Archive for June, 2010

Defining a Social Media Marketing Strategy: Breathing new life into Corporate Marketing Content & Collateral

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Social networks have added many opportunities for marketers and in particularly for those in the B2B space. In order to leverage the opportunities on the social web marketers need to reconsider the paradigm that they have been operating under. In the fifth white paper of my ROI Series I explore what marketers need to consider in regard to:

  1. the customer’s perspective and their expectations a new philosophy for marketing
  2. and some tips for creating a social media marketing strategy

Marketers must shift their focus to listening to consumers if they want their brand to be successful in this era of change. In my paper I list the reasons why consumers are tuning out marketing messages, what they want and the benefits that a brand can realize by adopting a social media engagement.

The new philosophy for marketing includes:

1. Create content that is educational and informative

2. Ensure that content exists for consumers at all points of the buying cycle including after the point of sale

3. Place the content in shareable networks and encourage word of mouth

And finally, the steps toward achieving a successful social media engagement which in turn will brand.

1. Listen using a comprehensive tool

2. Decide on objectives and plan strategy

3. Metrics defined by objectives

4. Benchmark and execute

5. Measure, report and refine

You can download the full white paper which fully explains each of those topics.

We are also offering a webinar on this topic on Tuesday, July 6 2010 10:00 AM CST (4:00 PM UK). It’s free and you’re welcome to attend! Sign up here The first four in the series are also available there along with recordings of the related webinars.

Posted in General Marketing | 1 Comment »

Why Web Analytics Fail Marketers #OMSMIN

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

On Friday I attended Online Marketing Summit 2010 in Minneapolis. It was a very informative day and I highly recommend that you consider attending when it comes to your city. Aaaron Kahlow and team offers up great speakers (both local and national) and the opportunity to network with them.

Adam Proehl of NordicCllck Interactive talked about Why Web Analytics Fail Marketers (And How to Stop Failing)

Here are the highlights from his presentation:

Marketing IS Sales

Web –based leads are like printing money. What’s happening with the leads? Are they getting followed up on & converted? What are sales’ view of web leads?

    There is a need to close the loop.

    There are some challenges. Facts & truths aren’t always right – numbers don’t always tell the truth. Fuzzy numbers are a reality.

    And many have multiple platforms trying to measure the same thing

    • Do we know the real number?
    • Can we explain the why?
    • How sound is the measurement methodology?

    Sometimes things just don’t work – tagging nightmares, site architecture issues, etc

    Things that need to be considered:

    • High Level Corporate Initiatives
    • Company Objectives – you are touching many areas
    • Revenue, Operations, Stakeholders (customer service, sales, marketing, communications, etc)

    Do you know where you fit into this? If not, then you’re setting yourself up to fail

    We need to understand two things:

      • Know what your business objectives are.
      • What are your customers/prospects’ objectives (what point are they at in the buying cycle?)

    Understand your corporate goals – here are some examples

      • 15% increase in revenue
      • 10% decrease in customer service

    The Rules in setting biz objectives

    Be Specific – Be Measurable – Be Realistic (achievable) – Be Relevant – Set Timeframe

    They need to fit into the strategic corporate goals

      • We want more leads. – not a goal
      • This is a goal:   We want to see a 20% increase in new site registrations by the end of 2010

    Don’t forget your customer’s objectives!

      • Why did they visit your site?
      • What are they doing on the site?
      • How did they get here?
      • What state of the buying cycle are they in?
      • What signals are they giving?

    Define Success early – before the project goes live

      • Metrics? how will we know if this is successful
      • Methodology? where will the data come from?
      • Benchmarks?
      • Get buy-in

    Acknowledge the Fuzz – (things aren’t black/white anymore – yes!)

      • Open for interpretation?
      • Know why it’s fuzzy
      • Assumptions?
      • Site / Tracking “quirks”
      • “You’re never as good as bad numbers”

    What web analytics is

      • trending data
      • directional gauge
      • ‘a’ measurement

    What web analytics isn’t

      • perfect
      • spot on accurate

    Some goals

      • Fail fast  (do it early & learn from it)
      • Close the loop
      • get the value of the conversion
      • “Stack rank” – prioritize initiatives

    Methodology matters a lot

    Reporting

      • Your boss & exec’s – provide a one page report
      • Finance – provide the bottom line
      • Sales exec – one page – sales leads – have a continual conversation

    Some useful & free tools

    • ‘ Share this (free & integrates with Google analytics)
    • Snip-n-Tag (Firefox Add On) – URL shortener that creates campaigns works w/ Google Analytics
    • Better Google Analytics (Firefox Add on)
    • Enhanced Google Analytics (Firefox Add on)
    • Twitalyzer – integrates with Google Analytics – can see who is influencing
    • Bit.ly site – nice stats
    • Outbound Link Tracking – Google Analytics
    • Excellent Analytics (Excel Plug-In) – if you’re running the same queries (log into Google Analytics from Excel)  — (that sounds kind of scary!
    • Rank Checker (Firefox plug in)

    Key Takeaways

    • Understand reasons for failure
    • Involve the key stakeholders
    • No one tool can measure everything – understand limitations
    • Fundamentals matter the most (biz objectives, methodology)

    ———————–

    It was an excellent session and underlines how Alterian’s Web Journey fills a gap in providing information to marketers beyond traditional web analytics about the interaction that consumers are having with their web pages.

    What are your challenges with web analytics?

    Posted in Web Behavior Analytics | 2 Comments »

    PR & Marketing Need New Metrics (A PR+MKTG CAMP Recap)

    Thursday, June 10th, 2010

    Coming back from moderating a session at Dan Greenfield’s PR+MKTG CAMP (#PRMKTGCamp) and let me report rave reviews.  Having attended many social media events, this one ranks near the top.  The audience was great with a nice blend of agencies, brands, and social specialists.

    One of the big topics of the day was the evolving roles of both PR and marketing.  From all the practitioners in the room, from both side of the aisle, like Kelly Drinkwine (Dir. PR Aon), Cam Balzar (VP Marketing Threadless), or Cristina Lawerence (Dir. WOM Razorfish) there was a shared outlook that the world has shifted and things will not be going back to the way they were.

    In the old world both PR and marketing were always well behind the frontlines, aiding and abetting but never coming into direct contact with the enemy.  (okay, not my best metaphor ever!)  The rise of digital and social has dramatically redrawn the lines.  Before PR focused solely on media sources and marketing pushing leads that funneled directly to sales.  Now, both are coming into direct contact with customers on a daily basis whether in the pursuit of influencers or execution of an inbound marketing program.

    One of the biggest challenges raised, outside of the changing skill sets is the changing form of evaluation.  Success is going to be measured differently.  That we know, but there is little consensus on what the right measure is.  One notion that gained consensus was Heidi Skinner’s (Dir Influence Marketing CriticalMass) point that impactful metrics will be the ones that are relevant to the boardroom.  It’s incumbent on us, the boots on ground, to make the work relevant to the ways the business is run.

    It was a great overall experience.  Check out an event in the future if you can, or check out the great interview with Tim Yorton (CEO of Second City Communications)  about the importance of content and comedy in social channels.

    Key takeaways:

    -          PR & Marketing need new metrics related to revenue

    -          Rules of PR are being rewritten and change is hard

    -          Marketing is coming to the forefront, interacting directly with clients

    -          Organizational lines have not been redrawn to reflect the changing roles

    Posted in Agencies, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

    PR in a Social, Digital Age

    Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

    Hosted by Marcus Tewksbury

    PR in a Social, Digital Age

    featuring Dan Greenfield, producer of PR+MKTG Camp™

    The face of marketing is changing and nowhere is that more apparent than in the world of PR.  The rules of the game are being rewritten.  Once upon a time PR was all about securing coverage from journalists in major media like newspapers, print, television, etc.  Well those traditional outlets have all seem cataclysmic decline.  Today people now source more and more of their content from digital sources.  Where, as it so happens, social is the fastest growing segment.  To be successful, PR needs to reinvent itself to build upon its historic roots while making a major shift and commitment towards online and social channels.

    In this episode, Marcus and Dan look to evaluate the intersecting landscape of PR and Marketing through the utilization of social channels.

    A Little Bit About Dan Greenfield:

    Dan Greenfield is producer of PR+MKTG Camp™ – one day interactive events for communications professionals to discuss better ways to manage, market and measure social and traditional media. A senior communications executive, Dan was vice-president of corporate communications at Earthlink, led PR efforts for the telecommunications industry and worked as a press secretary on Capitol Hill and on electoral campaigns. He is a respected industry blogger and an award-winning video producer. His consulting practice specializes in conducting communications audits and customized workshops and providing strategic counsel.

    Posted in General Marketing, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »