Biznology

If It Ain't Broke, Google Breaks It

2009-11-20T13:55:24Z

Earlier this week Google announced that there would be a change in how many of the search engine results are presented to their customers. The traditional look of a result in the SERP's (search engine result pages) would have a clickable title tag at the top followed by the meta description and underneath the result would be a traditional URL in green that is clickable as well. Now there seems to be a desire to change that up a bit. When I look at the result, I can't figure out if it's good or bad.

Here's a traditional result as shown on Google's Official Blog:

Google's contention is that this kind of presentation leaves something to be desired, They feel that if there is a chance to see more of the context that the page occurs in then it will help the user. So, to aid in that context delivery, the new results will have a breadcrumb presentation that will show the user how you might arrive at that page within the site you are seeing in the search results. It looks like this:

Each of the breadcrumbs is a link to another page.

I like this because Google is trying. But that's where my liking it stops. I think Google is now starting to look like an engineering company, though, because the VAST majority of people searching for anything on the Internet are not even going to know you can click on just the old URL. They don't care. In addition, this adds more for someone to think about which is why they came to Google in the first place. They are looking for Google to figure the Internet out for them.

Now, as someone in the SEO industry, I actually hate this delivery. Why? Well, suppose you worked real hard for a client to get a specific page ranked and that site happens to use a breadcrumb hierarchy that Google can incorporate in the results. Now an end user can actually find the page they need but click on a different result that may not answer their question. Of course, as the SEO practitioner, this problem will be put on your desk and it will be your fault.

So, all in all, I think Google is trying to outsmart themselves on this one. I am more interested in their incorporation of real time results from Twitter rather than getting cute on something that, in my opinion, ain't broke so why are they fixing it?

Online Vendors Dare Buyers to Compare

2009-11-19T13:54:53Z

Image by Brooks Elliott via Flickr

Customers have comparison shopped since the first guy set up a table in the town square with more than one product. But the Internet has taken comparison shopping to a new level, with elaborate feature-by-feature comparisons and real-time price monitoring. Shoppers have never been more able to compare products to each other. But did you know that this information is no longer the sole province of review sites or shopping search engines? To see how companies are helping their customers compare their wares to their competitors, check out my latest post on Internet Evolution, "Online Vendors Dare Buyers to Compare."

Old media, new media, and blackouts

2009-11-18T04:07:22Z

Image by [JP] Corrêa Carvalho - يوحنا بولس via Flickr

by Aaron Kim

Social media is often compared with traditional communication vehicles such as newspapers, radio and TV as antagonists where the new replaces or challenges the old. The blackout in parts of South America last week showed a different side of this relationship: a symbiosis between radio broadcasts and microblogging. I was in Brazil visiting family and friends during that event and witnessed what a major power outage looks like in the era of social media and our increasing dependency on electricity.

As a matter of fact, I had the unusual, err, opportunity of being in two of the top five power outages in history: I was in Toronto when the Northeast blackout of 2003 happened, and in São Paulo during the Brazil and Paraguay outage last week. The one in 2003, of course, happened before the "broadcast yourself" era, with plenty of daylight left, so my major concern back then was finding a pub with cold beer and some food.

Last week, the blackout started at 11 pm, and most people had no idea of how widespread the problem was. Try to imagine a city like São Paulo, with 18 million people and 6 million cars in its metropolitan area, with no traffic lights on a hot summer night:

São Paulo during the 2009 Blackout - Photo by Andreia Reis, Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0

For most people in Brazil, the only source of information still operating was the good ol' radio broadcasting. And, ironically enough, the major source of
information for the radio stations was Twitter, as some cellular phone networks were still operating despite the outage. Through Trendistic, you can actually see the spike in Twitter with the use of words "luz" and "apagão" ("light" and "blackout", in Portuguese):

The pop singer Madonna was in Brazil with her boyfriend Jesus Luz that same week, and inspired several tweets that night, the most common being along the lines of: "Blame Madonna for the blackout: she asked Jesus to turn off the lights".

