Marketing Tom - Internet Marketing

Acer Direct Problems - Follow Up

If you remember, last month I wrote an article about my bad customer experience problems with Acer Direct. Well, here's an update on what has transpired since. When I wrote the article I also fired an email off to their customer services department (pointing them to the Acer Direct article) and this is the reply I had:

Can you please resend the question you asked 2 months ago? As this was not received by ourselves.

So, two emails that I sent to a total of 4 people never got seen!

By the end of the afternoon I had received an email from the Managing Director, Nick Glynne, asking me to phone him later in the week.

I did and got his voice mail. I have now phoned twice and emailed once, yet still no response.

However, I have had a great response from Google!

I would now like to explore the results which I have gathered from Google AdWords and Analytics.

AdWords Data
For the search terms, "acer uk", "acer laptops", Laptops direct", "acer direct" and acer notebooks" I received a total of 75 clicks from 10,00 page impressions on Google's search network and 23 clicks from 23, 510 impressions on the content network. The click through rate was great but the ad was scheduled to run at various times of the day and certainly got seen by people.

Analytics Data
Here's the data from Google Analytics:

This data is pretty good as it indicates that 119 different individuals saw this article, they took the time to read it: 3 minutes and 58 seconds and 86.61% people went in and back out again. This stat is what I'd expect for an article like this but would be bad if they came in for my other articles!! One further stat shows that these 119 unique views came from 61 "cities" across the UK.

Google Search Results
Now the Google AdWords campaign has taken a break (until I use another Google AdWords voucher!), the organic search results have taken over. Here's the article in position number #8 on Google for the search term "acer direct".

On my new Blackberry device, it appears #2, directly under Acer Direct themselves!

Bill Gates on the Money Programme

The BBC has a fascinating 59-minute documentary on Bill Gates and Microsoft - Bill Gates: How a Geek Changed the World. Catch it on your BBC iPlayer before the 27th June.

Living outside the UK? Try this site for solutions: Strix.org

Twitter Could Have Been Called Friend Stalker

When I run my Social Media Marketing Workshops the usual comment I get from people when we discuss Twitter is that it sounds like Cyber Stalking. Well, Evan Williams founder of Twitter says, in an interview on Fast Company, that:

We talked about calling it Friend Stalker. We thought that might give the wrong impression

So, my clients may just be on to something!

Yahoo! Does a Deal With Google to Display Paid Results

Yesterday, it was announced that Yahoo! would be supplementing its paid search results with those from Google. A press release from Yahoo! states:

The agreement enables Yahoo! to run ads supplied by Google alongside Yahoo!'s search results and on some of its web properties in the United States and Canada.

And goes on to say:

Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo! will select the search term queries for which - and the pages on which - Yahoo! may offer Google paid search results. Yahoo! will define its users' experience and will determine the number and placement of the results provided by Google and the mix of paid results provided by Panama, Google or other providers. The agreement applies to paid search and content match and does not apply to algorithmic search. The agreement also applies to current partners in Yahoo's publisher network.

A statement from Google says (like Yahoo!'s) that the agreement is non-exclusive and means that Yahoo! "could enter into similar arrangements with other companies."

It will be interesting to see how this pans out for clients of Yahoo! and Google's PPC technology. Will Google now need to create some new options when selecting ad networks on campaigns? And how long before Yahoo! yields completely to Google and purely displays Google search results?

Permission Marketing and Strawberries

I spent this afternoon strawberry picking with my son, daughter, wife and a couple of good friends. It was nice to spend time with family and friends and take a break from the Internet and developing my business. The weather was glorious (you know it won't last in Wales) and we managed to pick a couple of kilos of strawberries at Hendrewennol in the Vale of Glamorgan. Needless to say, the kids (and adults) managed to eat a couple of kilos themselves whilst picking!

What was interesting was that on the way out the person on the cash desk invited us to write our personal details, including email address on a piece of paper. She told us that when the picking dates for different varieties of fruit were about to begin, they would email us notification. Brilliant! When I deliver the eMarketing Award course I always recommend to students that they look at offline techniques to try and build up their contact base. And this demonstrates that principal beautifully.

From a Web 2.0 perspective the possibilities for this business are endless:

What about blogging?
Uploading images of the crop and people picking them on to Flickr.
Using RSS to notify people of start dates for crops.
What about YouTube videos?
Have they considered Facebook and using Social Ads.

As you can see I took time off from the Internet but I didn't completely switch off from it!

Interview with the Guys From Twitter

I still haven't really taken the plunge with Twitter yet - I've set up an account, added the Facebook application and posted some 'twits' . But seeing as I'll shortl be leaving my current job to dedicate myself entirely to building Marketing Tom Media, I'm thinking of giving Twitter another go. And having just watched this interesting video interview of the founders of Twitter by Shel Israel, I think I'm starting to see more business and personal reasons to use this application.

Here are some facts which come out of the interview:

• Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, was riping up the carpet of his new home when he receives a text message from Evan Williams, the other co-founder who was having a glass of wine at the same time. He thinks it quite cool that he can find out what his friend is doing in some different location and the germ for Twitter is born at that moment.
• The average user posts 3 times a day
• People update their Twitter statuses through web, SMS, IM and API's
• 60% of their traffic is non-US, with Japan accounting for 40% of that market. They mention that the Japanese see Twitter as their virtual pet!!
• The UK and Spain are also strong markets
• 50% of users follow 10 people and,in turn, they have 10 followers
• People like to connect with people they already know and find it cool to follow old friends
• Twitter only employs around 15 people and just 5 are engineers.
• Business uses include customer support and tracking what's happening with companies

I liked when Biz Stone said that he was invited to Nike because, he was told, "none of our people really know what is happening online and what tools people are using," and he asked, "why not?" The reply he got was quite surprising, "well, we don't let them use them." I am sure that some of the clients I work with - from the public sector, colleges or within the Welsh Assembly - will be able to empathise with these folk. It is quite amazing how organisations that rely on the Internet, to attract and drive customers to their websites, don't allow staff to explore/research what is going on in that community.

