The Escape Blog...

We love sharing stuff over here at The Escape so we thought we’d let you into a little secret.

No. we haven’t recorded a cover of an old Beatles song, we’ve just had a bit of a play around with our company website. You know the sort of thing… to use ‘marketing-speak’ we’ve basically given it a really good shake to see what falls off.

Well, it turned out to be a terrific team effort involving almost everyone within the business with the whole thing conducted at break-neck speed.

The concept and design was discussed, agreed and implemented in hours (let alone days or even weeks) while the hard-core techie bits were shared out amongst members of our technical team for rapid deployment. (They’ve been known to go from 0-60 lines of code in under 5 seconds you know!)

Of particular interest are elements of the page which have been coded using the most bang-up-to-date web functionality including HTML 5.0 and CSS 3.0. And we have to say, it doesn’t half open up loads of exciting possibilities.

Naturally, we’re dead serious about our new-look homepage so we’d love to know what you think. Please take a few moments to provide us with a bit of feedback by leaving a comment below. Go on, don’t be shy - tell us what you reckon!

We’re not saying the new style will definitely stay - nor will it necessarily go. All we’re saying is, if the feedback’s good then who knows?

As for the result of our handywork (all done at the speed of light), well… [drum roll] why not see it for yourself?

Footnote: Some of the really neat stuff we’ve done is so new that it’s beyond the scope of even the most recent of the main web browsers. This is work in progress for both us and the browser developers as the technology rolls out. If you wish to see the effects in all their glory, use Apple’s Safari browser which you’ll need to download and install.

Just a couple of months ago, The Times’ free-to-access website, timesonline.co.uk, attracted around 2.8 million unique users in the UK alone.

However, its owners, News International, launched two separate publications thetimes.co.uk and thesundaytimes.co.uk where registration would become mandatory and readers charged for exclusive access to the content.

The problem now is that, according to ComScore, the combined number of unique visitors to the two new sites has tanked. In fact, it has fallen to just 1.6 million in July from a high of 2.2 million in June and 2.8 million in May.

And it gets worse. The average number of minutes spent on the site has fallen from 7.6 in May and 5.8 in June to only 4.0 in July. Page views too have dropped from approx. 29 million in May to 20 million in June and 9 million in July.

In total, The Times has lost 1.2 million UK readers across its paywall websites and the time its users have spent online in the past three months has almost halved.

Despite attempts of an enticing introductory offer, these numbers don’t bode well. True, it’s still relatively early days yet but the signs even at this early stage don’t look good.

The drop in readership has come as no surprise even to the paper group themselves who predicted the potential for a sharp decline. Thorough research by the Group would have been undertaken to scrutinise the online advertising v subscription model and a conclusion drawn from that - with many other online publications watching very closely it should be noted.

So what’s brought about this decline in usage?

There are a likely to be a combination of reasons but, it seems on the face of it that, if you can get what you want for free, most people are unlikely to want to pay for it. A salutory lesson indeed… at least for now.

Hold the front page.

The world of search engine optimisation (SEO) is a place where change happens quickly and often with little or no warning.

It seems like one day there’s a way of implementing a particular procedure - and woosh - the next day it’s considered ‘good practice’ to do it differently. Then there’s the huge arsenal of online tools that suddenly appear only vaguely familiar despite the fact that they were used just a couple of days previously.

And change isn’t just confined to SEO techniques and web technologies. Do you find yourself asking, “Should I be targeting different keywords? Or “I wonder how many backlinks I currently have? How about, “What’s my current PageRank? Or even, “How many of those links are no-follows?”

All legitimate questions of course but while it’s vital to keep our ears firmly to the ground (or is that shifting sand?), are we obsessing too much over the detail? The problem with detail is that devil’s likely to be in there somewhere. Shouldn’t we instead be getting our SEO heads out of the sand of scrutinising micro-procedures and instead looking to see the wider picture?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to cut out the ‘middle men’ and go route one? In other words, go straight to where people can be found; an increasingly better bet in generating more website traffic.

As the web becomes increasingly more sociable than searchable, does it still make sense to be gripped purely by an addiction to ranking? And particularly given that search engines carry no warranty whatsoever regarding the shelf-life of your search terms should you be fortunate enough to have some perched at the very top of their results pages.

Shouldn’t we fixate less over the finer points and, instead, preoccupy ourselves much more with finding out whereabouts people are on-line, what they’re doing there and trying to figure out where it is they want to go?