And if you were there too, you may want to buy this CafePress T-Shirt ("Blackout 2009: I twittered about it")

Of course, as power was restored a few hours later, the other media channels started to catch up with the event, as can be seen in aggregators such as BlogBlogs. One of the interesting stories was that of a married man stuck in his lover's house, as the garage door was power operated (article available in Portuguese only, sorry).

This fantastic video posted by Tiago Compagnoni in YouTube registered the whole blackout event is fast motion:

The next time I drop by WalMart, I'll make sure to buy one of those hand-crank radio/flashlight combos, and perhaps some candles and matches too, just in case social media is not there to rescue me if I get (un)lucky a third time.

Are you ready for Bing?

2009-11-17T14:01:22Z

Image via Wikipedia

No, not that Bing. The Microsoft Bing search engine, and yes, I know it's been out for months. The real question is whether you are ready for the increased impact of Bing, because regulatory approval of the Yahoo! search deal, expected in first quarter of 2010, could actually happen at any time. If you've been waiting for it to happen before changing your strategy, you're wasting valuable time. If you haven't though about how this impending change might affect you, check out my new post on Search Engine Guide, "Are you ready for Bing?"

Do It Wrong Social Media

2009-11-16T15:04:15Z

Image via Wikipedia

Thursday, I spent an hour answering questions from Chris Keiff and others on Twitter in my first-ever Twitter interview. I'd done interviews in chat rooms, but this was different, because I had to confine my answers to one or two 140-character tweets. With permission, I extracted the conversation and tried to thread it to make sense, along with some light editing to expand abbreviations and fix typos. I hope you'll find it useful, too.

Hello everyone and welcome to today's Social Marketing Chat. Please welcome @MikeMoran, Author of "Do it Wrong Quickly."

Me: Thanks, Chris. This looks like fun--it's my first Twitter interview.

Mike, can you tell us a little about yourself and your book?

Sure. I have two books—one on search marketing co-authored with Bill Hunt and one on Internet marketing, including social. I led initiatives at ibm.com for eight years and now do public speaking and consulting as Chief Strategist for Converseon.

So how does Do it Wrong Quickly apply to social?

The book is about experimentation, and because social is free, it is a great place to experiment without the boss noticing.

But if we do it wrong, won't the boss notice that?

Possibly, but the idea is to try a few different things so that the "wrong" ones are break-even and the "right"one is a win. Most bosses pay a lot more attention to money than time. And if you pick difficult problems and fix one, you're a hero.

There is a lot of fear coming from bosses in social media. How can you overcome this?

If your boss is fear-driven, you might want to try scaring him more about NOT doing social media: We're missing the boat and our competitors are leapfrogging us. How will you explain this to your boss when he asks why we are MIA on social?

But when we experiment, how do we know the wrong ones are going to be break-even?

Start out doing lower risk stuff. Don't immediately break out that "hilarious" video that might offend folks. Instead, start with blogging, or Twitter, and do something really helpful to customers.

So, is it a bottom-up social media adoption strategy or top-down or both?

Depends on where you work. I have seen bottom-up work better but some enlightened companies have come from top. I think the best ends up being both before it really takes off. usually start at bottom and then top gets excited.

I agree. I think the bottom-up can provide the proof through experimenting to show the top. Then adoption grows.

I see it work that way all the time, but us at the bottom must be willing to take a personal risk for it to happen.

What types of questions do you get on social marketing most frequently?

Mostly people have objections--I am not technical, I am no writer, my boss would never let us do this and ad nauseum. They really need is to get over their own fears of making mistakes and just try stuff. We all screw up until we succeed.

Is there a big difference between large and small companies and the issues they have?

Yes. Small companies think no one cares about them. Big companies think they can't tell anything. Both are wrong. Both big and small companies are afraid of making mistakes and social media unfortunately demands them.

How can a small company get others to notice them via social?

Getting noticed is about being distinctive. Most small companies are local, but local doesn't buy anything on the Internet. Small companies must find the thing that makes them unique. The expertise. The angle. What are they REALLY good at?

How do big companies determine what they can say and what they can't say?

