B2B Decision-Makers Are Socially Active Online

Over at the Groundswell blog, Forrester has published some research suggesting that B2B decision-makers are extremely active participants in social sites.  They surveyed 1,200 IT (information technology) buyers and discovered:

91% of these technology decision-makers were Spectators — the highest number I’ve ever seen in a Social Technographics Profile. This means you can count on the fact that your buyers are reading blogs, watching user generated video, and participating in other social media. Note that 69% of them said they were using this technology for business purposes.

Only 5% are non-participants (Inactives).

55% of these decision-makers were in social networks (Joiners) — despite as mature businesspeople and not college students, you’d think they’d be participating a lot less.

43% are creating media (blogs, uploading videos or articles, etc.) and 58% are Critics, reacting to content they see in social formats. Again the numbers are very high compared to other groups we’ve surveyed, and again the level of participation for business purposes is also very high.

I bolded the last sentence in the above quote because I thought it was significant.

Based on my own experience running a small business blog for over 5 years, a small business audience is like an iceberg. You only see the tip of it on the surface.

Small business people are engaged in social sites more than they let on.  They tend to be silent readers. They read and digest, but don’t comment very frequently. They tend to email articles to colleagues, even more so than they comment publicly. They will also email you privately to comment, rather than leaving comments on the site itself.

Note: this research did not focus on small businesses that are IT buyers. It consisted of decision-makers in company sizes of 100 employees or higher. So, on the one hand, I think we have to be careful not to draw faulty conclusions, since the survey did not cover decision-makers in small businesses.

On the other hand, the Forrester research results are on point with everything I know about a small business audience.

I’ll end this article with another point made in the Forrester article: “If you’re a B2B marketer and you’re not using social technologies in your marketing, it means you’re late.”

Source: Digital Marketing

Understand SEO

Search engine optimization is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the Internet. How does a company get ranked on the first page of Google? Contrary to what many people think, ranking high on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing is not a paid endeavor but rather a combination of factors, including:

• How long your Web site has existed.

• How much traffic your site has.

• How relevant your content is to the term being searched.

• How many relevant links you have, inbound or outbound.

If you’re ready to optimize your Web site, here are a few simple things you can do to get started:

Get metrics. There are many great analytics tools such as Google Analytics that can tell companies everything they want to know about Web site traffic. Get analytics installed and establish a benchmark for how much and what type of Web traffic you are getting.

Determine keywords. Determining what keywords and phrases your customers use for searching is the foundation of good SEO. Find out what the hot-button phrases are in your industry. There are also tools such as JungleTorch that can help customers determine what keywords and phrases are best for your business.

Define Objectives. SEO requires a sustained effort that will not yield success overnight. Determine what keywords and phrases you would like to rank highest for and develop a plan to incorporate these words or phrases into your SEO strategy.

Source: Digital Marketing

Most Important Seo Tips

SEO or search engine optimization is possibly the most important aspect of any online business. Without SEO you will not receive organic search engine traffic. On-page SEO is very important. If you want your website to rank for a keyword you must first optimize your website for that particular keyword. After you have optimized your website you can start to build back links to it.

Keywords should be sprinkled liberally throughout your text, in your title tag, in your description, and if possible even in your domain and path. You can also put them in the ALT images of any graphics on the page and in the filenames of other elements such as pictures and downloads. Don’t overdo it though as you can get penalised for using too many. And make sure your page is human-readable.

The more quality links from external sites back to your site, the more important Google determines your site to be. These ‘backlinks’ are like a vote of confidence for your site. A higher quality site is one that get a lot of traffic, and is related to yours. Perhaps in the same industry, a supplier, a retailer, or a trade directory. A link to my Hockey Tips site from my buddies Jazz site that nobody ever visits is not going to do me any good.

Another relevant SEO tip is achieving the right number of keywords to preserve keyword density (how frequent the keyword appears in your page).The blogger has direct control over this metric, by writing blog posts with around 3% keyword density.More than that could annoy blog readers and the post may be construed as spam. However, less than 7% may cause the spiders to miss the keyword for the blog.

SEO Tips for Title Tags. This is one of the most important SEO tips you can use to increase traffic to your website/blog. Don’t name all of your website pages the same thing. Each page should have a unique title – one that is relevant to the content on the page. The title tag is what shows up in the bar across the top of the page when you’re on a website. It should be directly relevant to what’s on the page, and should contain your main keyword phrase.

Keywords are the most important part of SEO (search engine optimization). Google, Yahoo & Msn look at the keywords and decide your rank accordingly. Some helpful points for SEO optimizing your website with keywords. Your website must have the keywords in Title of the page, URL of the website, Header 1 (H1), and 2-4% keyword density through out the page. Some keywords get more searches and others less. Selecting keywords that are searched more will get you more visitors.

Don’t try to spam and never use methods like cloaking, keyword spamming or doorway pages. Many seo advices to have multiple domain name and link each other but according to seo professionals search engine can penalize you for this. Instead of that try to add more quality content to your existing website.

Source: Digital Marketing

4 Benefits of Social Marketing

There are basically four different types of benefits that you can expect to achieve from a successful social media marketing campaign: links, branding, sales and interaction.

Below, a look at each of these potential benefits and some ideas on how you can make maximise them for your specific needs.

Links

Making use of social media for link building is relatively popular within the SEO community, and for good reason. Using social news sites as a platform to spread your content (linkbait) can relatively easily produce thousands of new inbound links to your site. Compare that with traditional methods of paying or begging for links, and you can quickly see why linkbaiting is so popular.

The of linkbaiting is to produce a piece of remarkable content that will spread virally and naturally collect links. The big social news sites already have millions of users, so the concept is to leverage these sites to get your story popular enough so that it’s exposed to their user community. A popular piece of content on these sites is seen by tens of thousands of hungry bloggers looking for stories to blog about.

Sites that are best for link building are probably Digg, Delicious, Netscape, andReddit.

Branding

Social media marketing goes further than just traffic and links. It is also great for improving brand awareness. It doesn’t matter if you have a new brand or one that is well established, using social media can help build or strengthen it.

Social media is also part of a brand experience when users interact in these channels. If the experience is positive, high-energy, interesting or funny, all of these elements will support a unique brand experience and support ongoing initiatives in this area. Positive or negative experiences here can really have an impact on a brand.

A few examples of positive experiences include funny videos, useful content, flash games, and contests based on user participation. Each of these methods help engage a deeper dialogue or interaction with the consumer and can help get closer to the customer.

Best sites for creating branding are YouTube and MySpace.

Sales

The primary aim for many marketing campaigns is to bring an increase in sales. Sometimes this is done directly and sometimes it can be a very indirect process. It can be hard to create a social media marketing campaign that will result in direct sales. This is because you’re reaching consumers in a non-purchasing stage of the cycle. It contrasts from standard SEO where consumers are looking for what you’re selling and at the point of purchase already. Social media is less intrusive, and part of the reason people engage is because there’s more there than just a selling message. Any content with a strong selling message will generally not be received well.

The best way to generate sales through social media is to show how good your product is in a creative way and compelling way.
Sites that are best for direct sales are YouTube, MySpace or any highly targeted social site.

Interaction

There are a lot of benefits to interacting with your customers through social media. Some of these include improving products or services, establishing trust, being viewed as the authority in your space and creating evangelists.

The most common form of customer interaction in social media is done through blogging. With a blog, your goal should be to establish an open dialogue with your customers. This means that should allow comments on the blog, and you should also be participating on other relevant blogs.

Blogging is not the only way to interact with your customers in social media. Consider reaching out to them in the communities where they hang out but be sure tread lightly as they can very easily have the opposite effect you are hoping for. Remember, social media is somewhere that consumers feel safe from marketers, so you need to have the right approach.

The above are examples for some of the ways social media marketing can be effective today. The environment is still evolving and growing. As we see more participation in different ways, the landscape will pose even more opportunity for marketing.

Source: Internet Marketing

11 Examples of Viral Marketing Campaigns

Viral marketing. The term just sounds sinister,   doesn’t it? Like its name implies, it’s a way of spreading your message like a virus from person to person. How do you do it? By creating content that begs to be shared with others. Sometimes, it’s a funny video. Other times, it’s a unique application that performs a really cool function.

So, which companies have used viral marketing to spread their brand to the masses? Here are 11 viral examples we can learn from.

