Digital

The words “we need original content” are thrown around a great number of times during meetings, but what does it actually mean for your business? And why do the buzz words “original content” create such excitement, and often a little nervousness, amongst your colleagues?

The fact is, creating content for content’s sake is likely to have a negative effect on your business. Why? Because if you work hard to drive online traffic to your website but the site’s still a work in progress, or the blog they land on isn’t interesting, the site visitor is unlikely to return, and repeat visits is what you really want.

Some companies spend money every month on PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising with no emphasis on the quality of their content. The problem is, although it might be tempting to assume that 50,000 site visits shows success, it’s not so impressive if 49,000 people never return, because what this actually means is you’re leaking money.

To put is simply, good original content offers the following values to your website:

Freshness
Updates
Substance
SEO

Freshness
Within moments of landing on a website, your viewer can tell an awful lot about how the site is run. Unless the content is fresh and engaging – talking about current topics or solving problems that are relevant to them – they’re not going to stay too long.

Updates
Research from Nielsen Norman Group suggests that the average time for a page visit is less than a minute, with an overwhelming number of people taking just 10-20 seconds to decide it’s time to leave. Within this time, they would have read less than a quarter of the text on the landing page. It’s a brutal statistic, but it shows how important it is to update your pages regularly if you want to engage viewers and, more importantly, keep them coming back.

Substance
As we’ve established, seeing a web page is one thing, but reading it is quite another. So ask yourself if the content on your page is likely to make the viewer want to either act on the call to action (you do have one, right?) or share what they’ve read with other people? Only very well written, well presented content will have this effect.

SEO
Search Engine Optimisation is, in simple terms, a way of connecting relevant content to the people that are searching for it. Although Google often changes its SEO rules, you need to include text that matches what your audience is looking for to bring them to your website organically, meaning you do so without paying for it.

The chances are, all of this makes complete sense to you, but actually implementing these principles on a daily basis takes a great deal of time and energy. That’s why “original content” is so difficult to create on a consistent basis – it’s never ending and fiercely subjective.

Manage to pull it off though – either by outsourcing the work or creating it in-house – and you can gain significant benefits to your business.

If you’re a Shopping Centre Manager, you’re able to tick all the boxes mentioned above with our Offers and Style products, which stream a live feed of current articles to drive customers in store to your retailers. All you need to do is pay a monthly fee, then let us create a bit of FUSS on your behalf.

Feel free to contact us today, or if you’d prefer to discuss your options over the phone, call 03333 220022 and we’ll gladly assist you.

At OnBrand we’ve come to recognise that getting offers to your shoppers can create something of a gap in your shoppers’ experience.

Today’s shoppers don’t distinguish between online, instore or mobile experiences. Instead, they expect to connect with you on each platform and demand a consistent experience.

Recent research suggests that this gap is leaving a third of customers disappointed. Likewise a recent study by Accenture reported that half of the respondents said they would like to receive real-time promotions on their phones while they’re in store, but less than a third are able to receive that service.

We recognise that centres have always owned the bricks, but somehow owning the clicks has not always been so easy.

Everything else in the mall is designed to support retailers and make the experience conducive to spending time and money – so why does online fall so short?

We know that shoppers want three things from your online channels:

1. Trading hours
2. Store Info
3. Offers (deals, promotions and inspirations)

Our studies show that most mall websites only manage to deliver an average of four offers. Hardly compelling enough for consistent site visits!

• A constant feed of 20+ offers always available on your website and Facebook feeds
• A tool to help you get offers to web and social channels in 1 action, saving time and resource
• Offers that reflect local and national offers
• A free tool for store managers and tenant liaison staff alike that connects real and actual live offers
• Regularly refreshed content that brings shoppers back to your digital channels and mall time and time again
• Greater shopper engagement and your centre seen as an inspirational online destination

The result is that shoppers will place you at the heart of the digital retail experience, and all with no effort from you. Isn’t this what your shoppers deserve? Plus, you can enjoy a trial month for free, allowing us prove the results to you.

