You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘branding’ tag.
By: Alex Fernandez
Internet Marketing Specialist
One of the most fundamental marketing lessons I took away from my days at Florida Gulf Coast University with Dr. Ludmilla Wells, was this principle: “You CANNOT market in a vacuum,” meaning that there will always be external factors, such as competition, environmental factors, industry trends, etc., that you will have to adapt to. Simply ignoring these factors can render a great idea absolutely useless.
The topic I want to address today is building a brand with online competition and SEO in mind, or “Branding for SEO”. One of our specialties at Pushing the Envelope is establishing online presences for our clients, whether it’s building them a website, landing page, social media account, or online directory listing. However, often times we will find that the client hasn’t considered online competition when they built their brand, as if search engine ranking pages (SERPs) and Internet marketing in general was an afterthought.
Internet marketing and search engine marketing is not the “wave of the future” as it is often tritely described. Internet marketing and search marketing is NOW. I would even go further to say that mobile marketing is also NOW. These mediums should be the first consideration for anyone that is creating a new brand. A few questions you should ask:
What are your domain options?
- A costly domain isn’t usually a great move for a start-up.
What are the top three results for each keyword or key phrase you are targeting?
- These are your search engine competitors, which could vary greatly from your offline competitors.
How active are your search engine competitors online and on social media channels?
- It might behoove you to find ways to be different and avoid an uphill battle from the start.
These questions might seem uber-simple, but they can save you thousands of dollars in time and web development costs, which will make you more profitable long-term. Here are a few principles to follow when branding for SEO:
Check the search results first!
Whenever I have idea for a new website, the first thing I do is see if anyone has come up with a similar or better idea before me. As brilliant as we like to think we are, the law of large numbers will always prompt me to perform a quick benchmark search inquiry. Why? Because if I thought of it, there is a high probability that a large number of people before me thought of it, too.
To illustrate let’s say you type in the prospective brand name and you see several other companies doing business under that name. Perhaps all but one company are doing business in a different industry. You are going to look at the one search competitor within your industry, and click through to their website, blog and social media. Is everything well designed, up to date, creative, content-laden, etc.? Will you be in direct competition with them? If so, you might want to rethink starting off with an uphill battle.
Own your brand on the major search engines.
Another concept of branding for SEO is owning as much of the web under your brand name as possible. Search for popular business directories such as DMOZ, BOTW, etc. – there are thousands of others. Then add your company information, keywords, links, any information they will allow you to include. Each new directory you setup for your business will generate an additional backlink to your business.
Another step to take is local SEO, if your business is a brick and mortar company with specific locations. You can place additional listing for your business on popular local search and user review websites, such as yelp, MerchantCircle, Trip Advisor, YP, superpages, and more.
The end result is your business “owning” the SERPs for your brand keywords. If you type your brand into Google, you want more than just #1 – you want 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and so on.
Grow your brand without destroying it.
To illustrate this – think about the “New Coke” crisis that the Coca-Cola Company had in the 1980s. By creating a new beverage and discontinuing the old beverage, they essentially alienated their customers and abandoned the brand equity of Coca-Cola Classic.
This is a great way to think about branding for SEO. It’s important as your company grows, to keep in mind that you should never abandon the brand equity that you have built. It can take multiple years for some companies to reach number one for their targeted keywords – only for them to decide that they want to change their brand name. Make sure your brand strategy is clearly defined before changing your online presence.
You might want to add a brand extension, or create a separate website for your parent brand, rather than changing your current name in order to avoid unnecessary losses. For example, SC Johnson is the parent brand for Windex, which has a dedicated landing page for it’s Windex Outdoor Shine product. Each of these company names work together to create brand equity, without detracting from one another.
If you have questions about how you should go about launching your next big idea, or if you want to grow your brand without losing your brand’s equity, please contact us! We’re here to help you succeed.
Like this:
By now you probably know that there’s a new social network in town, and it’s not going away any time soon. Google+ has been hyped throughout the blogosphere as “the next big social network”. Some have even gone as far as calling “better than Facebook”.
