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#Optimize This: Online Marketing Summit 2012 Presentation

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:40:05 +0000

I’m headed to (hopefully) sunny San Diego today for the annual Online Marketing Summit conference where I’ll get to present on one of my favorite topics: Optimization. Of course, if you read Online Marketing Blog very often, you’ll know my definition of optimization is a bit different that traditional SEO. My post last Thursday “Are You Optimized?” touched on this.

The competition for attendance during the breakout sessions at OMS is really tough during the time slot I’m scheduled for. SAP, Wider Funnel and SAP are all presenting at the same time as I’m giving the all new “Optimize THIS: Integrating Social, SEO & Content presentation”. This post is a bit of a preview on the presentation so if you’re at OMS this week, make sure you check it out.

In Optimize THIS, I have about 45 minutes (including Q & A) to help attendees learn the principles and best practices of optimizing content and social media participation for better marketing performance. Most marketers and even consumers face a deluge of information as they look for answers online. Google has morphed itself into an entirely new type of social search engine and the state of flux has many businesses facing new challenges that are difficult to keep up with.

There’s plenty of speculation that businesses like Google that have attracted a huge user base because of their ability to organize and provide useful, relevant information see free or organic information as a problem to the advertising solution. In other words, SEO is aeen a bug, not a useful way to modify websites so search engines can crawl and index them more effectively to the benefit of all: user, brand, search engine.

Google Dominates search, but should they dominate your online marketing? What would happen if Google disappeared tomorrow? What if your business disappeared from Google tomorrow? What would that mean to your marketing? What would it mean to your business? There are numerous stories of companies devastated as collateral damage to algorithmic updates.

Google’s market position over-influences SEO practitioners to develop keyword glossaries, create, promote and optimize content solely focused on Google. That’s a reasonable approach, but I for one, am not a big fan of putting all my marketing eggs in one basket. The perceived reward of single stop marketing is also a risk.

Diversification or “Un-Googling” your online marketing isn’t just good for mitigating risk, it’s also a better approach to meeting customer needs, especially when optimization is viewed holistically with the way a business communicates digitally with its customers.

A more customer centric approach to online marketing is the catalyst for integrating content marketing, SEO and Social Media. The icing on the cake of customer centric online marketing diversification is even better organic performance on Google vs. focusing solely on traditional keyword popularity and links.

The road to Social, SEO and Content Marketing integration is through understanding the fundamental shifts in how consumers discover, consume and share information online. Search behaviors are not just inspired by a consumer need, but by paid, owned, earned and share media. The consumer journey online for solutions weaves its way through search and social interactions finding, interacting, reacting, buying and sharing.

Online commerce and content are increasingly a social experience and content is the key to helping companies Attract, Engage and Inspire their target audiences to act: purchase, interact and share with their networks.

What does a customer centric optimize content marketing approach look like? Start by identifying common customer characteristics. Segment that data and develop consumer profiles or personas that describe: Search Keywords, Social Topics, Pain Points, Triggers and Goals. Figure out what information would be most meaningful during the stages of your customer segments’ journey through the buying cycle. Essentially, find out what customers care about and leverage that data in a way that allows you to target your “best” customers as a group.

Translate what you now know about your customers into a content plan that addresses pain points, triggers and consumer goals with brand content optimized for search keywords and social topics. Implement website, blog, social content and engagement marketing to meet your target customers needs with the right context, relevant language and meaningful topics that will inspire them to take action.

Structure your content marketing plan with optimized and socialized channels of distribution. We like the hub and spoke model that can scale to a “constellation” of hub and spokes.

Monitor social channels for community response and engagement with socialized content. Use web analytics to monitor search and user experience impact of your content on engagement, fueling social network growth and of course, inspiring sales.

By formulating a content plan based on consumer segment information needs as they move through the buying cycle, optimization can be more in tune with customer interests than generic keyword popularity. Content is more helpful, usable and likely to be shared socially. For customers prone to use search, you’re visibile. For those that focus on social channels, you’re there too. For those that use both: even better.

There’s a lot more to say on this topic (as I’ve done in Optimize) but you can expect to see plenty of screen shots and some examples in my presentation tomorrow. If your’re ready to get optimized for 2012 and beyond, I hope to see you there.

2/7 OMS – San Diego
Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Optimize This: Integrating Social, SEO & Content
Learn the principles and best practices of optimizing content and social media participation for better marketing performance
11:45 AM–12:30
Room: Sapphire H

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Online Marketing News: Facebook IPO, Harmonize with Google+, Pinterest Dominates Traffic

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:00:04 +0000

Facebook in Numbers: Prior to the IPO

The big news in social media and business this week is Facebook’s new IPO. This infographic from statista and creative commons shares some very interesting figures about Facebook, before it goes public.

Highlights include:

In 2012 Facebook is expected to reach: 90% of U.S. Social Network Users & 60% of Internet Users.
Assuming a valuation of $100 billion, Facebook would be work 67 to 100x’s it’s estimated 2011 net income.

The Social Media Buzz

“How to Harmonize Google+ With Your Other Social Platforms” Search Plus has placed even more importance on blending your online marketing strategy in order to adhere to the social, personal, and personalized search algorithm. This post offers some great tips on harmonizing Google+ with your current platforms. Via Search Engine Watch.

“StumbleUpon Kills Direct Links, iFrames Everything” With over 20 million users StumbleUpon may be getting some heat for their recent updates. One particular change to be aware of is the removal of all direct links which point back to content sources from within the platform. If you are a Stumbler I strongly recommend reading this article. Via Search Engine Land.

