While photographs can take your blog from dull to dazzling, the main reason to incorporate photographs into your blog is your readers. Photographs quickly and succinctly convey information to your audience, whether they’re prospects, customers, social media connections or the public, better than words. This is critical since your readers’ time is valuable and limited.

Here are five ways photographs can enhance your blog’s attractiveness.

1. Photographs are eye candy. Humans are visual beings and photographs attract our attention. On your blog, they’re like a stop sign that gets readers to find out more.
2. Photographs are easy-to-use. Photographs don’t require additional writing. You must be able to select or curate the optimal image for your content.
3. Photographs support sales. They enable you to show your product in context while delivering useful information. Go one step further and ensure readers can click through to products on your website.
4. Photographs help search optimization. As long as you associate the appropriate text with your blog’s images, they help pull new readers in by appearing in search results.
5. Photographs give readers a reason to share your content. Especially with the growth of photograph-oriented sites like Pinterest and Instagram, photographs provide readers a reason to share your content on social media platforms. (Here’s more data on social sharing.)

Here are seven ways to integrate photographs into your blog posts to increase readership and social sharing.

1. Use photographs at the top of each post to lure readers in. Where possible, skip the stock photography since most readers can tell them a mile away. They’re boring and probably have been seen elsewhere. Understand that photographs don’t need to be literal. Consider how to use different photograph options but don’t forget to align them with your branding. Here’s how Spin Sucks highlighted my photograph for a guest post. 
2. Create post content solely from photographs. Many photographers do this. The Satorialist is one of the best examples by a fashion photographer. Brainstorm how you can portray your brand through the use of photographs. Bakers do this as well. Cake Wrecks is fun site with photographs of cakes gone wrong. 
3. Incorporate screenshots and graphs into your content. Use these images to provide a visual representation of information. This makes it  easier for readers to grasp your point. This post is an example of how to use this tactic effectively.
4. Include an author photograph so readers know who’s talking to them. This humanizes your content. Here’s Nina Garcia, Marie Claire’s Fashion Editor, making a guest appearance on Target’s content.
5. Interview experts in your category. Extend your blog beyond your own voice. One way to do this is via an email exchange. This is another opportunity to liven your content with the speaker’s photograph as well as a photograph of their book or business.
6. Spotlight customers and their projects. Depending on your offering and customers, this can be a great way to get customers involved in your content while letting them show off how to use your product. 
7. Show step-by-step instructions. Since it can be difficult to follow what a customer service representative is saying, use your blog to highlight each step of the instructions with a photograph. Even better, make your product the hero and link to specific product pages. Don’t these King Arthur Flour photographs on their blog make you hungry?

Photographs are one of the many tools in your blogging toolbox. Use them effectively to  increase your traffic and readership.

What other ways do photographs help blogs and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles you may find of interest.

• 31 Design Mistakes & How to Fix Them 
• Where’s your brand DNA?\

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtallguy/182641756/

7 Ways to Incorporate Photographs Into Your Blog – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 27, 2012.

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Star Wars premiered 35 years ago today in the US. It was the beginning of what was to become a six part story of man and machine set in space. As a story it contains elements that are relevant to today’s social media connected world that brings together men and women via machines.  (Here’s a link to the Star Wars website.)

Here are seven of this epic’s lessons for social media marketing.

1.  “You must unlearn what you have learned.” Yoda in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. For many companies, social media requires unlearning many of the processes we’ve learned. As a communicator, it’s critical to get rid of the corporate-speak to sound like a real person. Actionable Marketing Tip:. Ensure your employees understand that they represent your brand on social media platforms. As a result, the language they use, the way they respond to customers and how they look, reflect your brand. Therefore, train your staff to present your organization consistently when they engage on social media.
2. “I’m just a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe.” Jango Fett, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. On social media platforms, everyone is part of the community and has something to contribute. Together we create something that’s bigger than any one individual. Actionable Marketing Tip: Contribute to the conversation and become part of the community and smaller groups. Help others and pay-it-forward.
3. “I’m programmed for etiquette, not destruction!” C-3PO, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Mind your manners on social media platforms. Understand that others with whom you engage may not be native speakers of your language. Further, you don’t know what’s happening in the other person’s life.  What you take as a sign things are going well may be the opposite since people may show a very different public persona. Actionable Marketing Tip: Give others the benefit of the doubt on social media platforms. If you’re feeling emotional, step away from your computer because you may communicate something you’ll later regret. If you’re in trouble or need help, use an alternative means of communication and clearly ask for help.
4. “Who’s the more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him?” Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. On social media, determine who is worth listening to and following and how they relate to your firm. Don’t just follow people because other people do or because they’ve got a large following. Examine what makes sense for your business. Actionable Marketing Tip: Set measureable goals for your social media plans to ensure they yield business results. Don’t forget to incorporate a contextually relevant call-to-action, unique trackable promotion code, and streamlined purchase process.
5. “Fear is the path to the Dark Side.”  Yoda, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This saying epitomizes many businesses’ view of social media. Listening and engagement on social media platforms should be by their nature positive. You shouldn’t act out of fear or other negative emotions because your communications will convey these feelings. Social media is about the larger community, not your firm. The way to overcome your fear is to take the first step. Actionable Marketing Tip: Listen to the conversation. Don’t use social media to promote your business. Your comments and contributions should help the larger community. Remember social media isn’t another one-to-many promotional platform.
6. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. This line is probably recited by many senior executives about social media. The reality is that prospects, customers and the public will say whatever they want about you and your organization whether you’re active on social media or in real life. Actionable Marketing Tip: Be part of the social media conversation, engage with prospects and customers to determine what the issues are and to respond appropriately.
7.  “Either shut him up or shut him down!” Han Solo, Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back.  While many executives have these thoughts about vocal customers or firestorms on social media platforms, it’s the opposite of what you can or should do. Instead determine the customer issue, the influence the customer has and respond appropriately as soon as you can. Actionable Marketing Tip: Have a social media presence where your organization can engage with prospects, customers and the public on social media. Ensure there’s a process for getting customer service issues that arise via these channels into your existing processes so they’re answered. Further, have a crisis management plan ready in case you find your organization has an issue. (Here’s what to do in a social media crisis.)

These Star Wars quotes could be uttered within many organizations when it comes to integrating social media into the marketing mix. As professionals, we must give up control when we participate on social media platforms to pay-it-forward and support the community.

What are your favorite Star Wars quotes and how do they apply to social media?

“May the force by with you.”
Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles you may find of interest.

