My view is that Twitter has a role to play in nearly all companies strategy as long as you are clear about what you can achieve and have an understanding of how to use it effectively. I’ve outline some tips below to get you started.

1. First things first. Register your company name on www.twitter.com. Even if you don’t believe in it lets cover the bases. Remember how annoying it was when you didn’t get the best web url back in 199X.
2. Next watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTN9We8unmU
3. Start twittering – honestly this is one of those things that just won’t make sense until you use it for a while. Start a dummy account under a sydonym so you can practice without harming your company and just Twitter away.
4. Don’t become a celebrity twit who tells us all about their toilet habits and ego. Its boring. Say things that will be of interest to your customers.
5. Download one of the desktop client applications for Twitter. Using the twitter website is difficult unless you have just a few users. I use Tweetdeck but there are others. Search Google for Twitter Tools.
6. Set up searches for your company name/brands/sectors/competitors. In Tweetdeck you can have several searches showing at the same time. This will at least tell you how active people are in your area.
7. Start following some people who you think are saying interesting things. Some of them might even follow you back.

Once you’ve had a bit of practice you should start to see the opportunities that Twitter can offer. Nearly all companies can find a use but sometimes its less obvious what that might be. Here are some ideas of the type of Twit you could be.

1. Customer service twit. Make the account about customer service issues. Outbound Twits can give advice about product fixes, ideas on using products better etc. Push the account on your e-mails, stationary, website etc and before you know it people will start using it when they want help. One of the best examples of this is Dell http://twitter.com/dellprestouk

 2. The make your customers day better Twit. Not everyone agrees but I like this bit of brand building from Anchor Butter  http://twitter.com/MaudeTheCow

 3. The corporate Twit. It may not seem the obvious place to deliver investor relation messages but actually its the perfect format as it allows people to share, forward and discuss easily and quickly.  http://twitter.com/RioTinto

 4. The crowdsourcing Twit. The power of many is better than the ignorance of one. Only part of a bigger program but never the less a great idea.http://twitter.com/MyStarbucksIdea

5. The Engagement Twit. A fantastic idea from pengiun that asks people to guess the book based on the first line. No prizes just the glory of being first. http://twitter.com/search/users?q=penguin+books+&category=people&source=users

6. The sales Twit. If a Restaurant can build a brand around Twitter so can you.http://twitter.com/sweetmandarin

This really is only the tip of the iceberg. Look at what others are doing successfully on Twitter and be creative about what you could be doing. And remember there are lots of great sites and blogs offering advice out there. One of my favourites is http://www.twitip.com/

NEW DATES:

Session 1 – 3rd July

Session 2 – 3rd September

Session 3 – 1st October

Session 1 – 4th November

Session 2 – 3rd December

Session 3 – tbc January

A full outline of the course is available at http://getdigitalteam.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/hit-the-ground-running-digital-marketing_course_brochure12.pdf . For more information call us on 0845 058 0900

Using a combination of classroom learning, online seminars and workbooks the 3 month program takes students through the key tasks that any business needs to understand to thrive online. We don’t just tell you what you should be doing we show you how to do it. This unique approach means that your business benefits straight away with most companies generating new business before the program has even finished.

The three month program includes three days of classroom teaching, 5 hours of online learning, practical workbooks, website reading and a client only online forum where you can ask questions anytime from our leading marketing experts.

If you are interested in taking part of this experience you can book your place on Econsultancy’s website or download our brochure here

Find out more about Hit the Ground Running Digital Marketing!

Thanks!

GetDigital London 

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The 3 never ending tasks when running a Pay Per Click Campaign.

Firstly, what is Pay Per Click? According to Wikipedia Pay Per Click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content sites, such as blogs, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market.

There are many places where you can run a Pay Per Click campaign. You can run a PPC campaign on a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace and you can also run your PPC campaign on Google using AdWords. However, not all of them will provide you with the best results and it basically all depends on your target and your budget.  

The following principles apply to any Pay per click campaign regardless of whether you want to target a social network community or a major search engine:

1. Keywords

Defining your keywords is a never ending task, we recommend you to do this with your team or create special workshops where you can discuss what the possible words that your target audience may be using to find products or services like yours, this process not only provides you with critical information for your PPC campaign but will also give you a better understanding of your audience. You need to think about words that are not only  obviously related to your services but also words that could be complementary during the search process, for instance, if you are a Camera shop you may want to consider words such as film, lenses, flashes and memory cards among others.

