“Social Media” Sleeps with the Fishes
March 10, 2010 by Doug Mitchell · 4 Comments
I hope you’re still with me and please let me explain.
Like many of us, I live in an always on, hyper-connected, socially engaging, linking, tweeting, statusing, emailing, automating, filtering, searching, blogging, podcasting, video’ing world that accelerates geometrically each few months. In this world it’s hard to remember that most businesses are still NOT doing much of the above as part of an overall web strategy.
If I meet with 100 businesses over the next week, I’ll find that 50 are “experimenting” with some of the above and perhaps 1 or 2 are strategically using over 50% of the tools to become “a socially findable and recommendable” business. The balance are still stuck with their old brochure site that hasn’t been updated in 3 years because “The girl who built my site for free to start her design career went to work somewhere and we don’t even have the passwords to change things if we wanted to.” (I’ve spoken to 2 businesses doing a combined $45 million in the last 2 weeks in this exact scenario)
It’s ironic that if asked, every one of the businesses in my survey would say the first place they…and their target customers look for information on people, products, places, and services is the web or more specifically, “They Google It”. Yet…when asked if Internet Marketing as a real part of their marketing strategy…vs. simply playing with the tools in an ad hoc manner…nearly all say no.
In most cases, companies are merely bolting on more features to a broken platform…like putting a fresh coat of paint on a rotting structure. There may be some benefit…but ultimately the structure is shaky. This is why social media as a stand alone practice is not the recipe I’d like to see being cooked in most business kitchens.
Can a company see great result with the bolt on approach. Yes. But most will not reach anywhere near their ultimate potential without an integrated web strategy for their companies. I’ve seen the examples like you have of the pizza place or the retail store seeing more traffic by advertising/sharing/connecting on Twitter. Some businesses are more suited to this strategy agreed.
I believe however that the term and practice of “Interactive” or “Social” Marketing is far more relevant and representative of reality. So for me…”Social Media” as a term and practice sleeps with the fishes. To get transformative results, it’s best to take a holistic approach that encompasses the client’s:
- Website platform
- Business methodologies
- Definition of Conversion (call,click,buy,submit information)
- User interface
- Email marketing
- Local search
- Local business listing
- Social findability and organic placement
- Online brand (employees and company)
- Target markets
- Metrics for success
- Commitment level from the top down
- Desired keywords and long tail hyper targeted keyword opportunities
- Ability of the company to execute on a strategy period…from a human resource standpoint (the NUMBER ONE reason we see failure in the online world is the skewed perception that these tools can just be added to Jimmie in marketing’s role “because after all he’s young and gets this stuff.”) Who’s responsibility is this and what are the metrics of success?
As with other tools (like blogging a few years back) Social Media converts and luminaries get sweaty and preach Gospel on the street corner and proclaim the arrival of the savior (aka Twitter)…but as a disciplined professional you know that without a comprehensive Interactive Marketing strategy behind your efforts that social media is….well….social. It is possible and desirable to state loudly and proudly that you’d like social tools to become transactional and that’s where most companies and consultants don’t execute.
Immigrant Entrepreneurs Summit Case Study
November 16, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · 2 Comments
I wanted to pass on a quick recap. I posted on my participation in IES this past weekend where I streamed my talk on Interactive Marketing. I told the participants in my session to Google “Immigrant Entrepreneurs Summit” in 30 days and see where my post was in the results. The net result is that…
My content (both the post and the ustream.tv recordings of my chat) appears on the first page of results and did so within 24 hours of me hitting “publish”.
Here are the reasons that I see for this result…most of which we talked about in our session.
- I have used the 3 key words that define the event. I used “Immigrant Entrepreneurs Summit” in my title and it’s sprinkled throughout naturally. I haven’t forced the issue or “tried to pack in more instances that the post deserved.” I’ve also used IES multiple times but there are a lot of organizations and groups out there with that acronym so that will be harder to get on page 1.
- I have embedded video that I streamed live and recorded into the post. This is another “content outpost”. Why not stream something live and get the recording with almost no effort? Sure it’s not the best recording but I told my participants as I always do that “I don’t use handouts” but how would you like to replay this entire chat again anytime you’d like to extract the key points? They thought that wasn’t a bad idea. Notice that this recording is ALSO on the first page of results.
- I am probably the only person using a WordPress based / blog based site to talk about this conference. The conference doesn’t have its own site yet and anyone with information about the conference has a fairly static site. My blog post was done before I left the conference on Saturday. Was this a lot of effort? No. It took about 15 minutes to write and post.