• The 7 Step Social Media Strategy Every Marketer Needs (Note provides a structured plan.)
• Social media isn’t about you
• !5 Dr. Seuss Quotes and their social media lessons

Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Star_Wars_Logo.svg

Star Wars: 7 Social Media Marketing Lessons – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 25, 2012.

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Social media provides consumers with easy-to-use feedback platforms—from Facebook and Twitter to TripAdvisor and Yelp—on which to rant and rave about products, brands and companies. Despite this massive social media reservoir of user input, most marketers don’t pay attention to what consumers are saying.

“You’re not listening to me!” is a popular phrase among teenagers and spouses. Consumers could say the same thing since marketers aren’t much better. While just over three-quarters of consumers post about products on social media, only two out of five firms have any social media tracking in place at all, according to recent Satmetrix research. Broken out by business focus: 51% of B2B have no tracking compared with 22% of B2C companies surveyed.

Based on Satmetrix’s findings, over half of companies ignore customers who offer social media feedback because they don’t have processes in place to respond. Specifically, this breaks out as 69% for B2B companies compared to 42% for B2C firms.

At the Sentiment Analysis Symposium in New York, Frank Cotignola of Kraft Foods reinforced this perspective. While marketers try to get customers to talk about them, they only want to ask consumers questions. They miss a critical aspect of communications because they don’t listen.

To improve your marketing effectiveness, listen to the conversation and determine what consumers want and need. Interestingly, Kraft looks beyond mentions of its iconic brands. They put together real time discussions to support marketing decisions, such as when is the most effective time to use coupons.

What should your firm do?

1. Recognize effective listening requires work. It involves lots of resources and time. This doesn’t mean you should cover your ears and run away. Rather, decide what you and your organization can accomplish and get the best tools you can afford to support you. If you’ve got a small business, pay attention to those strategies that’ll have the biggest impact. It might be monitoring the reviews on Yelp or TripAdvisor.  (Here’s suggestions for social media listening.)
2. Have business processes in place to answer common questions. While you may not have enough staff and related resources to do everything, focus on what you can do. Kraft answers to the major questions prospects and customers have. Use a variety of options to distribute your responses widely such as FAQs, blogs and videos.  Source questions from sales, customer service and other customer facing staff.
3. Offer customer service via social media platforms. Don’t spread your resources too thin by trying to be everywhere but, rather, provide support where you can make a difference and answer quickly.
4. Ask prospects, customers and the public to submit their questions. Post your request across your owned media and establishments such as your website, blog, customer service and emails.
5. Get customers to help respond to questions from other customers. Offer an incentive to get customers to answer other customers.

While listening to the conversation on social media platforms is the first rule for corporate participation, many marketers rush to implement easy-to-define visible tactics. Instead take time to assess what your prospects, customers and the public want to know about your organization. Just like your family, consumers want to know that you’re listening to them.

What other suggestions do you have for improving how your organization can listen to customers and the public? What’s been most successful for you?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles that may be of interest to you.

• Social media: What are you scared of?
• 31 Signs you’re still not serious about social media.
• 50 Questions To Determine Social Media Marketing Success

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bl4d3runr/3436461124/

Social Media Requires Listening [Research] – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 24, 2012.

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Branding isn’t only for major consumer-oriented products (aka CPG products). Business-oriented products (aka B2B), services, not-for-products and solopreneurs also have brands that augment the value of their organizations over the long term.

Being a Millward Brown BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand translates to profitability over time regardless of economic conditions. (Source: Millward Brown) 

• The 2012 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands had a total brand value of $2.4 trillion.
• The BrandZ™ portfolio of highly valued brands outperformed the S&P 500 by 103% between 2006 and 2012.
• The BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands grew 66% in value between 2006 and 2012.

To build your brand, regardless of size, so it contributes to your organization’s value in the long term, requires planning. Here are seven brand attributes inspired by Millward Brown’s analysis and actionable marketing tactics to develop your brand.

1. Provide value to consumers. Regardless of the product category or price range, consumers must believe that the brand delivers incremental value, especially in a social media connected world where consumers talk about the good, bad and ugly of your offering. In today’s marketplace, buyers seek value. Research by Nielsen showed that this was a challenge for brands. Actionable Marketing Tip: Understand your target market and their needs. Go one step further to examine why they purchase your product versus your competitor or the store brand.
2. Be relevant to your customers. Having a history as a brand is important and contributes to a brand’s value, but today’s buyers want more. They expect your brand to be right for their lifestyle. In today’s marketplace, this means being where your prospects are whether it’s in stores, computers, smartphones or tablets. Actionable Marketing Tip:  Every organization needs  a cross channel presence where their prospects are and seek them regardless of your target segment. If you can’t be available on a specific platform, consider how prospects can reach you. For example, Amazon and eBay use mobile apps to compensate for their lack of physical presence.
3. Extend your brand beyond the physical product. Historically marketers have considered products as their core attributes (What makes up the product’s core functionality? What does it do?), the actual product (What does it look like? How does it perform? What quality is it?) and the augmented product (What else does the consumer get with the product (includes status, content to help use it, other information (aka content marketing)). In today’s content-rich environment, consumers expect to engage with your firm and your information across devices. Actionable Marketing Tip: Provide useful information at every step of the purchase process as well as content to enhance the product’s usefulness to the customer. Further, it’s critical for customers be able to access the content wherever they are.
4. Have a brand personality. In today’s social media world, brands are experiential. Your firm must provide a 360 degree brand that’s consistent. This goes beyond your logo to include your brand sounds, talks and looks. Actionable Marketing Tip: Extend your brand so that it’s consistent across social media, content marketing and real life interactions. Consider your firm’s values and how these should be incorporated into your communications and customer exchanges.
5. Create trusting relationship. In a marketplace where consumer trust is low, brands provide a symbol of consistency. The challenge is that your reputation must be earned everyday. It’s not a one-time campaign after a firestorm breaks out. Actionable Marketing Tip: Work on your customer relationships across platforms. Use social media as a means to answer questions and respond to customers. Set and manage expectations.
6. Able to evolve over time. While consistency is a critical aspect of a brand, strong brands are adaptable to dynamic environments – particularly in today’s 24/7 news cycle. This applies across your brand, products and company. Think long term. Actionable Marketing Tip: Integrate your brand into your organization so that your employees understand your core values and can represent your brand regardless of what happens and where they are in the executive hierarchy. This translates to the employees you hire and how you train them. (It also helps to have a PR crisis management plan.)
7. Expect environmental disruptions and be prepared to evolve. Changes in technologies and regulations continue to provide opportunities for astute organizations. For example, Starbucks sells music in its stores while Amazon, known as a retailer, developed the first successful e-reader, the Kindle. Actionable Marketing Tip: Test new markets and ways of engaging with prospects, customers, fans and the public. Continually monitor your competition as well as the major players across the market. What are they doing? What seems to be off course and why?

