Why social media consultants are bozos | Comparing social media to conversion optimization & closed loop marketing

Comparing the return on investment in social media to conversion optimization (or landing page optimization):

I would want an effective landing page, far more than I would want a great SEO strategy. Why?
1. Its a quicker process (15 to 30 days vs. 9+ months)
2. Its a bigger multiplier (if you’re getting a conversion rate of 1% now and you move that to 15 to 20%–thats HUGE).
3. Landing pages can be used in sales campaigns too, whereas search optimization only has value on the web.
4. The feedback loop for landing page optimization is better than for SEO.
5. SEO is still a black box, despite all the help from SEO Moz and various Software as Service providers in the SEO space.
6. SEO is competing with gray & black hat tactics–landing page optimization does not.
7. Google can shift its algorithm over night. Human psychology changes–but not that dramatically.
8. Landing page optimization can help copy in external communication campaigns.

Basically landing page optimization is science and can be A/B tested–SEO isn’t–it would be low on my priority list–except for getting coverage with large blogs.

I think e-commerce is the only web business which requires more SEO driven strategies. Even then, the large lift at the begining is likely to come from a combination of online one to one PR AND following SEO best practices.

Also, if you are a social strategist or online marketer this is how I would price my strategy services:

Gear your social media packages based on what you determine to be the clients goals.

1. Price by modules
2. Provide bronze, silver, & gold options
3. Provide packages which include training & those which include training & execution. Be specific about the ways you add value to framing their message, strategy, and saving them time.

You haven’t included anything about creating a landing page or an email campaign. Increasingly thats critical to creating a closed loop model of marketing for social media. Without getting user emails you are letting huge holes in your funnel leak. This is why Gary Vanerchuck is able to lob huge criticism at the social media community with some degree of truth.

As a caveat–I’m either going to do an external project OR re-brand here at Creative Fusion–given my understanding of this strategic orientation.

Best Online Training Programs for Internet Marketing (SEO, Social Media, and PPC)

To be true. I’m not really sure. I do know however that there are a handful that are trusted in the industry.

SEO Moz
SEO Book
Market Motive

In addition, the membership site Mixergy is quite helpful–its focused on the entrepreneurship and business side, which is quite helpful. Third Tribe Marketing is another, but I haven’t used any of their content, so I’m not qualified to make an assessment of the quality of their social media and internet marketing training.

Whose Talkin.com is Like Twitter Search 10x | Social Media Tool Review

Wow. Whose Talkin is real time search of multiple social media sites. It allows you to see where else the conversation is beyond blogs and Twitter. Its a fantastic tool for both content and community discovery.

Toyota’s Social Media: Swagger Wagon

Toyota’s Meet the Parents spot.

Breakdown of strategic social media marketing options

1) Listening (feedback)
2) Learning (input and filter and remembering process)
3) Facebook contextual ads
4) Facebook group/fan page
5) Search/SEO (Linkbuilding via social media PR and blogger relations, vertical search engines)
6) Content
7) Tracking metrics
8] Optional: Mobile
9) Optional: video and presentation content design and development
10) Optional: Pay per click management
11) Optional: Widgets
12) Optional: iPhone and mobile application development

Content, competitive intelligence, long tail keywords, and SEO
Conversion optimization, social proof, and marketing funnel

Best Nonprofit Social Media Presentations

Best Nonprofit Social Media Presentations

1) Beth Kanters presentations on slideshare. This is a robust library of available options.

2) 50 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits to Meet Their Missions

3) Social Media for Nonprofits: 26 Great Slideshare Presentations

Social Media for Nonprofits: Additional Resources

Mobile Active Strategy Guide for Using Mobiles Phones to Market Nonprofit Organizations

Social Media Governance

Nonprofits on Alltop

Facebook for Nonprofits on Delicious

Tennessean.com on Twitter and Social Media

The Tennessean has an interesting story on Twitter:

Students used to put tape on the tops of their mortarboards to message relatives during graduation.

Forget that old-school move.

Vanderbilt University is encouraging students to document today’s commencement on Twitter.com, a social network where users share their lives in bursts of 140 characters or less. But with or without formal sanctioning, there’s barely a life event that someone doesn’t post on Twitter or other networking sites. Church services, legislative sessions, marathons — all end up dissected into bite-size updates for public consumption.

“It’s shifted the way we think of sharing experiences,” said Vanderbilt student Jared Degnan. “It’s an incredibly valuable resource, allowing you to share our thoughts, our experiences with each other and gives you a wider lens. It’s becoming a natural tendency for students who are very used to living their lives online.”

Don’t get twitter and want to know more or understand how to use this new social communciation medium? Twitter explained in one word can get you started understanding and using twitter.

Ethical SEO Tips for Local Small Business

Interested ethical seo or social media and social marketing optimization?

Here is my ethical SEO presentation at Barcamp Birmingham. Here is the black and white version of my powerpoint deck I did for the informal unconference section of Barcamp Birmingham 2009. Its not pretty, but pretty information rich (aka useful) for the introductory or intermediate SEO. Although some of the tips I extemporaneously added that you don’t get here–despite all this I got a request to post the presentation and lots of complements. Enjoy this ethical search engine optimization goodness.

Feel free to link to the presentation here on my blog and embedded the code, which is available at Slideshare on your blog. Also, check out the rest of my local seo and ethical seo posts as well. Check out my ethical link development tips for bloggers. For those interested specifically in issues of local seo, you will want to check out the fantastic local seo tips and techniques. Also knowing your search ranking factors and local search ranking factors is a must.

Matt Cutts, who is head of web spam at Google and guru of search engine algorithms suggests that unethical and whats called grey hat and black hat techniques may be gone from Google the near future.

If you need help with search engine optimization or if you are a social media or search engine marketing firm in need of outsourcing your seo needs, feel free to contact me at (615) 974-9662

Social Media Metrics : Always be Testing

Social Media Metrics Presentation

Christian Music Marketing A to Z for Bands

Your Guide to Marketing Christian Music with Social Media for Bands

Marketing your Christian music whether it be independent or more mainstream Christian worship music, is increasingly much easier and inexpensive with the increasing ability to leverage social networking and consumer word of mouth. With the rise of web 2.0 technologies and social networking, now is a critical juncture to push your music marketing strategy forward as the music 2.0 proliferates.

Music 2.0: Behind the Looking Glass
Of course artists are flocking in droves to networks like MySpace, Facebook, and You Tube in an effort to gain an affordable platform to spread their music to the masses. With the global 24/7 distribution the internet allows its fertile market waiting to be tapped by creative, passionate, and entrepreneurial bands. However, the world of social media marketing for musical artists and creatives of all types is far, far more complex. Opening up the world of Music 2.0 is mushc like opening the world to find out what is behind the Looking Glass, as Alice did in the story Alice in Wonderland.

Tweeting Music, Melodies, and MP 3’s
What should we start with first? Perhaps, Twitter. Increasingly with major media outlets covering Twitter and both NBC and CNN twittering regularly, Twittering is not the fad some once thought it would be. In the context of music marketing and creating relationships, Twitter is an interesting place to connect with fans, but for the uninitiated can be hard to navigate.

So how do you use Twitter effectively? Two key ways to connect on twitter is to tweet about related artists and keywords around your artist. Also, Of course an equally direct method of reaching out on Twitter is using the @, which will show up in the person’s Tweet stream. The great thing about Twitter is it has mobile integration, so you can use it to connect with fans in a one to many in a way that other web platforms don’t allow you to do as readily. Finally, adding a creating and unique avatar and background to your Twitter profile can really help it stand out and get lots of visitors. Please realize, this is not an opportunity to follow 300+ people, because some folks may think you’re a multilevel marketer, or worse. On the flip side, people on Twitter are generally nice if you strike up a conversation or ask a question. However without directly engaging individuals, you may feel like you’re in an empty room.

Blogging the Music Experience: Behind the Music 2.0
Blogging is also getting very big, with seeming exponential growth in the last two to three years. Here are three quick technical tips about blogging. There are a couple ways to leverage blogging from a technical perspective. You will likely want to choose a WordPress or blogger blog. I happen to prefer WordPress, because it provides an easy to use content management system. You want to connect your blog to to a lifestream platform like Friendfeed, which will make it easier for your fans to follow you. You can even have your blog posts automatically to your Twitter, although not all people agree with this policy. Some find it to be a bit spammy, however it does make your life much, much easier.

Video Sharing Killed the Radio Star
However, to stop there is to miss the boat on the rise in Music 2.0 with video sites like Last.Fm, Vimeo, Metacafe and Viddler. In addition to mainstream music video sites you have God tube, which recently became Tangle, which has a section just for music artists. Artists are using these websites in innovative ways to connect with music listeners in a deeper and more meaningful way. And consequently, if the fans like the music, they can easily spread it and share it with their friends.

Music Innovation 2.0
One website thats intended to be a platform for spreading and selling music is Noise Trade. Noise trade was founded on the principle that most music is made via concerts and most music available online is free already. Noise trade allows you to download music for free, if you share it with your friend. This ensures the artist is happy because they gets social capital and a wider audience and the fan gets free music.

