tips | Internet Marketing Blog

What you should really do on Twitter

Business users coming to Twitter receive some advice that may not help them in the long run. Here’s an alternative view.

I have now composed over 12,000 Tweets. Laid end to end, they’d make a decent-sized book. A really boring, intensely repetitive book about eating soup, last night’s TV and, from time to time, a little bit of copywriting.

When it comes to Tweeting, I’ve earned my stripes.

I’m not saying I’m a ‘social media expert’. But I do find that my experience clashes with some of the received wisdom about using Twitter for business. Here are five pinches of salt to go with some of the stuff you might read online.

by Tom Albrighton 20 March 2012 09:34am 4 comments

Is your SEO costing a fortune and not providing any return?

The discipline of search engine optimization has marketing leaders around the world asking: “What do people search for when they are looking for my products or services?”

This is where solution-based SEO comes into play, and nearly any business can beef up its search rankings simply by thinking outside the box.

All too often, business owners insist on overloading their keyword strategy with industry jargon keywords. They assume that everyone is searching for their business in the exact same way that they are searching.

But, the fact of the matter is that everyone searches differently. Some people will search by industry jargon, some with long phrases, others with single words.

Some people ask a question, while others are searching for a solution to a problem and are not really sure what exactly it is that they are looking for.

by Jennifer Dunphy 19 March 2012 20:12pm 8 comments

10 top tips for building your email list

A friend of mine asked me recently “how do I get my email lists going?”. He knew he needed to get his message out to more people, but wondered how you go about building up your own lists without buying in any data?

In the recent 2012 Econsultancy Email Census, sponsored by Adestra, when asked, “Which three areas of email marketing do you really need to focus on in 2012?” segmentation came up top, but worryingly list/data quality has moved to fourth place.

We all know it, but data is the key to effective email marketing. Having a good quality, up-to-date email database puts you up front in terms of deliverability and optimising your results. It’s also the basis for delivering relevant communications.

Getting your data collection and your list right from the start can make or break your email marketing plans. Here are 10 tips for building your list size without buying in data.

by Steve Denner 09 March 2012 11:26am 6 comments

10 slideshows to help you create killer presentations in 2012

Most of the digital professionals I know need to create at least one slideshow a year, whether for an internal meeting, a client briefing or a conference talk.

All too often I see slideshows that contain great content and ideas, but sometimes the slides are cluttered and confusing, or worse, boring.

Thankfully help is at hand, to enable you to create wonderful slides in 2012.

by Chris Lake 14 December 2011 12:33pm 4 comments

10 great Google Analytics walkthroughs

Over the past 12 months, our guest bloggers have written some excellent step by step guides to help marketers make the most of Google Analytics.

Here are ten of the best, including phone call tracking, timing of emails, measuring Twitter traffic, and viewing regional search traffic.

by Graham Charlton 12 December 2011 12:11pm 2 comments

Five tips for building a healthy corporate culture

A lot is made of 'corporate culture' and many companies are keen to develop cultures that promote the success of both their businesses and employees.

But building a corporate culture is hard work. Case in point: the recent reports that Zynga was seeking to claw back equity from some employees has sparked a discussion about corporate culture in Silicon Valley, which can stereotypically be summed up as, "Work hard, work harder until you get bought out or IPO".

by Patricio Robles 30 November 2011 11:42am 2 comments

Christmas shoppers don't trust etailers to deliver on time

46% of the UK's online shoppers are planning to leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute this year, despite the majority having little faith in the ability of retailers to deliver in time for the big day.

This stat comes from an online Christmas shopping survey of 1,000 UK consumers carried out for Eptica, which also looked at how retailers were providing information on delivery.

So what can retailers do to appeal to last minute shoppers and reassure them about delivery?

by Graham Charlton 23 November 2011 14:15pm 9 comments

How to run a Twitterchat: 11 practical tips

Twitterchats are organised, non-linear, fast-paced conversations using Twitter where participants discuss themes and questions about a given topic.

With its speed, ease of use, accessibility and limited character format, Twitter provides an effective tool for individuals to discuss or unite around a theme or topic and Twitterchats have evolved from webchats and forum discussions.

So, how do you plan and run a Twitterchat?

by Michelle Goodall 09 November 2011 13:54pm 3 comments

15 best practice tips for improving email deliverability

To maximise ROI from email campaigns, marketers need to monitor delivery, and take action to maintain good inbox delivery rates.

Here are 15 valuable tips for monitoring and improving email deliverability, taken from our Email Marketing Best Practice Guide.

by Graham Charlton 26 September 2011 11:34am 9 comments

50 search marketing tips for beginners

How can you make the most of your SEO budget? What techniques get you penalised by the search engines? Is it possible to increase the returns on your optimisation investment?

Last month I wrote about how to fit SEO alongside your day job, so I’ve compiled this list of 50 rules and tips to help boost your website’s ranking and performance.

by Kevin Gibbons 08 September 2011 09:14am 11 comments