How to Cut the Confusion out of Internet Marketing
Promoting a small business over the internet is the Wild, Wild West. Excessive choices, not enough time, and it all sounds like it will do the job, right? Here’s a way to muddle through the confusion and maintain your peace of mind while noting outcomes in internet advertising strategy.
Un-Scientific Poll Results
About a month back I ran this poll on how business managers are using internet marketing to drive their company.
The conclusions are a long way from scientific but tell us something. 44% of respondents, with a rather stable mix of ladies and gents and the bulk over the age of 30, not business novices, either don’t know, don’t use any or see mixed success. Blogging and developing good subject matter seems to have moved the needle in second. Due to the number of participants the quality of Social Media Marketing, PPC and Video as responses is statistically suspect.
In other words, most small business managers don’t know what works or haven’t yet discovered the key to that vault of internet gold. Nearly half of people responding are simply uncertain what the heck to invest in, if anything. Here are some suggestions.
Make a Plan
This comes off as condescending but it genuinely isn’t. I had a conversation with a couple of small business colleagues of mine a few weeks back on the PPC (pay per click) technique, and they were arguing about where to focus their efforts. These were two successful brothers who have done considerable amounts of traffic to their website with transformations to sales not being what they wanted them. I share their problem. One brother argued that they should pull all their PPC and discontinues blogging efforts and bore into editing their website around conversions. The other worried that ending content generation was not a very good concept, that a void would open up and it would be doubly hard to garner up that movement again.
My answer? Right!
Just remember this. Any monkey can purchase PPC on Google Adwords and bounce their traffic, and if traffic were the objective, that monkey would be in success city. For the bulk of us, it isn’t, traffic is a means to an end, and that generally implies more sales or some progress in the selling process (like they subscribe for your mailing list). Answer the question, “What exactly do I wish to happen due to my online marketing efforts?”, and be overly detailed. Get a reality check from those competent in the art, as in business mastermind group colleagues who are flourishing with online marketing plans. Now you have an apex of focus to start against.
Decide Who Does What, and Where
Contracting specialists can be costly to be certain, yet understand this. None of the tactics in the survey above are worth doing poorly. Each needs a lot of work. If you want to do them all on your own, you are fooling yourself. As a small business CEO, you really don’t have the time to accomplish them all on your own, so if you want to start small and try it alone, just choose one category, one technique within that category to excel in, and a secondary gadget to learn and do OK. That’s the choice you should make.
What do I mean? Well, let’s consider Social Media. That’s in vogue lately. There are so many social media websites available you cannot truly keep up with all of them. Websites like YouTube, by the way, are social media websites, along with a lot of Social Bookmarking outlets like Digg, etc.
For my business, consulting and professional services, it made sense to me to focus on LinkedIn and learn it to the maximum. So I did, and have become professional enough that business professionals pay me to get their traffic to their profiles up and the queries coming. As I blog a lot, Twitter made sense as a way to at the very least promote the blog, so I am learning and getting better at that. My approach is a bit like this:
- Classification: Social Media
- Master: LinkedIn
- Learn: Twitter
But Karl, there’s 600 million folks on Facebook? Yep! I know little about Facebook. Oh, I do have a profile and post my tweets to it using some automated devices, but I am not the best at it as a tool for my business. In fact, an associate of mine after seeing 3 consecutive write ups on my professional page remarked that he didn’t think it was conceivable to take the fun out of Facebook, but I discovered a way to do it. Facebook is mainly about photos and real socializing, joking, personal content for me to see a way through it for B2B success (mind that Facebook is getting manipulated initially in the B2C arena). I’m not saying given more time I couldn’t master and use Facebook for business technique and economic profit; I just have decided to allocate my energies elsewhere.
You can definitely leverage your time with selective outsourcing.