The bottom line when it comes to branding is that it’s about the totality of your organization. Branding must be integrated into your organization, not just a collection of colors, typeface and logos slapped on your products. To work well, your brand should be aligned with your firm’s beliefs and core values.

What other brand attributes would you add to this list and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles:

• How to make your brand stand out
• Branding –More than a logo
• How to do branding without a budget.

Photo credit: © 2012 Heidi Cohen – http://HeidiCohen.com

Why Brands Matter (And Size Doesn’t) [Research] – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 23, 2012.

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Facebook—Wall Street is all a buzz about its lackluster performance following its historic IPO. To put a Shakespearean spin on Facebook’s experience, I come not to bash Facebook but to support it. Let’s face it—Facebook’s not disappearing any time soon. (Here’s 5 ways Facebook’s IPO will affect marketers and charts related to the IPO.)

Facebook: It’s About Engagement

Unlike the banks, Facebook’s problem isn’t that it’s too big to fail but rather that its raison d’etre is about the engagement, not the dollars. People are active on Facebook because they want to engage with family, friends, colleagues and social media contacts. Facebook helps people keep up with what’s happening with those they care about.

As a result, Facebook’s advertising model is challenged. Its problems extend beyond the downturn in Facebook’s advertising revenue growth. The issue is that  Facebook participants aren’t interested in ads. 83% hardly ever or never click on Facebook ads or sponsored content according to a May 2012 survey by the Associated Press and CNBC.

Adding to Facebook’s advertising challenge is the fact that users move around the site spending little time on any one page. As a result, ad impressions don’t yield the same level of attention as on other sites and media platforms. This isn’t a new phenomenon. MySpace had the same advertising issues. No media buyer worth their salt would have chosen MySpace over Yahoo.

Despite being targeted, Facebook’s advertising works best when it encourages social media action, not branding or sales with which advertisers can associate ROI. Based on Social Fresh’s Facebook advertising research, 44% of marketers use Facebook for conversions. Most of these ads are doomed to fail since only a small percentage of users are in buying mode at any given time and the ads are looking to take users off of Facebook. While about a third of marketers seek engagement, these Facebook advertisements promote companies’ social media efforts at an added expense. 

GM gets social media marketing

That GM got press when they announced they were pulling their advertising from Facebook exemplifies this. While GM’s advertising on Facebook made it a relatively large advertiser, it only accounted for 3% of GM’s total advertising budget! Read further and you’ll see that GM isn’t abandoning Facebook. They’re refocusing their social media investment to their Facebook page, but NOT buying advertising. From a marketing perspective, they’ve shifted their investment to content creation and engagement. This is in line with how participants use the platform. Unfortunately, it doesn’t generate revenue for Facebook.

Facebook’s 3 revenue challenges

While Facebook can find revenue opportunities, the growth potential of these opportunities is limited by the firm’s current size.

1. Has limited new, untapped markets outside of China. Facebook reaches most of its potential market around the world and across all age segments, assuming China and people under 13 years old are off limits.
2. Has limited ability to extend time spent on site. Facebook already accounts for one out of every five minutes spent online. While it can increase time on site somewhat, it can’t significantly increase it without providing incremental value in the form of content and engagement for participants. The potential scenarios would have them compete with other online giants such as Google (including YouTube), Apple and Amazon.
3. Has to prove “Likes” translate to revenue for marketers. This is a difficult hurdle to overcome. Research shows that consumers follow (“like”) brands for the promotions and unlike for a variety of inconsistent reasons. (Here’s what a Facebook like is worth to marketers.)

3 Facebook revenue opportunities

Facebook must recognize that it’s in a maturing marketplace. While it can improve revenue creation, it’ll be at a lower rate of growth. As a mature business, Facebook should think in terms of incremental improvement. Here are three options.

1. Improve Facebook advertising effectiveness. Facebook must examine its current advertising to determine how to use its data to make it more effective in achieving marketing goals. This includes mobile advertising that hasn’t been introduced yet.
2. Create new Facebook marketing features. Facebook must insert itself into the marketing equation for fan pages to collect some form of fees. This is a big change in how it does business so there’d be push back from marketers and agencies. Facebook can make the case based on the fact that major marketers need to be present on Facebook due to the sheer number of members. It’s just changing the old media equation.
3. Sell user data in a way that’s not slimy. While an old fashioned, direct marketing approach, Facebook could find a way to leverage access to its customer data in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone’s identity or privacy. Two elements that aren’t a slam dunk since there’s already a $15 billion court case filed against Facebook involving data privacy.

The bottom line is that marketers will continue to use Facebook to create fan pages and engage fans. Many of these started without the marketers. Concurrently, Facebook will find ways to expand their revenues since marketers will be willing to spend something to get access to their audience. The challenge is that it probably won’t reach the levels anticipated by Facebook’s IPO.

What’s your opinion about Facebook and will you continue to use it for marketing?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Note: Article was updated on May 22, 2012 at 10:45am to include research reported in eMarketer.

Here are some related articles:

• 50 Questions to determine social media succes
• 7 Step Social Media Strategy Every Marketer Needs
• The one social media metric you need.

Facebook: It’s About Engagement [Research] – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 22, 2012.

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Does your social media marketing miss the mark? For many marketers, this is a difficult question since they’ve just rushed in and started participating on social media platforms in hopes they’ll be able to show results later. The reality is that without business goals tailored to your firm’s overarching objectives you’ll wind up measuring whatever’s available.

Don’t worry. You’re in good company. Many marketers either don’t have goals or have loosely defined goals. For example, What does “We want to improve our brand reputation.” mean?

5 Steps to developing effective social media marketing goals.

To get your social media marketing on track, here are five steps to develop effective, actionable objectives for your program.

