LyntonWeb Blog: Perspectives on the Social Web

Inbound Marketing Miscues - Part 2

Social media miscues: Four common mistakes to avoid

As noted in the previous post, there are plenty of ways to make a poor impression – or no impression at all – at the inbound marketing dance. The same holds true for inbound marketing’s popular cousin, social media marketing.

Inbound marketing is about a lot more than social media, but they work really well together to get you noticed.

To complete the loop on how to look cool and not play the fool, here are four tips to help you maximize your social media efforts:

Creating an account isn’t enough: Just joining a social media hub and ignoring your account, or, worse yet, filling it up with random, valueless posts, isn’t going to get you anywhere. Check out these “Things not to do on Twitter” on the Sysmos online marketing blog along with these “5 Common Facebook Tips – That Don’t Work” from Free Traffic Tips.

Think before you act: Social media consultant Jay Baer shares his thoughts on “The Biggest Social Media Mistakes” in this video interview with Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner. It’s worth watching the entire interview, but our favorite point is that you need to “be social,” not just “do social.”

Along the same lines, Econsultancy offers “10 Common Social Media Mistakes” while the Business Insider, perhaps taking a page from Spinal Tap, shares “11 Social Media Mistakes Your Company Must Avoid.”

Viral happens: So, you want to make a video for your business that causes a buzz. Before you do, read this post by Adam Singer on the Top Rank Online Marketing Blog. As Singer correctly points out, video isn’t going away, but by “ignoring the ‘viral video’ bug many have been bitten by, web video is an opportunity for your brand and should likely be a part of your content marketing mix. But think critically about how it plays into your larger content strategy, and understand your reason for being with creating digital content in the first place.”

Keep it clean: A recent Facebook campaign for Dr Pepper gave fans of the soft drink a chance to win $1,000 by giving up control of their Facebook updates to marketers, who would post embarrassing updates in their name. OK, it sounds stupid already, but it went careening off the tracks when some of the updates made reference to an infamous obscene viral video. Ugh. The campaign drew complaints and was quickly shut down.

Armed with these what-not-to-dos, you are ready to step out onto the dance floor and rock the house.

Inbound Marketing Miscues

Don’t let this happen to you

Remember walking into your first middle school dance, excited and scared at the same time, hoping most of all that you wouldn’t do anything stupid?

Inbound marketing can cause the same emotions. So, in the spirit of that cool eighth grader who took you under their wing, here are a few pointers on what not to do, in hopes that you’ll learn from someone else’s mistakes.

Don’t avoid the dance: Sure, it’s a little scary, but if you don’t jump in, your customers will have a heck of a time finding you. Business spending on inbound marketing continues to grow for a reason – it works. Fear of the unknown won’t grow your business.

Know your target: Spending a lot of time online studying the tastes and habits of a girl (or guy) you want to dance with is, well, really creepy. However, that analogy breaks down completely when it comes to inbound marketing, where knowing your way around Web analytics and audience measurement tools is just smart business.

Have a plan: Find a niche, connect with your customers by providing compelling, relevant content, optimize your search results, build great landing pages, tap into the right social media tools, measure the results and foster a relationship that translates into sales and customer loyalty. Simple, right? Um, not exactly. Too often, a business owner gets the big, big, big picture, but can’t get a handle on the nitty-gritty details: What’s compelling and relevant? How do I maximize SEO? How do I build a relationship with customer? Heck, who are my customers, anyway? Like an M.C. Escher drawing, inbound marketing can be more complicated than it seems and there are no easy answers.

Don’t oversell: Inbound marketing isn’t a sales brochure. Don’t fill your website and blog up with information about you, you, you – your audience wants to talk about me, me, me. Your job is to show how you can solve their problems, not simply shill your products like a state-fair huckster.

Make sure you blog doesn’t suck: A freshly-updated blog with relevant, interesting content is to your website what spinach is to Popeye. Many good things flow from a good blog: Search engine visibility, site traffic, sales leads, thought leadership in your industry and good, old-fashioned buzz.  

Stick with it: In 99 percent of cases, success doesn’t happen overnight. Having a good plan and the perseverance to stick it out is the key. (Of course, a good plan will include using analytics that help you define success and understand when adjustments are necessary).

