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Archive for the ‘Social Networking’ Category

Shift Happens: SEO Alone is not Enough

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

I have a high respect for the people at websitemagazine.com – they provide timely information regarding SEO and web design, and it’s how I stay current on upcoming technologies that we (as quickly as we can) implement into new projects, and do our best to educate existing clients on how new and developing methods to improve local search can help them. Below is an article that they produced in the July 2010 issue that is perfect for our target market: the medium-size business owner that knows SEO and social media are important, but isn’t sure how to make it work for them on the ever changing World Wide Web.

Shift Happens: SEO Alone is Not Enough:

When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), one truth is everlasting: The landscape is continually changing. And often, when it changes, the resulting shift in rankings can be seismic. Google’s announcement of Caffeine is one example. The new partnership between Microsoft Bing and Yahoo! aims to provide a long-term competitor to Google and will impact search results across many major Web properties.

For an example of search’s ever-changing environment, look no further than a popular search on Google. Search for “Xbox 360” (click image below for larger view) and you will see more than just organic results from websites that mention those keywords. A broad range of content appears, including news, paid advertising, shopping feeds and social media results, including user updates from Twitter. This means that publishers and merchants need to concentrate on more than just increasing organic search placement for an Internet marketing plan to succeed.

Read the rest of the article…

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Posted in Local Search, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking | No Comments »

Social Media Marketing Tulsa

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

social-media-marketing-for-your-online-businessI must admit that I was slow to jump into social media. A large part of me didn’t want to reconnect with my past – I knew that if I did get into it, I would purposefully use it as a tool and not a time waster. It wasn’t long before it proved to be a very effective way for me to be in front of thousands of people that would probably never Google us or go to our website.

Social media marketing is all about finding ways to bring content directly to the end user instead of finding ways to get them to search for it or solely relying upon people that would look for you anyway. It is awesome! I know for a fact that there are companies that are not taking advantage of social media to extend the brand of their products and services or to create leads or sales. At the VERY LEAST use it as a tool to change the way that you communicate with your CURRENT CUSTOMERS! I don’t even think a smart business owner should have to waste time trying to justify the usage of social media integration for company marketing for this simple reason: your customers are using social media to communicate with everyone.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that not long from now, our mobile devices and cell phones will be used more on the social media communication tools to reach out to people instead of actually talking on it with people. And where will you be as a business owner if you didn’t take an hour or two each week (hint: this is really all it takes – 20 minutes a day, Monday – Friday is all it would take) to learn more about social media marketing and actually develop a presence online for your company on sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc?  You’ll be wondering why the phone isn’t ringing talking about how, “people just aren’t interested in that ‘personal touch’ anymore.”  No, no they aren’t.  The personal touch has been redefined.  People want CONVENIENCE because they lead busy lives and have busy schedules.  There’s no room for a telephone call when they are out running errands, but they do have time to respond to a comment or post on their Facebook wall while they are sitting at the stop light on their iPhone.

Stop trying to use a telegraph machine when everyone else is using a phone!

The biggest question for small to medium businesses owners remains:
1. How can it be used to generate leads and sales?
2. How can I keep my employees from wasting time on it during work hours?

Can I tell you a secret? You won’t know unless you start doing it, and they are already wasting time during work hours.  Get out of the dark ages and dedicate some time to do some of these things.  And, if you don’t want to do it, contact Innovated Media and we’ll bring you up to speed and past your competition.

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Posted in Online Marketing, SEM, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, advertising, marketing | No Comments »

More Businesses Going Digital in 2010?

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

The next trend in corporate marketing is going to be relying less on traditional advertising and marketing agencies, according to the latest State of Marketing Report from the Chief Marketing Officer Council. Continuing to build online awareness and generating higher digital demand were the top initiatives reported for 2010 by the global affinity network of senior marketers.

Nearly half of the members surveyed (46%) reported that their companies are presently undergoing a “digital marketing makeover” or will be sometime in 2010. Fifty-eight percent said they were going to train and develop existing staff specifically in this area, and 36 percent expect to hire new talent with digital marketing skills. Forty percent of corporate marketers will be adding or expanding their support from agencies that specialize in digital marketing while an all-time low eight percent plan to conduct advertising agency reviews.

In reviewing where the digital marketing dollars are likely to be directed, 65 percent of respondents said they were evaluating investments in new social media and online communities, 43 percent in Internet media channels, 32 percent in mobile messaging and 31 percent in new methods of online content delivery. In contrast to 2009, most marketers are seeing their media budgets stay the same or increase slightly, with the biggest increases reported in interactive/Web marketing, social media, search marketing, SEO, and mobile communications areas.

