5 Ways Chirp Conference Could Change Twitter

Karin I Manning    Twitter Marketing     Conference, Cutting, Francisco, hosting-its, ideas-coming, might-see, new-turns, some-great, surfacing-some, the-conference, Week

Twitter is hosting its first-ever developers conference this week.

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5 Ways Chirp Conference Could Change Twitter

Twitter tweets the launch of its paid search advertising system

Brandon Cornett    Twitter Marketing     airline, new-form, Promoted, promoted-tweets, search-marketing, Starbucks, the-new, Twitter, Virgin, Week

Advertisers including Best Buy Co. Inc., Starbucks Corp. and the airline Virgin America are engaging in a new form of search marketing through Promoted Tweets, the new advertising system Twitter announced this week.

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Twitter tweets the launch of its paid search advertising system

How Publishers Plan to Monetize iPad Content

Karin I Manning    Twitter Marketing     fashionably, leading-digital, macala-wright, one-million, the-first, the-webs, users-downloaded, webs, Week, wright

Macala Wright Lee is the Founder of FashionablyMarketing.Me , one of the webs leading digital marketing blogs for fashion, luxury and lifestyle industries. You can follower her on twitter at @FashMarketing or @Macala

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How Publishers Plan to Monetize iPad Content

Top 5 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: Blogger Frustration

admin    Twitter Marketing     Articles, Blogger, Frustration, Inbound, marketing, Week

If you’re a blogger, chances are you’re familiar with the phenomenon.  It’s writer’s block’s not-so-distant cousin, and it’s a condition that regularly afflicts many small business bloggers.

Our top inbound marketing article this week refers to the affliction as blogging frustration, and it’s what keeps bloggers far and wide unable to think of fresh ideas for new blog articles… 

1. Blogging Frustration! 10 Simple Tip to Keep You From RIPPING Your Hair Out

Author: Mark Hayward on Problogger

Because those who blog consistently are constantly pressured to come up with fresh content, it’s no surprise that frustration is a common blogger emotion.  Mark’s article understands this well and offers 10 useful tips to help bloggers deal, relax and then get back to the drawing board.

Some of his suggestions include avoiding panic, closing all distractions, taking a break, listening to music, exercising, and browsing blogs completely unrelated to your niche for new ideas.  

Marketing Takeaway: Take a break, relax, and try new techniques to help inspire you before you start pulling out your hair from blogger frustration.

2. Decision-Making: The Lifeblood of Business

Author: Chris Brogan on OPEN Forum

Brogan’s article discusses the importance of decision-making in business, specifically focusing on making decisions about online marketing. He walks readers through the types of online marketing decisions small businesses must make, from what to include on your web site to which social media sites to get involved with (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) to other tools like email marketing. 

Brogan also talks about his recommendations for how to split your time doing online marketing, advising 25% of your time spent on listening, 5% on connecting and 25% on publishing/creating content. 

Marketing Takeaway: Take some time to think and make decisions about your online marketing programs before you start doing them. 

3. 6 Pitfalls to Avoid When Choosing a Domain Name

Author: Rohit Bhargava of Influential Marketing Blog

Choosing the right domain name is important, yet Rohit writes that while most people understand its importance, many continue to fall victim to the same mistakes when choosing a URL.  He urges business owners to avoid the following 6 pitfalls:

1. Automatically using your business name
2. Not reading it together without caps
3. Assuming the best URLs are taken
4. Thinking people can spell, or that they all spell the same way
5. Not registering common alternate versions
6. Failing to use relevant keywords in a URL 

Marketing Takeaway: Don’t underestimate the power of a carefully chosen domain name for your business.

4. Metrics to Measure Your Personal Brand

Author: Pete Kistler on Personal Branding Blog

It may not seem obvious, but personal brands are indeed important to a company’s overall business brand. Want to make sure your personal brand is measuring up?

Pete offers several useful metrics to help you evaluate your online visibility and engagement, which include comparing your content creation effort to leaders in your field, using various grading tools to measure your engagement, and setting goals for yourself.

