Depending on what business you’re in, typically anywhere from 2%-15% of your online visitors convert into customers. That means 85%-98% don’t. So, wouldn’t you like to know why?

You can, by gathering some critical customer feedback with some very affordable methods and tools. Best of all, all of these analyses can be done for less than $1000 (USD).

I call this ‘taking the pulse’ of your prospects and customers — from two angles, and using multiple methods. By two angles I mean doing both quantitative and qualitative analysis. And the methods include:

Reviewing your analytics data Reviewing your visitor clickstream data Gathering ‘voice of customer’ data Running an eye-tracking study Launching a one-question poll Getting expert conversion review [si_monthly_campaign_blog_cta_banner id="150538"]

Why so many methods? Well, your medical doctor doesn’t just check your blood pressure, then say, ‘OK, we’re done,’ and send you on your…

Two-thirds of 18 to 34-year-olds admit that the ‘Instagrammability’ of a location is the single most important factor when booking a holiday

Few industries are more tailor-made for Instagram or the snap-happy, tech-savvy consumers who make up its user base than the travel industry. Think about it: before we venture abroad or to a far-flung region of our own fair isle, we visualize the enjoyment such a place will offer. From white sand beaches to aquamarine waters, snow-blanketed ski slopes to the bright lights of a modern metropolis, we see in our mind’s eye what is to come. An image that jives with our own perception, or plants a fresh seed, inspires thoughts about the experiences we will have and the memories we will make. According to a recent survey by Expedia, two-thirds of 18 to 34-year-old’s admit that the ‘Instagrammability’ of a location – that is to say,…

To know whether your social media marketing efforts are paying off, you need to analyze your current performance

The idea behind social media analytics, while being quite new, rests on an age-old principle — you need to understand where you are to know where you are going. To paraphrase this, to know whether your social media marketing efforts are paying off, you need to analyze your current performance. Social media platforms understand the importance of analytics, that’s why they all provide users with some form of insight. Considering how many options platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer for data analysis, trying to determine which metrics are actually valuable can be quite disorienting. Moreover, beyond your own data, there is so much more to pay attention to and derive valuable lessons from. You can identify content trends, learn more about your target audience behaviour, your competitors’ strategy, ect. These are not the kind of…

Highlights, insights, and lessons from some of Smart Insights’ best marketing guides

The world of marketing is constantly changing and modern marketers are expected to have an increasingly diverse set of knowledge and skills. Although the internet offers a vast wealth of information, it’s often difficult to judge what is and isn’t good quality. Although biased, I believe that Smart Insights provides a wide range of quality marketing resources, from daily blog posts to quick guides and toolkits. Smart Insights has over 200 different guides that marketers can access (depending on your subscription) - as well as online training and e-learning - to learn about everything from how to set up a social media campaign to managing a digital transformation strategy. I’m a big believer that marketers should always be learning and looking to build their skills and capabilities. But with so many resources, where should you start? The answer to this question…

The 5Is model from Forrester can help to structure your digital marketing

Forrester is a well-established market research company focusing on business applications of digital technology and media and over the years, the team from Forrester have developed a number of models that we can apply to digital marketing. Occasionally they extract insights from their research and share in the form of a blog article. In 2007 they created a measure of engagement which was termed the 5Is although their focus was on 4 specific elements beginning with the letter ‘i’.

What are the 5Is?

The 5Is stand for the level of involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence an individual has with a brand over time. The concept was based on research conducted by Forrester where they concluded that the traditional marketing funnel was dead and they proposed ‘engagement’ as a new metric. Engagement as a term had been discussed by many scholars as far…

46% of marketers feel that retargeting is undervalued, so should you be using it?

For us as marketers, the digital age is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it has never been easier to reach the target audience. It is a curse because everyone tries to capitalize on it. What we are left with is a highly cluttered digital environment and the battle to attract attention. But to be fair, you are great at your job. You know all the little tips and tricks that will help your brand stand out online. So we will take a look at a method that most consider old hat - retargeting. [si_blog_banner_cta] Retargeting, sadly, is a trick that 46% of marketers feel is woefully unvalued. Is it because it is an older trick? Or perhaps because it is not well understood? In this post, we will go through a…

How to rank higher on Google and what to do if your traffic suddenly drops

Everyone knows the importance of providing consistent and high-quality content on your website but determining what quality content actually looks like can be a bit tricky.

Why?

Because quality is subjective, of course, and while one person may enjoy one particular style of content, another may find it too long, not relevant enough or simply uninspiring.

Then, of course, you have Google. The Holy Grail of search engines. Everyone wants their content to rank highly on the site that receives over 63,000 searches every second.

That’s around two trillion searches per year by the way.

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In this digital era we live in, the integration of live events and social media has proven to be a marketing strategy with high ROI

The events industry generates $ 1.5 trillion annually around the globe. In this digital era we live in, the integration of live events and social media has proven to be a marketing strategy with high ROI. If digital was a threat to physical experiences a few years ago, they are complementary now. To better take advantage of this innovative landscape of data analytics, enhanced immersive experiences and growth opportunities, marketing activations are on their way to becoming fully physical and digital at the same. In other words, they’re combining best practices and optimizations of digital transformation and in-person experiences.

What are live events and social media in the core of marketing strategies for 2020?

New…

When you're not joining your social media and blogging efforts, you aren't benefitting from their full potential impact

Everybody knows that your blog and social media accounts are essential parts of building an online presence for your brand. Both social media channels and blogs are powerful mechanisms for helping marketers analyze their audience and communicate with them. However, people usually separate these two things and use them to reach different goals. The case is that when you're not joining your social media and blogging efforts, you aren't benefitting from their full potential impact. In this article, I won’t suggest sharing your blog posts on your Twitter and Facebook accounts, as I hope it goes without saying. Instead, I’ll provide you with advice on how to make your marketing even more efficient by making your blog and social media work together.

Why you need to integrate your social media marketing and blogging

You’re most likely to…

Having a domain name that stands out in your communication can help make your message more effective

Marketing is not what it used to be. The Internet has radically transformed how we conduct and promote our business. Today, with digital marketing at the forefront, there are abundant resources and venues available than ever before. Do you want to drive more leads to your website? Or maybe generate more awareness about your product? If done tactfully, digital marketing can help you achieve all this and turn your business into a profit. However, even with digital marketing, there are two big challenges: Businesses do not have clear goals of what they want to accomplish from their marketing. Everyone is doing somewhat the same thing, in turn, adding to noise instead of being heard.

How to create a robust digital marketing strategy?

A good digital marketing strategy addresses the two challenges mentioned above in these simple ways:

1. Create…