KinConsult Digital Media News

How does Google AdWords really work?

2011-12-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

Infographic by Pulpmedia Online Marketing

How To Use Digital Media To Find Customers

2010-08-25T14:57:00.001-07:00

Video

3 jobs that brands are struggling to fill.

2010-08-16T11:25:00.001-07:00

Marketer's favorite digital tools and toys.

2010-07-29T10:28:00.001-07:00

Social media: What platforms deliver?

2010-07-29T10:27:00.003-07:00

Agencies versus brands: Who tracks new technologies?

2010-07-29T10:27:00.001-07:00

Managing your brand in a digital environment Part 2

2010-01-06T22:07:00.000-08:00

Kin Consult Digital Media Dec2009

Managing your brand in a digital environment Part 1

2009-12-21T17:17:00.000-08:00

KinConsult Digital Media Branding

Kenya Institute of Management November Publication- KinConsult article Pages 42-43

2009-11-10T16:10:00.000-08:00

Kenya Management Journal

View more documents from kinconsult.

Managing Your Brand In A Digital Environment (Part 2)

2009-11-10T16:08:00.000-08:00

Managing Your Brand in a Digital Environment (Part 2)

View more documents from kinconsult.

Managing Your Brand In A Digital Environment (Part 1)

2009-11-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

Managing Your Brand in a Digital Environment (Part 1)

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KinConsult Press Release 11/03/09

2009-11-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

KinConsult Press Release 11/03/09

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Managing your Brand in a Digital Environment

2009-08-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

KinConsult Manging your Brand in a Digital Environment

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Survey findings on traditional versus new media usage in East Africa

2009-06-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

KinConsult conducted an online survey of some organizations based in East Africa. The respondents were pre-selected and the survey link was sent via e-mail to influencers and decision makers who are close to their organization’s sales and marketing department. The survey was commissioned on April 21st 2009 and was closed out on June 19th, 2009. This survey was live for approximately 2 months.

For traditional media, lessons learned were that billboards and newspapers were the most popular traditional means of advertising and constituted 50 % of the respondents. In terms of new media the most popular use of advertising was e-mail marketing with 33% of the respondents indicating they used that to promote their services.

For a comprehensive analysis and findings please send an e-mail to info@kinconsult.com titled survey with company name and contact details.

Online Vs Offline media usage in East Africa

2009-05-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

KinConsult is trying to gauge the level of new media usage in sales and marketing in East Africa and we would appreciate if organizations based in East Africa could fill out this short survey and/or forward it to those decision makers or influencers who manage their sales and marketing function in their respective organization.

Survey Link:

http://bit.ly/rrnkP

For any questions e-mail: info@kinconsult.com

Thanks in advance!

Obama's use of the Internet for electioneering

2008-11-05T16:10:00.000-08:00

Wow! What an amazing presidential race. As a supporter and a big fan of the Obama campaign machine I have been in awe of the online strategies deployed and used by the Obama campaign team in leveraging the Internet in spreading their message of hope of "Yes we can". I have been in receipt of their numerous e-mails which have had a clear call to action during the campaign season. The call to action was to either donate funds or volunter your efforts in the Obama campaign process. After getting their message you were either compelled to donate to their campaign or pick up the phone and rally potential supporters.

Obama is the 44th President and owes much of his success to his campaign team's use of the Internet as a fundraising and organization tool. Having garnered almost 53% of the popular vote and almost won the electoral votes 2:1 against the GOP. The use http://www.mybarrackobama.com/ to organize thousands of phone-banking events and raised a record $ 700 million in contributions from more than 3 million people, a majority of whom donated through the web is a true testament of how disciplined and focused they were in executing their online strategy. In fundraising the Obama campaign solicited for small donations of $10 and $20 and ended up raising record donations and then using the funds for traditional television advertising. For example It is estimated their campaign spent about $ 300 million on television compared to Mcain's 120 million during the campaign season. This is definitely a model that will be studied in business schools for years to come.

Credit for their Online efforts can be attributed to Joe Rospars and Chris Hughes. The former is a veteran of Howard Dean's online campaign efforts in 2004 and the latter is a co-founder of Facebook currently the hottest social media site. The Obama campaign used their site mybarrrackobama.com as an access point to foster collaboration for millions of ordinary Americans in involving them in the political process by asking them to volunteer their time or donate funds by working around their schedules. The social networking tool also appealed to the younger voters as they used texts to reach the Generation Y demographic. When the McCain campaign got negative and ugly through the use of robot phone calls this same media was used as a rallying point to counter the false propaganda about Obama's political campaign.

Obama's campaign was the story of his supporters and this was manifested by the viral effects of his campaign on thousands of websites and who can forget the youtube videos that sprung up that helped bring a fun spin to his campaign. Their campaign strategy was fresh and they kept being innovative by using new technology to mobilize supporters. I remember downloading an Obama application onto my Iphone that I could use to mobilize friends and contacts in battleground states.

If the use of technology and innovation is a sign of what is to come from Obama's Presidency at the White House then we are excited and thrilled because we know it will be such a breath of fresh air given then way he has conducted his campaign.

American e-commerce firm set to open shop in Uganda

2008-10-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/business/American_e-commerce_firm_set_to_open_shop_in_Uganda_72432.shtml

Fact finding tour on the state of eCommerce in East Africa

2008-10-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

September 28, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Public Relations

KinConsult

510-545-4083

info@kinconsult.com

www.kinconsult.com

PRESS RELEASE

Fact finding tour on the state of eCommerce in East Africa: KinConsult’s findings in Kenya and Uganda are encouraging

Sunnyvale, CA USA --- KinConsult is an online marketing consultancy that is capable of delivering solutions and services that enable corporations and institutions to connect transform and extend their businesses online through the creation, development and delivery of leading-edge solutions and services by leveraging online tools that help customers, suppliers and partners manage their needs more efficiently and effectively.

The company is strategically headquartered in Sunnyvale, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. This places KinConsult next to the most high-tech businesses in the world thereby giving it an advantage in having access to the latest technological trends. Plans are underway to set up offices in East Africa to cater to the growing demand for its services

From August 28, 2008 until September 23, 2008 KinConsult’s CEO & Founder Kinoti Gituma was in East Africa on a fact finding mission on the readiness of the East Africa region to embrace eCommerce given that plans are at an advance stage to improve internet connectivity in the region with the laying of undersea internet cables in the coming years. Mr. Kinoti Gituma has over 12 years managing large online projects in Fortune 500 Companies. Coupled with his experience Mr. Gituma has an MBA in eCommerce from USA.

KinConsult’s sojourn to the East African region was inspired by the call of Ambassador Eric van der Linden. Head of Delegation European Union who has called on the tourism stakeholders to embrace eCommerce in marketing tourism in Kenya. Mr. Gituma of KinConsult met with officials in the Kenya tourism sector to assess their readiness to market tourism in Kenya and discussions were held on the best way forward to embrace online marketing to promote tourism in Kenya.

In addition Mr. Gituma went on a fact finding mission to Uganda and met with various stakeholders interested in promoting and marketing Uganda as an investment and tourist destination and discussed solutions on how to position and market the region to the rest of the world. During the Kampala visit Mr. Gituma also had a chance to interface with various stakeholders in the private sector. Mr. Gituma’s assessment is that Uganda’s private sector is eager to embrace online marketing but what is lacking is the expertise and know how in terms of implementation. KinConsult is in the process of giving concrete recommendation on the best way to market the East Africa region to the rest of the world more so to the more developed nations.

KinConsult’s has a 2-prong strategy to set up shop in the African region. First to identify organizations in the public or private sector that have an interest in promoting and marketing their services in the more developed markets of North America and Europe.

Demographics and statistics show that the consumption of media has evolved rapidly in the West. In the USA where KinConsult has its headquarters almost 80% of the US population has access to broadband. With the increased broadband speed their computers are always turned on and this has enhanced how they socialize, consume media and manage their lives. Instead of getting summarized information they can get the full story from the internet and on top of that they are using their computers for personal entertainment, as a consequence traditional media such as newspapers, magazines and television are proving to be ineffective in terms of reaching the consumer. On average a consumer spends 4 hours on their computer and less than an hour reading newspapers or watching television. Organization that have not embraced online marketing are suffering a great deal in that they are not being efficient with their advertising dollars and they are not getting the best bang for their buck. Traditional marketing involves interrupt marketing whereas online marketing focuses on interactive marketing what this means is that the consumers are now empowered more than ever and they have a say in the brand equity of an organization. The ease of communication and the viral effect of marketing can have a positive effect if managed well or very negative consequences if managed poorly. It is imperative that organizations manage their brand online so to take advantage of the goodwill of their consumer directly.

The second strategy is that in the coming years once broadband is ubiquitous in Africa many companies will now see the need to use online marketing methods to push their products and services to the masses. KinConsult predicts that with greater access to broadband media consumption that is being observed in the west will be embraced in Africa with the only change being customization to suit the local market. Mr. Gituma believes that the next wave of the digital revolution after the explosion of the cell phone industry in Africa will be the explosion of eCommerce.

Developing a successful online marketing strategy is essential for any marketer today. In order to succeed, one must develop and implement a strategic plan that includes all of the following:

• Great product

• Web site designed to promote your offerings

• Comprehensive online marketing strategy

KinConsult can provide a comprehensive online marketing strategy through search engine marketing , e-mail marketing, social media marketing, online video marketing, consumer generated media, display /banner advertisement and online marketing contest solutions. KinConsult as an organization works closely with large internet brands such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook in providing current and up to date solutions. KinConsult understands how consumers interact with content online and strives to provide the keys that will help unlock brand interaction and user intent by being:

(i) Thorough in analysis

(ii) Having a clear cut strategy

(iii) Activating programs in the right online channels

(iv) Engaging customers across the vast internet landscape and

(v) Ensuring that we measure our results while attaining the highest Return on Advertisement Spend (ROAS)

# # #

10 landing page tips for turning visitors into customers

2008-08-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Tell them why they should buy from you - Clarity of your value proposition is the most important factor in determining whether a customer buys from you or not. Ask the question: "Why should I buy from this site?"
Keep them with with you - Protect your landing page from the #1 threat to conversions: site flow disruption. After identifying a unique and compelling value proposition, you must ensure that you express it throughout your sales process in a clear, consistent and compelling way. Eliminate site flow disruption to help maximize conversions.
Don't say too much - Don't clutter your landing page with unnecessary details. Instead (a) Clearly state your key message using few words as possible. (b) Use summary descriptions, sub-headings, bulleted lists and short paragraphs. (c) Adopt a standard one-column format for easy reading.
Make it simple - Improve the user experience with a site that is easy to navigate. A simple page layout that employs a clean visual and straightforward design is best. Here's how- Dos: (a) Design your site with clear hierarchy with color and contrast for easy legible text. (b) Use meaningful and high quality graphics (don't clutter) (c) Use breadcrumbs to let visitors know where they are on your site. (d) Employ a clickable logo that takes visitors to your homepage. (e) Use color to distinguish Don'ts: (a) Employ horizontal scrolling. (b)Direct links to new browser windows. (c) Have flash-based content unless required.
Call to action - Focus on one primary action per screen (don't stuff too many products onto one screen). Make the call-to-action button clearly visible without having to scroll; don't bury it under pages of information. Consider using tabs or pop-up box to consolidate information.
Get specific - Provide product details and a large product image while displaying incentives e.g free shipping and warranty information high on the page and close to the product. Don't discourage visitors by requiring registration to your site.
Flaunt what you have - What differentiates you from your competitors? Free shipping, discounts, 2 year warranty, price protection, privacy and security, customer service? If you have it flaunt it.
Search yourself - Make your site easy to navigate by helping potential customers find what they are looking for as quickly and easily as possible. A search feature box should be simple and visible with a type in-field, not a link. To help increase conversion, make sure your search results link to product pages.
Rally the believers - Credibility is a true testament: people don't buy from websites, people buy from people. Thus testimonials from devout customers persuades the doubting Thomases.
Let them make the choice - "Why should I buy this specific product?" Almost every e-tailer forgets about this, but it's the question that's key to the customer's mind. Prove to your customer why they should buy this over the competitor's by offering reviews, ratings and comparisons.

Head, Torso & Long Tail keywords

2008-08-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

In 2008 has been good when it comes to keyword research. The major search engines have started to opening up in providing insight into keyword search volumes and as a result there have been a couple of great tools that can be used for conducting keyword research.

Microsoft has been beta testing their Ad Intelligence tool that communicates search volume based on MSN/Live Search data.

Google added a new layer to Google Trends where they introduced normalized search volume numbers and made updates to their keyword tool

Yahoo finally killed off the Overture keyword suggestion tool.

Improved tools and more accurate search volume counts should lead to better keyword research and it has, but there is still a strategy that is required for keyword selection. Over the past 12-18 months you've probably heard of the phrase long-tail, long-tail of search or long-tail keywords, well this is but one component of your keyword research that should make up your keyword strategy for your online campaigns.

