PR 20/20 Blog

HubSpot’s App Marketplace: Review of Four Featured Apps

Dia Dalsky — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:37:17 -0400

On Monday, May 21, the Cleveland HubSpot User Group (#CleHUG) held its latest event at Flannery’s Pub in downtown Cleveland. The event, Apps Over Apps, provided an overview of the HubSpot App Marketplace, a collection of third-party applications that can be directly integrated into the HubSpot user portal.

The group was joined by special guest and proud Clevelander, Steve Lazuka (@stevelazuka) president of Interact Media, LLC and developer of Hubspot's "App of the Year," the Zerys Content Marketplace.

That's Steve and I co-presenting to the crowd, in the photo to the right. Also, in full disclosure: Interact Media is a PR 20/20 client.

Tom Monaghan, (@computertom) email project manager at HubSpot, also stopped by to discuss HubSpot’s recently launched email and contacts tools.

Overview of the App Marketplace

The HubSpot App Marketplace features more than 55 third-party applications that integrate external marketing tools with HubSpot’s inbound marketing suite. From call tracking and content services, to CRM integrations and analytics, the Marketplace offers a variety of additional benefits to users and is continuously growing.

It currently offers applications in the areas of content, analytics, CRM integrations, social media, SEO, online advertising, ecommerce, email and more. To access the App Marketplace—and any of the apps we mention below—HubSpot users can simply to log into their Portals and go to "Marketplace" in the main navigation.

Review of Four HubSpot Apps

While there are many noteworthy apps available, Cleveland HUG condensed our review to focus on several integrations most relevant to our group—content, event marketing, customer relationship management and social media.

Zerys Content Marketplace

With this application, HubSpot users can outsource content development to a marketplace of more than 20,000 pre-screened writers that specialize in a variety of industries.

Using a reverse bid-technology, SmartPost, Zerys lets customers post a content opportunity and set their minimum and maximum price. Writers then submit a piece for the customer's review and edits, and approval or rejection. Customers do not pay for content unless they are 100% satisfied with what has been submitted. Once approved, content can be directly published to your HubSpot portal, providing a simplified management process.

The most frequent feedback from customers is that it takes time to find your favorite writer(s). For someone using the system for the first time, it may take several submissions before you find a writer that fits your criteria from both a quality and pricing standpoint.

Eventbrite Integration

Eventbrite is a free online service that enables people to create, share and join events. This application enables users to integrate their Eventbrite accounts with HubSpot Contacts. Once activated, HubSpot can then pull attendee information into Contacts for use in lead collection and email campaigns.

Through several graphs, users can analyze events based on registered attendees and revenue.

One limitation discussed during the HUG event is that attendee information can only be collected from those who directly register for an event. If one attendee purchases multiple tickets, those attendees are not accounted for in the total number of attendees reported to HubSpot.

Highrise CRM Integration

Highrise enables companies to store, update and manage a complete history of customers, prospects and other contacts for use in sales and marketing. Through the Highrise CRM app, users can spur HubSpot to automatically copy leads, lead intelligence, reconversion events and website visits to Highrise for use by sales team members. It also enables closed-looped analysis in HubSpot Sources, as won deals from Highrise are automatically updated in HubSpot’s portal.

One posted review discussed at HUG was that the app doesn't enable automatic tagging or lead nurturing/email integration with HubSpot. These features would be a welcome update.

The HubSpot Marketplace includes several CRM integration apps, including those for Salesforce and SugarCRM. We feature Highrise here because it's what we use at PR 20/20.

Like to Download

This app provides HubSpot users with an alternate gating method for content. Instead of requiring visitors to complete a lead form, use of this app places content behind a “Like” button. In some cases, visitors may be more willing to “Like” a page on Facebook than share their personal contact information. Therefore, gating content behind a “Like” button may help boost the number of people you reach with the content, while still providing a way to stay in front of them over time.

There are downsides, too, though. Understand that this may result in an inflation of social media likes that isn't an accurate reflection of brand or fan loyalty. Additionally, this gating approach does not provide your sales team with access to lead information for direct follow-up.

App Marketplace and Cleveland HUG Resources

Want to see the full Cleveland HUG presentation, Apps Over Apps? Check out the slide deck on SlideShare for additional details. If you are a developer interested in contributing to the App Marketplace, check out HubSpot’s resources for developers.

Lastly, as the Cleveland HUG leader I'd like to invite interested Cleveland-area marketers to join the group. We are open to new members, and non-HubSpot customers are welcome. Please join the Cleveland HUG LinkedIn Group to stay in touch.

Feedback on the App Marketplace

What apps have you integrated and tested in your HubSpot portal? We’re interested to hear your thoughts!

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Twitter Automation: Just Say No

Laurel Miltner — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:30:00 -0400

Many tools have popped up that (cl)aim to make Twitter engagement easier, better even. Using these third-party extensions, users can create rules that will spur Twitter actions automatically on their behalves, thus reducing or eliminating the need to manually update accounts.

I firmly believe that in almost all cases, automating tweets will do more harm for your brand—personal or corporate—than good.

Let’s take a look at three common types of Twitter automation—auto publishing, auto responding and auto curation—to see what they are, example tools that enable them, and why you might want to think twice about using them. And so you don't think this is all me talking, I've included some insight from other industry pros.

Auto Publishing

What it is: Setting your Twitter account to automatically share newly published content, such as blog posts.

Some would consider tweet scheduling to fall into this realm. I think that’s a debate in itself, and if you want to start that conversation, let’s do it in the comments. Both personally and professionally, I use tweet scheduling in some cases, largely when I read a bunch of things at once and don’t want to go all "weapons free" on my followers.

Example tools: Twitterfeed, dlvr.it; capabilities within Feedburner, Sprout Social, HubSpot and other social management tools (Note: At PR 20/20, we use and love Sprout Social and HubSpot for their other features, just not this one.)

Why not? When auto-publishing, you lose the opportunity to personalize the message that goes along with the content shared. In addition, you’ll sometimes run into formatting issues, problems with character counts when titles are too long, etc. And, may the internet gods help you if you experience RSS feed problems, or leave a company without disabling corporate blog auto-publishing functionality on your personal account.

A better way: Take the time to read an article, think about whether you really want to share it, and personalize the message that goes out with it. Bonus: if you’re clever / shocking / interesting enough in your tweet delivery, you may actually increase the number of clicks.

A caveat: There are certain types of accounts where auto publishing makes sense, such as those of news outlets and public service organizations.

Auto Responding

What it is: Setting your Twitter account to automatically perform an action given a set of variables, such as:

Send auto DMs to new followers.
Automatically follow users that mention your brand or competitors.
Send promotional @ messages to individuals who mention your company name, service area, etc.

Example tools: SocialOomph, TweetAdder, Send Social Media

Why not? In my opinion, this is the worst kind of Twitter automation, as the messages are fully intended to appear to be personal—they come directly to you, directly from “someone”—but in fact, are anything but.

A better way: Use social media monitoring tools, such as Radian6, capabilities within SproutSocial and HubSpot, and even Twitter searches and Google alerts, to find opportunities to engage instead. Then, if something is worth responding to, or if you personally want to reach out and welcome a new follower, go for it.

Auto Curation

What it is: Automatically organizing, publishing and sharing content by your Twitter connections, with your Twitter connections.

Example tools: Paper.li, Triberr

Why not? If something is really worth reading and sharing, isn’t it worth your time to really read and share it?

A better way: There is a time and place for curation tools to help you sift through the noise (one I’m particularly interested in is Percolate), but for curation to be truly valuable to your audience, I believe there should always be a layer of personal filtering. In addition, if thought leadership is the goal, you should be sharing your own opinion on the information as well. For an example of this, see our 100% manually curated Inbound Industry Reports.

It Takes a Little Time, Sometimes (Or A Lot)

You’ll see that the common thread in my recommendations is to devote the time—or in business cases, potentially a person or team—to active social media monitoring, engagement and publishing.

Auto tweeting goes against what social media is intended to do. By trying to make engagement easier through automating messages, you cheapen it. And in some cases, when followers realize that the “engagement” was false, you’ll lose your credibility, and their trust.

In addition, per Twitter’s Automation Rules and Best Practices, automating tweets can cause your account to be filtered out of search results—decreasing your online visibility and reach—and potentially even suspended.

I hate to break it to you, but social media is hard work. However, when you do it right, you can reap many benefits.

Don’t Just Take My Word For It

Following are some articles and excerpts from voices I respect, who agree that automation isn’t the way to go.

Mitch Joel (@mitchhoel), Social Media Automation, Respect, Credibility and Robots

“I’m not a robot. I don't want to automate my tweets … it seems disingenuous to recommend something automatically to my connections without spending some time with a piece of content and thinking about if it would add real value to the people I am connected to.”

Amber Naslund (@ambercadabra) As For Auto Posts...I Take It Back. Almost.

“There are people out there like me that are really hoping that you’re still out there somewhere, clacking away on your keyboard, ready to reply and chat … if it’s important to do, it’s important enough to do personally. After all, how else will I know how truly charming and fascinating you are?”

Steve Radick (@sradick) Stop Trying to Take the Easy Way Out

“We're reducing relationships to impressions. … Be the guy who values actual relationships and conversations over likes, impressions, and followers. Instead of trying to game the system, take some time and actually enjoy the people you're getting to know. Being able to blast your generic press releases out to 10,000 more people isn't a good thing. Focus on sending it to the right 1,000 people instead.”

Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) Mannequin Networking – Why Twitter Automation is Bad

“Automating tweets is like sending a mannequin to a networking event … The problem is when people ‘think’ it’s you tweeting to them, but you’re not even there. Once they find that out, it could hurt your relationship and your brand. That tweet tells people ‘I want the benefit of a relationship, but don’t want to put the time in to nurture it.’”

