Category Archives: strategy

Jan 06 2011
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social commerce, social networking, strategy

Social Commerce

First came the Social Network (thank you Mr Zuckerberg) which, connects over half a billion users. Now the big chiefs of the online world are all competing to be the first to properly monetise these social platforms and evolve them into revenue streams.

Currently there are strong influencing factors online that persuade us to purchase (or not). Take Amazon as an example, long have they recognised the successes in recommending products based on your purchase history, viewing activity and the trends of like minded shoppers. It wasn’t long before this simple model was adapted and adopted by many other commerce platforms and now we’re seeing this evolve to include more personal input; take Google’s search tool launched last year, this pulls through recommendations and reviews from your friends and family around the term you’re searching for. Admittedly it didn’t spread like wild fire but the theory is strong.

If you’re looking to buy a film and Amazon or Google tell you via Facebook that your friends think it’s ace, you’re more likely to buy it right? In fact, according to last years Econsultancy survey 90 per cent of purchases have some level of influence from the social arena.

The bit that seems to have everyone up in arms is the public display of your spending habits. Tools such as Blippy publish your transactions in real time encouraging those in your social circle to view and comment. The question is: Is this an honest and open way of sharing your trends, habits and interests or, is it really just a way of bragging about how you splash your cash? Is it about status or is it about making informed decisions in the impulsive world of online commerce and then seeking the reassurance you’ve made the right choice?

Do you really want people to know you get your knickers from M&S and not Agent Provocateur?

Either way, 2011 is marked to be the year that bucks the Social Commerce trend so, if you’re serious about your business stop waiting in the wings and get yourself a strategy… Fast!

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Nov 25 2010
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Search, social media, strategy, video

Video Marketing (VSEO)

Online Video Marketing has vastly become the coolest and most engaging way to effectively expose relevant content to your audience online.

Everyone’s heard of YouTube and we’ve known for a while it’s the second biggest search engine in the world so with video sites continually growing in popularity there can’t be much more  to convince you about, is there?

The main stumbling block for big brands and businesses is ownership. The bottom line is though, you no longer own your brand, your consumers do (I talk about it more in my post on ‘The value of digital to brands today’). So whether you have your own slickly executed high-end film cuts or a D.I.Y example, it’s your first step to engaging and informing your audience further.

So what makes a good video?

The success to any video lies within whether it is unique, funny, engaging and thought-provoking enough for everyone to pass on and therefore make it viral, more commonly known online now as ‘creating buzz’. Sounds simple when I put it like that but in short; make sure your concept is a good one, that it sits with your target audience and is executed in the relevant way; ‘Guerilla marketing’ if you want to coin a phrase from none other than Jay Conrad Levinson.

And once you’ve created an amazing video, where should you put it?

Video advertising can come in an array of formats; In-Video, In-Stream, Click to Play, Around Video and Video Search and there are more and more channels within which you can seed video content, the most popular of which I mentioned above; YouTube. If you’re a brand it’s worth setting up (or asking your agency to set up for you) a customised YouTube channel, this way you’re closer to your audience and have ample opportunities to engage.

So what are you waiting for, get shooting and get seeding!

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Aug 09 2010
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Client questions answered, Content, Debates and Discussion points, strategy

What makes a good launch strategy?

Products flop all the time, fact.

Ok, maybe a negative start to a blog post but mulling over the recent failure that was Google Wave and deciding the over demonstrated, under communicated approach to launch it didn’t help, I decided to consider what makes a product launch successful.

One of the most common mal-practices is not targeting the right consumers. By not focusing on who you’re trying to engage specifically and aiming at a generic platform you weaken your strategy. So rule number one is (hopefully not surprisingly) understand your core market.

I’m assuming at this stage your product is tailored specifically to your core market and that you have based it upon insights and research from the start (if you haven’t, maybe consider this more before going any further).

So next up, what is the USP for your product? How will buying this product improve your consumers’ life? How can you emotionally connect with your consumer to inspire them to buy this product?

The answers to these questions will form your message; it’s likely you’ve thought of this as you develop the product but, tip number three is really about keeping the message consistent.

Every ad you serve, page you create, email you send, needs to deliver this message. Keep it clear, concise and constant.

So you’ve got that bit nailed, next you need to think about when, where and how you’re going to wow your audience with this amazing unique message. Where are your audience and how can you get the message to them (note I haven’t said how you can get them to the message). Map out your landscape and look at the best touch points to deliver your message.

And remember, once you have launched the product into market, there is no turning back so make sure you get it right or you’ll join the Coors bottled water, Cocaine energy drink and Bic underwear failures pile.

Who? What? I hear you say… my point exactly.

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Jul 13 2010
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Search, social media, social networking, strategy

Search Marketing explained

Last year the search marketing industry was worth £2.15 billion.

That sounds like quite a bit of money doesn’t it, especially if you don’t really understand what it is and why it’s an integral part of your marketing mix.

Most brands/ businesses have now understood that the internet is here to stay and that if they are going to survive they need to have a presence in front of their consumers online. So, let’s take a quick look at what it’s all about and how to get the most out of search for your objectives.

So what is search media?

Search is not just about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and PPC (Pay Per Click), in fact there are many aspects to a search campaign which, could further include; Google content placement targeting (otherwise known as GDN – Google Display Networks), Search Affiliates (networks of websites that you can place media on through a partner), Universal Search (which includes news feeds, video and images), Search re-targeting (specifically targeting those that have already engaged with one of your ads), Social Search, Mobile search, Live search… the list goes on.

That sounds interesting I hear you say but what does that actually mean? The bottom line is by adding search to your marketing mix YOU WILL strengthen your online presence, increase your visibility and in turn increase your business revenue.

And what makes a good plan?

At the offset you need to have a clear objective, do you want to increase awareness or generate sales leads for example. Quite often the conversion is the most important aspect of a plan but also the part that is given least attention. If you have a search plan that doesn’t complete the whole journey then you will likely end up spending money on traffic but losing money on conversions.

Ensure that your plan includes detailed cost breakdown and an attribution of value to each stage of clicks along the user journey. It should have detailed audience demographics and targeting information. If you have an agency doing the plan, interrogate the drop off rates and conversion rates for each stage of the journey, challenge how they will maintain visibility against competitors and ask about their management and optimisation. It’s all very well getting a campaign up and running but the internet bidding world is fierce and you need to stay on top of it.

It’s also a good idea to test your creative whether Ad copy, display or further along the user journey on your landing pages. Try a couple of versions; this is known as A/B or multivariate testing. Which creative performs better? You may find one gets higher CTR but the other drives more actions, work to get the message right for your user.

How do you maximise on your return.

Businesses are shifting their spend to be more weighted towards digital with a focus on PPC and SEO but most are still keen to see more spent on search media in general. Feedback shows that they feel they have an at least adequate return for spend due to its track-ability and therefore accountability.

But is adequate enough? Hardly, continually challenge the cost to conversion, what are you paying per click and how many clicks are you getting (CPC to CTR), are you scaling the spend in line with the reach, unlike some traditional media planning models, online search is very manageable and controllable so take advantage. Always remember to review against your original objectives; what did you decide was going to deem this campaign successful? Is it?

Is that it?

Hopefully that gives you a basic understanding of what search marketing is about but remember it’s a constant cycle:

Plan, Challenge, Review, Optimise, Plan, Challenge, Review, Optimise, Plan, Challenge… you get the idea.

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