Fanatically Digital

Author: steve

  • Google and Yahoo; Friends Again?

    Yahoo! announced an agreement to tap into Google Search and image ads as part of its ongoing quest to deliver results that ‘don’t suck’. Yahoo! will determine which queries to send to Bing (that agreement still stands) and which to send to Google. Each will then bump the query against their own algorithms to deliver the best ads. Essentially, Yahoo! gets the best of both worlds.

    I think this is an great agreement on Yahoo’s part. They’ll never beat Google, and Bing will be there to give them options. Meanwhile, Yahoo! will continue to work on its core content and mobile strategies, which is where it’s future lies.

    This past weekend, Yahoo streamed the Bills / Jaguars game ($17M for the right to do so), as it explores streaming pro sports and looks at more content across Yahoo properties.

    At the same time we are told that Yahoo is also looking to develop mobile search, which is much more influenced by localization. This may be another case of Yahoo! going head to head with Google only to end up falling back and leveraging someone else’s (Google’s) technology down the road. Not so long ago Yahoo! was hot into desktop search. Those of us in the game for a while remember when they came to us and sold us on the platform that was essentially a google me-to. It will be interesting to see how far Yahoo! can take it’s mobile play.

  • The Google Panda Smack Down

    Content is king. Google has always been clear in this. Too many SEOs have sought to trick google, Bing & Yahoo into thinking bad content was good content. Panda has been aggressively distinguishing between the two.

    Producing good content is not easy. In the short term, some have instead tried to trick the engines into ranking poor content. Those who played the long game were less affected by the Panda hits. This becomes almost amusing as we see the response from some SEOs to Google’s continued guidance that good content is key.

    One strategy for addressing a google panda smack down is to remove the poor content. Short term, this is easy, fast and a feel good action. But, it ultimately defeats the purpose. Google is not seeking the removal of content, but the improved quality of content.

    When you are addressing the issues related to Panda, ask yourself a simple question, “why did we put the content there in the first place?”

    If your answer is along the lines of “we’re trying to get rankings,” then remove it. It doesn’t help you, the users or the engines. Yes, rankings are part of the equation. But, the driver is end user benefit so your company has value and can enhance your relationship with customers or prospects.

    The more likely answer (I hope) is that you are trying to provide useful information to the user. Google’s point (correct or not) is that the content is too thin to be useful. It is something to keep, but improve upon, and that takes work. The process may start with keyword research, but more likely, you need to go back a bit further and ask some basic question about your customers.

    Knowing how they shop, your company’s role in the purchase process and how customers want to interact with you is important in content development. With this understanding, you can review the current content issues, determine their priority and then start to rebuild your pages with better, more complete information for the customers, keeping basic SEO development practices in mind.

    If you’ve been hit by Google Panda, take the long view, prioritize and thoughtfully address the core issues. Resist the temptation to ‘pull it down’ or create smoke-and-mirrors to try to get around doing the right thing. SEO is a long view game; treat it accordingly and there will be fewer surprises when Google updates come out.

    Feature panda image – tee shirt I thought was funny.

  • Facebook Emoji Rollout – Finally Some Nuance

    Providing Nuance to Sentiment Analysis

    For years companies have been doing sentiment analysis to try to figure out if they are loved, liked or despised. To do this well we would combine algorithms from tools with manual evaluations and adjustments. The truth is, the vast majority of comments and input are neutral.

    The emoji roll-out will provide a second line of sentiment measurement. However tempting it may be to start using Facebook emoji metrics as guides immediately, companies should lay the groundwork.

    1. Ignore emojis for a while. Use the first month or two to simply gather data. This will provide a baseline for your organization upon which to base decisions.

    2. Don’t write to elicit specific emoji reaction. Stay true to who you are. After you’ve gathered enough data, then evaluate the sentiment from emoji buttons to see if there are any surprises. If your brand is warm and fuzzy, but your facebook emoji metrics lean toward sad or angry, then evaluate the content. As an example, a brand that wants to be known for a positive / feel good attitude and social responsibility may post content related to issues in urban areas. These types of stories and elicit feelings ranging from motivating and uplift to very upsetting, often simply based on how it is presented. The emoji evaluation can help a company understand if the style of writing aligns to their image.

    3. Use the first month or two of “do nothing” data collection on facebook emoji response and compare this to the sentiment analysis that you’ve been doing for years. One of the challenges on the sentiment analysis is that it lacks nuance, an understanding of the dynamics in the middle where the majority of customers reside. The emoji analysis should provide you with the nuance that traditional sentiment analysis lacks.

    I’ve been in digital for a lot of years and a constant reaction to change is to jump in and start messing with it. I admit that doing so is a lot of fun. But it also hinders our true understanding of what the new tools or feature really mean. Take the time to let the data educate you, then start acting.

