Digital Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0, Web Analytics, Web Design

By Dawser Al Hadidi

As 2010 is the year of online migration, I pledge to all businesses that online is the present and the future.

First of all, have you ever thought that moving the world of business online would actually help sustain the environment? The less paper we use, the more trees and oxygen we will have to keep our planet healthy. And if the environment is not your main concern, I can still convince you to move your business online …

Face it, the number of Internet users are increasing along with their expectations. It is easier to get traffic, conversion, customer loyalty, satisfaction, and overall rising among your competitors using your website than with any other form of traditional marketing tool. At this age and time, your customer is expecting you to be there when he/she logs in at any point using any device! Internet accessibility has also expanded its reach to mobile and other innovative devices; we are at an age when your customer can login to your services while flying to another country. How could you let this great opportunity pass?

With Internet users currently surpassing 1 billion – Middle East & Africa holding 57.4 million users alone – (source World Internet Stats), this is definitely not a point to be taken lightly.

Whether you are concerned about saving the environment or increasing your sales, an online existence is a must! And by existence, I don’t mean just putting up a gorgeous website. Go for the whole nine yards! Offer your business online, automate your services, and create an online bridge between you and your customer. You’ll be glad you did.

If you are worried about the investment, I assure you it is much more economical than print and the traditional business process. With online business automation, your telephone, paper, postal, fax, and payroll bills will grow smaller. The investment you make into building your online business will save you operational costs in the long run and guarantee ROI, and you cannot argue with that. Your business will be available to your customers beyond working hours, and you’ll no longer need to close your business at 5 pm. Business will keep pouring in even when you are asleep!

So what are you waiting for? Start on your to-do list today! Here are some steps to help you get started:

1. Set your online business objectives
2. Establish an online marketing strategy
3. Select and implement the right technology
4. Hire the right people to implement
5. And you’re on your way …

GOODLUCK!

Have you ever wondered what would it be like to know what your customer really wants? Reading his brain and watching every move to deliver what he needs at the right moment! Well Behavioral Marketing allows you to do so!

Behavioral Marketing or Targeting is a marketing method; it is a web technology which allows tracking user behavior by following his navigation pattern and interaction path. This valuable information about a user’s website visit is then used to target advertising to his needs and optimize the website services to align with user’s requirements.

“Behavioral targeting is advertising’s attempt at supplying you with specialized ads developed from your Internet history”. Tech Republic Definition

Behavioral marketing is not being effectively used in the Middle East; main reasons not effectively employing this beautiful and miraculous online marketing practice are:

1. Lack of industry practices awareness
2. Lack of online marketing techniques on marketers’ side
3. No real efforts are invested into web data analytics and analyzing behavioral metrics.
4. Lack of Behavioral Targeting technologies on the publishers side

Apparently watching the pattern of user’s behavior and registering his activities on the website can get marketers to know him better and therefore satisfy his needs and in return get yours fulfilled! So behavioral marketing actually promises better conversion rates and guaranteed ROI not to mention increase of open rate for email direct campaigns.

Through employing the right technology and efficient marketing analyst marketers will be able to design the ad campaign in relation to the user’s behavioral data, therefore capture his attention, and drive him right in the funnel and getting the desired results! Money well spent!

There is however a privacy in association with the cookie technology issue (cookie is information in a shape of a “code”  that a Website puts on your computer’s hard disk after agreeing with your browsers default settings so that it can remember something about you at a later time) this directly connects to the behavioral marketing which is still under debate, I personally think it is irrelevant! Do you think the super market is private? Your gym, Shopping malls even banks?! They all have their ways of knowing customer behavioral and therefore target advertisement to suit his needs! So where is the privacy issue! And if there is actually a privacy breach in this sort of marketing, then let it be! Let’s ask the users do they wish to be bombarded with irrelevant advertisement or they would rather get exposed to the right and targeted type of ads tailored to their needs!

As a marketer you can choose to target your ad to a specific behavior, Example, if a visitor is browsing through IT content most of the time, it’s likely that he is interested and maybe working in the IT domain, so targeting latest IT inventions ads for this particular user will encourage click through and possibly leading to a sale!

I must say that behavioral marketing has become essential in these difficult economic times. US and Europe has been effectively using behavioral marketing for several years , according to Forrester reports, behavioral targeting adoption has massively grew from 10% of European advertisers in 2007, to  26% of in 2008., Middle East publishers must look into it sooner than later and I promise it will relieve the distress cause by economic meltdown.

by Dawser Al Hadidi

The term “marketers” has a broad meaning – it may mean anyone who wants others to know about something and act on it! For example, it can be a mother inviting her son’s friends to a birthday party. She must first decide how to design the invitation, and then how to send it. All this work would be to ensure maximum attendance and a successful birthday party – and eventually, loads of gifts!

All jokes aside, whatever your message is or whatever it is you need your customer to do, the web offers many tools to deliver your message. And guess what? Some of these tools are free! Some are not, so do not get too excited.

The web is an exciting tool for you, dear marketer. It offers you a flexible platform where you can collect information about your customer without forcing yourself upon him. On the other hand, if you send a strong message, he will willingly give you information. If the customer simply visits your website, you can track his visit to learn how he reacted to your site; you can track which pages he selected and how long he viewed them. This is now possible with the fantastic technology of web analytics; these matrixes and numbers can give you much more than you ever dreamed of! Of course, it all depends if you know how to use these numbers! Studying, analyzing, and researching the analytics results is all part of the game.

Email marketing is another incredible tool which web digital media offers. If your aim is to invite people to an event, start with mass mailing to a permitted mailing list. This means sending your invitation to email addresses that opt-in to hear from you; otherwise, you are at risk of being blacklisted by ISP’s. If you do not have your own mass mailing technology, use a professional company, as there are plenty in the market.

The format in which you send your email is the most important matter. I receive invitations for events in image (JPG) format with links to RSVP and URLS which I really cannot be bothered to type in my browser. Even worse are invitations sent in print format and through email as .tif images! These are real killers, as they are often so large they can crash your computer. At the very least, you will not be able to read the message, let alone RSVP!

The RSVP process can be conveniently automated, with users filling a very simple form to confirm their attendance. The system will then follow up with an email reminder for attendees, or even give them the option of adding it to their Outlook calendar. How fantastic is that? You delivered your invitation via email marketing’s best practices; you got your invitees to register, and you have prompted them to remember the event! And the best part is that you now have the data which you can later use to market other events or promotions!

The latest and most interesting tool the web has given marketers is the social media. Social networking sites such as Facebook have completely changed the way businesses talk to their customers. Twitter, another popular social media site, has introduced a fun way for businesses to connect to their customers in a personal and simple manner. There are also business networks, which have provided a suitable environment for those who are not yet ready to take their mask off and talk face-to-face with the customer. I hope you noticed the “face-to-face” strategy – even though those social networks exist virtually, they are a bare exposure for your brand and your sales pitch. It is time for you to speak to your customer openly! If you decide to join a social network and stand in front of your customer, be prepared to use honesty and openness.

Social media sites have created a kind of closeness like never before. Whether on a daily basis or minute-by-minute, you can get in touch with your customer at any time! Try Twitter and you will get the feel of this closeness instantly.

The talk about the greatness of the web is non-stop, but I will leave you with this, dear marketers, and will continue in my next article.