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There are many methods a good digital marketing company can use to enhance your online marketing presence and you must be able to measure the effectiveness of those methods.

The clients only concern is, and rightfully so, is the amount of traffic to their site and the investment to get it there, where it is coming from and the return on their investment- how much of that traffic is being converted to actual sales.

The responsibility from getting the traffic to converting that traffic is a responsibility that is shared by both the marketing company and the client. If one or the other is not fulfilling their role in the partnership the effectiveness is diminished.

This is why a marketing company must partner with their client and communicate regularly to be able to pinpoint exactly where improvement is required.

Knowledge is power and having the knowledge of where your site’s traffic is coming from, how effective your social connections are, and overall where your traffic is originating from and what people do when they get to your site is paramount.

How those people are engaged once they get there is equally as important as getting them there.

Knowing the cooperation that is required to succeed in a relationship between a digital marketer and the client, good analytics is what is going to give both the knowledge they need to improve where improvement is required.

Forrester Research published a report indicating that the need for better analytics is needed by companies to better understand the value of search and how much of a company’s web traffic originates from search.

According to the report; “Although marketers are aware that search contributes to a company's growth, data analysis needs to improve.”

The same report indicated that many companies separate their search marketing efforts from their regular marketing activities and according to Forrester; “brands will spend more than $33 billion on search marketing by 2016, up from $24 billion this year.” 

Clearly one of the most revealing reports is the report released by Experian Marketing Services mid January 2013 summarizing web trends of 2012.  The report revealed that search engines are a key factor in web traffic sources.  Search won the web traffic race with a staggering 49% of traffic to web sites compared to 3.8% from Facebook and 1% from YouTube.

One would predict that as more and more people use smart phones that search will continue to be the dominant factor for any marketer.  It stands to reason that they would want to be able to measure traffic to your site.

 Good digital marketing companies with Content creation and marketing platforms designed to attract search have spent the time developing analytics that measure performance, show results and also focus on results of effort from search.

Other forms of good analytic reporting can show the value of social news posts compared to the same interest from search. Business owners can quickly focus on messages that are working and enhance that space compared to days gone by when everything was guess work.

As you gain knowledge from meaningful reporting and real time analysis you can make smarter decisions based on results.

                                       Social Analytics Graph courtesy Of One Big Broadcast

For example many businesses gain insights they would never conceive by studying reports from individual social networks. This includes combining results from different platforms and adding analysis tools. The end result allows for smart, informed and important decision making that could affect marketing spend or strategies.

It is essential to continually dig deeper into the many areas of content creation and marketing platforms - These reporting tools can reveal that in many ways all things are connected.  By harnessing the power to create deeper and meaningful reporting, companies can make smart real time decisions based on 'what people are saying'.

The Importance of Blog Analytics

The power of blogging can’t be denied. Because of this I wanted to touch on the importance of the ability to measure their effectiveness.

What was once a simple hobby for the digital enthusiast has become a worldwide sensation. Millions of individuals post to the web each day, detailing their ideas and intentions. It’s an enduring part of the social media experience... and it’s also one that, when properly utilized, can redefine every brand.
 
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is understood as essential. Companies forever rely on socially rich content to generate traffic and sales. Applying this technique to blogging, however, was once considered impossible. 
 
But today this is possible with new innovative techniques that have been developed.
 
SEO-infused blogs can be delivered to every client. Each post is defined by relevant content and keywords to secure high search engine standings. Information is effortlessly integrated into social communities (such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest) to bolster traffic. An innovative analytic system measures the real-time results of each page, determining what readers want and how to best satisfy their needs. The possibilities are endless.
 
Blogs should be created to do more than simply state opinions. They should be done in different ways to be fully optimized. Blog Data Touch Points (Courtesy Of One Big Broadcast)

One Big Broadcast is one company who has pioneered the concept of harnessing teams with multiple blog engines- Each engine producing its own analytics and weaving its way into corporate analytics.

Blog Analytics

Since blogs are all powerful for content marketing everyone is using blogs to get their marketing message out so it is important to be able to measure blog performance.

