Marketing? View from beach house on Sunset Beach, Oahu where I didn't think a lot about marketing.
I’m blogging on a plane coming back from a week in paradise. That’s part of my process for returning to the “real world”. As a marketer I cannot help but think what’s behind the communications and actions of companies I engage with as a consumer. My time on Oahu talking with local residents and surfers in Haleiwa was a notable contrast to the techie social media marketing world I live in day to day.
In today’s digital age, things move fast. New models of communication establish themselves quickly and new categories of brand and consumer engagement continuously emerge. Defining the means for communicating with and engaging with customers is by no means static whether you’re trying to reach cosmopolitan buyers in London or tourists of a sleepy village on a tropical island.
Marketing evolves with consumer preferences, technologies and society. A specific definition of marketing is no more static than marketing itself.
Recently Heidi Cohen pinged me for a super-size roudup post on definitions of marketing. Here’s mine:
The practice of creating value for the mutual benefit of meeting consumer needs and business objectives. In action, that means knowing and meeting target audience/community information discovery, consumption and sharing behaviors with relevant and timely communications throughout the customer lifecycle. Engagment influence consumer behavior to drive revenue outcomes and strengthen relationships.
That’s just one definition and Heidi’s post /a>. That’s right, 72! If we ask that many people what marketing is and get such a variety of definitions, it’s no wonder marketing advice is such a crapshoot for many companies. Asking a company marketer what they do should essentially define what marketing is for that company.
But I’m guessing it doesn’t. A lot of companies are executing tactics. They’re in a perpetual state of experimentation to see what sticks, to see what works. Does that work? Does it adapt? Does it focus on what’s important?
As our own /a> evaluates it’s own marketing efforts, i also challenge readers to reflect on what you’re really doing to communicate with and engage customers, Are you executing tactics with uncertain outcomes simply because you’ve always done it that way? Are you continuing to experiment with things that have no clear connection to measurable results? Are you really engaging customers and developing relationships?
We have certainly seen a trend over the last one to two years where /a> and an increasing focus on /a>. As you know, a searcher does not even have to be burdened with entering a local modifier anymore.
Google will gladly figure out, for you, whether or not your search has local intent.
Google’s Investment into Local
Late last year Google moved one of their prized executives over to local services, Marissa Mayer. Moving Mayer, fresh off Google Instant and a variety of other high profile areas of Google’s search development, to head up local is a real strong reinforcement of how much attention Google is putting on local and local result quality (or perceived quality).
If you are a business owner who operates locally, say a real estate agent or insurance agent or really any other consumer-based service, then this presents a huge opportunity for you if you can harness the targeting and tracking ability available online.
Merging Offline Marketing with Online Marketing
A lot of small businesses or larger businesses that operate locally still rely quite a bit on offline advertising. It use to be that business owners had to rely on staff nailing down exactly how a lead came to them (newspaper ad? radio ad? special discount ad? and so on).
While it is still good practice to do that, relying solely on that to help gauge the ROI of your advertising campaign introduces a good amount of slippage and is not all that accurate (especially if you sell something online).
As local businesses start to see the light with SEO and PPC campaigns versus dropping 5 figures on phonebook advertising, a big selling point as a service provider or an in-house marketing staff member will be to sell the targeting of online campaigns as well as the tracking of those results.
If your a business owner, it’s equally important that you understand what’s available to you as an online marketer.
Types of Offline Advertising to Track
Locally, you are essentially looking at a few different types of advertising options to work into your new found zest for tracking results:
Radio
Television
Print
Billboards
Print is probably the most wide-ranging in terms of branches of advertising collateral because you can get into newspapers, magazines, flyers, brochures, banners, yellow pages, and so on.
While your approach may be different to each marketing type, the core tracking options are basically the same. You can track in your analytics program via:
Separate Domains
Custom URL’s
Custom Phone Numbers
The beauty of web analytics, specifically a free service like Google Analytics, is that it puts the power of tracking into the hands of a business owner at no cost outside of perhaps a custom set up and implementation by a competent webmaster. All of these tracking methods can be tracked in Google Analytics as well as other robust analytic packages (/a> as an example, is a reasonably priced product which can do this as well, save for maybe the phone tracking).
Structuring Your Campaigns
With the amount of offline advertising many businesses do, it is easy to get carried away with separate domains, custom URL’s, custom phone numbers, and the like.
What I usually like to do is use a good old fashioned spreadsheet to track the specific advertisements that are running, the dates they are running, and the advertising medium they are using. I also include a column or three for the tracking method(s) used (custom URL, separate domain, special phone number).
In addition to this, Google Analytics offers /a> which you can use to note those advertising dates in your traffic graph area to help get an even better idea of the net traffic effect of a particular ad campaign.
How to Track It
Armed with your spreadsheet of ads to track and notes on how you are going to track them, you’re ready to set up the technical side of things.
The tracking is designed to track the hits on your site via the methods mentioned, once they get there you’ll want to get that traffic assigned to a campaign or a conversion funnel to determine how many of the people actually convert (if you are able to sell or convert the visitor online).
Custom URL’s
A custom URL is going to be something like:
yoursite.com/save20 for an advert you might be offering 20% savings on
yoursite.com/summer for an advert you could offer a summer special on
You may or may not want to use redirection. You can use a redirect method if you are using something like a static site versus a CMS like WordPress. With WordPress, you could create those url’s as specific pages and just no-index them and ensure they are not linked to internally so you keep them out of the search engine and the normal flow of navigation. This way you know any visit to that page is clearly related to that offline campaign.
A redirect would be helpful where the above is not possible and you need to use Google’s URL builder to help track the campaign and not lose referral parameters on the 301.
So you could use the URL builder to get the following parameters if you were promoting a custom URL like yoursite.com/save20:
When you test, you should see those URL builder parameters on the landing page and then you know you are good to go
If you are worried about multiple duplicate pages getting indexed in the search results (with slightly different tracking codes) you can also leverage the rel=canonical tag on your landing page
Separate Domains
Some companies use separate domains to track different campaigns. The idea is the same as is the basic code implementation with exception that you apply any redirect to the domain rather than a sub-page or directory off the domain as we did in the prior example.
So you sell snapping turtles (snappingturtles.com) and maybe you sell turtle insurance so you buy turtleinsurance.com and you want to use that as a part of a large campaign to promote this new and innovative product. You could get this from the url builder:
This would redirect you to the home page of your main site and you can update your .htaccess with a sub-page if you had such a page catering to that specific market.
Custom Phone Numbers
There are quite a few ways to get cheap virtual numbers these days and /a> is reliable service where you can get a number for roughly $4.88 per month.
I know companies that implemented custom numbers for a bunch of print ads and it was pretty eye-opening in terms of which as performed better than others and how much money is wasted on untargeted print campaigns.
There certainly is a somewhat intangible brand equity building component to offline ads but it is still interesting to see ads which carry their weight with traffic and response rates, as well as being really helpful when it comes time to reshape the budget.
Here are a couple handfuls of providers which offer /a>. Most of these providers will require the purchase of a number from them to tie into a specific URL on your site or just right into the domain + help track those calls alongside the pageviews generated.
Some campaigns are wide-ranging enough to where you may want to target them with a custom number or two and a custom URL or domain. Using a spreadsheet to track these measures along with using Google Analytics annotations to gauge traffic spikes and drops offers business owners deep view into the use of their marketing dollars.
Custom Coupon Codes
If you run a coupon code through Groupon you of course know where it came from. But other channels are also becoming easier to track. Microsoft Office makes it easy to /a>. There are even technologies to allow you to insert tracking details directly into coupon codes on your own website (similar to online tracking phone numbers via services like IfByPhone or Google’s call tracking). Some online coupons /a>, and /a> to offer /a>.
Finding a Reputable Provider
If you are a business owner who thinks “wow this is awesome, how the heck do I do it?”, well here is some advice. If the field of web analytics is mostly foreign to you I would suggest finding a certified Google Analytics provider or ask if your current web company can do this for you. Certainly there are plenty of competent people and companies that are not part of the Google Analytics partner program.
If you are interested in a Google Analytics partner you can search for them /a>. There is also quite a bit of information in the /a> of Google Analytics.
I would recommend learning how to do this over a period of time so you can make minor or major changes yourself at some point. Also, it helps to establish a business relationship with someone competent and trustworthy for future tasks that may come up, which you cannot do on your own.
If you are a service provider, start implementing this for some of your local clients and you’ll likely be well on your way to establishing yourself as a sought-after marketer in your area.
The SES New York 2011 conference wrapped up last week on the heels of one of the biggest Google updates in recent years.
And although there was enough Panda talk to make a passerby think we might all be zookeepers, there were other themes running through the conference as well including content, paid strategies and tools, tools, tools.
Here’s a quick recap:
Panda: The Aftermath, as it was called essentially recapped what TopRank and other content advocates have been saying along.
Create unique, quality content that is written first for the target audience and second for the search engines. It’s those who have been living dangerously – or maybe just naively – creating what’s now referred to as shallow content who likely got hit the worst.
Here are a couple items to check if your site is seeing less results than it was pre-panda:
1. Check your content and outline a /a> to create more.
Also, remember that the navigations, call-outs etc that live on each page are considered part of the content. If you don’t have enough unique content on each page to ‘out-weigh’ the navigation, you might run into trouble.
2. Google is now paying more attention to spelling and grammar. If your site is lacking in basic writing skills, fix it up.
3. Check your internal link structure. If you have links pointing to each page on the site, Google will have trouble determining which pages are truly important.
Next, the paid strategy called retargeting also seemed to have people buzzing. Retargeting is the process of delivering ads to people on the web who have either entered a shopping cart and abandoned, or visited your site – but not entered the shopping cart process.
To get started with retargeting, think about the user action and your next action.
For example, if a visitor abandoned the home page you likely will want them to see a promotional offer featuring the brand.
If a visitor abandoned the shopping cart, you can send them a reminder to complete the purchase or a reminder with a coupon. Think through when and how often you offer the coupon, however, because it doesn’t take long to train a visitor to abandon the shopping cart because they know a coupon is coming.
Overall, if your site is experiencing a high number of exits in the shopping cart process, then retargeting might be a good option for you.
As always lists and tools are popular at a marketing conference and came together as a list of tools! Check out some of the recommended tools:
1. Crazy Egg – helps determine where people are clicking on your web pages, visually
2. Clicktale – use this tool for user session info, advanced link and form analytics
3. Cross Browser Testing – allows you to test different OS, browser, application settings
4. MockFlow – an online wireframe tool for helping when developing a website
5. AttentionWizard.com – a tool for predicting where visual attention exits on a site
6. Clicktale – use for form analytics
7. 4Q, Kample – survey tool to illicit from web visitors why they are on their website and if they are completing their intended tasks
8. Mongoose Metrics, ifbyphone – for call tracking
9. WebsiteOptimization.com – if your site is known to load slow, this is a tool to help you check the speed
10. Smush.it, Dynamicdrive – a tool for smushing images
If you attended SES New York 2011, feel free to comment below adding what you thought people were buzzing about this year.
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When I graduated high school one of my teachers gave me a card stating how they appreciated my humility. My mom read that and was proud, and I felt a bit embarrassed because I didn’t know what the word meant and had to ask. It turns out it is easy to confuse ignorance for humility!
Marketing is chuck full of humbling teachable moments. One of the most important concepts is the importance of humility. When Lady Gaga spoke at Google recently she came off as being totally humble. I don’t care for her music, but have a lot more respect for that sort of marketing than the “rapper who has more money than Bernake” sort of approach.
