Look at your inbox. Chances are that it is packed with emails - all screaming for your attention. So how do you cut through all that clutter and deliver an engaging email that gets opened and produces results. Below are a few tips that will help you do exactly that.
Give subscribers what they want
The most impactful thing you can do to improve your email marketing is to send relevant and interesting emails. When your subscribers know that there is something valuable in your email, your open rates and conversion rates will dramatically increase.
So offer something of value in every email you send, such as industry research, tips and tricks, discounts etc. Not only will this establish your credibility, it will also reduce spam complaints.
Get to know your readers
In order to deliver relevant content, you need to understand what your subscribers care about. If you don't already know the answer, you can find out by conducting online surveys or by asking for specific information on your web forms.
Once you know what individual readers want, you can segment them into groups based on their interests. This will help you send relevant messages to each person.
Be consistent
People (and remember, your prospects are people) gravitate toward things that are familiar. Campaigns that have a consistent look and feel will be more effective in helping your prospects absorb information. That's not to say you can't get creative and mix things up, but you should maintain brand standards in design, tone, and personality, and use the same sender name and address throughout your campaigns.
For more information about email marketing, or if you would like to try the fastrack email system for free, visit www.tafastrack.com.au.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Best practices for hotel website design
Today’s hotel and accommodation websites now carry the burden and responsibility of generating the bulk of bookings for your property. Across the industry, in 2010, Direct Online Channel sales (via the hotel website) will exceed 62% of total online hotel bookings.
According to research, in the first quarter of 2010, 71.7% of online bookings for the top 30 hotel brands were direct via the brand websites. The Direct Online Channel is by far the most cost-effective distribution channel and provides accommodation businesses with excellent ROIs, immediate results, and long-term competitive advantages.
The property website has become the backbone of the hotel marketing mix and is the main digital asset of any hotel. In this age of multi-channel marketing, any type of hotel marketing initiative (from search engine optimisation (SEO), Google Adwords, email marketing and social marketing) ultimately should drive your customers to your website.
Approximately 83% of all travellers plan and research travel online. There is no doubt the hotel website has become the “first point of contact” for the majority of customers. Unfortunately, on many occasions a visit to the website turns out to be the “last point of contact.”
Accommodation businesses must realize that the hotel website has become not only the main revenue driver for their property, but also the main influencer for making travel purchase decisions. Therefore, enhancing and optimizing the hotel website to meet and optimizing it to meet and exceed industry best practices and customer expectations should be a top priority.
Here are some important things to take into consideration:
If your hotel website is over 2 years old:
- So many things have changed over the past 24 months that hoteliers no longer have a choice of whether to re-design their website or stick with their old and tired site. This is a matter of “life and death” for any hotelier!
- The new website should reflect 2010-2011 industry’s best practices for an optimum revenue generating website. It should be user-friendly, search engine friendly, have an easy to use booking system and it should also be Web 2.0 friendly
- Ensure you hire a reputable company that only specialises in Search engine optimization (SEO. Get your website ranking now for specific keywords and phrases
- Web 2.0 optimization is now due to improve customer engagement on the site.
- Ensure your website is targeted towrads your key customer markets. Eg. content, images or menu tabs that cater to meeting and group lanners, corporate or leisure travelers, families, weddings etc
Best Practices for Today’s Hotel Website Design
When re-designing your accommodation website, you need to understand that website design is not an art and it is certainly not rocket science - it is a creative solution to a business problem. If your hotel website’s bookings are down, that's a business problem. If your visitors can't find your website, that’s a business problem. Your website is hard to navigate and functionality does not work? That's a business problem.
Obviously the new website design needs to also take into consideration other criteria, such as industry best practices, site usability and booker-friendliness.
Your site needs to “meet and exceed” user objectives and not provide any obstacles to achieving these objectives. If the hotel site has a solid, professional design layout that is supported by easy-to understand navigation, helpful functionality and relevant content and visual images, users will stay longer and will explore the site deeper—ultimately resulting in bookings.
Today’s hotel website should reflect 2010/2011 industry’s best practices and should be:
- User-friendly - The website should be easy to navigate and have the necessary information/core products laid out in an easy to read format.
- Search engine-friendly - The search-engine friendliness of the hotel website is important not only for organic search. Good SEO on a website improves the Quality Index for paid search as well. The Google Quality Index determines how much you pay per click (PPC) and the ranking of your PPC listing, and is based on keyword relevancy, quality of the marketing message and relevancy of the landing page (i.e. the website and its SEO). With a lower Quality Index you pay more per click and your ad is ranked lower.
