Digital Marketing Insights

DIGITAL MARKETING INSIGHTS
Researched & created by IQPC for
The Online & Digital Marketing Summit
24-28 November 2011, Cairo
w w w . c l i c k s u m m i t e g y p t . c o m

This e-book is the definitive guide you need to master the digital marketing
channels of Email Marketing, SEO and Social Media.
Put together through extensive research and analysis of the regional and global
trends, best-practice and benchmarks, we hope this e-book gives you an ideal
starting point for your digital marketing career to take off!
If you want to engage with like-minded digital marketers and learn from the
leaders in this industry who helped us put together this e-book, join them at Click
Egypt, the Digital Marketing Event this November 24th in Cairo!

This e-book contains insights into the following digital
marketing areas:
• Email Marketing
• Search Engine Optimisation
• Social Media Marketing

Contact:
Chichi Osuagwu or Anthony Permal
IQPC Middle East
Dubai, UAE
+971 4 3642975
Enquiry@iqpc.ae

THE EMAIL MARKETING INSIGHTS YOU NEED
MASTERING EMAIL MARKETING
The Online & Digital
Marketing Summit
Brought to you in partnership with
Platinum sponsor of Click Egypt

WHY EMAIL?
• 80% of Middle East companies use email
marketing as their primary digital marketing
channel
• 49% of these companies increased their email
marketing budgets in 2011
• Over 71% of mobile internet users in the
Middle East rank email as their biggest mobile
internet activity
The state of digital marketing in the Middle East & North Africa, by Econsultancy, 2011
Survey by Effective Measure & SpotOn Public Relations, 2011

WHY EMAIL?
• The average return on investment for every
dollar spent on email marketing is expected to
reach $44.25 by the end of 2011
• More than 50% of consumers make purchases
as a direct outcome of email
• It drives more ROI than any other channel
including social media and PPC advertising
Direct Marketing Association, 2011; Forrester Research, 2011; Exact Target survey; EConsultancy

HOW TO MASTER EMAIL MARKETING
10 INSIGHTS

JARGON
• Click-throughs (CTs): these are the email
details of people who actually clicked on a
link in your email campaign
• ROI - Return on Investment: the profit you
make based on the investment put in
• Open-rate: the percentage of people who
opened your email
• Bounce rate: the number of emails that
don’t reach the intended recipients
because of either incorrect email
addresses or domains
• Unsubscribes: people who opt-out of
receiving your emails

1. IT’S ABOUT THEM, NOT YOU
Many marketers forget that a majority of people
on their database may never have heard of
them or their products. This is why it is always
better to:
• Personalise – always begin with Dear Name
• Mention ‘you’, ‘your’ and ‘your role’ in your
copy, and definitely a ‘you’ in the opening line
• Begin with their interests and end with a
solution

1. IT’S ABOUT THEM, NOT YOU
A typical email layout based on the above:
• Begin with a personalised salutation
• Ensure the opening line begins with their concerns
and try to mention ‘you’ in there
• Summarise the issues they face for which you want
to sell your product
• Introduce your product but go directly into the
benefits it brings to the email recipient
• Give them a clear Call-to-Action (CTA), so they know
what to do after reading the email
• Clearly state your name and contact details

2. K.I.S.S. (KEEP IT SHORT & SWEET)
The simple fact is, no one has time
today to read reams and reams of
marketing material.
Research has shown that emails
command approx. 3 seconds of a
recipient's interest before they go
to the next one.
If your message isn’t strong enough
in 2 paragraphs, it won’t be strong
enough in 10.

2. K.I.S.S. (KEEP IT SHORT & SWEET)
• Begin by writing as much copy for the email as you
think you need
• Go over the copy when you’re done, removing
anything that isn’t talking about the benefits to the
recipient
• Begin with a single opening line, followed by one or
two short paragraphs
• Mention the recipient’s issues, your solution, the
benefits, and finally
• Close with a clear CTA and contact details
• Always add a P.S.

3. SUBJECT LINE IS KING
• The most important element in your email campaign
is your subject line. That 3 seconds we spoke about
earlier? 1 second of that consists of reading the
subject line alone!
• If you spend an hour writing your email copy, don’t
spend 10 seconds thinking up a subject line. Invest
time and think about it. It is the only thing standing
in the way of the recipient and your email copy.
• Think: What one line would make them open this
email?

3. SUBJECT LINE IS KING
• Personalise your subject line when you’re able to.
Everyone responds to their name being mentioned,
whether verbally or in writing
• Avoid spam words like: free, buy, win, discount, offer
• Remember: those 5 to 10 words are the most
important in your entire email campaign

4. ASK FOR PERMISSION
• Sending to people who want to hear from you is
the best way to remain relevant, build your
reputation and generate great results!
• With consumers becoming more careful about
what they read, a true permission-based list is
more important than ever!
• It is very tempting to send an email to thousands
of people on a list hoping a few reply with a
query. That’s exactly what spamming is.
• However, when you send an email to a list of
people who ‘opted’ to receive it, your results will
be far better than you’d hoped!

4. ASK FOR PERMISSION
• Whether you have an existing list or have
purchased/rented one, send a few ‘opt-in’ emails
asking for permission to email them
• Pay attention to those who opt-out and don’t want
to receive your emails. Nurture ones who opt-in
• This will give you a far higher ROI on the list, as
you’ll only be marketing to those people who have
given an indication of interest in your products

5. TRACK METRICS
Metrics are quite simply your audience
talking to you

5. TRACK METRICS
Always track the following in every campaign:
• Click-throughs (CTs)
• Bounces
• Opens
• Unsubscribes
• Forwards
These will give you a deep insight into the quality
of your lists, email copy, formats etc.

6. TAILOR YOUR MESSAGE
Nothing makes people feel more special than
receiving something that speaks to them
directly, about issues they are personally facing.
Segmenting your list into demographic types
and then sending specific, targeted emails to
each list will guarantee better results than a
single broadcast to everyone.

6. TAILOR YOUR MESSAGE
• Segment your list into at least 3 major target
audiences
• Tailor your email copy and subject lines to
cater individually to each segment
• Ensure your UPS (Unique selling point)
addresses the specific needs of each segment
• Amend your special offer based on the
segment

7. P.S. IS BEST
• Never underestimate the power of the P.S.
Research shows that 70% of all email
recipients who open an email look at the P.S.
after the opening line
• Your P.S. is the final word in any
communication, the “oh, just to remind you
before I leave” of the conversation
• The P.S. is also a way to highlight your key USP

7. P.S. IS BEST
• Go over your main email copy and figure out
which is the one key fact you want to remind
the recipient of
• Mention this as a P.S. e.g. ‘Don’t forget to click
here to request a catalogue and avail your US
$500 discount coupon’
• Always ensure your P.S. includes a clear CTA &
a way to contact e.g. hyperlink or phone #

8. INVEST IN SMART TECHNOLOGY
Investing in the right email marketing software will pay off dividends in the
long term, and give you great tracking and ROI measurement in the short
term.
Email softwares such as ExactTarget, MailChimp, iContact and others all have
key features such as live monitoring of email campaigns, real-time results,
social media integration, timed campaigns etc.
Early investment into good technology will also give you the opportunity to
provide analytical information to your CFO and CEO, showing them the ROI on
their investment into email marketing

8. INVEST IN SMART TECHNOLOGY
• Almost all good email software providers offer 30-day trial periods, some
even longer if you ask. Sign up for a trial with 3 or 4 providers and run
some test campaigns to see the performance.
• Test the various measurement metrics to see which one speaks to you the
most
• Do a cost-benefit and SWOT analysis based on:
– Deliverability of emails (percentage delivered, bounced, etc)
– Format options (HTML, text, rich media, social media integration)
– Click-through monitoring (actions after someone clicks, links clicked)
– Triggered email options (automated emails based on the recipient’s initial actions)

9. PROOF, PROOF, PROOF
Surprisingly, even the biggest brands with the best
marketing and PR companies backing them up have
been known to commit glaring gaffes and mistakes in
the simplest things, including wrong dates, locations or
prices they send out to their customers.
The most seasoned email marketers practice a rule of
thumb of having at least 2 other people proof their
email copy. This ensures only the best quality email
goes out for each campaign!

10. Benefits vs. Features
The most common mistake made by many
marketers when creating emails is they confuse
features as benefits. So here’s a quick
explanation:
Feature: Something that makes the product
different from others
Benefit: What that feature can do to make your
job or life easier

10. Benefits vs. Features
• List the features of your product or service:
what are the key aspects that make you better
than your competitor
• Now list how each of those features can make
a positive difference to your customer’s daily
role or business
• In your email copy, elaborate a minimum of
one benefit for each feature mentioned.

The Digital Marketing Event
20-23 November 2011
Sofitel Cairo El Gezirah, Cairo
w w w. c l i c k s u m m i t e g y p t . c o m
At Click Egypt, we will also be featuring a key session dedicated to integrated use of
email marketing:
How email and mobile marketing can transform your brand
John Katsabanis, Marketing campaign Manager, Zawya
It will focus on:
• Driving customer loyalty through effective targeted email and mobile marketing
• How to deliver your message to the customer and ensure it’s read
• Differentiating your marketing campaign from spam
To attend the event, simply click here to email me

INSIGHTS FOR SUCCESSFUL SEO
Mastering the basics
Marketing Summit

“SEO is only not seen as rocket science
BY THOSE WHO ALREADY KNOW IT”
Danny Sullivan
Search Engine Land

SEO (Search Engine Optimization):
Tweaking your website’s text, images and
links so:
1. People can find it faster on Google
2. It gets higher search engine ranking

Keyword research is when you discover
what words people use to search for
products like yours.
KEYWORD RESEARCH

Tips:
1. On a notepad (a real one or on your PC), list all the words associated with
your product or company
2. Add specifics (e.g. if you’re a real estate company selling condos in Cairo,
write ‘Cairo Condominiums’ instead of ‘condominiums’
3. Prioritise: If you could use only 5 keywords out of all you’ve listed, which
would they be?
4. Use these 5 keywords on your home page
5. Look at keywords similar to yours being used by your competitors
(more on Slide 9)
6. Use Yahoo’s Site Explorer service to check what external sites link to you
KEYWORD RESEARCH

INSIGHT 1:
Go to Google, and search for your product as if
you were buying it for the first time.
Notice the keywords you used?
Add THOSE keywords to your list!
KEYWORD RESEARCH

INSIGHT 2:
Sign up for Google Analytics (it’s free!)
It allows you to see which keywords are most
effective at driving traffic to your website
KEYWORD RESEARCH

SIDE NOTE:
If you’re enjoying these tips on successful
SEO, you may want to gain live advice
and knowledge from the experts who will
present Click Egypt in November.
Click here to join Egyptian marketers at
the biggest marketing event in the region.

Optimising your website involves more than just your Google ranking: it helps you be
more prominent than your competition
Remember your competition
TIPS:
1. List the main common keywords used by your competitor
2. Look at links to other sites shared on their own website
3. Search which websites their own site is listed on (you can use Yahoo’s
Site Explorer to check competitors as well)

INSIGHT 3:
Try listing your site on the same websites your competitor is
listed on. More on this in the next slide!
Remember your competition

“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first”
Wendy Piersall (New Media & Web Tech Guru)
Building good links
When you link your website on other sites and vice versa, it
builds a network of trust i.e. the more your site is networked,
the more it is trusted by search engines!

Building good links
TIPS:
1. Search for directories featured about your industry
2. Buy or free-list your website on it
3. Ensure you have strong keywords in your link description
4. Try adding a geographical element e.g. ‘IP Phone solutions in Cairo, Egypt’
5. Try choosing directory sites which rank higher on search engines over those
ranked lower.
6. Remember to link back to those sites from your own

Building good links
INSIGHT 4:
Look up the highest ranked non-competitive site.
Try getting a link on that as it indicates your site as a preferred
one by them!

PRESS RELEASE OPTIMISATION
Optimized press releases show up in search engines anytime
someone searches for those keywords
Unlike the past, today journalists look for press releases online
to save time
A press release that is optimised can be picked up by industry
bloggers & researchers
What you should know

PRESS RELEASE OPTIMISATION
1. Remember who you’re writing the press release for: the reader, not the news media.
This is exactly what news editors look for in releases: ‘would readers want to read this’
2. Make sure your press release is something they really want to know about, something
relevant but timely
3. Research the trending news in the industry to get a pulse of
what may interest the reader
4. Try adding an image to your press release. Be sure to name your
image with a keyword. These images show up on search
engines, giving your press release added exposure
5. You CAN hyperlink words in your press release. Most people today
read news on their browser or phone, meaning they can click
your link! Use just one link to your home page to avoid clutter
6. Use keywords in your headline
Tips:

VIDEO SEO
Did you know is considered the 3rd biggest search
engine in the world?
Millions of people now search for products & services on
video sharing sites as they expect to see tutorials and
hands-on experience being shared

VIDEO SEO
Tips:
1. Ensure the title of your corporate or product video contains at
least one keyword
2. Ensure your description for the video contains at least 3 major
keywords
3. Ensure you have added your URL to the description and
embedded it in your video
4. After optimising it, share your video on social media sites.
Search engines pick up on content which generates activity

Once you’ve invested all this time and effort into SEO, it’s
equally important to know how to monitor your success
ANALYSING YOUR SEO RESULTS
Tips:
1. Sign up for Google Analytics (it’s free)
2. Once you’ve added your website(s) to
be monitored you can now start
to see:
a) Which keywords drive the most traffic to your site
b) Which country & city visits you most
c) How long people spend on pages on your site
d) Which content they liked most on your site
Tutorial to navigate Google Analytics
Tutorial on setting up a Google Analytics account

EXPERT OPINION
“Never expect guaranteed results, or believe those who
promise you that. SEO is not a definitive science, and it is
an on-going, ever changing process”
Mazen Abou Hatab
Head of Marketing
Joob.com

INSIGHTS INTO SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS!
Mastering the basics
Marketing Summit

“Social media is just a buzzword until you come up with a plan”
Zach Dunn

SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ARAB WORLD:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
TOTAL TWITTER USERS IN ARAB
WORLD: 6.5 MILLION
TOTAL FACEBOOK USERS IN ARAB
WORLD: 27,711,503
FASTEST GROWTH SINCE JAN 2011:
EGYPT
2 MILLION NEW
FACEBOOK USERS

USERS BY GENDER (%) NUMBER OF TWEETS
36 64EGYPT
45 55LEBANON
42 58TUNISIA
41 59JORDAN
PER DAY: 252,000
PER MINUTE: 175
PER SECOND: 3
SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ARAB WORLD:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

“A brand is no longer
what we tell the
consumer it is – it is what
consumers tell each other
it is.” Scott Cook

SO HOW CAN YOU MASTER SOCIAL MEDIA?

Decide
1. Have you considered that you need to enroll your team into a social media course?
2. Have you received the buy-in from senior management for rolling this campaign out?
3. Have you informed the IT & web teams (they’re the ones who’ll provide the technical tools)
4. Are you ready to handle customer service queries & complaints in real-time,
online – publically? Is your Customer Services Manager on-board with your plans?

Listen
1. What is your market talking about?
2. What are their concerns?
3. What do they want from products
like yours?
4. Have they had a bad experience
with you or a competitor?
5. What is their biggest obstacle to
buying?
In a nutshell: know
THEIR story before
telling them yours.

Focus
1. You don’t need to be on every social network (Facebook,
Twitter, etc.) at the same time
2. Figure out what you want to achieve:
1. Lots of fans
2. Feedback on products
3. People sharing your links
4. People talking about you
3. Social media is a tactic, NOT a strategy
4. Different social networks require
differing levels of daily or weekly commitment
5. After considering the above, choose the
network that works best to achieve your
goals and build your strategy around it

Engage
1. Start sharing your opinions, advice and content
2. Give your followers & fans (your potential and existing customers) feedback on their
opinions: remember, they are always right, even if they’re not!
3. Is there something they’re looking for that you can offer? Let them know, by
demonstrating it instead of telling them about it. Demos go a long way!
4. Accept constructive criticism
5. Ask them for suggestions, ways to improve and what they want from your industry
6. Provide them with solutions to their concerns when applicable to your expertise

Learn
1. Sign up to social media marketing blogs and resources
2. Read updates regularly – this is a fairly new marketing channel, things change daily.
In the case of Google+, they changed in 16 days
3. Challenge the norms. Just because advertising on Facebook didn’t work for product
A, doesn’t mean it won’t work for product B
4. Don’t worry about mistakes and failed campaigns. Discuss, re-direct and improve
5. Attend seminars, conferences and forums such as Click Egypt – this is where people
like you come to learn, discuss, debate and decide
“You will make mistakes. If you are sincere about helping the community, the
authenticity will show and your mistakes will be forgiven.”
Zia Yusuf

Measure
Measuring the ROI of social media continues to be a hot topic among marketers, whether
in the board room or at industry conferences.
Being a new channel, metrics for social media measurement are still in their infancy, with
new metrics arising regularly due to growth in various aspects.
‘Do you measure the ROI of a phone? No you don’t, because it is a medium, not a product.
Similarly, social media is a medium and should be seen as such.’ Alexander McNabb

Measure
You can, however, measure your success in certain ways as follows:
1. How many followers/ fans do you gain per week?
2. Has anyone bought a product from you based on something you said on the network?
3. How much time are people spending on your website once they click on its link on your
social media page? (you can get this info from your Google Analytics. Here’s how)
4. How many times are your tweets re-tweeted or your Facebook links shared?
5. How many times are you mentioned on social networks? Google’s ‘Social Alerts’ lets
you set up alerts where you receive emails on when this happens

SIDE NOTE:
If you’re enjoying these tips on successful
social media marketing, you may want to
gain live advice and knowledge from the
experts who will present Click Egypt in
November.
Click here to join Egyptian marketers at
the biggest marketing event in the region.