Avoid social media gotchas: Social media can be an important component of your inbound marketing efforts, but it poses its own set or challenges and rewards. In fact, there’s enough here for its own post, so stay tuned next week for more on this topic…

Why A Blog is Like A Marriage

A blog is like a marriage in terms of the commitment they both require.

Here are some rules for a successful business blog that can also apply to a successful marriage. Simply substitute the word “partner” for “audience” and you’ll get my drift.

8 Ways A Good Blog is Like A Successful Marriage

Communicate: This isn’t a one-way conversation. It’s about sharing your thoughts, but also about listening – and responding – to the needs of your audience.

Fights happen: You’ll do things to tick your audience off, but you can’t just shrug it off because these things have a way of festering. You need to engage your audience, explain yourself, and reach some sort of closure, even if it’s only agreeing to disagree.

Spice it up: Don’t get into a rut. A little variety in what you offer up can go a long way toward keeping your audience satisfied.

Don’t cheat: Don’t swipe ideas from another blogger and pass them along as your own without credit. For an audience member who reads both blogs, this is like catching you in the bedroom with someone else.

Remember why you got together in the first place: As circumstances change, it’s easy to find yourself bogged down in all kinds of tangential details. Don’t lose sight of the initial spark that drew you and your audience together.

Appreciate each other: Let your audience know how much you value them by sharing an impromptu gift, or even a simple shout-out.

Till death do us part…: Starting a blog is a long-term commitment. A good blog with fresh ideas a can go on for years, but even a wobbly blog just starting out needs time to work out the kinks and build a lasting relationship with its audience. Don’t give up after a few months. You started this for a reason, and you shouldn’t walk away without giving it your best shot.

…or not: One the other hand, sometimes even the most vibrant, dynamic blogs reach a point where there’s nothing left to say. If this happens, don’t make your audience suffer through a long goodbye. Make a clean break and part ways the best of friends.

Now that you know the commitment it takes, it’s time to get hitched. You may kiss the blog.

I've Got A Blog... Now What?

So you finally decided to put a blog on your website. Congratulations, you've joined millions of other people and businesses who blog!

Now you're wondering what the hell you should blog about. Congratulations, you've joined millions of other people and businesses who blog!

But seriously, you know you have to blog, but you just don't know what to blog about. Don't worry, you are not alone. In fact, the majority of blogs that are started are later abandoned. A 2008 survey by Technorati found that only seven million blogs out of the 133 million blogs they track had been updated in the four months of the study. Why is that?

Well, a lot of it can be attributed to the fact that people don't know what to write about. And I am going to help you with that. No, I won't write your blog for you. No, seriously, stop asking, I’m about to share some great tips with you that will help you get started.

A while back I came across this article from Copyblogger in my RSS reader and it got me thinking. How can I help our clients think of ideas to blog about? There are several different areas where I went to find blogspiration (that's blog plus inspiration for you non-math majors out there).

Listen To Your Customers

In my opinion, the best topics for blogs come from our customers. What questions do you get asked on a regular basis? (Where do you think this blog topic came from?) Take a look back through your emails where you helped a customer. Which questions are you asked frequently?

Write down some notes of what you went over and expand on them. While you are writing think of how you can make the text as easy to read and comprehend as possible. One tip that I can't stress enough is to include screen shots. They help the reader visualize what you are doing and helps them make sure they are on the same page as you. There are some great (and free) tools out there for screen shots, like Cropper for Windows and Awesome Screenshot for Safari and Google Chrome (Firefox version coming soon). For Mac users Paparazzi is a great tool. You can even use software like Camtasia to record a how-to video which can be a huge resource for your clients.

Industry Related

What blogs interest you? What blogs and news sites in your industry do you read? What do they blog about? These blogs can be a great source of blogspiration.  Maybe you come across an article that you disagree with, that would make a great post. Take their points and break them down, give your side of the story. Link back to the original post, and even send the author an email or comment in the post saying that you disagree and give a shorter answer, and link back to your article for the full text. This will help create conversation, and drive some traffic to your blog.

