How To: – brookscomm

How to improve paid media campaign conversion rates

Posted by michaelbrookscommon June 19, 2020December 9, 2021in How To:, Marketing1 Comment

The likes of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have honed the art of targeting and content delivery to near perfection. For brands it’s never been easier to utilise these digital advertising tools to reach, inform and persuade potential customers to click through to their website.

However, the decision of where to direct the consumer has the greatest impact on the cost-effectiveness of campaigns. This is where a campaign flourishes or flounders, no matter how good the marketing mix of product, price, promotion and placement is.

Simply put, if the destination webpage does not continue the same smooth user journey from social media it will likely result in a costly, wasted click. So, what can be done to improve conversion rates?

Consider a situation where the consumer is directed to a conventional product webpage. The user journey changes from micro to macro in an instant. The distinct message or image they originally engaged with is now one thread of a much wider range of information.

The end is the most important part of the journey

A product webpage displays a navigation menu to the rest of the website, allowing a visitor to find out more about other products, the company, its history, its social media channels, etc. This is useful content which has its place in digital marketing, but from an e-commerce perspective, this provides too much choice which then undermines your conversion rates. A product page is for everybody and to a larger extent converts nobody.

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a custom configured webpage that serves the fulfilment objective of the campaign. They are more effective than webpages for digital advertising because they are focused on a single goal. A product web page provides a wealth of information to a range of visitors, whereas a landing page is aligned with the message or offer made in the advertisement, tailored for those that click on it.

The landing page gives digital marketers greater scope to fine tune page elements such as copy, visuals and layout. Using analytics to monitor user behaviour, they can adopt a test, measure and adjust approach to improve conversion rate optimisation (CRO) during the campaign. This is hard to emulate with a general product web page as the profile and needs of users will be much broader.

Here are five defining characteristics of an effective e-commerce landing page:

It delivers on the promise: The messaging describes how the product fulfils the need outlined in the advert, leaving the consumer with the logical outcome to purchase.
It keeps it simple: The page displays a clear checkout process; it’s not cluttered with off-topic content or other products.
It restricts choice: There are no distracting menu options; the page focuses on the product and how to order it. If they do not buy there and then, a voucher could appear if someone moves the cursor towards the close browser button. Alternatively, retargeting could be used to offer visitors a discount, providing an incentive to return.
It champions robust delivery and returns processes: Digital advertising drastically speeds up the sales funnel process. A consumer could go from having never heard of a brand to being asked to hand over payment details in the space of one click. A good landing page anticipates any consumer concerns on payment security, and any delivery concerns by offering reputable third-party payment methods such as PayPal as well as secure, tracked, speedy delivery and return options.
It includes customer reviews and testimonials: To help assure customers on quality, short positive comments from other customers are prominently placed.

To reduce churn, wasted clicks and achieve a better return on digital advertising, why not consider using a landing page approach on your next e-commerce campaign?

How to look after yourself during challenging times

Posted by brookscommon March 30, 2020March 31, 2020in How To:Leave a comment

While some of us may stay physically well through self-isolation and social distancing during this unprecedented period, a potential side effect of these practices is a negative impact on our own mental health.

New research from the Mental Health Foundation has revealed that more than 60% of adults had felt anxious or worried as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic – and that was before the UK went into lockdown. Although not everyone will be affected in the same way, this situation is new to most of us and people may find themselves struggling in ways they haven’t before.

With that in mind, we wanted to share some advice that we’ve gathered from various sources around how to look after ourselves during the coming weeks. We hope that this might be useful for you, or to share with others.

Keep in a routine

Structure in your day can help you practice good boundaries for working at home to ensure you have time for rest and relaxation. Professor of Public Health Linda Bauld explained on BBC Debate Night earlier this month that this can include things such as waking up to an alarm like a normal working day, getting ready, checking in with friends or family, or taking a morning walk.

Speak to people each day

Make the most of video calls, FaceTime, chat apps or a traditional phone call to socially engage with friends and family virtually. The same goes for checking in with and working with colleagues when we’re based at home. While we may not be able to meet them physically, the social interaction can boost our mood and keep us connected to the outside world.

Get some exercise and fresh air

Staying active is a great way to refresh the mind, distract ourselves momentarily from a difficult situation and release endorphins to keep us feeling positive. It’s also a “classic anxiety reduction strategy” according to Dr Ken Duckworth, medical director of National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Monitor your media intake

It’s very easy with a lot going on and so many news sources to stay constantly connected to the news, however many are finding that negativity in the news is causing anxiety or distress. The World Health Organisation recommends that we seek updates and guidance at specific times of the day and avoid listening to or following rumours that might make us feel uncomfortable.

