Provoke Design

Provoke's Online Marketing Insight, What Would You Like To Know About?

Abandoned Basket Bombshell!

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Less than transparent eCommerce tactics have been discovered to be a root cause of the one internet shopping behaviour that online business can ill afford as the UK economy continues the long struggle out of recession, shackled by new austerity measures.

There can be many reasons why your site visitor will suddenly click away to leave you puzzling over analytics and statistics to get to grips with the reasons why. Having invested much time, effort and budget into your online marketing campaigns designed to attract visitor traffic to your site looking for the object of their search, you cannot afford to see potential customers exit at a critical stage in the relationship process.

Maintaining ‘integrity of brand identity’ is crucial to attracting and keeping customers, who in turn will mention your site via social media networking channels. One false move and your reputation will likely be compromised – witness the current commotion recently stirred up around Facebook and privacy issues!

So what is causing online basket abandonment before a transaction is completed?
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Dell’s Small Tablet Prescription!

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Hot on the heels of Blackberry and Google, the world’s number three PC maker, Dell, announce that they are also to launch their own tablet device. Joining Apple’s iPad, the smart device market seems ready to set alight the future path of website search and access on the move.

Could the direction of website design and online marketing about to reinvent itself in the face of superfast search and instant access results?

It does appear that Dell’s name for their tablet, ‘ The Streak’ – also known as the Mini 5 – predicts the acceleration of mobile-style instant info , being the first of a number of planned products from the giant PC manufacturer.

Marking Dell’s return to the handheld computer market, ‘The Streak’, which runs Google’s Android operating system, will be smaller than most tablets with a 5in (12.5cm) screen and is primarily, a data device.

Fitting in between a smart phone with a big screen and an iPad, Dell, in an attempt to differentiate itself from other tablet manufacturers, are focusing on small-screen devices, with a 7in and a 10in tablet planned for the future.
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Top Tips To Keep Your Customer Satisfied!

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There’s a rough ride coming! The double whammy of surviving the slow climb out of recession and the knock on effect of severe public spending cuts, about to be unleashed, will place a huge burden on business. In order to survive, every customer will count, and keeping them happy and spending will be the only game, online !

Keeping the customer satisfied is paramount at any time! In a ratcheted up eCommerce environment, today’s marketing strategies focus on optimising a company’s ability to engage and respond faster than ever before to their customers needs. Listening and responding and keeping it as simple as possible for customers to engage and buy means offering a consistently high level of service.

The importance of online marketing to reach out and foster an attentive audience of potential customers and keeping costs down are two of the highest priorities for businesses. As a result of social media interaction, user expectation continues to grow and trying to keep customers loyal to your brand identity is no easy task – as in the end, it may just be down to purchasing on price, anyway!
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UK Users With 24 Hour Online Habit!

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Business owners could be rubbing their hands with the currently popular ‘glee’, at the latest UK web user figures, which indicate their online marketing efforts were worth the investment as we spend more of our lives online!

The latest survey of the country’s Internet habits reveal that the UK spends the majority of their online time engaged in social media networking – up to 65% more time online than three years ago!
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Blackberry Google Tablets To Take On Apple iPad!

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Tablet computer wars are fizzing up! News that both Blackberry and Google are set to launch their own tablet devices in 2010 in response to Apple’s iPad, signals that the large form format could be taking over and we should all be looking to optimising website accessibility.

The Wall Street Journal recently confirmed that Google plans to bring a tablet computer to market with Verizon Wireless, although details of name, manufacturer, launch date and operating system, whether Android or Chrome OSS, for example, are not yet known.

At the same time, Research In Motion, the Canadian developer of the BlackBerry smartphone has also announced it is also set to enter the tablet computing market with plans to unveil a 8.9 inch BlackBerry device later this year.

We have all seen the relentless rise of the mobile internet and the explosion of mobile applications, so does the launch of the tablets mean that predictions of the imminent demise of the deskbound PC and laptop as the principal platform for internet access are about to happen?
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Luring Local Tradesmen Services Online!

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Local trade merchant businesses should be seriously considering the effects of not being found online! Over eighty per cent of people use search engines to find information about local businesses, more than any other method. Even if you don’t have a website, it’s time to say goodbye to Yellow Pages!

No business can now afford to ignore online marketing and that has to include the local trades. The simple truth is that print directories are no longer the source for business services search, nor age a barrier to being able to use computers and surfing the web – witness the rise of the silver surfers!