Problem Solving

Have you or someone in your company solved a problem or created a workflow to help you get certain monotonous tasks done quicker? Share your tips with your readers. On the flip side, do you have a problem that you just can't crack? Share your problem with your readers, ask for their input, foster the comments to build conversation and help your community grow.

In the News

Is there something going on in the news that effects your industry? Take a cue from Law & Order and do a "ripped from the headlines" blog. Did your business thrive during the recent recession? These topics can go beyond your industry and have a much farther reach pulling in readers who wouldn't normally come across your blog.

Company Culture

What makes your company stand out? Do you have fun corporate events? Share these events with your blog readers to push your brand. Companies like Starbucks often blog about their corporate culture and events they take place in, and the many ways in how they give back to the community. Blogging about your company culture gives a personality to your brand and helps people identify with the company and the people behind the logo.

Now that you have some ideas, go and try to write a post. Don't force yourself to write if you aren't feeling it, but when you have the blogspiration, write! Spend 10 or 15 minutes and just dump everything out of your head onto paper. Don't worry about formatting it or cleaning it up, just getting your ideas out there is a huge first step. Take a break and come back to it when your head is clear and polish it up.

Set goals for yourself. Start with baby steps, once a week is a great start, then try to move to twice a week. But don't let yourself get overwhelmed, you shouldn't be having panic attacks over your blog.

Remember what I said about reading great blogs for blogspiration? Well this is a great blog to start with! Subscribe for updates or follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on new posts.

Is Facebook The Walmart Of The Internet?

Everyone knows Walmart has been a powerful force in the retail industry. They were one of the first to adopt the UPC code, ultimately sparking global adoption. Today, you’d be surprised if you found something without a barcode of some sort. I am sure it is because of this clout that Walmart has been invited to lead several other initiatives including replacing UPCs with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and going organic.

Now let’s shift gears to the internet. In the last three years Facebook’s growth has grown exponentially. The Facebook experience has grown from sporadic posts to a daily habit; a disease often diagnosed as Facebook addiction. Concerns of privacy have gone by the wayside as more and more people share everything from what’s on their mind at any second of the day to pictures of family get-togethers.  People have made Facebook a part of their daily routine.

The latest tech trend is sharing your exact location with the interwebs through social applications like Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, Twitter…and now Facebook. Each tool has its own set of features so it’s up to each person to find their own preference. However, regardless of privacy concerns people are using these tools voluntarily. Ironic how people were concerned about RFID tags a few years ago and yet many mobile phones now have GPS.

Now for those that love numbers, let’s see just how quickly gelocation services are growing. Foursquare which was only founded in March of 2009, just reached 2 million users. Sounds small but that’s nearly half of all mobile users. Now, let’s compare it to the internet’s giant. Facebook was founded in 2004 and didn’t break the 50 million user mark until 2007. These location based services are still in their infancy, but will undoubtedly continue to grow.

With the support of Facebook, I expect sharing your location will become mainstream. I won’t be surprised if my grandma starts checking in on Facebook at her retirement community in Palm Beach. Much like Walmart has become an early adopter in the retail industry; if you want the world to adopt something, just call Facebook for help.

Why I Hate Facebook Like

Social media has been hailed as the digital word-of-mouth marketing. But, just like in real life people don’t talk unless they’ve encountered either a bad experience - like that time the customer service representative hung up on me - or a really outstanding experience - like that time that my call was actually answered by a real person who was able to connect me directly with another real person who could actually solve my problem rather than sending me in circles through a voice-operated system.

My point is that people only talk when it’s at the ends of the love-hate spectrum. Not just because they like something. So why the heck did Facebook change things from “Fan” to “Like”?

Simple. Because it's easier to convince someone they like something rather than search for fanatics, and the more pages you connect with the larger Facebook grows. All hail King Facebook.

When I used to receive an invitation to a Page, I would hear a voice inside my head ask, "are you a fan of the page, or at least the invitee?" This one little question managed to filter out a lot of the clutter. However, since Facebook has changed things,  I find myself accepting 99% of those invites. Over the past few months I have accepted hundreds of page requests and finally I had enough. The other night I spent over an hour removing myself from many of the pages and I am happy to say I am clean now.

Am I suggesting that everyone do the same? Absolutely. But what about the small businesses that we, LyntonWeb, work for. Aren't we supposed to help small businesses grow their community on Facebook?

A fan, by definition is “a person whose enthusiasm or zeal for something is extreme or beyond normal limits.” These are the people that you as page owners want. This goes back to the age old principle of quality and not quantity. So what if a thousand people like your page. You might be getting hundreds of impressions but how is that any different than buying a billboard on a busy highway? In the end you are still doing most of the work.  

Instead, I recommend that you connect with your community in a way that transforms them into fanatics, ultimately empowering them to be brand advocates. These are the ones that make it their job to influence, and that my friend is how digital word-of-mouth marketing starts.

So fans, do a little spring cleaning on your Facebook Pages and ask yourself if you are really a fan of each page. Stand up against mediocrity and vow only to be Page fanatics! You might just be doing your fellow Facebookers a favor.

Take five seconds to think of a few brands that you love. Ok. Your five seconds are over. What did you come up with? Share which brands you are a hardcore fan for with us in the comments or on Twitter (hashtag #brandFanatic).

Which Comes First, Design or Content?

Content and design are the chicken and egg of your Web presence.

Which should come first when planning or redesigning your site?

Yes, it’s a trick question. The answer is both.

Why? Because without good content, design is a vacuous bauble that catches your eye momentarily but quickly bores you. And without good design, content is that boring professor who knows more than you’ll ever need, but lectures away in monotone and rambles from topic to topic with no rhyme or reason.

Yup, like chocolate and peanut butter, content and design are two great tastes that taste great together.

Of course, integrating content and design can be easier said than done. Here are two typical scenarios you may be familiar with, with No. 2 being the most prevalent:

1. “We’ve got a lot of content to post on the Web site, can you make it pretty?”
2. “We’ve got this really cool design, can you whip up some stuff to fill in the ‘ipso lorum’ areas?”

Yes, this is an exaggeration, but there is more than a grain of truth in it. The problem often is that design folks and content folks seem to be speaking two different languages, or at least they think they are.

But there’s one universal language they (should) share: Serving their audience.

So how do you get them talking this language? That’s no trick question. There’s a common sense answer: Get both teams involved in the project from the start and give them a set of concrete goals.

When developing a content strategy – and you should always start with a content strategy – involve the design team. When developing a look and feel for the site, involve the content folks. With a mutual understanding of your organization’s goals and priorities, designers and content creators can work on the same canvas to create a seamless user experience.

Rethinking Your Website (Part II)

The first step to reimagining your website is to look at it through the eyes of the people who visit it.

And, as we mentioned last week, that’s how you have to look at your web presence if you really want to connect with your audience.

While not everyone visits your site for the same reason, there are probably several common types of users who are coming for to you for specific information – David Meerman Scott calls them "buyer personas." Once you identify these personas, you can create content hubs for them, accessible through both your homepage and through dedicated landing pages they can find via keyword searches.

So, how does that work?

For a buyer persona who’s just grazing at this point, the hub they interact with should include content that helps them understand their needs, as well as thought-leadership content that establishes you as a trusted industry resource. For another persona further along in the sales cycle, a hub should include detailed product and pricing information, as well as product comparisons and user reviews. The buyer persona representing your existing customers would want to find a community-based hub where you and your customers can share ideas and tips to get the most out of your product.

Knowing what your target audience wants and getting it to them quickly and easily helps you build and maintain relationships. And the trust and value created through these relationships are what turns browsers into customers and customers into evangelists.

This is the biggest single thing you can do to rethink your web site, but it’s not the only thing. Here are four other crucial things to consider:

First impressions matter. As Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media points out, your home page is like a first date. It’s where customers get a quick read on their suitors and make snap judgments. Your home page can’t – and really shouldn’t – attempt to be everything to everyone, but it should quickly and effectively point your visitors to the specific information hubs they are looking for.

Don’t just be a pretty face. Sure, eyeballs may stick to an attractive site a few seconds longer, but design isn’t the be-all and end-all of your marketing efforts. Content is really what keeps people there and keeps them coming back.

Track it. This isn’t about gut feelings. There are ways to learn how people are interacting on your site. Use them. Your analytics should be able to tell you whether you developed accurate buyer personas and created relevant content for them.

Stick with it. This isn’t a widget. This isn’t a campaign. This is a way of life. You’re going to need to periodically refine your buyer personas, regularly create fresh content for search engines to find and always be ready to make adjustments based on what your analytics (and sales figures) tell you. It sounds like a lot, but if you get it right from the get-go, it really is manageable.

An audience-centric website isn’t that hard to imagine; all you need to do is imagine your site through the eyes of your customers.

Rethinking Your Website (Part I)

When someone comes to your website for the first time, what are they really there for?

Are they there to learn about your business model? Do they want to know your company's history and how you're the leading in your field? Do they want to know you've been recognized with an industry award?

Maybe, but probably not.

Sure, these things are worth having on your website. They can help someone already deep in the sales funnel differentiate you from your competitors.

But are they reasons to come to your site in the first place? Of course not.

When someone comes to your website for the first time – whether they've heard of you somewhere or they're just pumping keywords into Google – chances are they have a question and they are looking to you for an answer.

Chris Brogan wrote about this recently in his post, "Rethink your web presence." He offered up a series of questions about your site that you need to answer for your audience:

Who do you want me to be?
How will I know that I belong?
What do you want to show/tell me?
What do you want me to do?
How will we keep this relationship going?
How shall I talk of you to my friends?

These are all great questions, and they all require you to step into your customers’ shoes and think hard about whether you are meeting their needs.

Are you?

Customers will want to know about you at some point, but the first thing they'll want to know is what you can do for them. For the right first impression, focus on their needs. By doing this, you do far more than stick an electronic brochure in front of them; you increase your chances of making a real connection, and sow the seeds of a long-term relationship.

Think about that, and come back next week for some thoughts on how to make it happen.

Four online marketing basics for small businesses

We just learned that the week of May 24 was Small Business Week. Sorry we missed it, but, geez, we thought every week was small business week.

To belatedly mark that milestone, here are four online marketing basics for small businesses that you’ll find useful any week of the year:

Get found. Search engine optimization is crucial, especially as local search options expand.

There’s a lot of information about SEO out there, and a lot of simple things small businesses can do to expand their visibility. A great place for you to start is by checking out these “7 Essential small business tips for SEO” from the Top-Rank Online Marketing Blog. You can also get some expert advice from Small Business Trends.

Get social. We agree with Brian Solis when he says that social media “finally places small, local and emerging businesses in the spotlight in ways that up until this point, were largely unattainable.”

Solis recently wrote on Social Media Today that 73 percent of small business owners surveyed in a University of Maryland study expected social media will help them grow their business.

So, where to begin? Start by checking out Mashable’s “10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips” and then watch Erik Qualman explain his 3 Social Media Tips for Small Businesses. Qualman is the author of “Socialnomics,” a great Web marketing book. In the video, he talks about social media with Hubspot’s Rebecca Corliss.

Get blogging. One of the best ways to get found is to create fresh content for spiders to index. Creating useful, compelling content is also a fabulous way to establish yourself as an industry expert, get linked to and bring new users (i.e. potential leads) to your site.

So, if blogging is such a win-win, how come few small businesses do it – or do it well? Time is obviously a factor, but we think much of the problem stems from the lack of knowledge of where to begin, plus a lack of confidence. If you see yourself in the previous sentence, check out these blogging tips from CopyBlogger, Problogger and RemarkaBlogger.

You can do this. Really.

Get measuring. You need to know who’s looking at your content, along with when, why and how. Analytics is another thing, like blogging, that may seem daunting for a small business owner. But guess what? It’s another one of those things you can’t afford to ignore.

Start your education with a spin through Top Rank’s “Small Business Tips for Reporting Web Metrics” and then check out HubSpot’s Web Analytics Marketing Hub for directory of posts, videos and webinars on the topic. A simple search will turn up a lot more sources, but these are two great starting points.

It may not be Small Business Week in capital letters, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until next year to make the most of your online marketing efforts.