Thursday, 21 February 2013

Most important digital channels for product awareness:

Capgemini-important-digital-ch

July 2012 reseach.
Most important digital channels for product awareness:
1. internet sites
2. email, newsletters, offers
3. In-store technology eg kiosks
4. social media
5. smart phones eg apps
6. phones eg call centers

With Thanks, Andrea Ng
Digital Marketing Consultant
+8 GMT, Singapore

Monday, 18 February 2013

The Most Interesting Ad Video for a Keyboard Shortcut

http://www.clicktoapp.com/videos/clickto-google.mp4

I could watch this a million times cos its just so entertaining. heehee. It's like cartoon for grownups. 

With Thanks, Andrea Ng
Digital Marketing Consultant
+8 GMT, Singapore

Free Digital Marketing Event in SG

http://www.helplearn.asia/
March 13th and 14th at Genexis Theater, Fusionopolis, Singapore
From $115.00
Topics: SEO, SEM, Social Media, Analytics, Mobile Ads, Online PR

With Thanks, Andrea Ng
Digital Marketing Consultant
+8 GMT, Singapore

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Mobile marketing 101: Mobile marketing is not ad placement.

Mobile marketing is NOT ad placement in a content provider platform. This is considered passive and not making full use of the strengths of a mobile device, a not matured usage of the mobile platform. 

 

There are 3 advantages that we should take note of, of the platform - a mobile device. 

                It is an immediate reach to the customers. Dannie suggests that mobile be made the primary vehicle to reward and interact with customers. 

                It is a personalized platform whereby services can be provided to the customers. 

                And therefore, it is a tool to create an ongoing relationship with the community.

 

This, compared to streaming ads like on a one-way street, is a far cry. 

 

Some of the strategies mentioned are: 

1.             Push messaging – e.g. push notifications from an app.

2.             SMS marketing – text messages.

3.             M-coupons – mobile coupons pretty much like a banner add in the design of a coupon on an app or on mobile sites.

4.             QR Code – quick response code, squarish matrix code that can be read with a QR code app, e.g. loyalty and rewards for customers, scans from magazines.

5.             NFC – near field communication, 2 devices communicating by touching them together or being close e.g. mobile payments, share files by bumping phones.

6.             Geo-fencing and Location-based targeting – gen-fencing is a predefined set of virtual boundaries on a physical location, such that when a user using with location-aware device like foursquare, enters the “zone”, he is being “location-based targeted”. You get the idea.

 

Question: Do the strategies mentioned above require an app to begin with? E.g. mobile app, ipad app.

 

Yes and no.

 

Browser-based mobile advertising is only limited to the traditional web online advertising methods such as SEO and SEM. In other words, it is the same as full browser advertising. Whereas an app would give greater control and creativity when it comes to mobile advertising can do activites like Push messaging, m-coupons, QR Code, NFC, Geo-fencing, Location-based targeting.

 

However, some techniques like SMS marketing and QR code do not need an app to carry out. Some techniques like NFC and location-based targeting can be carried out using already existing popular apps such as Foursquare, m-coupons can be inserted into popular mobile websites etc.

 

In response to Dannie Francis's blog post, Mobile Marketing Isn't Mobile Advertising, http://www.thecellcity.com/mobile-marketing-isnt-mobile-advertising/

Mobile marketing 101: Mobile marketing is not ad placement.

Mobile marketing is NOT ad placement in a content provider platform. This is considered passive and not making full use of the strengths of a mobile device, a not matured usage of the mobile platform. 

 

There are 3 advantages that we should take note of, of the platform - a mobile device. 

                It is an immediate reach to the customers. Dannie suggests that mobile be made the primary vehicle to reward and interact with customers. 

                It is a personalized platform whereby services can be provided to the customers. 

                And therefore, it is a tool to create an ongoing relationship with the community.

 

This, compared to streaming ads like on a one-way street, is a far cry. 

 

Some of the strategies mentioned are: 

1.             Push messaging – e.g. push notifications from an app.

2.             SMS marketing – text messages.

3.             M-coupons – mobile coupons pretty much like a banner add in the design of a coupon on an app or on mobile sites.

4.             QR Code – quick response code, squarish matrix code that can be read with a QR code app, e.g. loyalty and rewards for customers, scans from magazines.

5.             NFC – near field communication, 2 devices communicating by touching them together or being close e.g. mobile payments, share files by bumping phones.

6.             Geo-fencing and Location-based targeting – gen-fencing is a predefined set of virtual boundaries on a physical location, such that when a user using with location-aware device like foursquare, enters the “zone”, he is being “location-based targeted”. You get the idea.

 

Question: Do the strategies mentioned above require an app to begin with? E.g. mobile app, ipad app.

 

Yes and no.

 

Browser-based mobile advertising is only limited to the traditional web online advertising methods such as SEO and SEM. In other words, it is the same as full browser advertising. Whereas an app would give greater control and creativity when it comes to mobile advertising can do activites like Push messaging, m-coupons, QR Code, NFC, Geo-fencing, Location-based targeting.

 

However, some techniques like SMS marketing and QR code do not need an app to carry out. Some techniques like NFC and location-based targeting can be carried out using already existing popular apps such as Foursquare, m-coupons can be inserted into popular mobile websites etc.

 

In response to Dannie Francis's blog post, Mobile Marketing Isn't Mobile Advertising, http://www.thecellcity.com/mobile-marketing-isnt-mobile-advertising/

Friday, 1 February 2013

Competitive Analysis (summary from Hubspot)

1. Gather your manna. 
It starts with research and then a series of questions to ask. 

1a. The Words
First log into competitor's website and any other external blogs and sites they own, go for all the content, look under footer and sitemap. 
Eg blog posts white papers Ebooks Videos webinars podcasts slide decks static visual content (i.e. infographics, cartoons) fAQs feature articles press releases Kits Case studies buyer guides Use cases Data sheets

Content is King!

1b. Next, read the content you found and assess them according to quantity, frequency and distribution of topics. Why?
>> Quantity, frequency: are we on par with them or do we need other types of materials or higher frequency?
>> Distribution: insight to their SEO strategy and thought leadership focus. 

1c. Evaluate the content. 
  • How accurate is their content??
  • Spelling and grammatical errors?
  • What tone and approach do they adopt in their content???
  • How readable is their content??
  • Is their content mostly controlled by their "own" or open to social?
  • Who are the writers? Internal writing team? Guest posts? Senior management?
  • How engaged are the public to their content? This would determine the quality of their content. 
  • How keywords are used in the content

1d. The Aesthetics
Look into: Blog structure Social media share buttons Content Categorization Bios How good are they are promoting their content via design

1e. The Unseen
Page Title URl architecture Title Header tags Copy’s keyword density Image AlT text Use of internal linking

1f. Social Media
  • Are they on Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Google+ Pinterest? 
  • Are they geting results using these channels?
  • Number of fans/followers
  • posting frequency and consistency of publishing
  • Content engagement
  • Content virality (such as shares, repins, or retweets)

1g. Evaluate your competitor's buying and customer service support process
  • Use a secret shopping service (pay $$)
  • Interview your customer base to see which ones came from that particular competitor (free)
  • What is your competitor doing, where they are falling short, how they operate, what they value?

After you collect all these information.. what's next? ANALYZE THEM.

2. Analyzing the manna you have gathered. 
  • Compare your site and theirs. 
  • Content publishing volume outpaced?
  • Content quality better?
  • Embracing new trends? Or realizing people in the "new trends" arent ones you want to reach?
  • How does your competitor positions its brand in the marketplace? That affects how YOU will position your brand. Differently or similar?
  • Who are your competitors trying to forgo relationships with and who are their existing partners?
  • Their technology tools - automation? advanced? basic? Which conveys to whether they are planning for fast growth or keeping their marketing activities status-quo.

3. Continue looking at competitors and be alerted of new compeitors using tools like Google alerts, email notifications, or your own VA. :)
Comparing to ours continuously. 

In conclusion within a breath,
first research their site for content frequency and quality and the topics, then the site aesthetics- how easily are they sharing their content on their site, then the backend optimization of html codes then the external sites supporting them such as social media. You can also go a step further by evaluating their CS support and buying process. How to analyze? Consider their brand positioning message, their relationship partners, and their technology tools. Lastly, make monitoring a habit to keep up and be in the circle!


With Thanks, Andrea
Digital Marketing Consultant
+8 GMT, Singapore