I forsee many of these companies using old phone book money to put to better use online. A great first step is to revisit the design and setup of the current website that promotes the organization. Right now, a good rule of thumb is: if you haven’t made significant changes to your website in the last 24 months, go ahead and redesign it and have it redone in WordPress.

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Posted in E-mail Marketing, Online Marketing, SEM, SEO, Social Media, Social Networking, Web Design, advertising | No Comments »

Search Engines are Paying Attention to Online Reviews!

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

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To preface this post, I’ll go ahead and announce that I am implementing a new business plan to create a simple and easy to use incentive-based business review directory.  I know that’s a lot of awesome words all together like that, but basically what it will do is provide a way for consumers to receive a discount on a current invoice they have with a service provider by leaving that company a review online (either positive or negative).  Coming soon!

Anyway, the reason I am pursuing this business idea is because of the earlier post about looking for a Tulsa Chiropractor.  It’s like I woke up and noticed how important reviews were online, and how pertinent they are to Search Engine Marketing.  The great part about this SEM tool is that business owners can have some control over the success of it with this new business idea we are working on.  PLUS, the search engines seem to be giving priority to online reviews.  Check out the results of a Google search I did on my name this morning.  There’s only 1 or two listings that don’t apply to me personally, but the rest are relevant.  I was surprised, however, to notice that TWO of the results were links to reviews that I’ve made online about a service or a product.  Pretty cool!

I left some notes in red to give you an idea….

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Posted in Online Marketing, SEM, SEO, Social Networking, marketing, technology | No Comments »

Smart Business Owners are Marketing Online

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

I’m currently reading a book entitled The New Rules of Marketing and PR that my friend and local business owner Brad Johnson of Lawn America loaned to me.  It’s quite good!  I came across a story about a company that we all know and can identify with, and I found it relevant to many of the business owners that I speak to every week.  So, I thought I’d share…

Century 21 Real Estate LLC is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, an industry giant comprising approx. 8,000 offices in 45 countries.  You’ve seen Century 21’s TV ads before, but you haven’t seen them lately.  In 2009, the company pulled its national TV advertising and invested those resources into online marketing.  That’s a huge move considering the amount of TV they were doing.

Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer at Century 21, stated, “we are moving our advertising investments to the mediums that have the greatest relevance to our target buyers and sellers, and to where the return on our investment is most significant. In 2008, we found that our online investments provided a return that was substantively higher than our more traditional TV media investments.” They turned to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, to name a few.  Actually, YouTube is a large component of their activities, and they are putting a lot of their attention into developing that medium to promote their brand.

It’s easy to see the logic behind that. As a business owner, you should always go with the mathematical explanation to support why you make decisions like this.  What you think may happen and can’t be tracked or proven.  There is a lot of calculated data to support investing online and doing some Internet marketing. However, business owners are afraid to make even partial moves away from their comfort zones and into online marketing and social media.  But the evidence describing how people actually research products overwhelmingly suggests that companies must tell their stories and spread their ideas online, taking the content to the people.  It’s easier to do than ever before.  Ridiculously simple, in fact…it just takes some leg work.

I gotta be honest: it is exciting being a marketer right now.  There is so much un-chartered territory for small to medium sized businesses!  The little guy can make a huge mark in a very short period of time with some professional help!  But, sadly, the world of the unknown and unfamiliar will stop many business owners from making these investments online, and quite possibly miss the gold rush because of it.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is the newest fad.  No, this is how the world communicates now.  Bring your business up to speed and do it quickly before your competitors do.  It’s easier to get ahead now then play catch-up later.

Contact Innovated Media today – don’t wait!

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Posted in Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, advertising, marketing | No Comments »

The Power of the Online Review

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

How important is someone reviewing your business or organization online?  I don’t know, because there is no way to put a number to it…but I’ll try.  I do know this:  I’ll listen to another consumer about a company rather than some form of one-directional advertising trying to get my business for the same company.  Not that I don’t pay attention to advertising, but is that just because I look at it to critique it and draw ideas from it?  Some advertising has turned into a form of entertainment, I think.

I look at it this way: the consumer was once in my shoes, performed a similar search for a local company that provided a service that they need(ed), and they made a decision.

How is their experience with that company captured?  How can we, the other consumers, learn from their decision to choose one company over another? Well, (drumroll…..), enter the online review.