Let's talk about the "keyword body" that make up an effective keyword strategy. This "body of keywords" consists of three parts; the head, the torso and the long-tail. Here's a little explanation of each component.

Head Phrases - these are more common key phrases that are more general in nature that may be used by searchers earlier on in their search experience. Due to the fact that these phrases are more general in nature you can expect to see a lot of single words that make up the head component of keyword strategy. As it relates to search, "head" words tend to have higher search volumes, are extremely competitive and have a lower conversion rate. An example of a head type word that a searcher might query in a search engine is "electrical".

Torso Phrases - torso phrases tend to be a little more specific and as a result are less competitive while still having a decent amount of search volume happening. Torso phrases tend to be better converting than head words as the searcher has refined their search looking for a more specific set of information. An example of a torso phrase that a user might type into a search engine is "electrical conduit", while it is not as general as "electrical" it is more refined and identifies a sub-topic of the head word "electrical".

Long-Tail Phrases - long-tail refers to phrases that are not nearly as common, are more specific and as a result have less search volume. The phrase "long-tail was coined by Chris Anderson in late 2004 to describe businesses that sell a large variety of unique items in small quantities. Long-tail has also been referred to as the 80/20 rule where "for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes...". When it comes to keyword research, long-tail keywords are those that tend to be very specific, consisting of 3-5+ words, are less competitive in the search results and tend to be higher converting. Using our example from above, an example of a long-tail phrase that a user might search for is "2 inch EMT electrical conduit". Youcan see how the long-tail phrases are more specific as the user gets close to making a more informed decision about their original topic of search.

Performing keyword research is more than just trying to optimize or bid on keywords that have high search volumes.

It's more about optimizing for the right keyword at the right time.

It's understanding that there is a need to optimize or bid on head, torso and long-tail phrases combined.

It's determining when it's best to use a sponsored campaign to augment an organic one.

It's understanding which phrases you target marketing are searching for as they prepare to make a purchase

It's understanding that there is more to keyword strategy than simply bidding on keywords or optimizing keywords.

Keyword strategy should mean looking at head, torso and long-tail keywords and seeing what is right for you and what is right for the searchers who are looking for your website and your products or services that you offer.

Being Successful in e-mail marketing

2008-07-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

Today's email marketing strategies and tactics have changed from a couple of years back. There's a lot more to a successful campaign than just looking at open and click-through rates. In this day and age it has become crucial for marketers to employ a well-rounded online marketing toolset, that includes everything from Web analytics to behavioral analysis of respondents to gain valuable insight into just how effective their email campaign is -- or is not.

To be successful in e-mail marketing here are the key components of your campaign:

1. Send
2. Analyze
3. Target
4. Resend

1. Send. Many marketers consider conversion the Holy Grail. If the email generates a lead or a sale, it's considered successful -- if it doesn't, it's considered a bust. But a lack of conversion doesn't necessarily constitute a failure. By using Web analytics tools that are tightly integrated with online marketing campaigns, users can examine key metrics such as visitors' average time on-site and campaign exit rates to understand where the conversion process needs improvement, and use those valuable insights in their follow-up campaigns. The first step in getting to marketing nirvana is to send, so marketers need to press the button, and then be prepared to refine their campaigns as they go.

2. Analyze. Analyzing data from email campaigns is the most important strategy for successfully improving email marketing. By taking a look at many metrics together, marketers will gain greater insight into the bigger picture of user behavior.
"Time on-site" measures the ability of a company's Web site to maintain visitor interest. It also indicates how well the site is meeting visitor expectations. If visitors are spending a reasonable amount of time on the site after clicking through, they've generally found -- and engaged with -- what they sought. Using average time on-site for "all visitors" as a benchmark, marketers can analyze the average time on-site for visitors that came in from an email campaign and can compare the two.
The Web can be a very transient experience. We may start in one place to purchase something but, as we all want to get the most for our money, it only takes a few clicks to move from store to store or to a review site to validate (or decide to rethink) our choice. That's why a higher than average time on-site is a pretty good indicator of interest.
If companies have large groups of visitors with high average time on-site but few conversions, they can examine their campaign and look for ways to create a sense of urgency and reason for quick action in a follow-up campaign - such as a 25% off coupon. Giving those lingering window-shoppers a catalyst to convert is key.
A campaign exit rate is a second effective way to gauge whether visitors' expectations have been met. For example, if an email message is sent out with a free shipping offer, the company's landing page should clearly restate the offer that got the recipient to click through in the first place.
If dealing with high exit rates, a first course of action should be to see how well the landing page reflects the promise made in your campaign. Using the same (or at least similar) graphics and promotion wording is a good start.
By analyzing average time on-site and campaign exit rate data, along with other metrics, marketers will be well on their way to adjusting and improving their marketing efforts.