“The Social Enterprise: Your Path to Job Security” While it is not surprising that social networking technologies will receive increased budgets this year it is important to understand the shift that many industries are taking. Social media has become a recognized method in which your customers and potential customers will consume information about your services. Social media must be used a s tool to educate, communicate, and engage on an ongoing basis. Via InformationWeek.

Your Brand & Your Customers

“Inside the mind of your buyers” Each of your customers has something that makes them different. It may be their specific pain points or their budget restrictions. This article provides 6 helpful tips on how to close a sale by focusing on what motivates your customers to buy. Via Entrepreneur.

“The big tip for 2012: Convergence is here” The need for a multichannel strategy has been around for awhile. However, this year marketers will be focusing more and more on the convergence of those strategies. Some of the trends we are seeing these days are popular television shows encouraging viewers to interact via their mobile device or iPad in real time. Since we are finding that many customers are multi-tasking the 4 tips within this article provide guidance on dealing with convergence and what steps you should take to keep up with a rapidly evolving means of communication. Via Econsultancy.

“3 key features of Twitter brand pages” This piece takes a deeper look at the changes rolled out by Twitter late last year and the potential impact for brands. It covers changes such as the expanded header area, featured Tweets, and separating your mentions from replies. Definitely worth taking a look. Via Ragan.

Working as a Team to Bring You the News – TopRank

Alexis Hall – Pinterest Driving More Referral Traffic Than Google+
Reports are showing Pinterest is now driving more search referrals than Google+ and YouTube. This post, from Search Engine Watch, explores the question if the online pin board can compete with Facebook and Twitter, featuring an interesting infographic from Monetate. Via Search Engine Watch.

Brian Larson – Super Bowl Viewers Will Check Phones 10 Times During the Game
Sometimes it takes just the right stat or factoid to drive a point home. Mobile’s growth cannot be denied by any rational person, but how about this stat: super bowl viewers will check their smart phones 10 times during the game. That’s right, the most compelling and entertaining football game of the year, which is augmented by million dollar commercials and halftime performances from Grammy award winning artists, can’t keep viewers from the powerful pull of mobile. The real question isn’t whether you should engage in mobile marketing, but rather are you positioned to be on their screen when they check their phone one of those 10 times? Via Mashable.

Emily Conley – Inside Facebook’s S-1 Filing: 845 Million Users, $3.7 Billion In Revenues In 2011
On Wednesday, Feb. 1st Facebook filed its S1 registration (which companies use to register securities with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). The filing makes public certain financial and user data, including:

2011 net income: $1 billion (up from $606 million in 2010)
2011 revenue: $3.7 billion (up from 1.97 billion in 2010)
2011 monthly users: 845 million (roughly 50% active on a daily basis)
2011 average daily photo uploads: 250 million

This article also delves into shareholder information and background on the company’s ‘hacker way’ culture centered on having a positive impact on the world. Some very interesting insights into this social media giant’s success! Via Fast Company.

Ken Horst – 5 Ways to Brand Your New YouTube Profile
YouTube has provided users with a number of smart ways to get more out the Brand/Profile page. Some of the great updates are the ability to add multiple custom URLs in an area that is clearly visible to users and the ability to create your own custom overly ad for your videos. You can also prevent other ads from showing up on your videos. Via Social Media Examiner.

Time to Weigh In: Have you taken any steps to integrate Google+ with your other platforms? If so what have you done that has worked? When trying to get into the mindset of your potential customers, what is the most important thing you should know?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Facebook IPO, Harmonize with Google+, Pinterest Dominates Traffic | http://www.toprankblog.com

Google+ Optimization vs. Community Building: Pros & Cons of Google SPYW

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:20:03 +0000

Google+ Optimization or Community Building?

Initially I looked at Google+ the same as other Google social projects like Wave and Orkut. But the more I use Google+ the more I like it. Maybe it’s the network effect because others are using it more too. I often find content and insights shared on G+ that I don’t find elsewhere.

While the addition of Google Search Plus Your World (SPYW) has made a big splash in the digital community, I actually think G+ is far more useful (from a personal perspective) as a social network than it is as an augmentation of search on Google.com. When I put my Marketer’s hat on, of course it doesn’t matter what I think of G+ – the task is to figure out how to optimize opportunities to gain an advantage.

There’s been no shortage of commentary about G+ and SPYW but I think there are a few pros and cons that are worth exploring.

Google+ Pros:

As a social network, there are inherent social engagement benefits of Google+. The Google+ shares, pluses, comments and overall interaction behaviors necessary to improve Google+ inspired search visibility also benefit social network development and community engagement. Starting with SEO and Google+ seems a little backwards to me compared to leveraging it first as a social network.

Along the lines of optimizing for customers before keywords, what about starting on Google+ with engagement and building a network for the sake of growing a community first? As you grow content and community, then bring in the SEO component – or at least simultaneously.

Google+ can definitely serve as another spoke in a hub and spoke content distribution and social engagement model. While Google+ has been reported to have 90 million users, it’s a far cry from the 800 million on Facebook. That said, Google is doing everything it can to “encourage” mass adoption. As that happens, it can become a very productive channel in an overall content and social media marketing mix.

As for SEO and G+, there’s no reason Google+ optimization best practices and social networking efforts cannot happen simultaneously. G+ has rich social networking opportunities that have value on their own vs. viewing G+ solely for it’s SEO value. Together, they represent true social media optimization opportunity.

Google+ Cons:

Is Google+ participation mandatory? The clear advantages of Google+ presence and activity in search make it impossible for companies that value online visibility not to join in. But that incentive is not the same thing as joining a social network because you know that’s where customers and influentials are. As companies mature in their social media participation, those choices are increasingly based on customers vs. chasing shiny objects, the competition or because everyone is doing it. Joining Google+ for the wrong reasons is a bit of a con to me.