- Booker-friendly - the booking engine is easy to use and lets them book quickly and without hassle. Users should also feel safe that the booking system is secure.
- Web 2.0-friendly (customer engagement-friendly) - The Web 2.0-friendliness of the hotel website is dependent on how well the website can intrigue users and enable them to provide comments, share information, upload content, and interact with various features and functionality. Eg customer reviews on the website, blog on the site to share the latest news, photos, a newsletter that they can view or sign up for, social media share bar, and Facebook 'I like' buttons and links on your site so they can share your webpage with their friends
- Mobile-ready - Travelers are already using their mobile devices to plan and book travel and hotels. Features of a mobile-ready hotel website include - fast download speeds, efficient and simple navigation, short and concise textual content, scaled-down visual content, a one-click map and directions to the hotel
Conclusion
The hotel website is not only the main revenue generator for the property, but also the main influencer for making travel purchase decisions and enhancing, optimizing and re-designing the hotel website to meet and exceed industry best practices and customer expectations should be a top priority for any hotelier. If the website is visually appealing, provides the customer with all the necessary information, they will be more likely to book directly on the site.
Before you start redesigning your website, choose your website design company very carefully, as this is the most important decision you will have to make. With 45% of all hotel bookings in being made online in 2010, the capability of your hotel website in generating bookings will determine the overall success of your property.
Work with a website design company that understands best practices in hotel website design, uses state-of-the art technology, has proven results in the form of prestigious designs and have transformed clients’ hotel websites into their most cost-efficient revenue generator for their property.
If you would like more information about our website design capabilities, to view our portfolio and get an obligation free quote on a new website design, speak to one of the marketing consultants on 07 3040 3588 or email us directly on email@tafastrack.com.au.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
E-mail Marketing: Is your property capitalizing?
Email marketing has evolved from simple confirmation messages to being an important component of your online marketing strategy. If your property doesn’t have a plan or the right messaging, you could be missing the boat on additional bookings and repeat guests.
According to a survey conducted by HSMAI and VIZERGY, email marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) are the two most effective online marketing channels. Approximately 74% of hotels use some form of email marketing.
Below are some tips on how you can get started with email marketing and what you should do when sending out your email messages:
Your database
It starts with your property’s database. Compile past, current and future guests, along with other contacts you’ve gained, to form your email database. You can build this database via your website by including a contact form and newsletter sign up form. You can also use the contact forms to gain specific stats from your visitors - ask them their location, travel intentions, etc. This will allow you to target and cater messaging to specific groups.
Sell the benefits of your property
Emphasize the amenities, local attractions and convenience of your property via emails. Professional photos and copy, information on local demand generators, guest testimonials, and special promotions will help. Partnering with local attractions or businesses such as restaurants, spa/massage or events can help you add discounted packages to your emails… and upsell to guests.
Should you do it in house or outsource?
Once you’ve reviewed your database, consider whether to tackle email marketing in house or outsource to professionals. Having a comprehensive program can be fairly time consuming, but the bigger issue is expertise. Can you afford to have an employee trained on the nuances of email marketing - from design, to copy, to tracking, to SPAM laws? It may even be less expensive to outsource to an experienced hotel Internet marketing company. If you elect to send out e-newsletters and edms in house, be sure that your staff is properly trained. If you do decide to outsource, make sure the company you hire has the experience, expertise and have a plan in place for your business.
Subject lines are important
An over the top or a subject line that is too long is equally ineffective as an uninspiring one. Keep it short and sweet (preferably 8 words or less), and it's easy to read.
State the benefit or offer first, and entice them to read more. The “from” address should identify your property (eg. “A Hotel [specials@ahotel.com.au]”), so it’s not necessary to repeat your name in the subject line.
Below are some examples for subject lines:
- Too over the top, too long and no true benefits - “Stay at our breathtaking hotel in June and be enchanted with our lovely room views”
- Uninspiring - “Stay with us this summer”
- Just right - “20% off your long awaited romantic getaway…”
Email content should be brief, easy to read, state the offer or news early, provide links to your website and have bold calls to action for what you’re promoting. With the huge number of emails that people receive, they will most likely scan your email message quickly and not read word for word. If an offer appeals to a reader, it should be simple for them to take action or contact you straight away.
All messages should be professional, proofread by at least two people and tested in both HTML and text formats, to ensure the content displays properly. Send a test email to your Outlook, hotmail and gmail account to ensure that the email displays properly.
Experiment with “personalizing” the e-mail too, for an added touch. Most services allow you to insert the name of the person (“Dear Sarah,”), assuming you have their first names. And remember that you must abide by the CAN-SPAM act, which essentially requires that all recipients are “opted in” to your e-mails, and that there must be a clear “opt out” option in the email design (usually at the bottom). Study up on this act, or make sure that your provider has it covered.
Design
Design is subjective of course, but let’s look at three objective elements that all email designs should include.
- Branding - Every message should be branded to fit your property’s website. It doesn’t have to be identical, but it should at least include the logo and your corporate colors. This will make it easier for recipients to remember your branding in the future and makes it more consistent
- Imagery - E-mails should have photos that connect with readers. Amateur photos look second rate, and don’t convey professionalism. Corporate photos of an empty hotel look high quality, but don’t cultivate a sense of comfort or inviting. Use professional photos with real guests or stand ins to show that people visit and enjoy your property.
- Layout - Keep it clean, simple and scannable. Again, recipients want to scan over the excessive amount of messaging they’re exposed to. Use a header with links to your site, a main content area and a footer with your property’s contact information.
Besides a great guest experience, email marketing is the best way to increase repeat bookings and generate additional revenue. You must encompass every aspect mentioned above if you want to fully realize its potential.
If you would like help with email marketing, speak to the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today. Call 07 3040 3588 or email us on email@tafastrack.com.au.
12 Reasons Why People Buy Travel
People travel for a reason and those reasons are not the same for everyone. Below are 12 simple motivations on why they might:
1. To increase enjoyment of life
2. To escape reality
3. To keep up with the Joneses
4. To feel younger and carefree
5. To be entertained
6. To be trendy
7. To gratify curiosity
8. To become informed
9. To pursue a dream
10. To spend time with family
11. To satisfy an impulse
12. To get away from the family
Understanding why people buy makes it easier to appeal directly to your customers needs. Therefore, consider how you could apply the above reasons to your marketing message; whether that is in your website, social networking or any other marketing activity you undertake, so that it captures the attention of your viewer and resonates with them.
1. To increase enjoyment of life
2. To escape reality
3. To keep up with the Joneses
4. To feel younger and carefree
5. To be entertained
6. To be trendy
7. To gratify curiosity
8. To become informed
9. To pursue a dream
10. To spend time with family
11. To satisfy an impulse
12. To get away from the family
Understanding why people buy makes it easier to appeal directly to your customers needs. Therefore, consider how you could apply the above reasons to your marketing message; whether that is in your website, social networking or any other marketing activity you undertake, so that it captures the attention of your viewer and resonates with them.
Monday, December 13, 2010
How to use social media and email marketing to spread your message further
Below are some best practices for integrating social media and email marketing and expanding your reach.
You can now share your newsletters on Facebook and Twitter
When sending a e-newsletter to your customer base, you can also automatically share a link to the web version of the email with your Facebook fans and Twitter followers. This will get your newsletter content in front of both your subscribers and all of their social media connections at the same time.
Include a Social Share Bar with all your outgoing email newsletters
Adding a Social Share Bar to your e-newsletters makes it easy for subscribers to share your message with their friends and family, thus helping to spread your message well beyond your original distribution list. It's word-of-mouth marketing made easy.Social media is more than just buttons
You have to remember that social media is more than just about adding Tweet and Like buttons to your e-newsletters. You have to give people a reason to connect with you and interact with your content on social media sites.
You may also have to tell people who are less social media savvy than you are, to click the share buttons or connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc if that's what you want them to do.
If you want to find success on social media, below are some other best practices to follow:
Use your subject line as a tweet
When your email message is shared through social media, the subject line is often the default text that gets published, especially via Twitter. Make sure your subject line is appealing to both email recipients and those who might be seeing a link to your content via social media sites.
Don't forget to take into consideration Twitter's 140-character limit, which will help keep your subject lines short and succicent. (We recommend you try to keep it shorter than 120 characters so your followers can easily retweet it.)
Drive the conversation
Your content should be engaging. Add a social call to action, such as a question at the end of your newsletter article, that directs readers to your Facebook Page to respond. Tell recipients to tweet their response along with a hashtag of your choice.
Track your social shares
With Social Stats, you can track how many subscribers shared your email with their social media connections and see how many people clicked to view your message via social media. It's a great tool to for seeing how far your message is distributed beyond your original contact list. You can then see which social networks are most popular with your subscribers.
Don't forget to listen
Social media is a great way to spread your message and to reach new prospects more quickly. But in addition to generating share-worthy content, you have to remember to listen to your customers.
Take the time to read what your customers and members are posting on your Facebook Page. Monitor Twitter for mentions of your company name, products, or services to see what people are saying about you. By listening, you may also find new trends or great pieces of content to share with your newsletter subscribers and social media followers. Social media is a two-way street of content.
Keeping a close eye on social media can be resource consuming, but tools such as TA Fastrack Social Monitor can help cut down on the time spent on the task and allow you to respond quickly to those with a complaint and thank those with compliments.
When the year started, business and organizations were using social media and email as almost separate marketing entities. As we enter 2011, they're a complimentary team that can help power any organization's marketing efforts.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Excellence Combined With Integrity
How to set standards for excellence and back them with total integrity.
A Commitment to Excellence
Leaders have specific responsibilities and must fulfill certain requirements. One requirement of leadership is the ability to choose an area of excellence. Just as a good general chooses the terrain on which to do battle, an excellent leader chooses the area in which he and others are going to do an outstanding job. The commitment to excellence is one of the most powerful of all motivators. All leaders who change people and organizations are enthusiastic about achieving excellence in a particular area.
Be the Best!
The most motivational vision you can have for yourself and others is to "Be the Best!" Many people don't yet realize that excellent performance in serving other people is an absolute and basic essential for survival in the economy of the future.
Many individuals and companies still adhere to the idea that as long as they are no worse than anyone else, they can remain in business. That is just plain silly! It is prehistoric thinking. We are now in the age of excellence. Customers assume that they will get excellent quality, and if they don't, they will somewhere else that is willing to give them excellence.
Have A Vision of High Standards
As a leader, your job is to be excellent at what you do, to be the best in your chosen field of endeavor. Your job is to have a vision of high standards in serving people. You not only exemplify excellence in your own behavior, but you also translate it to others so that they, too, become committed to this vision.
It is the commitment to doing work of the highest quality in the service of other people, both inside and outside the organization. Leadership today requires an equal focus on the people who must do the job, on the one hand, and the people who are expected to benefit from the job, on the other.
The Most Respected Quality
The second quality, which is perhaps the single most respected quality of leaders, is integrity. Integrity is complete, unflinching honesty with regard to everything that you say and do. Integrity underlies all the other qualities. Your measure of integrity is determined by how honest you are in the critical areas of your life.
Integrity means this: When someone asks you at the end of the day, "Did you do your very best?" you can look him in the eye and say, "Yes!" Integrity means this: When someone asks you if you could have done it better, you can honestly say, "No, I did everything I possibly could."
Integrity means that you, as a leader, admit your shortcomings. It means that you work to develop your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Integrity means that you tell the truth, and that you live the truth in everything that you do and in all your relationships. Integrity means that you deal straightforwardly with people and situations and that you do not compromise what you believe to be true.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, identify the area of your work where excellent performance can contribute the very most to productivity and profits. Focus all your efforts in this area.
Second, do your very best on every task. Imagine that everyone is watching even when no one is watching. Imagine that everyone in your company was going to do their work exactly the way you do yours.
Never compromise your standards!
A Commitment to Excellence
Leaders have specific responsibilities and must fulfill certain requirements. One requirement of leadership is the ability to choose an area of excellence. Just as a good general chooses the terrain on which to do battle, an excellent leader chooses the area in which he and others are going to do an outstanding job. The commitment to excellence is one of the most powerful of all motivators. All leaders who change people and organizations are enthusiastic about achieving excellence in a particular area.
Be the Best!
The most motivational vision you can have for yourself and others is to "Be the Best!" Many people don't yet realize that excellent performance in serving other people is an absolute and basic essential for survival in the economy of the future.
Many individuals and companies still adhere to the idea that as long as they are no worse than anyone else, they can remain in business. That is just plain silly! It is prehistoric thinking. We are now in the age of excellence. Customers assume that they will get excellent quality, and if they don't, they will somewhere else that is willing to give them excellence.
