For the record, I don’t usually make it to events and exhibitions unless it happens to be one of our enlightening seminars simply because I always have something that has to be done. Today was different though, I had managed to complete all of my immediate project work and so Joe was kind enough to invite me to the Business Growth Show in Reading where we were exhibiting.

The Business Growth Show, as you may have guessed is a show for businesses to exhibit those products or services that would help an SME to grow. There were numerous exhibitors present offering everything from customised chocolate bars (to replace standard business cards) through to business style consultants which made for an interesting and varied day.

Both Joe and I arrived at 7:30am to set up and had to tactically negotiate the Forbury Gardens forecourt whilst manhandling an incredibly heavy presentation table and Matt’s 26” computer screen which I can assure you was no easy task.

Once we had successfully navigated our way around the revolving doors, we went through to the main room to set up. Our kit list comprised our attention grabbing Generate UK pop-up banner, the ever so heavy presentation table, Joe’s laptop, Matt’s unreasonably large computer screen and a couple of boxes of chocolate to attract business people of all kinds.

Having arrived early, we were able to set up with little interruption and took the time before 9am to meet and greet other exhibitors close by. Directly in front of us was visualize, a video production company specialising in web videos for business i.e. product demonstrations, introductions etc. To our right was a selection of stands, particularly one giving away books on free PR techniques (which I signed up for in a well-suited flash) and to our immediate left was a large table playing home to the free refreshments, which was ideal as it meant that everyone who took advantage of the free refreshments throughout the day was instantly exposed to our colourful presence.

Having pinched many sweets and taken a few business cards from others nearby, we began to engage with the first trickle of people to arrive as the doors opened at 9am. Some were there just so they could get away from work, others were there to make a sale without paying the exhibitors fees and there were a fair few who were genuinely interested in researching methods of SME growth. This mix was to be expected, but as the day wore on more and more people arrived and it got to a stage where no one could bare to wear their suit jackets any longer as the air conditioning failed to make its presence felt.  So if you are thinking of hosting an event, ensure you can keep your crowd cool, even if the number of attendees exceeds your expectations! It’s good for business.

As the room became busier, I disappeared for 30 minutes to attend my first ever speed networking event. It was an interesting experience; looking back I’m quite sure I have never had so many one-on-one conversations with so many people in such little time! The room contained some 20 chairs facing one another with one set off to the side at one end. The idea was for everyone to sit down and once the stop watch was set, for the people on the left of the room to begin talking about their business for precisely one minute. Once this was done, their conversational partner was then supposed to reciprocate all the same information on their own business for a further minute, during which time some business cards would likely have changed hands. I unfortunately made the mistake of sitting in the chair set off to the side at the very beginning. This is the chair you sit in to give your vocal chords a rest for two minutes which everyone eventually ends up in. So I used up my ‘get out of jail free card’ right at the very beginning. On the plus side however, it did give me the chance to observe everyone else in the act so I knew what to do when my turn came. I spoke to a multitude of people by the end and even engaged with one chap on the subject of improving his website so all in all, it was a beneficial experience. Although I would argue that just one minute gives out just about enough time to say your name, company, 5 words about what you do and maybe allowing you to mention a client or two. You need much more time to converse on a meaningful level.

After the event I went back to the stand to supervise the free chocolates and talk ‘shop’ with anyone that looked at our banner or Matt’s huge screen. I met many interested parties and really enjoyed speaking to them. I discovered that digital marketing is becoming much more popular which is why so many people were drawn to our stand. Many copyrighters quizzed me about the benefits of social media and article submissions and I had at least three web developers and graphic designers approach me to discuss the possibility of a partnership where our technical expertise would plug the gaps in their services.

All in all the event demonstrated just how important networking is. Even if you don’t immediately make sales off the back of the day, you can still build profitable partnerships with other people in the industry. Joe and I still managed to arrange future contact with some of the attending business people so the event in essence will pay for itself. Besides the sales element however, there is a great opportunity to learn and discover new and prevailing trends in the industry whether it be an up-and-coming technology or a new take on an almost forgotten product.

Overall it was a great day and it gave me the chance to exercise my knowledge and deep bass vocal tones with people from all industries and levels of business. In one case I actually accessed the company website of one interested individual and pointed out a number of problems with their page that we could fix in no time at all to generate additional traffic. To top it off, I was also told by a style consultant that I was ‘incredibly well dressed’ for a man of my complexion, which made me feel rather smug for most of the afternoon whilst Joe was told that his complexion made up only 2% of the UK populous and that the colour that suits him best is ‘coral’, much to his surprise. Although I doubt he’ll be rushing out to buy a ‘coral’ shirt or tie anytime soon.