Exploiter Dirtbags
A lot of well known online marketers are the exact opposite of Lady Gaga’s approach: anything to be heard & and I am the best, etc. Some people are into that approach, while others find it distasteful. Of course in any market there will be competition with winners and losers as SEO is a zero sum game. But some folks work to build value & monetize, while others aim to exploit & scam.
Because there are eploiter dirtbags working the market, you have to pay attention to what the market is saying about your stuff in real time. Even if you pour 20 hours into creating something that is useful, relevant, engaging, interesting, etc. some people will think it is spam just because it uses a format that spammers have exploited. Notice how in spite of /a> being fairly well received across the web /a> simply because it is an infographic!
Every Profitable Company is in the Gray Area
Part of the reason you need to track viral stuff in real-time is because people are tuned to think that anything in online marketing that is successful has some layer of deception to it.
In spite of how many marketers love to wear the white hat label, the truth is that almost anyone who is profitable operates somewhere in the gray area. Google has something like $40 billion in the bank, and yet they still have an AdSense category for “get rich quick.” They proudly claim how they took down the get rich quick scammers that were trading on the Google brand, but they still have an AdSense category for “get rich quick.”
White Hat? Probably a Liar
The problem I have with those who love the white hat label is that many people who claim to adhere to algorithmic best practices are often willing to crap on real people to get ahead. Jason Calacanis claimed to be white hat precisely because he was aware of how dirty and exploitative his Mahalo junk was. You can’t really get away with flagrant spamming if you call it what it actually is, so you have to preach righteous virtues while ding it.
That “scammer exploiting a loophole” approach can work for your thin affiliate site that isn’t tied to your name & brand, but if you are using that sort of stuff on your client projects or on your own main brand site you build contempt in the marketplace. Which is precisely why so many SEOs were happy to see Mahalo get torched in the content farm update.
The recent “advanced” link building conference brought about 2 teachable moments on that front.
How to Breed Hate & Animosity in Your Marketplace!
Before the conference Will (from Distilled) asked me if I would be ok with him writing a post here. We have tried to be fairly neutral in the marketplace (reviewing tons of competing sites and products and whatnot), so I said sure. He handed me something that I found to be pretty offensive. To which, when he asked for a follow up, I replied:
Generally I felt that suggesting that post was sorta a smack in the face. It was like an ad inside an ad inside an ad. Ad for seminar + ad for your seo services + laundry list of links to client sites.
That you would suggest that made me feel like you think I am stupid or that you were trying to disrespect me. I didn’t reply right away because I was a bit angry at the time & didn’t want to respond that way. And then all that tech crap happened. Anyhow I think you are savvy and are a great SEO, but a post like that (ad in ad in ad) is better fit for say like John Chow’s blog than ours
He responded with how much of a fan he was of mine & that if he knew of anything cool on the news front down the road he would try to help us break it & such.
At the conference he highlighted his “appear authentic, but be driven by a script” type of approach.
Advanced!
But what he *failed* to disclose (until his brother disclosed it during the conference as part of the conference) was…
that they had been hired by a competing SEO site to try to outrank us for /a>
that they suggested the site they were working to use 301 redirects to game Google
that the site they were working for outed our site for using 301 redirects & got it toasted in Google
In other words, where a person who is truly ahead of the market, and does something to create a competitive advantage it must be black hat spam and you should complained to Google to get it torched. Then years later when the people who claimed the technique was spam do the same damn thing it suddenly becomes clean and innovative (cutting edge advanced stuff even).
Then they want the person who was ahead of the curve to be a free conduit for spreading this trash! It is so bad that you couldn’t even make this stuff up.
Consider the brand damage they did to themselves & the bad karma they earned in the marketplace with the above stupidity. If they are willing to do that sort of stuff to their own brand, would you want them working on your brand? I wouldn’t.
Those who claim to be algorithmically white hat, but are fine with lying, being deceptive, failing to disclose conflicts, etc. are saying that they put the algorithm ahead of how they treat real human beings in their marketplace. It is fine to be exploitative if that is your approach, but be honest about it … because it is dumb to do it in a way that causes damage to your brand.
Spam vs Junk Trash Garbage That People Hate
Some people also complain about domain names (a clear signal of relevancy) shouldn’t count, and yet some of the same folks create software to automate spamming up public communities. Any competitive disadvantage they have is spam, any competitive advantage they have is not spam.
Enter Russ Jones!
On the Virante about page it highlights that “Russ has assisted in the creation of new search marketing technologies. This includes the venerable LinkSleeve Spam Link Verification system, which currently blocks thousands of links spam messages across the web.” Yet at the “advanced” link building conference /a>.
Once the people on Reddit highlighted it he was quick to backpedal, stating: “I don’t openly promote spamming. If you think creating highly viral content and submitting it to a social network to let them decide if it is good is spamming, then you have been seriously misled.”
Here is the deal though, if the goal of that sofware was to do ANYTHING other than spamming, then it would be promoted to the core audience (so it could reach more people) rather than hunting out old subreddits & spamming them up with links.
There are a bunch of exploitative douchebags that paint themselves as white hats while destroying the ecosystems we all must work in by undermining basic human decency principals & trust in the marketplace. I don’t care if someone wants to be a spammer, but to do so and claim that you are white hat and ethical (and thus that others are somehow inferior) is garbage.
Even Ghetto Rappers Stand for Something
The most important lesson in marketing is consistency. Make promises that you can consistently deliver on.
Rappers are successful. So are folks like Thom Yorke. But they pick their markets & their approach and stick to it. Bouncing back and forth just makes a person look like a dishonest douchebag who stands for nothing.
It’s not standing for much, but least the rappers have their drugs, booze and hoes.
What do these internet marketers stand for?
It seems the folks teaching “advanced” internet marketing still need a bit of work on “basic” social interactions & common sense. But I guess those are harder to sell.
If you live outside the United States and were unscathed by the Panda Update, a world of hurt may await soon. Or you may be in for a pleasant surprise. It is hard to say where the chips may lay for you without looking.
Some people just had their businesses destroyed, whereas the Online Publisher Association sees /a>.
Due to Google having multiple algorithms running right now, you can get a peak at the types of sites that were hit, and if your site is in English you can see if it would have got hit by comparing your Google.com rankings in the United States versus in foreign markets by /a>.
In most foreign markets Google is not likely to be as aggressive with this type of algorithm as they are in the United States (because foreign ad markets are less liquid and there is less of a critical mass of content in some foreign markets), but I would be willing to bet that Google will be pretty aggressive with it in the UK when it rolls out.
The keywords where you will see the most significant ranking changes will be those where there is a lot of competition, as keywords with less competition generally do not have as many sites to replace them when they are whacked (since there were less people competing for the keyword). Another way to get a glimpse of the aggregate data is to look at your Google Analytics search traffic from the US and see how it has changed relative to seasonal norms. Here is a look out below example, highlighting how Google traffic dropped.
What is worse, is that on most sites impacted revenue declined faster than traffic because search traffic monetizes so well & the US ad market is so much deeper than most foreign markets. Thus a site that had 50% profit margins might have just went to break even or losing money after this update.
When Google updates the US content farmer algorithm again (likely soon, since it has already been over a month since the update happened) it will likely roll out around other large global markets, because Google does not like running (and maintaining) 2 sets of ranking algorithms for an extended period of time, as it is more cost intensive and it helps people reverse engineer the algorithm.
Some sites that get hit may be able to quickly bounce back *if* /a> and /a>, however most will not unless /a>. Almost nobody has recovered and it has been over a month since the algorithm went live. So your best bet is to /a>. When the tide goes out you don’t want to be swimming naked.