1. Define specific and actionable goals. Outline what you’re going to do exactly so others within your organization understand them. Skip the fancy language. The objective is to rally your team to action. Additionally, the goals need to be for a defined time period. While consumers expect immediate action, marketing and purchase processes take time. Use quarters or years.
2. Get buy-in from senior management. While you can do social media as a test on the side, it’s matured as a practice. To ensure you’re able to act on the work you do to achieve your business goals on social media platforms, senior management support is critical.
3. Use metrics related to your business goals. After determining business goals is the time to select the appropriate metrics to track success. Go beyond counting likes and followers. If you don’t have appropriate social media metrics, consider actionable proxies. At this point, engage with your analytics team to ensure you’re on track.
4. Make your social media activity trackable. In most cases, this involves using a tailored calls-to-action and unique promotional codes.  For example, integrate the call-to-action into your social media content and track activity through the entire purchase process.
5. Incorporate your social media marketing into your overall plan. Social media marketing doesn’t exist in a silo. It needs to be incorporated with the rest of your sales and business processes. At a minimum, you must have optimized landing pages and purchase checkout to conclude the sales where possible. Further, where you must convert warm leads, you need to ensure that the relationship can be handed off smoothly and expanded upon.

7 Social media marketing goals

Here are seven social media marketing goals businesses can effectively use and track.

1. Build brand awareness. For many brands, this is a key rationale for being present on social media, especially Facebook. While social media can’t deliver the same level of brand impressions as television, it can engage directly with prospects, customers and fans. Consider whether you’ll use existing branding metrics or create new ones related to social media.
2. Protect brand reputation. In today’s 24/7 media cycle, defensively position your brand and build a following on social media platforms before you need their support. This is more difficult to track because the objective is to be prepared like a boy scout. Track the level of engagement as well as fans because you need to have a base that’s willing to get your word out. (Check out how to stop a social media crisis.)
3. Learn more about your target audience. By engaging with prospects and customers, your organization can substitute social media participation for marketer research. Understand while this goal is a cost saving (since it reduces market research) it yields a self-selecting group rather than a statistically valid sample. This can skew your results.
4. Increase customers or warm leads. Building your customer base is a vital part of any business since customer needs change for reasons beyond your control such as, they get older, have a life event, or change their location. Use social media platforms to acquire new prospects based on the content you’re creating. Think in terms of how to engage prospects. Do they need an enticement such as a coupon or a white paper?  These extras need to be included in your campaign costs.
5. Enhance revenue generation. This is an elusive objective for many businesses. To achieve this goal, understand what motivates your target audience, where they are in the purchase process and hot long it takes to close the deal. Further, distinguish between new buyers and repeat buyers. It helps to link as close to the purchase process as possible.  Consider how you’ll track sales since prospects may need more than one visit to make up their mind. (Here’s help to get social media selling.)
6. Extend customer service. Social media can be very effective for engaging with prospects and customers to answer their problems. That said, it may not be less expensive for corporations. You need to have customer service representatives who can engage via written format and understand social media. The challenge is that customers will seek to get answers from you wherever you have an entryway to your company. Consider how you’ll handle customer inquiries during a high issue period such as an airport being closed or other problem. Track the number of inquiries and resolutions as well as time to resolution. Are you improving your track record?
7. Create brand advocates.  Use your social media outlets to encourage customers to congregate and discuss their experiences. At a minimum, use some form of customer reviews to entice new prospects and customers with other customers’ input. This is particularly important for millennials. How are you engaging with brand advocates? How is this effecting your ability to reach new prospects and customers.

Incorporate business goals into your social media marketing strategy. Take it further and ensure that you can track results from your initiatives.

What other marketing goals would you incorporate into your social media and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles.

• The 7 Step Social Media Strategy Every Marketer Needs (Note provides a structured plan.)
• The One Social Media Metric You Need.

Photo credit:  Heidi Cohen – All rights reserved

The One Social Media Element Marketers Miss! – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 21, 2012.

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Blogger outreach is used by one out of five niche businesses according to Chief Marketer research. It’s no surprise since blogger outreach can yield powerful results.

It’s another way of leveraging other people’s audiences. So how does a marketer implement a blogger outreach program?

3 Reasons to use blogger outreach

Blogger outreach is valuable for marketers to expand and enhance their reach in these three ways.

1. Leverage other people’s audiences. Bloggers have an established readership that’s often associated with an engaged social media presence. By contrast, unless you’re Victoria’s Secret or Nike, most brands and businesses don’t. (BTW—You don’t want to say, “I want to use your audience.” If you have any doubts check out what Peter Shankman says on the topic.)
2. Endorse your product. By using and talking about your product, bloggers tell their followers about your product. The drawback is that they’ll also say the bad and the ugly as well. In most cases, this helps to qualify your product. Face it—no one believes a review that’s over the top positive.
3. Supports your search optimization. Since the blogger will write keyword rich content, link to your website and mention it on social media platforms, this content will help improve your search results.

4 Ways to use blogger outreach effectively

If you haven’t used blogger outreach, it’s a great tool to add to your marketing toolbox. Here are four way to use blogger outreach.

1. Offer a guest blog post. In this case you (or a member of your staff) write a special article for the blog. The goal is to get at least one link back to your website. (Don’t forget to check out their guest blog post guidelines.)
2. Get the spotlight for your product or brand. Often marketers and PR professionals look to get bloggers to review their products. Testing your new product falls into this category. Understand that there are regulations about disclosing any exchange of free products or payments. BlogHer has well defined guidelines to follow on this topic. (Here are the FTC Guidelines.)
3. Be a go-to resource. Volunteer to help the blogger by supplying useful information. Personally, I don’t read press releases and view them as PR spam. That said, I have a set of PR professionals I turn to when I need data. At the Sentiment Analysis Conference last week, I met NetBase CMO Lisa Joy Rosner and what did she do? She volunteered to give me tailored information on whatever topic I’m writing about. Guess who I’m going to call?
4. Ask the blogger to write for you. You want the blogger to create unique content for your blog or other owned media entity. In this case, expect to compensate the blogger since you’re asking them to work for you (you’re being paid right?) and this is a work for hire.

9 Steps to develop a successful blogger outreach program

Here are nine steps to help you develop a blogger outreach program that’s a win-win for you and the bloggers.