So if you have something new and of value to the SME sector and you have a bit of budget to spend, I would recommend this particular show. Just be sure to dress in something breathable next time just in case they don’t improve the air-conditioning.

Online marketing for businesses and marketing to end customers is different. A person buying a product for their company has different “buying standard” compared to a person buying something for himself. There are profound differences and one of them is the emotional experience. These points should be remembered when developing online marketing activities.

B2B and B2C marketing is used to differentiate the internet commerce business. There are companies that sell primarily to businesses while others sell primarily to end customer. Marketing programs are the same for each type of business but they differ in executions and the outcomes of the marketing activities.

B2C (Business to Consumer) marketing campaigns are concerned with the transaction. They are usually shorter because they need to capture the customer’s attention immediately. These campaigns usually offer special deals such as discounts and vouchers that can be used both online and in the store. Their goal is to get their customers to buy immediately. B2B (Business-to-Business) marketing process is longer and is more involved. Although its goal is to turn prospects into customers, a B2B company needs to focus on building long-term relationships with their clients. They use marketing to educate their customers about their products. In an email campaign, you usually see contact information for offline transactions and contain more information on the features of the product, benefits and the prices. This marketing strategy is usually the first step, and it usually includes direct mail, telemarketing, and newsletters and follows up by a sales representative who will discuss the business’ requirement in more detail and walk the prospect through the sales cycle.

The main difference between the B2B and B2C marketing comes down to the buyer’s emotional perspective about the purchase. Consumers buying decisions are based on status, security, comfort and quality. On the other hand, business buyers base their decisions on increasing profitability, reducing costs and enhancing productivity.

In online marketing, if you are offering products and services to businesses, it is wise to invest on a marketing budget that focuses on marketing programs and materials that offer your target market what they need in order for them to make a rational business decision. Help them determine the value of your products and services through quality materials, testimonials and other activities that builds your credibility. If you are offering your products and services to end consumers, understand the motivation of your buyer and the emotional aspect of the decision. It is best to create compelling materials that build awareness of your brand and project the quality service and best price. Always remember what is important to your target audience and create an online marketing program that will reach out to them and convince them to buy your products and services.

At Generate UK we can help advise you to optimise your Online Marketing Strategy to reach your desired target audience. Our consultants are specialists in online marketing and can help focus you campaign on either B2B Marketing of B2C marketing. If you would like to discuss your Online Marketing further please do not hesitate to get in contact with us, we’d love to talk with you.

Tell me… Could you describe and explain social media and online marketing to your grandma, in such a way that she could confidently use it to potentially better a business? I know I couldn’t.

I did however go to a seminar today on this very subject that did exactly that! No the room wasn’t full of ‘grandmas’, but it did break down the mysterious lore that is social media and online marketing into easily digested nuggets of knowledge.
This seminar was hosted by Generate UK at the spectacular Donnington Grove in their ‘Cloud Suite’. The ‘Cloud Suite’ is a luxurious room lined with lovely old paintings, overshadowed by a fantastic painted ceiling. There was free tea and coffee, there was glorious sunshine and there was a friendly buzz as attendees began to arrive.

We were all seated in some rather fancy chairs and we covered a variety of things from e-marketing myth busting to the fundamentals of the ‘twitterverse’. I already knew some of the basics that were covered but it was nice to see that all the fundamentals were explained so that everyone else understood the more advanced things that were to follow. Overall it was very well presented and it left no one guessing.

Over the course of the morning I mentally noted a number of clever marketing devices for later use. I learned that no more are the days where one could simply post a few thousand identical links all over the Internet to rank their page from ‘unheard of’ to ‘the industry authority’ in a matter of weeks; nor can you purchase links on leading websites to boost your own rankings… Well, not without major repercussions anyway. The emphasis nowadays is on natural link building, quality and content with a hint of tweeting; although the ‘Tweeting’ is optional.

