Social networking seminar attracts large audience

Kent House and Keele University Science and Business Park recently organised a joint seminar on social networking. The event, held on 9 September 09 at Keele Hall, was attended by nearly 100 delegates from all sectors of the local community – including small and large businesses, professional bodies, local authority, voluntary sector, and education.

The aims of the event were: to introduce social networking; to explain some of the jargon and issues around social media and social marketing; to suggest some of the opportunities offered by these new online channels for reaching people more effectively than is possible by traditional means; and to offer some examples of how social networking has been implemented locally.

The event was chaired by Rosi Monkman of Keele University Science and Business Park. The presenters were:

Kevin Holdridge, Managing Director, Kent House

A brief on what Social Networking is, how to get it right and avoid common pitfalls

Linda Jones, Managing Director, Passionate Media

An in-depth study on how to boost your business using social networking media

Hannah Hiles, Media and Communications Officer, Keele University

A case study on how social networking sites helped a business to engage with its customers

There is currently a lot of buzz as well as confusion around social networking, and this was reflected in the lively questions-and-answers session at the end of the presentations.

We have made available here the slides and video from the event.

Want to keep up to date with social networking?

We encourage anybody interested in social media and/or in search engine optimisation to sign up for our free monthly email newsletter. This provides news on market developments, lots of hints and tips, and occasional discount offers for our intensive SEO and Internet marketing bootcamp courses. It’s easy to sign up – just enter your email address in the box at the top right of this page. Rest assured, we will never pass on your email address to other parties or send you spam.

Slides – social networking presentations

The slides from the event are stored on Slideshare, and embedded here:

Video – social networking presentations

Click on any of the speakers’ names below to see video of their presentation.

Social marketing

Getting results from social marketing, social media, and social networking

Ecommerce – the good, the bad, and the ugly

Selling on the Web

One of my favourite aphorisms is “on the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog”.  Using Web and email, you can reach customers and project your presence just as effectively as big, long-established corporates. In fact, if you’re nimble and smart about it, you can outplay them.  Not all the clients I see necessarily believe this at first – they assume that the big guys have brand, reputation, and infrastructure behind them, making them invincible. Well, here’s an example of my online shopping experience last month that nicely illustrates how all of that counts for nothing and how a bit of passion makes all  the difference.

Too many pizzas meant I neeeded a new suit with room for growth. Being a man of a certain age and conservative tastes living outside a major city, the obvious choice used to be Marks and Spencer.  A visit to the local store soon confirmed that I am no longer in their target market. The only options available were a visit to Manchester or buying on the Internet. I had no time for the former during business hours, so ecommerce seemed the obvious choice.

Buying clothes on the Web  offers fantastic possibilities (access to huge range of styles, fabrics, colours, and ability to compare prices) but also has a few potential barriers (you can’t try for fit, can’t feel the fabrics, colour can be deceptive onscreen, and you can’t walk out with the product). But, good clothing ecommerce sites can overcome the barriers for would-be customers through:

• Listing stock levels for each item
• Offering fast delivery options with information on expected arrival dates
• Having good quality images of the products
• Using modern tools to allow the customer to get a more confident view of the product  (magnifying glasses enabling detail view, 360 degree rotation, images of the clothes on models, detailed specifications listed)
• Giving good guidance on sizing
• Providing a simple and efficient returns and exchange service

Here’s what happened when I gave it a go …

The bad ecommerce experience – Austin Reed

Austin Reed is a big name, trading for over a hundred years. Their website declares their own brilliance thus: “Austin Reed has transformed itself from a traditional business into a dynamic and progressive group, boasting over 70 outlets in the UK with international licensees across the globe.” So, you’d imagine they’d got the hang of retail? Maybe they have instore, but online is another matter.

I thought I’d do a test purchase before committing to a  large-ticket item. Just as well I did. I ordered a plain black belt. Everything should have been pretty straightforward. The website allowed me to see the products in detail using a magnifier, and picking the size was simple.

Delivery was fairly quick. Unfortunately, though, the belt delivered was a completely different product. I rechecked on  the website to make sure the error wasn’t mine – sure enough, the product was nothing like the description. Austin Reed provide a simple returns procedure, with a prepaid postage label. Rather than return for a refund, I wanted to exchange for the product listed and displayed on the website. So, instead of sending the belt back, I emailed their customer service team asking what the correct product code was.

It took 6 days and two chasers to get a reply. That message didn’t even include the usual bland, insincere corprorate apology that we have come to expect and cherish nowadays. The content also did not inspire confidence in Austin Reed’s ability or enthusiasm to get me what I had ordered: “We will endeavour to send the correct item, however if we are unable to locate this item we will have no choice but to refund the item back onto the card you used for the purchase.”  As they clearly didn’t know their own stock and website, I decided to cut my losses, and sent the item back for a refund.

The refund did come through reasonably promptly. However, Austin Reed quietly kept £5 of my hard-earned money, presumably for the postage cost involved in their erroneously sending me the wrong product!  I also see today that the incorrect product details still haven’t been updated on the website, even though they’ve known for 3 weeks that the entry is wrong.

