Blogging

As I recently passed 400 posts on this blog, here is a look back at the 10 most popular items here of all time. The list has changed considerably since the last look back after 300 posts.

#10: Best of 2007: Website Design, February 4, 2008

Reviews of articles and tools on website design, including a couple of pieces from the brilliant and frequently cited Stoney deGeyter. Not sure exactly why this one remain so popular, but here it is at #10.

#9: How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy, March 4, 2009

A summary of research from MarketingSherpa, Eloqua’s Steve Woods, and green marketer Lorna Li on how marketers should approach social media strategically. As the old saying from the financial world goes, no one plans to fail—but many people fail to plan.

#8: Web 2.0 Social Tagging Sites, Part 4: B2B Traffic Building, May 15, 2007

Original research on the quantitative impact of social bookmarking on b2b site traffic. Much has changed since then, and social media is now an integral part of SEO efforts. But this post was one of the first to provide hard data on the benefits.

#7: How to Write a Strategic Marketing Plan, December 6, 2007

A guide to crafting a strategic marketing plan, starting with target markets and working through high-level strategies, specific tactics, and the tools needed to implement planned actions.

#6: How to Use Twitter for Business, May 6, 2009

Detailed summary of an outstanding presentation (includes video) delivered by Chris Abraham of social PR firm Abraham Harrison and Anamitra Banerji, product manager at Twitter, on how to develop a targeted Twitter following, develop a strategy, improve productivity with Twitter tools, and other Twitter best practices for business.

#5: The 8 Layers of a B2B Web Marketing Plan, October 8, 2008

Another strategy piece, this one on working outward from a solid website design, SEO and SEM through broader marketing tactics and media.

#4: The Social Media Email Signature, Septenber 18, 2008

Thanks to some Twitter luv from Guy Kawasaki, this post produced the largest single-day traffic spike ever on the WebMarketCentral blog. It shows creative examples of Web 2.0 / social media email signatures from early adopters of the now increasingly common practice. A more recent post here explained how to create a cool graphic social media email signature.

#3: Google AdWords Average CTR and Best Practices, September 20, 2007

Hard numbers to help benchmark the performance of Google AdWords campaigns is hard to come by, which explains the popularity of this post. Based on recent data, the average CTR for b2b AdWords programs remains in the 1.1%-1.3% range, with a typical conversion rate of around 2.8%.

#2: Average CTR for Banner Ads – New Data, September 16, 2008

As with AdWords, benchmarking data for banner ad performance is also difficult to find. This review of MarketingSherpa data holds up well against more recent figures. Typical CTRs for banner ads remain in the 0.15% to 0.3% range, with any performance above 0.5% qualifying as outstanding. The conclusion presented here holds true: banner ads are primarily valuable for branding, not direct response.

#1: Email Campaign, Newsletter and Banner Ad Click-Through Rates (CTR), August 14, 2007

The all-time most popular post thus far on the WebMarketCentral blog remains this piece providing industry data to help set goals and benchmark the performance of email marketing, newsletter sponsorship and banner advertising programs. Clearly, marketers love benchmark data.

*****

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

View original here:
Looking Back at 400: Top 10 Posts

MarketingSherpa recently published this chart revealing marketers’ opinions of where social media fits among what the publication calls the “elite trio” of Internet marketing: social media, search and email. While it’s hard to disagree with the 97% of marketers who believe that social media will complement (not “compliment” — a rare MarketingSherpa word usage error!) email and search marketing, the position of the 49% who state that social media will never become as important as the other tactics is more questionable.

The confusion stems from where social media fits in the marketing mix. Except in rare cases like Dell, which uses tools like Twitter for revenue generation, social media is primarily a PR-type activity rather than direct marketing.

The three tools have much different purposes. Specifically:

• Social media is primarily a tool for exposure and credibility-building. Like traditional PR, it is a “top of funnel” tool. It’s as much about reaching influencers as prospects.

• Search is for lead generation, or more accurately, name generation. It brings “suspects” into your funnel, contact information for people who may or may not eventually become leads and then customers.
• Email is most effective as a direct response medium for the prospects who have already “raised their hands.” They’ve given you permission to communicate directly with them. Generally, 20% or more of the people on your house list will open your emails, while perhaps 1% of your Twitter following will see any given tweet. This makes email a far less hit-or-miss medium.

The three tools need to be used in tandem, each for its own unique strengths. Neglecting any one will reduce the effectiveness of the others. At least that’s my take; what do you think?

*****

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Here is the original post:
Social Media, Email and Search: The “Elite Trio” of Online Marketing?

MarketingSherpa just released its new search marketing benchmark report ($447) and companion executive summary (free PDF). Some of the key findings and observations from the report.

Despite the economic downturn, paid clicks are increasing.

