Welcome to the Escape Blog

Back in June we ran a survey online. We also had a little help from email marketing specialists emedia, who mobilised their audience to participate.

The Escape Email Marketing Survey 2008 results can be found here.

Highlights include:

• The need for companies to make a compelling argument for subscribing to an email marketing list
• Marketing and sales Campaigns are being sent with too much irregularity.
• Correct technology to send email campaigns is being used, but more still needs to be done for better penetration
• Personalisation and testing could produce higher levels of engagement for campaigns.
• Companies need to focus more on goal oriented campaigns rather than generic messaging.
• Confusion from marketers about e-mail marketing regulations.

I love it when you load up a website rebuild and results are instant - like this project for emedia.

The website (and content) is a refined offering for marketing their products and services and already, less than ten days later, we have seen search engine traffic more than double.

It’s early days yet but the client has bought into the need to generate content and they have attended our seminars on web strategy, so we are confident that they should see a rise in sales leads through their new website very soon. Case study to follow.

Due to requests from new clients, we will be presenting our Website Strategy Seminar on 25th September 2008 at our offices in Basingstoke. This is a free seminar open to clients and non-clients alike but spaces are limited.

For current Escape web clients, we are also running a website copywriting workshop on the afternoon of 8th Octobe. This paid event is limited to ten spaces (one has already gone today) and we are also offering an early booking discount.

When it comes to commissioning a new website, there is a lot of choice these days. From large web agencies, to one-man bands and students, the price you pay for a website will vary.

But, cost is one thing - value is another thing entirely.

Here’s a new article from The Escape which may answer that big question: How much should you be paying for a business web site? And, more importantly, what you should expect in return?

We’ve externalised a new tool for you lucky people. Basically, that means that we have a suite of tools that we use for our everyday jobs that we have made so you can use it too.

The latest one is the web page inspector -  a real time peek at your web pages to check the integrity of your headings, images, links and meta data. It’s not fully functioning yet and it can’t handle some older technology, such as frames, but it does give you a quick overview of how good, or bad, a web page is.

We don’t all sell lifestyle products, I admit, but when you think a little differently, you can make anything fun… including automated pipette machines…

Thanks for the link Debbie.

Does your business have a website so that you can burn up your marketing budget to get rid of it? I hope not, but if you do have spare marketing cash, feel free to throw it my way!

The reason I ask is that I get the impression that clients almost don’t believe that they should expect sales leads, sign ups, etc. from a new website or a rebuild. Perhaps this is their experience talking, perpetuated by a relatively poor performing website in the past, I’m not sure, but I certainly don’t agree.

In fact, I can’t actually understand why return on investment on a marketing website shouldn’t be a necessity for any business. Many lazy marketers get around this by suggesting that their website is purely for ‘brand awareness’. Yeh, right.

Time and time again at The Escape, we have created websites that do actually deliver tangible results, so I know it is a realistic expectation with the right resources and focus.

So, how do you end up with a website that delivers results? Well, you start from the back… (more…)

In web pitches, it was always quite comforting to state that Google doesn’t like Flash. I’m glad that it happened, as it got rid of most of those awful Flash websites, but, it looks like the bad old days may be coming back as Google learns how to crawl Flash.

I’d like to think that we have all moved on since then and there are some great examples such as carlosulloa (thanks Andy R). But I can’t help thinking that we are about to see a whole new generation of shite, lazy websites.

Flash is undoubtedly a great piece of software and very, very useful… when used appropriately. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you of you have to start “skipping the intros’ once again.

Now .anyone can have a .web .address

The principal agency and regulator of the Internet, ICANN, (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), is poised to make significant changes to the web by lifting restrictions on the classification of domain names and allow new, customised web addresses.

The changes, issued in a recent press release will allow companies and individuals to purchase top-level domains (TLDs) that could end in almost anything they wished. For example, rather than have a TLD that ends in .com or a country-code TLD such as .co.uk, domains could end in .ebay or .london.

An lCANN official described the changes as “a milestone in the development of the Internet.” He added, “This will open up the Internet and make it look as diverse as the people who use it.”

Although an implementation plan still needs to be approved, companies will now be able to turn their brands names into domains while individuals could also use their own names. However, while the system is open to anyone, applicants will need to demonstrate that they have the technical capacity to be eligible along with the cost of setting up a domain name which is expected to be a six-figure sum.

ICANN said it would begin accepting applications for new domains in early 2009 with the first domains expected to be in operation by the end of the year.

Until now, domain names have been limited mainly by geography. The most widely used TLD is currently .com with around 71 million web addresses, followed by .de, (Germany) with 11.2 million and .net, with 10.6 million. The fastest growing TLD is China’s .cn with 10.5 million addresses.

Whether we are shifting into a cycle of recession or not, people will be looking to tighten their belts through fear, and and that includes your customers.

One of the first things that usually gets cut in a squeeze is the marketing and advertising budget. But, is that really a wise move?

Dare I suggest, it actual becomes a more important business function for generating sales. I would even go as far as to say that it actually creates a great opportunity for the rest of us. While your competitors cut their budgets surely there is a train of thought that says:

1. The ‘airwaves’ will be less congested with less competition. More opportunity for you to stand out.
2. Marketing costs (mainly advertising) will go down through increased competition. Have you tried to barter?

Another point to think about is that during any downturn, there are some businesses that actually thrive. Can any of these be your customers?

Why not look in to creating some specific campaigns? You may find that your marketing results will increase for being more defined. Whether it is a vertical market or horizontal - the principles can be the same. Try this whitepaper for more information - Vertical Marketing Online - and whatever you do, don’t talk yourself into the dark side.