MARCH 2016 ISSUE FOUR
HOW TO PUT A STAY ON THE UNSUBSCRIBE BUTTON Online advertising under threat. Good news or bad? Online conversion tips: Lessons from the Superbowl Avoid content shock in your Google Ad campaign WWW.MARKETINGONLINE.CO.NZ
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T I ED IAL OR
UK Internet Advertising Bureau chief Randall Rothenberg launched an emotive attack on the ad-blocking tech sector recently, calling them profiteers and a threat to freedom. Nobody likes intrusive advertising. I grit my teeth and pull my hair out every time a video ad starts playing without my permission, blaring out into my office space. I kill it with venom – but that doesn’t mean advertising is wrong. On the contrary, advertising helps pay for good quality content, of which there is too little at the moment. The Internet is cluttered with junk (list articles being my pet hate), and if brands want to be serious content marketers (publishers in other words), they have to get their act together. There are too many agencies springing up, including here in New Zealand, pretending to be content agencies when what they really run are thinly disguised advertorial and advertising campaigns. If they don’t have an experienced journalist on the staff, then its copywriters and copywriters — bless their souls – know only one thing, advertising. However, some brand can be a bit slow to learn about the balance between commercial
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messaging and providing content that is of good quality and offers value. The simple reality is that good content takes talent (not of the advertising copywriter variety), time, effort and balls. And those… virtues, shall we call them? Those virtues cost money that can only be paid for by advertising. So yes, ad-blockers are a threat. But so is intrusive advertising that doesn’t ask permission. Stop forcing ads down everybody’s throat, and maybe we can find a happy medium, a balance, a healthy mix. I enjoy reading a good story, or watching an interesting video, and don’t mind adverts being part of the landscape; ads I can choose to engage with, depending on my needs, or not. Give the public the right to choose. Any other way and you’ll quickly find yourself on the losing end.
Colin
8. WEBSITES How to compare your website with a competitor’s site 10. CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION Marketing tips from the 2016 Super Bowl: What your brand needs to know 14. SOCIAL MEDIA How to avoid content shock with your google advertising 14. GOOGLE ADVERTISING Six steps to a good content marketing story 16. BRIEFS News snippets from around the world advertising
ABOUT / Short and sharp, Marketing Online is a free eMagazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles, and industry news and information to forward-thinking marketing people. EDITOR / Colin Kennedy ART DIRECTOR / Jodi Olsson
CONTENTS
4. CONTENT MARKETING How to put a stay on the unsubscribe button
CONTENT ENQUIRIES / Phone Colin on 027 2456060 or email colin@espiremedia.com ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES / Phone Jennifer on 03 443 6316 or email jenniferl@espiremedia.com WEBSITE / www.marketingonline.co.nz
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CONTENTMARKETING
HOW TO PUT A STAY ON THE UNSUBSCRIBE BUTTON BY Colin Kennedy
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f you cleaned out your inbox at the start of the year by hitting the ‘unsubscribe’ button on almost every email that came in, you aren’t alone. As a consumer of content you probably feel relieved, as a marketer, you should be worried. Nobody’s surprised that Ad blockers are on the rise – some would say it’s just ‘marketers’ getting their just desserts for trying to force commercial messages down our throats. Even more ominous is that that companies like UK telecommunications and Internet services provider Three is implementing network-wide ad-blocking into its networks in the UK and Italy.
This doesn’t mean to say that there isn’t any information in the content that’s being delivered, just that it’s irrelevant or not helpful. Much of that is down to lazy content creation
It may seem that the dominance of interruptive advertising is coming to an end, but not in the habit of learning from past mistakes. Some marketers are repackaging advertising messages, with a thin veneer of ‘adding value’, and calling it content marketing. This kind of ‘corruption of content marketing’ is one reason ‘permission’ based tactics are under threat and why people are hitting the unsubscribe button.
and one culprit in particular – list articles.
A recent survey by performance marketing company Fluent found that 34.8% of people unsubscribe because they receive emails too often while 20.8% said they unsubscribe because the content is irrelevant or not useful.
Oh, and I’ve never come away from one
Content creators think people like them because they can skim through them. Where’s the engagement in that? They take very little thought and can, and usually are, compiled after a quick flick through Google. Most list articles require no research, no credible opinion, not much thought, the points are old, subjective and irrelevant. feeling like I’ve learned something new. That, in a nutshell, is how list articles are screwing up the content marketing space. No wonder we’re reaching for the ‘delete’ and ‘unsubscribe’ buttons.
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One way to create relevant content is to apply the PESTLE model:
That, of course, doesn’t apply to all lists, and some might have something worth saying. But surely anything of value worth creating deserves a bit of time and attention than simply listing it? If you want the audience to invest some of their time and attention in your piece, you owe it them to put some effort into the content. The Director of Strategy and Business Development Asia Pacific at Mashable, Gwendolyn Regina, told Ad: tech New Zealand in November that the overwhelming competition for attention has made it into currency. “Where you choose to spend your time is precious,” she said, not withstanding the fact that Mashable is guilty of a few list articles. Regina said that 80 per cent of millennials sleep next to their phones (I’d venture that so do most Gen Xs and Baby Boomers), and one of the tactics that have led to Mashable’s success is to deliver news to people on the platforms where they live. Bearing in mind that people move across multiple devices at different times in different spaces. But before we get hung up on the mechanisms of delivery, or on what platforms we will find them – such as ‘everything is mobile’ – we have to make sure that our messages are relevant.
• POLITICAL: What is happening on the political front that may impact your audience? And how can they deal with it? What should they expect? • ECONOMIC: Consider the economic environment. Are interest rates on the rise? What does this mean for your audience? What should they do? • SOCIAL: Consider social trends, like political correctness. Is this an opportunity to be opinionated, take stand or champion a cause that your audience can align with? • TECHNOLOGY: What technology developments and trends will offer opportunities or threats to your market? • LEGAL: Regulatory changes always make for good content, including examples about how those regulation changes impacted other people or what they did to cope. • ENVIRONMENTAL: Sustainability, recycling, organic, traceability, global warming… any one of these developments will have an impact with your audience and your brand. Talk to them about it. Relevant content takes time, but it drives engagement and stays the ‘unsubscribe’ button. Put some thought into it; use your expertise or do what journalists do and interview some experts. Influencers are always happy to share their opinion, and leave the selling to when you have your audience’s interest, liking, and trust. ▼
Marketing Online Editor Colin Kennedy is a journalist, content marketing strategist and a professional speaker. With more than 20 years experience in journalism, public relations and marketing, his previous roles include newspaper and magazine editor, CEO of New Zealand Agritech Inc. and marketing director for BNI New Zealand. His guise to creating compelling content for a New Zealand audience can be found here.
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GOT A PRODUCT, SERVICE OR BUSINESS WORTH TALKING ABOUT? Want to grow brand awareness in a more effective and useful way? TALK TO ESPIRE MEDIA ABOUT OUR CONTENT MARKETING SERVICES We offer a range of ways to attract and retain customers, by creating and curating relevant and valuable content to engage and add value to your audience. BENEFITS: • Expand your digital footprint • Grow brand awareness • Increase traffic to your website • Thought leadership • Media exposure • Attract new customers • And... grow SALES!
Get in touch with Jennifer now to discuss our options. +64 3 443 6316 (NZT) | jenniferl@espiremedia.com | www.espiremedia.com
Check out our blog for content marketing advice, tips and ideas, plus a free copy of our content marketing guide The Content Creation Cookbook!
WEBSITES
HOW TO COMPARE YOUR WEBSITE WITH A COMPETITORS’ SITE BY Rebecca Caroe
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was sitting with a client recently when he brought up a competitor’s website and asked me how much traffic his rival was receiving in comparison to his site, and doesn’t everybody like to compare?
THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO COMPARE WEBSITES: You can find several free tools that you can use to compare your public website statistics with other websites. Remember, tools like Google Analytics only work if you are authorised to see them, so they’re no good for competitors.
