Personal I have never watched a single episode of “Family Guy” but you would have to be from Mars not to have heard of the Show. Well according to the New York Times, “In September, Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy” on television, will unveil a carefully guarded new project called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy.” Unlike “Family Guy,” which is broadcast on Fox, this animation series will appear exclusively on the Internet.
The innovative part involves the distribution plan. Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane’s target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a “Cavalcade” video clip.
What does this mean? It means that Google knows how to get in front of people and reach them with the media they want. As business owners we would do well to analyze our web presence and the use of Google Adsense. Especially in the light of Google other big announcement regarding creating its own Media Ad Network.
Rohit Bhargave the Author of Personality Not Included Began creating the rules for Social Media Optimization. He started with 5 Rules and others have added to them and now there are 16 rules that are key.
Laura Bergells is the West Michigan Business Blogging authority. She understand the power of Social Media Marketing. In my humble opinion every PR firm in West Michigan should watch out for her. Well, Laura has done it again, she has written a brilliant post on how to fall in love with Social Media. You must read here new post “The Summer of Social Media Love” then subcribe to her blogs.
A couple of weeks ago I sat down with an “Ad Man” and his first question to me was what is Social Media. Then the next week I was in a meeting with some incredible business people here in Grand Rapids and they did not know what Social Media was either. As a matter of fact, I asked them “How many of you have a FaceBook page?” They all looked at me like I was speaking another language. Some one tried to explain Web 2.0 as “It’s about giving stuff away for free.”
So I went out to find the simplest explanation for Social Media, and of course it was not that hard to find. Common Craft has created a simple easy to understand video which explains what Social Media is all about.
Last week’s cover story in Business Week was entitled “Beyond Blogs”. It was a follow up article to a story that they wrote in 2005 entitled “Blogs will change your business”. This was a great article! So what is beyond blogs? Social Media Marketing. Here in Grand Rapids, Michigan a great deal of businesses are not yet catching on to this new form of Marketing and the research gives several reasons why businesses around the country have not fully taken hold of this online phenomenon. The 2 biggest reasons that businesses are not fully exploiting the tools being given them through Web 2.0 technologies is that they do not fully understand them yet and the second reason is fear.
Most have heard of blogs but they are not sure how to use them for their business. Most businesses owners hear their kids talking about MySpace, FaceBook, and Twitter but don’t realize that these are great places for them to be communicating with their target markets. More and more professionals have their profiles placed on LinkedIn but do not realize that LinkedIn is not a “Monster”.
Then when it comes to Podcast, RSS, VideoCast, and Mobile Networking, business owners eyes begin to glaze over. Then adding to the challenge,any marketing companies do not understand Social Media Marketing, they do not know how to price it, so the stick with the traditional marketing and advertising approaches which statistic show are losing their effectiveness.
In the article “Beyond Blogs” after highlighting that fact that by 2010 Social Media spending will reach nearly 2 billion dollars, Business Week says that the Social Media bubble “might” pop. I laugh at that. Just as they admittedly did not see it coming they do not see what it will morph into. When you think that kids in High School and College live by social media networks, as they enter and take control of the work force, they will take Social Media Marketing to a completely different level; beyond our imagination and beyond blogs.
So, If you do not have Social Media Marketing in your 5 year plan you are going to be in bad shape. However, if you are already beginning your exploration into Social Media Marketing your are going to be standing out from your competitors and capturing a greater market share!
OK, I am sorry. It was not my intention to post this, just because everyone has already. The SEO Rapper has some offers some excellent rules for website design. I went out to the websites of top 10 marketing companies in Grand Rapids and I thought they would appreciate this post.
It is time to put your money were your mouth is. Tom Blue wrote an interesting article comparing the results of advertising on the radio verses Internet Marketing the results were pretty amazing
Radio Advertising Monthly Budget $13,000 per month for 3 Months Total Spent $39,000 plus cost to create the ad.
Adwords Monthly Budget $400 - 750 per month for 3 month Maximum Spent $1900
SEO Monthly Budget $2,000 per month Maximum Spent $6,000
Radio Adwords SEO
$39,000 $1,900 $6,000
What were the results? Number of Leads
Radio Results
Month 1: 62
Month 2: 46
Month 3: 0 (stopped ads) Average CPL: $240.74
SEO Results
Month 1: 29
Month 2: 44
Month 3: 60 Average CPL: $22.55
The evidence is pretty clear. We need to be advertising online. It is cheaper and you get better results. For folks in West Michigan that should be a no brainer. Save money grow your business.
When taking on an online marketing campaign considering which targeting approach. The approaches to consider are:
Affinity Targeting
Behavioral Targeting
Contextual Targeting
Daypart Targeting
Demographic Targeting
Geographic Targeting
Purchase-Based Targeting
Affinity Targeting reaches consumers with advertisements that match the category of the site of interest.
Behavioral Targeting uses information collected on an individual’s web-browsing behavior, such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made, to select which advertisements to display to that individual.
Contextual targeting presents consumers with ads that are relevant to the site content being viewed.
Daypart Targeting presents consumers with advertisements based on the time of day and what they would be most likely be interested in at the time.
Purchase based targeting is based on information about purchases made on publisher site.
I have been asked frequently what is LinkedIn and how can it help my business?
Let me begin by explaining what LinkedIn is. LinkedIn is a Professional Social Networking site that allows you the ability to post your professional profile and capabilities and then connect with people you know. In addition you become connected with people that your connections know. So how can this tool help your business?
LinkedIn is a tool that helps you to promote your area of expertise. Individuals looking for your kind of service can review your profile and make a determination as to your abilities to assist them. In addition LinkedIn has a Q&A sections that allows your to answer questions that others may have posted and if you are selected for contributing the best answer you have formed a connection that will lead to future sales.
Through LinkedIn you can give and receive recommendations. We all want to do business with people we know and trust. So if you have a client, invite them to join your network on LinkedIn and request a recommendation. Now when they add someone to their network, who most likely has a similar need, that individual looking for the services you provide is now connected to you and sees a recommendation for the services that you performed. This could potentially lead that individual to contact you because you come recommended from someone they trust.
Linked in is a visible Networking reminder that can help you build your business through the power of relationships. Just this week I have been contacted twice by individuals whom I have not been in touch with for some time, which has led to potential business opportunities. There are so many other ways that LinkedIn can help your business. Perhaps I shall write a future eBook on the matter. But I think the next question to answer will be how can FaceBook help my business. Check back for the answer to that one
When attempting to connect with your target market it is important to focus on your customer. Instead of focusing on what you do or what you have, focus on your customer’s needs. All consumers have problems that need resolving. It is your job to help your customer clearly identify the root cause of their problems and then educate them regarding how your product or service can address their specific problem.
How do you do this? Walk your customer through the 3 why approach?
Educated your customers Why the problem that they are experiencing occurs.
Show them Why other attempts to address the problem are ineffective.
Then teach them Why your solution is superior to other solutions.
The key here is to truly interact with your potential clients. Listen to their concerns and offer the best solutions. Do not try to force them into your solution just to make a sale. Refer them to a better source and he will come back to you when their needs align with your solutions. Better yet, this gives you the opportunity to refine your offerings so as to add value. Then you will be focusing on the customer in your marketing efforts.
The innovative part involves the distribution plan. Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane’s target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a “Cavalcade” video clip.
