This week has seen a promotion by Westfield to promote a competition to win $10.000 gift card via Facebook.  It all looks good but there are several problems with the way in which it running the promotion.

There Terms and Conditions states as follows item 4 states.

4.To be eligible to enter, individuals must, during the Promotional Period, click on any online icon associated with the promotion. Individuals will then be automatically directed to the promotional landing page.
To enter, individuals must then, during the Promotional Period, input their email address as requested on the landing page, agree to the Terms and Conditions, opt-in to receive future communication from the Promoter and agree to accept the Westfield Facebook application on the Facebook Platform. To accept the Westfield Facebook application, individuals must click on the link provided on the landing page and agree to upload the application. When the Westfield Facebook application has been uploaded, individuals must then update their Facebook status to read as “All I Want for Christmas is a Westfield Gift Card” using the application functionality. Once an individual’s Facebook status has been updated correctly, the Westfield Facebook application will be deemed successfully completed and individuals are then permitted to update their Facebook status at any time. No other means of status updates will be accepted.

Source http://westfieldgiftcards.com.au/giftcard/alliwant/

Face book rules states.

You cannot: Administer a promotion that users automatically enter by becoming a fan of your Page.

You cannot: Condition entry in the promotion upon a user providing content on Facebook, such as making a post on a profile or Page, status comment or photo upload.

You cannot: Notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.

You cannot: Instruct people (in the rules or elsewhere) to sign up for a Facebook account before they enter the promotion.

Source http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

Further Reading

Westfield Gift Cards taking over Facebook, breaking rules in the process

http://www.digital-media.net.au/article/westfield-gift-cards-taking-over-facebook-breaking-rules-in-the-process/506726.aspx

Nice Try Westfield.

With the high amount of users on Facebook, YouTube, Flicker and other social network platforms it seems that some businesses are putting their money into the wrong areas of marketing? I am going to focus here on the Australian market as it the market I am interested in. There is great debate as to the value of internet advertising however one must understand the shift in culture of the use of the internet. Australians love Facebook with over 6 million users.  That is 30% of the population are using Facebook.  Google has also done some research into YouTube users in Australia.

This video not only highlights what changing in the culture but also should set alarms to your marketing campaign.

The trend in Social Media Marketing has seen a major shift in the way we do business. The keyword is “Social”.  Marketing to Social network users is something you done all your life and that is create conversation.  Twitter has become the conversation platform of recent times and soon to be released to the public Google Wave that makes claims to be an email killer.

Strategies

The most important strategy of Social Media Marketing is becoming a part of communities online. Make connections with other users and build a following that become interested in your product range and services.  This is not about selling directly as you do with other media but about participation in the media.

Creating a Facebook page and a YouTube channel will not bring people rushing to your door. It requires a strategy that will create interest in what you’re doing.  Take for example you sell Children’s clothing.  A couple of YouTube Video, a Web site and a Facebook page will not get you any business.

The strategy requires 1st an insight into the culture of Social Media. The culture is very astute and lean heavily on other users for advice and opinions.  If your products are not endorsed by the media then you have a lot of work to do to get it right.  They can fail your campaign in a matter of hours.

To create a conversation you need to be positive and supportive of the culture. By this I mean offer something of value that requires just a mouse click and then support that offer by creating conversation about it. An example might be you have a new range of children fashions just came into stock.  You have created an online catalogue and want to drive some traffic to the catalogue.  You may first post an item on Facebook Feed. “Can you see your child wearing this?”  with a link to the catalogue. This would work well with the target of people who have children and may lead to sales but it also becomes a little more complex.  What do the visitors do when they view your catalogue?

My idea that a well designed catalogue would allow users to vote on the question you asked?  “Can you see your child wearing this?”   Allow them to place an order for an item and make comments about their experience in dealing with you.  Take a look how eBay  allows users to participate with the seller or another example is Amazon.com and how you’re able to rate books and write reviews.

Get Referrals

When I first learned the craft of been a sales person the emphases was to prospect for new sales leads. One tactic was to ask a customer  “ Who do you know that may also need my service”.  Online is very similar because you have a resource of followers who would be happy to tell others of something that is good on the internet.  But this need to be easy for the user to do. Web 2 technologies make this very easy by adding share buttons to your pages for all the major social networks.  The visitor can quickly click the share button to post to their friends or followers.  I use Facebook that then aggregates it to FreindFeed  that then tweets it on twitter. There is a potential for over 100,000 people will get a copy of the links I post. 

