Balance the personal with the professional

Maintain your privacy, but don’t make your profile pointless

Use it. It’s that simple.

Defining Social Media

MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn: The Major Social Networking Players

Profile Maintenance and Content Updates

Social Media Optimization and Reputation Management

Search Internet leads that have been generated from organic search results or paid search ads have unique characteristics that differentiate them from leads that were originated from traditional media such as TV, radio, or direct mail. I recently discovered that often sales representatives are not aware of this.

In our world of marketing and lead generation, keeping the queue full may be done in many ways. Let me highlight 3; traditional media leads (TV and Radio), direct mail, and Internet leads from search specifically.

The first two ways of generating business involves getting in front of clients who are not or may not even be in the buying cycle. They are served a TV or Radio commercial or receive a print mailing and need to be persuaded to give it any attention. Once they make the effort to react to that piece of advertising it is a good lead because there is often no competition vying for that client at that exact same moment. The Internet lead from search targets a potential client who has intent so they are in some phase of the buying cycle. However, even if they are in the final stage of the buying cycle and are ready to buy, the nature of this lead is what I want to address. Typically an Internet buyer starts with search and research so a characteristic of an Internet lead is that you are probably not the only recipient of that lead at that time because the lead generated from a search results page has various other competitors present when that search result page comes up. The potential client may have made inquires or has done research on several other sites. So the characteristic would be that a search Internet lead has to be acted on quickly because several of your competitors may have also gotten that same lead. Another characteristic is that a lead from search requires persistence. Often the person is not available at the phone number they entered in the lead form when the sales person calls, while the first human contact is essential in moving the sale along.

Sales people may find search Internet leads frustrating and they may then feel it is not a very good lead and treat it that way from the start. Another important characteristic is that every search lead has value. You may not make that sale on the first pass, but if you treat that lead with value, you may be able to find a way to use it as a first contract and think of it as building a new relationship with future sales potential. Use that call to capture information or capture an email address and use that information to create future touch points. Just as there is value in networking, it is often suggested that you treat networking “as a marathon, not a sprint.”

Since search is often the first step in research, the client may also be in the very early stage of the buying cycle, so a sales person making a compelling case and finding a way to be helpful and give information and then capture even an email address would be a worthy next step. The key here is to keep in contact by adding their email contact address to a value newsletter or great offer down the road. In other words try to establish a relationship for future business, again treating that first contact in a similar way to the first stage of networking and building your future client base.

As a sales professional, I realize that the leads generated on the Internet from search present new challenges for us. We have to examine our attitude if we are not seeing their value. We also need to develop new methods of handling them so we can successfully use this channel.

To summarize, think of search leads positively, move on them quickly, be aggressive and tenacious and think of them as not only a sale, but as a new relationship that you are building with a future client.

If you are out there and have some additional tips to offer, we would all welcome the input.

The ads

The problem

The writer argument

The PPC argument

In writing this post, I’ve almost figured out where I come down on all this, but I’d really like to know what other people think.

Who should be writing PPC ads, a copywriter or a PPC person?

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I’m Louise Rijk, and we’re back with the latest installment of AMP Talk. This time, it’s all about blogging. I start with a brief history of blogging, and some tips for creating a better business blog. Our Social Media Marketing Manager, Dan Zarrella, fills us in on what it takes to make a blog successful. Last but not least, Paid Search Manager David DiMartino gives us the ins and outs on using content networks to add advertising value to a blog.

A “blog” (a portmanteau of weblog) is written in journal-style and usually has a single focus or theme. Originally used as online diaries, blogs and “vlogs” (video blogs) are now used by major companies in a variety of industries, making corporate blogs big business. There are a few key points to remember when blogging, especially for business: post often and on-topic, use links frequently and optimize your posts.

It takes time and talent to make a blog really work, and not every blog is successful. Companies need their blog to support their brand, and business blogs can be even trickier to maintain effectively. SEM Manager Dan Zarrella explains what goes into a blog and what types of business should—and shouldn’t—blog.

The question for a lot of people is how to get their blog to “show them the money.” Paid Search Manager David DiMartino outlines how to do that with content networks, and provides insight on who this should work well for (and who it won’t) and what it takes to run a profitable ad campaign on a blog.

Webmaster World PubCon 2007: Word of Mouth Marketing

I’ve spoken at Webmaster World’s marketing convention the past few years. PubCon 2007 was held in November, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I once again attended had the honor of attending as a speaker. Here’s a summary of my presentation on Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM), along with the full video.

What is Word of Mouth Marketing?

WOMM can be organic, when consumers start talking about a product or service naturally, or amplified by marketers driving campaigns in order to create buzz and accelerate the discussion. Either way, consumers must be given a reason to talk about something in order for word to spread; in order for the “buzz” to become viral, it needs to be worth buzzing about.

The Internet’s Role in WOMM

WOMM works by getting “influencers”—highly regarded, in-the-know consumers—to talk about the product, both online and off. The internet allows influencers to reach a wider audience much more quickly through email, instant message, social networks, chat rooms, social news sites and any other form of social media on the web.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social Media Marketing operates on many of the same principles as Word of Mouth Marketing, but does not rely on human influencers as much as online communication channels. SMM is strictly an online tactic and generally more outrageous and less brand specific than WOMM.

Planning, Integrating and Implementing a WOMM Campaign

A WOMM or SMM campaign generates more buzz when supported by traditional media buys and a larger marketing or advertising campaign. Successful integration requires extensive planning, carefully timed execution and comprehensive tracking and measuring.

Watch my full presentation (24 minutes) for a more in-depth look at the ins and outs of planning and executing a successful WOMM or SMM campaign.