District 72 Toastmasters Digital Marketing Plan Digital Marketing Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the targeted, measurable, and interactive marketing of products or services using digital technologies to reach and convert leads into members. The key objectives are to promote the brand of Toastmasters, and to build preference and increase membership through various digital marketing techniques. It is embodied by an extensive selection of service, product and brand marketing tactics, which mainly use the Internet as a core promotional medium. This document takes a reasonably in depth look at our current level of digital marketing in New Zealand, some of the key factors to consider, and some suggestions for further development. Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary.. page 2 2. Toastmasters New Zealand Website... page 3 a) Mobilisation. page 3 b) Search Engine Optimisation.. page 4 3. Social Media Engagement... page 6 a) Facebook. page 6 b) YouTube.. page 7 c) LinkedIn... page 7 d) Twitter.. page 8 4. Online Advertising. page 8 a) Google Adwords... page 9 b) Facebook Advertising. page 9 c) NZ News Media Advertising.. page 10 5. Toastmasters Clubs in New Zealand. page 11 a) Club Websites. page 11 b) Online Footprint... page 11 6. Conclusions... page 12 District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 1 of 12
1. Executive Summary The Toastmasters New Zealand District 72 website should be the centre of our digital marketing plan, supported by stronger search engine optimisation, an effective and connected social media presence, digital advertising and more brand aware, active and vibrant club level websites and digital footprints. The key recommendations of this report are: Provide more focus on search engine optimisation, thereby increasing search engine rankings Further develop the social media channels of Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn to expand brand recognition and attract new members. Invest the Toastmasters New Zealand advertising budget, through to end January 2015, equally in three channels - $1,500 in Google AdWords, $1,500 in Facebook, and $1,500 in NZ online media Establish a district wide club website and club digital footprint project, to review all club websites, ensuring brand awareness, vibrancy, Toastmasters standards, and connectivity to the District 72 website whilst providing increased support resources. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 2 of 12
2. Toastmasters NZ Website This is our central point for providing information relevant to Toastmasters members and prospective Toastmasters members in New Zealand and should be the primary landing zone for most of the digital marketing strategy. Recent developments on the Toastmasters NZ website have seen some significant advancement in usability, functionality and digital relevance. Along with a more user friendly online interface, introduced in 2015, the mobile friendly optimisation has effectively bought the website into the 21 st century. As with everything, there is still scope for further improvement, particularly in the areas of search engine optimisation and digital marketing through online advertising. a) Mobilisation Smartphone usage has increased dramatically in the past few years, with over 70% of New Zealanders owning at least one, up from 48% in 2013. Demographically by age, 91% of 18-34 year olds, 79% of 35-54 year olds, and 45% of the population 55+ use a smartphone on a daily basis. 86% of smartphone users use their web interface to look for reference information and search websites. Over a third of all website traffic is now from a smartphone or tablet. Having a mobile friendly interface has been of growing importance over the past 5 years and, given the significant trends above, is a vital component of any effective digital marketing strategy. Fortunately, as seen at left, the Toastmasters New Zealand website has incorporated this technology in its development. (Statistics on Smartphone usage taken from a 2015 Research New Zealand Special Report on Use of Smartphones with a margin of error of +/- 3.3%) District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 3 of 12
b) Search Engine Optimisation Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's unpaid results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic. See the Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors on the next page to see what effects the ranking formulas when it comes to search engine optimisation. In New Zealand, Google has over 93% of the search engine market share, and it is easily the #1 visited web site with more than twice the volume compared to the next ranked site, Facebook. Search Engine Market Share Usage Statistics Top 10 in New Zealand Source: www.statsmonkey.com Unfortunately, on Google searches involving the keywords in the table below, the Toastmasters NZ website only ranks highly when the keyword toastmaster(s) is included in the search terms. In the overwhelming majority of searches it is either not ranked at all, or not on the first page of search results. As a result, the only visitors the website will receive from random searches will be from those who know to include the term toastmaster(s). In order to achieve higher visibility, more attention to SEO would be strongly recommended. Adding the words in the below lists to the keyword listings in the page code would be a start to improve rankings. Relevant keyword listing for Toastmasters in New Zealand, including prefixes and additives Prefix Main Keywords Additive advice for anxiety listening abilities meeting become best man management ability meetings becoming a business organisation auckland methods being communication performance book new zealand best confidence personal books nz better confident presentation christchurch practice cure eulogy presentations class practise develop facilitation public classes skill developing glossophobia speaking club skills fear of humor speech clubs techniques guide to humorous speeches course tips how to humour storytelling courses tools improve impromptu toast development trainer improving interpersonal toastmaster group training managing leadership toastmasters guide wellington writing lecture wedding ideas youth District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 4 of 12
