Archive for January, 2012
The importance of mobile in marketing
This post was last edited by Alex Cohen, on the January 27, 2012 @ 6:54 pm
Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that one of the recurring themes in many of our predictions for 2012 has been mobile marketing. There are more mobile phones on the planet than there are televisions, and more of the world’s population currently owns a mobile phone than owns a toothbrush. Mobile marketing clearly has huge potential, and in this post we explain where some of the opportunities might lie for your business to make best use of it.
The major mobile marketing channels
Mobile websites: internet browsing on mobile phones is increasing rapidly, and whilst most businesses can nowadays be found online, many websites are not fully accessible for mobiles and tablets. Location-based search is seeing a huge increase, and with 70% of all mobile searches resulting in action within one hour, having a mobile presence online can mean the difference between a potential customer finding your business or going to a competitor.
Mobile apps: Apps are downloaded from places like iTunes or Android market. The biggest advantage of an app over a mobile website is the increased functionality, and the ability to utilise physical features of the device such as the camera or accelerometer. They can also potentially be accessed without an active internet or network connection.
SMS: has been around for decades now, and whilst it has in some ways been superseded by social media and internet messaging services, it still remains a powerful marketing tool. It takes the average person only 90 seconds to respond to a text message, as opposed to 90 minutes for an email, and with the ever increasing functionality of smartphones it’s now feasible to insert web links, quick-dial phone numbers and other calls to action into SMS messages.
How to make the most of these channels
Make your website more mobile friendly: the majority of websites are still not optimised for mobile browsing. A site that can look good on a desktop screen may not translate well to a smaller device, with text and pictures showing up in the wrong places, or even not at all. Users can quickly get frustrated with having to zoom in and out to read a web page, as well as features not loading, which is why these users ought to be considered when designing your next website.
One option is to create an entirely separate mobile site, as for instance the BBC has done, however this can be expensive for many businesses. Another more cost effective option is to use responsive web design techniques to allow the website to adapt to the browser using it, ensuring that it’s easily accessible to all.
AdWords, SEO and Google Places: making your telephone number readily available to anyone searching for your website enables them to contact you with a single touch of the screen. The best way to do this on-page is to integrate it into your website wherever possible so that it appears on a mobile browser as a link, and off-page to use it in SEO meta data so that in a list of search results it appears in your website description. If a user has a poor data connection, they will want to get the details they’re looking for with as few clicks as possible, so make it easier for them.
App development: having a downloadable app is an excellent way of increasing brand awareness for your product or business. Content such as games, photo galleries, videos, RSS feeds and aggregators and much more can be integrated into apps, meaning that they needn’t just be a transposed version of your mobile website. Push notifications can also be used to get information and offers to your customers.
SMS: this form of marketing is by no means dead. Text alerts for everything from football scores to weather forecasts are still used by many, and even if they’re instantly deleted by the recipient, they’re still far more likely to be read than an email or online advert. Overuse of this format can potentially annoy your customers and end up being counter-productive, but when used effectively they can be a great way of capturing your customers’ attention, and directing them towards special offers and content.
Are you looking to develop a mobile or online marketing strategy but not sure where to start? Get in touch with Xander Marketing on 0118 321 7620 to find out how we can help your business grow.
2012 Saas Marketing Trends
This post was last edited by Alex Cohen, on the January 20, 2012 @ 1:20 pm
In 2011 Xander Marketing lent its expertise to a range of Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses, working on large projects with 4 different SaaS businesses, as well as on smaller projects with several others. In addition, we also produced helpful resources like our SaaS marketing guides (here and here) that any SaaS business should find useful in developing their marketing strategy.
As we move into 2012 we look ahead to marketing predictions for SaaS businesses this year:
1. Conversion rate testing
A SaaS business’s website is usually central to its marketing activities, and with sophisticated A/B testing and analytical tools now accessible to any business, it’s possible to see exactly how people are interacting with your site. From there, a business can see which aspects of its site are effective, and which aspects require improvement. It’s generally cheaper and easier to double your conversion rate than it is to double your traffic. Split testing should also be an ongoing optimisation process, as even small percentage increases, when accumulated every month, can add up to a significant improvement over a whole year.
2. Creative use of AdWords
It should be important for any business to try to get as much value as possible out of its marketing budget. Particularly online, where the clever use of analytics tools to discover how people find your site and what turns them into conversions can be used to focus your marketing efforts. These tools can also be used to analyse which keywords and/or negative keywords you should be concentrating on. Google Remarketing (also known as retargeting), in which tracking cookies follow customers’ online behaviour and display advertisements relevant to them has been shown to increase engagement, and is an area in which we expect to see rapid growth in 2012.
3. Providing value in content
As we’ve discussed in previous blog articles, it’s no longer enough to simply generate content arbitrarily and hope that people like it. With so many other businesses and organisations out there generating content of their own, it’s important to focus on creating content that your customers will want to engage with and share with one another.
4. Strategy over tactics
A strategy involves taking a holistic approach to marketing up front, taking account of all aspects of your business and the potential interactions between them. Tactics are how the strategy is delivered, and the successful use of them in business relies on having an overarching strategy guiding their implementation, providing overall direction and aiding decision-making at all levels.
