Online Marketing for Profit

Speaker Intro

• Hannah Smith• 11 years in marketing

– 5 years in retail – POS, sales promotion, staff incentives– 3 years in direct response – national press, magazines, direct mail,

sponsorship– 3 years in online – SEO, PPC, social media, conversion rate

optimisation, email

What I’ll be Covering…

• Web Design• SEO v PPC• Social Media• Integrating the marketing mix

Web Design

‘Good’ Web Design

• Before sending traffic to a website it’s important to consider how well the site will convert visitors into customers

• When it comes to design everyone has an opinion(!) to avoid scuffles around ‘good’ and ‘bad’ design today we’ll be focussing on:– Clarity of message– Trust indicators– Navigation– Optimising for conversion

Clarity of Message

• This encompasses both the copy on your website, and the way in which it is presented

• Don’t succumb to ‘management-speak’ • Communicate features & benefits clearly & concisely

Trust Indicators

• Customer testimonials• Awards• Reviews• Professional affiliations

Navigation/Menus

• Keep it simple!• Name navigation/menu options sensibly • Offer a search box

Optimising for Conversion

• Offer multiple routes to conversion– Email– Online form– Telephone

• Make sure there is an easy route to convert on every page of your site

Online Forms

• The fewer the fields required the higher the conversion rate

• Make the form easy to complete• Offer help / explanations etc

Any Questions?

SEO v PPC

What is PPC?• PPC stands for pay per click. It’s advertising. It refers to the sponsored

results which appear on the results pages of search engines:

PPC Advertising

How does PPC work?

• All paid search ads are charged on a pay per click (PPC) basis

• As the name suggests, with PPC you are only charged when someone clicks on your ad

• This means that unlike in traditional print advertising, or online display advertising you are not paying for your ad simply to appear

How do you calculate ROI for PPC?

• Decide what a ‘conversion’ is • Decide what a ‘conversion’ is worth to you• For this you’ll either need some data; or you’ll need

to make some reasonable assumptions e.g.– Average order value or contract value or lifetime value– % of that sum which is profit– £100 (av. order) @ 20% profit = £20 per conversion

Calculating PPC ROI Cont.

• Once you know what a conversion is worth, you then need to decide how much you’re willing to pay

• E.G. if every conversion is worth £20, you’d probably be happy to pay around £5– On this basis, for every £1 you spend, you’ll be getting £4 back

Calculating PPC ROI Cont.

• Now you know how much you can afford to pay per conversion, you’ll need to figure out how much to pay per click

• Again, you’ll need data, or you’ll need to make some assumptions – e.g. 2% of visitors convert– £5 x 2% = 10p– So you can afford to pay 10p per click

PPC ROI Cheat Sheet

1) Calculate how much a conversion is worth to you– Average order value or contract value or lifetime value– % of that sum which is profit– £100 (av. order) @ 20% profit = £20 per conversion

2) Decide how much you’re willing to pay per conversion– EG if a conversion is worth £20, you might be happy to pay £5 for it

3) From this calculate how much you can spend per click– Price per conversion x Conversion rate– £5 x 2% = 10p

Any Questions?

What is SEO?• Stands for search engine optimisation – affects the

natural search results

Natural Search Results

How Does SEO Work?

• SEO is the process of optimising a site so that it appears for relevant search queries in the search engine results pages (SERPs)

• 3 Key Areas– Technical (or Code): ensuring your site can be properly indexed by

search engines– On-Page (or Content): site content– Links: links to your website (this is the differentiating factor – links =

‘votes’)

• You are not charged when a user clicks on a natural search result – so you’re paying for the optimisation process, not the clicks

Which Search Terms Should you Target?

• Which terms do people use to find your products & services?

• ‘Broad’ terms deliver traffic volume• ‘Tightly targeted’ terms are more likely to deliver

qualified leads & sales

Broad or ‘Head’ Terms

• High volume• Competitive• Generic• Possibly less ‘targeted’ – may not completely

describe your business offering

Examples– Insurance– Restaurants– Books

Tightly Targeted Terms

• Lower volume• Normally less competitive• Specific

Examples– Renault Clio Insurance– Italian Restaurants in Richmond– Buy Roald Dahl childrens books

Keyword Research

• How do you find out the search volume of various terms?

