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Gear Up for the Newest Google Analytics

Published on February 20th, 2012 by in Marketing
Google Analytics

© by Search Engine People Blog

I assume most of you have encountered Google Analytics, or GA, at some point as more than half of the top 10,000 most popular websites utilize the free service to gain valuable insights into their website traffic and to help determine the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Last April, Google launched a beta version of new Google Analytics, with an array of upgraded features including multiple dashboards, interaction goals, comparative metrics, and more.

 

Since then, they’ve made several new updates, increased functionality, and provided additional features.  If you didn’t get a chance to try it out in beta, it’s time to dive right in. No worries though, here’s the quick and dirty on some of the latest and greatest features to guide you through.

  • Real-Time – Launched last September, real-time analytics help you see what’s happening with your site right when it’s occurring and what challenges and opportunities you have. The original Google Analytics did a great job of showing past trends so this is, in my opinion, is one of the best new features!

 

  • Multi-Channel Marketing – GA shows EVERY interaction that the user had with your site 30 days prior to conversion, or purchase. For example, if the user first visits your site from a Twitter feed, then finds you through an organic search, and might come across you again from a banner ad, the final source or channel usually is attributed to the conversion. This new features allows you to see all channels a user followed and optimize your strategy accordingly.

 

  • Custom Dashboards – The first thing you see when you log on has gotten a face lift. You can customize your view based on 4 widgets – metric, pie chart, timeline, and table – and create up to 20 dashboards per profile.

 

  • Social Plug-In Analytics – See how users interact with social media sites like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, etc. You can also easily incorporate “AddThis” and “ShareThis” features.

 

  • Report Email Scheduling – Analytics will email any of your reports to you, or to any email address you specify, on demand or on a set schedule, in 4 different formats, xml, csv, tsv, and now pdf.

 

  • Mobile Enhancements-  Mobile Apps features now include the EasyTracking Library for both iOS and Android that allows tracking for your app down to the activity level,  automatic session management, and better integration with Google Analytics software development kit or SDK.

 

  • Flow and Goal Visualization – allows you to analyze site insights graphically, and instantly understand how visitors flow across pages on your site, as well as how they get to the end goal.

 

  • Compare Data Ranges – An update from the old GA that allows you to compare two different periods and range of time, then chart it right away.

 

  • Referring Sites – With new Google Analytics you can see your site traffic, as well as the goal conversion on the sites that are referring users to you. This gives you details on both the number of visitors generated from a partner or ad and also the quality of those visitors.

 

  • AdWords Integration – GA provides data on each campaign, group, and keyword, so you can analyze display ads, clicks, cost, conversion, and whether or not they resulted in an e-commerce transaction or another defined goal.

These are just 10 of the many exciting new features that Google has rolled out with the new analytics to help you refine your marketing strategies and increase your conversions. Still overwhelmed? There’s a lot to digest! Check out Google’s support pages for more detailed information.

 

How has Google Analytics helped your marketing initiatives? What are your favorite new features?

 
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Why Your Company Should Have a Blog

Published on February 15th, 2012 by in Marketing
Company Blog

BLOG IDEAS © by owenwbrown

Don’t have a company blog? According to Hubspot’s 2011 State of Inbound Marketing report, you are now in the minority. From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48 percent to 65 percent. Why the up tick? Companies are citing the below average costs of this medium, in addition to the high success rates. Fifty-seven percent of the companies included in the study have turned a blog generated lead into a customer. Those successes came from frequent blogging – 78 percent blog daily! If that isn’t enough to persuade you to start your blog today, here are some other important reasons.

 

  1. SEO, SEO, SEO. Blogs help Search Engine Optimization. With Google Panda, Google’s new search ranking algorithm, new and fresh content is essential for better rankings. In fact, businesses that blog get 55 percent more website traffic. Keep your posts unique and informative.
  2. Lead your industry! Establish yourself, and your company, as leaders in your industry. Posting insightful and relevant content elevates you as an expert and thought leader. Reporters often use blogs for information and citations and, as an industry leader; you will become a “go to” for them.
  3. Credibility and Trust. Interestingly enough, blogs are seen as a more trusted and credible source than official company press releases, ads, and articles, because they give a visitor more insight into who you really are – more than any “Meet the Team” or “About Us” section on your website might reveal. Your blogs will have more of an impact on the choices that your customers make, and are likely to help encourage them to the conversion point where the next step is a purchase.
  4. Customer Involvement. Blogs are thought provoking and elicit a customer response and comments with calls to action or questions at the end of your post. The better and more consistent your content is, the more often your customers will be coming back for more. Consistency creates loyalty.
  5. Reach New Customers. One thing that a blog does is increase traffic. Blogs should include an easy “share” feature that allows visitors to quickly share the post on any of the major social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Digg, Stumbleupon, and more. When your content is shared, new customers learn about your site.

