Social Media is a hot marketing topic this year in Kelowna! The number of inquiries we get about using social media for marketing has quadrupled in 2011. We have seen some media coverage in the traditional press too (see Face to Face is a click away). In the past year, we've had a chance to leverage social media as a marketing tactic for a number of businesses in Kelowna have witnessed very positive results in general. This article digs into some stats about social media's effectiveness vs. other forms of online marketing. It's interesting to see how the different tactics stack up, as well as the shifts over the last year.

In a recent survey by eMarketer.com, small to medium businesses (SMB) in the U.S. were asked several questions about their online marketing efforts and their effectiveness.

Small Business Still Prefer "Traditional" Online Marketing Tactics

From the survey, SMBs are still more likely to say they found new customers by using websites (85.8%), over email (74.3%), and search marketing (74%). Web sites are considered a more “traditional” online marketing tactic and are well entrenched in the marketing programs of most companies whether a site operates as an online brochure, order system or supports the full sales cycle.

Is Satisfaction in Online Marketing Decreasing?

Despite the rise in use of online marketing, SMBs surveyed indicate that satisfaction with many of these channels is decreasing.

Specifically, large decreases in satisfaction were seen in audio podcasts (-53%), webcasts/webinars (-44%), Twitter (-38%), Linked In (-36%), Banner/display ads (-34%) and Blog (-32%).

Are Internet Users Changing Their Behaviour?

While new online marketing programs by inexperienced marketers are going to be less effective, this doesn’t account for such a huge decrease in so many of the online marketing tactics.  Instead these decreases suggest a change in behaviour by Internet users in obtaining information. This change in behaviour is both a reflection on the increased maturity of the average Internet user, the amount of time users are willing to spend looking for something, as well as the ever increasing use of mobile Internet devices.

• Users are more aware of paid advertising including banner/display ads and search marketing (PPC);
• Users are less tolerant of lengthy sales pitches such as podcasts and webinars however informative. Instead users are turning to quicker ways to obtain the information they need, often on a “just-in-time” basis.
• Use of mobile Internet devices has increased to the point where users aren’t looking for information until they actually arrive at their destination, often using tools like Gowalla and Foursquare which alert you to sales and deals near your current location.  This focus on location based marketing is also seen in the popularity of coupons like Groupon and Twongo, as well as the increased use of Google Places.

In fact, the survey statistics show that new channels made up for these decreases, including emailing offers, Google Places, Groupon and other coupon sites, mobile marketing, and location services like Foursquare. These are all new entries on the list for 2011 and yet they all have between a 25% and 50% effectiveness rate according to the SMBs surveyed.

A Key Advantage When Marketing Online: (Nearly) Everything Measurable!

Many of these new marketing tactics are more measurable than some of the earlier tactics. It is far easier to measure the number of Groupon coupons sold or Foursquare discount coupons used over the number of sales resulting from Blog and Podcast consumption. Similarly, savvy Kelowna businesses are taking more interesting email open rates, click-through rates to gauge newsletter performance.  Perhaps this is why small businesses are jumping on these new tactics in such large numbers.

Popular email management tools like Constant Contact have great tracking and measure the number of email opens and internal link clicks on each email campaign. Website analytics software like Google Analytics enables business to see the number of visitors, clicks, time spent, and online purchases.

What does this mean for Kelowna businesses?

The move away from less measurable and out-of-vogue methods of communication towards new and often more measurable methods of communication will help businesses track the effectiveness of their online marketing efforts.  It's easier to justify spending $ on marketing when you can measure the results!

It's Free, right?

Since many of the new digital marketing channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and so on are seemingly cheap, small and medium sized businesses in Kelowna should certainly consider them.  Beware that "cheap" and "free" are not really good descriptions of these tools.  Your time is worth money!

Here's a few pointers to get started...

• Create clearly defined goals for your online marketing plan
• Identify your audience (Hint: Use the marketing channels, tools, and websites that your customers are ALREADY using)
• Understand that social media is a 2-way communications channel... it's a party line, not a megaphone
• Do a batch process (eg. write a whole week's worth of content for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn on Monday morning and schedule the release using a tool like Hootsuite)
• Measure the results (Who is clicking on your links in the updates? Do people ask more questions? Do they call for an appointment?  Do they walk in the door?)
• Integrate social media efforts with things like blogs posts, email blasts, in-store contests, special events, radio, print, and video
• Consider hiring a company if your time is better spent elsewhere!

The average sales professional in a Kelowna business typically earns between $60-80,000 per year.  In exchange for their paycheck, the salesperson is responsible for telling the story of the company and ultimately creating revenue-generating transactions. Most business owners consider this salary expense simply a cost of doing business. A well designed corporate website has the ability to do the same things, yet in Kelowna we frequently see business owners choke on their cold glass of water when they hear how much they need to spend on web design and development.

3 Types of Website Design

When looking to have a new website developed, most Okanagan businesses are going to find themselves around one of three prices: under $3000, $5000 to $10,000, and $10,000+. The big question is what type of website design does your money buy you at each of those price levels?

Websites as a Digital Brochure

For the most part, the primary role of websites developed under $3,000 is to simply act as your company’s digital brochure. Websites of this type generally consist of several information pages about who you are, what service or products that you offer and how to contact you. Most of these websites are built from templates and as such have a fairly generic feel to them but a good web developer can still customize them enough to bring out your company’s personality. If you simply want to display your corporate information, websites developed in this price range are quite satisfactory.  Do-it-yourself blogging platforms fall into this category too, and building a free or cheap site with Google’s Blogger.com or using the popular Wordpress platform is a good idea if you plan on adding regular content to your website.  Hint: adding regular content is a great way to climb up the search engine results pages and increase your online inquiries!

Websites as a Sales Tool

If you are looking to have your website do more than just act as a digital brochure and actually generate an ROI, then you need to spend some money on web design. Websites developed in the $5000 - $10,000 range become a useful tool in your sales team arsenal. These custom designed websites engage your customers with dynamic content, such as videos and slide shows, but also have the means of facilitating a two-way dialog with the customer. In this price range, tools to capture customer inquiries, sell products, download info, and provide member-only areas come into play.  Websites of this type are able to act as a tool for qualifying an unlimited number of prospective clients on any given day thus helping make the best use of your sales team’s valuable time.

Websites as Part of Your Sales Team

If you really want your website to be a full on member of your sales team and actually handle the entire sales process, from pitch to closing transaction, then you are typically going to pay $10,000 and up for web design and web development in Kelowna. When you consider that e-commerce sites such as these have the ability to assume a large amount of the workload handled by human salespeople, it doesn’t take long for your business to see a positive ROI from your website. Even if your company does not need your website to be a full on e-commerce solution, it still needs it to be an integral part of your branding and marketing strategy which in the end, results in increased revenue. The stickier that you make your website by creating a feature rich environment with frequently updated content, the greater your chance of converting visitors into clients. As such it’s quite common these days to see the web design costs reaching well over the $20,000 mark.  Custom sites are powerful sales machines for companies that sell products as well as companies that sell services.  If a $50,000 website generates leads that result in $10,000/month, is the website still expensive?  You may pay salespeople more than $50,000 per year and expect the same results.  In this light, the “expensive” website is suddenly a bargain.  We’re not saying replace your sales staff with a website, but we are saying that perhaps your website needs a serious raise!

You Get What You Pay For

Our advice to businesses in Kelowna that have a strong marketing or active sales component is to view your website as an employee.  If you paid your sales team minimum wage, do you think they would generate the results that you expect?  Just like a salesperson, you get what you pay for.   Want a super employee that works 24 hours a day and only complains once or twice a year when the internet dies or power goes out?  Yes, your website probably needs a raise.

It's been a very busy Q2 and Q3 at Twin Creek Media.

As a Kelowna marketing agency with a special focus on internet marketing and web design, we never seem to be able to breathe long enough to update our portfolio with new launches and interesting case studies.  In this project update, we'll give a taste of what the team at Twin Creek Media has been doing over the last 6 months.  (We can't tell you all the goodies though... our clients don't want us to spill the beans about their new competitive advantages and we have trade secrets to keep!)  You'll just have to hire us to reap the rewards of an integrated marketing campaign.

We have been creating new brand identities, database-driven websites, corporate brochures, direct mail pieces, running radio campaigns, shooting videos, building blogs, and driving web traffic through email marketing, search engine optimization and pay per click tactics like Google Adwords and Facebook Ads.  Just one item in that list is powerful, but done together, business goals are targeted with a type of marketing synergy that is amazing to watch.

A Sample of Completed Projects

Okanagan Regional Library

Completely redesigned website, photography, animation, print materials, and Facebook and Twitter efforts lead to many people to rediscover the library's relevance in the 21st century | Name the Marmot Contest big hit with 3000+ kids (and their parents!)

Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors

Promotional videos and unique email marketing campaigns draw people to national conference at the Delta Grand Okanagan

Case Furniture Gallery

Online contests builds brand awareness & drives retail store walk ins | Local media get VIP treatment at private event

Quantech Software

Online industry survey reveals what customers really want | Targeted email marketing campaign generates many new leads

SJF Sports

Internet marketing strategy leads to blog and intense social media campaign using Facebook and Twitter | Web traffic increased by 109.4% in 2 months

Our Okanagan

New Okanagan business networking website attracts 800+ new business/association sign ups | Employment, investment, and collaboration opportunities excite valley residents Watch the recent by Global/CHBC here.

The Greenery Garden Centre

Massive online photo contest creates a fun customer experience | web traffic soars with 600+ submissions & 3000+ votes

A Sample of Current Projects

Best Western Inn Kelowna

Search Engine Marketing Analysis reveals what Google thinks |Internet marketing campaign begins to take a leading brand higher than ever

Quantech Software

SEO and Website Usability Score Cards uncover the missing ingredients that will turn "tire kickers" into buyers | Web development focuses on amazing user friendly site which supports Sales & Marketing Dept's goals

Impact Radio Accessories

Continued magazine ad design, catalogue, and eCommerce website improvements assist in great sales performance for 2010 | Work done over the last 4 years spur on international expansion

Clement Turf Farms

Strategic research and industry surveys get to the heart of exactly how where the new revenue opportunities lie | Integrated marketing campaign underway involving both digital and traditional marketing tactics

Okanagan College - Green Business Awards

Easy to use Wordpress blog-style website will help students organize and promote the local Green Business Awards competition

Last week Global Okanagan (or what some people remember as CHBC) featured a recent project that we've been heavily involved in over the past year. Called Our Okanagan, the project is a web-based local search engine and business hub that is focused on connecting local businesses and creating new opportunities for collaboration, employment, and investment.

TIP: If your business hasn't signed up yet, click the link above and create your profile!  The site is very powerful and goes beyond what you're used to seeing in a typical "business directory".  Make sure to check out the many advanced features and fill out the different sections of your profile for best results.

The project was a great experience for us and we enjoyed working with the project leaders Okanagan Partnership, and the folks at Community Futures North Okanagan.  The story aired by Global was great, but I believe the way it was edited gives us too much credit.  We were chosen as the development partner, (and Touchpoint was chosen as the branding partner) but we certainly were not the initiators or the driving force behind the project.  We feel obligated to explain these points in case anyone gets the wrong impression.

I'd like to especially thank a couple of our own staff, Thomas Berger and Cara Reed who worked tirelessly on this project and helped make it something we're very proud of.

We're pulling back the curtains today to show how our Kelowna SEO company gets results. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is part of a larger topic called Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which the art and science of promoting a website on the internet through organic (unpaid) efforts, which is SEO, and paid efforts, like Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns.  But we're getting ahead of ourselves.  Let's rewind.

The world wide web is a big place. In fact there are around 110 Million websites in the big ol' WWW. It's pretty easy for your website to get lost in the mix.  A website is more or less pointless if no one is finding it. Web traffic is the life blood of many businesses (yes, even bricks and mortar!)  About 80% of people search for what they want on the web using Google, Yahoo or Bing.  As a business owner or marketing director, your job is to make sure that people searching for your products and services find your website.  Sounds simple, right?

Do a quick Google search for "kelowna marketing firm" and you'll see us near the top. We're actually No.1 right now, but things swap around a bit at the top of the pile. Also understand that we are in the organic (free) listings - these get clicked on about 77% of the time vs. the paid ads like the ones on the lilac background.

Business people are getting more familiar with internet marketing now, so you've probably heard of the term SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization.  SEO encompasses a variety of different techniques, unique to the individual client, that will help them rank higher on Google and other Search Engines.  Then when people are searching for things like "kelowna bike store" or "best coffee shop" or "RV dealership software" your website will appear in the search engine results pages, called SERP's.  Page one is where you'll want to be - only 1 in 5 people ever look past page one.

At Twin Creek Media we work hard to make sure that our clients' websites are ranking high for the words that potential customers are searching for. The tricky thing about SEO is that Google and other search engines like to keep their ranking algorithms secret, so while we generally know how to kick butt out there, the rules are constantly changing.  Plus, you can't fix something unless you know what's broken.  This is why we measure a website's current performance first before jumping into making changes.  Twin Creek Media's SEO Score Card and Website Usability Score Cards will cost a business about $900 each.  About 90% of our clients choose to do our Score Cards first. It's surprising how many so called "experts" don't care to do this!  If you're talking with an Kelowna SEO firm, make sure you ask about baseline measurement and SEO analysis. 

