The Social Life of a Blog

Social media: a tech term you've been hearing about. FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube, and Kazaa. On the business side, what about LinkedIn, CraigsList, and EBay? They, too, exemplify:

" ... the integration of technology and interaction" (from Wikipedia, a 'wiki' website and yet another example).

This (or any) blog is also a type of social media. We're blogging to have a conversation with someone having a shared interest: you. You can comment back and tell us what you think: you can interact. And our blogging goal is to create a community to connect, share, and for you to come back: we're marketing. But is a business blog worth your investment of time and money? What's the ROI of social media?

Let's take a look at a community, in fact a merging of several communities, by one example: a recent podcast on the ROI of social media marketing. But, before we listen to it, let's peel back its social layers. It is:

• First, it is a podcast, an audio file that can be streamed ('listened to') online, downloaded for later, or (this is important) linked on emails, websites, and blogs;

• Second, this podcast was distributed by IT Conversations: a company that has created a community of people with shared interest in tech podcasts (i.e. a social network);

• Next, this podcast was originally recorded by yet another company, Talking Portraits, with its own online community; and,

• Last, the person being interviewed, Giovanni Gallucci, is an authority with his own community through his blog, The Agency Blog. And, how do we learn he's an 'authority'? That's right, through yet another social community hosted by Technorati.
  

One podcast. So many connections. So many (potential) ears.

Back to the podcast. It's 41 minutes on the topic of the ROI of social media marketing (SMM). Tom Parish (Talking Portraits) interviews Giovanni G. They are both developers and technologists, and seem to be talking 'to' both providers of SMM services and businesses considering SMM (i.e. you). The first couple of minutes are a bit clunky, but they soon fall into a very informative chat on SMM. Things to listen for:

• The difference between campaign marketing and relationships marketing;
  

• Short-term versus long-term marketing goals;
  

• The importance of community trust, and how little control you have over it;
  

• The commitment required - expected - by your audience;

• That ROI might not be quantifiable, but there are valuable marketing benefits to be gained;
  

• They use several examples. Here are links to some of them: Mattel's BarbieGirls, Lego, Digg.
  

Marketing hasn't changed, but these new social media tools introduce some new dynamics. Over the summer, we will offer several 'Internet Marketing' workshops that will span a range of technologies and means of interacting (our sidebar links to the schedule). We hope to see you at one of them. And we hope you will tell us what interests you by taking our quick survey also in the sidebar.

Marketing Your Business: is it time for you to go on-line?

Measured by what’s being spent, it seems like everyone is doing it. Spending on on-line advertising has surged 60% to nearly $10 billion, while ‘off-line’ advertising is decreasing (according to Fortune Small Business, July 1, 2007). If you don’t already have a ‘web presence’, should you? And, if you do, is what you’re spending resulting in higher sales?

The lure – the web’s potential reach and impact – seems clear: the e-marketplace is as much local as it is worldwide, and it’s ‘always on’. As with any marketing activity, your e-marketing goal is to satisfy a customer’s need. Though this medium may be different, your first challenge is their awareness that you exist.

Can you even be found?

Awareness begins with presence which, of course, requires a website. But, the customer must be able to discover you without specifically looking for you. Using ‘off-line’ marketing tools, such as the yellow pages, the customer looks within given categories. You must choose which categories to be listed.

While fixed ‘yellow pages’ types of listings can be found on the web, most customers search using a web browser and a few key words. Instead of a fixed list, each customer defines the ‘category’ that makes the most sense to them; your challenge greatly increases: you must anticipate – and match – how your customers will describe their need. Clearly, your choice of the keywords that describe your website is of huge importance. A ‘match’ – even a partial one – between the customer’s keywords and yours means you can be found.

But, will you be noticed?

A web search of ‘web marketing’ using the popular search engine, Google, returns 402 million websites matching these keyword criteria; at ten results displayed per page, that’s a lot of pages to view. Studies show that web searchers, on average, do not look beyond the third page of results. If so, to be noticed, you need to be among the first 30 results. Page ‘ranking’ is a process totally controlled by the search engine, in this case, Google.

