As part of a marketing evaluation we delivered to a client this week, we
covered Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and in particular how the volume of
indexed content plays a major role in the success of any SEO effort. The
situation was simple: one of this company’s biggest competitors showed
hundreds of indexed content pieces, and our client showed around ten. Game,
set, match to the competitor, right?
Not so fast, my content marketing friends.
First, think about the sales funnel:
While there’s no universally accepted set of steps in the sales funnel, I
typically use the following:
Awareness Interest Evaluation Commitment Referral
While volume of content is important, in the B2B world in particular,
churning out content generates traffic that typically fills the top of the
sales funnel—the awareness phase. So what’s a marketer to do about the
middle and bottom of ... (more)
While the 4 Ps of marketing are still relevant, it’s the 7 Ps that are most
applicable to modern day marketing. Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents
Piss Poor Performance. This is especially true for social media planning,
where all too often the plan revolves around a murky set of objectives and a
band of interns.
When done right though, a social media plan for marketing, recruiting, or
customer service is a thing of beauty. Having completed a handful of these
plans on behalf of clients in the past few months, here are the 10 components
that belong in your social media plan... (more)
Authors work with publishers to gain access to cash, connections, and
blueprints for distribution and marketing. Choose the right publisher, and
the chances of commercial success are increased, although not guaranteed.
Choose the wrong publisher, and even a brilliant novel or biography may never
make the Amazon Best Seller list.
Publishers add tremendous value to the production, packaging and promotion of
a book. For decades, publishers have taken original content, put a nice
wrapper on it and distribution plan around it, and helped sell more books
than an author could ever drea... (more)
So you got yourself involved with a startup company. It may have happened
by circumstance or by choice. You're either a founder or one of the first
employees. You either envision your concept as a potential single to be
flipped in 3-4 years, or a grand slam that will allow you to socialize with
the likes of Brin, Bezos and Cuban.
Awesome. We all love a good startup story.
Unless you've got an inherently viral concept on your hands (and by the way,
keep in mind that there have only been about 5 inherently viral products
introduced over the past 5-7 years), you're going to nee... (more)
New Media on Ulitzer
“I hear you guys are the social media gurus in this area. Can you help us
blow out our efforts on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook?”
These were seemingly innocent words from a prospective client, spoken just
last week. As we dug a bit deeper, the red flags started flying. He wants
help with social media only, and wants to address only those three
properties. He doesn’t want us to worry about how the website, blog,
search, email or other areas might impact social media. He is concerned about
tracking the effort, but his tracking and measurement will focus on volu... (more)