How You Can Use Social Listening to Measure Your Business’ KPIs
Many companies still haven’t quite worked out what social media can really do for them and their marketing strategies. We know everybody wants something measurable to show for their marketing spend – and that isn’t always easy to get. Social listening, as a specific application of social media monitoring, is one method that allows you to see what your online marketing is doing for your brand. In fact, it can go one step further by actually giving you definitive metrics on your specific key performance indicators (KPIs). When it comes to marketing, your main KPI is probably brand awareness. But, how can you possibly measure that? Through social listening, you can count the number of mentions your brand is receiving on social media; not only those that come from direct communication with you, but also in posts between other people and organisations. This goes even deeper, however. Not only can you count the number of mentions online, but you can also measure how deeply your brand is reaching into the social media space. This is not about how many mentions you get but rather about who mentions your brand. A mention from an influencer or someone with a very large following, would obviously mean more to your brand than a large volume of single mentions. You can also measure your share of mentions on social media relative to your competitors’, which gives you an excellent idea of how your promotional efforts are faring in the online space. All of this is great for the marketing department and it will look great when you present it to the CEO. But, you know what the next question is going to be after you’ve talked through all the numbers and graphs: “That’s fine, but are we converting all these mentions into real leads?” Well, with social listening, you can answer that too. You can simply click to the next slide in your presentation, which will give an indication of the level of engagement your brand is getting. This goes one step beyond to see how other social media users are actually responding to the mentions you’ve already counted. If people are engaging with your brand, that will come up as shares, likes, DMs (both to and from you), which hopefully your sales team are jumping on to close some sales! You can also show the boss exactly how many people are clicking through to your website from social media or contacting you by other means. By delivering solid metrics, social listening helps to eliminate the vagueness and uncertainty that sometimes comes with marketing campaigns. It is a tool that you should definitely have at your disposal. Contact WSI OSM to find out how you can start applying social listening to your marketing strategy right...
read more
5 types of social media posts you need to stop immediately
Building a strong social media presence is hard work and it takes time. Yet even the most well-established presence can be tarnished in a second by a single post. If you are posting, have posted or are planning to post any of the following five types of social media content, you should stop yourself straight away. 1. Hard-Sell Promotion Yes, you’re trying to promote yourself or your product… But, your social media channels are not the right platforms for heavy selling. Keep it fun, personal and conversational while gently raising awareness of what you do. Your friends and followers will not appreciate attempts to shove your services down their throats. 2. Viral Content That People Have Seen Elsewhere Your social media schedule tells you need to post now and you’re low on content. So, you grab a viral piece of topicality, that somewhat relates to your goals and strategy, and quickly post it. Big mistake. You can rest assured that your audience has already seen it and any reputation you have built for good, original content has just taken a serious knock. 3. Negative Content It’s never a good time to criticise your competitors or say something that might make your clients and prospective customers feel bad. Don’t draw attention to your competitors at all. And, always make your clients feel good. Simple. 4. Off-Brand” Posts If you have properly devised your social media strategy in line with your overall marketing aims, you should be posting content that is consistent with your brand’s look, feel and voice. Avoid posting anything that doesn’t fit these. It will strike your audience’s ear like a musician playing a bad note and will be a definite black mark against your name. 5. Copied and Pasted Content Across All Platforms It’s tempting to try and kill several birds with one stone by just posting the same message across all your social media accounts. This is definitely a mistake, however. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all facilitate different kinds of messages and communication styles. You need to bear this in mind and tailor your message to each one. WSI OMS is an established expert in social media marketing. Contact us for help to plan your social media...
read moreSo, You’re Building a Website? Which Platform Should You Use?
