First Internet Blog- latest industry blog

Search marketing is a relatively new advertising medium – the first search ads were only served in 1998, but it has already become a major factor in the advertising plan of a wide range of industry sectors.

Figures from the IAB suggest that the total online ad spend in the UK was £6 billion last year – with paid search accounting for 45% – and that figure is set to rise in 2010. Of course, figures for the amounts marketers spend on paid search will only ever tell part of the search marketing story – it would be impossible to accurately measure what marketers spend on the other side of the equation, search engine optimisation, the quasi-art, quasi-science of making websites perform better in natural search.

What it does tell us, is that the world of web design and SEO waits for no man, so if brand owners are ever going to be successful online, they need to get to grips with the nature of Search Marketing today, and how it integrates with their entire online marketing strategy.

There are various aspects to online marketing; from web design and search engine optimisation to pay-per-click advertising and social media. However, one channel that is experiencing exponential growth is Affiliate Marketing.

The performance marketing sector is buzzing this year, both in terms of deals being done and the explosive growth in the sector. E-Consultancy estimates that the affiliate marketing industry is growing by nearly 60% year on year. This is mainly due to the fact that it is a relatively cost effective and low risk channel – ultimately, you only pay for what you get.

Advertisers themselves are appreciating the importance of the channel and are informing their web design, with what will work well with their affiliate strategy. They are also starting to recognise affiliates for what they are – their online sales force.

All told, 2010 is shaping up to be another exciting year in affiliate marketing – and those that respond quickly enough to take advantage should continue to reap its benefits.

While the recession put an untimely end to the consumer boom, the UK enjoyed over the last ten years, there remains plenty of opportunity for brands online.

The amount spent online in the UK increased by almost half in 2009 and subsequently, there is no room for complacency in web design or any aspect of marketing online. And yet, too many big name high street brands still fail to have an e-tail element of any kind, while many of those that do have not translated the brand experience they offer offline, to the web design of their site online.

The sites that do have a winning formula, such as Tesco.com, offer customers what they want. Tesco may be huge offline, but its e-tail success is not merely the result of transferring its bricks-and-mortar strategy online. Successful e-tail sites monitor consumer behaviour, understand the difference of selling online and constantly tweak their web design to react to consumer feedback.

Just as the online medium is constantly evolving, so should the e-tail experience you offer.

Monitor, track and respond.

As broadband technology continues to improve, innovations such as rich format applications and viral marketing are presenting opportunities to build brand awareness more effectively form the point of web design and beyond.

While more and more companies are choosing to allocate marketing budgets online -instead of more traditional advertising channels, such as television and newspapers – there is a debate that most brands are not getting the most from their online spend.

We would argue that this is a consequence of the fact that many business owners venturing into the world of web design and online media for the first time, treat customers different online than they do offline.

Engagement online is no different than any other medium. It is about how you get the message to consumers and making sure that message connects. Your message must be relevant, creative and inspired .

The main difference with online is that it doesn’t just inform the consumer – it involves them in your message so that they can interact with your brand. Therefore it is vital your web design communicates with them creatively and rewards the attention the customer is giving it.

It used to be so simple: when a customer bought an item online, only their final click would be measured by marketers and that success would be solely attributed to the quality of the web design. However, the route the user took to get to the website is equally important.

Since the advent of search marketing and pay-per-click measurement a “winner takes all” mentality has dominated the marketing industry. The fact that a customer bought something from a website was only thought to be a consequence of brilliant web design. While it is true that web design is major contributing factor in conversion, to give no consideration to the complex path a user takes from idea to research and through to purchasing online, is short sighted.

For example a user may have seen a number of display ads while online, been sent an e-mail and clicked through on some generic keywords, before finally clicking through on a search engine to a brand website, appreciating the web design and making a purchase.

It is important that brands considering selling online, appreciate the various paths to customer conversion from the point of web design. Only when they are aware of the importance of integrating all their online activity, will they achieve success.

As more and more people shop online, their demands of web design and what a website should offer have become more sophisticated. The challenge of any programmer, web design agency or indeed online marketer, is to exceed expectations.

Usability is a vital tool in ensuring a website delivers on its promise – both to users and to the company it represents. However, there is considerable research to suggest that too many sites are poorly designed, and losing their owners money.

Users or shoppers develop a keen sense of how sites should work and take those expectations online when they start to shop. For companies selling online, they need to know what those expectations and conventions are for the particular sector they operate in and – crucially – ensure that they are reflected in their web design.

Web 2.0 was a term coined during a conference brainstorming session between Tim O’Reily and Dale Dougherty. It came out of the realisation that after the dot com crash of 2000, the reality was that the hyperbole surrounding all things internet and web design might actually be true and in fact the technology of the internet was changing all aspects of our lives, but was doing so in a way that was not originally envisaged.

The reality is that Web 2.0 means different things to different people. Ask an online marketer what they consider to be Web 2.0 and they will most probably mention democratization of the internet through blogging and social media. While if you asked one of our techies, they may mention disturbed technologies that allow much more sophisticated user interaction with a webpage, in truth, there is no clear definition of Web 2.0.

For a web design company, like us, Web 2.0 is all about giving the customer the chance to engage with your brand in a much more interactive and creative way online. And as the potential of social media is only just being realized, the future looks very interesting.

Web 4.0 anyone?

As anti-spam protocols become more and more sophisticated, and the e-mail market becomes increasingly saturated with brands, each trying to get their message across. How can you ensure your e-mail campaign not only get delivered, but also results in that most important click-through?

While deliverability and conversion continue to be pressing issues for email marketing, it doesn’t seem to have stopped most brands from allocating a significant proportion of their marketing spend to the activity. Indeed, according to E-consultancy, brand owners spent an estimated £178m in the UK last year on email marketing. However; due to the increasing sophistication of anti-spam technology, it is very likely that a high proportion of those emails were never delivered into actual inboxes.

So, how do brand owners ensure they deliver fully rendered electronic communications into the right mail boxes? Well, according to most observers , the best way to ensure e-mails are delivered and converted into sales, is to obey the basic rules of any marketing activity: build a credible relationship with consumers and only target the right people, with offers they want.

Simple, eh?!

For more information about e-mail marketing call us on 0161 941 5330 or email us quoteme@firstinternet.co.uk

E-mail marketing has been an important part of the online marketing mix for some time. However, the tools and techniques the e-mail marketing industry deploys and the data it relies on are becoming sophisticated by the day.

Spend is rocketing as more and more brands turn to e-mail to complement or replace traditional direct marketing channels, e-mail is the primary reason consumers go online and it is important brand’s considering implementing an e-mail marketing strategy- after web-design – capitalise on this without alienating their core audience.

Every genuine e-mail communication needs to be relevant and timely to ensure response for clients and a positive reaction from the consumer. The best advertisers are reaping the benefits of a transparent and accountable marketing channel and – if it continues to be executed correctly – e-mail marketing looks set to inherit the mantle of direct marketing.

In tomorrow’s post, we look at the challenges facing this fast-growing medium and how technological advances are making them easier to overcome.

Ralph Lauren transformed the concept of both window–shopping and web design, by announcing the launch of an interactive window that aims to bridge the virtual retail world with that of bricks and mortar: Shoppers on London’s Bond Street and Milan’s Via Montenapoleone can now use a touchscreen on 78-inch shop “window” to buy clothes. The shopper who was previously thwarted by restrictive opening hours now has the opportunity to interact with the brand in a whole new way. If you are considering web design, one of the key questions you have to ask yourself is: “which technologies do I use to get my message across online?”

The answer to this question will stem from your consumers, who hold the power in the battle of online spaces. Yes, you have your website; but consumers now expect to interact with your brand as opposed to having it fed to them. How you take advantage of the many technological innovations in web design is vitally important so that you don’t end up in the quagmire of adding unnecessary bells and whistles to you website – which are detrimental to customer experience. This distinction is crucial: technology should be used to aid customers and to allow enhanced customer service through better web design.

The most important thing is that your web design is creative in empowering the user; using the right mix of cutting edge web design and customer insight to strike up a relationship with your users will ensure they act as your brand ambassadors, on and offline 24/7.