www.searchengineland.com District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 5 of 12
3. Social Media Engagement Another of the most popular ways that people find information on the web is through social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. This section looks at these channels, assesses the market and demographics, and looks at suggestions to improve digital footprints on each of these social media platforms in order to increase engagement and help direct people towards Toastmasters in New Zealand. a) Facebook Facebook, a social utility that connects people, is the second most popular website in New Zealand behind Google, with over a million people registered as users aged 18+. Over 90% of all registered Facebook users fall into the Toastmasters target market. Of these the gender split is similar to Toastmasters demographics, with 54.3% female and 45.7% male. Facebook demographics New Zealand gender and age Source: firstdigital.co.nz District 72 Toastmasters maintains a page on Facebook which is kept updated on a semi-regular basis with interesting news relating to Toastmasters in New Zealand. Currently this page has 385 likes (as at 30 November 2015), made up mostly by current Toastmasters members. While this is a good start, there is certainly much scope for growth and improvement to make it a truly effective digital marketing tool. At present it is mainly preaching to the converted rather than marketing and growing the organisation. To engage more non-members and expand its share of the market in Facebook (of both members and nonmembers) some of the key no-cost or low-cost options include: Expanding the pool of admin contributors to the page to enable more regular daily posts Creating daily posts with more focus on the reasons why people join Toastmasters memes, relevant videos, tips & techniques, upcoming events Encouraging those who like the page to share the posts Encouraging those who read the posts to like the page Establishing a competition which develops likes and shares The page should also maintain a key aspect of its focus on directing people to the Toastmasters NZ website through pins and posts. Facebook Advertising is another good method to expand the marketing power and engaging a wider audience than current Toastmasters members, however this is dealt with in more detail in section 4 a) of this document. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 6 of 12
b) YouTube YouTube, the top video network worldwide, is considered to be dominated by a young demographic, however the base age is actually 18-54 year olds. YouTube is the third most popular website in New Zealand behind Google and Facebook. It is estimated that 55.89% of the NZ population use YouTube on a regular basis. (Statistics source: roimarketing.co.nz). While being widely used for music and programme based videos, it is a little known fact that YouTube is considered the 2 nd biggest search engine in the US (behind Google) due to the availability of relevant how to instructional videos and guides. A similar trend is extremely relevant in New Zealand as well. Currently there is no Toastmasters New Zealand District 72 channel, although there is a channel called toastmastersnz (1,074 subscribers and 31,982 views) which has some of the District Final speeches and convention keynote speeches loaded by Laurence Bacchus of Pania Toastmasters Club. You can also find a few speeches from Toastmasters within New Zealand, although these have very limited numbers of views. As with Google, you need to be specifically searching for Toastmasters New Zealand, or via the speaker name or title, to find these. YouTube provides a HUGE digital marketing platform which we are not currently tapping into. Along with providing relevant resources for clubs and members within New Zealand, there is also a huge opportunity to brand and keyword marketing videos, tips, tools and techniques to attract the non-member audience and further enhance the brand and visibility in District 72. Such short video memes would also provide an excellent interlocking functionality with the Toastmasters New Zealand website and other social media channels. It would be a very good move to create a District 72 Toastmasters New Zealand channel and populate it with the video memes mentioned above. While some could be created within the Marketing Team, it would be worth approaching clubs and members for submissions as well. These would need to be vetted to meet the marketing goals and objectives and the channel theme. Another approach would be to establish a video meme competition and encourage participation. c) LinkedIn Known as the professionals network, LinkedIn is the network of choice for educated professionals with higher than average incomes. Most popular with males aged 25-54. It is estimated that 13.57% of New Zealanders maintain a LinkedIn account. (Source: roimarketing.co.nz) Toastmasters District 72, New Zealand currently has a LinkedIn Group page with 255 members (as at 30 November 2015), by request, and is administered by Lyndon Baird. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 7 of 12
