Search engine optimisation, e-newsletters, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts and RSS feeds are terms that we have all heard bandied about – but what do they actually mean and how do they apply to business?
All of these media are part of the next stage of the internet’s integration into our lives and work, which has become known as ‘Web 2.0’. Without getting too technical, Web 2.0 basically means using the internet as a platform for achieving a greater range of day to day business activities. Business operators know that they should be dipping their toes into the Web 2.0 pond, but it can be a daunting process if you have only just mastered sending an email or surfing the net! And even if you are a competent computer user, it can be difficult to decide which of these new media will be the best way to market your business.
We have outlined below simple definitions for each of these electronic marketing media and examples of how they can be used to boost your marketing activities.
1. Search engine optimisation. If your company has a website (and if it doesn’t, why not?), you can significantly increase the number of people who visit your website by using search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO refers to the ways you can structure your website to improve your search ranking (that is the likelihood of your business coming up at the top of a list on a search engine such as Google), while paid placement is the process of paying the search engine to put an advertisement for your website on their results page.
Paid placement with a search engine uses a system called Pay Per Click (PPC). Search engines such as Google require companies to ‘bid’ on search words and phrases. How close to the top of the page your company advertisement appears depends on whether you have placed the highest bid for that phrase. Very common search terms are often the subject of intense bidding wars, so it is important to know which keywords and phrases people are using when searching for your product or service.
2. E-newsletters and blogs. E-newsletters and blogs are an effective way of using electronic media to communicate with your customers or clients. E-newsletters (such as Market Savvy Express) are emailed to a database of subscribers and should contain information that is of interest to the reader. A blog (short for ‘web log’) is similar to an e-newsletter in that it contains information of interest to the reader. Blogs are usually hosted on-line, can be accessed by anyone, and allow readers to ‘comment’ on the content contained within the blog. Blogs are a much more interactive and informal form of electronic communication but do require regular updating and a loyal following in order to be a worthwhile exercise.
E-newsletters and blogs are quickly replacing traditional customer communications such as printed newsletters, flyers and letters. They are more cost-effective, delivered directly to your customer’s inbox and are environmentally friendly. But remember that the privacy laws state that you cannot send an e-newsletter to a customer without their explicit permission.
3. Podcasts and vodcasts. If you have TV or radio recordings of your products, are giving regular seminars or speeches, want to educate or train your customers, or just simply want to communicate with them in a new and interesting way, then podcasting or vodcasting may be of interest to you. A podcast (an aggregation of the words ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcast’) is a series of audio or video digital-media files which can distributed over the internet to portable media players (eg iPods) and personal computers. The term ‘vodcast’ is sometimes used to distinguish a video podcast from an audio podcast. To create a podcast or vodcast you do require special software and a good grasp of what it takes to make it interesting so that your customers or clients will want to keep listening or watching. Remember that with most electronic media, you do not have the physical power to keep your audience’s attention and prevent them from hitting ‘stop’ or ‘delete’, so you’d better have something interesting to say!
4. RSS feeds. An RSS feed, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is a way to automatically let your clients know when you have new online information such as blog entries, e-newsletters, podcasts and vodcasts via the internet. Subscribers need to use an RSS reader (available either on-line or as software) which will regularly check their subscribed feeds for updated materials, download any updates that it finds, and present the subscriber with the results. So, if you find yourself creating a significant volume of blogs, e-newsletters, podcasts and / or vodcasts, it would be a good idea to enable your readers to subscribe to all of these using an RSS feed.
Hopefully this helps clarify some of the new jargon. If you would like further information on how these techniques can be implemented to grow your business, please contact me on 07 3899 8335 or email megan@marketsavvvy.com.au .
Best wishes – Megan.