The Marketing Blog

Making Friends: Social Media Meets Facebook

2012-01-26T20:39:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you but it seems like everywhere you turn someone is talking about Facebook. Individuals, companies, organizations - just about everybody has a Facebook account or fan page. From a marketing perspective, Facebook has always fascinated me and I've come to the conclusion that it's all about community.

People like to belong. When you belong to a group, Like a page, or follow someone, it has meaning. Many people like to judge their worth by the number of Facebook fans they have or number of Likes they receive to their pages. This seems to be a good metric. After all, the more fans or likes you have the more popular you are. Sounds a little like High School doesn't it? Well, the fascination with Facebook is here to stay and there are a few ways to use Facebook to your advantage. Begin with the following steps:

1. Create a Fan Page. Start with the creation of a fan page. By developing this virtual real estate, you create a community that allows your prospects, customers, and friends to interact, develop user generated content, and gain access to special offers.

2. Build Your Community. Having a fan page is great but the real goal is to build a community. You want people with common interests to interact with one another. The common interest could be you, your company or products.

3. Create Unique Offers. You want those who Like your page or become your fans to have access to special content or offers. This not only encourages them to take an initial action but to keep coming back for more.

4. Experiment with New Features. Facebook is continually adding new features and modules. Experiment by customizing your pages and adding a variety of features that engage your audience and enhances the community.

5. Promote your Fan page. If you want to build your community quickly and leverage your fans, you must promote your fan page. Use your website, blog, emails, and email signature to let people know that you have a fan page and there are benefits to joining. The more you promote, the more you'll convert.

The key with any social media is getting started and to keep contributing. Once you launch your fan page, don't stop there. You should continually develop the community through original contributions, moderation, and interactivity. View other fan pages and see how other companies are creating value.

When focusing on creating value, keep in mind the goal of your fans. Help them solve a problem or learn more about their needs. Facebook is a great tool for getting closer to your prospects and customers and is a community you can't afford to be without.

Recovering from a Social Media Mishap

2012-01-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

The new year has been here a little over a week, and already we have seen some major social media fails. Pappa John's is currently on the chopping block for an inappropriate comment written on a receipt that later went viral on Twitter, and several large companies including Chrysler, Kenneth Cole, and Domino's all had grand fails in 2011.

And there is no doubt that there will be countless more social media fails by other companies before the year is up. However, while the social media failure may be inevitable for both companies large and small, that doesn't mean that they have to be the end of the line for reputable brands. We all slip up from time to time, your attempt at recovery can be the determinate between whether or not your public will forgive and forget or will crust your business. So if you find yourself with a social media failure on your hands, try to adhere to the following steps to achieve the best recovery possible:

Remain Calm
Once you click submit, there isn't much that you can do to remove it forever from the internet. So if you find yourself staring at an inappropriate post or Tweet, stay calm. Panicking in this situation will not help you in anyway shape or form.

Acknowledge What You Have Done
One you have realized that you have committed a social media fail, you need to take the time to actually realize and consider what you have done. Have you made an inappropriate comment regarding an event or have you made a derogatory Tweet aimed at a certain group of people? Either way, you need to figure out just what type of social media disaster you have created so you can...

Realize Who You've Offended
Never start blindly apologizing, and certainly don't hand out gimmicks as an apology. Keep the personalized pens for marketing, not apologizing. You always need to figure out what you have done and who you have apologized first. So after you have acknowledged just what you have done, you need to figure out exactly what group or groups of people you have offended.

Start Apologizing
Once you know who you have offended and how you have offended them, it is time to start apologizing, and you want to do so in a very polite and timely manner. Make sure the you come across as sincere, offer time so that those offended can offer insight, and then do anything possible to remedy the situation.

Prepare for the Long Haul
Your battle doesn't end simply because you have apologized. Depending on the severity of your social media mishap, your business could see effects linger for months. If you want to experience a complete recovery, however, you need to expect the going to be slow at first. You most likely lost the trust of your customers and they are going to want to see that you can conduct business as usual before giving you their patronage again.

A social media mishap can definitely be devastating, but it doesn't have to be the end. If you find yourself in the midst of one, simply keep calm and begin the recovery process as quickest as possible to reduce damage.

Today's guest post provided by Jenna Smith. Jenna is a journalism student at Saint Louis University. Upon graduation, she hopes to travel the world while producing compelling content for the masses. When she isn't writing, you can find Jenna with her nose in a book, or her headphones in to block out the rest of the world. Thanks for your contribution to the marketing blog Jenna!

Creating An Online Marketing Community

2012-01-12T21:34:00.000-05:00

A little over a year ago, I set out to build an online marketing community. And honestly, a lot of people thought I was nuts. With social media ruling the day, creating an online community could be considered old-school. But the reality is that social media has only raised the awareness of the importance of community... even in marketing.

Last year I launched the Internet Marketing Forum. The goal was simple, "Give a platform to marketers that allows them to share ideas, contribute, and build a real community." And I'm happy to say, a year later, The Marketing Forum has just surpassed 4,000 members. Yeah, I'm pretty pumped.

The Marketing Forum has a number of sub-forums covering everything from Internet marketing to general chat. You'll find threads and posts covering the following areas:

-Internet Marketing Forum
-Special Offers Forum
-Search Engine Optimization
-Adwords/PPC/SEM Forum
-Social Media Forum
-Affiliate Programs
-Internet Marketing Product Reviews & Ratings
-Marketing Classifieds
-Domains For Sale
-Internet Marketers For Hire
-HTML & Web Design
-Graphics & Multi-Media
-Content Management
-Web Site Programming
-General Chat
-Local Meetings, Mastermind Groups, And Events

As you can see, we cover virtually ever topic you can image and I'm so excited by the dialog that happens each and every day across these forums. Because the forum is moderated, you'll find only engaging conversations and growing list of contributors.

Help us reach our next goal of 5,000 and then 10,000 members. Join today!

Changes to the Marketing Blog in 2012

2012-01-08T17:57:00.004-05:00

Each new year brings new opportunities and new ideas. This year is no exception. In fact, I've been spending quite a bit of time thinking about The Marketing Blog and the changes that can benefit those who read the blog as well as the advertisers that want to reach you. For those of you who follow my blog, you know that I'm a minimalist when it comes to advertising and I have turned down many advertisers in the past.

Even since the days when I started with online marketing, I've been very careful never to sell names or deal with unscrupulous advertisers. As a result, people trust me and the content on my blog. This is important to me and everyone in our community. I'm always looking for ways to connect audiences with information that may be beneficial though- and this year I'll be updating the blog to bring you more of what you want.

Changes to Design

Overall I'm pretty happy with the design of the Marketing Blog. What's nice about having your own blog is that you can keep tweaking it until you have something you're really happy with. I've avoided the "templated" approach as I want something unique that you won't find anywhere else.

My plan is to add some advertising units or take the display ads I currently have for my own services and open them up to more advertisers who provide relevant products and services to the marketing community. I'm considering some self-service type solutions to provide the flexibility needed to create a win-win situation for everyone.

Additional Content

I'd also like to experiment with additional content. Whether it's adding access to special reports, marketing magazines, or resources, additional content is important to keep everyone informed about today's marketing landscape.

I'm also looking for more guest posts this year. I can sit here and write content everyday all day but no one is an expert on everything. This is especially true when it comes to marketing. This year I'll be doing more to attract some of today's leading marketing experts and hope you find the additional content worthwhile.

What's Your Role

I love hearing from all of you - my blog readers. Let me know what additional content, features, and information you're looking for me to cover this year and I'll find the experts to educate all of us across any marketing related topic. From mobile marketing to loyalty programs, The Marketing Blog has it covered.

Effective Marketing Strategies For Building Your Business

2012-01-02T11:03:00.000-05:00

One frequently overlooked aspect of marketing is the concept of the loyalty program. There are many different types of loyalty programs but I think the most important aspect is all about generating repeat business. This is essential if you want to win in 2012.

As I was thinking about the new year, and all of the businesses (large and small) that I've helped over the past number years - I couldn't help but think about those businesses that do such a fabulous job of getting people to use their services products again and again.

Let's take a look at a local hotel that just opened it's doors a couple of years ago near my home. This hotel is part of a chain and is in an ideal location for out of town guests. As my family plans events we consider and use this hotel for relatives on a pretty regular basis. This hotel is not the only game in town but they do a decent job at a reasonable price and the location is convenient.

Who is your customer?

There are really two separate audiences this hotel is catering to. The first audience is comprised of people like me who are using the hotel to solve a problem. My issue is simple - relatives are coming and we need the space. There aren't a whole lot of options to solving this problem and the hotel is in tune with my needs.

The second audience is the guest themselves. Not only must the hotel recognize my needs as a consumer, but they must ensure that the guest who stays at the hotel has everything they need to guarantee a pleasant stay.

Now you might be saying that the first audience is more important to the hotel. And I would agree that your biggest customers - those who purchase often - are definitely important. I'd also like to suggest that the second audience, the guest, is equally important because by delivering exceptional service there are many additional benefits to be gained.

Businesses will win or lose based on word-of-mouth marketing.

Whether it's social media or face to face interactions, we like to talk about our experiences. In this example, the guest, is going to have an experience at the hotel. If it's okay, they'll move on and probably won't even remember the name of the hotel. If the experience is good, they may call me at some point in the future and say, "What was the name of that hotel we stayed at when we came to visit?" If the experience was exceptional, they'll not only remember the name of the hotel but recommend it to others and/or select it as their first choice each time they come to visit.

As you can see, getting new customers is only half the battle. Once you have a customer, it's important to exceed expectations. This is the best way to grow your business. That is, unless you have millions to send on advertising. Even so, if you want to make the most of your marketing dollars, you must focus on creating an amazing experience to build referrals and repeat business.

The businesses, large and small, who do this on a consistent basis are winning, and winning big. This is why I frequent the stores I do and I'm sure it's a large reason why you keep going back to many of the same retailers, websites, or other businesses that you interact with on a daily basis. Sometimes your purchases are driven out of convenience but I would suggest that your repeat purchases are based on a positive user experience.

Site Load Speed and San Diego SEO

2011-12-22T20:31:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you're thinking... "What does site load speed and my search engine rankings have in common?" Well, the answer is actually related to Google Analytics and site monitoring. As a successful webmaster with a ton of traffic, I've known for a long time that site load speed is a fundamental component of Google rankings. In fact, it's been one of the most importants aspect of rankings for many years.

However, Google has not always been vocal about the weight or importance of site load speed as a factor within their algorithm. I believe this is largely due to the importance of site load speed as a ranking factor. Admitting just how important it is would be like showing their cards at the table.

Now that the Google algorithm has been impacted by so many changes (Google caffeine, Instant, Panda, etc.), I believe they are ready to share what they know. My friends at a well-known San Diego SEO firm have been tracking the importance of site load speed with a number of their clients over an extended period of time and have seen significant improvements in search results when sites render more quickly.

They've used this experience to build sites like www.rankmywebsite.net to leverage their know-how and help small business owners succeed online. Using real data is truly the only way to see the impact of this ranking factor and these guys are industry experts who know what works because they’re testing around the clock.

So, how does this affect your site? Two words: Google Analytics. Eight out of ten of the world’s leading sites run it and if it’s free. Google Analytics provides invaluable insight by measuring every metric imaginable and delivering the data in a format that’s easy to understand. Recently, Google added Site Load Speed to the analytics category available through your account. The video in this post will teach you to access this information and make use of it for analyzing the speed of your site. A good measuring stick for site speed is to see how your site measures up against the frontrunners in your niche, which this software does for free (and pretty accurately). The faster your site loads in comparison to competing sites, the greater weight Google will give your site.

Finally, an important caveat to always consider when trying to improve your website visibility is that Google will never publish their proprietary formula for delivering search results; if they did, they would reveal the secrets that make their search results so accurate and most of what you’d see would be spam or low quality content. The best determinant of what works is simply testing everything you do. Keeping good records and regularly analyzing your on-site and off-site search engine optimization efforts will pay dividends that far outweigh the extra time it takes to do so.

Growth In Mobile Marketing

2011-12-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

We've heard about it for years, but it seems that 2011 might be the year that mobile marketing finally grows up and plays with the big boys. Over the past year, growth in mobile marketing has risen dramatically on many fronts. With apps, mobile search advertising and now retail, the mobile marketing space is delivering the numbers (and revenues).

In today's guest post, Pavel Webb from TextMagic gives us some global insights into mobile marketing. If you're not using mobile as a marketer just yet, consider how quickly this marketing channel is moving.

Let's have a look at what's happening in mobile marketing.
Everywhere you look you see more on the power of mobile marketing. As a field, mobile marketing has been growing faster than almost any other marketing segment from both a user and advertising standpoint. Until now yo may have been considering mobile marketing but haven't yet integrated it into your marketing mix. There are a number of ways to get started and the best way is to see what industry leading brands are doing.

Brands are creating their own apps
With over 300,000 apps developed in the last three years and with a predicted 29 billion app downloads this year alone, the demand for apps is rising and is expected to peak around 2013. Brands have realized the power of being able to push their content out to mobile users with many well-known retail companies, utilities and restaurant chains jumping onto the handset with their own branded apps.

Mobile advertising
Mobile advertising spend worldwide is expected to break US$3.3billion by the end of 2011 and is predicted to rise to a massive US$20.6 billion by 2015. The main gainers here are in mobile paid search advertising and local mobile ads. In the US, over half of all mobile ad spending is on local search ads.
Of course, Google is at the forefront of pushing this growth, recently announcing that mobile website quality is now a ranking factor in their AdWords mobile ad ranking. They have even gone so far as to invest in a whole site dedicated to helping businesses 'go mobile' (HowToGoMo.com) by optimizing their websites and advertising. Interestingly, in Germany mobile web advertising remains the most effective form of mobile advertising.

SMS marketing
2011 marks a banner year for SMS, with over 8 trillion SMS messages predicted to be exchanged by the end of the year. For marketers, SMS remains a popular choice, especially as it reaches nearly all the 4 billion handsets out there.

SMS marketing is most effectively used as a way to engage customers by offering a level of service via reminders, notices and coupon codes. As well, various countries show a preference for opt-in SMS marketing, especially the UK and France.

Retail now biggest growth category
Although not specifically advertising, we thought it was worth mentioning the massive change in user behavior, because this is where the advertising spend in 2012 will likely focus. According to eMarketer, mobile retail use over the past year has risen an astonishing 95% rise among US mobile users.

What's more important for retailers and marketers to pay attention to is why those users are visiting mobile retail sites. The same study revealed among mobile users visiting retail sites:
- 46% are researching prices
- 36% are looking for coupons or promotions
- 28% are researching new products
- 13% purchased a product
No doubt that tablet use, like Apple's iPad, are pushing these numbers upwards and it's not going to slow down any time soon as mobile internet use is predicted to surpass desktop internet use some time in 2014.

About the Author: Pavel Webb is the affiliate manager at TextMagic, a company based in United Kingdom, which provides SMS API for businesses and developers.

10 Steps to Succeeding With Product Videos

2011-12-11T18:17:00.001-05:00

Video is everywhere we look today. Youtube, Vimeo, and other video sites are becoming larger than Google itself and even appear in search results. That's why, when I wanted information on how to create an amazing video to promote my products, I turned to Dan Clark, a friend and Creative Director of InterplayAgency, a leading product video production company in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In this guest post, Dan share's his best strategies for creating effective product videos. Special thanks to Dan for sharing these amazing tips...

Building an effective product movie can at first seem like a daunting task. Where do you start? What should go in it? How long should it be? For answers to those questions and more, I’ve assembled a step-by-step process that you can follow to make better online videos…

1. Understand your audience.
Who are they and what do they need? What makes you think your solution is what they want? Understanding the audience is paramount to providing a relevant product video. To successfully complete this step, you need to think “from the outside in”, put yourself in their shoes.

If it’s an enterprise solution…

-Think about the people in the buying group and with whom you most want to speak. For instance, decide which level of the organization (role or title) is most likely to be seeking information about your solution and speak directly to them and get them excited. As the movie progresses, you can describe how the solution impacts other roles so the movie gets shared and everyone is driven toward your way of thinking.