My Story

iphone-resultsLet me tell you a story.  My wife is a successful cosmetologist and Salon Manager for a nation-wide company called ULTA.  Because of her constant standing and raising her arms doing hair, she frequently gets knots in her back and her neck and shoulders are sore constantly.  She’s had countless massages in attempts to help the situation, and it has worked some.  About two weeks ago, she mentioned seeing a chiropractor.  Having never thought of it myself, I decided to do a local Google search for Tulsa Chiropractors.  Sitting at the stop light, I brought up my Google app on my iPhone and did my search.  The results you see to the right.

Even with the distractions of operating a motor vehicle, my eyes locked in on the 5 STARS and 15 REVIEWS that Snyder Chiropractic had on their local Google Business Listing.  Of course I’m going to call them.  I might call Alliance Chiropractic, but would you call Brooks Spinal Care with zero reviews? (I’m not saying they are not a reputable business; I’m just proving a point)

So, I set an appointment for my wife for the following Monday morning.  She gets to talking to Dr. Snyder and tells him what I do for a living, and he extends an invitation to have lunch with him and some friends that he networks with.  I agree, because networking is always a good idea! We have lunch, and it goes well.  I actually had lunch with Dr. Snyder and the networking group again today (go Sushi Train!).

Within two weeks, my wife has seen Dr. Snyder 4 times and has had 3 adjustments, and feels much better.  Additionally, my wife has passed out 10 of his cards, and also referred 4 other people to Snyder Chiropractic and actually setup 4 appointments for those other girls from the salon to see Dr. Snyder.

Not counting the new relationships I have made by having lunch with Dr. Snyder’s networking group, which to me is invaluable, I will speak from strictly a revenue standpoint standing in Dr. Snyder’s shoes.  He has seen my wife 4 times, which is 4 billable visits less than he would have had should the reviews not have been written on his local business listing in Google.  Now calculate the number of visits that will come from the 4 people my wife referred that have booked appointments.  If they see Dr. Snyder 4 times like my wife did, that’s 16 billable visits less than he would have had should the reviews not have been written on his local business listing in Google.  But, let’s be conservative, and say they just see him twice  Now we’re up to 12 visits extra in less than two weeks time.

Now calculate the number of people my wife sees each week in her chair (she says about 25/week), plus the number of people the other 4 people will talk to and drop Dr. Snyder’s name.

The saying rings true: “Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising.” Online reviews are a printed form of Word of Mouth Advertising.  And it doesn’t come out of your advertising budget (if you have one).

Here are some tips to help you begin using online reviews to your company’s benefit:

  1. Ask your friends that have used your service to leave you a review. I would say to ask all of your friends to leave you a review, but it’s not really ethical, and it defeats the purpose.  “Padding” your reviews will not help you – keep it honest.
  2. Offer a discount on a bill or monthly invoice to your customers / clients for leaving you a review (positive or negative) on your Google, Yahoo, or Bing local listing.  I did this a month ago when I sent out invoices, and received 8 reviews on our Google Business Listing.
  3. Include a link in your email signature to your business listings where customers can leave reviews.
  4. If you have a fan page like we do, encourage your fans that have done business with you to leave a review on your review tab.  This is huge, because there are hundreds of people that will find out about you on FaceBook and other social networking sites that would never visit your website simply because of who you are connected to or friends with.
  5. Get in the habit of leaving reviews. Do it at the restaurant that you love to eat at before you pay the bill! This will really benefit a family owned or locally owned restaurant in your area that you want to succeed.  Who knows?  A couple of reviews could drive a LOT more businesses to that little restaurant, and once the word is out, it’s a new hot spot.  The big restaurant chains don’t need any help fighting for the market share, but if you want to leave reviews on them anyway, go ahead.  Leave reviews for your plumber, electrician, lawncare company, day spa, wedding chapel, auto glass repairman, or roofing company. Thank you for those shameless plugs.  haha
  6. Open an account with localndex.com.  If you are an iPhone user, localNdex has a cool little app that brings you local search results where you can choose a provider based on search criteria, contact them, and leave reviews on them – sharing your experience with everyone.
  7. Buy a domain specifically for promoting a place for people to leave reviews. For example, instead of telling people, “Yeah, just go to http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&georestrict=input_srcid%3A93d2af2ba4ae273c and leave us a review!” you can tell them, “You can leave us a review at www.reviewourservice.com.”  Just point the domain to the URL where your business listing is.

There are other ways to promote your local listings in the search engines, but the point I’m making is that it’s easy, doesn’t cost any money other than your time, and is MORE than worth the results.

On a side note, don’t let your local listings go weeks and months without being updated.  Be sure to update them with photos and videos that will help visitors to see what it is you do and what services you provide.

Contact us if you need some help!

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Posted in Online Marketing, Social Networking, advertising, marketing | No Comments »

Social Media Replacing E-Mail?

