Week 1 - 7 Combined Lecture Notes
in summary: drive an action
*Don't ask too much of your banner:* Despite the tech abilities available, remember, it is a singular-focused tool - an infantryman *Use the banner in conjunction with other communication tools to fulfill robust objectives* *Optimize the Landing Page your banner is pointing towards:* If the destination that the banners are directing to are not ideal, it can undermine all the work done to refer prospects *Allow proper scheduling:* Banners take time to concept, propose, prototype design, revise, program/code, test, traffic and distribute, optimize, and then assess performance. In some ways, they may be more complex than traditional ads as they blend some elements of motion picture and animation, with website functionality and usability.
Search engine marketing (SEM)
*Search engine optimisation (SEO)* pros: - long term ROI - high volume - more exposure, branding, and awareness cons: - tough to quantify - lots of ongoing work - results can take a while to be seen *Pay per click (PPC)* pros: - quick low cost setup - highly measurable and trackable - minimal development time required cons: - can be more expensive - CPC is climbing - constant monitoring required
e-marketing production process
*agency* concept approval > approval > approval > approval > final approval *startup* prioritized idea > release > release > release > release > infinity
in-market messaging tactics by strategy
*awareness* • Context: Prospects are actively searching for their next vehicle, but haven't settled on a make or model • Sample Placement: Edmunds homepage • Comms Objective: Prompt Consideration of Cadillac • Messaging Tactics: Arrest attentions by - revealing bold points that force reappraisal - substantive claims/features around driving dynamics, quality and design *segment* • Context: Prospects have narrowed their search to a particular segment (e.g., sedans) • Sample Placement: Edmunds sedan center • Comms Objective: Position Model within segment and prompt consideration • Messaging Tactics: Get on the list by - leveraging hard-hitting third-party endorsements to build credibility. *behavioral retargeting (segment) • Context: Retargeting prospects who have visited segment pages on 3rd party sites • Sample Placement: Yahoo.com • Comms Objective: (Re)Position Model within segment and prompt consideration • Messaging Tactics: Get on the list by - leveraging hard-hitting third-party endorsements to build credibility *Conquest* • Context: Prospects are exploring competing models • Sample Placement: 2011 BMW 5 Series review on Edmunds • Comms Objective: Get (our model) On (top) Consideration List • Messaging Tactics: Get to the top of the list by - leveraging hard-hitting third-party, competitive endorsements to pique interest - deposition the competition - position us as equals to consideration set *Retention* • Context: Prospects are exploring one of our models • Sample Placement: 2010 Cadillac CTS review on Edmunds • Comms Objective: Prompt Shopping Actions • Messaging Tactics: Close the deal by: - Revealing our many points of excellence, - Attractive offers and - Exceptional coverage *Collaborative Targeting* • Context: Previous owners/current prospects who assume to be familiar with Cadillac • Sample Placement: Yahoo.com, MSN.com, or AOL.com • Comms Objective: Prompt Reconsideration • Messaging Tactics: Reintroduce to Cadillac by: - revealing our many points of difference - leveraging third-party endorsements - depositioning the competition *Advanced Retargeting* • Context: Prospects who have recently visited a model homepage on Cadillac.com • Sample Placement: Google Network/AdSense • Comms Objective: Reactivate dormant interest • Messaging Tactics: Get back on the list by: - revealing our many points of difference - leveraging third-party endorsements - depositioning the competition
buffer's guide to video metrics
*facebook* what counts as a video view: 3 seconds or more auto-play: yes auto-loops: yes if under 30 seconds *facebook live* what counts as a video view: 3 seconds or more auto-play: yes auto-loops: yes if under 30 seconds *instagram video* what counts as a video view: 3 seconds or more auto-play: yes auto-loops: yes *instagram stories* what counts as a video view: upon opening auto-play: yes between stories auto-loops: no *instagram live* what counts as a video view: upon opening auto-play: no auto-loops: no *snapchat stories* what counts as a video view: upon opening auto-play: yes between stories auto-loops: no *twitter video* what counts as a video view: 3 seconds or more auto-play: yes auto-loops: yes if under 6.5 seconds *periscope* what counts as a video view: upon pressing play auto-play: yes when live on twitter auto-loops: no *youtube* what counts as a video view: 3 seconds or more auto-play: yes after a video ends auto-loops: no
SEO tools
*raven majestic SEO wordtracker* - ranking reports - keyword research - measure inbound links *google analytics, webtrends, omniture* - keywords that drive traffic - percentage or organic vs. direct, referral, PPC *sysomos* social metrics such as: - share of voice - topics being discussed - influencers - blogs and twitter accounts to use for linkbuilding
Habits
*starbucks* cue: walking to work in the morning routine: get reg coffee order reward: caffeine hit & a friendly interaction w/ barista *nike* cue: mobile app reminder to run routine: put on shoes, go to gym reward: endorphins, satisfaction at living a healthy lifestyle *movie theatre* cue: smell of popcorn routine: buy snack reward: tasty snack, experiencing movie
advertising needed to finance these experiments ...
- AT&T was the first to dish money to HotWired to display a 468 x 60 banner ad that came to life on October 25,1994. [ In 1997, the average click thru rate on online ads was 2.1%. In 2001 it was 0.5%. In 2008 it was 0.1%]
The problem(s)/opportunity of our digital age...
- An American living in the city gets exposed to up to 5,000 advertisements a day - We are awake about 50,000 seconds a day... - Were we to spend even a second simply noting that each ad existed, without even considering their merit, 10% of our day would be gone - In response to this hyper ad stimulus we've installed ad-blocker software in our visual-cortex
in summary, what makes a "good" banner ad:
- Attention-getting - Targeted - Contextually relevant - Behaviorally targeted - Rich media - Simple and clear message - Directive/drives action - Multi-variation
shifts in technology have always influenced the evolution of advertising
- Cars and highways birthed the billboard headline -Print Press spawned public relations, ad copy and art direction - Radio evolved the jingle, day parts and commercial sponsorship - Television launched the USP, positioning, and direct response
problem/ opportunity of our digital age
- Every new media is hostage (at first) to the expectations of "old media". - The dominant media of our time has always dictated our experience of the world 400B.C.: The Socratic Method Dialogue 1439: The Printing Press Depth and Duration 1920: Commercial Radio Concurrent Tune-In 1984: Cable TV Deregulation Mass Choice 1989: World Wide Web Whatever, Whenever 2007: Smart Phones ...and now, Wherever too
but this left the results open to manipulation
- Hence the complicated algorithms that are used today - Google says it uses more than 200 different factors - These algorithms use page rank - simply put, the more a website is linked to, the more likely it is that the community considers it an authority - So search results today are determined by on page and off page factors - On page factors are the structure of the website (HTML code, content etc.)
marketing communications haven't evolved to suit the implications of digital...
- In digital, ideas resonate loudly and travel easily —but messages don't - media built to deliver messages & exchange ideas - brands can't just traffic in messages anymore - their currency has to become ideas worth spreading - Brands can't get away with spamming anymore— they have to add some sort of value to peoples' lives
Why is search important to a marketer
- It is goal oriented: people search for the things they need - It is the perfect opportunity to place your product/service in front of people - A search engine is the doorway to the Internet Everyone enters through it, so it is the ideal place for you to advertise - The search industry is big - Daily search volumes are in the hundred millions - To be found, you must be visible - Users are unlikely to view beyond the first 30 listings NOTE: Google still dominates but it is under threat from new players in the market
1. Creating a search engine friendly website structure
- Remember, if spiders can't find your website, then users won't find it via search engines - Use best practices - Search engine friendly design = usability and accessibility - Remove technical barriers - Ensure there are direct HTML links to the pages you want indexed Some barriers to visibility: •Flash •Frames based design •No XML site map •AJAX •Video •Dynamic URLs
in summary: Users don't fixate on web content, particularly the ads
- Scanning more common than reading, - ...but users will sometimes dig into an article if they really care about it. - users almost never look at anything that looks like an advertisement, - users don't fixate within design elements that resemble ads - Banner advertising today must work harder to gain the same amount of effectiveness
emarketing definitions
- The science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential - The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large - A participatory layer of all media that allows users to self-select their own experiences, and affords marketers the ability to bridge media, gain feedback, iterate their message, and collect relationships
2. How to research key phrases
- These are the foundation of search - Users enter words they think are relevant to their searches. - Aim to use keywords in your website content that your target audience is likely to use - Finding keywords means understanding search psychology When choosing consider... -Search volume: how many searchers are using that phrase? -Competition: are other websites targeting that phrase? -Propensity to convert: How likely is the searcher using the phrase to convert to your site? Consider which term will lead to more conversions •Value per lead: What is the average value prospect attracted by the keyword? Example: 'Budget Durban hotel' vs. 'Luxury Durban hotel'
notes
- We humans co-evolve with our tools. We change the tools, and the tools change us, and that cycle repeats - amazon founder - These media milestones don't happen often, but when they do, other media either adapt or - Radio began as a storytelling medium for the home......but as TV supplanted it, radio became a talk/music medium for the car... ...and now that music is so personal and portable, radio is fighting to survive
evaluating success: ranking reports
- a ranking reports shows the position of a search result for a keyword, and its movement over a period of time - it doesn't show how valuable that term is, how many leads or sales it delivers - we need to use an analytics program like google analytics, webtrends or omniture to determine that
what is SEO
- enabling a site to be found based on a keyword or phase - over 200 factors measured by Google ... they don't give you a list, but they give you broad clues - all of them are around popularity and relevance -- inbound links (how many and how trusted the sites are) -- how easy the site is for a search engine to "read" -- how often people click on a search result -- how favorably people view a result -- how long the domain has been around and how much "equity" it has -- how often the site is updated -- how relevant the content of page is to search query
"LinkJuice" or Google Page Rank
- google looks at how sites link to each other to figure out which ones are the best - google determines that the site with more links driving to it is likely the best - in cases where number of linking sites are largely equal, then google delves into relative link juice of the linking sites - and the link juice of those referring sites factor into the page ranking. links from better - more influential - sites make your site rank higher - google is able to map out these links relationships on an enormous scale - users today search first -- if you don't have link juice, you won't show - on average, 34% of google's traffic went to the Number 1 result about twice the percentage that went to Number 2 - search is at the center of users web experience and often the start of most purchase decisions and research
2 ways to "show up" in search results
- savvy SEO: search engine optimization - smart SEM: search engine marketing (users want to find things, webmasters want traffic on their sites so they can sell things, search engines want to help users find what they're looking for)
search engine marketing has two arms
- search engine - pay per click - optimisation (SEO) - advertising (PPC)
the search engine spider crawls hyperlinks on web pages and compiles a list of pages to be stored in the search engine index then....
- the internet is made up of many web serves that host billions of web pages - the search engine's index contains encoded data about web addresses and what words are associated with each page - when a user performs a search through the search engine, a sophisticated algorithm is applied to the index and it returns all appropriate web pages in ranked order - from most to least relevant
in summary: search at the center of the web (google at the head of search)
- website proliferation demands organization - users google first - most purchasing decisions start at search - the most influential sites garner highest rank - thats link juice - the website experiences who understand this, win
Start with a proper diagnosis of your business problem and objectives
-What are we trying to solve? -What is the bigger marketing context? -What role does digital play in solving your business problem? Let's start by talking about the problems you face so that the most effective digital remedies are prescribed
Your creative brief must articulate the context and objectives for your banner
-Who is it talking to? (Target) -What do people believe now about the brand? -How do people behave/participate now with the brand? -What role does the banner play in shifting belief and behavior? -What must it say to do that? -How must it behave to be credible/persuasive? -How must it conform to the media environment(s) you'll be sending it to? -What is the creative challenge? -How do we plan to assess its effectiveness? -Simply said: What is the banner asking users to do?
video promotion
1. A user knows what sort of video they are looking for and goes directly to a search engine to search for content. This relies on SEO or search advertising, if you decide to promote the content on Google 2. A user follows recommendations from others, found through emailed links, social bookmarking and sharing services, or social media such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. This relies on social sharing. Video Marketing › Video production step by step Video Marketing › Video promotion 3. Someone knows exactly what they are looking for and navigates to the appropriate URL directly. This relies on good branding and market awareness 4. The user finds the video through paid advertisements and promotions. This relies on paid advertising
why is it important?
1. Because the higher up your website is on the SERPs, the more likely you are to get traffic to your site 2. Search traffic is qualified traffic (users are explicitly looking for what you have!) 3. You don't pay for each click (as you do with paid search) In the early days of search engines, meta data was used to index and rank websites
grow your brand's social following
1. Identify Your Goals 2. Add Value 3. Post Daily 4. Invest in Video 5. Amplify the content that is performing best
search engines look for
1. Relevance 2. Authority 3. Popularity 4. Importance 5. Trust Two types of SEO: - White hat SEO works within the parameters set by search engines -- Aims for long-lasting success - Black hat SEO refers to someone trying to game or manipulate the search engines -- Aims for massive short-term traffic
The basics - online advertising (OLA)
1. fasting loading: if banner ad attention is merely 00:03:02, don't lost time getting started 2. arrest attentions: People aren't here to attend to your ad - break thru the clutter 3. fast resolve: Don't get lost in your hype - get to your point 4. clear takeaway: Caution overly-conceptual creative that gets in the way of the core message. This ain't Shakespeare, it's a banner ad 5. contextually aware/ relevant: Behave appropriately to the environment and deliver to the expectations of the site's visitors 6. behavioral targeting: Notice whose visiting (cookies) and change up the message according to their unique needs (behavioral targeting), maybe change up again (retargeting) if you've seen this visitor before 7. rich media: Sound/Music, animations, maps and coupons in-banner, and social functionality can make your banner work harder to drive user action 8. call to action: - Exactly what do you want people to do? - Make action happen - Optimize your landing page for those who click thru - does it deliver on what the ad promised? 9. multivariate testing: So many different approaches to the same message and takeaway. So many different sites to advertise on. So many different people and needs to target. Which is right? Run them all and let users decide 10. roadblock/ takeover: Sync up all the banners on the page to reinforce the same message/call-to-action so that no visitors can miss it your banner ad is your hype person with a single-minded mission to "bring 'em on down to omletteville" * Because your banner can be the first brand touchpoint that users see, you must carefully choreograph your message and behavior if you want it to represent your brand well and produce desired results*
5 main areas of SEO
1.Search engine friendly website structure 2. Well-researched list of key phrases 3. Content optimized to target key phrases 4. Link popularity 5. Usage data
clickthrough rate (CTR)
= Clicks / impressions, shown as a % conversion. A visitor completing a target action
sponsored tweet/ promoted topic
A Sponsored Tweet is a Sponsored Conversation that happens specifically on Twitter Promoted Tweets are ordinary Tweets that advertisers pay to highlight to a wider group of users
annotation
A comment or instruction usually added as text, on a YouTube video. A YouTube annotation may contain links directing users to other pages within YouTube or, if a brand is willing to pay, to outside websites. These have been phased out as of 2017 and replaced with video cards
social ads:
Ad formats that engage the social context of the user viewing ad Whereas in traditional, non-social, advertising the ad is targeted based on what it knows about the individual person or the individual page, in social advertising the ad is targeted based on what it knows about the individual user's social network
goodwill
Advertising affects a person's long‐term sentiment toward a brand, and that effect is at its peak when the ad is shown, but then fades with time
video overlay
An animated overlay that appears at the bottom part of a video that a user is watching It's been one of the most effective ad formats on YouTube. With people watching over 1 billion videos a day on the site, overlays are one of the easiest ways to get your ad directly in front of a huge audience
banner
An online advertisement in the form of a graphic image that appears on a web page, including mobile sites
Where to start?
Brainstorm •What is your core business? •The needs of your customers? •What do they search for? Also consider misspellings and synonyms Keyword search tools can offer suggestions: •Similar keywords •Common keywords used with that keyword •Common misspellings •Frequency of the keywords in search queries •Industry related keywords •Keywords sending traffic to your competitors •Number of sites targeting your keywords
new age, few rules
Constantly evolving technologies produce much uncertainty and little historic precedent to rely upon .... making us marketers the creators/experimenters as much as the "experts" - Embrace this age of change and experimentation
display network
Content websites that serve pay-per-click adverts from the same provider, such as AdWords
video pre-rolls and companion units
Five-to-thirty-second video ads that play before content videos begin on entertainment sites like Hulu, Brightcover or YouTube
google adwords
Google's search advertising program, which allows advertisers to display their adverts on relevant search results and across Google's content network
top agencies
Grey Mullen 360i Droga5
Plausible outcomes for human computer interface
Humans stay smarter - computers just "book smart" (Star Trek) Computers become smarter than humans - dominant "species" (Terminator) Human+computing merge to create superspecies (Singularity)
cost per acquisition (CPA)
Refers to the cost of acquiring a new customer. The advertiser pays only when a desired action is achieved (sometimes called cost per lead)
search engine marketing
Search is the way people find things on the Internet (for the most part) Two kinds of results 1. Organic search results: •The primary product of the search engine •Generally on the left hand side of the of the SERPs 2. Paid search results: •Also known as Pay per Click (PPC) advertising •Usually displayed at the top and on the right hand side of the SERPs
3 steps to better website SEO
Step 1: Figure out what keywords your website ranks for Step 2: Determine what keywords you should be ranking for and set goals Step 3: Start optimizing website content
testing yourself in proper banner objective - setting:
Stop customers from cancelling policies ❌ Drive ## customers to a sign-up page for a personal review ✅ Sell cars ❌ Drive ## customers to a dealer to schedule a test drive✅ Boost checking accounts ❌ Force reappraisal of Citi Checking by driving ## prospects to a video ✅ Sell more coffee, fast ❌ Fuel purchase funnel by providing users a real-time Google map of nearest retailer ✅ Extend our TV ads into the web ❌ Extend our brand campaign by driving ## people to our Facebook page to become our friend ✅
restoration
Taking a break from redundant ad exposure reverses wear‐out. If you don't see an ad for a long time, when you finally see it again, it is more effective
embedding
Taking video from an online video provider and posting it elsewhere on the web
captions
Text that appears over a video that labels a scene, identifies a location or person, or narrates dialogue onscreen. Captions can be either open or closed
search engine results page (SERP)
The actual results returned to the user based on a search query
What is the best way to make banners work against such odds?
The creative brief guides all
towards integration
Toyota Sienna, a case study One-line summary: Toyota launces a display advertising campaign to draw awareness to the new Prius and increase sales The problem: The Prius is a hybrid electric car. Toyota needed to raise awareness and drive sales around the introduction of new models to the Prius line.
links between people and organizations
UMN
unique selling point (USP)
Unique selling point (or proposition) is what makes your offering different to your competitors'
banner blindness
Visitors are increasingly "blind" to banners (advertisements), making them ineffective in terms of earning revenue - put a renewed focus (and dependency) on quality banner ideas in lieu of more things that blink
3. Optimise content for key phrases
We need to ensure the site contains content to target those phrases Website content must: • Provide information to visitors • Engage with them • Convince them to do what you want On top of that it must send signals of relevance to the search engines Each web page should be optimised for two to three key phrases: •Primary •Secondary •Tertiary
Course path
Week 1: insights: data & analytics Week 2: social: principles & applications: fb & twitter Week 3 & 4: content platforms Week 5: PR 2.0: blogs & reputation mgmt Week 6: search: SEO & SEM Week 7: display: awareness & acquisition Week 10: dotcom Week 11 & 12: Mobile: display, apps, & site and CRM: eMail Week 14: innovation & automation
mechanics of OLA
While the core rules stay the same, a lot has changed about the banner ad today
expandable banner
ads load on the page as a standard sized banner ad, and upon rollover, they expand to show one or more panels with additional messaging
hyper-targeting banner
aka Behavioral Targeting, Re-Targeting is online advertising that is contextually aware and targeted based on a user's past clickstream
pushdown banner
akes over the majority of a site by temporarily pushing down the venue's content
rich media banner
are flash banners that employ images, text, sound and video. They are often interactive, inviting the user to play a game, navigate through different "pages", turn the sound on/off, select an item from a drop-down, pause the video and so on. Also, a rich media banner can use several other technologies besides flash, such as Java, Javascript, and DHTML (see pg 10 for examples)
3 C's
content, content, content
links between people and gov't
department of education
portals like AOL, Yahoo, and MSN organized the www for...
dial-up users, providing community, news, and search - Communities like GeoCities were growing - eCommerce was burgeoning with eBay and Amazon - Newspapers and magazines were just beginning to experiment on the internet
content ----- context
disruption
successful brands are...
embracing "people powered ideas" and "back pocket solutions" by offering true benefit in their marketing
links between people and product
ex: honda
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivatiors
extrinsic, positive: if I do this, i'll get a reward extrinsic, negative: if i don't do this, ill face a penalty intrinsic, positive: i want to do this to feel good intrinsic, negative: i need to do this or ill feel bad
links between people and people
rich snippets
helping you find what you want utilizing more data
tools of the trade
https://adwords.google.com/video/SignupFlow www.tubemogul.com www.feedcompany.com www.brightcove.com
emarketing
not a single channel, but a significant part of the individual's decision making process (not a zero-sum game)
wear-out
repetition of a single ad creative makes it less effective. If you keep seeing the same ad, it becomes less effective each time you see it
statics and flash banner
see page 10 for diagram
Microsite-in-a-Banner & Takeovers
see page 12 for example pictures
paid search results
the column in the right side and the top of the page
search engine optimization
the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the 'natural' or un-paid ('organic' or 'algorithmic') search results" - Also called natural or organic optimization - Search engines use complicated algorithms to determine relevance and ranking and these are always changing - So keeping your website in shape to be ranked well by these algorithms is an ongoing process - Off page factors are elements which build links to the website
even in this age of hyper, rich, and social media banners ...
they work best when they are singular-minded in message and objective
banners evolved from
things that blink, towards true solutions... - Static - Standard Flash (40K-100K) - Rich Media - Pushdowns/Expandables - Hyper-Targeting - Dynamic Data - Microsite in a Banner - Takeovers - "Fatality" - Video - Annotations - Video Companion Units - Pre-Roll
dynamic data
turns advertiser data feeds in virtually any format into standard structure custom targeted ads containing in-demand information such as local product inventory, pricing and promotional offers
cost per click (CPC)
when an advertiser pays only when their ad is clicked on, giving them a visitor to their site typically from a search engine in pay-per-click search marketing or programmatic CPC buying engines
is it possible to go viral
• Address a currently trending topic • Make it enticing • Make it remarkable • Make it unique • Make it shareable • Make it short
shifts in technology and social behavior have always influenced the evolution of advertising....
• Cars and highways birthed the billboard headline • Print Press spawned public relations, ad copy and art direction • Radio evolved the jingle, day parts and commercial sponsorship • Television launched the USP, positioning, and direct response
How to Audit a Site for SEO
• Check the SERP for specific pages to see how your site performs for the specific terms you want to compete on • Look at your site's call-to-action in a Google search result. Do the page title and meta description motivate people to click through? • Evaluate site performance using: • a. Google Analytics to id the top content. Evaluate the quality of this content. Is it current, helpful and easy to understand? • b. Google's Webmaster tool to id broken links and to see what keywords Google attributes to your site • c. Page Speed Insights to assess page load times and related fixes • Assess the indexability of your site; how flat is its structure? Are there html and xml site maps? is there sufficient internal linking? • Assess the off-page optimization; identify what sites are linking back by conducting a Google search for Link: DOMAIN.COM. Also are you fully leveraging any external web properties that may provide a relevant context to promote your site? • Evaluate the authority of your site; look up the Google Page Rank of your site at http://checkpagerank.net/
what does a search engine do?
