Advertising on Google

You might be overwhelmed by the online advertising landscape, as there are dozens of providers. How do you really get the best bang for your buck? How long does it take for a campaign to bring in positive results? Which provider will give you maximum ROI?
Using Google Adwords and AdSense is probably your best place to start.

GOOGLE ADWORDS TUTORIALS - UK & US DEMO:

CASE STUDY - HAPPY HOUND:

GOOGLE ADSENSE TUTORIAL:

Google Wave!

Oh one very important development I forgot to mention below is Google Wave. Check this sh*t out: http://wave.google.com/

The best 'quality' knowledge resources for online marketing

The internet is over cluttered and there are hundreds of sites and portals out there on the web with varying info on best practice re: online marketing techniques. However, after over a year analysing a few (through newsletters and webcasts and 'free' white paper access), I'd like to share the following, which I have found the most useful - if you are a aserious online marketer i'd sign up with them and get involved asap!

1. HupSpot - www.hubspot.com (USA)

2. B2B Marketing Magazine - www.b2bm.biz (UK)

3. Marketing Profs - www.marketingprofs.com (USA)

4. Linked In - www.linkedin.com (Select 'Groups' and type in your online marketing criteria in the 'find group' search field)

5. Any Google Product - www.google.com/products

6. E-Newsletters from various international marketing associations and their official, affiliated journals/magazine.

Eg. CIM UK (The Marketer - www.themarketer.co.uk) and;

American Marketing Association - www.marketingpower.com etc.

Search - goes without saying:

www.google.com

www.wolframalpha.com

www.cuil.com

If you really have to:

www.bing.com

www.yahoo.com

Please feel free to add to the lists above, as I'm certain there are more 'quality' sites.

Six simple things you can do today to increase the return on your email marketing

In tough economic times, you need to do more with less. Here are six simple, inexpensive things you can do today to increase the return on your email marketing efforts this month.

1. Increase your email list growth

Your email list is an asset; the most qualified sign-ups you get, the larger your list will be. Your company’s Website is a good place to start. Make sure you include a benefit-oriented call-to-action to sign-up for email on every page. No one 'needs' more email, but they do want information to help them do their jobs better, enjoy their hobbies more, save them money, etc. Make sure you include these benefits in your call-to-action.

Once they are interested, your registration page should encourage them to complete the process, not drive them away. In general, you can ask for five to seven fields of information without causing people to abandon the process. These typically include email address, first name, company name (for B-to-B), zip code (which is helpful for geographic segmentation) and one or two additional fields to allow you to provide relevant content based on the subscriber’s interests.

2. Make the most of your welcome message(s)

When someone signs up to receive email from you, they’re looking for a relationship. You’re in a honeymoon period with them, so make the most of it! Make sure your welcome message invites them further into the relationship with you – and furthers your business goals.

If your goal is direct response, provide an incentive for an immediate purchase. If it’s lead generation, use your welcome email to further flesh out the benefits of your product. If you have a long sales cycle a series of welcome messages, sent a few days or a week apart, which include benefits and customer testimonials, can be a cost-effective tool for moving prospects through it.

3. Optimize your preview pane view

A recent MarketingSherpa survey found that 64% of people use the preview pane to decide whether or not to read the full email. Make sure you are making good use of this 'prime real estate'. It should engage the reader and include your key messages, including your brand, a benefit-oriented headline, a personalised salutation and a reason for them to read more.

A recent client recognised a 220% lift in leads generated, with no decrease in lead quality, through inexpensive changes I recommended to the preview pane view. Another client got an equally impressive 75% increase in online orders thanks to optimising the preview pane section of the email.

4. Strategically resend email

Many organisations would be very happy with a 1.4% conversion rate on an email campaign. But by resending strategically, you can do even better. A resort property which got those results on the initial send did a strategic resend, just to the people that had clicked-through but not booked a reservation.

The open rate on the second send was more than double that of the initial send; the conversion rate for the second send was a very impressive 36.5%. The second send incorporated an incentive, which was in the first email but not featured prominently, into the headline. Otherwise, they were identical. The additional bookings more than paid for the cost of the second send and lifted the ROI significantly.

5. Incorporate marketing into transactional email messages

Transactional email messages, which are the result of a purchase or other action, have higher click-through and open rates than any other type of email message. As long as the primary purpose of the email remains transactional, CAN-SPAM allows you to you include a marketing message.

For a great example of this look no further than the receipts iTunes sends – they include a list of recommendations for music favored by others who made the same purchase. It’s a marketing message that many recipients see as a customer service.

6. Confirm your email deliverability

If your email isn’t getting delivered to the inbox, people won’t be able to act on it. Bounces don’t tell the whole story; many filters that block email don’t let the sender know.

There are a number of websites that let you check your deliverability for free, including SenderBase.org. The best time to check is shortly after a large send. If you find you have a problem, your email service provider should be able to help you resolve it. If you’re sending email from an in-house system, Pivotal Veracity and Return Path both offer help with deliverability.

More and more companies are turning to email as a cost-effective channel to generate direct sales and leads. By spending a little time and effort, you can get even more from your email marketing efforts.

Useful Links:

MarketingSherpa: www.marketingsherpa.com 

Senderbase.org: www.senderbase.org 

Pivotal Veracity: www.pivotalveracity.com 

Return Path: www.returnpath.com

Source: Jeanne S. Jennings

Consultant, Email Marketing Strategy

JeanneJennings.com, Inc.

ARTICLE: 10 Tips for Using Twitter and Email Marketing for B2B

Here's another useful top 10 tips list., which focuses on what all the Twitter fuss is about. Take note all you B2B tweeters out there!

1. Add a link to your company's Twitter account to all mass email communications.  

2. Link to a form landing page from your company Twitter account. 

3. Use Twitter content in your email newsletters. 

4. Post links from your email newsletter articles on Twitter.

5. Ensure that all email newsletter article authors have their Twitter account listed on the email. 

6. Provide instructions in your emails about how subscribers can follow conversations about your company on Twitter. 

7. Ask email subscribers for their Twitter ID when they sign up. 

8. On your email preference page, indicate to those who may want to unsubscribe that they can still follow you on Twitter. 

9. Add a link in your emails and/or on your website that allows email subscribers and web visitors to easily tweet about an article, event or promotion.

10. Conduct Twitter interviews and use this as content for your email marketing. 

ARTICLE: Top 10 for Online Marketing Success in 2009!

Time to stop procrastinating on your online-marketing efforts and kick off 2009 with these 10 fantastic guidelines, that will soon have you on your way to success, courtesy of Aaron Kahlow. 

10. Borrow and Share

9. User-Generated Content as a Strategy

8. Cost-Conscious Search

7. Email With Purpose

6. Analytics for Real

5. Plunge Head-First Into Social Networking

4. Stop Twittering, Start Working

3. Budget for Customers

2. Education Is Always the Key

1. No Fear

VIDEO: Seth Godin explains what Web 2.0 means for marketers

This is a great 6min summary from marketing expert Seth Godin, explaining how web 2.0 and social networks can help marketers build a new kind of relationship with their customers.

NEWS: Old media will never be as profitable again, warns WPP's Sorrell

LONDON - The profit margins within traditional media, including television and newspapers, will never be the same again, according to WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell.

Speaking to more than 250 media and advertising professionals at an IAA event yesterday (January 21), the leader of the group behind some £15bn in revenue last year, warned the media sector continues to be "disintermediated" by low-cost business models.

"The painful thing for old media is it will never be the same again," Sorrell said. "It will never be as profitable as it has been."