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Content Marketing over Traditional Advertising – Making the Case

October 31, 2011 By admin

Trying to explain the virtues of search engine and content marketing to an executive internally or a prospective client can be quite a challenge to say the least. Many business owners generally still think advertising first – whether it be online (PPC) or through more traditional means.

Justifying the virtue of content marketing over traditional advertising can be difficult for some.

How can an online marketing professional effectively convince executives within their company (as part of a marketing team) or prospective clients (outside executives) of the value of developing informative content?

Content Marketing Institute recently compiled some tips from some of the best content marketers around on how to do this.

Here’s a couple of their responses to the question – “Content marketing can be a new way of thinking for some marketing teams. How would you explain the value of content marketing to a manager or executive who is primarily familiar with traditional advertising approaches?”

“Content Marketing has significant value in a few different ways.  For one, the content you create and distribute on the web has a much longer shelf life at a lower cost then any traditional campaigns you will run.  Each object of content you create can add the the total poll of content that represents your brand and works to get your customers talking back to you.  Over time when your collection of content grows larger, you will notice increases in online traffic and engagement.  A bigger collection attracts more interest.” Nate Riggs

“The value of content marketing lies in the engagement between the customer and your company. Traditional advertising shouts at prospect customers whereas content marketing talks with them. Essentially, it is about the creation and participation in meaningful conversations and development of relationships. Content marketing can benefit your company by increasing sales leads and positioning your company/brand as a thought leader, in addition to increasing the number of visitors to your website.” Amanda Maksymiw

Nate and Amanda hit on probably the two biggest advantages of content marketing over traditional advertising. One being cost – which one commenter says is one of the best ways to talk to someone clung to traditional advertising – and the other being the fact traditional advertising is not about the customer but about you.

As Amanda says, traditional advertising shouts while content marketing pulls up a chair and talks.

Other reasons you can provide your superiors or prospective clients include:

  • Draw customers in through relevant content rather than one-size fits all materials
  • More dynamic, easier to change
  • Has a longer shelf life
  • Easier to measure, more metrics and tools available
  • Fewer risks and costs
  • Reaches a wider audience
  • …and more

Besides discussing the benefits of content marketing over traditional advertising, we also get a glimpse into some of the ways you can show your boss or prospective client the advantages of building content rather than using traditional advertising.

This is where testing comes in – nothing is more convincing than data to backup your claims of increased traffic, conversions and revenues. Show your prospect data from previously successful content marketing campaigns, provide word-of-mouth referrals and more.

Traditional advertising has been on a consistent downward trend for quite some time now. There are still some instances where it can work but as CMI and others say, there’s only one way to measure progress and that’s sales.

Providing these reasons along with some data to back it up will go a long way toward convincing your bosses or prospective clients that content marketing is an effective way to spend their marketing dollar.

Other Posts You May Be Interested In

3 Ways Social Media, SEO and Content Marketing Work Together

Top 10 Ways to Connect your Customers with Good Content

Making your Content Work for You in Better, More Valuable Ways

Filed Under: Copywriting/SEO Content Development, Online Marketing, Tip of the Day Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Facebook Announces Revolutionary Changes – What Are They and How Will They Affect Businesses’ Marketing?

October 4, 2011 By admin

Since Facebook now has over 800 million users, the news of the company’s announcement of major format changes blanketed the airwaves – both off and online.

While some of these changes are relatively minor (i.e. different organization of news feeds), there are a few that will completely revolutionize how members use the social network and how they interact with their friends. Many of these changes have been dubbed by many as Facebook’s response to Google+, with some changes mirroring prominent features on that social network.

Changes to Facebook’s platform were announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the f8 Conference in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Some of the following changes have already rolled out but others are yet to come. When the transition is complete, your experience on Facebook will be much different (…as will the strategy you employ to market your business online).

So what are the big changes?

The first big feature is the “Subscribe” button, which allows users to subscribe to a person or business without having to be friends with them. Similar features can be found on Google+ and Twitter. Adding a feature like this does raise privacy concerns among many users. Facebook however is addressing that by giving users a lot of control over the ‘Subscribe’ feature.

