Chapter 5: search engine marketing
Search Engine Marketing, if done well, can be invaluable to any e-marketing campaign. It is very likely that the majority of traffic to a website might come from hits on a Search Engine. It is thus important for web designers to optimize for search engines so that their website can be found by users who are actively looking for them and their product/service. Search engines can't "read" and easily make sense of a website the way a user would so they rely on hints from the structure of the site to determine what is the most relevant content to the site as a whole and to each of the pages.
Chapter 6: search engine optimization
Chapter questions:
Why do links send signals of trust to search engines?
If others link to a site it is like they are voting on that site as an authority in whatever subject it pertains to. They are directing there own readers to that site usually because they found the information or services pertinent and of good quality.
Why is better to have more niche pages of content than fewer pages that cover a lot of content?
Targeting niche content offers the possibility of taping into a proportionally high traffic audience with a lower level of direct competition. Also having very specific pages that are clearly labeled will help your reading quickly drill down to what they are looking for rather than arduously searching through general content.
How can analyzing the links to a competitor’s web site help aid your own link building strategy?
Looking at the links will give you a good idea of the information architecture of the site. Following established conventions for information architecture for a specific type of site will help users by providing a hierarchy they are familiar with. It will also give you an idea of the naming conventions used for specific types of information.
Why is it important for search engines to keep updating their algorithms?
Some dis-honest website creators are constantly trying to outsmart the search algorithms to get there websites to appear high on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Some such ploys include spamming blogs with links to the website in question.
If meta data are no longer used for ranking purposes, why do they still have an important role in SEO?
Meta Data can still tell a Search Engine a little bit about the content of the site and are sometimes displayed alongside the page listing.
Case study Questions (case study: Yachting Partners International):
When it comes to SEO, why should technical considerations be addressed first?
It is important to first address technical considerations so that there will be a clear plan of action to target the most ideal searches for the site.
What is the importance of optimised header and title tags?
Header and title tags tell the Search Engine that what it contained in those tags is important and highly relative to the content. Having optimized header and title tags will help search engines to better index the page.
How do sitemaps help to increase the number of pages indexed by the search engines?
Sitemaps allow for better navigation of a site by both humans and search engine robots. All pages are centralized and only one click away.
Chapter 7: PPC advertising
Chapter questions:
What is the difference between the display URL and the landing page URL, and what is the function of each?
A display URL is what the user can see and click on in a page (e.g. in an advert or page listing). A landing page URL is what actually goes up in the address bar and might communicate information to the server the site resides on, such as a user id.
The page I am currently viewing for example is:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2882151735768499561&postID=7910883487677434494
The display URL should communicate to the user where they are going within the information architecture of the site.
How is the content network different to the search network? How do the differences affect the advertiser?
A search network is exclusive to search engines. A content network is a collection of websites of various niches that wish to advertise and/or host PPC adverts. The advertisements are then displayed on websites with content relative to the advert.
What is the importance of long tail keywords in a PPC campaign?
Highly specific or "long tail" keywords are from users looking for a very specific service/product. If the campaign targets a long tail keyword that is highly relative to the site/page's content there is likely to be a higher conversion rate and thus less excess money spent on PPC advertising.
Both PPC advertising and SEO are based on keywords. How can PPC advertising and SEO be used to complement each other?
PPC advertising can test different key terms and determine conversion rates for those key terms. This would help with targeting key terms which would be most effective in SEO. And by tracking hits from SEO it is possible to work out which key terms are being used to drive traffic the site and might be used in PPC advertising.
Case study Questions (case study: Southern Sun):
What information from the PPC campaign could be used to help to optimise the web site?
PPC campaign info, such as which key terms have the best conversion rates, can help in web site optimization. This would help in determining which key terms should be targeted.
Why does a PPC campaign give instant traffic while SEO does not?
It takes time to build a reputation with the search engines that your content is relevant to the targeted key words and is considered an authority on the subject(s). On the other hand PPC has the same "ranking" for the purchased key words regardless of how relevant the content actually is to those words.
What is the importance of landing pages in a PPC campaign? What sort of different landing pages do you think would be used?
Landing pages can be tailored to a marketing campaign or might highlight a specific product/service provided by a site. Either way a landing page (like most else in internet marketing) should have a clear call to action. The landing page can work with PPC to better target specific key words.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
eMarketing: ch. 1-4
Chapter 1: introduction to eMarketing
This chapter was really just an overview of computer terms and a brief history of emarketing and the internet. It also touched on how we communicate online and how environmental factors such as the location we are accessing the internet (e.g. at home or in a coffee shop) affects the way we interact online. I find it interesting the way online conversations affect the way we talk about the internet. For example the term “search engine optimisation” was first used in a forum.
Chapter 2: email marketing
For many of the subsequent chapter there was a corresponding section for chapter questions and questions on the provided case study. I believe that these questions would be a good place to start for analyzing each of these chapters.
Chapter questions:
What is meant by “mass customisation” and why is this so beneficial?
Mass customization allows for the email marketing campaign to be tailored to each potential costumer based on their preferences. For example, a website might sell a variety of products, like amazon.com, but one specific customer usually only buys books. When amazon wants to send out a mass news letter to their mailing list advertising a sale they might look into the costumer's past purchases and then show the discounted books special they are running as a part of the sale front and center in the news letter for that costumer.
What are the key differences between direct marketing by email and direct marketing by post?
Marketing by email is scalable and highly trackable. There is very little difference in cost to send out a thousand emails vs. sending out a million emails while sending out that much paper advertising will cost significantly more. Most importantly everything online is highly tackable. If a customer clicks thought to the website thought the email the the company can track it all the way to whether the costumer ultimately makes a purchase. They can get a far more accurate read of the cost to profit margin of the marketing campaign.
Why is it important for permission to be gained before marketing by email to a prospect?
Marketers don't want to be blocked be spam filters and they want to build up a positive relationship with their costumers. If the email they send is constantly marked as span they will be blacklisted as an untrusted sender by spam filters.
Emails that are expected and recognised are more likely to be read. How can a marketer use this knowledge to increase the readership of emails?
Simply make sure that the they maintain an up to date subscription list and that the option to unsubscribe is available at the bottom of every email. It is also good to have a recognizable subject line. This could include information such as the company's name and the name the person used when they signed up for the subscription.
Case study Questions (case study: Johnnie Walker):
Why was email an ideal medium to reach this target market?
The target audience was "South African black male consumers, 18 – 30 years of age
with disposable income". Email was and ideal medium because the profile of this audience would indicate a high internet usage. Email, text, and phone calls are the primary communication mediums for this age group. And that fact that they should have disposable income should also mean that they will most likely be able to afford high speed internet access to view the emails.
Why does a brand like Johnny Walker collect email addresses?
Email advertising, as it is mentioned in the book, has a high ROI. Many of there target customers use the internet to socialize and communicate so it is more natural for them to receive email rather than direct marketing by post.
How important was personalization in this campaign?
Personalization was very important especially considering the theme of the campaign ("state your case"). It wasn't necessary for the main content of the email itself to be client specific but it did need to include the addressee's name. This was a highly targeted campaign.
Chapter 3: online advertising
Chapter questions:
Online banner advertising and outdoor display dvertising both use images to try to increase sales. In planning, both need to consider placement so as to be seen by their most likely audience. What are the key differences?
The main difference between online advertising a just about every other form of advertising is that all forms of online advertising is highly trackable. There are also many options for paying for online advertising so you could only pay when a desirable action is taken as a result of the advertisement. However, it is sometimes difficult to determine who should get the credit for a sale if the user visited several sites that advertised for the same company.
Why is display advertising an effective acquisition channel?
There is very little separation between advertisement and a means for making a sale. The customer can see the advert and then immediate click though to the product page for the advertised item.
Go to www.wheels24.com and www.thetimes.co.za. What advertising can you find on the front page of these two web sites? What products are being advertised, and how are they being advertised?
What can you infer about the target market for these products?
Wheels 24 took me directly to a website for Anzio Wheels and the Times Live website had advertisements for JCPenney, PhotoCode, a Dating Site, an HR System, and an OB/Gyn as well as several sponsored links for insurance. Anzio Wheels is a very sleek flash based website with desktop downloads advertising there band of wheels. This is most likely geared toward a younger tech savvy audience. The Times Live web adverts seem to be geared primarily toward an older/middle aged audience. And financially minded individuals interested in things like insurance and HR Systems.
case study questions (case study: BMW South Africa):
How do you think BMW benefited from adapting existing print advertising for the online campaign?
This created in unified online and offline campaign so the idea is reinforced in the minds of the intended targets.
Describe the target audience of the new BMW 1 series. Why are they suited to an online campaign?
"BMW 1 Series are generally slightly younger and at a different lifestyle age to the average BMW driver" and would of course need to have disposable income. The younger crowd is infamous for their excessive use of the internet and online socializing. Also if they have disposable income they would most likely afford to have an average to high end computer and internet connection.
Consumers are unlikely to purchase a car online. How would you measure the success of this campaign?
As mentioned in the case study section, the website incorporated a feature that allowed visitors to book test drives. The campaign brought in 11% of the bookings which is a good indicator of the level of it's success.
Chapter 4: affiliate marketing
Chapter questions:
What is the difference between a lifetime cookie and a lock-in cookie? How do you think lock-in cookies affect the commission levels offered by merchants?
A life time cookie has no expiration date as long as it is not remove by the user from the computer. Lock-in cookie are a first come first serve system, the first affiliate to advertise a company's product is locked into the commission for the life of the cookie even if a user visits another affiliates site later on. I think lock in cookies might raise the commission levels offered, because the merchant would only ever have to pay one commission for a sale.
Why do you think some affiliates run affiliate programmes for their own web sites?
Because they will likely receive return on there investment from the affiliates that they sponsor and increasing traffic to there website makes them a more desirable hosting site. This will increase the likelihood that the merchants will communicate with them to make the affiliate program hosted by their website more effective. As mentioned in the is chapter, communication is essential to a successful affiliate campaign.
How can a merchant try to ensure that their own marketing efforts do not overlap with affiliates’? Why would a merchant want to reduce overlap?
A good way for merchants for avoid overlap with their affiliates' campaign is by securing a list of the affiliates' affiliates and other marketing website. Too much overlap with saturate some areas of the market while leaving other possible outlets untaped. Simply put, it creates poor coverage.
case study questions (case study: Prezzybox.com):
Part of affiliate marketing involves marketing a company to affiliates. How has Prezzybox.com achieved this, and what are the effects of this?
Prezzybox.com has affiliate managers who are dedicated to ensuring that affiliates are up to date on current offers, new products and promotions. They also have supper affiliates which account for the majority of affiliate sales and ensure one-on-one communication with these supper affiliates. The affect is that prezzybox.com is highly ranked among affiliates and often invited to give industry speeches.
Why does Prezzybox.com communicate differently to its super affiliates?
Affiliates account for a large portion of their total sales and they have a several affiliates, only 1% are supper affiliates. It isn't practical to communicate on such an involved level with all of it's affiliates so preferential treatment is given to the ones that yield exceptional results.
What made the Vidiboxes enticing to affiliates?
This was popular among affiliates because it was and interesting way of displaying content and were specific to the product being advertised.
In a competitive market, how does affiliate marketing help build a company’s success? Are there any additional considerations when a market is competitive?
Affiliate marketing could give a company and edge in a competitive market by advertising to the customer in places they are likely to go online. However, marketers have to consider that competing companies might be trying to get the same affiliates to advertise their products.
Ch. 5-7 coming soon...
This chapter was really just an overview of computer terms and a brief history of emarketing and the internet. It also touched on how we communicate online and how environmental factors such as the location we are accessing the internet (e.g. at home or in a coffee shop) affects the way we interact online. I find it interesting the way online conversations affect the way we talk about the internet. For example the term “search engine optimisation” was first used in a forum.
Chapter 2: email marketing
For many of the subsequent chapter there was a corresponding section for chapter questions and questions on the provided case study. I believe that these questions would be a good place to start for analyzing each of these chapters.
Chapter questions:
What is meant by “mass customisation” and why is this so beneficial?
Mass customization allows for the email marketing campaign to be tailored to each potential costumer based on their preferences. For example, a website might sell a variety of products, like amazon.com, but one specific customer usually only buys books. When amazon wants to send out a mass news letter to their mailing list advertising a sale they might look into the costumer's past purchases and then show the discounted books special they are running as a part of the sale front and center in the news letter for that costumer.
What are the key differences between direct marketing by email and direct marketing by post?
Marketing by email is scalable and highly trackable. There is very little difference in cost to send out a thousand emails vs. sending out a million emails while sending out that much paper advertising will cost significantly more. Most importantly everything online is highly tackable. If a customer clicks thought to the website thought the email the the company can track it all the way to whether the costumer ultimately makes a purchase. They can get a far more accurate read of the cost to profit margin of the marketing campaign.
Why is it important for permission to be gained before marketing by email to a prospect?
Marketers don't want to be blocked be spam filters and they want to build up a positive relationship with their costumers. If the email they send is constantly marked as span they will be blacklisted as an untrusted sender by spam filters.
Emails that are expected and recognised are more likely to be read. How can a marketer use this knowledge to increase the readership of emails?
Simply make sure that the they maintain an up to date subscription list and that the option to unsubscribe is available at the bottom of every email. It is also good to have a recognizable subject line. This could include information such as the company's name and the name the person used when they signed up for the subscription.
Case study Questions (case study: Johnnie Walker):
Why was email an ideal medium to reach this target market?
The target audience was "South African black male consumers, 18 – 30 years of age
with disposable income". Email was and ideal medium because the profile of this audience would indicate a high internet usage. Email, text, and phone calls are the primary communication mediums for this age group. And that fact that they should have disposable income should also mean that they will most likely be able to afford high speed internet access to view the emails.
Why does a brand like Johnny Walker collect email addresses?
Email advertising, as it is mentioned in the book, has a high ROI. Many of there target customers use the internet to socialize and communicate so it is more natural for them to receive email rather than direct marketing by post.
How important was personalization in this campaign?
Personalization was very important especially considering the theme of the campaign ("state your case"). It wasn't necessary for the main content of the email itself to be client specific but it did need to include the addressee's name. This was a highly targeted campaign.
Chapter 3: online advertising
Chapter questions:
Online banner advertising and outdoor display dvertising both use images to try to increase sales. In planning, both need to consider placement so as to be seen by their most likely audience. What are the key differences?
The main difference between online advertising a just about every other form of advertising is that all forms of online advertising is highly trackable. There are also many options for paying for online advertising so you could only pay when a desirable action is taken as a result of the advertisement. However, it is sometimes difficult to determine who should get the credit for a sale if the user visited several sites that advertised for the same company.
Why is display advertising an effective acquisition channel?
There is very little separation between advertisement and a means for making a sale. The customer can see the advert and then immediate click though to the product page for the advertised item.
Go to www.wheels24.com and www.thetimes.co.za. What advertising can you find on the front page of these two web sites? What products are being advertised, and how are they being advertised?
What can you infer about the target market for these products?
Wheels 24 took me directly to a website for Anzio Wheels and the Times Live website had advertisements for JCPenney, PhotoCode, a Dating Site, an HR System, and an OB/Gyn as well as several sponsored links for insurance. Anzio Wheels is a very sleek flash based website with desktop downloads advertising there band of wheels. This is most likely geared toward a younger tech savvy audience. The Times Live web adverts seem to be geared primarily toward an older/middle aged audience. And financially minded individuals interested in things like insurance and HR Systems.
case study questions (case study: BMW South Africa):
How do you think BMW benefited from adapting existing print advertising for the online campaign?
This created in unified online and offline campaign so the idea is reinforced in the minds of the intended targets.