How search engines rank individual web sites is a well-guarded secret. However, it is widely believed that, among the possible ranking factors, the frequency that a web site is mentioned or linked-to by another web site is the most influential. The search engines determine these frequencies through continuous assessment of the entire web; as your site is increasingly mentioned or linked-to, your rank should rise. So, to stand out from among others whose keywords also match the customer’s, a high ‘page rank’ is crucial.

Will they look? More importantly, will they stay?

You’ve made the cut. Now you must convert a web searcher into a visitor by compelling the potential customer to click on your web site. Your original choice of web domain name plays a factor; obscure names may confuse the prospect and cause them to proceed to a site that is more recognizable.

The average visitor stays at a web site for just a few seconds before clicking the ‘back’ button. Getting visitors to stay at your web site longer involves your product and message, and how they are presented on your site. Once they have landed on your page, web site design – appearance and navigability – becomes a critical factor in keeping visitors aboard, and potentially converting them into customers.

A new set of tools to conquer a new marketplace

E-marketing involves new technologies, new unknowns, and new decisions to be made. Fortunately, strategies and tools have evolved to guide a credible web presence and monitor its effectiveness. Included are terms you may have already heard or seen: ‘natural (or organic) keyword search’, ‘paid keyword search’, ‘search engine optimization’, ‘pay-per-click’, and ‘web analytics’, for example.

If it is time for you to go on-line, or just to learn more about the strategies and tools that you can use, arrange a session with a SCORE counselor or attend one of our ‘Internet Marketing’ workshops. We hope to see you there, and to visit your site sometime soon.

Removing Website Obstacles

This post was written by Michelle Howe, President of Internet Word Magic, and was originally posted in our April, 2008 client newsletter.

When someone lands on your homepage, how clear is your marketing
message? Is it easy for them to decide to do business with you
or do they have to maneuver through a series of obstacles on
your website to get the information they need?

Let's take a look at some of the obstacles on a website that
sabotage the sales process:

Confusing Navigation
How many times have you gone to a website, ready to buy, and
then can't figure out where you need to go to make the purchase?

One of my first clients hired me to write sales copy for her
website because she had written the copy and she felt it was not
doing a good job converting sales.  So I went to the website and
pretended I was a customer to experience what her customers
experience when they go to the website.

I actually spent over 10 minutes trying to figure out where I
needed to go to buy her products and the only reason I didn't
give up is because I had been hired to solve the problem of poor
sales.

What I discovered is that her biggest problem wasn't the sales
copy, it was poor navigation.  First we had to solve the
navigation problem and then I rewrote the copy for her products.
And you know what happened?  Literally hours after the website
went live with the new changes she started selling products.

Confusing Jargon
You may be an expert in your field but what about your customer?
One of the biggest problems I find with website copy written by
the business owner is that it is too technical. The content
tends to be filled with jargon or words that would be unfamiliar
to a potential customer or client.

A few years back I was working on a website for a client who did
remodeling for commercial buildings.  He insisted that the
website content include construction terminology that only a
builder would understand. I asked him who his customers were and
he told me they were store managers (who may or may not be
familiar with construction terms).

It never occurred to him that the website content needed to be
written using words that would be familiar to his customers and
to leave out the jargon.

Confusing Marketing Message
When someone comes to your website they are looking for
information to help them solve a problem.  In order for them to
get an answer to their problem, you need to make sure the answer
is not hidden on your website or completely missing.

Since most people who come to your website will land on the home
page, it's vitally important that you have bold headlines that
clearly express your marketing message in a way that is easy to
understand.

It doesn't matter whether you are selling a product or selling a
service, what's most important is that people can immediately
figure out what to do without having to think too much.  If you
make them think, they will leave your site. No one has the time
to read through long paragraphs and long sentences.

You want to present a simple headline, easy-to-understand
benefits and a clear value proposition.  By scanning the
headlines on the home page, the reader should immediately be
able to make a decision about whether they want to do business
with you or not.

Conclusion
Simple language, clear direction and benefit driven content are
key to a successful website.  If you want to increase the sales on your website, maybe you just need to remove the obstacles
that sabotage the sales process.