You can only allow friends to subscribe to your page or you can completely disable the subscription feature – it’s up to you. If you do allow people to subscribe, you can control what they see right down to a single picture.

Users can also have more control over which friends see what, which leads us into Facebook’s next big change….

Smart Lists are another new feature that’s considered by many to be a direct response to Google+’s Circles feature. This feature essentially allows you to divide friends into Restricted, Acquaintances and Close Friends. From there, you will be able to separate who sees what on your Facebook profile. Conversely, your friends will be able to filter what they see about you.

Timelines are perhaps the biggest change to come out of Facebook. The timeline is essentially a visual history and highlight of a person’s past.  This feature will help users map out their life for friends and allows people with the proper permissions to see a sort of life history through pictures, video and more.

Facebook describes the personal timelines as “All your Stories, All your Apps, a new way to express who you are.”

Personal timelines though, when they’re implemented, will radically change how the interface looks. But due to a lawsuit by Timelines.com claiming the new feature threatens their business, Facebook has delayed implementation.


 

How will Facebook’s changes affect social marketing?

Now for what you’ve been waiting for…how will all of these changes affect my business?

Of course, much of that remains to be seen but from a preliminary view, these changes are sure to have a big impact.

First is the ‘Subscribe’ feature and how it will affect the current ‘Like’ button. In the new regimen, the ‘Like’ button will have a reduced role. In essence, Facebook will now be about branding actions rather than getting people to ‘like’ your brand. Meaning, it’s now about “…getting people to take social actions enabled by your brand” according to David Berkowitz, senior director of emerging media and innovation for 360i.

One example from Berkowitz – say you’re a runner and post that you’ve just went for a three mile run. This is a prime opportunity for Nike, even if you wear Adidas since Nike has now become a part of your story. Adidas will have to find out something else ‘social’ to become part of your story.

With the added user controls, Facebook will automatically edit feeds based on users’ actions. Brands with boring or irrelevant updates will now have lower visibility. Your brand has to essentially capture someone’s attention and motivate them to interact. If they don’t, your updates will never appear in their news feeds.

McCann Digital VP Nir Refuah says with Facebook’s redesign, “…consumers will be creating a ‘digital autobiography’ in which brands will have to integrate themselves.”

All of this re-design by Facebook extends the metaphor of “…thinking of marketing as storytelling” to a whole other level. Marketers will now have to work that much harder to earn spot in users’ News Feeds.

As these changes rollout, the impact they will have on marketing your brand will become more apparent. One thing is for sure – Facebook’s changes will require new thinking, especially for those whose goal has been simply to accumulate as many fans and ‘Likes’ as possible.

What do you think of these new changes? Have you thought about how you will integrate your social media marketing strategy?

If so, leave us a comment and tell us more about what you’re thinking.

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Filed Under: Online Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

Top 10 Ways to Connect your Customers with Good Content

August 23, 2011 By admin

Content marketing and web copywriting serve as major pillars for connecting with customers online. Without it, your website will not only see poor search rankings, your business will look static to anyone visiting you online.

Informative and timely content serves to answer questions, reduce doubts and works to assure customers that your business can fill their needs. Since they’re not visiting you at a storefront and able to speak with you face-to-face, web content in the form of blogs, white papers and articles helps to build this rapport and trust.

But with so many options online, where should I be focusing my efforts to develop useful content for my customers?

An understandable question indeed – with web and social media marketing tools changing all the time it seems, it can be a difficult challenge to know how you should communicate your knowledge to customers through your website.

Continue reading for the top 10 ways to connect with your customers through content as identified by the Content Marketing Institute. There are many other options beyond these 10 but according CMI and their users, the following are the most tried and true methods for connecting with customers. To see all 42 and some real-world examples of each, check out their presentation online.

Top 10 Ways for Connecting with Your Customers through Content

1. Blogs

Short for ‘weblog,’ a blog provides an easy way to share quick bits of things interesting to your readers. Easy to use, good blogging platforms like WordPress provide easy ways to syndicate what you put online (RSS, social media ‘share’ and so forth). They’re also great for facilitating conversation through comments.

