Big data has become increasingly important, particularly for big companies who are looking to collect as much of it as possible and have the resources to sort and develop it profitably. Data collecting and selling has subsequently become a business opportunity and there are now sites that act as brokers for all sorts of information. And for savvy SMEs with a little bit of know-how, selling data could be a way to bring in valuable additional revenue.

We’re not talking about selling off your customers’ email addresses and other personal information here. It’s the details about their online interactions that are becoming more and more important to big corporations and other organisations. It allows businesses to analyse trends, drill down into customer behaviour and produce the kinds of products and marketing strategies that lead to more sales.

What is Big Data?

As a collective species we produce huge amounts of data every second. We do it when we buy a particular product, post on social media, share a particular image, click on a link to a website, watch a programme online, reply to an email or put our demographic details into an online registration form.

Each little packet of data on its own isn’t much use but combined it produces a detailed vision of the world that businesses can use to target more effectively and improve their revenue through sales and click throughs. This is big data and, according to IBM, we produce 2.5 quintillion bytes every day.

To put it into better context, 90% of the data we have available was actually only produced in the last two years. This data comes from everywhere and almost all businesses, organisations, institutions and individuals produce it.

How Do You Collect It?

Businesses are willing to buy data but you have to collect it first and it has to be useful. If your business is dealing with a decent number of customers and you have a good CRM system, then you are already collecting the data you need. That could be anything as simple as where customers come into your site, when they buy, what they buy, how old they are, what sex they are and whether they come back. If you have the right software installed, then you can harvest all this data and make it available to third parties for a price.

Again, it’s worth pointing out here that we’re talking about anonymous data rather than important stuff like names and email addresses. Once this data has been collected it can then be sold to global networks that buy data. You do this by using a data broker who will be able to make sense of the data and knows how to package it. Essentially, you can collect data from your website or something like a mobile app and create what is called a passive revenue stream.

How Much Can You Make?

Data monetisation is on the increase and according to statistics around 30% of businesses will be taking it up this year to add to their revenue stream. Obviously, much will depend on the level of traffic you have and the kind of data that you collect. For many companies it provides a way to earn extra money without putting in ads and, in some cases, can significantly increase monthly revenues.

You might think that as an SME it isn’t worth collecting data but you’d be surprised how much you can make. And, as your business grows, you could be earning a healthy secondary revenue without doing much at all.

But are there any downsides?

There is currently little in the way of meaningful oversight for anonymous data collection and buying and selling it to third parties. As the industry grows, you can expect more to come in. There are already rumblings in countries like the USA and the UK and, if you are going down this route, it will pay to keep an eye on the legislation. Much of this is prompted by the notion that personal data is being sold off, which is not true.

The future could well see most businesses including data mining in their normal, everyday operating processes and selling it through brokers. It’s certainly something that SMEs need to look at more seriously from now on.

If you’re a small or medium-sized enterprise, you might not have the budget to run a large and effective marketing or media relations campaign. While both are key components of helping a business to grow, there are also other ways to scale and develop your business, such as getting featured in newspapers or on the radio or TV. Below, we look at how you can get press coverage as an SME.

Why do you want press coverage?

The first question to ask yourself is why you want press coverage and what you hope to achieve from it. Do you want new leads, to attract investment or to find new hires within the industry?

It doesn’t matter what your reasoning is, just be sure to have a detailed and well-thought-out plan that is both actionable and measurable for your desired goal.

Who is your audience?

Part of your press coverage plan will include targeting your key audience, or perhaps trying to reach out to a new one. It helps to be as specific as possible with this so that not only will you be able to craft your pitches in a way that is likely to get accepted, but you’re also much more likely to be successful in winning that audience over.

Once you have decided on your target audience, you can look at the publications that you want to target. A great way for doing this is to create a survey for your current customers, finding out what they read, watch and listen to. Tools like Survey Monkey are extremely helpful for this.

Again, think carefully and objectively about who you will target. Getting published in large, national newspapers is not necessarily more beneficial then small, regional newspapers, depending on who your audience is.

How to do it?

Once you have figured out exactly which publications or press sources you would like to target, you can start gathering contact information for the relevant people in those organisations.

Many of these companies will list contact details of the appropriate editors, but some won’t, and spending a little bit of time searching the internet will either reveal the right contact details, or will provide you with enough knowledge to know how their e-mail address might be structured.

It is always best to target an individual, and if you can find their e-mail then great, but social media is a great resource too; contacting an individual on Twitter can often get you a response. Avoid generic e-mail addresses such as [email protected], or the Twitter equivalent, as these, more often than not, either do not get checked or get so many communications that yours is likely to get overlooked.

