Maine's Internet Marketing Blog

5 Reasons to do a Keyword Analysis as part of your Internet Marketing

I was not sure where to start with this week's post- most of the time my posts are inspired either by questions clients ask me, questions clients should be asking me, or recent trends and topics that I have read elsewhere (that I either agree with or wonder ....what the heck are people thinking?). Since I did not know where to start, I made the very wise choice to start at the beginning!

One of the first steps to search engine optimization is a keyword analysis. For any search engine optimization or paid search campaigns, it is still an essential first step. In order to drive traffic to your site, you need to know how people are searching for your product or service. You need to use the words people use when they're searching (not the ones you use, your boss uses, your sales team uses- but the ones that your potential customers are using!)

How to use your key word analysis:

• Copy writing

Write relevant and compelling website copy by incorporating terms that people immediately identify with. Use the phrases in your keyword analysis to speak the same language as your customer, not the lingo of your industry. Don't limit it to your web copy, create a consistent message with your email copy, or print copy, or ad copy- you get the idea...

• Pay-Per-Click Campaigns (PPC)

Plan profitable pay-per-click campaigns by building up a broad range of
keyword phrases that will capture your market. There is no need for guesswork- develop your PPC strategy around your key word list and offer.

• Content Strategy and Management

Develop the content that directly addresses your customers' needs. Is there a large search volume surrounding particular phrases? Review your web site content to see how you address those needs and fill in the gaps.

• Customer Behavior Marketing

Understand your customers' behavior and concerns by analyzing the words that they use. Are their search terms more general, indicating that they are early in their buying process, or are they more specific? Are they searching on ‘how to' or ‘best' or ‘compare'? A keyword analysis gives you the clues you need to understand their motivations.

• Market Research

Measure the size of a potential online market by the number of searches conducted. Determine the competitive landscape by the number of occurrences that appear for the same key words.

• Business Expansion

Develop new revenue streams by using popular keywords to inspire new product
and service ideas. An example that comes to mind is the custom luxury home builder who asked me to set up their PPC campaigns for them. After finishing their key word analysis we found a large number of searches focused on custom home design. The builder wisely decided that in order to gain the building  contracts that they needed, they would need to have a designer or architect  on staff to bring people in.

Ok, I know the post title says 5, but I just could not leave out the last one.

And one more tip- a keyword analysis is not something you do once and then forget it. Ideally a key word analysis should be updated quarterly so that you can see where trends are going, see how volume has changed, and pick up on any new phrases that are emerging.

Whenever someone comes to me overwhelmed by all the components of internet marketing, this is where I tell them to start. A good key word analysis is the rock solid foundation of any successful internet marketing initiative.

Does Your Internet Marketing Plan Include These 6 Key Components?

I drive a lot, and some of the ways that I amuse myself is reading vanity plates in traffic. Some have humored me and I have even taken pictures of a few. (like the guy in the convertible mustang who had the plate "NOWIFE". I sent that one to my husband.)

This week's memorable mention is also what inspired this week's  post. Some have asked me why I put so much emphasis on internet marketing plans. The NH resident with the brand new black Escalade said it perfectly with his/her plate "PLNAHD". Didn't catch that? Oh, let me explain- the person in the 65k car (in the middle of a recession and by the way more than I paid for my first house) says PLAN AHEAD.

Yes even in the new age of marketing on the internet, putting pen to paper and planning ahead is a vital first step to achieving success with any internet marketing efforts.

When developed and used in collaboration with your business plan (again-you do have a business plan right?)- your marketing plan provides you with the road map to direct your business towards success.

Thinking about your marketing strategy is the easy part, putting it into an actionable plan is going to require some documentation.

Consider history- if it can teach us one thing it should be this: remarkable things happen when there is a plan, incredible things are remembered when they are documented.

Effective (internet) marketing plans should identify and account for the following aspects of your business:

• Business Model & Objectives (the what, why, and how you do what you do- what is your goal here!)
• Market & Audience (who will benefit from what you do, and why they should care)
• Competitors (who else does what you do!)
• Customer Profiling (more than  just who they are, but why and how they will approach your business)
• Marketing Strategy (how will you let people know about the wonderful thing you do? )
• Measure, Align, Report (what will you measure according to your objectives and what decisions will you make based on those measurements?)

An internet marketing plan should also have a hidden agenda- take the ego out of your marketing. When you have a plan that identifies your key performance indicators (KPIs), aligns those with your business objectives, and determines your reporting, there is not a lot of room for whomever to say "well, I think, I like, I want to see, what about..". Your marketing is not tossed about at sea with the latest storms of the latest and greatest.

