Cincinnati Internet Marketing Blog

Circuit Event This Thursday on Social Media & PR: Laura Baverman, Dan O'Keeffe & Dacia Snider

This Thursday's Breakfast Bytes program by The Circuit shoud be an interesting discussion as Dan O'Keeffe of Okeeffe Communications, Laura Baverman of the Cincinnati Enquirer and Dacia Snider of Soapbox discuss "Social Media + PR = New Customers". 

From The Circuit:

Discussion will include:
How to find new customers 
Blog Strategies
Web Strategies
How and why adjust to this new world of social media
In five years, where will today's customers be?

Experts will discuss the evolution of PR into Social Media and how this helps drive business. How does social media attract the traditional media sources? Hear from various experts to discuss what they look for, how they use social media and more.

The meeting is this Thursday morning from 8-9 at the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.  You can get more of the details and register online on this page of the Circuit website. 

Video Interview with Krista Neher of Boot Camp Digital

Last week I got to have lunch with and interview the lovely and awesome Internet marketer Krista Neher, whose new company, Boot Camp Digital (www.bootcampdigital.com) has begun offering digital marketing consulting and training courses in Cincinnati.  Here is the video of Krista briefly describing her background and experience with Internet marketing, as well as Boot Camp Digital's services.

On the Boot Camp Digital website is information regarding and you can register for the upcoming courses "Blogging from Start to Finish" and "Social Media for Marketers".

Hey Cincinnati: Add Videos to Your Website!

My colleague Ron Harper of VideosOnYourWebsite.com interviewed me a couple of weeks ago about optimizing videos for the Web and the benefits of adding videos to a website.  Here's the clip:

 

If you're interested in how video might work for you, check out Ron's site or call him at 513-477-5175.  His rates are very reasonable and within the reach of most companies and non-profits.

Video Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips:

• Conduct keyword research to determine the best keywords you should target
• Include your keywords in your video's title, for example a pest control company in Cincinnati might title their video "Choosing a Pest Control Company in Cincinnati"
• Create a YouTube channel for your business or website and upload your videos to YouTube (which is owned by Google)
• On YouTube, include a link to your website in the video description and keywords in the "tags" section
• Submit a video sitemap or MRSS feed of your video content to Google so it can be indexed.  Get the details here.
• Try to get links to the video that include keywords on your site from external sites, for example you could link to the video from your Facebook page, blog, Twitter account, etc.

Benefits of Adding Video to Your Site:

• Adding a "face" or personality to your web presence that helps to alleviate the impersonal nature of the web
• More compelling content for your site visitors than plain text, let's face it watching a video is more fun than reading!
• Excellent way to present information that is hard to convey with just words
• Cost-effective way to add some style to your site and make your firm seem more impressive by standing out from the crowd

Upcoming Circuit Presentations on Social Media, Interactive Spending

The Circuit has a couple of presentations coming up related to Internet marketing you might want to attend.  To get more of the details and register online at The Circuit's website, simple click on the links below.

At the Regional Entrepreneur Forum this Friday May 15th Kevin Wilson, President of Kevin Wilson Public Relations and Chris Komnick, strategist for Redmark will be presenting "140 Characters to Define Your Success - Social Media Trend or Trap."

Next Thursday May 21st the Circuit's Breakfast Bytes meeting features Marty Boyle, Associate Director of Technology for Bridge Worldwide speaking on "Measuring Your Marketing Spend with Interactive." 

Bob Gilbreath of Bridge Worldwide to Speak on "Marketing with Meaning" at Cincinnati AMA Interactive SIG

The May meeting of the Cincinnati AMA Interactive SIG (Wednesday May 13th from 11:30 - 1:00 at Web Media Tools on 7th Street in Cincinnati) is going to be a great one as we are lucky to have Bob Gilbreath, Chief Marketing Strategist of Bridge Worldwide discussing his new book "Marketing with Meaning."

To help set the stage, here is a YouTube video of Bob discussing "Marketing with Meaning":

If you want to attend, PLEASE Register on the Cincinnati AMA website!!

Also, be sure to check out the Marketing with Meaning blog: http://www.marketingwithmeaning.com and follow Bob on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mktgwithmeaning

Do You Respond to Web Leads Quickly?

By now you've probably seen the YouTube video of Englishwoman Susan Boyle singing on the UK show "Britain's Got Talent" but if not, please check it out.

Adam Ostrow has written a great article on Mashable.com "Susan Boyle Video Profits:$0" that details how both YouTube and Britain's ITV, the company that holds the rights to the British TV show have missed a huge opportunity to monetize the millions of views of the video by squabbling over how to serve the ads.  Oops!  You would think they would have worked this out years ago, right?!

There is a lesson here for all online marketers and website owners.

When Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion, a lot of people questioned how Google could expect to make that money back.  Well the Susan Boyle phenomenon is an example of how Google could make the investment worthwhile, but instead they are dropping the ball through not having an effective strategy in place, poor customer service and not following up on sales leads.

I have personally attempted to contact YouTube's advertising department several times on behalf of clients who were interested in advertising and have yet to get a response.   

A colleague of mine who runs a web development firm in New York has had similar results.  After emailing YouTube and getting no response, he called Google directly and pleaded with the rep to have someone call him as he had a client that wanted to create a YouTube Channel.  The Google rep assured my colleague he would make sure someone got back to him...NOTHING.

You might be able to drive a lot of traffic to your website and persuade people to take the action of requesting information, but if you aren't responding to those leads quickly, all of the previous efforts are for nothing.  Bottom line: Make sure you are responding to web inquiries within a business day because you can be sure some of your competitors are.   

PS. I just filled out YouTube's advertising inquiry form again before posting this and will post a comment to let you know if they get back to me.

UPDATE: As of May 14th (16 days later) YouTube still has not responded to my web inquiry.  I guess they don't want my client's ad business.  

 

Online The Only Ad Channel Expected to Grow in 2009

The marketing research organization ZenithOptimedia Group has lowered their forecast for online advertising spending in 2009 but predicts online will be the only advertising medium where any growth is expected this year. 

Here is a Clickz article on the report and also one from Mediapost's Online Media Daily that goes into a little more detail. 

According to the Mediapost article, ZenithOptimedia attributed the Internet's strength compared to other media to "its accountability and innovation in ad formats" as well as the continuing success of search marketing. 

Breaking the U.S. predictions down by channel, search advertising is expected to grow 9%, with online classified ad growth at 1.8% and traditional display (AKA "banner" ads) expected to decline 1.8%.  Newer formats, such as video and online radio are growing more rapidly but represent a much smaller "piece of the online advertising pie".

I'm glad that both the accountability of online advertising and the continued growth in search marketing continue to get press, particularly with all the attention social media is getting lately.  While Twitter is the media darling these days, PPC and SEO search marketing just keep chugging along.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-social media, but being in the trenches each day developing online marketing strategies and managing ad campaigns for both B2C and B2B clients, I know what's working and PPC search, SEO, PPC banner campaigns, and house email campaigns are still the main tools of the trade that produce measurable results.   

April 24th Cincinnati AMA Seminar: Building Brands, Building Business

        

On Friday April 24th Wendy Vonderhaar of Intrinzic Marketing & Design is presenting a seminar for the Cincinnati chapter of the American Marketing Association on the topic "Building Brands, Building Business".

Seminar Description:

Your brand has to work for your business more than ever in these uncertain times. Customers are becoming more apprehensive. Suspicious, even. This means that if a brand is going to survive, it must exude authenticity in every communication. And with ever-decreasing budgets, you're faced with the added challenge of squeezing more out of every customer and prospect interaction. Join Intrinzic for a discussion on how to maximize every customer interaction and reaffirm the true character of your brand.

You'll learn how to:

• Conduct a simple brand audit among consumer touch points to determine how your brand will best connect with your best consumers
• Refine what your brand is-and what it isn't
• Build the right strategy to make a great brand that earns confidence and trust

The seminar is Friday April 24th from 8-10 AM (registration and network at 7:30) at Kenwood Towers, 8044 Montgomery Road.  The cost is $30 for AMA members and $45 for non-members for reservations made by April 21st.  Register Here on the Cincinnati AMA website.

The Czar will be there!!

Online Virtual Worlds at Friday's Cincinnati AMA Luncheon

Marketing Professor Glenn Platt of Miami University is the speaker at this Friday's Cincinnati AMA luncheon on the topic "Virtual is Now Real - Discover the Potential of Marketing's Next Dimension."

Prof. Platt will present an overview on virtual worlds, augmented reality and Second Life along with some successes and failures a few companies, such as Coke and Wells Fargo, have already experienced.  He’ll then discuss the promise and perils of virtual worlds, while having lunch with you in the real world.

You can get more of the details and register for the luncheon on this page of the Cincinnati AMA website.  The luncheon is this Friday from 11:30 - 1:15 at the Radisson in Covington.

This should be a great presentation, so I hope you can join me in attending this Friday.  Also, at this Friday's luncheon the leaders of the Cincy AMA SIG's (Shared Interest Groups) will be there to talk with you about the focus and meeting details for each SIG, so that's another great reason to come! 

See you Friday! 

Krista Neher Speaking on Online Brand and Reputation Management at Tomorrow's Word of Mouth SIG

Krista Neher will be speaking at the Cincinnati AMA Word of Mouth SIG tomorrow, Wednesday April 8th from 11:30 to 1:00 at Web Media Tools  (18 W. 7th Street, Third Floor in Cincinnati) on the topic "Online Brand and Reputation Management".  Here are the details... 