Natural link building is the activity that promotes the recommendation of your online presence by getting other online entities to refer to your site naturally via a link; this could be as a point of interest, or perhaps in the form of a recommendation of your products or services. This is done of their own accord. This is now necessary because the search engines have ‘wizened-up’ to those manipulative chaps that have previously gone out to the marketplace to spam every existing website with their own links and false recommendations; all in a bid to rank higher on the search engine results. The current digital marketing paradigm now dictates that it is better for a company ‘footprint’ to grow gradually over time as more and more web users begin to trust the site in question and recognise it as an authority in the field.  For those of you that didn’t know, an online footprint is the measurement of your own online presence size… Yet another vital thing I learned today that I have lovingly passed on to you.

Now, can you tell me of something currently going on in your life or workplace that you’ve told other people about? I bet you can. Yet, many companies with an online presence clam-up and communicate next to nothing. If you have some experience in a particular field, enough for you to generate money from, it must be worth shouting about surely?
This is where we come on to the subject of quality and content. I learned today that some companies are beginning to embrace this as a guideline for their online activity. Not too many years ago the majority of companies had a static website that was occasionally updated with some generic company news. Nowadays however, the early adopters of new digital marketing methods and technology are beginning to share their knowledge, views and information online. This interactivity allows users to communicate with the company in a dynamic fashion allowing the aforementioned businesses to stay firmly on the industry pulse; this is due to their grass roots interaction with the end consumer, so businesses are more aware of what these consumers are thinking right now.

How is this done? In a surprisingly simple way actually, it’s all a question of sharing targeted, interesting and relevant content with the web surfers you want to attract to your business.  This does require that you embrace some of the new social media platforms that have recently come to power though i.e. Facebook, Twitter, del.icio.us etc. So although the process may seem straight forward, there is a significant learning curve involved which puts many companies off.
Let me give you an example. Imagine you and I run a fashion outlet for customised clothing and accessories. We could do our traditional market research, develop prototype designs and then hope that when these items finally go on sale they will indeed, sell. This is admittedly, a very short-sighted example but now imagine this; instead of doing our in-house research with a few participants… We opened up a website listing all of our latest designs. We could then use a platform like Twitter to ‘Tweet’ (post information about) those designs to the masses whilst linking back to the main site. This would then open the door to other ‘Twitterers’ (Twitter users) for them to offer valuable feedback on our designs and to perhaps make some valuable recommendations for change. Not only that, but by engaging with the fashion conscious community on Twitter, we could explore what other people in the field are talking about and then throw in our own ‘two cents’ on the subject. We have just outlined a way to improve our customer interaction, improve our market research and product design process as well as establish ourselves as an authority in the field of fashion by expressing our expert opinion in up-to-the-minute conversations on the subject; all the while building natural links and generating traffic to our sales website, hopefully earning some extra money. Of course such a strategy would require much more thought and planning, but such a scenario is not uncommon where clever individuals have managed to leverage this powerful technology to their own business benefit.

The basics however are centred on sharing relevant, quality content with other users in an engaging way so that these users will interact with your business. Got a new product line? Tweet it. Planning a big PR event? Set up an events page on Facebook. Little things like this as part of a wider marketing plan can really level the playing field when competing for business against larger faceless corporations. Consumers like to know there is a bit of humanity in the business workings somewhere, something they can relate to. This is what makes quality content sharing on these innovative platforms so damned powerful.

Business is tough at the moment and small businesses have to think beyond their next piece of work. It’s interesting to hear directly from businesses about their challenges in terms of creating new business opportunities; which is why we’re pleased to hand over this blog post over to Christopher Eades, director of AA Eades and Son.

“We’re a small local building firm based in Newbury and for us having that steady flow of business coming in is vitally important. Over the years we have built a fantastic reputation locally for quality workmanship at competitive pricing.  Whilst business is still okay, with the downturn in economy I felt it was important to look at new ways to seek out new business rather than just rely on word of mouth.

I was discussing my situation with a friend who in the past has used email marketing and suggested that I tried it.  I was sceptical at first; could it really help me and directly bring me business?  I thought I would seek out a company to talk to and was recommended by another friend to speak to Generate UK. As you can tell I often go on recommendation!

I contacted Generate UK and sat down with them to look at the possible options available. We haven’t got a website, this is something that we are thinking about, and so I thought the online activity was limited in terms of where I could send people to so we opted for a direct response.

We decided to trial an email marketing campaign and as I mentioned after being pretty cynical I have to say I’ve been very pleased with the results. We invested in two thousand local contacts and Generate UK designed and sent out a personalised email campaign promoting our company and the services we offer with a promotion attached.