3. Target. Segmentation is the key to gaining useful insight into any marketing activity, including email campaigns. However, segmentation can only happen if data is available to analyze for insights and trends in user behavior, which can then be grouped according to similar habits. Marketers need to focus on visitors who share common behavior when responding to a particular campaign, and in targeting future campaigns. Using Web analytics to segment campaign respondents will provide valuable information in formulating targeted follow-up campaigns.

4. Resend. The best advice to marketers is: Don't look at any one metric in a vacuum. Instead, take a holistic look at metrics -- including average time on-site, campaign exit rates, ROI, conversion, and visitor volume/response rate. Viewing key metrics together with the proper analysis will ensure an accurate picture of the value of each campaign and will enable marketers to achieve the best results when they refine and resend (but don't abuse your list).
Combining strategic email campaigns and utilizing Web analytics to analyze campaign metrics, marketers can better target and improve the experience for customers both in their inboxes and on their site. It's an important step, as the world continues its journey toward integrated online marketing.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

2008-07-10T04:29:00.000-07:00

KPIs are:

a metric that an organization measures to help determine its progress towards a goal;
a reflection of the tactical performance of an organization;

It is important that as you manage your online campaigns that you are able to gauge success of your program by using KPIs here are some examples:

Percent Returning Visitors: percentage of retained visitors returning to your site
Cancellations: the likelihood your subscriber cancels their subscription through an unsubscribe form
Average subscription length - how long are users subscribing to your news letters or subscription based content?
Active subscriber base (based on different time weekly, monthly, etc depending on model)
Visits per month (or quarter or week).
RSS Syndication - how many people are subscribing to your feeds?
Blog Stats: (ie. Technorati, Digg etc)
Conversion Rate: the likelihood of successfully driving a visitor to purchase. You will need to track online purchase vs. offline as a result of visiting the site. The percentage of visitors that download white papers, sign up for mailings, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.
Cost Per Visitor: the cost of each site visitor to your business.
Average Order Value/Size: changes in the overall audience makeup and the affect on the online revenue patterns
Percent New Visitors: the number of potential new customers landing on your site each month. Are these visitors qualified? What stage of the buying funnel are they in?
Ratio of New to Returning Visitors: the ratio of new to previously acquired visitors as well as a measure of customer loyalty and repeat online business.
Page "Stickiness": the likelihood of successfully retaining a visitor who arrives at a key landing page
Customer Life Time Value: the likelihood that satisfied customers will tell their friends resulting in an increase in online/offline sales. This is more intangible and may be difficult to track.
Add/View Items in Cart: as well as cart abandonment
Effect on Offline Sales - how many offline sales were a result of an online engagement?
Unique toll-free numbers called
Store locator views - how many times did users visit your online store?
Order printout
Conversion Path Analysis: How are users converting on the site?
New Account Signups: how much time and money are these new account signups spending on your site?
Contact Us Form Completions: for products or services that are purchased offline and have an extended sales timeline, Contact Us Forms should be treated as a conversion
“Get a Quote” Requests: this can also be a conversion
1-800 Tracking: the number of calls to the (preferably unique) toll-free number listed on your site
Ratio of Leads to Close: the likelihood a lead will complete the transaction – this is an offline ratio
Length of Visit: the amount of time a visitor spends on your site in a given visit
Percent of Visits by Entry Page: measures the efficacy of your marketing messages at driving visitors to the site
Conversion by Campaigns
Ad Clicks: measures how successful your PPC campaign is; however, try to remember that CTR is not as important as Conversions/Click – I would rather have a 2%CTR and a 100% conversion rate because this indicates that my online marketing message is bang on; meaning I am driving both my sponsored and organic traffic to conversions
Site Abandonment
Information Conversion Rates: In this case a "conversion" would be something like the likelihood that a user will successfully locate the information needed
Percent of Visits under 90 Seconds: you want to make the site efficient, but not difficult to use. Measure the percent of your audience that is unlikely to have found the information they sought
Percent Returning Visitors: percentage of retained visitors returning to your site
Top Internal Search Phrases: not a KPI in the "traditional" sense, but very important to identifying new trends in support needs. Tracking which phrases users type into your internal search will help indicate what type of information they are seeking.
Videos/Podcasts Accessed: including technical support videos or podcasts
Bounce Rate: Exits from the first page that the user arrives at when they land on your site. A lower bounce rate is better.
Customer Satisfaction/Engagement Metrics: determine if the site is successfully handling problems and engaging the user in a successful site experience.
Ad Clicks
Exit Surveys - how many times has your "Thank You" page been served up?
Forum Logins - how many times have users logged into their accounts?

Identifying the proper key performance indicators can help ensure that you are accurately measuring what is important to your organization's bottom line.

Very Simple Keyword Discovery Process (VKDP)

2008-06-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

A very simple 6 step process on how to come up with relevant keywords for your business. I will use KinConsult as an example in a question and answer format.

Step 1 – (Q) Describe the type of business you are in one word (A) eCommerce

Step 2 - (Q) Describe the type of business you are in two words (A) eCommerce consulting

Step 3 - (Q) Describe the business in any other words without using the keywords in step 2 using the following format:

a. Common synonyms
b. Similar (but not exact) or complementary services
c. Layman definitions
d. Other brands / providers / businesses

(A)

a. ebusiness services, online marketing, eConsultancy
b. E-mail marketing, affiliate marketing , online surveys, search marketing, PPC, social media
c. Internet business, online services, internet marketing,
d. Google, Yahoo, ebay, Amazon, constant contact

Step 4 – (Q) Where is the Geographical location of your business (A) USA, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda

Step 5 – (Q) Combine the geographic location with the keywords you came up with (A) Kenya online surveys, Kenya internet business

Step 6 - With the combination of keywords you have come up with plug them into a keyword generator. KinConsult recommends Google Keyword Suggestion

In summary steps 1 to 3 has enabled coverage of the most common and generic keyword and longtail variations based on definitions, alternative keywords, complementary keywords, brand keywords, and competitor name / competitor brand keywords. Step 4 & 5 of the Keyword Discovery Process ascertains the catchment area. Is the business universal, nationwide, regional or local. This then allows one to expand every one of the keyword sets with location combinations of a potential catchment area. Step 6 now allows use of common tools to expand on the keywords above and in a simple 6 step half hour process you have come up with a comprehensive list of keywords. Magic Huh!

Africa is discussing electronic commerce!

2008-06-06T03:17:00.000-07:00

KinConsult believes the time for eCommerce in Africa has arrived. Find attached a very interesting article in the local dailies of Kenya where the Head of Delegation European Commission - Kenya is advising the tourism stake holders to embrace online strategies.

Kudos to those leading the discussions. However discussions are meaningless without execution. We at KinConsult believe we can provide practical solutions for eCommerce in Africa and setting up shop in Africa is an important strategic move for our organization. We are confident Africa is ready to embrace the online digital revolution. However there are practical questions as to whether the people in Africa have the infrastructure to support eCommerce. This may not be the case for now however investments should be made. It is time for organizations in Africa such as tourist board to take advantage of eCommerce and market their products and services to the West where the infrastructure is readily available. For example why invest millions of dollars in putting TV advertisements to lure tourists to Africa or spend millions of dollars inviting celebrities when you can simply invest in a simple online marketing strategy where you can get the most bang for your advertising dollars. This is an important message that we need to deliver to the stakeholders in Africa.

Please find below the link to the article given you can never tell how long the link will be available I have also pasted the full length of the article.

Link: http://www.eastandard.net/business/?id=1143987808&cid=14

ARTICLE:

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Adopt e-tourism, European Union tells players

Published on June 4, 2008, 12:00 am

By John Njiraini

Stakeholders have been urged to adopt e-tourism to market the country.

The Head of the European Union (EU) delegation, Mr Eric Van der Linden, said without the move to online marketing, tourism would be severely hampered.

"We must all take note of the new channels and opportunities to communicate our tourism products. If we lag behind in this area, other destinations will benefit at Kenya’s expense," he said.

Linden was speaking after opening a series of e-tourism workshops organised by the Tourism Trust Fund.

The four-day workshops are designed to aid the recovery of the sector that was most affected by effects of post-election violence.