A great many people spend their time online absorbing video, audio, podcasts, screencasts, blogs, tweets and contributing to forums and commenting on blogs. It’s therefore well worth considering that by producing and publishing quality content you’ll be helping to convince people that YOU are the person they really should be watching, listening to or interacting with.

In particular, remember also that:

• Conversion rates may well improve dramatically as a direct result of your credentials and influence
• Syndicating quality content to a wider audience can generate more qualified traffic than you could with search alone
• Producing and deploying quality content is a lot less hit and miss than scratching round for in-bound links
• People will find you from 100s or even 1,000s of places - not just from a few of the popular search engines.

So put your SEO feet up and get your word processor and video camera out instead. Syndicate your content into a wide range of different channels using different media in your quest for all the traffic you need.

As if more evidence were needed that the web is becoming more sociable than searchable, the popularity of Facebook continues to march on relentlessly.

So much so that it has leapfrogged Google on at least one occasion so far this year in terms of scoring more hits to its home page than Google. Back in March, Hitwise noted that the two sites accounted for approx. 14% of all US internet visits with Facebook’s home page recorded at 7.07% of traffic compared to Google’s 7.03%.

So the true value of Facebook as an immensely powerful presence is only becoming clear to retailers now that people are routinely integrating Facebook into many aspects of their daily lives - and they’re doing it in droves.

Facebook users ‘influence their friends’ shopping’

According to a study from consulting firm Morpace Inc., “68% of consumers with Facebook accounts say a positive referral from a Facebook friend would make them more likely to buy from or visit a retailer”.

The firm also documents how, “consumers are using Facebook to share shopping information both on company fan page walls… and on the personal walls of their Facebook friends.”

For even the smallest of brands, these can translate into very powerful endorsements indeed and this activity alone reinforces any arguments over just how powerful Facebook can be for retailers looking for ways to reach their target audience.

Results from the survey also suggests that “a presence on Facebook can not only improve consumer awareness but also fulfill the consumers’ desire for product knowledge, events, and promotions.”

Of course paid search is now commonplace on Facebook where advertisers can target people based on location, age or specific interests with the ability to engage with Facebook ads as they would with other elements of the site. For instance you can RSVP to an event or become a fan of a page through an ad.

I’ll vouch for that!

Coupons and discounts represent an excellent opportunity for retailers to appeal to a consumer audience in an informal way. And the demand is most certainly there as Facebook users are actively looking for value from the retailers whose pages they follow.

The most popular reasons cited as to why Facebook users signed up as fans on corporate profile pages include:

• To let their friends know what products they endorse
• To receive coupons and discount offers on products
• To get the latest info on new products
• To learn more about a company or organisation
• To meet people with similar interests.

Facebook on the go

Remember too that more and more consumers are getting Facebook updates direct to their mobile phones or other wireless devices so retailers have the added opportunity to reach their target audience - wherever they may be.

Meanwhile, Facebook is planning to launch its virtual currency, ‘Facebook Credits’ in September this year in a move that could lead to the standard on-line currency.

ROI - but not as we know it

While the opportunity to engage with active Facebook participants is becoming more significant all the time, it’s worth remembering that many members join Facebook simply as a way of keeping in touch with family and  friends. With that in mind, retailers need to find fun, interactive and imaginative ways to engage with consumers through their Facebook pages if they are going to successfully build successful business relationships with customers on Facebook.

Using social networking as a marketing channel creates an interesting deviation on the term ROI. The traditionally acknowledged meaning of ‘I’ within the acronym may possibly be in the process of being be substituted - to ‘interest’ or even ‘influence’.

Footnote: Ben & Jerry’s drops email in favour of social media.

Nope. This isn’t some sort of apocalyptic vision nor has the author just returned from a particularly long lunch-break of the liquid kind.

In fact, the headline doesn’t actually need an answer - it’s a purely rhetorical question.

Anyone applying an ounce of logic knows that no-one advertises where they won’t possibly be seen - so why is it then that many businesses continue to apply search engine optimisation as an afterthought?

Or, to put it another way, why is search engine optimisation frequently applied as a sort of ‘fix’ that’s applied to a website only when it’s been designed, built and launched with the fix deemed necessary to address the issue of not being found in the organic search engine results pages (SERPs)?