1. Determine your marketing goals. As with any marketing initiative, it’s critical to establish your objectives. Are you looking to build your brand, attract new prospects, or increase sales?
2. Assess the blogging landscape. Don’t have an assistant send out a templated email to a list of bloggers. Instead research the blogs in your category to determine who are the dominant bloggers and what issues they’re focused on. What are the hot issues and how do they apply to your firm or brand?
3. Find relevant bloggers. For most marketers this is the big step. Ask your team and other executives whose blogs they regularly read as a starting point. Then look through your owned media to see if you’ve got high profile fans. Look at comments on your blog and social media presence such as Twitter. Participate in relevant Twitter chats to see who’s there since they often attract bloggers. Check out attendee lists and posts about important conferences in your category. This will help you determine who’s interested in information in your field. It can provide opportunities to meet in person. Don’t forget to monitor Help-a-Reporter, a free service where you can respond to requests. Also, check blog listings like Technorati and Alltop as well as Google’s blog search as well as their Pagerank and Alexa scores.
4. Do your homework. Don’t contact any bloggers until you look beyond the numbers and read their blogs to see whose work resonates with your brand. Understand their audience and hot buttons. Examine their most popular posts for insights as to what resonates with their readers. How does this compare with your market? Is there a match? Look at whether they have guest bloggers or endorse products (I don’t.) Further, don’t limit yourself to the top five bloggers in your field. You should seek a mix of blogs and sizes.
5. Build credibility by engaging with the blogger. Build relationships by commenting on and sharing their content on social media platforms. This doesn’t mean being overly obsequious but rather approach them through actions that show you know the blog and their hot buttons. Where possible get out and meet them in person. Be creative in meeting bloggers. Use your social media networks to engage them, especially LinkedIn.
6. Create a tailored, unique communication. Let me tell you bloggers can tell a cookie cutter request a mile away.  Make them a targeted offer that’s unique for them. If you’re sending it to a bunch of other bloggers, why should I care? Write a tailored letter. Show them respect. Understand that they’re thinking WII-FM (What’s in it for me?). Understand your goals are secondary to theirs, the blog’s and its community’s goals.
7. Make it easy to say yes. Most bloggers juggle a lot of different balls at the same time. As a result, they’re time strapped. Help them to say yes to your offer by giving them as much support as you can. This doesn’t mean crossing the line when it comes to editorial integrity.
8. Be a flexible resource. Once you’ve invested in your research and building relationships understand your request can still be turned down for a wide range of reasons. Use the opportunity to make yourself a valuable resource. Ask if there’s anything else you can do. Remember, every blogger needs help at some point.
9. Track the results. Monitor the results from your blogger outreach campaign. This means putting metrics in place that are aligned with your objectives to make the case for this initiative.

Blogger outreach is an effective way to expand your audience and credibility. It requires work and finesse to yield long-term results.

What other suggestions would you add to this list of blogger outreach tips? What has your experience been using blogger outreach? Would you please share any good or bad examples?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles that may be of interest to you.

• How to use social media for PR.
• 10 Suggestions to get PR attention

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/altoexyl/3551950389/

Blogger Outreach: 9 Tips You Need to Succeed – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 20, 2012.

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Millennials, defined as those people born between 1980 and 2001, are emerging as a distinct generation from their boomer parents.

Growing up as digital natives with the Internet and digital devices as an integral part of their lives, this demographic and their behaviors has significant marketing implications, especially for digital and social media where they turn first.

Based on recent research by MTV and presented at the Benchmark conference by market research director Britta Schell and separate research by The Center for Generational Kinetics, Bazaarvoice, and Kelton Research entitled Talking to Strangers: Millennials Trust People over Brands (only in point 4) revealed the following five dominant trends that are critical for marketers who want to understand how to reach and market to millennials.

1. Have digital etiquette savvy. As the first generation to grow up with social communities and their rise and fall, millennials are digital natives with a built-in understanding of these platforms. The four major guidelines are learn the platform’s rules, pace yourself, avoid controversy online (but it’s okay to be humorous), and guard your future since everything online is permanent. (Source: MTV Research) Actionable marketing implications: It’s critical to understand what your audience needs and when they need it. You must think in terms of actively pacing your social media presence and engagement with millennials. To be considered cool, share in moderation, not too much, not too often.
2. Seek constant feedback. Millenials are “addicted to feedback”, probably in response to their hovering helicopter parents. MTV’s research revealed that 58% of those surveyed felt more confident when they received feedback and 33% of those surveyed felt disappointed if others don’t respond. Britta Schell dubbed this behavior “Like-a-holism.” (Source: MTV Research) Actionable marketing implications: For marketers, this is a clear message that you must authentically respond to and engage with these prospects, customers and fans! On social media, it’s important to like these fans back.
3. Actively curate their public persona. Millennials have grown up in a message filled world whether it’s online or offline in real life. They innately understand branding and the value of good spin. As a result, millenials put forward a postive, curated view of themselves on Facebook. They select information based on the image they’re seeking to present to the world regardless of what they do in real life. They’re accustomed to airbrushing their lives to fit this image. MTV found that roughly one out three always modifies their photographs before posting them online. (Source: MTV Research) Actionable marketing implications:  Allow your brand to emulate millennials’ ability to curate an online identity.
4. Trust the shopping advice of strangers. 84% of millennials check user generated content related to their purchase, a higher rate than other age segments. Many millennials won’t buy regardless of expenditure size if there’s no consumer input. Millennials are more likely to trust other customers over friends and family. They’re three times more likely to turn to social media to get input on the product. (Source: Bazaarvoice) Actionable marketing implications: While millennials understand you have your brand motives, ask for consumer input and integrate it into your brand presentation. Further, listen carefully to millenials and engage them.
5. Communicate via multiple platforms. Millennials view different communication channels as public and private as well as formal and informal. Texts are private one-to-one exchanges and phone calls are emergency communications worthy of stopping everything for. By contrast, social media is public, although millennials use code to express themselves publically so only their closest friends understand. (Source: MTV Research) Actionable marketing implications: For marketers, this point can be the real hurdle since you can have the right message but use the wrong platform to deliver it.

It’s critical to understand that each generation has its own unique traits based on its shared experiences and events. Millennials are no different. Unlike previous generations, they’ve grown up in a media filled world with computers at their fingertips since they were babies. As marketers, we need to adapt our marketing to meet their needs and desires.

What other millenial findings and related marketing suggestions do you have?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Note: My only access to the MTV research was via Britta Schell’s presentation at the Benchmark Conference. Any mistakes or omissions are mine. This MTV press release appears to reference research similar to the presentation despite its July, 2011 date.

Here are some related articles you may find of interest.

• The one reason you need content marketing.
• How consumers show via mobile.

 Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/summerskyephotography/6981290631/

Millennials: 5 Social Media & Digital Marketing Insights – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 18, 2012.

