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!

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

Social Media Marketing is complex, ever-changing beastly nightmare. Right?

It's time to push fear aside and meet the beauty underneath the beast. Social Media doesn't have to be scary. With a little learning, the right partners to help along the way, and a genuine desire to connect with others, you'll be one of the "elite" in no time.

Our Social Media 101 Reference Card covers many common questions such as...

• What is social media all about?
• How can social media tools be used for business?
• Where do I start?
• What is a social media footprint, and why is it important?
• What should I say on Facebook, Twitter, etc.? I'm stuck!
• What tools are the best to get my brand out there?
• What tools are the best to drive traffic to my website?
• How can social media help rank our site higher on Google?
• Includes software/application comparison chart from CMO.com!

Since 2004, Twin Creek Media has been a strategic and creative marketing agency located in Kelowna, British Columbia. The firm has carved a place in the marketing world by becoming known for integrated marketing: combining the best of internet and digital with the traditional mediums of print, radio, and TV.

We've structured our company a little differently than other marketing agencies.  We have 4 people on our executive team, and 12 part-time specialists on our creative team.   Clients get consistent leadership and project management, while scoring the specialized resources that make up our "dream teams".

Normally, clients get "A" there, "B" the other place, "C" somewhere else, and run around between various companies fitting things all together.  The result: lack of clarity, lack of continuity, lack of harmony in the marketing message.  Instead, at Twin Creek Media clients get a well-rounded range of marketing services... from assessing the need, creating the materials, and choosing the right tool(s) for the job.  We fit in very nicely with SMBs (small/mid sized businesses) - companies with 10 to 50 employees.

Twin Creek Media aims to be the gold standard in integrated marketing.  Roughly half our staff are Gen X and Y - we understand the digital world.  We live the internet.  We breathe Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, digital video, SEM, SEO, mobile apps... we know how to integrate the best of what today's technology has to offer with what is tried and true in the advertising universe - the big 3: print, radio, TV. 

"We love integrated marketing. Assessing your market and understanding your target audience is critical.  Creating the concept, designing the visuals, and crafting the words are undeniably important.  But the correct delivery of the message is crucial for successfully engaging your audience.  Marketing channels are all different and each have there own strengths and weaknesses.  We want to use the right marketing mix for each client." - Cara Reed, Account Director

We will not limit our services to one industry or one marketing tool.  Imagine marketing channels were colours of the rainbow... (oh boy, here comes the metaphor!) We will not limit our offerings to one colour.  If you want an just an expert in the colours of black & white, there are a million of them these days... just Google it.  We want to use any and all colours appropriate to tell your marketing story!