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News & analysis on digital marketing & analytics
Make Your Marketing Efforts Work for You
It’s pretty obvious to everyone in the industry that traditional marketing methods have officially lost their influence. Today’s marketing resides in an entirely different sector – one that’s filled with blog posts, video portals, tweets, status updates, and other forms of content across the Web. So how can your business adjust its website marketing tactics and apply them effectively in this new sphere of influence?
The answer is simple: Commit yourself to content marketing.
Content marketing is the idea of distributing relevant and beneficial content in order to engage potential customers and provide them with something of value. Yes, you read that correctly. Nowhere does it say anything about pitching your products or promoting your company. Instead, content marketing focuses on delivering information and services that inform your target markets and enable them to become more intelligent buyers.
The result? Once your potential customers see you as a consistent source of valuable information and helpful tools, they’ll recognize your worth and ultimately reward you with their business and loyalty.
The best way to develop a successful content marketing strategy is to create great content, and create lots of it. The more engaging copy you put out there, the more likely people are to read it, redistribute it, link back to it and thoroughly appreciate its usefulness. If you’re looking for some fresh content creation ideas, SEOmoz recently posted a helpful article entitled “6 Unique Content Ideas to Boost Your Website’s Value & Link-Worthiness”
Creative, engaging, timely and informative content is the key to achieving content marketing success. However, to supplement your solid information you may also want to consider offering your consumers something tangible. Think free tools and trials, cool viral videos, discount coupons, nifty widgets, cutting-edge apps and more. These don’t substitute for quality content, but they can certainly go a long way toward creating appreciative and loyal customers.
Say goodbye to traditional marketing, and say hello to the world of content marketing. It’s not the future – it’s the present, and it’s time for your company to embrace it.
*Image provided by Paul Veugen on Flickr
Category: Online Marketing
SEM & SEO for Enhancing Your Online Reputation
View the presentation from the June 29th Web Association Luncheon:
Comment: Feel free to share your thoughts.
Category: Paid Search, Reputation Management, SEO, Social Media
5 Ways To Write Content that Sticks
When it comes to the content on your website, you want it to be compelling, easily accessible and unique. You want your reader to understand what you’re talking about, read further about your services and ultimately, buy what you’re selling. Not all writing can do this, but there are some simple tips to help make your content more interesting and appealing to readers.
- Repetition: Repeating the most important information facts throughout your website will make that data stick in your customer’s brain. They’ll never forget that you sell “environmentally friendly car batteries” if you weave that same phrase throughout your content. The same can be done with your calls to action. If you want people to download a free trial of your product rather than contact you directly, your calls to action should reflect that.
- Avoid passive voice: Why say, “The Frisbee was thrown by the girl” when you can get straight to the point and say, “The girl threw the Frisbee”? Passive voice uses more words without adding information, while active voice gets to the point faster and drives the information home.
- Write like you and your customers talk: Depending on what your website is about, your tone can range from conversational to highly technical. If your website is about gas analysis, using an informal tone might not be the best approach. Writing how you speak will most likely be exactly how your target customer would speak.
- Be direct: Don’t waste your readers’ time with flowery language. Everyone is busy these days and they want the information they need, at the moment they need it. Too much fluff content causes visitors to leave your site quickly since they’re unable to find what they need. If you cut down on colorful language you may see that people are spending more time browsing your site and your bounce rate will decrease.
- Tell a story: Stories help you relate to your customers and make your website seem more human. Rather than simply having a features and benefits table on your website, you could use a story to communicate this information. Weave those facts and figures into a story about how your product saved a customer a certain amount of money or time, and readers will respond. They’ll remember your story much better than they’ll remember your features and benefits table.
Taking the time to make your content connect better with your audience can go a long way. After all, you want your website to convey what it is that your business does and inspire people to buy your products or services.
At Fathom, we help our clients websites connect with their customers without losing the integrity of what it is that their business does. With our methodical approach to search engine optimization, we take the time to get to know your business before implementing SEO best practices. Learn more about our SERV process and how Fathom helps improve search engine rankings while connecting better with customers.
Image provided by lowjumpingfrog on Flickr.
Why Social Media Forces You To Talk Like Your Customers
A few weeks ago at a conference, someone told me he was learning to play guitar by using search. I asked what search engine he was using and he replied, “Every day I go to YouTube and search for a lesson on a new song and learn to play that song.”
YouTube? A search engine? You bet. In fact, more searches are conducted every day on YouTube than are conducted on Yahoo! or MSN. So yes, YouTube is a search engine, and a really important one.
Here’s another discussion we’ve had before:
Us: “This customer made a great YouTube video about your product. It has had 20,000 views. It sent 5,000 visitors to your website and drove $35,000 in sales.”
Client: “Yes, but our logo was the wrong color blue in video.”
And while we’re all getting used to letting go over our brand a little when it comes to content consumers are producing, it gets really hard when the social media content you produce internally is forced to break with your own brand guidelines.
