I have a writing and editing services company, and we currently have $4500 of our operating budget. We are planning to do direct mail marketing, advertisements in trade journals, and online marketing (pay-per-click, e-newsletters, etc). How much of my marketing budget should I allocate for online marketing?

website marketing

This article has been prepared by Tug. Tug, is a Search Engine Marketing specialist agency, based in Shoreditch, London.

Search Engines have evolved into a new consumer, communications and marketing channel. Google, Yahoo and MSN serve 213 million searches a day.

In fact, 9 out of 10 internet surfers use a Search Engine to start their internet journey. Therefore, if your website doesn’t have visibility in the engines, you are missing significant volumes of traffic.

Natural vs. Paid for Listings

There are essentially two listings within a Search Engine Results Page (SERP): the Natural listings (on the left) and the Paid for listing (on top and on the right).

Natural listings are the results the engine believes to be the most relevant sites to your search. The natural listings consistently receive over 70% of consumer clicks. Paid for listings are the ads served by Advertisers, who have bid on the term searched for by the consumer.

The Natural listings therefore list all available websites in the World Wide Web, while the Paid for listings only serve links by relevant Advertisers willing to pay for their spot, and thus high visibility in the engines.

To increase Reach, advertisers can pay for ads on the Search Engines themselves, as well as their local listings, mobile listings and their Content Network of websites.

Pay per Click (PPC). Pay only for Visitors

Unlike other marketing channels where you pay for the number of people who see your ad, in pay per click advertising (PPC) you only pay when someone clicks on your ads and is driven through to your site.

• 75% of users search for goods and services through a Search Engine.

• PPC has the lowest cost per lead compared to other Direct Marketing methods.

• Pay per click advertising is relevant to what the individual is searching for – targeting them at the right moment and mood.

• Pay per click is 100% accountable.

• Advertisers can know the cost of each conversion in real-time, and campaigns can be instantly optimised for maximum ROI.

To get visibility in the paid for listings you can set up a PPC campaign for your website yourself, or by commissioning a specialist Search Engine Marketing agency like Tug.

To get visibility in the Natural listings you need to optimise your website – this is called Search Engine Optimisation. Again this is where you need to commission a specialist agency like Tug.

What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

Search engine Optimisation, or SEO as it’s commonly known as, is an online marketing strategy that involves designing, writing and coding your entire website with the intention of enabling search engines to index your site easily and efficiently. The sole aim and objective is for it to rank higher for keywords relevant to your business. Optimising a website is critical to gaining visibility on the organic or natural (left hand side) search results (SERP’s) of search engines.

SEO, is done in two stages, known primarily as on page and off page. On page involves the website itself and fundamentally evolves around the design, build and copy laid out within the actual site. Off page relates to ongoing SEO development and includes link building campaigns, news and article submissions, paid directory submissions and joining discussion forums that relate to your chosen industry. The latter is basically about gaining 3rd party exposure of your website.

On Page Factors

• Keyword mining

• Keyword density checks

• Credible copywriting

• Meta tags scripting

• Clean and valid mark-up (HTML)

• Link management

Off Page Factors

• Free / paid directory submission

• Article and news submission

• Press release distribution

• Reciprocal link marketing

• Inbound link building

• Digital signatures

Using Search Engine Marketing to meet your Communication Objectives

Consumers using a Search Engine are primarily in two sets of mind: ‘Research’ mode and ‘Ready to act/buy/sign up’ mode. From a marketer’s point of view they are at different stages of the Purchase Cycle.

PPC campaigns should be set up with this in mind. Different campaigns can be geared for different objectives – for example one for Awareness and one for Sales. The Awareness campaign should be optimized for Reach, concentrating on the highest number of clicks at the cheapest possible price. The Sales campaign conversely should be optimized for sales volume and cheapest Cost per Acquisition (CPA).

Search Engine Optimisation will primarily meet your Awareness and Traffic objectives, as the campaign usually concentrates on fewer, broader keyterms. But keep in mind that this broader Search might ultimately lead to a sale as the Searcher moves through the Purchase Cycle. Remember to optimize your Meta Descriptions (the description in the SERP) with the consumer in mind.

