Web Marketing Category
BP Hijacks Adwords to Fight Oily Mess
Can throwing big bucks at search engine marketing smooth over a corporate crisis? BP thinks so. A quick “oil spill” search puts the embattled oil giant’s tailored messages above organic search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
BP’s PR strategy for the bad press is no shocker. One study showed that nearly 30 percent of people will click a sponsored link before genuine search results.
Google’s AdWords program lets companies purchase sponsored links that appear above normal search results depending on the company’s budget.
Terms that also trigger BP’s response website include “oil spill claims,” “oil spill disaster” and “oil spill cleanup.” BP may be paying $10,000 daily to stay at the top of search results, according to ABC News.
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Use eNewsletter Content on Blogs and Social Media
Creating easy-to-read and relevant content is the most time-consuming aspect of most email programs. So get the most for your money by trying out these strategies.
Send Every E-mail Twice
Remail is the best practice in the email industry and it’s simple. After you send the initial mailing, wait at least one week, remove the people who already opened your mail from the list and send the same content again. Our return rates on remail range from 10 to 15%. But even if you only get an incremental return, say 5%, it’s almost free!
Integrate Newsletter Content With Social Media
A study of nine major websites recently showed that more traffic was driven to their sites by social media than organic search. So put your newsletter content to work.
- Invite signups to your newsletter every month on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Turn your friends into subscribers and prospects.
- Tease specific stories from your newsletter over social media throughout the month and build traffic to your site.
- Boost your credibility and provide your sales force with links to specific articles they can send to prospects.
Turn Newsletter Articles Into Blog Posts
Get added mileage by posting news stories to your company’s blog. Every article with target keywords will bolster your site’s performance in organic search.
Brand Brainwashing with Web Contest.
Promotions and contests can stimulate short-term sales. They’re also a powerful tool for educating consumers about a brand, even the stuff that doesn’t seem so sexy on the surface, and gathering valuable information. A recent web promotion Ideopia created for Reliance Medical Products presented an entertaining quiz that educated prospects about the benefits of dealing with an American Manufacturer. In addition to driving engagement on an important brand value, visitors were required to answer questions before entering the quiz. Just the kind of stuff that you might use for customizing email… who knows? Let us know if you would like a tour of this project.
Dear [John] is not dynamic content.
Doesn’t that make you feel special when email spammers use your first name? We think it’s a stupid trick, and it’s delusional if you think it’s a substitute for dynamic email marketing.
Real dynamic content is much different, and much more powerful. Based on user preferences or segmentation, contents are tailored to individual interests. This increases click- thrus and conversions, and overall ROI of your campaign.
Engage your audience through more relevant content.
To get started with email marketing you’ll need an emailer who can handle dynamic content, separate content for each segment you wish to target, and a segmented list.
- Define the most advantageous segmentation for your business. For example, a professional oven manufacturer might capture e.g. the names and titles of restaurant owners and head chefs, and type of restaurant (Italian, French, Haggis).
- Invite your existing subscribers to express their preferences on a web page; and explain what’s in it for them, e.g. they’ll receive a recipe that’s perfect for their restaurant every month.
- Create a newsletter format and design that contains core content pertinent to your entire audience, e.g. trade shows you’re attending and company news. And allow a space for dynamic content.
- Create a specialized chunk of content for each of your markets, and space for it to be dynamically inserted in your newsletter.
- Continually prod subscribers to update their preferences. For example, would you like to see a recipe just for your restaurant every month?
- Track analytics to improve the content for each segment.
Social Media’s Profound Effect on SEO
By now, it’s probably been pounded into your head that social media content is important for optimizing your company’s rank on search results. Google, Bing and other search engines now incorporate social media participation as an important factor in their alogrithms. But, have you seen this effect in action?
The screen capture shows Google results for the term “Ideopia.” Note that 8 out of 10 results are from social media – Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook. And these results are being incorporated fast, e.g. the Twitter post on phobias was posted just 28 minutes ago. Food for thought!