“U.S. paid click volume (is) up 18% from January 2007 to March 2009…In a sign of industry health, the volume of paid clicks has been steadily increasing over the last two years. Wherever consumers are clicking, search marketers and PPC ad buyers are at work. In fact, as more publishers opt to offer a PPC buying option, the universe of PPC ads will continue to increase.”

True, but this is being driven by the consumer side. With a tough economy, people are searching online for good deals. It would have been nice to see a breakout on the b2b side. While I don’t have a large data set here, based on the accounts I manage searches are down roughly 25%; that is, with the same set of keywords, impression volume is off by a quarter over the past year.

Why? Because when businesses aren’t optimistic about demand, they don’t invest in new software and other technologies. And people won’t search for what they have no budget to buy. On the plus side, a recent study from Forbes and Gartner suggests that we may have turned the corner, with C-level executives now optimistic about the outlook for 2010.

Search marketers embrace conversion reporting.

“By embracing conversion metrics other than the immediate sale of a product, PPC search marketing is able to maintain the accountability and results-driven approach that makes it so effective, yet avoid the strategic identity crisis that online banner advertising is still going through.”

On the b2b side, most campaigns are aimed at generating leads rather than instant sales. What this study indicates, however, is that b2b marketers are starting to measure, and get credit for, secondary “conversions” as well. That is, not every visitor will instantly become a lead, but there is value in other actions, such as subscribing to a newsletter or even simply visiting other areas of the site after hitting the landing page (and of course which pages they visit should be carefully tracked).

Search marketers do more with less.

“Cuts in budgets paired with increased expectations provided an opportunity for search marketers to shine in the first half of 2009. As budgetary fat was trimmed from keyword lists, ROI improved dramatically for the last two months…common tactics were to move away from proven but expensive, high-volume PPC keywords on Google to a greater emphasis on SEO, social media and PPC opportunities outside the high-competition arena of Google.”

ROI is increasing because, with reduced competition on the b2b side, keyword costs are declining. I’ve seen average keyword costs for several clients drop by as much as 30% in the past year. Similar results + lower costs = higher ROI. In this environment, smart businesses are taking advantage of reduced spending by their competitors to maximize their PPC results and increase market share.

Savvy b2b marketers are also investing more in content marketing, social media, interactive PR and SEO to feed the “top of the funnel” as well as investing in PPC advertising to capture prospective buyers further along in their buying cycle.

The lines between display ads, search and social are blurring rapidly.

“New to the list of PPC providers this year is Facebook. While not a search engine, Facebook offers contextually targeted PPC text ads similar to Google‘s content network. Use of the tactic is only slightly less than Yahoo!‘s content network. The somewhat sticky question this provokes is why, in a siloed world of search/display/offline media buying, are search marketers buying display ads? If more media buying moves to performance-based PPC bid models, does it put the search marketer in charge of the larger media buying budget? Maybe.”

First, it should be noted that Google search, Google content and Yahoo search are still the top three PPC vehicles. Only 3.6% of respondents in MarketingSherpa’s survey said they didn’t use Google search advertising at all in the last 12 months; coincidentally, the same percentage of marketers were consistent spenders on Facebook.

Second, the blurring of these lines does indeed mean that you need a resource (whether that’s an individual consultant/employee, an internal team or an agency) that understands SEO, SEM, online advertising, PR and social media, and can make all these interconnected pieces work together to optimize your business results from the web.

There’s more, so check out the executive summary PDF for additional information on the continuing evolution of search marketing from MarketingSherpa.

*****

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Excerpt from:
Search Engine Marketing Benchmarks: Latest Research from Marketing Sherpa

In most areas of life, experience with a particular field of endeavor is considered a vital component of expertise. If you needed surgery, for example, you’d probably prefer to have it done by someone who had performed many surgeries before than by an individual who’d merely read quite a bit about medicine.

When it comes to social media, however, MarketingSherpa reported yesterday that a majority of marketers don’t believe any experience is necessary to be a social media expert. According to their report, “two-thirds of marketers who work for organizations that have not used any form of social media marketing or PR consider themselves ‘very knowledgeable” or “somewhat knowledgeable’ about this emerging strategy. Their overconfidence in unproven ability can doom social media initiatives to failure.”

The article goes on to state, “Clearly, there is a disconnect between personal exposure and professional ability that is unique to social media. And this disconnect is one of the most critical dangers to the successful adoption of social media as a marketing strategy. This was confirmed in MarketingSherpa’s Social Media Marketing and PR study where we found that the ‘lack of knowledgeable staff’ was the most significant barrier to social media adoption…A better approach to adopting this strategy is to seek the advice of an agency or consultant specializing in social media if no one within your organization has proven experience.”

