PPC ABC

I'd say anyone who has previously studied digital marketing, whether it be at uni or through some sort of diploma, has come across Pay-Per-Click on a skimming level (by that I mean the skimming we did over journals and endless research papers in order to find a worthy Harvard reference). Now, on paper in a pretty text book, it's a pretty simple concept to get your head around. But if like me, you like to get a little more clued up about the whole putting it into practice (and yes I created a wonderfully sketchy spider diagram to aid this blog), then read on. This post will focus on the mere basics PPC within search engine marketing, and what it can mean for a company or individual. 

So let's break it down. 
PPC simply means Pay-Per-Click, and is a form of internet marketing, in which a fee is paid by the company/individual each time their ad is clicked. Sites such as Google, Bing and Yahoo! allow companies to buy listings in their search results, which appear amongst non-paid (also described as 'natural') searches. Some describe it as 'buying visits to your site' (which it is) rather than earning the visits - but in this day and age instant is everything. 

PRO'S

• PPC is an extremely quick way to generate traffic - if the spare cash is there then the possibilities are endless. Bid high, rank high = TRAFFIC.
• Natural search engine marketing is a lengthy process, and can take weeks, even months, to adjust in accordance with consumer behaviours and trends. PPC campaigns can be adjusted in a matter of hours, which essentially allows you to be ahead of the game. 
• KEYWORD NICHES - an ultimate find, and a fantastic bargain. Generate traffic to your site and keep the bid cost low.. a PPC dream.

CON'S

• $$$ - Big bucks. Bidding wars and bid inflation on highly searched phrases set by the search engines can sometimes mean the spend is bigger than the potential return. In other words, it's a good idea to keep your wits about you and keep a cool head. 
• 'Ego-based' bidding - the ultimate downfall. Yes, high bids do equal higher ranks (along as your quality score is up to scratch) but PPC campaigns are to be approached with caution. Remember, being number one comes at a high cost.
• Guaranteed sales? I think not. Unless you've got a product that can instantly be purchased the moment someone lands on your site, sales are not guaranteed. High clicks? Fantastic! But where's your conversion?

From weighing up the pro's and con's I feel it's pretty obvious how PPC is used best. SEO and PPC both aim for the same end goal, but have completely different ways of going about it. SEO is a long game, and whatever is generated from SEO tactics is basically organic. But PPC is a brilliant marketing tool if used properly (and wisely). PPC is perfect for campaigns that target specific demographics, it allows you to promote to a specific group of people - which is perfect if your business or campaign have a focused target audience.

PPC is also great if you're marketing a product or service with an expiration date. Limited time offer? Not a big deal, PPC can generate the traffic rapidly and get the word out there. 

I explained that one of the con's of PPC was the uncertainty of guaranteed sales, but really, for businesses who have a landing page that offers products that are available to the consumer immediately, PPC is perfect. It's 100% worth spending on clicks if the clickers are 100% potential customers!

Wrapping things up, PPC is a really fantastic marketing tool that has become ever popular for those companies and individuals who have the cash to spend on it. Obviously, smaller businesses may find it a more sensible option to invest time and money into organically growing their searches - it's a long game, but with more permanent results, it keeps the light wallet feel to a minimum. 

After doing my research (and this may change in due course), I'd say my top three pieces of advice for PPC campaigners are:

- Don't get hot headed, proving yourself by ranking number one isn't going to impress The Bossman unless you've got a brilliant conversion rate, don't be expecting a round of applause with that bounce rate.

- Keep up to date, content management is key. Nothing like a top ranker with an out of date message. 

- Focus. Is your end goal worth this cost? Weigh it up, strategise, and always have a clear end goal.

Many thanks to some of the blogs I used to help create this post. I'm still pretty new to the whole digital marketing blogging, and just love to understand concepts through creative writing. These guys have the PPC concept on point, so please give them a visit for more information!