After all this, if you’re still interested in checking out automation tools, here are a couple resources I used to create this post (there are a few good services in these, too):

But Enough From Us, What About You?

Do you use Twitter automation tools? Why or why not? Do you have any personal stories about how automation has either helped or hurt your brand? We’d love to hear them.

Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.

Inbound Industry Report: May 22, 2012

Laura Pinter — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:00:00 -0400

Top marketing news, articles and tips from the third week of May 2012.

SEO

Were you one of those children who liked to mix all of the different colors of play dough together? If you did, picture your website analytics as that “big, ugly glob,” as Avinash Kaushik calls it. Just as each play dough color should be kept in its separate container, it is extremely valuable to do the same for website visitors—segment them based on behavior.

Among Google Analytics’ tools to enable segmentation is the Custom Variable feature. Daniel Waisberg (@DanielWaisberg) discusses what it is, and where and how it should be used in his Guide to Google Analytics Custom Variables. Check out what Waisberg has to offer, as it can help you to begin to understand your visitors better.

Facebook’s Public Debut

Facebook broke several records—and many attempted trades—when it went public on Friday. With an opening value of $42.05 per share (up 11% from its offer price), it became “the most valuable U.S. company at the time of its stock market debut.” (Source) Facebook stock was also the highest traded, in regard to volume, of any American company on its IPO day. The stock closed Friday up 0.6% (source) and has dropped since.

See how far Facebook has come over the past eight years, and how the social network has changed the way we interact. Also, with Facebook’s recent changes and investor expectations looming, ask yourself if your Facebook marketing strategy should shift as well.

Consumer Privacy

One area Facebook has drastically impacted is the public’s view on privacy. Last week, 21 federal cases were filed against Facebook in a class-action lawsuit claiming “internet tracking” outside of Facebook’s own pages.

Facebook users aren’t the only ones questioning online privacy, though. Marketers and advertisers are also infiltrating consumers’ web experiences with targeted ads based on personal data and online behavior. To keep these campaigns on target without crossing the line to creepy, Jamie Beckland (@Beckland) provides insight on how to advertise and create personalized experiences that are seen as beneficial by users.

Google Search

Enough about advertisers being creepy; let’s talk about search engines. Google’s search algorithm is getting a boost from Knowledge Base, a new, omniscient “brain” that helps deliver more useful results.

What does this mean? Google is using structured data to better understand not just the letters and words we type, but also what they mean and how they relate to the vast amount of information in Google’s databases.

To do so, Google launched “Knowledge Graph,” which matches query terms to related entities or concepts. In other words, Google is building relationships between the people, places and things you search to connect your results to more tangible, valuable information—answers, not just links.

Take a look to your right—this is what came up alongside traditional results when I searched Google for "Tina Fey." In addition to a bio snippet, Google gave me information on Fey's work history, related actors and more.

News

Fab.com recently went through its third site redesign, leaving other social shopping experiences in the dust. Fab.com’s rare start-up growth rate and success is due to its ability to reimagine and innovate, all while keeping in mind that updates need to simplify—not complicate—the buying process.
HubSpot users will encounter a better email marketing experience with its newly introduced email software and marketing database. Features include a centralized database; ability to create, segment and target lists; templates; access to analytics and more. See details of the new features here on the PR 20/20 blog, and learn more about how to leverage e-mail in your marketing campaigns.
Twitter plans to invade your inbox with weekly, “best-of” emails that highlight the most popular stories and engaging tweets. Visit your Twitter account settings to see if you’ve opted in.
Pinterest gained $100 million in funding from Japanese web retailer Rakuten, now totaling the image pinboard site’s value at $1.5 billion.

Stats & Studies

A recent study by Simply Measured shows that brands are getting an average of 46% more engagement with Facebook Timeline, in comparison to the old Page layout.
Assumptions that Google+ is a “ghost town” appear to be true. After looking at 40,000 random users, an RJ Metrics’ report shows that Google+ user engagement is weak, and declining. A Google rep says that the study is flawed, as it only tracks public posts, and “more sharing occurs privately to circles.”

What articles made your top list last week? We’d like to hear your opinions.

Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.

HubSpot Updates: New Email Tool and Contact Records

Dia Dalsky — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:00 -0400

This post outlines new features from HubSpot, an online marketing software company that powers inbound marketing campaigns. As a Certified HubSpot Partner and Gold Tier VAR, PR 20/20 got a sneak peek of the tools, so we wanted to share with you what's possible as they roll out to all users.

On Tuesday, May 15, HubSpot released two major updates to its marketing software — a new Email Manager and an updated leads database, Contacts. Both of these tools provide users with an improved front-end design, as well as a variety of enhancements that better support the ability to gather, maintain and communicate with customers, leads and subscribers.

Following is an overview of the updates made to HubSpot’s online portal, key features users should take note of, and highlights on how to leverage these improvements to achieve sales and marketing goals.

Contacts

Replacing the original “Leads” section in HubSpot, Contacts is a centralized location to access and maintain contact information for individuals in your database.

At first glance, the most noticeable difference is the design of the user interface. The main page is organized chronologically, and includes each contact’s name, Twitter image (if available), when they were added to the database and the form name associated with their most recent conversion.

All tools associated with contact management, email and lists are easily accessible in the right-hand column. The database is searchable, and can also be segmented by existing lists.

Contact profiles, or individual lead records, now include basic and custom contact information, a history of that person’s engagement with your site and an overview of all email history and subscriptions. There is also a running history of edits made to each contact that can be used by team members to review all updates made to a contact’s record.

New features to note:

“Add New Contact” enables users to add a single lead to the database. Previously, leads could only be updated through completion of an online form, or uploaded as a CSV file. This feature can be used to add people from a networking event or sales call that have not engaged the brand directly through a form.
Field customization offers users the ability to create custom fields in contact information, such as “Professional Organization,” “Product” or another field relevant to your business. These fields can be used to create lists and personalize emails.
The email tab offers engagement metrics of emails a contact has received and management of multiple subscriptions. Users can now customize and review contact subscription options, such as opting out of promotional emails but receiving blog updates. Additionally, contacts will be prompted with the option to manage their subscriptions.
“Share Contact” is a great new feature to better integrate marketing and sales. The public contact link can be shared with members of a sales team who do not have full access to the HubSpot portal. To keep sensitive information private, links can only be viewed by individuals with authorized company email addresses.

Note: The updated contacts database is easily manageable and a great asset for small business that don’t have a CRM. For larger companies, this was developed on the HubSpot API, and will support any existing CRM integrations from the old “Leads.”

Email Tool

The new email system offers eight customizable templates that reflect best practices in email marketing. Users can customize the templates by logo, color scheme, content, body image and included social media profiles.

Performance metrics are one of the most important enhancements in the new email tool. The dashboard includes a complete list of sent, drafted and scheduled emails, including key metrics on delivery and engagement. Data can be reviewed through high-level performance charts, as well as individual recipient engagement metrics (e.g. sent, delivered, opened, clicked), total clicks to embedded links and a history of email revisions.

Similar to options available in the old Email Manager tool, emails are automatically created in a rich text format, but can also be edited in HTML. Also, emails can be cloned, or duplicated, to repeat a one-time campaign. After an email is cloned, the content and recipient list can be edited to reflect any needed changes.

New features to note:

Sender and recipient customizations have been enhanced, including associated campaigns. At minimum, HubSpot recommends setting up campaign groups for company announcements/news and content resources. Campaigns can be analyzed as a whole or by individual recipients and their engagement with the email.
Emails can be created in web page versions that include on-page optimization fields for page title, URL and meta description.
When selecting a recipients, “block” lists can be created. This feature allows users to upload a full list of recipients, but block a subsection of those by creating a second list of contacts to be removed from the first.

Note: As of last Tuesday, all new HubSpot customers will receive the updated tools in their portal. For existing customers, the migration will occur over the next several months. Because there are existing integrations in place with external tools, HubSpot is working with customers to ensure a seamless transfer without losing functionality or information.

For more information, watch last week's archived webinar on HubSpot TV— Partner Demo of New HubSpot Email & Contacts Tools. You can also check out the HubSpot Email Tutorial on how to create and send emails in the new system.

On Thursday, May 24, I will be a guest HubSpot Partner participating in a webinar to discuss the new email and database tools. During the webinar, several partners will offer feedback on their experiences using the beta tool, as well as how it integrates with customer services. Stay tuned for a link to the webinar registration.

Feedback and Reviews

The updated email and contacts tools are two of the more significant updates made to HubSpot’s marketing software in the recent past. How do you plan to utilize these updates and new features? What improvements do you think will benefit your company the most?

Facebook Marketing Strategy Shift

Laurel Miltner — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:26:32 -0400

Facebook has come a long way from its college years. In the past few months alone, it has made major acquisitions, completely revamped its design and user interface, and today—with a valuation of $104 billion—the company aims to raise $18.4 billion in the second-largest American IPO of all time.

But has your Facebook marketing strategy changed?

To date, savvy marketers have seen Facebook as a place for sharing interesting and relevant information with fans—no matter the source. Since status updates push out to fans' feeds, you don’t want to sound too self-involved so you share articles from other sources, interesting quotes, ask how people are doing, etc.

But with the recent rollout of Timeline, the way this appears on your Page is completely different. Have you paid attention? Go take a look.

What jumps out to you? What updates draw you in? If you’re like me, it’s not the text-filled links to industry articles that make you want to click. It's photos, videos, and the behind-the-scenes peeks into company history.

