TopTen Tips for eMarketing Success
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Bill Gates has just said "The digital decade is happening."
If you are still languishing in the digital dark ages here are the B2B Centre's Top Ten Tips to drag you kicking and screaming into Bill's world (not necessarily with all the money unfortunately!). In reverse order.
10. Plan for Success
If you haven't already developed an e-Marketing plan then get one quick.
Our experience is that clients who fail to plan tend to fritter time and money trying to deal with issues and opportunities on an ad hoc basis. Will it be a good idea to spend £500 for one month's PPC (pay-per-click) campaign? Or should the money have been invested in software to develop and operate an email newsletter campaign?
Avoid those problems upfront. If you are in the Midlands read about our e-Marketing offering or contact the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for advice on e-Marketing planning, you might be eligible for consultancy support.
9. Brag!
Sit down for 10 minutes and write down all of the great things that you and your business have achieved over the past 12 months - business wins, new products, new people, you name it.
Then use all of the fantastic e-Marketing tools at your disposal to tell the world. Blogs, electronic press releases and email newsletters are all great ways to distribute your good news. Your clients, prospects, your employees and your shareholders will read it and be impressed. And there's a bonus. Search engines can see this stuff too, and you are giving them more material to help index your site and rank your pages.
8. Cuddle Up To A Client
Who are the experts on your e-Marketing? Well hopefully you are getting good at it by now. We think we know a thing or two. But the real experts are your customers. If you do it right then they will buy from you once and keep buying from you.
This means that it is a good idea not only to do a bit of bragging to them but also to enlist their expertise. If you are getting the response you expect from email campaigns, if your eCommerce sales or customer retention rates are falling or if you can't define the right keywords then ask.
Use free or low cost online survey tools such as (SySurvey, FreeOnlineSurveys, or Zoomerang - all available to trial free). Email or phone customers with specific questions about how your website works for them. Set up focus groups to see exactly how clients and prospects search for products and services. What keywords do they use? How easy is for them to find products on your site?
7. D'main Thing
The main thing (terrible pun - ed.) is to do a bit of research on your domain names and hosting arrangements.
It is important to find out where your website is actually being hosted (try using the Webconfs domain stats tool). Search engines are sensitive to the physical location and your rankings maybe adversely affected if you have a .co.uk domain name which is hosted elsewhere. If you have both .com and .co.uk domains but you are primarily UK focused then it is worth making sure that your .co.uk address is the primary domain and that the .com is redirected to it.
If you only have one domain registered then it is worth looking at the availability of other domains for your URL such as .com or .eu or .biz. This will protect you against rivals being naughty and helps your prepare for future international success!