1. 7 Traffic building Chapter
In Field of Dreams (1989), the American fantasy film about building a Baseball stadium to attract fans in rural Iowa, the fantasy came true in Hollywood style, but in the real world it’s tougher. Even the best designed sites will fail if there isn’t proactive promotion or a powerful brand to attract visits. Products that succeed are not always the best ones, but rather, reasonably good ones that (a) everyone knows about; and (b) everyone can easily find when they need them. The same is true of web sites. This chapter shows you how to build traffic – how to acquire the right visitors to your site or other forms of online presence in order to achieve the right marketing outcomes for you. You will get a briefing on the different digital communications channels including search engine marketing, online PR, online partnerships, interactive advertising, opt-in and viral marketing. We will also show you that to succeed with your online communications also means gaining different forms of visibility on partner sites which are themselves successful in traffic building.
Learning outcomes:
●  Evaluate the range of options for traffic building
●  Develop a plan to balance the options for traffic building
●  Identify success factors for different online communications tools
●  Review options for achieving positive representation on third-party sites.

2. Traffic quality rather than quantity
7.1 Introduction to traffic building
Key aspects of traffic building
Targets
Traffic quality rather than quantity
Techniques
Targeting, techniques and timing are three key aspects of traffic building and their relevance should be assessed for all techniques described in this chapter. It is traffic quality, not quantity, that really indicates the success of a traffic-building campaign. Traffic quality is high if site visitors are within the target audience for the web site and if they respond in line with the communications objectives.
Timing

3. 7.1 Introduction to traffic building

4. 7.2 Search engine marketing - SEO
Search Engine Optimization
Achieving the highest position or ranking practical in the natural or organic listings on search engine result pages after a specific combination of keywords
Paid search marketing or Pay Per Click

5. 7.2 Search engine marketing - SEO

6. 7.2 Search engine marketing - SEO
Keyphrase analysis
Demand analysis
Performance analysis
Gap analysis
Set goals and select keyphrases
Ensure you employ someone who is knowledgeable to optimize your position with search engines. remember, the main techniques are:
1  ensure your sites are included in the indexes of the main search.
2  Complete keyphrase analysis to identify phrases relevant to your market.
3  start a search engine optimization initiative. this may involve restructuring your site to make it more accessible to search engines and including relevant keyphrases in the body copy, title tag and other page elements.
4  maximize quality links from and to different sites – run a link-building campaign.

7. 7.2 Search engine marketing - SEO
Ensure you employ someone who is knowledgeable to optimize your position with search engines. remember, the main techniques are:
1  ensure your sites are included in the indexes of the main search.
2  Complete keyphrase analysis to identify phrases relevant to your market.
3  start a search engine optimization initiative. this may involve restructuring your site to make it more accessible to search engines and including relevant keyphrases in the body copy, title tag and other page elements.
4  maximize quality links from and to different sites – run a link-building campaign.
SEO strategy
On-page optimization
External linking or off-site optimizations
Internal link structures
User behaviour signals

8. 7.2 Search engine marketing - SEO
Maximize quality links from and to different sites – run a link-building campaign

9. BUT 7.3 Paid or Pay Per Click search marketing
Similar to conventional advertising
Two main advantages
The advertiser is not paying for the ad to be displayed
PPC advertising is highly targeted
PPC has other advantages
Competitive and expensive
Inappropriate
Needs specialist knowledge
Time-consuming
Irrelevant
Good accountability
Predictable
Technically simpler than SEO
BUT
Speed
Branding
Remarketing

10. 7.3 Paid or Pay Per Click search marketing

11. 7.3 Paid or Pay Per Click search marketing
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) = (100/ Conversion rate %) x Cost Per Click
1 review the relevance of Pay Per Click advertising and be sure to devote sufficient resources to deliver roi from these.
2 master your Quality score 3 manage your PPC campaigns by constantly calculating and optimizing CPa 4 Beware of click fraud.

