QR Codes - Fad or not? It does not matter!

You will have seen them everywhere by now - printed on the corner of tickets, on posters, and even at the end of TV ads. Are they worth using in your marketing, or are they just a passing fad? 

For those that don't already know - a QR code invented in Japan back in 1994, is a type of two-dimensional barcode that can be read using smartphones and dedicated QR reading devices, that link directly to text, emails, websites, phone numbers and more! 

Are QR codes a passing fad? 

The simple answer is it does not matter! They are here now, and they do offer marketing benefits that simply are not possible by other methods and they provide consistent positive results. So weather they are a passing fad, or something else is going to replace it next week does not matter, it's here now! So take advantage of it now! 

Just remember - if you want to use QR codes for business or marketing purposes, then you should consider that people have higher expectations from scanning a QR code than they do simply clicking a link on a website. You should offer them something special or unique to people that have taken the time and effort to scan the QR code. 

Also remember that many people won't know what a QR code is or how to use it, so it may be a good idea to provide instructions. 

If you are interested in learning about what QR codes can do for your business, get in touch with Blick Media. 

Internet Marketing - are you being serious?

The vast majority of small businesses are unaware that they could be receiving high volume, high quality enquiries, leads, phone calls and sales via interested prospective clients; if only they had a professionally designed website that has been search engine optimized by an experienced SEO expert.

When a website is professionally optimized, it’s like moving a little shop from the back-streets in the middle of nowhere and relocating it bang in the middle of the high street.

Your website is a unique part of you marketing in one really important respect: it alone has the power to either destroy or to drastically increase the response rates of all your other marketing activities. So, if you send a mail-shot for example, be aware that the people that were interested in what you offered will visit your website before they decide to contact you (or not!). This means the quality and content of your website has to encourage people to completely trust you and see you in a wholly professional light.

Something else you need to know: Almost everyone now uses the Internet to ‘check out’ a potential service provider; before deciding whether to do business with them or not! That includes the people you market your services to. So, what is your website saying about your business?

E-mail Marketing if you have not started, you should!

E-mail Marketing a very powerful tool for your business. 

Email marketing is extremely cost effective and one of the most powerful marketing tool available to businesses today, this is because it provides consistent results whilst costs are minimal. 

Here are just a few things for you to consider, before you start using e-mail marketing. 

We strongly recommend that you build your own e-mail database, rather than buying one from a third party company. List's purchased like this are often over worked and are seldom the catalyst of any successful marketing campaigns. 

If you have not already started building a mailing list, start building one by asking all your existing clients and contacts if you can add their email address to your list. (Important) Never just add people to your email list. You must have their permission, otherwise they will regard your emails as spam.  Then, ask if you can contact them from time to time via email with a newsletter or special offers or announcements.  This will get you your initial list and give you something to get started with. You should also add a email sign-up box on your website. 

We recommend that you do not send more than one or two email messages in any month, no-one likes being bombarded with constant messaging, it's annoying and one of the quickest ways to loose contacts from your list. 

Finally, (and this is very important) ask your readers to forward your emails on to their contacts.  If the content is good enough, they will – but never assume, always ask them.  Include a message at the end of every newsletter, which says; “if you have had this email forwarded to you by a friend and you would like to receive a regular copy, you can join our readership here.” (Then link from that text, to the newsletter sign up page on your site.) 

Please remember: with e-maiI marketing it is important to check and abide by the rules governing email marketing in your country. 

ICO New Corporate Image cost a staggering £38,399.83

No joke! This is what the ICO do with YOUR money. 

After looking through the Information Commissioner's Offices (ICO's) website we have seen that they have had a new corporate image designed, hardly a great leap forward, however what's even more amazing is that according to documents on the ICO's website, they spent a staggering £38,399.83 on their new 'Corporate Image' (£28,520 on "Corporate identity design - research, concepts, proposals, design and production of manual").

The ICO are the people who are responsible for the ongoing 'Cookie' fiasco which has led to them to relax/reevaluate the law relating to cookies owing to the fact that so many people simply ignored them.

Personally I think they need to sort themselves out before they worry about a new logo! Especially when this country is in a recession. What an amazing waste of public money!

Message to ICO: Next time your looking to rebrand yourself, give us a call here at Blick Media, I know we could do a far better job and it would cost considerably less than £38,399.83 that's for sure!

Blick Media would love to hear your thoughts on their new corporate image, do you think it's a good use of public money?

The Cookie law is changing again!

The ICO have new advice! 

The ICO have announced a new update to their advice. The new advice is now that simply requesting a website would constitute implied consent - removing all together the need for explicit consent. This is a bit confusing as the new law states that explicit consent is required for all non-essential cookies . This appears to be a bit of a back-down on the behalf of the ICO, perhaps it's because of the lack of conformity from some of the online giants, whatever the reason for this - we think it's a good move!

The new advice is now as follows:

1. Implied consent should be good enough if the cookies in question are unobtrusive enough and documented in a privacy policy or similar.
2. Implied consent probably wouldn't be good enough for more intrusive cookies, like the third party cookies set by behavioural advertisers. 

The grey area still is that Google Analytics is a third-party cookie that could be considered as being among the most intrusive on the web. However we don't believe the ICO are overly concerned with Google Analytics. We think the lawyers from Google will sort something out with the ICO and agree a path forward that will ultimately not affect users overly. Could this advice change again - Yes! It seems that this new interpretation of the new EU cookie directive seems to be more feasible, however it seems that things can change as often as the weather at the ICO.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this?

EU Cookie Law - Is it working?

The EU Cookie Directive is Now LAW! 

You may already have seen there are many solutions popping-up all over the web in an attempt to comply with the law, but not everyone is conforming. There are many major e-commerce websites that have failed to respond fully or have simply ignored the deadline. 

Why?.... We think the answer is quite simple, most business owners have no idea what the cookie law is, nor do they know if it effects them! The answer in all probability is 'YES', this law effects you if your business has a website. 

Most modern websites use cookies, which is quite normal, and are not viruses as many people believe. These small files which are automatically placed on the users computer are there to remember settings and aid the overall functionality of the website. The new law now requires website users to have to opt into accepting these cookies. Is this fair?.... It's a bit like having to sign something before you can enter a shop before you can browse or buy something, is that right?... No! But that's the law! 

As the EU Cookie Directive is less than crystal clear, we think there is much that will happen in the industry over the coming weeks/months. Blick Media will be posting up news and information about this new law as things evolve. 

Blick Media's opinion is, whilst we can't see fines being issued in the early days of this new law, we can't see it going away, so you can either take a chance, or play it safe and make the adjustments to your website, the choice is yours!