-Think about how they encounter the video (where they learned about it), which will influence how you introduce it. For instance, if your product helps them to accomplish a specific task, and they’ve likely searched Google using terms about that task, you can dive right into how the video helps to do just that. But if they hear about your new way of tracking sales via mobile phone (or some other similarly vague frame of reference), you might need to step back a bit and talk about the overall business challenge first, then describe how your solution helps to overcome it.

-Think about what they might be most interested in, which will influence what you highlight in the movie. For instance, if you’re pretty sure they’re going to find you via keyword searching, you can probably dive into the product and how it helps them to accomplish a task. But if they are simply clicking around, reading blogs about your space, linking from social networks, etc. then you might need to frame the story from a high level before going into specific accomplishments that the solution delivers. Once you’ve described the overall context, you can drive them toward what they can accomplish. This is great because you can “own” the conversation and drive them toward your way of thinking.

If it’s a consumer product…

-Focus on things that will get them excited about using it.

-Talk about them and their needs in a personal way. If you’re passionate about it, most likely they will be too.

-Since you’re speaking directly to the buyer, you can be casual about it. Use simple language and make it quick. If you’re not shy, you might even just use your own face on a webcam. If you are shy, hire a narrator but keep the simple, casual language. To help with writing such a script, imagine you’re at the grocery store and you run into a friend who is obviously in a hurry but wants to catch up. Imagine yourself telling that person all about your cool new product. You’d have to do it quickly. But at the same time, you’re not necessarily trying to sell it to them so the resulting script will not pressure the buyer into anything. Yes, it should have a call-to-action at the end, but don’t be too aggressive. It’s more important to be authentic than it is to be selling.

2. Look at your competitors.

Look at their web sites, analyze their demos, read their collateral and news. Most importantly though, look at their customers. See if you can glean some information about why they became customers, what the customer got out of working with them. Customer case studies are the best source for this intelligence so read every one you can get your hands on. And when you look at their videos, pay attention to the things they feature. Do they highlight features and functions, or do they highlight higher-level business benefits? If their video is all about features and functions, you have an opportunity to elevate the message and appeal higher on the org chart. If they highlight business benefits, make sure you don’t say the same things and see if you can change the conversation to your benefit or box them into thinking small while you think big.

3. Set your objectives.

Only when you have a clear understanding of what you plan to gain from your product video will you be able to create one that works well. For instance, if you’re in a mature business and are racing against competitors based on features, your movie should probably dive right into the product and highlight the differentiators. By contrast, if you’re revolutionizing an industry or creating a completely new one, you’ll likely have to educate the audience about that change in a business case movie.

Decide what you want them to do at the end of the movie. If you want them to pick up the phone to set up a live demo (to discuss integration and other complexities), present various ways to help them do this such as a link to a form page, 800-number, email, etc. But if your solution is so easy to purchase they can just fill out a form, make the link to that form the only thing they can see/do when the video ends.

Recognizing what you want people to do at the end of the movie often affects what you’ll say at the beginning so the end is a great place to start. For instance, if you have a complex solution that requires a phone call for more information, you’ll want to be sure your movie doesn’t get too deep into complexities (which makes it longer) during the movie so that the prospect is enticed by the possibilities; you’ll merely propose organizational benefit. Conversely, if you want people to fill in a form and buy now, the movie should be all about what they get from it on a personal level.

4. Look at what’s out there.

Choosing a presentation style can be tough. You can use cartoons, photography, illustration, charts & graphs, screen shots, 3D, live actors, and on and on. How do you choose? For that answer, again, consider your audience and what they’re currently exposed to and what you think might excite them.

So, in addition to videos from other companies in your space, you should look at everything out there so you have a good sense of what’s possible. The more you expose yourself to, the better you will know what you want. There are a lot of companies that provide awesome product movies so, in addition a directory of my own favorite production companies, here are a couple places you can go that list some of the most experienced firms…

Start Up Videos is a web site run by the good folks at ThinkMojo.com. They are a production company and run this site that lists additional great firms who specialize in movies for start-up companies.

50Grove.com is a web site run by my friends at Wistia. They are a video streaming service provider and run 50Grove to showcase some top-tier production companies sorted by cost.

But, really, the best place to look is to narrow your exposure to videos that are within your industry, to consider your audience first. For instance, if everyone in your industry is posting videos that use stock photography and stale corporate graphics, that might be a clue that respectability is an issue, that they respond well to conservative imagery. On the other hand, it can also mean an opportunity to break new ground and really stand out with 3D or, dare I say it, cartoons. Likewise, if cartoons are the norm, you might think about live actors or some other more creative format.

Be sure to bookmark your favorite ones, you’ll need them later.

5. Decide on a story format.

There is a limitless array of ways to tell your story. The best way for you really just comes down to what you think will best excite your audience and frame your solution so that your prospects think the way you want them to. Some examples include:

-Features & functions – but it should always include some context about how it’s used and the company’s reputation

-Challenge, Solution, Result – this is the best way to describe new inventions and groundbreaking solutions, everyone “gets” it

-A day in the life – follows a person or a couple of people, a fun little story unfolds

-Spokesperson – affordable to produce using web talent but more involved and expensive if you want to use your staff or actors because it requires a video/audio crew

-Customer case study – got an amazing success story? Turn it into a movie

-Beauty shots & special effects – most appropriate for consumer audiences, particularly when building a brand

6. Write an outline.

Now that you know basically what you want to say, write up an outline. All you need is the basic framework at this point, bullet points from start to finish. This will be an easy way to brainstorm it and get buy-in from others. A traditional framework this goes like this: 1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them, 2. Tell them, 3. Tell them what you just told them. But these days, especially on the web and in video, you shouldn’t bother with the first and last points – just tell them. It should still have an introduction, a body and a conclusion but don’t repeat yourself in those three parts.

Even if you dive right into the solution and show how it works or how it accomplishes a specific task, you should always preface it with why it exists, why they should care. This can be very quick. It’s necessary because you have no idea how they might have come across your movie and you want to frame the conversation correctly.

Include bookmarks in your outline (the ones you bookmarked previously) to give a visual frame of reference for yourself and others.

Don’t bother including specific visuals, just focus on the story you want to tell. Images will merely cloud your ultimate goal at this point.

And please, by all means, make sure you get them excited in the first 10 seconds.

7. Write the script.

Once you know all the parts of your story and the basic flow, you need to fill in the outline with actual words. Most people dive right into visuals but you should continue to avoid this temptation until you know what you want to say. The script drives the whole thing. Let me repeat that: the script drives the whole thing. So make sure you get the script right first. (You’ll have plenty of opportunities to fine-tune it as you go, but it is the central driver, so spend some quality time with your word processor. It will pay off in the long run.) You should also try to keep each topic to a single sentence to force yourself into delivering a brief video.

Speak your script out loud. This will help you to refine it for the spoken word (which is quite different than the same thoughts when read silently). And watch the clock or use a stopwatch to make sure your script is nice and short. You might be surprised at how long the written word takes to speak and how differently it sounds compared to read silently. It also helps to record it and listen to yourself after, to make sure you get right to the point and sound conversational and not robotic.

The length of your video is entirely up to you but, take my advice, make it short. I hear companies all the time say that they want their video to be 3 minutes and, inevitably, it comes out to 4 or more. But more and more, movies need to come in even shorter, like 1 minute. How in the world can you shrink your entire business strategy and product overview into 1 minute? It isn’t easy and you might need to hire a pro. My best advice is to do everything you can to shrink sentences, condense thoughts, put text on-screen while you say something else, and rely on visuals to say things for you. But most of all, stay focused on step 1 above and make sure you serve up what your audience craves. Just make sure you do it really quickly.

8. Build the storyboard.

This is the most critical, and probably the most difficult, step in the entire process. (I’m pretty sure the difficulty of this task is why I have a job.) Connecting visuals to concepts is an art form but that doesn’t mean you have to be an artist to do it well.

Before you go and scour the web for visuals, it helps tremendously to make some notes of visuals that will work in the script. What I do is make a two-column layout in Word with the script in the left column and visual ideas in the corresponding right column. This saves you tons of time looking for images and gives you a chance to get buy-in quickly. It’s just a great way to think about your video from a visual standpoint before investing a bunch of time in actually finding and formatting anything.

First, put the script into PowerPoint (or Keynote or whatever) and put it into the notes section with one sentence on each slide. Read the first line of your script. Does it introduce the company? Show the logo. Does it introduce a person? Show that person. Go to iStockPhoto and enter keywords for that person such as, “businessman cell phone” or “customer service woman.” If you’re not finding the perfect image, try GettyImages but be prepared to pay more.

If you go with stock visuals (photography, illustration, and video), create an account and save any images you might use in a light box. Once you see something you like, copy and paste it into PowerPoint. This is the quickest way to get images into PowerPoint. But since your copy will no longer be associated with the image, you’ll want to have them all saved on the stock site so you can easily get to them again later.

I’ll be frank: graphics can be very frustrating. I have over 20 years of experience with computer graphics and even I am challenged by some situations. So, if ever, this is a great time to hire a professional graphic designer. They’ll format the art so it looks right in the storyboard, they’ll tune things to match your brand, they’ll make your life easy. I cannot recommend highly enough the value they bring. Not only will they make this part easier, they’ll let you focus on the story, which is really what matters.

Moving deeper into the story… Does your solution fit into a grander scheme? Develop a diagram that shows the fit or find stock imagery for your industry. You can also find great icons and illustrations at iStock that can liven up any video. And remember: anything you create or purchase here can be used elsewhere in your marketing materials so putting a little extra effort into this a win-win.

Add text on-screen to add interest. Use really big text to make an impact and keep it to just a few words. You can show customer quotes but only use really short ones. This is also a great way shrink durations because you can say one thing in the narration while you put supporting—but different—text on-screen to get two points across without growing the length of the video.

This one topic could be an entire book all by itself and, unfortunately, I don’t have the space here to really do it justice. Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte is an excellent resource for building powerful presentations (albeit for personal presentations, but the lessons still apply). And all of Edward Tufte’s books on information graphics are excellent. Software companies can get some great tips from Great Demo! by Peter Cohan that apply to online demos.

As a rule of thumb, to keep the audience engaged, you should have at least one visual per sentence in the script.

As you develop the storyboard, you likely will adjust the script. So again, as you develop the storyboard, read the script out loud to make sure the video doesn’t grow too much.

Once your storyboard is done, pull the script out of your presentation program and put it all into a single text document. This will give you another chance to refine the language for the narrator.

9. Hire a narrator.

No matter how you produce your video (what it finally looks like), hiring a professional narrator makes the biggest impact to your audience. A dull voice can bring down even the most elegant visuals. Your significant other may have a beautiful voice but nothing beats the pacing and intonation of an expert. You can review some of the talent I work with at ReadyDemo dot com and I would be happy to provide their contact info. An even better place is at voice123 dot com but you’ll have to pay them a little booking fee. Regardless of where you find them, plan to pay around $500 per session. Some folks charge as much as $1,500 or more (because they’re hot-shot Hollywood or radio personalities) so check prices first. Slight modifications afterwards are usually included but it’s best to nail your script so you don’t have to go back to them.

The choice between male and female is completely subjective (aside from the obvious requirement for such situations as gender-specific consumer products) and entirely up to what you think your audience would most appreciate and identify with. If you have the budget, you can create two movies: one with a male voice and the other female, and A/B test their success rates.

While most professional narrators are in a union, those who provide recordings for use on the Internet are not required to be associated as such.

All that being said about hiring a professional, some companies are opting for the casualness of non-professionals. In fact, I did the narration myself for Accompa and Comunitee. Some very successful creative firms have built their entire businesses on not using professionals because the homegrown look and feel appeals to many audiences these days. For some products and audiences, the authenticity of a “personal friend” works very well. So, while I recommend using professionals for most projects, they are not necessary. If you go the non-professional route, make sure they provide a clean recording (not muffled and no pops or static), use a high-quality microphone, and don’t stumble on any words. Casual and conversational is one thing, lousy audio is quite another.

10. Build the final file.

Aside from building the storyboard, this is the most challenging step. (Another reason why I have a job.) But, do-it-yourself software is quite good and easy to use, if you have the time and patience to learn them. For instance, if your video is for a software application, you can capture real-time screen activity and add narration to it using Camtasia or Captivate and it will work just fine for many situations You can also convert a PowerPoint or Keynote file to a Flash movie and add narration. And there are alternatives to Flash such as Flypaper.com. I have never personally produced a movie using any of these tools but they look great.

At the polar opposite of DIY software are professional packages such as Adobe After Effects, Flash and Premiere and Apple Final Cut Pro. With them (depending on the application) you can create 3D worlds, use multiple cameras and lights, add soft blur motion effects, the sky is the limit! And, if you're feeling really ambitious, you can use Maya for mind-blowing special effects and true 3D scenes such as "Toy Story"-level animation. But be warned, these programs are very advanced and often rely on other programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator for a polished look. So take the learning curve into careful consideration before attempting to build your video in any of these applications. It’s best for graphics novices to hire a professional for truly professional work, which allows you to focus on strategy and creating a compelling story that will attract customers.

Dan Clark is the owner and Creative Director of InterplayAgency.com, a leading product video production company in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Pitfalls of User-Testing: Learn Them Here

2011-12-03T13:19:00.001-05:00

As someone who always dreaded "market research" and data, I have to say that over the years I've become much more appreciative of marketing metrics. Most importantly, measuring consumer behavior, online and offline, has radically improved my marketing results. Enter the concept of user testing. In today's guest post Jason Thai explains user testing and the more common pitfalls associated with it.

User-Testing Overview

Anytime a web-based business releases a new feature, several issues pop up, keeping product managers tossing and turning at night:

· 1. Are there any glaring bugs with the new feature?

· 2. How will customers view the new feature?

· 3. Did we design the feature in the most customer-friendly way?

· 4. Does the new feature impact other unidentified areas in the site?

· 5. And most importantly, how will the feature impact overall conversion?

If only there was a way to test your products before launch… Luckily, several companies have built fantastic user-testing platforms, providing companies with a pool of unbiased respondents to provide feedback as if they were real customers. A lot of the sites offer great features such as video walk-throughs with step-by-step user interaction. Another great aspect of user testing is that there are few constraints on what you can test. A few of the tests we’ve run include:

· Testing preferences for before and after web page designs

· Testing the ease of our order flow process

· Testing the usability of new customer features

Also, user-testing is relatively inexpensive, making it a no-brainer for identifying pitfalls prior to product launch.

What Happens When User-Testing Results Go Against the Grain?

However, are the results of user-testing always gospel? We, at FoxTranslate, a certified translation service ran into that exact issue. A few months ago, we redesigned our homepage. We felt that the redesign more effectively conveyed our key service features and more professionally segmented the content.

Current Homepage	Redesigned Homepage

To validate our intuition, we ran user-testing to compare the two sites, expecting our redesigned homepage to be the clear champion. Unfortunately, the results of user-testing suggested otherwise.

User-Testing Results

If you needed a document translated,

which page would you more likely use?

Common Themes for Picking the Current Page

Here is the split between the "preferred" current page and the "preferred" redesign page.

“The current homepage feels more credible and has a more professional look”

“The current homepage feels more secure”

“The current homepage is much easier to navigate and gather information”

“The current homepage has a much better layout”

The results showed that users clearly preferred the current homepage, meaning it might be time to head back to the drawing board.

Call it stubbornness, but we proceeded to test the redesign on our actual customers using Google website optimizer. Google website optimizer tested the effectiveness of our new homepage by sending half our customers to the old homepage and half to the new homepage. From there, website optimizer calculated conversion rate (# of transaction made / site visitors) and revenue generated, allowing us to gauge which page lead to more transactions.

Results of Current vs. Redesigned Homepage Test

Redesigned Homepage Conversion Rate and
Transaction Size Improvement

Over the course of a month, our new homepage generated 17% more revenue vs. the current homepage on similar customer visits. 6% of the increase was due to more converting visitors and 11% of the increase was due to people spending more per transactions.

