The Rocket Newsletter

November 2008

Last month we discussed the various "states" your target audience could be in from awareness of your brand, product or service all the way through to advocacy. We hope it all made sense and that you found it of value. This month we're drilling into the "Awareness" state and outlining how we think, creating awareness can and should be achieved.

Customer Journey - Awareness

Achieving Awareness within your Target Market

One thing is for sure...they're out there! And more active than they have ever been before, researching, communicating, learning, having fun and most importantly very precious about how and where they spend their time online. We're talking about your target audience...not Aliens. There are thousands of them, checking Facebook, using Google, watching telly, attending seminars, commuting, texting etc etc. Some may already know a little bit about your brand and your offering, some may not have even heard of you. They all have one thing in common - they would all benefit from the great stuff you can provide... they just don't know it yet!

Preparation

Firstly, understanding their motivation and behaviour is key; implementing an awareness strategy not knowing this information will result in a lot of time, effort and money being wasted...that's a guarantee. Secondly, there is no single magic "channel" that will make this work. Operating in this mindset can lead to ill informed decisions. If anyone comes to us and says "I need some Paid Search" we always ask them why they think need it; how they think it will help them accomplish their business objectives; and, if they have considered that there maybe some other more efficient and effective ways to achieve the desired results? Thirdly, measurement of awareness creation online can be misleading - search (Natural and Paid) will always win as they will show the largest proportion of traffic to the site. However, a lot of credit needs to be attributed to the other media which influenced the searcher in the first place. Example:-

You are notified that one of your friends in facebook has become a fan of "Fantasy Football"
You're not a fan, but you like football and see other friends as members
You feel left out and want to get involved but are distracted by a "poke"
The next day you pick up the paper and see more details about Fantasy Football, where the website address is listed
You arrive home and have forgotten the web address, so you go to Google enter "Fantasy Football" and find the relevant link and sign up
Analytics will show that it was Natural Search that was the entry point for the sign up. But would you say it was the influencing medium/media?

Success is a synchronised and integrated approach

The real key to success is a synchronised, integrated approach which incorporates your existing customers. These people already love your brand and are broadcasting positive things that will attract like-minded people. It makes sense to use them in your awareness strategy. This is what we would recommend :-

Select the right type of marketing channels which will reach your target audience. This includes all online and offline. Making sure your target market research is in sync with your own objectives will help you here. Don't just create a widget for the sake of it, as this may not be useful to your audience or even your brand.
Ensure the right blend of ingredients are used (a bit like making a cake) to provide full awareness using the offline (more "push" style) marketing, offering strong calls to action, for driving online activity and research.
It is essential that your online "footprint" is visible, relevant, up to date and dynamic, and offers an interactive platform. This includes your site content and as equally important, the content you provide to the various social media platforms.
Think about all media forms including imagery, video, podcasts, even slideshows. Ensure the content has a manuscript (where possible) and is optimised.
Make the most of your existing advocate customers and use their already positive comments in the areas where you are seeking to create awareness; blogs and online PR for example.
And just like good comedy, timing is everything. Ensure your online social media and search profile is up and running before going live with the other marketing media which will drive the online research behaviour. Big brands have failed badly in this area and wasted a lot of investment.
Measure as much as you can, but not so much that you can't ensure full and detailed analysis of results. It's not always easy to see the impact each marketing channel has, and wrong assumptions can be made.

We appreciate this all sounds like common sense in a bullet point list, yet in practice, due to a number of factors, this may not be an easy thing to achieve. Such factors include company structure; how budgets are constructed; internal expertise; comfort zone and the perceived risk of venturing into some unknowns. However, organisations who have been prepared to "have a go" and have allowed us to work with them to create and implement such awareness strategies have seen great results.

Creating awareness is just the start of the engagement process, the next phase is to gain interest.

If you would like us to introduce every stage of our engagement strategy and learn how it could benefit your business personally then contact us at rocket@propellernet.co.uk or call 01273 207225.

Best regards,

Client Corner -www.westendlondon.com

Propellernet has been working with the West End Marketing Alliance (WEMA) since September to make some noise about the West End of London and promote it as a cutting-edge destination. With concerns about consumer spending and new competition from the Westfield Shopping Complex, we're bringing some innovative, fresh-thinking to the table.

WEMA have just launched www.westendlondon.com which will be promoted amongst online and traditional media channels. Objectives:

• To increase footfall into the area through an integrated communications and promotional campaign to launch and continue marketing the site to key London, UK and international visitors

To increase the awareness of the breadth of the West End offer as the premier theatre, leisure and retail destination
To encourage 'lost' visitors back to the West End and increase visitor time and spend of 'loyal' visitors

• To drive database capture on 'new' targets and deliver an ongoing viral marketing campaign to WEMA database

As the website has just been launched, we need to drive awareness of the new website and the West End as a destination. Offers and optimum times to shop will feature prominently to attract visitors and a £5000 shopping spree prize is on offer in the run up to Christmas.

Having created Personas for London shoppers, we've looked for the best ways to drive awareness for the West End. An integrated strategy is key. With advertisements in the Metro going live next week, we're managing a Social Media, Online PR and Search campaign with synchronised messages.

Staff Profile

Name: Annelies Van de Velde
Role: Online PR Consultant

Why Propellernet?
Propellernet is an exciting company at the forefront of its industry and seems to be going from strength to strength where others are struggling. I was attracted by the friendly, stimulating and creative atmosphere. My female intuition was right! The people and company ethos are great, I feel at home already.

Interesting Fact:
By night Annelies stars in her own one-woman, all singing, all dancing Madonna tribute show, The Madonna Experience.

Newsletter Tools

Rocket News

Go Ape & Half Year Meeting
Held at Leeds Castle where there were 3 hours of "really exciting" presentations followed by an afternoon of 100ft high monkeying around in the trees.
Propellernet are the top agency in Brighton
Up against 20 organisations in an annual Brighton charity 5-a-side event, Propellernet came out runaway Champions.
Xtreme Terrain Duathlon
Adam competed in the full duathlon event at the Xtreme Terrain Festival. Blimey!
New Havard: Tallulah Boo
She arrived 09:08, 13th October 2008. Karl now has 4 daughters and shares this honour with people like the late Luciano Pavarotti and Austin Healey.
Dubai engine failure
It was a narrow escape for Jack and Linda when one of the engines failed on their flight to Dubai. An emergency retreat to Heathrow meant that they lived to tell the story.

You are:

Rocket Newsletter