There was a great article recently on Fast Company’s blog entitled “Google’s success may mark the end of everything else”. You can read it here – http://ow.ly/5PtAM . I enjoyed reading the article, as the domination of the tech space by certain companies has always been a topic of interest to me dating back to the Microsoft anti-trust lawsuits. Whereas JD Rucker raises some very valid points, there are also some that I disagree with due to the much bigger picture.
In my latest video blog I talk about the benefits of using social media to drive product consumption through social recommendation and guiding product development through social listening and feedback.
Keyword Research is an emergent process that stands out as the single most important step in developing content that answers the questions your customers are asking. As a bonus, Keyword Research significantly contributes in the development of intuitive site navigation and Information Architecture.
Conversion Optimization is also an emergent process tasked with increasing specific website goals such as improving lead generation, increasing sales or boosting opt-ins.
Analytics provide a means to track the success of our endeavour’s and check whether any Key Performance Indicators that have been set out are being achieved.
In his latest video blog, John talks about the phases that Online Marketing has gone through since the 90s and how businesses responded to the changes that new online technology presented. John compares these trends to the next phase of Online Marketing that we are currently experiencing with Social Media Marketing.
As a Communication major at school, I spent a large amount of time studying the ideas of the great Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan is best known for his famous phrase “the medium is the message” in 1964, which in simple terms is the theory that the context of a message is more important than the message itself. (For more, see this Wikipedia article.)
If you attempt to second-guess someone there is an assumption on your part that you fully understand the thought processes, emotions and intentions of the other party. You might be spot on or you might be worlds away and end up saying something that portrays you or your business in a less than positive or professional light.
Strangely enough that’s how most content on the web is developed, it’s akin to providing an answer before a question is properly formed or asked. If you don’t listen to what your customers are asking, you will never deliver content that engages. Instead your content will probably reflect the views, goals and aspirations of the site owners and stakeholders. Rather than engaging customers, the latter approach is more likely to alienate them.
In this video blog John talks about the importance of change adoption within your organization and how social media can be used to differentiate your business from your competitors.
Have you ever used the Yellow Pages? I bet you had a reason for using it and even before you started flicking through the pages you knew exactly the outcome you wanted to achieve. To find a plumber to fix a leaky tap or an electrician to wire some new power outlets perhaps? Whatever the problem the yellow book had the solution, or rather, it connected you with someone who had the solution.
Now consider a page in a newspaper, there are headlines, news items and, of course, advertisements. But there is a big difference between an ad in a newspaper and an ad in Yellow pages, and that is consumer intent. The reader of the newspaper is highly unlikely to have picked it up in the hope that he or she might find a plumber or electrician.
Newspaper, TV and radio ads are designed to interrupt what we are doing. Through sophisticated calls to action, they attempt to coax and entice us into believing we have a real and immediate need for the products or services being promoted. However, when you pick up a copy of Yellow pages, you have already identified a need, without the collusion of third parties, and are pro-actively taking action by doing something about it.
With social media being so popular right now you have to be careful when you are choosing a supplier to assist you with social media marketing. I recently read a blog on this topic by Nichole Kelly and I wanted to comment on a few of her points.
“News Flash: Not everyone who says they understand or have used social media actually knows what they are talking about.”
The web is once more awash with Google generated excitement and hype. From the first day that little black bar appeared at the top of our beloved Google search page we could all tell something big was coming. The sudden launch and invitation only access to the new features of Google Plus has prompted comparisons to the launch of Gmail and Google Wave, keyboard tapping fingers around the globe are crossed in the hope that this Google innovation will stand the test of time like the former rather than the latter. While many are still waiting for their invitations to Google Plus, for those that have had a chance to play around with its features the chatter is cautiously upbeat. I was one of the lucky ones to receive an invite on launch day and I have to say I’m optimistic.
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