As a result we received 137 responses and 18 of these have turned into positive enquiries which we have quoted business for.  The great thing about the campaign is that Generate initially tested a batch of 50 to analyse how the message was received and the response it had. The initial message was tweaked only slightly and the main message was sent. It was a text based communication that was personalised with the recipients’ first name and signed off by me with my personal email address.

The campaign has more than paid for itself and I am teeing up another one in the near future.”

Christopher Eades – Director, AA Eades and Son

Thank you Generate UK!

Email marketing is now one of the most cost effective ways to market to your potential customers; as a result, it is no surprise that the UK market grew from a value of £221m in 2007 to an estimated £274m in 2008. Despite the economic doom and gloom, this growth is expected to rise further in 2009.

For more information on email marketing click here or to speak with one of Generate UK’s internet specialists about building a direct response campaign please call 01635 550431

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During the course of the next month, we’re going to provide you with a countdown of what we think are the top 20 online marketing opportunities for companies in the UK. If you’re a regular reader of our blog, then you are most likely involved in Marketing in some shape or form? If so, I would imagine that you go through the daily rigors of trying to increase your brand and company’s visibility, through a multitude of different marketing channels, both Offline and Online. The Holy Grail is trying to figure out which one delivers the best results whilst tapping into the least amount of your marketing funds. 

Generate UK are an online marketing agency focused on finding the right environments to deliver targeted communications, using the best technologies to achieve maximum results. 

Why do we believe in online marketing?

• It’s measurable
• It’s quick
• It’s costs effective

The Top 20 Chart has been made up from our own commercial experiences, through our customers and partners’ knowing what has proven to be successful and what hasn’t.  We hope that our Top 20 Chart provides you with a number of useful ideas to put into practice and helps you strive towards an online strategy, which will take your online communication and website’s digital presence to that next level!  

We’re keen to hear from our readers, so please feel free to add your comments and own ideas below.

Newbury Flooring Centre is an independent flooring solutions provider who specialise in supplying quality flooring products from leading manufacturers.

Until very recently, Newbury Flooring Centre had a limited web presence.  They were keen to change this and invest in a new platform that would enable them to reach a wider target market, whilst allowing them the flexibility to introduce e-commerce to their site in the future.

The brief was simple; to provide a web site platform that encouraged more conversations with potential customers. Due to the size of the investment, the platform also had to support the future needs of Newbury Flooring Centre, such as the ability to take orders via the web site.

Newbury Flooring’s new web site has been built using the Generate Shopping Cart System; a powerful e-commerce platform that is designed for non technical users. Simplistic and effective, it offers complete search engine optimisation support, one page check out, full integration with payment engines, delivery agencies and Google.

One month after the launch of the new web site, Newbury Flooring had received search engine traffic for over 200 different keywords and phrases. The site was also quickly indexed by Google, creating an Internet Footprint of over 100 pages in the first month. These factors have enabled Newbury Flooring Centre to quickly compete with more established web sites in their market.

The project was delivered on schedule and is a great example of a local business driving sales by using the Internet effectively. Generate UK are delighted to be working with Newbury Flooring Centre as they build their online reputation.

Michael Robinson, Managing Director of Newbury Flooring Centre stated

“If it’s been on your mind to launch a new web site for your business, now is the time to act. In this day and age, I don’t think a company can survive without a site - it’s an integral part to every business. I would also recommend using a professional agency such as Generate UK who will deliver a site that provides commercial results. If you’re worried about your business, you can’t afford to sit back. Get your new site today.”

Click to view the Newbury Flooring Centre web site

If you would like to discuss how an ecommerce shopping cart could help your business please do not hesitate to contact us on 01635 550431. If you’re already selling products via the Internet, why not let Generate UK provide a free of charge web site health check.

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As part of our Web Site Health Check promotion, we’ve been doing a fair bit of web page analysis recently. We look at the web site as a whole and how it is performing against the objectives set by the business. It’s a really interesting exercise, not because most organisations have never thought about setting objectives for their web sites, but because it gets people thinking.

A web site project does not end when the final piece of code has been written, it’s an ongoing process. It is part of your kit bag as a business and is there to support your business goals. Like other aspects of your team, it will perform better when it is coached and trained. Which I know sounds a little bit fluffy, but to make the point; when was the last time you gave your web site a performance review?

For most businesses, the web site is a major investment. It is the proverbial shop window, and often the first point of entry for interested customers. Businesses that recognise and use the Internet to contribute to their sales and opportunities already appreciate the need to track and analyse web site traffic and referrals.