Outsource Properly
If you are going to outsource, there are loads of individuals around you can outsource too who are better than you, but precious few who will actually move the needle on your company Geiger counter. Check out this post I read and posted on LinkedIn by Zach Weiner on just that. This applies to more than Social Media; it applies to virtually any marketing method. Check people out, consider their references and work samples where they have been productive elsewhere. LinkedIn is fantastic for this, because LinkedIn recommendations are at least legitimate with links to those users (see my technique for receiving Great Recommendations on LinkedIn).
The advantage to outsourcing your advertising endeavors for your business is that you can take a well balanced assault given enough resources, meaning cash. You can get some results utilizing web video, make a social media explosion, boost traffic with PPC and even outsource your blog for fantastic content. Most advertising folks of any sort, comprising of traditional print, radio, TV types, will tell you that a mix is important to cover the bases of how people desire to be marketed to. Given, of course, that you don’t suck at any of the devices you use, else better to drop it.
A suggestion: Much like you don’t have the time to be perfect at everything, be a bit cautious of the person who claims to be a specialist in every bloody thing, regardless if it is web design or social media or anything else. It’s difficult to be great at all things. I do LinkedIn effectively, but wouldn’t think to hawk my services on anything else I am not a pro at other than technique on what instruments to use. I do web video, but a particular kind of web video called Executive Video Interviews that exploits my vocal talent and lack of technical acumen with all things high-priced video. If a person you are considering to outsource to is claiming he is an A to Z specialist (what you really want), be sure there is a firm with numerous employees who niche themselves in the particular tools of the trade.
Monitor Results and Adjust
The cool thing about online advertising is that it is much simpler to keep track of results than other means, which have constantly had a problem tying in concrete perks and have promoted the rationale that if it spreads your name out there, it must be doing ok. Everything that you get through the internet has stats you can check out (translating them can be a challenge) and make adjustments. For instance, I just cut down on and changed my Google Adwords campaign based upon what I realized that was working and getting clicked on, AND what areas on my website were receiving visitors without the results I hoped for. In only a few months I can figure out where the weak spot is and react to remedy it.
Just remember to keep your target in mind. For example, most internet advertising landing pages will have a set of pages that the user must click on to forge ahead in the process. This is done for no small cause to be able to oversee involvement degree of the sales process that is occurring. Statistics show that every subsequent page has its percentage of attrition, however those who run the gauntlet are now extremely certified customers that are more likely to transform to sales. Internet marketers can tell who got to the page, who ordered the free report, who downloaded the video, and consequently, who put a product to the shopping cart. This assists you as a business owner know that of your traffic to the website, a certain percentage take the next step in the sales process. If you want that to be higher, alter the landing page.
What are Your Methods to Navigate the Internet Marketing Seas?
Write your comments on what you’ve done to get the most out of your advertising, what devices you have settled on to become specialists or at least familiar with, and if you have been befuddled to this point, what you plan to do next. You’ll get a link back to your website and may get mentioned in a future article.
About the Author: Karl Walinskas is the CEO of Smart Company Growth, a business development firm that helps small to mid-size professional service firms builds competitive advantage in an online world of sameness. He is author of numerous articles and the Smart Blog on leadership, business communication, sales & service, public speaking and virtual business, and Getting Connected Through Exceptional Leadership, available in the SmartShop. Get your FREE LinkedIn Profile Optimization eBook & Video Course, Video Marketing video and course, or Mastermind Groups e-course & video now.
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5 Ways to Make Pinterest the Newest Asset To Your Company
Link Pinterest to the Facebook account of the person with the most friends in your office
Does this sound petty? It’s not. People who are your ‘friends’ on Facebook (usually) have more of a connection to you than your company. They will check you out because they are interested in expanding their own Pinterest network. You are easier to find than your company (that they may or may not be able to recall). Once friends find your artful curation, it will not matter whose name it represents.
Build your Boards before you go on a follower rampage
Whether you are an individual or a company, people will not be interested in your account until you have something to show them. Even if you acquire a few loyal followers (your CTO and best friend from college) with no content, to gain an engaging set of followers you must produce something of value. Invest in finding images that mean something you. Humor is always a plus, but do not underestimate the power of a beautifully composed photograph.
