McIntosh Marketing Blog

Someone posted a question on a forum today about whether Twitter was actually worthwhile or not in the marketing of their brand new website. It got me thinking about how people use Twitter, how I use Twitter, and what people who haven’t been on these social networks like I have for years think of it. So I thought it would be a good idea to write about it here, and come up with a few reasons why Twitter is an awesome marketing tool, perhaps even better than what you could do in three dimensions pre-internets.

1. Good luck telling 5000 people about your brand new company instantaneously and for free in the real world.

As a business owner, you’re trying to find people who are interested in your products or services, and market said products and services TO them, so you can sell and deliver those products and services. Right? Right. So how do you find these people? You can purchase expensive mailing lists.  That is risky and costly, and only as effective as the mailing list creators actually create correct lists. You can pay for advertising in magazines you know your public read.  Expensive, but effective if your text is correct and you’ve done your surveying to find out the correct buttons of your public.  Billboards, tv and radio ads are very expensive ways to promote to very large audiences in the hopes that some will be interested in your company.  There are a lot of ways to do this. Most involve money, lots of research and considerable time.

Twitter is free. It allows you to promote, FOR FREE to as many people as you can possibly add as followers. If you have 5000 followers, you can tell them all about your new company in the time it takes to type a sentence and click “Send.”

2. Finding the RIGHT public.

How long does it take to collect the names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of 5000 people who are actually INTERESTED in your specific field? Well, if you do broad advertising to general public it can take a long time. If you use Twitter search you can find, in about a second, every single Twitter user who is interested and talking about your particular field or industry. Then you can request to add them as followers.  BAM! Instant friends who have similar interests to yours.

3. Retweets!

When Twitter users (tweeple) like your posts, they retweet them. You can even ask your friends and followers to retweet something you feel is important, and often they will. This is a common practice among tweeple.  In real life, your customers will mention your products or services to their friends when the opportunity arises or when they think of it. But on Twitter, all they have to do is click RT and send your tweet out to their 5000 friends. This can go on and on until your post is actually automatically featured on a web page for popular bookmarks like Populacular.

4. Directing the public to your business.

Standing on a busy corner with a cardboard arrow works well for a car wash, but even then it’s a full time job for someone actually willing to DO that, and it’s certainly not something a business owner would do. He would hire someone and pay them to do that. So that’s money. Not to mention the facts that you may not have a storefront to direct public to, and your business likely isn’t appropriate for street corner sign twirling. So how do you handle the routing of public to your brand new business? Send your Twitter friends the link to your website! Let them know who you are and what you do and give them the link to your website. Easy.

Of course all of the above is assuming that you have a valuable service to offer and that your posts are interesting and offer something to the reader than he will want. As long as you’re providing something of value that the public need or want, Twitter is the fastest, cheapest and most effective way to market your business to a large volume of potential customers who have already expressed interested in your specific field.

If you are up on marketing and sales management, then there is no introduction needed for either Seth Godin or Tom Peters. Both are not only accomplished authors with millions of followers, but both are as well committed to educating others on how to excel in marketing, blogging and social media. They both understand the advantages of blogging and the future of blogging

Blogging has been a huge tool for both these icons of modern marketing. Note the importance that Tom Peters gives blogging as a marketing medium. Note from Seth Godin how to get better at it. There is much truth in what they say in just a few minutes on this YouTube video. Don’t watch it; watch it over and over. Assimilate this information into your mind and into your marketing planning and scheme. And watch your profits grow.

You just have to love how mainstream media is now utilizing online buzz to generate their own stories. Moreover, Ellen Degeneres recently demonstrated to all of us a powerful way to spin that buzz, even becoming a part of that craze.

It was just a matter of time before someone called Greyson Chance, a veritable overnight success on YouTube, due to his amazing cover of “Paparazzi” by international phenom, Lady Gaga. That really isn’t the story of this blog. While the young performer was featured on Ellen’s show, and even getting to speak via phone to Lady Gaga herself, the real success on the spin is how Ellen featured herself in the video while Greyson Chance did a shortened version on Ellen’s show.