Integrate SEO every step of the way

To avoid this scenario - and a great deal of extra work to boot - SEO should really begin with a blueprint for your website that’s allied to your overall, on-line marketing strategy. A good indication of  the quantity and the positioning of textual content on your proposed website should be as much a part of the design process as any HTML, script, Flash™ or interactive elements you want to include.

A cohesive SEO strategy should include the following actions:

• Clearly identify your target market
• Formulate a clear strategy as to how you’ll compete in that market
• Develop a search engine-friendly website
• Embark on an extensive and on-going link-building campaign.

Keyword research

It’s vital to conduct a thorough keyword research before launching your site to establish the search terms your audience will most likely use when looking for your products or services. To re-visit the site content after go-live with a fistful of hot, new keywords will effectively involve re-writing most, if not all of the site content.

Remember, rank isn’t everything

Also think of your website not just in terms of positioning in the search rankings, but positioning in your virtual marketplace.

For example, if you sell haute couture fashion garments, there’s little point optimising your site for high rankings with search terms such as “budget”. Even if you manage to achieve a top position, the only thing you’ll succeed in doing is forcing your site visitor to find another site that’s more appropriate (i.e. relevant) to their wants and needs.

And finally, SEO is never-ending
Just as business strategy is an on-going process that meets defined goals, so too is SEO so it’s vitally important to integrate SEO into all your everyday business activities.

The opportunities are endless - from off-line media, such as business cards and brochures, to the on-line space where social media has emerged as a massively influential player. Even an invoice carries with it an opportunity to request that someone engage with your website. And who knows - they may even link to it!

It’s often so much easier (and more cost-effective) to build your SEO from the ground up rather then trying to apply fixes to an existing website - especially one that has shown all the signs of having sunk beneath the waves.

Bon voyage!

Those who use Twitter on a regular basis cannot help but build up a band of followers as time goes by.

That should come as no surprise - after all, that’s basically how Twitter works. By simply letting people know “What are you doing now?” (or more recently, “What’s happening”), your personal subscriber list will expand organically over time.

And the most widely-used microblogging service around shows no signs of losing either its appeal or its effectiveness.

A few Twitter facts

Twitter has grown into a global phonomena since its creation in 2006 and particularly over the last couple of years or so mainly as a result of its simplicity, availability and immediacy.

On March 2010, Twitter has recorded a 1,500% growth in the number of registered users, its employees have grown 500 percent while over 70,000 registered apps have been create.

By the end of 2009, 2 billion tweets per quarter were posted. In the first quarter of 2010, around 4 billion tweets per quarter were posted. People typically write about 65 million Twitter posts a day, according to the company - that’s about 750 messages per second.

And there’s no indication yet that Twitter has peaked as a social media tool.

The biggest Twitterers

While we’re in ’stats mode’, we thought it might be worth a quick peep at seeing how your own loyal band of followers measure up to the real Twitter  ‘heavyweights’.

Here are the world’s most followed Twitterers:

1. Britney Spears, 5,185,237
2. Ashton Kutcher, 5,119,795
3. Ellen DeGeneres, 4,768,615
4. Lady Gaga, 4,597,530
5. Barack Obama, 4,324,071
6. Kim Kardashian, 3,895,172
7. Oprah Winfrey, 3,703,849
8. Taylor Swift,  3,457,990
9. John Mayer, 3,353,541
10. Twitter, 3,302,082

As you might expect, The Escape Tweet regularly and have a sizeable but fairly modest following compared to the above with some 432 souls currently following us.

But, while pulling together a large number of loyal followers is hardly the point of the exercise here (an important point that’s lost on many), it does tend to provide a good indication of the interest or ’stickiness’ of your Tweets.

Tweet on!

So Tweet often fellow Twitterers either on a business or personal level. And if you find you’re sowing but not reaping - stick with it or some excellent opportunities may pass you by.

You can follow The Escape on Twitter here.

When it comes to annoyance, surely nothing can rank with the incessant drone of the vuvuzelas that can be heard throughout the current World Cup tournament.

But wait, what’s that? And from one of the more surprising places too.

Google has managed to clutter up their impressively (not to mention legendary) minimalist interface with a collection of ghastly full-screen images.

Officially, a Google blog post said: ‘We’re introducing a new feature that brings a whole new level of personalisation to Google by letting you add a favorite photo or image to the background of the Google homepage.’

But why?