12. 7.4 Banner advertising
Contextual advertising and behavioural targeting
Target more relevant audiences
Tailor and personalize ads
Remarket or serve an ad to someone who was a previous visitor to your web site
Programmatic ads
Remarketing
The practice of delivering display-advertising to either previous visitors of your site or to web searchers seeking out products and terms similar to yours on major search engines
Despite the low clickthrough rates (compared to adwords), these ads are still seen. This generates awareness (at no direct cost). However, many banners have transactional goals (e.g. to sell directly from the ad). Banner can be highly targeted and sometimes blended with native ads (which must be declared). Programmatic ads automate the buying and selling of swathes of ads, whilst trying to optimize the return. mad men (advertisers) are recruiting maths men (algorithm creators). However creativity is still important as bad ads damage brands. remarketing and retargeting can target visitors that have been on your site and tailor ads according to which stage of the buying process the customer is at (determined by their digital body language, or click behaviour). Location-based ads v2 combine all this data plus where you have been online and of ine. Behavioural mapping layered data can be added to reveal additional insights. Banner ads are alive and well.
Location-based ads v2
Campaign automation

13. 7.4 Banner advertising

14. 7.5 Native advertising
Native ads must not disrupt or upset the editorial, but must seemingly and seamlessly blend with the content surrounding it.
Example
A video appearing alongside a publisher’s own video content, especially one that riffs on the subject matter of the editorial. Or Facebook’s promoted stories that appear alongside users’ status updates and are tellingly often similar in theme. The ads that appears alongside the results of Google searches are a cruder form of native.
Banner ads can help build site traffic, but also have a role in building brand recognition. Rich media and large format ads are effective in targeting visitors through placements on specialized portals and dynamic or behavioural ad targeting. Acquiring customers by banners paid for by CPM is relatively expensive and alternative forms of promotion or payment according to results are preferable.
Goodwin (2014)

15. 7.6 Online PR
Public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics [its target audience including potential customers and stakeholders].
CIPR (2014)
Online influencer outreach and online reputation management
Key differences between online PR and traditional PR
Creating a plan for online PR
The audience is connected to organizations
The members of the audience are connected to each other
The audience has access to other information
Audiences pull information
Search marketing activities (SEO)
Brand engagement activities
Buzz-building activities
Defensive and crisis PR
1  Online PR is maximizing favourable mentions of your company, brands, products or web sites on third-party web sites that are likely to be visited by your target audience.
2  An important part of this is online reputation management, which is controlling the reputation of an organization through monitoring and controlling messages placed about that organization.
3  There are four main differences between online Pr and traditional Pr: the audience is connected to the organizations; the members of the audience are connected to each other; the audience has access to other information; audiences pool information.
4  Activities that can be considered as online PR include: communicating with media (journalists) online; link building; blogs and rss feeds; managing how your brand is presented on third-party sites; creating a buzz – viral marketing.

16. 7.6 Online PR

17. 7.7 Online partnerships Link-building Affiliate marketing
Pay Per Performance form of marketing communications – commission-based arrangement where the merchant only pays when they make the sale or get a lead.
1  Link building – obtaining links from third-party sites to a company site. this should be performed in a structured manner to maximize visitors from third-party sites and to help increase Pagerank within google.
2  Affiliate marketing – a commission-based arrangement where referring sites are paid a fee for sales, leads or visitors. it is potentially a large source of quality traffic for e-retailers.
3  Online sponsorship – a long-term arrangement to associate a brand with a site, or part of a site.
4  Widgets can be applied to extend your reach via each of these three arrangements.

18. 7.7 Online partnerships Link-building Affiliate marketing Widgets
Pay Per Performance form of marketing communications – commission-based arrangement where the merchant only pays when they make the sale or get a lead.
Widgets
Different forms of tools made available on a web site or an user’s desktop. They either provide some functionality (calculator) or they provide real-time information (news or weather).
1  Link building – obtaining links from third-party sites to a company site. this should be performed in a structured manner to maximize visitors from third-party sites and to help increase Pagerank within google.
2  Affiliate marketing – a commission-based arrangement where referring sites are paid a fee for sales, leads or visitors. it is potentially a large source of quality traffic for e-retailers.
3  Online sponsorship – a long-term arrangement to associate a brand with a site, or part of a site.
4  Widgets can be applied to extend your reach via each of these three arrangements.
Online sponsorship
The linking of a brand with related content or context for the purpose of creating brand awareness and strengthening brand appeal in a form that is clearly distinguishable from a banner, button or other standardized unit.

19. 7.8 Opt-in email Creative Relevance Incentive Targeting and timing
marketing success factors
Creative
Relevance
Effective should…
Incentive
Grab attention in subject line and body
Be brief and be relevant to target
Be personalized
Provide opt-out or ‘unsubscribe’ option by law
Hyperlinks to web site for more detailed content
Have a clear call-to-action at the start and end of the message
Be tested for effectiveness
Operate within legal and ethical constraints for a country
Targeting and timing
Integration
is an effective push online communications method. It is essential that is opt-in, otherwise it is illegal SPAM. Consider options for customer acquisition including cold , co-branded s and placements in third-party s. For house list s, experiment with achieving the correct frequency, or give customers the choice. Consider automated event- triggered s. Work hard on design and maintaining up-to-date lists. stay within the law.
Copy
Attributes
Landing page

20. 7.9 Viral marketing
Clever, or shocking idea, or a highly informative idea which makes compulsive viewing.
Harnesses the network effect of the Internet and can be effective in reaching a large number of people rapidly.
It requires…
Creative material
Shared experience
Sending
Promoting
Tracking
With viral techniques, traffic is built either through using (virtual word of mouth) or real-world word of mouth to spread the message from one person to the next. the content must have the ‘wow’ factor and ideally ride the right curve. seeding and tracking are also required.

21. 4 popular tactical communications tools
7.10 Online traffic building
Important aspects of the online brand we communicate:
The brand name and URL
Online Value Proposition
Traditional brand value
Sales promotions and offers
Benefits of integrated communications
Pickton and Broderick (2000)
Coherence
Consistency
Continuity
Complementary
Advertising
Word of mouth PR
Direct mail and physical reminders
Specific offline communications are vital to traffic building for both online and of ine business generation. Traditional advertising, Pr and direct mail can all communicate the url (or Facebook page name or instagram, etc. name) and OVP. remember that although we have reviewed online and offline traf fic building techniques separately, they need to be part of integrated digital marketing communications.
4 popular tactical communications tools

22. 7.10 Online traffic building
Specific offline communications are vital to traffic building for both online and offiine business generation. Traditional advertising, Pr and direct mail can all communicate the url (or Facebook page name or instagram, etc. name) and OVP. remember that although we have reviewed online and offline traffic building techniques separately, they need to be part of integrated digital marketing communications.

23. Chapter summary
Traffic building or visitor acquisition is dependent on defining the appropriate targets of traffic quantity and quality, using the correct combination of online and offline techniques and using both campaign-based and continuous timing.
An organization’s presence on a range of search engines should be achieved and then optimized by using specialist techniques such rewriting copy, redesign and link building. Pay Per Click can be essential to achieve visibility in competitive markets.
Organizations should consider their online reputation and visibility by reviewing options for online PR and their representation on a range of portals.
You should review your potential online partners to drive visitors by link building, affiliate marketing and online sponsorship.
A wide range of different types of interactive ads can be used to refer traffic to the site and can also be used for brand building.
Opt-in is an effective method of communication since it is a push method, delivering information to the mail inbox of the audience.
Viral digital marketing techniques involve transmitting a marketing message using word of mouth or online word of mouth.
Offline communications are essential to achieve reach amongst an audience to increase awareness and explain the online value proposition.