• You’ll need to do some keyword research: https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/KeywordTool

Keyword Research

To get accurate search volume data make sure you select ‘exact’ match

Keyword Research

Keyword ResearchKeyword Monthly Search VolumeLandlord Insurance 14,800Cheap Landlord Insurance 1,600Landlord Insurance UK 1,000Landlord Insurance Quote 880

Clearly here Landlord Insurance is the ‘money’ term; however you’ll see that there is still some volume for the other terms.

What Do the SERPs Look Like?

ROI for SEO• Calculating ROI for SEO is harder than for PPC…• It will probably be 3-6 months before you see results• It’s about assessing the scale of the opportunity

– Less competitive keywords are easier to rank for, but will deliver less leads

– Highly competitive keywords require a lot of investment (time & money) to rank for, but will deliver far more leads

• As with our PPC example, you’ll also need to decide what a conversion is worth to you & make some assumptions about the percentage of visitors which will convert

What is No. 1 Likely to Bring You?

• Ordinarily you could reasonably expect to receive 30-40% of the clicks

• So a no. 1 ranking for Landlord Insurance is likely to bring around 5,920 visits per month

• Assume 40% will get a quote = 2368 leads• Assume 25% will buy = 592 sales• Assume £50 profit from each sale = £29,600

ROI Calculation – Year One

• Estimated Income– Months 1-6 £0– Months 7-9 £16,650– Months 10 & 11 £22,200– Month 12 £29,600– Total £68,450– Less SEO fees (£36,000)– Total £32,450

Assumptions: An SEO agency would charge £3000 per month to optimise for the term & it would take around 6 months to hit the first page; and a further 6 to hit number 1.

SEO ROI Cheat Sheet

• Check monthly search volume for the term(s) targeted

• Search Volume x Click Share = Visitors – (No. 1 = 30-40%, but lower positions will garner a lower click share)

• Visitors x Conversion Rate x Conversion Value = Income

• Income – SEO Spend = Profit

Remember rankings will take time to improve, it may be best to forecast over 12 months.

An Analogy…

“PPC is like renting, SEO is like taking the plunge and buying a property…”

… and similarly there are pros and cons to both approaches!

SEO Will Not Always Stack Up…

Keyword Monthly Search VolumeRestaurants 1,000,000Italian Restaurants 40,500Italian Restaurants in London 1,000Richmond Restaurants 1,300Italian Restaurants Richmond <10

For a restaurant like this one I’d suggest a keyword like Richmond Restaurants might be a reasonable target, as it offers a balance of volume versus the potential to deliver bookings.

So What Do the SERPs Look Like?

Ouch!

• It’s crowded no?• You’ll be competing against the local box,

review/directory sites, etc• It may be worth looking to optimise your local listing

so that you’re included in the local box

What is No. 1 Likely to Bring You?

• Ordinarily you could reasonably expect to receive 30-40% of the clicks

• But given the nature of the SERPs and the somewhat generic nature of the search term you’re targeting (i.e. you don’t know if people are actually seeking an Italian restaurant) you could reasonably expect far less…

• In this instance I’d suggest another route to market, perhaps PPC…

Any Questions?

SEO v PPCSEO Pros PPC Cons

- Typically the natural results get 70-80% of the clicks on a given results page- There are potential brand benefits- You’re not charged on a per click basis

- Costs will increase over time- Typically PPC results only get 20-30% of the clicks on a given results page

SEO Cons PPC Pros

- It’s a slow-burner- The process is on-going- There’s a limit to the number of terms you can target- Location targeting is tricky- The process may necessitate significant site changes

- Quick & easy to set up- Flexible- Can easily target by location- No need to make changes to your site- Easy to run tests- No limit to the number of terms you can target

SEO v PPC

• Which approach is right for my business?• Depends on a number of factors:

– Whether you are location dependent• PPC is easy to location target• With SEO you’ll need location targeted keywords (lower volume)

– How competitive your search terms are• Some terms may be too competitive to rank for

– Your budget• How quickly do you need to generate a return?

