Demystifying social media - McKinsey Quarterly - Marketing & Sales - Digital Marketing Executives certainly know what social media is. After all, if Facebook users constituted a country, it would be the world’s third largest, behind China and India. Executives can even claim to know what makes social media so potent: its ability to amplify word-of-mouth effects. Yet the vast majority of executives have no idea how to harness social media’s power. Companies diligently establish Twitter feeds and branded Facebook pages, but few have a deep understanding of exactly how social media interacts with consumers to expand product and brand recognition, drive sales and profitability, and engender loyalty. We believe there are two interrelated reasons why social media remains an enigma wrapped in a riddle for many executives, particularly nonmarketers. What we hope to do here is to demystify social media. In short, today’s chief executive can no longer treat social media as a side activity run solely by managers in marketing or public relations. The social consumer decision journey
Google Reviews Ads, Websites & Advertiser Accounts to Combat Bad Ads A couple of weeks ago, Google was facing scrutiny from lawmakers over their human trafficking ads policy. In response, Google has now shed a little more light on some of the systems it uses to prevent bad ads from showing up on Google’s search results pages. We all know that Google doesn't allow malicious ads, bad downloads, counterfeit goods, or ads with unclear billing practices. In order to combat these types of scam/illegal ads and human trafficking ads, Google uses a combination of automated systems and human input to review the billions of ads submitted to Google each year. Google attempts to eliminate ad spam via what it calls a three-pronged strategy, where ads, websites, and advertiser accounts are reviewed. By looking at all three elements, it's more likely Google can detect problems. Google states that: "... this three-pronged approach looks for patterns that would flag ... a site and help prevent ads from showing. Ad Review Website Review Account Review
There Is No Single Best Measure of Your Customers - Thorsten Wiesel, Peter C. Verhoef, and Evert de Haan by Thorsten Wiesel, Peter C. Verhoef, and Evert de Haan | 10:11 AM July 11, 2012 Single-question customer metrics have become very popular. Companies all have their favorites. Some go for the traditional Customer Satisfaction measure, others the now famous Net Promoter Score. The most recent addition to this panoply is the increasingly popular Customer Effort Score, which tracks the amount of time and effort that customers have to put into solving after-sales problems. Each claims to be the one metric that managers need to measure, monitor, and act on, because it promises a better correlation with business performance than any other existing measure. So which of these is actually the best? But the picture is rather different if you correlate the three measures with customer loyalty. What’s the Best Customer Measure? What accounts for these huge differences? The takeaway from his comparison is that you need to be very careful what you use your metrics for.
Why Social Media Doesn't Work (and What You Can Do About It) Time to face reality: Marketing and advertising are a lot harder to do today than ever before. Half of consumers don't trust print ads or television commercials, and fewer still trust what they hear on the radio. And consumer trust level is even worse for direct mail and outdoor advertising. What's the No. 1 trusted source of advertising? It's no small wonder that marketers have fixated on social media as the solution. Engagement DB, which studied the world's 100 most valuable brands, found that the level of those brands' engagement with their consumers via social media correlates with revenue. No wonder Nike's chief marketing officer, Davide Grasso, once noted, "Facebook is the equivalent for us to what TV was for marketers back in the 1960s. Others also took the hint and made social media a priority for their marketing teams. The reason for the lack of results is familiar. It's as though marketers have forgotten what makes marketing and advertising really work in the first place. 1.
What's In a Word? The Critical Role of SEO for Business Growth Marthe types the word “Melkeallergi” into Google.no, searching for information about a health condition she’s worried about. In her discussion group for Norwegian school moms, one parent suffered from stomach cramps just like she did, and mentioned the diagnosis of “milk allergy“. “Could this be what I have, too?” Marthe wondered, and decided to find out. Where’s the problem? If she had searched using the term “Laktoseintoleranse”, Marthe would have found different information – and avoided an incorrect diagnosis. Hundreds of mothers throng Google because they want the best for their children. The information they find, even if wrong or misleading, gets shared in dinner-table conversation, or in casual chit-chat with friends. How Keywords, Content & SEO Can Shape Societal Shifts Companies must fight myths with the correct information. Just like any other business in any industry, a company like TINE faces the irksome problem of unique myths spreading in the community such as these:
Analytics: How to Get Clients to Track the Correct Metrics In an ideal world everybody uses analytics tools in a way that ensures that conversionsleadssalesROI get tracked and both client and SEO can see where the most valuable visitors come from and how SEO efforts contribute to the overall success of a site. Sadly, in reality it’s not always as easy to accomplish. In recent years many clients of mine (not SEOptimise clients), even some having good knowledge of SEO themselves, have failed to establish and provide a working measurement system for the long term SEO campaign. I’ve seen a lot of great resources on how to measure ROI or prove the value of SEO. It doesn’t suffice to know how when you can’t make the client track the correct metrics according to the highest standards though. As an SEO consultant I don’t do everything myself so that clients and their employees have to perform tasks I recommend them. Analytics often seems to be a low priority. You don’t have to give up yet though. That’s only half the story though.