• Crawls the web (via spiders) • Indexes web documents and pages • Processes user queries • Returns ranked results from the index A search engine spider (web crawler, robot, bot) is an automated indexing program. It creates a library of pages on the Internet.
video production step-by-step
• Identifying your audience • Planning and concept • Producing the video • Choosing and uploading to platform • Optimizing
paid video promotion
• Overlay Ads • In-Search Ads • Discovery Ads • Sponsored Ads • Bumper Ads • Video Ads
Optimizing Website Content
• Page title: Google uses the title of your page to rank your content • Meta description: Meta descriptions that include target keywords can help your website score more clicks from search engines • First sentence: Try to use it in the first few words of the first sentence • Headings: Use synonyms and secondary keywords in your headings to avoid being repetitive • Image file name: Before you upload images to your website, be sure to name them with descriptive file names that use keywords • Image alt tags: In the HTML behind the image, include keywords into your image alt tags to give Google more context about your image • Page URL: Try to incorporate your keyword(s) in your page URL • Website copy: Website pages should contain at least 300 words. Use your target keywords, as well as synonyms and secondary keywords, throughout the copyw
video content strategy
• Video on social media generates 1 200% more shares than text and images combined • Companies using video have 41% more web traffic from search and video can cause a 157% increase in organic traffic from search engines • Video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80% or more • Businesses using video grow revenue 49% faster year-on-year than those that don't use it • 59% of company decision makers prefer to watch a video than read an article about a product
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• a process for improving the visibility of a website, or a web page, in relevant search results so people who want to connect with your site can find it more easily. This is known as boosting a site's search engine rank position (SERP) • The lynchpin to this process is identifying the keywords people would most likely use to look for your content, and then making sure these keywords are incorporated into your site structure • Tell search bots crawling your site what you think your site is about so that they'll recommend your site in relevant searches
Guidelines
•Title tag: use the key phrase in the title •Header tags: use H1 tag, and other H tags (H2, H3 etc) •Body content: use key phrase three times, more if it makes sense! About 350 words of content •Bold: use <strong> tags around keyword •Alt tag for image: use at least once to describe an image •URL: use a URL rewrite so it appears in the URL •Meta description: Use keyword at least once Optimise images and video with the relevant keywords as well You have to rely on how the image is described. If images are correctly labelled, search engines can index them
communication tools
typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communication, usually written but increasingly including audio and video as well. Interactive tools handle mediated interactions between a pair or group of users. They focus on establishing and maintaining a connection among users, facilitating the mechanics of conversation and talk
page
unit of content
users tend to ....
value/trust natural/ organic citations over sponsored but marketers still derive good ROI on their paid campaigns
bounces (single page view visits)
visits consisting of a single page view
single page visits
visits that consist of one page, even if that page was viewed a number of times
use ____ & _____ in online market research
web analytics and online reputation management (ORM) ~ they play a big role in providing data
content frequency // an 'always on' approach
y axis: engagement x axis: time arrow: always on content strategy & relationships ~campaign/ activation~
6. Create the layout
- header - left sidebar - central content - right sidebar - footer
7 steps to conducting surveys
1. Establish goals 2. Determine sample 3. Choose methodology 4. Create questionnaire 5. Pre-test 6. Gather data 7. Analyze
search ad structure
• Heading • Two lines of advert copy • Sometimes shown on one line • www.DisplayURL.com • Ad extension
venn diagram
SEO: niche keywords on-page factors technical SEO Content marketing: target audience valuable content promotion both: engaging content that ranks high
event
a recorded action that has a specific time assigned to it by the browser or the server
visit or session
an interaction by an individual with a website consisting of one or more page views within a specified period of time
Field of Dreams, 1989
"If you build it, they will come"
How to win with friends
"People Add value" -things go better with folks Insight: People want to promote themselves -enable them to promote you and themselves Open and read your fan mail daily -monitor the social buzz and insights Amplify that love -acknowledge it, reward it, showcase it forward.
Seth Godin Unleashing the Ideavirus ... ?
"The future belongs to marketers who establish a foundation and process where interested people can market to each other. Ignite consumer networks and then get out of the way and let them talk"
good UX is....
(A standard website needs to be reliable, functional and convenient) A great website needs to be enjoyable to use, and an experience worth sharing • Functional UX: This covers the elements of the user experience that relate to actually using the tool - such as working technical elements, navigation, search and links • Creative UX: This is the bigger, harder-to- define impression created by the tool - the so-called 'wow' factor that covers visual and creative elements
Mobile UX
(Mobile should be prioritized in strategy, design and implementation) The 'mobile first' movement supports this notion, and aims to create mobile user experiences first, and then adapt these for the web (instead of the other way around)
methods to gauge user intent
*1. Click density analysis* • Use heat maps to analyse number and location of clicks • Where on the page are people clicking most often? • Are there any groups of clicks in important areas? *2. Segmentation* • Segment users into groups based on common characteristics. • Do specific sub-sections of the audience behave in a certain way? • How do aspects like time, devices, pages viewed, etc. affect this? *3. Behaviour and content metrics* • Look at behaviour figures and content consumed • Do users who spend more time on site act differently to those who bounce? • What do different content types tell you about user intent?
types of tests
*A/B spilt testing:* • test one variable at a time • Ideal for an introduction into conversion optimisation • Usually just two versions tested • Easy to set up - Different versions of a web page are shown to groups of users to determine which one performs better - can be difficult to isolate the factor influencing the change in conversion rate - especially if two versions are radically different *multivariate tests (MVTs):* • mean a number of elements can be tested to see which combination works best • more complicated to set up but you can test more elements - ideal for large traffic volumes • alt title, removing contact #, different images, try long copy instead of bullets - length of tests depends on the number of participants and the improvement in conversion rate
User Experience (UX) terms
*Above the fold:* The content that appears on a screen without a user having to scroll. *Breadcrumbs:* Links, usually on the top of the page, that indicate where a page is in the hierarchy of the website *Call to action (CTA):* A phrase written to motivate the reader to take action (sign up for our newsletter, book car hire today etc.). *Content strategy:* In this context, a plan that outlines what content is needed for a web project and when and how it will be created *Conversion:* Completing an action or actions that the website wants the user to take. Usually a conversion results in revenue for the brand in some way -- include signing up to a newsletter or purchasing a product.
Consider the type of search to use
*Broad match:* i.e., Apple Computers. Any of or all words must be found *Direct match:* i.e., "Apple Computers" Only find mentions when phrase appears complete or in order *Inclusive match:* i.e., Apple +computers. Any mention containing Apple AND computers but not necessarily in that order *Exclusive match:* i.e. Apple -fruit Only mentions which contain the first word or phrase but NOT when the second word is also in the same mention • Use combinations of these to improve accuracy. e.g. "Apple Computers" +"steve jobs" -fruit • Also track common misspellings, all related companies and all related websites • Use search engines and RSS for convenience. Paid services can also provide full monitoring. e.g. http://www.brandseye.com/
an online press room must include:
*Content* - Company history - Logos & images - All press releases - Executive bios - Multimedia gallery - PR contact info - Company contact info *Features* - Search function - RSS/email alerts - Tagging capabilities - Info in various formats
tracking and collecting data
*Cookie-based tracking* • Most common currently • Page tags are implemented in the website code • Reports on events and rich user interactions • Provides detailed, customisable reports *Server-based tracking* • Raw data is produced by the server in log files • Very accurate • Cannot capture events and site interactions *Universal analytics* • Tracks users, not browsers • Investigate long-term user interactions • Determine lifetime value • Import offline data
five elements (recommended by seth godin)
*Data* The raw facts about your product or service. Online data is richer than ever before! *Stories* Markets are 'conversations'. Brands create stories *Products* Physical manifestations of your story *Interaction* Tactics to connect with consumers. Comprise touch points of the brand *Connection* Like the 5th 'P" - people 'fall in love' with your brand.
How do I target my ads?
*Search adverts are targeted in a variety of ways, depending on how you want to reach your audience* 1. Keyword match types 2. Language and location targeting 3. Behavioural and demographic targeting *keyword match types* • Broad match • Broad match modifier • Phrase match • Exact match • Negative match *language and location targeting* • Geo-targeting •User's location and region(down to postal code) • User's set language *behavioral and demographic targeting* • Target users who were previously on your site • User browsing behaviour • User demographics
SEM tools
*adwords* keyword research, targeting, manage campaigns and ads (Google) *ad center* keyword research, targeting, manage campaigns and ads (MSN/ yahoo) *acquisio* bid management, KPI tracking, reporting *other tools* facebook, linkedin and twitter all have PPC targeting and bid management tools
image/ graph
*paid search* do we need to pay for clicks to impact results? *social* can we get people to share? *SEO* how do we make that content more findable? *content* do we have content in place? *why do we impact?* sales? leads? what are we trying to do? how will we measure success? *keyword research / analytics* we always start by understanding who people are and what they want as precisely as possible
actionable insights & metrics
*behavior* ~click stream~ • click density analysis • segmentation • key metrics, search "intent inferences" *experience* ~research~ • customer satisfaction • a/b testing • usability, FMH • "voice of customer" *outcomes* ~ order/ leads~ • revenue: how, why • conversion rates • problem resolution • "nuances of outcomes"
core strategy
*content components* - substance - structure *people components* - workflow - governance
how do clickthroughs and conversion rates work?
*conversion - took action on the wesbite* > conversion rate = conversions / clicks % > *click - clicked on the advert* > clickthrough rate = clicks/ impression % > *impression - "saw" the advert*
in summary: search as a marketing strategy - not left to chance
*develop and optimize searchable content* that solidifies your associations with valued keywords - videos, articles, blog posts, webpage, copy, titles, metatags *consider the content beyond your site* youtube, twitter, facebook *generate social buzz and link shares* that spreads links back to you throughout the web *beyond google* yahoo, bing, twitter search, and youtube (2nd most searched site on the internet) *always consider the search effects* even on analog campaigns... have you locked up your search terms? can interested parties find you? *defensive and offensive strategy* are you vulnerable to competitive keyword strategies
what can you test?
*email marketing* • Subject line • Time of send • Content and features • CTA and offers • Personalisation *display and search advertising* • CTA and offer • Copy • Design • Placement • Bidding strategy *social media* • Content plan • CTA • Time and date of posts • Types of multimedia content • Platforms • Tone and personality *landing pages* • Design and colour • Layout and format • Forms and CTAs • Number of pages or steps • Offer and phrasing *eCommerce* Product pages: • Images • Call to Action • Shipping information • Credibility information Checkout process • Number of steps • Payment options • Security information
gain, close, retain
*gain* - website - email - blogs - special offers - polls - PR - SEO_SEM - videos - social media - podcasts - tradeshows *close* - customer case studies - white papers - ROI - product reviews - video testimonials - webinars - data sheets - advertising - SEM - analyst reports - tours /demonstrations *retain* - help-escalation - newsletters - training-app tips - customer surveys - videos-podcasts - social media posts - blog-twitter-FB - libraries forums
*quantitative research*
*group size* large number of respondents - 100 or more, depending on the size of the population you are wanting to generalize about are generally surveyed *approach* - tests known issues or hypotheses - begins with hypotheses - seeks consensus, the norm - generalisation *disadvantages* - issues can only be measured if there are known prior to beginning the survey - sample size must be sufficient for predicting the population *advantages* - statistically reliable results to determine if one option is better than the alternatives
qualitative research
*group size* small number of participants - usually focus groups of 6- 10 respondents led by a moderator *approach* - generates ideas & concepts - leads to issues or hypotheses to be tested - ends with hypotheses for further research - seeks complexity - context of issues *disadvantages* - shouldn't be used to evaluate pre-exisiting ideas - results are not predictors of the population *advantages* - looks at the context of issues and aims to understand perspectives
You can test everything
*in emails:* •Subject lines •Call to Action copy •Different offers •Delivery days and times *in display & PPC advertising* •How different adverts improve click through rate •How they affect the conversion rate •Calls to Action •Headlines *in social media* •Different types of messages •Types of media - images vs. video etc. •Time of day or week *on landing pages:* •Heading •Copy •Call to Action •Colour •Images •Offer *on eCommerce websites:* •Images •Call to Action •Shipping information •Credibility information
from social networks to social web
*monitoring* - listening - analysis - response strategy *conversation* - influencer outreach - community management *campaigns* - bespoke - campaign amplification *platforms* - long term social platforms ...for marketers, this signals a seamless, un- segmented approach to social media (marketing, customer service, corporate pr, NPO, customer insight, sales)
social media response process
*positive* range from satisfied customers to loyal brand enthusiasts. acknowledge user's comment (like or retweet). reply with thanks or additional info to continue dialogue *neutral* neither congratulatory nor defamatory, rather factual. could also be a basic or complex question. acknowledge all questions and resolve them to show the community that brand addresses their concerns - basic: social media manager responds on the wall - complex: beyond social media manager's knowledge. these are escalated to client via account representative. place holding response if client is unable to answer timeously *negative* dissatisfaction with brand's product or service. always acknowledge negative posts, never delete. show the community that users' concern is important and will be addressed. offensive or inappropriate posts document post via screenshot, delete from wall, send private message to user explaining reason for deletion *urgent* abusive comments or serious user aggression should be escalated to brand management for immediate response. if immediate response is not possible, place empathetic holding message. ensure user feels hear and query is taken seriously. further communication with user should take place offline, but comment thread should be wrapped up on the wall. document incident via screenshot for reporting - complex: beyond social media manager's knowledge. these are escalated to client via account representative. place holding response if client is unable to answer timeously
qualitative and qualitative research
*qualitative research* exploratory and seeks to find out what potential consumers think and feel about a given subject *quantitative research* relies on numerical data to demonstrate statistically significant outcomes The internet can be used to gather qualitative and quantitative data
sampling
*qualitative research* usually conducted with a small number of respondents in order to explore and generate ideas and concepts *quantitative research* conducted with far larger numbers, enough to be able to predict how the total population would respond • Your sample size should be representative • Be aware that using only online channels for market research might not represent your true target market if your business transacts both online and offline • Offline market research channels are less necessary if your business transacts only online
content lifecycle
*strategy* - determine topical ownership areas & taxonomy - establish content program & production process - content sourcing plan - voice & brand definition *plan* - staffing recommendations - CMS customization - metadata plan - marketing/ ad model - migration plan *create* - asset production - copy production - Q&A (compliance with brand/ SEO) - create governance model *maintain* - advisory role with client - create QC plan for periodic ____ of live content - use analytics to determine areas of success & failure *audit* - content stakeholder interviews - competitive analysis - objective analysis & evaluation of content environment: -- site -- partner content -- sister/ parent sites
creating content themes
*target audience* theme *brand* brand essence *environmental context* POV execution
persona map
*tasks* what tasks are users trying to complete? what questions do they need answered? *influence* what people, things or places may influence how the user acts? *overall goal* what is the users ultimate goal? what are they trying to achieve? *pain points* what pain points might the user be experiencing that they hope to overcome? *feelings* how is the user feeling about the experience? what really matters to them?
consider conversations
- Around your brand, industry and competitors - Where do they take place? - Who is doing most of the talking? Ask: - Where should your brand be? - What groups already exist? - Who are potential brand ambassadors? - Social Media objectives should be in line with overall business strategy. What do you want to achieve? - By when? - How will you measure success? - Create an Action Plan and implement it! - Don't forget to track, analyse and optimise. Use: Web analytics, URL shorteners, Social media dashboard -Put guidelines in place - Build on existing documentation: brand and tone of voice guidelines, PR policies, etc. -Start with the Social Media Checklist - Create community guidelines. Set the tone but keep them friendly. Look at: • Flickr • YouTube • The Guardian UK - Create a conversation calendar what if several people interact on behalf of the brand? -- Create an escalation protocol
key concepts in market research
• Research methodology • Qualitative and quantitative data • Primary and secondary research • Sampling
1. Interestingness
- But this, admittedly, is an elusive brief... - Relies on instinct and serendipity rather than science - Interestingness is somehow vital to the formula. Yet, no exact science
Optimise your content for social search engines
- Consider mobile SEO - Mobile SEO is a little different to desktop SEO but the fundamental principles remain - There are some differences • Search engines can deliver precise location-based results to mobile users • The importance of usability in sites for mobile devices • Search engines having less data to work with in terms of site history, traffic, and inbound links
in summary
- Content Strategy demands you have a plan for what you want to say - now and ongoing •Operate like a magazine publisher or talk show producer - conversation calendars and content development •Get granular...what are we planning to offer our newfound "fans" and "friends" next Thursday? •Real-time readiness - plan for responsiveness •Informs. messaging maps, metadata framework, SEO, taxonomy, technical copywriting, folksonomy, quality assurance, licensing evaluations •From social networks to the social web - less a destination more an ethos evidenced by ubiquity of social plugins, social sign-on, social graph, "like" and recommendation •Rise to Enterprise-level - ROI, big picture, business solution, beyond the marketing gimmick •From monitoring, conversation, campaign multiplier and platform
So, how do you get more links on a website?
- Create valuable content people want to read - Position yourself as an expert in the field - Use infographics - they're popular and useful - Create tools and documents that others want to use: - Create games that people want to play
manage communities
- Create, lead and guide communities - Use existing platforms like www.facebook.com - Or create your own www.ning.com - Improve customer service and support - Respond to customer queries in the social space. - Manage online reputation by responding to social mentions (positive or negative) and owning searches on your brand name
snapchat
- In 2017, there were 166 million daily active users, with 60% contributing content daily - Over 9 000 snaps are shared per second, averaging out to 400 million a day, and the platform receives 10 billion daily video views - The average user spends 30 minutes a day on the app.
How to win by responding
- Not just listening, doing something - Build in a process to talk back - (Re)act fast - Amplify your actions and responses so that everyone sees
Benefits of Online News Releases
- Online news releases allow for almost instant publishing of news online - A well-written news release can garner top rankings in the news engines (Google News, Yahoo! News, MSN News, etc.) - Adequate optimization can also result in SERP rankings - Content is syndicated quickly via RSS - Links are built naturally and effectively from online publishing - Distribution is increased beyond your contact list - Reach is far greater than that of a traditional news release - Reach and distribution can be easily tracked online.
In summary:
- PR 2.0 seeks to unlock mass advocacy through mass participation - from the era of "spin" and "coercion" towards openness and transparency - in a network, let people power your message - enable "win-win" - what's in it for me and you - not just releases and "announcements" - participatory ideas and interestingness that attracts engagement - savvy combo of both traditional and social media is the win, today
not all links are equal
- Pages with higher page rank themselves, will give you much more value when they link to you than pages with a lower page rank - More votes = more trusted = more important = better rank on search engines - What does a link look like? <a href="http://www.targeturl.com/targetpage.htm"> Anchor Text</a> (HTML code for a link) http://www.targeturl.com/targetpage.htm (Page the link leads to) - Anchor Text (The text that forms the clickable link displayed to users) But you can include more information <a href=http://www.targeturl.com/targetpage.htm rel="nofollow">Anchor Text</a> rel="nofollow" - can be included when you don't want to vouch for the target URL
planning is key
- get buy-in - understand the landscape - analyse - set objectives - create an action plan - implement - track, analyse, optimise
what is PR?
- Public Relations enables organisations to listen to, appreciate and respond to their customers and other stakeholders - Traditional PR focused on controlled release of information. - The Internet means information is freely available - The Internet can actually benefit PR: engage with a far wider community in immediate forms of communication - But you must listen to your customers - Use ORM to listen to what is being said online. Monitor all channels that a customer might use
consider SEO
- Social Media provides additional assets to be optimised - Social Media offers two-way communication -- It offers quick responses and up to date Information e.g., -- http://status.twitter.com Social Media offers advertisers: • Targeted adverts • A platform where users spend a lot of time • Different options for small businesses and large organisations Facebook offers: • ASUs (Ad Space Units) on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) or CPC (cost per click) basis • Or Facebook Engagement Ads which are bought on a CPM basis with a minimum spend threshold Twitter offers: • Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends, Promoted Accounts • Advertising options start at $5,000 US per month. http://business.twitter.com/ad • Promote Your Video (PYV) • Brand channels www.youtube.com/t/advertising_overview vertise/start. Linkedin offers: • Self service adverts • Selecting a target audience: job title, job function, industry, geography, age, gender, company name, company size, or LinkedIn Group. www.linkedin.com/advertising
build relationships through social networking
- Social networks can be for general audiences: www.facebook.com or for niche audiences: www.linkedin.com. •You can build your own social network •Ning •Motribe Use click tracking with URL shorteners. •bit.ly; goo.gl; ow.ly - In Facebook, tracking script can also be inserted in pages served through an iFrame.
4. Links are vital to how the Internet works
- They are there to allow a user to go from one web page to another - They help build signals of trust - They help to validate relevance - The content sends a signal of relevance; the link validates that signal e.g. A link with the text 'Durban pet friendly hotel' sends the message that you can trust the destination site is relevant to the term 'Durban pet friendly hotel'. Search engine spiders follow them
analysing data
- Track - Analyse - Optimise - A number is just a number until you can interpret it. - Analyse trends and changes over time to understand your brand's performance.
5. Usage data
- Usage data is the most effective way of judging the true relevancy of a website. - How do search engines access it? They use cookies to record search activity: •Keywords used •Websites visited from the search engine •Clickthrough rate •Bounce rates Most provide other services too Some of Google's services: •Google AdWords •Google AdSense •Google Checkout •Google Analytics
outcomes
- You want people who visit your website to perform an action that increases your revenue - Analysing goals and KPIs indicates where there is room for improvement - Look at user intent to establish if your website meets the users' goals, and if these match with the website goals. Look at user experience to determine how outcomes can be influenced
how to shock status quo
- go a decidedly different (and interesting) route, break from expectations - get users engaged with how you did it - in an age of few mysteries, mysteries attract
3. Exploit a Cultural Insight
- make something that people want (paul graham - ycombinator) How to Exploit A Cultural Insight? • Make something that people want • Mine a human truth that (lots of) people may relate to... • Match that human truth to the product/brand
In Class Workshop: Vegemite and Millenials
- our communications tactics on Facebook may be guided by 4 "Ways in" -- high fives -- fist bumps -- savings -- life(style) support This strategy will come to life in a very specific tone of voice; we're the Millennials' "cool uncle" - fun and permissive - positive - we're to the point - we have a classic sense of humor - ... not too sophisticated - yet never childish, nor mean-spirited - spontaneous - generous and supportive - social ---- through an occasional visitor in their lives, we're sure to make every encounter worth it Vegemite's Millennials Strategy: Be the Additive Effect on Millennials' Favorite Things Social Idea: Vegemite is.. "High Fives" continue to show that we care by listening and responding in a timely way
4. Leverage a Community of Like Minds
- people add value How to Leverage a Community of Like Minds? • Let people in • Celebrate the work of others • Partner with the experts • Curate, don't (have to) make
share knowledge
- the wiki •Create and update documents •Review versions •Community-oriented tools
segmentation
- use A/B testing, usability testing and listen to the voices of your customers - Characterise groups of users and analyse metrics for each group •Referral URL •Landing pages •Connection speed, operating system, browser •Geographical location •First time visitors
the future of search
- voice to answers - photo to answers - semantic/ AI
Link Juice
-Site's search ranking benefits then from the increase in the link quantity -Close proximity to a site that has a good reputation
Key elements to analyse (3 pronged approach to web analytics)
1. Analysing behaviour data infers the intent of a website's visitors. Why are people visiting the website? 2. Analysing outcomes metrics shows how many visitors performed the goal actions on a website. Are visitors completing the goals we want them to? 3. A wide range data tells us about the user experience. What are the patterns of user behaviour? How can we influence them so that we achieve our objectives?
social media tools fall into 6 major categories
1. Communication (facebook, foursquare, linkedin) 2. Commerce (ebay, etsy, yardsellr) 3. Multimedia (flickr, youtube, vimeo) 4. Publishing (wordpress, google doc, wikipedia, digg) 5. Opinions/Forums (yelp, yahoo answers) 6. Escape (wow, sims online, farmville)
Step-by-step guide UX design
1. Conduct research and discovery 2. Create the site's basic structure 3. Analyse content 4. Create a sitemap 5. Build the navigation 6. Create the layout 7. Assemble the other elements 8. Define the visual design 9. Conduct testing
planning and setting up a campaign
1. Do your homework 2. Define your goals 3. Budget, cost per action( CPA)and targets 4. Keyword research 5. Write the adverts 6. Place you rbids 7. Tracking 8. Measure, analyse, test, optimise!
Step-by-step guide to conversion optimisation
1. Gather data 2. Analyse 3. Fix anything that's broken 4. Design tests 5. Run tests 6. Report and repeat
How to recover from a brand attack
1. Humility It can happen to you 2. Listen Understand: The possible scope of effects How the process of complaints has evolved 3. Act immediately! Respond quickly Show you care 4. If what they're saying is false... Send them evidence to the contrary (in a friendly tone) Ask for a removal or retraction If nothing happens, comment 5. If what they're saying is true... Send your side of the story and try to take it offline 6. Keep the negative pages out of the search engines Knock them off the first page of the results with basic SEO and social media pages Keep adding until the pages are out of site 7. Maintain communication If you aren't yet, get online! Start a blog Participate in forums and chat rooms 8. Engage in the conversation Use blogs and be open and honest If crisis hits you will be well placed 9. Care Give good service and respect 10. Be prepared Have strategies in place to identify a reputation crisis Respond quickly (If all else fails, apologise and move on)
10 Guidelines/Guardrails for a Contagious Idea
1. Interestingness 2. Solve a Problem 3. Exploit a Cultural Insight 4. Leverage a Community of Like Minds 5. Keep It Simple, Stupid 6. (Re)Act Fast 7. ...Try, Try, Again 8. Express the Brand (Clearly) 9. Take a Stand 10. Get Integrated
7 trends for eMarketing
1. Wisdom of Crowds or "Mass Intelligence" Aggregation of information in groups, resulting in decisions that are often better than could have been made by any single member of the group. 2. Folksonomy A system of classification derived from collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content; also known as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging. 3. User Generated Content Expansion of media production through new technologies that are accessible and affordable to the general public. ( e.g., question-answer databases, digital video, blogging, podcasting, forums, review-sites, social networking, software and apps, mobile phone photography and wikis) 4. Data transformations (i.e "Mashups") In web development, a mashup is a web page or application that uses and combines data, presentation or functionality from two or more sources to create new services. The main characteristics of the mashup are combination, visualization, and aggregation to make existing data more useful. 5. Lifestreaming A time-ordered stream of documents that functions as a diary of your electronic life; every document you create and every document other people send you is stored in your lifestream. Also known as Lifelogging, social streams or even social graph 6. Geo-Social Geo-Social Networking is a type of social networking in which geographic services and capabilities such as geocoding and geo-tagging are used to enable additional social dynamics. User-submitted location data or geo-location techniques can allow social networks to connect and coordinate users with local people or events that match their interests 7. Social-Gaming Social gaming commonly refers to playing games as a way of social interaction, as opposed to playing games in solitude, like some card games(solitaire) and the single-player mode of many video games
beyond interestingness, additional ways to unlock advocacy in the era of PR 2.0..... (on midterm)
1. shock the system: garnering attention through a decidedly different viewpoint 2. bring friends: garnering attention from your groundswell of participation 3. talk back: garnering good will from listening and responding [Remember to monitor it. Where and how is it being republished?]
what is a display URL?
A URL for show, not the actual URL, also called a vanity URL. • The display URL must be the same domain as the destination URL. • Google will show only one advert per domain. • For example: -- Display URL: www.brand.com/offer -- Destination URL: www.brand.com/182320? u&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoK%2FMZ
backlink
A link at another site leading to your site and also called an incoming link. These are seen as indications of popularity by search engines
usability
A measure of how easy a system is to use. Sites with excellent usability fare far better than those that are difficult to use
online press room
A part of a Web site aimed at providing journalists with pertinent corporate information, such as PR contacts, images, and press releases
editor
A person who determines the ultimate content of copy, traditionally understood to be in the newspaper, magazine or publishing industry context
4. Create a sitemap
A sitemap is the visualised structural plan for how the website's pages will be laid out and organised
Crafting a digital marketing strategy
A strategy needs to cover the questions of who you are, what you are offering and to whom, as well as why and how you are doing so • Context • Value exchange • Objectives • Tactics and evaluation • Ongoing optimisation
key phrase
A word or words that a Web site optimizes for. Also used to refer to words that are used by users of search engines
Search advertising is keyword based
Adverts are displayed when potential customers are *already expressing intent* - they are searching for a product or service Advertisers present their offering to a potential customer who is *already in the buying cycle*
conversion and click through rates
Adverts nearer the top of the page attract the highest clickthrough rates. Competition can be fierce and the cost per click very high. Ads at the top of the page generally: •Are very relevant to a user's search query • Consistently perform well,with high CTRs overtime • The CPC bidis competitive and outbids other ads of the same quality
commerce/exchange tools
Allowing people to buy, sell and trade goods and services Common Themes: 1. Collective labor 2. User generated goods and services 3. Reselling, bartering
escapist tools
Allowing people to connect through alternate worlds, realities. Common Themes: 1. Closed societies with their own customs/currency/rules 2. Having more friends/cohorts makes them better
publishing tools
Allowing people to publish information and share/distribute it as broadly as they choose Common Themes: 1.Easy to use/organize versions of printing press 2.Can 'share' with a pre-determined group
multimedia tools
Allowing people to save, organize and 'publish' their photos/videos/etc. Common Themes: 1. Lots of server/cloud space 2. Sharing Functions
the new P: people
Allows for personalisation, peer-to-peer sharing, communities and consumer-centric organisations
search advertising
Also called pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, is a way to advertise your business or product directly on SERPS. - From text adverts to rich media banners to video adverts - Search advertising generates 95% of Google's revenue - the first 2-3 searches in google with yellow box around them
content audit
An examination and valuation of the existing content which a brand publishes
AdWords quality score
As well as your bid, the search engine will take other factors into account. For Google AdWords, this is known as Quality Score *Quality Score is determined by:* • The relevance of the keyword to the search term • The relevance of the advert copy to the search term • The relevance of the landing page to the search term • The historic CTR of that advert
Working with data
Assumptions and gut feel are not enough - you need to back these up with solid facts and clear results Data concepts: • Performance monitoring and trends • Big data • Data mining
from Web 1.0 - Web 2.0
At the close of the "dotcom bubble"a pattern began to arise Common idea: Web 2.0 experiences fundamentally get better the more people use them For example, Amazon leverages a human truth: purchase decisions are not separated from the social influence of others ( This approach has prevailed among today's most successful internet retailers)
Step 2: Measure the influence and impact
Audit the content your own company is sending out Assess influence by considering: •Traffic, links and subscriber numbers. •The credibility of the author •Looking at the source (news item, comment, photo etc.) Create a database to capture this information
and respond to them....
Blogs and forums are key starting points Be transparent and honest In the age of digital, the call-to-action for PR 2.0 is advocacy (through participation) Build a voice online: •Online article syndication •Press releases •Blogging
blogging
Build relationships with bloggers - remember they are individuals Tips on pitching to bloggers: •Read their blog and engage •Make pitches personal and relevant •Provide accurate key information •Don't try to spin a story Show that you're aware of who is talking about you and who is talking about their blog - Be transparent - Provide links to images, logos and press releases - Create your own blog to engage and communicate - Blogs also play a role in SEO - fresh, optimised content *Keep information accessible by creating an online press room
4. Design tests (Step-by-step guide to conversion optimisation)
Choose your: • Test type • Sample size • Test length - spilt or A/B test - multivariate test Content Experiments is a built-in A/B testing tool for Google Analytics • Automates the testing process • Reports on statistically significant results • Suggests test length • Adjusts how pages are served based on their effectiveness
1. Gather data (Step-by-step guide to conversion optimisation)
Collect data from: • Web analytics - crazy egg or clicktale • User surveys - kissmetrics • Customer service agents
1. Conduct research and discovery
Conducting detailed research on the business, the users, and the technology involved Doing this lets UX practitioners know exactly what they need to do to address the needs of the business and audience This will generate a lot of data that needs to be filtered and organised
Step 1: Context
Consider the context of the organisation and various stakeholders • How is your context likely to change in future (PESTLE)? • Who is your brand and why does it matter? • Who are your customers, what are their needs, wants, desires? • Competitors?
tracking
Conversion tracking enables campaign reporting all the way through conversion Types of tracking: • Tracking pixels • Tracking tags • Third-party tracking • Pay-per-click tracking • Google Analytics
understanding customers
Create a clear picture of your customers, based on market research. Don't assume. Get insight into their needs and desires, as well as their decision-making journeys (which in digital spaces is not always)
3. Fix anything that's broken (Step-by-step guide to conversion optimisation)
Deal with any clear issues, problems or faults that you have discovered
2. Analyse (Step-by-step guide to conversion optimisation)
Determine: • What people should be doing on the site • Who is coming to the site, and why • What they are doing on the site
Assignment: Create Social Idea(s) for Vegemite
Devise ideas, posts, sweepstakes that are relevant and add value to a millennial generation -AND connect them to Vegemite Things to Note: • Focus in Facebook, but allow your ideas/campaign to follow them into other parts of their lives • Think quality over quantity • Partner into small groups and concept social idea(s) to present at the end of class • Select 1 (or a couple) people from your group to present the idea to the class ideas: - have it as an ingredient in chopped - get it free with coffee - advertise it as vitamin supplement - challenge (like cinnamon) - advertise it as vegan - taste tester (like payless shoes convincing ppl it was expensive shoes)
8. Speak to the Brand (Clearly)
How to Speak to the Brand? - A big idea...that must never leave the brand idea/values behind "Ah-ha"- telegraphic of something about the product/service/brand - Yet, not a commercial object
how bidding works
Each advertiser will pay the bid of the advertiser below him, plus a standard increment (typically $0.01), for a click on their advert.
focus groups
Focus groups involve respondents gathering online and reacting to a particular topic, and are used to get consumer views on: • New products or marketing campaigns • Existing products and campaigns, and how they can be improved • Sentiment around the brand • Views on a brand's new direction or visual style • Ideas for how the brand could improve its position or branding
Step 4: Tactics and Evaluation
Each tactic has its own strengths and weaknesses: *SEO and Customer retention & acquisition* Ensures your organisation's offering will appear in search results, reach potential customers. An optimised site means great UX, a factor for retention *search advertising and sales, customer retention, & acquisition* Allows advertiser to reach people already in the buying cycle, expressing interest in what they have to offer *online advertising and branding & acquisition* Can be targeted to physical locations, subject areas, past user behaviours, etc *affiliate marketing and sales & branding* Reward referrers, for every subscriber, useful for acquisition *video marketing and branding, customer retention & value creation* Highly interactive and engaging, capturing attention. Offers tangible value - entertainment or inspiration - and can boost brand image *social media and branding, value creation & participation* Tells story and allows consumer to be part of it. Provide crowd-sourced feedback, allows brand to share content directly *email marketing and customer retention & value creation* Great tool for building relationships, aim to maximise retention (i.e. profitability) and segment properly for best results
segmentations
Every visitor to a website is different, but there are some ways in which we can characterise groups of users, and analyse metrics for each group Segments include: • Referral source • Landing pages and content • Connection speed, operating system,browser, device • Geographical location • New vs .returning visitors
Step 2: Value Exchange
Examine your current value proposition or promise, and supporting value-adds to the market. Are there extras? USPs? • Audience defines what is valuable to them • Content marketing, valuable information, entertainment or support
opinion/forum tools
Give people a low barrier soap box to help, harm or warn one another Common Themes: 1. Provide user-generated 3rd party reviews (wisdom of crowds) 2. Allow other users to 'vote' on helpfulness (or not) of others' reviews/ratings
the benefits of UX
Good UX is an excellent way to differentiate yourself in the market and give yourself a competitive advantage • If your online touchpoints are easy, fun, intuitive and awesome to use, your customers won't have any reason to look elsewhere • Good UX research and design allows you to find the best solution for your needs
who is the market leader?
Google AdWords is the best known and is considered the industry standard •Transact in the currency of your choice • Comprehensive analytics tool •Offers training programmes and certifications • Has the best contextual and geographical targeting worldwide
ad extensions
Google offers several ways to add value or information to search adverts - ways to extend the ad - location extensions (adds a map/ location) - call extensions (little call button) - social extensions - seller ratings - site links - offer extensions (stuff like free shipping, $10 off) - image extensions
Use specialised tools to do this
Google's bespoke services: •Google Alerts: www.google.com/alerts •Google News: news.google.com •Google Blog Search: blogsearch.google.com •Google Patent Search: www.google.com/patents •Google Video Search: video.google.com/videosearch Search engines: •Blogpulse: www.blogpulse.com •Technorati: www.technorati.com Monitoring blog posts: •Boardtracker: www.boardtracker.com •Co.mments: co.mments.com •Yahoo! Services:
writing great ad copy
Great ad copy is the only tool available to attract attention, convey a message and entice action. • Understand the searcher's intent and keywords used to find your brand • Use compelling and well-crafted CTAs • Use offers and benefits
6. (Re)Act Fast
How to (Re)Act Fast? Lightening rarely strikes... • Keep your antennae out for serendipity • Develop an internal process for fast review and approval • Got budget? Financial planning model is key
10. Get Integrated
How to Get Integrated? - Don't silo social from your traditional advertising planning - Leverage the weight and visibility of mass media to spark attention for your "viral" video - Integrate all your social touch points to amplify engagement and awareness - No Post and Pray - don't leave your "viral" awareness to chance
5. KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid
How to Keep It Simple... - Remain close to your original pure idea - Avoid feature bloat Launch, don't (over)think - "So simple, a Caveman could do it..."
9. Take a Stand
How to Take a Stand? - Take a position on matters, have a POV - Not simply "outrageousness" but authenticity - Go bold - Don't take yourself so seriously - most winning memes don't - Consider ways to make it real (world)
digital marketing
If marketing creates and satisfies demand, digital marketing does so using the internet, and satisfying this demand in new, innovative ways, based on feedback • Interactive: exchange of value • Value(forbrands):time, attention and advocacy of consumer • Value(for customers):entertainment, enlightenment, utility • Create meaningful benefits and value for consumer • Doing so consistently to earn trust and loyalty
5. Run tests (Step-by-step guide to conversion optimisation)
Implement the correct tracking code and take your test live!
user experience
In order to determine the factors that influence user experience, you must test and determine the patterns of user behaviour. Understanding why users behave in a certain way on your website will show you how that behaviour can be influenced to improve your outcomes
persona
In this context, a character created to define a group of users in order to speak to them as though they were a unique user. Usually a hypothetical character created to represent and personify a set of traits
2. Create the site's basic structure
Information architecture (IA) is about managing information • Put information into logical,clear and familiar structures • Crucial to usability • Categories and pages should flow from broad to narrow • An intuitively designed structure will guide the user to the site's goals
IoT
Internet of Things
User experience (UX)
Is the overall satisfaction a user gets from interacting with a product or digital tool. *User experience design (UXD, sometimes UED)* Is he process of applying proven principles, techniques and features to a digital tool to create and optimise the user experience. *User-centred design(UCD)* Is the design philosophy that prioritises the user's needs and wants above all else, and places the user at the centre of the entire experience. This often entails research and testing with real users of the site or product.
Step 5: Ongoing optimisation
It is increasingly important for brands to be dynamic, flexible and agile when marketing online • New tactics and platforms emerge every week • Customer behaviours change over time • People's needs and wants from brand evolve as their relationship grows Allow tactics and strategies to be modified and optimised as you go
Universal mobile UX principles
Keep these principles in when designing a mobile website, an app or a nifty responsive site • Simplify • Reduce loading time • Encourage exploration • Give feedback • Communicate consistently • Predict what your user wants
links between people and business
Land O' Lakes
content creation
Learning from publishers • Focus on value and interest for the user and building a relationship based on supplying information, inspiration, or entertainment that suits the customer's needs Resource planning - thinking like a publisher • Map the workflow of content creation Always on content planning • Ongoing delivery and engagement
Web users' behaviour can indicate a lot about their intent
Looking at referral URLs and search terms used to find the website can tell you a great deal about what problems visitors are expecting your site to solve
what is social media
Media designed to be shared (written, visual, audio, audio visual, etc.) Also called Web 2.0, consumer generated media (CGM) and new media. *traditional media* - fixed, unchangeable - commentary limited and not real-time - limited, time-delayed bestseller lists - archives poorly accessible - limited media mix - committee publishers - finite - sharing not encouraged - control *social media* - instantly updateable - unlimited real-time commentary - instant popularity gauge - archives accessible - all media can be mixed - individual publishers - infinite - sharing and participation encouraged - freedom
Motoreasy
Motoreasy puts their broad marketing activities to good use by improving the conversion rate on their website and increasing business four-fold What happened? Once these changes were implemented, the dropout rate for the first part of the process fell from 65 per cent to 29 per cent Key insights: • Looking at the drop-off rate at each stage in the conversion funnel was important to identify problems • A high drop-off rate across the conversion funnel could highlight a general problem with the process itself • It was important to direct visitors by spelling out the action they should complete while clearly and consistently communicating the benefits of doing so. This would motivate them to complete the conversion funnel
communication platform tools
Networks that have become ways to exchange information between Common Themes: 1. Highly connected. 2. Short form (usually). 3. Tasks focused on sharing info (life-streaming)
primary research
New data is gathered for a particular product or hypothesis. This is where information does not exist already or is not accessible • Surveys • Focus groups • Research panels • Research communities
traditional media
Newspapers, magazines, television and publishing houses are the realm of traditional media
Step 3: Objectives
Objectives are essential to determining whether your strategy is effective. Objectives need to be SMART • S - Specific • M - Measurable • A - Attainable • R - Realistic • T - Time-bound When setting objectives, ask: "What are we doing any of this? What goal, purpose, or outcome are we looking for?" • Tactics Specific tools to meet objectives • KPIs Metrics to determine whether tactics are meeting objectives. • Targets Values set for KPI
online article syndication
Online article syndication is not directly promotional: •They are not press releases •Provide valuable and relevant content Choose a relevant topic and optimise it! First publish it to your website - you're considered the "expert" and reap the SEO benefits of optimised content Convert it into html Some basics: •Bold: <b>phrase you wish to bold</b> •Italicise: <i>phrase you wish to italicise</i> •Underline: <>phrase you wish to underline</> •List: <li>lines you wish to list</li> •Paragraph: <p> •Line break: <br> •Link: <a href="page url">phrase you wish to link</a> Then publish it in directories But you may need to edit it first ('About the Author', tagging, descriptions etc.) Some article syndication sites: •www.ezinearticles.com •www.goarticles.com •www.articledashboard.com •www.amazines.com •www.articlerich.com •www.isnare.com •www.articlesbase.com [Remember to monitor it. Where and how is it being republished?]
Optimising for search engines vs. users
Optimising a website for search engines should entail optimising the website for users - done properly, it should result in a better user experience
understanding the environment
Overall context, or "outside world" in which business functions • Global economics • Industry developments • PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental)
amazon's $300 million button
Perhaps the most dramatic example of how a simple UX fix can impact the business • Amazon managed to gain an extra $300 million worth of sales simply by changing their 'Register' button to one that read 'Continue' instead • Customer purchases increased by 45% because they weren't scared off by the idea of registering
5. Build the navigation
Successful navigation should help a user to answer four basic questions: 1. WhereamI? 2. How did I get here? 3. Where can I go next? 4. How do I get home?
How should you respond?
Recognise that consumers hold the upper hand in the relationship Be transparent and honest. Responding to a blogpost: •Find the writer's contact details •Email them directly •As a last resort, use the comments Use ORM to evolve your business Use data to make decisions
Length of tests and sample size
Relatively simple calculations help you to determine how long a test is likely to take, which is based on the number of participants as well as the improvement in conversion rate • Number of participants • Change in conversion rate • Number of variations
6. Report & repeat (Step-by-step guide to conversion optimisation)
Review and analyse your findings, and present them in a report to key decision makers. Then, test some more! No result? • Try testing something bigger • Send more traffic to the page BUT no difference can mean the change is not significant to audiences!
2. Solve a Problem
Ron "Ronco" Popeil is one of America's unique inventors, whose products have pulled in more than $2 billion in sales. His professed Secrets of Success: • 1. Solve a problem. "What I always do on TV, and on the product packaging itself, is make my customer aware of the problem and how my product offers the solution." • 2. Solve a big ass problem. "...the first question you have to ask yourself is how big will your audience be?"
bidding and ranking
Search ads are charged on a per-click basis. The cost is determined by a variety of factors, and is based on a bidding system • Run as an auction model • Advertisers place bids to appear based on certain criteria •The advertising platform determines when adverts are eligible to appear • The advertiser pays the advertising platform when their advert is clicked on
keeping ahead of the curve
Search engines update their algorithms regularly. This can result in loss of rankings A contingency plan needs to be in place to cope with a sudden drop in rankings
heat maps
Show you exactly where users click on a web page, regardless of whether they are clicking on links or not It produces information that helps you to know which areas of a website are clickable, but attract few or no clicks, and which areas are not clickable but have users attempting to click there.
marketing with social media
Social media is all about the ways in which we create, connect, converse and share content online and can be used as an integral part of an online marketing campaign. Working with social media can be broken up into three phases: 1. Strategy 2. Implementation, which includes content creation and community engagement 3. Analytics.
boilerplate
Standard wording about an organization that usually appears at the foot of a press release
marketing strategy - step 1
Step 1: Get a grip on the business and brand strategy Business goals: to be profitable • What business challenges are we facing that prevents us from making more revenue? • What business objective should we strive for in order to increase the money in the bank?
marketing strategy - step 2
Step 2: Address these business challenges Based on a solid assessment of: • Environment • Business • Customers • Competitors
7. ...Try, Try Again
Steve Jobs: "Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations." Apple Product Fails: - lisa - apple tv - macintosh portable - newton - pippin - a/ux operating system - "hockey puck" usb mouse - mac cube - quicktale digital camera Google Product Fails: - google base - google video - google catalog search - google notebook - dodgeball - jaiku - google mashup editor - google answer - google voice search (20 holiday-themed sites...one struck jackpot. Ideation to Production to market - 5 weeks)?? How to Try, Try Again? -Put more bets on the board -Learn from failures -Relieve the pressure -Fail fast -Fix fast -Stop chasing the "big hits" and build a steady songbook
usability
Stick to standard conventions - common ways of displaying things online *Popular conventions include:* •Links that are blue and underlined • Navigation menus at the top or left of the webpage • The logo in the top left-hand corner, which is linked back to the home page • Search boxes placed at the top of the page, using standard wording such as 'search', or a magnifying glass icon *Some key 'don'ts' when it comes to building a user-friendly website:* • Never resize windows or launch the site in a pop-up • Don't use entry or splash pages • Never build a site entirely in Flash • Don't distract users with 'Christmas trees'
six qualities that make up good UX
• Findability • Accessibility • Desirability • Usability • Credibility • Usefulness
Designing surveys
Surveys are questionnaires that contain a series of questions around a specific topic. How you design a survey and its questions will directly impact on your success Types of survey questions: • Open-ended - allow respondents to answer in their own words. This usually ends in qualitative data • Closed - give respondents specific responses from which to choose, and are typically multiple choice with one or multiple answers Types of survey questions: • Ranked or ordinal - ask respondents to rank items in order of preference or relevance. Respondents are given a numeric scale to indicate order. This usually results in quantitative data. • Matrix and rating - can be used to quantify qualitative data. Respondents are asked to rank behaviour or attitude.
Web PR
Taking a job traditionally performed by a professional and distributing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call
understanding the business
The brand itself: what does it stand for? What does it mean? This is essential to establish, as marketing messages will encapsulate the brand's identity and objectives • Associations, ideas, emotions • USP • Value proposition • Reason to believe
Step 1: Listen to the conversation
The Internet is a real-time focus group Use ORM keywords to track conversations. Searches include these main focus areas: *Company* • Brand name • Key products • Key personnel • Key campaigns and activities *Industry* • Conferences • Patents • News *Competitors* • Brand names • Product launches • Website updates • Job vacancies
8. Define the visual design
The first impression comes from the look of the website - these design principles are important for a UX practitioner to know: • Colour • Imagery
Setting objectives, goals and KPIs
The key to success for any website or online campaign is designing it with specific, unique, clearly defined objectives in mind These are used to measure the success of the website or campaign, and are crucial to maintaining focus within online activities
landing pages
The page that the user reaches by clicking on an advert is called a landing page. - Landing pages can make or break an advertising campaign Campaigns that convert • Make sure that users land on a page relevant to their search • Use a very visible Call to Action
3. Analyze content
The points that UX needs to address are: • What the site should achieve • What the user wants and needs • What makes the content unique,valuable or different • The tone and language used
content strategy
There are countless companies that have amazing, well-written websites, but when it comes to content strategy on social media... they fall a bit short...simply posting the link and letting the link preview on Facebook do all the work isn't always working anymore...Social media users are getting smarter and know how to decipher and sift through the content that company pages have posted on Facebook - now that we have 1000's of "friends", what do we care to say to them today?
Mobile devices
There are five main categories that mobile devices can fall into: 1. Dumb or basic phones 2. Feature phones 3. Smartphones 4. Tablets 5. Other mobile devices - such as ebook readers, netbooks, portable game consoles and other media devices such as iPods
mobile data
There are no special, new or different metrics to use. You will probably be focusing your attention on some key aspects like technologies and the user experience • Device category • Mobile device info • Mobile input selector • Operating system
matrix & rating types
They can be balanced or unbalanced - determining whether someone can express a neutral opinion or not
SWOT analysis
This forms part of the situational analysis, and identifies the key issues that direct the marketing strategy internal, helpful: strengths internal, harmful: weaknesses external, helpful: opportunities external, harmful: threats
matching content formats to objectives
To gain and keep the attention of consumers/ users, it's sometimes not enough to rely simply on text-based forms of content. The role of the content marketer is to select the right medium based on overall objectives, production capabilities and the needs of the audience
building blocks of marketing strategy
Use the following as starting points for thinking about your business and brand challenges • Porter's Five Forces analysis • The Four Ps • SWOT analysis
secondary research
Uses existing, published data as a source of information. It can be more cost effective than primary research The data would, however, originally have been collected for solving problems other than the one at hand, so it might not be sufficiently specific. Secondary research can be useful in identifying problems to be investigated through primary research.
what types of info are captured?
Web analytics metrics are divided into: • Counts-simple numbers • Ratios-comparisons between two data points Metrics can be applied to three different groupings: • Aggregate - all traffic • Segmented-a subset of traffic filtered according to a specific characteristic • Individual-a single visitor
hit
a request to the server
What does this mean for SEO?
Websites must: • Be valuable enough to attract both visitors and links naturally • Retain visitors and make sure they return to the website • Convert visitors - Social content can appear in SERPs and is growing increasingly influential in search rankings - Use social media properties to dominate brand SERPs. Remember that real-time search relies on social media e.g. Twitter - Links from social sites are used as signals of relevance. Personalised results are influenced by your online social network
user experience design
What you'll learn • To think about web projects with a UX mindset • How to create usable, amazing and enjoyable experiences for desktop and mobile users •The nuts and bolts of implementing UX strategy step by step • About a variety of awesome UX tools
User-centric design
When designing for the user, you need to ask the following questions • Who is the user? • What are the user's wants and needs from your platform? • Why is the user really coming to your website? • What are the user's capabilities, web skills and available technology? • What features would make the user's experience easier and better?
public relations
a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organization's ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values
keyword strategy
Which is more important? High volume of traffic (but less qualified) = Broad, general keywords Highly-qualified leads (but lower volume) = Long-tail keywords
Online research methodologies
Which methodology should you choose? That all depends on a variety of factors, from your research question and purpose to your budget and time • Surveys • Online focus groups • Online monitoring
understanding competitors
Who else is marketing to your customers, what do they offer, and how can you challenge or learn from them? Digital space: • Competing not only your customers money but their attention • Disruptive innovations • Potential replacements for your product, service
setting campaign goals
You need to know the value of each conversion. If the value of a conversion is less than the cost of achieving it, you effectively lose money with every conversion
content models
Your organization's content requirements and objectives should determine the structure of your content teams. High-production value documentary type videos are created and sponsored by the brand to achieve awareness and develop brand affinity across its target market.
conversion
a visitor completing a target action Other metrics for digital marketing tactics:
the goal of...
a website or campaign in web analytics refers to an action that a user takes on a website or a type of user behaviour ex: subscribe to newsletter by filling out the web form
the objective of ...
a website or online campaign expresses the strategic outcomes of the business ex: Increase the number of email newsletter subscribers by 10% in the next six months
world wide web
a wide-area hypermedia information retrieval initative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents everything there is online about W3 is linked directly or indirectly to this document, including an executive summary of the project, mailing lists, policy, november's W3 news, FAQ whats out there? - pointers to world's online info, subjects, W3 servers, etc help - on the browser you are using software products - a list of W3 project components and their current state (e.g. line mode, x11, viola, neXTstep, servers, tools, mail roboto, library) technical - details of protocols, formats, program internals, etc bibliography
how to structure an advertising campaign
account > campaign > ad group
news release
also called a press release, is an electronic or paper document issued to the media with the intention of gaining news coverage. It follows established layout guidelines
real simple syndication (RSS)
an easy way of syndicating content, and aggregating content. Allows for users to access the info on a website without all the extra bumf
KPIs
are metrics that are used to indicate whether objectives are being met ex: number of subscriptions
digital marketing strategy
builds on and adapts the principles of traditional marketing, using the opportunities and challenges offered by the digital medium. A digital marketing strategy should be constantly iterating and evolving
1/9/90 rule
community > your consumers > authenticity, proximity, recommendation ideation: creative consumers (1%) > validation: enthusiasts (9%) > amplification: general audiences (90%)
from developing releases and statements towards....
content and episodes that engages (and spreads) [press release, content development, content mgmt, content distribution]
9. Conduct testing
create new version → test → analyze results → identify improvements
culture is being ....
created from the ground up, and just about anyone with a computer/smartphone and an idea may become a content-producing superstar • In the age of consumer participation, brands are now competing with the crowd as well as with their competition. • We must open up our channels for co-creation, as more and more people participate.
influence action
despite the proliferation of media channels, the objective remains largely the same attention → engage → influence → action
foundation of successful analysis and optimisation is to....
determine goals upfront and use these to determine KPIs
open
each email that is deemed open, usually if the images are loaded an email is considered open
impression
each time an advert or a page is served
nike transformed its marketing strategy by ...
embracing key digital strategies like data analytics, social engagement and storytelling
online reputation management (ORM)
ensuring that you know what is being said about you online, and that you are leading the convo
reliable sources
from breaking news to politics, our classic reliable sources have had to embrace the participation and influence of users
traditional media
has adapted to keep up with audiences •Newspapers are published in print and online •TV adverts are available online
your conversion rate is..
how many people > your web page > goal: placed an order, subscribed to a newsletter, or whatever you chose > expressed as a percentage
online monitoring
in the digital world you can simply "listen" to the conversation happening about you • Keywords-track conversations taking place online. The internet makes it easy for a company to identify and use the channels that customers use to talk about an organisation • Online tools -track mentions of a company,its staff, its products, its industry and its competitors. The tool then gathers and collates all the mentions it finds, so that you can analyse the data for insights.
press releases
increasingly going directly to readers and not through journalists • How are they disseminated? - Press release is submitted to newswire - It is syndicated by RSS - Then picked up by news engines - And viewed by readers • Optimise them for search and social media by using keywords and links • Again, publish press releases to your own site first • Then publish to newswires www.i-newswire.com www.pr.com www.pressexposure.com www.1888pressrelease.com www.sanepr.com www.pressbuzz.com • Also consider distributing them to bookmarking sites and social networks • Social media press releases to pitch to bloggers can be a bit of a sensitive task
PR is an exercise in...
influencing the influencers for the purpose of fueling advocacy
content audit
involves an audit of all the existing content supplied by the brand such as the website, white papers, articles, videos and content shared on social media sites can all be considered An assessment can then be made of how well these pieces of content match the strategic needs of the brand, its audience and the appropriateness to the chosen channel
algorithm
is a mathematical, computational or statistical method pre-determined to take a number of variables into account and output a single, quantifiable result that is a function of all the variables
content marketing
is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action
develop our own contagious ideas by....
learning from those who do it best • Talked with some of the thought leaders and practitioners of successful meme generation • Devised some top rules of the road for making ideas that spread
syndicate
making content available for distribution among selected clients
search engine optimisation (SEO)
making sure that you are achieving optimal rankings by the search engines
Credibility
means how trustworthy and legitimate something looks *Cues that visitors use to determine the credibility of a website:* • Looks • Prominent phone numbers and addresses where they are easy to locate • Informative and personal 'about us' • Genuine testimonials • Logos of associations and awards • Links to credible third-party references or endorsements • Fresh, up-to-date content • No errors
page exit ratio
number of exits from a page divided by total number of page views of that Page
algorithmic curation
refers to the algorithms platforms have created for dealing with information overload. Various platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and the search engine Google, use algorithms to filter out the amount of information that is delivered to users use a number of factors to determine what is actually relevant and interesting to the user doing a search or looking at their news feed
workflow map
research > write > review > revise > approve > upload to CMS > web page review > publish > maintenance
The classic vision for digital
robots who will do the hard work for us - thus freeing us to "be" - Computing, pre-internet, evolved in pursuit of unlocking ultimate human efficiencies, and escapism - Post internet, fast(er), cheap(er) technology and social factors converge to create social computing - Computing, post-internet, still enables human efficiencies (and escapisms), while also unlocking social value
example - pedigree
pedigree smartly bought competitive search terms to assure newly inquiring minds will find their way to pedigree's new super bowl ad ~purchased terms: - beneful - purina - dog chow
Time to reach 50 mm users, by media
radio: 38 years tv: 13 years internet: 4 years ipod: 3 years iphone: 2.8 years facebook & angry birds: 9 months ipad: -28 days
local search
search behaviour and results where location matters
bounce rate
single page view visits divided by entry pages
social media channels can be used ...
strategically to address business, marketing and communication challenges - community management - support & customer service - reputation management - SEO - communication and outreach - advertising and awareness - insights and research - sales and lead generation
3 phases of working with social media
strategy analytics implementation
translating your brand essence
sums up the unique attributes of a brand and the basis for its emotional connection with customers The sweet spot for content marketing lies in an intercept between the marketing goals of a brand, the brand personality as it guides and differentiates that brand in the marketplace and the consumer motivation for paying any attention to a brand at all
referrer
the URL that originally generated the request for the current page • internal referrer - a URL that is part of the same website • external referrer - a URL that is outside of the website • search referrer - the URL has been generated by a search function • visit referrer - the URL that originated a particular visit • original referrer - the URL that sent a new visitor to the website
marketing
the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large • Motivate consumers to pay for your product, consider brand superior to competitors • Create meaningful benefits and value for consumer • Doing so consistently to earn trust and loyalty
entry page
the first page of a visit
what raised the bar on transparency and responsibility
the internet
exit page
the last page of a visit
visit duration
the length of time in a session
social media
the media that is published, created, and shared by individuals on the internet, such as blogs, images, video and more
unique visitors
the number of individual people visiting the website one or more times within a period of time. Each individual is counted once: • new visitor - a unique visitor who visits the website for the first time ever in the period of time • repeat visitor - a unique visitor with two or more visits within the period of time • return visitor - a unique visitor who is not a new visitor
page views
the number of times a page was successfully requested
landing page
the page intended to identify the beginning of the user experience resulting from a defined marketing effort
consumer generated media (CGM)
this is any media created by web users and not established agencies or brands ex: many opinion videos or parodies can be considered CGM
TAO
track, analyse, and optimise
web analytics
tracking, collection, recording and analysis of data for optimising business results
create the site's basic structure
~links available from every page - site map - safe harbor statement - privacy policy - contact us *Homepage* ↓ About Us, Corporate Governance, Financials, Stock Information, and News & Events *About Us* - operating principles - fact sheet - affiliates - FAQ *Corporate Governance* - Board of Directors - Guidelines/ Policies - Committee Charters - Insider Transactions *Financials* - SEC Filings - Proxies - Mgmt Reports - Earning Releases - Financial Stats - Request Info *Stock Information* - Stock Quote - Historical Price Lookup - Dividend History - Interactive Stock Chart - Investment Calculator *News & Events* - Press releases - Events
Mobile users
• Goal orientated • Time conscious • Search dominant • Locally focused Limitations of mobile • Small screens • Difficult inputs • Slow connection speeds • Slow hardware
why do regular market research?
• Gain insights into your consumers • Understand the changes in your industry and business • Discover new market trends that you can capitalise on • Find new potential sales avenues, customers, products and more • Find and engage new audiences • Allow customers to help steer your business
embracing best practices
• A strong focus on storytelling • Being an authentic brand • Understanding and communicating with customers on their terms • Being remarkable and shareable • Allowing mass customisation
failure rate
• Average failure rate of a new TV show is 90% • Average failure rate of a new movie is 80% • Average failure rate for new music is 90% • Less than 2%of YouTube videos have over 100,000 views • Less than half of audience watched more than 1 minute per video • 80% of branded apps have less than 1000 downloads
tools of the trade
• Brand style guides • Content calendars • Workflow map • Persona map
7. Assemble the other elements
• Calls to action • Forms • Search
challenges
• Cannot control the environment in which information is being gathered • Confusing questions could lead to answers that are flawed or not relevant • Online incentives could lead to answers that are not truthful
Online Reputation Management
• Conversations are taking place online all the time • Social media has given consumers a voice and a platform • This is a powerful and immediate data source • "Brands now only control 66% of their brand touch points" ...McKinsey Quarterly • Search for your brand <brand name> + complaints and see what turns up (e.g., apple +complaints) • Use ORM to manage potential online reputation crises • In 2010, Nestle faced criticism for using palm oil in their products. Nestle did not respond well to social media criticism: - "To repeat: we welcome your comments, but don't post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic—they will be deleted." - As you can imagine... This didn't calm things down - They now have over 200 thousand 'fans' on their Facebook page, many posting negative remarks on an ongoing basis • ORM can actively guide the brand on strategy and tactics • Use ORM to engage in digital conversations so as to influence a brand's reputation • You can gain strategic insights and guide decision making
advantages
• Easy and fast tracking • The ability to optimise frequently • Use real data to make decisions, so you're likely to make the best choices for your business and website
how are visitors reaching your website?
• Entry page • Landing page • Exit page • Visit duration • Referrer • Click through • Click through rate • Page views per visit
research methodology
• Establish the goals of the project • Determine your sample • Choose a data collection method • Analyse the results • Formulate conclusions and actionable insights (for example, producing reports)
Are you achieving your analytics goals?
• Event - a recorded action that has a specific time assigned to it by the browser or the server • Conversion- a visitor completing a target action
how much traffic your website is receiving ?
• Hit • Page • Pageview • Visit or session • Unique visitor o New visitor (first visit to site) o Returning visitor (visited the site before)
1% Rule of Users
• In social, if you build it...they won't necessarily come (like in traditional media). Participation and advocacy is relative to user value...and value is the holy grail. While amidst an era of unbound user-generated creativity and enablement...users participate at varying degrees • 1% Rule or 1/9/90 Rule: 1% make and contribute content, 9% validate and truly 90% watch and enjoy the labors of the 1% Users are 'makers' and 'lurkers'...embrace both [WILL BE ON THE MIDTERM]
challenges.
• It can be easy to become fixated on figures and metrics, instead of looking at broader trends and using them to optimise campaigns • Generally, macro or global metrics should be looked at before analysing micro elements of a website
importance of market research
• It is becoming increasingly more difficult to keep up with trends, customer needs, popular opinions and competitors • Market research can help you keep your brand current and ensure you are meeting your customers' needs • It can help you make informed business decisions
long tail
• Longer, more detailed search queries • Show very clear intent • Low volume but highly qualified top to bottom: coffee, coffee beans, medium roast coffee beans, vacuum pack coffee beans, medium roast coffee beans vacuum pack [WILL BE A QUESTION ON THE MIDTERM] - why online is successful -
Simplicity
• Lots of empty space • Fewer options • Plain language • Sticking to conventions
advantages
• Lower cost • More easily cross geographic boundaries • Can speed up the research process • Can reach a far larger group of people without the cost of facilitators
How to get responses: Incentives and assurances
• Monetary incentives are not always a good thing • Some respondents may feel that they need to give "good" or "correct" answers that may bias your results. • You may attract respondents who are in it just for the reward. • Run the survey with no incentive,with the option of offering one if responses are limited (or as a surprise gift)
70% of searches are unique
• Most searches are unique • Not much competition • Cheaper to bid on • Could yield high conversion rate
Why search ads are a great part of a digital marketing strategy
• No to low cost barrier • Tracking every cent • Targeted advert placement • You're giving your customers what they want • Click fraud • Bidding wars and climbing CPCs • Keeping an eye on things
Understand more about your market, or your brand or product
• ORM (Online reputation management) tools to track mentions and sentiment • Social network ad planners to give you rich information about your market • Consider the risks and challenges when creating a social media strategy. What if no one cares? • Make sure you interact where your customers are. -- They should be happy to hear from you. -- What if there are only unhappy customers? -- Use it as an opportunity to fix problem areas. • What about the up keep? -- Budget the time required to make the strategy a success. • How do I measure the impact? -- Start by measuring things that are easy to measure. Watch out for case studies!
data can be gathered from a variety of sources
• Online data • Databases • Software data • App store • Offline data
some stats on youtube
• Over 1.3 billion active users • Over 60% of users are male • 50% of users are between 25 and 44 years old • 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute • Every day, hundreds of millions of hours are spent watching YouTube • 3.25 billion hours of content are watched each month • More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices • The number of hours spent watching YouTube is up 60% from 2016 (FortuneLords, 2017).
How do visitors react to your content?
• Page exit ratio • Single page visits • Bounces • Bounce rate
Other avenues for online research
• Personal interviews-online tools allow researchers to conduct personal interviews, such as private chat rooms or video calling. • Observation/Online ethnography-requires researchers to immerse themselves in a particular environment • Online research communities - General Motors' Fast Lane blog is an example of an online research community that helps gather research data; it can be used to elicit feedback to a particular research problem • Listening labs- involve setting up a testing environment where a customer is observed using a website or application • Conversion optimisation - aims to determine the factors of an advert, website or web page that can be improved to convert customers more effectively
massive volume of freely shared user data:
• Produces meaningful brand insights • Leads to new product innovations • Allows the brand to get closer to consumers
the four Ps
• Products (and services) • Price • Placement (or distribution) • Promotion Additional: People (personalisation, peer-to-peer, participation)
eliminating error
• Respondent error: participants are limited to one interview per six months • Sample error: some people are just not interested in taking part in research • Understand your target market, and the best way of reaching it
Step 3: Manage opportunities and threats
• Responses can range from a direct consumer engagement to a full campaign • Learn from all online mentions but only act on what is necessary • When should you respond? -- If everything being said is nice -you've created high expectations - meet them -- Do everything in your power to drive conversation and be innovative • When everything being said is neutral - your company could be viewed as boring. Don't play it safe • When negative things are being said - the customer is giving you an opportunity to make things right. Use it • Try to take things offline first but if the complaint is online, resolve it there as well
why SEM and not SEO?
• SEm can expand the keywords beyond the scale of SEO • can be turned on and off • more flexibility in messaging • in some cases, it drives a majority of traffic to a site • all it takes is money
contagious ideas
• Social ideas add value to people's lives and enable participation • The social ideas that scale get better the more people use them • At its best, "viral" efforts can be remarkably effective and efficient for brands • But typical results for brands are far more modest
market research
• Systematically gathering, recording and analysing data about customers, competitors and the market • Turning this data into insight that can drive marketing strategies and campaigns • Online market research is the process of using digital tools, data and connections to glean valuable insights about a brand's target audience
Justifying the cost of research
• The cost to benefit ratio should be determined • It depends on the depth of the research required, and what the expected growth will be for the business • Testing should be an ongoing feature of any digital marketing activity to check if the campaign is successful in reaching the goals of the business
market research benefits
• The internet is always on, meaning that data is readily available at any time • Automation • Access to a large number of participants around the world • A lot of the information you will use is already being automatically collected- all you need to do is access it • People are often happy to share their own research, insights and methodologies • Cost effective and quick to set up
the bigger picture
• Understanding your market is the foundation of every marketing activity, online or offline • Market research will define the content you create in your content marketing strategy • It helps you find your audiences on social channels • It also helps you meet your audiences' needs by defining the touchpoints they expect from your brand • The more data you can gather about your audience,the better you will be able to optimise and improve your marketing efforts
what not to do
• Use hidden text or hidden links • Use cloaking or sneaky redirects • Send automated queries to Google • Load pages with irrelevant keywords • Create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicated content
number of participants
• Use web analytics to determine the number of people viewing the test page. • Determine the percentage of people who will be involved • The greater the change in conversion rate, the more quickly a statistically significant decision can be made • the more variations you have, the longer it will take to see which combination is best • Once you have this information, you can calculate the length of time for a test to run
bias
• When interviewers lead the respondents • In the design and wording of the questions themselves • Through sample errors or respondent errors
core principles of UX design
• Who is the user? • What are the user's wants and needs from your platform? • Why is the user really coming to your website? • What are the user's capabilities, web skills and available technology? • What features would make the user's experience easier and better?
google plus
• everytime you click this, you share who you are and what you want • everytime your friends do that, google learns more about them.. and you • your search results are increasingly being shaped by your networks and your participation in them • marketers need to know how to get people to share, plus, tweet, etc.
SEO limitations
• it can't be turned "off" or adjusted easily • you compete with other sites based on ambiguous rules that change • lots of competition for some keywords ... you might have almost not chance to be #1 • requires ongoing commitment to content and optimization
description?
• use descriptive filenames • use ALT tags and title attributes (make sure websites make sense without images) • Ensure meta information is relevant • Use descriptive captions, and keep relevant copy close to the relevant media • Make sure the header tags and images are relevant to each other • For video, consider converting the script to text and making this available to search engines • YouTube offers an auto-captioning service that makes this easier to do
blogging
•175 000 new blogs created daily •Over 1.6 million posts updated every day •That's a lot Include the basics: •Author •Blog post title •Tag •Comment •TrackBack RSS = Really Simple Syndication - Instead of visiting various websites for updates, information is packaged and sent to your RSS reader - Use blogging as a marketing tool by listening and engaging in the blogosphere - comment on relevant posts. Set up a blog: •Wordpress •Tumblr •Posterous •Blogger •Use microblogging to broadcast news, improve customer service and market a brand's profile. (twitter) To do this use: •Instant Messaging •The web •Mobile text messaging •Facebook applications •Or Twitter
Monitor the following:
•Blogs •Twitter •News •Forums •Comment boards •Photos •Videos •Job listings •Events •Patents •Website changes
social media channels
•Bookmarking and aggregating •Content creating •Social networks •Location based social networks
remember
•Create usable, crawlable sites •Format content for mobile usage •Use links from mobile to desktop and vice versa •Submit a mobile XML sitemap •Use the word "mobile" so search engines know this is the mobile version of your site Local search means that location matters 'Claim' your location to verify yourself •Avoid hidden text or hidden links •Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects •Don't send automated queries to Google •Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords •Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with duplicate content
rules of engagement
•Market to bloggers (they're influential) •Go to where your consumers are •Use chiclets and easy to share URLs •Use targeted advertising Use social media to engage with audiences in a channel they have selected and prefer. Establish direct, personal contact on a level not available to traditional marketing campaigns.
see how your brand is perceived
•Tags •Mentions •Likes •Etc. Customise your own YouTube Brand Channel
designing tests require knowing:
•What you can test •How you can test it •What time period you can test over