You should also be open to including negative comments…much about you and your company can be determined from how you handle negative feedback. And to really make blogging work, comment on other blogs and perhaps keep a ‘top-10’ list of places you visit for your readers to see.

2. E-newsletter

A means of regular communication with both current and future customers, an e-newsletter is usually distributed weekly or monthly. E-newsletters are generally delivered through email but you can also keep an archived list on your website. Both current and future customers can opt to receive your e-newsletter through a quick signup from your homepage or blog.

The e-newsletter itself can include both full-length articles and brief descriptions with links to more on your site. And they can serve as a vehicle to announce other content found on your site.

DON’T SPAM – GET PERMISSION BEFORE DISTRIBUTING AND OFFER AN OPT-OUT

3. White Papers

Generally around 8-12 pages long, white papers cover issues that require a lot of explanation. They’re great for communicating thought leadership on a particular topic important for your buyers to know. White papers can also be referred to as a ‘research report’ or ‘technical brief.’

White papers can also be available to readers in different formats – electronic PDF, print or even digital magazines.

4. Article

Flexible in both length and format, articles can provide opportunity for you to address issues, trends and concerns of interest to your intended audience. Coupled with other online mediums and in-person speaking, articles are a very traditional tool for establishing thought leadership in any particular industry.

But you have to be consistent and plan on a series of articles to create a meaningful impact. And you should also look for additional ways to spread your article around, either through print media, online syndication sites and even your blog.

5. E-book

Anywhere from 12-40 pages in length, e-books are useful for presenting very complex subjects in a very reader friendly fashion. Content is both informative and entertaining. E-books should also have a collegial tone and be formatted to facilitate skimming and scanning. You should in fact make liberal use of bullets, callouts, sidebars, graphs and so on.

And include a good call-to-action at the end and let your readers know what they should do next.

6. Case Study

Case studies are great for communicating how your products or services help a real world customer. They’re generally 1-2 pages in length and combine both the value of a customer testimonial and a story at the same time. Most follow a simple 3-stage format – challenge, solution and results.

Use direct quotes, especially in the results area, to re-enforce the story.

7. Testimonials

Boasting about ourselves doesn’t yield near the interest as a testimonial from a real-world customer does. These quick quotes from a customer or client provide a trustworthy insight that builds credibility and helps overcome skepticism.

Create a process for obtaining testimonials from your clients. Some marketers are finding LinkedIn to be a great source for obtaining these. And pepper testimonials throughout your site – don’t overwhelm your visitor with a long page of quotes.

8. Microblogging (a.k.a Twitter)

Limited to 140 characters in length, a microblog like Twitter severely limits content. But the reach and speed of microblogging provides the opportunity to converse with prospects in close to real time.  Search tools on Twitter allow you to search for hot topics and address emerging concerns.

Use Twitter as a listening post to see what people are saying about you and your industry. It’s practically impossible for you to be in control so don’t invest much time in trying to shape the conversation. Tools like TweetDeck and others can help you manage your engagements on Twitter.

9. Webinar/Webcast

An online equivalent to a live presentation, a webinar (audio and slides) or webcast (audio, video and slides) delivers content visually slide by slide. Users can either sign-up to see a live version or download the presentation and watch it at their leisure.

Webinars should also include a good call-to-action at the end and links to relevant e-books, articles and other content on your site. You should also promote your webinar aggressively in other areas of your website and blog.

10. Video

Once difficult, innovative sites like YouTube and Vimeo has made uploading and sharing videos much easier. Embed codes allow you to place the video directly on your site and social sharing tools on YouTube and others makes it easier for your video to go viral.

If you’ve given a presentation at a conference, upload the video and embed it on your blog and website. Or create a series of videos on topics interesting to your target audience. Don’t obsess over perfection but do take a few minutes to make edits and make your video look more professional. iMovie and Final Cut are two inexpensive tools to help you easily make more professional looking videos.