Needless to say given that bad ecommerce experience, I wasn’t willing to risk buying online from these guys for a larger ticket item. So, they lost a potential sale worth several hundred Pounds due entirely to poor organisation and lack of interest. They have also gained this critical online review. A classic example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The better ecommerce experience – Charles Tyrwhitt

Charles Tyrwhitt is a relatively young upstart compared to Austin Reed. However, they are strong at online selling and marketing. I took the risk of buying the new suit from them because of the following:

• The website displayed product information well and in ways relevant to me as a prospective customer (well categorised; easy to filter by style, colour and product characteristics; good and helpful product images)
• There was clear information on stock levels and availability (including expected dates for out-of-stock items)
• Delivery options and timings were clearly stated
• There were customer reviews providing me with more information and confidence

I’m now the satisfied owner of a Charles Tyrwhitt suit. I wouldn’t say its the best suit I’ve ever owned, but it was delivered on time and met specification and expectation. Customer service was slick, with informative confirmation emails along the way worded in such a way that I felt the company cared about the order and my custom.

Selling online – the lessons

My conclusions are that – if you approach ecommerce in an appropriate and businesslike manner – you can outperform larger and well established competitors.  Investing in an ecommerce solution that quickly builds confidence in visitors who may never have heard of you, and helps prospective customers smoothly to the checkout can put you ahead of the competition.  But, remember that it is not just about the ecommerce website itself – if your customer care or order fulfilment is sub-standard you will quickly lose business and reputation. Online selling may be an exciting new channel with its own quirks and challenges, but it is still subject to the traditional principles of effective retail management and marketing. A little enthusiasm also goes a long way!

6 Tips to help you get the best return on your investment

You did it. You got yourself a website because prospects and customers kept asking for your web address. And you’d heard how much business small companies could generate from a website. So, you paid a Web developer handsomely for a beautiful site with the latest Flash animations, or had your brother-in-law build it on the cheap.

But your site’s been up for a while and it hasn’t brought you any business. What’s gone wrong? Here are the six things you can do for maximum results.

1 Make it part of your marketing strategy

Be clear what you want the website to do for you and then make sure it’s designed to do that well, whether reaching new customers, providing new services to improve customer relationships or improve cross-selling and repeat orders.

As with any marketing medium, your site must focus on your customers’ interests – not yours. Your site should be easy to use and tell customers exactly what they need to know.

2 Promote a positive image and user experience

Get the basics right so you don’t alienate users. Ensure the site looks professional, works properly, doesn’t oblige the user to install extra software and is user friendly. Websites that are too slow, crash in the middle of the transaction or ask for unnecessary information will alienate users.

3 Embrace Internet marketing

Google currently indexes billions of web pages. For your site to be found by customers and prospects you need to get your Internet marketing right.

The site itself should be optimised to get the best possible results in the search engines for your target keywords. A competent web developer can make sure the site is designed and built optimally. But, you also need to make sure that the text is well written for optimisation and is regularly updated. Use a web-savvy copywriter for best effect.

Get links to your website included on other relevant sites. Done correctly, this will improve your results in the search engines. You might even consider temporarily buying links on premium sites to get a quick initial boost.

Done properly, pay-per-click advertising is easily the most focused, cost-effective, and measurable marketing tool in history. You can easily dip a toe in the water through a small-budget Google AdWords campaign.

4 Reach out – use email

Websites only work when a user goes to them (the ‘pull’ effect). Get better results by combining the ‘push’ approach of using email to reach out to customers and prospects. It’s easy and cheap to reach people through email, and especially email newsletters.

5 Be sticky

‘Stickiness’ is a measure of how well a website encourages users to keep coming back. There are some tried-and-tested ways of building stickiness:

• Regularly give things for free (maybe a downloadable briefing paper or promotional offer). The cost to you can be small with online delivery.
• Provide an online customer helpdesk
• Build an area for customers only where they can get access to premium resources
• Add new and relevant information

6 Stay fresh

Make sure you have good content management facilities so it is quick and easy to update the content and structure of your site without having to pay – and wait for – your web developer to do it for you. Then have a plan to ensure you make at least monthly updates.

Kent House offers a free no-strings appraisal of your site with recommendations for improvement. If you’d like some advice on how to get more from your web investment, give us a call on 0845 638 0700 or drop us an email at info@kenthouse.com.

A land fit for heroes

The corporate blog is probably not the place to describe my shame at the way this government treats our armed forces. Instead, I’d like to take this chance to sing the praises of Major Phil Packer, whose campaign Kent House is proud to support, and Help for Heroes.

Phil Packer was injured in a rocket attack in Basra during  February 2008 and was left paraplegic. Inspired by the people at  Help for Heroes, he has set himself a “quest” to raise £1million to try to help in making a difference to fellow injured servicemen and women. Currently, Phil is walking the London Marathon at 2 miles per day (the maximum rate on medical advice).

We admire Phil Packer’s bravery, positive spirit, and his desire to help others. There is more information on Phil Packer’s website.  If you’d like to support Phil’s quest, you can do that through the Just Giving website or by using the widget on the left.

You can also find out more about the work of Help for Heroes.

Kevin

Email Marketing

Use email to reach people more effectively, to drive traffic to your Web site, and to build relationships

Event Manager

Manage your events more efficiently and easily – offer your delegates a better experience

NHS and health

Healthcare organisations can get results by harnessing the power of the Web and email.

News and views

The latest news, hints and tips from the Kent House team to help you thrive online.

Search Engine Optimisation

Make sure your site can be found more easily – and ahead of competitor sites.

Next Page »