There are fantastic online tools that can help you with your keyword identification process, which we recommend that you use.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

2.  Copy or Creative

In terms of your advert you need to be very clear, concise and creative as it is limited to a certain amount of characters. However, is your opportunity to identify the best sentence/sentences that will not only explain your proposition but will also have a call to action. Before you start writing your creative please have a look at other ads available and definitely have a look at what your competitors are doing.

 This will give you a better idea of what to do to stand out from the crowd. Writing creatively is a process that should never stop, there will always be new ways to explain your proposition and connect to your audience.

3. Test! TEST! TEST!

Test is the sacred word in the digital marketing world, please do not expect that you will get all your keywords and creative’s right the first time, there is always room for changes and improvements. If you are open to testing your creatives you need to have a detailed record of the results of each campaign and the changes you are introducing so you can compare effectiveness. Testing your campaigns is an interesting game of combinations, which keywords work better with which creatives? Which creatives would work better on a social networking site? The important thing is that you know what you want to achieve in terms of each campaign.

This month’s Blog recommendation. 

There are some interesting sites where you can find useful information about PPC campaigns However, we would like to recommend this particular blog, Search Engine Genie this Blog has interesting articles and tips for anybody interested in running a PPC campaign on different search engines and social networking sites. It also explains other advertising models and provides a useful list of providers and resources.

]]> http://getdigitalteam.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/the-3-never-ending-tasks-when-running-a-pay-per-click-campaign/feed/ 0 getdigitalteam http://getdigitalteam.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/optimisation-tips/ http://getdigitalteam.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/optimisation-tips/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:21:54 +0000 getdigitalteam http://getdigitalteam.wordpress.com/?p=40 Continue reading →]]>

Optimisation Tips  

Given the tough economic times our mantra for this year is optimisation, optimisation, and optimisation. This means getting the basic’s right and making sure our digital marketing is as effective and efficient as possible. This month we’re 5 quick wins for E-mail Marketing.

 1. The from field counts

 People respond better if they feel an e-mail comes from a person rather than an automated system. Make sure you use a real person’s e-mail address.

 2. Take an interest in your subject

 The subject line is arguably the most important factor in deciding the open rate to your e-mails. Generally people like descriptive subject lines, a personal feel, questions and offers although the only really sure way to find out what works for your audience is to test.

EXAMPLE

 Which gives the best response rate?

 “Priceminister Advice” or “Sophie at Priceminister”

 Answer at the bottom of the this post :)

 3. Work the preview pane

Most users use Outlook and its preview pain to decide if the e-mail is of interest or not. The preview pane shows only 5 or 6 lines so you need to focus on clearly communicating reasons why people would want to read on.

Focus on the concept of ‘what’s in it for me’ and try and answer that from your customers prospective. What are they going to get from opening the e-mail.

 4. Get linking

 Research shows that the more links you have in your e-mail the better the response you will get. Emails with 25 or more links had an open rate of 12 percent higher than those containing fewer than 25 links, and a click-through rate of 29 percent higher than for emails with fewer than 25 links.

Though these findings are compelling, it is essential that email marketers conduct split tests across key variables to determine what works best for their specific customers and subscribers. The EmailLabs analysis was based on the results of 23,475 email campaigns sent by more than 650 clients.

 5. Test, Test and Test again

 The great thing about E-mail marketing is that it offers an almost infinite ability to test and refine. Decide what you want to measure (typically open rates, click through rates and actions – sales, downloads etc) and then set up a testing regime to maximise response rates. Start with the big wins such as subject line and then work on less crucial factors.

New Year Health Check

 January is the perfect time to do a basic health check. These may seem very obvious but you’ll be surprised by how many companies will find some things to fix.

 Check your website for contact details. Are they correct and up to date? Are they still going to the best person? Are they easy to find? Can customers or potential customers find the person they need? What about other interested parties (press, potential suppliers, partners etc).

CONTACT DETAIL TIPS

 1. People prefer real people and real e-mail addresses rather than general addresses such as info@company.co.uk

 2. Avoid spam by writing out e-mail addresses ( john AT mycompany.co.uk ) rather than having a live link (E-mail spammers use automated software to collect e-mail addresses from websites and this will stop them doing this.  

Send test e-mails to all the addresses on the website and check that you get them.

Complete all the forms on your website and make sure they are both as easy to use as possible and that they are going to the right person.

Check to see if you have any broken links on your website. These often build up over time as content is deleted or moved. If you have a big site the you can use automatic software. Check out many of them here.

Is all your content up to date on the website? Is the website still fit for purpose?

This months blog recommendation

 Think you have all the bases covered when it comes to digital marketing then this article may just put you right. A great list of what Digital offers the marketer and one that continues to grow. Jeremiah Owyang is a guy I read all the time and I’d recommend you read get him booked marked and on your reading list too.

