Archive for May, 2009

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Jack of All Trades, Master of None

Posted by Brent on May 29th, 2009

As the corporate world further embraces the importance of Internet marketing, social media, and the basics of interactive client communication many companies are trying to figure out just how to go about launching such efforts.  Naturally, like anything else, new agendas require time, research, resources, and budget.  Many of the items on this list are scarce these days and even the major brands are watching their wallets.

One thing that seems to be common is that many companies are dabbling in all areas of Internet marketing but not effectively using any one channel.  This is not unusual nor is there anything wrong with it.  You have to start somewhere.  However, when budget and resources are limited it obviously behooves a company seeking to expand their brand presence online to choose one or two of the most appropriate online marketing channels and focus on success.  Many larger brands are making efforts to build in-house teams by reorganizing current talent and shifting people into new jobs.  Often times there will be one person overseeing five or six different Internet marketing agendas with little to no outside help.  This may not be the most realistic approach.

Companies needs to spend time researching which Internet marketing components are the most appropriate for their brand, timelines, budget, and goals.  Then they need to choose one or two and set some goals.  Whether it is done in-house or by an outside Internet marketing firm doesn’t really matter.  You just need to make sure the people implementing the strategiues have the expertise to not only run the campaigns but understand your business goals and how to reach them. 

For example, two of the most complimentary online marketing channels (in my opinion) are organic SEO and social media.  Both ensure long term investment in the business and will grow in value and response over time.  Both strategies will help your business eliminate other costs/needs for traditional media over time.  Either way, the smartest and most targeted approach will match your business goals with the resources you have to reach those goals.


Online Video Viewing and Sharing is now Bigger than Ever!

Posted by Myles on May 28th, 2009

In a time of economic downturn and an ever changing online universe,  the end consumer has always dictated what the future holds for businesses and technologies alike.  According to some recent Nielsen ratings and Lightspeed research, video is becoming the hottest social medium on the web.  With over 116 million consumers watching and interacting with online video, you can now say that online video viewership is comparable to television viewership.

US Online Video Viewer Metrics, April 2008 & April 2009

Consumers are now not only watching videos but sharing them with others.  According to Lightspeed research the most popular methods consumers are using to share videos include : email to friends (50%) , Send to a social network friend (23%) and Instant message a video clip to a friend or colleague (21%)

Methods Used by US Online Video Viewers to Share Online Videos, January 2009 (% of respondents)

In conclusion, if your watching videos online your interacting with them more than ever. If your an online business or product online without video optimization and distribution you are definitely missing the picture or should I say online video!


Do you want to Poken?

Posted by Myles on May 27th, 2009


Don’t Forget to Optimize Your Social Media Profiles

Posted by Brent on May 26th, 2009

We have talked before about how social media strategies can be a great compliment to any SEO strategy.  Social media can be a great way to build quality inbound links and develop solid off-page content.  Naturally, all the basic SEO rules apply:  content, keywords, user value, and quality inbound links. 

So what about your social media profile pages?

If you haven’t already noticed, social media profile pages are starting to rank regulary for search terms.  For example, if a person has a Facebook.com and Twitter.com profile and then Google their own name, these profile pages will usually come up first,  or at least very near the top.  The reason of course is because these websites themselves are already highly regarded by Google.  They have millions of pages, great user-generated content, etc.

So when looking for a great compliment to your SEO strategy for your website, consider optimizing your social media profile pages as well.  Great SEO pratice according to Google’s latest algorithms suggest that it is best to optimize all possible online assets including websites, videos, social media profile pages, press releases, pod casts, images, etc.  When considering optimization for your social media profile pages don’t forget the following:

  • If you don’t have a Twitter and Facebook page (any other networks of course) for your brand, create one
  • Flood your BIO and pages with keywords, but do it in a reader-friendly natural way
  • Use keywords in your profile name if possible
  • Add other great content such as videos
  • Build good inbound links

Remeber also that when building a following for your profile pages such as Twitter and Facebook, one of the best ways is to actually drive external traffic to these pages (as opposed to just networking within the social community).  Make sure to have links to your social media pages from your main website, email signatures, newsletters, print media, etc.   Some companies have considered using social media profiles as their main websites do to their searchability, cost effectiveness (FREE), and great functionalities. 