A boost in Google+ is a boost for “Unknown” keywords. The more people that are logged in to Google+ and other Google services, the more that search keywords will be reported as “Unknown” to website owners. I think this is the biggest potential con for Google+ success. Search encryption enables privacy with organic search results but not for PPC search clicks. Is that double standard?

The “unknown” segment of referring keywords for our most popular site is now over 25%. That’s a lot of traffic that we know comes from Google but we don’t know which specific keyword phrase it was. As a result, optimization refinement for better search visibility is a much bigger challenge for those phrases. Additionally, optimizing content for better user experience also suffers.

Of course, we’re an adaptable bunch and we’ll simply find another way to make connections between how customers discover our content and what inspires engagement and conversions.

Can Google create their own weather by incentivizing participation? Will it be enough to create momentum and the network effect that will create “true” value for membership? Yes or no, the incentive is too strong not to join. Now it’s a matter of what can brands do to actually make it meaningful vs. mechanical.

When I posted this question on my Google+ account, here are a few of the replies:

Mike Grinberg - Google is using a push strategy with G+. They are pretty much “forcing” people to join by integrating as much as possible with all their other services. As more people join, this will become more than just a “power user’s/geeks/nerds paradise” It is slowly happening already.

Benjamin Wright - I like G+ because I can post comments like this, including comments with links, immediately, without CAPTCHAs and without waiting for the blog/post owner’s approval. G+ is able to allow this, I believe, because it bans spammers.

Rohn Jay Miller – Lee, I’ve joined and I check and participate–at least some times. But I’m still using blogs and Twitter far more to keep in touch with communities I’m a part of. What’s the incentive to pay the switching costs? This seems like Google-think again: it’s a technology driven idea that’s cool in the overview, even compelling.

But down here at my user level Google+ is just a “mini-net” that I look at once a day. And that’s me, a full-time social media / content professional. What about my brother in law? This has a long way to go before it’s more compelling than compelled

Ian Lurie - Google is taking this 1-2 steps further by creating a strong marketing incentive FIRST, and using that to drag us all to their property. But that kinda makes sense given that they already have the audience. Facebook didn’t, so they went about it a different way.

I DO think Google can create their own weather. Their huge advantage is their audience. It’s easy to forget, but they own the two most-used search engines on the planet. If they don’t get plowed under for anti-competitive practices they’ll likely win through brute force.

How have you approached Google+ personally or for your business?

Are you optimizing or building community? Are you doing both at the same time? How are you incorporating Google+ with the rest of your online marketing mix?

Be sure to check out TopRank’s Google+ account here.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Google+ Optimization vs. Community Building: Pros & Cons of Google SPYW | http://www.toprankblog.com

Online Marketing News: Women Dominate Community Management, Google Privacy, FBI Social, Twitter Censorship, McD Hashtag Gone Wrong

admin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:40:05 +0000

The 2012 Community Manager Report

Community Manager is an essential, yet still uncharted territory for many companies that are expanding their presence on the social web. What should you know about the current state of this position?

67% of Community Managers work for a brand
The most popular city for Community Managers is New York
65% of Community Managers are Female

Be sure to check out the rest of this report presented by Social Fresh.

Google & FBI: All Your Social Data Are Belong to Us

For non-geeks, here’s the reference (Zero Wing video)

“Google Privacy Changes: What Do They Mean To You?” Google announced this week that it is rolling out a new, main privacy policy that covers the majority of its products. The company is consolidating over 60 privacy notices into the main privacy policy. User activities across Google web properties from Gmail to YouTube will be used to deliver customized ads. Via WebProNews.

“The FBI Wants to Monitor Social Media” The FBI is looking to develop a web application that can monitor social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, in order to gain better real-time intelligence about current or potential future security threats or situations. As with the Google combined service data collection, many people are thinking, “Weren’t they already doing this?” Via Mashable.

“McDonald’s Twitter Campaign Goes Horribly Wrong #McDStories” From McDonald’s PR: While #meetthefarmers was used for the majority of the day and successful in raising awareness of the Supplier Stories campaign, #mcdstories did not go as planned. We quickly pulled #mcdstories and it was promoted for less than two hours. Via Business Insider.

“Twitter Now Able To Censor Tweets, If Required By Law, On A Country-By-Country Basis” From Twitter: Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it up in the rest of the world. Danny Sullivan compares Twitter’s approach towards censorship to Google, which you might find interesting. Via Marketing Land.

The Online Marketplace is Competitive: Tips to Help You Meet the Challenge:

“The Top 51 stats for Generation Y marketers” How can marketers tap into this gadget-savvy, brand-aware demographic? The following statistics, taken from four recent reports listed below, provide an insight into the complex world of 13-24 year-olds. Via The Next Web.

“5 marketing Tips for Putting Customers First” The digital world of today offers many choices to customers, which means that marketing professionals have a tough job ahead of them. We must not only ensure that our messaging is on target, but also work with our internal team to make sure that our promises can be delivered. Via i Media Connection.

“10 Essential YouTube Tips and Tricks” YouTube is currently getting over 3 billion views each day. This article provides some great tips for getting more out of your YouTube experience including, improved search and better viewing options. Via Mashable.

“10 Ways to Impress Your Industry’s Influencers” Often times your press releases are in the hands of influencers within the industry. This article provides some great tips on identifying who these people are, buttering them up, and following their lead. Via Ragan.

The TopRank Team Knows News

Brian Larson – “MarketingSherpa Research Shows the Avg B2B Deal on the Decline”
We know that B2B sales cycles are longer. The rebuttal from B2B’s has always been ‘the size of our sales are far greater’. What if that changed? With B2B deal sizes diminishing, do B2B’s need to focus on increasing sales volume or developing new ways to demonstrate value and win back larger sales? Or both? The answers to these questions are sure to influence online marketing strategies. Via Marketing Sherpa.

Ken Horst – “Social media for the complex sale: Where should you start?”
While most B2B companies are heavily invested in their social channels today; many are finding that for at least Facebook and Twitter, these may not be the best channels for companies with a longer sales cycle. The good news is that in this post, the author lists 10 other social media outlets that B2B marketers could use to help prime the pump for those longer sales cycle products and services. Via SmartBlog.

Emily Conley – “Google Announces Privacy Changes Across Products; Users Can’t Opt Out”
Google released an announcement on Jan. 24th stating that the company plans to follow users’ activities across the majority of its sites, including YouTube, Gmail and Google search. With no opt-out option, as of March 1st all logged in Google users will be sharing data that will enable Google to create more complete user portraits. The change opens new debate around privacy and competitive practices. Via Washington Post.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Women Dominate Community Management, Google Privacy, FBI Social, Twitter Censorship, McD Hashtag Gone Wrong | http://www.toprankblog.com

Optimize Your Social Media Schedule: 4 Tips for Avoiding the Social Media Time Suck

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:00:04 +0000

Making the time to execute on a social media strategy can rattle even the most experienced marketers. Unlike traditional marketing, social media marketing can present many different challenges and distractions. According to a study by eMarketer 73% of marketers say finding the time to create content as their biggest marketing challenge.

I recently ran a poll of @TopRank Twitter followers to get a sense of how they spend their time online. I asked “If you had only 20 minutes a day to spend on social media what would you focus on?” Some of the answers we received were:

@henryroominates – “I would try to connect with powerful Twitter users and Tweet content from my blog.”
@SebastianX – “I’d read my Twitter Followanyday List.”
@Paco_Belle – “Look at 2-3 Twitter lists, couple circles on G+, scroll Facebook timeline & look through my RSS feeds for new things.”
@Paramountbuzz – “Engaging others…doing it now.”
@GreenDolphin_ – “My RSS feed, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.”

If you are involved with implementing social media marketing, you know that 20 minutes a day just won’t cut it. On top of implementing social media tactics, there’s also the task fo staying current. Lee’s post “11 Ways to Get Smarter & Stay Current in a World of Social Information Overload“ outlined how much time can be involved using social tools to collect, filter and curate social media marketing knowledge.

Avoiding Shiny Object Pitfalls

Reuters estimates that the average worker loses 2.1 hours of productivity every day to interruptions and distractions. To avoid wasting time begin by prioritizing your week. While it’s true that unexpected issues can come up plan for the best and the worst. If you have 3 hours per day on average to complete tasks related to social media strategy what will you get accomplished in those 3 hours? If you were only to have 1.5 hours per day what would you want to get accomplished? Proper planning will lead to improved productivity and efficiency. Also, take some time to determine what your top distractions are and eliminate them.

Optimize for Productivity

Focus on what will have the largest impact on your productivity. Determining what time of day you are most productive, and which activities are most significant will help you to stay on track. Are you an early riser, night owl, or somewhere in between? Creating a daily schedule and routine can significantly improve your productivity. You will also want to keep in mind statistical data which points to the best times of day and days of the week for engaging in social media activity. A recent infographic by KISSmetrics on “The Science of Social Timing” provides valuable insight into the best times of day to share or engage on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Some of the findings include:

Twitter

5pm – best time to Tweet for re-tweets
1-4 per hour – most effective frequency of Tweets
Midweek & Weekends – best days to Tweet
Noon & 6pm – best time to Tweet for increase Click Through Rates

Facebook

Saturday- best day to share on Facebook
Noon- most effective time to share on Facebook
.5 per day – best sharing frequency

Tips for an Optimized Focus

Now lets talk about some no brainer “don’ts” that the many of us “do”. Let me know if any of these sound familiar to you:

Your best friend is having problems with their significant other so you keep your phone close, just in case…
It’s baseball season and your team is playing but you don’t have the day off, thank goodness for internet radio right…
You have email anxiety which forces you to check email every couple minutes because you never know what you might miss…
One of your colleagues is obsessed with chatting online and pings you every couple minutes with a question or joke…
You’re scheduling Tweets, posting on your personal facebook page, and reading Psychology Today all at the same time, because after all you are a master multi-tasker…

I too have often thought that I could do everything at once. A balancing act acquired from years of having too much to do, and not enough time. I considered multi-tasking an art form and a higher form of organization than my counterparts who only focused on one thing at a time. I could not have been more wrong. In recent years I’ve had to buckle down and force myself to devote all of my attention to one task at a time. I’ve found that the quality of my work has improved and the level of my stress has decreased significantly. Some tactics that have worked for me include:

Closing my email when I’m working on social media tasks
Close all Internet windows and tabs except for the one I need to work on
Disabling chat or closing chat windows to avoid distraction
Pick 15 minutes a day to indulge in activities such as checking personal social media profiles, responding to texts, or chatting with friends.
Spend 30 minutes to an hour each morning reviewing emails and responding, do the same thing before leaving at the end of the day.
It is significantly easier to stick to your schedule if you are working ONLY on the tasks you have scheduled in the time allotted.

