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Thanks Mr. Watson!

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Bird Watching

I’ve spoken before about Yahoo! Answers and how best to utilize it. The short of it is:

1. Know how and what to search for when identifying questions.
2. Answer the question first, don’t sell.
3. All links are no followed, so don’t rely on them for link juice.
4. Report spam … there is tons of it.
5. Keep up with your answers and vote.

Answers Changes

Now for the real stuff. Yahoo! recently changed the way they do links. In short, any link in an answer isn’t hyper-linked until you get past Level 1. Yahoo! Answers has levels that allow you to do more in a day to gain points. The more points, the higher your status, trust, and coolness factor (ok, not really on that last one). Here is the info on how to get more points and what the levels are.

Basically, the change is good to help combat (though it doesn’t help completely) the people that create thousands of accounts, spam with answers that are fraudulent or other kinds of spammy, and then drop the account.

What to Do

So if you just got on Yahoo! Answers and are wondering how people are going to be able to get to that awesome link you just referenced, don’t fret. I’ve noticed that people in Level 1 who link to other sites are not only not hyperlinked, but also have their links truncated. If you can get past level 1, and it’s fairly easy to do so (shh!!), those links that were not linked before do become linked later.

So don’t be spammy, put some work into it, and Yahoo! Answers will pay you back in the long run. The more best answers you get, the more business you could get. These questions rank very well in Google and Yahoo!!

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The New Deal with Yahoo! Answers

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SEO VooDoo

But this does not mean that consumers do not care about official product content anymore. When someone searches for a product or service, they are doing one of two things, looking to buy or doing research. Consumers still want the facts about products from the source. No matter how many affiliates you have, reviews on purchase sites, people searching for your product for research are going to want information from you.

The point in all of this is that the content people want on the web is determined by their intent. As an online purveyor of goods and/or services, you need to have information present everywhere and have a presence where necessary. Don’t shift all of your efforts from your site, from SEO, or anything else to social media. Rather make it a part of the entire mix. Each part is just as important as the other, and the faster they are working together, the better your sales will do.

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Consumer Intent in Search and Social

Flag #1: Low CTR

• Fix 1: Look at where the bulk of the traffic is coming from. Typically it’ll be the content network or broad keywords. Identify those that are bringing tons of traffic but no clicks or conversions. Utilize negative keywords and sites.
• Fix 2: If you have fixed keyword and content network leaks, look at the ad copy in relation to the keywords in the group. If you click through rate is low, it could because your ad isn’t targeted to what the person is looking for. Make another ad group if you have to.

Flag #2: Low quality score

• Low quality score is a combination of keyword relevance to ad and landing page. Most likely you need to look at the keyword that has a low quality score and think about intent of someone searching for that. Check your ad copy to make sure it is the same and answer’s the searchers question/intent. Make a new ad group if the keyword is too different from the others in the group.

Flag #3: Low conversions

• If everything else in your campaign is working – plenty of impressions and clicks, high quality score, then the answer lies in your landing page. Are you giving the searcher what they want? Are you pointing them to your preferred conversion? Do some testing on the landing page. Make sure its targeted to the keywords and has a good call to action.

Flag #4: Low impressions

• This is the hardest of all flags. Not enough traffic. There are two main conclusions: 1) you might be too targeted 2) you might need to do some outside marketing to drive traffic.

1. You want good directed traffic, but sometimes you have to take some risks. Ask customers, vendors, customers, or even family to describe your products. Ask them how they would search. Check your competitors sites. Try some more keywords, and go a little more broad, and then rein back in once you identify the traffic.
2. Sometimes people don’t know that your product or service exists. Utilize social media to drive traffic to search engines using your keywords. If local, think about traditional media such as radio and print to educate and empower.

Flag #5: High Spend

• Fix 1: Broad Matched Keywords – Check to make sure all of your keywords are not set to broad match. Sometimes that opens up too many avenues. Be sure to test Exact and Phrase match if you are spending too much.
• Fix 2: High Bids – Remember that you don’t have to be #1 for every keyword. If you are spending too much and not recovering your spend in sales, drop your bid. It has been proven time and again that being 3-5 can sometimes have a better ROI.
• Fix 3: Non-targeted Keywords – Try to bid on keywords that are your product, not the general category.
  Ex. If you are a sunglasses seller, don’t bid on “glasses” or “prescription glasses.” While some might be looking for sunglasses, or might want them and not know it, the intent of the typical searcher doesn’t match with your product.