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Brands represent a person, product or business’ identity. This makes them a critical marketing component. Encompassing a consistent set of intangibles, each brand has an associated perceived value that extends online, offline and in real life.

As the composite of experiences prospects, customers and the public have, brands attract attention and shape consumer perceptions. These brand interactions extend beyond online owned, social media and third party platforms, to offline media, communications and advertising options, including real life events (aka IRL).

As a marketer, do you maximize the 360 degree branding impact of real life events? If not, here are seven tips on integrating your branding into real life events. But, first, you need to expand your definition of events to include conferences, meetings, professional groups, alumni functions, networking alternatives and community gatherings.

1. Make the list. Many organizers use a variety of online services such as Meetup, evite and other services to keep members and potential attendees abreast of upcoming meetings. Actionable marketing tip: Incorporate your brand into your response. Think company name and Twitter handle. Include your URL. Go one step further and organize your own meeting related to your brand.
   

   Meetup Event - Allows branding before and after

2. Leverage your attendance. Let people know you’ll be attending an event in order to have a reason to meet. Even if you live in the same city, reach out to colleagues and say hi. This associates your brand with the event. Actionable marketing tip: Invite colleagues to join you to extend your association with the event.
3. Clothe yourself in your brand. Dress as your brand. Content Marketing Institute’s Joe Pulizzi always wears orange shirt in line with his brand. Actionable marketing tip: Find one item you can use consistently that’s recognizable.
   

   Joe Pulizzi wears his brand in the form of an orange shirt.

4. Sound like your brand. Bear in mind that how your sound and talk represents your brand. Think about the language that your brand uses. This includes special words and accents like Mack Collier who has adapted his southern accent and use of language to Twitter. Actionable marketing tip: If you’ve got an accent, think in terms of speaking slower so people can understand you. Also, don’t underestimate the value of good manners.
   

   Mack Collier in his cowboy hat kicking off #BlogChat

5. Streamline your brand story. Before your go, think about how you want attendees to remember you. Use a brand related story with a beginning, middle and end. Actionable marketing tip: If you’re speaking at the event, make sure you integrate the story into your overall presentation.
6. Expand your event presence along with your brand reach. Volunteer to help by live blogging or tweeting the event. This way you can integrate your brand through your Twitter handle or byline. People who can’t attend may read or tweet your material. For more tips on live blogging, check out Lee Odden. Actionable marketing tip: Enrich your content with event photographs. Interview speakers for another blog or media site. Use the opportunity to create content and meet the speakers by doing a video interview.
   

   Lee Odden shares live blogging tips

7. Take the mike with insightful questions. During the Q&A add to the conversation but don’t talk about yourself or argue with the speaker. This isn’t the forum to debate your pet opinion. Take notes to help you determine what questions you’d like answered. Before asking, consider whether your question expands the conversation and will make sense to a larger audience. Remember the goal is to reflect on your brand. Actionable marketing tip: Give your name and company with your firm’s tag line to keep your name in the sound bite. But don’t give an elevator speech about your business or career.

Brands translate to real life events where how they look, sound and act contribute to the memorability. Remember, you have only one chance to make a good first impression. Take advantage of each opportunity to maximize your brand’s effectiveness.

What other suggestions would you add to this real life branding list and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles you may find of interest.

• Brand’s DNA
• Branding –More than a logo
• How to do branding without a budget.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k9d/6799252973/

360 Degree Branding Meets IRL Events [& 7 Ways to Maximize The Impact!] – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 17, 2012.

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With 115.8 million US smartphone owners and 54.8 million US tablet owners estimated by eMarketer in 2012, how we shop is changing.

Using multiple devices, particularly smartphones and tablets, at different steps of the purchase process is an emerging trend. [Here's more mobile shopping data.]

While a 1Q2012 Viacom study found US tablet owners used their devices at home three quarters of the time, don’t underestimate the importance of tablets in the purchase process.  Roughly one third explicitly used tablets in stores.

80% of North American online shoppers used their tablet to research and/or purchase products online according to Local Corporation research conducted by the e-tailing group.

Nielsen research is consistent, showing that about four out of  five smartphone and tablet owners use their devices at some point during the shopping process. Closer examination of the data shows that consumers use their devices to gather and purchase products as they did with computers; their activities vary by device.

Specifically, tablets are used throughout the purchase process: they’re where customers turn for product research and reviews, where customers buy, and where customers communicate post purchase via social media reviews and comments. By contrast, consumers use their smartphones for on-the-go shopping-related information such as finding store locations, product prices and coupons.

Applications are increasingly used by shoppers according to Kantar Media/Compete research. Retailers’ apps are preferred by a significant percentage of consumers, more than those seeking coupons! 

Local Corporation’s research conducted by the etailing group provides more granular insights into how consumers use tablets during the shopping process. As a content consumption device, tablets offer consumers many ways to research and buy products online.

What does this smartphone and tablet shopping behavior mean for marketers?

1. Have a mobile optimized website. Customers don’t like to scroll through your regular slow loading website to get shopping information when they’re out and about. Actionable Mobile Marketing Tip: Think streamlined information and quick load times on mobile devices.
2. Ensure prospects can find you on mobile search. Since prospects use their smartphones when they’re on-the-go and close to purchase, it’s critical to be findable. Actionable Mobile Marketing Tip: Include your physical address and phone number.
3. Offer a mobile coupon to close the deal. If they’re checking for deals before they buy, your coupon may sway the deal. Assess how much of a discount you should offer to ensure that you maintain your profit margins. Actionable Mobile Marketing Tip: When offering a special deal, use it as an opportunity to capture a mobile phone number and/or email address in exchange.
4. Determine whether you need a mobile application alternative. With the growth of mobile applications and consumers’ preference for retailer apps, it’s important to assess if your customers want one. If you’re not sure, check what your competitors are doing and ask your customers if they’d like one. Actionable Mobile Marketing Tip: Don’t overlook the need to promote your application and its use.
5. Use post purchase communications to drive engagement. If you’ve captured customer email addresses or mobile numbers, use them to check if they’re satisfied. If so, get them to leave a review and, if not, find out why and try to make good. Actionable Mobile Marketing Tip: Take engagement one step further and upsell customers.

With increased smartphone and tablet ownership, consumers are adapting their shopping to leverage the advantages these devices provide, whether they’re at home, in the office or in your store. To convert these prospects, it’s important to provide them with the information they seek and to make effective offers when they’re ready to buy.

What other mobile, smartphone and tablet, shopping recommendations would you add and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles of interest.