The reason for adding this functionality isn’t clear. Is it possible that Microsoft’s Bing might be making in-roads into Google’s market share through their earlier introduction of background pictures that adds both interest and extra appeal?

Strangely, this approach seems to work extremely well for Bing, certainly as much as it flies in the face of all that Google’s iconic interface is meant to represent… simplistic search, nothing more, nothing less.

Or has it anything to do with the timing of the deployment of the feature? The day after Google launched its latest search indexing system, Caffeine.

A small amount of research would undoubtedly provide something close to the answer to these questions, but mercifully, just as there’s a volume button on the TV to reduce the non-stop, mosquito-like buzz of the vuvezela, there’s also a disable function within Google’s page too.

Personally, I can live very happily without either.

What do you think of Google’s background image option?

We all know Google is currently the dominant search engine right now, but did you know it can do other nifty things too?

How about Google the calculator, Google the dictionary or even Google the world clock?

Try these neat little time-saving tricks to get information you need in a flash… without leaving your browser.

NOTE: the single quotes aren’t necessary.

1. Google the calculator

Enter your calculation into the search field.

For example, ‘2 + 2′ or  even ‘3*5/(sqrt 9)-3′.

2. Google the dictionary

Enter the word you want to look up in into the search field prefixed by ‘definition’.

For example, ‘definition design’.

3. Google the currency converter

Enter an amount along with the two currencies and Google will convert it for you.

For example, ‘100 pounds in euros’.

4. Google the spell checker

Enter the word as you think it should be spelt and Google will attempt to correct it for you.

5. Google the weather forecaster

Enter the word ‘weather’ followed by your town or postcode. (Even the first part of your postcode seems to work!).

For example, ‘weather basingstoke’ or ‘weather RG24′.

6. Google for cinema listings

Enter the name of the film you’re interested in seeing followed by your town or postcode.

For example, ‘iron man basingstoke’ or ‘clash of the titans RG24′.

7. Google as a world clock

Enter the word ‘time’ followed by a city to reveal its local time.

For example, ‘time basingstoke’ or ‘time bangkok’.

And on top of this, it’s pretty good at finding stuff too!

If you want to get the most out of Google as part of on-going SEM campaigns or paid advertising, contact us for a chat.

I think its fair to say that there are some people you can work with, and others you cant. For whatever reason.

Usually this can be ascertained fairly quickly, either by the way a first meeting goes, the gut feeling you get about them, even by the way they speak to you from the outset. Are they making it clear it’ll be a case of ‘they say - you do’ or is it a partnership approach they’re looking for?

I think its also fair to say that there are occasions when a ‘fit’ is lacking. Sometimes a potential client will want a certain creative look, approach or result which just doesn’t fit with who you are. Based on your knowledge and experience you know it’s not the best way to deliver the result they require. Do you take the job and make the best of it, seeing it as a cash cow with the risk of compromising your values and probably your conscience? Or do you bite the bullet and say no thanks on the pretense that trusting your gut instinct is more important. Personally I think it should be the latter. After all, credibility is paramount in my opinion. As the saying goes ‘you’re only as good as your last project’ so if that last project was a compromise, in whatever shape or form, was it worth it?

I’d be lying if I said all the client relationships I have been involved with have run as smoothly as a new born babies bottom. Of course they haven’t, thats just the way the world works. But it does enable you to reflect and think. Just like each and every brief, project or creative submission is (and should be) individual, each client is too. I don’t just mean ‘the client’ as in the company, I mean the individuals you work with. The most successful and ongoing clients we have here at The Escape (and probably every other agency out there) are based on personal relationships built up over time, but more importantly, by getting to know and having a rapport and understanding with that individual person.

I guess the question to ask is, other than that immediate spark when you just know you’ll be able to work with someone, are there ways in which you can get to know someone and work with someone to ensure the relationship works beyond the first fling? I reckon so. Here’s my approach to getting to second base (and beyond)…

1. Don’t give your heart away too soon. Get a second date.
It’s all too easy to see a new client as an opportunity to make introductions, set your stall out, get appointed then get on with the job. Effectively meaning that by the time you meet with them again, its for a briefing to do some work. Your obviously going to do a little homework on them but its very easy to dive into the comfort zone of bagging the work, then getting on with it. Big mistake! This is a little lazy and makes massive assumptions that the person/s you met on the first date and the way it went will continue forever. Get that second date under your belt. Create any reason (if you need to although it shouldn’t be that difficult) to get back in there and find out more, take in the atmosphere of the place and see if it feels the same as last time. Its a bit like buying a house. You can love it on first visit, then completely change your mind second time around.