Tools for Optimizing Your Time

Depending on your available time and social media content strategy, there are many tools that can help you accomplish more with less time. Below are three different types of tools that social media marketers can use to get the most out of their time:

Curation Tools – good for quickly gathering and automatically sharing content

Social Aggregators & Management Tools – follow and engage with multiple platforms

Hootsuite
Tweetdeck
Seesmic
Here’s a list of 22 social media management tools

Social Bookmarking – effective means of organizing and storing social bookmarks

StumleUpon
Reddit
Delicious
Evernote – not a bookmarking tool exactly but very useful for curating

Next Steps

I’m sure you’ll agree that focus and time management are something that most of us can relate to. Based on what was covered in this post, consider the following questions and determine what you can do to better focus on the tasks at hand:

What are your top 3 social media goals and do you have a plan for reaching them?
How much time can you dedicate each day to using tactics to reach these goals?
What steps can you take to improve your focus while completing social media activities?
Which type of tool: curation, aggregator, or social bookmarking can you use to help save time?

If you are looking for additional tips on Optimizing your SEO, social media, and content strategies be sure to take a look at the new book: “Optimize: How to Attract & Engage More Customers By Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing.”

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Optimize Your Social Media Schedule: 4 Tips for Avoiding the Social Media Time Suck | http://www.toprankblog.com

Online Marketing News: Say NOPA to SOPA, Google+ Strikes Again, Coca Cola “Gets It”, Twitter Gobbles Up Summify

admin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:20:07 +0000

The Social Job Seekers

The social media job market is hot! This infographic visualizes the 2011 Social Job Seeker Survey that was conducted by Jobvite. It examines who the job seekers are and how they are utilizing social media to find jobs. Some interesting statistics you may not be aware of:

61% of all employed Americans are open to a new job or actively looking for a new one.
4 out of 10 job seekers are “Super Social” and have 150+ contacts on Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin.
1 in 6 job seekers found their last job through an online social network.

This Week in News About Google

“How to Get Actionable Data Out of Google Analytics” Proper goal setting is second to none when running a website or blog. If your goals are not properly setup then you are missing out on the most actionable metrics of your website. This article provides some great tips on setting up and measuring your website goals. Via KISSmetrics.

“Pages With Too Many Ads “Above The Fold” Now Penalized By Google’s “Page Layout” Algorithm” Do you shove lots of ads at the top of your web pages? Think again. The “page layout algorithm” takes direct aim at any site with pages where content is buried under tons of ads. Via Search Engine Land.

“Google+ Now Lets You Share Straight From Search Results” Aimed at making it easier for users to join or start discussions on particular topcis, Google+ has recently beefed up their search capabilities. Additionally, Google+ will automatically attach search terms to your posted items. Via Mashable.

“Google Real-Time Insight Finder” This tool helps users make sense of data and spot emerging trends more quickly. It also allows companies to gain insight in to attitudes, perceptions, and needs of your consumers so that you can adjust your strategy quickly to meet their needs. Via YouTube.

“Google+ brands growing faster than brands on Twitter?” A statistical comparison by Socialbakers shows that brands are growing their fan bases faster on Google+ than brands on Twitter. How is this happening? Read on to find out. Via Socialbakers.

Connect with TopRank on Google+

Content Marketing for the Masses

“3 Content Marketing Ideas You Should Steal from Coca Cola” Heavy hitter Coca Cola has realized that a 30 second advertisement will no longer cut it. They have instead turned to content marketing , which aims to double Coca Cola worldwide consumption by 2020. Via copyblogger.

“3 (more) business blogging tips for beginners” If you are one of the many bloggers with a new years resolution that includes doing more with your blog, then this post is for you. What is the first step? Be realistic! Via SEO Copywriting.

“How to Overcome the 7 Most Crippling Blogging Challenges” Time to take the “but’s” out of blogging. This article does a great job of providing solutions for many of the excuses would be bloggers have today. Via socialmediatoday.

The Social Media Beat

“7 Ways To Improve Your Social Media Skills and Influence” Social media sharing is still a very new role for many employees. This article helps prepare newbies and social media dabblers for life in a social world. Via Forbes.

“9 Small Business Social Media Success Stories” Case studies speak for themselves. Applying a real life example of success can make a large impact on your perception of a tactic or marketing strategy. This post provides 9 great examples of how social media has helped small businesses grow. Via Social Media Examiner.

“Facebook Expands Service That Lets Users Share Online Activities” Facebook announced this week that they are adding over 60 new partners to a service which will allow users to let their friends know what they’re doing online from listening to music to news articles they are viewing. Via Bloomberg.

“Twitter Acquires Social Aggregation Start-Up Summify” Following Twitter’s other recent acquisitions it was announced today that Summify, a social news aggregation service has also been acquired. If you’re a Summify user beware! Services will shut down in a few weeks. Via Wired.

From the TopRank Newsroom

Alexis Hall – “Average Viewer Watched 23.2 Hours of Online Video Content in December”
According to the latest research from comScore Video Metrix, the average viewer watched 23.2 hours of online video content in December 2011. That is a lot of time people are spending online, engaged with this channel. This post from Search Engine Watch discusses the impact of this research on marketers, including the reach of video advertising on YouTube. Via Search Engine Watch.

Brian Larson – “PIPA and SOPA Co-Sponsors Abandon Bills”
SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is on the minds of many marketers. From image sharing and content curation, to linking and keyword research, SOPA has the potential to drastically change the way we create, share, promote and optimize content. With the co-sponsor’s abandoning the bill, is this a sign that the public outcry was heard? Via Mashable.

Ken Horst – “Twitter is adding 11 new accounts per second and could pass 500 million in February, says report”
If anyone is still holding out on starting a Twitter account, now would be the time to start thinking about it. When Twitter hits 500 million, it will be very hard not to acknowledge Twitter as a strong channel for online marketing. The trick is how to leverage Twitter and you can learn that by reading our post from earlier this month; 4 B2C Examples of How Companies are Using Twitter to Attract & Engage Customers. Via The Next Web.

Emily Conley – “Yahoo’s Co-founder Jerry Yang Resigns”
Just weeks after the announcement of new CEO Scott Thomson joining Yahoo, the company’s co-founder Jerry Yang has announced his resignation. Thompson called Yang’s 17 years with Yahoo a legacy of innovation and customer focus for the iconic brand. 2012 is shaping up to be an eventful year for Yahoo. It will be noteworthy to follow how these changes trickle down to impact the world of SEO! Via Search Engine Land.

Time to Weigh In: What do you think of Google’s new search tactics? Have they taken it too far? Also, what other newsworthy items did you read this week that you think should be shared with our readers?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Say NOPA to SOPA, Google+ Strikes Again, Coca Cola “Gets It”, Twitter Gobbles Up Summify | http://www.toprankblog.com

Google+ for Business: 5 Things Marketing Professionals Should Know About Google+

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:40:08 +0000

Google+ has been on the lips of every online marketing professional since early 2011. With a base that has now passed 62 million users and the integration of Google+ into Google search, it has become clear that Google+ is here to stay.

As this new social platform continues to evolve it may be difficult to keep up with the latest trends, changes, and tactics for creating an optimized and influential Google+ profile for you and your business. With recent events and the release of Chris Brogan’s new book “Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything” Lee and I thought it seemed a good time to compile some helpful tips of our own and some from Chris’s new book to help professionals take some of the fear and uncertainty out of using Google+.

Author Information in Search Results

I’m sure over the last couple of months you’ve noticed author information included in Google search results. This feature displays a photo of the author as well as an opportunity to add them to your Google+ circles. Getting Author information to appear in the search results next to content that you create can be accomplished a few ways.

Google suggests adding your name and your email address to each article or blog post and then verifying that same email address within your Google+ profile. The other option is a good old fashioned link exchange between the content you create and your Google+ profile. Add a Google Profile button to your site or manually add the link using: Google and replace the [profile_url] with the long id in your Google+ profile web address. Then make sure you link to the sites that you contribute to from your Google+ Profile in the area called “Contribute to”. Once you do that, there’s a form you need to fill out.

Google Plus for Search

Many SEO professionals and Marketers were up in arms after last weeks release of Google+ search functionality. It appears that Google is favoring it’s own content over others. Google does include information from some networks such as Quora or Flickr, but at this point is excluding popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. What does this mean for marketers?

Take full advantage of these changes and post useufl information on your Google+ profile or company page that are relevant to your business and the business problems of your customers. Engage with others and be useful and interesting so that as many other relevant users of Google+ add you to their circles as possible. The larger your network on Google+, the more likely your content will appear prominently in their search results.

“Where Google+ Fits in the Business Ecosystem”

Outside of the obvious need to have a presence in Google+ for search visibility, there are other good reasons for professionals to leverage the social network. In his book, Chris Brogan expresses that how a company uses Google+ for business is up to them, and that there are many opportunities to consider when building a Google+ strategy. The suggestions in the book are pretty much best practices for any kind of social network involvement and with all the attention being paid to Google+ the past few months it’s a good time to review. Some of the ways you may want to consider using Google+ for your business or professional online presence include:

Collaboration
Learning
Discovery
Community Building
Contests & Promotions
Customer Service
Engagement
Listening
Referrals
Sharing

“The Most Important Part of Your Profile: The Introduction”

Building out your Google+ profile is essential for how people perceive your brand. Google+ for Business puts special emphasis on creating a stellar introduction for Google+ profiles. The introduction field in you Google+ profile should include:

Professional Experience: give your potential customers an idea of what it might look like to work with them.
Personal Information: this will inform prospects what matters most to you outside of business.
Linking: do not stuff your profile with links but be sure to link to outside resources where appropriate.

“Posting to Build Connections”

If part of your marketing strategy is to connect with interesting or influential people, Google+ this is a good way to inspire creativity in your own content. Some helpful tips for creating content to drive connections would include:

Source information from websites that are not always sources. Posting interesting information from a more obscure sight is likely to catch the attention of new followers.
Original content that takes a different stance from the majority of users is likely to get you some attention.
Curiosity drives traffic, share some interesting knowledge that you have about something you care about such as music or film.

There is a wealth of information being created each day on optimizing, creating content, and socializing using Google+. Over the next few months Google will only continue to roll out changes to their Google+ platform and either by incentive or usefulness, Google+ will grow.

What are your most pressing questions about Google+? Has your business created a page yet? How are you getting your staff on board with Google+ profiles or are you focusing more on your brand page?

Be sure to connect with TopRank Online Marketing on Google+ here.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Google+ for Business: 5 Things Marketing Professionals Should Know About Google+ | http://www.toprankblog.com

Online Marketing News: Google+ Search, $10 per Twitter Follower, Facebook 1 Billion Users, Foursquare Search Engine, Social ROI: No, Really!

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:00:04 +0000

Search, plus Your World

The big news this week centers around the changes that Google has rolled out related to Google+ integration with search, which as the tech press buzzing. Google is aiming to bring users additional search functionality that is incorporated with their Google+ profiles. The official Google blog states that “you should be able to find your own stuff on the web, the people you know and things they’ve shared with you, as well as the people you don’t know but might want to… all from one search box.” Industry observers are saying it’s too much Google+, all the time.

Regardless, it’s a new dimension on the face of search and that spells opportunity (for those optimists among us) to Optimize. Here are a few tips on Google+ optimization. Be sure to add TopRank to your Google+ circles!

It’s an Oh So Social Web

“Facebook projected to hit 1 billion active users by August” There are about 6.9 billion people currently living in the world, and Facebook is projected to capture close to 14% of that number by the end of this summer. According to a new study, the Facebook user count will hit 1 billion by the month of August. Via Digital Trends.

“Anywhere in the world, foursquare Explore can find you something interesting (now on your computer!)” How do you search for personalized recommendations in the real world? This is a huge and difficult problem. Most real-world searches are one-size fits all. The new web version of Explore is powered by 1,500,000,000 check-ins, tens of millions of Tips, and over half million Lists. Explore is powered by check-ins and foursquare Tips, it’s not just personalized, it’s specific. Via Foursquare.

“Some Advertisers Are Paying Up To $10 Per Follow On Twitter” Marketers spent an estimated $100- to $150-million on Twitter advertising to reach its 100 million users last year, compared with forecasts of nearly $4-billion for Facebook and its 800 million users. So far, Twitter’s advertisers have been prepared to pay $1 to $4 for each new follower through “promoted accounts”, though some – such as car makers – are bidding more than $10. Via Financial Times.

“YouTube accounts for 25% of visits to social sites in December” Market research analyst James Murray shares that there were record levels of Internet traffic at Christmas, with 2.18 billion visits going to online retailers in December. Murry also shares that the right blend of traffic from social media, affiliates, and other sources is essential. But, that it is more important than ever for marketers to optimize both paid and organic campaigns. Via Econsultancy.

“71% More Likely to Purchase Based on Social Media Referrals [INFOGRAPHIC]” Consumers are currently connecting, rating, discussing, and consumer more product information and review then ever before. The infographic in this article illustrates the importance of ecommerce inbound marketing. Via Hubspot.

We’re With the Brand – Tips

“5 Tips for Making Your Brand More Social” As social media only continues to increase in value companies cannot afford to shamelessly self promote or opt out from the conversation all together. Requests are being made that companies respond in real time, across multiple channels. Via Social Media Examiner.

“How to Build Recognition for Your Unkown Brand” In the marketing and advertising world the word “frequency” refers to the number of times a consumer must see or an ad before they purchase the product. According to this article frequency works because it is all about building trust. As consumers we tend to be weary of anything new. However, if we are shown a product or brand repeatedly we begin trust what that company has to offer. Via Wall Street Journal.

TopRank(ing) News From Our Team

Emily Conley – “Real-Life Examples of How Google’s “Search Plus” Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy”
Google’s recent implementation of the “Search Plus Your World” feature has everybody talking about whether the new feature benefits Google users, or just the company. This article dives into the initial impact of the change through a user perspective. The “Search Plus” feature has huge implications in terms of search and social…this is only the beginning of what is sure to be a long debate! Via Search Engine Land.

Ken Horst – “Pinterest: 13 Tips and Tricks for Cutting Edge Users”
As we’ve seen in previous weeks, Pinterest traffic and interest is growing like crazy, recently breaking into the top ten social media websites. In addition to the 13 tips in this post, I’ve also found it useful to create pin boards of images from my blog or web site. Each image is a link back top the originating web property and if the images are cool, users can also see some nice referring traffic as well. Via Mashable.

Alexis Hall – “SoLoMo Revolution Picks Up Where Hyperlocal Search Left Off”
I thought this post on Social Local Mobile Search or the “SoLoMo Revolution” was interesting. It discusses how companies like Shopkick have been successful using new mobile technology to offer shoppers a highly personalized experience. Via Mashable.

Discussion: What do you think about the new Google+ integration with search? Do you think it’s too much? What about $10 per Twitter user? Or $1? Do you think Foursquare can compete as a local search engine? We’d love your feedback on these stories and feel free to suggest other top stories we missed.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Google+ Search, $10 per Twitter Follower, Facebook 1 Billion Users, Foursquare Search Engine, Social ROI: No, Really! | http://www.toprankblog.com

Technology Marketing: Is Your B2B Social Media Strategy Sending Mixed Signals?

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:20:05 +0000

Is your social media strategy sending your customers mixed signals?

As a B2B organization with a focus on technology, you may believe that you are facing additional obstacles that your B2C counterparts are not.

Many of you have tried to implement social media in the past without much success. However, you may still believe that B2C companies have it easier because they have a direct line to their consumers. The good news is, you do too! In fact, 58% of IT buyers use social media to make tech buying decisions.

Getting in front of the proper decision makers and influencers when selling SaaS, IT, or any other technology is not as hard as you may think. It is imperative that you follow a series of social media best practices directed at finding, engaging, and motivating your social network to take action.

Developing Social Media Personas

The first rule of social media for technology companies is to know your customers. How can you connect with your customers if you don’t know who they are? Well developed personas will help you answer a variety of questions about your customers including:

Where they spend time online
How they interact on social chanels
What type of information they share most frequently
What motivates them to interact, buy and refer

Establish A Voice & Stick With It

The growing pains associated with implementing a social media strategy often include finding a defined voice and direction for your brand. While you may be working with an internal or outsourced team to execute your social media strategy, you must find consistency. A good first step is to sit down with your team and discuss your company mission, goals, offering, and pain points of your customers to determine how information should be presented. Then take some time to research your top 5 competitors and see what type of interaction and success they are having with their campaigns.

Confusing Content Kills Network Growth

While there is nothing wrong with providing a variety of information on your business profiles it is key that you remain consistent. If you are targeting CFO’s responsible for technology purchases at large organizations, it is important that the content provided is helpful, informational, and aimed at solving their business problems. It can get tricky when you are targeting multiple decision makers and influencers like the buying groups often associated with B2B purchases, so be mindful of exactly who your audience is and what type of content and context will have the desired impact.

