Internetiturundus - interneta mārketings - internet marketing

This about the word PeaToit. An invented word.

I recently was Skyping with Katri Kerem and ask her does the name “PeaToit” work for you’? It works in English…

She said”To be honest it sounded a little odd at the first instance. It does not create associations immediately but together with the explanation it works well and will be memorable. Hopefully.”

Note: PeaToit means HeadFood and describes an event where techie and marketers eat, drink, share ideas and ‘build bridges’.

Now here’s the funny part:

Katri said: “I just realized I have a really weird mind - for a moment pea was like an english word for me - like eating peas. A feast of peas.”

Robin Gurney: (chuckle)

Robin Gurney: miks mitte “hernetoit” ? or something like that

Katri Kerem: Yeah, and Tuesday after the event (28th Feb 2006) you have the Estonian national holiday when you are supposed to eat pea soup and go sledging. Or go sledging first and then have a pea soup.

Robin Gurney: Interesting coincidence.

Katri Kerem: Shrove Tuesday was the last day before Lent. It was a moving holiday which always fell on a Tuesday.

Traditional dishes were bean or pea soup, cooked with trotters. Magic was performed with trotter bones which was supposed to be favourable to the pigs’ growth.

On Shrove Tuesday, people were keen on sliding: a long slide was supposed to guarantee a good growth of flax. (from www.estonica.org)

Well there you are!
Have you got any funny word stories?
Share yours with us.

PS Katri Kerem was an early Eturundus! speaker.

You can hear Katri’s speech or see her presentation at the Eturundus! archive

Eturundus! (E!) events are about internet marketing and altex organises one every two months or so.

The next one: E!4 on 27th February in Tallinn, Estonia is sold out.

The good news is that E!4 will be streamed free and live too - for those people that cannot come to the actual event. The first two speakers will speak in English (2.30-3.30pm approx Estonian time)

So if you want to listen to the E!4 speeches, LIVE and FREE, at work then ‘check in’ here at E!4 LIVE at about 2-2.30pm on 27th February.

Put it in your diary now.

Peeter Marvet, who has made this possible, says:

“This is a shoutcast-stream in OGG which can be heard for example in WinAmp. ”

Peeter also advises:

“If you want to test your technical readiness try (Tallinn Radio Station) Radio Mania now”

We would also like to introduce a new type of event. PeaToit! (P!)

PeaToit means “HeadFood” and probably works beter in English than Estonian!

Anyway we we mean ‘food for thought’, ‘brain nourishment’ etc.

You get the idea.

P! events are social.

After Eturundus!4 there will be a free open networking event called PeaToit!

PeaToit! is a place for marketers and technologists to meet, eat, drink and share “internet” ideas.

PeaToit! aims to build bridges between Marketing and IT people, from
agencies and clients.

Each PeaToit! will have a general theme:

PeaToit!1 is about “building community around a website”…but you can talk about anything:)

We have reserved the non-smoking section of The Travellers Pub on Tartu Mnt 44
They have FREE parking

So, even if you cannot come to E!4 then please come to PeaToit!1

Everyone is welcome.

Bring friends, bring colleagues.

No need to book. Just come along after work at 5.30-6pm.

PeaToit!1 finishes when the last one leaves!

Here at altex marketing we have a board of advisors (or helicopters, as we refer to them internally).

Why does a small company like altex need a board of advisors?

Because we are small but we want to grow fast.

In order to this we need to involve more brains: smart people with different skills, perspectives and attitudes. We admit that we do not have all the answers internally and so we readily accept the need for good advice.

Our ‘helicopters’ see things from above and can alert us to threats and opportunities and mostly importantly, point out how we could do things better for our clients.

Our first helicopter was Siim Teller, who has been great. For example he pointed out an article by Ross Mayfield about ‘boards of advisors’ that set off an interesting chain of events.

Ross nicely summed up some of the benefits of having a board of advisors as:

1. Thought leadership
2. Technical advice
3. Strategic advice
4. Trusted feedback loop
5. Network into customers, partners and VCs
6. Increases the perception of scale and maturity
7. Properly disclosed influence through blogs and press
8. Cash-conservative compensation

Here are my comments on Ross’s post.

The chain of events that Siim started resulted in dialogue between me and Ross Mayfield (seems like a nice guy). To cut a long story short Ross has agreed to speak an Eturundus! event in the near future

We will keep you posted !

PS In addiiton to Siim we have two other helicopters: Peeter Marvet and Ilmar Kästik

More and more companies are becoming interested in ’search engine marketing’.

It’s a wise decision. ‘Everybody’ uses search engines nowadays. Both the general public and an estimated of 80%+ of business buyers look to search engines to deliver ‘an answer’.