Tell a story
Let the Pinterest audience know who you are before you throw at them what you sell or provide. The point of Pinterest is not to gather an immediate, lucrative following that will tote your brand like Abercrombie & Fitch in the late 1990’s. You want the people, yes people, on Pinterest to get to know you (as a representative of your company). Images in general have the power to evoke powerful emotions; just look at all of the Boards titled ‘Motivation,’ ‘Imagination,’ ‘Love.’ Using images to evoke true feeling is not exploitation. It is an opportunity to connect with individuals who are looking to be touched in a way they are not yet aware. Surprise users with how thoughtful, tasteful, creative, intelligent and witty you are.
Don’t over do it
There is nothing more agitating on a social media site than someone who thinks they are a world-class hoot. If you set out to impress, you are sure to disappoint – both your viewers and yourself. Be genuine in your approach, with image selection/captions, and stick to it. People will see through your obvious innuendos and over-eager “wit.” Take the advice of your elementary school teachers and just be yourself.
Interact with people who share similar interests
Does this sound obvious? It should. However, many companies are eager to follow anyone and everyone in the hopes they will return the favor. Besides flooding your homepage with images you are unimpressed with, it will take longer to sort through to find those with whom you actually share a visual bond. Connecting with people whose pins relate to yours inspires an actual “Pinterest” relationship of mutual (and frequent) repinning. It also leads you to other pins, and people, who are more likely to be interested in the images you have chosen to represent your company ethos.
About the Author: Erin Nelson is the Communication & Marketing Manager for the Berlin-based startup, exploreB2B. The new social, business platform, exploreB2B, allows individuals the opportunity to connect and collaborate with other professionals through reading and writing self-published articles.
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Finding Local SEO Talent: 4 Best Practices
Never has there been a more worn-out and often less understood term than Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. Plenty (I am not joking) of freelancers are in front of their PCs across the planet with the sign out that says “SEO Professional”. And you know what? Some of them are genuine. If you’re a business owner with a site on the Internet, unless this is your game, SEO experts are likely better than you at enhancing your site. But how do you find somebody who will make a difference for your business?
The Uber-Goal of SEO
First, let’s define Search Engine Optimization as all the on site things you can do for your website to increase its Page Rank (PR) on the big search engines, Google being the biggest with upwards of 65 % of all worldwide searches. Your work should be designed at getting you to page 1, and ideally, in return results 1-5 which tend to show up above the fold, or before the user has to scroll down. It is cautiously estimated that less than 5 % of online searchers ever get further than page 1 when finding a reference. That means if you’re not coming up on page 1 for your keywords, you are a tree falling in the woods with no one around to hear it pal. If your business being “located” on the net via search engines is important to your lead development plan, you simply can not afford to ignore top tier SEO approaches.
3 Characteristics of the Best SEO Experts
Here is what the aces bring to the table for premium SEO:
1. Good Copy– Readable, inviting, conversion-producing, with just the right mix of keywords on the web page that gets high rankings without getting the dreaded Google slap.
2. Local Search engine optimization– Make their web assets the biggest player in the local game, optimizing for local SEO and knowing that even for intangibles like SEO services and information technology, people seek those nearest to them. They take advantage of tools that supplement your website like the millions of unclaimed local websites that exist now for companies from Google Places (see this Google Places video for more).
3. Staying Current– Google comes up with new updates that change the way the game is played seemingly every other day (Panda anyone?); are you current? If not, then your best SEO plans may work against you and handicap your site PR.
If you have the talents to be labeled an expert, then you can easily optimize your own web pages provided you have the time. If not, it makes sense to vet Search Engine Optimization businesses to see who works for you.
4 Questions to Ask SEO Consultants
Charlatans reign supreme on the web when it comes to buzzwords about marketing your products on the Internet. Any kid with a laptop and dorm room power supply can profess the handle SEO Authority, and some may be. The same goes for Search Engine Marketing (SEM) expert and the latest “anybody can be one”, Social Media Marketing (SMM) consultant.