Most homes will have online access, desk PC, laptop or mobile. No matter what traditional trade you offer and long established customer base  you think you have – you are no longer going to get found, or be overlooked, if you do not have an online presence.

Even without a website, there are a number of extremely quick, easy, and little to no cost marketing strategies for enlisting yourself on local sites, which, given the growth of mobile search, is worth making the effort to get to grips straightaway.
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iPad Presents Portable Opportunities!

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Apple’s much talked about iPad has the potential as a long form, digital content reader to present online marketing opportunities and create compelling content to further engage users, enrich their experience and drive brand identity.

Once again, as with many of the emerging online social media platforms, for business to assess the value and relevance of devices for revenue opportunity, requires flexibility and adaptation. In an environment where advertising and measuring ROI are still being defined, the iPad, with it’s larger screen size provides eCommerce and advertisers, expanded potential for creating exciting, new marketing strategies.

It is of course, the A4 screen format, which offers a level of website accessibility and engagement ‘on the move’, beyond the current limits of mobile content. Screen size, combining with portability, connectivity, touch screen and Safari web browser experience, provides the iPad with a “best of breed” functionality of both mobile phone and laptop.

The capability for website design agencies to migrate online brand design solutions to the iPad format means they can provide their business clients with an entirely new level of customer interaction with content, not available on any other type of device.
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UK Top For Mobile Social Media Use

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News that UK web surfers have come out as the world’s top users of social media on mobile is a sure indicator that a groundswell movement is underway, putting word search and web access on the move at the leading edge of consumer behaviour.

Results of a research agency study across 14 countries and among 2,800 respondents found that 26 per cent of the world’s Internet users access social media sites via their mobile phones. In the UK, the percentage rises to 32 per cent, placing the UK top of the research study list.

It was also found that mobile users are the most intensive visitors of social media sites, logging in on an average of three times a day, contrasting to 1.5 times by other means. Mobile users also send more messages, upload photos and become actively engaged with brands.
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Google Search Results Change!

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Word Search marches relentlessly forward! Google’s new SERPS page offers features that makes user search clearer and simpler with extended opportunities for savvy business online marketing.

Catching up with search engine rivals Bing, Yahoo and Ask, who already use what have become standard search engine design features, Google have just a few days ago, updated the way it presents its search results, striving to make the information more relevant, easier and quicker to find.

Although the SERPs pages were overdue for cleaning up, Google seemingly, are reaching towards a more mobile user friendly approach, given that mobile apps are spreading everywhere, shaping everyone’s expectations of a faster, easier and directed website accessibility.
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Twitter and Facebook Benefits To Business!

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It has to be said. Some businesses still don’t get it! Even as mobile apps take over the web, many SMEs puzzle over the mysteries of social media and how they can ‘make money’ from employing staff to Twitter and ‘go on Facebook’ all day!

To be fair, most SME business owners are coming round to the idea that online marketing is transforming into social marketing and they do want to understand why and how it works. “If only someone would explain, they’d feel a lot happier to get involved!”

The all important principle is to reach out, establish contact and build relationships with your target market consumer. Many communication channels and platforms exist for a diverse number of marketing strategies to be devised which aim to engage potential visitor traffic.
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Mobile Marketing’s Rule of Three!

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The rapid and widespread growth of mobile apps is seen, alongside other shifts in user technology products, as proof of the vast online marketing potential still to be tapped in the mobile channel. But shiny new devices that might impress with their creative ingenuity are not necessarily those that find favour with consumers!

All too often, history has shown that technology serves businesses best when it caters specifically to new consumer behaviour patterns. The dramatic developments and many innovations in the mobile mainstream can be a cause of confusion when it comes to businesses working out marketing strategies as to how they might best reach their potential audience using new channels and platforms.

At this stage in the evolving mobile internet, it does appear that there are three key guiding rules for staying focused and making the most of recent changes that look, not only set to stay, but will transform the customer search traffic medium:
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Top YouTube Tips For SMEs!

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Keeping visitors coming back to your website relies on sustaining genuine interest, relevance and value with your target audience. A multi-channel social media policy creates powerful linkbuilding strategies, not only for corporates and large companies, but can greatly benefit SMEs and compact organisations too.

YouTube’s free-to-use video model, with its readymade, mass market audience, can be a valuable tool any business can use to engage their audience. There are some very straightforward and cost effective actions, which your website design and online marketing team can take to get your videos quickly set up and start attracting traffic.

Here are the ‘dos and don’ts of using YouTube :
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