DIY Digital Marketing7 To-Dos for Every Entrepreneur

Tracy BainsMay 2, 2013

Agenda

Introduction

Know your customers

Engage your customers

Anticipate your customers

Q&A

Me.• Digital Marketing

Manager @ ICBC

• @tbains

• Linkedin.com/in/tbains

• tracybains.ca

• me@tracybains.ca

My publications.

• Digital Media• Social Media’s Diversity Problem, Sparksheet• Mobile Multicultural Marketing, Sparksheet• Engaging Canada’s Ethnic Communities Online, DX3 Digest• Three Ways Target Canada Won on Oscar Night, Techvibes

• Community Reporting• Unlocking Canada’s Secret History of Dealing with

“Undesirables,” Huffington Post Canada• Empowering Minorities Through “Me in Media” Event,

Vancouver Observer,• Fired Up? Start a Twitter Petition, Vancouver Observer

Digital marketing

Online Advertisi

ng

Email Marketin

g

Content Marketing

Social Media

Marketing

Mobile Marketin

g

SEO

7 To-Dos for Every Entrepreneur

Know your customers

1. ID your top tasks

2. Track site stats

3. Survey your visitors

Engage your customers 4. Be social 5. Build an

email list

6. Draft a content

calendar

Anticipate your

customers

7. Think mobile

First, a question.

Is your website up and running?

Only 46% of Canadian small businesses have a dedicated website.

46%

54%

Canadian Small Businesses

Dedicated website No website

Source: RBC Ipsos Reid Small Business Survey 2012

Less than half of that 46% sell their products and services on their websites.

But Canadians love the internet.

• In 2012, Canadians continued to lead the world in Internet usage with an average of 45 hours a month spent online, according to comScore Inc.

• Last year, Statistics Canada says Canadians spent $15.3 billion shopping online; 83 per cent of those shoppers placed orders with business located in Canada.

• Rates of Internet access in 2010 were highest in British Columbia (84 per cent).

Sources: comScore.com; Harris-Decima poll done for Canadian Press; Statistics Canada; internetworldstats.com

So, launch your site—it’s home base.

Your website

Social Media

Email Newsletter

VideoMobile

Apps

Know your customers

1. ID your top tasks

Your visitors are on your site to complete a task.

Buy a product or service

Donate to your social cause

Register for an event or webinar

Sign up for your email newsletter

Contact you to make a complaint or request assistance

Many web teams don’t even know what their customers’ top tasks are. Even when they do, these tasks are not at optimal performance. That’s because many web teams have a ‘launch and leave’ culture, rather than one of continuous improvement of top tasks.

- Gerry McGovern

Start with your “Contact Us” form. What tasks lead to the most questions from customers?

Audit your social media accounts.If your customers are reaching out for help with something on your site, then take notes.

Know your web data.

There are lots of numbers you can track—here, just focus on your most viewed pages and the top keywords your visitors use to get to your site.

Find your Top Pages.

Spot the Keywords.

Know your customers

1. ID your top tasks

2. Track site stats

Avoid analysis paralysis.

Focus on metrics that matter.

The only metrics that matter are those that you will act on.

My suggestions.

• Traffic sources

Search

Referral

Direct

My suggestions.

• Exit Rate– Every page has an Exit Rate, which is the %

of people who left your site from that page. Exits may have viewed more than one page in a session. 

• Bounce Rate– Bounce rate is the percentage of people

who landed on a page and immediately left. Bounces are always one-page sessions.

Knowing your Traffic Sources.

Find losing pages.

http://youtu.be/LCNoVZptCfs

Know your customers

1. ID your top tasks

2. Track site stats

3. Survey your visitors

Go direct to the source.

• Ask your customers anything using online survey software

• Branded forms• Launch surveys or

polls on your site• Freemium model

allows you to try for free until you’re ready for a monthly subscription

# of questions

• With FluidSurveys, which is a Canadian survey tool, you can ask up to 20 questions.

But you could start with just three.

• What is the purpose of your visit to our website today?

• Were you able to complete your task today?

• If you were not able to complete your task today, why not?

Sources: Avinash Kaushik

Engage your customers

4. Be social

Don’t do this.

DON’T

• DON’T open an account on every network—think about your customers and resources.

• DON’T leave social media to an intern or an agency.

• DON’T talk only about yourself.

Remember, it’s not all about you.

What you should DO. Says me.

• DO share videos and photos.

• Videos are shared 12x more than links and text posts combined; photos are shared 2x more than text updates Sources: Mbooth infographic,

http://t3n.de/news/social-media-fotos-videos-410872/framed-visualstorytelling/

What you should DO. Says me.

• DO use #hashtags.

• A hashtag is a word or expression preceded by the “pound sign”. The symbol makes the word or phrase searchable and helps group content from many users together—exposing you to more people.

71% of social media users employ hashtags to explore new content from their mobile devices

Sources: http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/27/are-hashtags-geeky-71-of-social-media-users-say-no/

#PopularHashtags

• #tellviceverything–When Min. Vic

Toews tabled Bill C-30 and Canadians worried about their internet privacy, they used this tag to flood his feed, “confessing” in protest.

#PopularHashtags

• #kdpocalypse• In light of the end of days on Dec. 12

according to the Mayan Calendar, Kraft Dinner asked Canadians to tweet their final meal, using this hashtag.

#PopularHashtags

• #love is the most popular hashtag on Instagram

• Many networks including Flickr and Facebook have either added support for hashtags or are about to roll-out this feature.

And the last thing you should DO.

• DO test the right time to post.

• People check their profiles at lunch or after dinner during the work week.

• And on weekends.Sources: http://www.connectsocialmedia.com.au/timing-your-social-media-posts-for-maximum-engagement/

Experiment.

Engage your customers

4. Be social

5. Build an email list

77% of us want to get marketing messages via email—and there’s no close second place.

Sources:ExactTarget’s 2012 Channel Preference Survey 

Email itself is only increasing in popularity, especially as more devices make it so easy to check messages anywhere and anytime.

Sources:http://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2013/03/a-look-into-email-marketing-trends-for-2013.html

79% of people use their smartphone for reading email, a higher percentage than those who use it to actually make phone calls. 

Sources:Adobe –2013 Digital Publishing Report: Retail Apps & Buying Habits

You NEED email subscribers.• Ask permission. Email subscribers

must opt-in and give you permission to email them.

• Treat their information with care and

respect. Remember Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation will be in effect soon.

• Build your list online and offline.

Tomorrow, start building a list.• Add a sign-up form on

your website—on the homepage, footer, and after blog posts.

• Put social sharing buttons on your email template.

• At events, sign up fans of your business.

• Create downloadable white papers or e-books. Customers will sign up for more IF they find the content valuable.

Engage your customers 4. Be social 5. Build an

email list

6. Draft a content

calendar

Plot what, when, where you publish.

Start simple—open a spreadsheet.

Plot out key dates for the next 12 months, namely:– Seasonal dates/months where your product or

service is in highest demand.

– Events you’ll be hosting or attending like webinars or industry events.

– Holidays that may be relevant to your business.

– Critical dates in each quarter—if you’re rolling out new products/services, then you’ll need new content to promote awareness.

Then, start brainstorming ideas.

Determine where/when to publish.Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Anticipate your

customers

7. Think mobile

Canadians are mobile.

In 2012, smartphone penetration in the Canadian marketplace moved up from 45% to 62%—an increase of 17 points.Sources:

http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations_and_Whitepapers/2013/2013_Canada_Digital_Future_in_Focus

And super-connected.

And 43% of smartphone owners own a connected device like a tablet, iPad or e-reader as compared to 28% of Canadians who own feature phones.

Sources:http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations_and_Whitepapers/2013/2013_Canada_Digital_Future_in_Focus

We’re also seeing a spike in Canadians with smartphones watching videos/TV on their mobile devices—jumping from 16% to 37% over the course of 2012.

So get mobile.

• Create a mobile-friendly version of your site or—better yet—use responsive design.

• Produce mobile-friendly emails. If your emails don’t display right on a mobile device, then nearly 70% of consumers will delete it immediately.

• Optimize your social networking accounts to perform well on mobile devices because 56% more smartphone users are accessing these networks or blogs on their devices now than a year ago.

Sources:BlueHornet study

7 To-Dos for Every Entrepreneur

Know your customers

1. ID your top tasks

2. Track site stats

3. Survey your visitors

Engage your customers 4. Be social 5. Build an

email list

6. Draft a content

calendar

Anticipate your

customers

7. Think mobile

Q&A