You’ve decided to build or spruce up your website. As with almost everything in the online market, you are faced with a rather overwhelming range of choices when it comes to website development platforms. Wix, WordPress, ConstantContact, Squarespace, and so on. Which one should you choose and why? Well, without knowing the specifics of your website and marketing goals, we can’t tell you exactly which platform you should use. We can, however, provide you with a set of guidelines that will help you to make that decision. When researching the various website design tools out there, ask yourself these questions with regard to your objectives, measured against the packages you are exploring: • What Is Your Main Objective? Do you want to set up a blog or an e-commerce site? Do you perhaps want a static website or one rich in multimedia? What are your future plans? Once you have a clear answer to these questions, you can narrow your search for a platform, because you will have a better idea of the language you should use, the best framework and the level of scalability and adaptability you will require. • What Is the Level of Performance You Are Expecting? A simple, static website will not require much in the way of optimisation or high-end hosting capacities. A media-rich one that needs to operate at high speed will have far greater requirements in this regard. It’s no use building a simple site on a free subscription when you need a professionally managed backend with large capabilities. • How Much Flexibility, Scalability and Adaptability Do You Need? If you have plans to expand or modify your website in the future, you need to choose a platform with a high degree of flexibility. If you are opting for a lower-cost or free subscription now, you need to be working on a platform that has higher-end packages and offerings that you can upgrade as and when you need them. • Do You Need to Start from Scratch Or Take the Open Source Route? This is a fairly easy one to answer most of the time. Unless you are determined to have something absolutely unique and proprietary, and have the budget to fit this need, you can’t go wrong with an open-source solution with easy-to-use templates that can be easily adapted to your needs. WSI OMS is an established expert in web design. Contact us for help to choose the right web development platform for you and to build an attractive and effective...
read moreWhat Is Partnership Marketing?
Partnership marketing is something that almost every single business can do (and do well) regardless of its budget. Partnership marketing is not about creating a legal arrangement with another person or business. Rather, partnership marketing involves collaborating with another business or influencer, so that you both get an opportunity to reach the other audience in some way. Many times, teaming up with a partner can get you the same reach that would have cost a lot more through traditional advertising methods. For partnership marketing to be effective, you need to be thoughtful about the type of partners you pursue. You’re not looking to collaborate with any business. There are several types of businesses that could be worthwhile collaborators, such as businesses that share the same target market but have different offerings, businesses that are local to you and could potentially draw foot traffic, competitive businesses in different locations, or competitor businesses in the same location that are able to refer overflow customers or have a unique point of differentiation from your business. Every business invests in marketing to its audience in some way. As you know from your own business, a lot of hard work goes into building a client base, nurturing leads and retaining customers. If a business is isolated and it is marketing and functioning in a silo, the only benefit to be gained comes from reaching an audience with its own voice. If two businesses partner together, however, they stand to gain exponentially without spending much more time or money on marketing by gaining exposure to each other’s audiences. Some of the methods that you can consider include social media shares, verbal testimonials, newsletter mentions or guest blog posts on each other’s sites. Need help with your SEO, digital marketing or partnership marketing strategy? Then contact WSI OMS...
read moreTips for Setting Up a High-Functioning E-Commerce Platform
So you’ve finally set up your business, you have your stock ready to roll, you know your product from back to front and you may even have a great website getting plenty of traffic. Now you’re ready to take that big next step – setting up an e-commerce platform so you can finally see the fruits of your marketing efforts and start shifting that stock. It’s quite an easy process, provided you follow a few simple guidelines. Here are the main tips you should bear in mind before you invite customers to fill their shopping carts: • Keep It Simple This is one we tell everybody, all the time, in connection with all aspects of online business. Customers want simplicity and ease of use. Whatever platform you’re using to develop your e-commerce site, always make sure your focus is on the simplest possible accessibility and usability. That means simple processes, which include clear navigation and easy-to-follow prompts. • Be Upfront About Costs Imagine being a customer and placing your order for an item you’ve just found and which is exactly what you wanted, at an unexpectedly reasonable price. You follow the checkout process all the way to the end, only to find that the shipping is going to multiply the purchase total by three. What would you do? Never allow hidden costs at any point of your customer interface. Be upfront about additional fees from the get-go. It’s advisable to state shipping costs on the product page, so the customer knows exactly what they’re spending before they click the check-out button. • Fuel Demand Through Scarcity CLEARANCE SALE! ONE-TIME-ONLY OFFER! ONLY ONE LEFT IN STOCK! Don’t underestimate the power of phrases like this. They draw attention to specific products and create a sense of urgency in the client to complete the transaction. The perception of scarcity can turn a casual browser into an instant buyer. • Provide Wide-Ranging, Specific Filters You must enable your customers to browse for exactly what they want. They are not going to browse through thousands of items to find what they’re after; they’ll simply look elsewhere. Create dropdown filters with categories and subcategories that will allow customers to narrow down their search in seconds. This can make or break numerous sales. • Make Good Use of Testimonials and Social Media Potential buyers who are uncertain of a purchase will always find good testimonials useful. They read reviews at the tipping point of their shopping experience. It’s that moment when they could just walk away or pull out their credit cards. Provide space for reviews and encourage customers who have already bought certain items to write testimonials. You should also encourage links to social media, allowing customers to share product pages with their friends and followers. WSI OMS is a well-established expert in web design. Contact us for help to create an e-commerce platform that keeps the sales...
read more5 Common Web Design Mistakes You Should Always Avoid
The design of your website could make or break your business. The fact that you have only eight seconds at the most to capture and maintain your audience’s attention may seem daunting. But, it’s actually easier than you think when you remember that the customer WANTS to find what they need on your website. They clicked on you because you offer something they are looking for. So, there is really no reason why you should lose them, provided you avoid the following five common web design mistakes: 1. Visual Overload You may be tempted to choose a lot of different images and fonts, and perhaps overdo the multimedia a bit. All this does is create a lot of distraction and confusion. The customer wants to find what they need within seconds and hopefully make a purchase. A visually busy website does not make this easy for them. Simplify your look and keep it clean and understated, with the emphasis on customer experience. 2. Complicated Navigation Once again, you always need to keep things simple. Your navigation must be obvious and intuitive if you want to retain customers. Keep your navigation bar visible and accessible, and enable clickthrough between all of your pages. Difficult navigation will annoy the customer and not only lose you a sale, but may also even earn your website a reputation of being hard to use, which will keep customers away in droves. 3. Slow Load Time In the age of high-speed wireless connection, there should be no reason for a client to sit and wait for a site to load. If your site takes too long, people are not going to forgive you for it. Reduce your loading time by cutting down on the number of elements on your pages, especially where multimedia is concerned. 4. No Call to Action You’re not just offering information, you want to make sales. In order to do this, you need to make sure that you always put out a call to action – somewhere the customer can click to know more or get more, or place an order right away. Also, never forget to include comprehensive and easily accessible contact options so people can make further enquiries. 5. Inconsistent Interface This is a mistake that often comes from being too concerned with the look of a site or a simple lack of experience in the world of web design. Don’t let this happen. Instead of focusing on being creative, concentrate on building a simple and powerful customer experience. WSI OMS is a well-established expert in web design. Contact us for help to create a killer, customer experience-focused...
read more4 Web Design Factors for Great Online Customer Experience
As sales and service move ever more into the online space, it is vital for any business to have a recognisable, attractive and functional online presence. The best way to achieve this is by making sure that your website design is spot on from the very start. Web design that is geared towards great customer experience and brisk sales, should always be based on the four fundamental elements discussed below. Keep these in mind while designing and maintaining your website, and you should have no problems keeping your customers happy. 1. First Impressions Last It takes between 4 and 8 seconds for a visitor to your site to either become a customer or click away, possibly to a competitor’s site. That is all the time you have to make a good impression! So, you need to make sure that your site is visually appealing and attracts and retains a visitor’s interest. Put a lot of effort into the look and feel of your site and do research to determine what would be most attractive to clients in your particular market. 2. Ease and Speed of Use Is Essential It may look pretty. But, if it doesn’t work, a frustrated customer will gladly look elsewhere. Not only should you ensure that your website’s various functions are always working properly, but you should also research the design and programming of those functions to check whether they are optimised for customer use. If an element or function is slow or counterintuitive, customers are not likely to be patient and give you the benefit of the doubt. 3. Sales Are Made Through Emotional Connections You can’t keep your site impersonal and generic and then expect to generate the kind of brand loyalty that comes from good customer experience. Think hard about your brand and how it is presented to customers. Also, be sure to put names and faces to your brand. Team photographs and bios, or endorsements from well-known personalities, can go a long way towards building trust in your brand. 4. Customers Need Information Don’t let the information on your site get dated. Update it constantly. Keep a blog that you add to on a regular basis, encourage customer reviews on your products so that future buyers have something to refer to. Always make sure that your basic product info is as complete as possible. A major frustration for customers is clicking on a product they may want to buy and seeing no information to help them with their purchase decision. WSI OMS is a well-established expert in web design. Contact us to assess and discuss your customer...
read more
How to combine content marketing with PPC
Pay-per-click advertising works for various businesses despite their size. It is a lucrative way to get more leads and make more money. What many small business owners get wrong, however, is not combining their content marketing with their paid online advertising strategy. While PPC is a great way to advertise your business to people who are looking for the products and services that you offer, you will get a lot more bang for your buck if it is combined with a content marketing strategy. When you create content based on niche long-tail keywords, advice blogs that educate your customers or how-to guides, you will be able to create different PPC campaigns that are tailored to these pages. One of the quickest ways to throw away a hot lead is to direct them from a PPC ad in their Google search results to the home page of your website. If you sell used sailboats and have articles about buying used sailboats, a 10-point checklist for buyers or how to refurbish sailboats, you can create ads that speak directly to this content. The reason why combining your content marketing strategy with PPC is so powerful, is because people are searching for information online. Very few people open a search engine with the intent to buy someone. A PPC ad can put your content front and centre so that you can start to build a relationship with a potential client, give them the information they need and showcase yourself as a leader in the industry. Contact WSI OMS to help you manage paid online advertising, PPC and digital marketing...
read moreWeb Design Vs. SEO – Friendly Enemies?
Creating a great web page is often a delicate balancing act – one that is not always easy to achieve. Not only does the designer want to build a stunning and unique site, but the client also wants to ensure that user experience is simple and profitable, while digital marketers want to stay at the top of the search results. Design, UX and SEO thus sometimes come into conflict, resulting in frustration all around. All of these factors are important and can be reconciled. SEO has become such a high priority for most companies seeking to build their online presence, and so it is perhaps worth considering the potential conflict from this perspective. SEO experts have cited a number of main factors that frustrate them when it comes to web design. These can be resolved without sacrificing UX or web design. On the contrary, considering these points could create a win-win and ensure that web design and SEO need not be in opposition to each other. When SEO pros look at a website, they essentially consider five aspects: crawlability, usability, readability, accessibility and findability. Certain popular web design choices can interfere with one or more of these, which makes SEO measures difficult to implement. Here are some of the worst offenders: – Menu Designs: The “hamburger” menu, accordion style, confusing dropdown design and mega menus. All of these will make an SEO specialist cringe. Navigation needs to be simplified for a better UX, which will ultimately enhance the site’s SEO standings. – Decisions That Are Not Based on Data: A website is not an artwork, it is an interface with your potential customers. A scientific approach is needed, based on analytics and other research. – Image Sliders: Image sliders not only look pretty, but they can also be good for UX – provided the user has a really fast connection. Otherwise, it tends to slow down the website and will frustrate your clients and visitors. – Lazy or Poorly Thought-Out Redirects: Incorporating the H-hierarchy into design decisions and using the logo as an H1. The list continues. The point is not to stop web designers from following their creative desires, but rather to persuade them to make their decisions on the basis of analytics, rather than just what looks or feels good. SEO and web design don’t have to be enemies. In fact, they can easily work together – and should do for the benefit of both. WSI OMS is a well-established expert in web design and SEO. Contact us to discuss your plans for your...
read more6 Ways to Improve Your Writing for SEO
Traditional copywriting has evolved into quite a different animal with the development of social media and SEO. You may be a beautiful long-form writer or a highly skilled spinner of ad scripts and punchy one-liners, and yet still find the digital world to be a challenge. The medium is rapidly forming a set of rules and practices all its own. But, if you follow the “new” rules and practices, combining them with your existing writing abilities, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to nail a good blog or social media post every time. Just implement these 6 basic tips: 1. Write for Your Audience This should be your starting point every time. Forget about search engines, forget your knowledge base and the style with which you are most comfortable. Always know your audience intimately and write with them in mind. 2.Divide Your Time Carefully between Planning, Writing and Editing Writing your document is the easy part and the quickest. The majority of your time (about 50%) should be spent on planning and research. Give 20% to the actual writing and then 30% to editing, polishing and proofreading. 3. Brevity Is Key Never let your paragraphs get longer than seven lines and make sure that your document can be scanned and understood in a quick, 30-60 second once-over. That’s all most people will give it, so make sure you get the basic information through. 4.Active Voice, Strong Verbs, Short Punchy Sentences In some forms of writing, the passive voice is fine, but not in online marketing copy. Keep all your sentences in the active voice, always use strong verbs and check each phrase to ensure that it’s the shortest and most powerful it can be. 5. Don’t Be Afraid to Break the Flow Use staccato sentences and words as and when you need to. And, don’t be afraid of one-sentence paragraphs. These are attention grabbers and, therefore, your friends. 6. Be Emphatic and Confident Never appear to be speculative in your content. Assert each point without room for doubt. If there are corrections to be made, they can come in follow-up blogs or posts. You don’t think; you know. You don’t postulate; you recommend. Own and sell your point of view. Above all, keep it short and simple, and you can seldom go wrong. WSI is a well-established expert in online copywriting. Contact us and tell us about your digital content...
read more