Wordstream

Portent

Digital Marketing Phillipines

The Importance of Infographics

In a nutshell, what are infographics? I really liked the quick and simple explanation that Mark Smiciklas came up with, which I found whilst reading up on the subject, so I'll share it with you.

source: NeoMam Studios

For brands, or even services, infographics are a brilliant way to communicate data that would normally be pretty hard to digest. And with 65% of us being visual learners (Forbes, 2013), it's such an easy way to take advantage of something that's on a plate for businesses. In the past, companies would have hired graphic designers, or those with a dab-hand for photoshop - but now, it's completely different. For most companies, infographics are perfectly easy to create, and the relevant software is totally accessible. When infographics are done right, they can communicate messages that stick in the minds of your audience - whether that be why you should be buying something, how you should be designing something or where you should be finding something, these infographics are essential to boosting your brand.

According to Arrow (2014), there are a good few reasons why using infographics should be part of your strategy:

• Inbound links to your site - letting others use your infographics means more search engine optimisation.
• Increased following - depending on what you're using platform-wise, infographics increase followers/subscribers, sharing is the new viral.
• Credibility - publishing infographics that are either relevant, useful, educational, or filled with information can boost your rankings within your market.
• Branding - speaks for itself, establish your brand; logos, slogans, taglines, message etc.
• Multi-purpose - can be used as print media within your company, not just for their viral tendencies.

But be aware, infographics can go terribly wrong, be cautious not to mislead your audience, or worse, include too much that it's difficult to even look at. Be clever with the images you use, and be careful not to make silly mistakes (a bad example is shown in the image below published by World Bank).

source: The Guardian

Who knew that just over 3/4 looks like just under 3/4? Rookie mistake. So it's important to get this stuff right, and it's not hard to match images to data, as long as you sit down and plan it out properly. Imagine you're the one looking for the information, how would you want to see it? How would you respond to the image if it was the first time you looked at it? Ask people - test your infographics. 

It has to be said, the benefits that come with the correct use of infographics are great, although it appears to be quite an easy thing to get wrong. It's being careful with the data selection, and choosing what is absolutely relevant and necessary is vital, but above all, it is the image and words that portray the data that is key to a successful infographic.

REFERENCES:

Arrow, S. (2014) Content Marketing: 10 reasons to include infographics in your strategy. SteamFeed [online] <http://www.steamfeed.com/content-marketing-10-reasons-include-infographics-strategy/>

Chalabi, M (2013) 16 Useless Infographics. The Guardian [online] <http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/gallery/2013/aug/01/16-useless-infographics#/?picture=414071380&index=4>

McCue, T. (2013) Why Infographics Rule. Forbes [online] <http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2013/01/08/what-is-an-infographic-and-ways-to-make-it-go-viral/>

Twitter's Language Targeting

Dominguez (1998) said that 'language is a tool or resource of communication, an expression of personality, and a signal of identity'. It's so critical for brands to express themselves through what they write, in terms of marketing language - however the point remains that brands, now, should infact be thinking of the bigger picture. If your markets aren't receiving your message due to language barriers, how long before they find a brand that is catering for them? With social networking platforms still going strong as a marketers dream, Twitter has concocted another way for advertisers to reach their ever-expanding markets.

Twitter has introduced the latest feature to lure advertisers into their social networking hemisphere - language targeting. Advertisers who use the site will be able to target users on their site according to their language. Promoted and Sponsored Tweets can be customised in a language that their audience understands, whilst users are able to see highly relevant ads in their language. Twitter already determines users language through profile settings, and what activity they're participating in. So the introduction of language-specific analytics is a great bonus for brands, who can use the data to identify new audiences, or to further engage in multi-lingual content.

With credit to Emerging Spaces blog on Twitter Language Targeting, there are two main ways in which a brand could use language targeting:

• A brand which has a local market promotion could target in-language ads directly to users in that market.
• The update can also benefit markets with a large population that speak a variety of languages, which in effect means that advertising 'highly relevant ads' may allow for the audience to connect better.