  • Growth Strategy Lessons From Facebook

    Sam Rosen, serial entrepreneur and founder of Desktimeapp.com, shared the article on growth strategy with lessons from Meenal Balar, who was a key part of facebooks international growth. It really struck a cord with me and I wanted to share it with you.

    This piece on First Round starts with some very basic elements of the three buckets for prospects, which is refreshing; it wasn’t full of nonsensical over elaborate descriptions of what is actually basic. The best part of the article was the very fundamental focus on sound strategies Facebook used in growing the international business.

    As facebook expanded markets, the team focused on three areas:
    Reduce friction for prospective customers. How often do you find yourself frustrated by the process of buying a product or service. Too often, companies rely on the buyer’s enthusiasm to power through the friction of purchasing, and enough buyers do so for many companies to make a go of it. But the really fast growth companies don’t rely on the enthusiasm of the buyers to push through friction, but focus on removing the friction.

    • Leverage resources / experts in the market. We see companies introduce products based on ideas from people who often don’t have to use it in the same context as the target marketing. Facebook had the resources to identify and leverage market experts.
    • Test constantly. The premise of testing constantly is actually very humbling. By committing to constant testing you admit you don’t know. This is the key focus on the testing even that which appears successful.
    • At its simplest, facebook’s international growth strategy was a classic crawl-walk-run approach. Introduce, learn, grow. Then keep learning and growing.

    The piece has more detail and is well written, worth the time.

    Hope you enjoy.
    http://firstround.com/review/heres-what-a-real-growth-strategy-looks-like-road-tested-by-facebook-and-remind/

  • Paid search ads directed to Facebook?

    A recent Media Post article proffered the question, should paid search be used to send users to a facebook page.

    The author didn’t actually answer the question, but posited a number of “issues”. The only upside that was suggested is that doing so is a way to marry the search and social channels.

    Don’t Force Social Media On Users

    This is a distraction for the user and the brand. Paid search users have a specific intent, and expectations that they will be brought to a page relevant to that intent. Basic optimization requires a level of tracking and control that is not available on FB. Search traffic should be directed to a landing page directly connected to the brand site, created for the intent. This allows the experience to be optimized to the expectations.

    Social media engagement should be in the context of a user’s social media experience. While cross channel engagement may be desirable, it is only so when the connection between the channels is natural to the user, not forced by the brand.

    Social Media Advertising

    In the area of social media, when it comes to advertising, we view brand interactions at three levels:

    1) Resident – The brand is actively engaged in the social landscape with ongoing interactions with users, involvement in topics related to but beyond the brand or brand’s products & services (charities or the arts as examples) and is generally “expected” to be seen.

    2) Visitor – The brand has a page and responds regularly to user initiated interactions such a product queries, help requests, or review responses. The brand is not expected by users, but in mild doses, it is accepted.

    3) Intruders – Dormant pages, poor response times or no natural connection to the users. Ads seemingly appear from nowhere and don’t serve a purpose in the user’s experience.

    Not all paid search users are on facebook. Even if they are, being there at that moment (when conducting a google search) is not what they wanted; if they did, they would start on facebook. By pushing search users to facebook, brands are creating an unnatural path for them. Regardless of what your standing is on facebook, the interaction you create by doing this is forced, unexpected and creates a tension that should not be there.

    Social media is a connection while paid search is a transaction. The two should not be confused.

  • The Paid Search Sweet Spot

    The Paid Search Sweet Spot

    google growthIt was an average ad position of 2.5 in paid search.

    We couldn’t explain why, but some how if our average ad position was 2.5, then the average cpc, conversion rate and customer value all aligned to hit our targets. It was basic math. By why 2.5? We couldn’t say, but we dubbed it “The Sweet Spot” and for a while it held.

    If we bid higher to get further up the results, the conversions couldn’t justify the increase bids (in some cases the conversions decreased). If we drew back, the conversion dropped too much, the ROI just disappeared for us (or close to it). Yup, The Sweet Spot was 2.5.

    I could have given a webinar on The Sweet Spot. I had all the numbers showing how this one place in the ad rankings was key to financial freedom, independence and untold fortunes for the company. I would have been able to show explicitly how this was better than 2.9 or 2.1, backed up with numbers to support my case. I might have called the presentation, “The Sweet Spot, A Guaranteed Strategy To A Perfect Paid Search Program.” It’s simple, easily demonstrated and easily replicated.

    The only problem is it was also bullshit. Things changed and 2.5 became the outcast. Our managers worked through the problems and once again we saw the program re-optimized. The change could have been caused by any number of things in and out of our control. But, tagging ourselves to a position was not a long term strategy, but an opportunistic tactic.

