Business Articles

You've been advertising for a long time, right? You have tried lots of media and sat through many sales presentations, yet you're still confused and more often than not, you're disappointed. Here's the thing - are your expectations aligned with reality? Is it reasonable to expect a certain level of results from your advertising? Studies have shown that in some cases, more than 30 per cent of businesses do not recommit to a campaign because they feel that they did not get value. Is this you? The question is, what were you expecting? Was it realistic and were you measuring it? [...]

“I can’t afford to advertise” If I had a dollar for every time I heard this! The other common cry is, “I thought I’d give it a go because it’s cheap.” My view? There is no such thing as cheap if it gets no results. In a past newsletter, we talked about first focusing on the strategy - Why advertise? What do I want to achieve? Where will I advertise? How will I advertise? Now, let’s delve into the question of whether you can afford to advertise. I believe even the smallest of businesses can afford significant advertising if they achieve [...]

Hand in Glove As I have previously stated, Active Networks is a great believer in using multiple channels to get your marketing message across. Rather than think 'print advertising' or 'digital advertising', I’d encourage you to think print and digital. Doing so will help you to improve your ROI. Traditional advertising, of which print is one, and digital advertising – think Adwords, Facebook, Instagram – work hand-in-hand. Each should be applied for its strengths. Advertising in magazines can be used for call to action but is best used building brand awareness. Digital is very tactical; you can turn it off and [...]

Trust in advertising has always been an issue and today even more so. With fake news, fake reviews and programmatic advertising, consumers have reason to be wary. The table below references a study done in 2017. Importantly, it links trust with purchase intention. Traditional media such as magazines, newspapers and TV came out way ahead of digital advertising. Almost a third more people said they trusted print when making a purchase decision over search engines, and double that for Facebook and Instagram. Print is one of the best channels to create trust and purchase intention with consumers. For the full report, click [...]

You spend a lot of valuable time and money getting people to subscribe to your email list, so it’s a problem when they stop engaging. Plus, those inactive subscribers drag down your open rates, click-through rates, email deliverability, and sender reputation. In this article, I provide an overview of an ‘Inactive’ subscriber, provide four reasons to re-engage your inactive subscribers and give you six tactics on how to re-engage your subscribers. What is an Inactive Subscriber? The definition of ‘inactive’ subscribers depends entirely on your organisation’s email strategy. If you regularly email your list (say two to three times per week) [...]

None of us like to admit it, but reporting is arguably the most important part of the email campaign, and that’s why at Active Networks, we use every report to shape our next email campaign. Here are seven simple ways to measure your email success: 1. Set your goals Before sending your email, decide what you want to get out of the campaign. Your goals will enable you to measure the success of your campaign. Your goals could include: - Delivering information or getting your email read (open rate) - Lead generation (click-through rate) - Conversions (purchases, downloads, data capture, attending an [...]

I’d be a rich person if I received a dollar for every time a business owner incorrectly stated they know where their leads are coming from. The most common responses I receive include, “They found me on Google”, “They came off my website”, “They were driving by”. I’m not saying that these statements aren’t true, but is it the information you are looking for? Found you from your website Unless they are a past client, something has bought them to your website. They may have done a random search and you got lucky, but most likely some other pieces of marketing [...]

We are a great believer in using multiple channels to get your marketing message across – and it all starts with developing the right strategy. You can’t do everything, so do what you can well within a few channels. Here’s why print should be in the mix: Engagement Magazines are among the most trusted media, which is also translated into the time consumers spend reading a title. As most magazines are read at home or when consumers are relaxed, readers are more receptive to the content and the advertising. Active Networks’ 2016 survey of nearly 1000 local residents revealed that 41% [...]

So, you have started your marketing campaign and so far, everything is running smoothly. Your Adwords are ranking well, your email campaigns have achieved a great click through rate, your website looks amazing, everything is set up and good to go. You can see people are opening your emails and looking at your website – but who are they and what do they want?