• A combination of the two may work best for you!

Don’t Forget Tracking!

• Whether you elect to go with PPC, SEO or a combination; make sure you are tracking whatever you’re doing:– Web analytics solutions / conversion tracking– Use separate phone numbers– Have procedures in place internally: ‘Can I ask where you heard about

us?’

• Monitor your activity – whether you’ve based your ROI on historic data or assumptions – you may have reforecast and amend your strategy accordingly.

Any Questions?

Social Media… Beyond the Buzz

“The purpose of a business is to create and

keep a customer”Peter Drucker

“The purpose of a business is to create and

keep a customer who creates customers”

Shiv Singh

Social Media

Social Media is about• Conversation and interaction between individuals• Share & share alike

Social Media is not• Broadcast advertising

A Facebook Page is not a Social Media Strategy…

And neither is a Twitter Profile ;)

Strategy

• Take a step back & think about what it is you want to achieve:– A better understanding of who your customers are?– A chance to monitor the conversation?– A new way for people to contact you?– To find people to review / trial your product or service?– A way to communicate with existing customers?– A way to find new customers?– To drive traffic to your website / company blog?

• Create a strategy to fulfil those objectives

Go Where Your Customers Are

• Blogs• Forums / niche communities / Q & A sites• Review sites• Social networks – Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn /

niche networks appropriate to your field

Be Appropriate

• If you’re a chiropodist you may not have all that many ‘fans’ on Facebook

Understand the Community

• There’s etiquette online too• Observe the community first• Offer value to encourage others to promote for you

– Money off– Exclusive offers / events– Competitions

• Make sure you’re giving back to the community• Interact, engage & be human

Why Should People Promote You?

• Is your product/service/messaging– Interesting?– Unusual?– Useful?– Funny?– Valuable?– Desirable?

• If not, you might need to get a little creative if you want your message to spread

Commit to It!

• Social media is not ‘free’• It will take up time and resource• Make sure you’ve agreed how long you’re going to

spend in each day / week• Don’t forget you’ll need to monitor & moderate on

some social networks • Review your progress/performance regularly and

amend your strategy if necessary

Who Rocks at Social?

Any Questions?

Integrating Online into the Mix

How Does it All Fit Together?

• SEO• PPC• Social• Press/Radio/TV• Direct Mail• Email

An integrated campaign will perform exponentially better than a single channel campaign.

Play to Each Channel’s Strengths

• Press/Radio/TV/Exhibitions etc are all great for raising brand awareness, plus they will generate responses in their own right

• Likewise, direct mail campaigns may generate web traffic

• However, if you do great work offline, but are invisible online you’re missing a trick…

Influences

• Offline activity will influence online behaviour –one of our clients saw significant increases in branded search during a local radio campaign

• Brand recognition will also influence the number of people clicking on your paid and natural search listings

Sky – Case Study

Brand searches and website visits are at their highest with integrated media campaigns. When Sky’s media campaign included both online and offline advertising (in September-November of2005) searches for the Sky brand increased by +20% and searches for the Sky URL more thandoubled.

- Source IAB.

Integrating Online into the Mix

• Any collateral you produce should also promote your online properties:– Website – Social profiles– Blog

• Leverage offline activity online:– Sponsorship– Press releases– Speaking engagements– Charitable work

Get your Ducks in a Row…

• Integrated campaigns can be tricky to manage internally

• If you are running a variety of offers via various channels then make sure all members of staff are kept up to date & know how to process them

• Also have agreed processes in place if things should go wrong – e.g. if someone received an offer via email, but has forgotten to print the voucher how do you deal with it?

Any Questions?

Hannah Smithhannah@gravytrain.co.uk

http://www.gravytrain.co.uk/