SEO study: Measurable results are key, but without strategy…

Would you like to know what tactics B2B and B2C marketers use to achieve a powerful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy? Well, then you should read the latest MarketingSherpa „2012 Search Marketing Benchmark Report – SEO Edition“. But only if you have time to read a 202-page paper. If not, find the latest insights in brief on SEO habits and effectiveness according to more than 1.500 respondents.

Although SEO is one of the main topics in meetings with clients these days, marketing decision makers tend to ignore the strategic approach. The study shows the discrepancy between what marketers want and are willing to invest…
- Developing a SEO strategy is a top challenge but ranks as bottom objective
- Organic SEO via Content creation is a winner but costs many resources
- Established SEO processes generate future investments in SEO
- Incremental SEO improvements add up to large profits
- Local business listings tactics are underutilized

Many organisations are not challenging a strategic plan. The tactical approach still rules the daily business with clear focus on fast tactical objective turnarounds (i.e. leveraging website traffic, lead generation and measurable ROI). Understanding and evaluating digital assets from a SEO point of view is still not a strategic topic in businesses. Only 27% of companies surveyed responded they consider planning an effective SEO strategy an important objective.

However, companies put massive importance on measurable results. The study claims the benefit of Inbound Marketing by some helpful numbers…
- Use Social Media – Revenue goes up 114% and Leads 30%
- Find and test niche content: Organic traffic increased by 40%
- Revamp and optimize web content – Doubles lead conversions

The graphic below illustrates the value if various tactics and how to position them for your strategic efforts.

Spot On!
The above numbers sound as if SEO needs to become a strategic focus of your web strategy – and yes, it should. However, content marketing as an inbound marketing tactic stays a challenge for marketers, especially if it shall be authentic, story-telling and benefitial for users. No wonder it is one of the most difficult processes. BUT it is still considered to gain best returns. Nevertheless, the best SEO strategy needs to have the right approach from data capture to generating leads through to good landing pages, leverage mobile and finally do lead nurturing. And it needs to take into account the right follow up process from customer service and sales to complete a SEO strategy.

Outlook or flashback? The (mobile) reward advertising model…

About 12 years ago, when I was about to join silicon, I remember my first meeting in the Chelsea office. I got to know the founders and management team in London and we had first discussions about the future of the business model. It was all very exciting to be in the UK, talking business with that innovative team that was reaching out to the big VC’s for more venture capital as web TV and community building seemed to have been the new rising starts for the next hundred years. And today all business is focussing on mobile…

At that day, we were brainstorming opportunities how to engage users in advertising, and how to reward them. Reward them, when they were watching the pre-rolls at our daily (on-demand) three minutes news show, when they were clicking on display ads, when were reading articles that might fit their business needs and then send them personalized advertising… and reward them when paying attention to any forms and activities of sponsored areas.

To be frankly open, the time was not ready for these types of advertising rewards from a user perspective (as well as the ad industry understanding the capabilities). However, we thought about clever loyalty programs and how to let users participate in the revenues we are generating. As we were working in the B2B scenario it was even more difficult to get this into the heads of our users. I remember, we even tested the silicon point reward model and had a personalized point counter on our side for some days. Yes, we were quite ahead of our times…

So, where are we today with the reward advertising model?

Some weeks ago, I met Julian Fourgeaud at Rovio (Angry Birds) when I was speaking at the istrategyconference in Amsterdam. Julian told me all about the opportunities they have with their mobile gaming business. If you think about their reach – Angry Birds just cracked the 200 Mio. downloads barrier- it all makes perfect sense. I was surprised how much time people spend with the game, and how addicted people became during the istrategyconference dinner (just ask my kids…) but wondered how to make a clever advertising model out of it. And I thought if reach is as benefitial as relevance form an advertising point of view. But that is another story…

Today, I was reminded of the old silicon days. I came across a new business model which is called kiip. Their business is quite simple. A code is implemented in a game which is basically an ad. The ad is a reward points model or coupon that shows up in mobile games when people achieve certain high-scores or levels in the game. So, when you beat a level, you might get a coffee from Starbucks or a discount from MINI’s merchandising shop. Or you just collect points via their loyalty schemes which motivate you to think about purchasing their latest products.

Here is the video how kiip works…

Kiip: An Introduction from kiip on Vimeo.

Spot On!
There are so many advertising opportunities or loyalty programs (i.e. like Multiply to increase the worth of brand fans) these days that won’t be as offensive as the traditional advertising model. HOWEVER, in my eyes there is one thing which needs to happen: Personalization. With silicon those days we saw who was logged in, just like Youtube, Facebook and Twitter do. So, personalized reward advertising ad models should no be a challenge anymore (under given permission). Still, I cannot see any of these rewarding systems really working for now. Or is Facebook Stories heading towards this idea? Groupon, Foursquare and Gowalla could come up with similar ideas if they just collaborate with the guys from kiip. And if credit card providers as well as loyalty card providers would change their strategies and group with these guys, chances would be amazing to make advertising engaging, personal, rewarding and finally efficient for brands. We would get offers in a personalized format, at the right time and in the right environment.

What do you think about reward advertising models? Is this an exiting area to focus on? Do you fear that data privacy (remember this Google spoof commercial…) becomes an issue as usual? Let us know…

What is Social Media? – Famous quotes from the istrategyconference Amsterdam

After the first day of the istrategyconference in Amsterdam, I briefly wanted to share some insights in how Twitter caught some famous quotes about “What is Social Media?”. The people who brought these quotes up in their presentations, or the people that (re-)tweeted those might forgive me if I am not quoting and linking back to every single tweet, or Twitter account where it came form.

Why I am not quoting? Apart from having to listen to Power Point presentations, the challenge for presenters and moderators is to attract the attention of a crowd. And for the audience it is becoming more and more some massive workload to do multitasking, and participating an offline event in a 2.0 manner. A thought I have explored in a German post, and definitely need to translate when I find the time for it.

“Sometimes it makes you mad to listen to speakers and keynotes, write tweets, and respond to mails and Facebook at the same time. Not to mention blogging… How do you handle this?” A question I asked my friends on Facebook today. And I know from studies that multitasking is becoming more difficult the older we get, and that we are only able to do maximum two things at the same time. I don’t know how you see this but participation 2.0 is nearly impossible if you want to be share the way people would love you to do it.

This is just a random collection of different quotes that shows how Social Media was defined at the conference. Maybe you add some more quotes…?!

“Social Media is like sand: you can play with it and have fun but sometimes it gets into your underwear and becomes very annoying.”

“Social Media is like gardening: the real hard work starts after the seeding and planting.”

“Social Media is like … a dance with the right music (content) and partner (fan). It never needs to end!”

“Social Media is like an icecream, it’s delicious, everybody wants it, but it melts if you are too slow.”

“Social Media is like teen sex. Everybody wants to do it. Nobody knows how. When it’s finally done its a surprise it’s not better.”

Spot On!
In the B2B SocialMedia panel, which I had the honor to moderate and talk to Ed Bezooijen (Citrix), Paul Dunay (Networked Insights) and Menno Lijkendijk (Milestone Marketing) I also mentioned a quote that I think is going to be the main challenge for B2B marketers in the future. The relationship of content, distribution and perception which was (and in my eyes still is) the advantage of publishers to other content producers and curators. Publishers have all three of these as main pillars of their business…

“Content = King – Context = Queen – Community = The Empire”

If you see it different, tell me. If you like it, do so. If you want to add something, go ahead…

PS: THX to a great team from istrategyconference in Amsterdam for the good organization and the diner yesterday night.

News Update – Best of the Day

Marketers see many studies like one of the Morgan Stanley reports which state that there are more social network users than email users. And especially in the B2B sphere the research makes clear that 80% of business buyers today say that they find their vendors as opposed to vendors finding them. Tony Sambito writes advices that compasnies and brands plan for the Social Buyer before it is too late. I absolutely agree with him…

Business decision makers often ask me how much I think Social Media goals have to be linked to business goals to drive success. A new report, “The State of Social Media in Credit Unions: Opportunities and Challenges,” from 187 credit unions of varying size and composition across the United States and Canada now allows some insights in that question. According to the study, companies using Social Media with more than two years of experience are the most likely to report success (57%), while those that have three months or less are least likely (17%).

Still thinking what will be the Social Media trends for this summer? Tim Gray has an answer for you. Find the 5 trends that he advices to watch out for. Location based topics, group buying, “swiming in the stream” (social stream), social search and mobile. Don’t know if this is really social only but still good in terms of your web-strategy.

News Update – Best of the Day

According to a study released by the BtoB Magazine, 93% of all B2B marketers use social media marketing for their day-to-day activities. For most marketers the most popular channels are LinkedIn (72%), Facebook (71%), Twitter (67%), followed by YouTube (48%), blogging (44%) and online communities (22%).

The main challenge for B2B marketers is a lack of resources (70%) and defining valid success metrics and key performance indicators (57%). Surprisingly enough, the lack of knowledge about social media (44%) is still a big topic… and management resistance (22%).

Statistics are the best argumentation against management resistance, and to get management behind the changing world of your web-strategic efforts. Hubspot’s author Marta Kagan put together 12 mind-blowing arguments that will empower the change your modern web-strategy is heading for.

In order to get your future web-strategy right, companies need to proof their areas of best practice and knowledge. Jacob Morgan published on his blog their companies Adaptive Social Business Strategy (or framework) which in my eyes is an interesting check-list for businesses on their strength and weaknesses from a web-strategy perspective.

News Update – Best of the Day

Some day sago, I have written about the changing atmosphere since social media monitoring companies are moving into the CRM sector. Andrew Hunt discusses the issue if “Sales is killing Social Media?” and explains how B2B sales is changing from both sides: Customer are at least “spectators” according to a Forrester study. The question is when companies are changing their sales process to a “listen and engage” model for the old “speak and push” format, where he refers to an interesting insight from OgilvyOne about the future of selling.

A recent Penn State research claims that updates on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other real-time content sites could be worth more than 30 million USD a day, or nearly 10.9 billion dollars a year, to advertisers. The study was based on separating duplicate searches from unique search terms. Then, the research determined the value of the real-time search terms by using Google Adwords Traffic Estimator.

Start the day with a smile and don’t invest in the wrong portfolio… Nice commercial from Invesco.

News Update – Best of the Day

In the US, almost 80% of children between the ages of 0 and 5 use the Internet on (at least) a weekly basis. This is the results from a report by Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop. The report, assembling data of seven studies, also illustrates the increasing parallel consumption of different formats of media at the same time. Some key findings: 60% of kids under the age three watch video online, 47% is the amount television accounts for those using all formats of media and 36% of kids between 2 and 11 use internet and TV simultaneously. It is also interesting to see how the use of mobile phones is on the rise in the young age target group. Of children ages 6 to 11, 20% own cell phones,
compared with less than 12% five years ago.

Stop talking to your mobile, talk to me! This could be the message that arises from a post that Rohit Bargava posted under the title “Overtweeting: Are We Becoming Socially Antisocial?”. And I think this is a valid question to ask ourselves these days: Is social media becoming a conversation killer and going against the odds of the Cluetrain Manifesto? I would say: No! It will just take some time to find the right balance. Let the hype period move on. Let people understand that the world is changing. Then we are becoming Socially Social. It is just a matter of accepting that the world is changing, that technology will become our bred and butter, and that we see how much more we could participate in information around people we know. Agree?

Old school versus new school. This was the motto when Mike Ferry met Matthew Ferrara at the Coldwell Banker Generation Blue Conference where they had an intense debate if “social media is stupid”…

Study: Search and Social amplify purchase decisions

One thing leads to another. Today we could transfer this quote to: One search leads to another social activity, and vice versa. And this interconnection of web-strategy tactics amplifies the user’s purchase decisions.

A new study from GroupM and comScore states that 40% of consumers who search for products to purchase are taking a social activity as a next step to finalize their buying decision. And the activity can be seen from the other direction as well: 46% of consumers who use social media are searching for products to expand the basis on a product range to take a decision.

58% of users begin their journey to purchase with search. Company websites come in at 24% and social media by 18%. The opinion of “friends” on the purchase decision is highly rated in social networks and cannot be underestimated these days from brands and retailers any longer.

The study reveals interesting insights in the time period that make the essential change in the buying decision process. The “late kick” comes 30 days prior to purchase when brands and companies have to engage with their audience – and can leave search tactics behind. A difficult topic to handle in the B2C industry but for B2B very helpful.