Knowing that this video would as well go viral far above anything Ellen could ever dream of, Ellen and her producers made sure that Ellen stood next to Greyson Chance during his electrifying performance. Five hundred thousand hit later, and now Ellen is empowering her brand and relevance to the social media crowd.

Lesson: News is happening all around you in your industry, town and other circles of influence. With some creativity and some good taste, you could find yourself easily riding the wave of the success of another.

When I needed a video done, I did some research and tried a few companies before deciding to place my large order.  Granted, I work online and understand that good quality takes time, so I was patient.  But as I waited and waited and waited, I just gave up and did it myself – the “faster route” was just not worth the wait.

I actually love creating high quality videos, so it was not a big deal, but I wanted to see what was possible from other online companies.

We I finally got their videos, they were very plain and  the color schemes and music were outdated.

I asked why they were not like the examples on their site and their response was:

Our program is limited but I’ll see what we can do.

Through my persistence, I was able to get almost twice as much text in my finished videos.  I decided to use their low quality graphics because I didn’t want to wait for them to be “re-done” with the same program…again.

But still feeling ripped off I felt I needed to educate myself on what a high quality video actually was before making any final decisions on the videos I just paid for.

I analyzed how long users were watching the videos before clicking away and found it to be between about 30 to 60 seconds. The length of the video was a really important factor for social media which was probably why they tried to stick me with such “short” clips.

Then I started looking into what type of videos were keeping peoples attention and also ranking highly on the search engines.  I created a little list of some basic guidelines that I found effective to follow when creating any future videos.

Here are my tips to create effective videos for your website and for distribution across the internet:

1. Your video shouldn’t be over a minute long unless it is playing on your website.
2. The videos you submit off-site should be 30 to 60 seconds long so the viewer gets to the call to action button/link before losing interest.
3. There is a balance between over-stuffing a video with too much content and getting as much useful information in as you possibly can. Do this by keeping a nice flow with the video, music and graphics to keep the viewer from abandoning.
4. Make sure there is a clear introduction of your companies service or product.
5. Create a news-worthy sales pitch about a new product or service.
6. Put a final catchy plug leading into your call to action.
7. Use keywords and images of your products and of subjects relevant to your business.
8. Include a link to your website. If you can’t put a click-able link, then make sure to leave one in the description of your video where ever you post it.

Image by Michelle Dennis 2008

The key to organic internet marketing success is to do the right things right, and to do them consistently. Now this may seem to an oversimplification or even overused. But from our experience of speaking with over 300 companies in the last six months, we have found over 90% of businesses with web sites violating this simple mantra. Here are some things you must do to generate more success:

1. Put the keywords, no more than 8, in the Title tag.
2. Repeat the key words and/or phrases as least 3 or 4 times in the body of the blog, article or press release.
3. Make a keywords meta tag even though most engines ignore that now. Some use it, and so it’s worth it.
4. Write articles and have them submitted to over the 100 directories available.
5. Have at least 400 words in the body of the article, blog or press release.
6. Make sure that the title tags on subsequent pages use other keywords.
7. Get your blog listed with the over 300 directories available.
8. Post your blogs in your social media pages, linking them automatically through your RSS feed.
9. Comment on others blogs, allowing you to build relationships and links back to your web site and blog.
10. Always include your web site and social media pages on all email salutations that go out from your company.
11. Continue to educate yourself. Go to seminars, read books and subscribe to various blogs to learn how to become a better and more competent member of the web marketing community. “Knowledge is Power.”

These are simple actions that any small company can do, and over time, these actions will generate new relationships and ultimately new business.

The Big Three has meant for decades, “GM, Ford and Chrysler”. But with their problems comes the next evolution of that term, particularly when talking about web marketing, SEO and SEM.

The Big Three in the internet marketing world is Facebook, Google and YouTube. Make it big with these three media giants and you will make it big in business. Let’s be real. Facebook is social media, Google is how you find almost anything and YouTube is the new TV. Hopefully you are gearing your mind-set, your marketing budget and how you interface with the world’s newest Big Three.

I know what most are thinking right now, “A blog is not a web site.”

Yes it is. In fact, for small businesses and entrepreneurs a blog really is the most ideal format in which to have your web site. But more than that, a bog as your web site puts you in control of the most important battle in web marketing: Generating original and  relevant content.