On the analytics side you want to drill down deep into each blog post of each individual blog. Back in the old days of marketing there was a saying 'Listen to what your customers are saying'. By having the proper analytics tools you can listen to each blog post by applying deep analytics monitoring. This tells companies which blog had the most interest from a social and search level. In this way you can uncover things that would not be possible otherwise.  When you see a spike you your readership on a particular blog topic - the people have spoken to what they are interested in. 

There have been multimillion ad campaigns started on the strength of the results of good analytic programs. 

It starts with high level of ALL blog topics. Each blog should be an engine capable of attracting its own set of search terms, its own following of people. Each blog sends out 100s of news feeds (see Change Lives Here) and the blog touch points with each post.

 

In the chart below blog analytics users can adjust the date range in this example to gain valuable insight.

                                                                    Courtesy of One Big Broadcast

Attached below is a blog post that spiked at a popular restaurant:

 

                                                                 Courtesy of One Big Broadcast

Along with this all API activity you can use Google Analytics tools to create custom reports to monitor and report on exact conversion metrics for individual pages or campaigns. For example OBB’s new newspaper ad generator tool. A special report can be created to report to track conversions and other important data via advanced features in Google Analytics.

It is safe to say that a marketing company and their clients must view their relationship as a partnership with the responsibility for performance shared by both parties. And with the right tools there are many ways of measuring the effectiveness of your digital Marketing.

Understanding your responsibility as the client and partnering with a company that can provide proper tools and analytics, review them on a consistent basis and keep you up to date on the latest changes and developments is the key to successful Digital Marketing.

William Cosgrove

 

Reports

1. Marketers Need To Better Align Search, Online Goals -http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/192006/marketers-need...

2. Search Remains Key Driver To Web Sites - http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/191338/search-engi...

I’ve been researching and thinking about the psychology of the social web and our Internet relationships. There are many common psychological techniques you can use in your every day Internet marketing.  Here are a few ideas to ”psych” your visitors into spending more time on your website and your blog.

1) Social proof is king

In real life, “social proof” is the trappings of society that impart influence.  A person’s height, a fancy car, a diploma … all help determine influence, subconsciously.  Since we don’t have those physical clues in the online world, we look to “badges” like Twitter followers and Klout scores to provide a shortcut assessment.

With the density of information in today’s world, these badges are more important than ever.  In fact they may be even more important than your real knowledge, experience and accomplishments.  Strange but true. Think about your favorite blogger. I’ll bet you notice some of their badges like followers, AdAge rank, or tweets on a blog post, before you investigate their education or level of professional experience.

We make the same assessments about websites and blogs.  If you see a lot of tweets and comments, testimonies and awards, you assume something good is going on there.

Another way to accomplish this on a website is product reviews and ratings. Make sure ratings and reviews are clearly displayed on your site or product pages. Allow users to include information about themselves such as their gender, name, location and occupation. This makes the reviews even more compelling since it can create a connection to the demographics of your site visitors.

2) Give web tourists a reason to become residents

In the first few seconds you have a visitor on your site, are you giving them a reason to stay a little longer to learn about you?  This is commonly called a “call to action.” On my website, you can click to see free materials, download an eBook, watch videos, read case studies, listen to a podcast, read my blog … basically I give people lots of reasons to hang around by providing valuable material that would interest my target customer.

On my blog one of the most effective devices I have to help people stick around is the “Linked Within” app at the bottom of each post suggesting further reading.  This dramatically increases time on the site and increases page views on my blog by about 8 percent.

3) Put the most important action at the top

When you’re plotting out your call to actions, put your most important one first. The idea behind this is simple: what comes first is unconsciously regarded as the best.  I’ve been experimenting with this myself. One other consideration — if you’re stacking your calls to action down the right side of your page, keep in mind that the top right corner of your website is a blind spot. This is spooky but it really is true.

One time I was offering a free download at the upper right corner of my site. I was in a meeting with a web designer and was talking about the problem in front of a huge display screen of my website. I said “Without looking at the screen, can you tell me if I have a free download offer on my landing page?” Although we had been looking at the page all morning, he completely missed this element.  So, highlight your best offers first, but watch where you place them!

4) Provide instant gratification

When deciding to make a purchase, we are often influenced by how fast we can have the product.  Reduce or eliminate fields required to purchase or engage.  The other day I was required to register to comment on a blog. FAIL!

In a famous experiment participants were asked to choose between getting $5 now or $40 at a later date. MRI scans showed that when people thought about getting the money right away, the mid brain, or emotional center of the brain fired up. Even if you’re not selling something, use words like “instantly” or immediately in your content and headlines.

5) Illusion of scarcity

When something has a limited amount to it, its assumed value increases. We will want it even more. Make your product/offering limited by showing a limited stock quantity or limited time frame. This is a common tactic that most Internet marketers and offline/online retailers use. And it works. Because we feel good when we gain objects of value.

6) Build reciprocity 

Reciprocity is a big deal on the social web. I’m not sure it created influence, but adding up all these little low-impact “likes” and “tweets” can certainly create leverage over time. This is one of the oldest sales tricks in the book.  When you give something away on your web site, it triggers a sensation of indebtedness in your visitor’s mind. You can give away things like free product add-ons, guidebooks, content, downloads, free shipping etc.

Studies show visitors are twice as likely to complete a survey form after they were given access to free useful information.

7. Be sexy

Sex sells.  Always has.  Always will.  Even Zappos the online shoe store is using pictures of naked people in their ads.  This is a powerful human motivator but I haven’t quite mastered this on my website! I’m not sure sex is what comes to mind when you read my blog.  If it does, please let me know.  I’d like to hear about that!

8. Speak to your visitor by using the word ‘You’

Let’s compare this simple website copy:

“This new web service has many built-in features that allow for photos to be uploaded, organized, and stored. Photos can be searched for with only a few steps.”

“You can upload your photos quickly, organize them any way you want to, and then store them so that they are easy to share with your friends. You can find any photo with only a few steps.”

Write as if you’re talking to a person sitting right next to you. She is your prospective customer. She is your blog reader. And she is your friend. Don’t be afraid to use slang or community lingo to connect to their thought processes. Communicate about what she needs, not what you sell. There’s a difference.

9) Get your visitors to make a commitment

 Your goal is to drive people to take some action: buy, download, register, etc.  And to do that, you need to convert visitors from lurkers to engaged participants.  Even the simple act of writing, typing or signing something strengthens commitment to your website/company/brand. The more public the commitment, the stronger it will be.

Getting your visitors to commit to your website can be as easy as getting them to comment on your blog.  Polls and surveys work equally well too because they make your visitors interact with you.

10) Use images that demonstrate similarity and attractiveness

Use images of attractive people who are similar to your target market’s demographic profile. People are most influenced by people they deem to be both attractive and similar to them. The brain is unconsciously sizing up people you see and their attractiveness can rub off on your website itself, much like how an attractive person in a cellphone ad makes the cellphone look more enticing.

This doesn’t just apply to images. Most Internet marketers know that in order to appeal to a certain group of people, you need a human face that will be the focal point of their empathy and connection. Hence, the widespread use of marketing personas.

I hope you’ve benefited from these ideas.  If the article made you think, please consider sharing it with others and commenting below. Thanks!
By Mark W Schaefer (Grow)

This article helps  to substantiate the need for businesses to work with professionals who are innovative and have the latest technologies to experience the tremendous benefits that can be realized in online marketing campaigns.
William Cosgrove

To kick off Social Media Week New York, Scott Monty, Global Head of Social Media at Ford Motor Company, gave an illuminating presentation entitled, "Social Wheels in Motion: Ford's Lesson in Social Media."

The presentation covered several of Ford's incredibly successful social campaigns over the last few years, providing valuable lessons to brands, both big and small, looking to drive real business results using social media. Below are five of the most important lessons Monty and his team at Ford have learned over the last few years.

