Aug
29th

SEM Drives Traditional Marketing Success

Posted by Steven on August 29, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Traditional advertising campaigns drive web traffic. When planning a traditional advertising campaign, you should always consider this increase in online traffic and how to steer it in the right direction.

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Image: Kyle May

Start by building your marketing efforts around a desired outcome. Are you trying to generate leads? Do you want to produce sales directly from your promotions?

When you have an answer, create a marketing message and stay focused on that message throughout the campaign. This will effectively channel your customers through to your desired outcome.

Enter, search marketing.

Why is this important? Don’t all traditional marketing campaigns focus on a message? Yes, they do. But not all traditional marketing campaigns craft that message with search marketing in mind.

The average consumer has trouble remembering a specific website or new product name that they heard on the radio or saw on TV, but they frequently remember features and benefits of that product, in addition to your marketing message.

If your website can’t be found when someone performs a search for the messaging you used within your traditional marketing campaign, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with potential customers.

Buzz word alert: Create Synergy. Here’s how:

1. Use slogans and phrases from your traditional marketing campaign as keywords for SEO and PPC.

2. Conversely, use top performing keywords from your SEO and PPC campaigns for use within traditional marketing efforts.

Your traditional advertising campaign should consider increased online traffic throughout the entire planning process.

Use a call to action in your traditional advertisement to pre-qualify your online traffic.

This will help lower your online advertising costs and keep your customer on the desired action map (i.e., purchase exclusively online).

Map your desired customer activity chain to identify your channel integration points.

Your ads will create awareness of your brand and product, pass your customer through each channel with ‘where to go next’ type messaging. Try using paid search terms in your messaging to direct viewers to the next step, and ultimately to your desired outcome (i.e., search for ultra-thin laptops online).

Design campaigns that provide a complete experience.

Start with awareness and extend your message through to the completion of the desired user action. Each step should contain a relevant message and instructions for proceeding to the next step (i.e., if an ultra-thin laptop is the product, continue with the ‘ultra-thin’ message throughout the campaign).

If your marketing plan is to succeed, your campaigns must result in increased sales or leads – not merely traffic volume. Creative approaches like entertainment, suspense, or an emotional appeal may drive traffic online, but the campaign must have a clear strategic goal with calculable metrics.

Always consider the desired outcome of your marketing efforts by planning for every stage of the customer experience – both on and offline.

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Aug
28th

Rocket Skates or Running Shoes, Just Make It Interesting

Posted by Jared on August 28, 2008 at 4:09 pm

Sometimes writing website content on a subject you a) know little about or b) have limited experience with is like willing yourself to teleport to France – you can sit there and try for a few hours, but you’ll end up sweaty and frustrated and feeling like a big idiot when you stop.

I came across the late Paul McHenry Roberts’ essay “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words,” floating around Copyblogger. A professor of college English and author of a number of books on linguistics, Roberts told his students to get to the point already.

Editor’s Note: The link above to Roberts’ essay is no longer active. Here is a link to an archived version.

Here are a few things to remember for your next copywriting assignment to help avoid the urge to smash your keyboard to pieces.

1. Dig Up Some Facts

Do a little work. Fill your content with useful information, not what Roberts calls ‘the obvious padding.’ Instead of saying ‘driving fast is dangerous‘ in four or five different ways, show the reader why it’s dangerous; give them broken glass, emergency rooms, and sedans wrapped around telephone poles.

At times, copywriters avoid the meat and potatoes of a subject; they become lazy and opt out of creating tangible writing for writing that’s general and unspecific. Uncovering and sharing useful facts can help when you run out of things to say.

2. The Dreaded Word Count

Why let a number torture you? Why strive to constantly cram the neat, one-word holes you’ve dug with useless ten word phrases? Sure, you’re a little closer to your mark, but so what? Your ultimate goal is for the click-through. If your writing doesn’t generate conversions, that means the content you’ve created is sloppy and essentially worthless filler.

while e coyote by ebalaskasFor example:

If you are absolutely in need of the most advanced and up-to-date booby traps anywhere in the entire world, then you have certainly found it here at the original Acme.com, the national leader of booby trap making and specializing in innovative booby trapping technologies to bring our customers the highest quality booby traps anywhere.

Can be simplified to:

Welcome to Acme.com, the national leader in high quality booby trap design and booby trap technologies.

Granted, a little marketing copy is sometimes needed with the advertising style of writing, but even the most susceptible coyote doesn’t want to wade through a lot of useless words to get to his Acme Jet Propelled Pogo Stick or Giant Mouse Traps.

3. Topical Paradise

Any topic can come a website copywriter’s way; running shoes, beachfront property, booby traps – an endless parade of topics ranging from the most entertaining to the least. Topics or clients can change, but the principle is the same. Roberts throws down this gauntlet:

The subject is one on which you have few convictions and little information. Can you be expected to make a dull subject interesting? As a matter of fact, this is precisely what you are expected to do.

Try a new approach, new language, new anything to engage your website visitor/reader in an interesting way, to get them impassioned about your products or services.

Image: ebalaskas

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Aug
27th

Niche & Branded Websites – Good or Bad Idea?

Posted by Steve on August 27, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Every day I talk with people about the online marketing initiatives that they are considering to help their websites and businesses, and it’s rare for a week to pass without hearing this question:

“Should we launch a new website with a more refined focus on our products and/or services?”

I hear it all the time because it’s a good question. And here’s my typical response:

“It depends.”

Before I can say whether or not it’s a good idea to employ such a strategy, I really need to get to the underlying reason for doing so.

One common reason is branding. You likely see it all the time, perhaps without really noticing. A car company may launch a “micro” or “branded” site focused on a particular vehicle model. A movie production company may purchase a specific domain to promote an upcoming release. An e-commerce merchant may launch separate websites in order to advertise trademarked brands or target a distinct type of audience.

times square billboards by romulusnr
Image: romulusnr

When the sole purpose behind the development of a new website is to promote a particular brand, in some cases, the benefits may outweigh any potential drawbacks given the inclusive marketing efforts surrounding that brand.

Beyond branding, though, the answer that I receive most frequently when inquiring about the purpose behind such an initiative is increased search engine visibility.

People explain that they want to develop multiple websites with the intent of gaining more real estate throughout the organic search engine listings.

Here’s an example:

A supplier of car parts currently owns a website promoting all of his products. He is thinking of launching 20 new websites, each focusing on a particular category, such as Engines, Tires, Interior Accessories, etc. Beyond those 20 category sites, he is also considering the development of sub-category websites. For example, one which focuses on Goodyear tires as opposed to all tire brands offered.

As is the case with the development of any SEO strategy, whether it is for one or multiple websites, there are numerous variables to consider.

One variable is time. Do you have the time and the resources that will be required to properly maintain several different websites? A strategy often used to save time is to utilize the same platform for multiple websites, and include identical product descriptions across numerous web properties. While you may gain presence for various keywords and appeal to some users based on the domain name of your niche site, this strategy is unlikely to generate the type of results that you’re looking for.

Another variable to consider is the status of your current website. Would you be better served by putting all of your eggs in one basket, including site maintenance, content development, link building, etc? Depending on the established authority of your site in the eyes of the search engines, the answer is often “yes.”

What about best practices? Is the plan to essentially create mirror websites with the sole objective being increased visibility throughout the search engines? If so, it is an ill-advised tactic that likely won’t result in any gains.

There is no one answer to the question of whether or not niche and/or branded websites are a good idea as it is completely dependent on your objectives. Given the amount of time, resources and money that could be expended on such an initiative, it is crucial to weigh all of the factors at play based on those objectives before confidently moving forward in the right direction.

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Aug
26th

Search by the Truckload

Posted by Mike on August 26, 2008 at 10:54 am

Microsoft has said on more than one occasion that it is in the process of getting serious about its involvement in search. This past week the company announced that it will start construction on a new data center in Des Moines, Iowa. On the surface this seems pretty boring until you start digging for detail on the project. One of the most interesting tidbits is that Microsoft is planning to utilize a new data center design model that involves deploying banks of servers contained within standard shipping containers.

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You might be asking yourself ‘what the heck do servers in shipping containers have to do with search engines or search engine marketing?’ In one of my previous blog posts I covered Microsoft’s desire to increase their share in the online advertising market from 6% to 40% in the next 3-5 years. Quite simply, Microsoft currently doesn’t have the capacity necessary to handle the amount of traffic that would come from that level of search share. They plan to address this issue by buying prefabricated modular data centers that are contained within custom 20 or 40 foot shipping containers.

Many companies are turning to data centers-in-a-box (aka: shipping containers) when they need to quickly and efficiently expand their processing capacity. A number of companies including Sun Microsystems, IBM, HP, Dell, Verari, and Rackable Systems are using this new modular approach to building computing infrastructure. Even Google has gotten its name in the game since being awarded a patent late last year for “Modular data centers with modular components suitable for use with rack or shelf mount computing systems.”

Microsoft has said it is currently planning to add 10,000 servers a month into the foreseeable future. So the next time you make a search on Live, check your Hotmail inbox, send an IM with Messenger or even play around with Virtual Earth there will be a good chance that your query is being handled by one of these new shipping container powerhouses.

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Aug
25th

With all of the buzz words around integrating your off- and online marketing initiatives, it’s common for conversations about marketing strategies to touch upon this topic.

Recently, I had the honor of speaking with dozens of smart, talented, and savvy individuals from across the marketing/advertising/pr/web development spectrum. Throughout these conversations this theme of integration commonly comes into the spotlight. I know it’s something that has been part of marketing conversations for quite a long time now, but I often wonder what’s really being done?

Because of my role with Oneupweb as Partner Relations Manager, I commonly speak with marketers who specialize in different forms of marketing/PR than I do. In a recent conversation with a PR expert, we asked each other if there is an opportunity to sit down with companies, as a team, and help them visualize a complete and integrated off- and online PR campaign?

The answer is yes.

There are infinite opportunities to bridge your company’s message across traditional and online media forms, where potential customers are exposed to a consistent voice, a consistent message, and a consistent brand.

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The same goes for a variety of marketing and advertising endeavors:

Is your website going through a re-design? Now is the time to involve SEO experts to ensure that search-friendly design is addressed.

Is your company launching a new product? Team up your traditional and digital marketing departments to create symmetry between the web and print media.

Is your company opening a new brick and mortar location? Local advertising and local search are a great match to gain your new location visibility in the area.

Does your company experience a lot of media attention in print form? Capitalize on the press and promote the attention on your website, and integrate podcasts so potential leads can easily download the media for the commute home.

And it doesn’t stop there. The opportunities really are endless.

So if you’re struggling with how to sync-up your marketing, advertising and new media outlets, contact Oneupweb. We’d be happy to discuss some ideas with you.

As a leader in digital marketing, Oneupweb can help your company choose the best method of bringing your traditional marketing and advertising into a digital medium.

Image: mandj98

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