“There are still many brands who haven’t figured out why they’re in social media. We still talk to brands that are trying to determine if they should be in social media. The data suggests the two most important subsets in social are user reviews and category blogs, rather than sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.” Chris Copeland, CEO, GroupM Search

Some important findings on how social and search are linked together…
- 86% see search engines important in buying decisions – Consumers use search in buying cycle as a pricing tool (research products and select purchase location)
- 45% use search throughout the buying cycle
- 26% use search at the beginning of their research and shopping process
- Social is essential in the consideration process
- 30% use social media to create a shopping short-list
- 28% say social media has a valuable impact in creating awareness for brands and products

Spot On!
The study shows the impact that the combination of social and search have on the purchase decision. The challenge for companies will be to understand in which way to balance their tactics between search and social in reference to seasonal sales timing, marketing opportunities while not destroying maximum margin, and customer loyalty programs to amplify brand buzz. Another study by econsultancy also illustrates how undervalued social media and search are from a sales perspective. The study says that Social Media “gets eight times less credit for its direct contribution to sales than it should” and “Generic SEO gets credited for 14 times less sales than it deserves”.

What comes first when you take buying decisions? Search or Social? And how does it amplify your buying process? Interested in your thoughts…

News Update – Best of the Day

Does your surname start with letters tale in the alphabet? Then you are as a consumer under the “last name effect”. A research by Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University uncovers a theory which assumes that people with letters in the end of the alphabet are first to buy things, writes the Times. I am already seeing marketers checking their databases and sending out emails and promotions to uplift sales…

Social Media is good for humans gathering real-time information. However, IT pros and B2B decision makers still turn to traditional information resources first. According to a panel study by Chadwick Martin Bailey states that IT trade publications, IT vendor web sites, and specialized IT online user forums/communities are top information resources IT professionals use when looking for work related information. When IT pros are using “social” media, 73% approach online communities and IT online forums. In social networks LinkedIn (45%) comes in as number one, then Facebook (28%) and Twitter (19%) when they are looking for information.

Augmented reality will play a big role in the future of mobile. Nassir Navab and Tobias Blum at Technische Universität Munich developed a magic mirror that generated an overlay of a video image with volume visualization from a CT volume. The basis is Kinect technology that allows tracking of users without additional markers. Imagine a doctor has this tool to ct scan patients in real time? How exciting and educational (if bones and organs are tagged) could a visit there become…

Evolution by Revolution – a phrase or a case?

Yesterday, I came across a good post by Adam Singer that inspired me (as well as his comment to my comment) to finally explore a bit on the phrase: “evolution by revolution”. I don’t know whether this phrase is new, or invented by me but I would love to claim it as my invention. And as Google did not have any results on the phrase for me, I herewith put my trademark behind the phrase – maybe to make a case… “evolution by revolution”.

The phrase is one of these thesis I use for educational courses to discuss and leverage a modern social web world approach with C-level management teams in Europe. I have used it in many seminar or webinars when I was talking about the change management challenges that the Social Web, Social Networks and Social Media bring to live these days.

In the past of human kind, revolutions were often a way for the lower class or segments/departments in an organization to state their case. For them, the challenge to be heard, to get access to the higher education, to have enough food or to benefit from any other kind of wellness or upper (business) lifestyle was often only accessable by a revolution. Revolutions cost money. Revolutions are tough. Revolutions sometimes make sacrifices. Revolutions change habits, perspectives and … business objectives. And revolutions always happened publicly – via newspapers, magazines or even flyers in the streets.

Today revolutions spread faster. In our social web world today, the traditional print media opportunities are added (or replaced?) by new media formats that every individual can use to state their case. And sometimes it “pisses people off” as Adam would have put it. But it makes the case of the unhappy, unsatisfied and underdogs. Suddenly, somebody writes something that is not mainstream, not the evolution strategy of the leadership but becomes the new revolutionary fruits of growth for the management if these people listen, communicate and collaborate, if they pay attention – whether it be the clients, the partners or even employees that start the revolution.

Their voice might be found on all kinds of platforms, in a tiny revolutionary statement in a blog post, a comment in a LinkedIn group (think about the impact for B2B business) or in a Facebook fanpage. Think about it! No! Think about it! Rest…

Some companies put all their PR & marketing budgets in the effciency of search marketing but then forget about the power of blog posts, and what it could do to them. They don’t think of it as negative cases. Think positive! Think ahead! Think about how to leverage the power of social options!

Spot On!
This modern world of communication is all about humans – the past, the present and the future. Evolution follows every revolution (…in my eyes). Consumer or end user buzz for positive and negative business impact always starts an evolution whilst being embraced as revolution first. It changes the mindset. And evolutions can be positive and negative. It needs to be seen as a turn around opportunity, as a business review option, and as a way to think ahead to prevent revolutions.

“Evolution by Revolution” is a (business) challenge – not a phrase! C-level management should forget that… That’s my case!

What’s yours on this topic…?

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