Here’s what to look for when seeking an SEO firm:
1. Visible Portfolio– Don’t be someone’s lab rat; make sure suppliers show you other sites they have worked on, AND test the sites against the keywords they were optimized on by searching on Google, Bing and Yahoo. Are the samples sites coming up on page 1? If not, keep searching.
2. Start Local– It’s much simpler to verify if a firm is authentic or not by looking for expertise in your own town. If you live in San Diego, search San Diego SEO. You get the picture.
3. Detailed Plan– Make sure the SEO firm provides a detailed plan of exactly what they will be doing to enhance your website for local SEO or any SEM not on page tactics they are using to drive traffic. The best SEO consultants will lay out the strategy in detail pertaining to keywords per page, methods, submissions, etc. without being asked, but request anyway. Stay away from anyone who essentially says, “Trust me.”
4. Check Endorsements– Testimonials need to be from authentic people that you can call if you feel the need to. If you see a quote from Bob K, San Francisco, RUN, don’t walk, to another selection.
So if you’re in business and you want an online existence, do it correctly. Don’t have one of the hundreds of millions of internet sites online that get no traffic and wonder why the bottom line is down. Bone up on SEO techniques or use a pro using the steps I outlined here, and become web relevant in your area and more.
About the Author: Is your site on Google Page 1? Local SEO from a top tier partner can help. Karl Walinskas is the CEO of Smart Company Growth, a business development firm that helps small to mid-size professional service firms build competitive advantage in an online world of sameness. His Smart Blog covers leadership, business communication, sales & service, public speaking and virtual business, and was recently named by Buyerzone as one of the Top 20 Business Blogs of 2011. He is the author of Getting Connected Through Exceptional Leadership, available in the SmartShop and Amazon.com, and has been a featured expert for Inc.com with articles published in Site Pro New, Selling Power, and America Online to name a few.
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Is Your Marketing Department Faced With Reality?
According to a recent study from MarketTools, nearly one-fourth (23 percent) of companies provide customer service and assistance to clients via Facebook, while 12 percent turn to Twitter for such activities.
The study goes on to note that while 34 percent of the executives polled reported they were aware of customers utilizing social media to discuss their business and its products and services, fewer than 25 percent of these executives claimed that their businesses “always” get back to these customers.
According to a spokesperson for the company, “Companies are increasingly embracing social media as a way to interact with their customers, though they are missing an opportunity to incorporate this feedback into a voice of the customer program. Organizations that use enterprise feedback management solutions are able to analyze feedback gathered through social media channels, along with feedback gathered through more traditional channels, to uncover insights to help improve business processes that lead to higher overall customer satisfaction.”
Some other numbers from the study note:
- Thirty-three percent of executives report that their businesses have a better focus on utilizing social media as a channel to obtain customer feedback when compared to the same time a year ago;
- As for what parts of their company are using social media, 44 percent cited public relations, 42 percent noted corporate marketing, while 34 percent stated product marketing and customer service/support;
- For the nearly 70 percent of companies sporting an active presence through social media, 48 percent are active on Facebook, 24 percent on Twitter, and 17 percent through their own business blog;
- Twenty-two percent reported that their company’s CEO oftentimes participates in social media on behalf of the business. Facebook is the social media channel of choice, used by 68 percent of the CEO’s, followed by 44 percent that participate through the company blog, and 35 percent who are active via Twitter.
If your company has been slow to the switch when it comes to using social media through your marketing efforts to interact with customers, keep a few things in mind:
- Active usage of social media allows you to interact with customers and potential customers in real-time. Whether it is a product/service question, a concern, or even a complaint, there is no replacing the immediacy by which social media venues provide;
- More and more consumers are using social media to obtain information on products and services, purchase items online and talk about their experiences. It only makes sense to have a social media presence so that your business can stay one step ahead of the competition;
- While some business leaders feel that social media is a fad, all signs point to it being around for the foreseeable future. To disregard SM now is only allowing your company the opportunity to fall further behind the competition, competition that in many cases are using social media on a daily basis to reach out for more business.
