The Importance of Keyword Research

How to get the most out of Google Adwords..

"Its not about getting visitors to your site, its about getting the right visitors to your site". (Moz.com)

Google Adwords is a powerful tool which allows companies in SEO and Keyword Research. Adwords allows companies to monitor traffic on certain keywords or phrases, and then allows you to tailor how and where your company advert appears.

As an example, I have decided to use Keyword Planner on my local gym and leisure centre Everyone Active. Keyword Planner words by typing in a number of keywords which are related to the selected company. The tool will then provide detailed information on the keywords, for example average monthly searches and the level of competition.

As you can see from the left, I have typed in the keywords I Believe to be relevant to Everyone Active. I can now compare the results of each keyword I selected and what keywords would be most successful for Everyone Active. This is based on Average Monthly Searches, Competitor Level, and Suggested Bid. 

User Generated Content - Share a Coke!

The 'Share-a-Coke' Success Story..

"The rising trend in user-generated content that incorporates offline elements is something that has been around a few years, but no brand has been able to succeed quite like Coca-Cola".

One of the biggest success stories of User Generated Content is that of Coca Cola's 'Share-a-Coke' campaign. Throughout 2013 Coca Cola decided to swap their brand name on their products for a selection of one the 150 most popular UK names. 

This inventive marketing idea caused a surge in the growing trend of friends "Spamming" each others Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds with pictures of their personalised Coke, all cleverly including the hashtag of '#shareacoke'. 

Users would be able to click on the hashtag and be linked to the Coca Cola website where they could also order their free bottle of Coke, which would include the users name. Users would then generally take a picture of their bottle of Coke and upload it to either Facebook, Twitter or Instagram making more and more people aware of the campaign. 

Since the launch of the UK campaign Coca Cola's Facebook community has grown by 3.5%. The hashtag on twitter has also been used 29,000 times on twitter as well highlighting the success of the company's marketing campaign. 

To find out more information of Coca Cola's 'Share-a-Coke' campaign, please visit the link provided here.

The Power of Email Marketing!

Email Marketing

The most powerful advertisement method?...

After reading Arthur Hughes' article 'Why Email Marketing is King' it has become clear to me that this form of advertisement is extremely underrated. "According to eMarketer, this year U.S. companies are spending about $64 billion per year on TV, $34 billion on print ads, and $39 billion on Internet advertising. And how much are they are spending on email? For that, we have Forrester data: only about $1.5 billion."

Hughes' article caused me to question my own behaviour towards Email Marketing. After searching through my past emails which I had previously deemed as 'junk', I came across a Groupon email which had targeting me through email marketing. I realised that I had previously signed up to receive weekly offers from Groupon. One key offer that really stood out to me was the 6 Nations offer which is shown on the left. 

After clicking on the URL provided in the email, I was taken to Groupons 'Landing Page'. I was then asked whether I am a new or an existing member. This caused me to question how personal the email and landing page actually was, as Groupon were the ones to contact me, yet they do not know if I am an existing customer or not. 

The landing page is simple and self explanatory which is highly important as if the page seems to complex or stressful the user is likely to 'bounce' straight away. The page also shows how many other people purchased this offer and how long the offer is available for. This is a great marketing tool as if the number of purchases is high and the time left is low, then user is more likely to make the purchase there and then. - all through the power of Email Marketing! 

Finally, as you can see from the top of the landing page there is the option to 'get deals by email'. This allows Groupon to restart the process of Email Marketing again, and begin collecting data.

Exploring Google Analytics - A Beginners Guide!

A Beginners Guide to Google Analytics

How to get the most out of Google Analytics...

Google Analytics is arguably one of the most powerful web based analytical tools available - not to mention that it is free as well! Analytics is a powerful tool which allows the admin to monitor and track key traffic patterns on their website. The fact that it’s an entirely free program, and can be used with a number of other Google programs, such as AdSense and AdWords makes it essential for any keen blogger. By tracking the traffic your website, you can monitor the demographics and behaviour and use it to aid marketing.

Like many of Googles products, Google Analytics has a simple, sleek and elegant design. This design allows uses to navigate quickly through the site, allowing them to access and analyse the data efficiently. Apple and Facebook are the masters of dashboard optimisation and for future preference I will be using this as inspiration when designing my dashboard.





The screen shot above shows how you can tailor your dashboard to suit the user needs. By dragging and dropping selected widgets the user can create an effective dashboard that displays all relevant metrics at once. One useful widget is the display of visits per location, this allows the user to pin point the specific locations of where the majority of site visits are coming from, meaning the user can tailor their blogs in order to suit the relevant demographics.

One of my favourite analytical tools is the 'Visits by Device' metric. This metric shows the user what devices the user is using the view their site. In this instance the site has received two views, one being from a desktop device such as a laptop or computer, and the other begin from a mobile device such as a tablet or smart phone. By tracking this form of metric the user is able to tailor their blogs to suit the devices use. For instance, if the majority of visits come from a mobile device, the user must ensure that they do not attach any media which isn't enabled for smart phones or tablets.

There are plenty more great tools and widgets which Google Analytic's provides, to find out the full list of tools available follow the link provided here. 

BIG Data - Gaining An Competitive Advantage

Big Data is the term used to describe massive volumes of data. Data that is so large that it is difficult for us to process using tradional methods, such as; database and sortware techniques.

Big Data can allow us to gain competitive advantage over other businesses. Mckinsky recently published a report stating that "We estimate that a retailer embracing big data has the potential to increase its operating margin by more than 60%. We have seen leading retailers such as Tesco use big data to capture market share from local competitors, and many other examples abound in industries such as financial services and insurance," An example of Big Data within the retail industry would be the use of 'Loyalty Cards'. Loyalty Cards are used as a mean of collecting data from customers, which the retailer can then use to to advertise 'tailored' goods to them.

http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/What-is-big-data-and-how-can-it-be-used-to-gain-competitive-advantage

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/big_data_the_next_frontier_for_innovation

To Be Continued....

Hello World!

Hello World - Tom Begley is now blogging!!