New Media and You!

The search engine battle is beginning to hot up and businesses need to prepare for what is likely to be a seismic shift in the way that their customers search for them on line. According to the major Internet Guru's the big news is that Facebook are preparing to launch their internet search facility in competition with Google and, if successful, this is going to turn internet advertising upside down.

At present the most used search engine is Google. It accounts for nearly 70% of all on line searches, however it will face serious competition if Facebook is able to develop their internal search engine capability more widely. So far Facebook has only played on the fringes of social search. It has integrated Bing's powered search results into its search engine and co-operated with Bing by providing social data to influence the search results. (Bings owner is Microsoft, a Facebook investor).

Facebook has recently been awarded a patent on "curated search" which links search results to a users social links. If Bing and Facebook are able to get this working and, as experts predict, social search becomes the next big thing, then Google, and by definition any business that relies on Google for customers, is in for a bumpy ride.

Businesses need to plan for this change now. The Facebook search system is likely to rely on the "like" function to push a company's rating up the search engine rankings. (Google are shortly to launch a similar "plus one" button for their ranking engine). It is imperative therefore that businesses start to adopt and understand Facebook as a method for promoting their business.

The first thing of course is to get your business on Facebook – the like buttons are a Facebook feature and if your company doesn't have a Facebook page then Facebook search will not find you. Whilst it's fine to start off with a copy of your home page as a starting point for your Facebook site, you will need to consider how Facebook interacts with its customers and alter your content accordingly to fit the target audience. This should work and integrate with your Twitter, Blog and Internet sites, although be wary of duplicating content – each medium should carry unique material.

The next challenge is to get your customers to sign up to your Facebook page. Not only that you need them to "like" your content as this is what the search engines of the future will be looking for.

So how do you drive traffic to your Facebook site? Mailing Expert can help! Take for example a campaign for a Travel Company. The company is new to Facebook and recognising the importance of Social Searching wants to drive it's rankings on Facebook upwards and quickly. Just putting the site up doesn't immediately drive traffic to it, so what is needed is an integrated communication campaign bringing together current customers and future prospects.

The campaign is built around the new Facebook page which for the purposes of the marketing exercise is designed to carry a competition, the winner of which simply has to choose to "like" the site to enter.

Mailing Expert are able to take the existing customer data and run an email campaign to publicise the competition. In addition they can supply new email prospect data, cross checked against the client database so you aren't buying data you already own, tailored to fit your specific customer profile. The prospect list is also emailed with the competition details.

The campaign can be developed further by using Twitter and your company Blog to communicate the details to your social network. The icing on the cake is a direct mail campaign using personalised colour postcards and flyers with a QR code to take the customer directly to the Facebook competition page.

Nova Direct Mail helps a wide range of customers to come up with innovative communication solutions like this. For further information about how an integrated communication campaign can help you achieve your goals call Mailing Expert on 01825 983 033.


 

 

The Right Customer, The Right Offer, The Right Time

Direct mail works at its absolute best when it is accurately targeted and reflects the mood of the recipient. Unlike email marketing, direct mail has the benefit that it can be really personal and potential customers will take the time to read your letter if it reaches them at a timely moment. The trick is, as ever, to be putting up the right offer, to the recipient, at the right moment. So if we go back to absolute basics then the prime essential in planning any mailing campaign is to really know your target audience.

Selecting and buying data can be a minefield for the unwary. You need to purchase good quality data from a reputable source, which has been honed to fit the exact nature of your target audience. A quality list will not only reduce the number of returns from "Gone Aways", but if correctly skewed and targeted can catch the imagination of the potential customer to really increase your return on investment.

Investing in good quality data, which has been sourced to ensure that you are talking to people who are really likely to become customers, is a must – the more that you know about your target audience the more chance you have of getting the offer to those prospects who are ripe for a sale.

Once purchased even the best quality list will need attention. It is better to spend some time at this point in honing the data to make it as accurate as is possible before you embark on your mailing campaign. This could be through list cleansing, suppression or enhancing the Prospect list.

Once satisfied that your list is the best it can be, your mailing campaign can be further enhanced by using some of the cost effective new techniques that are available using digital print. These techniques can be combined with a good database to make your mailing even more personal – for example bespoke full colour leaflets, magazines or brochures that talk directly to your customers are a sure fire way of increasing response levels. These can be used in conjunction with PURLs and QR codes to make your message really personal.

Mailing Expert can help you source the ideal prospect list for your project and also help you hone the data so you're your mailing campaign is tailor made to appeal directly to your customers.

Get Direct!

They don't call Direct Mail (DM) "Direct" for nothing! DM is about the most personal and intimate methods of getting in touch with your customers. Unique in the advertising and communication marketing mix, it is one of the very few methods of getting in touch with your customers on a one to one basis in their homes or work place. And the great thing is that there is no competing marketing noise that's going to dilute your message.
With Direct Mail you are talking directly to your customer with no interruptions – and industry stats suggest that the average time that this method of communication buys you with your customers is 10 minutes or more. That's 24 times more face time with your target audience than an Email.
Direct mail can make a real impact on any marketing campaign – a letter feels more personal and because everyone loves to receive post you are already onto a winner when your customer opens your envelope.
A letter can be read at the customer's convenience at a time and place of their choosing. They can put it down and pick it up a few times and file it in a safe place for the moment that they are ready to buy.
Posting a letter gives you a wide range of materials with which to reflect your brand and your marketing message. Nova Direct Mail can cater for an almost endless range of options to make your mailing campaign go with a swing – from Mail that smells as sweet as your brand to innovations such as QR codes and more. Find out more – visit www.mailingexpert.co.uk today or call us on 01825 983 033