Whether it is to promote products and/or services online, respond to questions and concerns about your business or just follow the industry tides to see where you need to be, using social media in your company’s marketing efforts is more important than ever.
Are you a social or anti-social marketer?
About the Author: Dave Thomas, who covers among other subjects’ background checks, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.
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Google’s Social Media For Business Draws Ever Closer But What Will it Look Like?
Facebook has been an important part of many business’ SEO and client outreach for a couple of years now.
Anyone ‘on the inside’ knows that there’s an industry expectation that your business has a Facebook profile, indeed, many TV advertising and marketing campaigns use “visit us on Facebook” rather than using their own website as the platform is ubiquitous, user friendly and the API divulges a great deal of information about the consumer which wouldn’t necessarily be available if they went directly to the web1 address. Read more
Four Big Mistakes Social Media Marketers Make
In a post from a couple days ago I was lamenting about how email marketing was missing the mark with me, and today was thinking the same thing about social media marketing.
For all the effort it seems many social media marketers go through, many of their messages just don’t resonate with me. There are four areas I see where they are getting it all wrong.
What do Others Think of Social Media Marketing?
Wanting to know what others thought, I put out the following tweet this morning to see what the Twitterverse had to say on the subject:
As I thought, people had an opinion, and were happy to chime in. The general theme of the responses were right on with what I had been feeling about most social media marketing I’ve been seeing in recent months.
Four Big Mistakes Social Media Marketers Make
From the list of responses above, I see four main areas where social media marketers are coming up short.
1) Self Promotion
Many social media marketers focus on promoting themselves, and that is counter to the real power of social media. A one way conversation about yourself isn’t very social and is one of the main reasons these marketers are falling flat with their “target markets”. My take on this is self promotion becomes their only differentiator, and the USP becomes how well they can promote themselves.
2) Lack of Engagement/Communication
Goes hand in hand with point number one, but cannot be underestimated. The importance of communicating with the target market, engaging them in what your message is, can often be the make or break between success and failure of a social media campaign.
3) Operating with a “Push” Mentality
Much of the social media marketing I see is focused on pushing information to a target. The idea being you get your message out to enough people and the law of large numbers will play in your favor.
The error in that thinking is that it is much more efficient, and will convert at a higher rate, if you pull what your target market is looking for into your messaging. Figure out what they want, what’s important to them, and build a strategy from there…which leads me to my last point.
4) Rich with Tools – Poor With a Strategy
These marketers are very good technically with the social media tools available to them. But many lack an overall strategy (or at least the strategy isn’t obvious) for what they want to accomplish with their campaigns. Again falling back on pushing information, and a lot of it.
Summary
These are the areas where I see social media marketing leaving a lot on the table. I’m obviously not alone in that thinking, and within a few minutes got great feedback, validating my thoughts. This says to me that there are plenty of you out there who feel the same way, yet some marketers haven’t gotten the message yet or are unwilling to put in the effort to change.
What I believe they are misunderstanding is that the very nature of social media will make it difficult for them to continue down the same path with any success. The culture of social media will force them to evolve, and that is a good thing for all of us.
Your Turn
Much like the teacher who spends 90% of their time on 10% of the class who’s acting up, I think the poor marketers are getting a disproportionate amount of attention – I am SURE there are plenty of social media marketers out there doing everything right.
If you, or somebody you know is demonstrating some best practices when it comes to social media marketing let me know in the comments below or drop me an email – I’d like to do a follow up to this post on “The Four Areas Social Media Marketers are Getting It Right” and feature some of these great people.
A special thanks to all of you who responded via Twitter!
Photo Credit: respres
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A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer
Ever wonder what a full time social media marketer might spend their day doing? Well I did, so I was intrigued by this presentation, put together by a full time social media marketer about how she spends her day.
What the Heck Does She Do?
- Research
- Strategize
- Content Production
- Social Networking
- SEO
- Customer Service
Notice how much listening and responding plays into her day.
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