Facts Tell & Stories Sell

When selling a complex solution or service, sharing stories about customers that you have helped can be of enormous value. It’s true that your typical CFO or purchasing manager will be very mindful of the ROI associated with purchasing your product. But do not underestimate the power of a well written client case study or testimonial. A client story will add validity to your message, which is of enormous value when marketing via social media. Keep in mind that you are asking for an investment, and in order to gain the trust of that customer you may need to provide additional information that builds trust.

If you have a more traditional marketing background try to remember that many of the same basic marketing principles apply to social media marketing. It is extremely valuable to research your customers, find consistency in branding, create cohesive content, and share meaningful customer stories.

If you are just beginning to develop an online marketing strategy or are a social media networking professional I would recommend running a social media audit of your existing social media marketing program and incorporating the tactics included in this post. Not sure where to start? You can always contact the team at TopRank for additional information on what is involved and where to begin.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Technology Marketing: Is Your B2B Social Media Strategy Sending Mixed Signals? | http://www.toprankblog.com

Online Marketing News: Google+ Who?, Know Thy Customer, Social Media Law, TopRank Team News

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:40:06 +0000

Who’s Using Google+?

The launch of Google+ in 2011 has put Google in the social networking boxing ring. When it comes to user statistics some of them may surprise you. This infographic by Flowtown shares some interesting information about the increasingly popular social media site.

63% of users are male
Only 17% of users are considered active
61% of top 100 brands have a page on Google+

Be sure to connect with TopRank on our Google+ page.

Online Marketing Tips & Tricks

“10 Brand-Building Steps For Beginners” For many companies 2012 marks the year that they will begin implementing a social media strategy. This article provides 10 easy steps for those who have not yet many the plunge into social marketing. Via Fast Company.

“5 Tricks from a LinkedIn Jedi” According to David Gowel many entrepreneurs are not using LinkedIn as well as they could. Gowel also shares 5 key takeaways on marketing using LinkedIn for both newbies and Jedi’s in training. Via Inc.

How Well Do You Know Your Audience?

What Comes Before The Landing Page – The Crucial Role Of Psychology-Driven SEO” While landing page design is important, it is not the most important factor in attracting the right audience. Knowing your prospects, understanding their pain, and speaking their language are all key components of creating a successful landing page. Via Search Engine Land.

“How to know what your audience really wants” Chances are your audience isn’t interested in your sales message, your company news, or hearing from you in general. What they are interested in are answers to their questions and solutions for their problems. How can you stand out from the pack? Answer their questions and let them know why your unique solutions will help solve their problems. Via Chris G.

Internet News Hot Dish

“Daily Report: A Legal Battle Over a Twitter User’s Identity” We find Twitter in the middle of yet another legal battle. This time the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts is attempting to attain information regarding a Twitter account used to share information about the “occupy” protests. What do you think? Should this information be shared? Via New York Times.

“5 Predictions for Social Media Law in 2012” In 2011 there were numerous court battles caused by information shared via social networks. As more and more companies begin utilizing social media as a sales and marketing tool we can except to see even more court battles, and laws being passed. This article shares 5 predictions for changes to the law in 2012. Via Mashable.

“Social marketing gems: Tools to make sense of chaos” A social media strategy is only effective if you can measure it’s success. Christopher Hosford shares four tools that can help measure, promote, and respond to your social media activity. Via BtoB.

“Google Announces “Megasitelinks,” Image Search Improvements & Better Byline Dates” Starting in November 2011 Google began releasing a monthly overview of site changes to the public. The release for December included over 30 changes! This article provides a peak into some of the changes you may not be aware of. Via Search Engine Land.

The TopRank Report = News from Our Team

Ken Horst – Branded Content Advertising Spend At All Time High
Branded content advertising hit an all time high in 2011. In addition, 16% of companies surveyed said they would be aggressively shifting from traditional marketing to branded content in 2012. Via MediaPost.

Top 3 reasons companies listed for using branded content;
1. Educate customers
2. Customer retention
3. Brand loyalty

Brian Larson – Google+ Sees Massive Membership Growth
I think this is a fascinating story detailing the resurgence of Google+. With the use of the social network flattening out in October, this new growth (largely the result of Google+ Business Pages) makes the social network that much more relevant to our audience. Via Mashable.

Alexis Hall – NSTIC, Google & SEO
This interesting story features a video discussing the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) and the Identity Ecosystem, and what it means that sites like Google, PayPal and Equifax are now credentialed providers. The article discusses the impact of credentialed providers on online privacy, data collection and why any of it matters for SEO. Via Search Engine Watch.

Emily Conley – The 5 Things Yahoo’s New CEO Scott Thompson Should Do Right Away
This article outlines 5 things that newly appointed Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson (former president of PayPal) should do immediately to leave his mark on the Yahoo brand:

Move on the buyout position – China-based web firm Alibaba (40% Yahoo owned) has expressed interest in purchasing Yahoo
Fix the board – The board’s June 2010 failure to oust CEO Carol Bartz rubbed shareholders the wrong way
Follow Google and choose a direction – Yahoo has positioned itself as an innovative tech company, but should hone in on what they currently do well and focus efforts there
Fix the brand – Yahoo’s old brand image could use an innovative, technology-savvy update
Build a strategy to compete with Facebook – Yahoo needs to stake a claim in the social media realm

It will be interesting to see how 2012 unfolds for Yahoo. As one of the most visited sites on the web, Yahoo’s next steps could have a big impact on the world of SEO. This is a story worth following! Via Fast Company.

Today marks the end of the first full work week in 2012. I’m curious to know if you’ve kept your personal and professional resolutions so far?. If so, what were they? Have a great weekend!

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Google+ Who?, Know Thy Customer, Social Media Law, TopRank Team News | http://www.toprankblog.com