Summary: I have the platform that lets met rapidly put out fresh content (WordPress). Google loves fresh content and since I’ve been doing this a while…the magic Google engine gives my site a little respect. I used the exact keywords that people will probably search for if they’re trying to get information on this event. I’ve used multiple forms of content (video, written word) and I’ve pushed that content into additional outposts (ustream.tv). This blog post will be part of an automated newsletter that goes out occasionally to my email marketing subscribers too. When I get 5 new posts…the newsletter is “magically created” with no effort on my part thanks to (aweber email marketing). Remember that setting up your infrastructure NOW means you don’t have to think about it later. I also linked out to many other sites in my post so perhaps these folks know this and are now aware of me…increasing my chances of getting inbound links back from them.
BONUS: During the conference, I ended up meeting 3 people that I have known and follow only through Twitter. During the day, they told other people that we’d met and that we were having lunch, attending my session, etc. 10 new people have followed me since the conference and if we consider that they’re ALL Des Moines based…I have just added to my local network in town, solidified some FACE TO FACE relationships that were purely and casually online until now, and created some case study results to share with my audience.
Not a bad 48 hours I’d say. Now anyone who knows me understands that I’m not your typical, “SEO guru”. I don’t know the ins and outs that some companies practice to “back door sites to the top” using buried meta information (did I lose you? me too). Like a good business person, I worry about that which I can do something about…and I pay to have the rest taken care of. I let the tools and systems do their job for me like having a WordPress site with the best plugins to say “Hi Google…I’m here”. Then, I write and create video with rich content with an eye for key words. See…simple.
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NFL Feels Effects of Players Building Their Own Brands with Twitter
August 3, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
A great piece came out on MSNBC (source is Washingtonpost.com) August 1, 2009 called, “With Twitter, NFL Loses Control of Image Game – Fans no longer dependent on media reports for training camp updates“. The story highlights that players have begun to Twitter from training camp, in locker rooms, and to boost their own brand images. From my perspective the key takeaway here is the power of putting brand promotion in the hands of players.
The NFL is feeling a bit of stress because they’ve realized that just like the rest of who put our “brands” out there for public consumption that:
Our brands aren’t really “decided” by us…we’re just providing propulsion to the brand but we’re getting steered by crowd interactions, perceptions, and reactions.Teams and the NFL have tried to react but obviously they’re used to being in control:
While athletes have used blogs the past couple of years, they say Twitter is quicker, more accessible and less likely to be filtered through agents, publicists or team officials before publication. From the perspective of both fan and athlete, that’s a good thing. But the National Football League is an image-obsessed league, routinely beset by athletes’ off-the-field antics. Twitter has already grown into a social media tool over which the league has little to no control.
This story highlights the uncomfortable balance between organizations and the people that drive them forward. Is your organization comfortable enough to “Let your best tell the world what they think?” As more and more players use Twitter and other tools to build their brands and interact with fans…we’ll start to get a much clearer picture of who’s who…and what’s what on…and off the gridiron. There’s no way to stop this train and I’d like to see a team have a “Must Tweet” policy and see what happens.
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My Qualitative Analysis on Twitter Usage Demographics
April 20, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
Lately I’ve had the opportunity to speak to groups that had large contingents of college students. As I talk about social marketing tools I always gather data by asking the group questions. It always surprises me to find that among college students, approximately 1-2% have even heard of Twitter and/or use it.
The main point I take away is that we cannot assume that “Because they are young they are using the technologies.” What does that say about where the 17-24 year old demographic gets its news? Anyone watching a cable news network in the last 6 months has been inundated with Twitter this and Twitter that.
Don’t assume…ask questions.
TED Talk on Twitter
March 4, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
OK. If you get Twitter you’ll enjoy this video of a recent TED Talk.
If you don’t get Twitter you’ll enjoy this video of a recent TED Talk and you’ll learn more about the power of Twitter.
You’ll also pick up a few key things about entrepreneurship if you’re filtering the low frequencies.
- Businesses change shape based on how your customers use your product if you let them and are listening.
- Although focus is absolutely necessary side projects often become the next big idea that score a touchdown.
- Watch and listen for trends and identify partners amplifying those trends.
- Don’t try to build everything yourself. If something is worth purchasing, even at a premium to gain the knowledge and the people, do it.
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Your Web Strategy? Do it Yesterday
January 19, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
I just did a guest post on my friend Kelly Moore’s PR/Marketing blog called, “This Ain’t No Spin Class”. Kelly is the PR super whiz who’s part of our high powered mega team. (It’s kind of like when the super heros all join up to make the mega-mega super hero that can defeat even the most demonic devil spawn.)
Well, I’m honored to contribute and I believe you’ll get something out of the brief piece…especially if you’re wondering where to spend your marketing bucks in 2009.
Click here to read the post and thanks being a part of our family.
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Doing less with more in 2009
December 17, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 5 Comments
We talk quite a bit about doing more with less. Our clients and potential clients are seeking higher return on investment, measurability, and increased Internet Findability. Online marketing/blogging/video provides all of these in one nicely wrapped package.
B2B Magazine just had a feature outlining some goals/strategies/deliverables they believe will be key for companies in 2009. It’s a great read. We especially like 2nd and 7th topics on the list.
Leveraging social marketing
However you define social marketing, this piece is critical. Start with a blogging foundation and build your social marketing strategy around that. Maybe for you Twitter and Facebook are where you need to be. Focus your efforts and get to providing value to the market. Join the conversation.
Video explosion
We couldn’t agree more. As Google begins to integrate video results into “normal search results” you want to be there! When someone searches on “Plumber Des Moines” and there’s a nicely produced video showing what it’s really like to do business with you, your odds just went up.
Let the other guys spend their money being a bigger part of that monstrosity that killed a bunch of trees and gathers dust we used to call a phone book.
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15 tips on improving your Findability from Louis Gray
December 12, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
I discovered Louis Gray via shared items in google reader, shared by our good friends at 48Web. There’s a piece there written by Mike Fruchter of MichaelFruchter.com (Twitter/FriendFeed) called 15 Tips On Improving Your Search Engine Visibility. Michael admits freely (as we do) he’s not an “SEO guru”. We ALWAYS say upfront that we’re not the kind of firm that you can “Pay $1500 to get to the top of search results”. Michael’s list is great and our only modification is that we’d put #6 (start a blog) into the number one slot since our opinion is that a blog built on WordPress with some appropriate plugins can take care of many of the other points on the list.
Again, in the SMB context, we’d like to kill many findability birds with one online stone.
We prefer to take measured and practical steps toward long lived and powerful findability online. We call our approach generating “Organic PR”. Ultimately, these concepts are what formed the basis of our upcoming free report called, “Increasing Your Internet Findability Factor” (due out early January and feel free to subscribe to our email updates in the box at the bottom of this post to get your shiny new copy when it comes out).
Bottom line here is that as a small business who likely does NOT have a cadre of tech nerds at your disposal, you need to be choosey who you work with and what you figure out on your own (vs. what you pay for).
Some of our strategies are DIY and some are best worried about by others.
But we’re here inform, distill, and highlight for you so you can make the smart small business choices about the opportunity costs of tech tinkering!
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Social networking is a piece…not the pie
December 3, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
We believe in and utilize the online/social tools that we think connect us to the greater market, clients/potential clients, and the business community at large. But these tools (twitter, Facebook, blog) etc. are a piece of the entire marketing pie we’re bakin’ up.
We attend events and meet real people. Those real people connect us to other real people (sometimes directly and sometimes we just get 5 new Twitter subscribers from those connections). We speak around town. A recent Meetup event resulted in 3 calls, not from attendees directly, rather referrals from attendees. Nice.
So remember, you need to have the online social pieces in place. It’s highly desirable to communicate in a manner that your clients and potentials desire (like subscribing to our Twitter or FriendFeed stream to listen in to exactly what we’re up and who we connect with before diving in with us)
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Video presentation on Video SEO and Internet Findability
September 23, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
The topic of “Video SEO” is exploding around the Internet. Here’s a link to the Twitter Search on the topic. You may want to subscribe to keep aprised of the developments in this new frontier of Internet Findability. We all want our videos to catch on like wild fire but most don’t get more than 100 views over their lives!
While there is no magic bullet, there are things you can do NOW to make your video more findable and increase its “SEO” factor.
The presentation covers:
- How to make better video from the start, i.e. produce better inputs to begin with.
- The tools and tips available to make your video more “findable”.
- How to measure effectiveness (dare we say ROI) on your video production.
I hope you enjoy. If you have any questions after watching, please ping me.
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