Get Them and Keep Them

It's the keyword - stupid!

I have been a marketer in wireless and technology companies for more than 10 years. I have worked in start-ups and multi-billion dollar companies, and I believe heavily in building a brand. And, while this is difficult and even painful to admit,  I have learned that the brand often has a loftier and richer meaning to the company, than it does to the end-user.

Just consider these Search Marketing examples.

In the article, SEO vs. Branding. The clash of the Titanic Egos, a SEO consultant for ClickZ recounts his experiences trying to optimize a site for a mobile phone manufacturer. The keyword research supported using "cell phones" as the keyword phrase instead of "mobile phones". But the branding team flipped out by the suggestion. Guess who won? The branding team.

He had a similar experience with a software company. The company wanted to use "solution" instead of software in its pages. No matter how you slice it, more people search for "software" than "solutions", he pointed out.

So, what's a marketer to do? Listen to the SEO guys or the branding gurus?

I believe it's more important to use keywords that prospects and customers use to describe your service - than how you describe it.

The value of the brand isn't dictated by how you phrase the product or service. It's how customers perceive your product or service. It's what they think about your company, before they call you on the phone or search for your site on the Internet.

So if customers or prospects call your product a cell phone, then it's a cell phone. If they call it software, it's software.

That may be hard to swallow. But, it's the smart approach for two reasons: 1) Your company will be easier to find. 2) And once your customers land on your site,  your branding team has a good opportunity to communicate the value of your product or service.

 

Technorati Tags: search marketing, branding, cell phones, mobile phones

Mobile Marketing: Yes in Europe, No in U.S.

Oh what a difference a continent makes!

In Europe, Mobile Marketing is widely accepted and growing at a reasonable clip. In fact, according to a blog post by Madrid's Javier Correro, 50% of Spaniards have received a SMS message to acquire a product or service, compared with 17.6% of American mobile users, 27% of British mobile users, 45% of Italian mobile users, 29% of German mobile users and 44% of French mobile users.

Moreover, the Spanish trust the mobile phone as a source of entertainment and advertising, Correro writes.

Not so in the U.S. According to a recent article by eMarketer, few Americans want ads sent to their phone. The article claims that nearly two-thirds of Generation Y respondents said they were unlikely or definitely unlikely to subscribe to texted retail offers sent to their handsets.

It goes on to say that four-fifths of mobile users in a different survey said that text messages sent by companies would be totally unacceptable. Accordingly,

Of course, what made mobile marketing more acceptable to American users was the content.  "It is one thing to ask if someone wants ads sent to their phone and another to ask if they would like free music in exchange for viewing a mobile ad," eMarketer wrote.

Technorati Tags: mobile marketing, eMarketer, advertising

More than 80 web searches, per searcher

According to ClickZ, individuals executed an average of 80.9 Internet searches for the month of August.
Did your wireless, SaaS, WiMAX site appear in any of them?

                                                                                                             

Worldwide Search by Region, August 2007
Region	Unique Searchers (000)	Searches (M)	Searches Per Searcher
Worldwide	754,459	61,036	80.9
Asia-Pacific	257,952	20,295	78.7
Europe	209,678	17,846	85.1
North America	206,278	15,976	77.4
Latin America	49,995	4,784	95.7
Middle East-Africa	30,556	2,134	69.8
Notes: 1. Searchers were aged 15 and older, using home and work locations. 2. Results exclude traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes, and access from mobile phones and PDAs.
Source: comScore, 2007

Technorati Tags: web searches, wireless marketing, SEO

Blog Action Day - Little Efforts Count (like brand building)

Today, October 15th, I'm participating in a social media event called Blog Action Day. Bloggers the web over are writing about the environment in their own voice, with the hope of paving the way to a better future.

So here's my take on it:

Like building a brand, every little thing counts. Not using a Styrofoam cup at lunch makes a difference. Recycling that piece of paper has an effect. Changing just one of the light bulbs in your house to compact fluorescent makes a dent. Each little effort adds up.

In fact, I believe that all these tiny steps have a massive impact on ingrained behavior, as well as what people think and do. It's a lot like building a brand. Every touch-point  and every action counts. So, put a little thought into what you do. In this case, the brand of Planet Earth is at stake.

P.S. If you want a little inspiration, check out this video. This company, Simple Shoes, built its Green Toe brand on recycled, bio-degradable products.

Technorati Tags: Blog Action Day, brand building, marketing, Green Toe, Farmers' Almanac TV

Good Keywords are Critical for Driving Site Traffic

Getting the right traffic to your wireless, SaaS or mobile phone company is often a function of finding the right keywords.

Too broad, and you get a lot of traffic, but not the right type of customers. For example, there are 80,609 web-wide search engine queries per day for the term "wireless", according to SEO Toolset. So, if you are selling wireless routers, you will get people searching for wireless phones, wireless radios, etc. Too narrow, and you get too little traffic. (Just as a point of reference, there's only one web-wide search query a day for "wireless in zip code 31401").

One way to find the right keywords is to informally survey your customers and ask them how they found your site. You can also check Google Analytics, and see what keywords customers typed in Google, MSN or other search engines to land on your site.

One article that I have found immensely helpful is  Back to Basics: Five Steps to Effective SEO Keyword Research.  It very succinctly points out that keyword research is critical to identifying those keywords that can drive traffic to your site.

But, the challenge doesn't end there. It's also important that your wireless, Saas or subscriber-based business site include those keywords in your copy, and that these keywords make sense in the overall architecture of your site. In fact, the article suggests:

...Only going after three or four related keywords per page (five if you can balance them properly). Any more than that and you run the risk of diluting your page to the point where you rank for nothing. Make sure to naturally work the keywords into your content and avoid over-repetition that may be interpreted as spamming. Your content should never sound forced.

Keywords should also be placed in the code. For example, you may want to include them in these key spots:

• Title Tag
• Meta Description Tags
• Meta Keywords Tag
• Headings
• Alt text
• Anchor Text/ Navigational Links

Like everything on the Internet, there's always opportunity for improvement. So, if these keywords don't generate results (as monitored by in Google Analytics), then try,try again.

 

Technorati Tags: SEO, keywords, analytics

Lies Agencies Tell

If you want to laugh - or cry - try reading this post about the ten top lies PR firms tell.  Over my  marketing career in three start-ups, I have heard four of these 10 lies (although in some cases, I heard it from the ad agency or the web dev firm.).  Most occurred early in my career.

My comments are in pink.

Here are the four I have heard:

1) "Our agency has deep experience with technology companies like yours."
Never mind the fact that likely 90%+ of that collective experience no longer works at the agency, having long ago moved on to competing agencies or retired/passed away.

About 10 years ago, when I was launching a wireless PCS start-up, the company's COO was given the final vote in the ad agency selection process. He opted for a firm that had "deep" cellular experience. Unfortunately, the competitive landscape had changed dramatically in the interim, so the agency's experience was minimal at best.

2) "This is such a terrific product/service!

Part of public relations is managing clients' expectations. Not all products and services are newsworthy; some will appeal only to a niche market. Others are entering a market that's already over-saturated. But many agencies are scared of telling their clients the truth, fearing they'll lose the business. Instead of functioning as a strategic advisor, they act like an over-eager suitor on a first date.

In my case, the ad agency (selected by the COO) believed its own hype about our new PCS service and developed a campaign about how we were setting the bar higher for minutes, service, etc.

When we launched our service, we had many customer experience problems, and couldn't meet the expectations set in our ads. Fortunately, we recovered, but only after dropping prices dramatically.

3) "Your account is in the best possible hands..."

PR firms often bring their best, brightest and most articulate stars to the pitch and imply that this is the talent working on an account that bills $3-5K per month (at most). How many times have you heard that senior staff will be pitching the media on your behalf? Meanwhile, back in the real world, a junior account exec, or one with limited experience, is handling your account and has no idea about your company or technology.

To help us build the buzz about our new PCS service, we (again, it was the COO) hired a PR firm that had strong experience in the markets we served. Initially, the PR work was being handled by junior staff. After we confronted the PR firm's owner about it, she got involved and actually did more harm than good.

(As a footnote to all this, the COO didn't last very long).

 

2) "We know Web 2.0"

More and more PR firms are offering clients help with podcasts, promoting and writing blogs and   writing social media releases carefully optimized to ride high in search engine results. That's great, assuming the agency has real expertise. There are plenty of blogs that were guaranteed to "ramp up your SEO" that remain languishing, unread in the backwaters of the Internet. And you can podcast until you're blue in the face without seeing any improvement in your site's page rank. Run away fast from any agency that suggests Twitter or a social network can magically solve all of your PR problems.

To be fair, my predecessor hired the web dev firm. So I wasn't involved in the selection process and I don't know exactly what was promised. However, I did hear that the agency was hired because it had industry experience. That was indeed true, but after a week of working with them, it was clear that they had little experience with Web 2.0 and didn't even know what "SEO" stood for.

Technorati Tags: lies, PR, ad agencies, web, web 2.0

Search Marketing On Mobile - not a B2B Play

There is a lot of buzz about search marketing on mobile devices.

Given Americans' concern about privacy and control, I doubt many U.S. mobile phone users will be excited to see paid Google ads on the bottom of their display (at least in the next few years).

But I am fairly confident that mobile search marketing will not work in the B2B space, now or in the future.  And, I think SearchEnglineland's recent blog post, "Why Mobile Search is irrelevant to B2B marketers," makes the point succinctly. The author writes,

B2B search is quite different than B2C search. The majority of B2B buyers use search early in their buying process, typically a few weeks to a few months before the actual purchase. By far, their intent is to research a industry, product, or service.

This is typically not something the buyer does when he or she is out and about. When's the last time you thought "I really need to put together a short list of vendors in the application integration space" while you were walking down the street?

Online ads less credible than newspapers!

A new Nielsen report has some bad news for online advertising: Newspapers have more credibility. Nielsen, which surveyed consumers in 47 markets about their perceptions of traditional and digital advertising, found that the older forms of ad messages—appearing in newspapers, magazines and on TV—far outscored the most popular forms of Web ads, search links and banner placements.

While 63% said they trust newspaper ads and 56% trusted TV spots and magazine placements, banner ads were trusted by just 26% and search ads by 34%. Even newer forms of digital advertising fared dismally: mobile advertising, forecast to become a huge marketing tactic, was trusted by just 18% of respondents, according to the Nielsen study.

Those are some interesting findings, considering that there is an abundant number of reports that suggest online ad spend will increase significantly in the next few years.

In fact, ClickZ recently reported that Internet ad spend is expected to climb from $25.9 billion in 2006 to $48.1 billion in 2009, an 85 percent increase. The forecast attributes the hike in Internet advertising primarily to online video and local search.

So what's a wireless, SaaS or other type of marketer to do? Shift his/her ad buy to dailies?

I personally don't think that's a good idea. But, if you believe the Nielsen survey results, you may want to focus your efforts on generating strong word-of-mouth as well as relationships with bloggers in your industry. Accordingly,

"Globally, 61% said they trusted blogs and other forms of consumer-generated media as reliable sources of information. In North America, 66% said they trusted CGM.

Thus, it seems that others' recommendations have - and will - continue to influence consumer opinions of products and services. And in North America, that word-of-mouth is even stronger than newspapers.

 Technorati Tags: Nielsen, online advertising,\ mobile marketing, ClickZ

A web site requires constant attention

One of the things I like about cooking is that once the dish is served, there's really nothing more you can add to it. It's done. No changing ingredients, no fixing the appearance. It's done.

That's not the same with a website. It requires CONSTANT work.  B2C companies, especially those that generate revenue from ads, tend to understand this. They are continually optimizing the site so there's a better customer experience, more page views, higher conversion rate on landing pages, etc. After all, their revenue directly depends on how engaged users are with the site, how often they come back, and what they do there. It's a simple equasion: More traffic = More dollars.

Yet, many other companies (especially in the B2B space) stop working on the site, once it's launched. What a mistake.

Even if the site doesn't generate revenue from ads, the company still wants repeat visits, engaged viewers and a good customer experience. While this traffic doesn't directly make the cash register ring (the way it does with an ad model), it will translate into sales, albeit indirectly.

The changes don't have to be big: Headlines can be rewritten so they are more attention grabbing, meta data can be fixed so the site is more searchable, and text/graphics can be changed so the reader is taken by the hand (metaphorically speaking) and led from one page to another. 

But many B2B companies don't have the resources to make these continual fixes (and others just don't have the know-how or grasp of the metrics). Too bad.  A web site is a critical brand touchstone, leads generator and retention tool, so it's worth optimizing effectively.

Technorati Tags: B2B, web sites, metrics, SEO

Power of Social Media

If any company still questions the power of social media, check out this information from Cynopsis: Digital about the protests in Myanmar:

Video sites like YouTube are helping to publicize the Buddhist monk protests in Myanmar, as citizens on the ground use the web to get the news out about the country's repressive government's crackdown. Despite a state-issued block on internet access (the government shut down Myanmar's two ISPs), web-savvy users are finding ways to post photos and videos shot via camcorder and cell phones. Jim Carrey and the uscampaignforburma are also doing their part to raise awareness on the platform. Meanwhile over 100,000 Facebook users have joined a "Support the Monks" group as a show of solidarity.

Even with internet access blocked, social media still manages to prevail!

Technorati Tags: social media