As you can see, options for generating web content vary far and wide. There are other methods too that we didn’t discuss here but these top 10 are recognized as both some of the easiest and most effective methods for building content for your site.

Remember, it’s about much more than just satisfying search engines. You also have to present valuable information that answers questions, addresses concerns and overcomes skepticism.

Filed Under: Copywriting/SEO Content Development, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,

How Minor Tweaks to Your Headlines Can Boost Conversions

July 21, 2011 By admin

Recently, I had the pleasure of once again watching a webinar from Marketing Experiments, this time on headline optimization. The research firm, who also produces Marketing Sherpa, regularly shares their findings with online marketers to help us perfect our craft.

For this webinar, the research team at Marketing Experiments focused on headlines.

Headlines constitute the most important part of your site’s copy – landing pages in particular must have a strong headline in order to grab the reader’s interest. In the fast paced world of online marketing, you must construct a headline that succinctly describes what your page is about and what the reader can expect by reading more.

Headlines are also perhaps the easiest (…and most important) thing to change on a webpage. So if your site is loaded with landing pages, it shouldn’t take hours of your time to make some minor tweaks.

Doing so could result in dramatically more conversions, which is the holy grail of any webpage you post on your site.

In ME’s webinar, the team organized headlines from highest performing to lowest, which reveals certain patterns marketers can take away.

One such pattern is the more top-performing headlines emphasize what the reader will get by reading more. In technical terms, this is what ME calls a ‘value-centric’ headline. The other noticeable pattern for top-performing headlines is ones where the value point was positioned at the beginning of the headline.

Consider the following example from the webinar:

Get Paid to Take FREE Surveys vs. Take Online Surveys from Home

Which headline do you think saw more conversions?

According to the data, the first headline experienced over twice the amount of conversions because it emphasized what the reader will get.

From analyzing conversion data for 10 different headlines, the team at Marketing Experiments was able to derive two key principles to keep in mind when crafting your landing page headlines.

1.       Interests of the customer must be the central focus of all headlines and marketing messages. Emphasize what the reader will get rather than what they must do.

2.       Headlines can be compared to the opening scene of a movie in that each must ‘arrest’ the visitor’s attention at the beginning.

When considering these two principles, it’s best to use what ME calls a ‘point-first’ structure, meaning you place the value of what you offer right at the beginning of the headline.

One interesting comparison to consider, especially if you’re a guy trying to write landing pages, is the similarity between headlines and ‘pick-up’ lines. Every guy knows you can’t get the girl’s phone number immediately. You have to draw their interest and start a conversation, which is exactly what headlines and landing pages do.

That’s why you can’t rush your call-to-action. You can’t have a conversation before your opening line. And you can’t get someone to do something without having that conversation, which is exactly like trying to talk a girl you really like.

So to really develop headlines that work, use a ‘point-first’ structure and place the value of what you offer the reader at the very beginning.

Click the image below and watch the webinar for more. Or click here to see the webinar in other formats. And feel free to let us know how this works for you. We’ll be changing a few headlines here and there and report back on our own findings.

Click Image to View Webinar (opens in a new window)

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Beware of Your Page’s Primary Purpose When Writing Content

Filed Under: Copywriting/SEO Content Development Tagged With: , , , ,

It’s a Holiday – But We Don’t Want You to Miss a Beat!

July 1, 2011 By admin

Well we’re halfway through 2011 and what an exciting year it’s been thus far. We’ve been hard at work with numerous projects, one of which is our search marketing blog here at SEO-e.com.

On this July 4th weekend, we’re all rejoicing in a short break from the hustle and bustle of web marketing and search engine optimization. While we love taking a break and spending time with friends and family, we don’t want to leave our loyal readers in a lurch.

Much of the time, entrepreneurs and small businesses don’t get much of a break from their work. That’s why we wanted to include one of our most popular posts for you to check out.

As you know, Facebook has become the dominant social media channel over the last few years. Over a half billion people have Facebook profiles and many of them logon regularly.