Just talking about a web site health check is a great way to encourage companies to look at their web sites in a different light. In these times of economic gloom, reviewing aspects of a business is not unusual; we’re all used to sweating our assets and trying to make our investments go further. So we should also apply this same logic to the web site. The trouble is, most companies do not know how to begin this process or indeed recognise the importance of web site objectives.

On the positive side, giving your web site a performance review is easier than carrying out a review for an underperforming member of your staff. You can be as critical as you like about your web site and not have to worry a knock on the door from the HR Director.

The place to start is at the end; what is it that you would like your web site to do? If you were building a brand new web site tomorrow, what are the major objectives of the site you would use to justify the expenditure? Once everyone agrees to the objectives, it’s time to work backwards and see what aspects of your site deliver against the objectives.

You’ll probably find that there are a lot of areas that could be improved upon, some of this will be simple content tweaks, updates and making your site more relevant; whilst, other areas might need specific skills and development. The great part about this process is that you’re talking about your site and hopefully getting excited about what it could deliver.

At this stage, you’ve got the basis for an Internet Marketing Strategy. You should prioritise the changes, speak with your agency and get their feedback about some of the more technical ideas and then begin work on the changes. If you’re working closely with your digital marketing agency, they should also be contributing to your plan.

So why not book some time in your diary for your web site review? To help you on your way, please feel free to take advantage of our web site health check promotion, as this will provide you with some good information to begin your review.

Was this blog post helpful? Please feel free to comment below, or alternatively if you would like to learn more about the web site review process or how companies are using the Internet to drive business during the credit crunch, please contact us on 01635 550431.
UK Link Exchange

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An informed linking strategy for your web site will improve your rankings in the search engines and set you apart from your competitors. Most of the major search engines encourage web site owners to increase the number of back links a site has in order to encourage greater and more targeted traffic. 

In the democratic world of search engines, the more back links you have for a chosen keyword, the higher you will rank in the results. Of course, this implies that the process is very simple, which is certainly not the case. There is a myriad of additional variables to consider, not least the authority of the web site and the link relevance. 

We’re working on the principle that the vast majority of web site owners who are looking to improve the performance of their website care little for the technicalities of search engine algorithms; their interest is in the results. So regarding links; the general rule is that back links are good, as long as you concentrate on creating links to your site in the right places. 

The thought process you should go through when thinking about your back links is very important. For example, the keyword or phrase you would like your site linked with should be well researched. If your business wants to rank well for “Rental properties in Thatcham”, you should use that phrase as your link. 

If you’re an Estate Agent in Thatcham and “Rental properties in Thatcham” is indeed your chosen keyword, your first task would be to understand more about your competitors for this phrase. For example, how many back links do they have, who is utilising the local business results, what keywords are they using in their page titles. 

Once you understand all of this, you can start to build a campaign that takes into account their strategy for ranking for that phrase. You can identify how many links they have, which search engines their links are indexed in; if you know what you are looking for you can identify their whole search engine optimisation strategy. Of course, many companies have a list of targeted phrases, so you can begin to see how complex this task could be. 

This is a very simplistic way of looking and this has been done on purpose. I know we have some experienced SEO people who read this blog and I’ll be in the dog house for trying to simplify this process, however we have a larger number of marketing people, sales people and folk who do not want or need to lift the lid on complex algorithms, and instead just want a broad understanding of how search engines work. 

These are the people that we meet every day as part of our role as a digital marketing agency. They are looking for more information about link building, online PR and SEO because their business is putting them under pressure to ensure their web site is performing. This is where many companies are struggling; there could be 1,001 reasons why the site is not performing, with SEO being a small part of that. 

We believe that search engine optimisation is just a part of the online marketing strategy. It’s an ongoing process, where the rules and the competitive landscape changes almost daily. I don’t know a single senior marketing professional who has the time to monitor all of this. They need enough information to be able to satisfy their business that they are increasing the effectiveness of their online channel.

This is where a close relationship with a digital marketing agency pays dividends. By sharing the goals and objectives of your web site, your agency can come up with a detailed marketing plan that is designed to deliver against your business objectives. The great thing about online marketing is that it is measurable. What a great way to work; goal based objectives, regular analytics and no need to try and become a web guru in order to satisfy the demands of your business. 