Marketing Takeaway: Begin building your personal brand by starting small and setting concrete, achievable goals. 

5. Does Your Company Twitter? 10 Tips to Become A Great Business “Twit”

Author: Nick Leroy on Search Engine Journal

We’ve written many times about the business and marketing benefits of Twitter.  So maybe you’ve created an account — now what?  Nick’s article shares several useful tips to help you generate a following and maximize your business’ presence on Twitter.

Some of his words of wisdom include basics like optimizing your username, profile, image and background but also extend to advice about thinking before you tweet, not spamming your followers, being social and tweeting about more than just your business/products.

Marketing Takeaway: Successful use of Twitter involves a healthy balance of optimization, content promotion and social interaction.

Photo by Martin Kingsley

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Top 5 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: The Content Marketing Dragon

admin    Twitter Marketing     Articles, Content, Dragon, Inbound, marketing, Week

I’ve always thought dragons were pretty awesome.  Can you imagine having a dragon as a pet?  For property owners, it’d be the ultimate watch dog and protector.  And what about its magical powers?  So cool.

Apparently, dragons also make a pretty darn good analogy for content marketing.  Our top inbound marketing article this week explains how to properly care for and manage your very own fire-breathing, magical content marketing dragon…

1. Feeding the Content Marketing Dragon

Author: Galen DeYoung of Search Engine Land

Galen’s article speaks to the point that content marketing is a very powerful tool — so powerful, in fact, that it can be compared to having the magical properties that a dragon does.  His article describes how to tame your content marketing dragon to protect your brand and nurture and utilize its magical poperties, also known as lead generation, lead nurturing and SEO.  Galen offers 5 useful care-taking tips:

1. Appoint a dragon keeper
2. Create a team of caretakers
3. Focus on the customer, not you
4. Share
5. Groom your dragon’s [long] tail 

Marketing Takeaway: A careful, dedicated commitment to content marketing has the power to protect your brand and benefit your online marketing efforts.

2. Redefining Viral Marketing 

Author: Brian Solis of BrianSolis.com

Brian’s article explores the theory that there is no such thing as viral marketing. He supports his theory with the following important statement: “Content, no matter how brilliant, creative, abstract, or controversial, is not inherently viral.” We think he hit the nail on the head with this one. People, not content, are what makes something viral. His article dives into some of the reasons why certain ideas get shared.  

Marketing Takeaway: Stop trying to create “viral” content and instead focus on creating remarkable content.

3. How to Build Engaging One-Of-Kind Facebook Fan Pages

Author: Orli Yakuel of TechCrunch

It’s not easy to create a Facebook page.  Wait — CORRECTION — it’s not easy to create an engaging and successful Facebook page.  Setting one up is simple, but that’s only a tiny piece of the puzzle.

Orli’s article offers some helpful tips and tricks on how to create an outstanding Facebook Fan Page that will help propel your business’s Facebook presence.  Her advice covers formatting profile pictures, diversifying tabs, spotlighting people on your team and participating in your stream. 

Marketing Takeaway: It’s not enough just to set up your page on Facebook. Because Facebook page success comes only to those who create an engaging presence, it’s important to take the time to create yours.

4. The Secret Life of Testimonials

Author: Sean D’Souza of Copyblogger

Sean’s article talks about the problem of testimonials, likening them to resumes, which only show a job candidate’s best qualities and accomplishments.  So what’s the problem, you ask?  Usually, testimonials are so positive that they’re not believable.  

Therefore, Sean introduces the idea of the “reverse testimonial” — a testimonial with a complete picture that starts off by addressing the doubt in the purchaser at their time of purchase.  It makes sense: when a testimonial includes a bit of skepticism at its beginning, it makes the following bit of praise more believable.  In order to obtain these types of testimonials, Sean suggests asking a set of 6 core questions (which he plans to reveal in part 2 of his article)… 

Marketing Takeaway: Generate believable testimonials by encouraging customers to reveal the complete picture.

