Kevin Kemp – WSI Digital Marketing Consultant

Most people do not realize that their site is already targeting specific keywords. Whether it is unintentional or not, your site is being valued by the Search Engines for the keywords it is detecting in the on-page text, page titles, or within the links that have attached to your site. The issue is that these might not be the correct words, may be highly competitive, and may not be driving any volume of traffic to your website. Choosing the right keywords is often the difference between getting found in the search engines and not getting found. As well, you don’t want to pull in high volumes of low quality traffic. You want your website to be pulling in quality traffic that you can convert at a much higher rate.

The way to have strong keywords is to ensure you are selecting on both authority and relevance. Authority is assessed by understanding your link profile versus other sites ranking for the keywords you are targeting. Relevance, on the other hand, is looking to see if the other sites are specifically trying to rank in terms of the same words. If your site is targeting keywords and has the correct on-page strategies to maximize the keywords, then your site with a strong link building program will be viewed as both relevant and the authority.

The most effective keywords are the ones that have decent volume, low competition, and are long-tailed to drive a more exact match for what the prospect is looking for at the time.

I was reading an interesting article about the fear CFOs have that employees are wasting time during business hours using social networking tools. They recognized the benefit of social media – using it to enhance company or brand reputation, expand reach, and improve service levels, but they were still concerned that production would be affected. It was interesting to see that they were concerned about the employees might post inappropriate or unprofessional information online. What stands out for me is the lack of understanding for the need to have a clearly laid out policy and strategy. Their role is based on policing policies and procedures to ensure company due diligence for financial reporting. This could easily be avoided by providing a standard corporate policy that clearly lays out the intent and rules around social media. That evolves into having a clear strategy – it lays out the goals, objectives, roles, and responsibilities for managing social media marketing. By 2015 it will be a must to be managing your online reputation, so it is important that these organizations begin to determine how to build and manage their strategies. It is the fear of the unknown that holds them back, but the clarity is easily provided with the right help.

The biggest question I hear from clients is related to the return on social media. Investing in any marketing strategy should provide a return and online marketing is no different. The challenge is putting a tangible number to the investment. Syncaspe, a firm specializing in online content management estimates that the average Facebook fan is worth $136.38. This was based on surveying 4,000 people about their purchase behaviour.
The biggest factor is the intent of the follower. Some people are brand advocates and want to support the brand due to their loyalty. Others are following the brand for discounts and special offers. The successful companies have found a way to quantify results, whether it is measuring number of followers, tracking site visits from social media sites, dollar value of fans, or purchase intent metrics.
It is important to establish your goals and objectives, but even more paramount is determining how this will be tracked. Without a clear strategy on tracking the results, the efforts could be no more beneficial than throwing money into the wind!

The growing group with increasing disposable income are the millenniums, the group known as the Gen Y and echo boomers. This young age demographic are heavy consumers of the internet, using it to communicate, watch TV, purchase, and do research. They are doing everything on-line and are heavy users. Currently they represent 25% of the population and the generation following will be even heavier users of the internet. This group is evenly split between female and male, as well as more ethnically and racially diverse. This group is ahead of the curve using online video, mobile, and location-based services.
It is key to understand that this group is uninterested in advertising, but prefer messaging that is more sincere. They are looking for information, value-added information that will help them identify even more with the brand. They prefer authenticity and are connecting with brands, rather then repeated discounts or sales offerings. It is important to ensure that your marketing strategy is targeting the right right group, but more importantly with the right messaging. Your marketing strategy should start with a definition of the persona’s you are targeting, then you can build your strategy and tactical plan.

The first key to any marketing strategy is to understand your target market. Many companies enter into Social Media but do not think about who they are targeting. It is clear that different demographics will require different needs from their social media. Research showed that more affluent customers tend to have a pre-existing affinity for the brand and have a desire to keep informed. Affluent Collaborative conducted a survey that showed most people want to be entertained, but also want Social Media to provide value even if it is not directly tied to a coupon. L2 Think Tank survey showed that Gen Y wanted more promotions, while women tended to want to receive offers as well.

Another key finding by Affluence Collaborative was that Facebook was the #1 social network by all users, regardless of demographic. However, more affluent people tended to lean towards LinkedIn and Twitter at nearly double the rate of the general population.

Any marketing plan must first start with understanding your target market demographics. Knowing what your customer is looking for in regards to perceived value, but also what social networks they are using is key to determining your most effective strategy.

It is always a company’s objective to grow their followers and fans on Facebook, but the challenge is to keep them engaged. Some use special offers, exclusive content, or providing information that is pertinent to their followers. Like any group, the more members creates less of bond and results in isolation of some members. Brands tend to have a challenge maintaining their followers over time, especially once the group becomes large. Buddy Media recommends to focus on the adjusting the length, timing, and wording to raise engagement. It is also recommended that the posts be spaced out, as 50% of the “likes” will be received in the first hour and twenty minutes. Most of the likes will be received in the first 22 hours, but if a new post arrives it is very unlikely that the older post will be recognized. It is important for brands to focus on length and ensure that they are spaced out allowing for the first one to get its full “likes”. It is important to build the right strategy that will allow for this to be spaced out effectively, targeted, and changing enough to keep interest. A similar offer being sent to followers will most likely result in them stopping from following. A Digital Marketing Consultant will lay out your tactical plan and help you determine your strategy.

Social media is growing in popularity, but doing it effectively requires experience and knowledge. Read this brief article as to why you should think of hiring a professional to help you with your strategies. 5 Reasons Why Your Business needs a Social Media Expert.