Contact us, and get your FREE TRIAL of Offers.

The OnBrand Group

OnBrand Marketing answer the question of why mobile websites are necessary and why your site should be mobile ready.

The first step should be a nice up-to-date desktop website with a suitable modern graphic design, logical navigation and quick loading times. Obviously your website will have integral social sharing buttons to publish your content on the popular social media channels too.

So now that’s settled, what happens if your site doesn’t work correctly on a mobile device? All that lovely design and up-to-date content will be lost on the customer that is looking for you on the web. For instance; How many times have you searched for opening hours for a store on a Sunday or Bank Holiday to find that a website doesn’t load properly on your phone, or that you can’t zoom in and click links to that all important opening hours page (which sometimes crashes and displays a map to a store in the next large town.) This is an all too-common occurrence to which the consumer may get quickly fed up and find somewhere else that has a site that offers store information in a plain and simple way.

Now that mobile traffic is at such a high-level (around 45% of users in the UK now use mobile to access the internet), having a mobile website that works on a smartphone, whilst it’s in the hands of your shoppers is vitally important. Customer satisfaction and loyalty is key to running a successful business so delivering the right information where your consumers are now demanding it will mean increased opportunities for your business by staying competitive in the modern technological marketplace.

The mobile age is still reasonably new and while 96% of marketers are planning to incorporate mobile into their marketing mix an awful lot of business have not yet adapted to the change. Creating a mobile website for your business now means you will be putting yourself ahead of any competition that has failed to provide suitable mobile optimised sites.

A quick word about websites vs apps – Simply put, mobile websites work across all platforms, while apps are device-specific, requiring a business to develop an app for each particular platform (e.g. Apple & Android) Since a mobile website is essentially a different front end for a website, the development is considerably less than building an app.

If there was any doubt about the need for a mobile ready website to appeal to the modern smartphone user there are 3 very simple reasons why you should be taking advantage of a mobile website

Many businesses are still catching up and you will want to provide a modern site before your competitors do. Having a mobile friendly site means that you will stay at the top of the game and provide your customers with the service that they want.

OnBrand Marketing offer bespoke development of websites with social media integration. Content management with fast execution.

Call us on 03333 22 00 22 or email hello@onbrandgroup.co.uk to see how we can help your business.

Sales of mobile devices worldwide overtook traditional computers quite some time ago, but many high street retailers are failing to create useful mobile experiences for the shopper

The greatest potential is to attract customers for future sales in-store and not just to lead them to purchase online. Users are regularly using their devices to research, rate and engage with high street retailers, so these businesses must consider a targeted mobile and social strategy. This is vital as many users now share details of shopping offers and post photographs of their latest ‘bargain’ purchase to their friends and family on social networks

The key here is to make the most of mobile to enhance the customer experience and to develop a relationship encouraging follow up sales. Recent statistics from Vision Critical showed that 40% of social media users purchased a product after sharing or ‘liking’ it on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. The data also showed that we are not just purchasing online too. Users of Facebook drive the most in-store buying at an equal rate as online buying.

We have seen that many shopping destinations fail to understand the direct business benefits of social media campaigns and these stats clearly show a link between social sharing leading to purchase. The technology to tap into shoppers via their devices is readily available, such as our own platform which brings together retail offers and shoppers via social media channels in an immediate solution to people who already have their smartphones in their hands.

Of course, retailers need to understand how to reward people who share and promote products to others in their social circles and there is some work to be done here. However, there has been an increase in the use of mobile coupons and redemptions by some stores which add extra benefits to users when they tell their friends through social channels.

Keeping the customer and encouraging loyalty hasn’t changed with the increase in technology and word-of-mouth is just as powerful as it always was, but the new word-of-mouth is social sharing, which drives post-purchase engagement. For the retailer it’s now about the reach and data, so we can gather what the modern shopper wants from their favourite stores.

Whilst we may not be directly purchasing from our smartphones, a combined social and mobile strategy is essential to stay ahead in the retail marketplace.

In a recent report by Ofcom, 58% of the UK population now use a smartphone, so we really have no choice, but to adapt our way of thinking and target our efforts towards a more mobile audience.

It’s well established that shoppers use their phones for practical purposes such as researching products, comparing prices and locating stores, but the potential for retailers goes much further than this. On average mobiles account for 31% of site traffic in the UK so why aren’t centres doing more to connect and influence shoppers through smartphones?

Here are a few useful statistics that need to be taken into consideration as part of your ongoing marketing strategy to keep up and not get left behind by the digital consumer.

44% of shoppers admit to ‘showrooming’ using their smartphone

29% of shoppers have made a purchase using the mobile web

32% of smartphone owners use mobiles to research products every week

73% of smartphone owners have used their device while out shopping

It’s no wonder that retailers are now beginning to heavily invest in providing a user-friendly mobile channel to connect with their customers and soon it’s going to be impossible to ignore the role that mobile shopping habits evolve as technology moves forward.

The question that shopping centres need to consider is how can smartphone users be encouraged to visit their local centre rather than stay at home and shop online?

Free wi-fi is a subject which is being discussed across many shopping centres that don’t currently offer it, but there’s no doubt that offering the digital shopper the right platform to enhance a visit can’t be ignored. Simply said, shoppers are using mobiles in your centre, but are they using your site? Are you part of their community? Shouldn’t they be accessing your retailer deals and offers via you? This is where OnBrand Digital can help. Our solutions are easy to maintain and good for your business and your shoppers.

Shoppers have high expectations from using their smartphones and they’re digital ready. It’s now up to shopping centres to welcome the mobile customer with the right experience.

Ask us for a demo of how we can work for your centre 03333 220022

You have a company website, you have your Facebook page and you are probably on Twitter tweeting like crazy, but now someone has suggested that you should start a blog.

You may be thinking ‘Why do I need another online platform?’

Blogging is a great way for a business to take advantage of increasing web traffic and build brand awareness online.

Websites are now losing impact as web users look for up-to-date content rather than just a static information page. A blog contains material much more specific and customer focused than your website often written by your public relations team or sales staff. In effect a blog is like a newsletter, but with more frequent updates inviting customers to interact and comment. This creates a more personal and human side to your business. It shows that behind your ‘shop window website’ there is a human somewhere giving advice, the latest news, developments and opinions about your business.

This helps to develop a closer relationship with your customers (and potential customers) and will give you more of a brand identity.

Where do I start?

It all may seem a little daunting at first but it’s quite simple…

Write about what you know!

Firstly, don’t use a blog as a personal tool for self-promotion or sales. This isn’t an effective way to engage with your readers, which is the whole point of a blog. Keep your content interesting and relevant to your area of business and don’t be afraid to show your personality. Update as frequently as you can; obviously most of us don’t have the time to write posts every day, but it’s a good idea to write at least one decent post a week. Your posts don’t have to be huge scribes of information though. There is no set length and word count you are aiming for, but regular informative posts will help establish your position as a source of knowledge within your industry by sharing your expertise on a broad range of subjects. This will in turn encourage readers to return to your blog instead of exploring elsewhere where similar topics are easily accessible.

What Blogging Can Do For You?

Blogs are still just another piece of your marketing strategy (becoming an increasingly important piece) and should be added to your website, newsletters, e-mail signatures, letterheads & business cards.

Many companies rely on the use of the ‘traditional’ social media platforms such as Facebook & Twitter for their digital marketing strategy as blogging would seem too much effort. However, integrating and sharing content created on your blog effectively harnesses the power of your social following whilst increasing the likelihood that your message and brand gains a wider audience. After all one of the primary reasons to use social media is to drive traffic to your business.

7 benefits to blogging

• It’s an Inexpensive online marketing campaign
• To provide news of current events, offers and promotions.
• Building better customer experience relationships
• You gain feedback and new ideas from readers blog comments
• You provide a more personal experience to your followers
• You can reach out to a new audience
• Increased customer loyalty

And the biggest benefit….

It increases you search engine rankings (SEO)

According to Hubspot business blogging leads to around 55% more website visitors. Search engines, such as Google, have a tendency to ‘like’ websites that are frequently updated with original content. To put it another way, a blog is a one of the most powerful ways of keeping the content on your website fresh. Also, every new blog post creates new opportunities for your site to be ranked in searches, which will hopefully lead to more people visiting it. A good way to encourage this is by giving each blog post a simple, relevant title that reflects a popular search term for your industry.

Your traffic can increase when people link to your blog. Someone who finds your post useful might choose to share it somewhere, for example on Twitter, or even their own blog, which could then lead to several more people visiting your post and sharing it themselves. You also have the option of posting links across your own social networks, encouraging the people who have already shown an interest in your business by choosing to ‘follow’ or ‘Like’ you, to visit the blog too.

Remember, the more pages a visitor reads on your website, the closer they are to making a buying decision with your company, so you need to integrate your blog’s content into every aspect of your sales & digital marketing approach.

Everyone loves a winner, and you can be known as the local industry expert when you dominate online search results. Grab the attention of your customers when they are online, and a well written business blog will do exactly that.

Who should write your business blog?

It’s easy to pick your marketing department or top sales personnel and give them access to the blog. In most cases, they might be the perfect people, but they aren’t always the best choice when it comes to accomplishing your goals for the blog. Go back to your discussion about your strategy for the blog and the topics that you want people to think about when they think of your company or your products. Who in your company has expertise in those areas? Do you have someone with great ideas? Are there any employees passionate about those topics? If so, recruit those people to contribute to your blogs. Someone passionate and smart, but outside of management probably has more time to spend on the blog and might just come up with some innovative and interesting personal ideas.

Conclusion

By now, you’ve realised that blogging has many benefits and should run in conjunction with your other social media campaigns leading your audience to your on-site content.

Remember to establish yourself as the industry expert by staying active in a particular field or topic, express your thoughts and opinions, help people if you are asked questions and above all… Have fun & be creative with your writing.

Businesses that make the mistake of not blogging or being up to date with content creation are making a mistake — but it’s a mistake you will want your competitors to continue making. With less competition, a well written blog becomes even more clear, providing even more benefits to those businesses willing to make the time investment.

If the answer is because it is hard to update, then it’s time to start looking at a way to keep your site up-to-date to keep visitors coming back to you. No one wants to keep visiting a website that just looks as if it has been collecting dust over the months or even years so it’s really time to add value to what your customers want.

Technology changes and the way people search and interact with brands is constantly changing. Social media integration is one of the most popular ways to increase your community within your current website.

A complete redesign might not be needed, but additional functionality can be added to make websites mobile and tablet friendly. This could be as simple as installing a CMS (Content Management System) so you can update elements of your website content yourself rather than creating a new website from scratch. A CMS allows for easy updating from any computer to keep content fresh and ultimately keep your visitors coming back for more.

Search engines love fresh content

What this means in simple terms is that the more you update your online content the more the search engines will come back and visit your site and the better chance you have at higher search engine rankings.

The relevance of the content you place is just as important as how often you add it. You can add news, offers, events, or provide fashion tips to your audience. By integrating a social media feed this content can be updated several times a day hence you will never have a stale and boring website again.

The explosion of digital and social media, and the harsh realities of trading in a recession with less budget and more channels is a challenge to even the best in our industry.

OnBrand Digital provide simple solutions to shopping centres to help them manage their digital channels, provide consistency, and the ability to use just one platform to manage all this content. Whether it’s local news and marketing events, promotions or promotion spaces, retail jobs, store directories, trading hours, store guides or maps, our Digital CMS puts Web, Mobile, Facebook & Twitter one click away.