2. Go for a beer, wine and dine, do what it takes to relax and get a little personal (if meeting 2 goes well!)
OK, so the second date went well and the person/s you met on the first date, still seem to exist. So it’s time to get a little more friendly off-site. The good thing about getting out of the office and having a social lunch, dinner or drink is that it can still revolve around work but usually you can learn more about the actual person. This enables you to learn what common ground you have and where you can take what you learn about them and use it to your advantage as the relationship progresses. Its not exploitation, its really a case of ensuring you find out how that person ticks so you can ensure they get the relationship ‘they’ would like to receive.

3. Find out how to communicate
Sounds like an odd statement I know, but treat every client the same at your peril. As each person/project is individual, the way they/it is managed needs to be treated as such too. So ask the client what works for them. Some clients will simply like to know when what they’ve asked for is ready. Others will like a daily update on progress. Some will like a detailed spreadsheet on action points and deadlines. Others will let you manage it your way so long as the deadline is met. It may be as simple as whether you contact them by email or pick up the phone. Everybody likes to work differently so don’t be afraid to ask. If you know from the outset the best way to communicate then everybody wins.

4. Talk their language
Most marketers are pretty savvy when it comes to terminology and jargon. But not all clients are marketers. Its important to get an understanding of not just how to communicate with a client on the progress of a project, but also on a detail level that they ‘get’. It can be easy to seem like you are impressing with your superior knowledge, but you have to be careful not to alienate yourself or come across as a big-head talking in code. Get a grip of their understanding and talk to them on their level. By all means educate as you talk, but don’t confuse them, they won’t like it, they’ll avoid dealing with you in the future and it will inevitably harm the relationship.

5. Honesty’s the best policy
Things happen on projects, either forseen or un-forseen, both of which can have an impact either on deadlines, production, or meetings. Whatever the cause and effect, be straight up. Don’t be afraid to be honest with your client as the relationship will be stronger because of it. Trying to muddle through or pull the wool over the clients eyes in the hope that it will ‘work out’ will inevitably end in disaster and could seriously damage a relationship. Best not to go there!

6. The concrete deadline
This kind of applies to all clients and projects but its worth mentioning here because if you falter on the deadline for a new client, it’ll most probably be thank you and good night… unless its their doing and you’ve communicated with them the impact of their actions. Thats different. The deadline however should be set in deep concrete footings and adhered to, even it means late nights, take away pizzas and your kids forgetting what you look like. Probably the easiest way to ruin a client relationship is to miss the deadline. It will reflect badly on them with their boss and you may be liable for costs if other marketing activity is booked based on you delivering. All that said, hitting the deadline and delivering a corking piece of work will usually iron out any undulations there may have been on the journey.

7. So, how was it for you?
Always difficult to hear about performance I know, but after the deed has been done, ask the client how they feel it went, what they liked or disliked about the process and what you could do to improve next time. The secret here is to ensure you prove to them that you listen and action the changes for next time. If you take the ‘my way or the highway’ approach or lay all the blame with the client (if there is any blame to be placed) then it’ll probably be curtains on the relationship. Bit like a sturdy marriage, it should be about give and take.

I’ve been married for 10 years this June and I honestly believe we’re so solid because we’ve gone through the process above (not that my wife gets a website, brand identity or brochure every so often). Our approach to making the relationship work is built on a foundation of understanding and trust and the client/agency relationship should be no different. You might have to work at it in different ways for different people but the end result should always be the same. If you can make a new friend, understand how they tick and consistently treat them well, there’s no reason why the relationship shouldn’t last for years.

Whatever the medium, good design in any form is a force for good and something which should rightly be admired.

It’s not often, however, that we encounter a genre which is not only an incredibly refreshing art form but one which is largely under-represented. It may be described as collage, relief, hand-craft or a combination of all these and more, but the beautifully created, innovative and highly-detailed paper designs from Yulia Brodskaya are most certainly inspirational.

In her own words, she has “continued to experiment and explore ways of bringing together all the things she likes most: typography, paper and highly detailed hand-made craft objects”.

The results are quite breathtaking in both their originality and execution.

What do you think?

See more examples from Yulia.