1. Hotmail- Hotmail is one of the most classic examples of successful viral marketing. They offered free e-mail to the masses, and simply attached a signature at the bottom of each e-mail message that promoted their free service. Every single e-mail sent by a Hotmail user contained this message, thus spreading it like a virus. Recipients would see the ad, and as a result, they too signed up for Hotmail.

2. Subservient Chicken- Burger King’s 2004 viral marketing campaign for their chicken sandwiches shows just how fun going viral can be. The Subservient Chicken was a man dressed in a chicken outfit who would perform whatever action you commanded him to. Just one day after the site’s launch, one million people had already given their commands to the subservient chicken.

3. Watchmen- One of the most recent examples on this list, Watchmen’s viral campaign has consisted of fake newscasts and mock PSAs. Judging from the buzz online, these videos are doing their job. Fans are pumped up, and anxiously awaiting the movie’s release.

4. Jack in the Box- The latest Jack in the Box campaign is another new example of viral marketing. During the Super Bowl, Jack in the Box ran a commercial (in some regions) that featured Jack getting hit by a bus. The commercial urged people to visit www.hangingtherejack.com . Unfortunately, the site wasn’t ready for the surge in traffic, and it crashed during its biggest chance to go hot.

5. Dark Knight- The Dark Knight viral campaign was one of the most widespread of its kind. It included everything from websites for Gotham Cab company to a real life campaign for Harvey Dent. The point is this—the campaign engaged people on a different level. And you can’t argue with the results. The Dark Knight made ridiculous amounts of money at the box office and on DVD. Of course, there were other factors involved (Heath Ledger’s death, and just how great the film looked,) but the viral campaign succeeded in creating unprecedented amounts of hype.

6. Transport for London- This is one of my favorite examples on the list, because I can say from personal experience that I helped spread their virus. In this video, you’re asked to count how many times the white team passes the basketball. Of course, there’s an unexpected surprise that accomplishes two things—it makes the video highly share-worthy and it promotes their message without shoving it down your throat.

7. Smirnoff- Smirnoff’s viral “Tea Partay” video was an instant hit. It features preppy, Ivy League white boys doing a rap about throwing a tea party. The video just begs to be shared with others, making it a viral success.

8. Dove- The Dove Evolution viral ad is effective because it sends a unique, positive message about the true definition of beauty. And this video really did spread like a virus. Not only did it get nearly 2 million hits within a month’s time, but it also received attention from top TV shows Ellen, The View, and Entertainment Tonight.

9. Peerflix- At the time of launching their viral campaign, Peerflix was a new company offering P2P DVD trading. Playing off the Hollywood theme, they created an online paparazzi game that made participants capture scandalous photos of celebrities. Within just 90 days, 2 million people had played the game, and 5% went on to view the Peerflix website. That’s a significant boost in brand exposure.

10. Bob Dylan- To help promote his greatest hits boxset, a viral campaign was created that allowed users to send messages in the form of the classic Subterranean Homesick Blues video. I love this idea because it’s simple, effective, and engaging.

11. Simpsons- When the Simpsons Movie came out, it boasted one of the biggest opening weekends of the year. While it’s easy to say this was because of the show’s illustrious history, the producers believe there’s more to it than that. In fact, they said the viral marketing campaign was the reason for the film’s great success. This campaign consisted of everything from changing 7-11s to Kwik-E Marts to allowing online users to “Simpsonize” themselves.

Which viral marketing campaigns are your favorites? Share them in the replies!

Souce: Digital Labz

5 Easy Steps to a Great Facebook Fan Page

Tapping into the massive audience on Facebook is a huge opportunity for any company–which is why thousands of businesses have created fan pages.

Unfortunately, not all of them appear to know what to do with them.

Developing a Facebook fan base and keeping those fans engaged can be a vital part of a small business‘ social media campaign; here are some concepts that can help you do just that.

1. Appeal to your target audience
   Facebook fans are clearly willing to endorse you, since they’re linking your company to their personal profile. The more appealing your page is to your target demographic, the more those individuals will want to join in and be a part of the community.

   The Adidas fan page is a good example: their visually appealing and constantly changing page is a natural extension of their brand: laid-back, cool, and edgy. Therefore, Adidas fans feel comfortable being associated with the Adidas Facebook page.