Crafting a press release or e-mail pitch

Once you have figured out who the appropriate people are that you need to contact, you need to pitch to them with a press release your reasons for them giving you press coverage. A press release is a statement that you issue to publications on a particular subject, and is the most common way of pitching to these publications.

The people that you are pitching to are likely to receive hundreds of pitches for press coverage per week, so yours needs to be tailored in the same language and story approach as each publication normally uses.

It’s about selling a story, not a product or a service. Why should your product or service be featured in the press? Why should the audience of that press invest in your product or service? It is much less about the what, and a whole lot more about the why. As with any social media post, sales pitch or piece of marketing, make sure that there is a hook in your story that will draw the press, and ultimately their audience, in.

The more detail that you put into your press release, the sooner it is likely to get published, sometimes with minimal changes. If you’re pitching for press coverage to a national newspaper or publication, usually a few short paragraphs are enough with a catchy e-mail subject line.

Getting press coverage as an SME can be difficult, and you need to be realistic about your expectations. But sufficient research and time will make the process much more likely for you and your SME.

Chase up your pitches

Be sure to chase up any pitches that you send in two or three times, in busy newsrooms they can often get overlooked by mistake.

This may seem like a costly process in terms of time, but the biggest benefit about the above steps of trying to get press coverage for an SME is that it is all free. As an SME it may be that cash flow is limited, and press coverage will not drain you of any vital funds. It does, however, have the chance to be extremely fruitful.

You have probably heard the term “web analytics” bandied about, but you might be unsure about what it means and how it can help your website, no matter what industry you are in. If you are unclear about web analytics and want to learn everything you need to know, read ahead, because this article is for you.

What are web analytics?

Simply put, web analytics are the measurements that analyse how your site is performing on the internet, information that can then be used to assess your site and optimise it for the future.

Your site analytics can provide data on:

• The demographics of the people who visit your site.
• How they got to your site (i.e. did they come from an external link on someone else’s site, a Google search or by typing your web address directly into the search bar.
• What they did once they were on your site, and the order in which they navigated your different pages.
• How much time in total did they spend on your site?
• Where they went after visiting your website. Did they follow one of your internal links?

What applications can you use to attain your web analytics?

There are countless different applications and tools that you can use that will help you assess how your site is performing. Some of the best options out there include:

• Google analytics – One of the best options is the most obvious. Google Analytics offers a whole suite of online performance trackers that help you understand your users’ behaviour and optimise the way that you relate to them. In their own words, “the Google Analytics 360 Suite delivers the customer and advertising insights you need to set your marketing strategy, drive sales, and ultimately outperform the competition.”
• Crazy Egg – Crazy Egg is a useful tool that enables you to create a ‘heat map’ that tracks your users’ clicks in order to see exactly how they interact with your website. This helps you to assess your site’s usability and make any necessary changes to increase your average user’s experience when on your page.
• Kissinsights from Kiss Metrics – Kissinsights provides businesses with the ability to install a Javascript plugin that will instantly ask your website’s users a series of simple questions and ask for valuable feedback. You can choose exactly which questions you would like to ask your site visitors, and review the answers in order to learn about how they experience your website.

What information do web analytics applications usually provide?

Web analytics tools can provide you with truly valuable insights, not only about your own website, but also about the people who visit your site.

This can include (but is not limited to):

Campaign Data

• The specific campaigns that were most successful in driving users to your site.
• All of the domains that referred your site’s traffic
• The keywords that people used in order to find your site

Your Audience

• The number of visits that you have had to your site
• Demographic information about your users, including the countries in which they are located
• Whether your visitors are new or returning users
• The browser they are using to access your site, whether it be Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome or other options

Other Audience Metrics

• Which page on your website visitors landed on, and which page they exited from (i.e. your homepage, About Us, a specific product or FAQs)
• Which of your pages are the most popular
• The amount of time that each of your visitors spent on your site

When you are reviewing the information gleaned from your website analytics, you may find that some terms are used that you are not familiar with – click here for some of the most commonly used terms and their definitions.

You have the analytics information – now what?

Once you begin to examine the analytics reports about your website, you may feel that the sheer volume of information you are provided with is overwhelming. Indeed, trying to make sense of this vast quantity of data all at once is almost impossible – you should instead ensure that you have decided the goal of your enquiry before you start your examination by setting out clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This will help you to get the most from your data.

The metrics that you choose to prioritise will depend on what you hope to improve about your site at this time – engagement, length of time spent on a specific page, the actual number of visitors or which links users choose to follow (if any) from your site.