5 Social Media Tips for Finding and Engaging Your Target Audience: New Research Do you know where your customers and prospects spend time online? Marketers have long relied on market research to determine where to spend their advertising dollars on television, radio and print advertisements. In the last few years, research organizations have begun providing intelligence on how consumers behave on social networks. The following article is based on new social media research studies. These findings will help you better strategize your company’s social efforts to match your customers’ behaviors. #1: Know Where Your Customers Spend Their Time Three recent research studies show active Internet users spend anywhere from 16% to nearly 25% of their online time on social networks. In comScore’s 2012 U.S. If trends continue, social networks will soon surpass Internet portals like AOL and Yahoo! Nielsen recently released the State of the Media: U.S. Note the significant differences between this Nielsen study and comScore's. PQ Media found the average U.S. Key Lesson: Case Study
Q&A: The ICO's Dave Evans on EU cookie law compliance With the EU e-Privacy Directive's compliance 'deadline' just a month away, many businesses are wondering not only what they should do about it, but also how the law will be enforced by the ICO. While working on our EU cookie law guide, I spoke to Dave Evans, Group Manager for Business & Industry at the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). I asked how actively the law would be enforced, the likely penalties for non-compliance, and whether implied consent solutions would be acceptable. What was the thinking behind the EU e-Privacy Directive? It’s important to remember that the cookies rule is just part of a law aimed at safeguarding privacy online and protected web users from unwanted marketing. Organisations providing content are obtaining information about users and people have started to become more aware of the sophisticated techniques being used for internet marketing. Legislators left it broad, and there was no steering on cookie issues. We will enforce the law proportionately.
Ten Ways to Show Inbound Marketing ROI with Multi-Channel Funnels - Marketing for Squarespace Blogs - Big Picture Web - Often, people find you through blogs, social media and other forms of inbound marketing, but don't buy from you that day. When they do come back and do business with you, your inbound marketing channel may not get the credit it deserves for its role in the sale. As a result, inbound marketing ROI often tends to be understated. That is, until Google rolled out Multi-Channel Funnels last week. Rejoice all those who love great content, then take a look at these ten ways to show inbound marketing ROI with Multi-Channel Funnels from Google Analytics. Many Roads Lead to Rome (and Conversion) Inbound marketing may not always be the channel that converts, but it's often responsible for paving the way to new business. Here are ten ways to use Google's new Multi-Channel Funnels to illustrate the rich interactions inbound marketing creates and to show inbound marketing ROI. 1. The new Multi-Channel Funnels work right out-of-the-box with your existing goals from your Google Analytics account. 2. 3.
How to Automate Your Social Activities Are you looking to simplify management of your social activities? If so, then Ifttt is for you. Don’t be put off by Ifttt’s crazy name. This is one handy tool that you should definitely know about. Ifttt stands for “If this, then that,” which is a very basic way of explaining the site’s whole premise. With very little effort on your part, Ifttt will connect your online accounts and services to create triggered events. Ifttt lets us common people work with scary Internet codes like APIs without ever knowing it. So for example, you might set an RSS feed of local news to trigger an event any time your hometown is mentioned. Each recipe can be searched, shared and used by anyone on Ifttt. Personally, I believe Ifttt is incredibly useful if you use it right. Here are some examples of how Ifttt does do the drudgework for you and saves you time and energy. Share Everywhere If you manage multiple social media accounts, you’ll appreciate the ease of linking them together. Manage Social Media
Google Plus: 6 Things You Don't Know About the Search Giant's Social Media Tool Here's one of my current favorite hobbies: I sit down with potential clients, toss out a reference to Google+ and wait for the inevitable reply--that “it’s never going to make it” or “we don’t believe in it.” Then I slowly shake my head, take a breath, and reveal what Google isn’t telling you about the importance of their social push. 1. It’s not a social network. You read that correctly. Google+ as a social network was a Trojan horse to introduce the “+1 Button,” and that matters a great deal, because we are seeing it everywhere from organic and paid listings to blog posts, product listings and YouTube videos. More data means better targeting, which in turn makes Google more money. 2. Google says that adding +1 button integration to your web site won’t directly affect your rankings, but that is misleading. Here’s how: Mike clicks a +1 button, essentially indicating a “social endorsement” of a particular product or site. This has a triple-whammy positive effect: 3. 4. 5. 6.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Measurement The late Mike Hammer always delivered the unexpected in a strong voice with an intelligent edge that woke you up. When we coauthored Reengineering the Corporation, I discovered that no partner could have been more insightful, more probing into the behaviors of companies and their managers. Mike also had a great talent for metaphor. He said that inefficiencies were like fat marbled into a piece of meat, and that to get costs out you had to grind up the company and fry out the fat. That metaphor never made it into our first book. I told Mike that executives wouldn’t respond well to the notion of treating their companies so brutally. But that didn’t stop Mike from being a radical thinker, always challenging the way things are done. — Jim Champy Excerpted from Chapter 2 of Faster, Cheaper, Better: The 9 Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done Vanity. A far better metric would be performance against customer request date.
3 Steps to an Effective Social Media Strategy Do you have a social media strategy for your business yet? If you don’t, you could be missing out on game-changing results. According to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 78% of marketers saw increased traffic with just six hours a week invested in social media. The businesses that do social media marketing well will see even bigger wins in 2012, as the gap between who “gets it” and who doesn’t grows wider by the minute. The good news? As Michael Stelzner predicted, “The old mantra of ‘be everywhere’ will quickly be replaced with ‘be where it matters to our business.’ Below is a three-step plan designed to help you develop an effective, streamlined road map for social media success. Step #1: Assessment Start with a single question: “Why social media?” Put Your Audience First First things first: You need to clarify your audience’s needs, wants and challenges—not to mention where they’re spending time online. The five major benefits of knowing your audience are considerable: