marketing

Google Quietly Developing City Pages – Competition for Yelp, CitySearch & Online Yellow Pages.

This week David Mihm wrote (with credit to Linda Buquet) about finding city-specific directories that Google is quietly working on in apparent preparation for a national rollout.  They found city portals that mirror Google’s Offers/Places launches:   Austin, TX |   Portland, OR |   Madison, WI |  San Diego, CA What does this all mean? Well for starters, Google [...]

This week David Mihm wrote (with credit to Linda Buquet) about finding city-specific directories that Google is quietly working on in apparent preparation for a national rollout.  They found city portals that mirror Google’s Offers/Places launches:   Austin, TX |   Portland, OR |   Madison, WI |  San Diego, CA

What does this all mean? Well for starters, Google would advance it’s dominent position in search, create the perfect platform for local social networks, and now will more firmly plant its local marketing flag on the web.

The city portals neatly package many of their local initiatives like Places Pages, interior location photos, Maps, Offers, Mobile apps, local Events into one easy-to-use directory. What catches my attention is the ease with which local businesses will be able to take advantage of the new platform, both with free entries and premium paid features and promotions. It also looks like each city will have a community manager for the portal along with a local blog.

The recurring comments I’ve heard on this subject have universally been, “What took them so long?”  Only time will tell how these city portals will be accepted and how they will evolve. One thing is certain, this has to be making some executives at Yelp, CitySearch, Online Yellow Pages, Yellow Book and others lose a little sleep.  My biggest question is how will this affect popular local and hyper-local sites, many of whom are struggling to grow in the current economy? Oh, and WHERE IS FACEBOOK?  Do they have plans in the works as well?

What do you think? Leave a comment or start a discussion. Or drop me a line and let’s talk about how I can help your business take advantage of these advances and future features.

The Official Facebook Marketing Guide

Reminiscent of the Twitter Guide for Business, Facebook has now released the Best Practice Guide: Marketing on Facebook. It’s the official resource on how to make the best use of Facebook’s advertising products, analytics, social plugins and a host of resources to grow your business. The introduction states that Facebook “allows businesses to create rich social experiences, [...]

Reminiscent of the Twitter Guide for Business, Facebook has now released the Best Practice Guide: Marketing on Facebook. It’s the official resource on how to make the best use of Facebook’s advertising products, analytics, social plugins and a host of resources to grow your business.

The introduction states that Facebook “allows businesses to create rich social experiences, build lasting relationships and amplify the most powerful type of marketing – word of mouth.” The guide further defines that they call the Facebook Ecosystem of Build, Engage and Amplify.

The heart of the guide is divided into two parts. The first is the Five Guiding Principles of best practices for Facebook marketing, but they also apply to any Social Business Marketing efforts:

Five Guiding Principles

1. Build a strategy that is social by design
2. Create an authentic brand voice
3. Make it interactive
4. Nurture your relationships
5. Keep learning

The second part of the guide provides key business objectives and for each one describes a five-step process for achieving those objectives.

Facebook By Business Objective

1. Foster product development and innovation
2. Generate awareness
3. Drive preference and differentiation
4. Increase traffic and sales
5. Build loyalty and deepen relationships
6. Amplify recommendation and word of mouth
7. Gain insights

The real-world value come from the examples they give of how prominent brands (Levis, Clorox, M&M’s, Adidas, OnStar, Alamo, and more) have used the Facebook Ecosystem to accomplish their goals. For learning about social business, it doesn’t get any better than that. Well, it does actually, but only if I work with you to do the same for your brand (just let me know if you’d like to talk about it).

Oh, one last thing: Here’s the link to download the PDF file of: Best Practice Guide: Marketing on Facebook .

7 Types of Social Data That Help You Understand Consumers

I attended the 2nd of an 11-part webinar series today (Eleven Social Media Tips for 2011) sponsored by NetBase. I don’t attend that many webinars any more unless I can be assured it will be intermediate to advanced information.  I thought that was the case for today’s session headed by strategist/analyst/insightful professional Jeremiah Owyang.  I [...]

I attended the 2nd of an 11-part webinar series today (Eleven Social Media Tips for 2011) sponsored by NetBase. I don’t attend that many webinars any more unless I can be assured it will be intermediate to advanced information.  I thought that was the case for today’s session headed by strategist/analyst/insightful professional Jeremiah Owyang.  I really liked the fact that he polled the audience with specific questions to gauge  the overall level of social media use so he could tailor the presentation.

He discussed the 7 distinct types of social data available and how they can be used to better understand your customers. The first tier held the most familiar and prevalently used data types: Demographic and Product; then Psychographic, Behavioral and Referrals; ending with Location and Intention data. A quick poll of the audience showed that in terms of what marketers are currently using, his order was correct.

While I’m tempted to walk you through each of the 7 types, I’ll resist and suggest that you instead watch the presentation (check back if archive link is not posted yet). There’s no point in me rehashing Jeremiah’s good points. I will say that there are some practical examples/case study overviews that help bring clarity to the concepts.

What’s the takeaway? You NEED to be familiar with each of these data types, what they measure or show you, and how you can use them to improve your results. It’s a great way to get a leg up on your competition and to help your organization or client understand the value your analysis brings to the table.

What I got out of it was a better way to categorize the data types that I already deal with. That will help me to draw better insights and to better explain my thoughts to others.

Next week I may write my own commentary on each of (or some of) the 7 types to provide a bit more advanced thinking on the subject.

Meanwhile, please take a second to leave a comment here or tell me which of the data types you work with and how you use the information.

