Newsfeed updates from Facebook

Social media experts from Waseem Saddique Marketing Services in Birmingham reveal Facebook’s latest home feed design changes.

Facebook the online social media giant, has recently spruced up its news feed design. They announced that they would be giving the social media site a makeover just over one year ago.

A representative from Waseem Saddique Marketing Services in Birmingham has said “the social media giant Facebook is focusing on making its site more streamlined and easier to use.”

Facebook’s initial update didn't go down well with many of its users so they have tweaked the design and focused on making it better. Now the update is to be applied to all of its users in the next 5 days.

A recent statement about the update from Facebook said “The updated design has the best of both worlds: it keeps the layout and navigation people liked, but offers bigger images, as well as a new font.”

Facebook’s updated look now means that the desktop and mobile version look the same which means that the social media site is more consistent and is much easier to use across many different platforms.

Facebook users with English language preferences will see the social networks Graph Search bar located at the top of the page where-as others will see a standard search bar.

To learn more about Online Marketing, PPC, SEO, About Waseem Saddique Marketing Services in Birmingham, Visit our blog at www.waseemsaddique.blogspot.com

Basic SEO: Getting started

Waseem Saddique Marketing experts reveal some top tips for getting started with your basic SEO.

Keywords, Lots of them!

You should always research your keywords before putting them into your content on your website. Be conscious of placing appropriate keywords throughout every aspect of your site including URL’s, Titles, Image names, Page Content. AVOID KEYWORD OVERLOAD: Having too many keywords on your site could mean you are seen as having too much spam content which search engine robots are programmed to ignore sites that are guilty of keyword overload.

A  Sat Nav that won’t let you drive into a river.

Creating a sitemap for your website makes it possible for users to navigate much more easily. A sitemap is a page that lists and links all of your websites major pages. A website developer from Waseem Saddique Marketing said “It’s best for users to only have to click a small number of times to get to the page they are looking for.”

Goodbye to old fashioned content

Waseem Saddique Marketing experts suggest creating fresh, unique content for your website. This will engage users and of course improve your general SEO if you include the right amount of well researched keywords. Users prefer sites that are kept up to date with useful information. A great way to ensure that your website gets new content on a frequent basis is to integrate a blog!

Tweet, Update and Share

Social media distribution is important for any SEO strategy. Social media sites should be used by your business to distribute links that direct users to fresh content including news updates, articles, company announcements etc. “This strategy can help you multiply your links visibility from internet and social media users” a Waseem Saddique Marketing expert from Birmingham has said.

To read more about online marketing, PPC,SEO, About Waseem and Birmingham, visit our blog at www.waseemsaddique.blogspot.com  

Customer Testimonials, a Waseem Saddique Marketing Guide

Waseem Saddique Marketing Services explores the power of customer testimonials and provides a definitive ‘how to’ guide for presenting them to your audience.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once said: “People influence people – nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend or colleague. A trusted referral influences more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.”

Waseem Saddique asserts: “Arguably the best word-of-mouth advertising for products or services takes place between parents, especially Mums. Nothing matters more to a parent than their child, so when purchasing products for their offspring, especially their first-born, they will seek an opinion from other parents that have used the product or service.”

Did you know? According to helpscout.net 70% of consumers say they look at product reviews and testimonials before considering a purchase. 

Given the power of the customer testimonial, Waseem Saddique Birmingham provides some top tips for presenting your testimonials in a way that captivates.

1. Increase Trust With The Use Of Photos 
Recent research into increasing perceived trust through the use of photographs found that photographs make facts and statements more valuable, regardless of whether the photo is related to the subject.

Photos are known to enhance the persuasiveness of a testimonial when compared with simple text based testimonials. One customer focus group determined that testimonials including pictures are more honest than those without them.

2. Use Testimonials That Tell A Story
Jeremy Dean, a psychologist, acknowledges that ‘transportation leads to persuasion’. Short, samey testimonials lack conviction and are often deemed unconvincing. However, a testimonial that details the initial problem and then refers to your product or service as the solution is known to have more of a ‘psychological’ impact.

