On December 4th Google announced that it was able to provide its personalised search feature to those users that are not signed into their Google account.

What does this mean?

Well based on the last 180 days worth of history, Google will now understand your search patterns so will start personalising your results page to the content items that Google deems are more relevant. So, for example, lets say that you and I are both fanatical about home baking and your preference was to look at Gordon Ramseys website for recipes whereas I liked Jamie Oliver.

Over a period of time we both searched on recipes, and I favoured Jamies website whilst you looked at Gordons. Once Google has collected enough data, your search results page would put Gordons at the top of the page as that is your preference, but my search page for the same keywords would present Jamies… you get the picture?

This means that every search could be customised specifically for you, although Google will never be able to account for those unique searches you do only once in a while (and over 30% of searches are for this information)  – of course you can turn this feature off if you want to, and if you’ve got more than one person using the PC I would!, and you will know if Google have customised your screen as they will tell you

Clever stuff but do you think they’ve gone too far?

In order to really succeed with marketing online, once you’ve got your foundations in place you really then need to think about getting links to your website from elsewhere on the world wide web. Now there are some ‘quick wins’ that can be achieved, directory listings, links from suppliers, business associates and customers, but for longevity you need to be thinking about other areas on the web where you can place links to your website. The trouble is a lot of these links will require some content. For example you might want to use some of these tools in order to get links:

1. A blog :  Well you need to think about how frequently you can update it and what you’re going to write about
2. Video : What is your video going to be about? How many are you going to make?
3. Articles : How frequently, where are you going to place them?
4. Press Releases : again, how frequently and where are they going?
5. Newsletters : What are you going to say every month?

So you can see with all of this activity you will need a clearly defined content strategy so that you know what is required at what stage.

So What is a Content Strategy?

Well put simply its a plan that will determine the creation and publication of relevant content that will

• Be a useful resource for your target market and customers
• Drive traffic to your website via links

Its that simple to define, but not always so easy to carry out.

So, where do you start?

Well the first place is to identify what you as a business will actually be able to achieve, if you’ve got a marketing department then all of the above content items will be achievable, if you’re a sole trader then you’re busy enough running your business, so can you realistically complete the above (or get someone to complete it for you) or can you do a subset of it?

Once you’ve identified what the content items are then you need to understand why you’re writing them, whats the key message? whats the tone? whats the key words? Where are you going to publish? How are you going to promote?

This is what your content strategy will determine.

The most important thing to remember is that the strategy should be repeatable, so as an example if we take writing a blog your strategy might be as simple as-

1. Write a blog post twice a week
2. Tone is friendly and informative
3. Keywords that we want to include are keyword 1, keyword 2 etc…
4. Once published we’ll distribute via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email marketing

So your process is exactly the same every time you write a blog. Once you’ve written a couple you’ll know how long it will take you to complete the process so then you can allocate that time in your diary every week for content creation.

Remember the whole of the Internet is compiled with just content, useful information (and some not so useful!) and nothing else, so if your business is not creating its own unique content how is it realistically going to take part?

Need some help with your content or Internet Marketing Strategy, contact your local IRUN representative they will be able to help.

We already talked about the value of putting video onto your website in order to convert your visitors, but it can also help with search engine optimisation especially if you use YouTube to upload your video too.

There are a few simple steps you can take to maximise the traffic your video will send to your website, these are detailed below:

1.  Make sure that you include your priority keywords in the title and description of the video clip, and, very much like a blog post, chose keyword rich categories and tags. This is how the search engines know what your video is about so ensure that you use the tags to maximum effect. (This may require you to complete a keyword research if you haven’t already done so)
2. Once your video is uploaded and your tags are neatly in place you can then promote your video to all of your followers and friends on your Social Networking sites (Facebook / Twitter). In your account settings you will find the option call ‘AutoShare’ – once you have connected your accounts this will be done for you.
3. Promoting your video further afield is the next step, simple things you can do are embed the code into your blog and website, or you might want to use the video as part of an email newsletter, all these are great inexpensive ways to get your message to your audience
4. Pay for your video to be seen: Did you know that, like Google Adwords, you can promote your videos across YouTube through a dynamic, auction-based marketplace. (and as YouTube is fast becoming as big a Search Engine as Google this is a good move) The tool that enables you to do this is promoted videos, and like adwords the visitors find you using keywords, but a better feature than adwords is that users can interact with video and leave comments and ratings – a really powerful marketing tool. You only pay when someone watches the video and you can chose which related subjects you want your video to appear alongside… very neat.
5. Finally test and measure, Insights will give you exactly that – reports into who is watching your video and where in the world they are based.

We think that promoting your video via YouTube is a great way of generating more traffic to your website, just some other useful stats on YouTube

It Is:

•  # 1 entertainment site on the Internet, and #4 largest Internet destination
• Unique monthly visitors: 90 million
• Average monthly time spent on site per user: 54 minutes
• Monthly pageviews: 5.3 billion

So get videoing, it’s a much more personal way of getting your company message and personality onto the Internet, need some help? get in touch with your local IRUN representative who can help you put your video message together.

As you already know, Google has completed its deal with twitter to receive a real time feed into their search results, they are now taking it one step further with Google Social Search. (at least its in the experimental phase)

What is that I hear you cry?
Well basically Google are trying to take your search to a new level by personalising the results that are presented back to you….. and they’ll do that by adding search results from people you are already linked to in your social circles with the normal main results page.

So you get results from the entire world, but more specifically from people Google thinks you already know.

How does Google know who you know?
Well its quite simple really, from sites listed in your profile, feeds you are currently following, Twitter, youtube, the list is endless, so the complexity of your results will be dependant on what Google knows about you… also who is in the immediate social circle of your followers.

Want to know more then watch and listen to Maurren Heymans technical lead at Google

So lets roll this through a timeline to try and give you an idea of what might happen in the future if this is rolled out in the real world. The more people following you in all your social networks and other social sites you have got the more likely your website and content is going to be published in their results page, the reverse is also true, no social networks or followers then your web pages won’t be listed.

Whether or not this is going to roll out, or how big the impact will be in the search results only Google knows especially as you will have to be logged into your Google account for this to take effect,  but all we can suggest is if you haven’t embraced all things social then the time to do it is now, really right now… it takes time and energy to get connected and linked to people and you really don’t want to lose out.

It you need help with your Social Media get in touch with your local IRUN representative who will gladly help you.

Setting up a properly constructed pay-per-click campaign is not as easy as Google claims. Yes, you can do it yourself, but if you want to do it right for maximum benefit, join our FREE online workshop.

Date: Thursday 12th November 2009
Time: 9.30-10.30am
Venue: online (no need to travel)

To book: tel. 01865 920003, email info@irunsolutions.co.uk or book online.

More FREE workshops.

Traditional methods of mass marketing (hard copy mail-outs, cold calling etc) have their place in today’s armory of weapons to attack the market, but they are generally expensive to deploy and have limited, if no feedback mechanism, making measurement of success very difficult.

One weapon you must consider is email marketing.

I don’t mean endless spam type campaigns, but targeted, focused email campaigns to prospects and customers which actually give a positive benefit to your target audience, like newsletters and technical bulletins, that include opt out and permission based marketing which will deliver value.

So what’s the first step?

You should have a list of customer emails which will be your first step down the email marketing path. Generally, you should start with something like a newsletter or similar communication to your clients, telling them what you intend to do and the frequency of communication with them and a tangible benefit to them  – this could be just keeping them informed of industry news, new products and services you offer or special offers that they may be interested in.

Then you need a good email marketing tool. This is vital as it will either be an asset to your marketing strategy moving forward, or a millstone which will cause you so many problems in the future. At IRUN, we have scanned the marketplace for a great tool, with loads of features but a sensible cost break and we chose InTouch – in fact this email was delivered to you by this tool. What’s more important is that I know you have read this and what other items you have clicked on within this newsletter too!

This is the true heart of any emarketing system. If you don’t get the instant feedback, then it’s not going to deliver the results you need. This is especially important for campaigns to prospects or unknown buyers. You will have little or no relationship with these potential clients of the future, but need to know if what you are offering will attract them to start a relationship with you. It is proven that you will almost certainly need to contact these prospects (or even suspects) at least 4 times to get attention with up to 12 times to get a sale.

So what kind of information should you get back from an emarketing system?

Typical information from an emarketing dashboard The graphic above shows the dashboard from the InTouch emarketing tool. See below for an explaination.

1. Delivered – this will tell you how many emails were delivered
2. Bounced – this will tell you how many emails were incorrectly addressed and who
3. Opened – tells you how many were opened and by whom
4. Clicked – this tells you who clicked on what and when – also how many times the clicked
5. Unsubscribe – tells you who does not want to receive emails again
6. Complaints – tells you who complained to the ISP regarding your email
7. Inactive – tells you they were delivered but not opened

If you have anything less, then the package is not right for the job.

So to answer the initial question of why use emarketing?

Answer: Anybody who wishes to communicate effectively with at a very low cost point getting instant feedback with either an existing client, a prospect (somebody who has enquired but not committed to purchase) or to suspects (not known to the client by anything else other than an email address or other basic information).

As to cost comparisons, a traditional mailer will cost in the region of 30 – 50 pence per item delivered at the lowest end of the scale. With email marketing the cost is zero. Both media types will require thought, design and compelling copy or graphics and will cost similar amounts, however there is no cost of print or delivery with emarketing.

The next question is how to write that killer message that will get read…..that’s for next month.
For more information on emarketing or to see a demo of InTouch, please contact us.

Google have recently announced their new feature called Ad extensions which will enhance your PPC campaign for local searches. The extension will expand the standard text ad with additional business information such as your location, this will help website users easily find out more about your business and if you are truly local to them. In addition to this the additional information may also appear on Google and its properties such as Google Maps in an enhanced form.

You will be charged in the same way as normal for your PPC campaign, but if your ads are shown on Google maps you won’t be charged for clicks on the ad that expand your information window – but will if they click through to your website. If you provide more than one address, Google is clever enough to know to show your ad based on the choice of search terms or  if the user is geographically near to you – clever eh!