Once you have decided which metrics are most important to track at this time, you can easily set up a series of scheduled reports to be emailed to you on a regular basis. These emails can remind you to check your analytics, assess new developments and make changes when necessary.

Analytics – Always Important to your Success

As you can see from the information above, tracking your website’s performance is easier than you think – but this should not make you underestimate its importance.

Once you understand your visitors’ online behaviour you are then able to change your site in order to optimise your success. This data can help you make educated and calculated changes to your website based on accurate and actual data – this prevents you from making wild guesses and changes the things you think might make a difference.

Assessing your analytics will also help you choose advertising and promotion techniques that are most suited to your site. Based on this data, you can see how many users are being driven to your site by any advertising campaigns you have done, and ensure that these users are members of your ideal audience.

In addition, analytics are also a simple way to track any broken links or faulty code on your site. They can help you notice a 100% decline in customers to a certain part of your page, alerting you that a page is down and giving you an opportunity to fix it before too many sales are lost.

Don’t delay – start tracking your analytics today.

You have probably heard the phrase “psychology of colour” numerous times in the past, but do you know what this term actually means? This article will explain the psychology of colour and tell you how you can leverage it for success in your career, business or personal life.

What does the term “the psychology of colour” mean?

Colour psychology refers to the study of how and why certain hues and shades seem to affect each individual’s emotions and change their moods. It has been proven that certain colours can change the way that people taste food, experience pain or spend their money.

As you can well imagine, this concept has intrigued many people in the branding and marketing industries. Some experts who specialise in the ability of colours to affect emotions believe that you can use colours to change behaviour, and many people in the advertising and marketing fields attempt to utilise this technique in order to increase sales.

Colour psychology in marketing and advertising

When it comes to selecting the different aspects of your branding, choosing the perfect colour is very important. After all, one of the first things that your prospective clients are going to notice about your product, website or logo is the colours that you have used.

Do you want to appear young, energetic and fresh? A pop of neon might do the trick. Is your brand image more classic and staid? Then dark and somber colours might be better for your business.

By using different colours and trends to target specific demographics, you can change the way that people feel about your product and your brand. If you are interested in what different colours can do for your business, read ahead to the next section.

The individual characteristics of colours

Here are just a few of the emotional characteristics associated with different colours.

Blue

Blue is thought to have a calming, soothing affect on people, and so it is often used in situations when people might otherwise be stressed or aggravated. There is evidence that installing blue street lights in troubled areas can reduce crime, and even suicide attempts. In 2002, city planners in Glasgow installed blue lights along Buchanan Street and the results have been favourable. Blue can also signal innovation. Famous brands that use blue as their main colour include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Skype.

Red

Perhaps it is due to its association with traffic lights and stop signs, but red is a colour that signifies alarm and caution. On the other hand, red can also be very positive, evoking a feeling of strength, passion and courage. Think of Coca Cola, Target and Vodafone.

Yellow

On the positive side of things, yellow can have very favourable aspects, and can encourage people to feel optimistic and creative, but it has also been long associated with mental illness and depression. Some people even believe that yellow (along with red) make us want to overeat, and many point to the interior decorations of Subway and McDonalds as support for this claim.

Green

Natural and woodsy, green makes us feel connected to the great outdoors and can ground people when they are feeling anxious. It is a balanced and calm colour that can reassure us – some experts believe that this is a holdover from our ancestors, as green may have signified that food and water were close at hand. Brands who use this colour include BP, Starbucks and Whole Foods.

Orange

Orange is a fun and playful colour that can evoke the carefree feelings of childhood, and it is often used to signal affordability and getting a good deal. You can see this used very clearly with companies such as Home Depot, EasyJet and Orange Mobile.

Pink

New, fresh and young, pink may be associated as feminine, but it is also a colour that evokes youth and an energetic sense of fun. Aside from products aimed at women, pink is used in the branding of T Mobile, Taco Bell and LG.

Brown

This colour is earthy, honest and stable, conveying a feeling of trust and reliability. While some choose to avoid this colour because of its occasionally unfortunate associations with dirt and waste, those who do are often trying to communicate an organic, natural feel. Companies using brown include UPS, Gloria Jean’s Coffee and many chocolate products.

Purple

Historically, purple has been associated with royalty, but colour psychologists also claim that it can evoke spirituality, luxury and a higher level of consciousness. Cadbury’s uses purple for their logo, as does Hallmark Greeting Cards and the BBC.

Black

While you may assume that black is all about darkness and depression, black does not always signal something negative. Because it is a blend of all colours, black can be very comforting and grounding, and can also evoke sophistication. Marks & Spencer uses black, along with Chanel, Lamborghini and Dolce & Gabbana.

Psychology of colour – subjective and controversial

As you can probably imagine, there are many different ways that individual people can interpret and absorb colours. While most psychologists agree that colours definitely affect the way that we feel, everyone experiences these affects differently.

While you might feel comforted and stable when you see the colour red, someone else might feel stifled, halted and even hungry! It is because of this subjectivity that some people believe that colour psychology is fraudulent and dishonest; although very little data seems to back this concept up with fact, the lack of concrete evidence is likely due to personal preferences, cultural differences and the context in which tests are conducted.

As you can see from above, the psychology of colour can truly help you convey your unique brand story to your potential clients. Carefully consider what colours you use – they will say a lot about you and your products.

If you have heard the term Digital Ethics lately and have been unsure about what exactly it means, you are not alone. There is a lot of debate, and many conflicting definitions out there on the web.

Read ahead to learn more about Digital Ethics when it comes to data breaches, your online persona and social media moderation.

 What are Digital Ethics?

Simply put, the term Digital Ethics refers to the way that one manages oneself online. This is especially important for people who handle sensitive information about clients online – in particular: doctors, therapists, lawyers and surgeons.

In order to be an ethical internet user, you must ensure that you are safely securing all information that you keep about others on your hard drives or software programs. Not only do you have to think about the ways that you store others’ information, you also must pay careful attention to the public persona that your online data trail is creating.

Finally, you must also ensure that any social media platforms that you manage or moderate are maintained in an ethical and sensitive way that is appropriate to your audience.

Digital Ethics – How do you manage your online persona?

In addition to the need to keep sensitive information secure, many people believe that the term digital ethics also refers to the public persona that one keeps online. That is, how do you appear to others when they search for you on the web?

For many people, that ill advised snapshot with a giant margarita taken on holiday is not the end of the world, but for certain professions (social workers, doctors, court judges and politicians) this type of photo would seem a tad unethical. The same could be said for certain bits of past biographies and personal details – it is worth paying attention to how you appear online.

Similarly, if you are scrolling through Facebook and you happen upon photos of your doctor or surgeon partying like mad the night before an important appointment, you might be frustrated and angry. The same could be said if you encountered a vitriolic diatribe written by a professional about your race, gender or ethnicity.

Professionals have an ethical duty to not only protect your data, but also to ensure that their own public information is presented in a positive and sensitive manner. No matter who you are and what your line of work, pay special attention to the things that you post online – even if you think that they are private, one of your many followers could be hacked and your photos, statuses and other links could become public business very easily.

Is your stored information safe online?

Increasingly, we live our lives online. From our banking details to booking a hotel, from planning a surprise party for our spouse to investing in the stock market – we regularly enter our sensitive, personal information into online forms and websites. Not only do you need to think about how you appear online, you also must take careful measures to protect both your own and others’ sensitive information.
On an increasingly regular basis, we see stories in the media about the devastation that occurs when supposedly secure websites are hacked and individuals’ sensitive information is leaked online. This can encompass personal banking details, home addresses and other data, but it can also include photographs and private medical information.

Just imagine if your doctor’s surgery did not have a policy in place to protect your medical history? Nefarious individuals could gain access to knowledge about personal mental health information, potentially embarrassing diagnoses and family backgrounds, and this would be unethical.

Who is to blame when information is hacked?

What if your talk therapist had his or her digital notes hacked, or if your financial advisor had their website breached – who would be to blame? While the criminal doing the hacking is certainly in the wrong, the individual or organisation that has been storing your information certainly has some responsibility for the matter.

Lawsuits and court cases have emerged in recent years debating this exact issue –when valuable details are released into the public sphere, who should be the one held accountable? This question has led to an entirely new field of inquiry – academics and practitioners alike are investigating the need for Digital Ethics when it comes to data hacks.

Digital Ethics and Social Media – Netiquette

Social media is another very important consideration in the conversation about Digital Ethics. As more and more corporations are expanding their online media presence, it is important for them to have a firm policy on how to handle certain social media problems that can arise.

For instance, if an abusive or bullying ‘flamewar’ breaks out between two (or more) of your customers on your Facebook page, how do you handle this? What does your organisation define as an appropriate image or message to tweet, and do these standards apply to retweets? What kind of personal information do you want your employees to share if your organisation’s name is a displayed on their Facebook page?

All of these things are important to consider when planning your online media profiles. You can create guidelines that apply across all of your platforms, and ensure that the staff members in charge of updating them follow these carefully.

