Google Plus: what makes it different from other social networking sites?

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Since its release over 3 weeks ago Google plus has seen tremendous growth, with nearly over 20 million users already. People who are even remotely interested in search, social media and marketing have probably been spending a lot of time figuring out how best to use this new platform. This growth will probably continue once Google+ becomes available to everyone (it’s still in beta) and Google starts marketing the social network through its other widely used, and trusted, channels such as YouTube and Blogger.

Below is a graph to illustrate the tremendous growth of the platform compared to Twitter and Facebook. Yes, we could say the growth of Google+ can also be attributed to the fact that it was largely promoted and shared through these other 2 platforms which could have contributed to it’s rapid adoption but it’s still a massive difference.

Source: http://www.zurmat.com/2011/07/22/google-plus-growth-vs-other-social-networks/

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Are Google Plus Circles teaching us Marketers a thing or two about segmentation?

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I’ve been using Google Plus for a couple of weeks now and still yet to really find a way of using it for something that isn’t just a duplication of my Twitter and Facebook efforts. I’m sure I will find something new it’s just a matter of time. However, what I have found very interesting to use is the use of the Google Circles.

Google Circles allows users to group people based on certain interests and then share information or content specifically to each segment or Google Circle. For example, I have a Google Circle called ‘Industry People’ and another called ‘Industry Marketers’ and another called ‘Web Analytics People I have met’. Each Circle contains a group of people who fall into one or two of those buckets and I can then separate them out based on interest or area of expertise. Segmentation. You may decide to keep ‘Friends’ separate to ‘Work Friends’ or ‘Architects – Customers’ separate to ‘Architects – Prospects’ and create circles for each and then put the relevant people into each one. This allows you to send or share information and messages based on their interests or needs. I can now share information on Web Analytics with just the people within my ‘Industry Marketers’ circle and not with ‘Industry People’ who have no interest in marketing measurement as they are people who are talking about procurement and supply chain issues.Read More

Email marketing report 2011: Government sector still leading the pack

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Last year we discussed the results of the UK email marketing benchmark report published by Sign-Up.to, showing that the Government sector was leading the way in open and click through rates for email campaigns. The same benchmarking report has been published for 2011 and not much has changed.

The Government sector is currently ahead of the other 22 industry sectors surveyed with an open rate of 34.06% which is lower than last year’s 35.6% but their click through rates have risen slighly from 9.08% in 2010 to  9.23% in 2011. Engagement levels are measured by click to open rates where Government is in second place (27.11%) with a significant increase from last year’s 25.51%. This could be because their emails continue to send out interesting, informative content or due to a general increase in public interest in what the Government is doing. Industrial/Manufacturing is roughly in the middle and Property relatively near the bottom, both experiencing a decrease in engagement levels when compared to last year and are also below the overall average. Why is this the case? Are the calls to action not strong enough to get people to click through to landing pages? Is the content not interesting enough? Is email not the right channel for the messages promoted? How does the shift in mobile usage impact the results?

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Infographic: How do UK Architects use Twitter?

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We recently set out to survey UK Architects who are on Twitter to find out how they used Twitter and what for. We wanted to find out how long Architects had been using this platform for, how often they tweet, who they followed and what they like and dislike about it. We received a total of 117 responses which by no means make the results representative of all architects but it does give some interesting insights into how Twitter is currently being used by Architects.

Key Findings:

  • 65% of Architects surveyed had been using Twitter for over a year. Only 2 out of the 117 respondents had been on Twitter for less than a month.
  • Most Architects use Twitter to keep up with the latest industry news and network with industry peers. Only a handful of responses stated they used Twitter to promote their blog and for business development.
  • When asked ‘Who do you follow?’ most selected Other Architects, Practices and Publications. Other unprompted answers included Journalists and Consultants. Product Manufacturers, Clients and Directories coming in as least followed.
  • 95% of Architects do find Twitter useful, primarily for the reason that it’s quick and easy to share information and keep up with the latest news.
  • 99% of Architects surveyed stated that they would provide a recommendation if asked.

Here are the results of the survey presented as an infographic:

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Review of My Digital Insiders – Digital Marketing Workshop for construction marketers

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Last week we hosted our very first digital marketing workshop for marketers within the construction industry. It was a huge success and we had delegates from all areas of the construction industry such as BAM, Longcross, RIBA, Make Architects, Morgan Sindall, Sika, Rehau and many others. It was great to meet everyone and we’re sure many went home with lots to think about.

The workshop was divided into 3 presentations. Nick spoke about the digital landscape and how to go about forming a digital marketing strategy, Ayaan then presented on social media marketing and how it can be used to increase brand awareness and generate leads for your construction business. Finally, Pritesh discussed the importance of measuring your marketing activities and how to go about optimising your website to increase conversions.

Questions

Delegates asked a number of questions but the majority revolved around how to benchmark current online marketing activities, how to develop a content strategy for different customer types, what the optimal blogging frequency was, how much time to spend on social media, what exactly you should be measuring and how to find the keywords people are using to find your website.

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Why Marketers must also think about User Experience when optimising their construction websites

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SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is changing. Google recently changed the way it ranks and displays quality individual web pages within its results. Gone are the days where webmasters and marketers can solely rely on inserting keywords into page titles, descriptions, URL’s, headlines and the body copy in order to improve a websites optimisation. Google is getting cleverer and its getting cleverer faster. There were 500 changes and tests made to the Google algorithm in 2010 which just goes to show that SEO is no longer an obsolete task, its a constant moving living breathing machine. Marketers must pay attention or risk losing traffic and also a complete vanish of their websites in search engines.

Marketers must also now think about the overall ‘user experience’ of the site and MUST take into consideration various metrics such as Bounce Rate, Time on Site/Page, Browser Rate, Click through rate from search listings and strong social signals such as  Twitter shares and Facebook Likes. Most of your websites or website uses Google Analytics so therefore Google uses the data from your Google Analytics profile to get a better picture of how your website performs and how people interact with your site.

  • What level of activity does this site get?
  • How long to people stick around on this site?
  • How long do people stick around on this page?
  • How many times has this page been shared on Twitter or LinkedIn?
  • Does this website generate conversions or goals?
  • What do people type into Google to get to this site and then go onto complete a task?

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Which of these channels are most effective for lead generation?

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With so many channels, platforms, tools and techniques out there to communicate with your audience, we would like to know which the of the following channels you find most effective for lead generation. We want to try and get as many responses as possible so please share this post with your fellow marketers.

We will publish the results in just over 2 weeks time and be able to get a clearer idea of which marketing channels are most used and effective amongst marketers within the construction industry.Read More