I was back on BBC Radio Nottingham on Friday, as their ‘app expert’.  This time I tell you all about an app to get to know yourself, how to put a great outfit together, scanning documents with your phone and making sure you’re never disappointed when you eat out.

Why don’t you check it out, here…

Radio Nottingham ask us to go and share what we know with their listeners because we really are experts in apps.  Have you thought about how your business could benefit from having its own app?  Maybe you have some questions about how you could increase efficiency with an app?

If you’d like to know more about apps, don’t hesitate to get in touch; you can email me at esme.fallows@xposurecreative.co.uk, or give me a bell on 01623 600620.

(If you enjoyed this broadcast, I will be back on BBC Radio Nottingham just after 3:15pm on Friday 12th April, talking more apps!)

Here I am with my pick of the hottest five apps of the moment.  This time I went to see  Frances Finn at the BBC Radio Nottingham studios.  I of course, did the obligatory photography app of the moment, plus four more great ones.  Have a listen, have you got any of the apps I mentioned?  Perhaps you’ve got some great free apps that I haven’t mentioned that you’d like to suggest?  Or maybe you’d like your own app?  We don’t just talk about apps, we make them too!

If you’d like to talk apps, drop me an email anytime; esme.fallows@xposurecreative.co.uk.  I’ll be visiting Radio Nottingham with five more great free apps on Friday 8th March, sometime after 3pm if you fancy listening live!

Days passed, then months, and before the business knew it, a couple of years had gone by, and no one was really talking about the website anymore. The website wasn’t generating leads, it wasn’t increasing the company’s potential client base by collecting email addresses, and it certainly wasn’t making the phones ring.
The website had dropped to sleep. It wasn’t contributing to the sales and marketing effort of the business and potential clients were going to the business’ competitors as a result.

It didn’t take much to lift the curse; with a free website evaluation and some clever tweaks, Xposure gave the website the kiss of life that it needed. The site started rising right up the Google search results, the database of potential clients was growing daily and the dust was blown off the telephone, which was now constantly ringing with interest.

The moral of the story is, your website should work like your best performing employee, but if it’s neglected, it won’t work hard for you. Invest a little time in improving and updating your site with the help of Xposure, and watch your website come back to life, working tirelessly 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

If your website seems to be snoozing, speak to us about breathing some new life into it. Call today on 01623 600620 or email esme.fallows@xposurecreative.co.uk.

THE END

I was back in the hot seat as BBC Radio Nottingham’s ‘Queen of the Apps’, just before we broke up for Christmas.

I’ve been doing this for more or less a year now – I can’t believe how quickly it’s flown. That’s more or less 60 apps I’ve reviewed!

Gareth and the team at Radio Nottingham asked if I could find them five great, free Christmas apps this time.  Have a listen to see what I came up with!

If you’re interested in apps, please don’t hesitate in giving me a call for a chat.  As well as being an app expert, we can build apps for companies, either as a promotional tool, or as a functional piece of kit, to make your business more efficient.  Also happy to receive media enquiries.

My number is 01623 600620, or you can email esme.fallows@xposurecreative.co.uk.

In the meantime, I’ll be back on BBC Radio Nottingham with five more apps, on Friday 1st Feb 2013, a little after 3pm.

Find my iphone

If you misplace your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, the Find My iPhone app will let you use another iOS device to find it and protect your data. Simply install this free app on another iOS device, open it, and sign in with your Apple ID. Find My iPhone will help you locate your missing device on a map.You can then choose to display a message or play a sound, remotely lock your device, or erase your data on it.

Prey

Prey lets you keep track of your laptop, phone and tablet whenever stolen or missing — easily and all in one place. It’s lightweight, open source software that gives you full and remote control, 24/7.

Blackberry Protect

BlackBerry® Protect is a free application designed to keep your information secure if your BlackBerry® smartphone goes missing. If you’re on an applicable consumer data plan (enterprise plans are not supported at this time), you can download BlackBerry Protect and then log into the website where you can lock, locate or wipe your smartphone from wherever you are. You can also choose to have your crucial data backed up wirelessly and automatically, as often as you choose (daily, weekly, or monthly).

When we’re busy, it’s easy to neglect the basics. This term, Xposure are taking you back 2 marketing school for a quick refresher course. Make sure you’ve got the right kit to get the phones ringing, by testing your marketing metal. It’s as easy as a, b, c!

Often it’s the small things that can make a big difference, particularly where your marketing is concerned. When did you last add your latest company news to your website? Have you made sure you have all the correct details on your company stationery recently? Are you aware of where Google currently ranks your pages? Simple things like this can make a huge difference to the number of enquiries you’re receiving, but sometimes they’re the last things we think to check!

That’s why we’ve developed this handy back 2 school refresher- spend five minutes answering a few straight-forward marketing questions and see how your marketing measures up!

Start your test now!

Mistake 1

Only having one advert

You’re permitted to do as many ads as you want, so make sure that you take advantage of this! Having a few different variations of your advert can be really beneficial. Despite selling the same thing, different wording can attract a whole new audience, maybe even one with more disposable income!

It can also be a great way to test what kind of advert has the best engagement and response rate. Try one that focuses on percentage rates, for example ’50% off’, and another that focuses on actual prices, for example ‘£5 off!’, you may then find that one type is more popular than the other.

Rewording your advert can really open up your potential clickers, and as long as the advert is well written (and your offer is good) you can attract almost anyone!

Mistake 2

Your adverts take the audience to your home page

Like a Sat Nav that only takes you to within the general vicinity of where you need to be, letting your advert link to your home page, really isn’t that helpful! Even if the potential customers are in sort of the right place, it’s unlikely that your home page answers all the questions you posed in your advert.

You need to have a specific landing page that addresses the reader’s reasons for clicking, gives them further information, and of course, an area for them to share their details with you!

Make sure you have an attention-grabbing page, with a very clear call to action so that those who have taken the time to click on your ad, know what to do!

Mistake 3

Not using negative keywords

You may not even be aware that you can do this, but it really is a trick you shouldn’t miss out on. Simply put a ‘-’ in front of a word in your keywords, and this becomes a negative keyword. Make these words the ones that you wouldn’t want your advert to show up with, even though they are similar to what you are selling.

An example of negative keywords would be if you were an optician and selling glasses online, you should to add negative keywords, such as, pint, brandy, sherry etc. so that the wrong people don’t stumble upon your advert, and click unnecessarily, costing you money!

Negative keywords allow you to be really picky about where your adverts are shown, so that you only come up when the right words are typed in, by the right people.

Mistake 4

Using your company name as the headline

Unless you are ‘Apple’, ‘Coca Cola’, or ‘Topshop’ you shouldn’t expect your business name to act as a click-grabbing headline.

Your headline is an opportunity to sell your offer, use your best persuasive language and meet the needs of your audience; in short – make sure you use it well.

If your advert truly describes what you are selling in a unique and persuasive way, you will find that individuals clicking on it, will actually want your services and to take advantage of your offer.

So, go to your Adwords account now, make sure you aren’t making any of these mistakes, and begin saving money!

If your business is a garage, for example, you may have HGV clients, business clients or domestic clients, and although they are all interested in what you do, their actual interests may actually be in different areas. This is where Facebook’s latest development comes in particularly handy, they are now allowing you to target your posts to specific people, at specific times!

I believe that this feature, has come directly off the back of Google+’s extremely useful circles element, that allows you to post your messages directly to certain groups only. However, the Facebook feature gives you the opportunity to dissect your followers through; age, gender, education, interests, relationship status, language, work place and locations.

These divisions can really help you target the right audience with an appropriate message that’s completely relevant, and useful to them.

Although targeting your posts is a fantastic way to get your messages to the audience you think you need attract, there are some potentially negative aspects to the approach:

1. Initially, you are automatically diminishing the reach of your posts, as straight away, anyone who doesn’t fit the criteria that you have specified, will not see it.

HOWEVER

Due to the lesser audience, you can post more targeted and extremely niche information that will meet their specific needs. Targeting individuals using a blanket approach to everyone, may lead to people becoming irritated with irrelevant content, and eventually un ‘liking’ your page.

If you only ever post messages to everyone, you run the risk of only being able to post broad, generic content that is of only a small use to people. This is why it’s important to pair up your targeted content along with the generic posts.

2. Another slight inconvenience comes from the fact that although your targeted posts will not show in the unspecified users news feed, it will still appear on your timeline. This means that if you are driving people to your timeline, whether or not they fit your specified criteria, they will still see your really targeted posts, that could potentially be really irrelevant to them. This can be combatted by manually hiding all the posts you don’t wish everyone to see, and this can be a pain.

HOWEVER

This said, targeting posts can really help with content marketing, and the small amount of time it takes to hide the offending posts can be really worth it.

Benefits of the targeted posts feature include increased engagement, more shares, more likes, more comments, and given the new scheduling feature, combining the two can even give you a break from your computer!

Whatever you choose to do, it is important that you manage your posts effectively, combining broad, generic posts, with targeted specific posts, in order to address specific needs, while maintaining general advice, for the rest of your fans.

Upon watching the latter series, and embarking upon this latest one, it’s become apparent that the X Factor can be really helpful for your business. Bare with me here, but watching the first episode, the X Factor brand is impeccable and we can learn some fantastic branding tips from the show, that people love to hate.

1. Mission Statement

X Factor has a clear mission, everyone knows what it is (a ‘talent’ show), why it’s on (to make Cowel a few more million pounds) and what the show hopes to achieve (finding the mythical ‘X Factor’). Everyone understands what the X Factor is about, there are no surprises, save a few tantrums and affairs, and this results in high audience figures. People tune in weekly, to see their favourite contestant sing a song they know, and then watch someone’s dreams get shattered as they are voted off at the end of the episode. People like a show they can trust to deliver what they want, and the same can be said for brands. If you maintain your message and focus throughout everything that you do, then your audience will know what to expect from working with you. As long as you keep up to this image, and don’t deliver any unwanted surprises, your audience will begin to visit frequently when they want what you deliver, and will trust your brand as you deliver it in the same manner, every time.

2. Understanding your audience

X Factor producers know what the audience want from their show, and they deliver. They know that individuals want to see their favourite contestant, gradually developing their talent and personality throughout the competition, jumping over hurdles, overcoming adversity until they reach the live shows, where they sing a better song, more confidently week-by-week. For your brand, knowing your audience is essential, you need to know what they want from your business, and then you need to deliver it. Meet and exceed their expectations, and they will increase loyalty and confidence in what you do and how you do it.

3. Stand out from the crowd

On the X Factor, often those that go furthest aren’t those with the strongest singing voice. The X Factor knows that its contestants need a USP that distinguishes them from the flock. This could be a unique dress sense, an unusual look, or a great personality. Often these features get them through the competition further than merely their voices would allow. You need to find out what makes your brand unique and different, and use this as a focus for all your sales and marketing. What makes you different is a reason that people will choose your brand over others, so keep emphasising why you are great, and why they should choose you.

4. Emphasise what you do well.

Performers, although often criticised for doing the same number every time, focus on what they do well. If they absolutely nail a ballad (Mary Byrne) then the likelihood is, their judge will have them singing one week after week to keep them in the competition. The up beat, jokey tracks will be taken by the comedy contestant (Jedward or Wagner) along with an abundance of scenery, and set pieces. Your brand message needs to emphasise what you do best, as this is your selling point. Brands that stand out are the ones with an authoritative tone that have consistently portrayed their expertise at what they do.

5. Be able to take criticism

Like the ‘Pink’ woman, who reacted badly to criticism of her voice and style last week, and the various contestants who have had passionate mums and dads walk on stage fighting their precious offspring’s corner, going a bit mad when you’re criticised, only really works to increase TV ratings. Where your brand is concerned, you need to be able to take a hit. I’m not saying deal with abusive people lying down, just be able to take a little constructive criticism. Especially with the growth of social media, brands have to be more diplomatic when it comes to dealing with complaints. You need to show your audience that your brand appreciates feedback, and goes out of its way to take into account what users think, and make amendments, as long as they aren’t being unreasonable.

6. Giveaways

Giveaways and competitions get people talking about the X Factor (along with all the drama on screen and behind the scenes). They have competitions running throughout the show to get people engaging with, and talking about it. Although you may not have the budget to give away an all-expenses paid trip to the Big Apple, having a few branded promotional items and competitions can really engage your audience, and keep them thinking and talking about you, even after they’ve left your office.

7. Social networks

The X Factor promotes its hashtag throughout the live shows, and has dedicated Facebook pages, Twitter profiles and Google Plus sites to share news and chat to fans directly. Although it’s a scarily open network for business, it can be a really great way to build your business and gain a dedicated and interested following of loyal fans.

The X Factor has built a strong brand over a number of years, using all these methods to build a reputation and a substantial following. This isn’t just relevant for a TV talent show either, but can be taken and applied to all elements of all businesses to succeed in building a successful brand.

Isn’t it amazing what you can learn from a TV talent show?

Have you started your campaign yet? Given that Google is the most popular website on the internet, with millions of hits per day, and thousands of people who have made it their career to get websites to the top of the results list, PPC was always going to be a success. Available on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Yahoo and much more, PPC has well and truly taken over the advertising world.

Despite the sheer amount of PPC ads that are out there, and the possibilities open to businesses and consumers alike who take up the system, there are still people out there who still use really ineffective ads.

You wouldn’t have a magazine advert that wasn’t worded and branded to perfection, so why let your PPC campaign go unchecked?

Here are Xposure’s tips to writing PPC adverts that are brilliant, engaging and will increase your click through rates.

1. Keep your wording simple and clear.

Having overly complex wording will really impede on your success with PPC advertising (and besides, you are limited on characters anyway!). Keep your adverts simple, easy to understand and clear, delivering your chosen message effectively.

2. Use people’s emotions.

Emotive language is a must, as it evokes responses in the viewers, and increases click through rates. Have adjectives such as ‘affordable’, ‘easy’ and ‘cheap’ as everyone likes the quick and easy way, even more so if its affordable!

3. Use your keywords.

I know it sounds obvious, but make sure that you use your keywords from your campaign, within your advert. When people type in their search term, they are looking for results that feature their keywords or solve their problem, and won’t waste time on ads that seem irrelevant.

4. Call to action.

As with all adverts, you need a call to action, tell the viewers what you want them to do. If you are offering dog kennels for the summer, then tell your audience to ‘book now’ or ‘call now’ to avoid disappointment.

5. Avoid Jargon.

Although you know what it means, its unlikely everyone will. You need to ensure your adverts are easily understood, and even though you have a small character count, this is not an excuse to use lots of acronyms that people won’t understand. You may lose vital leads this way, so keep it simple.

6. Personal.

If your advert lends itself to doing so, then add in some personal pronouns. Addressing your audience directly. Involving them in your adverts will increase your click through rates, as people feel they are being spoken to individually.

7. Don’t forget your URL.

You are allocated a line for your URL on each advert you create, and this a really important element to increase engagement. Include your keywords within your URL, as this will put the user’s mind at ease that they are being taken to a site that is relevant and appropriate to their search term. To use the kennel example again, your URL could be something like this: www.businessname.co.uk/kennels so that viewers know they are being taken to a site about kennels!

And that’s all there is too it!

At Xposure we run a number of PPC campaigns for our clients, and use these tips throughout each, with great results. Think you know what you’re doing now? Implement these tips immediately, and post your results after the first week. Still confused? Get in touch and we’ll do it for you!