Our Learnings

So, why didn’t the actual results align with the results from user testing? Sometimes, it’s hard to replicate your customers – Regardless of the results; we are still advocates of user-testing. However, sometimes, it’s hard to find everyday people to replicate your customers. We’re not selling laundry detergent, so generic user panels can only tell us so much because they don’t exactly know what your customers care about.

About the Author: Jason Thai is a marketing manager for FoxTranslate, specializing in document translation of business, legal, immigration and academic documents in over 30 different languages.

The Latest In Social Media Websites: Introducing Pinterest

2011-12-02T08:27:00.001-05:00

Okay, here's a new one... a virtual pin board. I have to admit that I love learning about new social websites and online applications. When I heard about the latest edition to the emerging list of novel sites I had to turn to a fellow social media users to better understand what this was all about. This week, Lianne Froggatt tells us more about a new site that serves as a virtual pin board to collect everything beautiful or meaningful on the web.

I confess I am completely addicted to Pinterest. I think this may be the most compelled I have been to a social media site since MySpace first came on the scene back in my youth. However, since becoming embroiled in the world of online marketing and SEO, I can’t help but be drawn not only to the pretty pictures but the incredible potential that this site can offer.

Pinterest allows users to pin images from any site onto virtual boards under any topic from crafts to food. Described as a ‘virtual pinboard’, this image bookmarking site provides an interesting platform on which to create a buzz about a website and potentially lots of links back to it. As it currently stands, Pinterest allows followed links which means that every time something is pinned or re-pinned, the original source will receive a backlink to their domain from a powerful, authoritative website (unlike most other social media platforms)

Pinterest not only provides a bookmarklet that users can use to pin products and images whenever but there is also a Pin It button available for websites and blogs. The value of embracing Pinterest in this manner could be extremely beneficial for your company and social media profile.

Not only can Pinterest provide links in this fashion which proves extremely beneficial for search marketing, the very nature of the site is inherently different from the main other social network sites out there.

Twitter is getting better at displaying images, but is still very much a text based medium encouraging conversation and debate. Facebook has emphasized photo sharing to its user base, yet with the excellent tagging feature they put the focus firmly on the relationship between images and people. Facebook business pages can be brilliant for engagement and providing information about your company’s products and services, but Pinterest allows the emphasis to be primarily on the products.

Other sites that focus on images such as Flickr or Photobucket have a marked difference to Pinterest; the primary focus is on the organisation and sharing of your own photos as opposed to the Pinterest which encourages people to share anything that they like or enjoy. Sites like these also don’t have the visual impact of Pinterest which is minimal in terms of text or surrounding space- it is all about the images.

So, what can this innovative and exciting social media platform mean for your business? Many companies have already been utilising Pinterest, creating their own accounts and using this platform as a tool to promote their business, a good example being Warner Bros shop’s Pinterest boards.

So, as promised, here are five top tips for using Pinterest to help market your company:

1. For visual businesses a Pinterest account will simply be a brilliant online gallery of your work, be that photography, clothing or crafts and help create an awareness of your stuff. Make sure you update your boards regularly and keep the items you pin in keeping with the feel of the site. Hand out flyers in your shop or at your gallery opening complete with QR codes that will take people directly to your online gallery.
2. Create an ‘online catalog’ using different boards for different item groups and help your potential customers navigate around what you have to offer.
3. A Pinterest led marketing campaign would be a brilliant and unique way to promote your business. Create a hidden landing page on your site for an exclusive product that can only be accessed through the Pinterest link. Or run a teaser board in the run up to the launch of a new product or event, your pins alluding to what it could be and the final pin being a reveal. Having interesting boards will encourage people to follow them and share your content.
4. If you run a service as opposed to having products, take photos of your finished work, for example a hairdresser could create different boards of short styles, up do’s and so on. Currently Pinterest is mainly used by women so it will be particularly good for these types of services.
5. Get leaflets printed with QR codes linking directly to your boards. Hand them out at an opening or event, or simply have them lying around in your shop. Take your customers directly to your boards and keep your work in the forefront of their minds.

As a relative new-comer in the social media network for businesses, there is a real opportunity with Pinterest to create a unique and exciting buzz about your company. Currently the site is invitation only; you can request an invite or be invited by a current member. I do have a few invites left so feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email and I will send one over.

Happy Pinning!

This post is written by Lianne Froggatt, a fresh faced internet marketer at IdeasByNet, a UK promotional gifts distributor. Interested in social media marketing, SEO and general internet marketing, she would love your feedback. Find her at lianne.froggatt@ideasbynet.com or tweet her @Lianne_Froggatt.

Improve Alexa Ranking - Who Cares?

2011-11-29T08:32:00.001-05:00

As someone who loves to look at web stats, I can't help by act surprised every time I see people interested in a topic that to me is somewhat meaningless. Now, I'm not saying that I'm the end all be all with regard to what topics should be part of any mainstream conversation but this one really surprised me - Alexa Rankings!

Alexa's been around for a very long time. If you're not familiar with Alexa, let me give you a quick background. Alexa is owned by Amazon.com and known for its toolbar and Web site information. In 1996, Amazon paid 250 million bucks for this site (stock deal) which was quickly becoming one of the standard measures of a website's traffic.

Users can install an Alexa toolbar which collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the Alexa.com site where it's stored and analyzed. This data is used for the company's web traffic reporting which is very robust and informative.

What's great about Alexa is that you really don't need to install anything on your site to get data and it's free. You can view info about your site, competitor's sites, and really anyone's site for that matter. The only thing that I've ever included on my site is a little Alexa widget that gives me quick stats each time I visit my site. Unlike other analytic programs you don't need to place code on every page of your website. Don't ask me how it works, it just does.

So why are people so concerned about Alexa ranking?

People are obsessed about rankings. And why wouldn't they be? Everyone wants to see where they rank among their peers and strive to be number one. But Alexa's been around forever and it seems that all of a sudden there is a renewed interest in Alexa rankings. Personally, I would think that people are more interested in Klout, Facebook Likes, or some other "measure" of online popularity.

Giving it some additional thought, maybe the draw is simply that website owners who don't subscribe to other analytic rating services, like Compete, want to see how they rank among their peers. And the reality is you wont find a more popular resource for website rankings as Alexa.com. The other benefit is that Alexa provides some amazing insight into your traffic that you just can't get anywhere else.

The screen shot I provided on this post shows real Alexa information on one of my websites, MarketingScoop.com. You can see from the traffic breakdown that the majority of organic traffic is coming from Alexa related terms. About four years ago I wrote an article on "Improving your Alexa Ranking" and now it seems to be one of the largest drivers of traffic on my site. I suppose this is the unintended consequence of writing about an emerging topic which has now become mainstream.

Improving your Alexa Ranking

Although a number of the recommendations I made in my original article are no longer valid, the overall concept of Alexa ranking remains the same. The secret to top Alexa rankings is traffic and inbound links. Of course, there are other factors you can manipulate to improve your rankings as well.

1. Make sure to register on Alexa and complete your profile.

2. Get others to review your site on Alexa.

3. Place an Alexa widget on your own website.

Once you've applied the three recommendations above, the next step is to start generating traffic to your website. There are plenty of books on generating traffic so I'll just give you two recommendations that have served me well.

The first is to focus on search engine optimization. SEO is one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal for generating traffic and seeing results. This has been my number one asset for generating sustainable traffic to my website day over day and month over month. (Check out SEO Made Simple)

The second traffic strategy is creating something that's unique or worth returning to your site for. In my case, I didn't see my Alexa ranking break 100,000 until I added a forum to my website. Once I did, the traffic and repeat visitors significantly improved my Alexa ranking. Think about sticky content that can draw your visitors in and back to your site over a sustained period of time.

Apply the techniques and Alexa ranking improves

Put these tips and strategies to work for you. If you don't see your Alexa ranking moving too much, be patient. The goal is to continually be strive towards a lower ranking. Remember, progress is your objective. The more traffic and links you build, the better your Alexa ranking.

Marketing Lessons From NetCars.com

2011-11-22T08:31:00.001-05:00

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Louis Rix, Marketing Director from Netcars.com - one of the world's fastest growing online automotive sites. In this interview, Louis not only provides some insight into how he's winning big with online marketing, but also provides helpful online marketing tips any business can use to increase leads and online sales.

1. Hi Louis, tell us about your current role at Netcars.com?

Currently in my role as marketing director of netcars.com I manage the relationships with our PR Company, SEO Agency and Design Agency (everything passes through me). I work closely with our internal PPC Manager and link building team. I am also responsible for reporting to the board on a monthly basis with all new and ongoing developments.

2. How has Netcars.com changed it's online marketing strategy over the past few years?

We’ve only been established for 12 months. However, in that time we’ve covered a massive amount of ground. We have a very complex PPC campaign that can itemized down to a “T”. We have also launched Facebook advertising; competitions to grow our fan base and increase website traffic. Twitter has been a great tool for us to use from both a BtoB and BtoC point of view and we’re constantly engaging with our audience. Linkedin Advertising is also used to create brand awareness and drive sign ups. As a business we also invest heavily in natural search. We work alongside a very accomplished SEO Agency but we also have internal link builders.

3. What are the 3 most effective online strategies you've used to fuel Netcars.com's amazing growth?
The 3 biggies are: PPC, SEO, Revenue Share Partnerships.

4. What's the biggest challenge you face when it comes to online marketing?

Staying ahead of the game/competition in natural search. Constantly re-engineering our site from a user engagement point of view.

5. Do you anticipate any significant changes coming to online marketing in the near future?

The huge growth of Social Media advertising and the huge rise in the number of people accessing the internet through their mobile/smart phones is leading to large increases in mobile advertising. Gamification is also a hot topic at the moment.

6. What did you do previously in your professional life that prepared you to be the Marketing Director for Netcars.com?

From 2001 to mid 2010 I ran www.carfinance247.co.uk with my brother Reg. Car Finance 247 is a successful car finance broker/dealer that operates nationwide in the UK. I still own this business with my brother but due to our commitments with our new venture we have a management team in place that control the business and report into us both. While running Car Finance 24/7 I was in control of all online marketing (Affiliate, SEO, and PPC). This is where I learned and honed all of my skills that have enabled me to successfully adapt to my new role.

7. How will Netcars be on the cusp of change for online marketing? Do you plan to join the gamification trend?
At Netcars we’re constantly on the lookout for new, exciting marketing ideas. Gamification is definitely something we’ll be launching in early 2012. We’ll be rewarding “net points” to users (to buy car parts for their digital car) for commenting on blog posts, writing car reviews, participating in the forum and helping our community. The end user is always in the forefront of our minds whenever we make any developments to the Netcars website. We’re going to be working hard on improving the data displayed on our “Used Brand/Model” category pages by adding videos, make/model comparison statistics and an “ask the expert” section.

8. What makes Netcars different than other online automotive sites?
Our motto is “We do things differently” – this is clearly displayed in our unique PPC billing model. We can also move quicker than our larger counterparts. We want to share our data whereas everyone else keeps their stats locked away. We also aim to make the car locating process an exciting one rather than a mundane task.

9. What tips on SEO can you give our readers?
Follow 4 steps:

a. Keyword Research – How do your users search for your product? Do not overlook this important stage. You will uncover “low hanging fruit” (high volume search terms with low competition). There are plenty of keyword research tools out there including Google’s free tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

b. Site Architecture – this will be determined by your keyword research. Most importantly you have to make sure your site is accessible to search engine spiders. Once that box has been ticked you need to chart the funnel/architecture from your homepage to every page on your website. Do all relevant sections interlink (allowing link juice to follow)? Make sure you have your most important pages at a maximum of 2 clicks away from your homepage.

c. Link Building – Quality over Quantity! Obtain links from relevant, authoritative partners, sites talking about your products. Obtain guest posts/articles from highly respected websites. Make the most out of your PR efforts – syndicate press releases online (with back links embedded).

d. Constantly engage via Social – Facebook shares and tweets are being indexed by Google and are a ranking factor. Make sure you’re engaging with your audience and offer a wide variety of help and information. If someone has a bad experience on your site or with your product talk to them. Don’t just “sell” yourself on Social Media – people will become bored.

10. What tips on PPC can you give our readers?
First, it’s massively important to be able to quantify your PPC spend. If you can’t track goals you’re screwed as you won’t know what adgroups/campaigns are converting or not. Here are a few more:

a. Test ad copy.
b. Day parting – some days convert better than others.
c. Time parting – some hours of an individual day also convert better.
d. Add sitelinks to your PPC adverts. They increase CTR (click through rate).
e. Positive reviews. If you have over 30 positive reviews on your product make sure they are coming through in your ads. Again the star seller ratings increase CTR.
f. Use your keyword research to plan out you Campaigns and Adgroups.
g. Constantly manage your bids. Position 3-4 may convert better than position 1.
h. Never give up – you don’t have a business if you can’t make Google PPC pay for you.

Special thanks for the guest post and marketing tips from Louis Rix...

Louis Rix is the Marketing Director for Netcars.com one of the fastest growing online automotive sites in the UK.

Go To Market Strategy

2011-11-20T16:50:00.001-05:00

I'm often asked about the art and science of a go-to-market strategy. Although there's really not perfect plan when it comes to developing effective marketing programs for your products or services, I do believe that there are a number of key components to the best go-to-marketing programs.

If you're not familiar with a go-to-market strategy, it's really a road map for introducing your offering to the marketplace. It's based on creating a unique position in the market which includes pricing, messaging, and promotional campaigns. Essentials of a strong go-to-market plan include:

1. Product positing. Determine what your unique selling proposition is. What is your differentiation and who are you trying to sell to? Once you know just how different your products is and who your target is you can make decisions on price, packaging, and so on.

2. Know your customer. Do you have a clear picture of who will pay for your product or service? Understanding the purchase decision process of your buyer - how they use the product, the need your product solves, what they are willing to pay for - makes all the difference.

3. Segment by event. Are there specific buying occasions that are important to your buyer? In the past, most go to market plans were based on product launches or arbitrary media dates. Today, in order to be effective, you need to consider significant buying times for your customers. What events are times of year drive behavior? Knowing and capitalizing on these events is essential fr your go-to-market plan.

4. Determine your sales strategy. Before rolling our your marketing plans you need to consider the sales strategy. Are you going to drive prospects to a face-to-face meeting, leverage your inside sales team, or move them into an online purchase funnel? Consider all of the buying steps before going to market.

5. Pilot your program. The most effective programs are those which are tested on a small scale. Before you put all of your marketing eggs into a single basket, consider rolling out your plans on a small test group. This allows you to better control and test all aspects of your marketing plan while minimizing risk.

6. Refine your go-to-market strategy. Once you begin to roll out your plan, be mindful of what's working and what needs improvement. The goal of marketing isn't perfect but continuous improvement. Through measurement and refinement, you can get the most from your go-to-market plan.

7. Test. Test. Test. Don't settle for good. Focus on great. After you do the initial launch of your plan, document what works, what doesn't, and what you'll do differently next time. Documentation is the key to avoiding mistakes in the future and building on your successes.

Go-to-market strategies always vary in size, scope, and timing. But effective strategies have all considered the key elements of: positioning, knowing your customers, segmenting by event, sales strategy, pilot programs, refining and testing your plan. If you want to success with your next marketing roll out, make sure you've considered all of these elements as part of your go-to-market plan.

7 Benefits Your Business Can Gain From Blogging

2011-11-11T16:24:00.001-05:00

Guest post from Jeremy Tan, Survivor Marketing

The reality of starting a blog is both straightforward and low cost. Setting up a blog is virtually effortless and rather easy to manage. As a result, blogs are now part of our everyday lives. Thanks to the publicity that the Internet provides to bloggers and social media experts has led to the circulation of more than 100 million blogs online.

Many of these blogs or websites have received hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and also earned massive amounts of revenue from advertising. This has helped them to become establish significant status online. Yet, there are still a number of people who are not convinced that blogging can provide immense benefits for your business!

As such, we at SurvivorMarketing have come up with 7 Benefits Your Business Can Gain From Blogging. We hope that you will be enlightened as to how your business may be losing out to your online competitors and better understand why you should start managing a blog to boost the growth of your business. Here Are The 7 Benefits Your Business Can Gain From Blogging:

1. Expose Your Business to A Wider Audience

The power of the Internet is massive and rapidly evolving with an escalating number of users who surf the web on a daily basis. Search Engines such as Google and Yahoo are immensely popular for users with queries of all kinds. Approximately 60% of all blog traffic comes from search engine results. By blogging high quality content regularly and targeting the right keywords, your blog can climb above your competitors organically, increasing online visibility, and thus exposing your business to a wider audience!

You might want to read my articles on the 3 Key SEO Strategies or even download my free "Ultimate SEO Guide" Ebook for more insights on how to rank even higher in search engines!

2. Provides an Avenue To Showcase Your Knowledge
Utilizing blogs to showcase your knowledge or areas of expertise is an effective method for anyone to build their online reputation and credibility on the Internet. Blogs can be perceived as a powerful forum for all marketers to share their passions and clarify doubts. It may come in various forms -- be it a coffee enthusiast reviewing his cup of joe, or a touring agent sharing tips on what to do in various destinations! In any case, by blogging, you can position your business as the online authority for specific niche your business is in. When you are popular enough, you will generate an influx of traffic looking for your opinion!

3. Provides an Avenue For People To Respond
Remember, blogs should never be used as a one-way communication tool. You must allow, or ENCOURAGE your customers to respond to you! Blog readers might find a particular article of yours helpful, leave a comment of appreciation, or reach out to you with questions about your content. You must be prepared to respond as well as be open to criticisms and negative feedback.

The key for your blog and your business to succeed is to always think like the customer. When you do, you’ll understand what the demands of your customers are and how you can meet them. By looking at how your customers respond, you will be able to know them better, establish a meaningful relationship and even sell them your products! If you can cater to their needs and demands, your sales will surely be soaring!

4. Allows You to Project The Brand Of Your Business

Nobody relishes faceless corporate marketing messages or boring product catalogs -- People prefer to buy from people. This is possibly why advertisements do not focus on product attributes but rather attempt to project a brand and personality that customers can relate to and buy into. The overall tone of your blog should be an informal one. This is because you are actually expected to offer a human perspective, assume controversial positions, and showcase the uniqueness of your business to the public.

5. Allows You To Remain Updated

In order for you to produce quality content, you have to do research and read extensively on specific areas or topics. Though it might be a tedious job, it allows you to be constantly up to date on new developments in your industry. Since the Internet is rapidly evolving, even on a daily basis, it’s vital for your business to keep in touch with shifting opinions and influential people!

6. Provides a Platform To Convey News Regarding your Business
This is a very important point to take note of if you are managing a small or large business. Consider this: Are you aware of how many people actually read your press releases? I'm telling you now -- the numbers are truly few. This means that even your key customers might be oblivious to any new products or services that your business might be creating. This is truly a lost opportunity unless you broadcast your message through multiple channels.

Also, if your business were to face a problem, assuming you needed to issue a product batch recall for example, your blog could serve as an established platform to notify and communicate your position with your customers. While many people are blind to news conveyed through traditional media, an increasing number of people are actually seeking authoritative blogs for knowledge and advice.

7. Allows Your Business to Stand Out From Your Rivals
Indeed, there might be more than 100 million blogs existing on the Internet. Yet, how many of them are actually company blogs, or to be more precise, how many of them are GOOD company blogs? Optimize your blog well, write good quality content, provide good customer service, and your business can achieve a valuable point of competitive advantage.

This article is written by Jeremy Tan, a Young Budding Internet Marketer and Webmaster of SurvivorMarketing. He specializes in ares of SEO as well as web marketing fundamentals. He enjoys receiving reader feedback and comments, which can be directed to support@survivormarketing.com.

New Study: How Online Marketing Drives Growth and Profitability in Professional Services Firms

2011-11-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

Online marketing has its roots in consumer and product marketing, so it is not surprising that the professional services have been slower to embrace it. Today, many firms continue to believe that finding new clients is all about relationships and referrals. Well, a new study of online marketing for professional services firms is blowing that theory right out of the water.

This study of 500 firms, supplemented by an expert panel of 20 top digital marketing authorities, uncovers dramatic evidence that could accelerate firms’ adoption of online marketing techniques. Below are seven key findings from the study, which our research team released last week:

1. Firms that generate at least 40% of their leads online grow 4X faster than firms that do not generate any online leads. This fact alone gives firms that embrace online lead generation a tremendous competitive advantage. But the old ways of generating business aren’t obsolete yet. The highest growth rates occur when there is a balance between online and offline leads (40-60% of leads from online sources).

2. Increasing online lead generation boosts profitability for the entire firm. Profitability doubles in firms that generate 60% or more of their leads online. So online lead generation accelerates both growth and profitability. As far as we have been able to determine, this is the first time that correlation has been documented in the professional services.

3. The effectiveness of online marketing is directly related to the level of usage. We asked the firms to rate 15 popular online marketing tools on two criteria: how much they used them and how effective they were. We found that firms that used the tools more frequently enjoyed better results. Obviously, you can’t dabble in online marketing techniques and expect solid results.

4. Search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing are driving the success of professional services firms. In terms of overall effectiveness, SEO was rated the top technique by study participants and our panel of experts, followed closely by web analytics, blogging, usability testing and whitepapers.

This is a powerful combination, and it is well suited to the habits of professional services buyers. Professional services markets are typically very competitive, and the sales process is complex. As a result, buyers are actively seeking education and information. So sellers need a way to be found and distinguish themselves.

5. Social media for the professional services is dominated by LinkedIn and Twitter. These two tools are well established in many firms. YouTube and Facebook have potential, but today they lag well behind in rated effectiveness.

6. Online marketing is also useful in recruiting new employees. Recruiting top talent is an ongoing challenge for many professional services firms. After all, their people are their product. About 55% of firms report recruiting new hires online, while one in four firms hire 40% or more of their people that way. Digital recruiting is particularly strong in the government contracting and technology sectors.

7. Online marketing in the professional services is poised to take off. Consider this. Almost half (46%) of professional services firms have redesigned their website in the last year. For firms that fit our “high growth” profile, the figure is over 85%. In addition, two thirds of firms plan to increase their online marketing budget next year, while less than 1% plan to decrease it. And the average increase in online spending is a hefty 56%. Clearly, momentum is building.

So what does this all mean for professional services firms? I see three big implications.

First, if your firm is not generating new business or new hires from online sources, you are missing out on huge opportunities for growth and profit. Sticking with traditional marketing tactics is not going to be a sustainable strategy. While relationships and referrals remain important, they are — literally — only half of the picture.

Second, even if you are actively involved in online marketing, you have more to do. While there are no silver bullets, the study’s high growth firms and panel of experts revealed many opportunities for average firms to enhance their marketing effectiveness, including SEO, usability testing and webinars.

Third, if you are not aggressively investing in online marketing, you are falling behind. This situation will put you at a growing disadvantage as other firms increase their budgets and, in due course, enjoy greater profits and faster growth. As time passes, it will get more costly and difficult to catch up.

The good news is that it is not too late to get in the game. But the results of this study underscore the need to act quickly. The ROI is there. The model is proven. And the momentum is shifting.

Lee Frederiksen is Managing Partner of Hinge, a firm specializing in branding and marketing for professional services. Lee, who was the Research Director for the online marketing study described in this post, welcomes your comments and feedback.

Optimize Your Videos For YouTube

2011-11-04T23:25:00.000-04:00

One of the most popular search engines online today was actually started created by three former PayPal employees back in February 2005. It’s not Google, Yahoo, or Bing – it’s YouTube. The site attracts countless viewers every day and is considered to be the largest video based website on the Internet.

Developing and promoting videos is a great way to generate traffic and promote your products, services, and special offers. The question everyone wants answered is how to get your videos ranked high on YouTube and even appear in organic search results too. The good news is that by following a few basic optimization principles, you can quickly and easily optimize your videos for YouTube.

Let’s start with some basic YouTube ranking factors. This search engine works differently than other search algorithms. From my experience, where you appear on the platform and in relation to specific search queries depends on a few factors.

