The Rocket Newsletter

June 2008

Reading about the economy in the news is becoming somewhat depressing to say the least. It is hitting certain industry sectors very hard with some companies suffering dramatic drops in their share value. Naturally this forces them to analyse every business cost - especially the return on their marketing spend. Every penny counts and it's at times like these when the most innovative and creative marketing can really help a business set itself apart from the competition. We don't have any economists aboard the Rocket, but we do have specialists who know what you can use to achieve success online in a very cost effective manner - like social media for example.

Don't forget, we're just a few clicks away if you need anything rocket@propellernet.co.uk.

Using social media to acquire customers more cost effectively

In last month's newsletter article we talked about Google's Universal Search and how it now presents different content types in search results whether it be maps, images & videos, blogs or just standard web content.. There are now a number of search engine "aggregators" appearing which consolidate and present their results across the various types of web content. Take a look at www.addictomatic.com - it will give you an idea of what we mean. Anyway, with search engines now looking for and presenting back results across all mediums, it makes sense to ensure your organisation creates and optimises the various types of content to give you visibility and relevance in this way...doesn't it? "Yes! Of course it does!!" We hear you cry.

This is where you can be really, really clever...no, even cleverer than that! We're going to assume (and we know all too well that this can make something out of "u" and "me") that your website is already well optimised for content and copy. This means it will be meeting the expectations of your target audience when they are on your site.

Keeping track of your target audience

Now, Internet behaviour is changing and people are being very choosey about where they spend their time online. It is more important than ever to ensure that you place relevant and meaningful content in all the areas that they visit on the web. This is where social media plays its part. Work out where your target audience are in social media terms. It is important to get this right otherwise time and effort can be wasted. You will need to monitor this as social media is an ever changing landscape. Monitor the "pulse" of your target audience, if it stops - blogs aren't getting commented on, posts are old, forums are empty - then your audience has moved. Keep abreast of the areas of high interest.

Having selected the right social mediums for your audience an online initiative may look something like this:-

Create a meaningful and well optimised piece of PR that will provide value to your customers on your website.
Submit the same piece of PR through the many news wires which are available for your specific industry. Many of these are free. Some other, more credible PR submission sites may have a cost, but it is generally less than £100.
Seek out the industry blogs where your PR will be relevant and helpful - remember to check the blogs authority and its reach. Contribute to the blogs and include links back to your PR on your website.
Create a business profile in the right social networks for your organisation. This may be Linked In, it may be MySpace or facebook or an industry specific one.
Ensure the profile is optimised, relevant and points to your PR content.
Create a twitter account for you organisation and seek out key organisations and people you'd like to follow. Update your twitter feed (a "tweet") to provide the title and link to your PR piece.
Ensure you social network entries and website show your twitter account so people can follow you.
Create a friendfeed account and include all your social activity in one area

The results can be dramatic and lot's more can be done on top of this.

Creating a path to your website

With the various social mediums pointing back to your website and pointing at each other, it creates an online map of how people can find you...easily. The benefit is that it creates much higher degrees of visibility on the Internet as a whole. This in turn means your various bits of content will also be picked up by the search engines. Do it well and you can start to dominate the real estate of an entire Google page. It will of course also enhance your sites natural search engine rankings as well.

Finally, and probably the main reason for writing this article is that by following this style of content creation you will achieve higher visitor numbers and associated "conversions" (whatever a conversion means to your business) at a very low cost. All that is need is the expertise, time and resource.

As always, if you want to find out more please give us a shout rocket@propellernet.co.uk.

Best regards,

Client Corner - Making video work for your business

Video is the hot topic at the moment. The arrival of Universal search and the establishment of Google as a destination itself have turned the focus of online marketing on to getting video into Google search results. The two main factors facing marketing teams though is finding people in the organisation who are comfortable in front of the camera and, working out how to actually get the video into the search results. We can't really help with the first but here is our guide achieving the second.

Using keywords in your videos

Google (and the other search engines) have made much effort to ensure video content is 'loved' by the search spiders and the calculations that determine the relevance of your content (algorithms). The responsibility then, as with pretty much everything internet-related, is for you to ensure your videos are searchable. Nancy Cruickshank, global CEO of Videojug claims that 60% of their time is spent on ensuring videos are universally searchable. It will come as no surprise that the tips are simple...

Ensure you have the right keywords in the video
Make a transcript of the video available - which will of course include the keywords
Surround the video with relevant keywords in the description and supporting copy

Getting the content right

Content should of course still be your main focus. There is no point in having video simply for the sake of it or to blow your own trumpet. If the content isn't exciting/useful/humorous viewers will lose interest and your brand may well be damaged in the process. An ability to laugh at yourself always goes a long way - take a look at our series of online videos and you'll see that we really do practice what we preach. Our tips for making a video start with writing a plan. If you are going to take this seriously then it makes sense to consider...

What you want to achieve
Make sure it compliments other marketing activity
How you will continue beyond the first video

Utilising advertising technologies

During a recent seminar entitled 'making video work for you', much of the focus was on monetising video. This may not be a benefit you had considered or feel is relevant but it is worth knowing about as the tools can generate income or may even be utilised by you for self promotion. Video advertising technologies are becoming more sophisticated and there are now many options to choose from including...

Pre-roll - a short ad before the main video starts
In-stream - a short break during your video
Post-roll - a short ad when the video ends
Contextual advertising - using voice recognition to present a related ad (see Adhoc)

Other popular TV formats are now also appearing in online video such as product placement and embedded branding. All have their own benefits and downsides but are worth considering when you are creating the script and production plan for your video.

Standing out from the competition

If you think video is not relevant to you then take a moment to reconsider. The popularity of online video continues to grow with the average UK user now watching around 5.5 hours per month. It can be a quick way to get your message across and may really help you stand out from the competition. In fact we have to question whether the TV will even become redundant. The issue of quality is one barrier to this, but it is improving rapidly. As we become increasingly glued to our monitor, the time may come when we relinquish the remote and monopolise the mouse.

Staff Profile

Name: Linda McDougall
Role: Client Services Director

Why Propellernet?
I joined the team about a month ago after 9 months traveling around Central and South America. I knew that I would need a challenging and fun work environment after such an exciting time away and I haven't been disappointed! I have been working in the online industry for about 9 years and it's really refreshing to find a company that has such a customer focused approach to Search.

Interesting Fact:
Linda ran for England when she was at school.

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