    This is the issue with so many of the seminars I’ve watched over the years. The presenters take something akin to “The Sweet Spot” and convince a fair number of people that success is simple. Just repeat what I’ve done and you to will be the Paid Search phenom in your organization. If only life were so simple.

    It is not that these things are all bad, or bad at all. Many are legitimate tactics. But none are “the only” strategy. These seminars can have two detrimental effects for paid search programs:

    1. Search managers looking for the silver bullet will jump from one unrelated tactic to another, with no strategic connection between them. This lack of continuity or true planning causes the learnings to be lost in the process. Instead of building on what one learns, each change tends to be a complete tear down and rebuild.
    2. Unreasonable expectations. I saw one session where a person who “followed the process” experienced a 1400% increase in CTR. I can only imagine that the program was set up so horribly wrong to start, or the result was an isolation of one very bad part that was separated from the rest. An entire program that increased the CTR by 1400%? Not buying it. But, my skepticism comes from 20+ years in digital marketing. A person who is periodically involved or relatively new to search may jump at this.

    These webinars are not devoid of value. Often the tactics are solid and if presented as tactics to be tried and not the ultimate solution, they can have a positive impact. When watching these webinars, consider the context in which these case studies take place (if they provide that level of detail). Industry, shopper habits, competitive landscapes, search engine environment, etc. With a simple overview, you can quickly determine if a tactic is applicable to your program.

    If it is applicable, then see where it fits in your overall optimization plan; don’t just throw it into your program. How you implement the tactic should be informed by your history and results of passed optimizations.

  • Google Plus Launches Collections

    Google Plus collections

    Google+ makes content discovery easier for users through a format similar to Pinterest boards. This gives people the ability to curate content and share it with others that have similar interests.

    Making this more powerful is the ability to curate different types of content and make the overall experience more helpful with long form posts and interaction. For companies, this can become a great way to keep deep content in specific areas together, while not dominating their core profile with narrow subject areas.

    Ford can have the core G+ page and collections for each model, with images, discussions and advice / help content, etc.

    Furniture stores can similarly create Collections for rooms, decor styles, or trends.

    Hospitality or hotels chains can curate collections of key markets and tourist attractions or events along with interactions with the users.

    Some Collections I thought were kind of neat:

    Dateline #DisneyWorld

    Cities and Streets

    Social Media Academy

    Game Lounge

  • Marketing Automation… are you really ready for it?

    Marketing AutomationMarketing Automation (MA) is hot. A lot of companies are engaging tools like Pardot, Marketo, Hubspot to send messages, share information, tweets, post and pretty much push out just about any utterance their marketing department can think up.

    This is great! Set up a drip campaign, nurturing campaign, journey or any number of other euphemisms for a communication program and you’re ready to go.

    Not really.

    Often there is very little distinction between the messages to various segments, usually because the segments are not defined. Before you invest in MA you need to determine your resources and commitment to segmenting your customers / prospects, scoring and analytics while managing truly unique communication programs.

    Segmenting

    You know about segmenting, we talk about it all the time. Marketing automation works best when you have distinct buyer profiles, defined by objective data points, who require unique information to keep their interest.

    When creating your segments or profiles, avoid using pure demographic data unless it truly impacts buying behavior or interests. In addition to behavior defining demographics (if any), look at behaviors and activities that indicate interests and possible future actions. What we really want to influence is consumer behavior, so focus your segments accordingly.

    Don’t over complicate it. If you’re unsure, answer the questions: “How will I communicate differently based on this information?” and, “Will this communication differential impact the consumer’s behavior?

    Scoring

    For organizations that employ a direct sales teams or active direct sales communications, you have to be able to layer on a Score for each contact that fluctuates based on activity. This activity is focused on elements such as opening emails, click patterns, downloads, inbound calling and other actions that indicate a change in their level of interest in your particular product. In other words, where is the consumer in the buying cycle.

    For each Scoring activity there are points assigned. As the points increase, so does the involvement of the direct sales team. Should a prospect download multiple whitepapers on your service, it might be time for a sales person to make a phone call.

    Conversely, as they activity diminishes, so does the score. Phone calls made that go unanswered, periods of time since last website visit, etc. As the score decreases, the person moves away from direct sales activity to nurturing programs.

    Profile Activity vs Scoring Activity

    The differentiator between marketing automation Profile Activity and Scoring activity is identified by those activities that provide insight into “what” versus “when”.

    Profile scores help identify two “Whats”. What is the person interested in and what kind of communication or information influences them. Some key areas to look at include subject of content viewed or downloaded. What are they looking at and is the activity frequent enough to form a segment element. If you have multiple lines of services or products, keeping your communication focused on those lines the person actively consumes may warrant a distinct segment element.