The best Facebook and Twitter strategies use the profile pages as key communication platforms where they announce all value propositions, special offerings, incentives, coupons, etc.  Imagine of these pages are also apearing in the SERPs for relevant keywords how impactful that would be!


Related Blogs

Anytime, anywhere, videos on Twitter

Posted by Myles on May 22nd, 2009

Receiving information via television is so 2000 Late! If you want to view your favorite TV shows, movies, trailers, etc, you can do it by going to Hulu.com, download them from your iTunes account, PS3 video store, Amazon video, YouTube, and now you can even view videos through Twitter. Social Media is becoming more than anyone ever imagined!

There is a new site called twitmatic that allows you to search for any search term you want. It then performs a search from all tweets posted with a video link and presents them to you in a nice legible format. If you type in Star Wars for example, you are presented with trailers, spoofs, Star Trek vs Star Wars video, and much more. This is why Social Media for businesses are becoming so vital.

Business who have not embraced Social Media yet, need to know that everyone else is embracing it. If your business has a video online, it is important that it is a compelling video you want to showcase to the world. If you want it to be found via YouTube, ot in this case via twitmatic from posted tweets – it needs to be compelling.

Social Media is here to stay. It has been embraced by radio stations, newscasters, celebrities, and pretty soon everyone else around you.

Twitmatic

New Adwords Interface… Deal with it!

Posted by Myles on May 22nd, 2009

As time has progressed the reliability and and face of google adwords has remained a mainstay in online paid search campaigns. Google Adwords has not made a major face lift to the Adwords interface in quite a few years. There have been some major changes along the way such as: Cost per action options, enhancements to view where in the world your content network ads are going, and the ever popular summary option of seeing the content network and paid search successes in separate fields.

Well now, Google much as it has done in the past with other platforms, has pulled the rug out from under us all and forced us to use a new version of one of their products without consensus or choice. The new Google Adwords interface has is the latest Google 800 lbs gorilla change. The new Adwords interface has many new features that will eventually make updating campaigns, ad groups and ads easier in the future. But for the time being seems foreign to a lot of us that have grown so accustomed to the current Adwords interface being that old reliable steak and potatoes dinner that feed are paid search campaigns.

In the coming weeks and months as Google has mandated we will all be forced from the steak and potatoes we all knew so well, and adapt to the new salmon and pilaf rice that Google is forcing us to consume with the new interface. Good online marketering is always about adapting to change, so there will be growing pains in the beginning, but in a few months the new interface will be our steak and potatoes once again. Hang in there.

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Successful Real Estate Companies Are Online!

Posted by Brent on May 21st, 2009

The real estate market has seen some dramatic shifts recently and two things have happened.  The market crashed and real estate professionals and companies are taking their businesses online!  The online process began before the bubble burst, but the stormy housing market further proved the need for more targeted and cost effective real estate marketing.

istock_000001767763xsmallcroppedTo succeed in today’s real estate industry, you have to be actively engaging the online community.  The days of thinking that your buyers or renters are not online or that your “demographic” doesn’t use the web to find a home are OVER.  Here are some important facts from the 2008 NAR Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers:

87% of homebuyers used the Internet as an information source

77% of Internet homebuyers drove by or viewed a home they saw online

32% of buyers first found their home on the Internet

25% of FSBOs used the Internet to help sell their home

So how do real estate companies large and small answer this direct need to be egaging potential buyers and renters online?  The answer is through comprehensive integrated Internet marketing strategies.  This may sounds more complicated than it really is.  It all starts with the website which is the foundation of any sound online marketing plan.  You must have an interesting and informative user experience by offering loads of unique content, rich media like video and virtual tours, blogs, forums, etc.  Real estate, like most other businesses, have the need to embrace the Web 2.0 world of customer interaction. 

