Quick Read/Link to a Good Social Media Article

I thought this was a great summary of why social media needs to be a part of your company's marketing plan.

Check it out!

Give Thanks for Lounge Pants and Slippers!

Heading into Thanksgiving, I have been paying attention to all the Black Friday ads out there. Every year, the market to grab your hard-earned dollars becomes even more fierce. This year, some stores are even opening on Thanksgiving itself!

I prefer the comfortable approach to the holiday craziness...that being online shopping. Honestly, with my passions for internet marketing, it would be almost a sin if I was spotted in one of those long lines on Friday, wouldn't it? And, really, what can't you find these days online for the same prices?

So I encourage you to go out to cyberland now and do some research. I bet you'll find great deals, while sitting at home in your lounge pants and slippers. You do use your computer in lounge pants and slippers, don't you?

Anyway, have a great Thanksgiving everyone, and be thankful for all you have!

Show Me the...Pudding!

I have been talking to quite a few marketers out there lately. There are certainly a lot of them out there. I'm one of "them" too. Meeting with people like myself got me thinking...

First, how am I different? I love talking internet marketing, social media, sales and on and on and on. So do a lot of others out there.

Next, what makes a marketer a marketer? I think I answered both questions by re-reading my last blog post about being genuine.

Of all the hundreds of self-proclaimed marketers out there, what it seems to come down to is the pudding. The old saying, the proof is in the pudding really applies. I've worked for companies and people in the past who say they are marketers, but really don't have a process or practical experience to back it up. Sometimes self proclaimed marketers talk to talk, but really can't back their words up.

So to me, what sets marketers apart is the ability to apply hands-on experience and convert it to real results for customers. So by being true to yourself and the knowledge accumulated through experience, you will be the best marketer to your customers and your company.

So anyone seeking help with marketing needs to ask the question...show me the pudding!

Be Genuine!

I changed employers over the past few months, and have learned so very much from just being the real me. It earned me the position I hold now, specifically because I held nothing back and was true to who I am - I was genuinely me.

What triggered me to write this today was some recent events in both my new position and also my consulting business. I am incredibly passionate about the use of online media, such as websites and social media. use all of these elements wisely, and the chances for marketing and sales success is great!

I recently contacted a past client of mine who needed help with their web site and a social media plan. It turned out they were starving for help and couldn't find someone willing to help without charging thousands of dollars. Of course I am in the consulting business to make money. But, I also realize that being genuine and fair will facilitate business and relationships for the long term, allowing small businesses to work with people like me.

So I encourage everyone to be the true you and let your passions shine through. While it may not always produce huge sums of money right away, being genuine will pay off in the long run.

Social Media and Business - Have a Plan

I have been thinking a lot about how so many businesses today WANT to participate in social media, but don't know how to begin. My response - develop a plan first.

Think of it like developing a marketing plan or a business plan. There are so many factors involved, that, without a plan, execution will be chaos. You'll need to at least determine what social media you want to utilize, how you will communicate on the chosen media, who will maintain and monitor the chosen media, how the company will respond to positive and negative posts, and who will oversee and report to the plan you've developed.

Only then, after developing a clear, concise plan can you begin utilizing social media effectively. I also recommend meeting frequently to discuss content and plans moving forward. That will keep you on track and ensure a successful effort in the social marketing world.

Passion! It's a Blog Thing

A friend of my just recently entered into the world of blogging, and in writing that first blog, my friend wrote about a topic that really hit home - when you blog, write what you are passionate about! That's so very true!

It may seem obvious, but readers will pick up on your energy and quickly realize you to be an expert in your field.

So how do you successfully start a blog? I found this link to help you get started. As you probably have read, blogging has many benefits to your business, your reputation and your website.

So get started, and find that passion!

Improving SEO with Social Media

Even a novice in SEO knows that building high quality links is an effective way to improve page rank. The first thing you must to is develop great content - afterall, would you link to anything less. Once you have the content work with business partners, use press releases, blogs and local directories to begin to develop a link network. Another option is social media, but you must know all social media sites are not created equal. While researching link building I found a very convenient and informative table which not only gives the SEO opportunity of many popular social media sites but also identifies the Customer Communication, Brand Exposure and Traffic potential.

The Web Analytics Association Calls on Industry for Commentary on Social Media Standards Definitions]

Measuring the correct metrics of any campaign is necessary in finding successes. It is time to being the process to define the KPIs and, just as importantly, naming the indicators and metrics.

The WAA has called for public feedback for Social Media Standard Definitions. This is an exciting opportunity to give input as this media is defined - this includes widgets, blogs and social bookmarking & sharing platforms. The WAA has put forth some recommendations, which will remain in "draft" state until April 23, 2010. Even if you don't feel confident offering any recommendations their document is an thought provoking read.

The Web Analytics Association Calls on Industry for Commentary on Social Media Standards Definitions]

Time Can Be on Your Side

I have been reading up on studies talking about time spent on social media. I've included a link, but suffice it to say social media is here to stay, and we are spending a lot of time using it. Check out this link: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/led-by-facebook-twitter-global-time-spent-on-social-media-sites-up-82-year-over-year/

So why the big deal? Well, as I have discussed previously, if used correctly, businesses can greatly benefit from the use of social media. Frankly, today the participation in social media is as important today as it was to have a website five years ago.

Take advantage of the time customers all over the world are spending on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. These days, it's a necessity.

What If You Didn't...

By Scott Grall

I have heard lots of companies and organizations say social media really isn't all that important in this economic climate. That attitude can be a huge miscalculation.

Why? There are countless examples of companies taking that exact position on social media, only to pay a big price either in market share, public perception or even worse - the ability to stay in business.

The common argument companies use is it is difficult to prove return on investment when sing social media. While that may be true, thinking social media will bring in money immediately is the wrong approach.

Think of it this way...back before social media, when you had a bad experience or poor service with a company, you likely told friends, co-workers and family and word slowly spread over time. Now, if anyone with a mobile device has a bad experience at perhaps your company (right or wrong), they can immediately reach thousands of people instantly by posting a Facebook message or posting on Twitter.

So it is essential companies understand social media is necessary - at the very least - because they need to know what their customers are saying. Companies who keep a finger on that pulse and respond appropriately will win in this marketplace.

If it seems too overwhelming to your company, there are firms and individuals - like me - who can help properly set up your social media platforms and then monitor them.

Structuring a PPC account

Articles about Paid Search usually focus on bid management, copy development, landing page optimization or keyword selection. I’d like to discuss a often overlooked, but equally important, component of every paid search program...the structure.

I will write about Google and the options they give to structure your program. Google has three levels to their structure - the account, campaign, ad group and keyword. An account is allowed 25 campaigns, 2000 ad groups per campaign and 2000 keywords per ad group or about 50000 keywords per account.

The account is the highest level of the structure. It contains contact information, billing information access to administrative settings.

At the campaign level you can manage daily budgets, geo-targeting, end dates and language preference. The best way to organize your account is to create a campaign for each category of product or service you offer. If you sell apparel you may have three campaigns - womens, mens, and childrens. But, more likely you will want to take advantage of the 25 campaigns and get a more granular - womens tops, womens bottoms, womens shoes, mens tops, mens bottoms, mens shoes, childrens tops, childrens bottoms and childrens shoes. Let your internal categorizations and budget drive your decisions for campaigns.

Ad groups are a set of keywords grouped by theme. The key to good ad groups is that they be very specific. Ads (copy) and landing page are assigned at the ad group level. If you are selling similar products with different unique selling points, such as products of different quality and price, you will definitely want to have a different marketing message in the copy and probably deliver the shopper to different landing pages. This will allow more options for testing, better visibility into performance and help find opportunities for expansion for your business. HINT: Logically naming ad groups will help you and others quickly read, understand and prepare reports of results.

By properly structuring your account you can better manage your budget, have more precision with your marketing message,increase relevance which will improve the quality score, thereby lowering costs.

How Social Should You Be?

By Scott Grall

So maybe you started a blog, but you've found no one has read your blog. Well, there's a reason for that. You need to promote your blog and then link to other blogs.

To promote, you might think you need to spend money. That's not necessarily the case. Social media offers you free platforms to promote yourself and talk about topics. Be careful, however. Being overly promotional in any form of social media is taboo.

So start simply. Open a Facebook account, find friends, co-workers, etc and form your network. How to do this all will be covered in another post. But once you've mastered your blog posts, you can tell friends, family, co-workers - anyone who will listen - that you have a new blog post.

So keep blogging and we will get you on the social media highway!

Data Dilemma

The data dilemma - clicks, funnels, conversions, visitors and all the rest. How do you communicate what is occurring to those who are not into data?

Speak to all the stakeholders. Understand what is important to them. You may find they have ideas of what they are looking for, but don’t know the appropriate metrics to use. You may also find that data is being miss-used or is not understood. In that instance, education my become a priority.

Identify the appropriate KPIs that are needed to measure progress. Metrics cannot be viewed as discrete. Combined they tell an accurate story - so, use all the necessary indicators to get an accurate view.

Calculated metrics can be very telling. A calculated metrics combines two existing metrics to form a third. The most common calculated metric I have found is the ratio, which includes the conversion rate and the click through rate (CTR).

Communicating findings possesses its own challenges. I have found graphs are very useful. For instance, a CTR graphed over time can be very powerful. Without cluttering the graph too much you might find including clicks or other appropriate measure of volume useful.

Remember, regardless of how insightful your analysis may be you are doing yourself and your organization an injustice if cannot communicate it successfully.

Blogging - Get to the Point!

By Scott Grall
Ah, the good old days of blogging - like five years ago. That's right, just five years ago blogs were an entirely different type of medium. People used blogs to pontificate on topics or ideas, going on and on like they were an author of a famous novel. Today, times and blogs have changed. Now, blogs (and social media in geneneral) are intended to be clear and concise, with authors being experts.

So if you are interested in blogging, great! Find a topic or area of expertise you know well, and post short, to-the-point blogs for people to read. That's the first step in creating a successful blog. You will then want to "promote" your blog posts, through several social media platforms and link sharing.

But that is another topic, coming soon to this very blog. For now, get to work on setting up your blog and planning what your blog topics will be. We will work on promoting soon!