The Let’s Talk Business seminars kicked off on Tuesday 15 June with a group of SME owners eager to absorb the panel’s best advice on digital marketing strategies.
With the speakers exploring marketing topics including social media, mobile and search marketing-the audience were able to take away concepts they could implement for their own businesses.
The panel on the night included:
Rob Hudson-National Digital Director, George Patterson Y&R
Sally Davies-Digital Capability Manager-Mobile, Sensis
Stuart McKeown-Product Director Search Marketing, Experian Hitwise
For those who were unable to make the first of the Let’s Talk Business seminars below are some of the key lessons business owners learnt on the night.
Social Marketing
Many big companies make the mistake of wanting to broadcast to their customers rather than have a conversation. Small businesses can learn early on that conversation starts by being a good listener and finding out what people are saying about you. Rob Hudson’s top five tips for social marketing include:
Top Tips
1) Don’t sell-nothing is less appealing in social media than someone trying to force a sale on you.
2) Ask questions- this will initiate conversation and help you find out what customers want.
3) Social media is happening all day, every day. Make sure you have the time, money and staff to use social media properly before jumping in. It may be worth outsourcing.
4) Honesty is the best policy. People will find out if you hide behind a mask or are not truthful.
5) Social media is about sparking an interest. Think about what will stimulate conversation and interest people. It doesn’t hurt to create a little bit of friction.
Mobile
Mobile marketing is relatively new and the first step for any SME is to figure out if mobile marketing is right for their business.
People don’t usually browse on a mobile, they use it to search for something they need at the time like a hairdresser, a restaurant, a plumber or even a shoe shop. Therefore a mobile website needs to be simple and to the point, providing the details they need.
Mobile needs to be part of an integrated marketing message, it does not work alone. It can link to your main website and be referred to by print as well.
Sally Davies explained that one of the key features of mobile marketing is the fact that we always have our mobile phones on us. A mobile can show the user’s location and this means a marketing message can target the audience based on their location, making the message much more relevant.
A business needs to think about what their customer needs and how they can help them.
Mobile can really bring print ads alive, use a call to action and provide incentives for people to engage with. As mobile advertising provides such a relevant message, the conversion rate is generally very high.
What to consider before using mobile marketing:
• Is your business right for mobile?
• Who are your customers?
• Choose your call to action
• Choose your level of investment
• Integrate with the rest of your business
• Measure success
Search Marketing
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be confusing at first but is essential for building awareness of your brand and gaining exposure on search engines so potential customers can actually find your business when they are looking for the product or services you offer.
We’ve taken some of the best advice offered by Stuart McKeown and ‘translated’ it further for those who have very limited understanding of this important aspect of marketing.
• Include words in your content and title tags that relate to what people are looking for: eg Hairdresser, Randwick
• Backlinks (when someone else’s webpage has a link to your page) search engines use backlink information to decide that your website has authority.
• New websites that lack authority take longer to rank than older websites
• Search engines like good URL structures-avoid long, meaningless URLs
• If you want to change a URL but your page currently ranks well use the 301 redirect. This method keeps the search engine rankings of your old page but redirects people to your new site or page. Learn how to use the 301redirect method
• Search engines look at the ‘anchor text’ of a link to help understand what the website is about. Anchor text is the words used in a hyperlink to explain what the page is about (example 301 redirect above is anchor text) so avoid using ‘click here’ or ‘more’ as a hyperlink as it doesn’t tell the search engines what the page will be about.
• SEO doesn’t provide results immediately it can take a few years for a good ROI (return on investment
• SEO increases brand awareness with searches and allows you to target the right customers with the right keywords.
The City of Sydney Let’s Talk Business series has three more seminars coming up. It’s $50 a ticket and you can find out more information here http://www.letstalkbusiness.nsw.gov.au/
BUILD A BUSINESS ADVISORY TEAM - 6TH JULY 2010: 6-8.30pm
Customs House, 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay, Sydney
How do you choose and manage your ideal accounting, mentoring and legal team? They could make or break your business. You need objective advice to achieve your goals and trusted advisors to make your business profitable.
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS REALLY WORTH? - 3RD AUGUST 2010: 6-8.30pm
Customs House, 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay, Sydney
What sets apart a high-value business, and how to set your business up to maximise profits and value. Learn what you need to do to maximise what your business is worth.
MEASURE YOUR MARKETING 31ST AUGUST 2010: 6-8.30pm
Customs House, 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay, Sydney
When you measure your marketing, you can fine tune your efforts to ensure you get the best return on your investments of time and money. Discover the best methods to measure your online and offline marketing spend.
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