To motivate visitors to use the share button comes back to what I wrote earlier. “Give something of value”  If the visitor agrees it has value to their network then they will be very eager to share it.  My fellow student who follow me on my Social media  have an interest in Internet studies. If I find an interesting post and share it others in my network they normally will follow up on the shared link.

Why?

Common Interest. The topic is what my peer group has an interest in.  This can also work for you.

Competitors

The interesting thing about Social media is the way in which they compete. There is still the normal motivation to be better than the competitor but also the use of competitor content to help you.  If you see something good then share it with your group even if it’s a competitors content. This builds trust with your user and adds to the “Social” aspect of the media.

Practice

Social media is very rarely an instant success although much has been written about the one who succeeded. But for each instant success there are millions who are making ground with their own strategy.  Normally it could take six month or more to see any real benefit in your efforts and there are many pitfalls.   But practice and persistence is the key to your success.  

Good Luck.

NOTE:  You could employ a strategist to building your online campaign.  Find someone who is qualified to advise you on the correct methods. Do not use the receptionist as Peter Fletcher point out just one problem in doing so.

Web analytics is something we should be well aware of when developing our website. Understanding what your visitors are doing

on your site can help you decide on changes that may need to be done. If visitors are coming to your site and not participating in your site then web analytics can help identify what happening and what can be done. The problem is that web server stats do not provide an accurate picture of this as there are several  known problems relating to the data generated by these reports.

• Hits count has no real meaning
• Visitor count are distorted by search engines, bots, spiders and other irrelevant pings
• The relationship of one table to another often do not match making it difficult to analyse
• Behaviour of a visitor not really the concern of the server log

The really only value of web server stats are to monitor errors or search engine visits.

There is several good software packages available.

VisiStat – Real-time tracking with graphical and intuitive reporting features.

Google Analytics – Mentioned in our first list, Google offers free analytics software. Includes tight integration with AdWords (see also: 27 Features that Make Google Analytics Best of Breed). Unlike some enterprise apps, the stats are usually on a delay of a few hours.

mviSPY – Real-time analytics that track conversions and visitor identities.

Webstats BASIC – A free analytics program that tracks visitors and trends and has exportable reports.

Webstats PRO – A full-featured analytics package that includes click path analysis, campaign tracking, and complete traffic monitoring capabilities.

LoadStats – Provides two different packages that include basic page view and visitor tracking along with geo-location, ad tracking, and more.

Opentracker.net – Real-time visitor monitoring and web statistics.

eWebAnalytics – Comprehensive, free package that tracks unique visitors, conversions, average click-paths, traffic history, bounce rates, and virtually everything else that you could want in an analytics solution.

MetaTraffic – Web analytics program that installs quickly and has the ability to track ad campaigns, downloads, and multimedia file traffic.

clickdensity – Heat maps with real-time visitor data to help you optimize your link and ad placement and enhance your site’s stickiness.

nextSTAT – Complete analytics package that includes graphical visitor detail path reports.

ClickTale – Watch movies of what your visitors do while on your site, view heatmaps and every interaction that a visitor has on your site including hovers, hesitations, and even which form fields are causing visitors to leave.

ClickHeat – A free click heatmap generator.

“Source Mashable”

Understanding your data

Understanding the data is the most important aspect to Web Analytics. The data can gain an insight into what your visitor is really doing on your site and enables you to make changes accordingly. An example of this is what are the visitors looking at and then what do they do next. If they leave the site then without making a purchase then you will know that you have to look at why are they leaving. There is no right or wrong answer to the question as different sites provide different solutions.

Thing you should look for in your data are

1. Where do your visitor go when they leave the site?  “Competitive Site?”
2. What page do they leave on?
3. How long do they stay on site?  “Less than 10 second is considered invalid data”
4. how many pages did they view?
5. What pages are getting viewed?
6. What pages are not getting viewed?
7. Is the visitor participating in your site? “Leaving comments, rating product”
8. Making purchases from your site

Dig Deep

Often you need to dig deep to find the answers your looking for in your data. This takes careful analysis by trained professionals that understand the workings of the internet and web analytics.  There can be lots of lies told in web data and true understanding is what makes this possible to find.