    “When” activities refers to where the person is in the buying cycle, usually involves some level of frequency measure and impacts the scoring. If they downloaded three whitepapers, their score may increment 3 times by the score value assigned to whitepaper downloads. If the total score reaches a certain level, the contact becomes a warm prospect and may be worth a phone call, special offer of some other purchase encouraging action.

    Communication

    Drip programs, Journeys, campaigns, whatever you want to call them, they take time to plan, setup and manage. The messaging and creative executions need to be unique and purposeful, with an eye toward encouraging specific action on the part of the contact. This takes time, resources and commitment on the part of the organization. It’s more than simply writing a different piece for each Segment Profile or stage along the communication path. All these pieces have an objective and you have to measure the results.

    Marketing Automation Analytics

    Key to any marketing program, and especially digital marketing, is the ability to measure the results. Are you achieving what you set out to achieve?

    Most marketing automation platforms are good at giving you specific data points. Did the email get sent, did it get open, did the person click, did they buy (for closed loop implementations)? The MA systems provide aggregate insight into macro activity, and nuanced information for a particular contact. But getting to the true aggregate behavior that allows you to assess what took place and provide insight into why (at least directionally) it worked or not, you need to tie MA communications into an overall analytics package such as Google Analytics.

    Understanding the behavior on the website or with your app helps you understand what changes may improve your program. MA is about sending and receiving communication to achieve an outcome. Analytics is about understanding behavior. The two have to come together.

    Are you ready for Marketing Automation?

    I’ve seen whiteboards filled with possible elements for profiles, scoring models and subsequent follow up activity. Even simple programs require well thought out profiles, scoring and communication planning married to well thought out analytics and reporting.

    The successful marketing automation programs are resource intensive. If you are going to spend the money on the MA system, also invest in the proper resources to run it.

    If your are ready, here are some of Marketing Automation companies. Marketo, HubSpot, Pardot, AutopilotHQ.

    Fanatically Digital can work with you to implement MA. Give us a call to see how we can help 800.516.7440.

  • Apple watch… great for (too) easy amazon ordering

    Scott at CNET now owns an xbox. Didn’t want one, but the Apple Watch makes it so easy with the Amazon 1 click to order…well, he did.

     

  • Email Opt-out: more than being polite

    I had an interesting conversation with the head of a company that has an email campaign running. Its been running for a while. The conversation moved to opt-outs and how they were getting them (as most programs do). He casually mentioned that maybe he could move these folks back into the active list.

    My reaction was initially amused silence. Then when I realized he was serious, I told him he can’t do that. He was puzzled. He said that he knows it might not be polite, but they have new things to offer them and he’d like to get them back on the active list. He wasn’t trying to be sneaky and really seemed unaware of CAN-SPAM laws.

    After explaining the high-level implications of what he was contemplating, we discussed the basics of the law and what he had to do to be compliant. We covered the range from stating that the email is an ad, honesty in the subject, to (continued) easy opt-out with a physical address as well as some of the elements of a commercial message versus a transaction message. At the end, he said “So, we’re not just being polite?”

    The thing is he is smart (I mean really smart) and he wanted to treat his customers / prospects the right way. His intended actions were well motivated, yet still risked crippling fines.

    Email service providers (ESPs) such as mailchimp, constant contact  or marketing automation platforms like Pardot, Marketo   hubspot  or Autopilothq all have the ability to keep you on the right side of the law. But you need to abide by the rules the systems have in place. These are designed with good marketing and compliance in mind.

    One of the ways to mitigate email opt-outs is to provide users with options. Too many companies provide a single opt-out link that provides an “all or nothing” decision for the users. A better program is to create email categories to which individuals can subscribe or unsubscribe, leaving the company with an option to continue their engagement. Even if you don’t have distinct content categories, you can create frequency categories – daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly options are easy alternative no contact at all.

    As you develop email programs, the best way to combat opt-outs is to develop segments in order to provide people with relevant content to keep them engaged and increase the value of the communication.  By segmenting content and allowing people to subscribe to the different elements you can minimize the opt-outs. This provides value to both the users and the company.

    As part of a well developed email program with segments good marketers use content cross-promotion to increase engagement. As people find more content they like, you can increase the value and decrease the likelihood of complete opt-outs. The key to the successful programs is to provide people with value.

    More often now we see the engagement with users cross-channels. Email and social communication can re-enforce each other. By combining editorial calendars for email and social, the users can engage the companies as best suits them. This can mitigates opt-outs, but also gives people another alternative to disengaging entirely from the brand. Email marketing should not be treated in isolation. Combining with social engagements will help maintain an ongoing dialogue with customers and prospects.