Once the website is in order and you have a great interactive platform, you need to make sure people can find you.  Yes, your buyers and renters are online looking for you (as stated in the facts above)!  Of course, organic search engine optimization (SEO) is the best long term investment you can make in your real estate company.  Homebuilders and apartment development/management companies across the country are making this investment and saving tons of money in other marketing mediums.  Let’s face it…print isn’t going to get the job done anymore.  Sure, its important for branding and can be effctive for promoting grand openings but its not interactive, nor is it cost effective or measurable. 

People want the facts and they want them fast.  Buyers and renters are online because its convenient anf there is a wealth of transparent information out there.  Consumers can do weeks of research and make informed decisions before ever picking up the phone to call a property or speak to an agent (though the important role of an agent or leasing representative will never be obsolete!).  Having first page organic rankings for your relevant keywords will drive higher volumes of quality traffic to your real estaet site than most other outlets.  Real estate is very competitive online so it must be viewed as a long term investment.  Once you have the rankings, then investment will pay off tenfold.

In the short term, pay per click advertising (PPC) (when managed properly) is a great way to drive targeted traffic to your pages.  Google Adwords has developed over the past year and their algorithms are now more sophisticated.  You must approach paid search campaigns in similar ways you do with basic SEO – you must have a thoughtful keyword strategy with good title and descriptions, and use solid landing pages with unique conent.  Google now uses what they call “Quality Score” to ensure that campaigns are well managed and providing value to the user.  The Quality Score process ranks your campaigns from 0 to 10 (10 being the best) and makes judgements based on title, descriptions, and landing page quality.  Google will also now take into account the overall value your website has to offer.  This is were many real estate sites can hit a road block. So many sites out there now just aggregate MSL listings and property listings from all over the web without providing unique content and information.  Without offering the user unique content found nowhere else on the web, Google may not give a good Quality Score when running PPC campaigns.  So now its not just about outbidding competitors for terms, its about value. 

The fastest growing marketing phenomenon is social media.  All types of companies in all kinds of industries are embracing the ability to interact with their customers in an open transparent forum.  Social media is actually very simple (though it can take a lot of time and energy to run a successful campaign).  Its about finding your target audience in social networks, blogs, forums, etc. and listening to what they have to say.  Once you have a loyal following and are offering value to the community (Free information, advice, knowledge, etc.) you can start communicating your more “commercial” messages.  From a real estate perspective this is very important.  Buyers and renters are seeking value and real information now more than ever.  Additionally, once you have a robust online presence in the social media world, you can simply use it as a communication platform – announce grand openings, share videos, pictures, special incentives, etc.  Always remember though, you should lean more heavily to the “value” offering to maintain a trusting and loyal following.

One very simple and effective compliment to both SEO and social media, is regular blogging.  Blogging used to be quite foreign to real estate professionals and now it is very mainstream.  You just have to find the time to do it!  To use blogging effective for real estate, it should be approached in two ways.  (1) Have a blog on your own website and write on it regularly.  Send out links to your articles through your social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.  (2) Get out there and write blogs on other sites.  Once you become a regular on some sites you can start providing links back to your site.  This is a great way to get traffic and very powerful for your inbound link building campaign (the most crucial element to orgainc SEO).

Regardless of the economy, people still need homes and they are looking for them online.  Make sure you are where they are looking!

Related Blogs

Best Twitter Apps – Episode 2 – ATO

Posted by Myles on May 19th, 2009


Where is Online Marketing Heading in 2009?

Posted by Brent on May 19th, 2009

There is so much buzz out there about the decline of traditional media and the major shifts to online platforms.  Companies are making these transitions for many reasons including cost effectiveness and measurability.  These dramatic shifts have spurred the development of great market research that shows us what industries are leading online ad spending, who the online audiences are, and what Internet marketing mediums are gaining the most popularity.  Nielsen’s recent report title “The Global Online Media Landscape” is packed with information on all these categories.

What industries are leading the pack in online spending?

We have seen a change in this arena.  Financial services firms, retail and the auto industry have been the leaders in online ad spending in the recent past but due to obvious economic conditions, this has changed.  Now, we see that the top four industries in online marketing are pharmaceutical companies, healthcare, telecommunications companies, and packaged goods manufacturers.  On the retail side we have seen a big drop off in online ad spending just at the time when they should be ramping up.  More consumers are buying online and searching for coupon deals.  The buying still persists in areas such as apparel, electronics, etc.

