Selling with Content

How blog content became a pool company's best salesperson

This is  great video produced by Michael Seltzer, owner of the Social Media Examiner. Seltzer interviews Marcus Sheridan, owner of River Pools and Spas who tells his story of how posting blog content, as part of an inbound marketing program, turnred his business around after it tanked in 2008 when the recession hit.  

There are several videos about Sheridan's story, but for me, this one stands out because Seltzer digs out the details. We find out how content became Sheridan’s best saleperson, and exactly what kind of content he posted. I especially like this story because it is about selling swimming pools, not the latest high tech gear that has a lot of intrinsic interest. No, nothing with that much sizzle, swimming pools. If this approach can work selling swimming pools, it can help sell anything.   

 

Read all of Seltzer's helpful commentary about his interview: How to Use Content to Increase Your Sales

Advertising in an fragmented world is more work

A study from Bain & Company found that in 2005, US commercial websites offered just over 200 million ad impressions for sale to marketers. Three years later (2008), there were four times as many impressions offered (about 800 million).

During that same 3 year period the cost of buying a banner ad in terms of CPM (cost per thousand) dropped by half. While lower costs are good for marketers, the added complexity means more time spent int he evaluation process.

Targeting online audiences gets harder with every passing year because there are more online destinations competing for attention and in need of evaluation. This trend has not slowed down. From 2008 until 2011 the number of online destinations has increased by about 40%.

But there is also opportunity here. As media become more fragmented it becomes easier to make your media buys more tightly focused. Want to reach a highly influential sub-group in your target audience? There could be an influential newsletter or blog. The key is to constantly evaluate the medial landscape in your markets. Sound like a lot of extra work? Yes. But there is opportunity to gain advantage for those willing to spend the time. Download the Bain study

Content creation becomes the top SEO tactic

The series of "Panda" changes to the Google search algorithm that started in February 2011 have shaken up the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) world. The stated goal of the changes is to reduce the ranking of sites that post a lot of reused content, and reward sites with original content.

This change may have shaken up how marketers see SEO as well.

In 2010 when the "Marketing Sherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey" asked respondents from search agencies to pick the "most effective" SEO (search engine optimization) tactic, 83% chose “keyword research” as the top selection.

One year later, in the 2011 version of the same survey, there were some small changes. The name of the "top box" selection was changed from "most effective" to "very effective," and the mix of tactics changed.

But the biggest change: marketers now consider "content creation" as the top SEO tactic pulling ahead of last year's winner, "Keyword" choice.

In just one year, "content creation" has clearly moved to the top of the SEO agenda. Blogging, the tactic renown for pumping fresh content into websites, more than doubled in importance moving from 15% in 2010 to 31% in 2011.

While content moved up, several "traditional" SEO tactics showed big drops. “Keyword search” dropped from 83% to 43%, title tags from 50% to 42%.

If you want better SEO, think about your content!

See the 2010 result See the 2011 result

As social media saves the broadcast market, can it help yours?

As younger TV viewers watch a program, many of them chat about it on social media. Is this a big deal? Watching this happen as the parent of a teenager, I'd say maybe not. But it is actually proving to be important for the economic health of the broadcast industry.   

      All media companies are fighting ad commoditization because new digital media are being created every day. For example, this is happening with banner ads on consumer websites. In 2005, Bain & Company reported that there were over 200 million ad impressions offered to media buyers in the US. Three years later, in 2008, there were four times as many, or about 800 million offered. Why? Because the number of websites offering consumer advertising increased proportionally. During this same time, the cost of these website banners (as measured in CPM) dropped by half. It is simple supply and demand.  

     The television organizations are in the same boat. As more ways to view television become available, more ad inventory is added and ad prices drop. With an oversupply of digital media, media buyers have stopped putting as much value on "eyeballs" and instead now focus on finding media that delivers more "engagement."

     Media buyers are interested in social media, not because it is cool, but because it is highly engaging. Television programs with a social media trail have a certain proof of media engagement. If a TV viewer likes a program enough to watch it, that's good. But if a viewer likes a show enough to watch it and chat about it to friends on social media, it proves a higher level of engagement.

     Last May at the "Upfront Market" an event where broadcasters showcase their new fall programs and can sell up to 70% of their ad inventory for the year, social media was center stage. As reported in The New York Times:  

"At almost every turn this week, television networks are talking about being liked - not only in the ratings, but also on Facebook and Twitter. Social media have been an integral part of the sales pitch at the "upfront" presentations held by Fox on Monday, ABC on Tuesday and CBS on Wednesday."

    A TV show that can prove engagement can often keep ad pricing at a higher level despite lower ratings. A recent study by TV Guide measured the top ten "social shows" of the 2010-2011 season, and many were not the top rated shows. They are: 
 
 1. NCIS
 2. American Idol
 3. Criminal Minds
 4. Glee
 5. House
 6. Fringe
 7. Bones
 8. Castle
 9. Smallville
10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

     As the TV world becomes more fragmented and broadcasters struggle against the commoditization of their ad inventory, social TV may be a big help in proving engagement and keeping their prices from sliding. 

OK, now let's talk about social media as part of the marketing at your company. The real value of social media is not that is "cool" but because it generates customer engagement. If social media has the power to create enough engagement to save the broadcast market ...think it can with yours? 
 
     Read The New York Times account of social media at the Upfront event:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/media/19adco.html

     Read the TV Guide social media study:
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Most-Social-NCIS-Idol-1033024.aspx         

Lady Gaga,CMO

Brian Anthony Hernandez posting on Mashable runs the numbers on Lady Gaga's astonishing rise to the top of the web marketing stats:

In the past year, Lady Gaga was the first artist to reach 1 billion views on YouTube; she beat President Barack Obama to 10 million Facebook fans (she’s now closing in on 35 million); and most recently, she was the first Twitter user to acquire 10 million followers.

But web contact programs work best when they are combined within person contact programs. Charles Schwab became one of the top on-line financial organizations by combining web service and service from physical offices. Mashable pulled ahead of their web competitors when they launched a nation wide series of meet ups.

Here is recent account of a Lady Gaga meeting with fans at a local Best Buy:

This past Monday night I had the pleasure of hosting Lady Gaga's street date signing event at Best Buy Union Square in New York City. I have hosted hundreds of events like this for Best Buy and I can tell you without hesitation that Lady Gaga was the most fan friendly artist I've ever worked with.

Bob Lefsetz — the blogger on the music industry I frequently mention here — posted various emails he had recently received from his readers. Through the comments of an employee of Best Buy, I discovered the essential component to Lady Gaga’s fame. Here’s what he wrote:

Lady Gaga insisted that there be no table on the stage so she could hug and kiss each and every fan. She personalized each autograph and ensured that every fan got a picture with her.
She listened to all of their stories and actually kept and appreciated the gifts she received. Gaga stayed on stage for four and a half hours without taking a single break and had as much fun as any fan in attendance. She even bought Subway sandwiches for all 500 fans while they waited on line outside.

Afterwards, when the event ended at 2:30 in the morning, she was totally exhausted but still took the time to pose for pictures and sign autographs for the store team.

She was polite and professional and it was an absolute pleasure to have her in the store. The amount of enthusiasm she showed for her fans was something that I won't soon forget. She genuinely cares about her Little Monsters and absolutely puts them first. In that regard, I believe, Lady Gaga has set the standard.

Glenn Feinberg, Program Director, LIVE @ Best Buy

Google: Want better SEO? Improve your content.

Early this year Google initiated its “Panda” algorithm change which affected the rank of millions of websites. In a February post on “The Official Google Blog” they explained their motivation:

“This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites, or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on...

We can’t make a major improvement without affecting rankings for many sites. It has to be that some sites will go up and some will go down. Google depends on the high-quality content created by wonderful websites around the world, and we do have a responsibility to encourage a healthy web ecosystem. Therefore, it is important for high-quality sites to be rewarded, and that’s exactly what this change does.”

Read the whole post: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html

The “Panda” changes created so much interest that Google offered more advice two months later, on their "Webmaster Central Blog":

“Some publishers have fixated on our prior Panda algorithm change, but Panda was just one of roughly 500 search improvements we expect to roll out to search this year. In fact, since we launched Panda, we've rolled out over a dozen additional tweaks to our ranking algorithms, and some sites have incorrectly assumed that changes in their rankings were related to Panda. Search is a complicated and evolving art and science, so rather than focusing on specific algorithmic tweaks, we encourage you to focus on delivering the best possible experience for users.”

Read the whole post:http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html

You can read the entire posts from Google on the links I've provided above. But it is not hard to see what Google is looking for. As they see it, their job is to find the best and most relevant content locations, rank them, and present them to their users. Through this process sites with higher quality content will rank higher.

In their their words, websites that create "original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on" are bound to come out ahead. This is why many companies are making original content creation part of their search engine optimization program.

Are blogs the new buyers guides?

Before you invest money buying advertising in a buyer’s guide consider that a recent research study suggests that online blogs may be replacing the buyer’s guide function for many customers.

A study from BuzzLogic and JupiterResearch that focused on the behavior of heavy blog readers found them relying on blogs for information previously thought to be in the benefit list of search and buyers guides.

Before I present findings from the study let me say that I am skeptical of studies like these. If you ask a respondent if a blog influences their buying deicsions it is easly enough to say, "yes." If the next day a survey asked the same respondnet, "Does the kind of breakfast you ate affect your buying deicsions?", many would say would also say, "yes." The bigger point is that there are many factors now inplay where buyers guides once ruled.

From the study:

"Blog readers do not appear to rely as heavily on search as a means to find new blogs as compared to consumers of traditional online media. According to the survey, one in five general blog readers (defined as consumers who have read a blog in the past 12 months) use blog links to discover new blogs. Further, the study suggests blogs are not consumed in isolation, but experienced as part of a connected conversation – nearly half (49 percent) of blog readers and 71 percent of frequent readers read more than one blog per session.

•    Blogs influence purchases: One half (50 percent) of blog readers say they find blogs useful for purchase information.
•    Blogs sway more purchases among readers than social networks: More frequent blog readers say they trust relevant blog content for purchase decisions than content from social networking sites.
•    Niche focus ups influence factor: For those who have found blog content useful for product decisions, more than half (56 percent) said blogs with a niche focus and topical expertise were key sources.
•    Blogs go beyond tech: Outside of technology-related purchases, for which 31 percent of readers say blogs are useful, other key categories include media and entertainment (15 percent); games/toys and/or sporting goods (14 percent); travel (12 percent); automotive (11 percent); and health (10 percent).

It’s Buy Time: Where Blogs Sit in the Purchase Cycle
According to the study, blogs factor in to critical stages of the purchase process, weighing most heavily at the actual moment of a purchase decision. When it comes to respondents who said they have trusted blog content for purchase decisions in the past, over half (52 percent) say blogs played a role in the critical moment they decided to move forward with a purchase.
Blog readers also replied around blogs’ influence as it relates to the following steps of the purchase process:
•    Decide on a product or service: 21 percent
•    Refine choices: 19 percent
•    Get support and answers: 19 percent
•    Discover products and services: 17 percent
•    Assure: 14 percent
•    Inspire a purchase: 13 percent
•    Execute a purchase: 7 percent

My take is that there now is a universal buyers guide. It's called Google.

This story has some traction, here is a link to a short summary of the that study that ran in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/business/22drill.html?_r=1

Read the entire Buzz Logic press release:
http://www.buzzlogic.com/press/news.html?postdate=1225203064

 

Blogs and websites: like peanut butter and jelly

I frequently suggest to clients they combine their blog and website. But often the mentality is that websites are websites and blogs are blogs.

  Most often, the core content of a website changes less frequently the content of a blog, making it much less interesting for search engines and readers looking for something new.

But when blogs are linked to social media distribution and then combined into a website they become stronger together: the blog becomes a traffic and search engine magnet pulling in attention that gets shared with the less dynamic website content. I’ve never seen an actual case that documented this working…until now:

TMG Brand Communications is a boutique public relations and marketing communications agency in New York City. TMG had an excellent web site which presented its capabilities and samples of its work. But the site was lightly trafficked. A post on Dan McCarthy's ViralHousingFix describes the strategy:

“In the last quarter of 2009, TMG developed a blog centered, integrated social media marketing strategy to elevate its brand presence. TMG established a blog on a sub-domain of the tmg-media URL. This blog, “Tami McCarthy’s BuzzCloud”, was set up “using WordPress and the Cordobo Green Park theme. The agency also created a TMG Brand Communications fan page on Facebook, pointing the page to the primary TMG domain. The Networked Blogs application distributed blog posts to the Facebook page, and a plug-in was used to distribute posts to Twitter.”

The impact was immediate. In the six months following the launch of the blog: TMG increased web traffic to its TMGpr.com agency site and to its new blog, Buzzcloud, by 198%. In addition: 

• Visits to TMGpr.com, the agency site, increased 32% in the six-month period following the blog launch;
• Search engines drove 61% more traffic to the agency site in the six-month period;
• The number of keywords that drove traffic to TMG’s agency site gained from 425 to 1,178 in the six-month period. 

This success story was all about leveraging content. At the center of this strategy was Tami McCarthy’s blog, which constantly pushed content into a social media system that included a Facebook page, and Twitter account.

By combining the blog with the existing TMG website, overall site traffic jumped 198% in six months!

Are you maintaining your website and blog separately? If you are, it’s like eating peanut butter and jelly in separate sandwiches.   

 

Link to Tami’s blog: http://buzzcloud.tmgpr.com/

Read more detail of this case study on Dan McCarthy's ViralHousingFix: http://www.viralhousingfix.com/tag/google-inc  

Should your emphasis be on earned, owned, or paid media?

When I was a kid, there was one kind of milk you could spend money on only, the white kind. But now you choose from whole, skim, 1%, 2%, organic, and chocolate. Media is a lot like that. You used to spend money on it for one thing only: exposing customers to marketing messages. Now you choose from “bought media”, “owned media”, and “earned media.” The definitions:

Bought media: media you pay for like print ads and banner ads.

Owned media: media you own and control such as your company website and blog or newsletters and digital magazines your organization publishes.

Earned media: exposure you “earn” by posting content on social networks, forums, and websites that you do not own. Examples are comments posted on blogs, photos shared on Facebook, or videos uploaded to YouTube. Here is chart from a presentation from Alex Wong that illustrates this:

Conventional wisdom says each of these media has different strengths:

Owned media is best for reaching your current customer base. Since your organization should have the most complete list of your own customers, publishing a newsletter or digital magazine to that list should provide the best coverage available anywhere.

Bought media is best for reaching new customers. The weakness of “owned media” is that it reaches largely people who are already customers or inclined to become them, so it is less likely you will reach customers of competitors or new customer just coming to your market. “Bought media” strives for total market coverage which will include the groups you miss with owned media.

Earned media enables your biggest fans to advocate for you. Every company has customers who, if properly motivated, will advocate for you online. While this is basically an organic process that you have no direct control over, smart organizations find ways to encourage this process along. Many mistakenly think that earned media is free. While there is no charge for posting content on most social media sites, the task of doing this requires staffing for the function, and adding staff is never free.

Earned, owned, or paid media. Which should you emphasize?  
If your customer are heavily involved in social media, then earned media needs your attention. If you have not asked about your customers social media involvement in a year, you need to ask again.

 If you sell a utilitarian product like car batteries, or commodity products like toothpaste or paper towels, paid media might be best. When was the last time you saw a passionate bog post or successful newsletter about toothpaste?

If most of your business comes from repeat customers, you need to think more about owned media.

Different media work best for different situations. Along those lines, I prefer skim milk in my morning cereal, but 1 or 2% % for hot coca.

See Alex Wong's entire presentation on slide share

Aggregate or die

I remember working for a trade magazine that boasted it had a competitive advantage with readers because all their articles were written by staff writers. I still see a sense of pride among traditional publishers as they continue this kind of boasting.

But on the Internet, readers don't care where the content they love comes from, they just want what the content where and when they want it. If an aggregator presents it to them in a more convenient or timely way readers are delighted. 

Case in point is the Huffington Post, which, as the most popular blog in the US, aggregates most of it's content. Compare their rapid growth to that of the New York Times which painstakingly creates most of its content. 

Here are the numbers according to Business Insider:

Two-and-a-half years ago, according to Comscore, the Huffington Post was visited by 1.2 million U.S. uniques a month.  That compared to 11.1 million at the main site of the New York Times, 5.8 million at the Washington Post, 2.8 million at the Wall Street Journal, and 2.6 million at the LA Times.

...Today The Huffington Post has 12.3 million uniques, way ahead of the main sites for Wapo (green line), the WSJ (purple line), and the LAT, which have stagnated.  The Huffington Post (red line) still lags the New York Times (blue line), but not by much--and not for long.

 

Still not convinced? Than consider that the organization that makes far more money on online advertising than anyone is Google. In May of 2010 almost half of all online ad dollars are now going to "search" and Google owns 72% of that market. Do the math. Online, the money is in aggregation, not content creation.

Why? Because the web has so fragmented audiences that aggregation is one of the best ways to assemble the audiences that advertisers want. According to  Adam Gerber, CMO of Quantcast:

In the future, online media buying will be about "the re-aggregation of a fragmented audience that's actually watching different things.”

  The best way to go to market is to have both original content that you brand and present to the market as your own, while also providing the destination for all and any content in your market via aggregation.

Read more about the Huffington Post in Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-news-websites-traffic-2010-5#ixzz0uDYJdUuc