Mostly I advise them to bet on people rather than processes, which goes against every fiber in their being. They like rules. Companies must train folks to operate in public because divulging trade secrets on the phone ain't better than on Twitter. Companies must trust their people to do the right thing in social media, just as they trust them in other public venues.

How can you convince a corporation to trust people rather than process?

One way is that they get desperate enough that they realize no rules can control this and they have to trust people.

Mike, do you have any favorite examples of big brands doing well with social media?

Dell is doing a great job of crowdsourcing with IdeaStorm. Graco has a top-rated Mommy presence. Lion Yarn is a good small company example, with a blog that just won a Forrester Groundswell award (http://blog.lionbrand.com/). And, Will It Blend is a classic.

Do their products rock? Do they know where their clients are? Are they ready to interact with others?

Those are great questions every company must ask. That's why the best social media starts with listening.

How are they successful in social media?

Every company must have its own goals for social. One client is selling on Twitter. Others are doing PR. Each use case needs different measurements ranging from sales to improvement in brand awareness.

Good point. It'll be helpful to find more tangible case studies as social media grows, especially for those new to it. What trends are you seeing as social media evolves? Are the trends different between small and large companies?

The clients I am working with now are focused on different kinds of ROI and those stories are emerging soon. Biggest trends: Listen first and ROI tracking. Listen to the conversation before you speak. Make the value count.

How do search marketing and social marketing work together?

Social is a great way to get those cherished one-way links that are golden in organic search. But social also helps content. The content most helpful to customers is not only great as social media passalong but also attract those one-way links.

Can you expand on the idea of good content for customers and SEO?

No one cares about your product catalog page. Write articles about how customers solve problems, with your product as one way. Help your customers with information they need and you'll benefit in search and social. Enough will remember to buy from you.

How tangible and accountable are the ROI measurements? Varies greatly depending on touch points?

Varies a great deal. One client is actually tracking sales starting at Twitter to offline CRM very accountable. Other clients tracking how many views on YouTube. Not all that exciting as ROI, right? Clients vary in maturity.

Makes me curious how correlation models will develop over time.

Agreed. Expect to see people using social media for predictive modeling next. It's exciting stuff.

Mike, where can we hear you speak next?

I'll be at Search Insider Summit and Enterprise Social in Amsterdam http://www.mikemoran.com/aboutmike/speeches.htm

Mike, where can we find your books and more of your thoughts?

Thanks for the plug, Chris. Both of my books and my Biznology blog and newsletter are at http://www.mikemoran.com

Thank you Mike and everyone for joining us.

Thanks Chris. This was great fun. And thanks to everyone who asked questions or just listened in.

Have I got a social media deal for you!

2009-11-13T06:07:12Z

Image by Bramus! via Flickr

by Frank Reed

Earlier this week, I wrote about a study that was conducted by interactive agency Razorfish that came to the conclusion that maybe people are not so interested in being personally involved with a brand. Maybe, just maybe, people have a little more depth and actually have relationships with people. As a result, it appears that many people are using social media (as it relates to marketers and business, not just the shallow re-hashings of the most mundane details of mostly mundane lives) to do something that is almost as old as the oldest profession: get a deal.

How about that! People want to pay less for things. As far as revelations go, this one should not be that amazing. Not amazing, at least, to the regular Joes of the world (of which I am a proud member). It does seem to come as a bit of a shock to some in the social media realm, though.

Why? Why would otherwise intelligent people find this simple idea repulsive? Well, I would posit that it is too simple. You see, there is so much theory and lofty philosophizing about social media's execution and impact, that when you get to the core idea of giving people a deal it sounds so...pedestrian. How dare people pare down the wonder and mystery of social media and online interaction to the idea that people want a deal. It can't be, can it? Yup, it can and it is.

Case in point: I am the biggest Diet Coke drinker in the world. I would hate to know the level of aspartame-inflicted damage I have caused to my body. I suspect that I lose more synapse connections a day due to my DC addiction than Carter has pills (nice old school mention there, huh?). Back to my point. I am a Coca Cola bigot. I hate Pepsi and all that they stand for, which in reality, is nothing of real importance but that helps make my point. I am a loyal Coke brand evangelist.