Eat a balanced diet to boost your immune system

When we’re all at home we may be led to feel bored and reach for foods or substances that can bring comfort, however in excess these may make you feel worse. By monitoring our intake and being aware of its impact, we can then alter it if we feel necessary. Try to have a balanced lifestyle even when we are limited to what we can do.

Take regular breaks

We’re generally used to getting up and making a drink, attending meetings or heading out for a break during the day. At home there’s less things to break up our working pattern and screen time, so make an effort to have regular breaks to give your mind (and your eyes!) a rest.

Practice positive thinking

There’s a lot around us that can bring us down at the moment. It may sound simple but focusing on positivity – whether that’s reflecting on things you’re grateful for each day or intentionally thinking about something that’s made you happy recently – helps us to channel our thoughts so that we remember things to stay happy about.

If you feel you need additional support, we recommend you seek further advice or help. If you’re concerned about symptoms that you or people you know are experiencing, visit the NHS website for more details on Coronavirus, or to access resources to support your mental health and wellbeing.

Other charities such as Mind and Time To Change also have a wealth of resources for those experiencing mental health problems or looking to support a struggling friend or family member.

Stay safe – look after yourselves and your community!

The brookscomm team

5 ways for Amazon sellers to cash in on Black Friday

Posted by michaelbrookscommon November 20, 2019December 10, 2021in Hints and Tips, How To:, Uncategorized1 Comment

This November sees the return of Black Friday. The annual event is now firmly established in Europe. Its American origins based on the premise that after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving, because holiday shoppers spent so much money on discounted merchandise.

Black Friday offers tremendous potential to companies currently selling on Amazon. But as a seller, how can you make sure you’re getting the most out of the Black Friday extravaganza?

Here are our five top tips for seller success.

1. Optimise your listing title for searches

Making sure your product is as visible as possible in searches needs to be your priority (visibility within Black Friday deals comes later). Make sure you include a generic product description of what your product is within the title. Even if people haven’t heard of your brand, this will ensure that they know what type of product you are offering.

2. Seal the deal with bullet points

The five bullet points are arguably the most important feature of an Amazon listing. Listing features is not enough to persuade buyers; you need to motivate the viewer to buy by setting an expectation of what benefits they will get out of using the product. This is why Amazon places the customer buy-box next to the bullet points – more often than not, it’s the bullet points describing the benefits of the features that convince buyers.

3. Participate in Black Friday Lightning Deals

The main concept around Amazon’s Black Friday is to offer hundreds of exclusive discount deals on popular, quality products. To be able to be a part of this, your product(s) need to have a certain number of positive reviews and a three-star rating or higher. You must also reduce the price of the item by at least 40% to be considered.

You need to choose the quantity of stock you want to sell and submit the deal in advance of Black Friday to Amazon. Amazon then decides when to schedule it. Lightning Deals are tremendously popular due to their high visibility on the homepage, and huge volumes of stock can be sold in a very short time period.

4. Increase your keyword bid strategy throughout Black Friday promotion

If you already use Amazon’s display and brand keyword advertising tools in seller central, make sure you allocate extra budget for the duration of Black Friday to ensure your products are promoted above organic search results.

You’ll reap the benefits of a low advertising cost of sale (ACOS) as your customers’ intention now will be to buy rather than browse.

5. Use vendor powered money-off coupons

Amazon customers use the ‘wish list’ function to keep track of products they’ll be looking to buy at discount during Black Friday. Sellers can make their products more attractive during the sale by buy adding a money off coupon onto the listing. A glance at the wish list will display the discount on offer to the customer.

Couponed listings also stand out in search results. As a seller, you are in control of offering a percentage discount or a monetary amount off the list price, making this a very useful sales strategy instead of Lightning Deals.

As Black Friday’s popularity continues to grow every year, missing out on the opportunity for increased sales around the shopping event could see your brand suffer. Following these tips puts you in good stead to maximise the opportunity Black Friday offers to sellers.

Want to find out more? Get in touch!

If you have any questions about how to make Amazon an effective channel for your business, please check out our Amazon Marketing services or get in touch. We’ve helped several brands launch and establish themselves on Amazon in Europe. Call us on 01483 537 890 or email hello@brookscomm.com

Identifying the right communications practices for your business

Posted by brookscommon October 31, 2019October 31, 2019in Hints and Tips, How To:, PR, Social MediaLeave a comment

A communications strategy isn’t something that any business would doubt is important, but the reality of developing it is a lot easier said than done when there is a wealth of tools and practices at a company’s disposal, with their own benefits and risks attached.

