Companies today have a virtual smörgåsbord of options when it comes to marketing their products and services online. Lack of expertise, numerous tactical options, pressure for sales in a down economy and the tendency to chase shiny objects cause many online marketing efforts to be fragmented. I really doubt that a significant waste of effort and disconnect with customers is part of any company’s online marketing strategy. But it’s happening. A lot.
Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category
Fragmented Marketing Helps No One
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010Making Your Site A Lead Generation Engine
Thursday, June 24th, 2010For decades, we’ve hired sales reps to be hunters instead of farmers. We’ve even coveted our neighbors’ (competitors) hunters. Perhaps this recession, along with more effective gate-keepers, (receptionist and voice mail), and the “Walmartization” of buyers, shows us that hunting has become too tough and expensive.
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Adding Social Media Marketing Power To Your Enterprise
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010In life we expect outgoing people to be better at tasks like networking or sales. We use terms like “extrovert” and “Type-A personality” to describe what many of us believe to be true about many of the people we work with … that seemingly natural parts of their personality make them ideal candidates to do certain types of jobs. Chances are as you have built your own small business, a part of any success you have had has come from your own natural abilities and skills. (more…)
Building A Fluid And Agile Marketing Strategy
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010Here are several excerpts from a very insightful post by Rob Garner, Senior Strategy Director with iCrossing, Marketing in The Moment. I encourage you to read the entire source post as well as his follow-up post, More On Marketing In The Moment. Both of these posts are filled with very thoughtful strategies and considerations for marketing to be “more in the moment, fluid and agile:”
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Are Good Domains Still Important To Marketing?
Thursday, May 13th, 2010For as long as most marketers can remember, getting a good domain name was a prerequisite to anything you were going to do on the web. Without a good domain name, no one would be able to find your site, or recall your campaign to get them to visit your page. Domain names were worth paying thousands of dollars for, or even potentially changing the name of your business to something that you could actually get the domain name for. (more…)
Broadening Your Perspective Of Social Media Marketing
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010I recently called for businesses to broaden their perspective of Social Media from an experimental stage of acting and reacting, to one of learning and leading through intelligence, participation, and also publishing. Creating social profiles and broadcasting tweets and status updates is elementary, whereas creating a meaningful presence through the development and dissemination of remarkable content is judicious.
Increasing The Chances Of Creating A Viral Marketing Video
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010One of the best ways to spread a message is through a video which goes viral. While this is a very well known fact, it is one of those things that are easier said than done. What is it that makes a video go viral? Why it is that one video spreads like wildfire, while another gets less than 100 views? The answers to these questions are not easy to find. However, there are things that can be done to help increase the chances of creating a viral video.
1) Provide unique content: Many people see a video that goes viral and then turn around and produce something similar. While this may work on occasion, videos with unique content have a better chance of going viral.
2) Producing a well made product: Every once in a while a video that obviously took little effort or planning gets big. However, by taking the time to make sure a product is well made is the better way to go more often than not.
3) Make it relevant: Many very well made videos have been put out that never got noticed. The reason for this is that they lacked relevant SEO friendly content to a large number of people. When making an attempt to go viral, try to keep the product relevant to as many people as possible.
4) Funny is okay with everyone: While it is difficult to do right, humor will definitely help cause a video to go viral.
5) Entertain, don’t sell: While the reason for a video may be to spread the message about a particular product or service, try to keep the messages entertaining.
6) Keep it short: Internet users tend to prefer media that is short and simple. While a longer video works when people want in depth information, almost all viral videos are under five minutes in length.
7) Promote, promote, promote: By using social media sites such as FaceBook and Twitter a videos chances of going viral increases. Also, if possible, try and get a couple of widely read SEO clogs to post the video.
Make the message obvious: Most people attempt to create a viral video in order to spread a message. Make sure that message is easy to see. Whether trying to drive traffic to a website or raising awareness about a political issue, making sure people understand the message is vital.
While there is never any guarantee that a video will successfully go viral, by following the above tips, the chances are increased.
How To Use Viral Marketing Successfully
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010In September 2008 at Web 2.0 Expo in New York, I shared something that many, to this day, believe to the contrary, “There is no such thing as viral marketing.”
The declaration was empathetic in its direction to those marketers who have been on the receiving end of directives instructing them to create and unleash viral content. In parallel, the statement was aimed at those decision makers who assign such projects.
Marketing Your Brand By Becoming Your Media
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010One of the greatest challenges I encounter today is not the willingness of a brand to engage, but its ability to create. When blueprinting social architecture and the engineering that connects people to other people strategically, enthusiasm and support typically derail when examining the resources and the commitment required to rhythmically produce, distribute, and support content.
Indeed, we are programming the social web around our brand hub and as such, we’re required to capture attention and also hold it through the introduction of engaging dialogue, interaction, and the introduction of relevant information packaged and published as social objects.
Challenging Your Marketing Team To Succeed
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010Recently, I wrote about the need to identify our Internet marketing personalities to help adapt to the fact that we’re always stuck trying something new in this business.