Statistics indicate the sector lost a whooping Sh13 billion in the first quarter of the year, earning Sh8 billion, way below the anticipated Sh21 billion.

-----------------------------

A worthy cause using Paid Search Campaign

2008-06-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Distilled is running a PPC competition to help assist the victims of the cyclone in Myanmar. The task assigned is to create an ad copy that will drive traffic traffic to the world vision page. Distilled will bid for the keywords “Myanmar Cyclone Appeal”

Once you create the campaign you are supposed to post it on your blog and link to the distilled blog page. Now that’s a worthy cause:

On that note find Kinconsult’s entry:

Myanmar cyclone appeal
Make a donation now!
world vision will respond
http://www.worldvision.org.uk/

Distilled Blog: http://www.distilled.co.uk/blog/distilled/distilleds-big-ppc-competition-use-your-ad-powers-for-good/

How we take on clients at KinConsult

2008-05-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Wanted:

Someone that can boost my page views and increase my ad revenue. Must be willing to start from the ground up all the site pages of must be optimized in a way that does not interfere with our core business. Looking for innovative tactics for short-term, immediate results, as well as long-term benefits. Compensation based upon results and a fixed fee?

KinConsult can easily answer the call . We can deliver results that make our clients be ahead of the curve in the online game.

We strive to give you what you need:

Any online engagement needs a solid foundation in order to succeed. If you are thinking of building a new site or redesigning your site give us a call so we have the opportunity to impact your site structure right from the start unlike some clients who only consider online marketing after the site launch. Those client that have the foresight to bring us in during the initial planning of the website design or redesign will have an advantage since we shall review wireframes as they are developed, help define requirements for content management selection, and review site code and architecture.
We will assist in preparing internal linking strategies, URL structures, and naming conventions. We also provide training to our client’s staff to manage these steps and processes.

Preparing the proper groundwork ensures that the site will be in good shape and the design or redesign won't harm current search rankings. Nothing sexy about this work, but it can make or break a site.

We Strive to give you want you want:

Online marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. So when a client specifically asks what can be done in the short term to make an impact we at Kinconsult usually cringe.

In some cases we can explore social media outlets for a short-term impact that could also have a longer-term benefit. We can look into a Google News feed -- more of a no-brainer. Next, we can guide the creation and optimization of RSS feeds and improve our client's visibility by ensuring you are added to the RSS engines.

We can assist incorporating social media badges on each piece of published content. This allowed the readers to share and disseminate the content on their own. From these tactics alone, we can see a big jump in traffic.

Sometimes we may even give you what you do not need:

We can conduct keyword research and help uncover areas where the client has minimal content and little to no search competition. We can make recommendations around content development and keywords to take advantage of in the space. We also work with on-site bloggers to make sure they are writing for both the readers and the engines, using terms relevant to searchers on their blog posts. Keyword research and competitive landscape analysis is an invaluable tool and we know it can uncover untapped business opportunities.

We strive to take you to the next level:

After a very successful launch we do not rest there we explore online trends for ways to boost your online presence. For example right now consumer generated media is the in-thing.

For example we can assist you to leverage Facebook, we can assist in creating a client profile as another way for our clients to syndicate their content. We recommended this over MySpace or other social networks, as our research shows that the demographics in Facebook is more closely aligned with the Web site demographics of clients we deal with.
In order to get more mileage out of video content, we can assist our clients’ to build a branded YouTube channel of their video library. In hopes of driving a wider reader base to our clients Web site.

This seems a lot huh! But we at KinConsult know that all these tactics are all designed to drive traffic to the site and encourage repeat visits. And residual benefits include additional property listings in search, new connections to the main site, and increased visibility online gets you more eyeballs which am sure will help you drive more business. We will try not to crash your servers because of the traffic :-)

What you as a potential client for KinConsult must know:

We see dramatic increase in traffic and page views overall for our clients.
While our team has does a great job with our current clients. This whole process has to start with YOU knowing when to engage us at KinConsult -- from the beginning of the planning, not when you are ready to launch your site. At KinConsult strong planning up front when combined with an understanding (and somewhat adventurous) client can make for a very successful online marketing strategy. :-)

Welcome!

2008-04-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

KinConsult is happy to report that we shall be publishing updates and news on stuff affecting our industry. This is an exciting year for KinConsult as we have set out aggressive goals.

Top on the Agenda:

1. Expand our presence internationally.

2. Redesign our website

So please stay tuned and we shall update you on the going ons.