Similarly, when clients message you on social media via a private message, they are owed a reasonable expectation of privacy and care. Ensure that these inboxes are regularly checked, dealt with and then deleted in a timely fashion.

No matter who you are or what business you are in, your online digital ethics are important, and something that you should be mindful of when using the internet.

 

Are you a mobile marketing expert? If not, don’t fret – but continue reading, as this skill is one that you don’t want to miss, especially if you are the proprietor of a small to medium sized start up business. As a start up owner, you are expected to be a modern day ‘renaissance man’ (or woman) – you are responsible for a wide array of tasks that are at times completely unrelated, and you must be successful at each and every one of them.

After all, the survival and success of your enterprise depends on your ability to do basic accounting, provide excellent customer service, network and build customer relationships, recruit, train and hire top notch staff, and of course, complete the products and/ or services for which your business is known. On top of all of this, you must be a skilled and effective marketing wiz, with the skills and know how to promote your company to the fastest growing platform across the world – mobile marketing. If you ignore this pivotal marketing opportunity, you are losing clients, business and most importantly – profit.

With mobile commerce increasing 300% over online commerce, this is a massive opportunity for you to super charge your start up. In order to help you get a grasp on this vital concept, here are ten top tips that will get you started, and more importantly – get your marketing information into the hands of the people you hope to convert and count amongst your paying clientele.

1. Recognise the importance of mobile marketing – Before you can embark on a successful mobile marketing campaign, you need to fully grasp why it is an important step to take in the first place. As Kimberley Whitler wrote in Forbes, mobile marketing is quite literally the closest that you can get to your ideal client. She uses the 3 Ps – a person’s mobile is personal (their mobile is likely their most utilised mode of communication, and people form close attachments to their phones); proximity (it is usually within arm’s reach at any given time) and persuasive (most people check their phones constantly). This is too large an opportunity to miss.
2. Ensure your website is optimised for mobile sites – Sites that are programmed solely for a desktop or laptop computer can often look terrible and become impossible to use when accessed on mobile devices. With consumers increasingly doing their shopping on their phones, a poorly designed mobile site will cause them to head to one of your competitors. If programming your website is above your skill level, hire a website developer as soon as possible in order to make sure your site is compatible on smartphones and tablets.
3. Identify your target demographic – In order to ensure that your site is optimised in the most suitable way, you need to identity your target demographic. Here is a handy link that will help you to identify your ideal customer – this is an important thing to do for many aspects of your business’s success.
4. Build your audience on social media – More than ever before, connecting with your clients in a personal and customised way is a key driver of sales. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat and more can be the perfect way for you to interact with and attract your desired clientele. Remember – social media accounts for business are very different than your own personal accounts – remember to always stay on brand and never be overly familiar.
5. Offer mobile marketing incentives – Offering an incentive (such as a free gift, complementary consultation, discount or sale) to your clients via a mobile marketing campaign will demonstrate the value and importance of your message.
6. Stay on top of new technology – Contactless payment options, Smartphone apps that make mobile shopping more simple, new social media platforms – as a start up owner on the cutting edge of your industry, you need to make sure that you are in the know about advances in technology that could help you with mobile marketing.
7. Email mail outs should be regular, valuable and targeted – Collecting your clients’ emails and putting them to good use is key when it comes to mobile marketing (although you must make sure that your clients willingly sign up for these newsletters). Send a regular newsletter that includes advance information about sales, information about your industry and many calls to action. Here is a comprehensive list of all of the ways that you can harness email marketing strategies for your mobile campaign.
8. Nothing you send should be irrelevant – In addition to the point above, remember – your mobile marketing should be valuable. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes – do you like receiving annoying memes, silly jokes and tangential articles from businesses you have dealings with? Probably not – so keep your marketing relevant and valuable.
9. Timing is everything – Pay special attention to when your target clientele is most active online. If you would like to attract those in an office setting, a Tuesday morning is probably a better time to send out a blast than is a Friday at 1am! That said, with Brits checking their phones 1.1 billion times per day, your clientele might be different – pay this some careful consideration.
10. When in doubt, get some help – There is no reason for you to feel like you are in this alone; if mobile marketing is not your forte, or if you find that it is eating up too much of your time, consider hiring an expert. Expending a few hundred pounds per month on a mobile marketing strategy and implementation plan is a great idea, but do be careful – if you do not begin to see gains within a few months, you may need to assess the company with whom you are doing business and potentially change things up. Don’t spend thousands and thousands before realising that you are not seeing those costs recouped.