Search Engine Marketing Case Studies:

Search Engine Optimisation Case Study: UK Business Properties. http://ukbusinessproperties.com

Problem

• UK Business Properties launched a new Commercial Property directory in 2006

• While the agency that built the site assured them it was SEO friendly, they were languishing on page 3 on Google for the most important keyword: ‘Commercial Property’

Solution

• Tug developed an SEO strategy that emphasised the keyword ‘Commercial Property’

• Review and editing of website content – addition of content pages for all UK regions

• Review and editing of Meta

• Review and editing of code to make more spider friendly

• Directory and site map submission

• A bespoke link building campaign where we submitted to directories, article websites and actively exchange links with high PageRank sites in parallel business verticals

Results

• Within 6 weeks the website was listed #3 on Page 1 of Google.co.uk

• The keyword ‘Commercial Property’ now drives 65% of traffic to the site

• They are now #1 on Google and we are now optimising and link building for new relevant keywords

Pay per Click Case Study: Truffle Shuffle http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk

Problem

• Truffle Shuffle is an online retailer competing in a tight margin business, against small t-shirt retailers and huge online retailers like ASOS.

Solution

• PPC campaign on Google and Yahoo.

• Avoid Broad keywords even if they can drive sales volume.

• Use only very specific product related keywords.

• Use bid management software to set strict Position and ROI rules.

• Develop specific, relevant ad Creative for every available t-shirt.

• Weekly coordination with PR efforts.

• Concentrate only on keywords that convert under £5.25.

• Measure revenue and work with exact margins to measure profit on every keyword weekly.

Results

• In November 07, Tug drove 1,949 sales (1 or more t-shirts) at an average cost per conversion of £1.39.

• We delivered a 24:1 ROI (revenue generated/ad spend).

Direct mail is the key element among all the promotion channels used by direct marketers. According to Direct Marketing Association (DMA) research report 2007, 90% of direct marketers use non-catalog direct mail as a promotion channel and about 46% say that it is their primary channel for promotion. About 39.6% of businesses use direct mail (non catalog), where as only 6.1% of businesses use direct mail (catalog) as primary channel for promotion.

• Direct mail extends lead in promotion channels:

Among the different channels used for promotions, direct mail (non catalogue) leads with 39.6% followed by 15.9% of commercial email, 9.1% of Internet marketing as the primary channel of promotion. On an average 45% of B2B and B2C companies use direct mail as the channel of promotion. B2B companies spend about 43.3% where as B2C companies spend about 50.8% of their total annual budget on non-catalogue direct mail channels for promotion.

• URL is the most popular point of contact:

Among B2B and B2C firms that use direct mail promotion channels, about 84.4% and 78.8% respectively provide URL as the contact for service information. And among B2B firms 64.4% provide toll free number, 62.6% provide an email address as contact. And when it comes to B2C firms 75.9% provide toll free number and 57.65% of mailing address as contact point for service information.

• Large and small revenue companies prefer direct mail:

Direct mail (non catalog) is used as the main channel by consumer marketers and middle and small revenue companies. When it comes to B2B firms, commerce email is more common among small and middle revenue companies. These companies receive their responses through Internet by 93.7%, phone by 79.5% and through internal sales force by 70.8% from their clients.

• B2C and B2B firms use direct mail for different purposes:

B2C firms mainly use direct mail promotion channel for customer retention followed by sending special and one-time offers. When it comes to B2B firms, direct mail is used for customer acquisition than sending newsletters and announcements.

Many B2B and B2C companies prefer direct mail as their primary promotion channel. Though there is a significant growth in online channels such as Internet marketing, still direct marketers use direct mail as a key channel for marketing promotions.

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Direct marketing is a sub-discipline and type of marketing. It has its definitional characteristics distinguished from other types of marketing. It involves commercial communication with consumers or businesses, including direct mail, e-mail, telemarketing, etc.