If your website can be easily found, especially in Google then your company can maybe satisfy searchers at their point of need.

Essentially there are two routes open to you, if you want more search engine traffic (visitors).

The organic approach: This requires a combination of on and off page activities to raise the ranking of the website when someone searches for a keyword or phrase that matches the content of the your website. This process is called search engine optimisation…or optimization if you prefer the US spelling.

and

The paid approach: In Google’s case you can buy Google AdWords. This process involves bidding for keywords. The higher the bid, the higher position for your website. You only pay per visitor received.

Many people prefer the paid approach because, at first glance, it seems easier and cheaper but thats not necessarily the case. In fact, in my experience, it is rarely is the case. It’s just ‘easier to get started’, that’s all.

In our opinion people should use a combination of the two techniques: organic is used for long term results and ‘pay per click’ for words and phrases that are too competitive to win organically. Also the paid approach is sometimes good for testing the conversion rate of visitor to action too (more on that another time)

But wait…

There is a BIG problem with Google Adwords and with the similar pay per click options available from Yahoo etc.

The problem? FRAUD !!!

Before paid search advertising can become a durable marketing option Google , Yahoo et al must TRANSPARENTLY deal with click fraud.

Every time a searcher clicks on an ad, the advertiser pays Google. But a, not so secret, niche industry has been gathering pace: individuals, competitors and organised agencies (click farms) are offering unethical and damaging services.

Some of these “clickers” are trying to inflate the overall cost of their, or their clients’, competitors’ advertising. Also publishers (that carry the Google ads on their sites to earn revenue) are artificially increasing the results by click-click-clicking on the ads they show.

Click fraud is especially worrying and costly to the advertiser if ‘hijacking software’ is being employed: ‘click generating software’ is easy to make or buy online and has the ability to ‘control’ a computer without the user being aware.

The infected computer can click on targeted ads one, two, ten times a day without the owner’s knowledge. Factor the scale: hundreds of controlled computers creating a ‘robot army’ controlled by agents of your competitors. Pretty scary.

This is not paranoia talking, it’s very real, and something I observed starting years ago, back in 2002 I first got worried. Even Google themselves used to admit this was a big problem as reported at CNN.com in 2004:

“I think something has to be done about this really, really quickly, because I think, potentially, it threatens our business model,” Google Chief Financial Officer.

If you are a professional search marketer you already KNOW about click fraud but many agency people still turn a blind eye to it which means advertisers are often paying large sums on money..for nothing.

Estimates run at up to 25% of budgets are fraudulently spent.

This is BAD NEWS. It casts a black mark on MY industry and means that in future these people who have had their fingers burnt might stay away from search marketing which would mean lost opportunities for them and potentially lost customers for altex. Not good.

So what does Google have to say when asked: How bad is click fraud? Numbers please.

The answer : No detailed comment. No specific numbers.

Google, of course, now denies there is an issue at all and a spokesperson recently replied (by email), when asked by Barron’s Online to comment on the issue:

“Our expert teams and technology filter out certain invalid clicks before they even reach the advertisers’ bills. When we become aware that customers have been charged for invalid clicks, we work to refund advertisers as quickly as possible.” She added that losses associated with invalid clicks are “non-material.”

Non material! Non material to who? Google is getting pretty arrogant these days…with other peoples money!

So what can you do?

1. Factor in 25% for fraud if you do use they pay per click options
2. Focus on the organic approach (its better in the long run and the traffic is FREE too)
3. Use pay per click short term, vary the campaigns, do not leave ads running ‘forever’.
4. Consider employing a team like Click Defense who are reported to allege that Google is not cracking down on click fraud.

Consider these:

1. The search engine market is super competitive
2. Google stock is overpriced (come on, you know it’s true)
3. Cost per click prices are crazy (there is a lot of dumb, lazy money being spent)
4. The smart internet marketing/advertising agency money is leaving pay per click and focussing on organic approaches
5. Fraud is on the increase

Got shares in Google? Sell them unless you want some sleepless nights.

Just in case you wondered, no, altex does not offer paid search marketing services as standard. Yes there is a time and place for pay per click but its needs careful consideration and day to day management for the serious level advertiser. We only recommend pay per click when the situation demands it and not as a panacea for all search marketing challenges.

Be warned!

And so which search engine do I use?

Google of course, it is still number one for me, but I also useTEOMA and AlltheWeb (A Yahoo company but with a simpler/better feel..for me) from time to time.

Old news but also interesting: Google sues and Google sued for $5million !!

