SEO and content. Information arrangement and design. When you look for digital marketing solutions, you should find the ones that will work for you. We can help with that.
Sitting here at the Austin Convention Center, catching up on emails and projects before things officially get started at South By South West (SXSW). Another conference on the calendar, another opportunity to learn.
I have had the privilege of attending a wide-variety of conferences over the years, and from each gained something to help with my everyday tasks. From learning more about CSS and Design at Web Design World and An Event Apart, to search, social and analytics at Search Engine Strategies and SMX. I always enjoy hearing how others are working in the digital space, and sometimes, I even get to share my experience as well. Sometimes you give, sometimes you get.
Creative people sharing ideas, successes and failures = the opportunity to learn. I enter every conference in hopes of walking away with one nugget of information that can help move the needle for our partners.
Which brings us here, to SXSW, one of the largest, most diverse technology conferences in the world. People from all angles of digital: Video, bloggers, app developers and much more here to connect, and share ideas.
I am looking forward to meeting some new folks, even though I generally consider myself a terrible networker, I try. More importantly, re-connecting with some great folks that I have had the opportunity to meet at some point in the past, or some folks that I have come to know digitally.
Stay tuned, if you like for some un-edited, ramblings…
As I see it, you can go two ways. It’s a given that you want to make something that people will like. Ultimately, the direction you take is determined by how you define that word: “Like”.
If by like you mean passionate, celebrated, different, noteworthy, challenging, then you’ve set the bar high. Good. The world needs more people like you. It will never get them, so your work is even more valuable.
If, on the other hand, you define like as not offensive, you’ve gone in the opposite direction. It’s impossible for brilliant work to not offend someone. By it’s very nature, it won’t appeal to everyone. It will put some people off your product or your business or you.
But, what you made, yes, people will like it. Kind of. In this other direction, the phrase actually reads more like, “no one is going to not-like this.” This is what you do when you make the perfect example of an insurance commercial, or a website that’s normal, or a press release about your sale.
The bar is set pretty low for work like this. You can do it for an entire career, and chances are no one is going to not-like it.
Businesses used to go for low margins and high volume, which meant anyone fit the model. It made sense for business to appeal to the widest number of people it could.
Customers aren’t like they were. The crowds that used to line up to buy are now overloaded with the number of choices they have. There’s no way you can undersell the internet.
So why try? It makes more sense to charge for originality. And that’s where customer fit plays such a crucial roll.
If you’re paying attention to your entire online presence, you can tell who’s responding to you and who’s not. Take a look at your posts. Are more people reading about vacations than about adventure? Those are the people who want a good fit.
When the big kid on the block starts to take over your market, you can try to compete. But what if you don’t? There are lots and lots of people out there that don’t want to play with the big kid. They want a company that will hand deliver, that will call them by name. They want to find the business that fits.
On reason people want fit is because it’s just as easy to find a quality experience as it is to find a low priced experience. The lowest price tour is a click away. But so is a list of customer reviews. Read some reviews, find a product that fits, and you know what happens next. They buy.
And still, fit is at a premium. People that make products that fit can charge more than the ones that try to sell to everyone. Everyone is cheap. The people who want a good fit will pay for it.
I’m usually afraid to show my true optimism. I worry about enthusiasm mistakenly interpreted as being naive. I think people will point and laugh and call me Ned Flanders.
The reality is: so what? So what if they do? It doesn’t matter.
Here’s why. Holding back feels to me like hedging your bets. Like trying to play both sides and please everyone. That can show up in a ton of places. This blog. My work for clients. Home.
(Another reason is I can be a really gifted smart-ass. I don’t know where I picked that up, but if there were awards, I’d at least be at the ceremony, maybe even nominated.)
So I’m at least a little comfortable hiding it. But that shouldn’t be the case. It should be more like, “Say it once, say it loud: I’m nice and I’m proud!”
Fear inhibits extraordinary work.
Whatever it is that you’re worried about, think about this: what would it take for you to set it aside? What could you accomplish if you did?
For marketers, I believe the sky’s the limit. You’re creative, you’re smart, and no one works harder. You’ve got an opportunity, with the tools that are available now, to do something dynamic.
Your work can make a difference, if you want it to.
There’s a lot more safety in writing something else. And by that, I mean writing something that won’t offend anyone. Won’t make you stand out. Won’t draw criticism.
The best way to go about doing that is to google “5 paragraph essay” and start from there. You can get all your information into a neat package. Everyone will be satisfied. No one will complain.
Of course, no one’s going to read it. But that doesn’t matter. Your assignment was “We need copy for the web site”. You did your job, right?
If your customer doesn’t get it, you have three options:
1. You can try to make them understand, and explain why they should be interested in you.
2. You can reshape your product to fit them.
3. You can write the customer off.
Number one can be done with a lot of work ahead of time. With a good content strategy and a clear idea of your vision, you’re heading off most of the problems at the gate.
Number two usually has the worst results. The customer is rarely satisfied if your product is changed, even at their request, and here’s why: You do it the way you do it for a reason. Because it’s the best. You’ve found the product that will deliver exactly what you propose to offer. When you change that around to fit everyone’s needs, an essential element of your business breaks down. It’s what made you you.
Number three should be done a lot more to avoid number two.
No denying that in recent weeks more people have paid attention to hockey then ever before; The Olympics have a tendency to make folks wax patriotic about things they may otherwise not pay attention to. Curling, skating….hockey.
What I am interested in watching is the ability of the N.H.L. (National Hockey League) to leverage the Olympic-fueled interest in hockey. Without recounting last Sunday’s game, it goes without saying that hockey is on the minds of more (Americans) than ever before. The Olympic hockey Gold Medal game match-up could not have been planned any better.
Last weekend people were watching, and caring about hockey that had no prior interest in the sport. I come from a family of sports-fans, however none of us closely watch hockey. Last Sunday, that changed.
My wife, my children, my father, my friends all sent me text messages akin to “are you watching this?!”. Hockey has an opportunity to gain fans.
Low Hanging Fruit
I visited the NHL website, and a number of team sites, as I wrote this post. I have to say, I was disappointed.
Not because the websites were bad, they are very well designed. However, they precluded me, a non-hockey knowledgeable person, from better understanding their sport.
It is easier for me to find an “official” bar to watch a Chicago Blackhawks game, than it is for me to learn what icing is, or for that matter just general rules.
Un-Solicited Advice for the NHL
Leverage the Olympic experience. (duh). Opportunities for “welcome to hockey” packages exist. Introduce people to a sport in a friendly, non-elitist way, and you could gain fans for life.
Player videos (Olympic participants if possible) explaining the basics (icing, power plays)
Create a “Newbie” section on your team websites that has simple Q & A’s for newbies like me. I went to several websites and found nothing about understanding the game. The NHL is not alone in missing this, however, they have the greatest barrier to entry, so far as becoming a spectator sport.
It is great to see the NHL making use of some social media channels like Twitter, and responding to people. The more interaction, and introduction, the greater chance of creating life-long fans, and enthusiasts for the game.
Around here we listen to and enjoy all types of music, you are as likely to hear AC/DC as you are Miles Davis, and everything in between. Bluegrass, rock, funk, jazz (my personal favorite) and jam bands all stream from Pandora and iPod alike. While musicians inspire and stir our emotions with their creations, everything from sports teams to weddings, indulge me for a moment as I explain how I think musicians can also inspire your marketing.
Live music is something that many people enjoy, from large stadiums packed with superstar performers to classical concerts in small theatres. For many, experiencing music live takes it to a new level. Jam bands, those that seem to have the ability to recreate a song every time they play it, set the bar, when it comes to live performances.
The Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, Phish and Govt Mule are just some of the jam bands that have created strong brands by leveraging their content and their communities. Jerry Garcia was an incredible guitarist; Is it possible that he and the Grateful Dead were pioneers of content and viral marketing? You decide.
Why are jam bands so successful at content marketing?
Jam bands take a story and present it in a unique and captivating way.
Of all the jam bands I have had the opportunity to see live, I never once walked away from a show thinking it seemed contrived. Can you say the same thing about your content? Tell your story in a personable way. Corporate speak sucks, ditch it and roll with the story the way you would speak it, not how you think your 8th grade English teacher would want it.
Jam bands keep things interesting.
They accomplish this by always changing play sets, arrangements and sometimes they will really surprise you with a guest appearance. How can you mix your content to produce something new? Know someone you can reach out to for a guest blog post? Never hurts to ask, and you give your audience something new, something fresh…they will thank you.
Jam bands spread their music virally
Most jam bands allow, and even encourage, the recording and trading of their live music. Some will even allow “tapers” to plug into their sound boards for maximum quality. The “taper” community then trades and shares the recorded concerts, which allow the band’s music to spread virally. The bands allow this trading of their music to take place free of charge. You are creating content and sharing it with your audience, but are you giving them the access, the permission and the tools to share it? Sharing of content and music helps spread your content and helps build a stronger community.
People enjoy “discovering” new bands.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to see The (then unknown) Dave Mathews Band play at a fraternity party. They were damn good, but hadn’t hit the big time yet. Think we all didn’t tell our friends about this new band we saw? Of course we did, we all wanted to feel like we had “discovered” something great. Things are no different online. A great video, a really good blog post all are things that people love to discover and share. Create things that people will want to tell their friends about, don’t just create to complete a milestone.
Jam bands create community.
These communities are tight-knit, many having their own norms, nomenclature, and even nicknames – the “Dead Heads”, “Spread Heads” and other countless communities are fiercely loyal. Each member of the community consumes the content in their own way, and react to it differently. Some spin, some sway and some simply shake it. Your audience is no different. They consumer your content in different ways and react differently – some share a blog post through their RSS reader, some post a video to their Facebook page. Do you know your audience and their nuances?
So crank up some music, play a little hacky-sack, start thinking like a jam band and you will see improvements in your content, your engagement and your rankings.
Logically speaking, the two are joined at the hip. Realistically speaking, the two are (more often than they should be) as disjointed as a divorced couple in a custody battle. I am always a bit surprised by the companies that have nary a clue how their digital marketing is doing.
No analytics in place, no tracking mechanisms, no idea. Going even a bit further, there is a big difference between analytics and the age-old “stats” package. If you are still looking for data on “hits”, then do a little bit of homework to learn more about the metrics, which metrics are important to you, and what they mean.
No matter if you are building out a new website or wanting to learn more about an existing one, insist it include an analytics package. With Google Analytics being a free, and very useful, tool, there is really no excuse. Simply create an account, place a snippet of code, and you have data. With some understanding of that data you will be able to make more informed decisions and gain a better understanding of what parts of your marketing are working and more importantly, which ones are not.
Some Web Analytics Packages and Tools
Two analytics tools you can put in play quickly and easily to replace your old “stats” program.
Google Analytics – It is free, provides loads and loads of data and hacks and has become ubiquitous for SMB’s and measurement.
Woopra – If you love graphs, real-time data and dashboards, look no further. Recently out of Beta and available to everyone, Woopra provides a dashboard that will make you feel like you are launching the space shuttle. Loads of information, real-time and even live chat feature. This is a paid, but very reasonably priced service worth checking out.
Heat Maps
Heat maps help visualize the items on a page that are drawing attention from your visitors. Identify misplaced calls to action and much more, along with standard analytics data.
Crazy Egg – Data and heatmaps at a reasonable price. We have used this service to help with Landing Page optimization, ecommerce optimization and web form optimization. Heatmaps can offer some incredibly useful data that is outside the traditional “numbers” mindset.
Click Density – Anther tool utilizing heatmaps, worth taking a look at.
One of the most intimidating aspects of SEO for small business owners, is doing keyword research. Where to begin, what tools to use, what does all the data mean? It creates confusion, inaction and quite often falls back to reliance on hunches as to what people might be searching to find you.
Keyword research is a critical component of any search marketing campaign, and when done correctly can provide astounding results. I’d like to take a look at a few ways to get started with your own keyword research.
Let me begin by saying that you most likely have no idea what people search for to find you, and more often than not the supposed “money” keywords you are monitoring, are not the ones you should be concerned about. Keyword research can reveal the terms which will provide the highest quality traffic, identify areas of low competition in which you can capitalize and help refine your search marketing strategy.
This quote from Lisa Barone’s 2007 article on Search Engine Guide, sums it up:
One of the most common misconceptions about conducting keyword research for a search engine optimization campaign is the belief that you already know which terms a customer would use to find your site. You don’t. Not without first doing some research anyway. You may know what your site is about and how you, the site owner, would find it, but it’s difficult to predict how a paying customer would go about looking for it.
Getting Started
Brainstorming all the possible terms and phrases that could be used to describe your products and services is a great way to get started. Going analog with plain old pen and paper is a great way, or consider using one of the many mind mapping tools (we recommend Mind Jet, or Mindmeister) available to help keep things moving along. At this stage, don’t get bogged down by analysis, that will come later in the process. Here, we are simply trying to get topically relevant ideas on paper…er in a map.
Keep it Rolling
Once you have brainstormed your seed list, let’s find some additional items to add to it before we begin really drilling down.
Search Suggest
Ever notice when you search Google, Bing or Yahoo! how they try to “guess” what you may be looking for? They aren’t just using their Little Orphan Annie randomizer…those suggestions are coming from query data. Tap into it for additional ideas. (click the images below for a larger version).
Related Searches Additionally, the engines are now trying to help refine your search by showing “related searches”. Theoretically, searches that appear in their query database that are used as subsequent or precursor searches to the query in which you used.
Google Wonder Wheel
A really useful tool for coming up with additional keyword and content ideas is Google Wonder Wheel. A simple search option in Google, you can search for a phrase and it will return a set of related phrases which will allow you to continue to drill down to more specific sets of keywords.
Now What?
Once you have a long seed-list of keywords, start to organize them by topic/theme and prepare to refine your list. In the next post we will look at refining your list, and putting some of the various keyword tools to work for you.