Businesses large and small are looking to social media channels like Facebook to interact with customers, share content, run promotions and answer questions.

As with any new innovations, it can be a challenge to understand how to best harness a particular technology to your advantage.

Continue reading to learn 8 ways you can effectively use Facebook to connect with clients – both existing and potential – and drive more leads to your website, and ultimately conversions. While technologies are constantly evolving, these 8 general principles serve as a basis for successfully using Facebook to your advantage.

And check out some related posts below to learn more about the exciting world of Facebook and social media. Channels like Facebook and Twitter have quickly become an important component of marketing a business online.

If you’re not factoring this into your marketing plans, you’re doing yourself an extreme disservice.

8 Tips for getting your Facebook page Noticed

Facebook is by far the largest social networking utility with over 400 million active users worldwide. As far as social networking, especially if you’re a B2C company like an e-retailer or storefront operation, Facebook is the prime social network to focus your efforts on.

It can be a great place to build your brand online and interact with your customers. But many businesses try Facebook just to give up amid frustration and seeming failure.

Following these 8 steps can help make Facebook a worthy investment of your time and resources, helping your build customers and revenues in the long run.

1. Have your own unique brand image for your profile

If you’ve been on Facebook for fun, you know everyone has their own picture of them self. But when you’re marketing your business, it may not look too appealing to just see a picture of you and/or your staff. Create something unique that will look interesting to someone, especially if it’s only a thumbnail size picture.

2. Post relevant interesting content

It’s one of the basics on any online marketing or SEO effort. Interesting, relevant content is required to keep people coming back. Simply post relevant content from other sites or link to custom content on your own site. Petty self promotion isn’t going to work too well in this environment.

3. Participate in the conversation

Utilities like Facebook are meant to be interactive. Participate in discussions on relevant topics or comment on someone else’s postings. Find every opportunity to start a discussion.

4. Increase interaction by adding apps

App devices on Facebook provide an entertainment value for your visitors. And if they invite their friends, you could potentially have a bigger pool of visitors learning about your Facebook profile and business. Pizza Hut put this to good use by creating an app to order a pizza through the utility – but an app can be anything from a game to special discounts. Check out AllFacebook.com Leader Board for ideas.

5. Direct new visitors to a custom page

Facebook automatically sends traffic to your wall, which can be uninviting. They do however let you use any page for your Facebook homepage. Create a custom page for new visitors instead and have an inviting place for people to learn about you. And change it periodically…like Skittles’ Mob the Rainbow entry page, which changes every month.

6. Post tags of your fans in photos and videos

This takes a little effort but include your fans in photos and videos. You could perhaps run a contest and ask fans to submit a picture of them with your product.  After posting the picture, you can “tag” them, which their friends will see on their update.

7. Create customized “tabs” on your Facebook page

Many large companies who use Facebook to their advantage have custom tabs at the top of their profile, which further personalizes your profile. You can use these tabs when introducing a new product or embedding a new poll or announcing an event, like the Threadless t-shirt company, who  allows fans to vote on new design, comment and even buy their shirts directly through Facebook.

8. Consider Facebook ads to jump start your profile

It may be worth the investment to purchase some advertising on Facebook to give your profile the initial jump it needs. Getting subscribers to anything is a slow process in the early stages. Facebook ads generate qualified traffic by refining its subscribers by keyword, demographics and category, putting your profile in front of millions of people.

We can’t all have the millions of Facebook fans like Starbucks or Coca-Cola. But it is possible, using these 8 steps, to harness the power of Facebook effectively and draw in a large number of fans. According to Sysomos, over 77% of companies with a fan page have less than a 1000 fans.

Make your Facebook profile the best in your industry by considering these 8 steps.

Related Posts:

Should I add a Facebook “Like” Button to my Webpage?

5 Ways to Achieve Top Facebook Rankings

5 Ways to Create a Sustainable, Engaging Following on Facebook

Which Social Media Channel is Right for My Business?

How Facebook Users Interact with Various Brands and Why

4 Components of the Marketing Funnel and how they relate to Social Media Channels

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , ,
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