This week we’re back with another new Blab! This was such a good talk that I don’t even want to spend a lot of time explaining it, I really want you to just watch. In short we talk about how being a professional we don’t take out enough time to go back and inform our clients and audience that we actually have other skills, traits, or services that we can offer among our main ones that everyone knows us for.
We talk about ways to get the word out about the extra skills we have through means of email lists, videos, and social media. But not in a bragging way, but informative. Check it out and add your thoughts to us on Twitter or the comments below.
Last week Design Theory allowed the outside world an inside look at our audience numbers for our weekly blog postings via Peeking Underneath the Hood at Your Blog #’s. It was great to get feedback by email and comments on the blog as to what people thought of our exposure and how that helped them to consider the importance of analytics. Most companies should know that tracking their visitors through a source like Google Analytics includes hits from search engines, pay-per-click networks, email marketing, displayed advertising and the like. Off-site analytics, like the ones I’ve demonstrated here, are to measure not just the website’s current audience but also it’s potential audience and what we at Design Theory can do to create more opportunities, exposure and buzz (aka comments) about our services. So, the analysis of our web data helps to improve the website and our blog content for Design Theory and it’s visitors.
During the last week of September
887 Page Views vs. preceding week’s 994 Page Views
As opposed to last week, this week we see a significant increase in readership directly from www.jpdesigntheory.com. Additionally, the top referring website is still Google but there seems to be a little less traffic via Google UK than the week preceding and Google.com jumped 46 more than last week as well. Last week there were very few unique readers on Monday & Tuesday (how readers are tagged via a persistent cookie that stores and returns a unique id value so that Client V is always the same Client V whenever he/she comes back to the website) but this week, there are definitely more than its predecessor (361 vs. 221). That’s great because that tells us we are reaching new people and therefore more potential clientele. As far as the blogs go, Daphne & I are still neck & neck, which once again confirms that our blogs and tags are working well for us. Lastly, as ironic as it is, our top view location moved from Ulaanbaatar, New Mexico last week to Meriden, CT this week. I can’t explain that one at all! But at least it reflects the diversity of our readers and confirms that Design Theory has a worldwide presence.
During the first week of October
717 Page Views
What I also notice right off the bat is that Tuesdays readership fell drastically and I know exactly why. I was on vacation and didn’t blog. Yes that’s right, I did it…I took a vacation and I’m not sorry about it. And although I’m not happy the numbers dipped, it did provide us with some solid intel. It shows that I have a reading audience and there is value in the content I create weekly for the blog. So Daphne metaphorically DUNKED on me HARD but that’s ok. Despite having different titles and talents, we have the same goal. And that ultimate goal is increasing the ROI that those talents provide via the blogs and the work we do for our clients.
As detailed in the Audience Stats, our number of visits/readers let us know that people are accessing our website and whether or not we are capturing new audiences. However, something this particular report doesn’t reflect (but should definitely be considered) is the bounce rate. The bounce rate tells us how many people come to our site and quickly left it. Now there are plenty of reasons that happens. Maybe someone had to answer their door or walk their dog…but most often it reflects that they didn’t find what they needed or became bored with the content. There’s no room for ego when looking at these numbers I must tell you. Because what it does is identify areas that we could improve on like imagery, written content and the ease of navigation throughout the website.
So once again we learn, we grow and do better. I’m encouraged by our numbers while knowing there’s ALWAYS room for improvement and I look forward to continue to write and put out great content & tidbits to our readers and clients.
~ Content Writing Inspiration ~
The beginning is easy; what happens next is much harder. ~ Anonymous
So here’s my worldwide web, no time to be camera-shy debut. I hope there are some tidbits that can enlighten & offer clarity of key points to consider from a content writer’s perspective. These include blogging, web design and branding across all forums of marketing for your business, big or small. So get some Kettle Corn (love that stuff!), get comfy and enjoy the show.
For those outside the marketing realm, let me help define “branding”. Branding is a signature ‘look and feel’ that leverages all of the resources our industry has to offer to make sure that you will be noticed and recognized by consumers and like industry companies.
Branding is an essential component to any business therefore it’s something you should consistently think about and ensure it evolves on an ongoing basis. Taking time to think about and employ opportunities to promote your brand is both fundamental and key to its success.
Your brand and marketing materials should precisely detail & sell your product and/or service. If they’re not, they’re wrong. You know the old adage of “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it”…well if it is, it’s time to re-think and re-brand.
C’mon, get focused! Your view of your product/service can sometimes be narrow and if it’s your “baby”, it can be hard to be a tough critic. So if you can’t afford to pay for a professional focus group, here is a suggestion. Get together a group of professional friends from various industries and present your products/service. Offering hors d’oeuvres and beverages is a nice form of compensation. What’s most important though is getting their feedback in writing and implementing their suggestions (if they are good ideas…) into your brand/marketing strategies and promotions.
Know your street credibility ~ Your brand image as well as its reputation is vital. It’s super important you know what your client base is saying about you…and even your competition. Being armed with this information will allow you to evolve your branding & marketing strategies to thwart the effects of the good or bad press.
Promote your brand across all landscapes. This should include at a minimum:
∞ direct marketing via mailers;
∞ email campaigns and promotions;
∞ online & in-store promotions; and last but surely not least…
∞ social media, etc.
By now you should be quite familiar with this topic. If you aren’t using email marketing, you probably are a subscriber to it in one form or another. If we look back, postage marketing was the most common form of business to customer marketing. Each day you would go out to your mailbox to receive your mail only to see that it is mixed with ads or flyers for services and goods within your neighborhood. Now fast forward to emails. Sure we get a lot at times, but more people opened and read emails from people that are familiar to them. This is where your email advantages are.
Here are some ways to get started. Look through your address book or Rolodex if you use one, and earmark or write down your most recent contacts that you’ve had communication with. Next write down a paragraph or two about your business’ recent accomplishments and goals for the near future. Maybe include an announcement about a recent new client. This way when people are reading your newsletter/email blast they see you’re progressing and showing tangible proof of that. People love to read about themselves and see mentions. This is one reason why Twitter is so popular. And also by doing this, that highlighted client will forward your email to everyone in their office, business colleagues, and friends.
You don’t have to do this every day obviously. This type of practice will most likely land your email address into many people’s spam folders and you don’t want that. Personally I would say maybe once or twice a month depending on your type of field and how relevant your content is. Once you get the hang of sending out your own email blasts for marketing, you should look to upgrading your execution. There are online services like Mail Chimp and Constant Contact that offer email marketing from free to very affordable premium services. They also provide some features that can really help gauge your level of effectiveness by tracking who opens, reads, and forwards your newsletters. One of the best things these services offer is contact management in the form of subscriptions and un-subscribers.
Of course if you would like personal assistance or have questions about how to get started, Design Theory is here for you. Contact us today and find out how to receive a free .HTML newsletter template.