Monday, December 14th, 2009
I have to admit I don’t always do a lot of keyword research when I’m writing blog posts. However last week when I wrote about the iPhone competition in Singapore, I did make it a conscious effort to check out Google Insights for Search to see what search terms people were searching for (click for bigger image):
iPhone Singapore Searches
Although I had originally intended to title the post a little different (something like “What happens when you don’t compare yourself to the competition”), I realised that when it came to the subject matter (the iPhone in Singapore), branded keywords were the way to go. Almost every phrase in the screenshot above has some variation of a brand name + iphone, and that’s why I included all 3 brand names and the iPhone into my title eventually.
The results?
Just looking at top level data the results are stunning (click for bigger image):
iPhone Referral Traffic
iPhone Search Traffic
- On average, people who entered via search spent 44 seconds longer (that’s 25%) on the site than people who had entered via referring traffic (which included heavy hitters like Singapore Daily).
- Not only that but both the % of exits and bounce rate averages were lower for search than for referring traffic.
- Finally search traffic came from 95 keywords. That is a lot of long tail traffic that can be really valuable. To put this in perspective, my 2nd most popular post this month on 2010 social media trends had all of 15 keywords.
Two takeaways from this:
- Do not ignore search, it’s definitely the low hanging fruit. Three extra minutes spent on keyword research just for the title tag could create a lot of value when it comes to your on-page copy.
- Don’t think it’s about choosing referral traffic or search. Go for both.
Finally, it’s different for me because I run a blog. If I was one of those telcos I would make sure that for this landing page, there would be something, anything, that consumers can do to encourage conversion. Whether it’s entering their email to be kept up to date with the latest plans or getting them to leave their number so customer service can call them back or some digital collateral to download – there must be a call to action.
How are you using keyword research and SEO to make your content work for you? Are your initiatives producing results? Would love to hear from you in the comments.
Tags: iphone, iphone data plan, iphone singapore, m1, referral traffic, search traffic, SEO, singtel, starhub
Posted in SEO, Singapore, case studies, social media | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
For the last year and a half, only one carrier, Singtel, had the rights to distribute the iPhone here in Singapore. Two days ago the other two telcos, M1 and Starhub announced their price plans and entered the market, generating lots of chatter everywhere.
Something interesting happened during this pricing scheme, which later led to somewhat of a “price war” between the three telcos. I think this is a really good case study to illustrate why you shouldn’t compare yourself with the competition.
When Starhub released its pricing plans earlier in the day, they modeled their pricing plan after Singtel’s. The basic plan started with 1gb of data usage at a price comparative to Singtel’s.
When M1 released their pricing plans later in the day, they didn’t even bother with what Singtel and Starhub were doing, and launched their basic plan at 10gb of data usage at a similar price to the other two.
In one bold move, by not limiting themselves to the existing paradigm, M1 turned the perception of data and price on its head. A day later, Starhub and Singtel upped the ante by increasing their basic plans to begin with 12gb of data (which really begs the question of how high the margins were on the original 1gb….).
In other words, they forced Starhub and Singtel to play on their terms, whether or not their networks could theoretically support that kind of data.
While this isn’t a perfect example because price is easily mimicked, this illustrates the power of not benchmarking yourself to what’s already existing in the market or what your competition is doing or offering.
For your next business decision, are you going to be a Starhub and mimic the status quo, or be an M1 and lead the way forward? You decide.
[also check out Daphne's take on the iPhone data war on her blog and Weimeng's take as well.]
[image credit: hongkiat.com]
Tags: data plan, iphone, iphone plan, m1, price plan, singtel, starhub
Posted in Marketing, case studies | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
I suppose this isn’t news, but Starhub (one of the three telcos here in Singapore) has brought its presence to the social media scene in the form of a Twitter account, @StarHubCares.
During the first few weeks, there were a few issues like @StarHubCares replying other Twitter users, asking them to direct message (dm) @StarHubCares directly, but because @StarHubCares wasn’t following them on Twitter in the first place, there was no way for a dm to get through.
Thankfully, with some help from the community, this was quickly sorted out and @StarHubCares quickly followed these people (myself included) back, and got down to replying their issues.
Here are a few questions that I do have about the initiative:
1) Should it be more transparent that the person behind @StarHubCares is not actually someone from Starhub, but their agency? Some online feel yes, I’m slightly on the fence.
2) Is Twitter the best (or even a right) channel for them to be on?
3) @StarHubCares seems to do a good job of listening in and replying to questions/problems, but are there actual accounts from them or from the general public about cases being closed, problems being solved?
4) Do regular Starhub employees know about this service, so that maybe when they close a sale at a retail outlet, they can tell customers about this service in addition to the customer helpline?
What do you think? When should a company be on Twitter? Does it fit Starhub? Should they be doing more with it? Less?
Tags: @starhubcares, agency, direct message, dm, is twitter the best channel, is twitter the right channel, Singapore, social media, starhub, twitter
Posted in Singapore, case studies, social media | 6 Comments »
