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How to create a good e-mail marketing campaign.

February 27, 2011 By admin

E-mail marketing is a relatively low cost tool that has the potential to dramatically drive up sales. As with all marketing campaigns the first thing you need to do is determine exactly what it is you are trying to achieve. If there are multiple objectives are you going to run multiple campaigns? Or are you going try and achieve all of your objectives in the one campaign? You would want your companies email marketing campaign to  be a success of course. Therefore you need to determine what success means for your company.

As we are looking at e-mail marketing lets think where your email may end up if you are not careful. The last thing you need is your cleverly constructed email ending up in the ‘spam’ or ‘junk’ folder of somebodies email account. If this happened from the junk folder it could be instantly deleted and this would be a total waste of your time. Another good point to remember is it is best practice to only send e-mail’s to people you have prior consent from.

When putting your e-mail together a warm welcome is always a good start. ‘Good Morning’ is a simple yet very effective opening. Now you need to make sure you keep the readers attention. You can do this by making sure the opening passage is strong and informative. If  the e-mail does not grab the attention of the reader in the first vital few lines it is possible they will move onto something else – we are all busy people. The opening should not be too long either we do not want to make the person feel bored or bogged down within a first passage of an e-mail.

At this beginning stage with an e-mail people are interested in information about your business. It is not necessary to get carried away with fancy fonts or graphics. You would not want your reader getting overwhelmed when they open the e-mail.

E-mail marketing campaigns can be a fantastic way to develop a new idea or business. This is especially true if you have good contacts already in business. There are companies available that specialize in this kind of campaign. Enlisting the help of one of these companies may be the way forward for your company. It is also possible to track success off the back of a campaign like this, helping you to decide if it was something worth repeating.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing Tagged With: , ,

What methods of market research are there? Which are considered the most effective?

February 24, 2011 By admin

There are many methods of marketing research and a company will decide which is most suited to their needs usually based on time and resources available. The methods adopted will also depend on what kind of products the company sell.

Holding interviews with your target group as a way of collecting information. Structured questions are put together for research like this. The questions are typically open ended so that the interviewee will give as much of an answer (information) as possible. Compared to some other methods of research interviews can be quite time consuming. You would also have to hold many interviews to get a reliable amount of research.

Group interviews, also known as focus groups are another way to gather information. It is worth remembering that with group/individual interviews you are relying on people being honest and not putting on a front just for the interview. Most people are willing to give honest answers and generally group/individual interviews are considered a good way to gather information.

Questionnaires/surveys are one of the most common ways of market research. If the questions are constructed properly this can be an effective way to research. As ever the larger the sample group the more sound your research will be. The best way to carry out a questionnaire is to directly approach people who fit into your target group. This is also the most expensive way to carry out a questionnaire, as you need a lot of hours and dedicated people to cover a decent size sample group. Questionnaires can also be conducted over the telephone and through the mail, although it is far more difficult to get people to engage in this kind of questioning. Online questionnaires are also an option but you far less control over who answers the questions. As a result of this it could be deemed that the research is not that accurate.

Observation is yet another method of conducting market research. This would involve observing people as they use a product/service you are particularly interested in. A good side to this type of research is that people are acting totally naturally as they may not know they are being observed. There are some moral questions attached to this though and some would feel it is wrong to observe people without their specific consent.

It is felt by some that the most accurate market research you can carry out is the one on one survey. The main reasons for this are the fact that you are much more likely to get concise answer and the interviewers can focus on making sure the correct people for the target group answer the questions.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: ,

What are the core activities of a good marketing strategy?

February 21, 2011 By admin

When a company concentrates its efforts and resources on the best opportunities to increase sales this would be considered a marketing strategy. It is likely this marketing strategy would have a big emphasis on customer satisfaction. The bigger picture for the company should involve this strategy leading the company to having an advantage to similar companies in the market place. Although I have mentioned customer satisfaction being paramount in this type of strategy there are many other factors involved. Product development is a focus, as is advertising and relationships with other businesses and customers.

One of the first steps in any marketing strategy is to identify who (which group) you will be targeting. Once you have done this you need to find out from them what they want and expect from your product. Once you have enough research and results compiled you need to start making plans to start implementing the changes.

It is not unusual for shops on the high street or web sites to ask their customers to complete surveys about products on sale/purchased. This is market research and this information is the beginning of a process which may well end up in changes to products. Who better to ask than the person/people who have the first hand experience of the product – the consumer.

The sample size of the group of people you ask to complete surveys has to be correct. Asking a fairly small group would mean not getting the true reflection of the current situation.