Music Marketing Meets the Real World
If you’re in the Christian marketing business, you will probably be checking out:

Teachers and speakers include: Indieheaven President, Keith Mohr, Sue Ross of The Inner Vizion, mainstream music guru Bob Baker of The Buzz Factor, Rick Cua, Tom Jackson, Robert Beeson of The Kindred Group, Eric Copeland of Creative Soul, Brad Mathias of Infinity Music Distribution, with many more to come!

Also planned for the days leading up to the CIA Summit, Tom Jackson will share his vast knowledge of live performance tips in a special one day seminar on March 26, 2008. On March 27, 2008, CMS Productions will hold their 2nd annual Nashville Songwriters Bootcamp, with Charlie Peacock and representatives from the CCM industry including EMI, Provident, Integrity and others. Songwriters will have their songs critiqued, and learn about the craft of writing from a seasoned panel of industry pros.

This should be a great opportunity for learning, networking, and enjoying the Music city. If you want to learn more about music social media, feel free to contact me.

What’s so great about Twitter?

How is Twitter useful for business communication? What’s the big deal with Twitter?

This video from Darren Rowse gives several answers about why Twitter is so valuable and unique.

What’s so great about Twitter for social communication?
Evan Williams, Twitter’s co-founder and CEO, at TED conference

How Can I Use Twitter to Make My Life Better?
I think in the business context Twitter makes sense to 1) link up people at a conference. This intensifies the conference experience dramatically. 2) for internal communication 3) to listen to and connect with influentials in your industry 4) for event planning, event management to publish mobile alerts and updates 5) to publish specials via mobile. 6) better research and journalism. 7) you can use twitter for marketing, but its really best for networking and relationship building. I think recruiters have a tremendous advantage as do trusted travel brands. If you’re prime purpose for Twitter is marketing, you may want to take a step back.

Two Caveats
Slowly growing your twitter following based on who you find interesting and what subjects you are passionate about is probably the best route. En masse following tons of people with an interest in trying to market to them will likely prove 100% ineffective and is likely to waste your time and theirs, because they have to be interested in what you are tweeting about.

Second, you may want to set up an automatic twitter follower. This will auto-follow anyone who follows you. This saves you a massive amount of time. If they ultimately prove uninteresting or annoying, you can easily unfollow them at a later date.

Wisdom of the crowds and crowd sourcing with Twitter
Ultimately, between Linked in Answers, Twitter, and niche Ning sites you can find what the wisdom of the crowd is on an issue. Who is the best x? Where can I find x? Increasinly the web 2.0 space in mobile is also looking to fill this niche need.

So what’s so great about Twitter?

Travel 2.0: Hotel and Travel Social Media Examples

I’ve included a handful of big brand hotel and travel social media campaigns. Hotels and tropical destinations are increasingly looking to social media like blogs, social networking communities, video, and social review sites like Yelp as a way to connect with potential travelers. Travelers are also increasingly looking online, instead of toward mass media like television and print media to find sources. We’ve officially entered the era of travel 2.0. As traditional news paper and print media scramble, it looks at though we are at the tipping point of a new era in communications comparable to the dawning of the printing press. Hopefully this can help you to see and understand the social media marketplace when it comes to airline, hotel, and destination marketing:

Avis Car Rental
• We Try Harder Blog

Best Western Hotels
• Go With Amy Blog

British Airways
• Metrotwin Community: New York and London
• Microblogging with Twitter

Carnival Cruise Lines
• Carnival Connections Social Networking Community

Delta Airlines
• Under the Wing
• Several Video Travel Guides on their You Tube Channel and published on the blog (3 to 4 minutes in length)
• Flickr Photostream

Hotel Indigo
• Hotel Indigo Widget

Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts
• Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts

Jet Blue
• Internal Communications: Social Network to Drive Web 2.0 Communication Initiatives
• Microblogging with Twitter
• Flickr Pool

Marriott
• Bill Marriot’s CEO Blog

National Geographic
• Photography Widget
• Facebook Widget
• Community Forums

Park City Mountain Resort
• Park City Blog
• Park City Twitter

Southwest Airlines
• “Nuts about Southwest” Blog
• Ding Widget which delivers travel discounts
• Southwest Airlines Flickr Group

Starwood Hotels
• The Lobby Blog

Virgin America
• Virgin America Community
• Virgin America Twitter
• Richard Branson blog

Thanks to Peter Kim who compiled the original social media marketing examples list of large companies and brands in all market niches. As an aside, I didn’t include all the National Geographic social media properties, because its not a traditional travel oriented company even though its contents covers similar issues.

What travel and hotel social media campaigns belong on the list?