Although many people view the social media site LinkedIn only as a site for job hunters and for growing your professional network, LinkedIn is an equally effective tool for generating new business leads and nurturing referral relationships. A 2013 study from Jill Konrath and Ardath Albee revealed that 84% of users generated several business opportunities from the use of LinkedIn. An informative, error-free and well managed LinkedIn company page provides the organisation with an opportunity to tell the Toastmasters NZ story, engage with followers in a variety of forums, share opportunities, and scale our word of mouth marketing from a digital platform. It should also encourage our audience to make contact with Toastmasters in New Zealand and perceive us as a trusted resource. By producing content that our viewers want to see and share with others, the viewers become engaged advocates of Toastmasters in NZ and expand our reach and influence. By making our content available in different formats such as SlideShare business presentations, blog posts, infographics, webinars, podcasts and videos we can tailor our approach to suit the viewing preferences of our target audience. At present there is plenty of opportunity to further enhance our LinkedIn presence and marketing personality as a professional organisation. d) Twitter Currently dominated by young adults in the 18-29 age range with a female skew. Users seek real time interaction and news and are not as concerned about privacy as users of other networks. Celebrities are big users of Twitter. According to roimarketing.co.nz, 7.41% of the New Zealand population are Twitter users. While this platform has a share of market that is approachable by Toastmasters, this is perhaps the most labour intensive social networking platform to use as a digital marketing channel. At present we have no District 72 Toastmasters presence on Twitter. The key benefit of engaging Twitter in some way would be to enhance the overall social media package of Toastmasters and increase the SEO attractiveness of the Toastmasters New Zealand website, however, at this stage it is not recommended to put much, if any, energy into this Social Media platform. 4. Online Advertising Considered one of the most cost effective forms of advertising, and certainly in a forum which has grown exponentially over recent years, online advertising is measurable and efficient, providing a clear pathway to our market segments. The most common measurements for online advertising are either by impression (ie, the number of times it is displayed on page to our target market) or click-through (ie, the number of times a user clicks through from the advertisement to our landing page). Impressions (similar to normal print publishing) is lower cost volume based advertising, however click through provides a more immediately measurable count of hits. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 8 of 12
As a result, it is a highly recommended target for our marketing budget in terms of advertising. We recommend that we test and measure results in three key options for online advertising Google Adwords, Facebook advertising and NZ Media Advertising (Stuff and NZ Herald). By utilising the advertising budget through to end of January 2016, it is recommended that we target $1,500 to each of these three channels and focus on advertising for the Christmas, New Year and summer season aiming particularly at new years resolutions. Some example adverts could include: With this approach we can measure each channel on the basis of the following strategy: a) Google AdWords Google AdWords provides the ability to have our website listed above the top ranking results for the keyword groups we specify, or alternatively down the right hand side of the search results screen. Signing up for Google AdWords is free. We only pay when someone clicks our ad to visit our website. In other words, when our advertising is working. This is advertising in pay-per-click fashion, and the price is set through advertising auctions. This is done by targeting our key market by location (New Zealand) and utilising keyword groups focusing on key patterns from the table of keywords identified in 2 b) on page 4 of this document. We then set a daily budget level and start measuring the results. While Google AdWords provides very good reports relating to budget management and click through rates, the most effective measurement of success can be identified by creating landing pages in the Toastmasters New Zealand website and using the host site analytics to confirm actions of those users who are engaged through Google AdWords. b) Facebook Advertising Facebook advertising can be page advertising and/or post boosting. We set a target audience by identifying location (ie, New Zealand), demographics (eg, age) and interests (eg, personal development, public speaking, confidence, communication, leadership, etc). Facebook will then identify the size of our target audience based on matching of the information provided by registered Facebook users. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 9 of 12
We then set the amount we wish to spend on the campaign and the duration of the campaign and it estimates the number of people reached. Facebook then tracks the impressions, click through rate and page likes that result in an easy access report through the District 72 Toastmasters Facebook account. c) NZ Media Advertising Advertising in the two main online newspapers, the New Zealand Herald and Stuff, would provide impression advertising on pages that get regular daily traffic. The rates are different dependant on size and location in the site (eg, home page, national news, etc) and are measured in units of 1000 impressions. If we were to advertise on the homepage using 300x250 sizing, the impression count would be 60,000 for a budget of $1,500. As above for Google AdWords, this can be measured in terms of click through rates by having a landing page on the Toastmasters New Zealand website and utilising the site analytics reports to identify our return on investment, and to report on the activities of the users who arrive at the site through this advertising activity. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 10 of 12
