Armed with this information, the prudent course would suggest a company maintain or increase its advertising budget during the current recession. Agree? Actually, this is a trick question. It’s similar to saying “practice makes perfect.” However, that’s simply not true. Only perfect practice makes perfect. This is also true of advertising. A significant amount of money can be easily wasted by advertising in the wrong media. For example, the phonebook is infrequently used to find business services. The go to source today has become Internet search engines. I doubt few would argue with this. Many of us use a search engine, like Google, every day. In my own case, which I believe is representative, I rarely use the phonebook to find goods and services. Today, Google is even used to find phone numbers. In effect, it has replaced the phonebook. Therefore, advertising in the phonebook would likely yield a poor return on investment.

Getting results in today’s economy

As the president of an Internet marketing company, it would be self-serving for me to suggest that search engine marketing is where a company should spend its advertising dollars. Not only would that be self-serving, but in my opinion it would be a half truth. Getting results in today’s recession economy requires a new approach. I believe the new mantra should be promotion during a recession, not simply advertising.

Obviously search engine advertising has its place and deserves serious consideration when developing your marketing communication plan. However, there are numerous other marketing, public relations and sales thrusts that deserve equal consideration.

Here are some to consider:

Search Engine Optimized Website

Every company, from a one-person consultancy to a Fortune 500 enterprise, needs a search engine optimized Website equal to or better than the competition they face in the marketplace. Let’s face reality. The go-to source for information has become Internet search engines. Having a competitive Website is simply not enough. Statistics show that approximately 90% of all Websites are found as the result of a search. Therefore, if your Website is not found in the search engines, and more specifically within the first two pages of search returns, your Website is virtually invisible. 65% of searches stop on the first page of search returns. Only 35% proceed to the second page. Seldom does anyone go further. Therefore, the first step in the new mantra of promotion is to have a search engine optimized Website equal to or better than the competition.

• Read more about search engine optimized web design. (http://www.iblogmarketing.com/2009/06/01/website-design-critical-to-business-success-online-and-off-line/)

Optimized Press Releases

Companies want to work with companies that are busy. They probably don’t teach that in the Harvard business school, but it’s a fact of life. One great way to demonstrate that the company is both busy and in the forefront of its industry is through the use of search engine optimized press releases. When done properly, the search engine optimized press release will rank highly in key news portals, such as Google News and Yahoo! News. Over 70% of journalists use news portals to keep abreast of the news in the industries they cover. In addition, search optimized press releases are picked up by numerous Websites throughout the Internet. This is also a great way to build link popularity (i.e. external links pointing to your Website), which in turn will help your Website rank highly in the search engines.

E-Mail Marketing

E-mail is making a comeback and provides an excellent way to generate leads, increase sales, and keep your company top of mind. I covered this in a recent blog post, E-mail Marketing Soars in Recession.

• Read more about e-mail marketing. (http://www.iblogmarketing.com/2009/05/26/email-marketing-soars-in-recession)

Social Media Marketing

Lastly, consider launching a social media marketing campaign. Social media sites like Facebook, networking sites like LinkedIn, and micro-blogs like Twitter are proving to be highly effective marketing and communication channels. Our agency, TMA E-Marketing, has been helping a wide spectrum of clients, ranging from Fortune 500 enterprises to startups, develop effective social media marketing campaigns tailored to their specific objectives.

• Read more about social media marketing. (http://www.iblogmarketing.com/2009/04/20/social-media-marketing-critical-to-business-success-part-i/)

As an Internet marketing, advertising and public relations agency, we strongly believe in the value of advertising. However, don’t be fooled by statistics that simply hail the merits of advertising in a recession. We believe that the advertising must be strategically targeted to reach the right audience. We also believe in a balanced approach, including the elements discussed above. Don’t simply develop an advertising plan. Develop an integrated marketing communication plan that cost-effectively promotes your company to your target market.

It’s not often that I get to talk about a “first” or in reporters’ terminology “a scoop!” Yet, here it is for the first time in print. The world’s first Personalized Business Talk Internet Radio Station.

What is it? It is the first Internet talk radio station dedicated to business and technology that can be personalized by you and, best of all, it’s free.

Now you can:

• Schedule your own programs
• Learn from some of the best minds in business and technology on the topics that interest you most
• Start and stop when you want and pick up from where you left off
• Get all of the above Free!

At last, business and technology talk Internet radio that allows you to schedule who you listen to, what you listen to, and when you listen to it. After years of development, it’s finally become a reality on www.ibizradio.com/radio.html.

For years, iBizRadio.com has been the number one business podcast directory in the world. Simply look up “business podcast directory” in Google and you will find it is number one in the world! It has edged out every other big name directory with its focus on business. Want to learn more and get started? Simply watch the iBizRadio video that will walk you through it in minutes.

You can choose from dozens of business categories, from Advertising and Marketing to Entrepreneurship. You literally can listen and learn 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each program is taken from the highly popular iBizRadio directory and has been “human edited” to assure quality standards.

Need to know about financial services and don’t have time to read a book. Simply choose Financial Services from iBizRadio’s Personalized Business Talk Internet radio categories. You will have a wealth of information at your finger tips to quickly learn what you need to know.

Need the information on the go? Every program is available in the iBizRadio directory and can be downloaded as a podcast to your smart phone or iPod. The possibilities to listen and learn the business and technology information you want, when you want, and from whom you want are close to endless.

Here’s another really big plus! Want to add great content to your Website. You can add iBizRadio’s Personalized Business & Technology Talk Internet Radio Station to your Website free. Is it almost impossible to believe? Well, here’s the link to do it: http://www.ibizradio.com/radio.html. Let’s face it. People are getting tired of content they need to read. We have found that when given the alternative, most people would rather listen and learn than read Websites. Be our guest and give it a try. We’d love to get your feedback.

iBizRadio is the Internet’s first podcast directory & search engine solely dedicated to business podcasts. iBizRadio is also a news gathering and publication company. It is owned and operated by TMA E-Marketing, one of the largest privately held Internet marketing agencies in the United States.

What Goes into an Effective Website Design
At TMA E-Marketing all Website design starts with focusing on the target market. In particular, we look at “pain points”. What is a “pain point”? It’s the needs that your potential client or consumer has relative to the products and services your business offers. In simple terms: we work with our Website client to uncover their target market’s pain points and design the Website to offer solutions. We term that “designing the Website from a marketing perspective.”

The fundamental purpose of the Website is to get the visitor to take action, whether that is a purchase in an ecommerce site or a form fill-out / phone call in a lead generation site. However, let me be clear on one critical point. The attractiveness and user friendliness of the site should not suffer from designing the site from a marketing perspective. In fact, the user friendliness in particular should actually benefit since the navigation and content of the site will directly address the market’s pain points (i.e. their needs). All this sounds simple, but can require a good deal of research. Would it surprise you if I told you that many businesses don’t fully understand their target market?

Next, let’s consider how visitors find the Website. Just about 90% of all first visits to a Website are the result of a search, typically in one of the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, or MSN. That’s right, almost 90%. Many people that have evenly previously visited the site or learned about it via off-line advertising will type the name of the company in a search engine since this is easier than remembering the company’s URL (i.e. the actual Web address) or phone number.

This leads us to the next critical element of an effective Website. It must be search engine optimized and easily found on either the first page or second page of the major search engines. Statistics indicate that 65% of searchers stop after looking at the first page of search returns. Only 35% will look at the second page. Anything beyond the first two pages of search results essentially means that your site is invisible.

Now we’re ready to answer the two key questions:

1.    What gets the target market to take action?
2.    What form will their actions take?

What gets the target market to take action?
The answer is deceptively simple. You must satisfy the visitor’s need with a compelling offer. I told you it was deceptively simple. The real challenge is creating a compelling offer that satisfies the visitor’s need. This is where the pain points come in. If you’ve developed the Website to address the visitor’s pain points, then providing compelling solutions becomes easier. Notice, I didn’t say easy. I said easier. Compelling offers can be developed in a number of ways, including information learned from the Website visitors’ pain points, competitive research, and even focus groups. The right compelling offer can change the visitor’s action rate immensely.

What form will their actions take?
The answer to this question is also deceptively simple. They are going to respond in the way they feel most comfortable. For some, that means they will do the entire transaction online. These people feel comfortable with the security of the Internet and rightly so. If properly constructed, online transactions in a properly secured Website are among the most secure transactions on the planet. For example, if you use your credit card in a restaurant, you have no control on how the credit may be used or copied when the server takes it to process your bill. Online, you have total control over how it will be used; if the Website transaction is secure (i.e. special coding that encrypts the transaction).

However this will not prevent fraud. Therefore, it is important to have confidence in which companies you do business with online. Many people still don’t trust Internet transactions and would prefer to call the company directly. You can use trackable phone numbers that redirect to the company’s actual phone numbers. In that way, you are able to tell exactly how many calls you’ve received from your Website. Some people want the company to call them. In that case, you can provide a call back option. They can specify their number and the time they would like to be called back. Lastly, provide a faxable form. Yes, some people actually like to fax the information and trust faxing more than an Internet transaction. The key point to all of this is to provide the visitor with numerous ways in which they can take action and let them pick the one they are most comfortable with using.

Before I conclude this blog, remember I stated that Website design can play a critical role off-line. That’s totally true. It takes several forms. Two have already been mentioned above, namely telephone calls and faxing. There is an important 3rd option. Consumers, in increasing numbers, are researching online before buying offline (ROBO). The visitor may choose to visit the “store,” especially if you have a retail location near them and if part of your compelling offer involves a coupon offering discounts on merchandise or services of interest to them. In fact, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project 2007, 81% of Americans typically do research online for a product they may buy offline.

First, email is one of the most cost-effective direct marketing methods. Email campaigns can be fully implemented at a fraction of the cost of direct mail campaigns. Unlike direct mail campaigns every element of an email campaign is trackable including open rate, click through rate (to a landing page, if one is used in the campaign), and recipients’ response rate. This allows the return on investment (ROI) to be easily calculated. Lastly, it’s fast. Email campaigns can be quickly developed, precisely launched (including targeting and timing), and 80% of the recipients will respond (i.e. either take action or ignore it) within 48 hours.

Retailers in particular are embracing email marketing along with their shift in focus to customer retention in the current recession-era market. Longer-term marketing programs are being shelved in favor of low hanging fruit. The fact is email is low hanging fruit. According to a Shop.org study, 64% of the retailers increasing their advertising spending are putting more dollars into email marketing. That same study indicated that 96% of those retailers decreasing their advertising spending are still maintaining their email advertising budgets.

We have done countless email campaigns at TMA E-Marketing, for start-ups to enterprise companies. We were there when email was the hottest Internet marketing arrow in the quiver. We saw it decline as spam clogged email in-boxes and as search engine marketing became king. Now, it’s making a comeback and with good reason. When done properly, it is capable of yielding amazing results. There’s the catch. What does it mean to do it properly? Here are the three top rules we consider important:

1. The list is the most critical element. The only list that will work is a targeted opt-in list. If it’s not targeted, the results will be hit and miss. If it’s not opt-in, it will not comply with the Can-Spam law. The best list is a company’s in-house opt-in email list. This is a list where the company’s clients and prospects have agreed to accept email messages from them. We are generally able to routinely get 25-50% open rates using in-house opt-in lists.
2. The second critical element is the offer. The offer needs to be compelling. Finding the right compelling offer is far from easy and generally requires careful testing of different offers.
3. Everything else is tied for third! This includes email design, copy, landing page, etc. In short, if you don’t get the first two elements right (i.e. the list and a compelling offer), nothing you do from that point on will matter.

Obviously, tracking every element of the email campaign is essential. With careful tracking you will be able to segment the list, test different offers, and test other elements of the campaign. Ultimately, tracking will enable a return on investment to be calculated. Doing an email campaign without tracking is equivalent to driving with a blindfold. The results are likely to be disastrous.

One last point that is often overlooked is email’s branding power. Email is generally viewed as a direct response marketing tool. However, email provides an opportunity for a company to raise brand awareness and to maintain its brand. Even those recipients that don’t take action are still exposed to the company’s brand and messaging.

The recession has required companies to pinch pennies and focus on what works. Guess what? They are rediscovering that email is cost-effective and works!

Part 2:  How can businesses monetize podcasts?

A podcast is a lot like a Website. A podcast series (i.e. routine podcasts from podcaster or Internet radio podcast show like Radiospectives) is a lot like a blog. At first, these analogies may seem odd, but let’s explore their commonality.

A Website or a blog exist as an entity on the Internet. The Website and blog may be of the highest quality, but all will be for naught if they are not found and read. Generally, for a Website or blog this means being found in the major search engines like Google and Yahoo. In fact, statistics indicate that nearly 90% of the first visit to a Website or blog is the result of a search. This is why search engine marketing is so critical for business Websites and blogs. It turns out that the same is true of a podcast or podcast series.

Getting Your Podcast Found
The first step to a business being able to monetize a podcast is assuring it is found by their target market. Let’s examine some of the ways this can be accomplished.

• Directories - First, the podcast should be submitted to all the major podcast directories. For business podcasts, I especially recommend iTunes and iBizRadio. I recommended iTunes because it is the most popular podcast directory on the planet and draws visitors from all sectors of the population. I recommended iBizRadio because it is the most popular business podcast directory on the planet. It ranks number one in Google for popular keywords like “business podcast directory” and “business podcasts”.
• Search Engines - The next step is to submit your business podcast to all major podcast search engines such as Podscope and Blinkx. These search engines are to podcasts what Google and Yahoo are to Websites. Although Google and Yahoo don’t accept podcasts directly, they index every popular podcast search engine and directory. This means a podcast search in Google and Yahoo will lead searchers to the popular podcast directories and search engines.
• Your Own Website - A critical place to promote your podcast is on your Website. I recommend you make it easy for visitors and provide, in addition to a podcast syndication link, a simple audio or video feed so the Website visitor can listen or view the podcast without downloading it with a podcatcher, such as an iPod, MP3 player, MP4 player, “smart” phone, or computer software program used to download and access podcasts.
• Video Sharing Sites - I also recommend that all video podcasts be uploaded as a video feed to YouTube and other video sharing sites. This is simply a smart promotional practice that allows the podcast to play a dual role.
• Press Releases - Podcasts may also be promoted as part of a public relations campaign. For example, they can be incorporated into a press release or article. Going one-step further, the entire press release or article can be published as a podcast, thereby significantly increasing its reach and impact. The podcast can be incorporated in email marketing campaigns and e-newsletters as well.

Getting a High Return from Your Podcast
Once the podcast is found by your target market, how do you get them to take action?  This is truly where the money is made. In the case of a pre-roll commercial, testimonial, and post-roll commercial on a popular podcast, it really not much different than a radio or television commercial. However, you have one important advantage over a radio or television commercial. A significant portion of the time, the audience is accessing the podcast on a computer or smart phone and can take immediate action. Even when an iPod or similar player is used, the podcast is available for future action. This is a significant advantage over a radio or television commercial where the audience may not be in a position to write down the information, such as a phone number, and take action.

In the case of an informational podcast, the podcast must be resourceful, but also be an infomercial with an appropriate call to action. Our agency has actually coined the term “Podformercial^SM” to describe this format. In both audio and video business podcasts, we track the number of podcast downloads, visits to the client’s Website or landing page, and the number of phone calls. In effect, we are able to attribute if the lead or sale came from the business podcast.

We have done business podcasting for enterprise companies like Honeywell, AmericInn, Dri-Steem, and the Pioneer Press, as well as numerous mid-small companies. The results have been astounding. In some cases, our podcast downloads have approached 100,000 and continue to climb. Typically, the podcast downloads will be in the 1000’s to 10,000’s in just the first few months. Keep in mind that these are people (the target market of the associated company) that actually took the time to find and download the podcast. The return on investment can be huge.

The investment a company faces is typically a modest podcast production and promotion cost, which is dependent on the type and length of the podcast. It is hard to quote exact pricing since each podcast is different and each client has specific objectives for their podcasts.  There is also a monthly podcast hosting cost, which runs about the same as hosting a Website. Once the podcast has been launched and promoted, it runs on autopilot. Month after month, it will produce sales and/or leads. We have actually seen months where the client’s podcast campaign out performed their search engine marketing campaign.

I strongly urge you to consider business podcasting in your promotional mix. If you have any questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.

Part 1:  What are business podcasts?

Podcasts have become one of the fastest growing media of all time. According to eMarketer.com, February 2009, almost 22 million U.S. Internet users are listening to podcasts. eMarketer.com is forecasting the number of U.S. listeners to nearly double by 2013. For those of you that are new to podcasting let me explain what podcasting is and why it has become so popular.

Podcast Basics
In general, podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. In the recent past, a “mobile” device meant owning an iPod or a laptop computer. Today, almost every “smart” mobile phone being sold is capable of downloading podcasts for future playback.   

So what does this all have to do with business?  In a word:  Everything!  Podcasting gives businesses a new and highly effective way to communicate with their target market. By using podcasts, a business can provide their target market (i.e. the listeners/viewers) the convenience to listen to or view the “show” when they want, where they want, and how they want. Let’s just look at few of the ways businesses can use podcasts.

Sponsorship - First, a business can sponsor a popular podcast, similar to a sponsored ‘old-time’ radio show. For example, this could be a pre-roll commercial (i.e. before the podcast starts), or be mentioned by the podcaster during the podcast (i.e. a testimonial), or a post-roll commercial (i.e. at the end of the podcast). These types of commercials have been the bread-and-butter of terrestrial radio since its inception and easily translate to podcasts, which is often described as “time shifted radio”.

Podfomercial^SM - Another way businesses can use podcasts is by providing content and essentially creating a podfomercial^SM (i.e. podcast infomercial). This is the format used on our weekly podcast Internet radio program, Radiospectives (www.radiospectives.com). Our methodology is a simple one. We interview some of the nation’s top business and community leaders, subject-matter experts, and people in the news who bring you into their circle of expertise and give you the inside scoop on the important topics in business today. This is win-win!  The listener gets valuable business information and insight. The interviewees get valuable exposure. For those of you that haven’t visited Radiospectives, let me invite you to do so. It will not only give you a good feel for this type of business promotion, but I also think you will find the content highly resourceful. The Radiospectives 2009 podcast schedule is currently focusing on businesses surviving and thriving in a tough economy, going green, and using Internet Web 2.0 technologies to get a leg-up on the competition.

Business can also use podcasts to document corporate events, such as a stockholders meeting or a grand opening. In fact, they can be used for any type of business communication, internally or externally.

Now that we’ve covered what podcasts are, their amazing popularity, and some of the ways businesses can use them, let’s address the real question. Will a business get a return on investment using podcasts?   I’ll address this question in our next post, Part 2:  How can businesses monetize podcasts?  Stay tuned!

To answer this critical question, we need to start by understanding that the social media landscape is at best chaotic, made up of a number of elements, and continually evolving.  Here is a thumbnail sketch, a current “snap shop” of how I see the social media landscape.

The Elements:

• Social Networks like MySpace, Facebook & Classmates.com – enable users to make and find “friends”, express who they are with pictures, music, etc., keep up and reconnect with old classmates and friends

• Video Sharing Sites like YouTube & Flickr – enable users to manage and share their photos

• Social Directories like iTunes (podcasts), Best of the Web (blogs), iBlogBusiness (business blogs), and iBizRadio (business podcasts) – make social media like blogs and podcasts available on the Internet

• Networking Sites like LinkedIn & Merchant Circle – enable people to strengthen and extend their networks and contacts

• Bookmarking Sites like del.icio.us and Digg – allow people to discover and share content

• Social Media like blogs, micro-blogs (Twitter), audio/video/photographic media, and podcasts

I provided the above list to enable just a glimpse of what’s available in the social media landscape.  It is not intended to be a complete list, but just a sample of some of the most popular sites and technologies.  So, now that we’ve taken a glimpse of the social media landscape, let’s discuss how to proceed to harness its power for business success.

One size doesn’t fit all.

A company’s social media marketing (much like a public relations or multi-media advertising campaign using Internet/TV/radio/print) has to be carefully planned, including defining objectives and measuring success.  In addition, some of the most successful companies using Social Media Marketing (such as Disney and Frito-Lay) are combining Social Media Marketing with their other traditional and online marketing thrusts.  The key elements of a social media marketing plan would be guided by the company’s objectives and typically include one or more of the following:

• Establishing the company’s presence in key Social Media Networks, such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.  I feel it is critical to set up a profile to claim your company name before someone else does.

• Utilizing social media “tools,” such as blogs, podcasts, viral video, viral articles, and “widgets” (i.e. small software applications intended to spread virally).

• Building a social “community” for the company’s products and services in key social media networks.

• Upgrading the company’s Website to include a Media News Room (i.e. links to its social media networks, online videos & podcasts; blogs; a LinkedIn invitation; del.icio.us and Digg bookmark links and press releases and articles).  In effect, the Media News Room becomes an expanded version of what many Websites currently call the “News Room”, which typically only provided content on its traditional media services.

• Measuring results – such as downloads of a viral video or podcast, blog subscribers, Twitter followers, “friends” on Facebook or a  social media monitoring “clipping service” for a comprehensive measurement.

The Payoff

It’s a formidable task to have a comprehensive Social Media Marketing Plan.  However, the payoff is potentially enormous and includes:

• Achieving a mass media reach similar to television

• Building a community around your brand

• Engaging your clients/prospects

• Immersing your clients/prospects in your brand

• Fostering communication & networking

• Selling without “selling”

• Developing  a platform for other forms of marketing such as viral marketing (example: viral video)

• Supporting other Internet marketing thrusts, such as link building for search engine optimization campaigns

• Supporting traditional marketing thrusts (i.e. a fully integrated marketing campaign)

I believe Social Media Marketing represents the beginning of a major new movement in business communications.  It embodies the best elements of marketing, advertising, and public relations.  I also believe those companies with the foresight to become early adopters will reap the greatest benefits.

I’m looking forward to developing a social media relationship with you!

Part 2:  Why is Social Media Marketing critical to business success?

Let’s look at the statistics:

• The top 25 social media networks delivered over 155 million unique visitors in Feb. 2008 (70% came from MySpace, Facebook, and Classmates.com).  If add YouTube and Flckr you get another 60 million.  This leads to a grand total 215 unique viewers
• Monthly unique TV viewers in Feb. 2008 was approximately 200 million

In addition, depending on the social network, each unique visitor is looking at 1000’s of pages per month.  The analogy to TV is a relatively good one.  The social media audience is loyal, large and habit-oriented just like TV.  In fact, according to Media Post, November 25, 2008: 

• Demography of users closely mirrors the U.S. population, with over half the Internet users visiting social media sites
• Although 15-34-year-olds account for a significant portion of the visitors, social networking sites are now reaching more than half of 35- to-44-year-olds and more than a third of those ages 45-54

What does Social Media Marketing have to do with business success?

This is best answered by looking at looking at the research Cone/Opinion Research Corporation published in September 2008.  Their findings are delineated below:

• 93 percent of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media
• 85 percent believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media
• 56 percent of users feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment

Couple the above findings with the power of “word of mouse” and you have the perfect storm, namely the convergence of marketing, advertising, and public relations.

This, of course, begs another question:  How can I harness the power of Social Media Marketing?  Stay tuned for Part 3 on May 5th, which addresses this question.

Part 1:  What is Social Media Marketing?

Most businesses back in the 1950’s relied heavily on “word of mouth”.  Of course, there were also several significant advertising mediums available, such as newspaper, radio, direct mail, and the new embryonic media called television.  However, “word of month” played a significant role and for some businesses was their life blood.

In today’s high-tech world, “word of mouth” still plays a significant role. 

Let’s look at some recent statistics:

• Recommendations from family and friends totally outweigh other consumer touch-points when it comes to influencing purchases (ZenithOptimedia, AdAge, April, 2008)
• 86.9% of respondents said they would trust a friend’s recommendation over a review by a critic, while 83.8% said they would trust user reviews over a critic. (Marketing Sherpa, July 2007)
• Consumers say that word of mouth is still the number one influencer in their apparel (34.3%) and electronics (44.4%) purchases (Retail Advertising and Marketing Association/BIGresearch Study, November 2008)
• According to a global Nielsen survey of 26,486 Internet users in 47 markets, consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising among 78% of the study’s respondents. (Nielsen, “Word-of-Mouth the Most Powerful Selling Tool”, October 2007)

Undeniably, on the Internet, “word of mouth” has become “word of mouse” and a critical element in influencing the decisions people make.  For example, comScore and the Kelsey Group reported that reviews generated by fellow consumers on Internet shopping sites had a greater influence than those generated by professionals (comScore/The Kelsey Group, October 2007). 

What does “word of mouth” have to do with Social Media Marketing? 

Actually, it has everything to do with Social Media Marketing.  Just consider the results of JupiterResearch.  Online social network users were three times more likely to trust their peers’ opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. (”Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape,” JupiterResearch, March 2007).

What is Social Media Marketing? 

From my view point, Social Medial Marketing is a form of Internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding, marketing communication, and sales through:

• Participation in social media sites – such as Facebook, MySpace, Classmates.com, YouTube, Flickr, iBlogBusiness, iBizRadio, LinkedIn, and Digg
• Utilization of social media – such as blogs, micro-blogs (like Twitter), audio/video media & podcasts, and public bookmarks

Now, we are ready to address the key question:  Why is Social Media Marketing critical to business success?  Stay tuned for Part 2, which addresses this question.

Part 2:  The Internet Marketing Plan

It is widely accepted that the Internet has become the “go to” source to find products and services.  For this reason and in today’s difficult economy, it’s critical for every company to utilize the Internet to generate sales and/or leads to fuel their business.  Whether you’re an enterprise company or a small business, you should have an Internet marketing plan.  Obviously, a larger company requires a more sophisticated and comprehensive Internet marketing plan.  However, independent of company size, the central element of any Internet marketing plan is a search engine optimized Website.  This being the case, let’s examine what it means to have a search engine optimized Website.

A question I am often asked in my seminars and workshops is:  What makes a good Website?   The answer to this question is relatively simple:  It needs to be equal to or better than your competitors’ Websites and it needs to be easily found in the search engines.  There are all types of Websites and generally, the price of the Website is directly proportional to the level of sophistication.    It is possible to spend millions of dollars developing a Website.  Good examples of a multimillion-dollar Websites are Amazon and Dell.  These Websites contain some of the most sophisticated technology available.  However, the technology has only one goal: Meet the company’s online sales objectives.  So the complete answer to what makes a good Website is three fold:

1. It must be equal to or better that your competitors
2. It must be built to achieve your company’s online objectives
3. It must be easily found in the search engines for keywords that your target market is likely to use

If it doesn’t meet all three criteria, it isn’t a “good” Website.  No matter how attractive and sophisticated a Website may be, it must meet the above three critical criteria to actually do a company much good.  Think about it.  Let’s assume you have an attractive Website and when people see it they usually say “Wow.”  That’s really a “so what” if it isn’t easily found in the search engines.  The reason for this is that search engines account for almost 90% of all the found sites on the Internet.  That means that even a company like Amazon must be easily found in the search engines.  Do a simple search for any thing that Amazon sells, for example “gardening books” and you will find them on the first page of Google.  If the result isn’t in the natural listings it will be found in the paid listing (i.e. listings a company pays for when someone clicks on their advertisement).  They do this because even with their immense branding and online presence, they completely understand the power of search engine marketing.  In the example I just gave, as of March 8, 2009, Amazon had the number one paid listing in Google and the number one natural listing.

Do you have to spend millions to have a “good” Website?  The answer for most of the companies that will read this blog is no.  You will need to spend whatever it takes to meet or beat the competition and be easily found in the search engines. 

Another question I am often asked in my seminars and workshops is:  Can I do it myself?  For most companies, even those with Information Technology people on staff, the answer is no.  The techniques of building a competitive Website that is easily found in the search engines isn’t just a technology challenge.  Technology plays a role, but it also requires:
• A thorough understanding of user friendly, as well as attractive, Web design
• Online copy writing that compels the target market to take action once they get to the site
• A thorough knowledge of search engine optimization

Obviously, while a search engine optimized Website is the central element of any Internet Marketing Plan, there are numerous other elements to consider.  These include:

• Social Media Marketing
• Mobile Marketing
• Online/Traditional Public Relations & Branding
• Shopping Comparison Site Advertising
• Email Marketing
• Integrated Media Advertising (i.e. integrating Print/Radio/TV with Internet marketing)
• Blog Development & Promotion
• Audio/Video Production
• 360’s Panoramic Views
• Podcasting & Promotion
• Contextual Internet Marketing (example:  a hotel banner ad on a travel site)
• International & Multicultural Internet Marketing

All elements of the Internet Marketing Plan need to be responsive to the company’s objectives.  Some companies may stop with a search engine optimized Website, while others may utilize some or all of the elements delineated above. 

Once again, it’s not about technology.  It’s about using technology combined with marketing savvy to meet the company’s return on investment (ROI) objectives.