Marketing for a Cause

I came across this infographic a few days ago and it got me thinking.

2013 is a year of celebrating milestones for me. I am 30 years old celebrating my fifth year of marriage and tenth year in a relationship. I’m a decade into my marketing career, and just celebrated my fifth anniversary at work. In the last five years I completed my MBA, had a child, and decided to start running so I could have more energy to focus on my family and career. Needless to say, commitment hasn’t been lost on me. What has been, and what I’ve been struggling with these past few years is creativity. At work.. at home… in my day to day routine. When nothing is forcing things to change, they pretty much stay the same. I’ve had some wonderful accomplishments, but where do I go from here? How do I keep things fresh? 

Creativity.

Creativity… is a bitch. I’m a firm believer you’re either born with it or not and have always considered myself one of the “have nots.” Having been born the youngest into a family of artists, it was expected that I would inherit the gene, yet it never quite settled on me.

Still, I envy others who have it. Creativity can be a godsend if you know how to harness and apply it. There are people who can throw out ideas in brainstorming meetings without losing themselves in the “how.” People who can see the whole through the pieces. People who can make something from nothing. Turn a blank slate into color. Yeah, I envy them.

But on the other hand, I know lots of creative people who struggle with some of the same things I think I excel in, which leads me to believe creativity is only half the puzzle. I think the other half is momentum. The ability to take an idea and see it through, commit and keep it moving. I call these people “movers.” The difference I see is this: Creatives give birth to ideas, and movers raise them. They are able to take an idea and carry it through to the finish.

They say with age comes understanding, and it took me until my 30^th year to appreciate that what I was born with may be equally as important as creativity– motivation and commitment. The ability to keep moving. I appreciate these traits I see in myself that somehow allow me to keep the ball going when others have forgotten about it. It takes a lot of energy and commitment to keep things going in our relationships year after year. We have to work at it every day to stay motivated to keep up the momentum. We can never get complacent, or think that we’re too accomplished, or too smart, or too old to try something new.

I sincerely hope that my next 30 years will be just as accomplished as my first 30, and every day I commit to focus on that goal. 

With the help of this infographic, of course.

Brands have been eager to rise to the top of the search rankings ever since Google killed the yellow pages. Only trouble is, space is limited. Having a top SERP, or search engine results page, is like having a premium listing in the phone book. While the search listings extend out for pages, our attention spans don’t. We all want a place on the first page, but many aren’t sure how  to achieve it.

After spending the last decade working on marketing campaigns for various employers and clients, I’ve learned some hard lessons in the world of search:

#1 - You can have a fancy website – it doesn’t mean it’s going to rank well.

#2 – Your products may be best-in-class, but that doesn’t mean people can find them online.

#3 – Just because your customers like you doesn’t mean Google does.

In a nutshell, you could be doing any number of things correctly, but if your search efforts stink, you could also be losing a large chunk of business.

While most people understand the need for a good search strategy, getting there is the tough part. A basic SEO audit can easily run anywhere from $5,000-$10,000 and will uncover a swarm of issues that your company may not be ready for or have the resources to tackle. From total web re-development to removal of duplicate content to disavowing spammy links and other “Bad SEO”, you can easily be tacking on another $10,000 in man hours to fix these issues.

While some of these ”clean-up measures” will be required to get started, moving forward with your link-building efforts will be much less painful.

Here are some simple efforts you can do to boost your rankings without breaking your budget:

1) Guest Blogging - Look for guest post opportunities in your niche. Ideally you’ll want to find other websites with a blog that contains a high page and domain authority with followed links. See if they are accepting guest posts (many will, assuming your content is helpful rather than promotional). These are excellent opportunities to write an exclusive post that highlights your knowledge or expertise in a subject while providing a high quality link back to your website.

2) Blog or Forum Commenting – Chances are, you’re in business because other people want your products. And more likely than not, they are talking about them online. If you’re crafty enough to find out where the discussions are happening, you can find an easy way to provide a valuable link back to your website. Here’s how: Scan the search engines for keywords you’re looking to target in your SERP improvement efforts. For example, if your company offers risk management training, type in “risk management guidance” in Google using handy search operators. Or, set up a daily Google Alert for the keywords you’re searching for, and let the results come to you. Once you’ve found a possible blog or forum post to comment on, check the page and domain authority (look for numbers above 50) and see if the links on the page are followed by Google (they’ll be in green if you’re using the SEOmoz toolbar). If all looks good, post a meaningful comment using your target keywords and a link to your target url.