It should be noted that this feature should be carefully put to use, it's important to use it for Promoted Tweets, rather than Promoted Accounts. As those who follow Promoted Accounts will expect the language to be that in the ad, whereas Promoted Tweets will allow for the audience to receive relevant information in a language that suits them. Personally, I think the idea is quite beneficial to all brands, and especially those who use social networking as a strong marketing platform. For some companies, branching out to other markets can be tricky, but with the use of language analytics, brands are able to identify who and where, in terms of displaying information. 

Twitter's potential for organisations is extensive, it is a tool to create electronic word of mouth, a viral marketing mechanism and as a form of online word of mouth branding (Burton & Soboleva, 2011). It is key for external communication with customers, and that's what is so important. Communication. Tailoring your brand to meet language needs of alternative markets suggests adaptation, and versatility. It's hard to fault an advertisement that personally addresses a market which in the past may have been previously neglected.

REFERENCES:

Dominguez, F. (1998) International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Vol. 1998 Iss: 134, p1-13.

Burton, S. & Soboleva, A. (2011) "Interactive or reactive? Marketing with Twitter", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 28 Iss: 7, pp.491-499.

Value The Video

In a time when going viral is seen as an achievement, if your company isn't jumping on videos as a marketing tool - you're slacking. Whilst images offer something for consumers to look at, and text offers an explanation, videos allow you to communicate exactly what you want to your audience. Insivia states that in 2012, video was the fastest growing form of ad format, and not only that, but 90% of users say that seeing a video about a product is helpful in the decision process. Luke (2013) gives a great summary of what kind of benefits video marketing can have for your company, such as:

• Showing your firms personality, without a face-to-face meeting with your prospect.
• A video is searchable content, and can improve SEO.
• People are much more likely to watch a video than read a full page of text.
• Video is easier to consume on mobile devices (my Go Mobile blog touches on how important mobile friendly content is!)

So, are you taking advantage of video marketing?

What's effective?

source: Dove Real Beauty Sketches

Released in 2013, the Dove Real Beauty Sketches video has generated nearly 63 million views on YouTube, not including postings of the video on other platforms. Dove make a brilliant campaign, by proving that it's not always about how you directly advertise your product/service, nowadays, consumers are more enticed by the way you portray your industry or culture. It's important to realise that everyday consumers are flooded with ads to buy products, being creative and original can spread a buzz about your company that differentiates it from the rest. Videos help with communicating services to customers during 'high-consideration touchpoints', and can have a positive impact a customers decision during high consideration purchases, such as cars (Sluis, 2014). Some ideas of how to integrate videos into your marketing strategy are highlighted by Luke (2013), these include; company overview videos, video bios, explanatory videos, training/educational videos, video press release, training videos and email videos.

What's not effective?

With credit to Megan O'Neill from her article on 5 Reasons Web Marketers Fail With Viral Video Campaigns, here's a few pointers as to why video's can fail:

• Your video is too much like a commercial - people are less likely to share advertisements, they share shocking, funny, surprising, moving etc.
• Your campaign is unoriginal - people can watch thousands of different videos online, infact if yours doesn't interest them within the first 10 seconds, they've already got 3 more lined up on a new tab.
• You didn't spend enough time on metadata - make it searchable. Tags, description, title, all key things to concern yourself with with creating a video.
• You aren't promoting it right - sharing on social network platforms only works when you have a huge following, contact influential bloggers, bigger companies have the benefit of possibly hiring an expert within the budget.
• Finally, great idea, bad execution - this could be down to anything, production quality, script and acting, non-engaging content. Make sure you're always getting honest feedback and advice.

REFERENCES:

Luke, K. (2013) 12 Ways to Integrate Video into Your Marketing. Journal of Financial Planning. Vol. 26, No. 9, pp18-19.

Sluis, S. (2014) More Brands Invest in Video Marketing. Customer Relationship Management. Vol. 18, No. 3, p13.

Are you LinkedIn?

With over 300 million users, LinkedIn could be said to be the most 'professional' platform of social networking, among the ranks include entrepreneurs, CEO's, MD's and for businesses - CUSTOMERS. There are huge benefits of using the platform, since it's predominantly focused on B2B connections. Hershberger (2012) suggests it enhances your SEO efforts, contributes to brand recognition and perception, and allow for you to become a leader and a resource amongst your online community. There are endless ways to promote your company and it's offerings to a huge audience. So I've compiled a few things to help you get started, and to use the platform effectively as a marketing tool.

source: LinkedIn Marketing Solutions

Content Marketing Score

For businesses, the unveiling of LinkedIn's new Content Marketing Score is something you don't want to miss out on, and should be taking full advantage of. The tool is a recommendation engine that allows for businesses to 'quantify their impact', it measures the engagement between your content and your audience, and allows you to see how you compare to your competitors. Trending Content (click link for interactive infographic) allows for businesses to tailor their content specifically to match which topics resonate most with specific audiences. These two new tools are bound to have a positive impact on the way businesses market their products/services, and if you're not familiar - get familiar!

LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn Groups can help generate leads for any business, joining groups within a particular industry or category allows businesses to not only find prospect customers and business leads, but help create a more influential presence for the company. Once part of a group, LinkedIn allows you to filter the membership list to find influencers and prospects based on different criteria. Nemo (2014) swears by personalising invites to connect, not taking the time to do this can make you appear as lazy, or even worse, a spammer.

LinkedIn Polls

This function has many great uses that would be a waste for any marketer using the platform. Conner (2014) lists a couple of the ways you can utilise the function, which I'll briefly sum up for you:

• Obtain quick opinion results for column and blog topics/trends.
• Obtain product/service feedback (an absolute essential, saves time, resources and can be beneficial to hear some new ideas).
• Conduct immediate market research - addressing the information you need quickly and efficiently.
• Link it to other social networking platforms - Tweeting/Facebooking poll results could increase your following and gain interest from additional people.
• Use polls to generate offers - find out what interests your prospects!

As far as I can see, the only drawbacks for the platform may be that for some businesses, their target prospects may not be LinkedIn potential, due to age mainly. Hershberger (2012) suggests one drawback is the time taken to initially build your profile, apart from that, the day to day running doesn't take much effort. Also, the social network isn't actually seen as a marketing platform quite yet, it's still in quite early days and looked upon as a professional Facebook, so to speak. 

REFERENCES:

Conner, C (2013) 'Five LinkedIn Strategies You Haven't Thought of Before' Forbes [Online] <http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/10/27/five-linkedin-strategies-you-havent-thought-of-before/> [accessed 8th May 2014]

Hershberger, T (2012) Using LinkedIn as a Marketing Tool. ABA Bank Marketing. Vol. 44, No. 5, p37.

Nemo, J (2014) 'Three ways to generate leads with LinkedIn Groups' Social Media Examiner [Online] <http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/generate-leads-with-linkedin-groups/> [accessed 8th May 2014]

Go Mobile

It's no secret that having a mobile friendly site will infact increase your customer base (and hopefully sales), and whilst companies are still not focused on producing such 'mobile friendly' sites, they're not only losing customers but also causing annoyance to search engines such as Google. Google has continued to push such companies to produce these sites, not only for the company's benefit, but also in the hope that the use of Google to find such sites will continue to be used. According to Google Mobile Ads Blog 61% of people would quickly switch to another site if they couldn't find what they were looking for straight away - and thats a big percentage to consider. Google also say companies without mobile sites are helping their competitors, not only that, but they're ruining their reputation in such a digital friendly age.

source: Google Mobile Ads Blog

Hend (2014) created a study which compromised some of the most important criteria that needed to be met in order to produce a good mobile friendly site. After having a read through, really the list is quite extensive, so I've put together a few bullet points which should summarise some of the key criteria that customers are looking for:

• Easy to learn and navigate the site, including easy return to home/main screen.
• Links that go to other mobile friendly pages!
• Sufficient space between links, to avoid what the author refers to as 'fat finger syndrome'.
• Input of numbers and letters easily (so true, card details!)
• NO under construction pages, NO broken links, NO pages in separate windows!

Although some of these points seem pretty obvious to some of us (especially those who use mobile friendly sites often), it's one of those things that can easily missed, and in actual fact cause such deterrence from a site that it's so easy to lose customers. It's also important to note that creating a mobile friendly site is relatively easy, there's tonnes of templates and tools to help create them, a long with cheap production costs. But they do have their drawbacks, unless done correctly, creating a mobile site can affect search engine visibility. The good news is that Google have actually released a Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, and if you scroll to page 24, you'll find a section dedicated to improving SEO especially for mobile sites.

REFERENCES:

Google Mobile Ads Blog (2012) Mobile friendly sites turn visitors into customers [Online] <http://googlemobileads.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/mobile-friendly-sites-turn-visitors.html> [Accessed 8th May 2014]

Hend S. Al-Khalifa, (2014) "A framework for evaluating university mobile websites". Online Information Review, Vol. 38 Iss: 2, pp.166 - 185.

The Power of the Blogosphere

Whilst developing my Instagram initiative for my digital marketing module at University, I strolled across some really interesting foodie blogs, and it got me thinking how powerful some of these bloggers are to the food industry. As the current population become even more internet savvy, and rely heavily on peer reviews, a positive blog from an influential 'foodie blogger' could seriously bump up your reputation. I came across a few influential London based ones, a few that travelled the world and blogged about it, and even some who create their own dishes and share the recipes.

source: scramblingeggs

When someone has built up a following after posting such tasteful images, and also a string of good and honest reviews, it's hard for those local to not pop in to the recommendations. One that really caught my eye was the Scrambling Eggs blog (link underneath the picture above), who made a recommendation of a pop up coffee shop by day/bar by night located in Camden. I couldn't help but feel like I wanted to visit! So I got reading around the topic of blogging, especially linked to food and restaurants. It's suggested (and probably quite well known) that blogging could be seen as just a hobby, however there's reports supporting the fact that many food bloggers have actually been successfully incorporated into the food industry. Not only this, but many PR companies now contact bloggers in order to promote food products (Cox & Blake, 2011).

I then went on to read an interesting post from the Social Media Examiner (direct link to the post, click it, it's worth a read) that states five reasons your business should be blogging. I'll just summarise the five points Marcus Sheridan makes, as I have to say, I pretty much agree with all of them.

1. The Power of the Team

Exploring the fact that humans like to be part of team, or essentially a movement. Creating content for your business, whether it be a team of 5 or 500 will have a positive effect on any company.

2. Blogging Sharpens Your Sword

I love the way he worded this, fits it pretty well. And it's true, blogging means that you have to stay up to date with the latest within your industry, Not only that, but you become better at explaining stuff to your consumers, and teamed with all that research, you're prepared for answering any customer queries!

3. You Become the Trust Agent

Quite simply: helpful content - trust, trust - leads, leads - SALES.

4. Content is the Great Qualifier

The more stuff a consumer can look at, and the more information they receive means that they're more likely to make a decision into buying. It's important to integrate blog content into every aspect of your company's sales approach.

5. The Power of the Blog Comment

FEEDBACK FEEDBACK FEEDBACK. Allowing for discussion of your products is essential if you want to stay up to date with your customers. This can allow you to target exactly what customers have expressed they WANT. Not only that, but he makes a great point about those customers who are passionate about your brand, who want to leave positive comments, and who want to share their appreciation for your products/services.

I'm pretty impressed with these points, as they do have relevance to all kinds of businesses, and they're easily applicable to the restaurant and food industry. Finally, I found a little gem of a quote to leave you thinking about the world of blogging for businesses:

"The blogosphere (the collective name applied to the global blogging community) is the home of internet buzz. If something is worth talking about online (and often even if it’s not) it will be written about, commented upon and propagated through the blogosphere" (Damien & Jones, 2009, p164)

REFERENCES:

Cox, A. & Blake, M. (2011) Information and food blogging as serious leisure. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives. Vol. 63, Iss. 2/3, pp.204-220.

Damien, R. & Jones, C. (2009) Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. 1st Ed. London: Kogan Page.