I was recently honoured to be invited to speak at a prestigious Marketing Conference in Pärnu, Estonia in May. I will be talking about Marketing to Fandoms. It’s part of a wider topic about ‘Word of Mouth’.

Even though I hope to give a good speech it’s perhaps not a good enough reason to jump on a plane (if you are reading this from outside Estonia) and fly over here for a few days.

But there IS (at least) one good reason to do just that: David Phillips

He is, without doubt, one of the smartest guys in our ‘internet communications’ industry. David is an ‘internet PR’ guru by the way. Check David’s internet PR blog

Check out his and other speakers details here: Estonian Marketing Conference

Of course there are other great speakers too but, for me, the chance to hear David is worth the price of the ticket alone.

If do decide to come from abroad, let me know, I’ll show you around and introduce you to a few people….and great Estonia beer

See you there?

More to follow on this Estonian Marketing Conference as the details emerge.

..but it’s going to get a whole lot bigger!

Is it time to invest in internet marketing?

A month ago I had never heard of Pipper Jaffray, a financial services company based in the US. For over 100 years they have advised investors and now they are getting more interested in the internet.

For those of you who are looking to invest seriously in internet opportunities, their recent report might prove interesting.

It talks about the massive migration of advertising money to online. It mentions that companies like Ford, GM and Absolute Vodka are spending 20% of their marketing budgets online!

It identifies that search marketing not only drives customer acquisition but also has a positive branding effect.
Read the Pipper Jaffray Silk Road: The Tipping Point is Approaching report

The big number prediction is that online advertising market (global) will pass $55 Billion by 2010

Internet Marketing for Tourism

An Estonian version of this article can be found on the Aktiva website : 10 internetiturunduse alast nippi Eesti turismifirmadele

There are too many elements to successfully making and promoting a website for tourists to describe in a single article. However if you follow these 10 tips then you will certainly have an advantage over your competitors.

1. Use a simple, professional, website design that is fast to load. Not all people have broadband internet access like in Estonia. Many Europeans, including your target customers, still use “slow” modems. Your website homepage should fully load in no more than 8 seconds with a 56k modem. So you must reduce the file sizes to a minimum, especially images.

2. Make sure you website looks good (and ‘right’) in all major browsers and not just the one you and your designer use! Check how your site looks in older versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator and also in Firefox too.

3. If you are targeting foreign tourists then it is important that your website speaks their language. You cannot be expected to have 100 languages on your website but you should use the languages your customers can use. English is a safe option as it the world’s ‘number 2’ language. Whichever language you choose make sure you have the content written, or at least checked, by a native professional writer (preferably someone with experience of writing sales and marketing material too.) Poor spelling or grammar on a website badly damages your credibility (it says you do not care) and is one of the main reasons for people NOT DOING BUSINESS with you.

4. If you have won any awards, received positive comments or testimonials from happy clients or belong to a tourism, or other, association then display evidence on your website, even on the home page itself. Show logos too.

5. Use real people’s names and photos on your contact page. The more ‘human’ you seem, the more likely that people will contact you.

6. Collect email addresses from every customer (just ask them for them and do not forget to ask for permission to use them too!). Then create a simple newsletter with USEFUL information for your customers. If you are restaurant then maybe send cooking tips and recipes. If you are a hotel then maybe send information about your town or city and future events. Even if the guest never returns to you they might forward the information to a friend who becomes your customer later.

7. Ask some regular customers and other people outside your business to comment on your website. Ask them to be 100% honest and not ‘polite’. Ask for feedback on your website too. Accept all criticism gratefully and with a smile. As Bill Gates says, “ Dissatisfied customers are our greatest source of learning” (and he should know!)

8. Make sure your website is easy to use. If you sell something or want ‘bookings/reservations’ make it clear on your home page. Do the ‘mother test’! Ask your mother to ‘buy’ from you. If she has problems then so will some of your visitors. Look at what is wrong and fix it. A website can never be simple enough.

9. Use a search engine friendly content management system (e.g. Saurus) as the platform for your website. This will allow you to add and change material quickly and easily. Also if your pages are easy to find in the search engines then you will attract more visitors and especially ones who are looking for someone like you!

10. Ask anyone you now with a website (customers, suppliers, partners, friends) to link to your website. Links provide a source of new visitors and, if they are designed correctly, then can also improve your ranking in the search engines which will make your website even easier to find.

And remember many tourists have never been to Estonia before so include a section called About Estonia or About your town/city and ‘do your bit’ to sell “ Destination Estonia” for the good of everyone and not just your business. If everyone promotes the joys of a holiday in Estonia then the combined effort will persuade more and more to come which is good for all of us.

Good luck.