3) Directory Listings – Using similar techniques as above, search for websites containing directories or website listings of companies similar to yours. SEOmoz has a handy list of search-engine friendly directories, however many are fee-based. You can also use the operator inurl:directory “keyword” to locate some free ones.

4) Partner Listings – This is probably the most basic and widely used tactic out there, and is basically a link exchange between websites. Are there companies out there that provide complimentary services to yours? Add them to your website with a brief description, or write a blog post mentioning them as a great resource for more information on a certain topic. Just be sure to request a link in return!

5) Content Programs - Content programs are a great way to provide something valuable in exchange for a return link. For example, if your company sells running shoes, you could offer an award program to the running community that offers a digital award for runners who reach certain milestones. Everyone likes receiving an award, right? The runner will get a digital award badge they can place on their blog or website, that has a return link to your website. It takes a little planning to execute these programs properly, but done correctly, you’ll receive a great response rate.

All companies are different, and finding the right blend of search marketing strategies for you can sometimes take practice.  There is one certainty, though, that having a large toolbox of strategies and tactics to choose from can never hurt.

What search strategies have you been using to increase your ranking? Do you have any tips to add?

“It’s not how much we give, but how much we put into giving.” – Mother Teresa

We all have a purpose for creating and sharing content online. For some, it’s for therapy. For others, exposure. Regardless of “what’s in it for me,” one thing is certain: we want people to like it.

I have always viewed my blog as a creative outlet for my career. A way for me to document and share what I’ve learned about marketing over the years. Much of the advice I’ve written in the past has focused on getting the most out of your content via shares, likes and comments. Creating content that makes people want to engage with it. Yet lately, more often than not, I find myself not following my own advice.

We all blame time. “I don’t have time to follow Sarah’s blog because I have too much going on. I can barely find time to work on my own blog.”

Does that sound familiar to you? It does to me. Yeah, I don’t have time for someone else’s blog. But somehow I always have time to spend wondering why no one’s spending time on mine.

So what’s the problem? In my case, it’s a pretty simple case of selfishness.  Relationships are a funny thing, you get back what you put into them. I’m not saying I should like other posts for the sake of getting a like in return. That strategy is inevitably disappointing, for a few reasons: 

Reason #1: It’s too obvious. Hmmm… why does Brenda only seem to like my posts when she posts something? What are her motives?

Reason #2: It doesn’t always make sense. Wow, I didn’t know Tom was interested in running. He hates working out.

You just need to be thoughtful about it. Find other blogs that are similar to yours that you enjoy and say something meaningful. Share and connect with them. If more time was spent building a network of people to share with, you’d spend less time twiddling your thumbs listening to crickets.

Just my and Mother Teresa’s two thoughts for the day.

I just read an interesting headline on TechCrunch that Mobile Ad Revenues Will Top $11.4 Billion In 2013. With the rise of mobile usage, it’s no surprise the numbers are jumping. Where the people go, the ads will follow.

This made me think about some experiences I’ve been having with Google lately. I manage a few Adwords accounts and have been getting non-stop soliciting from my Google reps to optimize my accounts. After multiple attemps to put it off, I hopped on the phone with one of them. She had some great advice… spend a little more here, a little less there and we’d see some better results. So far, worth my time. Then the call got interesting… She wanted to talk about our mobile ad strategy. I told her it was on our “to-do” list, and that we were planning to build out the mobile campaigns once we’d optimized our website for mobile. We needed to get the horse before the cart, so to speak. I thought it would end there, but she kept suggesting we bump up spending on mobile, and then I finally got it.

Google’s got investors to think about, and with their recent profit decline, have mobile to blame. No surprise their agenda is to pick up the slack there. All of a sudden the whole call just felt a little sneaky to me, like they were trying to “get me.”