5. Decline in traditional advertising
With the growth of online advertising, fewer people are engaging with traditional print media advertising channels, particularly in the SaaS sector. SaaS businesses are also increasingly using their website as the hub of their marketing strategy, and to that end it’s far easier to drive clicks towards it from other online channels such as advertising on websites or social media than it is to get potential customers to type in a website address from a print advert. These clicks can also be measured and analysed, providing you with quantifiable indicators of the effectiveness of your online marketing strategies.
6. Transparency is ever more important
As a SaaS business, customers and prospects will only take your products seriously if they believe that you know what you’re talking about. This means demonstrating your knowledge and sharing expertise, as well as providing as much detail about the product as you can so that customers can make an informed choice. Offering free trials are a proven method for SaaS businesses to turn leads into conversions. It is also important to convey to your customers why your business does certain things the way it does, such as your pricing strategy. Credibility with your customers can only be earned through being honest with them.
7. More competition
SaaS is a rapidly growing business model . Not every business can be the next Google, but the technology giants are acquiring smaller SaaS businesses all the time. As such, everybody is after a piece of the pie, which is why it’s important to distinguish your business from others offering similar products, and make sure that your customers choose you over your competitors. Many businesses decide after using outsourced SaaS to develop their own in-house solutions. How are you going to ensure that they continue to use your services in the future?
8. Adapting to new technology
Information technology is evolving at an ever increasing rate. Near Field Communication (NFC), mobile apps and cloud computing are just some of the relatively recent developments that could potentially have huge ramifications for entire industries. Businesses that struggle to adapt invariably struggle to survive, which is why your business should be looking at how it will adapt to future developments, for example by offering a mobile app or support for collaborative remote working.
9. Privacy and security are still big issues
Despite allegedly being at the top of the agenda for many businesses for years now, it still seems to take a catastrophic breach of security or hacking attack to get companies really thinking about what they’re doing. However these seem to be occurring with more and more frequency, and customers are realising that they shouldn’t hand over their data unless they can trust you with it. As well as having robust security protocols, it’s important to emphasise in your marketing strategy the fact that customers can trust both your business and your products.
10. Social media use will increase
As mentioned above, social media can be a powerful marketing tool for any business. However companies that use SaaS solutions engage with the internet on a daily basis. In addition to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, professional networking sites like LinkedIn allow businesses to build their brand, increase their customer base and interact with professional contacts on a personal level.
How to run, host and market a webinar
This post was last edited by Alex Cohen, on the January 5, 2012 @ 10:12 am
What is a webinar?
Webinar is short for “web seminar”, and refers to a form of web conferencing in which a presentation, demonstration or seminar conducted in one location appears simultaneously on computer screens in a potentially infinite number of other locations. They can be scheduled and scripted in advance, improvised, or both, and can be one-way or collaborative. They allow a presentation or conference to be conveyed remotely to a large audience without the need for any participants to be in the same place, and can be anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours long.
Why should they be part of your marketing strategy?
Webinars can be used for a variety of purposes including lectures, seminars and customer support as well as conventional presentations.However they’re particularly effective for demonstrating your company’s expertise and thought leadership, as well as the value of your products and services in an interactive way. Participants can ask questions in real-time either through web channels or voice conferencing facilities without them having to be in the same place, thus eliminating travel costs and minimising productivity losses for both the presenter and the audience.
Who are they suitable for?
Within the sphere of marketing a webinar is immensely versatile. A presenter can talk through the benefits that their business can offer to existing and prospective clients, as well as demonstrate practical applications of their products and services. They can be used for sales pitches, lectures, workshops or support, with the interactive element encouraging positive engagement from the audience.
How do you conduct a webinar?
Software like GoToWebinar, WebEx and TeamViewer makes putting a webinar together easier than you might think. Once you’ve scheduled your webinar you can invite attendees, who can choose to participate by clicking a special link sent to them. What you talk about and show your attendees on their screens is entirely up to you.
What to talk about
A webinar can be about nearly anything, but they’re particularly useful in the fields of sales and marketing. If for instance your product or service receives a lot of requests for demos and your sales team don’t have the time to be everywhere at once, a webinar can be an efficient and cost-effective way of demonstrating your products to many people simultaneously. A good angle for a webinar is to adopt a thought leadership position, conveying new ideas and solutions whilst the visual aspect demonstrates their effectiveness. The fact that your audience doesn’t necessarily need to download any software or be familiar with webinars in general makes them a great way of impressing potential and existing clients with your knowledge and expertise.
How to market a webinar
Webinars are a relatively new method of communication, and to that end plenty of people haven’t yet heard of them, let alone participated in one. In marketing one to your audience it’s helpful to explain what they are, what you intend to talk about and demonstrate, what they’ll get out of it and affirm how easy it is for them to participate. This can be done through a range of communication channels including your website, word of mouth, email and social media. A monthly workshop or trouble-shooting session for your products, presenting a new service or upgrade to existing customers, or simply sharing your knowledge are just some of the examples of how webinars can be effective when used as part of a wider marketing strategy.
Once it’s over is that it?
No, webinars can be recorded and posted onto your website and video sharing sites such as YouTube allowing participants and people that weren’t on the webinar to go back and remind themselves of points raised by you or others during the webinar.
