All. Of. The. Time. Some trends won’t surprise you — social media, mobile. But there just may be one or two that will. That’s why we like to talk about Visibility Optimization, not just SEO. Search engines aren’t the only ones who see you — people do.
1. Social Media. Huge, huge huge. Did I mention huge? Everyone talks about the conversation, but so few are good at having one. You can’t just post a video and expect people to beat a path to your door. You have to find ways to get other people to get other people to you. Choosing the right options for doing that for your business is like putting puzzle pieces together. You may need some help.
2. Mobile. As thousands of people daily discover the convenience of accessing the web via mobile devices, optimization has to adapt. Keywords need to be shorter, mobile SEM can’t just be a clone of your online SEM, apps like QR readers must be taken into account — all are going to have an impact on how well your business does.
3. Branding. Didn’t expect that to show up, did you? Branding will be more important to getting your business found, not less. It works like this: Google has made personalized search the default option. So unless a HUGE portion of the population opts out, which they won’t, sites that are more well known and visited most often will enjoy better rankings. In fact, because search history is also taken into account, the same sites will keep popping up for people, search after search. Without a strong brand presence, you could get lost.
4. SEM. We all know that online marketing can help build your visibility. But the more relevant it is will influence just how much it helps. Is it showing up on the right content? Do the keywords match the content? What are the trends on sponsored vs. organic listing? While SEM helps optimization is just common sense, because trends change all the time, your marketing optimization strategy has to change, too.
5. The site itself. No-brainer! Just make sure you load it with keywords, write lots of blog posts and update your news section and you’re fine, right? Not entirely. You will also be judged by how quickly your site loads, whether it’s engaging once someone gets there, how long people spend. If your site is ugly, confusing, boring, slow or poorly constructed, no magical keywords or blog posts can save it. According to a study by Canadian researchers, people will form an opinion of your site in less than 1/20th of a second. If engines see that people click off in a second, you’re not so relevant.
All of this just means that unless you’re willing to spend a whole lot of time keeping up with the trends, you’re going to need someone to help out. If you want to talk, call us.
As expected, #unGeeked was a great experience, and the new friends and knowledge we took from that conference was well worth the trip. There’s already a great recap of what made #unGeeked so special, but we thought we’d share some of our takeaways. We didn’t catch everything, so I apologize if I missed someone or a particular topic.
Sam Fiorella: Enterprise Internal and External Communities Sam started #unGeeked by saying, “Too many businesses focus too much on the “online” and not enough on the “offline” components.” True words. Sam’s discussion went on to point out that both marketing and communication now lie within all the individuals who make up your business.
This is something we at re:group have had to recognize, that there are multiple touch points of communication. We now live, as Sam Fiorella puts it, in a “many to many” marketing age.
“Finding the meaning in what you do and why you do it is what will drive the success of your business, i.e. make money.”
Amanda had a great message in that social media, though good for businesses, doesn’t necessarily have to be all about business. That there is something bigger that a company’s social media effort can be a part of. Social media can be about enhancing lives while building projects with meaning. It shouldn’t just be about followers.
Troy talked about building and transferring the culture of a traditional company into the world of social. Few industries are as conservative as insurances, but Troy positioned the internal brand evangelists into the driving force of change. And in the field of Insurance, you have to make up the play if you are playing in a field where nothing exists.
Every employee has a role when it comes to social media – and if they are not provided a role, they will find a role. Regulations are important, but they can work within social. The key is internal communications.
Curt Hanke:From Blanding to Branding Thanks to Curt’s presentation I discovered that there is no such thing as a rational purchase, or rational marketing. We live in an emotional world that dictates our buying and marketing decisions.
This plays big in the agency side. Successful firms teach people about their business, not application. They start with business objectives and sell their clients on the squishy or scary points – things that are not 100% solid, but that the agency believes will work for the client, because they understand their business.
Diane Matigian: When is a Tweet, Comment or Update Slander or Libel? The Legal Implications of Transparency and Digital Tools
Defamation is a big issue thanks to social. Slander and libel still plays – traditional laws exist through the content and publishing of the social web. So, the original laws still apply. For those who argue freedom of speech, just know this is limited. You can say whatever you want, but you better be prepared to back it up.
When it comes to social media, there is a very fuzzy line between an opinion and slander. The most frustrating thing about social media and the law is there are no 100% correct answers. This space is still being sorted out.
Did you know that 93% of word of mouth happens OFFLINE? Did you also know that 76% of people still feel companies lie in their ads? This number drops from 58% to 38% when people are asked if companies will do the right thing.
The biggest challenge for marketers right now is marrying word of mouth and credibility. Mr. Jones even had the nerve to state that social media creates weak ties. We agree. Social media is great for networks, not networking. Building and participating in communities that exist solely on online social networks doesn’t work. Businesses need to combine the online with the offline interaction to succeed.
Jason Falls: Channeling Mayberry: What Small Towns Can Teach Us About Social Media
Not many would call Ann Arbor small, but there is definitely a small town feel here. Jason’s presentation on how small towns and social media work hand in hand really hit home. Some of his takeaways included:
Communities are Networks of trust.
Facebook is built on an intentional openness. Small towns are built on unintentional openness.
Loyalty is huge in small towns.
Being loyal to the community – no one person is more important than the other.
Communities celebrate and mourn together.
Hospitality and honesty – big in small towns.
Local search is the big thing right now in social media, because it has to do with relevancy.
All of what makes small towns what they are can easily be translated to social media best practices.
Can one separate their personal Working on the personal brand? That was the question asked by Sima. Employees need to ask themselves: Who you are, why you do what you do, what makes you special, and how can you take the special and make it work for a company.
To be successful at anything we have to own what you want to do. The brand, personal or corporate, helps with the buy in – access.
We’ve stated this before many times, and it something we firmly believe. Social Media is not about media. It is about communication. How are you as a business or organization going to communicate to your audience? Notice we didn’t say market?
This is what social media is all about. QR codes are great. Facebook will eventually rule the planet, but we will always need to communicate, and communicate well with those we want to pay attention.
This is a reason my title is Director of Social Web Communications. We want to emphasize that we help and teach our clients to communicate in the digital landscape. And as a communications firm we are discovering that many industries are still tripping over the social media road bump. They still don’t understand what social media is and how social works.
The reality is that many organizations have to learn, or re-learn how to be social. This can’t be taught by simply setting up Twitter account or a blog for the client, and then walking away. Education is key.
However, I learned that inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries are at the core of this event.
The speakers stressed the importance of trying new things. Of experimenting and tinkering to find solutions and discoveries. In this day and age this is more important than ever, and when it comes to the social web, this is equally important.
Social Media doesn’t fit into a box. It is an organic medium that constantly evolves.
This requires us, the handlers, to tinker and experiment with it.
There are many pieces that make up the social web and it requires a bit of discovery to find the best solutions for your clients. Now this may go against the grain and it is fair to say that clients may not want to pay you to experiment, but there really is no other way for it to work.
Social Media is not the silver bullet solution. It is but one component of the overall branding and marketing strategy. And though it may seem like a waste of time to experiment, the social web pays back those who take the time to discover its strengths. Like the inventors at Maker Faire, their value is in finding what works through trail and error. By taking the time to discover solutions, they invent and create things that couldn’t have happened without going through that process.
Throw it against the wall. Pay attention to what sticks and build off that.
That is not to say that you shouldn’t discount the importance of strategy. Social Media will eat you alive if you play with it blind. You do need to outline objectives and goals of what you want to accomplish using social media.
Just don’t forget that within that well defined and outlined strategy you leave room to tinker.
Social Media is communication, and though I’m not a history major, I’m pretty sure people have been communicating since the dawn of time. Cave paintings were the first blog. Hieroglyphics the first tweets. We’ve always strived to communicate and have our message heard.
Communication is social media.
By communication I am referring to the internal desire to share stories, our history, news, what excites us, and what frightens us. These are human connections that drive our offline relationships, and it is the same connections that make up the social web.
The internet is simply the tool we use to communicate, and now technology has allowed us to break the 3rd and 4th walls into a new realm of connecting. You can talk to you neighbor down the street, or someone on the opposite side of the globe. Social Media defies geographic limitations.
Technology has enabled this to happen. But again, technology is not social media. Twitter, Facebook and other tools are inventions of technology. But they are just the instruments we choose to share our voice. The goal is still connecting. When Twitter disappears, rest assured we will find another way to connect.
I keep harking on this because I’m very passionate about communication and what the Social Web is capable of. I don’t like to see companies or organizations fall into the deep side of the pool because they didn’t take the time to discover the rules that govern the social web.
Just remember the rules of engagement and honest communication that govern our offline relationships, transfer online. If you can get away from thinking of the digital landscape as bulletin board, you will be in a better position to humanize your brand. Then you will be able to connect with a far bigger audience than you imagined thanks to the social web.
