This is a short video we produced in order to communicate the impact social media can have on conventional marketing practises. Enhancing the value of the initial investment and giving content the room to go viral.
If you would like to use a de branded version of the video, Powerpoint, Keynote or have any suggestion for other explanation videos, get in touch glennmward@yahoo.co.uk
My good friend Merrin Wake emailed me the other day for some advice on getting traffic through to her blog secretsofmotherhood after reading a few pages I established that identifying the readership in this situation would be slightly different than I am used to as the users are not business users and not consumers. Merrin said that the blog was set up with social media tools, in this situation is key to go an extra mile when talking to your readers. Establish your voice and create conversations with your readers, this way passive absorbers of your information start to become your brand advocates. It only takes a couple of power users of your website pushing your message to feel like you have a mini marketing team working for you and you are laying down the foundations to facilitate some viral marketing.
Remember that no two people browse the Internet in the same way! We all have our favorite platforms, our favorite browser plugins and we all use social media in different ways so make sure your blog caters for as many of these people as possible not just your preferences. Share buttons with limited clicks is essential for the reader to spread the word. Subscribe Fields for those who wish to be sent a email digest. Follow and Like Buttons for those who passively watch you through social media platforms. RSS feeds (in particular Feedburner) for those who will watch you from their email client.
Link exchange,
Obviously, search engine optimization should be at the for front of your mind not just during site design but on every post, every keyword and every heading. Link exchange is vital to your SEO and I don’t just mean sending out annoying emails to similar sites asking to swap links I mean, where are your potential readers? Are they on Facebook? If so, have they joined a group in which you can start a discussion that links back to your pages, can you get them discussing and spreading the conversation to various other platforms such as digg, delicious, yahoo buzz etc? Inbound links are important not just for traffic but also for search engine bots to find your site. Outbound links have to quality sites have similar effects.
The paid way
If your site is making some money then the quick way is to incorporate some pay per click adverting or direct advertising on websites you would like to be seen. There is an art to this so don’t take it on lightly but here are some starting points to get you thinking. See my Digital Marketing posts.
I have now a couple of times been asked how tweeting using a hashtag can be applied to the event / conference / debate situation. I was at a debate the other month where I experienced this for the first time. A hashtag to the event is given out before hand so that everyone in the audience or even those who are interested in the event could search the keyword and see a stream if you like from the people in the room or as I mentioned those people who could not be in the room but would like to comment on what was going on. The result was a conversation around the conversation / presentation and a commentary for those who couldn’t attend without too many rude interruption to the preceding. Often someone in the audience may have a comment but aren’t quite brave enough to develop this into a question, this provides a harmless way for them to offer their thoughts to those thinking along the same lines.
Also see,
Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation
Beyond SEO – The right traffic to your site
An Introduction to Google Webmaster Tools
Introduction to Google Analytics and other website analytical tools
Introduction to Pay Per Click Campaigns
PPC Pay Per Click Marketing and purchase process
Integrating online video into your digital marketing strategy
One of the biggest issues companies face with their marketing at the moment is the “because I can” attitude. Social media platforms has made it very easy for Joe Bloggs to set up a Facebook Page, Start a Twitter account etc without first considering what you are setting out to achieve or does it really fit into the marketing strategy for that particular brand, product, service or industry.
The aim of this post is to encourage you to stop and think before leaping head first into an arena that is far more complicated than copying and pasting content into online spaces.
I’ll firstly start by simplifying how I see Digital Marketing and please bare in mind this is not taking into account traditional Marketing metrics or an individual companies Marketing strategy which also should be taken into consideration when addressing that should I, shouldn’t I? question.
The above shows my idea of a rough guide to the nuts and bolts that build up your Digital Marketing Strategy. Note, one is nothing without the other supporting it.
A video is merely a file sitting on your computer until you give it a platform and a means to be spread by it’s viewers and this is the case with all your content be it news articles, data or PR. As I mentioned it has become increasingly easy for Joe Bloggs to set up a Facebook page, start a Twitter account or post something to YouTube but pause for a second and ask yourself does this “because I can” attitude to marketing really satisfy your marketing objectives? Ask yourself a few key questions and at the same time refer back to the marketing and branding strategy, business development objectives, PR efforts etc does setting up numerous social media accounts that remain dormant really let your clients know you understand social media? No, not really! Does multiple versions of you companies graphics and variations on messages increase and improve you brand awareness amongst your clients? No, it probably damages your brand!
The message is, understand what it is you are doing and choose the right nuts and bolts that support your pre existing strategies, don’t do things because it’s easy, you can or because everyone else is doing it!
You might have noticed over the last few days on popular google searches that you are starting to get live Twitter feeds part way down the results. Google are rolling this out gradually but think of the possibilities. Topical Tweets and links will be getting instant first page google listing and in real time, the most up to date results on the page. Obviously this is open to abuse but the concept is great. Instantly the reach you have to your potential audience massively grows in size far beyond that of just the millions of Twitterers. I would be keen to see how this shows up in analytical software and if these links benefit your sites link building and link juicing in any way.
I have been very excited recently about the arrival of augmented reality Apps for my 3GS and this week I installed the Layers App. Very cool indeed but it as I went through the various databases of information I did wonder if it had a practical function. Certain functions such as the Wiki and other informational sources probably have no added value by being able to hold your phone up and obtain directional and distance data and so to for the Twitter functions, fun at first but do we really care where the tweets are coming from? I bet not one person initiates face to face dialogue as a result of a nearby tweet. The concept does however come into it’s own when it comes to the directional data. The local tube stops, banks etc is handy to be able to see on the screen rather than on maps, figuring out which direction is north, which way you are facing and which way you then need to walk. I have watched the Augmented Reality Sat Nav App video on YouTube and again it looks very cool but I have to say, even as a techy who loves the concept, I am sceptical at this stage!
I was a keen user of the iMapmyrun iPhone app when I was training for my last canni cross half marathon. The app however was buggy and required workarounds. It spiked on the GPS, it struggled to save over 3G Internet and lost signal and forgot the current trip. When I got the email about the New Balance Total Fit (still powered by mapmyrun) I thought I’d test it out. I went on a 5 mile / 3 laps of the park run, a route iMapMyRun used to struggle with as I guess the route was all close together. I got a message at the beginning about a weak GPS signal but continued anyway. At the end of the run the data seemed accurate and so I hi save, the app saved first time with no issues.
Hopefully I’m not speaking too soon but the App seems stable and with a few extra functions to iMapMyRun including View Route, Tweet Workout, Share / Challenge and a data or map view during your workout.
As if it wasn’t annoying enough that on the Apple Mac Keyboard sometimes the @ sign and ” are sometimes not as displayed on the keys (mine is right in the Mac OS and wrong in my Windows XP environment) but just wait until you write your next Tweet and need to emphasis a word with a hashtag, where is it? this was only brought to my attention in the past week and reminded me that there were a few other characters I have been meaning to find without having to google it and then paste it into my work. Here’s a few useful symbols and characters.
# = Alt + 3
€ = Alt + 2
© = Alt + G
• = Alt + 8
And one just for fun
= Alt + Shift + K
Thanks Nick Buckley for raising the #hashtag issue