1. Relevancy. Metadata is exceptionally important on YouTube because of the search algorithm itself as well as the role that related videos play as part of the overall video viewing experience. Your video title, description, keywords, etc. are heavily weighed as part of search queries.

2. Ratings. YouTube, just like Amazon, puts a lot of weight on user ratings. The rating and quantity of reviews indicates the viewer’s approval of your video and tells the search algorithm that your video is ideal to promote to the rest of the YouTube universe.

3. Responses. YouTube is also very interested in the comments and responses that others are making. When individuals take the time to submit video responses in addition to comments, YouTube gauges the additional interest as a key indicator of popularity, thus moving your video higher and higher in search results.

Optimizing your video is based on four simple, yet powerful steps. True video optimization begins with the video itself. It’s then followed by properly formatted titles, tags, and descriptions.

Video

When you produce your video, keep your video length longer than one and a half minutes but shorter than eight minutes. Videos that seem to rank well both on YouTube and organically follow this general rule of thumb with regard to length. Also, be sure to speak clearly when producing your video, using keywords in the first 10 seconds of the video and last 10 seconds of the video. It’s believed that Google is actually indexing some of your audio.

Title

Title your video like you would a pay-per-click ad. You want users to click through on your title to improve interactivity and views. It's certainly believed that having a strong title and good click-through-rate can boost the rankings of your video.

When creating your title, include your most important keywords at the beginning of the title and keep the title brief. The shorter the title the more weight you're giving to your keyword phrases. However, you want the title to be powerful enough to encourage clicks. Remember to use your keywords first, branding last, and encourage click-throughs.

Descriptions

When creating your description, again, be sure to use your keywords in the beginning. You definitely have more room than you did in your title or even on conventional search engines to describe your video. Keep in mind that you can use the description to include information about your video in general and provide specific info on products or services.

I always like to place a URL to a site I’d like to promote at the very beginning of my YouTube video description. This ensures that the URL is visible and clickable next to your video. It’s a great way to promote third-party sites, passing authority and link juice of significant proportion.

Tags

One of the best ways to optimize your tags is to again begin with your chosen keyword phrase. The second step is to do some research in the channel that your video will likely fit into. What types of tags are being used by the top ranking videos? You should integrate some of the same tags into the tags associate with your video to ensure a good ranking among similar videos that have already been posted.

Just the Beginning

Optimizing just a few features on YouTube such as the video itself, title, description, and video tags is a good starting point for improving the ranking of your videos. There are a variety of additional techniques to further optimize videos for YouTube that deal more closely with the social aspect of the video site itself. Views, reviews, etc. are all significant factors designed to manipulate video rankings on YouTube. I’ll be sure to cover these additional factors in future posts.

Three Marketing Tips for Understanding Your Online Audience

2011-11-02T13:16:00.000-04:00

Marketing is an ever changing enterprise. As technology continues to influence our business efforts more and more, our marketing efforts to will need to change and adapt. While marketing was at one time all about print images and static advertisements, it has now become fully intertwined with the internet. Online marketing has in many ways become the name of the game for businesses and products everywhere.

Allowing you to easily reach a vast audience and pinpoint your exact target, the internet is a marketer's dream. While online marketing is a major component of any successful marketing plan, there are many ways to make your online marketing efforts more successful. Follow these three marketing tips to better understand and target your specific audience online.

How Is Your Audience Using the Internet? One of the most important things to know about your target audience as an online marketer is how they use the internet when they are online. If you can begin to understand how your consumers are using the web then you can come up with a better way to get to them. Does your target audience use the web for work or for entertainment? What are their favorite types of sites to use? All of these questions can help define who your audience is and how to more easily locate them online.

If your audience uses search engines as their primary transportation around the web, then SEO efforts may significantly benefit your marketing campaign. If you find that your main audience uses social networks as their primary online endeavor, you can find ways to incorporate social media and social networking into your marketing efforts. Knowing how your audience uses the internet will take some time to pinpoint, but will greatly improve your marketing campaign.

Where Does Your Audience Spend Their Time Online? While this sounds very similar to the last tip, there is distinct difference. Once you know what your audience goes to the internet for, you can work to discover where specifically they spend their time online. Knowing exactly where your target audience hangs out is essential to reaching them. If you have determined that your audience uses the internet for their business and professional lives then you can get a better idea of what sites they use specifically.

Conversely, if your target audience uses the internet for their social interests, you can focus your marketing around social networks and social hubs. Search Engine Optimization for your marketing sites and marketing pages is always a great bet for any target audience. If you can be visible on the major search engines, you will find a significant amount of your audience there. However, knowing what specific sites your target demographic uses is no doubt a huge marketing advantage.

What Is Your Competition Up To? Though it may seem somewhat counter-intuitive, knowing and understanding your competition can give you a better perspective on who your target audience really is. Not only is it good advice to know what your competition is up to in general, you can also use this information to evaluate your audience. By researching your competitions' marketing efforts, you can see what their interpretations of your mutual audience is. This can help you figure out who your audience is or help you decide if you are marketing to the right group of people.

Find your competitors online and see how they are marketing their product or services. You can learn a few things from their techniques and also learn how to be different from the rest. The internet is all about finding a new way to do or show things. If you are just doing the same things as your competitors, it is likely you won't get much further than them. Keep a close eye on your competition and work to find ways to market your services or product in a new way.

Guest post by Mariana Ashley. Mariana is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

Amazon.com: A Lesson On Core Competency

2011-10-31T08:16:00.000-04:00

For those of us who remember the humble beginnings of Amazon.com, we know that Amazon was all about books - and I'm not talking about the digital kind but the printed books you could touch and feel. In fact, if you were going to order a book online, Amazon was your only option. Soon thereafter, major retails like Barnes and Noble and Borders added their own online stores to try and stop their rapid decline in market share thanks to Amazon.

Today, Amazon sells everything from replacement grill parts to Halloween costumes. It's crazy, isn't it? As a marketer I asked myself how an online book seller could ever become the behemoth we know as Amazon. Well, the answer is simple - core competency.

A core competency is something you or your business does extremely well, better than anyone else. At first I thought that Amazon did book sales better than anyone else. And for a while they did. They built warehouses, advanced logistics, and marketing that was second to none. But do you know what they did even better than that? The online customer buying experience.

Once you know your core competency, your options are unlimited.

When thinking about my buying experiences with Amazon over the years, I realized that from day one the buying experience was easy, informational, and thorough. After buying just a few products from Amazon I was hooked. Being a purist, I shuttered at the fact that they were selling anything other than books but I can see now they were actually selling a buying experience, not specific products.

It makes perfect sense to me that Amazon has grown into such an amazing online powerhouse. If you've ever bought from them, you know that the buying experience is nothing short of amazing. For me, I enjoy ordering via Amazon and getting a box delivered to my front door.

Expand you horizons

Because Amazon was selling a buying experience, it didn't matter what they sold. From books to lawn chairs, Amazon created a consistent user experience that was, and still is, the best online. Amazon.com innovated new ways to improve the buying experience and has shown no signs of slowing down: ratings, reviews, one-click buying, suggested items, etc. It's actually quite amazing.

There are many websites and ecommerce operations that have taken a few plays from the Amazon playbook. This is true with any market leader. However, Amazon continues to innovate and because of their increasingly large market share will likely be the leader for years to come. Or at least until a disruptive technology comes along that improves the buying experience even more.

Find your core competency

My challenge to you this week is to find your core competency. What is it? What is unique about you, your company, your products? I believe my core competency is around taking complex processes or ideas and making them simple. That's what led to my "..Made Simple" book series (yes, it's available on Amazon.com) where I take complex ideas about; search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, article marketing, and even weight loss, and offer simple, practical advice that drives results.

Your core competency can be around a specific tangible item or process. It can even be about your company culture or user experience. For example, your restaurant may serve the same food as another restaurant in town but you sell a particular type of experience. Are you kid friendly? Do you do desserts better than anyone else? Do you focus on repeat customers and know each of your patrons personally?

Think about your core competency and then focus on it. Think about how you can make it better. By knowing and building on what you do best, you can continue to differentiate yourself and build your business faster, better, and larger, than your closest competitor.