5. Toastmasters Clubs in New Zealand Toastmasters New Zealand also has a digital footprint through the digital marketing done by its member clubs throughout the country. As with Toastmasters New Zealand, each club should have its club website as their central landing place for the digital marketing efforts. Many clubs, however, have also taken the initiative to expand their own online footprints into social media, rostering systems, and club appropriate search sites. a) Club Websites Many clubs, particularly open community clubs, utilise either FreeToastHost or bespoke websites to attract members. With a vast majority of our over 270 clubs throughout the country being open community clubs, New Zealand should have a fairly widespread network to interconnect with the Toastmasters New Zealand website and create strong SEO links However, many clubs have not established effective websites that are kept up to date and vibrant and that meet the standard requirements as set down by Toastmasters International. Some clubs don t even have their own websites, but rely on Facebook and/or EasySpeak to provide this functionality. An extensive and complete review of club websites needs to be conducted and clubs should be helped to elevate their standards so that the brand image is consistent and effective throughout New Zealand, and that all standard requirements are met, at the minimum. A link to Toastmasters New Zealand website should also be clearly required to increase our Toastmasters District 72 website SEO initiatives. YouTube Channel video guides, online resource guides and telephone support could be made available to provide all clubs with the assistance to achieve this target. It is recommended that this task be made into a nationwide project. b) Online Footprint Some clubs also have a presence on social media (ie, Facebook, Blogs, Youtube, LinkedIn, Twitter) and many utilise other online tools, such as EasySpeak, Toastrooster, Meetup, Neighbourly, Event Finder, and Google Groups and Docs. Corporate clubs often have a presence on their corporate intranets. All of the above are valid and effective ways to increase a clubs online footprint Some, however, are used ineffectually and without due focus on Brand awareness and effective marketing. As above, it would be very supportive if the District could provide online resources (videos and guides) to assist new club committee members to master their online footprint and make it work even more effectively, both for the club and for the District as a whole. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 11 of 12
6. Conclusions The Toastmasters New Zealand District 72 website should be the centre of our digital marketing plan, supported by stronger search engine optimisation, an effective and connected social media presence, digital advertising and more brand aware, active and vibrant club level websites and digital footprints. There has been significant change in the District website during 2015 which should be praised for its improved intuitive user interface and mobile friendly optimisation. The biggest challenge for the district website is its relatively low level of search engine optimisation geared to attracting new members through search engines. In order to achieve higher visibility for new members, more attention to SEO is strongly recommended. Adding the words in keyword listings on page 4 into the page code would be a good start to improve rankings. Another key method to achieve increased SEO rankings is to increase connections with all other aspects of our digital marketing footprint, making sure that they are all directing traffic to the District 72 website. Social media engagement also provides plenty of opportunity for Toastmasters to expand brand recognition and attraction of new members. The excellent start with Facebook and LinkedIn in the social media arena could be further enhanced with a variety of low or no cost options, such as: Facebook: LinkedIn: YouTube: Expanding the pool of admin contributors to the page to enable more regular daily posts Creating daily posts with more focus on the reasons why people join Toastmasters memes, relevant videos, tips & techniques, upcoming events Encouraging those who like the page to share the posts Encouraging those who read the posts to like the page Establishing a competition which develops likes and shares Increased connection to the Toastmasters District 72 website Producing even more professional content that our viewers want to see and share with others Increased connection to the Toastmasters District 72 website Create a Toastmasters New Zealand YouTube channel Populate this with relevant speech and training videos, guides, tips and techniques, etc Engage the keywords as specified on page 4 of this document Increased connection to the Toastmasters District 72 website Establishing a competition to engage members to assist in feeding the channel It is highly recommended that an investment be made in online advertising during December 2015 and January 2016 with a focus on Christmas, new years resolutions and the summer season. The $4,500 advertising budget should be split amongst three online advertising channels Google AdWords, Facebook advertising, and NZ media advertising on Stuff and NZ Herald. These can be measured effectively through analytic tools to identify our return on investment in terms of identifying actual advertising respondent s activity. Finally, it is recommended that a concerted district wide project should be established to review all club websites to ensure they are brand aware, vibrant, that they meet Toastmasters requirements, and that they are connected to the District 72 website. In conjunction with this, online resources to support clubs to maximise the effectiveness of their digital footprint and associated sites would be a very good step. District 72, New Zealand Digital Marketing Plan November 2015 Page 12 of 12