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.