 

It’s a cost-effective way and a good marketing solution to purchase direct marketing lists (http://www.kingsbridgelists.com/ ). With the direct marketing lists, you can obtain names and addresses of people interested in the products and services you offer. You can take a targeted approach to communicate and develop new customers. The more selects you choose for your marketing lists, the more targeted your campaign will be.

 

With direct marketing lists, you can reach a targeted audience. Some advertising techniques, like radio and TV advertising and roadside billboards, are highly expensive and difficult. While a direct marketing list is definitely different. You can focus on businesses and consumers that have purchased from companies similar to yours. And also, those featured on the list need the products and services you offer and additional information.

 

Direct mail is the most common form of business-to-business correspondence. Sending an offer through email is a very different approach to mailing collateral to businesses on direct marketing lists. Email marketing is a godsend for small business owners. An effective, targeted email-marketing campaign can drive traffic to your site. It’s so effective than a traditional direct-marketing campaign.

 

An email list consists of consumers who actually want to receive offers from companies like yours. They offer more request information by opting in through web forms or e-mails. It’s an effective way to help you conduct a faster marketing campaign. The list broker conducts the campaign and tracks the results for you.

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In this ever changing world there’s always something new and exciting to learn and this is also the case with direct marketing. There are many of us who ignore the fact that there is always something new and useful to find out and something that could make a huge difference in selling our packages, so we advise you to be informed before starting any marketing campaigns. Research and information go hand in hand and in the field of direct mail, both of them are essential.

A common mistake with most direct mail providers is the fact that they don’t include in their package a sales letter, which is the most important part of the package. This letter creates the illusion of personal communication and people are usually trained to view letters as real mail and brochures as advertising. The best thing of direct marketing is to find out exactly what your customer wants to hear and to tell it to him in the email you send. Furthermore, don’t send any messages that don’t contain an offer, since the purpose of the email is to receive an answer.

In order to be successful, a direct mail package must comprise a message meant to sell the offer and not the product itself. Make sure you have an irresistible offer in your mailing message and keep in mind that some important offers for direct marketing are: free brochure, free analysis, free consultation, free demonstration, free catalog, etc. Your offer is meant to increase the reader’s desire to receive your offer. Lack of content is the worst mistake you can make when sending marketing emails. The purpose of these messages is not to make an impact related to image and design but to generate a response within a short period of time.

One of the fastest modalities of killing the response you are waiting for is being superficial. Talking vaguely, about generalities and rambling without any authority on a certain subject will not show potential customers that you understand their needs, their problems and their industries. Factual direct mail messages are a must, even if this means that you will have to spend a little more time digging for facts. Studying the product, the prospect and the marketing problem will enable you to write a good copy, one that will reach the targeted audience. In direct marketing you don’t have to save the best for the end because starting slow and ending with a great conclusion is not good enough in this sort of marketing.

Successful sales letters used in direct mail include: asking provocative questions, going straight to the bottom of the reader’s concern, arousing curiosity and presenting your offer from the very beginning. The hot spots of direct marketing are: the first paragraphs of the letter, the subheads, last paragraph and the post script, so make sure you put the best in one of these places. Another frequent mistake is the poor follow up. It is essential to start making phone calls after 48 hours from when your email was sent. Thus, you can be sure that people will remember you and what you are talking about.

Resource box:

To conclude, what we wanted to demonstrate in this brief article is that there is always enough place for something better, especially when dealing with direct marketing . We are here to help you avoid these common mistakes and help you plan a successful direct mail package that will have the desired impact upon customers.

affiliate marketing

Real estate has been increasingly popular. There seems to be a new agent getting their real estate license left and right- especially with the booming housing market. The same goes for the commercial real estate industry- new brokers popping up everywhere trying to get a piece of the action. Unfortunately, these new brokers only sell a few properties a year- if that because they simply do not know how to market their properties. Simply listing the property in the MLS or placing on an information only website is not the best way to find buyers- mainly investors and end users.

Even seasoned professional brokers often rely on their agents to locate and bring in buyers for the properties. Nice property information packages are made up for those who are interested and sent out to those who inquire.