Describe the target audience of the new BMW 1 series. Why are they suited to an online campaign?
"BMW 1 Series are generally slightly younger and at a different lifestyle age to the average BMW driver" and would of course need to have disposable income. The younger crowd is infamous for their excessive use of the internet and online socializing. Also if they have disposable income they would most likely afford to have an average to high end computer and internet connection.
Consumers are unlikely to purchase a car online. How would you measure the success of this campaign?
As mentioned in the case study section, the website incorporated a feature that allowed visitors to book test drives. The campaign brought in 11% of the bookings which is a good indicator of the level of it's success.
Chapter 4: affiliate marketing
Chapter questions:
What is the difference between a lifetime cookie and a lock-in cookie? How do you think lock-in cookies affect the commission levels offered by merchants?
A life time cookie has no expiration date as long as it is not remove by the user from the computer. Lock-in cookie are a first come first serve system, the first affiliate to advertise a company's product is locked into the commission for the life of the cookie even if a user visits another affiliates site later on. I think lock in cookies might raise the commission levels offered, because the merchant would only ever have to pay one commission for a sale.
Why do you think some affiliates run affiliate programmes for their own web sites?
Because they will likely receive return on there investment from the affiliates that they sponsor and increasing traffic to there website makes them a more desirable hosting site. This will increase the likelihood that the merchants will communicate with them to make the affiliate program hosted by their website more effective. As mentioned in the is chapter, communication is essential to a successful affiliate campaign.
How can a merchant try to ensure that their own marketing efforts do not overlap with affiliates’? Why would a merchant want to reduce overlap?
A good way for merchants for avoid overlap with their affiliates' campaign is by securing a list of the affiliates' affiliates and other marketing website. Too much overlap with saturate some areas of the market while leaving other possible outlets untaped. Simply put, it creates poor coverage.
case study questions (case study: Prezzybox.com):
Part of affiliate marketing involves marketing a company to affiliates. How has Prezzybox.com achieved this, and what are the effects of this?
Prezzybox.com has affiliate managers who are dedicated to ensuring that affiliates are up to date on current offers, new products and promotions. They also have supper affiliates which account for the majority of affiliate sales and ensure one-on-one communication with these supper affiliates. The affect is that prezzybox.com is highly ranked among affiliates and often invited to give industry speeches.
Why does Prezzybox.com communicate differently to its super affiliates?
Affiliates account for a large portion of their total sales and they have a several affiliates, only 1% are supper affiliates. It isn't practical to communicate on such an involved level with all of it's affiliates so preferential treatment is given to the ones that yield exceptional results.
What made the Vidiboxes enticing to affiliates?
This was popular among affiliates because it was and interesting way of displaying content and were specific to the product being advertised.
In a competitive market, how does affiliate marketing help build a company’s success? Are there any additional considerations when a market is competitive?
Affiliate marketing could give a company and edge in a competitive market by advertising to the customer in places they are likely to go online. However, marketers have to consider that competing companies might be trying to get the same affiliates to advertise their products.
Ch. 5-7 coming soon...
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Week 1
After something of a late start on the material I have conquered the first 2 chapters of "internet marketing: building advantage in a networked economy" and perused the third. This book dealt very heavily with marketing and business strategy in general. The internet and technology was only taken into account where it affected what the authors referred to as the "new economy". Internet marketing mechanisms where not explored in depth. This book offered a good framework for a more in-depth analysis of internet marketing. It did this by addressing what a business needs to be effective and profitable and how the online market has changed that. It's primary argument is that it hasn't changed the fundamentals of business strategy. The internet has changes the amount of control businesses have over mechanism like pricing and allowing users to customize the user interface.
On the other hand "eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing" appears to discuss far more in-depth the specific tools available to marketing through the internet.
In order to finish the "eMarketing" book by the end of summer I will need to read approximately 2-3 chapters a week.
On the other hand "eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing" appears to discuss far more in-depth the specific tools available to marketing through the internet.
In order to finish the "eMarketing" book by the end of summer I will need to read approximately 2-3 chapters a week.
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