Whether you have a billion dollar brand or the brand of YOU, people are talking about you online, and you need to engage!  Marketers and individuals need to proactively develop, manage, track and monitor their brands online.  Brand management is a complex conversation on the Web. Traditional media, social media, blogs, forums, groups and even chat can leave you vulnerable if you are not involved.  This session will cover how to manage your brand online, tools and tips for tracking your brand and tips for engaging online (we'll also cover some case studies).  You'll walk away from this session with both the knowledge and the practical tools to take control of your brand online.

Krista Neher is an international speaker and the CEO of Marketess, a marketing consultancy that emphasizes the creative use of technology and social media to grow brands online.  Marketess provides strategic digital solutions for Fortune 500 companies, start-ups and small businesses.  Marketess brings a unique combination of traditional marketing skills and experience, technical knowledge as well as creative new marketing approaches with an emphasis on online and social media marketing.

Krista has deep roots in marketing having worked at Procter and Gamble for 5+ years in a career spanning sales, finance and marketing.  While at P&G Krista worked on the biggest brands and on some of the largest and most successful product launches.  Prior to Marketess, Krista was the VP Marketing for Photrade.com, a technology start-up where she successfully used branding, strategic marketing, technology and social media to grow the business.  Krista is an active blogger and social media enthusiast, blogging on technology, marketing, branding and social media.

The meeting is free for AMA members and $10 for non-members and if you plan on coming please register here on the Cincinnati AMA website

TechCrunch Report: Google In Talks to Acquire Twitter

Late Thursday Michael Arrington of TechCrunch reported Google is in talks to acquire Twitter, or at least develop a real-time search engine with Twitter. 

This is not a huge surprise given that Google has acquired a lot of companies over the years, including YouTube and the blogging platform Blogger from the co-founders of Twitter, Biz Stone & Evan Williams.     

Google has so much cash ($15 billion as of Q4 balance sheet, $7.8 billion operating cash flow) it can easily acquire Twitter without it hampering their business.  They could over-pay for Twitter and still not have too much to worry about with respect to weakening their financial footing. 

After Google bought YouTube a couple of years ago I was having lunch with a friend who said to me "They paid $1.8 billion!  How can they ever recoup that?''  I replied "You act like that's a lot of money, but it's not to Google.  They will make that back in a few weeks." 

Google's revenue for Q4 was $5.7 billion, so if they paid say $2 billion for Twitter, that's about one month worth of revenue.  No big deal to them.

As Arrington points out in his article, Google has done such an incredible job of monetizing search it has enabled them to stockpile loads of cash and buy up whatever new outlets spring up where they can serve even more ads (Blogger, YouTube, and soon Twitter). 

While social media gets all the hype these days, it is search that continues to provide the mechanism for publishers to monetize their content and for advertisers (like me and my clients) to drive traffic to websites and gain sales or sales leads efficiently.

Conquering The Online Advertising Universe with Google AdWords (It Isn't Just Search You Know!)

You are probably aware that Google AdWords three-line text ads (that look similar to search listings) appear on Google and other search engines above the organic, unpaid listings and along the right hand side of search engine results pages, like this Audubon Birds ad for my client Ship The Web:

But Google AdWords offers many other advertising options besides search engine text ads and I'm running multi-faceted online campaigns for several clients right now.  In fact, you can run a pretty broad online advertising program entirely through AdWords. 

Here is a quick rundown of some of the additional Google AdWords ad options:

• Text ads on Content Sites - You can run the same text ads on thousands of sites in Google's network, which is one of the largest in the industry.  The ads would be shown on pages with relevant content to the keywords you select, so for example if someone were to blog about Wild Republic's Audubon Birds the ad above might be displayed next to the post.

• Banner ads on Content Sites - If you have banner ads you can run them on content sites in the Google network that accept banner ads and you would pay the same price as with your text ads.  Don't have banners?  Google's Display Ad Builder will enable you to create simple banner ads yourself.   

• Text & Banner ads on Placements (Specific Content Sites) - Want to pick specific websites for your ads like The New York Times, MySpace or the Wall Street Journal?  No problem!  Google's Placement Tool will let you browse sites in their network by category, topic (keyword), URL or demographics and add them to your campaign.

• Local Business Ads - These ads are associated with a specific Google Maps business listing and appear in Google Maps with an enhanced location marker as well as on Google and content sites in a text only format.  Great for reaching people searching for a business in their area!  You can even upload your logo and additional information such as business hours.

• Mobile ads - Trying to reach users via their mobile phone?  Google offers text and graphic ads and you can choose to direct people to a regular website or a mobile website if you have one.

• Click to Play Video Ads - These are ads that allow you to display a static image which folks can click on to play a video right in the space of a regular banner and then click through to your website.  The kicker, like all of the other types of ads, you only pay if people click though to visit your site, so if someone watches the video but does not click through it doesn't cost you anything.

So as you can see, there are a lot of options available.  There are several advantages to running an online advertising program through AdWords, but the key advantages are the price savings and being able to manage and track your campaigns in one place. 

Since you are buying your advertising in AdWords and only paying for clicks (rather than for all the "impressions" or whenever your ad appears on a web page) and you are not having to negotiate a price with a sales rep from the content site directly, you'll more often than not pay much less.  In my experience the savings here can be HUGE!

Since you can log in 24/7 and see your all your ad results in one place and AdWords integrates very well with Google Analytics (you can link your accounts and view your site's Analytics data right in AdWords) it is much easier to manage multiple campaigns.

There's a quick snapshot of what you can do right now in Google AdWords.  I didn't go into a lot of detail due to this being a blog post, but if you have a question about something I have covered here or are interested in learning more about what might make sense for your business please leave a comment or call me at 937-312-1400 and I'll do my best to help you.         

Twitter Here, Twitter There, Twitter is Everywhere!

In case you have somehow missed it, the microblogging site Twitter has reached the "tipping point" and is exploding it popularity right now. According to this Mashable article "Twitter Now Growing at a Staggering 1,382 Percent", which cites a report from Nielsen Online, Twitter's year-over-year growth was 1382% in February, with over 7 million unique U.S. visitors.  Just about everywhere you look people are either using Twitter or talking about it.     

Of course, I, the friendly Internet marketing Czar, am on Twitter (you are welcome to follow me: http://twitter.com/robbunting) and on Monday, thanks to a tweet from fellow Twitterer ShannanB I joined a database list of Cincinnati area Twitterers and that list has quickly grown to over 100 folks. 

Of course Internet marketing and social media professionals are the "early adopters" of social media and most of us are into Twitter, but there are also lots of famous people in various walks of life using Twitter.  The list includes athletes (Shaq), actors (Rainn Wilson from The Office, Wil Wheaton) and comedians (Jimmy Fallon) just to name a few, twittering along with the media outlets reaching people with news, companies using Twitter to disseminate PR and for customer service and ordinary people staying connected with friends.

Twitter is a whole new mode of communication, not just a social media site.  Twitter and Facebook updates are in some ways replacing email and instant messaging, with people banging thoughts to each other during an event or discussing the hot topic of the day.  Want to see the hottest topics right now?  Simply check out the Trends button at the top of Twitter and see what people are saying in real time! 

If you haven't joined Twitter yet I encourage you to do so.  It's free and you don't have to post much at first or follow a whole bunch of people your first day if you choose not too, simply take your time, poke around and use it your own way at your own pace.  I have provided a few tips to folks in presentations and laid out a few basics in my previous post Twitter 101 but while I may post some more tips and Twitter resources in the future, I am not going to provide a list of "hard and fast rules" for Twitter.  This great post from Wil Wheaton's blog is recommended reading for folks new to Twitter with advice on following celebrities and understanding what to expect in following people. 

As a marketer, I would encourage you to think about what you want to achieve for your organization and develop a social media strategy.  Having at least a basic strategy will help guide how you use Twitter and other social media channels.   

 

Special Offer for Blog Readers: 50% off Search Marketing Standard

After my last blog post with online SEO resources my friend Kevin Gold over at iNet Interactive emailed me to make a great and generous offer to YOU, my blog readers: 50% Off a subscription to Search Marketing Standard magazine!

Yep, just visit the Search Marketing Standard website and on step two of the subscription process apply the coupon code (CINCY50) and you'll get 50% off the $29.95 subscription price. 

I subscribe to the magazine and can tell you each issue is full of excellent, informative articles by Kevin and other search marketing authors who know their stuff, so if you want to learn more about the latest trends and techniques in Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click advertising, link building and other forms of search engine marketing, this is a great deal.

My thanks to Kevin Gold for making us this offer.    

Online Search Engine Optimization Resources

This morning I was on a panel discussion regarding search engine optimization (SEO) and handed out a sheet with a list of SEO resources online and thought I'd also post them to the blog with a little more info.  If you are looking to learn more about SEO, check out the sites listed here, most of which have lots of great free information. 

Search Engine Land   Lots of articles and search industry news.

 

Search Engine Watch    Free columns on various SEO topics, part of ClickZ (www.clickz.com)

SEObook.com

SEOmoz.org

Search Marketing Standard     A quarterly print magazine ($29.95/year) but also has lots of great articles on their website.  This publication is owned by iNetInteractive in West Chester.

The Google AdWords Keyword Tool    Look up search volumes of terms in Google and find similar terms to build your keyword list.

Google Webmasters / Site Owners Help    Tips, including "Do's and Don'ts" straight from Google