Think about it like this: if your car is making "squeaking" sounds and you bring it in to the shop, would you rather the mechanic inspect it first and fix the source of the problem, or just randomly put on new tires, brakes, muffler, and fan belts "cuz it's gotta be one of those things..."?

Check out the image below and you'll see the numbers from Google Analytics for a month over month comparison.  We pulled the data today for a few of our websites that we manage... you'll see most are receiving more visitors this month compared to last month.  Not all of the news is good.  Those of you that understand web analytics will see that some the Bounce Rates are high and Time On Site is less than ideal.  Hey, we're not perfect, but we're not trying to hide anything either.  Note: The site names are blurred out for privacy reasons.  You'll also notice two of the sites are receiving very low monthly traffic... those are actually single pages, not full websites, that we're tracking but not currently promoting right now.We make continuous improvements based on the data.  SEO is an ongoing challenge.  It doesn't ever end. Translation: when you're budgeting, internet marketing & SEO should be planned as a monthly investment.

Bottom line?  Twin Creek Media will measure, improve, and grow your website's traffic. Tip: Traffic is great but the work isn't over.  Are the visitors high quality?  Do they match your customer profile?  Once all those people land on your site do they find what they're looking for?  Do they buy?  Do they sign up?  Do they fill out your form?  Do they phone?  What we're talking about now is page conversion - a topic for another time!

Contact us to find out more about our Kelowna SEO services: 250-762-4001

by Andrew Spoeth (Visit Andrew's Blog Here)

Redesigning a website can be a lengthy, complicated process. Done properly, it can give a dramatic boost you your online presence. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure, and pain, of being a part of several redesign projects.

Here is a checklist for website redesign, a series of steps that developers will go through in a successful redesign project.

1. Document the reasons you’re redesigning the website.
   Having these listed will act as a compass through the lengthy project. When things get stressful, you’ll want this reminder.
2. Test the old site, e.g. with an online intercept survey.
   How easily can users find key parts of the site? Other testing methods include focus groups and eye tracking. For the survey, get enough data to make it statistically relevant. The qualitative, descriptive feedback from one-on-one sessions with customers is also very valuable.
3. Conduct a baseline analysis of the old site.
   A baseline analysis is a document which sets the bar by which the future site will be measured. It should detail how the old site has performed over the past year, including key performance indicators like visitors, bounce rate, conversion rates, pages/visit, etc.
4. Set targets for the new site.
   These should be actual numbers and be based on the baseline mentioned above.
5. Hire a design company.
   Choose a company which has experience in your industry and has demonstrated success in the past. Do they ask you the right questions? Do they understand your customer? Do they deliver on budget and on schedule?
6. Map out the new site’s architecture.
   Work on a whiteboard or a blank piece of paper. Use one box per web page, starting with the home page on top. Draw lines between the pages to show logical connections. An alternative process, called Card Sorting, starts with cue cards. Create one cue card per web page, lay them out on a large table and start grouping and arranging them.
   When mapping out the architecture, remember to keep the site compact, i.e. don’t create too many levels. This is bad for usability and bad for search engine optimization.
7. Do keyword research.
   Consider words being used by your customers, at conferences, etc. Take a look at your old site’s analytics to determine which keywords have been bringing traffic from the search engines, especially traffic that converts into real business. Also consider third party tools like Google’s Search-based keyword tool, Seo Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool. And don’t forget Google Trends.
   How long should your keyword list be? That depends on your business model. But in most circumstances, a list of 20-30 is a great start.
8. Audit all of your existing online collateral.
   This includes all old and existing web pages, online brochures, podcasts, etc. Make a list in Excel and leave a couple of columns for notes and an instructions, e.g. ‘keep’, ‘keep but edit’, or ‘throw away’. B2B sites should also make room for columns to describe the type of buyer that web page appeals to, e.g. technical buyer, economic buyer, and when in the buying process that web page would best be viewed, i.e. Phase I: Awareness of Problem, Phase II: Researching a Solution, etc.
9. Write content for the new site.
   Each page should have a clear purpose, give an opportunity to continue, and be optimized for 1-2 keywords identified in number 7 above.
10. Create wireframes, mock-ups, etc.
    Carried out for the most part by your design company, this is where your combined knowledge of the target market turns into a creative and user friendly design which works.  Have the design company give you at least a couple of unique designs for the home page to choose from.
11. Test the mock-ups for usability.
    Let some customers loose on these mock-ups. The pages only need minor functionality for now, e.g. be able to click on a couple of key areas. Make note of how easily and quickly key parts can be found.
12. Fix, adjust and iterate
    Based on the results of your tests, iterate until you have a design which you can live with for the next 2 – 3 years.
13. Build out and populate pages.
    A lot of this may be handled by the web design company. Take all of the freshly written content and place it in the built pages. When choosing file and folder names for pages, consider using the keywords you identified in the keyword research stage above.
14. Organic optimization (SEO)
    You’ve already written the content and used the right keywords. Now is the time to take it further by ensuring that each page’s title, description and header tags do the same. Include links between pages. Interlinking is great for usability and great for search engine spiderability.
    Don’t forget to create a sitemap. There are two types of sitemaps, one which is on your site and visible to the user, and one which is visible only to the search engines (an XML Sitemap).
    And, don’t forget inbound links coming to some of the old site’s pages. Put a redirect in place for each of those so the new visitors, and link power, know where to go.
15. Testing. Try to break it before the site is launched.
    Get a large group of people you trust to poke around, find broken links, etc. Use various browsers, operating systems, look at it on a smart phone.
16. Add tracking code to each web page.
    This will ensure you can measure what’s happening with the new site. For tracking software like Google Analytics, it will be a fairly easy process, i.e. same tracking code on each page which can be applied in the footer.
17. Launch day. Flick the switch, uncork the champagne.
    Don’t forget to take a screen shot of the old site.
18. Post-launch monitoring
    Make a schedule and force yourself to note the key stats at regular intervals after the site is launched. For the first few days, do it every day. After that, weekly. If you have budget, do a second intercept survey (see #2 above).
19. Take the time to create a Content Development / Maintenance plan.
    Use a calendar and map out when you’ll be adding new content. How often will the ‘latest events’ section be updated? Who will update it? When will you review the product descriptions? Or case studies?
20. Keep a journal of this whole process
    