To add a location extension to an existing campaign is fairly easy, you can either link your local business centre account to your adwords account, or if you don’t have one of these (and you really should, we keep telling you too) then you can manually enter the address into the listing on the your adwords admin console. The newest enhancement to this feature is the ability to upload a custom icon that will appear on Google Maps. This will allow your Google Maps listing to stand out from your competitors and hopefully encourage that phone to ring.

If you’re running a PPC Campaign and your customers are local then this really is too good an opportunity to leave on the table…. Log in to your adwords campaign now and get locally targeting!

We all know that ‘content is king’ when it comes to being found on Google and other search engines, the better your content and the more of it you can produce will be advantageous in an SEO war. However one area that is often overlooked by business is that actually ‘content is king’ for visitors of your website too.

What do we mean?

Well, statistically it is proven that longer text works better than short text for converting sales, so why do most companies assume that visitors will at best skim read their website text and pick up the phone for more info. Well in these days where the user is in control of ‘how they are marketed to’ then actually to have content rich information on your website should be a priority, because a well written piece will have prospects taking just the action that you want them too.

So what does a well written piece look like?

In our experience a good piece of copywriting will give your prospect all the information they require without being sold to, so think of it as a way of interacting with a potential client with out being pushy. Successful content will deliver consistent information to your target market to educate them on your products, services and benefits of doing business with you over and above your competitors.

However you also need to take into consideration that different personalities will require different parts of the puzzle to make their research complete, some visitors will need to know ‘how’ your products work, so technical fact sheets or white papers should be made available. Others will want to know that ‘you’ve done it before’ so case studies could take care of that angle. Remember different people have different buying criteria and your job is to identify all of them and persuade them that you are the best at solving their situation.

What else is involved in making your words work?

Well when writing content do bear these things in mind

1. Have you clearly identified your target market? – your visitor should read the first part of your content and think ‘yes that’s me, that’s the problem that I face’
2. You then need to grab their attention and really create a desire, using emotional words can be useful here (imagine is always a good one!)
3. Informative relevant content that picks up on all personality types should also be included
4. Does your content give the Eureka moment?
5. Is there a clearly defined action, tell them what you want them to do.

You can use this approach in all areas of your marketing, not just in the online world. It will leave a long lasting impression.
Most companies need help when it comes to professionally copywriting, if your website needs a revamp then get in touch with your local IRUN business after all we’re here to make sure your ‘phones ring!

On 15th September, at the new offices in Wantage, a number of IRUN personnel gathered for the first of a number of new sales training sessions. Specially developed for IRUN, the course focused on a number of elements to improve sales performance, from heightened self -awareness through to use of modern techniques and the constant aim of delivering value for customers.
In a highly interactive workshop, under the auspices of Fred Copestake, an experienced sales consultant now also part of the IRUN network (Henley-in-Arden) the group tackled a number of subjects including:
Personal Selling Styles
Using a diagnostic tool to help with recognising and adapting personal selling approaches to maximise sales outcomes as well as adapting to customer buying styles and develop appropriate strategies to ensure ‘win: win’ scenarios.
The ‘Sales Animal’
Defining the characteristics of an ‘ideal’ IRUN sales person and benchmarking against the ideal ‘ASK Factors’ (Attributes/Skills/Knowledge)
‘SENSE’ Selling
Understanding the importance of employing a solid sales process for consistent, repeatable ongoing success set the context for the introduction of the ‘SENSE Selling’ – a sales process specially developed for working IRUN opportunities. Using the right tools, techniques and existing collateral at the correct level can help to become more effective in solution/concept sales.

The framework can also be adapted for working with channel partners such as Abacus and Hospitality Marketing System consultants and will form part of our training for clients if they need help in this area.

We also looked at Motivation Matters
Exploring the relevance of ‘traditional’ motivation theories and unleashing the power of more modern NLP techniques

The session was very well received, scoring a respectable 85% feedback score, with the most common comment being that there was almost ‘too much’ content for the time available. With the methodology of the ‘SENSE’ Sales Process central to the success, it bodes very well for the future of IRUN’s sales training plans.
Forthcoming events include joint sessions with accountancy partners Abacus in Sunderland, Birmingham and Wantage as well as the roll out of a proposition to IRUN clients.
Together with the continued success of the ‘Twitter Workshops’ and free weekly online ‘Internet Marketing’ sessoin IRUN’s training proposition looks in rude health.
Training and development…. you know it makes sense!

Please welcome our new marketing partners who have joined us to work on the Marketing System.  Please feel free to contact the one nearest you.

Patrick Haig-Gannon, Manchester
Nick Taimatara, Richmond
Paul Sage, Leicester
Richard Cane, Farnham
Robin Preston, Worcester
Stephen Bentley, Birmingham
Tim Lyons, Banbury
Vinod Kumar, London
Carry Ann-Dennis, Shrewsbury

If you want to know more about how the marketing system can help your business generate new leads and retain more clients then please contact us and one of our consultants can see if it will work for you.