I am a fan of the Coca Cola Facebook page. So I am one of the brand zealots that Coke wants because I will now go out and recruit other little Coke converts who will then buy more Coke products because they couldn't live without it, right?

Nope. Not even close. In fact, I don't want to engage with people over a soft drink. It's a stupid idea to me personally. I have too many other important things to do. What do I want? I want a coupon and a way to feed my addiction for cheap. I want a deal.

So, I agree. We all want a deal. The economy is in a shambles and everyone is trying to survive. Social media is the online version of the Sunday paper's circulars. Coupons and deals, deals and coupons. When you are done with what you want, you throw the rest away because it's noise. Products and services don't give me my social media buzz. People do.

As I sift through the social media maze, I simply take what I need and discard the rest. If there is any emotion, it is not around a product. It's around something else. For you, there may be a "something else" as well. I
don't know because that's your deal. I hope, though, that you find what you need
in the social Web and maybe even save a few bucks in the process.

I am powerless over my digital information hoarding...

2009-11-12T10:15:10Z

Image by bettyx1138 via Flickr

by Janine Y. Swenson

Are you a digital information hoarder? If you are anything like me, in your life you have way too much information (WTMI). Information stored everywhere, physically and digitally. Facts, figures, familiar terms of endearment, even photos from family, friends and people you barely know, all tucked away in e-mails, files, *.txts, *.docs, pictures, *.pngs and *.bmps, on your hard-drive, and so on and so on...

I am seriously trying to clean up my information act--to get freedom from all of it. At least I keep telling myself that tomorrow is the day that I purge my e-mail accounts--all eight of them at last count; delete my DMs (direct messages) in Twitter; archive my in-box in LinkedIn or answer friends in FaceBook; clean up my hard drive.

Yikes, no wonder I keep putting this information purge off until tomorrow; TMI, TMI, TMI.

One reason I cannot get freedom from my information and clean up my act is that every time I try to delete e-mails, I reread the content. Today, I found a link to the most stressful US cities. The article was published sometime in September 2009 by MSN Health & Fitness. I know this because of the date on the comments--no date found in the article.

When I tried to get to the actual list of cities, it seems someone cleaned up their own information act and no link resolved. See, I told myself, if I had saved the information off into a list of my own, I would know where the most stressful places to live are. Just because information was originally found on the Web, does not mean it will be there when you go back to retrieve it.

In reality, I do not need that list. Any city I am in can be stressful for me whenever there is a plethora of information that I feel I must receive, retain and release to others, should the need arise. In order to clean up my information act--to get freedom from all of it--I understand that the first step to any recovery is identification. I think, now I am supposed to say, "I am a digital information hoarder and my hard drive is full."

Wait, way too much information--WTMI! What? Me? No!

The Pros & Big Cons of Forced Registration

2009-11-11T18:59:35Z

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

You see it on the Web every day. A tantalizing case study or white paper that is yours to read for free, as long as you are willing to give up your e-mail address to see it. To some, it feels like a gun pointed to their head, and they are being asked supply the bullets. Sure, that marketer is building a mailing list, but is that the best way to do marketing? If you're not sure, check out my latest post on Internet Evolution, "The Pros & Big Cons of Forced Registration."

Was SETI@home the first social network?

2009-11-10T13:14:45Z

Image via Wikipedia

by Eva Lyford

How did a lot of people get their start in social networking back before Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed and blogs existed? They got their geek on and signed up for SETI@Home. The distributed search for extra-terrestrials was a watershed event in social marketing.

In retrospect, the most interesting part of being involved in SETI@home was in being part of a collective (and competitive) computing effort. I was a member of the "Friends of BALR" team which had a score that was impressive enough. Participating in this effort was a good preparation for engaging in other efforts, such as becoming a Wikipedia editor/contributor, or becoming part of a team of bloggers.

SETI@home had interesting social networking aspects. You could track your friend's activity and ranking, à la Facebook News Feed. The competitive aspects caused participants to recruit others--so it had a viral, word-of-mouth marketing growth
engine too.

