by Francois Muscat | Sep 26, 2012 | Articles, Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is still a common buzz word online and I really believe that it’s not going to stop anytime soon. Smartphones and other mobile devices have really made the social web easily accessible to more people and they can access it at any time. To reach your target audience you don’t have to sit in front of your computer all day long to engage with potential customers through the social web.
Everyday you will find more mobile devices being released that allows users to interact with social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn to name but a few from practically anywhere. This means that people with these devices are always connected even when they are busy. Did you know that you can also monitor your email marketing stats directly from your smart phone or tablet? This enables you to respond very quickly to replies, customer requests, transactions, and sales opportunities.
Monitor your marketing campaign
If you are busy merchandising your online e-commerce store for a promotion you are going to run it’s physically impossible to sit in front of your computer 24 hours a day because I’m sure you have other work to do, but you can use your mobile to monitor your campaign when you are not in front of your computer.
If anyone replies to your latest “specials” tweet and they have a question, your smartphone will notify you and it enables you to send out a direct response to them in near real time answering their question. When your Facebook page receives a comment, you can also be notified immediately and then respond in mere seconds. This is all possible via the mobile web.
All the mobile devices with social media integration are making the social web more accessible to customers and business owners. This is a huge opportunity that you shouldn’t miss and a good reason to take your social media marketing campaign mobile.
by Marianna Muscat | Sep 13, 2012 | Articles
Manufacturers are the largest segmenters i.e. (Motor cars) as few manufacturers are able to cater to large markets where the consumer has infinite choice. Retailers also understand that to be all things to all people is impossible, but to be the best for a smaller, well-defined group of people is a viable business strategy. It costs less to target, and therefore has less risk of failure. Search marketing is all about targeting, so what strategy should you be considering when you think about targeting? The following ideas might assist on how to refine and optimise your approach.
Market Segments
Any market can be broken down into segments. A segment means “a group of people”. We can group people by various means, however the most common forms of segmentation include what is called RFM segmentation which stands for Recency of purchase, Frequency of purchase and Monetary value of purchase
- Demographic Segmentation: a group of people who share a similar age, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race and nationality. For example, married people with children may be more interested in life cover than single people would, as married people are more likely to want to leave a secure future for their children.
- Benefit segmentation: a group of people who seek similar benefits. For example, people who want a sports car would look to purchase a two door convertible with lots of power. People who are more outdoor orientated will choose a 4×4 that allows them the ability to travel comfortably in off road conditions.
- Occasion Segmentation: a group of people who buy things at a particular time. Valentine’s Day is one of the most popular days for restaurant bookings, flowers and personal gifts. People may want to book activities for two therefore doubling your potential sales.
- Usage Segmentation: a group of people who buy certain volumes, or at specific frequencies. For example, a group of people who purchase a certain type of product regularly (women’s shoes), vs those who only do so occasionally (men’s shoes). The offer or message to each group would be different.
- Lifestyle segmentation: a group of people who may share the same hobbies, or live a certain way. For example, a group of people engage in outdoor activities, or a group of people who are socialites.
The aim is to find a well-defined market opportunity that is still large enough to be financially viable. If one segment is not big enough, a business may combine segments – say, young people (demographic) who want the latest technology i.e. cell phones (benefit). The marketing for this combined segment would be different – and significantly more focused – that the more general those who want the latest technology” (benefit) market segment, alone.
How does this apply to search and internet marketing in general?
It’s all about knowing your customer. These marketing concepts can help provide a structured framework within which to test our assumptions and we would always reccomd split testing and maket segment testing of a control group before rolling out a campaign.
Perhaps that landing page isn’t producing the required results. Could it be because I haven’t segmented enough? Have I gone too broad in my appeal? Am I talking the language of benefits when I should really be focusing on usage factors? What happens if I combine “demographics” with “occasion”?
It generally all comes down to your online marketing strategy and also segmenting your marketing period (year) into possible opportunities using ‘Sales History; and previous ‘buying patterns’ to further segment the ‘best’ product or service aimed at the ‘best’ target segment to get the ‘best’ and most profitable result and WSI prides themselves on being able to assist using things like an online ‘Competitor Analysis’ to benchmark yourselves against your competitors and also have a full view of the channels that they are utilising to market their products. Talk to us now or look at our website and read out blog to provide you with an informed view.
by Francois Muscat | Aug 7, 2012 | Articles
If you have been following the buzz online over the last few days and you are getting excited, Google+ is now being integrated on the organic search engine listings on Google. Are you wondering what that means of you? In plain English: it means that more and more business owners should start thinking about including Google+ in their social media marketing campaign.
Not only does this integration help your online reputation and image by posting regularly on this network, but your posts , updates, and comments on Google+ can now be integrated onto the search engine result pages. The content on Google+ is now being integrated under the disguise of “actively discussed on Google+”, and in my opinion, this is a good thing.
Google+ content
No one is exactly sure what the criteria are for the content on Google+ to be selected to be shown on the search engine results pages and Google only says that it’s a test. You know what usually happens with Google tests… they tend to become permanent or forgotten completely without a trace.
Since Google+ launched last year, many exciting features has been added to this platform and it was only a logical step that Google uses their own network to integrate with all their other services. I expect that the integration of Google+ into their search result pages to become common practice. It might not be displayed in exactly the same way that it is being used now, but I see the value in it the same as when Google first introduced YouTube videos on the SERP’s.
With the integration of this new Google+ feature in process, now is an excellent time to sharpen up your skills with Google+ and build a business page that you can start using. You will find many “nay sayers” online regarding Google+, but the signs are clear, it is not going away any time soon.
by admin | Aug 1, 2012 | Articles
WSI Internet Consultants are used to taking on a challenge. That is why Shane Serra a friend and fellow IC from Toronto, Canada rose to the challenge when a power utility from Ontario came to WSI for a digital marketing strategy. Utility companies are not known for their social media presence. Read Shane’s article on devising and executing a social media strategy for the Ontario based company, PowerStream, to see how it is done. – Francois Muscat
PowerStream goes social with the help of WSI
In this day and age social media marketing has become essential for any organization looking to engage with their customers, employees and partners. That is why WSI worked with PowerStream, an electric utility company, to create Ontario’s first utility industry focused social blog and news network.
Compiling a Social Media Marketing Strategy
WSI Optimized eSolutions worked with PowerStream to devise a targeted social media marketing strategy that would let them engage with their target audience. To compile and execute the comprehensive social media marketing strategy our WSI team had to:
- Conduct an industry-wide digital marketing review
- Develop a strategic social media plan
- Develop and implement a fully integrated social media campaign and tools
- Provide on-going training and support
Social media marketing is a first for the utility industry in Ontario. When WSI launched the eStream blog website they wanted a social blog where customers can read, share and comment on corporate news and articles. PowerStream utility experts contribute informative articles for the blog while a Twitter profile provides timely information and news about customers’ electrical services.
A YouTube channel, called PowerStreamTV was created to offer informative videos on programs and services. The digital marketing plan will also include a Facebook page, enabling PowerStream to engage with their customers across a variety of social media platforms.
PowerStream is the 2nd largest municipality-owned electric utility in Ontario servicing 340 000 customers. The WSI Optimized eSolutions team wanted to create a social media strategy that would benefit PowerStream’s customer focused approach. Have a look at the end product, the eStream social blog and news network on blog.powerstream.ca.
If you need help with your digital marketing, contact WSI Optimized eSolutions. We are experienced in creating targeted social media marketing plans for clients from various industries.
Shane Serra
by Marelise da Silva | Jun 21, 2012 | Articles
Being a web designer can be an exciting and fulfilling job. You do not need a formal college qualification to be a good web designer, and some of the best designers started out studying fine arts and taught themselves how to use graphic design software. Another benefit is that many designers work as freelancers, meaning that they work for themselves.
Follow these basic tips to beginning your journey as a web designer:
- Learn coding: coding, scripting and programming such as html, dhtml, xml and JavaScript are all valuable tools to a web designer. There are many free tutorials available on the web where you can learn these skills.
- Experiment: once you have a grip on these basic skills, you need to experiment with as many different programs as you can to gain experience. Experiment with programs such as Dreamweaver, FrontPage, PhotoShop and Flash.
- PC vs. Mac: you need to learn your way around a personal computer (PC) as well as an Apple Mac. You should also make sure you’re familiar with mobile computing devices such as smartphones and tablets (like the iPad) as these are often used to access the web as well.
- Marketing and design: try and take a marketing or design course to learn about how fonts, colours and graphics affect consumers. This should help to maximize the impact of your web design.
- Build your own website: this is to serve not only as practice but also as a marketing tool for your web design services. As this site is an example of the work you are capable of, make sure it is well designed, free of any errors and that all the links work.
- Build a portfolio: try and design as many other websites as possible. Start by designing sites for friends or family members. This portfolio is what you show to prospective clients to prove the quality of your work. The more examples you have, the more you can show to prospective clients.
The world of technology is an ever changing one. Therefore the demands on a web designer are forever changing. While these are the basics to becoming a designer, it is essential that you keep up to date on all the changes in the industry as well as the technology used to develop and view web content. This can be done by joining forums, periodicals and online communities focused on web design and keeping your eyes and ears open on the web!
by Marianna Muscat | Jun 15, 2012 | Articles, Copywriting
There’s a new trend of journalism (if you can really call it that) being done by computers. Some say that in 15 years nearly 90% of news stories will be created by computer algorithms. This has been predicted by Kristian Hammond who is the founder and CTO of Narrative Science, a company that trains computers to write news stories.
While many people think that this technology will be a job-killer, Hammond argues that there will still be jobs but many of the stories that are deemed too costly to put together will be computer generated. For example take a primary school rugby game being played. Grandparents would love to read a story about their grandkids playing in a game. A newspaper is not going to send a reporter to cover a story such as this so that’s where computer-based reporting can step in.
Narrative Science, for example, offers a mobile app called Game Changer that the grandparents could use to enter in each play of the game and even each single pitch if they want. Once Narrative Science has this data their compute programs can write stories about the game that people can read anywhere in the world. Last year, the software produced over 400,000 reports of little league games from around the world and this year it is estimated that there will be 1.5 million reported.
The program can even add in the heroics of the game so the story isn’t just a dry telling of the game. The algorithms can edit out things such as dropped balls and just get the good parts of the game to keep the readers entertained.
While the Narrative Science has computer generated news that’s quite impressive it’s also the quantity that it produces that’s impressive too. While compute generated news may be convenient for this type of news (which is not really news that a wide audience would want to read), there’s no chance of it winning a Pulitzer award.