Have A Vision of High Standards
As a leader, your job is to be excellent at what you do, to be the best in your chosen field of endeavor. Your job is to have a vision of high standards in serving people. You not only exemplify excellence in your own behavior, but you also translate it to others so that they, too, become committed to this vision.
It is the commitment to doing work of the highest quality in the service of other people, both inside and outside the organization. Leadership today requires an equal focus on the people who must do the job, on the one hand, and the people who are expected to benefit from the job, on the other.
The Most Respected Quality
The second quality, which is perhaps the single most respected quality of leaders, is integrity. Integrity is complete, unflinching honesty with regard to everything that you say and do. Integrity underlies all the other qualities. Your measure of integrity is determined by how honest you are in the critical areas of your life.
Integrity means this: When someone asks you at the end of the day, "Did you do your very best?" you can look him in the eye and say, "Yes!" Integrity means this: When someone asks you if you could have done it better, you can honestly say, "No, I did everything I possibly could."
Integrity means that you, as a leader, admit your shortcomings. It means that you work to develop your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Integrity means that you tell the truth, and that you live the truth in everything that you do and in all your relationships. Integrity means that you deal straightforwardly with people and situations and that you do not compromise what you believe to be true.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, identify the area of your work where excellent performance can contribute the very most to productivity and profits. Focus all your efforts in this area.
Second, do your very best on every task. Imagine that everyone is watching even when no one is watching. Imagine that everyone in your company was going to do their work exactly the way you do yours.
Never compromise your standards!
Looking back on 2010
As I sit in a very crowded airport, I find myself reflecting back on this past year. For the Interactive Marketing/Search industry, 2010 was very active with mergers/acquisitions, partnerships, innovation and constant change. Although it’s been a wild ride, as we look toward 2011, advertisers should leverage the knowledge learned this past year and prepare for what’s ahead.
Here is a sampling of some of the more eventful happenings from this year:
* Google Caffeine, Instant & Preview
* Partnership between Yahoo & MSN/Bing
* Promoted Tweets
* Facebook Pages to “Like” not ‘Friend/Follow”
* LinkedIn Company Page Feature for “Products/Services”
* iPad and entry of the Tablet
* Introduction of Droid and Windows Phone
* Remarketing Ads
* Invasion of all things Mobile
* Enhanced features (extensions) in AdWords for more robust ads.
As we finish out the year and prepare 2011 marketing budgets and goals, here are the areas I predict will be on most company’s radar:
* Measuring Social Media Results and Monetization of Those Efforts
* Crafting Multi-Device, Robust Mobile Strategy Beyond Basic Visibility
* Improving on Analytics and Integration With Other Important Data
* Refining Paid Search Campaigns – More Experimentation With Other Engines, Portals, Networks, etc.
* Multi-Channel Strategy Development & Execution … Holistic Marketing
* Content Maximization for Enhanced SEO Value
* Experimentation – Multivariate Testing
* Identification of Metrics & Goals
As an incentive to companies who are looking to get a Jumpstart on 2011, we are offering 10% off any consulting program initiated by December 31, 2010. Let us help with a laser-like focus on search and interactive marketing.
Here is a sampling of some of the more eventful happenings from this year:
* Google Caffeine, Instant & Preview
* Partnership between Yahoo & MSN/Bing
* Promoted Tweets
* Facebook Pages to “Like” not ‘Friend/Follow”
* LinkedIn Company Page Feature for “Products/Services”
* iPad and entry of the Tablet
* Introduction of Droid and Windows Phone
* Remarketing Ads
* Invasion of all things Mobile
* Enhanced features (extensions) in AdWords for more robust ads.
As we finish out the year and prepare 2011 marketing budgets and goals, here are the areas I predict will be on most company’s radar:
* Measuring Social Media Results and Monetization of Those Efforts
* Crafting Multi-Device, Robust Mobile Strategy Beyond Basic Visibility
* Improving on Analytics and Integration With Other Important Data
* Refining Paid Search Campaigns – More Experimentation With Other Engines, Portals, Networks, etc.
* Multi-Channel Strategy Development & Execution … Holistic Marketing
* Content Maximization for Enhanced SEO Value
* Experimentation – Multivariate Testing
* Identification of Metrics & Goals
As an incentive to companies who are looking to get a Jumpstart on 2011, we are offering 10% off any consulting program initiated by December 31, 2010. Let us help with a laser-like focus on search and interactive marketing.