Consider also that SETI@Home had an estimated four million users 10 years ago who downloaded the requisite software; Twitter has an estimated six million users today by comparison.

I was #477 in the final tally of SETI@Home searchers in the Class of 5/18/1999. I made the top 2% (for that day's class, which was day two of the public release, according to wikipedia's Seti@home article). (See, I told you it was competitive.)

What other lessons are there for social marketers to learn from former child-stars such as SETI@home?

Search Marketing Is Easier Than You Think

2009-11-09T21:00:08Z

Image by cbcastro via Flickr

I speak to lots of small business people and many of them have the same concerns. They understand their customers and they understand their products, but they don't know how to put that knowledge to work in Internet marketing, particularly search marketing. I was reminded of this yet again recently when I sat next to an old-time business owner after a recent speaking engagement. If you want to know what I told him, check out my latest post on Search Engine Guide, "Search Marketing Is Easier Than You Think."

Social Media Buzz

2009-11-06T11:43:29Z

Image by autan via Flickr

by Frank Reed

Social media (and much of Internet marketing, for that matter) are effective when measured. We like to see how much interest we can generate around our ideas, services and products. We like to see which outlets and techniques get people's attention and which ones inspire them to spread the word about how awesome our stuff is. We have all turned into our own little PR factories. The term generally applied to the resulting level of interest and chatter is buzz.

Buzz, in social media terms, is taking our message and making it viral. Making it something that is willingly passed along because people perceive value in what you are offering, whether it's a product, knowledge, or just information.

I am different than most with regard to social media buzz, however. Sure, I understand and even desire the idea of many people finding me so irresistibly cool and insightful that they will share my musings with their network of friends, followers and acquaintances. Since the cool part happens on few, if any, occasions (ask my kids how cool Dad is and you'll see why my confidence in my cool quotient is wavering significantly) I have discovered something else about social media. There is a second kind of social media buzz, and it is actually the one I desire above all else.

I liken it to a runner's high. It's the feeling that I get when I have truly made a connection with someone through social media. I'm not talking about gaining followers on Twitter or amassing some large RSS feed. That's not connecting with that's simply a recognition of our paths crossing from time to time. No, I am talking about the buzz of having the opportunity to connect, dare I say meet and even shake the hand of, someone that there is likely no other way to have connected on a real level had it not been for the social Web and it's many new avenues for introductions.

Case in point: Without divulging names and titles, I had a chance to meet someone face to face yesterday that in the Internet of even five years ago I had no business of meeting. Through a piece of information sent along by a another person in network that I trust, I was given the impetus to get in a car and drive 30 minutes to shake someone's hand, because they were in my little ol' city for an event that I had already left. I know that is vague, and may leave you scratching your head, but let me finish.

Because of my social "dealings," I was able to literally start what has the chance to be a real relationship with someone of similar beliefs. Would I have ever known about these beliefs if it weren't for my social media efforts? The answer is a definitive and emphatic "no." As a result of these series of "events," I walked away with a social media buzz. A high. A feeling of truly connecting with someone over a common interest of importance to us both.

No longer was I just another person who was looking for an introduction to someone I normally wouldn't have spoken to. No, in fact I was able to approach them with a bold confidence that I wouldn't have had before because I knew something about them of value. Something we both cared about. As a result, I walked away refreshed and renewed and experiencing a social media buzz.

It happened again as I was listening to a panel discussion and I had been made aware of another social connections need through a network. It was a fresh request and I was listening to someone on a panel that could answer the question for my friend. So I approached the panel member after, and they were very cordial—nice and helpful. I then was able to call my friend with information that I think they never anticipated. In fact, they made a joke about what took me so long to have put together a list of contacts to help them. What I get out of this? A social media buzz. A high because I helped someone of like mind.

So, if you are a person who seeks a rush or a high, don't look to poisonous sources of that heightened state of being. Go get a social media buzz by helping someone today. Oh, and if you do this expecting something in return, you'll get the thing that I wouldn't wish on anyone—a social media hangover. Why? Because if you are doing something only to get something in return, then it's not real and it's not genuine, and it won't work as well, if at all.

