Our previous entry in the Internet Marketing Strategies focused on creating a Marketing budget. Today, we continue with Strategy #2.

Strategy #2: Researching the Marketplace

Let’s face it. The Internet is too vast to market effectively to every corner, so targeting your message delivery to key locations is critical.  How to find those key locations? Fortunately, there are many tools that can pinpoint those locations. A few tools listed by MarketProfs include:

1. Google alerts http://www.google.com/alerts – Sends an email whenever a key word or phrase is mentioned in online content

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Previously, we discussed the creation of this series, Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies for Beginners. Today, we continue our series with Strategy #1.

Strategy #1: Start preparing your Marketing budget

You wouldn’t expect that launching a new television or radio advertising campaign to be free, would you? Of course not, but many businesses are under the mistaken impression that since a web page can be changed with the act of typing, the cost of Internet marketing is free. Or management may say “The intern can handle it by himself, we don’t need to pay for that.” Such notions are common and must be held up for scrutiny. A MarketingProfs study suggests there just a few of the costs which could arise in an Internet Marketing campaign:

• Time and personnel used to create professional, compelling content on a recurring basis ( you wouldn’t let just anyone create a TV ad for you, so why trust that job to the intern?)
• Training of personnel to use social media tools
• Time spent in addition to normal duties to push out new content
• Advertising dollars
• Giveaways, promotional tie-in items

Once the hidden costs related to Internet Marketing are recognized, they can be assessed and refined as you start focusing on the creation of your marketing content and the delivery of it through the Internet.

Check this space again for Strategy #2 in our series, Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies for Beginners.

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Last week RTP Designs attended Internet Summit ’09 (#isum09) – a conference that united likeminded businesses and internet professionals right here in the Triangle.

This entry focuses on my impressions of the conference agenda, speakers and material presented.

Please note that these are my thoughts and opinions and not necessarily those of RTP Designs.

Venue:

The conference was held at the Raleigh Convention Center. Parking was ample, but cost $7 each day…ouch. The reception on Wed was held in a business casual setting complete with fine appetizers and an open bar. (beer and wine). I was lucky enough to be approached by some of my Twitter followers later in the evening as the gathering transferred over to the Oxford - a quaint pub in downtown Raleigh.

Keynotes:

Aside from the 5 minute video plugging ESPN.com, Jim Kosner’s keynote was informative and entertaining. He educated the audience on ESPN’s strategy for content delivery on multiple mediums such as web, phone, TV, radio etc. Many companies make the mistake of concentrating on one or a few media pipelines to deliver their message. ESPN proved that thinking outside the pipe (so to speak) can bring excellent results.

Richard Jalichandra of Technorati provided some interesting metrics on how bloggers monetize:

• Display Ads:  40%
• Search Ads:  39%
• Affiliate: 36%
• Paid Postings: 8%

Other than that, there was some additional discussion on blogging trends for 2010 but overall I was not too inspired by this discussion.

Search Marketing Panel:

I was particularly impressed with Jason Dowell of Triangle Direct Media . He exuded an in depth technical knowledge and explained the architecture necessary to stay one up on search engine algorithms. While most of this was not new to me, his ability to articulate the subject passionately added to the discussion. Ian Kelevich of eMarketer beefed things up with some stats and outlooks for the Search Marketing industry. He noted that overall advertising spend was down 15% in 09 and search marketing spend is projected to increase 6% next year.

Analytics Panel:

This panel focused on the ongoing maturity of the analytics industry and how the issue of data integrity is holding it back. Dan Forootan, an obvious data-head was passionate on the subject of data integrity. When asked what his recommendations were for improving data he replied: “Hire better programmers” which I found amusing. However, I think it takes more than clean code to make analytics worth your business’s time. KPI’s are different for every company and need to be defined correctly. Once businesses’ begin to this effectively, the value of analytics will become more evident.

Online Advertising Strategies Panel:

This panel was a little general for me but moderator Gian Fulgoni (chairman Comscore) did an excellent job of creating debate on the subject of traditional V.S. online marketing. Fulgoni kept stressing that traditional branding offline was still just as important as marketing online.  At first, I disagreed. However, Fulgoni raised the point that 80% of purchases are still made offline, which changed my perspective a bit. I am still however, partial to online marketing.

Email Marketing Panel:

Aside from the debate on whether or not social media would eliminate the need for email marketing, this panel was somewhat stale to me. Ultimately the panel agreed that social media and email marketing are intertwined, which is my take as well.

Conclusion:

Overall I was happy with this conference. It provided great networking opportunities and it was good to see both local and national businesses come together to discuss business and technology. However, I would was hoping for more advanced material in the panels.

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Whenever I share at a social gathering that I design Internet Marketing campaigns, people stop whatever they were talking about with “I have a friend that owns their own business and they want to do this Internet Marketing thing. Would you mind talking with them? Oh, they can’t really pay anything, but I’d really appreciate it.”

And so began my quest for a way to help out my acquaintances without going broke providing one-on-one training. After numerous days of going back through my marketing presentations on Twitter, Facebook and other social network platforms, the outlines for a series of informative posts which I call “Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies for Beginners” began to take shape.

Why create a series on using the Internet for marketing especially for beginners? To start, the social media and Internet Marketing medium is changing so fast, that someone casually looking for easy tips on how to begin Internet Marketing can easily find information that was relevant just a month ago, but no longer applies to today’s fast-moving market. And the amount of information that exists in this domain is so vast, that the person who really wants to focus on their business can easily be overwhelmed.

All of which brings us back to the series. I will provide some analysis, some insight and hopefully some thought paths to get things started so if you are a business owner, you can begin formulating your own strategies which apply to your business, not the one next door. Check back in this space for the first post in my series “Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies “.

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Original Post by Niamh Arthur

Obviously everybody these days is on some form of social media online. It’s the new way that we communicate and work together.

People are essentially social. Gone are the days when we trusted big companies and brand names, now we prefer to know who we are working with or giving our money to. We want to know their stories, their likes and dislikes, we like to work with people like us.

Using social media tools for marketing allows me to simply be myself online, provide valuable information and content to anyone who is looking for it, and I attract people who share common interests and feel that they already know who I am, to my business. The benefit is not just that they know who I am and what I’m about, but I get to deal with the type of people I want to work with. I want to work with people like myself and my team, big-thinkers, positively motivated, want to be a force for good. Nothing is more frustrating in business than wasting your time with people you just do not resonate with. It’s frankly depressing when you try to deal with people who are negative and pessimistic.

When you advertise you have absolutely no control over the type of people who respond to you. You know nothing about them, and quite often they have a “show me” attitude. They approach the interaction with suspicion because you are a stranger to them. When you attract people to you using social media they already know that you provide value, they know that you are a moral person, and that you are genuine. These people only contact you if they feel they would like to work with you, so by the time you are spending time with them they simply have to decide if they like what you are offering, they already know they like you.

For several months now I have not advertised my business at all. I have not placed any ads (well, apart from ones on Craigslist, which is also a community). By only using social media tools for marketing the difference is now I get to collaborate with others, I get to provide a service, I get to find the people I want to work with and who want to work with me. One of the best parts is…it’s absolutely free! You just have to spend some time to create good content for people and to make connections.

This is a great video that outlines some of the statistics of social media tools. It goes a bit fast…but you can pause to catch some of the stats. Really fascinating… ”

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Original Post by Niamh Arthur

Using Social Media Tools for Marketing is the best thing you can do for your business. To see why see my post about Why I No Longer Advertise My Business. Social media marketing is about spending time getting to know others and letting them get to know you. Providing good quality relevant content to others around the web.

Here are my top ten social media tools for marketing (in no particular order):

1. Blogs
My absolute favourite (obviously)! Blogs are a place where you can really establish yourself, stretch out, make it your own. The downside of blogs is you have to drive traffic to them. I use other social media tools for marketing my blog. I make connections on the sites and then when they get value from and want to learn more about me they go back to my blog to check it out.

2. Article Marketing
Great way to get your content out online. You can submit articles to directories, use social bookmarking sites, put them on your myspace or facebook page, submit them to other blog posters for content, etc.

3.Microblogging
The obvious example is Twitter. Connect with others who have similar interests, keep them updated on what you are up to, any new content you’ve produced that they might be interested in, etc.

4.Videos
Create informational videos. A lot of people hate reading or learn better from a video than from a post. You can also demonstrate things on video. This is great because people get to see and hear you, making you even more real and less anonymous.

5.Podcasting
If you’re a talker, talk your content. Interview people in your industry. Create a series of podcasts that relate to your area of interest and again provide good info. Distribute it to podcast directories. I listen to podcasts ALL THE TIME. If I have busy work to do online, putting a video together, etc, I like to listen to good quality content and keep my brain working while I do.

6. Events and Meetup sites
Taking online networking offline. Find people in your area who share a common interest. Making connections and real friendships offline can be really beneficial for your business because the people really do know you. It can also be a great way to meet people to mastermind with, or if you feel your current social group is holding you back this can help you meet people who share your new and improved mindset.

7.Social Networks
Find people you know or with similar interests, join groups, fanpages, share pics and videos, let people know what you’re up to. This would be Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, etc. This is one of the best ways to let people get to know you.

8.Professional Networks
Such as LinkedIn. Don’t make the mistake of viewing this as a social network. There is a different tone to this type of network. People here are more interested in your professional qualifications and expertise than in pictures of you and your family. This can be a fantastic place to promote yourself. Be sure to be respectful and professional, and provide relevant information.

9. Discussion Boards and Forums
Great place to find people who share common interests. Again the key here is to provide useful and relevant responses to the questions people are asking. Don’t blatantly market yourself, again be present, be consistent, and be relevant; provide your website details and let people come to you.

10. Social Bookmarking
Putting it all together. Connect people to your information online, get links to your content all over the net. Make sure you put a relevant blurb or excerpt so people can see what information to expect. This is helpful for search engine optimization as well because it creates high quality links to your site.