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Top 5 PPC Red Flags

My final takeaway from the SMX London Keynote by Brian Fetherstonhaugh, the Chairman and CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, came from Brian’s list of “FAILs of Online Marketing Initiatives.” The first one is what hit home to me.

#1 Fail: The Matching Luggage Syndrome: When a company wants an integrated campaign, so they just make everything match, but do not utilize the medium for what it is.

Her Royal Highness's Matched Luggage

For example, using website layouts for email and direct mail. Or more importantly, taking direct mail layouts and using them for email and landing pages. The main point here is that every medium has it’s own “rules.” Consumers respond to each medium in their own way. So just as one landing page design might work for a company, that same design might not work for a different company. Here are some of the mediums you should be differentiating and why.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is all about getting time sensitive news to your end users. You want this medium short, sweet and to the point. If you are pushing news, include the news. If a promotion, make sure that is the focus of the email. Using your site layout for email is just going to add information that the reader doesn’t want or need to know. These are your customers and leads, give them what they asked for and then go away. The ones that are interested will click.

Direct Mail

Direct Mail is much like websites in that the perfect design varies with the industry. Most tests have shown that long letters have proven to be the most effective, but that isn’t ALWAYS the care. Then there are postcards. I have seen numerous companies use postcard designs for landing page layouts. Direct Mail is about getting someone to reply back, visit a website (which is so much more than clicking), visiting a store, or calling in. While some of those overlap online, people are in a different frame of mind when reading direct mail. Don’t use what works there in other places and expect the same results.

Website Design

Web users are out for one of three things: commerce, research, or entertainment. They have a specific purpose when they get online. Therefore their frame of mind is completely different than when they walk past a store on their way to lunch, receive a post card, or a phone call. They want something from you when they get to your site, and the more you know what that thing is, the better your site will do. You cannot use what works here in any other medium because of this specific frame of mind. You can utilize content from other mediums, but your site has to be designed with this end user intent in mind.

Print Advertising

Print ads (think newspapers and magazines) are great for introducing people to a product that they are not already familiar with. Print ads and television are always going to be around because we have to be able to inform people about products they do not know exist yet. The intent of the reader is pure entertainment (yes even in the newspaper). They are being informed of things but not doing “Research” per se. They have their minds open to just about anything that might help any problem they are having at the time. A print ads purpose is to gain attention, educate a little, and then get people to change their behavior to find out more. Hopefully inducing a phone call, or a website or store visit. But it has to draw enough attention to change behavior and intent.

Banners

Banners catch attention. Creative on the web, just like in print (as mentioned above), is there to pique the interest of a user who is looking into something related to your business. But with online advertising, you want them to click, not change their behavior completely. You should be designing banners to increase clicks, not induce phone calls or store visits. With banners, they are already online, you are just moving them from one topic to another.

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Matching Luggage Syndrome

Somewhere on a long lost to-do list or just even in the back of your mind lies that terrifying and complicated next hurdle “Social Media Marketing”.

Ugh… you ask yourself “where do I begin?” and “what exactly is social media anyway?” I’m sure you have a general idea of what it is and you have seen other companies doing it. It can’t be that hard right? Then I bet you tell yourself something like “I’ll get to it soon” or maybe “That’ll be next quarter’s goal.”

First of all, give yourself a huge pat on the back for coming as far as you have with your online endeavor. You should feel really proud of yourself.

Now suck it up buddy because if you don’t take this next step your completion will and then all the hard work you have done so far will all be nothing and you’ll have nothing to show for it.

So, what the hell is Social Media?
I have read many definitions and descriptions trying to find the right way to explain it. I wasn’t happy with any of them so I’m going to take a stab at it in my own way. Having just a website is like fishing off of a dock with one fishing pole. You cross your fingers and just wait for the fish to come to you. PPC and SEO are more like using a trotline, many baited hooks. Improved odds but you still wait for the fish to come to you. Social media is more like hopping on a boat and going to where all the fish are and throwing out a huge net, mass capture.

Claim Your Name
Even if the idea of social media scares you to death at least register your company or website name. Don’t make it easy for your competition to take your name before you get around to tackling social media. Try to use the same name and profile image when creating accounts for consistency and making it easier for people to find you. It can also help build solid brand recognition.

Mix, Mingle and Join In
Now you have a complete profile and a spiffy pic but you are all alone with no friends, followers, buddies or fans. Well unless you are a crazy hot chic you won’t make any friends hanging out alone by the wall. Jump into conversations, get involved in things and talk to new people. Send out requests to people that seem like they are interesting. Search for ongoing groups or talks about related things to the service or product your business offers.

Don’t Fear Rejection
Don’t expect everyone to freak out and rush to talk to you. You are going to have to work at building your profiles. Not everyone will accept your invites or reply to your comments. Don’t wear your feelings on your sleeve and don’t take anything personal. Just go with the flow and be casual. If someone doesn’t reply to comment you made directly to them don’t worry about it and don’t let it stop you from trying to interact with them. If you are steadily joining in on conversations, answering questions or asking questions then the friend count will increase naturally.

Here are some links to get started:

Twitter

Facebook

digg

Stumbleupon

flickr

Mixx

Now what is your excuse?

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Get Off Your Tookus and Get Social

Flickr Pic from Pedro Moura Pinheiro

If you are an in-house person, you are nodding your head viciously. Most in-house marketers, search or general, are asked to be super-people. Not that agencies or freelancers aren’t, but in-house people have a special relationship with the client. They don’t have the option to walk away. (Well they do, but it’s harder)

In-house SEMs have to be able to answer the most specific and on the spot questions about search traffic, site usage, and who bought what, when, where and why. Sometimes it’s almost like being asked to be mind readers and psychics.

At least it is easier today than it used to be. Brian was originally talking about how traditional marketers were asked to prove ROI and be innovative, and that was the “hot seat.” I would venture that this is why a large number of search marketers got into the space. It is where you can test, pull metrics, change, and test again, all within a matter of days. What is possible on the web isn’t possible in mediums like TV, radio and print.

When you are in the “Hot Seat,” here are some tips for cooling the flames.

1. Know Their Favorite Metrics Every client/CEO has their favorite metrics. Clicks, CTR, Impressions, Hits, you name it. Spend the first few weeks in any position and with any client figuring out what those are. Be sure to have a weekly report pulled before every meeting with those numbers. Have a fresh report every Monday as well, for those spur of the moment meetings.
2. Build a Testing Schedule With innovation, you have to be able to test it. Upper management doesn’t really care what word you used in the ad, how you changed the bidding, or if you capitalized the name of the company. They want the metrics results they can share with the board or managers. Give them a schedule of what you are testing generally, how long, and then a monthly report of the outcomes and next steps.
3. Utilize Internal Resources The best ideas come from people in the trenches. Become friends with the product managers, customer service agents, and others within the company. The more you can get them to talk to you about everyday issues, trials, and successes, the more you will have to play with. The best ideas are spawned from other people’s rantings. Innovation is not about marketing’s ideas, it’s marketing playing off the real life situations of the end user.
4. Know Your Site and Tracking Be sure that you know the internal ordering, tracking, sales, etc. systems used by the company. The more you know and can track, the better off you will be. Your ultimate goal is to be tracking every user from first visit to brand evangelist. Remember that the purchase is the most important metric, but it should not be where you stop tracking customers. Brand evangelists are the icing on the cake and your allies in future campaigns. Don’t forget them.
5. Know and Love Your IT Team There is no way around this. They hold the keys to the website, tracking, and every cool feature you want to do in the future. Want to do your own affiliate program someday? Want it to rock SEO as well? Buy them their favorite food, bribe them, do whatever to get and keep them on you good side. It’ll come in handy later.

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The Marketing Hot Seat

That world changed and we are now in a world of online ad buys and text advertising. Don’t get us wrong, Haiku advertising (PPC) is exciting, but not as much as storyboards and seeing your work on prime-time television.

From Zazzle

At SMX London, I think Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman and CEO, OgilvyOne Worldwide said “Social Media is making branding sexy again.” We are all pushed to make numbers, prove by ROI, sales funnels and all. But what we were missing in all of that was the branding. Investing in branding allows your other campaigns to convert better. People trust what they know. It’s tough to prove ROI in branding campaigns but if all your campaigns are tracked correctly as well as your natural traffic, you can see the lift after a branding campaign.

Then came along social media. Branding is sexy again. We are still working on fully tracking social media mentions and the time spent on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. But companies large and small are seeing the traffic come in from these efforts. They are seeing the correlation between the branding (using social media to converse and not sell) and end sales.

Traditional marketing is not dead. TV commericals are still sexy. Print ads still pique interest in products. And social media is the new black. It’s sexy at the core because it’s more trackable and allows a company to influence word of mouth, the most powerful of all referrers.

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Branding – Bringing Sexy Back