For example:

“Superb marketing service. Communicated my message perfectly.”

Good, but the kind of testimonial that you see on many sites.

In comparison, this example represents a much more compelling testimonial:

“Despite trying every marketing service I knew to help with this unique campaign I found that everyone I tried to get help from said they were unable to assist. This had been going on for months and I didn’t think my marketing campaign would ever get off the ground.

Fortunately, the A to B marketing service proved to be the difference. They dug deep, formulated a plan and put together a marketing strategy & campaign that got the result I wanted.”

Much more compelling, don’t you think?

3. Communicate With The Inner Ego of Your Customers
Waseem Saddique asks: “Why is it that personal referrals from friends have much more influence than a multi-million pound advertisement? The answer is simple friends provide an honest assessment that keeps your best interests in mind.”

It has yet to be discovered, an advertisement that has the power to influence as much as simple word-of-mouth recommendations, regardless of a company’s marketing budget or social media influence.

Helpscout.net writes – “Despite their best efforts, it’s impossible for entrepreneurs to create a personal recommendation for every potential customer that might come their way.  The next best option? Tap into the power of implicit egotism, our bias to be more interested, trusting and favourable toward people who are similar to us.”

Formed in 2007 in Birmingham, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services has consistently provided small to medium enterprises, as well as larger corporate firms, with a range of digital marketing & online solutions. 

5 Free & Easy Ways To Improve Google Ranking For 2014 - Waseem Saddique Marketing Services

Did you know? There are free and highly effective ways to improve your Google ranking. Waseem Saddique Marketing Services provides a few pointers to guide you up Google’s search listings. 

There is no reason why SMEs cannot reap the benefits of search engine optimisation (SEO) even if they do not completely understand what it is. 

Waseem Saddique explains SEO: “For those individuals who don’t know their SEO from their CEO, it is simply a method of improving the ranking of your business in the Google search algorithm.”

Improving your SEO strategy will ultimately aid a business in moving up the rankings in Google’s search results. According to the CEO of Achieve Visibility, Sonam Lama, there are several quick fix techniques that a business can utilise in order to improve their Google ranking. The great part about them is that they are free and simple to execute.

Waseem Saddique Marketing Services echoes Lama’s techniques. Here are 5 top tips to improving your Google ranking in 2014:

1. Utilise Wordpress – Waseem Saddique states: “Wordpress is arguably the most effective SEO-friendly blogging platform available. It’s perhaps also the best content management system around when it comes to implementing an effective SEO strategy.”

Wordpress is now in widespread use as an alternative to outdated website platforms, which most businesses still tend to use, as it helps to boost SEO efforts.

2. Carry Out Keyword Research – Keyword research is the foundation of SEO and improving your position on Google’s search listings, and all the other primary search engine facilities.

Waseem Saddique comments: “After creating a Wordpress site the next essential step is to identify at least three relevant keywords you would like to target and use them effectively throughout the content of your Wordpress site. Avoid keyword ‘stuffing’, but just as importantly don’t under use your keywords. Standard keyword density currently stands at between 3 % and 5%”.

3. Onsite Optimisation – Failing to distribute your keywords evenly throughout your site will hinder your chances of climbing the Google rankings. Keyword stuffing is a common problem and unfortunately Google penalises excessive use of keywords, considering them to be spam.  So ensure that your site is optimised to the density rating provided above.

4. Register With Google Places – Once you have balanced your site with the correct density of keywords, it’s a good idea to register with Google Places, a free facility for listing details about your business.

Waseem Saddique comments: “Being listed on Google Places strengthens your position on Google’s search listings. Google Places is simple to use, requiring just basic information about your business such as phone number, address and hours of business.”

What’s great about Google Places is that is also allows you to include a few keywords that are relevant to your business, enabling you to enhance your prominence on Google, and all other major search engines, even more.

You can improve your ranking even more with Google Places with the inclusion of photographs and by requesting reviews from your customers.

5. Back Linking - Finally, once you’ve completed all the steps above, back linking provides the final piece of the puzzle for improving your Google ranking. 

Waseem Saddique states: “Some of the best back linking methods include social bookmarking and profile submissions on high page ranking sites. These two methods alone allow you to create a valuable back link to your own site, increasing its value and relevancy, especially in the ‘eyes’ of Google.”

Formed in 2007, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services has consistently provided small to medium enterprises, as well as larger corporate firms, with a range of digital marketing & online solutions. 

Waseem Saddique Marketing: Tips for Approaching Customer Review Websites

Waseem Saddique Marketing offers an insight into tackling critical comments posted on online review sites and public forums.

Waseem Saddique comments: “A common question that gets asked by a number of business people I work with is ‘review sites Waseem, are they worth the hassle?’ The use of review sites and online forums splits opinion among business leaders and many myths exist when it comes to review sites, some of which need to be addressed.”

The majority of business leaders are used to ‘being in control’ when it comes to the reputation of their company. Blogs allow for comments to be moderated, control of social media profiles mean that critical comments can be erased, but what of those elements that businesses have no control over?

As an overall, worldwide figure, 80% of people rely on online reviews in the decision-making process (source: Review Tracker). This percentage varies country-by-country, for instance in Turkey 92% of consumers agree that online reviews influence the decision-making process when it comes to purchasing goods or services however, the global average is 80%.

Review sites such as Yelp, Trustpilot, eKomi, Review Centre and a whole plethora of others, represent massive databases of consumer opinion. They are interactive, allowing consumers to rate products, services and companies and they allow for comments to be left, whether critical or commending.

Bad Reviews    

Every business bemoans bad reviews, immediately leading them to get on the defensive and spout excuses that it’s competitors trying to tarnish the name, a former employee mouthing off, or a customer that will just not listen to reason. However, sometimes it is a genuine customer actually offering constructive criticism.

Reviews offer a great platform for advertising and exposure however, a proportion of companies won’t utilise them because they want all the glitz and glamour of glowing endorsements, but fear critical comments. However, critical comments can actually prove to 
be useful for helping a company to improve, learn and grow.

Waseem Saddique comments: “There’s nothing more satisfying for a business than winning over the critics, if you can convert a critical customer into a satisfied customer it’s a sure-fire indicator that your business is heading in the right direction.” 

Here are some tips from Waseem Saddique Marketing for dealing with bad reviews:

1. Avoid becoming defensive: Whilst initial instinct may lead you down this route, combating negativity with negativity results in one thing, more negativity. Defensiveness delivers destruction. Above all else, proactive steps should be taken to deliver a solution as swiftly as possible. Apologise to the customer and realise that in their opinion they have suffered a bad experience, diffuse the situation and take steps to appease them.

2. Respond swiftly: If a negative experience is swiftly resolved, 90% of the time, consumers will return to a negative review and alter their status and opinion. This is a sure-fire way to endear your business to other potential customers and retain a current customer.

3. Remain discreet: Don’t become embroiled in heated exchanges on a public forum, it will do you no favours. Approach customers who have had a bad experience on a private platform, for example a private message, e-mail or telephone call. Take the time to show that you take their grievance ‘personally’ and give the customer the respect of acknowledging the grievance in an amicable manner. This is more likely to lead to a better outcome for both parties.

4. Don’t ignore bad reviews: It could prove far more costly to ignore reviews than to tackle them head on. In retrospect a few ‘bad reviews’ will have little impact, but a few bad reviews unanswered could encourage more customers to air their negative experience of your business. The great thing about review sites and public forums is that it gives service providers the opportunity to address criticism. That opportunity should be grasped; it shows the customer that you care about their cause and that you want to resolve it.

5. Encourage reviews: Even if the reviews are critical, encourage them. An open dialogue and transparency is much more appealing to customers. Sometimes your response will be enough to see negative reviews retracted. A willingness to engage with the critics, rather than remain silent, is proven to lead to a much more positive outcome in 79% of customer complaint cases posted on review sites (source: Review Tracker).

Trick or Tweet? Waseem Saddique Marketing Services offers some top tips for using Twitter effectively for your business this Halloween.

Social Media platforms, like Twitter, Facebook and many others, have revolutionised the way in which businesses approach online marketing. In this article Birmingham based, internet marketing consultant, Waseem Saddique, unveils some of the techniques that will increase the impact of promoting your business via Twitter this Halloween.

Evidence from marketing studies suggest that consumer interest in businesses is greatly increased during seasonal occasions such as Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Valentine’s day and so on. In the age of Social Media, companies have recognised that, increased online marketing activity through resources such as Twitter enables them to attract the attention of consumers on a massive scale during these ‘festive’ periods.

Waseem Saddique comments: “There are a number of techniques that will enable your business to increase your audience reach this Halloween. Often the issue is that many businesses are just completely unaware of some of the features that Social Media platforms, such as Twitter, possess and how these features can be utilised to raise the profile of a business above that of competitors.”  

Some top tips

Learn to use Twitter as a search tool – Many businesses do not perceive Twitter to be a search tool, however, utilising the ‘advanced search feature’ on Twitter can greatly increase the impact of online marketing as it allows companies to track top trending topics, monitor competitor activity, connect with specific target audiences and widen the scope of people that a social media campaign can reach.

Maximise hash tag usage – The Twitter hash tag provides a simple way for people to identify tweets that follow a common thread. For business purposes, hash tags allow companies to raise brand awareness and to create ‘audience communities’ that share an interest in particular subjects. In this case, if a business was to hash tag ‘#Halloween’ any company referencing Halloween within a posted tweet, would reach an audience interested in the topic of Halloween.

Post regularly – As with all Social Media platforms, the need to post regularly is paramount. The more regular the tweets, the more regular the interaction, which in turn protects the longevity of your brand appearing on Twitter.

Condense your campaign – One of the benefits of Twitter is that it ‘forces’ businesses to say less in order to have a greater impact. Twitter posts are restricted by a maximum character count, which means that creativity in what is posted is a must. A ‘less is more’ approach needs to be adopted when it comes to internet marketing via Twitter.

Waseem Saddique advises: “Learn to scale back your content, identify the key words you want to get across to your audience and make your Tweet persuasive, give the consumer a reason to engage and interact with a Tweet. ‘Festive’ seasons, such as Halloween, certainly present an ideal opportunity to generate topical debate.”   

The benefits

It is worth noting that Twitter has over 100 million active users with an average 250 million Tweets posted on a daily basis. Furthermore, 50% of active Twitter users sign in daily. Therefore, becoming familiar with some of the advanced features that Twitter has to offer, could prove to be the difference in running an effective Social Media campaign this Halloween.

PPC marketing doesn’t need to break the bank

Successful online marketing is an invaluable step for any business seeking to increase awareness of the services they are offering and engage with potential clients.

Marketing expert, Waseem Saddique is offering his expert knowledge on how not to break the bank with Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing.

With an understanding of the resources available, an online marketing campaign can be one of the most cost-effective ways of maximising your business’s potential.

“It is wise to set aside a portion of your budget for paid advertisements on Google. These paid ads will become the first results that potential customers will see when they make a search,” Says Waseem.

Although Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising requires a financial investment, if successful the ROI can be extensive. Research shows that approximately 60% of people click on organic results, leaving 40% of potential customers lost if a PPC campaign is not run.

Guiding traffic to a website is great to increase awareness of the services you are offering which in turn can increase revenue. PPC is great for new websites by giving a direct instant service although it is vital to keep within the budget that has been set.

“The first step of PPC marketing is to understand what you want to achieve for the budget that has been set. Research the keywords and phrases and then write ads directed to qualified customers,” continues Waseem.

Once PPC ads have been written, choose the keywords relevant to the campaign to link to the ad.