This month’s issue of the Law Support Network’s Briefing Magazine features some invaluable insights from Peter Rogers, Director of Risk at Bevan Brittan, as part of the feature entitled ‘Brain Training’.

While focused on the legal sector, the piece gives a great analysis of the challenges faced by many businesses when choosing the most appropriate internal and external communications tools, due to the wealth of them on offer. Rogers also offers interesting anecdotes on the evolution of information transfer – from a telex machine that occasionally spurted into action to a more recent scenario where emojis were used to instruct a lawyer!

Overall, the piece encourages businesses to maintain a view of evolving trends, ensuring enough assessments and measures are implemented by your risk, communications, HR and IT teams to appropriately mitigate potential issues across your workforce ahead of time.

This evolution of communications channels is something we know all too well working within the PR and marketing industry. Gone are the days when our focus was placed squarely on traditional PR – we now maintain relationships with our friends in the press, while also building a reach with other, less-traditional influencers across a wide variety of outlets and channels.

This is proven to be a more realistic and time-efficient approach to communications and opens a huge opportunity for our clients, but also requires that we offer clear counsel to help manage the potential risks associated with spreading your message too broadly.

Much like Rogers’ own recommendations in the Briefing article, we work with clients to determine the most appropriate methods of sharing information, with key considerations including:

Which of your target audiences do you hope to reach with this information?
What communications channels do you plan to use and why? How do these fit with your targets?
Is this information time-sensitive?
Has the information been approved by all stakeholders, both internal and third-party?
How will you manage any follow-up, especially relating to enquiries or feedback? Have you considered the impact upon your internal team and put plans in place to manage this?

Rogers also makes recommendations for implementing best practice within your organisation, including carrying out a review of how staff currently disseminate information internally and their experiences with this. Here are some additional thoughts from us on implementing communications best practice:

Consider running internal workshops, to inform and promote communication policies and practice.
Implement guidelines to cover the use of tools which may increase informality or indiscretion, e.g. social media or messaging apps.
Ensure that your workforce understands potential communications risks and are well-versed on the importance of protecting both your business IP and corporate reputation with appropriate, responsible activity.
Raise awareness of any relevant legal implications – especially where something might be considered as innocent or informal by your employees.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, or learn how brookscomm might help your business to implement similar communications practices, please do get in touch.

Audience Psychology: Content Messaging Development and Emotional Connection

Posted by brookscommon October 7, 2019December 10, 2021in How To:, PRLeave a comment

Messaging and audience insights are an essential step in building your communications strategy.

The ability to understand your target personas, whether these be customers, partners, industry authorities or other audiences, along with their goals and challenges – and how your business value proposition answers these – is critical. The more that you can keep this approach at the heart of your content, the more likely you will be to successfully resonate and engage with your targets and, ultimately, achieve your objectives while building authentic brand confidence.

However, as sustainability and environmental considerations continue to dominate the news agenda, there is an increasing pressure for businesses to demonstrate their values and ethics beyond pure product or service positioning, acknowledging and responding to the broader concerns of their target audiences.

Big brands taking notice of consumer values

In October 2019, Unilever, stated that they were committing to reduce their use of new plastic by half. The BBC article states that the firm currently produces 700,000 tonnes of new plastic every year and they have cited this commitment as a direct response to the concerns of their customers in the Millennial and Gen Z age brackets, as well as securing the company’s market relevance ‘for years to come’. This story follows similar announcements from other large FMCG corporations, including Coca-Cola and Nestle, highlighting the importance of considering your company values in alignment with your audience interests.

Audience insights and persona development are pivotal elements of our strategic communications work with clients. We work to produce content, messaging and supporting outreach across a range of marketing, PR, social and digital touchpoints, to ensure that the results achieve client objectives and remain customer-centric.

So, as you review your communications activities, consider your audiences:

Who are they?
What are their priorities?
How does our business offer clear benefits which answer their challenges?
How do we best demonstrate this?

Corporate Social Responsibility

Then consider your CSR strategy and how this may add to your value proposition. What matters to your audience personally and how does your business meet this, to benefit society beyond pure sales? Does this differentiate you from your competitors and are you able to use this to influence your industry?

Demonstrating your positive connection and commitment to these additional values will ensure that you further engage your targets and increase their ongoing trust in your brand, which can only serve to further enhance the authenticity of your business proposition.