You can develop a strategic and tactical plan that can be analyzed, optimized, and lead to innovation. You will be less stressed chasing down a half thought out idea, you will waste less money on ineffective campaigns, and you will have the road map you need to drive your dream car to your desired destination.

Why The New Age of Marketing Is More Than Internet Marketing?

Ready or not- it has been here for a while and if you are just coming around to this realization you may have some catching up to do.

But you are here, so you are looking at the right map to drive your marketing towards measurable growth for your business.

So what is this so called new age of marketing? Is it social media, is it SEO, is it email, is it web analytics?

Yes....and more.

In this new age of marketing, your customer is in more control of your message than your own marketing department. How you measure and understand that message is just one part of internet marketing. Don't believe me? See how fast a bad review of your product or service spreads on Twitter and that is all the evidence needed.

Having just returned from training at Omniture University, I will sum it up with this- the new age of marketing is when you start using data to make marketing decisions, not ego or guesswork. Scientific marketing is the new age marketing where you:

 

• Ask a Question (what is the offer and what is it's value, who is the target audience,   what do we define as success , how will we measure it and what action will we take from those measurements?)
• Do Background Research (who is the competition, what other options do customers have, what information do they need to make a purchase decision, how do they want that information presented to them and when?)
• Construct a Hypothesis (design and develop your campaign)
• Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment ( launch your campaign and track pre-determined measurements)
• Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion (what are the numbers telling us, what worked, what didn't, and why? What action is to be taken from the data?)
• Communicate Your Results (share and celebrate success, learn from and optimize failures)

 

Sounds like a lot of work? Well, I suppose it is much easier simply throw your marketing dollars into an inferno and hope for the best, but I would not recommend it.

It is time to move beyond the thought of recession marketing and into scientific marketing where you can actually plan for success.

 

How Can Conversion Optimization Help Your Business This Winter?

I hate to say it as much as the next person, but summer is at the exit door and winter is knocking. I hate to think about it even more as fuel bills pile up, and more people are forced to tighten their belts- both in business and their personal lives.

Gather together all the financial experts, business analysts, small and large business owners alike, and their general sentiment is the same- it is going to be a rough economic winter. Most recently, I heard one salesman say today that his CEO is telling his sales team that they are going to have to work for 20% more business just to generate the same amount of revenue as last year. And he is most likely completely correct.

The question then becomes, where will your extra 20% of business come from? Can you afford to spend additional advertising dollars that do not give you the measurable impact you need to generate 20% more sales leads, 20% more requests for information, or 20% more sold online (or in your store)? How will you know that your hard work is giving you the 20% more you will need to be able to survive the winter ahead?

How does the Golden rule help you and your business? As Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now said recently in a webinar focused on conversion optimization, the Golden Rule is simply that the person with the gold, makes the rules. That has never been more true than in this tight economic atmosphere! Your customers are in control, creating a customer focused website will increase your online conversion rates, giving you that extra 20% you need to survive the tough economic times ahead.

What are your customer's key phrases trying to tell you?

Anyone looking to sell their product or service online will find that their research will always start with a key word or key phrase analysis. A good key phrase analysis can tell you not only the key phrases that your potential customers are using to describe your product/service, but also what key phrases your competition and industry are using. Depending on your particular business, a key phrase analysis will also give you niche key phrases, which are those key words that are used by your potential customers that are not highly targeted by the competition.

But can a key phrase analysis do more?

Yes, it can. Here is an example. I recently asked a group of business professionals, some of whom understood the basics of search engine marketing and search engine optimization, to look at the following key phrases, and to tell me what the differences were between them.

• accounting software
• microsoft accounting software
• microsoft dynamics gp
• microsoft dynamics gp for manufacturing

The general response to my question was that some key phrases were more specific than others. Which is true, but what does that mean? Does it mean we should only target the more specific key phrases?

The real difference between these key phrases is intent. How specific these key phrases are gives you some insight into the intent of the searcher and where they are in their buying process.

Are they just browsing to see what their options are to address their need? Do they already know approximately what they want, they are in the market to buy, but have not yet made a final decision? Or do they know exactly what they want and are just trying to decide where to buy it?

If you are ready to jump to the conclusion that if we have an idea of which searchers are in the market now, then lets target just those key phrases, then you would be making a grave mistake. There are a few important things to remember when considering the intent of searchers and potential customers.