• Understanding mobile content consumption. [Research]
• 7 Reasons you need mobile marketing now!
• Mobile and Search 

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morning-theft/3355875232/

Smartphones & Tablets: How We Shop Now [Research] – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 16, 2012.

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Search optimization is a critical component of every marketing plan because it extends the reach of online and offline content and interactions. [Here's some SEO tips to start.]

Search engines are where consumers go to get their questions answered 24/7 via computers, smartphones and tablets and how you optimize for that behavior influences the purchase process at each step including offline advertising, content and events, as well as in-store questions. As a result, your firm must appear when and where your audience seeks information related to your offering. The challenge is ensuring your search optimization is on track for success.

To help, here are the suggestions of fifteen search optimization experts with a variety of different approaches.

1. Too often, marketers don’t focus on the end goal. In The B2B Social Media Book we talk about about focusing on revenue for the results of your social media efforts and not awareness, positive sentiment, followers or other top of the funnel metrics. We have seen too often marketers obsessing about where they rank for a particular keyword regardless of how that keywords helps to contribute to their revenue goals. Quite often keywords can send a high amount of website visitors that convert poorly into leads and customers. Focusing on these types of keywords is a major mistake.  Kipp Bodnar, Inbound Marketing Strategist at HubSpot (@KippBodner) and Jeffrey L. Cohen, Social Strategist at Salesforce Radian6 (@JeffreyLCohen) Co-authors of The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More.
2. The biggest mistake I see many good marketers make is having great blogs without any optimization.  Lisa Buyer – The Buyer Group (@LisaBuyer).
3. People place too much emphasis on ranking. Barely anyone uses actual data to determine what people are using to find their products or services. The same is true for determining success once a visitor lands on your site.Conceptually, this is all very simple:
   1. Determine what words people are actually using to find products and services in your vertical. (Or, if you’re a blogger, the categories that you write about).
   2. Optimize on-page content toward those keywords, keeping in mind to write for humans, not engines. Gear your marketing efforts towards your quality content and offer incentives to share your content on-page.
   3. Set goals and measure conversions. Too many people don’t look at the right data afterwards. Thousands of visitors who don’t buy is not good. Thousands of visitors who buy your loss-leader or least profit-generating products isn’t much better. Handfuls of visitors who buy your highest profit margin items does wonders for your bottom line.  All visitors are not created equal. But you can sure pigeon hole them by groupings. Determine which visitor segments give you the best results and fine-tune toward that audience. Determine why other segments aren’t performing and make the right adjustments to change them from browsers to buyers.  Thom Craver - Rochester Institue of Technology (@ThomCraver)
4. SEO has been undergoing some radical changes in the past few years, to the point that here at DragonSearch we say “old school” and “new school” SEO. Old School SEO is that myopic focus on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) – “how are we ranking for this competitive key phrase?” Instead, in New School SEO, we focus on the traffic that is brought to our sites using a wider range of key phrases – and how that traffic behaves on our site (is it relevant traffic?). Ric Dragon – Dragon Search and author of Social Marketology (@RicDragon).
5. Too much or too little. Once people learn about SEO they go in one direction or the other.  The “too much” crowd gets obsessed and start looking for every possible tweak to squeak out one little ranking gain or another.  This is a little bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  There are too many big thing happening in Internet marketing to spend your time tweaking and re-tweaking title tags over and over again, or creating boatloads of new pages to thin slice on every conceivable search phrase.  Some of this is healthy, but many people go way to far with it.  Most of your efforts should remain on the bigger picture on why your business is special and making sure that the world (and the search engines) know it.

   The “too little” crowd oversimplifies what SEO really is. They may do a complete redesign of their website and then ask the SEO team to come in and do their SEO wizardry, as if it were some magic pixie dust you can sprinkle on after the fact. It does not work that way, and as the old saying goes, “you can do it right, or you can do it over”. Or, they may ignore the promotional side of SEO, and focus only on the on page factors.  On page factors are primarily about establishing relevance, and promotion (links and social media mentions) is the main driver of rankings.  You need both to get the impact you are probably looking for!  Eric Enge – Stone Temple Consulting Corporation  and co-author of The Art of SEO with Stephan Spencer, Jessie Stricchiola and Rand Fishkin (@StoneTemple).