Using the answers to your questions you would then analyze your product and see if it would be beneficial to makes changes. When/If any changes are made it is important to remember the responses you got from your customers, after all it is these same people that will buy the product again. Once you feel you have re-designed your product to reflect the changes you identified then the next step would be a launch of the new product along with some advertising.

All of the above would  be described as marketing basics and this would be a simple strategy. Most others would have many activities within each step ensuring the whole exercise was as productive as possible. At all times any company embarking on a marketing campaign would adhere to their company policies.

Filed Under: Market Research, Marketing Tagged With: , ,

How and where to promote property, International property marketing.

February 18, 2011 By admin

The property market is always big business and there are vast sums of money involved in it. One way to promote a property is to organise for it to be sold by a well placed and established estate agent. The chances are they would promote the property on their web site. We all have the opportunity to use the internet and so we could to this to a degree ourselves. Going back to Google and its enormous strengths, using a tool as such as Google maps would be a way to promote a property. Google maps has many thousands of visitors every week. These people could see the property you are promoting – if it were on the web site.

If you are familiar with the internet and can access it regularly property marketing could be assisted with the use of your own blog. A real perk of using blogs is that they are free. You also have the freedom to update descriptions and photos as and when you wish.

As previously mentioned using a estate agent is one way of promoting a property – this would be seen as a more  traditional way. The estate agency would most definitely place the property online as a means of promotion. The difference between you doing it yourself and them doing it is the fact that the estate agency will have a reputation. There company name could be known all over the world and could be a name that everyone knows. So the power of the internet combined with a fantastic reputation would probably equal a very well promoted property.

If you like to promote a property yourself social networks are a good way to start. If for instance you posted some photos and description on your wall/status on Facebook and a friend ‘liked’ it, it would then make the images available to more people. It would have potential to be viewed by very many people. Other sites such as Twitter and Bebo would also provide the same opportunity to promote. Loading a good quality video onto YouTube would also be an option.

All of the above mentioned methods are particularly useful when promoting a property on an international level. To advertise a property on an international level would be to promote to its broadest capacity. Most international property would be promoted on a dedicated web site, although using sites such as Facebook and Twitter would still be an option. Listing a property on a MLS is something that some people wishing to engage in this type of promotion will do, MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service.

The use of photographs when promoting a property overseas is key. The photos must be of good quality and would have to convince the buyer the property is worth visiting. Remember, people would be travelling many hundreds/thousands of miles to see the property so the photos would have to be impressive and true to life.

Filed Under: Property Marketing Tagged With: ,

What is CIM? What marketing qualifications do they award?

February 15, 2011 By admin

The Chartered Institute of Marketing, also known as CIM is the largest organization that supports the marketing profession. This support mainly involves training and development. CIM qualifications are developed and based on feedback received by employers in workplace. CIM are constantly working with employers to adapt the qualifications they offer to make sure they are completely relevant to the current working environment. So if you take an exam with the CIM you can be reassured it will be true to the world of work today. CIM have very high standards in terms of what they expect from their members. There code of professional conduct must be adhered to at all times.

The CIM has existed for 100 years and was originally known as ‘The Sales Managers Association’.Ten years later the name changed to ‘Incorporated Sales Managers Association’. In 1928 the first exams were held. In 1961 the name changed again, this time to ‘Institute of Marketing and Sales Management’. In 1968 they were awarded the Royal Charter and they remain the Chartered Institute of Marketing. In the last two decades they have opened offices overseas.

The CIM offer qualifications ranging from basic marketing ideas right through to exams for senior level professionals. CIM qualifications are internationally recognized as being of a trusted and very high standard. They offer introductory/professional certificates in marketing. There is also professional/post graduate diplomas in marketing. There are many courses in marketing combined with other courses, such as marketing with tourism and hospitality. Courses that combine marketing with sales are also widely available from the CIM. These types of courses range from certificate in sales practice to advanced certificate in professional sales management. An advantage of there being so many courses available is that wherever you are in your career there will something for you if you are interested in marketing.

The CIM run courses for employers to send their employees on. There is even a boot camp style course which is based around five fundamental marketing basics. The boot camp is run over five days. The CIM has one hundred and twenty courses for employers to send their employees on. The boot camp style course is considered best for those new to marketing.

Filed Under: Marketing, Marketing Qualifications Tagged With: ,

Why is Google so important to an internet marketing campaign? How do you advertise on Google?

February 10, 2011 By admin

Google by itself has such a huge presence on the internet. If you ask anybody what Google is they will almost certainly know it is a search tool on the internet. If a person sees a new gadget they quite like the idea of buying it would not be unusual to hear them they say they might ‘Google it’ first. Why would that person consider doing such a thing? Because it would deliver a wealth of information.

So imagine somebody using Google to search for a service you provide. It could mean millions of people knowing your company is there and your service is available. Google is a powerful asset in any internet marketing campaign. When you do search something on Google you must have noticed you get thousands of results. So what happens if your company happens be to 250th on that result list? Do you think the searcher will ever look down the list that far? Probably not! Wording is key when using the internet to market your goods/service. If your site content does not reflect exactly what you do and the URL is not accurate to what you do then really it is a waste of time.

Google Adwords is a way to advertise your business. It is important to remember that to make sure it is your web site that pops up when somebody searches the key words you need to use the right wording in your URL/ site content. This is where search engine optimization becomes very important.

The best way to think of SEO is it is like doing everything you can to make your web site as visible as possible once somebody has entered the relevant keywords into Google. SEO is not something you pay Google extra for it is something you can develop yourself. Alternatively you can enlist the help of a good  web developer who specializes in this field. SEO can be thought of as a natural occurrence, like filtering out  URL’s/web content for specific words. Adapting the HTML or site content to best reflect what your company does would be a good place to start. Imagine every word that could be used to describe your business this would be your starting point in creating the best SEO for your business.

Filed Under: Google Advertising, Internet Marketing Tagged With: , ,

What is internet marketing/internet marketing basics?

February 7, 2011 By admin

We are all familiar with companies researching peoples needs. Companies then develop products that will cater for these needs. Advertising is the means by which the company lets people know about their product/service. If the audience you capture is interested in your product they may well become your customer. If this does happen you need to find ways to make sure they remain your customer and do not become somebody else’s. This would be done by keeping your customer satisfied and tailoring your product at intervals to cater for your customers (perhaps) changing needs. These processes can be described as marketing.

Marketing via the internet seems a natural progression in the world today. Almost all business has some connection to the internet, why would marketing be any different? The internet has changed the way companies can market their business on a massive scale. The internet assists with the delivery of information to millions. Online marketing means that companies can reach people to advertise or collect feedback from the other side of town or the other side of the world if desired.

Internet marketing is also known as i-marketing, web marketing or e-marketing. They are all the same thing and all involve using the internet to assist with all aspects of developing, designing and advertising what a business offers.

There are a few basics of online marketing and they should be included in any internet marketing campaign.

*Before you set out you need to take some time to get to know your customer. Once you have understood this it should be reflected in your web site. When people visit your web site they should feel it is something they can understand and engage in.

*The title tag in your web site is an opportunity to make an impression, so use it. Using it to say ‘Hi’ or ‘Welcome’ is wasteful. These things go without saying. The title tag should define your web site and have an impact.

*Make sure your web site includes the company name and address. New visitors to any web site will feel a lot more reassured if they know they can talk to somebody at the end of the phone if need be.

*Although it can be pricey a good quality web site will get your company noticed. It is a sound investment and an excellent business tool.

*Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital. This can be achieved by a web designer.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, SEO Tagged With: , ,

All About Social Marketing

February 5, 2011 By admin

If there is such a thing as Social Networking, then there also is what many refer to as Social Marketing. What exactly does this mean? Simple: it is the combination of the elements of both Social Networking and Marketing. Like the Internet revolutionised the marketing industry, Social Marketing just takes it to a whole new level.

Who would have ever thought that Social Networking sites would be beneficial this way? The main purpose of sites like Facebook and Twitter were supposed to be like meeting friends, dating, and reconnecting with past acquaintances. Other than that, there practically was nothing else. But now? Hundreds of individuals are already using these sites with the hopes of making a sale. A few years ago, this would have been considered very unthinkable.

Social Marketing has since evolved into one of the most frequently used forms of Internet Marketing. This is because many businessmen happen to be fond of spending time online. So instead of wasting time doing nothing while using the Internet, they instead take advantage of the sites’ features to promote their products and websites for many other people to see.

Case in point number 1: Facebook is probably the most used social networking site by individuals who sell stuff. Due to its wide array of marketer-friendly features, this site can make anyone “a good entrepreneur”. The “what’s on your mind” feature allows users to share a link or URL of their personal website or a site that they are blogging about. They can even place shout-outs or comments to help tell people what the site is all about. But probably the most-used feature by Internet marketers is the ability to upload pictures and tag any of their friends to it. They may normally post pictures that show their products and and tag all potential buyers to the said picture. And since users are also allowed to put captions on the pictures, they usually put the prices, contact details, and the procedure of ordering their product. Using this method, many of the first ones who used it became really successful. As a result, more and more Internet marketers are now following it with the hopes of attaining the same success.

Case in point number 2: Twitter, though less used by the majority, also has features that are marketer-friendly. They can tweet a link to a picture containing their product, much like the “what’s on your mind” feature of Facebook. The only problem though is that they have to have several followers to make their product more visible. And that’s how optimising their profile comes into play.

Filed Under: Social Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Affiliate Marketing And More

February 4, 2011 By admin

Internet marketing, due to its vastly increasing frequency of usage, has evolved into several different forms over the years. It’s quite hard to believe that even through Internet marketing, not only the ones who are marketing get to earn money but also the ones who are potential customers. Not familiar with it? Read on to find out more.

Affiliate Marketing is one type of online marketing practise in which affiliates are being given rewards by certain businesses simply for participating in their marketing endeavours. But what makes this marketing practise so unique is that except for the gift-giving part, it does not have a distinct quality of its own. It is instead a combination of certain marketing methods like Paid Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, and Email Marketing. Though given rave reviews by several Internet marketers, Affiliate Marketing still remains somewhat under-appreciated by some.

In addition, Affiliate Marketing is one way for you to earn from products that are not your own. You easily do this by just referring people to a particular site or web page. Then the rest will come naturally. So in order to succeed in making money during Affiliate Marketing, you must first have to have your own website. You can also create your own blog on any platform of your choice like WordPress or Blogger if you are currently having trouble financially. The next thing you should do is be able to figure out the type of affiliate products you are going to market. This is assuming that you have already chosen the market that you are targeting. You also have to make a decision pertaining to what strategy you are going to use in promoting your product or service. Are you going to do it aggressively, passively, or via a combination of both. Things like that are what you should initially consider.

Two good examples of sites using Affiliate Marketing strategy are Google AdSense and Rich PTC. It is very likely that you have heard about or are familiar with these sites.

Affiliate Marketing has various compensation methods, more notably Predominant Compensation Methods (including pay per sale, pay per lead, pay per call, and pay per install), Diminished Compensation Methods, and Performance Marketing.

Additionally, here are some types of sites that are currently running the concept of Affiliate Marketing:
- Comparison shopping sites
- Loyalty websites
- Weblogs and Web Syndication
- File Sharing sites (Rapidshare, Megaupload, Sendspace, Hotfile)
- Some personal websites

Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing Tagged With:

The Basic Elements Of A Business Marketing Plan

February 1, 2011 By admin

For starters, a Business Marketing Plan is a highly detailed written document that narrates the necessary actions which need to be taken – to perfectly achieve the objectives of marketing. Creating a Marketing Plan normally takes a lot of time – between 1 and 5 years to be more precise. When it is all done, what should come out is well-written document that have gone through a massive amount of research. It will not matter whether a company or business is small and still a starting one or is in giant corporate levels. A Marketing Plan is a tool that will determine the success and failure of the company’s marketing endeavours.

In creating a Business Marketing Plan, these two strategic components have to be incorporated:
* The implementation and support towards your operations on a daily basis.
* The ability of your enterprise to competitively address your chosen market.

There are so many ways to create a format and be able to develop your own Business Marketing Plan. For instance, you can opt for a plan that consists of 6 parts like the example below:
1. Mission and Purpose
2. Analysis of the Current Situation
3. Marketing Objectives and Strategies to make use of
4. Tactics
5. Budgeting, Implementation, and Analysis of the Overall Performance
6. Other things to be considered

You can also use an 8-part outline, like the one below:
I. Executive Summary – Here you will give a brief overall written report that pretty much summarises your entire Business Marketing Plan.
II. The Challenge – This is a brief description of your goals and the products and/or services you will be marketing.
III. Situation Analysis – It consists of Company Analysis, Customer Analysis, and Competitor Analysis, Collaborators, Climate, and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis.
IV. Market Segmentation
V. Alternative Marketing Strategies – This is where you discuss about any backup or future plans if ever the original strategy unfortunately bombs out.
VI. Selected Marketing Strategy – This is where you give a report about how a particular strategy was chosen above all others. The Product, Price, Distribution, and Promotion should also be included in the discussion.
VII. Short and Long Term Projections – You should answer questions about how optimistic you are about the marketing plan and what does the future hold if you succeed or fail?
VII. Conclusion – All of the above contents should be briefly summarised all over again.

Or you can go with the most traditional approach of writing a Business Marketing Plan:
< Financial and Product Data
< Data for Sales and Distribution
< Advertising, Merchandising, and Sales Promotion
< Market Data and other miscellaneous information

The choice is yours.

Filed Under: Business, Business Marketing Tagged With: ,