The Timeline format offers a much more intriguing opportunity for companies to personalize their brands and share their stories, in a place nearly 400 million users visit six days a week. (Source)

Review the kind of content your brand currently shares on Facebook. With the social network’s recent innovations in mind, do you think it’s time to reevaluate this strategy? I’d argue, yes.

And so would Facebook. Earlier this week, it published Page data that showed higher engagement with brand-related updates, and encouraged companies to talk more about their own brands on Timelines.

Why the push?

I heard a story on NPR’s Planet Money the other day, Is Facebook Worth $100 Billion?

The crux: Facebook’s earnings don’t support such a high price tag. (Hence the social media bubble debate.)

To grossly simplify a complex topic: at a $100 billion valuation, it will take Facebook 100 years to buy itself back from the market. In contrast, the average publicly traded company would need 15 years.

**So what does this have to do with your business’ Facebook Timeline?**

According to Anant Sundaram of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, in a pure advertising play Facebook will need to control 10 percent of all global ad dollars, spent across all media, to meet investor expectations. (That’s also from the Planet Money story).

And, though Facebook boasts a unique combination of reach and targeting, I find it hard to believe that even it can usurp advertising dollars to such a dramatic degree.

So what’s left? Getting the brands that have built presences on their platform to spend in other ways.

I doubt that Facebook would go the route of Ning, forcing current users to pay up or get out. But, with the amount of information available on its users, Facebook could offer highly promising tools for brands that no other organization, save perhaps Google, can touch.

What if Facebook were to revamp Insights (it's less-than-stellar Page analytics tool) to offer highly detailed anlalytics, ripe with valuable information for brands that provides both macro fan information and specific details about individuals? Would your brand pay $5/month for that data?

I spoke with Geoff McDonald (@geoffmcdonald3) of SplashLab Social not long ago, and he posited that Facebook might make a play in the social CRM space—another huge potential moneymaker. Imagine if Facebook were to create a tool for your brand to organize, sort and target its fans—maybe even share data with your existing CRM to access fans, customers and prospects across platforms. Would your brand pay $5/month for that?

As of March 2012, Facebook reported 42 million Pages with 10 or more likes. (Source) Let’s assume 30 million of those are legitimate brands. If Facebook could monetize just over half of them at only $5/month, it would pocket $1 billion in annual revenue. (The company's 2011 revenue was $3.7 billion.)

And, if your brand were to pay to play on Facebook, would you still want to share so much information from others? Or would you want your presence to be more pristine, more brand-focused, but still engaging?

Rather than sharing mostly content from others, I see companies winning on Facebook by creating and sharing valuable brand- and fan-focused content. Think photos, videos, contests, games, and other assets that draw people into your—that’s right, your—brand’s presence on what’s fast becoming the most used website in the world.

Give people reasons to visit, to engage, and then click that magic little “like” button that will give you an all-access pass to all the data they’ve shared with their “friends” on Facebook. And now, you can sell them in the way they want to be sold. This will be the value of a "like."

What do you think?

Content Marketing and the Path to Purchase

Laurel Miltner — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 -0400

Last week, I read an article by Mitch Joel (@mitchjoel), Welcome to “Less Is More” Marketing, in which he argues that marketers may want to spend less time focused on content, and more time focused on simplifying the buying process.

Marketers v. Consumers

A recent study from the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) was a driving force behind this recommendation. Based on surveys of 7,000 consumers and interviews with 200 marketers, the CEB found a major disconnect in the marketing-sales process.

Marketers are focused on driving brand engagement and relationships.
Consumers simply want an easy path to purchase.

In short, consumers don’t want engagement; they just want to buy something. And, if it’s not easy for them to buy from you, they’ll go to a competitor—no matter how great your content or Facebook page are.

Taking things back to Joel’s post, he says that marketers who are highly focused on pumping out content to entertain and engage—think Pepsi’s Live for Now campaign or Chase Sapphire’s Around the World in 80 Plates sponsorship campaign—may need to take a step back and focus on the basics.

“Take a look at your marketing teams and ask this simple question: who amongst us is responsible for ensuring that our consumers can get in, find what they need, and convert as quickly and efficiently as possible?”

Makes sense.

But, what’s missing from the conversation is that the CEB research was based solely on B2C buyers and brands.

And, as Joel alludes to early in his article, content and a simple buying process don’t have to be mutually exclusive. This is particularly true in B2B.

Savvy B2B marketers use content to guide buyers through the purchase process.

By viewing content as a conversation, you can develop resources—tailored to each of your buyer personas—that answer their questions throughout the buying cycle.

With marketing software, you can map this content into lead nurturing or marketing automation campaigns, keeping otherwise passive prospects engaged in the decision-making process.

By creating content relevant to your buyers at the beginning, middle and end of their decision-making journeys, you can digitally walk them along the purchase path. Take this very simplified example:

A blog post optimized for relevant keywords helps someone find you when researching potential solutions to a problem.
After reading, he downloads an ebook that covers more detailed information—and provides you with his contact info.
He later receives a lead-nurturing email that links to your company’s ROI calculator, which helps him make the case for your service to superiors.
When he visits your site again, he’s sent a client case study and testimonial that seal the deal.

Rather than distracting from the sale, well-strategized and executed content can make a lengthy, complex buying cycle easier for B2B buyers.

What do you think? Has content marketing helped or hindered your sales process?

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One Super-Simple Tip to Make Your Press Releases Rock

Laurel Miltner — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:00 -0400

Recently, Arik Hanson (@arikhanson) questioned whether corporate America is killing our PR writers because of the prolific use of jargon, gobbledygook, buzzwords, and other meaningless text.

Too often, organizations rely on the way things “should be” in press releases and other company news. They write for the media, vendors, executives and board members. They lean on overused phrases and canned quotes because they are easy and expected, and won’t ruffle any feathers.

Hanson calls for PR pros to use “a more human voice. A more conversational voice. Write like you speak.” But, facing executive and client expectations of the norm, is it really possible?

In a word? Yes. If PR pros and the organizations behind them were willing follow one simple tip, I truly believe they'd see better results.

Make Announcements Like Humans

Following are two example corporate announcements that prove it is possible to ditch the PR lingo for a more conversational tone. They stand out from the crowd, and succeed in getting the word out, by speaking directly and honestly to target audiences. And by taking a few chances.

Woot Gets Acquired by Amazon (June 30, 2010)

An oldie, but one of my favorites.

Woot published a company-wide email on its blog from CEO Matt Rutledge announcing the acquisition. The memo is written in a conversational tone and uses humor to immediately help employees and customers feel at ease about what could be a disruptive move. It includes a list of “Top 5 Burning Questions” that make details of the announcement important to key audiences—such as “Will the Woot culture change?”—crystal clear.

The retailer also published a video of a rapping monkey that shared the news. And spread it.The video has more than 205,000 views on YouTube as of May 15, 2012. How many people read your last press release?

Why It Worked: Imagine being a Woot employee, hearing that the startup you helped become the breakout star of deal-a-day sites was acquired by the biggest online retailer in the world. Wouldn’t you be a little scared? What if you were one of Woot’s die-hard fans? Wouldn’t you be afraid your favorite online shopping destination would cease to exist?

Woot’s clever announcements squashed these concerns. It forewent the traditional route of the press release, and instead embraced its laid-back culture. By using humor and a bit of good-natured self-deprecation, Woot made sure that employees and customers felt safe in the company’s stability. The Woot they loved wasn’t going anywhere.

Nearly 44,000 results appear in Google for searches on the news. This includes placements in Mashable, The New York Times, and Inc.

SEOmoz Receives $18 Million in Series B Financing (May 1, 2012)

SEOmoz published a detailed blog post outlining the company’s path to date, financing process and future plans. The article was a rare, behind-the-scenes look at a startup’s road to serious venture backing. It offered a cool company story to employees, investors, customers and prospects, as well as valuable insight and guidance for other startups.

As its official announcement, the company published a “meme-ified” press release, tying key points of the deal to popular graphic internet memes.

The two resources were tweeted more than 1,600 times total in its first two weeks. How many people passed around your latest company announcement?

Why It Worked: SEOmoz’s approach spoke directly to its customer base. And, it embraced the company’s TAGFEE mission (be Transparent, Authentic, Generous, Fun, Empathetic and Exceptional) to break the news.

Nearly 3,000 results appear in Google for searches on the news from the last two weeks. This includes placements in The Next Web, Forbes and VentureBeat.

What’s the Common Ground?

Both Woot and SEOmoz understood their brand and their audiences, and stayed true to themselves in making major company announcements. They told their stories authentically, in the personality of their brands, and each spoke to the people who mattered most—their employees, customers and fans.

Rather than writing quotes in press releases about how “excited,” “thrilled” or “honored” they were, they showed their enthusiasm by putting real thought into how the news was announced. The Woot video and SEOmoz article took time and care to create, because the companies truly cared about the information within them.

In short: they made the announcements like humans, not corporations.

And, taking risks paid off. Both of these stories were all over the web in the weeks they were announced, being shared by traditional media outlets, popular online publications and customers alike. In addition, the creative announcements themselves made news—and if you count this blog as a news outlet, they still are.

What if you took a chance on your next press release?

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Inbound Industry Report: May 14, 2012

Laura Pinter — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:50:00 -0400

Top marketing news, articles and tips from the second week of May 2012.

SEO

Do you think visitors view your website domain as trustworthy? A study by Stanford and Microsoft researchers (PDF download) shows that domains are becoming a major influencer in consumer click behavior, also known as "domain bias." Marketers are feeling the repercussions, as it becomes more difficult for lesser-known domains to battle big brands in search results.

To remedy this, Roger Dooley (@rogerdooley) offers a few tips to build your domain as a brand:

If you have a well-known domain, boost it further by adding content and using good SEO strategies.
For unknown domains, work to improve rankings and information displayed in search results to drive clicks more organically.
Note that if you’re considering a microsite, credibility is usually higher on trusted domains.

A great way to expand your brand reach at any stage in the game is with link building. Mirroring Oli Gardner’s The Noob Guide to Online Marketing, Michael King (@ipullrank) aims to create an equally helpful companion resource, The Noob Guide to Link Building. Within it, King outlines a six-month link-building and off-page optimization action plan, including links to two SEO-related PDF guides for download.

Overall, there’s one general takeaway from the guide: to build solid links, either make news or make friends. It’s a great reference to bookmark for anytime a refresher is needed.

Content Marketing

As Dooley mentions, content can be extremely effective in helping grow your brand and increase site traffic. Effective content improves SEO posture, avoiding negative impacts of Google algorithm updates that aim to penalize sites rife with spam and black-hat SEO, and reward the sites that provide the best information.

Amrit Hallan (@amrithallan) offers the following content recommendations to improve search rankings and strengthen your online presence:

Avoid “keyword stuffing,” and only use keywords when needed; instead focus on content quality, value and usefulness.
Create engaging content that gets people involved in forums, blog commenting sections, and on social networks.
Think of additional ways to give your content legs like guest blog posts, email newsletter campaigns, etc.

After you’ve composed an awesome content piece, take note of how to properly optimize your headlines for Google without sacrificing creativity.

Business & Innovation

Do you remember when AOL was the craze of the 90s? While AOL’s business model is quite different than Facebook’s, David Copeland (@CopesWrites) draws a number of parallels between the two companies, and how AOL’s downfall could be a premonition of Facebook’s future as it prepares to go public.

What is it that could take Facebook down? Likely, a more innovative player. Philip Auerswald (@auerswald) gives his insightful opinion on how organizations can run with their innovations—succeeding even against bigger, richer incumbents—with clever marketing and customer evangelism.

Google Headlines

Google commissioned a report that addresses the issues of regulating search results and potential anti-trust allegations. While Google has previously claimed its search results are neutral, it is now banking on the argument that search rankings are a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment, and can prioritize its products in search.
A follow-up to testing in November, Google continues to work on its sourcing section (where ads usually appear), which is a new format containing direct answers to search queries.

News

On May 8, 2012, The Netherlands became the first European country to protect its citizens with net neutrality laws, which include privacy protection against wiretapping and disconnection by ISPs.
Last week, Visa and MasterCard launched online digital wallet services, V.me and PayPass Wallet Services, in hopes to become the credit card of choice for digital transactions.

Studies & Stats

A new study by the Pew Research Center says that check-in service usage has more than doubled in the past nine months.
According to a recent survey by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, more businesses and agencies are turning their backs on blogging, and focusing their efforts more on social media platforms.
In a B2C study, the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) found that consumers feel overwhelmed with information, and usually want less of it. Findings of the study echo a disconnect between marketers seeking brand engagement and buyers simply wanting ease of use, which may introduce a “less is more” marketing approach.

What articles made your top list last week? We’d like to hear your opinions.

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Blogging + PR = Love

Tracy DiMarino — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:18:57 -0400

In his article, Public Relations is not the Same as Media Relations, David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) explains how organizations no longer need to rely on mainstream media to tell their stories. He says:

“Many PR professionals still operate as if their only conduit is mainstream media ... [However] In this new world, smart PR pros realize they have a tremendous opportunity if they can effectively communicate directly with the public. They are transforming themselves into content creators.”

At PR 20/20, we think David is right on the money. By marrying blogging and traditional PR, you can:

Share your story direct with target audiences, bloggers and reporters, and
Build and nurture personal relationships with these individuals.

Read on for tips on how to create the perfect content/PR love affair.

Communicate Directly with Your Audience

A blog provides you with an opportunity to communicate directly with your target audiences (customers, prospects, employees, investors, etc.), without having to rely on traditional media to relay the story for you.

By publishing your news, insights and stance on topics and trends relevant to your audiences online, you can guarantee that you are part of these critical conversations.

Share your posts, as relevant, in online social communities and with your customers and prospects to amplify your reach and thought leadership. For example:

Link to posts within related answers on LinkedIn and Q&A websites.
Share posts via social networks to promote them to your community.
Reference posts in blog comments.
Email posts directly to those who may be interested in the topic / your stance.

An added benefit is that traditional media often rely on the Internet for story research. Therefore, blogging about a particular topic increases the likelihood that reporters will find, and potentially cover, your point of view.

Support Media Pitches and Speaking Applications

As we mentioned in our blog post, How to Use Content to Propel Public Relations, blog posts can be used to demonstrate your expertise in a particular subject, making media and speaking pitches stronger.

For example, at PR 20/20, we used the blog post, Pinterest: An Introduction for Marketers, to demonstrate our knowledge on the emerging social network and land a spot on Cleveland morning show, Good Company.