2. Trigger debate
   Spark a discussion on a hot topic, somehow tying it to your business. Everyone has something to say and wants to be heard, so why not give them the platform to engage? And when people participate in an online debate, they have a tendency to return and check on the other responses.
3. Ask for feedback
   Fans feel more connected with a company when asked for their feedback. You can ask fans for input on things like a product, a service, or your website layout. This is also a great forum for you to get personal feedback in real-time.

   Red Bull’s fan page is a good example of a company that uses fan input to create a dynamic page that stands out from other company pages.

4. Update with photos, videos, and original content
   Original, interesting content will keep your users coming back to find out what’s new, so update and refresh often. And of course, a picture is worth a thousand words–especially online. Facebook users appreciate eye candy that offers a moment’s distraction from the day’s tasks.
5. Create incentive
   People flock to fan pages that give them a reason to go there: a sale, free products or services, and contests. Word of mouth is powerful on Facebook. If you offer something exclusive that people are curious about, they will want to access to it.

   A great example: Adidas partnered with MTV to create an exclusive Facebook contest where the winning fan received an all-expense-paid house party. Not surprisingly, the response was staggering. In this case, Adidas wisely teamed up with a brand that is popular with one of their target demographics (and also one of the biggest demographics on Facebook) and offered a prize that specific demographic would value. Further, it promoted the contest on its fan page heavily, both before and afterwards. It incorporated fresh blog posts, photos, and video throughout the contest, then it had the winner contribute to the page to keep the dialogue going. This strategy made people more aware of what the brand offers is about and how it takes care of its fans.

The Future of Smartphones: 2010-2015 and Beyond

In five years, the concept of a smartphone will change dramatically. How do we know this? Just look at the last half-decade. Since 2005, the Apple iPhone emerged as a cannibalizing platform, made for loading innovative apps, designed with finger-flicking ease-of-use in mind. The rumored Google Phone not only came out in the form of a new operating system, but the actual Nexus One as well. Accelerometers, touchscreens, GPS-based location awareness – these have also all appeared in full force in the last few years and changed the market entirely.

Toshiba T-01A

PC Replacements

The primary change will occur over the next few years as smartphones start behaving more and more like laptops. In June, DoCoMo started offering the Toshiba T-01A in Japan, a super-fast phone that uses an advanced Qualcomm chip. With these fast processors, smartphones will finally run full-blown apps such as Adobe Photoshop – and not just with the limited features offered in the current Photoshop app. There are already signs of other forthcoming power apps on the horizon as well, including tools that can handle photographic effects and process large, high-res images and videos.

Nokia recently launched the N900, which it calls a mobile computer. It runs a Linux operating system and can multitask like a MacBook. In 2015, these powerful laptop replacements will provide true multitasking where you can run Spotify to stream audio, chat over an IM client, process EXIF data for a massive photo collection, and even play World of Warcraft all at the same time. These uber-phones will have similar-size displays and use touch input, but the background processing will be much more advanced and allow full PC-like capabilities.

Augmented Reality

Connected Devices

The dream of fully connected, location-aware devices will finally come to fruition. This is more than just a simple Bluetooth dump between business phones, but a full data exchange – say, sending all your favorite apps over Wi-Fi to another smartphone, as well as every movie you have ever download, and all of your music.

“Your phone is likely to be situationally and contextually aware, and present information to you accordingly,” says John Jackson, a vice president of research at CCS Insight. “The phone — and the cloud-based server side intelligence behind it — will know you, your location, your social networks, and your preferences in food, media, and communication. It will predict your next moves. The multi-trillion dollar question is who enables it and controls the sources and uses of information.”

Location awareness will further lead to several other innovations. Phones in 2015 will know when you are near a McDonald’s or Starbucks and offer to pay your bill. Augmented reality – an emerging trend in 2009 – will become a social-awareness tool in the next five years as users link their phones. For example, connected devices could form into an ad hoc broadcast terminal at sporting events where you can view a video feed from a guy in the second row or up in the nose-bleed seats.

According to John Shen, the Lab Director at Nokia Research Center, the smartphone of 2015 will go even further: You will be able to link phones together to form a cluster where a group of phones provides PC-like processing capability.

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Source: Digital Marketing