What are the demographics for people spending the most time online?

The United States has seen the largest surge in the age group of 50+.  The days of assuming baby boomers are not online is over.  They are now among the leaders in online usage.  This change is even more interesting in the area of social media/social networking.  Social media has taken the world by storm and it is forcing us to look at things differently.  Social media has forced companies, marketers, and market research firms to view online communities with a newfound respect, to change the way we gather market research, and to change the way people view online marketing. 

One of the most interesting demographic growths in social networking has been “New Moms” between the ages of 25 and 35.  If you think about it is quite obvious.  Younger new Moms that spend more time at home are seeking advice and friendship and do so through sites like Facebook and MySpace.  Here they can keep up and what’s going on with friends and family, post pics and video, and have ongoing social interaction from the comfort of home.  According to Nielsen, younger Moms are 85% more likely to spend sugnificant time on Facebook than any other consumer.

What Internet marketing mediums are gaining the most popularity?

As far as spending goes, search is still leading the pack but the three areas of greatest growth in popularity are social media, online video, and mobile marketing.  According to Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google), they forsee making more money in mobile marketing than through the desktop eventually.  People spend more time with their phones than anything else.  Mobile marketing is still in experimental stages and we have yet to fully understand whether consumers will warm to this over time.  In the US, 50 million mobile subscribers access the web via their phones each month.  Additionally, smart phones and faster 3G networks are making web access that much easier.

Online video has enjoyed tremendous growth and although YouTube is still the leader, there are many other sights gaining momentum in the “long-form” video arena.  From February 2008 to 2009, the viewers of online video grew 10%, the streams per user grew 27%, and the total minutes engaged with online video grew 71% (Nielsen, 2009).

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Social media has gained such tremendous growth that companies in all industries can no longer ingore the opportunity to listen and engage their customers.  The question remains for each industry…how do we best pursue social media for our brand and how do we gain the best possible ROI?  True social media engagement can be utilized for many purposes.  Companies can now effectively listen to their consumers and engage them in ongoing discussions.  The days of Web 1.0 are over as consumers are more likely to ask others about products and expect to find feedback online.  This can be scary to some companies but true transparency is becoming the norm (especially in this economy).  As video and mobile marketing continue to grow, social media will grow right along with it.  Mobile access if actually furling the fire for social media marketing as more and more consumers are accessing their Facebook and Twitter pages through their phones.

What does all this mean for Internet marketing?

It means great things.  Thought 2009 may not be a record year for online ad spending, Internet marketing/advertising will still beat out all other forms of media.  One of the interesting areas to watch will be how the “paid” online advertising interacts with (or competes with) “earned” online marketing.  Earned marketing refers to consumer acceptance and feedback (user-generated content).  In the long run, and according to Google, the more earned media exposure you can get the better!


Social Media: Gaining Acceptance

Posted by Myles on May 16th, 2009

Here at IMI, we have been big proponents of using social media for all kinds of businesses. Social Media is not, and should not be exclusive to tech companies, and this can be seen by giants such as Starbucks, Whole Foods, and more. Social Media is the replacement of what PR and traditional marketing used to conduct, and as a result businesses are jumping on the bandwagon so they will not stay behind.

According to Business Journal, social media has begun to gain wide acceptance.

“More than two-thirds of those who responded to the most recently completed Business Pulse survey said they use sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for work.

About 12 percent said they use social media only for business. About 18 percent said they use it only for personal enjoyment.

Another 37 percent said they use the sites for both reasons.

About 11 percent said they have tried the sites but don’t use them while about 19 percent said they have never been to a social media site.”

These numbers keep changing daily.  Social Media is here to stay, but to be successful your business must have a clear cut plan of what it needs, what it wants, and what audience it is intending to rech out to.  Additionally, because running a social media campaign is a job in itself, many businesses cannot afford to hire a full time person to do an overwhelming task.  This is where hiring the right Social Media company comes into place.  They have the knowledge and expertise, and will assist you in obtaining what you need without breaking your bank account.

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