I'll be posting about my journey into Twitterdom in the near future!

See Also
Twitter - For those Who Don't Quite get It

Acer Direct - The Worst Customer Services on the Web?

I must admit that I do complain about companies - it is my right as a UK citizen. However, I have not been so annoyed with a company that I am prepared to use all manner of Internet tools to make a very public statement.

This is a story of how companies should not treat their customers. Towards the end I will ask you to help me take this message to the wee, small corners of the Internet and show you how you can get your own back at businesses who refuse to listen to genuine customer complaints.

Acer Direct and Acer UK - please listen!

It all starts in January when I decide to buy a laptop computer from a UK company called Acer Direct. I have bought an Acer Laptop from them before and must say the product and service I received three years ago was fine - things do seem to have changed, though. The computer I bought was an Acer Aspire 5920 - it matched my requirements and I also requested that Office 2007 Small Businesses OEM Edition be added. I had set up my own company in December 2007 and wanted this package to help sort out some of my business processes. I asked for the OEM version just to keep costs down - this may have been a bad decision!

I suppose the first indication that customer support from Acer Direct may be bad came in the form of one of the customer support team, whose tone on the phone seemed to imply that he had better things to do than handle a £900 order from a customer - what an inconvenience customers must be for this organisation! I should have stopped there.

I asked him to add on the pre-delivery inspection as I didn't want to find any problems with the following and so have to return the computer:

Pre Delivery Inspection - Check for Missing Pixels, Patch with Critical updates, load Software, check hardware. **** TAKES 2 DAYS ****

I ordered the computer in the afternoon and Acer Direct were able to send out the machine by lunchtime the next day. So much for the **** TAKES 2 DAYS ****

On opening my brand new Acer Aspire 5920, I flipped it over to put the battery in. I instantly heard a small rattling sound, which sounded like a loose screw or bit of plastic. Not wanting to take any risks I got in touch with Acer Direct and sent it back.

I asked Acer Laptops to refund the money for the pre-delivery inspection which is obviously a way to screw people out of 20 or 30 quid and, 3 months later, am still waiting.

When I got the machine back I decided that I would like to download a Word template from the Microsoft site. On trying to download the template I got told that I may be a victim of software counterfeiting.

Alarm Bells are now Starting to Ring

I continue to try to get in touch with Acer Direct, or is it Laptops Direct, and get nowhere as can be seen by this email:

I appear to be going around in circles with your company. After 3 telephone calls and 2 emails I am now told to go to a returns policy page. If you work in customer support you must have received an email I sent to you on the 21st:

This is my third attempt to get in touch with Acer Direct regarding problem software. I purchased a laptop from you a month ago - I have already had to return it because it wasn't properly checked and subsequently it was found to have a screw loose from the fan. I still haven't been refunded for this.

I purchased Office Small Business 2007 from you on the same order and the machine came pre-installed with the software. The problem is that when I go to Mircrosoft to download a template I am told I don't have a Genuine product!! I thought that when I bought this product it would be genuine and not hooky! I have already spoken to one of your staff who said she would sort it out straight away - nothing happened. Last week I telephoned and left a message - nothing has happened.

Could someone please sort this out as I don't want to be left with an obsolete product shortly? Surely a customer shouldn't have to repeatedly send emails and calls to your company without anything happening!

And now you send me an email to a page to explain your returns policy.

I am not the one who sent out a "non-genuine" product - I simply had the misfortune to be sent one by your company.

Could you please send out a "Genuine" copy of the software I purchased - just like two of your colleagues said they would?

When I finally get to speak to someone about the problem they are very apologetic and seem to indicate that this may be a problem from Microsoft's end and it is not the first one they've seen.

Some days later and after considerable disruption to my own business - hell, I don't want to waste my time trying to sort out someone else's cock-up - the Office Small Business 2007 box arrives - without discs!

I then decide to contact Microsoft to see if they can help me out. According to Microsoft I still have a Non-Genuine Office product. This means that I cannot download any Microsoft Office templates. Here's part of the email I sent through to Acer Direct, after having spoken to the Microsoft Office people - still no response!

I have just had a lengthy conversation with Microsoft and given them the details they requested. According to Microsoft the Product Id for the version of Microsoft Office on my machine is a retail one (didn't I buy an OEM one?) which does not match the product key that was sent through to me by post. They suggested that, in the first instance, I get in touch with the retailer to find out why this would be.

Guess what? I did get in touch with the retailer (Acer Direct). I sent out emails to all the contacts at Acer Direct I had and 8 weeks later I am still waiting for a reply.

And before you ask, yes I did try and get in touch with the headquarters of Acer UK and this is what Mark in customer services had to tell me:

I'm sorry to hear of your problems but this is not something we can help with as the software has been supplied by laptops direct not ACER so only they can deal with it as you have paid them for the programme.

I have now decided to use the power of the Web and all the Web 2.0 tools including Google AdWords - some friends of mine have received Google AdWords vouchers and will be using them to create ads that will raise awareness of this problem with the wider community and point people in to this article. Please, help me out by creating an anchor text link - like this one: Acer Direct - to this post. Press releases, forums and all manner of tools will now be used. If you're a blogger, please write about my misfortune and link to this page.

And if you're Acer Direct, please try and rectify the problem you created - at NO cost to myself!

**Update** - Google AdWords has now kicked in: