PayPal UK contact number
If you ever need to speak to Paypal customer service in the UK this is the number to call:
08707 307 191
How much is your website worth?
Want to know how much your website is worth? Here's an interesting little website that will tell you:
Enter your site URL and it will do the calculation for you using a special algorithm. Just don't take the results too seriously!
A new Bluetooth marketing solution from Gencia
We have been tinkering with Bluetooth solutions for a few years now. More recently we have been behind some large campaigns. We think it's a great solution for students and young people. It's a very direct way to send offers to them.
We've had such success with recent campaigns that we've developed our own solution. A combination of state of the art hardware and fully featured software for the management of campaigns. We're presently talking to a Premiership football club about installing a complete solution at the ground.
We've called the system Bloowire and an overview can be found at: www.bloowire.co.uk
Gerry Westwood - killing me softly with his words
Gerry Westwood is a fellow marketeer and good friend of Gencia. He currently uses LiveWire Campaign (our bespoke DIY email marketing tool) to send a newsletter to his client base bi-weekly. He says it's a great way to stay on their 'radar' and when a suitable project comes up they immediately think of him.
His '1 minute reads' are always witty, intelligent and insightful but his latest effort really resonated with me. In fact you could say he was 'strumming my pain with his fingers' when he put pen to paper.
Here it is, in all its glory:
Somewhere to take the kids this summer
If you're short on ideas on where to take the family over the summer try localtreasures.co.uk
Designed and built by Gencia, with a powerful search facility based on Google maps, it features over 450 specialist museums, interactive exhibitions, boat and train trips, wildlife centres, activity parks and nature trails, castles, historical sites and beautiful stately homes and gardens.
It features a members scheme that gets one child in free with a full price paying adult at every one of the attractions featured on the site.
A quick tip - don't get your worms mixed up
A very talented marketer friend of mine reminded me the other day that it's not always what you say that counts, it's often the way that you say it.
One thing that can ruin your credibility faster than a very fast thing when it comes to your marketing communications is bad spelling! Don't rely on spell checkers and don't check your own work. You'll tend to read what you think you've written, not necessarily what's on the page. Get someone else to read through your work BEFORE you press the button.
Planning is the key to marketing success
The key to the success of any sales or marketing campaign is the calibre of the product or service you offer and whether your prospective clients are interested in purchasing it.
Marketing planning is therefore the essential first key step in your campaign and the time invested here will pay dividends. Planning identifies the proposition (products / services), messaging and establishes the prospective client base that will give you the greatest chance of success.
Improving click through rates from your email marketing campaigns
Most advertising does not result in a direct sale. Rather it is an introduction to the products and/or services of the advertiser and an invitation to begin a dialogue. Email marketing is no exception, though it does provide an unusually direct route to a sale - a link to the website.
I’ve noticed that, for some LiveWire Campaign users - Gencia's DIY email marketing platform - links to the website almost seem like an afterthought. I know that many users use LiveWire Campaign more as a way of imparting information than as a sales channel, but for those users who are selling direct, the website link is of prime importance. One of the main reasons for poor click through rates is the placement of the link way down the page in a very long email message. Any email where the recipient has to scroll more than twice the length of the email window on an ‘average’* screen is too long.
The old saying ‘less is more’ could not be truer than with email marketing. When we at Gencia create a bespoke email marketing campaign for a client, at least 50% of the creative time is spent making the message as simple and succinct as possible. It’s always time well spent. I find that messages that can be opened in full at an ‘average’ screen resolution are always the most successful in terms of click through rates. It stands to reason that if the message is simple and direct, and the ‘call to action’ is right alongside it, then we will get a better result than if we ask the recipient to take time out of their busy schedule to read through swathes of text and click a link at the bottom of the page.
It’s worth bearing in mind that, no matter how relevant the product or service, most of us are too busy to read all the emails we receive in our in-box. We prioritise by relevance, timing and by the actual time we have at our disposal to read the mail. So, simplify the message as much as possible. If there’s a lot to say split it over multiple campaigns. A simple message, with a strong call to action, will almost always beat a longer message in terms of results.
*I’m using the term purely for shorthand purposes in the writing of this article. It’s a subject that I'm sure we'll come back to.
Gencia chosen by Oscar Associates
We are very pleased to have been chosen by Oscar Associates, who are specialists in recruitment for the oil & gas industry, to develop their new website.
We're looking forward to raising their brand profile and providing them with the online presence they need to help take their business forward.
Does email marketing still work?
The answer is categorically yes and I can prove it!
Two years ago I was badly let down by the garage I was purchasing my new car from. Not only did they tell me that my car was actually months away from delivery only days away from the promised delivery date but they also tried to ’steal’ my deposit when I subsequently canceled the order. I was not a happy bunny. Fortunately my bank stepped in. I’d paid the deposit on credit card and my bank returned the money immediately when I called ‘breach of contract’ on the motor dealer. A lesson to be learned there!
A day or two later I received an email from a leasing company listing the months special offers and one particular vehicle caught my eye. Suffice it to say it was delivered a week or so later and it was a timely email campaign that prompted the purchase. I’m still enjoying driving the car though I’m now looking forward to renewing my contract with the same leasing company in July.
More recently my old jet washer finally gave up the ghost and began to emit little more than a dribble. Email marketing came to the rescue again. Just last week I received a special offer in my inbox of a £175 power washer for only £60. I jumped at the chance and ordered one.
Last weekend I cleaned my car with it. A power washer purchase prompted by email marketing used to clean a car purchased from a timely email campaign. Proving, if proof were needed, that email marketing is still alive and well and the secret is still just sending the right message at the right time.