1. No one group of customers is more likely to buy from you than another.

   Many would argue that the person who knows exactly what they want and are in the market now are more likely to buy now. To some extent may be true, but are they more likely to buy from you? These are also the people who may be more likely to be distracted by competing offers. However, the person who is just browsing and seeking to answer questions may become more likely to take action when they find their questions easily answered and are delighted with the experience they had with a company (or a company's website).

2. Not everyone is your customer.

   As you start looking at how people go about buying your product/service you may discover that your business is not configured to please all of the people all of the time. Knowing who you want to attract as a customer, and who you do not want to attract should be the main focus.

3. Everyone has a different mode of shopping.

   By ignoring those that are in the mode of ‘just browsing' or ‘knows approximately' you could be cutting off your pipeline in 3, 6, even 12 months down the road. When in doubt of this rule, see rule #1.

   The ideal way to use your key phrase analysis is when it is part of building your customer personas. The new age of marketing (as I like to call it) is going to require marketers to build persuasive systems that account and plan for the different buying modes of potential customers. Personas are customer descriptions that should be used as representatives to the different shopping modes that people use to engage your business. Your personas should answer the ‘what if's', ‘maybe's', and ‘most likely to' questions that you have about your customers.

Research Shows Nana's Online! 5 ‘Nana’Internet Marketing Tips

Yesterday a report published by Nielsen stated that even though people 65 and older still make up less than 10 percent of the active Internet universe, their numbers are on the rise. In the last five years, the number of seniors actively using the Internet has increased by more than 55 percent, from 11.3 million active users in November 2004 to 17.5 million in November 2009. Go Nana!

Not only are the number of seniors on the rise, so is the amount of time they are spending online. According to Nielsen, they spent just over 58 hours per month online in 2009, up from 52 hours per month in November 2004.

Even more interesting is how Nana (or Grandpa!) are spending their online time. You guessed it- they are checking e-mail, sharing photos- just like the rest of us. Not surprisingly, they are also researching health issues, planning travel and checking the weather.

So where might Nana be spending her time you ask? Again- the same place as you are! Google, Facebook...

So while this may not be a surprise to most, we felt it necessary to point out for a few reasons. When considering your web designs and internet marketing campaigns, if Nana or Grandpa are part of your target audience, remember these few tips:

1- Nana has a hard time seeing small type. Keep your font large enough for her to easily read. Black type, white background, no sans-serf typefaces.

2-Nana is not impressed with flashy logos, spinning imagery. She is especially not impressed when it makes the page load even longer (and neither is Google by the way). In fact, she is likely to keep clicking the refresh button because she thinks maybe the computer is not working right.

3-Nana might be impatient. She wants you to get to the point, and get to it quickly. Again, make sure your calls to action are easy for her to find in bold bright colors and clear language.

4- Nana hates long forms. We all do. Enough said.

5-Nana likes assurances and guarantees. She really likes an evident phone number to call if she runs into problems. To delight her, make sure the phone is answered by a person. (Who speaks very clear English and has a lot of patience.)

As we always say, it is not enough to know WHO your audience is. Know what perspective they are operating from, and plan your marketing to delight them.

What suggestions do you have to make the web more Nana friendly?

Tap, tap. Is this thing on? A Twitter test...

So I put Dunkin' Donuts to the test again today. It is not intentional that I seem to pick on them, it is random chance. But perhaps it is that the smell of coffee that sharpens my senses and my pen.

In one of my previous posts I talked about the effect of having silos in business. Marketing and sales are ‘frenmies', and customer service is left holding the bag to make up for when the other two drop the ball. A recent tweet by @pc4media stated ,"Thinking that software will force marketing and sales functions 2 collide. Seeing more & more mktg cmpns that provide sales enablement tech" . I would like to change that sentiment slightly.

Software tools should allow marketing and sales to collaborate in a way that improves customer service and create an experience that delights the customer.

Twitter is a software tool, whether you think it is stupid or not, people use it. Your customers use it. As a marketer, customer service rep, or business owner your job is to figure out how and why they use it and then engage (listen, respond, ask) with them on their terms. Not yours. (It is really not about you or your message, customers don't care. At the end of the day, it is about their experience.)

Here is my customer experience, using good ol' Dunkin Donuts as the example.

"7:45 am, just dropped the kids off at school, time for a quick bite and then the gym before conference calls need to start. The drive through line at DD is out to the street, and a delivery truck just showed up. Ugh. Best option for a speedy exit is to go in, otherwise road rage may ensue. Park the car, grab the iPhone (because yes, it goes everywhere with me) and head for the door. A quick look through the glass reveals the worst suspicion. Packed in here too. Oh well, lets see whats on with Twitter.