That is all fine and dandy, but why should they have to get new buyers every time? Investors have specific buying strategies and will purchase more than one property that fits their criteria. Why not capitalize on that rather than writing for a random buyer to come trickling through the office door or speak to half-interested buyers over the phone that just happen to come across a property?

Extremely successful brokers take it upon themselves to have a pool of people to take a new property to that is on the market. They can even seek out properties that fit the criteria of his or her investors. In fact, if their pool of people is large enough, they can actually agree to put on their listing the properties they know their clients will want.

Too few commercial real estate brokers and agents do this. One reason why they don’t is because they are not sure on how to go about creating a solid list. The other, is that they are simply too lazy and rather the buyers come to them in search of a property. Whatever the reason, we are going to discuss just a few simple direct marketing techniques that can be used on the internet to build a list that a broker will always be in contact with.

There are three items that you need to implement this direct marketing technique:

1. A website

2. A newsletter

3. A buyer’s list

Many brokers have a website, but it is purely informational- the location, a biography, and the properties that are listed for sale. There might be a contact section for an interested investor to get more information about a property. Direct marketing on the internet is the easiest, cheapest way to collect great contacts and build a profitable list.

Transform your website into a list builder by creating a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly newsletter filled with valuable information for a buyer- purchaser, end-user, or whoever else you may be looking to attract to your list. You are a wealth of knowledge about your specific location, market, purchasing techniques etc. Take what is in your head and provide valuable information to those who visit the site.

Now, the visitor does not get this information for free, however. They must opt-in or sign-up for the newsletter by giving you their first name, primary email and even phone number. When they sign-up for the newsletter, you now have a hot contact! The more people who opt-in to the newsletter, the larger your list becomes.

Now that you have these people’s contact information, you can send automated, extremely personal emails asking for their interests, criteria in commercial properties, what projects they most like to work on, and if they are looking for anything in particular.

You can get to know each person on your list and find properties according to their criteria. Here you have a buyer’s list that is showing interest in purchasing specific types of properties that you find. If you pick up a property, all you have to do is send it out to the people you think would be most interested. Keep your list happy, especially those who purchase from you. These people are your goldmine and will continue to purchase properties if you pay attention, listen to what they want, find suitable properties, and provide exceptional customer service.

Sure this is more work than waiting for a buyer to present himself to your office, but a thousand times more profitable!

With this simple and effective direct marketing technique, you will be able to increase the number of properties on your listing, and both your sellers and buyers will be pleased. This equation equals success and for all parties involved.

The website and software for this simple automation is a very small investment for the returns you can expect. Simply find a webmaster that can set up this easy process for you. Crank out a few, valuable newsletters, and let people know about your website within your social network. You will begin to build your list very quickly.

There are many other direct marketing techniques that are easy to implement with a little knowledge. There are many books and course that can show you how to build out and make your website truly optimized so you can get the most out of your list. Find other successful brokers and learn their systems? What can you learn from them that will increase your effectiveness? There are many options to improve your brokerage business within the commercial real estate industry. Don’t limit yourself to the possibilities and see how you can greatly improve.

how to market my website online

A direct marketing mailing list consists of the contact information of potential sales leads. The use of a direct marketing mailing list has become more and more popular these days. The fact is that more companies are beginning to look towards this method as a means of generating sales leads for their businesses. This article shows you how a direct marketing mailing list can help your business.

A direct marketing mailing list allows your business to have greater capability in generating sales leads. Such a list allows you to be able to promote your products to others relatively easily and efficiently. This is extremely important for start-up companies, as often, these companies have yet to establish a firm footing in the market. Given this, a direct marketing mailing list would allow you to raise awareness to a potential customer base, on the various types of products and services which you are offering. For instance, you could send out promotional mailers to the addresses of people in your list, to raise awareness on the products and services which you are offering. In either case, exposing a greater part of the general public to the products and services that your company is offering would definitely result in potentially greater sales volume.

In addition, a direct marketing mailing list would enable you to provide updates to your customers on any new products or services which you may be offering. Launched a new line of products recently? Restructured your business? Let people know! It would simply not do for people to come inquiring about a discontinued product from time to time. Instead, keep your customers in the loop by letting them know what is your company doing. Awareness of the latest products that your company is offering would mean business when customers have the need for such a product.