1. If you have a good product, let go of fear and let others tell your story

One of Ford's first social campaigns was its Ford Fiesta Movement in 2009. In an attempt to build buzz about the car in the United States, Ford gave 100 digitally connected people a Fiesta for six months. Each had to create a themed video every month, while also documenting their time with the car on social media. Ford then put the content up in real time, unedited and unfiltered, essentially turning over the brand to its consumers.

Monty said they were confident in doing so because they had the product to back it up. And the results proved this: the campaign received 132,000 hand-raisers looking for more information, 82% of which were new to Ford and 30% of which were under the age of 25.

2. Social media is not a campaign, it's a commitment. We always need to be on

Ford has created its Social Hub as a place for costumers and fans to consume information, interact with other users and provide feedback and suggestions to the brand. Of all the ideas users submitted, Monty said 40% were either already in vehicles or were currently being worked on. Ford also created a badge system, in which users could select badges that matter to them and share on their social networks. Ford could then target its audience and deliver relevant content based on the types of badges that users selected.

3. The complete integration of paid, owned and earned media can have a significant impact

In 2010, Ford wanted to reveal its new Explorer in a new way. So it took to Facebook to let fans know they were doing things differently. Leading up to the reveal, Ford provided sneak peaks, interviews with the design team, and behind-the-scenes looks with the chief engineer. Additionally, there were events around the country in which Ford could secure earned media as well as targeted digital ads.

Ford completely integrated its marketing team to combine paid, owned and earned media. The results: on the day of the reveal, Ford received 100 million social impressions, 400 million browser impressions, and reached 66 million Americans.

4. People engage with personalities, not product features

In 2011, Ford wanted to change the perception of its Focus, "the rental car that nobody wanted," according to Monty. They turned to an orange Spokespuppet named Doug and his sidekick John and hired successful TV directors to create a series of videos that reached mostly males in their late 20s. The idea: speak the customer's language, be self-aware and commit to entertaining. The results were palpable: the videos recorded 4,000,000 views, and there was a 77% improvement in opinion of the Focus, with a 61% consideration rate.

5. Embrace the platforms your audience uses

Ford created another web series last year entitled "Escape My Life" in which an actress playing a production assistant was given a new Ford escape. The catch: the car came with an annoying product specialist who followed her around. The eight videos were distributed through YouTube and Tumblr, combined with a paid media integration.

Additionally, the product specialist, Barry, had his own blog on Tumblr, in which he created memes and discussed zombies (the latter of which saw 19,000 impressions). Overall, the campaign hub recorded 1.5 million visits, with a great deal occurring on Tumblr.
Posted by the Guardian

This post originally appeared on the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Blog

Here are some stats that Most of us already know and most Dealer Principles and GMs may already know. But let’s give it another read because this is important to your business.

Not all buyers use the same criteria to choose a dealer or are influenced by the same dealer experience and sales processes.

According to the Foresight Research 2013 Dealership Report, Taken from UCN News, based on a study of 7,543 recent U.S. new car and truck buyers, experience with a brand drives most purchases.

While 17 different automotive marketing communication channels are analyzed in this study, none are more influential to the purchase decisions of new car and truck buyers than the dealership experience with the exception of prior brand experience. Forty-nine percent of all buyers this past year report that their dealership experience was highly influential to their decision to purchase the vehicle they did. 

The average new-vehicle buyer today is older (nearly half are over age 55). They are also wealthier and experienced with the buying process. Dealer reputation and relationships are key to this group.

Younger buyers (many of them first-time buyers) bring a narrower set of expectations into their buying process. These buyers want and need dealer assistance, but one out of four say their dealership experience took too long. 

Buyers aged 35-54 (representing 37 percent of current buyers) reflect a mixture of their younger and older counterparts. Like younger buyers, they are very concerned with getting a good price/deal, and financing options. Yet like older buyers, they have high expectations of their dealer experience.

So let’s think about this. This means that the people on the front lines and by this I mean the salespeople, including those in the BDC department, Service Writers, Parts and Body Shop Departments. Now why did I just refer to all these people as salespeople?

Because they all better be. These are the people that are selling you, your services and products and if they don’t know how to sell and how to treat people-your losing a great deal of business.

So why do a lot of you think that you can get these people on the cheap and expect great results. You pay a lot for your marketing and other vendors services and hopefully they are doing the right things.

But these employees I just mentioned are your most valuable asset and you are not going to get or have the right people on the cheap. I showed in one of my last posts a dealer who was paying top dollar and getting top results. These stats just gave me the opportunity to maybe shed more light on my mission to prove my point.

You can hire consultants to train, train and do more training and give people all the tools in the world to do a job but if you don’t have the right people your just wasting your money. And by the way what are your managers doing?

You need consultants who know how to get the right people in right the positions first Which means consultants who have proven themselves on the front lines and in the trenches who can find right people you need. And again, what are your managers doing?

If you need to hire consultants, (And again what are your managers doing), find one who is going to weed out all the non-performers and who is hired by and who is looking out for you the owner and not the management that may be the root of your problems.

A lot of good salespeople and managers have already left the Automotive Industry because the good ones can perform in any Commission Sales Industry and are going where they can be rewarded for their talent.

There are those who would like to commoditize the Industry and have store clerks waiting on people. But I can tell you that if this happens there will no longer be room for the Small and Medium Size Franchise Dealer.

By having the right people you don’t need to train them because they’re professionals and are driven to perform. So if you take all that money you pay to train and get no return from and put the right people (Including Management) on the front lines- you will not only save most of the money you spend on consultants but realize that the ones on the front lines are your real ROI.

By William Cosgrove

It seems that CSI at Automobile Dealerships is starting to be treated as a passing fad or just another thing to do.
This not only affects the individual Dealers but the Manufactures and the Industry as a whole.

This is always a result of lack of leadership as I have talked about in many postings. It all flows from the top down – plain and simple.
William Cosgrove



Have you heard the news? CSI is cancelled! No, I’m not talking about the popular forensic crime scene TV show. I’m referring to the customer satisfaction index!

Dealership CSI used to be the talk of the auto industry. It is what the dealership, its sales associates and the OEMs used to hang their hats on. It was the standard measurement for how well dealerships handled their customers. Sure, keeping customers happy and satisfied is still important, but as a barometer of how well the dealership is retaining business, nothing is more accurate than retention. Consider why this is so:

• General Motors says an improvement of one percentage point in customer loyalty means about 25,000 additional vehicle sales and 700 million dollars in revenue annually.
• The cost of customer acquisition is six to ten times more than the cost of customer retention, and retention is more profitable to the bottom line.
• Retained customers talk favorably about your dealership, are less sensitive to price than new customers, and pay less attention to your competitors. They are also easier to communicate with and find.
• Eighty-percent of sales still come from 20 percent of customers, making it imperative the dealership maintain and retain these relationships.

If a dealership doesn’t proactively work to retain its customers, those customers are sure to drift off (before or after expiration of the warranty period) or be lured by the promises of a more retention-astute dealer across town or the aggressive aftermarket provider down the street.

I know it’s natural to think “we do it right here,” but perhaps you might want to try a test first. Have you recently:

• Taken a family vehicle into a dealership other than yours for routine maintenance, observed their check-in processes, and noticed how you are treated?
• Called another dealership to make an inquiry and observed how your call is handled?
• Checked service prices at a dealership and then called back again a day or two later and gotten two different estimates?

If these kinds of misfortunes are happening to customers at your dealership, customer retention is being wrecked. Improving the meet and greet, process efficiencies and other bottlenecks will not only please customers but save money too.

Finally, be intentional about retention. One way is to become heroes to customers.

Software that identify ripe sales and service opportunities in the database through data or equity mining can help staff solve problems for existing customers who are:

• Struggling with monthly payments, as job or family situation has changed since they originally bought.
• At risk of incurring mileage penalties before their lease expires and may not be aware that these additional penalty costs await them at lease end.
• Inactive service customers who need encouragement to bring scheduled maintenance services current.

Retention-building car sales strategies like these can help a dealership add from five to one-hundred or more additional unit sales a month from existing customers—customers retained by the dealership due to proactive, retention-based selling.

Stay tuned: three other retention elements will have to wait until next time.
Written by Boyd Warner