Take the Marketing 2.0 Challenge

Are you up for the challenge? Marketing 2.0 is a mindset. It’s all about Inbound Marketing! Think like a publisher and a collaborator.  The two pillars are content marketing and relationship building. Social media is a communication channel, not a magic wand. But, without a strategy you’ll fail!

The questions in the Marketing 2.0 Challenge are designed to challenge and inspire you. After you review them add your comments below and engage with your peers around the world who are invited to participate in this conversation. When adding a comment preface it with Q#. For example, Q3 for question 3.

Let’s get started…

Q1. What is your Inbound Marketing strategy?

Your Inbound Marketing strategy should uniquely comprise of online and offline strategies that engage your target customers through content and relationship building so that they will be attracted to your business. Tactics may include SEO, SEM, blogging, social networking and other forms of engaging content that produces trust and appeal to your target buyer.

Q2. What are the staffing implications of an Inbound Marketing strategy?

The staffing implications of your Inbound Marketing strategy are huge. Staff must have a mindset for Inbound Marketing. Applying the outdated style of shouting at customers doesn’t work in the new Marketing 2.0 model. Your staff must think like publishers and collaborators.

Q3. How do you manage social media in your business?

Manage social media in your business first by listening and engaging in relevant communities. Develop a strategy and assign social media platforms to staff according to strengths and interests. If necessary get outside help but always maintain an authentic and human voice in social media.

Q4. What is your content marketing strategy?

Your content marketing strategy should be unique to your business. Produce and re-purpose content that meets the criteria of the three E’s; educate, enlighten, entertain. Your content marketing strategy should never end. Content marketing is an ongoing process. Share content on and offline with your community.

Q5. How much emphasis do you place on building relationships online?

The emphasis of building relationships online is an important factor. It comes back to the mindset. Building relationships online with relevant people builds trust and strengthens your brand. Relationships create fans, loyalty and spreads the word about your content your products and your people, all of which produces positive results.

Q6. How do you measure results of your Inbound Marketing strategy?

To measure Inbound Marketing results start by setting goals. Create a baseline picture of “today.” Over time measure the results of your inbound marketing activities. Frequently measure details such as subscriptions, company mentions, referring traffic, sentiment of your brand and of course, progress on your goals.

Q7. What are the risks of an Inbound Marketing strategy?

There are risks in an Inbound Marketing strategy. The biggest risk is not doing it and falling behind your competition. Another big risk is applying yesterday’s mindset to it. This is Marketing 2.0. Avoid doing it the same way you did it in 1.0. Think like a publisher and build relationships and you’ll minimize all risks.

Q8. What are the roles of SEO and SEM in your Inbound Marketing strategy?

Use best practices to develop a sound SEO strategy. Similarly use SEM best practices to avoid over spending. Create landing pages around very specific themes. Test different versions of your landing pages. Measure everything to determine what works and cut non performing keywords and landing pages.

Q9. How do you integrate offline marketing with online marketing in your business?

Integrate offline marketing with online marketing by creating content that can be used in both media channels. The same principles apply. Take this blog post as an example. It is also available as a physical booklet. But the most value you’ll get from it is the user generated conversation on all these questions below.

Q10. What is your Inbound Marketing strategy if your customers don’t spend a lot of time online?

If your customers don’t spend a lot of time online your Inbound Marketing strategy is exactly the same in mindset. The tactics will differ through offline media. You should still aim to educate, enlighten and entertain with your content and be trustworthy and attractive to your community. You can think like a publisher and collaborator offline as well as online.

Add your comments below. Remember to precede each comment with the question number.

What’s In Your Toolbox?

Have you ever tried to hang a picture on the wall and realized that the only tool you had access to was a screwdriver?  You laugh, but deep inside, you know you tried to use it as hammer, didn’t you?  Marketing a website, hanging a picture, same rules apply. If we try a tool that is cheap, free or is just absolutely wrong to accomplish the job, we usually end up with a broken screwdriver or a few extra holes in the wall.

I find that it isn’t the size of the project or even the grand scale of what you are trying to accomplish, it’s what kind of tools are you using and how you are using them. Personally, I would rather work smarter than harder any day of the week by using the right tools from the get-go. It might take a little longer, but in the long run, it was the right thing to do.

It used to be that when a website was made, the “thing to do” was to submit your site URL to hundreds of search engines and hope that they get picked up.  Unfortunately, even still today, there are unscrupulous Internet scammers that prey on the new and unsuspecting site owners who sell list after tired list and software submissions after tired submissions that do nothing to get your site into the search engines.  After that hard lesson on money-down-the-drain is learned, the site owner looks to find a better way. 

A better tool…

This brings us to the most valuable set of tools that should be in your toolbox arsenal when you are launching a website.  Google has mastered the Internet search world, no surprise here, and their ultimate objective is to create the most relevant search result to the end user.  They provide webmasters the tools needed to help you achieve exactly this in your website.  The Google webmasters tools are the first and foremost steps that anyone should utilize to properly get their website indexed in Google. 

There are two very important steps on how the Google Webmasters tools can help you.  First, they help you get your site verified.  This means that you are indeed the owner of your site and are authorizing Google to have access to information on how people are looking for your site. This, in and of itself, is priceless information from a marketing standpoint.

The second is called a sitemap.  An XML sitemap to be more specific.  This is a very powerful tool that helps feed the spiders.  Google is a very hungry spider and loves to find new, juicy tidbits of content on websites.  Unfortunately, if you do not have the right entry way to all of your pages on your site, the spiders are left out and they move onto other more enticing sumptuous offerings to nosh on.  An XML sitemap is exactly that doorway needed to help them find each and every page that you have on your site.

Coupled with the Google Analytics and Website Optimizer programs, the Google Webmasters tools is the strongest foundational tool to have in your toolbox. Additionally, we do not wish to leave all our eggs in one basket.  Both Yahoo, and now more recently MSN, have also created their versions of webmasters tools that are used to build indexed pages in their respective search engines as well.

We use these tools as an SEO foundational architecture with our clients’ sites day in and day out.  This is what we do.  We feed spiders!

Stay tuned for more tips on how to get your Google Webmaster tools and how to create an XML sitemap to feed the search engine spiders!

So tell me now… what’s in your toolbox?

Dianna F. Kersey
Internet Marketing Analyst
CIW Webmaster

 

Sweat the PPC Details!

Pay per Click Advertising, aka, SEM, PPC. 

PPC results are displayed along the top and right side.  The results are paid results.  

Target audience for this podcast is for marketers who are spending $1,000 to $10,000 per month in paid search advertising.

Measuring for conversions, not clicks.
Paid search is not the answer to all Internet marketing goals.
Paid search not good for Brand promotion unless you have a big budget.
Paid search is all about lead generation or direct sales on the Internet.
Know the difference between Search and Content networks.

Search network is primary Google and select other search engines fed by Google, e.g., Business.com.

Content networks are comprised of any website which chooses to display Google ads.
Results can vary greatly between Search and Content networks.
Be selective in the use of keywords.
Mix it up between competitive keywords and long tail keywords.
Do your research to identify long tail keywords.
Long tail keywords increase your probability of winning in paid search marketing.

Use Campaigns to distinguish themes.
E.g., product families
Break down campaigns by using ad groups to distinguish products within a campaign.
E.g., individual products
Set up a limited number of ads in each ad group.
3 to 5 ads per group.

Set up a reasonable number of keywords per ad.
Make sure they are relevant to the ad group or you’ll compete with other ad groups.
Test keyword variations: broad, phrase and exact.
Don’t display all your keywords as broad keyword variation.
You can use broad version, phrase version and exact version of keywords.  Test each version to see which variation can produce the lowest cost conversions.

Use dedicated landing pages!!!  Good landing pages can make a PPC campaign.
Generate dynamic landing pages with headlines that match the ad.
Design landing pages which are,
Uncluttered
Supported with a strong headline
Has a strong call to action
Use graphics sparingly (don’t distract)

Track conversions
Tracking impressions and click through rates don’t mean anything.  Track conversions.
Use conversion tracking (Adwords) to measure results.
Test, measure, revise and repeat.
Test variables which are measurable.

Geo target if appropriate.  Display your ads in the geographic regions that you want to sell to.

Stretch your budget using the ad scheduler.
Review results often, print reports, study them, get input from others.

Sweat the PPC details for improved conversions.