E-marketing the direct approach.

Internet and email technology could be a key enabler of making all forms of marketing more direct, according to one expert.

Lisa Turner of the Institute of Direct Marketing said;

"Technology is playing an important role in integrating previously distinct advertising techniques and shaping them into the broader field of internet marketing."

"Direct marketing used to be just one of these techniques: now with email and the web, everything has the potential to be direct marketing," she explained.

One example of technology's effect on the marketing industry is the fact that research shows that more than eight in ten television adverts carry a website address, while this trend is also prevalent in newspaper and magazine advertising Ms Turner added.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing is received significantly more positively by consumers than businesses tend to believe.

A study by the organisation suggested that such messages receive a 33% actual positive response compared with a 17.6% perceived positive response.

The Marketing Manager has many years experience of helping companies market their services- why not get in touch if you'd like to know more?

Pixel Puppet launch

Diligence Media and Marketing launch a new service designed to help small businesses and start up companies gain a foothold on the internet. The new service also sees the reappearance of the Pixel Puppet brand.

Speaking about the launch Marketing Director of Diligence Martin Burke said: “We have worked with many start up businesses and small businesses over the years and understand that budget is important. That’s why we have developed a range of cost effective websites which are perfect for those looking to get online for the first time".

"In time these companies can look to expand their online presence and incorporate more sophisticated features like an online shop”.

"The launch of the new service is designed to complement the existing range of Diligence design services, including website design, traditional advertising and brochure design".

The Pixel Puppet range includes a choice of three web design packages, with price starting at just £149.99 + VAT or £14.99 month for 12 months.

For more information, please visit www.pixelpuppet.co.uk.

Alternatively, call 01424 447858 or e-mail martin@diligencegroup.co.uk for more details.

Online marketing soars

The online marketing industry grew by almost 40% in 2007 according to new figures from the Advertising Association. With companies increasingly releasing the benefits of cost affective e-marketing.

With any winner there`s always a loser and in this case its direct marketing. The industry saw a drop in year-on-year growth of 6.5 per cent.

The Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2008 confirmed that digital marketing has now overtaken direct marketing as the third largest channel by market share. Digital expenditure represents 15.6 per cent of advertising expenditure while direct marketing now accounts for only 11.2 per cent.

The direct marketing industry was worth £2.17bn in 2007. Press advertising was still the biggest channel with expenditure of £7.71bn, and a 39 per cent share of the market. This was followed by TV at £4.6bn and a 24 per cent share.

The UK advertising industry grew by 4.2 per cent in 2007 to a total of £19.4bn.

We have a wealth of experience in e-marketing and offer a complete e-marketing service from website design to HTML e-mail campaigns. Talk to one of Diligences experienced professionals today on 01424 447858 or visit www.diligencegroup.co.uk and let us get your business moving in the right direction.

Data is King.

E-marketing is a really effective way of reaching your customers – and it can also be the cheapest option for a targeted campaign.

Some of your targets may not like receiving unsolicited emails, so it is important that you structure your campaign properly – enabling those who wish to, to opt out of any future communications easily. If a data subject requests to be removed from your email list, you are legally obliged to do so to avoid contravening the Electronic Communications Act.

Whilst spam is illegal, you are allowed to send unsolicited emails to business email addresses on business matters only. If you want to promote consumer services you must buy an 'opt-in' list.

Renting or buying a list is not always the most effective way of communicating. Certainly you could expect a much better response by targeting those businesses with which you already have a relationship. That’s why it makes sense to ensure you always record your business contacts.

If you are nervous about managing your own email campaign there are a number of online services available to help you – alternatively why not talk to Diligence and let us manage your next email marketing campaign?

The Marketing Manager has many years experience of helping companies market their services - why not get in touch if you'd like to know more?

Contact us now at www.diligencegroup.co.uk

Where will you take your customers in 2008?

Looking for somewhere suitable to take your staff, your colleagues or your customers?

One of our favourite events is Glorious Goodwood - one of the highlights of the social summer scene. Indeed, King Edward VII once described Glorious Goodwood as ‘a garden party with racing tacked on’.

The meeting not only offers the very best in top-class racing - ‘Glorious Goodwood’ is a real English summer institution, where racing, socialising and fashion go hand in hand.

Goodwood is reckoned to be one of the world’s most beautiful racecourses. Set high on the South Downs with the most beautiful of views, it really is the perfect place to enjoy summer’s day. The Thursday of the Goodwood Festival is traditionally ‘Ladies’ Day’ and the feature race of the day, the Goodwood Cup, is Goodwood’s oldest race.

Our sister company, Nice Work, has been organising trips to Goodwood for some years now and are now taking reservations for a Glorious Goodwood VIP Package.

For more information, contact martin@diligencegroup.co.uk

Give your website a kick up the pants!

It’s a familiar story.

You like your website. It has some good features and looks really good.

But you are not achieving very good search engine rankings. And you don’t seem to get many enquiries.

What’s gone wrong? It’s almost certain that your site probably needs a little kick up the backside.

Your site may look a little dated and, if so, there are a number of techniques you could adopt to help boost your organic rankings on the major search engines.