 

These are just a few of the top reasons why your company should start blogging. No matter what your final motivation is, it is important that you think it out and have a strategy! Define your goals and establish a commitment to posting with a predetermined frequency. Also, check out this Mashable article on how to get started with a company blog. So, what’s stopping you? Get writing!

 

Have you recently started a company blog? What experiences have you had?

 
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Building a Social Media Marketing Plan

Published on February 4th, 2012 by in Marketing
Social Media Marketing for Businesses

Facebook © by miss_rogue

Do you have a social media marketing plan? Chances are very good that you don’t. In fact, one survey suggests that 60 percent of companies are using social media without a plan. Many small businesses set up social media accounts because it’s expected but they aren’t sure how to proceed from there. They inconsistently tweet, post a Facebook status here and there, share something on a LinkedIn group, then think that social media doesn’t work. They’re right!

Social media is failing to meet some small business owners’ expectations for several reasons:

  • expectations often include unrealistic sales figures,
  • goals within each network are not clearly defined, and
  • social media isn’t being properly integrated into an overall marketing strategy.

In essence, social media won’t work without a plan in place.

If 60 percent of companies don’t have a social media plan, then the other 40 percent do. A recent report from Red Rocket Media predicts a 41% projected increase on social media spend in 2012. Also, according to the study, small business owners planning to direct more resources to the channel will do so in hopes of boosting follower or fan engagement.

So what are the top social marketing investment areas for 2012? Another survey, sponsored by Awareness, Inc., found that companies are investing in presence, frequency, and processes. More specifically:

  • 70% are increasing their presence across social marketing platforms;
  • 59% are increasing the frequency of content publishing;
  • 50% are focusing on more robust social marketing management; and
  • 45% are focusing on monitoring.

By now you have your 2012 strategic marketing plan in place, so take a look at it to determine your corresponding social media strategy. Social media should not be used in place of traditional marketing; it should be used as an additional tool to support your efforts.

Consider why each social platform was originally established and develop your strategy around leveraging the strengths within each technology. Read this article from the Harvard Business Review, outlining how your marketing can keep pace with the major social media platforms. Define your audience and outline the best way to reach them. Set your goals and determine how you are going to measure success. Plan your frequency and content, keeping it consistent and informative.

Social media marketing, when done with a well-developed plan, should help you grow your business, strengthen your brand awareness, and improve customer loyalty.

Do you have a social media marketing plan? What works best for you and your company?

 
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Make Your 2012 Webinars the Best Yet

Published on January 24th, 2012 by in Marketing

© by markhillary

Whether utilized for internal training or external marketing, webinars, or web-based seminars, are cost-effective tools for getting your message, or product information, out to a number of people in different locations. Attending a webinar is the next best thing to being at a seminar in person, so, needless to say, their popularity is growing. If you haven’t held a webinar before, or need some suggestions for improvement, here are a few tips to turn your webinars from good to great in 2012.

1. Use a host company. There are quite a few options some are fee-based, like GoToWebinar or WebEx, and some offer basic services for free, like AnyMeeting. These companies can host your webinar and assist you in the process, ensuring that your webinar goes smoothly and that you have the features and tools you need, like video and screen sharing. In addition, you will want to confirm the level of support provided with your plan to help with any technical issues that may arise.

2. Define your purpose. What is the main message or theme of your webinar? Are you educating or selling? Most of us are doing a little of both and that is perfectly acceptable, but word to the wise, if you’re primary purpose is to sell your product then don’t try to disguise your webinar as an altruistic educational session. People love to discover new products and good deals, so if your primary intention is to give prospects a tour of your product, then create your presentation and promote it accordingly. Keep it on topic, easy-to-understand, and entertaining.

3. Focus on image. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? So find more pictures and save the words. To engage your attendees, use more quality images and fewer words on your slides. This will keep viewers engaged and attentive to your presentation, rather than focused on reading the slides.