Definitive Guide to Social Media Strategy Before Tactics

I think for most people tactics are fun and strategy is boring. That’s the only way I can think to explain why so many people go straight for the shiny new objects (tactical tools) and then back into the strategy to explain it. You on the other hand, being the smart marketer that you are [...]

I think for most people tactics are fun and strategy is boring. That’s the only way I can think to explain why so many people go straight for the shiny new objects (tactical tools) and then back into the strategy to explain it. You on the other hand, being the smart marketer that you are (you’re reading this, right?) know that it’s just smart business to come up with a strategy and a goal and THEN figure out what to use to get there.

I was excited to see Lee Odden’s post that bears the title above. What Lee did was ask over 40 of his A-list friends about the issue and then post their responses. BUT WAIT! Before you go running off (and I really do want you to read it) please look through a few of my favorite quotes from the piece, which include Guy Kawasaki’s contrarian advice: “Don’t focus on some kind of high-level strategy. . .”

So read through this, bookmark it, share with a friend and then leave a comment to tell me what you think. I’d love to create my own post of MY A-Listers – YOU!

Jessica Smith – JessicaNow
VP Digital and Global Co-Chair WOM Fleishman-Hillard
What it comes down to is asking the question ‘How do you define success?’. Tactics don’t answer that question. Strategy does.

Toby Bloomberg, Diva Marketing Blog
Strategy First helps you identify which are the best opportunities to put into play to achieve your goals. You do have goals? Oh, that’s another conversation.

Aaron Kahlow – Online Marketing Connect
CEO, Online Marketing Connect : Online Marketing Summit & Institute
Strategy before tactics on Social Media is equivalent to diving into a pool before looking to see if there is water let alone the depth to handle such.

Jay Baer
Founder, Convince & Convert
A “strategy” that is based on tactical execution isn’t a strategy at all, it’s a recipe for playing a constant game of catch up. The trick is to focus on how you’re going to be social, not where you’re going to do social media.

Julie Roehm
Marketing Strategy Consultant
Social media without strategy is like cooking without a recipe. Sometimes it works but sometimes its disaster.

David Alston – Community Instinct
VP Marketing & Community, Radian6
The C-Suite talks strategy, not tactics. And you are going to need their support if you even want ’social’ to take root in the soul of the enterprise.

Guy Kawasaki – Blog – Alltop Social Media
Don’t focus on some kind of high-level strategy because no one really knows how to use social media yet. Focus on tactics: Get more followers, make them happy, promote your stuff to them every once in a while. That’s all you need to know about strategy right now.

How to Create An Effective Social Media Plan

I’ve had a lot of requests for the presentation I gave in February to the American Marketing Association in Birmingham, AL. I wanted to provide some practical advice on what steps you should take and what issues you should think about as you put together a strategy for your social media program. This barely scratches [...]

I’ve had a lot of requests for the presentation I gave in February to the American Marketing Association in Birmingham, AL. I wanted to provide some practical advice on what steps you should take and what issues you should think about as you put together a strategy for your social media program. This barely scratches the surface of what is involved in creating a comprehensive, successful social media presence. Over time I will be creating more detailed guides so check back or follow me on Twitter: @ScottSchablow .  Please leave a comment, provide me with feedback or ask a question. Thanks!

How a Pinewood Derby Car Propelled Me Ahead of the Pack

I have two young sons in cub scouts and one of the highlights of the year is the pinewood derby race.  At the beginning of the year each scout in the pack is handed a small pine block to shape into a racecar. Dads and sons dream that their car will be the fastest to [...]

I have two young sons in cub scouts and one of the highlights of the year is the pinewood derby race.  At the beginning of the year each scout in the pack is handed a small pine block to shape into a racecar. Dads and sons dream that their car will be the fastest to coast down the elevated track.

Our first derby year we had no idea what we were doing. We followed the lead of the other dads and crafted nice looking cars but they weren’t very fast.  It was a disappointing day for all of us.

The following year we talked about how to make the car faster. A realization set in: you can’t move ahead of the pack by being a part of the pack. If everyone is doing the same thing, you can expect everyone to have similar results.

Thinking strategically we noticed that everyone was concentrating on what they can do to the block.  Car shape and design were the primary concerns with some attention paid to the placement of the metal weights (cars must all be 5 ounces or less).

We started to focus on what happens outside of the block. We experimented with various wheelbase lengths, different balance points on the car and ways to reduce friction on the wheels and axles.  It worked. Each son won their den race, but not the pack as a whole. The next year we won the den races and my oldest son pulled off the ultimate victory, grand champion of the entire pack!

In other words, when we quit following the masses, it freed us to think of new ways to increase performance. When we ventured outside of our own comfort zone we became leaders of the pack.

I see the same pack mentality in the business world. Marketers stay with the tried and true, doing what the others do, hoping to gain an edge but ending up with the same results as the rest of the pack.  Isn’t time for you to win the race?

Leave the pack mentality behind and stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone. Free yourself to look for new opportunities that are hidden from conventional thinking. Use your intuition and imagination to see what can happen outside the block.

Experiment with social media by participating in social networks and listening to your customers. Conduct formal or informal user experience testing on your web site to find new opportunities and maximize your investment.  Develop new strategies for search marketing. Why not evaluate your email campaigns and look for potential that might exist in a down economy?

It may not be easy.  It may actually be uncomfortable. But then again, you know that nothing worthwhile is ever easy. I can tell you that the rewards sure are gratifying.  So, tell me what you think. What ways can you think of to pull ahead of the pack and cross the finish line in first place?