6. The biggest mistake I see many marketers making with search optimization is a check-the-box approach to a laundry list of what they think are once-and-done tactics (e.g., tags-check, keyword content-check, links-check, etc.).  As algorithms and ranking factors continue to evolve, marketers need to take a strategic, integrated and on-going approach to leveraging multi-channel tactics for search optimization success.  That means integrating SEO with PPC as well as with blogging, social media, content marketing, video and mobile. This holistic, strategic marketing approach leads not only to search success but to better down the funnel conversion/ROI success as well. Marc Engelsman – Digital Brand Expressions (@marc_engelsman).
7. The biggest mistake that I see marketers making with SEO is to leave it in the same spot in the company’s org chart where it was put 12 years ago.  Back then, SEO required technical skills in order to be effective.  But, most of the popular methods used to improve rankings in November 2000 – when AltaVista was the leading search engine – are now considered “illicit practices that may lead to a site being removed entirely from the Google index.”  On May 16, 2007, Google took its critical first steps toward a universal search model that incorporated videos, images, news, maps, books, and websites into a single set of results.  So, there should have been a reorg five years ago that put SEOs in the same group with the company’s PR people.  Then, earlier this year on Jan. 10, 2012, Google introduced Search, plus Your World.  This transformed Google yet again into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships.  This means SEOs need to sit next to community managers in order to be effective today.  So, it’s time for another reorg. Greg Jarboe – SEO-PR and author of YouTube Marketing An Hour A Day (@gregjarboe).
8. Not using web analytics or consistently studying web analytics. You have no idea what is or is not working if you are not looking closely at visitor behavior.Ron Jones – Symetri Internet Marketing and author of Keyword Intelligence (@Ron_Jones).
9. Marketers sometimes fall for risky link-building schemes that violate Google guidelines and lead to penalties.  Make sure you practice safe organic link building, adding only links that are merit-based, relevant, and non-transactional. Chris Keating, VP, SEO and Conversion Optimization – Performics.
10. That search is set it and forget it. It’s not. Search engine algorithms change, content is constantly updated, topical trends come and go. Search is ever evolving, which means SEO efforts can’t sleep. They also can’t be an afterthought – they have to be baked into digital planning from the get-go.   Rebecca Lieb – Altimeter Group and author of The Truth About Search Engine Optimization  and Content Marketing (@lieblink).
11. Over-reliance on shortcuts or tactics that have nothing to do with customer acquisition and everything to do with moving the needle on SEO  based KPIs like rankings on certain keywords or how many specific anchor text links were acquired.Consumers expect a lot out of search engines and marketers, along with Google and Bing, need to deliver more in order to keep their attention. That means more than keywords and links. SEO has to fit within brand messaging, empathy with customer needs and product storytelling. Search is not mutually exclusive of consumer interactions with other media. The customer journey to purchase can be very diverse and search can play a minor or the only role in that experience. The mistake is when marketers think that SEO is the only way their customers can be reached. orks through search can increase subscribers, fans, friends and followers. Lee Odden - President, TopRankMarketing.com and author of Optimize (@LeeOdden).
12. Over-optimizing. There are no shortcuts in SEO. Although traditional SEO tactics, such as on-page optimization, are still essential, concentrate your efforts on generating inbound links, traffic and leads through remarkable content and social media participation.  Paul Roetzer – CEO, PR 20/20 and author of The Marketing Agency Insider (@paulroetzer).
13. 1. Not giving their SEO campaign enough time! SEO is a long term and ongoing process. Depending on a variety of factors, it might be 6-9 months before you really see the effects of your SEO kick in. SEO is not for the impatient, so you have to be willing to make a move and then wait it out. Changing direction too often because you’re impatient won’t make your SEO campaign any better.
    2. Not taking a rounded approach to Internet marketing as whole. SEO is important, but without traditional link building, onsite SEO, social media marketing and content marketing all working together, your SEO efforts are eventually going to plateau. Get your SEO out of the silo and involved with the rest of your marketing efforts. Nick Stamoulis – President, Brick Marketing  (@NickStamoulis).
14. I think the biggest mistakes in SEO involve believing the myths and the hype, and then allowing those beliefs to cloud your judgments. For example, how many times have we read that you have to constantly update your website because search engine algorithms change all of the time, or that you have to add content almost every day due to the “freshness” part of the algorithm? Believe it or not, there are SEO best practices that have existed since the mid-to-late 90s that are just as applicable today as they were almost 20 years ago. Having that solid and usable SEO foundation is the key to long-term, sustainable search engine visibility.

    The hard part? Getting people to build the foundation. For some, it’s a baby step. For others, it is a giant leap. Shari Thurow – Founder and SEO Director, Omni Marketing Interactive and author of When Search Meets Web Usability (@sharithurow).

Search optimization is challenge for many businesses since it touches many different areas. Unlike other aspects of the marketing mix that are totally controlled by the marketing department, search optimization requires combines technology, content and marketing.

What would you add  in terms of the biggest mistake you see marketers making with search optimization? What do you recommend they do about it?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles you may find of interest:

• 15 SEO experts give their best blogging advice.
• 15 SEO experts give their best social media optimization advice
• Mobile Search: 15 SEO Experts Give Their Advice [Research]

The Biggest Search Optimization Mistake Marketers Make – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 15, 2012.

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Content marketing, regardless of what marketers call it, is the most popular digital marketing strategy according to Chief Marketer’s March 2012 online survey of US marketers. Closer examination of the Chief Marketer research as reported by eMarketer shows email, social media and search are at the top of the list for mainstream marketers with a third using video.  Further, marketers’ focus on content is strongly correlated with supporting sales, optimizing their owned content for search and helping social media. 

What’s a marketer to do? Develop a plan to get your content marketing on track. According to hotel consultant Max Starkov of HeBS Digital, courtesy of eMarketer, content marketing is smaller hotels’ secret weapon to compete against big online travel agencies like Expedia that outspend them on search. Show your hotel off and answer customer questions to stand out from the pack. For a 130 US hotels Marriott franchisee, Starkov’s team created effective content that outperformed its peers on Marriott’s site by a third.

Regardless of what type of content marketing you’re using now or plan to add to your mix, here are eleven steps to get you on track.

1. Determine your business objectives. What do you want your content marketing to accomplish? Top on most marketers’ list are build your brand, attract new prospects and convert prospects to customers. Underestimated content marketing goals include post sales support, customer retention and advocacy (aka fans).
2. Know your audience. These are the people who use your product and the people who influence them. Think in terms of who you’re trying to communicate with and when. What questions are they looking to get answered? Where do they look for information and what devices do they use?
3. Understand your competitors. Purchase decisions don’t happen in a vacuum. Take off your blinders and pay attention to what your competitors are doing. Assess are their relative strengths and weaknesses so you can distinguish your products. Remember the firms that your customers view as your competitors may not be your direct competitors.
4. Find your organization’s stories. This is critical since people remember stories not a bunch of facts. Think across your organization including your product, sales and customer service staff. Don’t underestimate your customers’ stories related to your product.
5. Plan your content. Assess where you need to place content and how to use a story across different media formats and platforms. Also consider who will create it. It’ useful to have an editorial calendar.
6. Integrate your brand into your content. Think beyond the logo. Your brand needs to come through even if the content is on different sites. It’s the colors and language used as well as the spokesperson and how they’re dressed.
7. Optimize your content for search. Remember that one of the reasons marketers use content is to support their search optimization efforts. This means focusing on a set of keyword terms and linking to other sites as well as to other aspects of your own site or blog. Also, associate text with photographs and videos.
8. Distribute your content. Having the best content doesn’t do you any good unless people are exposed to it. Plan how you’ll distribute it across your owned platforms. This includes your website, emailings and your blog.
9. Be where your customers are now! Join the social media conversation to engage with your prospects and customers as well as to distribute your content marketing. Allow readers to comment on your content and respond to them to answer their questions.
10. Socialize your content. At a minimum, incorporate social sharing buttons so your readers can extend the reach of your content.
11. Measure your content marketing results.  As with any marketing strategy, it’s important to track your results back to your initial business goals. To help your content marketing to drive sales, it’s useful to integrate a call-to-action and a trackable promotion code.

Content marketing encompasses a variety of formats. Every marketer is challenged creating sufficient information to answer customer questions and to set the business apart from its competitors.

What would you add to this content marketing list and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Here are some related articles.

• The one reason you need content marketing 
• 42 Ways to Attract Shoppers With Relevant Information

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/puuikibeach/3242828279/

11 Tips to Get Your Content Marketing on Track [Research] – © 2011, Heidi Cohen. This post originally appeared on Heidi Cohen on May 14, 2012.

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