4. Promote! Promote your webinar on your company website, through email campaigns, direct mail, social media, and more. Create a #hashtag and encourage registrants to use it and share information about the webinar. Use all avenues to ensure that you get your desired attendance. You want to build a reputation for high-quality webinars so that your attendees want to participate in future offerings.

5. Practice makes perfect. Don’t go into your webinar green- although it is a very green way to have your meeting. Run through it several times alone and then with your team so you work out all the trouble spots before show time. You don’t want it to sound “rehearsed” though so make sure to include some humor and fun in your final presentation. Put a tabletop mirror nearby to help you remember to smile. Attendees will hear you smiling and it will help to ease any feelings of nervousness or fear. Relax and have fun!

6. Encourage participation. Include time for questions and answers in each segment, but also include ways to encourage attendee response throughout your presentation. You want your webinar to be interactive and engaging.

7. Drive traffic. Make a copy of your presentation available on your website after the presentation. Attendees can visit your site to download or stream the webinar, then share the information with colleagues that weren’t able to participate.

8. Follow-up. Following up with your webinar attendees is essential. Send an email to thank them for attending and include a survey to get valuable feedback that will help you improve future webinars. By the way, are you adding webinar attendees to your newsletter mailing list? Be sure to give them the option to receive future email communications from your company and keep them regularly engaged.

You can also attend webinars that other companies are hosting to get ideas and see new trends. When done right, webinars are easy-to-do and highly effective. Focus on making your webinars creative, informational, top quality, and fun.

What are you doing in 2012 to improve your webinars?

 
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5 Things You Need To Know Before Planning Your Next Event

Published on January 18th, 2012 by in Marketing, Public Relations
Event Planning

Best of Events 2011 © by eveos

Events are an essential aspect of growing, and maintaining, business relationships. Whether you’re hosting an intimate cocktail reception or a large extravaganza, you have a vested interest in making sure your gathering is a resounding success and reflects the appropriate image of your organization. It is so easy to get lost in the details so, before you get caught up in selecting venues or ordering centerpieces, there are five important things you should define before you hit the ground running.

 

1. Your Goal. What is the purpose of your event? What are you hoping to accomplish? It’s a good idea to set your intentions and expectations to guide you before you start planning. Are you hoping to add to your client base by getting new prospects to attend, or simply reinforce and build on your existing business relationships? Success can be measured in a variety of ways – all of which requires a baseline goal to measure against.

 

2. The Scope. What size gathering do you envision? Events run the gamut from over-the-top multi-million dollar productions to seated dinners for 20 of your best clients. Once you zero-in on your audience, the scope - elaborate or understated elegance – will be easier to determine.

 

Event Budgets

Budgeting © by RambergMediaImages

3. The Budget. How much money do you have to spend? Are you hoping this event will generate income? If so, how much? The concept of budgeting seems so straightforward, yet ends up being the most complicated. Especially with social events, most party hosts underestimate the final cost of their affair. It is so important to define your budget from the onset, and work within it. If it is a revenue generating event, create milestones to measure your success along the way, be prepared to consider which expense items should be cut or revised if you aren’t making your revenue goals. This is where an event planning professional can really come in handy! You can also utilize an online tool to help you estimate and track your expenses.

 

4. Your Timeframe. When will you hold your event? It is imperative that you check a calendar for any holiday conflicts, and try to plan around major local or national events like the Super Bowl, Election Day, and any others that would affect attendance. Allow for adequate planning time and allow at least six weeks’ notice for your guests. If it’s a busier time of year, like December, consider giving your invitees even more notice with a save-the-date card, email, or phone call.

 

5. The Resources. Do you have the manpower to plan and staff your event accordingly? There’s a lot of work that goes into each element so it’s always a good idea to consider hiring an event planner. A professional event planner can help you with everything from choosing a theme and selecting venues and vendors to day-of coordination. Professional planners have relationships with many vendors and tons of experience to draw from. They can help you stay within a given budget and ensure that everything goes smoothly so you can spend more time with your guests or new business prospects.

 

Planning an event is more than just a lot of work; it’s also a lot of fun and very rewarding. There’s nothing like the joy you experience from seeing all of your hard work come to fruition. Plan before you act, and your event is sure to be a success!

 

What experiences have you had preparing for an event? Do you have additional suggestions?

 
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