility is key to reaching consumers and increasing that all important conversion rate.

Another key consideration that is raised is the idea of “Quality of quantity”. It’s a pretty obvious recommendation but all too many social media campaigns swamp subscribers with posts that contain information that the viewers simply have no interest in. This acts to lower a pages “EdgeRank” and as such loses the Facebook group its all important visibility on a fans news feed.

So to conclude this post it is apparent once again that Social media is far more complex than many appear to understand. It must be used wisely and if not done so can be to the detriment of a company. Of course the actual impact of social media on a businesses performance is still questionable with many extraneous factors, however as Porters 10 tips show, there are methods to improve the ways in which a social media campaign is delivered which allow for a great chance of success.

*For all 10 tips on optimising performance on Facebook visit “10 Biggest Facebook marketing mistakes of 2011” available at: http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/2012/01/10-biggest-facebook-marketing-mistakes-of-2011/*

Motorola has announced its intentions to become heavily involved with Social Media to help promote the companies “Life empowered” branding message. What struck me as most interesting about this article is the fact that much of the social media Motorola will pursue is aimed at customers that have already bought their products. For example Motorola has outlined the use of YouTube as a teaching aid to show customers how they can ” Use their devices for different aspects of their day-to-day life.”

It is certainly an interesting concept that the mobile giant is pursuing. In reality it is a strong piece of relationship marketing, targeting those who have already bought the product and providing them with another service. It has a further benefit in that it creates a great tool for potential customers to carry out increased online research of Motorola and its products by viewing the online media.

What must also be highlighted is the takeover of the Motorola Mobility brand by Google, which of course also has YouTube in its portfolio. This buy-out is certainly reflected in the companies new pursuit of social media in their advertising campaign. It is also a big step up in terms of competing with their more established social media competitors such as Apple.

It will be interesting to analyse how well they are able to implement a social media campaign and overall the success it impacts upon the company. What certainly appears to be positive is their attempt at “New thinking” in the hope that they are able to launch the Motorola brand back to its previous success seen in the early 2000’s during its “Razr” campaigns.

*For more on Motorola and its increasing use of Social media read the following article “Motorola to ‘Up the volume’ on social media” available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/motorola-to-up-the-volume-on-social-media/4000346.article *

The belief that surrounds social media is that it is a tool that enables companies to reach out to their target markets in a more specific and valuable manner. However as marketers have we given enough thought towards the  true value of social media as a method of advertising?

A recent poll by YouGov investigated how effective social media is in the minds of consumers. The results of the research were very intriguing. They contrast to the general belief that Social media is of high value to companies and businesses. For example the report reveals that a staggering “44% of the UK population claim they wouldn’t be more likely to buy a brand even if their friends promoted it on social media.”

More importantly one statistic revealed that 47% of online consumers claim they object to seeing ads from brands on social platforms based on their profile activities. This would suggest that rather than build loyalties towards a brand, the use of social media is causing consumers to feel fed up with brands that are being constantly displayed on their facebook and twitter pages.

It is obvious that one report will not change the strongly held belief; that social media is a modern advertising tool of high value to businesses. However when companies are looking to invest increasing amounts of capital into social media campaigns surely further research is required to truly understand how beneficial the use of Social media is for a company?

*** The article “Social media “less useful” than thought.” is available at http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/social-media-less-useful-than-thought/4000177.article ***

So what actually is “ROPO,” just a bunch of interestingly arranged letters that mean little to the marketing sector? The answer is simply – NO!

ROPO is in fact becoming increasingly important  to businesses throughout the world. It stands for “Research online, purchase offline.” This is the modern process that increasing numbers of consumers are now undertaking prior to purchasing a product. Unlike previous generations online marketing has led many customers to use the internet as a tool to allow for comparison between similar products and services.

A study by Gfk and Google across five sectors reveals the value of ROPO. Results of the study have shown that “40% of offline buyers have conducted online research prior to purchase.”

So what does this all mean for companies?

The results show a strong indication that businesses need to integrate on and offline activity to take advantage of the ROPO effect. For example the ways in which consumers search for products is strongly influenced by what they remember during offline periods. This ties in strongly to Google adword campaigns, whereby focus is placed strongly on keywords of a search topic (The keywords that are recollected by the consumer which they have discovered during their offline process).

It is therefore important, due to the increasing ROPO effect, for companies to not only use their advertising as a tool to sell their products to customers, but also businesses should look to place their brand in the mind of the consumer. Therefore when the consumer begins their online process of comparing products they recognise and recall your brand within the specific search.

* For more on the “ROPO effect” and an interesting case study on how Expedia are attempting to use it for successful gains read the following article “Joining the search” available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/strategies-and-tactics/digital-strategy/joining-the-search/3033388.article *