No sooner had the last 100 tweets loaded when the line starts to move. Hey, cool- this is going fast. Gloria looks up at me, smiles and in an efficient and pleasant manner asks for my order. Sandwich ordered, she asks if I will be needing coffee. The guy next to her, (I am assuming the coffee guy) I can see is listening for the order and as soon as I say no moves on to the next person in line for coffee. Nice teamwork. Gloria takes my money, hands me the change and points me to the direction of the counter to make room for the next person. In less than a minute, I am done. I just might make it to the gym after all! I don't feel rushed, but I am not standing around wondering where to get my food and when I am in a hurry I was able to get in and out,  and my day has started off right. (insert DD tagline here)."

So what does this experience have to do with silos? My experience with customer service matched the marketing message- the silo between marketing and sales was eliminated.
I would suggest only this to @DunkinDonuts. Because I was so delighted with my experience, I thought Gloria should get some kudos. And so, iPhone in hand I thought of a little twitter experiment.

"Testing testing, if this thing is on then cashier Gloria @dunkindonuts in Dover , NH deserves a raise..."

I wanted to know if Dunkin Donuts was listening. They in fact, are. Their reply:

@DunkinDonuts "This thing is, in fact, on. DD Cust Care would love to hear that: http://bit.ly/upgWA     They'll pass word along 2 franchisee!

Here is where the screen took me: (remember, I am still on my iPhone and in a hurry)

Would you complete this in a hurry on an iPhone or Blackberry?

I gave @DunkinDonuts the perfect opportunity to continue the momentum and engage in a conversation that positively promotes their brand. (Remember; listen, respond, ASK). Rather than sending me a long and unnecessary form to facilitate their internal communication process (that anyone other me would not bother to fill out) what @DunkinDonuts could have (should have?) done was ask me, on Twitter, why Gloria deserved a raise. And I would have responded with a condensed version of what I posted here. Or taken their own time to pass along the information.

All in all, I think still a kudos to @DunkinDonuts is due. Marketing and sales get it. Granted, this is probably not common place because my tweet was positive (not a complaint)  and it may have thrown the Twitter department at DD off. (But it is such a great opportunity to fix one of the holes in the funnel, I couldn't resist passing it along.)

That's my opinion, the floor is yours.

The key to (successful) marketing in a recession.

It seems that everyone is talking about investing more in marketing during a recession. Since early 2008, leading bloggers and organizations have been telling businesses that they should be spending more on marketing in a recession. On the surface, these seems like sound advice when you look at some of the obvious factors.

Obvious factor #1: The competition is cutting back- it's a great time to gain market share.

Obvious factor #2: Customers are shopping around, they are more willing to switch.

Obvious factor #3: With a recession, costs decrease- including advertising costs. You get more for your advertising dollar.

All pretty simple and sound advice, unfortunately not everyone sees the obvious logic and still operates out of fear. Not so much fear to spend money as they are afraid that they will not get it back. And they are not entirely wrong.

Why? Because it is not enough to spend the money and advertise more. Companies that are truly successful with their marketing in a down economy have one thing in common.

In March 2008, the Harvard Business School Online listed 8 factors that companies should keep in mind when planning their marketing. The first one? Customer research.

Likewise, with a post in February 2008 BNET talked about whether or not companies should increase their marketing during a recession. The final word? Those who are ultimately successful are those that operate from customer intelligence.

See the common thread here? The key to successful marketing during a recession is to understand the changing needs of your customers. Companies who are focused on the customer mindset understand what to say to them in a recession because they know and understand what their customers are most concerned about. It is not about spending more, it is about understanding your customer more and building a brand of value. (And by the way, value does not mean lowest price- but we will save that for our next blog post- stay tuned...)

Here is another hint- this is not just relative in a recession (it is just even more important!).

It is too late to start? No, it is never to late to improve your brand and empathize with your customer. But if you want to be in a position for growth, then start  investing now. Right now. And don't stop there. The internet offers companies new opportunities to build their brands and interact with their customers. Internet marketing takes the guesswork out marketing with analytics and new mediums like social media. Realizing return on investment is not hit or miss.

How will you build your brand in the coming age of growth? Will you ride the wave or drown in it?

Don't suck. Simple but hard.

So a recent call with one of my favorite clients (they know who they are)- prompted a discussion of the changes in marketing with the advent of SEM and social media. Lisa, you put it brilliantly when you said it still comes down to a simple concept-

Don't suck.

In other words, make sure your marketing, whether it is social media or the design and structure of your website- matches the experience your customers have with you. Talk the talk, AND walk the walk.

Lets use this Dunkin Donuts I was sitting in last week. With the heat wave here in the Maine (about time!) some very smart marketing person at Dunkin decided to advertise heavily on the local radio stations and promote their iced drinks. Employees even have orange shirts proclaiming they have the cure for the heat. Nice touch.

Unfortunately, they dropped the ball when it came to customer service. At 10am when the heat is starting to pick up, they don't have the staff on hand to easily handle the boost. People are 5 deep in line and 8 deep in the drive through. As I sit in the half full dining room a retired couple sits to my left and comments on the poor service and how companies just do not know how to treat customers any more.

I couldn't help it. I tried, I really did.  But I had to say it.

I turned to the couple with a laugh and said- they only thing worse is that they spent a lot of money advertising to get people in here.

What is even worse- marketing was on the ball. But sales, service, they pulled a Manny. (insert Red Sox joke here).

Another lesson to learn from this? Know your audience, better yet- predict their wants, needs, likes and dislikes. Delight them with marketing that is on the ball and sales that match it.

An even better lesson to learn? Don't put your business into silos where the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing. This is an age where businesses have to be transparent because their online customers demand it. Make sure your teams are communicating and working together.

Simple, but hard.

Recognizing the Good, Bad and Ugly...

A May 25 article in Business Week caught my attention as I waited in my doctors office recently (yes, I ‘borrowed' the magazine)...

"How the Mighty Fall" featured a book excerpt from Jim Collins where he discusses 5 stages of decline to recognize in a business that he believes would indicate its decline and eventual demise. You can view the video of Jim Collins discussing the book on the Business Week website.

I thought, how better to understand how the make a business grow than by understanding what pitfalls to avoid?

But what really interested me about the article was the part where he discusses the dynamics of leadership-team behavior. The reason I found this so interesting is that they are almost the same traits that I look for in a new client. It is these characteristics of a learning organization who have the most likely hood of understanding the value of a scientific marketing approach. They will not only survive this recession, but will come out on top at the end of it.

So what are the good traits should you seek to encourage in your company that will help you to not only realize the benefits of internet marketing, but will also help you to optimize your business as a whole? And what traits should you recognize as the beginning of a demise?

Good: Your team is not afraid to bring the bad news. Lay it out so that it can be discussed and don't shoot the messenger. Sticking your head in the sand will only worsen the problem and most likely be the thing that rears its ugly head and sinks you when you least expect it or are prepared for it. (whether it is marketing campaign that brought no return, a software release full of bugs, or an impossible sales quota- avoiding it will not make it go away!)

Bad: People start to shield those in power from bad news. They are afraid of penalties or being labeled as not being a team player or having a bad attitude.

Good: Leaders demand data, evidence, logic and a solid argument to back up the discussion. When you focus on the reality of cold hard numbers it is much easier to take the ego, blame and temper out of a difficult discussion. When team members use this method to debate, wisdom can be found from bad experiences.

Bad: People give strong opinions with any current data, evidence, or solid argument. The most common statement I hear is: "Well, because when I was with such-and- such company, we did it this way" (never mind the fact that it was 15 years ago in a different economy and prior to the internet as a medium).

Good: Team leaders employ a Socratic-style. In other words, they make less statements and ask more questions. You will always find the best answers when you know what questions to ask.

Bad: Leaders ask few questions and avoid critical input. They allow sloppy reasoning and unsupported opinions because they do not want to appear like they do not know everything.

Good: Team members unite for the common cause, even if they disagree with it. Once a decision is made, it will take the whole team to make it succeed. Again, in comes back to setting egos aside. Then when success is realized, everyone gives credit to one another and enjoys their achievement.

Bad: Team members undermine a decision because it was either not their idea or they disagree with it. I have seen this a lot in marketing departments where when one person's campaign idea is shot down and so they refuse to be part of the team because "no one listens" to them anyway. And so of course the campaign is delayed or fails and they are the first to point and say, "I told you it would never work."

I know this is somewhat of a long post, so let me conclude with this: If you are seeking to grow your business online through internet marketing- these are the traits you need to have as a leader (whether you are the CEO, CMO or small business owner) to not only see results, but to also take the information that will become available to you to truly optimize your business.

What are some of the good (or bad) traits you see in your company and how do you hope to spread them (or stop them cold in their tracks)?