What do you think? Please feel free to comment below, are we being fair to marketing professionals? Do you think they do have enough time to become experts in this area as well as experts in their businesses? If you would like to discuss this blog post or what Generate UK could do for you, please do not hesitate to call us on 01635 550431.

Momentum Sash Windows specialises in sash window restorations and refurbishments. They work throughout the UK providing quality sash window delivery and enhancement. With over 25 years of experience, the proprietors of Momentum have achieved the highest level of craftsmanship. This leadership in their field has meant that Momentum have worked on some of the country’s most well known establishments.

To support their continued success, Momentum decided that they would look to identify new channels to showcase their work; particularly on the Internet where they did not have a web site. It was expected that the website would support new business initiatives and help drive new sales enquiries.

The brief was to deliver a website on a limited budget. The web site had to also support continued growth and therefore needed to be flexible in terms of adding and editing content.

Generate UK consulted with Momentum in order to understand their exact business needs, web requirements and what they saw as the role of the web site.  Both parties worked through the Generate Web Development Checklist which ensured that all success factors were logged and agreed in advance.

During this stage it was established that Momentum wanted a simple web site that showed new and existing customers details of their projects. The site should not be too many pages and encourage visitors to contact Momentum.

The project lasted six weeks from sign off to completion and is evidence that you can produce a professional website on a small budget. During these tough economic times the Internet represents a very effective opportunity to grow a business. Generate UK are delighted to be working with Momentum as they begin their online adventure.

Aidan Dear, A Director of Momentum stated “Generate UK understood our business needs from day one, our budget was restrictive however Generate UK delivered a fantastic site and the service first class” 

Click to view the Momentum Sash Window site.

If you’re interested to discover what Generate UK can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01635 550431 or via our site. If you’re quick, you can still take part in our New Design for 2009 promotion.

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Recently we were approached by a journalist and asked a number of questions that relate to digital marketing, in particular how it can help drive business for small, medium and large enterprises in the UK. It’s always nice to be asked for an opinion on the market and our views on different technologies; as a result we thought it might be useful to post the full interview on the blog.

[1] What would your key advice be to any SME that is taking its first steps with online marketing?

Don’t be afraid to become a Geek! Unlike traditional above the line marketing, online marketing is measurable and provides you with a wealth of stats, information and measurements. So our advice to any client in this situation is to analyse the data as much as possible. Identify trends and customer behaviours, drop what does not work and do more of what does work. For example, if you are using Search Marketing and have a high click through rate but low conversion rate, you know you need to work on making your landing page more compelling. The stats help you to make more informed decisions about your Internet marketing.
No SME should consider using online marketing unless they have access to statistics to analyse.

[2] Search marketing seems to have come of age over the last few years. How can even micro businesses take advantage of this kind of online marketing?

Search marketing is a great way to level the competitive playing field. By bidding on keywords that are relevant to your business, you have the same opportunity as any other business to drive highly targeted and qualified prospects to your site. For any micro business this is great news as it means the road to their prospects is significantly reduced, allowing them to create significant revenue streams quicker than would previously had been possible. The reverse side to Search Marketing is that it can also be an expensive waste of time if not done correctly, which often leads to micro businesses being burned and never using Search Marketing again, which is a shame because as a marketing tool it is awesome if used right. In our opinion, it is vital to the success of any campaign that you research your keyword/keyphrases thoroughly and have landing pages that help to deliver your campaign objectives.

[3] How can SMEs integrate their offline promotional activity and their online marketing?

This question largely depends on the market the SME is in. For example, if you’re an ecommerce store you could drive people to your web site with traditional flyers and brochures, using discount codes or coupons. We would advise consistent branding for both online and offline promotion activity, we would also advise any client to leverage their website traffic by collecting email information, which can be used in the future to send offers, newsletters etc to.

[4] Do you think the future of online marketing is mobile via smartphones? Will it become the mobile Internet that everyone is predicting, or a different kind of commercial platform that SMEs can use for promotion and advertising?

Smartphones are an additional channel, another way to reach your target market. I don’t think it is a replacement technology; instead it is something that you would use or cater to as part of your marketing objectives. If you’re building a new website now, you make sure that it can be viewed properly via a smartphone. So to answer the question, I don’t think the future of online marketing is mobile via smartphones exclusively, I think it is just another platform that people need to get used to. This is a great opportunity for innovative advertisers and there may be small niches where exclusive smartphone advertising works, for the majority it will be part of the digital mix.

[5] As consumers have become more Internet savvy how can SMEs position their enterprises to take advantage of this massive commercial channel?

Firstly, they should have an Internet Marketing Strategy. It’s amazing how many companies still do not have such a strategy in place, only by taking the time to understand the potential market available to the SME, will senior stakeholders make the necessary investments in terms of skills and technology. Next they need to identify which technologies will suit their business, for example can they streamline their ordering process by offering ecommerce? Following this they need to look at Web 2.0 technologies such as blogging and social media and understand why they should be taking advantage of these channels in order to increase their revenues, branding, leadership and online conversations.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of companies who are still not considering the Internet as a viable channel for increasing their sales opportunities. This is usually because of fear of the unknown or because of lack of skills, it’s a real shame as if they do not act soon, their competitors definitely will.

[6] No business can ignore the social networking space that has rapidly developed with Web 2.0 technologies. But marketing to this sector has proven very difficult. How or even should SMEs place social networking within their digital marketing? Or is it still too early to commercialise this space?

Web 2.0 and social networking should play a large part all SMEs digital marketing strategy. However, first they need to understand what Web 2.0 and Social Media actually are and what it could mean to their business. This is a major hot topic for us at the moment; we have covered it in the past on the blog. You might find these previous posts useful as a way to answer this question.

10 Reasons why companies do not adopt social media

10 most popular excuses UK businesses use for not having a blog

Business benefits of social media

This post defines (in our opinion) what social media is and how it can help businesses:

How social media can help your business

[7] Email marketing is the digital equivalent of direct mail but with spam still the scourge of the Internet, how can SMEs use this marketing channel effectively?

When we speak about email marketing with clients, we use the term “Enterprise Email Marketing”, this is because we think that email marketing has evolved in the last few years and if done correctly, is a hugely sophisticated form of marketing. The most important piece of advice we can give SMEs about how to use emarketing more effectively is to make yourselves aware of your legal responsibilities, love your data and analyse every single one of your email campaigns.We’ve got more advice about email marketing and using it effectively here:

Generate UK email marketing tips

[8] With masses of press display advertising moving online, the website banner ad seems to be the advertising channel of the day – at least at the moment. What are the key skills that SMEs need to master in order to get good ROI from their banner/display advertising?

Good ROI from banner advertising is dependent on your ad being clicked and the page that is clicked to being strong enough to convert the visitor. We advise our clients to think along the following lines:

Objective – What is it? Traffic, sales, special offer email signups? If you’re paying for a banner ad, what is it that you’re encouraging people to do?
Banner – Is it compelling enough to make people click, is it appropriate to the site it is being shown on, is it in a good position.
Landing Page – Will your landing page convert? Does it include a call to action? Is it easily understood what it is that you want your visitor to do?
Test – Move your banners, try different messages, try different sites, sizes, colours etc
Analyse – Analyse the data, which banners were more affective? Which sites were better for you? Most click throughs?
Repeat – If something works well, do it again.

[9] Viral advertising has seen some of the most successful online advertising of recent years. But as with social networking promotions, viral seems to need a special understanding of the target market to be successful. How can SMEs exploit viral marketing in their enterprises?

Yes viral advertising requires an understanding of the target market; however we would argue that this is the same for any marketing venture to be successful. Some of the greatest viral campaigns have been incredibly simple and no one would have predicted how successful they would be. There is no special ingredient or secret sauce to make something go “viral”, it happens because it is something engaging that is released to the right audience at the right time. You could argue that the skill is in knowing where to release your content and to which audience, which again would come back to knowing your target market. Once you go viral, hold on to your coat tails as it will be a roller coaster ride for a few days.

[10] Successful online marketing is all well and good, but how can SMEs effectively track their campaigns to analyze if they are giving the expected ROI?

There are many great tools out there that will help SMEs track campaigns and analyse their visitor data. Most email marketing systems come built in with their own tracking tools, which allow the user to measure open rates, click through rates etc. The same is available for your web site via technology such as Google Analytics.
In order to measure ROI, one must first understand a campaign objective and what it is that the SME is trying to achieve. We would argue that having access to the metrics and the data is the number one reason for taking part in online marketing.

[11] As the publishing phenomenon of the last few years, the blog has taken the Internet by storm. How can SMEs use the power of the business blog as a marketing channel?

We’ve made a few blog posts about this very topic. What are the benefits of blogging?

What now? Do you have any comments about this interview? Would you have answered any of the questions differently? Please feel free to add your comments below or contact us.