Naturally, a redesign of your site would help to freshen up the look and feel of your brand. But you can also build in some additional features to help generate not just additional traffic – but additional repeat visits to your site.

The inclusion of additional pages and some more search engine-friendly content will also help to boost your rankings – for instance, more relevant product information, an up to date News Page, the inclusion of Fact Sheets or an online archive library – all these mean you'd have more relevant content that could be picked up by the search engines. More to the point, the information would help project something of the personality of your company, its heritage and its experience.



What else can you do to help drive more traffic to your site?

· A Blog

A Blog can help you to position yourselves as a true expert. It also helps you to secure an additional presence on the web, by posting a substantial amount of additional online content, with a subsequent increase in the number of search results for the company.

You can position your Blog(s) as a forum for discussing issues that concern those in your industry. In addition to being stand alone sites in their own right, Blogs can be placed on a number of other internet platforms including popular and specialist trade Blog directories.

· Backlinking

You should actively seek reciprocal links with other relevant websites – the more links you can incorporate, the higher the probability of appearing more prominently in searches and, of course, securing more referrals.

· email address generator

Why not include devices to encourage visitors to your site to register their email addresses? There are a number of devices you could use ranging from a simple contact page through to more sophisticated and engaging devices such as offering Fact Sheets or a subscription to an e-zine/newsletter.

· Updated news and events section

The facility to add updateable news, photos or event information will ensure that repeat visitors to your site will have new content to read. News of your attendance at events can provide interesting content for the site as can the introduction of new products.

Dining out with the Marketing Manager

The key to the success of any good restaurant is its ability to continue to attract customers. Their customers will either be new people – or those who have enjoyed the restaurant in the past. Attracting additional and increased turnover from your existing customers will be much easier than trying to attract new customers.

It is just so important to build up a database of customers and prospects which you can use to attract new business. Indeed the database is the single most crucial marketing tool you possess - but an astonishing number of restaurants and pubs fail to record their customer's details!

If you can accumulate a database of around 1000 prospects and customers you will (not should, mind!) have sufficient prospects to enable you to rely on database marketing initiatives to fill your establishment – particularly for special occasions, events and themed evenings.

Segment the database into corporate and and personal data and you can personalise the marketing messages accordingly.

Securing more data is a challenge but one that should form the basis for the bulk of your short term marketing efforts There are a number of sources of data – some more easy to generate than others - but all requiring some effort! how about:

• collating all your existing customer records, business cards etc and then segmenting into corporate and personal and into customers and prospects

• visitors to your restaurant should always be asked for their contact details – either by asking them to complete a contact card, asking them to complete a 'customer satisfaction' card, by leaving their business cards – or all three! There are opportunities to secure these details by displaying material on tables, by enclosing them with the bill and by leaving a receptacle close to the till and restaurant exit for business cards. It may become a chore for staff but it should be stressed how important it is!

• initiating data capture exercises – marketing material distributed to potential customers

• capture data at exhibitions - try exhibiting at some of your local business exhibitions

• PR exercises such as competitions can also attract details that can be added to your database

Finally, you can always look to carry out a data capture exercise to source local business details – this is something you can either do yourselves by searching local directories, websites and publications or you may wish to consider outsourcing.

Once you have your database you can then begin to market your restaurant. A regular programme of both postal and electronic communications should enable you to attract enough enquiries to help you to fill your restaurant for special promotions and events.

You can also use the database for:

• special taster events for local businesses

• open evenings

• wine tastings

• charity dinners with entertainment

• launching new or special occasion menus

The Marketing Manager has extensive experience of using both electronic and postal databases to maximise business opportunities in the restaurant sector. Why not get in touch to find out more?

The need for teamworking

Diligence undertakes quite a bit of teambuilding work with clients. Most organisations would do well to look at improving teamworking skills amongst staff and we are keen to help them develop a defined teamworking strategy.

Doing so, should help you to achieve a positive and more beneficial relationship between staff, particularly those from the geographically disparate parts of the organisation. Teamworking solutions can help build relationships amongst staff as well as acting as a motivational tool.

For any business unit, particularly those working to tight deadlines or seeking to achieve targets, the ability to work effectively as part of a team is an essential skill. The successful development and adoption of team skills will also enhance the knowledge base of the organisation and will encourage individual professional development.

Whilst we would always recommend that teamworking and teambuilding be a continuous process, we are also realistic to understand that it must take its place on the organisation’s priority list!

The key to the success of any teamworking exercise is that staff are made aware of the positive benefits of certain practices, agree to adopt them and are then made to assume responsibility for maintaining and advancing these practices within their respective teams.

The aim of such programmes is to convince staff of the need for team skills and of their own personal responsibility in applying them within their own team environments by:

· motivating staff and demonstrating the importance of effective teamworking
· providing practical examples of how teams should work together
· imposing responsibility for maintaining good team practices
· providing a reward structure to demonstrate the value of good team practices
· helping staff develop examples of good practice and tricks-of-the-trade

In addition, a successful teamworking strategy should assist the development of a real ‘family’ environment by:

· helping to improve communications within and outside of the organisation
· helping to improve the visibility of managers
· promoting staff recognition
· encouraging staff empowerment
· helping to improve workload management

If you'd like any help with developing an effective teamworking strategy, why not drop us a line?