You’re asking yourself, “Why would I ever break with my own brand guidelines? Here is why:
- Consumers don’t care about your marketing meetings. Maybe you sell integrated electronic study aids. You absolutely don’t sell “cheap online text books.” Guess what? No student on Twitter, Facebook or any other social network is ever going to search for “integrated electronic study aids.” But I bet a lot of them are looking for “cheap online textbooks.”
- Not only are more of us using social media as search engines, Google is showing search results based on your social media connections. Stay with me. You and I are connected on LinkedIn. You search Google for “Ohio search engine optimization agency.” If I’m doing a good job in all my social media activity, Google will say to itself ”Google (that’s what it goes by back home), this person is connected to Bill Balderaz. Bill uses the keyword “Ohio search engine optimization agency” frequently on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Then Bill links to www.webbedmarketing.com. This searcher just searched on “Ohio search engine optimization agency.” Therefore, I’m going to rank the website www.webbedmarketing.com very high for this person. A side note? From a branding perspective, I would never call Webbed Marketing an “Ohio search engine optimization agency.” Our clients are all across the US and we execute integrated online marketing strategies. But guess what? No one searches “nationally recognized integrated online marketing strategy agency.” So, I let my pride go. Let the branding go. And focus on driving business.
- Your very best customers come to your site…maybe once a month? Really, is there a reason to come more often? Guess what? They spend about 14 minutes on Facebook every day. If you’re in their news stream talking about the things they care about, they will find you. If you’re giving your corporate blah blah over Facebook you’ll never make the connections.
You may have a patent on a cutting edge nutritional supplement that promotes holistic wellness for young adults. You may cringe when I say, “Oh, you sell children’s vitamins?” You have a laundry list as long as your arm as to why your product is absolutely not a children’s vitamin. You refuse to put the term “children’s vitamins” anywhere on your social media sites because it fundamentally goes against your brand.
And I would argue that you need to talk like your buyers talk, even if your ego says that you’re so much better than what they call you.
Am I saying that Tweets should be as impersonal as title tags? No. But don’t write in your Twitter bio that you offer lifestyle communities for young professionals, say that you build condos. Don’t write a blog post saying you offer a unique health centered environment for female executives, say that you run a gym for busy women. Don’t have your LinkedIn profile say that you’re a strategic leader in go-to-market best of breed solutions because that’s just stupid.
Updated Social Media Stats
Twitter has how many users? Facebook is used by how many businesses? LinkedIn ranks where in terms of social media networks? Catch all new updated stats and information on social media tomorrow at 2 pm EST. Register for our free social media webinar.
Fathom Searching for New SEM Technical Writer
Fathom is searching for an entry-level technical writer with impeccable writing and self-editing skills, and a passion for understanding technical subject matter. Our preferred candidate has experience writing manufacturing and technical/software content.
We are looking for a technical writer who is detail-oriented with a go-getter attitude. You must be able to write content that is clear, compelling, persuasive and conversational. Our new technical writer is someone who is a fast-learner and can work with little supervision while producing high-quality work.
Daily activities for this position would include:
• Create new content for highly technical websites
• Optimize existing website content using search engine-specific strategies
• Create press releases for distribution to digital media outlets
• Develop white papers, case studies, guides and articles on various topics
• Write content for opt-in email campaigns, strategic landing pages and pay-per-click campaigns
• Eagerness to learn the Search Engine Marketing industry
Qualifications:
• Associate or Bachelor’s degree (preferred), but advertising or journalism experience may be accepted
• Passion for technical subject matter. Technical writing experience a plus.
• Excellence in grammar, spelling and English language composition
• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to self-edit
• Ability to adhere to demanding deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to write in a variety of styles on a wide range of subjects
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office
If you have an absolute passion for technical writing, tell us about it. Send us your cover letter explaining why you are our ideal candidate, along with your resume, to careers@fathomdelivers.com (no phone calls, please). Resumes sent without cover letters will not be considered.
** Qualified applicants will be sent an email questionnaire for further consideration. All in-person interviews will require an onsite writing test. **
Fathom (www.fathomdelivers.com), based in Valley View, Ohio, is a leader in ethical search engine marketing and placement, including search engine optimization, Internet video marketing, online public relations, pay-per-click and opt-in email marketing.
Consumer Reviews on Your Website: To Be, or Not To Be?
Holding a Human Skull is Kind of Creepy and Gross –>
According to a study done in 2009 by Opinion Research Corp, 84% of Americans reported that online customer evaluations influence their decision to purchase a product or service. Yet, it’s not uncommon to hear concerns about whether to allow comments on a site. So, should you add consumer reviews to your website?
1) That same study also revealed that only 28% of web users in America actually left their own feedback. While that 28% vocal minority may seem small, when you consider the percentage of web users that are influenced by those reviews, the minority actually carries a lot of influence. So whether they say something neutral, positive or negative, listen. There’s a good chance you can find an opportunity to improve a product/service and/or change a weakness in your customer service or workflow, etc. The effort to improve can go a long way in changing the impression a consumer has of your product/service and company.
2) If only 28% of web users are willing to take the time to say something, they must be pretty fired up. Not allowing comments on your site doesn’t mean an angry consumer can’t (or won’t) go elsewhere to vent. If a negative (or positive) review is going to be posted anyway, you might as well have the ability to easily find it, analyze it, and take the appropriate course of action.
3) Consumer reviews also provide the ability to freshen up the content on the page. With the full-blown release of Google Caffeine, the new content can be an indicator to the search engines that the page is more worthy of being indexed, and may even help positively influence your organic search engine rankings.
4) Lastly, and keeping on the topic of organic search engine rankings, user-generated comments also provide the opportunity for “unintentional SEO.” What I mean is that it is likely to assume that in a consumer review, the name of the product, brand, etc will be written. The unintended inclusion of keywords and keyword permutations can only be beneficial to your rankings.
So, to be or not to be when it comes to consumer reviews on your site? It’s not really a question in my opinion.
Category: E-commerce
What Should I Tweet About?
Never start a blog post with “sorry it’s been a while since I blogged” and never Tweet “what should I Tweet about?” We need to save our electrons.
When we talk with clients about Twitter they often ask us “What do I have to Tweet about? We market OSHA training.” This is especially odd if the client doesn’t actually offer OSHA training.
Our rule is this… if your company, products or services are of interest to anyone. And if you search Twitter and find those anyones are some of Twitter’s 100 million uses, then you have something to Tweet about.
For example:
- Join the conversation. Just make sure to avoid cliches like “join the conversation”. Somebody is out there right now talking about OSHA training. Comment back to what is out there. Agree. Disagree. Retweet things that are meaningful. Build on active discussions.
- Tweet about what every one is talking about. Discuss how oil companies do OSHA training. Talk about BP’s safety and training records. Make sure to use a hashtag so your Tweets can be found. Looking for the most popular topics? Try Trending Topics or TweetStats.
- Tweet about what no one is talking about it. If you can be the first to break news the retweets are all yours. Got a scoop on an industry event? Hearing a big announcement at a conference? Have a truly innovative way to do something that your followers care about? Did you do something very funny, outrageous, edgy or useful? Break news on Twitter first, chances are it’s your best communication channel to spread the word fast.
Fathom Serves Up Online Reputation Monitoring Luncheon
Fathom’s own Director of SEM Best Practices, Mr. Kurt Krejny, was asked recently by Metrics Marketing Group to speak on the topic of online reputation monitoring & management for an upcoming Web Association luncheon. Kurt, who has been instrumental in the development of the search engine marketing strategies Fathom uses to help companies manage their reputations online, jumped at the chance, not only due to his knowledge and expertise in online marketing but also because he’ll get the chance to share the podium with his fiance’ – Ms. Alison Morey of Metrics Marketing.
As Kurt puts it, “Companies today are far more vulnerable than ever before to criticisms, complaints and negative feedback about their products and services. Disgruntled former employees, competitors and even dissatisfied customers can use the Internet to unfairly smear the name of legitimate businesses. Those comments can show up in search results and deter possible new clients from engaging. Reputation management is all about pushing down those negative comments so your company can be seen in the best light possible, using search engine marketing techniques.”
The luncheon promises to be a tasty event, and an informative one too. Information can be found by following this Web Association link for registration details on the June 29th lunch, which starts at 11:30 a.m. at Windows on the River in Cleveland, Ohio.
The New Google Social Search Interface & Why You Can't Measure Keyword Ranking
While keyword ranking isn’t dead, it’s not feeling well.
We’ve said for years that keyword ranking doesn’t really matter; generating more sales, leads, voters, donors or members from search engines is what matters.
Now we’ve reached the point where not only do rankings not matter, they can’t be tracked. If you and I do the same search right now, we’ll get different results.
On different interfaces.
With different tabs.
In fact, I’m seeing so many options on Google, there is no longer a “normal” Google interface. For example, today I search Google on the term “Branding” and I got the “Wonder Wheel.” In geek speak, the Wonder Wheel looks like a way Google is tying terms to related searches based on common search patterns, use of words close to each other on web pages and other patterns. It’s what the SEO folks refer to as semantic association.
Then I get results for people in my social circle and see some of my pals like Jason Mlicki and Lara Kretler talking about branding.
Now look how smart Google is. It knows Jason Mlicki and I are connected via Twitter. And then, rather than linking me to Jason’s Twitter profile, Google is smart enough to link me to Jason’s website.
Or maybe I want sites about Chinese restaurants that are physically close to me. I click the “nearby” link.
Or a timeline about the history of Home Depot.
Or sites with images, or shopping, or pages I’ve never visted. All these options and features elevate the discussion around search engine optimization and should get us all focused on the real goal: “Am I generated more business from Google?” and away from “Where do I rank on Google?”