So, should we freak out just yet? We all know that upstart social media websites can come and go like the wind… But this one is Google, and grew to over 10 million users in just 16 days, compared to the approximately 800 days it took Twitter or Facebook to reach the 10 million mark.
So why are people flocking to Google+? From what we’ve seen so far, it might be for good reason. Google+ has some very flattering traits:
Smart UI. It has a delightfully simple user interface. You log in, and there is a scarcity of crap. Google + is clean and easy to navigate. The “Circles” feature serves two purposes: sharing the right information with the right people, and viewing only the kind of information you want to view. Now you can share bad humor with your college buddies and not with your mom!
- Initial thought: IF Google+ becomes a behemoth like Facebook – and that’s still a big if – the Circles feature will force any marketer on Google+ to develop nothing but awesome content, or it will never be seen. This is because users can easily filter their activity by Circles. If they don’t want to see your boring, sales-y posts – they won’t.
Instant ubiquity. It’s a Google platform, and integrates with [most] other Google platforms seamlessly. Gmail, Google Talk, Google Reader, Google News, Google Calendar, and now Google+: All accessible and sharable with one login. You’ll notice the Google navigation bar received a facelift recently. The newly added “Share” button allows you to share any content viewed on any Google platform in Google+.
- Initial thought: This allows for super convenient and super rich posts! Check out this example: This person is sharing their location with Google Check-ins, with along with a Google Map, and a picture, right from their Google phone.
Unique features. Case in point: Hangouts. Essentially, Hangouts is a platform for spontaneous video chats. With hangouts, you can broadcast to any of your circles that you are up for hanging out. Up to 10 people can join in at one time, and share text, their screens, and YouTube videos. Other very notable features include Huddle (for texting in real time with a group of people) and Sparks (Google’s new “social media reader”).
- Initial thought: These are all great – but are people going to “get it”? Younger generations that have grown up on MySpace and Facebook might thrive on this technology, but will this be tech-overload for the masses?
Speed bumps for the future… There ARE some minuses when it comes to Google+.
- For one, the most recently updated content rises to the top of the stream, no matter what it is. We’ve all seen the annoying Facebook posts that have 957 comments, and this is the kind of post that Google+ will keep right at the top of your stream!
- Also, there’s no stream search? Seriously?! The worlds most popular search company didn’t build a stream search into their social network?
- Also, it’s silly how many steps it takes to send a private message to someone. I won’t go into detail, just trust me.
- And no YouTube integration? The new navigation bare and share button would be way cooler if it were on YouTube as well.
- Lastly, although the Google+ team HAS addressed the issue: There are no business pages, and no marketing tools for businesses – yet.
Despite the minuses, and the uncertainty of any social network’s future, Google+ is an exciting new online experience for us to partake in. The best part about it, in this social media guy’s experience, is that other social networks (ehem… Facebook!) will certainly have to up their game in order to compete. So, whether Google+ succeeds or not – the Internet will become a better place for all users because of it.
Check it out for yourself, at plus.google.com.
This is part 3 of our 3 part series covering lessons learned and tips gathered at the recent FPRA Annual Conference.
Failure to plan is planning to fail.
Peter Hollister, APR, Fellow PRSA, CPRC of Hollister, Trubow & Associates, offered a lecture on strategic communications during the conference. Before you start yawning (no offense Mr. Hollister), as we all know strategy talk can sometimes be dry, this was a powerful presentation.
First of all, there has to be an understanding that communications plans (or really any marketing plans) must have a long range view that relates to the company or organization’s brand and branding efforts. Additionally, we have to “get” that this not something that will be developed then put on a shelf or adhered to the same way now as it will be 5 years or even 2 years. With the ever changing media and communication landscape, we have to move forward and design our strategic plans in such a way that they are flexible and a living document.
- Strategic Planning vs Long Range Planning
- A strategic plan does not have an ending. It’s a dynamic, living thing. Components within have an ending, but not the plan.
- A strategic plan has evaluation built into it. Benchmarks, etc. so you can tell as you go along if you are making the expected progress.
- Strategic planning is participative. You must be involved in it, not invite an organization in and hire them to do it.
“Strategic management provides guidance, direction & boundaries for operational management.” – George A. Steiner Strategic Planning
A strategic plan encompasses all aspects of an effort or initiative and is people and customer centered. This is of the utmost importance! Now, with social media and consumer driven/derived media we (communicators) are considering this more. Before there was a push mentality.
We would push information out. Send our messages where we thought our target audiences were. Now, we can ask them. Listen and find out what they want and communicate WITH them, not AT them. It’s really relationship management. We have to be constantly thinking about ENHANCING RELATIONSHIPS.
Every strategic plan must take this into account. And, as Mr. Hollister pointed out, this change in thinking and way of designing a strategic plan explains what PR and communications is and does for those not in our industry.
Mr. Hollister’s Strategic Thinking Process:
- Why are we considering this tactic?
- What is the key message?
- Who are the key audiences?
- Will this activity respond to an objective?
- Will this activity respond to a relationship goal?
- Will this activity enhance the mission?
- Are there resources available?
The checklist above is so simple, but so powerful. If we could learn to apply these questions, as a vetting system per say, to each strategic plan our industry and our clients would be far better for it.
8 Characteristics of a Good Strategic Communications Plan
- It is participative (not just you or the PR director, but HR, sales, IT & the CEO)
- It is dynamic
- It is flexible
- It is audience-driven
- It combines the best of PR and Marketing
- It contains a mix of strategy and tactics
- It is measurable
- It is do-able
Consider these guidelines and checklists the next time you put together a strategic plan. They will help I guarantee, but the bottom line is, you’ll be better prepared and stand to offer a better value to your client(s).
Social media is about engagement and relationships, but often times as marketers and
businesses using these tools it comes down to the metrics. How can we quantify the time spent on tweets and posts? How can we monitor so many different networks?
While we could go on for days, there’s one tool we use that I would recommend to get you started. Enter Social Mention. Self described as “like Google alerts but for social media,” Social Mention is handy and easy to use.
And did I mention it’s also FREE?
Here’s a step-by-step on how to set up an account and get started tracking.
- Visit www.socialmention.com
- Click “Create an Alert” (blue button)
- Enter your search phrase (be specific so you get more targeted results – like Google searching – but don’t make it so narrow that nothing comes up. Consider adding geography and quotation marks)
- Select the type of mentions you want to monitor. I would advise selecting “all” to start with. If you want to narrow it down later, you can.
- That’s it! You’re done and you’ll start receiving daily email digests of all the social mentions for your specific keywords.
P.S. You can also elect to have mentions sent to you via RSS feed – keep in mind when you first set this up it will dig for quite a while to pull all social media mentions – even going back to 2007 or older so your folder/feed by get full quickly in the beginning.
Other social media and online network sites and monitoring tools that could be of use:
- Google Alerts – social mention, but for the rest of the Internet
- Twitter Search – are people talking about your business, industry, area – you?
- Yelp – who’s writing reviews about your company or competitor?
- Digg – are people saving articles about your industry or business?
Are you "spraying & praying" (your message) or strategically using PR?
From Praecere Public Relations’ blog “Aesthetic”, comes 5 PR myths debunked… For those of you reading this and working in the industry you’ve undoubtedly heard these (some or all) before.
For people on the other side of the fence, I hope these statements have never crossed your mind or worse, left your lips!
- “PR is a waste of money.”
Since when is it a bad thing to have your company/organization positively portrayed in the media editorially? This doesn’t happen by accident. It by skilled (PR) design and strategy. As Aesthetic’s writer points out, “Business owners can easily forget that even customer word-of-mouth is actually good publicity by another name.”
- “Once I get a good spot of PR I can go back to laughing all the way to the bank.”
Spot advertising doesn’t work, that’s why people run campaigns, so why would anyone think that one-off PR efforts would? Consistency and maintenance are key components to all communication plans. The bottom line – “Good public relations means never taking your eye off the ball – or tweets, Facebook page, chattering class or whoever is talking about you.”
- “My product/service/awesomeness will generate press all on its own.”
Isn’t this what all business owners/organization leaders would LOVE to believe? Their sheer coolness will garner all the positive press they could ever dream of. Good luck with that. “If you’re not on the radar of reporters and bloggers covering your industry, then you should consider professional (PR) advice on how to get there,” pointed out Praecere.
- “I went to law school/I kick ass on Jeopardy/I always win arguments; therefore, I will control/intimidate/steamroll any reporter interviewing me.”
Just as a business owner has the drive to make a sale or close a deal, a reporter is the same way. They are out for the story and for soundbites that they can make into something useful. While most are ethically inclined and not out for blood, there are the occasional over-aggressive journalists who will twist your words to fit their story angle if you aren’t careful and prepared. Even the most eloquent speakers stumble from time to time. If you haven’t had proper media training by a PR professional, it would be advisable – before you get in a sticky situation.
- “How hard can it be to write an op-ed/letter-to-the-editor/press release?”
Everyone has experienced some moment in life when they attempted to do something that didn’t LOOK that hard, but it turned out to be rather challenging. The same thing could be said for someone untrained in PR attempting to address stakeholders, customers, potential customers, etc. with an effective and engaging message.
Each item distributed to the media must reflect the brand/company and lead to positive action. If it isn’t written correctly or formatted/spell checked, etc. a reporter could overlook it or delete it. So often we hear from potential clients and clients that they wrote something up and sent it to the paper, but couldn’t understand why it didn’t run. They thought it was easy and learned otherwise.
What do you think? Agree, disagree, have comments? Leave them… we would love to hear from you!
This is the third and final posting of notes from the SoFresh Conference in Tampa last month. This information is from Cassandra Jeyaram, PhD. with IHG and Maggie Fox of the Social Media Group. While they did not present together, their commentary fit well together, so we decided to simplify and put them together.
Both women shared the same ideal – Social Media is a science. You don’t just throw it all out and see what happens. You have to have a strategy with measurable and achievable objectives.
Cassandra Jeyaram, PhD for InterContinental Hotels Group
The top things Cassandra encouraged attendees to consider before posting anything to any social media outlet was:
- People: Who is in your audience? Are you writing for them? If not, you should be.
- Objectives: What do you want to achieve? Consider your posts a means to an end and write them accordingly.
- Strategy: How can you reach the target audience? Not everyone is on Twitter, are you posting to the right place?
- Technology: Which social media deliver on these criteria? Again, go back to your strategy.
In considering these things, take the time to research and develop a strategy. Rushing into using social media will only end in half-baked attempts to gain followers/fans. It won’t develop long-term results, which is the key. Social media isn’t about one offs. Those don’t work in this medium. It’s about building the relationship before the selling.
Maggie seconded this by saying, “Test and refine, don’ just throw content at them and hope that it sticks,” going back to the strategy quotient. What do you want to accomplish? Once you figure that you can set measurable metrics/goals.
We have to acknowledge our “social media ecosystem,” where everything about you/the company is NOT necessarily created BY you. This naturally relates to Maggie’s later point that “Brands have to think of themselves as media. You have channels, communication tools.” Are you leveraging all your channels (podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, blog, etc.)?
A prime example of doing this well is “IHG Confidential,” a series of private online communities. This select database of ultra-loyal IHG customers offers a true representation or demographic of who their customers are. IHG leverages these relationships to ask them about upcoming promotions, get general input, etc.
Engage and save money. These should be two goals for every social media marketer. IHG’s example was the use of members’ pictures. Not only did it give the member a sense of pride and membership, but it also made visitors feel like they too could take that picture or visit that location. The added bonus was an increase in revenue. By using pictures from IHG Confidential members they experienced a 24% incremental lift in revenue.
Maggie also reminded the audience that the content we put on various social media platforms becomes editorial. It’s not advertising anymore. It has an expiration date. It will have high read-throughs and clicks for a while, then it will drop off. We MUST have a plan to post fresh material regularly.
In the end, it’s all about relationships. We have to find the people that matter the most to us/the company and give them an incredible experience with the brand, coaches Maggie.
There’s a new phrase in town – word-of-mouse. Not sure what that is? I know someone who’s willing to tell you – for free.
David Meerman Scott
Compliments of the ever-talented David Meerman Scott. here’s a juicy PDF with details on Viral Marketing. Based on his book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, which I also recommend you read, it explains word-of-mouth vs. word-of-mouse and how powerful they can be.
Packed with case studies and TONS of ideas to benchmark and leverage in your business, I highly recommend you read it.The man has been written about by over 500 bloggers, his eBooks downloaded more than 250,000 times – he MUST have something useful for you in there…
It’s free. It’s only 34 pages. You have no excuse. Download it now! Viral_Marketing
We break from our reporting of Social Fresh to bring you a very helpful, FREE document. It’s the “Definitive Guide to B2B Social Media” by Marketo. Read it. Learn from it. Share it.
Click image to go to online document
Enjoy.
Here’s the second set of notes from our recent trip to Tampa for Social Fresh (@sofresh). These are lessons from GM’s Chris Barger (@cbarger) as he discussed how the automotive giant used social media to listen and engage consumers as a part of crisis management communications.
They created temporary extended social media team and engaged in multiple social networks and platforms. Their team of 3-5 went to 12 and were tasked with going to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. and listening and telling audiences they were there and ready to answer questions, then following through.
At the same time, Chris and his team ensured traditional media knew of their efforts. Some local TV stations even put the GM twitter feed on their screen during broadcasts. Anytime an exec was giving a live interview, someone was tweeting it and sending out all the questions and answers.
Lesson #1 – You can’t over Communicate
- For general engagement & “normal” business, it’s better to strategize & choose right channels for your goal
- In a crisis, answering as many questions as possible and letting people know you’re listening is vital – both because those affected expect it, and because it introduces your perspective into the conversation – so a broad, all-platforms approach is most effective
Reaching out to influencers: Chris sent out the complete social media/communications plan to the likes of Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), etc. telling them it was coming out the next day and asking them to watch. ALL of them wrote about it because it was a great case study, happening live.
Lesson #2 – Let others tell your story
- Others will be interested in how you handle your crisis from a social media perspective. So tell them, and let them tell others.
- We didn’t contact anyone in hopes that they would turn into an advocate. We just wanted them to tell the story – and knew that the story would drive people to us.
- Perceived loss of control is terrifying, but especially during a crisis. Do it anyway. (You never really had control anyway.)
Lesson #3 – Measure, and report
- Keep track of all the positive comments, conversations, etc.
- Share them with your boss/client
To further engage their online audiences, Gm remembered that face-to-face interaction is still king and hosted a Product & Technology Showcase. They invited 100 consumers, influencers & bloggers to experience GM “hands on”. Guests were show everything they have now and product line 3 years out! It was a 2 day event: 1st, real people who connected on Twitter and 2nd, bloggers & media. Powerful, positive response resulted from both groups.
Lesson #4 – Follow Up Matters
- Community will expect continued engagement
- Reputational repair begins with demonstrating change, and the sense that you value the relationships forged during the crisis
- Absent significant follow up, community could see your reputational efforts as PR/marketing.
Lesson #5 – Reputate
- Ray Jordan, Johnson & Johnson – “reputate” as verb rather than “reputation” as noun.
- “Get caught doing the right thing.”
- Google search your company name with “wish” in front. See what consumers wish you had or did.
- Apply principles of community. Actually listen & respond.
There is someone in every digital community who has the “Oprah effect” for their group. Find them, talk to them, listen to them. If they get on your side, then everyone else in the influential circle will be too.
When you’re recovering from a crisis and trying to rebuild a reputation you’re trying to win people over one at a time. It’s one at a time that matters.
Lessons Learned: Final Thoughts
- Open, candid engagement can win admiration, mitigate negativity
- Need to be engaged prior to crisis to have earned credibility
- Engagement during crisis only goes so far: you have to back it up after the crisis with sincerity and action
- Social engagement CAN sell your product, even when your product is something as big as a car
- Success is only half in executing your program; the other half is TELLING people about what you’re doing. (social, traditional, bloggers, etc.) If you have a good campaign or are doing something good, but no one knows, what good is it?
- There is no “over.”
- It’s not a campaign. It’s a commitment. You are promising to be there.
Last week I ventured up to Tampa, FL for a social media conference called Social Fresh (see Twitter @sofresh) for info on this and other events they are coordinating around the country.). Stoked to get a $120 off coupon (thanks to the event coordinator monitoring their Twitter feed as a friend of mine and I chatted about the cost being a bit prohibitive) I gleefully – this could be an exaggeration - left my house at 5:00 a.m. to get there in time for coffee, bagels and meet and greet prior to kick off.
I was not to be disappointed! With speakers from GM, InterContinental Hotel Group, Brains on Fire and more, Social Fresh gathered some of the major engines running successful social media (from a marketing perspective) and put them together for one big brain dump.
I dutifully tweeted the entire time (see #sofresh for commentary from me and other guests) and took notes. I’ve broken them down below by speaker and will be posting them weekly – Here’s your first dose. Hopefully you can take something away vicariously and perhaps plan to attend a Social Fresh in the future.
Spike Jones
Brains on Fire
WOM Marketing & Social Media
Spike Jones from Brains on Fire at Social Fresh in Tampa
Common Strategy – this DOESN’T work. Or, if it does, it’s only a little.
- Listen
- Blogger Outreach
- Facebook fan page
Average ROI advertising is less than 4%… Think about it! If you talked to people in real life like you do in advertising, you’d get punched in the face.
90% of WOM is offline – something to consider as social media isn’t the cure all for ALL clients. Are their/your customers even on Twitter? If yes, you/they should you be there.
Factoids for safe keeping:
- 80% of Twitter accounts are non-active!
- SM will never replace face-to-face interactions.
- Advertising is for awareness. WOM is for credibility.
- “Advertising is the tax that you pay for being an unremarkable brand.”
- “Above all, find a way to be RELEVANT to your consumer.”
Language – change it in house and OUT, with customers, clients, etc.
- Campaign – war vocabulary. No wonder people don’t trust us
- Movement – Fans, inspirations, kindred spirits, grassroots, passion, love
Movements are other people talking about you. They are volume dials. No 0 on the dial, or off switch.
Campaigns = us vs. them. We’re going to get them to do something.
Movement – All the rules of friendship should apply. You don’t MAKE your friends do anything. They will tell you the truth.
10 Lessons Learned by igniting brand ambassador movements
- Movements are about the PASSION conversation, not the PRODUCT conversation.
- Re-frame the conversation. Instead of talking about not smoking, they created a place for a conversation
- Movements begin with the first conversation.
- We participate in people’s lives. 90% of WOM happens offline, get engaged to learn what they are into, what they think.
- ScoutLab, Radian6 – good listening tools/companies
2. We’d rather find someone deeply passionate about something than really influential.
- With SM now, we can MAKE someone influential. Just give them the tools.
- Works better than giving away free product and asking them to talk about it.
- Influential will talk about you now, then move on. Passionate will continue talking about it.
3. Passion can’t be created.
4. Movements Require a Barrier to Entry
- People who want to be a Fiskateer have to ask via online form. Then, they get a response within 24 hours & have to reply why they want to be a part of it or no entry.
- It’s not about the numbers. It’s about the engagement and passion.
5. Movements Empower people with knowledge
- About themselves
- The product
- Social media, marketing, etc.
6. Movements have powerful identities
- Fundamentally, everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Everyone wants to be bigger than they are.
- I am a ______. Our job as marketers is filling in that blank. We have to bond our clients & their customers together.
7. Movements encourage shared ownership
8. Movements make advocates feel like rock stars.
- Sometimes it’s just sitting down, talking to them and letting them know you’re listening to them.
- Special handles, engraved. Welcome kit, etc.
9. Users know the brand better than we do. Leverage this.
10. Movements live online & offline
Movements:
- Save money on focus groups
- Save money on R&D because we get free ideas from the group
- Save money on customer services because people are talking about what’s wrong and how they fixed it, etc.
- Measure success in the ways we save money too.
- Movements fight an injustice
Visitors' Thoughts