Nurture Influencer Relationships

Blogging, paired with social networking, provides an additional avenue for more personal outreach and relationship building. Examples include:

If a reporter or blogger writes a story or blog post relevant to your company or areas of expertise, respond. Leave a comment with your own take on the topic, and a link to relevant blog posts you have written. This will make the writer more familiar with your company and stance for future stories.
When writing posts, source reporters and bloggers with links back to their stories. If actively monitoring their name and inbound links, media will find your post—again improving brand awareness. Note: PR 20/20 commonly links to trusted media and bloggers in our weekly curated posts to not only share great information with our community, but also to connect with the writers themselves.
When sharing posts on social networks that were heavily influenced by or source influencers, be sure to tag the individuals in your updates.

By regularly sourcing, sharing and commenting on influencer content, you demonstrate that you are an avid reader/watcher/listener, and view them as a trusted resource. This way, if you reach out the reporter down the road, they are already familiar with you and your company; increasing the odds they will be receptive of your pitch.

Reach New Audiences with Guest Articles

Sometimes publications and popular blogs don’t have the time or staff available to cover a particular story (no matter how enticing the topic is), or are looking for an insider’s perspective. To support their content, they may accept guest blog posts and articles from industry experts.

Research target publications and blogs to see if this opportunity exists, reach out to gauge interest with an abstract, and then pitch them full stories. (Be sure to adhere to writer’s guidelines when doing so.) Note: Even if your guest post isn’t accepted, you can still publish it on your own blog to get the message out.

What Strategies Do You Use?

How do you use blogging to support public relations? What successes have you seen? Comments welcome below.

Image Source: Aunt Owwee

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Wicked Simple Google Analytics Tip to Improve Your Content Strategy

Keith Moehring — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:27:39 -0400

Growing up, I loved The More You Know PSAs from NBC. They always featured my favorite television stars telling me how I could improve my life, and the world around me. I am only slightly exaggerating when I say they made me into the man I am today.

I believe it was either Scott Bakula or Tony Danza who once said that I should always look for opportunities to give back to my community. Being one to never disappoint my idols, I would like to offer my own The More You Know to the marketing community:

“Sure, metrics like top pages viewed, keyword search volume and social media shares can help you align content marketing efforts with audience need, but are you overlooking one of the most telling metrics—content interactions? Start tracking if visitors are downloading, playing, pausing, sharing or emailing your content today. The more you know about how your audiences consume your content, the more you know about how to market to them. The more you know.”

For more information on how you and your friends can start tracking content interactions in Google Analytics to improve your content marketing efforts, please visit the rest of this post.

Events v. Virtual Pageviews

Google Analytics offers two ways to track content interactions: Events and Virtual Pageviews.

Having used both, in most content marketing cases, I recommend Events because they let you easily capture valuable details—such as content topic, format, visitor action, and value—with each click on your content. Also:

Virtual Pageviews can artificially inflate pages per visit and total pageviews.
Events have pre-built reports within Google Analytics that are easier to dissect and analyze.

For details on how to set up Events within Google Analytics, read Google’s instructions here.

Create a Content Tracking System

Before setting up content interaction events throughout your site, it’s important to first establish a content tracking system—a set of rules that guide how to track visitor content interactions. Google Events offer several tracking variables—category, action, label and value—to help you create this system.

Category: Content format (e.g. ebook, sell sheet, white paper, video, presentation, coupon).

Action: How users interact with the content (e.g. download, play, pause, share, email). This is the one variable that can be applied multiple times to one piece of content. For example, a video of product X can be played, paused and shared.

Label: Indicator for you to know which specific content piece was interacted with . For example, “Ultimate Guide to Product X” may be labeled “Product X guide”.

Value: Assign a specific number or dollar value to the content interaction. For example, if you know that 20% of coupon downloads result in an average sale of $100, you may choose to assign the event a value of $20.

However you set your content tracking system up, make sure to keep things simple and straightforward, and write it down for future reference.

User-Focused Content Strategy

The insight provided by well-tracked content interactions—combined with other Google Analytic metrics like top pages viewed and organic keyword visits—provides you with the information you need to craft a user-focused content marketing strategy.

Through how they interact with your website and content, your audiences show you how they want to be marketed to, what they find value in, and what it takes to convert them into a lead. You can then use this insight to:

Create content in the formats (i.e. ebooks, case studies, coupons, white papers, video, etc.) your audiences prefer.
Generate new topic ideas based on the popularity of existing content.
Concentrate efforts on creating the content resources that drive the most conversions (i.e. coupons, ebooks, videos, brochures, etc.).
Publish the content topics and formats that are proven to be highly sharable on social media, and linked to from other sites.
Associate an anticipated ROI with your content marketing efforts to show value to your boss or clients. Note: To properly track ROI you’ll need a closed-loop reporting system that connects website analytics with a CRM.

Remember, the more you know about what content your audiences want, the more you know how to market to them.

What do you know about your site visitors’ content interactions?

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(Image Source: NBC's The More You Know)