Friday, December 3, 2010
7 Secrets to Getting More from Google AdWords
Google assigns each ad a Quality Score - a number between 1 and 10 that reflects whether Google thinks its users will like your ad and whether it is relevant to their search and the web page it links to. That number influences how high your ad will rank in an auction.
A higher Quality Score means you can outrank competitors with higher bids, and get much more bang for your advertising dollar.
Below are some tips on how you can raise your Quality Score.
1. Don't run ads users won't click on
Let's just try this ad and see if anyone clicks on it. After all, since it's pay-per-click, if they don't click on it, it won't cost you anything. That may seem like good logic, but it's a big mistake. Click through rates (CTR) is one of the most important elements of Quality Score. If an ad for your business runs and users don't click it, it can lower your Quality Score, thus costing you more to run the same ad or even other ads in future.
Google actually assigns Quality Scores to ad groups as well as advertising accounts, so a bad CTR can hurt you in many ways.
Constantly testing slightly different wording and picking the ads with better CTR will help you not only by bringing you more customers to your website, but also by lowering your cost per click.
2. Divide and conquer
Don't just lump all your keywords and phrases into one group of ads that sends people to the same page. What works best is if you divide your keywords into groups that relate to a common theme and then send users to a dedicated landing page. For example, if you are in the holiday accommodation business, instead of grouping 'Hotel,' 'Motel,' 'Affordable Accommodation' and 'Holiday Accommodation' into one ad group, it is best if you break it down. You would have one ad group that relates only to holiday accommodation and if someone who clicked on that ad, they would be directed to a landing page for your various room types. Another ad group would be set up for 'Motel' etc.
3. Get rid of keywords that aren't helping you
Avoid keywords that, although may fit your market, are too general. If your market is very competitive and your keywords used are too general, you may find that bigger companies might outbid you and your ads won't appear on Page 1 of Google. Home in on your market and be specific with the keywords if you want your Adwords campaign to be successful.
4. Add content to your website and landing page
Having useful content is one of the big things that will help your Quality Score. And don't copy and paste content from other sites onto your page as Google will penalise you for duplicate content. Your pages need unique content, a variety of content, and frequently updated content. This will lead to a better user experience.
5. Give users choices
You may want your landing page to urge users toward a strong call to action, such as "Click here to learn more about our product" or "Sign up for our free e-newsletter." But Google wants users to have a wide array of choices, and having a menu of navigation options on your landing page will improve your Quality Score.
If users go to a landing page, they usually want more information. If they can't find the information they want, become frustrated and leave, this will be reflected in a poorer landing page Quality Score.
6. Tell about yourself
Does your site have prominent links to an "about us" (or "company") section? And does it offer a privacy policy where users are asked to enter information such as their e-mail addresses? If the answer to either question is no, your Quality Score will suffer.
Google recommends transparency. If users are going to give you their data, Google prefers to see a good privacy policy and a no-spam policy in place.
7. Make sure your pages load quickly
If a webpage loads too slowly, that's not a great user experience. Change hosting companies, or change the graphics on the page, so that the page loads quickly.
Site up time is critical. Even small down times that are otherwise unnoticeable are picked up by Google's automatic quality checks. If Google checks a landing page and it's down, by definition it's not relevant and there's a high probability of a Quality Score penalty.
To keep this from happening to you, consider using a site monitoring service, or if necessary, change your hosting provider.
TA Fastrack can assist you with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) services. To find out more, visit www.tafastrack.com.au or call 07 3040 3588 for more information.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Looking Back on 2010
As I sit in a very crowded airport, I find myself reflecting back on this past year. For the Interactive Marketing/Search industry, 2010 was very active with mergers/acquisitions, partnerships, innovation and constant change. Although it’s been a wild ride, as we look toward 2011, advertisers should leverage the knowledge learned this past year and prepare for what’s ahead.
Here is a sampling of some of the more eventful happenings from this year:
Contact me for more details.
Here is a sampling of some of the more eventful happenings from this year:
- Google Caffeine, Instant & Preview
- Partnership between Yahoo & MSN/Bing
- Promoted Tweets
- Facebook Pages to “Like” not ‘Friend/Follow”
- LinkedIn Company Page Feature for “Products/Services”
- iPad and entry of the Tablet
- Introduction of Droid and Windows Phone
- Remarketing Ads
- Invasion of all things Mobile
- Enhanced features (extensions) in AdWords for more robust ads.
