The Full Power of Social Media Marketing

Social Arrow

With Hitwise releasing a report that social media in the UK now receives more traffic than search, and SWX Advanced’s session on “Ultimate Social Media-Tools,” generated a significant level of dialog regarding shifts in SEO and social media.   Although Hitwise’s reporting methods have generated some levels of controversy (the classification of YouTube as a social media outlet) their recent analysis does bring strong data to the long standing discourse regarding browsing behavior.  For many this shift has been regarded as a “when” rather than a “if.”  As such it is no surprise that we have recently encountered two interesting start-ups, still very much in the beta version, attempting to capitalize on the commercial implications of social media becoming the dominant portal for users on the web.

One of TechCrunch Disrupt’s Battlefield finalists, CompassLabs aims to provide that ever illusive element of social media: buyer intent.  CompassLabs’ algorithms crawl Tweets and Discussion Boards to find strings which signify that a user is looking to make a purchase.  Users who make posts with a high probability of purchasing intent then receive targeted ads directly from participating vendors.  While the success of the company will ultimately rely on the willingness of social media outlets to share user data (CompassLabs’ future with Twitter is in question, and the Golden Calf- Facebook- is still illusive) the concept alone is enough to generate some excitement.

Perhaps the greatest advantage search campaigns hold over social media are the ability to easily quantify effectiveness through analytics.  At SWIX Advanced on Tony Adams of MySpace (!) discussed SWIX, a comprehensive social media analytics tool.  SWIX collects data via pods from 20 social media outlets and provides clear metrics in one location.  With an impressive array of tools and one stop, multi-outlet analytics, companies like SWIX appear to be the next step in fully wielding the marketing potentials for social media.  Going forward it will be interesting to see who else will want to jump into this pot.  Currently SWIX offers their services at monthly rates; but with Bing now offering social media search one has to wonder if one of the web giants will offer a free service that will blow SWIX out of the water.
 June 29, 2010 Business X-Factors, SEO, Social Media No Comments

Google Caffeine: Another Piece In A More Complicated SEO Puzzle

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Long anticipated and much hypothesized, Google Caffeine officially went live Tuesday evening.  While not an algorithmic change of the Mayday caliber, Caffeine offers significant changes to the user experience with claims that the engine now offers 50% fresher results.  Tweaks in search occur constantly and across all engines with varying SEO implications.  With Caffeine being Google’s most significant indexing change in years, dialog surrounding its impact has rapidly expanded over the past 72 hours.  This change does not come as a surprise to many industry professionals but can be seen as a crucial step in the major search infrastructure overhaul Google has been engaged in over the past year.
Early consensus maintains that Caffeine itself will have very little impact on SEO practices and results.  At its most basic level Caffeine is simply a more efficient crawl to index process in which indexes are updated closer to real-time from the moment they are crawled.  Yes, by itself faster indexing holds almost zero SEO implications, but this would be like saying lettuce has no impact on the experience of devouring a delicious BLT.  While Google’s Matt Cuts claims that the Mayday algorithmic change has nothing to do with Caffeine, it is important to note the impact these two independent updates (or ingredients) create when placed together.  One could consider the Mayday update as an engine modification for more specialized, high end performance and Caffeine as a significantly elevated octane fuel needed to power this engine modification to its highest potential.  As our own Ricardo Figueiredo describes, Caffeine is the means by which Google can effectively implement the changes in long-tail search brought on by the Mayday update.
As search gets faster and more efficient, in particular long-tail search, it naturally then magnifies the importance of every SEO practice.  Site load speed, meta title and tag descriptions, crawl rate, freshness of content– elements that in the past could have evaded the attention they deserve– now hold greater  weight.  In turn we should begin to see faster results from SEO campaigns, but these faster results only mean that maintaining campaigns and desired SERPs over the long term will be even more difficult.  A faster and more responsive search leads to significant complexities in keyword analysis and positioning as #1 rankings may have a higher propensity to change.  For many these changes have already created a notable impact over the past two months.  ”We are seeing a shift to where three or four word keywords are now the new generic keywords” Figueirdo notes.
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For businesses looking to embark on an SEO campaign these changes increase the importance of selecting a team that not just stays on top of changes in search, but looks at them with enthusiasm and actively accepts the challenges brought on by an ever-changing landscape.  Faster search, real time indexing, and long-tail search efficiency mean that staying literally on top of the game now, more than ever, requires an SEO strategy that is dynamic and ongoing.  Short term pushes will see that short term shorten.  In the end Google’s evolving search still maintains the same goal of connecting users to their desired content quickly and efficiently, so it is important embrace these changes as a more effective means to connect consumers to vendors.  If anything Google’s recent changes will separate professionals who are serious about their craft from those who have just been pretending.
 June 15, 2010 Google Editorial, SEO 2 Comments

The Weekly Insider 06/02

This week’s theme is: Juicy Sausage

That’s right; delicious links.  What makes a good link?  It has to taste exactly as you thought it would (relevant), have a flush casing (anchor text), and get those nice brown char marks on the grill (follow).

Google Confirms “Mayday” Update Impacts Long Tail Traffic
Which universal search element to you most commonly target?
Why Google Local Listings Merge and How to Unmerge Listings.
All Links are Not Created Equal: 10 Illustrations on Search Engines’ Valuation of Links
Local Links For Local People
SEO Strategy – Taking SEO Beyond the Typical Audit
Facebook just blew away the competition in Display Ads

 June 2, 2010 Media, SEO, The Weekly Insider 1 Comment

The Weekly Insider 05/24

This week’s theme is: Long Tail

With Google’s new release, a battle over long tail search is revitalized.  Will opportunity be shifted to the niche sites serving small audiences without much obstacle or will this tail-tale lead to major shifts in SEO strategy from the behemoth portals?

This is what we found this week in the world of digital marketing:

Google Experts Answer your SEO Questions

Sitewide, Reciprocal, and Directory Links

Epic new Nike World Cup ad

Incredibly innovative PPC strategy

Google’s 7 ways to improve calls to action

Google Android to Apple: ‘Suck it, Jerks’

Google’s May Day Update & What It Means for You

 May 24, 2010 SEO, The Weekly Insider No Comments

Marketing Integration & The Internet’s Influence

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This presentation is an exploratory to further progress conversation on marketing integration as it specifically pertains to Internet channels. This is a reaction to perceived mixed web expectations by both advertisers and vendors alike.

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Quite often internet advertisers stare at numbers and pour over data, but forget to connect numbers to behavior and if the trends you’re seeing can be translated into a typical human response. Once we realize that there is more to data than meets the eye, we have to ask ourselves is there a way to harness this trend and refine it?

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…Or anything else for that matter. When was the last time you were rushed out of bed to conduct a search? This may seem like a silly concept, but it’s important to digest this baseline when thinking about how we influence consumers.

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There are likely thousands, if not millions, of things in this world that can influence people. Sometimes its as simple as someone looking in the mirror and saying I’m fat or a combination of being exposed to a series of ads across many different mediums over a period of time, an overbearing mother, and an old pair of suspenders that brings a person to a resolution. One thing is certain, until consumers have Intel chips imbedded deep in their brains, there will be no way to confidently know how people are influenced and to what degree.

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Though we love the space that we are in, it’s understood that the Internet is not an isolated influencer. Meaning; that an entire product/brand education progression does not occur in a single web session. On average U.S. based surfers are spending just over 10 hours per month online and they have tons of other influencing variables between web sessions.

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I’ve taken up a lot of digital real estate with influence mumbo-jumbo. But what’s the point? Influence doesn’t keep the lights on or pay employees. No, but influence leads to top of mind presence for brands and products, which manifests as transactions when influence reaches a critical mass. In other words, a consumer remembers you and only you at the time of end-game impulse.

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Image Credit:http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/cb_Decision_Making.html

So, let’s now take and apply what we know about influence and apply it to decision making, because this is where the money is made. This is a basic model that illustrates in a very simplified way how people, over a span of time, arrive at the decision to purchase, and some of the complications that may arise. Here’s an example: My mom says Wow, your shoes smell. I have just identified a problem that needs a solution. I wonder if there are any new styles out there that I like and for that I scour the net looking for something that catches my eye. I see a TV ad for Zappos and decide to shop them. Once I find a style, maybe I check my finances and decide ok, cool, I’ll have the funds by next pay period, so in the meantime, let me find a good deal. At this stage, I’m aggressively looking for that particular SKU or style by name, look for any promo codes, hitting up my friends for recommendations. Pay day arrives and I finish the purchase that has been sitting in my cart for a week. After I purchase, I wear the shoes to work, maybe my boss thinks they’re ok but the hot chick in accounting just rolls her eyes. This stage is where we, of course, risk getting buyers remorse and the importance of post-sale mindshare is magnified.

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Image Credit: http://www.bruceclay.com/newsletter/volume72/funnel.jpg+

Now, lets take this process one step further and apply it to the tried and true AIDA funnel. Notice when we superimpose these two graphics you can see the emotional aspect of buying intersecting with the influence of advertising. Aligning this graphic with campaign goals you now have the opportunity to ‘plug-in’ marketing channels not only for push or pull effectiveness but consider behavior as a stage in the education process. Data review and analysis is the great revolution in marketing that has been born and raised on the internet, but it must be translated into human activity for its full scope to be realized.

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Its critical to realize that because there are so many distractions, including things that happen between internet sessions that we HAVE to be top of mind at every single stage. If you are not actively reaching out and moving people into the subsequent stage of education, you run the risks of losing prospects to competitors or other priorities. And then you get this funny looking out of balance funnel where your collection engines (SEM) are constricted by a lack of prospects entering the Desire phase. We can share industry stories of clients/prospects saying “I’m spending as much as I can in PPC but have reached the ceiling/I’m ranking #1 for everything and need more” or “I have great site visitation from my traffic, but my conversion rate is super low” Both are imbalanced funnels. A well oiled machine will keep influenced people searching for you at many stages and consumers buying your product in a growing trend and telling their friends about you post purchase.

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With this in mind, how should we address people at different stages of the funnel? The answer may not be the same for every marketing campaign, but above is an example of what a draft media strategy might look like using this approach. This could be speculative and later refined as a campaign matures but it gives you an integrated testing point.

If you have had the experience of being able to optimize a campaign based on behavior or have feedback on targeting consumers based on their education stage, please share a comment.

 March 23, 2010 Advertising, Analytics, Media, Paid Search, SEO No Comments

MTV’s Jersey Shore Marketing Secrets

What MTV’s Jersey Shore can teach us about Internet Marketing

It’s not all fun and games at the Seaside house. The cast of brazen characters on the Jersey Shore are a wild bunch of misfits that can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Whether it be toxic affairs, overly dramatic rivalries, or local xenophobia; this young crew’s frivolous management of relationships and their own personal well-being opens a window for the outsider to build a guide on how-to not ruin marketing campaigns. If you’re not sure how the two match up, keep reading…

MTV's Jersey Shore Snookie

MTV's Jersey Shore Snookie

Snookie- The lovable, sassy, self-proclaimed guidette loves nothing more than tanning herself and making out with boys, but she also has a bit of a Napoleon complex. Being slight of stature but unafraid of a fight, she’s been punched more times than Kool-Aid. For some reason, the poor girl isn’t aware enough to know when trouble is brewing.

Learn from Snookie- It’s important to have a certain amount of real self-realization when considering online marketing channels. In SEM there are plenty of instances where you’ll simply be too outmatched to engage in a battle. The competitive landscape in both PPC and SEO and maybe such an uphill climb for newcomer businesses that lower barriers of entry can be found elsewhere. This wouldn’t mean abandoning either tactic, but simply revising it so that you are leveling the playing field. You may consider going strictly long-tail if your keyword sets are deep enough and using the same optimization practice to wage war against lesser opponents. This would be the equivalent of Snookie picking a fight with midgets and kindergartners rather than strung out hookers and roided out monkeys.

MTV's Jersey Shore Pauly D

MTV's Jersey Shore Pauly D

Pauly D- The ladies man known most commonly for his signature blowout haircut. Pauly had a pretty successful time meeting girls at the bar for later conquest. His total operation is centered on meeting easy women. The Ed Hardy gear, the gym regiment, the haircut, it’s all focused on one goal.

Learn from Pauly- What Pauly might not realize is that his product is too geo focused to ever have success out of his home market. In order to scale nationally he would need to substantially overhaul his approach. It’s important to realize that different markets will not only react differently to marketing cues and product benefits. This can differ in regions as tight as neighboring cities. Thankfully geo-locatable advertising mediums online give us the ability to isolate and exploit. Marketers fall in love with national level A/B testing, which is imperative, and forget about regional testing. A/B testing can and should be separated at a regional level and independent markets should dictate their own testing schedule. Think about the local influence of broadcast news and how coverage may differ from Los Angeles to Boston.

MTV's Jersey Shore Mike 'The Situation'

MTV's Jersey Shore Mike 'The Situation'

Mike ‘The Situation’- Shortly after meeting Mike, you’ll be bound to know why he is the best thing to hit the Jersey Shore since spaghetti Bolognese. His callous desire to be the center of attention at all given times wears on everyone’s nerve. You can only take so much of ‘The Situation’ before you’re thoroughly sick of him.

Learn from The Situation- It’s plain and simple; there IS a sweet spot for ad frequency. Over serving ads, saturating channels, and riding a single set of creative for too long will not only erode short term returns, but erode brand equity you’ve built over time. Moderation is the key to all sorts of nice things: growing old, not getting too drunk, staying out of jail, and keeping your advertising fresher longer if you don’t have the luxury of an in-house creative team.

MTV's Jersey Shores Ronnie

MTV's Jersey Shores Ronnie

Ronnie- The bear-like young man that tears up dance-floors and opponents faces like a ravenous…bear. Though he exhibits a tender and caring side, Ronnie’s testosterone get’s the best of him at times and he can’t control getting himself in dangerous situations. He naturally spends some time in jail.

Learn from Ronnie- Karma is a b**** sometimes. Maybe you’re not the only party at fault, but if you are getting pulled into affiliate programs that don’t give you any active voice in the management of your brand identity, then you could have your hands full. I’ve personally negotiated CPA based deals with networks only to find out that publishers were allowed to run wild with unapproved creative. Imagine the punch in the face I received when I checked my voicemail and had messages of people calling me a racist. You think that management fee and flat rate agency relationships are a gamble? Relinquishing all of your moderation authority to someone motivated by the almighty dollar could be a bet made with really unfortunate odds. Take that chance and you may get burned.

Think I’m way off? Go ahead and make a marketing parallel with J-Wow, Angelina, Sammie, or Vinny and post it below.


 January 20, 2010 Advertising, Media, Paid Search, SEO, Social Media 2 Comments

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