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

socialmediaSocial media has its place, but does that place include replacing our most beloved forms of digital communication: e-mail?

1. Never underestimate the power of the hand-written note or letter. Test this in your work place.  Put up a memo in your office, and write something in your own handwriting in red that says, “the power of the hand-written note reaches more people than a typed letter with the most impressive grammar.”  I promise they will glance down at the bottom to read the handwriting before the read the first word of the memo. They’ll get the point.

2. Nearly all sites on the web that require registration require an email address. Some are starting to integrate social media into this process (such as Facebook Connect), but that is still a very small fraction, and they typically still allow for email information as well.

3. Email notifies you of updates from all social networks you are a part of. Some people turn this feature off, but I particularly like it. I believe one of the forces of social media is that it is uniquely designed to come to you, the user. If I didn’t get a notification from Facebook in my e-mail, I wouldn’t get on Facebook on my iPhone at the stoplight. Facebook is an excellent tool to network with other professionals and friends, but it can eat up time in a busy schedule. I don’t see the merit in spending time on it unless I am directly connecting with someone in my network. But that’s just me. I like it to come to me (via email).

4. What about e-mail marketing? Hey, if I’m gonna get mail from someone I have no interest in, I’d rather get it digitally so I can just delete it. Better for the environment! Plus, we’ve achieved pretty good results with e-mail marketing. It is a very viable way to communicate to a busy audience, and it does generate leads and sales. People gotta have e-mail for this!

5. Email is universal, and social networks are not. Nearly everybody on the web (while there are no doubt some exceptions) has an email address. Many places of employment give employees email addresses when they begin working there. Meanwhile, a great deal of these companies are banning workers from even accessing social networks.

6. There are plenty of people who have no interest in joining social networks. Frequent news stories about security, privacy, and reputation issues do not help convince them.

7. Email is still improving. It hasn’t screeched to a halt with the rise of social media. There is still innovation going on, and integration with social media. Look at how Google is constantly adding new features to Gmail. Look at the new Yahoo Mail.

8. Even social networks themselves recognize the importance of email. Never mind that they update users about community-driven happenings via email. MySpace (still one of the biggest social networks) even launched its own email service recently.

9. More social media use means more email use. Look at these recent findings from Nielsen. The people consuming the largest amount of social media are also the people consuming the largest amount of email.

10. As far as marketing is concerned, email is doing pretty well, as many companies continue to struggle to find the right social media strategy to suit their needs.

You’ll have to decide for yourself, but in the world that we live in, a short pencil is better than a long memory.  There are so many moving parts to how we communicate and perform our duties behind our desks, etc., that having a record of the conversations that you have with clients, coworkers, and friends is invaluable – especially when it can fit in your pocket on your mobile device. Which I hope is an iPhone or I honestly don’t see how you sleep at night. :)

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Posted in E-mail, E-mail Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, marketing | No Comments »

Web Developers Stand Up

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

While eating some chocolate donuts this morning with my son, it dawned on me that each miniature donut was identical.  All the same size, shape, taste, etc.  I thought to myself, “what if all web content developers put ample, and equal time on each web project dedicated to search engine optimization for the site?”  Well, it would definitely make the fight to get on Google’s first page much more difficult.  The content online everywhere would be so relevant and the searches would be so close together in similarity that one listing would not stand head and shoulders above the other searched results, as it does now.

Well, the truth is, most web designers do just that – they design websites.  Developing a website entails much more than just throwing some files on the server and invoicing the client.  Proper SEO practices are not followed by all.  One firm that we took over a website at the request of the client put together a really nice site, but even after it was launched for over a month, there were no title tags, no descriptions or key words; just nothing but some text and some graphics.  When I asked him why they didn’t do any of it, his reply was, “We kinda ran out of time.”  2 weeks after we optimized the site, it was all over the first page of Google and the other major indexes.  That company is no longer in business.

Ask yourself, as a content developer, do you skip necessary steps to ensure that your site will be successful and generate leads and sales for a client?  Is it laziness or lack of knowledge?  Well, we can’t fix your laziness, but below is a list of things that should happen on each web project or online endeavor that will assuredly saturate your presence on the first page of Google’s search.

  1. Frequently post new and current content on your website, blog(s), social media sites, and forums.  Especially the home page of your website.
  2. Use different formats to deliver your content to stay fresh and keep audience interest levels high. i.e. blog, whitepapers, newsletters, webinars, podcasting, video etc.
  3. Test and track everything you do. Google Analytics is free and more than powerful enough to provide the metrics you need to track your efforts online.

It will take some extra time to either do this work or teach a client to do it, but in the end will make all the difference.

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