Doing a comparison of your website with your competitors is a useful exercise. It’s worth tracking every few months in your regular marketing analytics
• ALEXA Alexa is the top non-Google site for appraising the popularity of websites on a worldwide scale. I use the Chrome Alexa extension to get a screen grab for our website showing incoming links, global ranking, and local country ranking. Creative Agency Secrets is the 405, 597th most popular site on the planet. • SIMILARWEB Similar Web is a cute comparison for two sites that shows more information than Alexa. Offering different data from Alexa, SimilarWeb adds in some nice additional features. These include traffic volumes (in thousands), bounce rate, time on site, page views, countries, traffic sources (direct, referrals, social, email, display), audience interests and similar sites. You can also add in a competitor site URL and get a direct comparison.
• SEMRUSH The digital marketers best friend for detailed data comparison, SEM Rush, is the big daddy of the three. It dives deeper than the others into keywords, comparing paid and organic traffic, main competitors and branded search vs. nonbranded – which is helpful for marketing. Plus, you can choose from 26 country search engines to use (Google.com or your local google.com.au for example).
Doing a comparison of your website with your competitors is a useful exercise. It’s worth tracking every few months in your regular marketing analytics. Comparisons are a valuable part of getting your website working hard for your business.▼
Rebecca Caroe is the CEO of Creative Agency Secrets, experts in getting websites working hard for your business.
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MARKETING TIPS FROM THE 2016 SUPER BOWL: WHAT YOUR BRAND NEEDS TO KNOW BY Cornelius Boertjens
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uring the Super Bowl this year, viewers demonstrated a trend of which marketers, digital and otherwise, must be aware. The trend is toward a phenomenon called second screen viewing, which means that after a consumer sees a brand on TV that looks attractive to them, they take to the internet. So, what does this mean for your brand?
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SMALL SCREEN SEARCHES DURING THE GAME 82% of online searches during the Super Bowl were from mobile devices. Tablets and computers were far less commonly used. This means, of course, that you simply must focus your marketing efforts on mobile visitors. How can you keep the consumer engaged and interested? That’s the big question. The reality is that almost no one is getting onto their laptop or computer to search for you while they watch TV. If they are sitting on the couch with a beer and chips, they have their phone with them. They will be searching you on their mobile device, you can almost count on it, so your approach needs to cater to this audience.
When a game is just getting started or is a complete massacre, people search more. When a game is a bit more exciting, they search less.
The reality is that almost no one is getting onto their laptop or computer to search for you while they watch TV. If they are sitting on the couch with a beer and chips, they have their phone with them. SEARCHES: WHO, WHAT AND WHEN?
So when exactly do searches happen? Users searched when the game is boring. A great example of this is in 2014, as the Broncos got blown out by the Seahawks, searches increased during the second half. However, this year, the game was so exciting that search rates went down as the game went on. So, when a game is just getting started or is a complete massacre, people search more. When a game is a bit more exciting, they search less. This is usually the case in the second half. In short, when people are engaged with the programming that they are watching, they may be less likely to stop and search for a product on their phone. This is another important factor to consider when developing your multi-screen strategy. Brands will be most effective if they reach a wide audience, in parts of programming which aren’t at their climax.
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MULTI-SCREEN STRATEGY IS A MUST With these findings, it is clear that a multiscreen strategy is a must. What is a multiscreen strategy? It is a marketing strategy that uses all of the places (screens) that a person will visit to find out more about a brand or product, from the TV to the computer, to the smartphone.
NOT ALL SCREENS ARE CREATED EQUALLY
It is no longer just a great idea to strategise for the Internet when advertising on TV. You simply must consider what your consumers will search once they see your ad. Almost no one sees a commercial that interests them without searching for it on their phone (or computer, tablet, etc.… BUT mostly mobile devices, remember!) When a consumer or viewer searches for relevant information for your brand, what will they see? Will they be able to find a place to buy without too much trouble? Is your site running fast and your product in stock? In this day and age, things move quickly. You have to be ready to sell as soon as the commercial hits the screen.
An important consideration is how the content you create will be presented to your user. What is effective on a computer screen, is far different than own a mobile screen. Even large tablets are limited to what they can do. So, don’t overwhelm folks. Give them OPTIMISE FOR MOBILE USERS a mobile site that loads quickly, is userThe number of people utilising their mobile friendly, and succinct. These are the devices for, well, just about everything, is essential pieces to the puzzle for you if skyrocketing. Mobile technology is no longer you want to convert via mobile. Graphics, illustrations and other ‘busy’ design elements just ‘the wave of the future’; It’s our present, as well. This is why a lot of your CRO endeavours may not be suitable for mobile. They may should be centred on the mobile user. Making make the user confused, or drive them away sure that your site is responsive, looks great from your site. And, we don’t want that. on mobile, and is easy to use are all major priorities if you want to see sales go up. You have to remember that your consumers are looking for you everywhere. It is up to you to guarantee that they will find what they need to increase your conversions. Whatever it is your brand is offering, make it easy to see, find and access on a tiny smartphone. Period. ▼
Cornelius Boertjens is a highly skilled Digital Marketing Strategist with over 14 years of experience in this field. He is the MD at Catchi, Australasia’s leading specialist in Website Conversion Optimisation, with offices in Auckland and Sydney. Cornelius is one of the Course Directors of the MA’s Certificate of Digital Marketing, and guest lecturer at Auckland University School of Business on Digital Marketing.
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HOW TO AVOID CONTENT SHOCK WITH YOUR GOOGLE ADVERTISING BY Chris Price
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e have all experienced our own Google Advertising ‘Content Shock’. The scenario usually unfolds like this.
You are on the hunt for a person to help design a new brand for your business. You search Google using the phrase ‘brand design Auckland’. Immediately you start scanning down the results, starting from the organic results. The top two results catch your eye, and you open a new tab in your browser on each.
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HERE ARE THREE STRATEGIES THAT I BELIEVE CAN HELP.
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Research the real intent behind the search keyword you are bidding on For example, we work in the home services market. Think, cleaning, renovating, plumbing and electricians. A while back we had a company come to us wanting to launch a new service in Auckland as a trial before taking it to Australia.
Unfortunately, neither are right. Either they are too big or too small, so you start clicking away in the paid advertising space. First click done and you are taken to a page on graphic design – content shock – this has nothing to do with the problem you need to solve, so you bounce back to the search results page and click on another ad.
They had built a website based on what they thought the market wanted to see. We were told to send all advertising to the home page. You guessed it – it failed miserably.
This time, the ads lands you on a page that shows you what you expected to see. It looks OK, not amazing, just OK, think ‘mild content shock’. So you add it to the list of possible contenders. But keen for more choice you bounce back again to the search results and click on your last ad.
So we kicked off some market research to uncover the motivations and mindsets we were advertising to. A month later we had the data. It revealed the high amount of stress these buyers were facing and the core reasons they began their search journey in the first place.
Now we are talking! The page you see is clearly the winner. They just ‘get it’. Through good use of images and text, they answer nearly all the questions swirling around in your head. This is ‘the one’. So they get the phone call, and the rest remains a short fleeting memory for you and about $6 each in wasted click costs for them. Wouldn’t it be good if all your clicks translated into calls like the last example? You are not alone. Ensuring every costly click delivered its own phone call is the goal of all Google advertisers. So how do you avoid the ‘content Shock’ mistakes of the first two?
This was a new space for us, so we were unsure of the intent of the prospect, but the ‘content shock’ that our statistics revealed showed that the content way off the mark.
Based on this information, we redesigned the imagery of the landing page and rewrote the top 20% of the content. The ad copy was then tuned to match this new content, and the campaign was released using the exact same search keyword selection that had failed before. All this work was well rewarded with conversion rates that were above industry standards as opposed to those well below they had experienced before. The success was so good we rolled out the changes outside of Auckland, and the core messages were used successfully during their Australian expansion. Research tells you what to say – but up next, we need to find the best way to say it.
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Content that confuses or fails to capture attention in print form will struggle online.
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Tune your content to be fast to consume and conversational in style Once your research is complete and you have created your first draft content you can put it through two very simple ‘human’ tests before going live. The first involves paper and a willing helper. Go ahead and print out the landing page (print multiple pages if it is a long one) and then take it and a colleague into a meeting room. Place the printing facedown on the table and ask the colleague to sit opposite you, approximately a metre away. Then brief them on ‘who’ they are supposed to be and the problem they are searching to solve. Then pick up the first page and show it to them at eye level for just five seconds.
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Place it face down on the table and then have them tell you exactly what they saw and, if on reading it, they were interested in learning more. Content that confuses or fails to capture attention in print form will struggle online. If your page passes the first test, then you can test the persuasive nature of the copy. Simply read it out loud to your colleague and note the reaction you get. Slowly drooping eyelids and contained yawns are not a good sign. Copy has been described by many as ‘selling in print’. So if you are struggling to come up the right words, just think back to what you said in the last conversation you had with a prospect to guide you. Once all the changes have been made then you can place it into live and head to the final stage.
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Harness the super analytical benefits of the web to tune your landing pages to success Hop into your Google Analytics account and you will be met with a mass of metrics and dimensions to keep even the geekiest of analytics geeks busy for weeks. Here are three to focus on that reveal the effectiveness of your work.
• BOUNCE RATE – how many people viewed your landing page and didn’t go any further? You want this number to be as low as possible, but zero is an unrealistic expectation. For your paid advertising, I always shoot for a number that is no more than 15% above your site average bounce rate. So for a 30% site average, your top level would be 45%, which even so is hovering very close to one in two not looking any further.
How many people viewed your landing page and didn’t go any further? You want this number to be as low as possible, but zero is an unrealistic expectation.
• PAGE VALUE - a bit of an advanced metric, it does require you to set up values behind your goals. BUT it lets You place an exact value of worth for the page – think numbers like $5.89. So you change the top copy, and the page value goes to $8.45 from $2.67, and you know that it is time to celebrate. • CONTENT INTERACTION – not exactly a metric you will find in Google Analytics, but more of an approach to track everything you can. So if your page includes a video, you need to know if it is played and if so for how long. And if the good meaty part of the sales message is a third of the way down the page, then knowing that everyone scrolled this far would be of help.
So there you have it. Three strategies to apply to ensure your Google advertising doesn’t instil ‘content shock’ on those who visit your site this way.▼
WWW.ARKADVANCE.COM
Chris Price owns Ark Advance, a web optimisation business that specialises in online marketing, and offers customised support services for a wide range of service based companies who want to grow their effectiveness online. Ark Advance also offer a free monthly email newsletter focused on helping business owners grow their services online – sign up for free at www.arkadvance.com
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BRIEFS
NEWS SNIPPETS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ADVERTISING
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DON’T MISS THIS YEAR’S CONTENT MARKETING SUMMIT Topics include ‘Top 5 content marketing trends for 2016’, ‘Content and Customers - from selling products to keeping brand promises’ and the “Content Marketers Challenge – how well do you sell versus spell?” 1 - 2 Mar 2016
Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland
ADVERTISING CHIEF SAYS AD BLOCKERS ARE AT WAR WITH FREEDOM Randall Rothenberg, the chief executive of the UK’s Internet Advertising Bureau, told the 2016 IAB Annual Leadership Meeting that the true face of Ad blocking is the rich and self-righteous, “who want to tell everyone else what they can and cannot read and watch and hear – self-proclaimed libertarians whose liberty involves denying freedom to everyone else. “Surveys repeatedly show that upwards of 75% of consumers prefer adsupported Internet sites where the content is free over ad-free sites where they would pay fees for content. Fewer
EUROPEAN MOBILE GIANT POISED TO BLOCK ONLINE ADVERTISING Three has signalled that it will block online advertising on its network in the United Kingdom and Italy. The technology will block online advertising on mobile web pages and within publishers’ mobile apps.
than 10% of consumers want to pay for content. By driving digital publishers, including some of the most prestigious news organisations in the world, to impose fees on consumers to continue to support their business and contentdevelopment objectives, the ad-block profiteers are subverting the will of consumers,” he said. ▼
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