- Measuring Social Media Results and Monetization of Those Efforts
- Crafting Multi-Device, Robust Mobile Strategy Beyond Basic Visibility
- Improving on Analytics and Integration With Other Important Data
- Refining Paid Search Campaigns – More Experimentation With Other Engines, Portals, Networks, etc.
- Multi-Channel Strategy Development & Execution … Holistic Marketing
- Content Maximization for Enhanced SEO Value
- Experimentation – Multivariate Testing
- Identification of Metrics & Goals
Contact me for more details.
Keep Online Marketing In-House or Outsource?
The goal of this article is to share practical suggestions to help you figure out whether to keep your marketing efforts in-house or to outsource them.
All things being equal, it is very appealing for a company to maintain internal control over their SEO, SEM, Design, Social Media and Analytics efforts. There ought to be a multiplier effect from having someone with those skills be able to interact on a daily basis with the rest of your team and as a result, be able to execute in a highly efficient and “dialed-in” manner. A perception also exists that it’s cheaper to manage inside than pay a firm to help you. That may or may not actually be the case.
As I look back on our past 8 years in the marketing industry and the great clients we have worked with, I can point to many examples where we have essentially trained that in-house person for an organization through months or years of working together. We have always tried to teach as we go and recognize that a transition from out-of-house to in-house works well for certain companies. The key is finding and retaining an individual(s) who understands the key disciplines and who can effectively execute on behalf of your company.
Besides the difficulty in recruiting in-house talent, another challenging aspect centers around the fact that there are so many different skill sets involved which ultimately need to be mastered. SEO, SEM, Design, Social Media and Analytics all overlap, but are each unique disciplines. When we work with a client, their main point of contact within TA Fastrack is their Client Strategist, but our Client Strategist then interfaces with subject matter experts internally on SEO, SEM, Analytics, etc. It’s a lot to ask of most individuals to become proficient in each of these areas.
If you hire an individual who already has some of these skills (and or is highly trainable), then this path can work. You may also need to consider hiring multiple individuals. What tends to be less effective is adding interactive marketing responsibilities to a person on your staff who already has a heavy load or who doesn’t demonstrate enthusiasm about the opportunity, as the results are typically underwhelming.
The bottom line, I believe, is that companies need to be incorporating SEO, SEM, Design, Social Media and Analytics, plus possibly Affiliate Marketing into their overall marketing mix. In-house or out, someone needs to be constantly thinking about and acting intelligently in these channels on behalf of your business.
At TA Fastrack we have the resources and most importantly the best experts in each marketing channel who will always think strategically about improving the current results you get from each channel. To discuss the benefits of outsourcing your marketing, please contact me directly via email or call me on +61 7 3040 3589.
Enjoy more success with your marketing!
Adrian Caruso - CEO, TA Fastrack
All things being equal, it is very appealing for a company to maintain internal control over their SEO, SEM, Design, Social Media and Analytics efforts. There ought to be a multiplier effect from having someone with those skills be able to interact on a daily basis with the rest of your team and as a result, be able to execute in a highly efficient and “dialed-in” manner. A perception also exists that it’s cheaper to manage inside than pay a firm to help you. That may or may not actually be the case.
As I look back on our past 8 years in the marketing industry and the great clients we have worked with, I can point to many examples where we have essentially trained that in-house person for an organization through months or years of working together. We have always tried to teach as we go and recognize that a transition from out-of-house to in-house works well for certain companies. The key is finding and retaining an individual(s) who understands the key disciplines and who can effectively execute on behalf of your company.
Besides the difficulty in recruiting in-house talent, another challenging aspect centers around the fact that there are so many different skill sets involved which ultimately need to be mastered. SEO, SEM, Design, Social Media and Analytics all overlap, but are each unique disciplines. When we work with a client, their main point of contact within TA Fastrack is their Client Strategist, but our Client Strategist then interfaces with subject matter experts internally on SEO, SEM, Analytics, etc. It’s a lot to ask of most individuals to become proficient in each of these areas.
If you hire an individual who already has some of these skills (and or is highly trainable), then this path can work. You may also need to consider hiring multiple individuals. What tends to be less effective is adding interactive marketing responsibilities to a person on your staff who already has a heavy load or who doesn’t demonstrate enthusiasm about the opportunity, as the results are typically underwhelming.
The bottom line, I believe, is that companies need to be incorporating SEO, SEM, Design, Social Media and Analytics, plus possibly Affiliate Marketing into their overall marketing mix. In-house or out, someone needs to be constantly thinking about and acting intelligently in these channels on behalf of your business.