ANSWER

Sophie at Priceminister gave a 56% better open rate!

 

As in any other social media strategy the first and most important step is research or as we would say ‘Listening’. It is crucial for your organisation that you begin here and spend enough time analysing what people are saying, filming, reporting or commenting on regarding your sector, your brand and your competitors. Understanding YouTube as a channel will help you to identify if there is an opportunity for your brand to be part of it and benefit from the dynamics of this community. If you would like to know more about how YouTube works as a community you can visit YoutTube’s community guidelines 
 

2. Content  

If you decide to participate as a content generator you can start by opening your own channel, the top priority is to define what you would like to achieve by using YouTube as a channel to communicate with your market.  Furthermore there is a need to identify what kind of content you would like to share. Remember, whatever you decided to upload on YouTube should be relevant and attractive for your audience.
 
Remember that YouTube has a value to even the smallest business but sometimes it needs you to be creative. Don’t just copy the large consumer brands, think about what can provide value to your customers.  To give some ideas you can find some case studies here.
 
3. Advertising
 
YouTube also offers the opportunity to target your audience with relevant content through different models, you can find information about advertising opportunities on the website, however it is very important to define how are you going to measure your success using this advertising model. This is especially relevant if you decided to do it on your own.
 
4. Integrate
 
Remember that while people will find you on YouTube through searching you can also direct them there from your other marketing. Point customers to your channel as they will recommend others, make sure its on your website and make sure all your staff know you’ve now got a YouTube channel.
 
5. Participate
 
Once you have decided to be part of YouTube community it is time to participate. Research activities never stop and while you are researching why not comment on other people’s videos, add favourites to your brand channel see what the hot topics of the day are and rate videos that you consider to be relevant to your brand. Do you know any video blogger talking about issues that are relevant to your brand? Why not interact with them?
 
Finally remember that YouTube may be the largest video community online its not the only one. Replicate what you have done elsewhere as the subsequent costs and resources are much less. An up to date list can be found here Remember they are not all YouTube clones and have different business models so you have to select the ones that work for you. VideoJug is a personal favourite of ours.

GetDigital is a Digital Marketing training organisation based in London and Brighton. In 2008 GetDigital launched a new training program called Hit the Ground Running Digital Marketing, this innovative and practical training programme aimed at equipping individuals and companies with the practical skills needed to thrive in an age of digital.

While there are many cutting edge technologies out there (and people telling you that you should be using them) most companies still need to get the basics right. Our program is designed with this in mind – what can we do now that’s affordable, proven technology and that will make a difference to our business today.

If your company has a website to create, run or improve then this program will help make real, practical improvements that will make your customers happier (and therefore more likely to do business with you). If you have responsibility for driving more (or better) traffic and business to your website then this program shows you how.

For more information about Hit the Ground Running Digital Marketing please download our brochure here

GetDigital and Econsultancy have joined efforts to provide a unique training program aimed at professionals and non digital marketers who want to develop the basic skills required to incorporate digital into their strategy.

The new training program called ‘Hit the ground running Digital marketing’ is an initiative which responds to the necessity of providing practical and tactical knowledge that allows professionals to take the first steps into online environments and develop an empirical understanding of the tools available.

Simon Mahony, Business Director, GetDigital commented:

“Our courses are aimed at marketing professionals who want to be armed with practical ideas to implement on their return to the office. Our courses are about implementation” 

The three month program includes three days of classroom teaching, 5 hours of online learning, practical workbooks, website reading and a client only online forum where participants can ask questions anytime from our leading marketing experts. This unique approach means that your business benefits straight away with most companies generating new business before the program has even finished.

 
The Training programme covers nine core modules:

1 – The changing face of digital marketing,

2 – How to listen and learn online,

3 – Practical search engine marketing,

4 – Practical email marketing,

5 – Advertising online and affiliate marketing,

6 – How to write copy for the web (and update websites),

7 – Practical web measurement and analytics,

8 – Using online PR and social media,

9 – An introduction to Ecommerce

The rest of the programme is delivered online or through our self-study workbooks.  A final exam tests your knowledge and all students who achieve the pass mark receive a certificate (pass, credit or distinction) from Econsultancy.

Craig Hanna, Training Director, consultancy commented:

“We believe this training programme will facilitate the integration of offline and online strategies based on a practical understanding of the tools available at the moment”

If you are interested in taking part of this experience you can book your place on Econsultancy’s website or download our brochure here

Find out more about Hit the Ground Running Digital Marketing!