21.8 million Canadians access the Internet each month, that’s almost 70% of the population. For any given month Canadians conduct, on average, 55 searches. And it appears that the majority of us are searching in the same place. Google reigns with an overwhelming market share in Canada with over 81%. MSN and Yahoo combined account for approximately 16%.

What's interesting is that paid Search Engine advertising is down. Hitwise US Claims that compared to May '08 - Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising in May '09 declined by a whopping 26%. However, according to the announcement, while paid search's share dropped, search traffic is on the rise.

It's not hard to figure out why. During these tough times we've witnessed many of our own clients spending less on marketing - both online and offline. Whether this is wise, or not, is up for debate but one thing is becoming very clear - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) needs to take a more prominent role in your marketing strategy.

Another factor may also be contributing to this downward trend in PPC— organic listings carry more credibility and trust with searchers than their paid listing counterparts.

In the past few years, fast results with PPC advertising spurred a rapid increase in marketshare in the pay for performance model. Note – PPC can't be overlooked as it still has the power to drive sizeable traffic referrals to your site. But hard times, combined with the change in search bahaviour, underline the need for a well planned mix of both SEO and PPC.



Paul Bies

President,
Mystique Creative

Curious about all the noise being made about Twitter I set up and account to check it out. I set up a brief profile and snooped around a little before I went back to work forgetting all about it. That is until the 'followers' came. Not many, but 'followers' all the same. I had to go back to my profile to find out what I had said that would entice anyone to follow me. What I found was nothing. A blank page. So I left it alone as I put some more thought into what I would say to my followers.

I listened to a webinar on the power of Twitter with Guy Kawasaki and was still confused on how I could use the forum to benefit Mystique Creative. He had valid points on why Twitter benefits someone like himself - high profile & in the public eye. The fact that it was free came in as the largest benefit. But I still needed to rationalize - why Twitter? Realizing that Twitter has entered the mainstream, I figure it's time to analyze how or if I can use it in a manner to further my business goals.

Let's start with the obvious questions: Who's my audience? What's my objective? How will it work with our other initiatives? And, how will do I measure success?

Who's my Audience?

Pretty easy to break it down right now as I only have a hand-full of followers: a client, a friend who also fits into the client role, a creative writer that I've collaborated with for years, a talented young photographer that I met at a favourite watering hole, a freelance designer that I interviewed last year, wirelesstoys - who until they contacted me I don't believe I'd ever heard of, and a mystery guest. What do they have in common? Me. So what kind of a message do I send them that is relative to each of them? I have no idea but I think it may be time to consider whether to incorporate a Twitter strategy into our marketing efforts.

Kawasaki is a good example of someone who has the right audience; he's trying to get tech-savvy entrepreneurs to use his blog aggregation site to help them promote their own Web sites. With all the focus online and the audience being more tech savvy than not, it's no wonder Twitter is driving serious traffic to his sites and he has more than 112,000 followers.

What's my Objective?

One objective of using Twitter could be to promote Mystique Creative's services in a time-sensitive way to create an immediate call to action. Another is to create a following of our efforts so you feel like you are in the know of what's going on in our company. Couldn't I simply write this in my blog? Probably. Would you still read it? At this time I believe only one of you is signed up for our newsletter and/or the rss feed of our blog. Is it worth the effort? Maybe.

How and Why

"How will I manage this Twitter initiative?" and "Why should I?" These questions are part of the same thought processes. By asking how I'll manage my Twitter initiative, I'm forced to look at Twitter as a program or campaign, not some random thing to do in my spare time. I have better things to do in my spare time - like spending time with my wife and children or golfing.

Same goes for the "why." Is Twitter more important than investing extra effort into website development such as search engine optimization or e-mail campaigns? (which reminds me - It's time for another email blast) To be honest - this article was originally written to be a 'tweet' - until i realized that I can only post 140 characters at any given time. Too often, we get caught up with what's cool and trendy and think we have to be a part of it. Sometimes we lose sight of what has the highest potential for ROI. And at this time I have to say 'Fellow marketers, first things first - I've got an email update to write'.

Paul Bies

President,
Mystique Creative

A lot of factors contribute to the failure or success of an online business. A well planned and constructed website is paramount to your business success both on and offline. The design and development philosophy at Mystique Creative is based on four principles: attract, engage, convert and support.

Attract - Your site needs to project an image of credibility while compelling visitors to take a desired action. Design and develop a user-interface that it is easy to navigate through and search engine friendly (traffic is key to success for any site). Make it easy for them to find the information they are looking for and to act on that information.

Engage - Engage your visitors through effective messaging, site architecture, tools etc. Keep the site customer- centric maintaining a focus on their needs. If they can't quickly figure out what's in it for them a competitor is only a click away.

Convert - Plan how you will convert visitors into customers. Develop your conversion funnel based on the attributes that distinguish your business and the products and services you offer.

Support - Remember - it's all about the customer. They should be provided, online, the tools and information they need both before and after the online transaction.

Websites are meant to evolve and stay up to date with changes in your users' tastes. Be ready to adapt and add features such as blog's etc based on your customers and prospects feedback.

Paul Bies

President,
Mystique Creative

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Paul Bies
President,
Mystique Creative

This has got to be one of the most asked questions of marketing agencies and consultants. Proof… If you google the phrase, you'll find about 29 million results.

Understand that marketing is an essential investment in the future of your business. And while tempting, cutting your marketing budget during tough times like these could have potentially fatal consequences.

So, should you spend more or less? The answer depends on a number of factors. But the exact amount doesn't matter as much as the fact that you have dedicated funds for marketing. As long as you have and track a marketing budget you can always adjust the numbers based on results.

Back to the question… How much should I spend on marketing? While there isn't a magic formula - rest assured if you're trying to grow your business fast - spend more on marketing! The following methods are all effective ways to set a budget:


1. Percentage of gross sales/revenue:

This is probably the simplest method. Most experts recommend somewhere in the range of 2-8% of gross sales but, in most cases, small businesses (less than $5 million gross revenue) should aim to dedicate something at the high end of this range. In fact, we recommend that you use projected sales figures rather than base your marketing spend on historical sales figures. You are dealing with future spending and its impact on future business performance. The actual percentage will depend on the gross profit percentage you are able to achieve.

Keep in mind that many industries have their own standard. For example:

• Industrial B-to-B: 1-2% of gross sales
• Hospitals: 1-2% of net revenues
• Law firms: 1-5% of gross revenues
• Retail: 3-10% of net revenues
• Banks/Credit Unions: 2-6% of assets
• Pharmaceuticals: 10-20% of net sales

2. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV):

A somewhat simple concept as long as your numbers are accurate. Identify how much profit (on average) you stand to make during the lifetime of a customer relationship and determine how much you are willing to invest per customer acquisition.

Customer Lifetime Value is defined as the present value of all current and future profits generated from a customer.

Here's a formula to work from:

CLV = M x R/(1+I-R)

M = margin or profit from a customer in a certain period
R = your retention rate (most companies are between 60-90%)
I = discount rate (your company's cost of capital, usually a rate of 8-16%)

For example: if your profit from a customer in a year is $1,000, you retain 80% of your customers, and your discount rate is 12%, multiply $1,000 x 2.5 to get $2,500 as that customer's lifetime value. But remember, your CLV will change as your retention rate changes. Still, your CLV could have a big impact on profit even at small percentage retention increases.

Here's a link to a great Customer Lifetime Value Tool developed by the Harvard Business School: http://www.harvardbusinessonline.com/fl ... _value.swf

3. Goals/Plan driven:

Identify measurable goals (for example: Number of new clients, Percentage of revenue increase) and then determine your sales equation. Again, this method requires accurate numbers based on your track record to make the equations viable.

For example: For every 100 prospects approached, you get 20 initial meetings. From those 20 meetings, you can expect to get 8 invitations to present a proposal. From 8 proposals, you will score 3 new clients. If your goal is 20 new clients, you now know that you need to approach 500 qualified prospects. You build your marketing plan to accomplish that and assign the costs accordingly.

Three different methods - pick the one that you're most comfortable with to help you prepare your new marketing budget.

Keep in mind that you can have the right amount allocated to marketing and be spending it on the wrong mix. The money you choose to spend on marketing should generate additional revenue for your company. So if you are spending more on marketing than you are making in return for your efforts, then the marketing mix needs to be re-evaluated.

In another blog we'll look at where you spend your budget once you've established it.

Paul Bies
President,
Mystique Creative