If you really need to understand what your visitors are doing on your site there are a small band of people who specialise in this field.

Good place to start is Web Analytics Association

So you want to get on the internet and make money. Your been told you need a web site for your business and you cannot succeed with out one. This article will explore the basics of creating your presence on the web.

Selecting a web designer

This is a very competitive market and and many static designers willing to put together a site for you. You need to carefully consider what your goals are for the site.

Some goals to consider

• Who is your target market.?
• How will they use your site?
• Why they would choose your site?
• Will the information be static or dynamic?
• Will you need transaction faculties? How will this be done?
• How will you build trust into your site?
• How will you communicate with your visitor?
• How do you get visitors to come to site?
• How will you deliver the goods and services?
• How will you provide support for you product or service?

Readability of text

Your web designer also needs to have web copy expertise. This means that the text on your site must be readable by the visitor.  Readers of web page read differently to how they read a book or a newspaper. Generally they scan the page hoping to find what they are looking for.

Usability of the Site

Some designers a good designer but poor designers for usability. If its difficult to navigate your site then your site will fail to keep the visitor on site.

Collaboration and Participation

Most websites do not allow for this but it is an essential ingredient to successful web design. User who participate in your site will return to your site and refer other to your site.  Your site should include comments and ratings.  Forums are dead. 

Fresh content

Insure you have fresh content on your site. This takes a lot of time and money but if your site is old then your ranking will drop of the search engines. Visitors will not return and your site will fail.

Responding to visitors

If your visitor makes a comment then you  need to respond in a timely manner. Use auto responders to inform you visitor that you have noted the comment and will reply shortly.

Networking

Create a network through social media channels  and become involved with others in social network.  as they get to know and trust you they will participate in your web site. Do not spam them with sales material but socialise with them as you would in normal life. Then tell them when you have put fresh content on the site.

This covers only a few things on planning your web site and to get professional advice from a consultant before diving into the deep of the internet

Chriso

Internet Consultant.

This week there has been a lot of discussion amongst some colleagues regarding everyone should have a web site.  I argue this point as most websites are a waste of time and money.

Brochure Sites

A brochure web site normally consist of 4 or 5 pages of broadcast material to inform people who you are and what your about. Majority of these sites are a complete waste of money. Designers have tapped into this market advising their client they need to have good design and SEO (Search Engine Optimised). I do agree to this in principle how ever this is very much a baby step in your online presence.

As these sites are costing about $2000 au it is a complete waste of money.  You just become another web site in the ocean of millions of other who have exactly the same content. Drop In the Ocean.

eCommerce Site

eCommerce sites are also a must have for all small business so they can get on the world stage and compete at a international level.  This is good if you have a product that everyone wants and your the only one that has the product otherwise it a complete waste of time and money.  Driving traffic to your site is not something that happens overnight and there is also the art of motivating a visitor to purchase while on the site.

Affiliate Sites

Affiliate web site who provide links to other suppliers has some merit but of little value unless you have content that attracts people to your site.  Becoming affiliate to other websites requires good planning and spam marketing. Having said that there is value if your can provide value to the site.

No longer a broadcast Medium

The internet is not a broadcast medium as traditional media like TV and Radio.  Your web site needs to be an experience for the visitor and allow them to participate in your site. Your site needs to create a two way  conversation and user generated content.  Your web site needs to create relationships with people just as you do in your bricks and mortar business.

What do I need to do?

When considering your web site ask yourself what value is the web site to your visitor. Will they use  it and can we both benefit from the use. This takes some good analyses about where does your business fit on the web.

• Why would people come to your site?
• What will they do when on your site?
• Will they bookmark your site for future reference?
• Will they tell other about your site?
• Will they make positive claims about your site?
• Will they come back to your site?
• Will your site make them do business with you

Quality Not Quantity

Visitor to your site are looking for an experience and if they do not get that experience they will keep searching until they get what they are looking for.  Been number 1 on Google does not guarantee to make you money.  100,000 hits a month means nothing unless you getting value from the 100,000 hits.

The quality of your visitor to your site is one that participates in your site and adds value to your site. 100 visitor who do that are more valuable than the 1000 people who visit for 30 seconds.

Conclusion

Before you invest in a web designer get some professional consulting done before hand. Have a qualified consultant evaluate your business and make recommendations on how you should approach the internet and web presences.

Chris Johnson

Internet consultant.