Having spoken to hundreds of small business owners, entrepreneurs, Dr.’s and even those in direct marketing, I know that blogs are not fully understood as to what they are and their power. While most have heard the term and even read them from time to time, most have not really understood what they are and how they are in reality your most effective marketing and PR tool when utilized correctly.

A blog is a a web site, but with some added bonuses. Communicating often and with passion positions you as a thought leader, an authority in the field. Not only that, every time you blog you are casting more fishing lines into the sea of business opportunity. Maybe your next blog will not generate a sale directly, but it starts a conversation, opens the door to a potential referral, or even being quoted in a trade magazine. Blogs set you apart, and the more you do and the more articulate you become, you start to rise the above the others.And studies have shown that the more you do it, this builds a cumulative benefit in that search engines recognize an active blogger, and so you earn higher rankings.

The Blog is short for “Web Log.”  Blogs are independent journals that allows you to not only demonstrate your competence, but it also allows you to add pictures and videos. This is your single biggest opportunity to get your voice heard. In fact, it can be the very anvil in which you can shape public opinion about you, your service or product, or even trends within your industry. Why be a bystander, a mere spectator, when you can be an active contributor to the ideals opinions of what is being commented upon. Blogs allow you to do this better than anything else.

Blogs can be placed into your social media sites, such as Facebook. Versus making a comment, link from Face book right to your blog. This build credibility and drives traffic your web site and blog.

Probably the best place to start is WordPress.org. This allows you to start your blog on a free format that is highly SEO friendly.

Let blogging become a way of communicating, sharing your vision and thus garnering more attention and business.

One of the least used methods to explode your brand is to identify and build relationships with Mass Influencers.

According to a recent report from Forrester research, 16% of all online Americans are responsible for 80 percent of the brand impressions in online social settings. “Social media has created a new type of influencer – one defined not merely by number of friends or frequency of dialogue, but by both,” said Forrester Research Senior Analyst Augie Ray.

The key is to not only to identify who these key 16% are for your market place, but to then make offers in such a way that starts to build a relationship with them. In turn, this turns into on-line discussion of your product.

Scott Voigt, VP of marketing at Silverpop said, “Start building goodwill by … providing them with special benefits. These persuaders can have a huge impact, so make them feel important. You’ll cultivate increased loyalty and give them further incentive to share even more.”

But be careful to what is said about your on-line, via blogs and on social media. Monitor what is being said and treat this as not only a survey, but an invitation to listen, change and adapt your product or service closer to what is needed and wanted.

By finding key influencers you can bring rapid and significant brand awareness. Not only that, you are entering an activity which puts you in the drivers seat of generating buzz.

When frozen yogurt went explosive as a business model a few years, some saw that it could go viral as well.

Luis Garcia, CEO of Frapy’s Frozen Yogurt in Mission Viejo, has embraced social media as a prime way to reach new customers, while keeping a personal feel with his ardent fans. He mainly uses Facebook and his web site, but tons of personal contact and customer service.

More than that, Luis has established a high-end model for frozen yogurt, insisting on high-end ingredients while staying competitive on price.  Additionally, he has dressed up the shop itself with a comfortable, European feel. Makes sense, as Luis was born in Madrid, Spain. This explains the European feel of live music, parties and hosting social events. Luis has blended a cafe feel with one of OC’s favorite treats.

His business model has been so successful, that Luis is now opening a second shop in Lake Forest, CA and has garnered a recent article in business section of the Orange County Register.  Luis’s approach to high-end quality and social media is the new business model that entrepreneurs will need to embrace to be successful.

Original content is king. For most of you this is nothing new; not at all a revelation.

But what I see very little of is the interfacing of blogs with social media; namely with Facebook. This became very clear to me the other day when I ran into a friend and we were talking about mundane stuff and she said, “Hey, I loved your blog post on Facebook.”

Without having to mention anything, she took the effort to mention it. She never commented back which can make a blogger think that no one reads their material or posts. Not true, to my chagrin.

While others talk about their mafia wars, farms and puppies, you can easily and rapidly position yourself as a thought leader. I can think of no faster way to help reinvent your brand, or at least your position within your market. Start blogging, and if you are already, then take the time to post these on Facebook.