Want to see what the end result looks like?

> See a few examples on our Project Work page

by James Shaw, Creative Director / Owner, Twin Creek Media

There is no shortage of terrible websites clogging up the filter of the world wide web these days.  I really don't mind bad websites if they have no real serious intentions - say, someone's collection of out of focus photos, or a personal blog about insects.  But a company's website is serious business.  And it's a crime to waste a great opportunity to gain more customers and earn more revenue on poor execution and poor follow through.

Let's address the TOP 12 reasons why your company's or association's website is useless:

1. Not listed or not on page 1 in Google (or other search engines or web directories).  80+% of EVERYTHING begins as a search, and not many people bother clicking past the first page of Google.  SEO/SEM is critical.
2. Out of date information (last updated in 2003?)
3. Hard to use navigation (people are dazed and confused)
4. Primitive & ugly design (inconsistent colours, fonts, styles)
5. No engaging content (if your site is nothing more than a copy/pasted brochure, you're in trouble!)
6. No calls to action (what specifically do you want your visitors to do?  If you don't tell them, don't expect any action. Eg. getting tons of hits but no conversion?  Hmm...)
7. Your internet marketing is not INTEGRATED with your overall marketing of your business/association.  (Hint: your web "guy" and your print "girl" are probably working in a vacuum.  Twin Creek Media is one of the only truly integrated marketing firms in the Okanagan.)
8. There is no regular promotion of the website.  Eg. email marketing campaign connecting with your target audience and driving web traffic back to your website, or direct mail piece with a web offer.
9. The copy writing is boring, too long or too short, duplicated, irrelevant and not optimized for Search Engines.
10. You don't view your website as a powerful member of your Sales and Marketing Team. (websites don't get sick or take vacation days and can generate a steady stream of qualified leads or even sell your products for your business or assocation... in other words your website is a worker, not just another marketing channel)
11. Your site is not utilizing the latest technology: blogs, online PR, social networking, viral video, etc. (you don't need to know all the latest technology, just get to know someone that does, and ask him/her if one of the latest online fads is a good fit for you.)
12. Nobody is visiting!  Nothing matters more than traffic, and even a $100,000 site is going to crash and burn without a launch strategy and ongoing promotion.

Okay, so useless may be a strong word.  But your site definitely won't be as effective as it could be if you're not paying attention to the points above.  We've witnessed sites go from ZERO to HERO in a matter of months by focusing on the missing ingredients - we're talking web traffic gains of 400%.

Who would you hire to redesign your company's site?

a) an artist
b) a programmer
c) a strategic marketer

Trick question actually.  If you thought, "all", you got it right.

The reason is the proper web development is both an art and science, and surprisingly a lot of each.