But despite the hidden agenda, I can’t argue that the majority of advice was good. I’m extremely grateful for the extra clicks we’ve received and I’d urge anyone who is being hounded to take the call.  Hey, free help usually comes with a catch, doesn’t it?

I wonder where Google’s profits will end up this quarter.

A recent report issued by Capgemini found that IT decisions are increasingly being made by departments other than IT. That’s right, marketing, HR, finance and administration departments are now managing budgets that include SaaS and cloud-based solutions… with no experience necessary.

Why? Because many of these solutions do not require the traditional hardware and software maintained by an IT department. They already come with built-in support, making it easy for department managers to select, implement and manage the solution that works best for them. Instead of submitting a ticket with Bob on the second floor, we can find the support we need online, in the cloud, through communities or by dialing an 800 number.

Sounds alarming, but coming from the marketing department, I see some major benefits to this type of “Do-It-Yourself” IT. Studies show what you help design, you help support. Department managers can feel empowered to make decisions that impact their area of expertise. No more ticket submissions for basic requests such as report building, custom fields, layouts, etc. We can do it ourselves in less time, just the way we want it, with ownership and commitment to making it work.  Because it’s ours.

Sounds great, but what does it mean for the IT department? More headaches, I’m guessing. How does DIY IT impact the overall enterprise with respect to information management? Architecture? Security? The risks seem profound.

Does your organization allow functional managers to make their own IT decisions? If so, what safeguards are you implementing to ensure enterprise information is being managed correctly?

Social media has become so powerful and personal in the last few years that many organizations have had to shift their strategies. We said goodbye to broadcasts, mass emails and blanket messaging and hello to shares, retweets and +1s. Today, if you really want to succeed at getting your message across, you’ve got to think small. Individual. Personal. And the only way to do that is to be a person. Not a brand.

So what does that mean for companies who hire online marketers to infiltrate social networks to generate demand? In a nutshell, it means they are only as successful as the person they have building their relationships.

I’m working on a link-building project that involves a great deal of influencer marketing. I find out who’s who in my niche, like their posts, pet their egos, and three days later ask them for a favor. It’s tedious, a little sneaky, but it works.

The only problem we’re having is, all this “ego-bait” is coming from me- not my client. And when I like a status update, retweet a post, or add someone to my circles, I am doing it, not the company. Why? Because people like to engage with people.

It’s all fine for today, but what happens when my contract ends? Who’s taking the Twitter followers, Facebook likes, and G+s with them? Not the client. But hey, kudos to me.

The trend to watch today is this: People are increasingly following people, not brands. The shift from brand to influencer loyalty is upon us.

Some advice for companies: Take care of your brand ambassadors and influencers. When they leave, so do the relationships, the link love, engagement and other warm and fuzzy buzz words we so desperately crave.

A few years ago, I eluded that the continuous marketing and gardening of social networks is the only way to stay successful in your business and career in the long run. While I still (for the most part) agree, a recent review has prompted me to change my tune.

When our company President sat down with me this week to go over the results of our 2012 marketing strategy, I was optimistic. We were winding down from a largely productive year having revamped our website and marketing materials, increased our online advertising budget and expanded the content strategy on our social networks. The outcome, however, was a mixed review. While overall sales increased in 2012, the percentage of sales generated from marketing activities were down from the prior year.

Why? I thought. The year was arguably more productive than the last and incoming leads were up. Yet only 20% of sales generated resulted from marketing, accounting in only 30% of total revenue for the year. This begged the question, where are the other sales coming from? After some further number crunching, we determined the source of the remaining 80% of sales: repeat and referral business.  Further number crunching allowed us to identify the inital lead source for those repeat and referral sales: Marketing leads from 2011.

 [insert "aha! moment" here]

Of course we should expect a high percentage of business sales to be derived from repeat and referral business- what reputable business wouldn’t? The silver lining for my department lies where the leads were originally sourced from: Marketing. And through effective sales, order fulfillment and customer service, we were able to retain those relationships and foster referrals from them.

So here comes the change of tune…

You still and will always need to strive to obtain new business from marketing, but if you’re primarily focused on the client and delivering on your promises, you’ll build a reputation that will make you less dependent on achieving further sales from new business. Relationships and marketing go hand-in-hand, and the key to success is focusing on both.