I was recently part of a LinkedIn discussion about what constitutes social media expertise. The general consensus was that the field is so new and still changing so rapidly that almost anyone can claim to be an expert, dubious as that label may be in most cases. Still, most companies could save money and get a better return on their social marketing initiatives by bringing in an outside firm or consultant with some experience, who has clear concepts of social media strategy and an outline of services that can be provided.

Ultimately, social media marketing is an in-house activity. No outside expert will ever be able to carry on in-depth conversations about your industry or products the way your own subject matter expert employees can. But an experienced consultant can help create an appropriate strategy for your business, select the right social media tools, and train your staff so you can minimize costs, avoid missteps, and maximize the return on your social media marketing efforts.

*****

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Source:
Social Media – Expertise Without Experience?

Interest in social media marketing is surging, with several recent studies showing that a majority of companies, of all sizes, are now using social media in some form for business purposes. I’ve also seen dramatically increased interest in hiring social media consultants. But if most companies are already using social media in their marketing/PR mix, why is a consultant necessary? After all, isn’t social media primarily about conversations? And aren’t those conversations best engaged in by internal subject matter experts? And aren’t the tools pretty easy to use?

While the answer to each of those last three questions is “yes,” a knowledgeable outside adviser can nevertheless provide significant value, helping companies maximize the value of social media efforts while minimizing costs. If you’re inside an organization on the hiring side, here’s how a social media consultant can help your firm. If you’re a consultant, here’s what you have in your bag to sell.

According to MarketingSherpa’s 2009 Social Media & PR Benchmark Guide (PDF), while 76% of marketing and PR professionals “agree” or “strongly agree” that social media marketing is changing the way their organizations communicate, the two most significant barriers cited to social media adoption were “lack of knowledgeable staff” and “inability to measure ROI.” These are among the key benefits a consultant can provide:

• Focus on using the right tools and prioritize efforts (i.e., don’t talk in places where no one is listening);

• Avoid false starts and do things right the first time (e.g., someone who’s never set up a blog before is guaranteed to make mistakes, probably several; consultants aren’t perfect, but can be expected to make far fewer);
• Utilize proper tactics and etiquette for each type of media; and
• Measure results to help optimize efforts.

More specifically, these are some of the services a social media consultant can offer:

• Research—determine which venues are most important for a specific industry and company, and map out the key influencers in that space.

• Strategy—help identify how social media fits with existing activities such as SEO, PR and event marketing.
• Tactics—develop plans for media to be used, content needed, assign responsibilities, and core messaging/values to incorporate (e.g., Wal-Mart and Apple have very different corporate personalities; their social media activities should reflect that).
• Setup—while social media and networking tools are designed to be easy enough for almost anyone to use, having a social media consultant create new profiles, and review existing ones, can help assure a consistent, professional presentation across various sites.
• Monitoring—set up a monitoring system to track conversations about your company, competitors and key industry topics across social media sites, and the results of your social media marketing efforts, using either free tools or professional applications such as Radian6, Techrigy or TruCast.
• Content production—content in the form of blog posts, white papers, reports, video, presentations, podcasts and images is a major component of social media marketing. A social media consultant may in many instances be able to supplement your internal resources to produce link-worthy material.
• Content promotion—from social networking and social bookmarking to Twitter and blogs, social media tools offer myriad ways to promote your content. An experienced social media consultant can help you more fully exploit these opportunities.
• Prioritization—participation in social media is time-consuming; you can’t be everywhere and jump into every conversation. Through monitoring, mapping the key influencers in your space and an understanding of the social media landscape, a social media consultant can help you prioritize your efforts for maximum effect.
• Outreach—social media offers powerful ways to communicate your messages to key influencers in your industry, who then spread that message and lend credibility to it. But outreach has to be done properly—it isn’t just traditional PR using different tools—or it will fall flat (or worse, damage your reputation). A skilled social media consultant knows how to use various tools to maximize the effectiveness of outreach.
• Updates—finally, the social media landscape is extremely dynamic. Some of the sites and tools viewed as highly promising just a couple of years ago have virtually disappeared, while others (e.g., Twitter) have come out of nowhere to rapidly gain large followings. Because they live and breathe social media on a daily basis, often for clients in a variety of industries, social media consultants are well-positioned to stay current on the latest trends and tools and apply this knowledge to help keep your social media efforts on track, productive and relevant.

In short, while any company can incorporate social media into its marketing and PR practices without any outside help, a knowledgeable social media consultant can help make those efforts more effective and efficient, while avoiding missteps and false starts. The ongoing, day-to-day effort will fall on your internal marketing and PR staff, executives and subject-matter experts (who can be just about anyone in your company), but a good consultant can assist in getting these efforts off to a productive start and help keep them on track.

*****

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Source:
Diving into Social Media Marketing? How a Social Media Consultant Can Help