At TA Fastrack we have the resources and most importantly the best experts in each marketing channel who will always think strategically about improving the current results you get from each channel. To discuss the benefits of outsourcing your marketing, please contact me directly via email or call me on +61 7 3040 3589.
Enjoy more success with your marketing!
Adrian Caruso - CEO, TA Fastrack
Being a Better Listener
Many business people have trained themselves to receive and process very high loads of information very quickly - it's almost a survival skill in the early days of business when you might have to do everything yourself!
There is also evidence (email me for a copy) that people who are made to think quickly report feeling happier, more energetic, more creative, more powerful, and more self-assured.
Strangely, that fast information processing skill can become an issue when you come to communicate with staff, family and others. As the gap information processing speed grows, so problems appear. Some fast thinkers find it almost painful to slow down to the speed at which others talk and process, and they can become impatient and/or appear disinterested, bored or distracted in the most inappropriate circumstances such as staff meetings, dinner conversation, or even a client or sales interview.
Diagnosing Yourself
If you find yourself being easily distracted when others are talking; or developing the habit of doing other things while people are talking with you (because you have spare bandwidth and can follow what they are saying and complete another task); or of losing the train of thought in another's presentation, then the following tip may be for you.
Simple Solution
If the root of the problem is that you need a higher flow of information than is being delivered by your audience or other party, then broaden your focus to take in a much wider bandwidth of information than just the spoken words.
After all, words form only about 7% of our communications, with the other 93% being provided at the level of voice and body language. So, broaden your attention beyond words, and start interpreting voice tone, pitch, pace and timbre, and the whole spectrum of body language from posture and gestures to facial expression, skin tone, eye movements and breathing pace and location.
Once you start to develop some facility at this you will be amazed at how easy it is not only to "stay in the moment" with your audience, but also to acquire a much deeper understanding of what is being communicated at every level in that moment.
The bonus is that your audience will quickly sense your engagement with and focus on them, rapport is likely to deepen, and the confidence that engenders is likely to see them speed their delivery quite naturally. Then everyone is happy.
Test this in an aware way at your next opportunity. If it works for you, develop it as a habit.
Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choicest words lose their power when they are used to overpower. Attitudes are the real figures of speech. ... Edwin H. Friedman
If you would like more business tips, or would like more information about TA Fastrack's business coaching, business training and marketing services, call 07 3040 3588 or email us directly on email@tafastrack.com.au.
There is also evidence (email me for a copy) that people who are made to think quickly report feeling happier, more energetic, more creative, more powerful, and more self-assured.
Strangely, that fast information processing skill can become an issue when you come to communicate with staff, family and others. As the gap information processing speed grows, so problems appear. Some fast thinkers find it almost painful to slow down to the speed at which others talk and process, and they can become impatient and/or appear disinterested, bored or distracted in the most inappropriate circumstances such as staff meetings, dinner conversation, or even a client or sales interview.
Diagnosing Yourself
If you find yourself being easily distracted when others are talking; or developing the habit of doing other things while people are talking with you (because you have spare bandwidth and can follow what they are saying and complete another task); or of losing the train of thought in another's presentation, then the following tip may be for you.
Simple Solution
If the root of the problem is that you need a higher flow of information than is being delivered by your audience or other party, then broaden your focus to take in a much wider bandwidth of information than just the spoken words.
After all, words form only about 7% of our communications, with the other 93% being provided at the level of voice and body language. So, broaden your attention beyond words, and start interpreting voice tone, pitch, pace and timbre, and the whole spectrum of body language from posture and gestures to facial expression, skin tone, eye movements and breathing pace and location.
Once you start to develop some facility at this you will be amazed at how easy it is not only to "stay in the moment" with your audience, but also to acquire a much deeper understanding of what is being communicated at every level in that moment.
The bonus is that your audience will quickly sense your engagement with and focus on them, rapport is likely to deepen, and the confidence that engenders is likely to see them speed their delivery quite naturally. Then everyone is happy.
Test this in an aware way at your next opportunity. If it works for you, develop it as a habit.
Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choicest words lose their power when they are used to overpower. Attitudes are the real figures of speech. ... Edwin H. Friedman
If you would like more business tips, or would like more information about TA Fastrack's business coaching, business training and marketing services, call 07 3040 3588 or email us directly on email@tafastrack.com.au.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)