Most importantly: Link it all together! Link your social networks to your blog and microblog, link your videos to your articles, let people know where you are and where your content is.

You must be consistent, you must provide quality, and be genuine. This is not advertising, so don’t sound like an ad and don’t try to sell yourself or your business. Attract people to you by what you provide. Have fun, and happy networking!”

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According to a recent study by comScore, one in 10 Internet display ads served are targeted to a local market due to their efficient allocation of dollars.

The study was aimed at Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington DC and indicated that between 9% and 11% of display ads among all publishers sites were aimed at local online consumers.

The study broke out results based on all publishers, the top 100 publishers and regional/local publishers. Not surprisingly, in the regional/local site category – which includes sites such as Yahoo Local, Citysearch and Yelp – the share of display ads that were locally targeted was substantially higher, at between 23%-33% among the four markets.

“Locally targeted ads are an increasingly important component of the digital ad landscape because they represent a more efficient allocation of ad dollars,” said comScore vice president Brian Jurutka.

Earlier this year, the Yellow Pages Association tasked comScore with a research endeavor that revealed that a 58% surge in the annual growth of local search far outweighed a 21% growth of overall web search in 2008.

So what does this mean for your business? If you have not started to utilize local Internet marketing, it’s time to get started before your competitors do.

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Today, the RTP Designs team took some time to attend Hub Spot’s (via @hubspot) webinar: How to Use SEO, Blogs, and Social Media to Get Found online.

While much of the presentation content was not new to us, some interesting points were discussed and even debated in real time via Twitter.

Here are a few points I found Interesting:

Think of the content you add to your site as an ongoing asset.

We at RTP Designs know content is king, but Hub Spot articulated this in a way that many businesses could relate to in layman’s terms.

Hubspot used the analogy of an asset vault to explain the value of your website’s content. The more you add, the more it grows and the more valuable your asset’s value becomes. When comparing organic SEO (content publishing, blogging etc.) to Paid SEM, it can be said that Organic SEO continuously builds your content asset vault over time while Paid SEM does not. Why is this case? Think about it, after a visitor clicks your PPC ad, the value of that action will not take place again unless you pay. However, after you produce quality content, the results will continue to pay off since it is static.

Businesses that blog have 97% more inbound links than those that don’t.

The figures here say it all. The more content your produce, the more there is to link to, especially if it is quality content. Oh and don’t barrage your visitors with information about your product or service. Focus primarily on their problems, which your product or service should solve.

Hub Spot also discussed the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Interestingly, they said that PPC was outbound marketing. I would have to disagree on this subject, as PPC ads only show when a visitor is actively searching for something of interest. It is paid inbound marketing, but still inbound marketing nonetheless. @cpenn and myself were in agreement with this throughout the webinar.

Many thanks to @hubspot for a great presentation.

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The days have passed when a website greeted you with a 45 second Flash introduction loaded with delights like music loops, irrelevant flying shapes and text excerpts from a company’s mission statement.

Web Video has been an emerging trend. In fact, research conducted by Comscore states that “More than 10 billion video clips are viewed online every month — providing companies big and small with an incredible opportunity for cost-effective branding, product display and demonstration.”

With any emerging trend, mistakes will be made. The great thing about mistakes is that if acknowledged, you can learn from them.

Here are a few suggestions when using Web Video in your online campaigns:

1. Lose the flair: Focus on getting your message across, not on unnecessary animated elements. You need to connect with your audience. Only use heavy animation if it aids in conveying your message.
2. Think About Action: What do you want  your audience to do as a result of them watching your video? Make sure your videos are more than informational/credibility statements. Guide your audience and provide them next steps, whether it is a free trial, white paper download or registering for a webinar.
3. Test. Test. Test. Like any Internet Marketing Initiative, it is important to test how your messages convert visitors. Take a couple different takes when you are at the studio. This will save you production costs down the road and give your campaign flexibility for multivariate testing.

If you have any questions about Web Video or your current campaign performance, go ahead and drop us a line. We are here to help.

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The latest technology capturing the public’s eye is “Augmented Reality” (AR), coming soon to a device near you. In essence, it overlays digital information onto a web-connected display. A fun example of this technology is Georgia Tech’s zombie shooter “ARhrrr” in which a mobile device’s camera is pointed at a printed map. Using the special markers on the map and software downloaded to the mobile device, a fully functional video game is overlaid in 3-D on top of the map, in which the object is to shoot zombies.

All well and good, but the savvy marketer will recognize the the opportunity to converge digital information with physical presence. How about projecting “For Sale” information to iPhone users pointing their camera towards a house in a new development? Or allowing mobile users at a conference to point their camera at a name tag and see the wearer’s LinkedIn page?

We are only at the beginning of the process of converging Internet Marketing with the physical world. As more mobile devices support the required software, we could be looking at the start of a golden age in Internet Marketing. At RTP Designs, we are always looking to create unique and compelling experiences that excite people. What AR application would you like to see?

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