Top tips -
1. Choose to create a Facebook Page instead of groups. Groups are restrictive
2. Let your brand name be the title of your Page, place your products under
that in dedicated tabs
3. Invite staff to ‘Like’ the Page & get involved by engaging on it
4. Populate it with content as well, not just demos of your products. Give
people a reason to visit and share. This can be news, blog posts etc.
5. Update weekly if not daily
6. Add company news, videos, photos of employees / office. This puts a
human face behind your corporate image
7. Invite existing clients to ‘Like’ the page. If possible, have them add
testimonials on your ‘Wall’
8. Advertise your Page using Facebook’s advertising platform. Make it worth
people’s time to ‘Like’ it, e.g. give them a free trial product or free
download if they do

Top tips -
1. Choose your Twitter Handle (@yourname) wisely. Try keeping it short as it
takes up space when people retweet you
2. Make your bio keyword-rich and focused. E.g. say ‘Egypt-based car rentals:
4x4s, sedans & hatchbacks’ instead of ‘the best car rental company in Egypt’
3. Start your Twitter existence by asking questions, getting feedback and
constructive criticism
4. Retweet industry news and comments by industry gurus. People will
respect you as someone who shares information on things they are
passionate about

Top tips -
5. Try tweeting or re-tweeting at least once a day if not more
6. Don’t worry about numbers of followers. Quality matters more than
quantity. Having 1,000 fans with buying potential is better than 100,000
without it
7. Invite existing clients to follow you, and follow them back. They will most
likely retweet your tweets
8. As far as possible, follow back the people who start following you
9. Master the # (hash) tag. These are social bookmarks on Twitter and let
people follow trends and topics that are being discussed e.g. #cars #FIFA
Resource: One of the best guides for using Twitter for business was written by Chris
Brogan. Twice. Click here & here to learn how to maximise the business potential of your
tweets!

Top tips -
1. Setup your company profile on LinkedIn and use it as the standard for all
employees on LinkedIn
2. Ensure keyword-rich bios mentioning your exact job function and company
3. Advertise on LinkedIn using their LinkedIn Ads feature. With over 200
million highly segmented professionals on it, you have the opportunity to
focus your ad on those 10 individuals in Cairo you really want to connect
with
4. If you want to get in touch with someone not within your network, find a
mutual connection and ask for an Introduction. Introductions as highly
valued on LinkedIn

Top tips -
5. You can connect your LinkedIn account to your company Twitter account so
that anytime you tweet something from it, it gets shared on your LI profile
6. Join groups on LinkedIn focused on your industry. People share weekly, daily,
and in some cases hourly! Take part in discussions there and start connecting
through this
7. Add the ‘Answers’ application on LinkedIn to your profile. Answers allows
professionals to ask questions on products, industries and more, and gives you
the opportunity to show your expertise
8. Share content. LinkedIn allows you to share your presentations, videos, etc.
In fact, a great way is to add the SlideShare application, where your content can
then go beyond this platform and be searchable on Google!

Hone your skills
Want to know how to create and manage a great Facebook
page? Visit this page by Hubspot which explains (with video) in
basic steps how to create that winning page
Still figuring out how to master the art of tweeting, retweeting,
& mentioning? Still confused on what RT, MT and D mean on
Twitter? Visit this page – also by Hubspot – which gives you the
low-down on how to be a champion business-tweeter

Download these great tools to simplify, organise and monitor
your social network presence. Best of all: they’re free!
Tools
1. Tweetdeck: An application that works on desktops, iPads &
iPhones; it allows you to monitor multiple accounts on
Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn and others
2. Hootsuite: A web-based application ensuring you are
always connected to your network wherever you are. Being
a web-based platform means all you need is a smartphone!
3. Seesmic: A cross platform application that allows you to
break up your Twitter stream into multiple columns,
manage multiple Twitter accounts etc.
4. Ubersocial: A smart-phone based application which allows
you to use & monitor multiple Twitter accounts directly
from your phone

Finally, remember that your social media campaign
may be your responsibility to run, but it is owned
by all your employees. Work together to share,
innovate and finally: convert your fans into
financial returns!

Congratulations!
These are the basics you need for Digital Marketing using email, SEO and
Social Media.
With digital marketing strategies changing daily, you need to stay abreast of
the latest best practice. We hope this e-book helps in your daily role.
To learn what the biggest and best brands in Egypt are doing with their digital
marketing strategies – including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, GM, Nokia, Nestle and
others – simply click here to join us at Click Egypt this November!
Marketing Summit
21-23 November 2011 Sofitel Cairo, El Gezirah, Cairo, Egypt

Digital Marketing Insights

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