Moreover, most direct marketing mailing lists provide by list companies would often consist of individuals who are more likely to make purchases. This means that your return on investment would be potentially higher. What is referred to here by definition of investment would include factors such as printing your mailers and getting people to do the mailing jobs for you. In essence, it’s all the costs associated with the marketing campaign itself. In most cases, listing companies employ a wide variety of selection criteria before placing a particular individual’s name down onto the direct marketing mailing list.

Finally, the use of a direct marketing mailing list as a method of marketing is something relatively cheap as compared to other means of marketing such as advertising. Given that costs are lower; this means that business owners would be able to conduct more frequent marketing campaigns in order to increase sales volume.

Indeed, there are many ways how a direct marketing mailing list can help your business. The methods listed above are by no means exhaustive. However, it is best to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of the actual sales generated from each mailing list in order to obtain a mailing list that provides you with nothing but the best sales leads. Doing so would enable you to score spectacular results in your company’s sales drive.

direct marketing

We are aware that when marketing is not effective, a business seldom earns profits. So, if you want to continue the flow of business, apply the tips and solutions of direct marketing.

Here are some tips to boost your chances of success:

” It is important that you collect leads, and make sure that you are in touch with your customers. Email marketing is a useful direct marketing tool.

” You can sell goods or services directly to consumers; mail them directly, and if your customers are convinced of product quality, and give them failsafe delivery schedules; then you will succeed in your business.

” Your profits depend on the effort you put into your business. Even the best product or service is not enough for a business to succeed, if sufficient thought and effort have not been put in. Therefore, plan well, network with friends and acquaintances and get advice from professionals. Be sure of what you are doing is what you want, and then take the plunge.

” Always update your customers with new products and services, and attract them with good deals. Direct marketing gives you the option to wave right into face of the customers with various discounts and promotions. Customers are also aware of the offers.

” Try sending your prospects mailers. When you compare snail mail with email, it is evident that you can send email in bulk, to a huge number of people at very low cost. Letters on the other hand is relatively expensive, when you add up the paper, printing and postage costs. Do not let that dissuade you from using this means of connecting with your prospects, because of its effectiveness.

” The envelope should be attractive or chances are that your prospect will not open it. When the prospect opens the letter, the message on the envelope should continue within the letter. To get a positive response, enclose a stamped envelope or post card.

” Once you receive responses from your customers, remember not make a customer lose interest in your offer if they need to fill out tedious. Potential customers may not have the time; there is risk you may lose them.

” Ensure that your information gathering is quite friendly and brief, rather than lengthy and formidable. Your primary aim is to top your mailers with promotional strategies related to your business. Also, highlight freebies that may prompt the reader to give you a good feedback.

” Do not ever ask personal questions, as customers get wary of your intentions. Sending one mail may not be helpful or successful, since they could misplace it. It is advisable to ask the customer to contact you through phone or mail. Try to provide a toll free number on which prospects can call. To trigger further customer interest you can add some freebies inside the envelope.

Direct marketing has solved some of the biggest challenges in marketing a business through lead generation. Convert these leads into quality customers and then systematically improve your profitability. Systematic direct marketing is a strategy, based on direct marketing methods will deliver a quick and substantive sales improvement.

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There are probably more than one hundred principles of direct marketing, ferreted down from marketing gurus and internet marketing experts all over the world. Different sorts of experiences lead to different conclusions, and inevitably, different advice. This article is designed to tell you there is a difference between advice and principle, whereas advice may be applied to isolated incidents and regions, the latter can be transposed into almost any situation of direct marketing. I have siphoned away 3, not because they are the best, but because they can be universally applied – so wait no longer, read on land earn direct marketing principles that work.

I will start in reverse order of importance. The first (or the last one for those that have been paying attention), is the copy. Be it fax, mail, internet or offline marketing, what you write is essentially the difference that either helps you close a deal or remain wondering what happened. Compelling copy can be considered to be the life blood of your direct marketing efforts. If you are not talking to them on the phone or shaking their hand in real life, what they read from you must be good enough to influence a purchasing decision. Remember, you are already at a disadvantage – you can’t see their reactions or hear their worries first hand. A mailer or brochure can’t talk back so you have to seal the deal the minute they read the first few lines.

The copy must be simple – you may be marketing to the lowest common denominator, so Shakespearean prose has no place in sales copy. It must be from the heart and sincere, use real life experiences and testimonials to breathe life to the product. The copy must keep a single question in mind – the ‘what’s in it for the consumer?’ The offer must be IRRESISTABLE, so concentrate on how you word your offer, write and rewrite and read it to yourself, over and over again until it’s just right.

Secondly, whatever you do, ensure that what you put out there must have what marketers call ‘an action device’. This can be a reply cut-out, an order form or even a point of contact. Make it easy for them to initiate a response, don’t leave them to guess where and who. Look at sales copy for websites, there is always almost a link somewhere at the end of the website. Point them in the right direction – closer and closer to buying the product.

This is the last and most important point. You may have the best, most sellable copy in the world. You could be selling a fantastic product. Your carrier could be striking, a design fit for the Louvre. But sent to the wrong market, all this would be pointless. The contacts that you have built up or have acquired must be highly detailed and highly targeted. This means that each and every name will be much more likely to consider the product – ‘needs identification’ can only occur through a high quality list. It is of crucial importance to match the product to the prospect, eliminating as much doubt as possible from the purchasing decision.

So now that you have learn direct marketing principles that work, you can apply it to any situation, for any product and for any market you wish to enter!

tips on marketing

Direct marketing is one of the most reliable and productive ways to reach consumers, to motivate them into believing in a product or service, and finally influencing them to make a purchasing decision. Mortgage professionals who offer loan services and programmes recognise this as a viable option to turn their resources to, opening new channels of revenue and leveraging on the phenomenon of more and more people turning to direct marketing as full time profession. Once you have a mortgage mailing list, you must know how to apply direct marketing to it.

Needs identification. This depends entirely on the programmes and services that you have decided to leverage on. The mortgage and subprime markets are awash with individuals who need services ranging from debt/equity mortgage, the renters market and so much more. Potential mortgage brokers must be aware of the valuable connection between product and person. Providers of such loan services have always realised the importance of mailing lists and how they can provide that added enhancement to mortgage prospecting, targeting the right audience, and finally finding the ‘one’ that will definitely be eligible for the loan programme.

Once you have identified the groups of potential prospects, you must act upon it. Industry experts advice that messages, copy, content and even brand messages (and names) have to be tailored to the sort consumers that are being targeted. I have always agreed that personalised marketing messages always attract the customer’s attention. This is an element of direct marketing that is sometimes overlooked and marginalised by the constant need to get the message across to as many people as possible. Remember, loan services and programmes for the mortgage and sub prime markets are not in the same category as consumer goods or lifestyle services, they require an added sincerity and personalisation, as well as more individual time and effort before someone can ultimately agree to a loan programme.

One thing that is also overlooked is the quality of the mortgage mailing lists involved. Many companies offer mortgage lists – compiled from their own expertise – and sell them to direct marketers and mortgage brokers. The database should be highly targeted and should have gone through many levels of checks and balances to ensure its integrity and value to the buyer. Especially for mortgage mailing lists, the database should pinpoint households based on mortgage loan elements, range of properties, the estimated value of the property, interest rate changes, and every aspect of the loan taken (for the household).

This is just an example, but now you realise the field of possibilities and criterion that have to be judged and weighed before anyone can be identified and marked as a potential customer. Be smart when applying direct marketing methods to mortgage mailing lists and always remember the importance of a sincere approach. About getting quality lists? Many websites offer services that go beyond just giving a list that is highly targeted – they provide high quality and profitable lists for the direct marketer – whatever the industry.

So these are just some of the points on how to effectively use direct marketing on mortgage mailing lists. As you go alone, you’ll learn more and more and become more adept at what you do – as is the case for almost anything in the world today.

web marketing for 2010