Thanks for listening. I hope you experience the kind of social media buzz I have.

Write a Compelling Marketing Headline

2009-11-05T15:31:25Z

Image via Wikipedia

More and more, marketers must write stories much the way a newspaper reporter does--it's about compelling content, not advertising copy. One of the most important skills a marketer needs is to create a headline that makes people click through to the entire story, whether that headline is on a paid search ad, a link to a Web page, an e-mail subject line, or somewhere else. Compelling headlines invite readers to read more and are the first step to a customer relationship. For a handy checklist on what to think about when you write your headlines, check out the new "Checklist for Writing a Headline" in the Internet Marketing resources of my Web site.

Multiply Marketing Effectiveness Despite Division of Labor

2009-11-04T17:33:19Z

Image via Wikipedia

As soon as you hire your first employee, you have to divide up the work--experts call this division of labor. The efficiencies gained through this specialization are vital to any growing business, but they come at some marketing cost, because marketing effectiveness is often affected by division of labor. Large companies deal with this problem every day, but even small companies grapple wit this problem at times. If your marketing effectiveness might be compromised by creeping specialization in your business, check out my latest post on Search Engine Guide, "Multiply Marketing Effectiveness Despite Division of Labor."

The Internet Has Sent Marketing Back to Its Roots

2009-11-03T15:46:38Z

Image by huntz via Flickr

When I went to marketing school, back in the dark ages, we learned about the "Four Ps" of Marketing, but the truth is that when most people think about marketing, they think about just one of the Ps: Promotion. The Internet is actually forcing the other three Ps back into the conversation, with companies using new ways to do marketing in each area. To learn more about what I mean, check out my latest post on Internet Evolution, "The Internet Has Sent Marketing Back to Its Roots."

Is your strategy to leave your finger in the dike?

2009-11-02T00:54:44Z

Image via Wikipedia

OK, I know that times are tough in the business world. I got that memo. So, I realize that some businesses are in crisis--maybe even yours. But I've been struck recently by the short-term focus of folks that purport to be our big thinkers. More and more, I see strategic roles in companies filled by people spending most of their time shoving a finger in the leaky dike. For some, it might be necessary, but I question its long-term wisdom. Are you trading your future for your present? I am using the analogy of the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike to illustrate a problem that many of us are facing. I know that our businesses depend on holding back those flood waters, and that we're spooked watching other companies spring leaks that quickly overwhelmed them. So, when something critical is going wrong, it is natural for all of us, even those of us in strategic roles, such as CMOs and CTOs, to jump into the breach.

And, honestly, it's refreshing to see people respond in a crisis, rather than standing around saying "Not my job." But there is a limit to how effective that can be. We're over a year into our economy's latest crisis and strategic people can't abandon their roles for that long without causing long-term damage.

So, if you have a strategic role in your company, but you've been spending almost all of your time with your finger in the dike, you need to pull it out. Here's why:

The company needs someone else to do it. You are too highly paid and too important in the job you do to spend this much time in crisis. In the long run, you're enabling the people who should be repairing the dike to continue their shoddy work. Pull your finger out of the dike and make sure the folks in charge of that job step up.
No one can fix the dike. As long as you have your finger in it, the dike can't be repaired by anyone. You're going to have to accept some short-term water damage to fix things in the long-run. At some point, you need to stabilize whatever crisis you are in to move forward again, not just defend against more damage.
Your real job is becoming a crisis?. While you are hanging around the dike, you can't go where you're needed in your own job. While you're doing someone else's job, no one is doing yours. If you are as critically needed in the crisis as you think, it's time for you to change jobs so that someone else does the strategy work you are neglecting.

Handling the crisis always seems more important than the long-term things that make your company vital. I would argue that many crises are urgent but not all that important. We must accept that sometimes a crisis is in the natural order of things and that we can't and shouldn't always prevent them.

And if your company is in such crisis that you think you are doing the equivalent of prioritizing breathing over eating, it's time for you to decide if you are in the right place. Because soon you're going to be very hungry.