Both Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter offer a service where ads can be set to target metropolitan areas, individual cities or even zip codes within those cities so that your budget is spent on a well-targeted audience: In AdWords, you can even limit your ads to show within a certain radius of your location.

“By restricting your ads in this manner, advertisers can ensure that they aren’t wasting money on users outside their target market,” advises Waseem.

Geographical regions can be set almost instantaneously by adjusting your campaign settings.

“PPC campaigns can double visitors and if successful can double profit. But you will need to keep track of campaigns to ensure that it is continuing to succeed and that you are within your budget,” Waseem Saddique recommends.

A great thing about PPC is that the Return on Investment (ROI) can be measured. This way if it doesn’t pay for itself in conversions it can be adjusted accordingly.

PPC marketing is one of the most instant services to make people aware of the service on offer but it is important to stick to budgets and to keep reports this way Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising won’t break the bank.

Nintendos New Marketing Campaign

A burlesque dancer, a vicar, and the Ealing Jades Rugby Team… Not the set-up to a filthy joke, alas – but Nintendo’s new marketing campaign is still quite revealing.
Yeah, it’s all the usual ‘Nintendo-y’ stuff: focus on players sat in inoffensive domestic environments and ‘normalise’ games. The new ads take that to the extreme – no mention of games until half-way in.

Yet it also sends a subtle message. iPad, Move and Kinect want to erode Wii and DS’ grip. And Nintendo has seen hardware sales slow this year. But there’s still some distance for all to cover when cementing games in the hearts of your average consumer. The market slump shows games are still considered fair-weather entertainment by many.

Here’s hoping Microsoft and Sony, also betting big on attracting non-gamer audiences, are paying attention. Making games more credible is just as much their responsibility as Nintendo’s.

Revolutionising The Internet: Social Media Marketing

The Internet has (and, if it hasn’t, it will) transform the way natural products industry companies communicate with their customers. That transformation is accelerating at an astonishing pace

as a result of social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and about 50 other sites that can help distribute marketing messages.

More than ever, customers are sharing their experiences and opinions, good and bad, with global audiences on blogs, social networks and review sites, literally at the touch of a button. Those opinions have the potential for shaping, controlling and redefining marketing messages, as well as the reputation of companies. Most companies, especially in the supplement industry, are still unaware of the existence or benefits of social media marketing. However, those that are aware have not adapted to the speed at which social media marketing is revolutionizing the way companies communicate with customers and potential customers and the way consumers are voicing their opinions about companies and their products.

Social media experts believe the day of the one-way message controlled by brand owners may—at least for now—be dying. I would agree. The question to ask now is no longer how are your customers playing back the message you told them. It's what message are they are spreading to others? This is in part due to the development of social media.

The ever-increasing number of social networking sites, blogs and customer review sites makes it a greater challenge for brand owners to manage marketing messages, reputations and intellectual property assets online. That challenge will undoubtedly intensify as the number of participants on user-generated content sites explodes to an estimated 1 billion by 2012. It is also estimated that there will be 40 billion “tweets" on Twitter in 2010. Clearly, the pace at which people are using social media networks to connect with “friends" and seek out online relationships with business is exploding. This is why the smart companies see social media as an opportunity to connect with individuals or groups in this manner. Online media has opened an entirely new path to reaching target audiences.

Waseem Saddique - Marketing Consultant and Sales Expert

Waseem Saddique has worked with over 50 businesses providing marketing services, marketing consultancy and sales training that have and can include:

• Internet marketing consultancy to improve the way that you market online and to integrate it into your marketing plan
• To act as a branding consultant to ensure your marketing messages and image are consistent with what you want to achieve
• To provide innovative and cost effective marketing strategies to develop new business at a reduced cost compared to "normal marketing methods"
• Training your sales teams on how to close more deals
• Reviewing your existing sales process to modify it and to give your sales teams the best chance of success
• To help you formulate a strategy for your marketing in line with your company goals
• To help you develop a marketing plan that you can easily put into action!

...or it could be a simple as just reviewing what you are currently doing and making recommendations. Whatever the challenge, Waseem can assist you!