5. 4 Things to Know When Pitching B2B Bloggers

Author: Karlie Justus of Social Media B2B

Aaah, the art of pitching. Screw it up, and you may end up on the infamous Bad Pitch Blog (something no one wants).  Karlie doesn’t want you to end up there either, which is why she offers 4 pieces of advice that will come in handy should you decide to pitch B2B bloggers. 

While the usual pitching tips like doing your homework, establishing a relationship, and personalizing your message always apply, Karlie encourages you to consider the following when thinking specifically about approaching B2B bloggers: pitch your experience/ideas, not product; logistics and sales cycles; B2B bloggers aren’t as plentiful as B2C bloggers; they’re usually marketers, too.

Marketing Takeaway: As we said, pitching is an art.  Do your homework and carefully craft your message before clicking ’send.’

Photo by Randee

Live Webinar: The State of Inbound Marketing Lead Generation

Learn how companies are using inbound marketing techniques to generate higher volume and lower cost leads and customers. Date and time: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 1:00pm EDT  Reserve Your Spot Now

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Top 5 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: Social Media Attacks

admin    Twitter Marketing     Articles, Attacks., Inbound, marketing, Media, Social, Week

No, I’m not talking about some kind of social media-wide conspiracy, I’m simply referring to the recent social media crisis Nestle has experienced on its Facebook page.

Our top inboud marketing article this week takes Greenpeace’s recent Facebook attack on Nestle and Nestle’s resulting communicative shortcomings as an opportunity to discuss recommendations for how to counter social media attacks on your company or brand. 

1. How to Salvage Your Brand on Facebook: Lessons for Nestle

Author: Rohit Bhargava of Influential Marketing Blog

If you haven’t yet heard about the recent Nestle scandal, Jeremiah Owyang offers a nice little recap of the situation on his blog.  In Rohit’s article, he takes note of Nestle’s recent communications misstep, highlighting other examples of social media crises and the opportunity they afford the targeted companies to reinvent their social media efforts.

Rohit expands upon 5 tips he suggests for companies under attack: 1) apologize and change your tone, 2) use employees more than just HR, 3) share positive stories more transparently, 4) consolidate branded Facebook efforts, and 5) find and encourage more advocates. 

Marketing Takeaway: If you fall victim to negative reactions in social media, don’t just sit back quietly — react! 

2. 10 Steps to Optimize Your Content Marketing Strategy

Author: Lee Odden of Online Marketing Blog

Lee defines digital asset optimization (DAO) as “the practice of taking inventory of a company’s marketable, digital assets and implementing a process for keyword optimization and promotion to relevant channels.”  Different from search engine optimization (SEO), which focuses on the optimization of a company web site, Lee writes about the importance of DAO and highlights his 10-step digital asset optimized content marketing strategy.

Although the implementation of his strategy may not exactly be “easy,” Lee notes that the good news about completing the steps to optimized content is the significant impact you can achieve in overall authority and the attraction of new business, coverage and employees.

Marketing Takeaway: Content optimization takes time and effort, but the results make it worthwhile.

3. Scaling Social Media

Author: Chris Brogan of ChrisBrogan.com

Interested in getting involved with social media marketing but worried about how it will scale? Brogan’s article helps businesses like yours get a sense of what will take time, how to budget for it, and how to consider engagement efforts.

Brogan starts off by summarizing the various methods of engaging in social media, and then addresses approaches to allocating these methods/tasks, which include listening/monitoring, customer service, client relations, social marketing, sales prospecting, and publishing.

Marketing Takeaway: Make social media involvement less daunting by first taking the time to prioritize your engagement.

4. How to Boost Search Engine Rankings Using Twitter

Author: Kelly Gillease on Search Engine Land

With the emergence of real-time search results, you may have started noticing the increased presence of tweets in search engine results pages, offering a valuable new opportunity for marketers.

Kelly’s article discusses various techniques brands can use to increase their tweets’ chances of popping up in search results.  Her first recommendation?  Make sure your company’s Twitter handle matches its company name (e.g. HubSpot is @HubSpot on Twitter, which is a good thing).

Marketing Takeaway: The business and marketing benefits of Twitter are becoming increasingly prevalent. Is your company on Twitter yet?

5. 10 Fundamental Web Analytics Truths: Embrace ‘Em & Win Big

Author: Avinash Kaushik of Occam’s Razor

Avinash’s article starts off by addressing the fact that there are a lot of mistruths, fear, uncertainty and doubt out there about web analytics than he thinks makes sense.  He uses his article as a call-to-action to make a change as well as a chance to share his 10 web analytics ground truths. Although Avinash’s article may be a bit lengthy, I’m telling you, it’s worth reading…

Marketing Takeaway: There are a lot of myths regarding web analytics, so don’t believe everything you hear.

Video: How to Use Social Media to Manage Your Company Brand Online

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Why MapQuest Should Be Considered in Your Local Marketing Mix (WebProNews)

Karin I Manning    Twitter Marketing     buzz-topic, Facebook, far-within, its-searches, Mobile, mobile-web, Online, searcher, some-aspect, space, the-online, the-searcher, Week, will-dispute

I don’t think too many people will dispute the fact that location is buzz topic of 2010 so far within the online marketing industry. Big players in this space include Foursquare, Gowalla, Twitter, Facebook (soon), and of course Google. As reported earlier this week , Google noted that a third of its searches via the mobile web pertain to some aspect of the searcher’s local environment, and that …

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Why MapQuest Should Be Considered in Your Local Marketing Mix (WebProNews)

Leading Custom Home Builder Schumacher Homes Reaches Out to Consumers via Multifaceted Twitter Initiative (dBusinessNews.com)

Bret Parker    Twitter Marketing     America, custom-home, Homes, schumacher, Twitter, unveiling-three, Week, your-lot

Canton , Ohio – Schumacher Homes , America ’s #1 on your lot custom home builder , announces that this week they are unveiling three new Twitter feeds.

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Leading Custom Home Builder Schumacher Homes Reaches Out to Consumers via Multifaceted Twitter Initiative (dBusinessNews.com)

Stat Rant: Google Actually Trumps Facebook For News & Can’t We Measure Twitter Correctly? (Search Engine Land)

Zach Katkin    Twitter Marketing     along-the-way, driving-traffic, Facebook, hitwise, little-deeper, more-digging, put-out, some-pokes, the-way, Twitter, Week

Earlier this week, Hitwise put out stats suggesting that Facebook is beating Google and Twitter when it comes to driving traffic to news sites. I dug a little deeper, and I beg to differ.

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Stat Rant: Google Actually Trumps Facebook For News & Can’t We Measure Twitter Correctly? (Search Engine Land)

Chart of the Week: Smaller Companies Spend More on Content

admin    Twitter Marketing     Chart, Companies, Content, More, Smaller, Spend, Week

Small Businesses Invest More in Content Marketing

If you have any doubt about the growing use of content marketing, just take a look at the data recently released in the 2010 Content Marketing Spending Survey conducted by Junta42.

Spending on content marketing represents 33% of the total marketing budget among companies of all sizes, according to more than 250 marketing professionals who responded to the survey. This is 11% more than they spent the year before. In addition, smaller companies (99 employees or fewer) are spending a greater percentage of their marketing budget (40%) on content marketing compared to larger companies (18%).

There’s a reason for the increased commitment to content — e.g., website content, blogs, social media, case studies, white papers, video, enewsletters, webinars. Businesses are recognizing the value of relevant, compelling content to attract and retain customers and prospects. Producing quality content enables businesses to become thought leaders on subjects, improves their ranking in search engine results and helps build their brand. Most importantly, it makes prospects aware of them, which means that when those prospects are ready to buy, their brand is top-of-mind.

In addition, small businesses, which have fewer marketing and advertising dollars, can level the playing field with content marketing. If they have the time and the talent to create quality content, their representation on the Web can be equal to that of larger businesses and competition.

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