1) Search
Search is easily the most reliable, trackable and ROI focused channel for online marketing. If you are interested in showing up when people search for your products and services, then a search marketing strategy is a must. For more information on SEO and Paid Search, visit our website.

2) Blog/Digg/Tumblr/Content Marketing
Content marketing refers to the strategy around creating interesting and compelling written resources for a specific target audience.

Typically, this will include blog posts, white papers, tip sheets and many other forms of content. Content marketing can help build subject matter expertise, can increase search engine visibility and serve as a repository for social media marketing channels.

3) Facebook
Facebook pages for businesses can be very effective at improving engagement, assisting in customer relations, and providing a unique experience for customers. Facebook also offers a rich and targeted advertising that is cost-per-click. Facebook also has a nice viral component with both its “share” and “send” functionality. With over 800 million users, and 50% logging in daily, Facebook is a smart place for marketers to be.

4) Twitter
Twitter provides businesses with the opportunity to develop a relationship with their customers. Businesses have the ability to customize their Twitter page and to join lists and add photos to tweets. These features plus many others can help make Twitter a strong channel for creating a following or community around the business or products that you offer.

5) YouTube
Posting videos within a website or a social network can cause slow loading times leading to user frustration. If your business encompasses product demonstrations, customer testimonials or employee / product information sharing, YouTube may be a good fit. YouTube offers free and highly customizable channels for personal and business use.

6) Flickr
Is your company delivering products or services that are creative and visual in nature? If you are an aesthetic or visual company, Flickr is a great way to compile, organize and share your images. You can send people to your Flickr page via your website, Facebook and Twitter.

7) LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an excellent resource for companies who are in high growth mode and have a need for recruiting new talent and employees. Also, LinkedIn offers a group function as well as a Q&A section. Ask yourself and your colleagues if you will be focused on bringing in qualified candidates or if you are looking for a way to create groups or communities around a subject matter. If these strategies are important to your business, LinkedIn may be a powerful resource.

1. Mobile Traffic
With the continual increase of smartphone and tablet adoption, mobile will become an even more important marketing channel in 2012.  Using Google Analytics, you can easily identify traffic coming to your website from a mobile device.  You can also determine which type of device, service provider, and operating system they are using.  As these numbers continue to go up, it’s crucial to optimize the mobile marketing initiatives around this data.

2. Flow Visualization
According to the Google Analytics blog post announcing this new report on October 19, 2011, “Our goal is to help marketers and analysts better optimize their visitor experience by presenting the ways that visitors flow through their sites in an intuitive and useful way”. With Flow Visualization, you can graphically visualize how visitors use the website, including entrance and exit points and goal conversion.  This report is highly interactive, providing additional information when hovering over certain nodes within the Visual Flow.  Click here for more information regarding Visual Flows.

3. Multi-Channel Funnels
With the new version of Google Analytics also comes the addictive reporting referred to as Multi-Channel Funnels.  These reports allow you to identify not only the last click leading to a conversion, but also the preceding clicks – or “assists” – which influenced a desired action.  For example, a customer may ultimately make a purchase through a CPC ad. However, prior to making the purchase, they may have interacted with an email campaign or a display ad.  Now, using Multi-Channel Funnels, you can view this rich data set in an easy to absorb graphical display.  For a video with additional information about this type of reporting click here.

4. Real Time Reporting
Up until now, Google Analytics has done a great job reporting on past performance of the website.  Now, you can actually see what is happening currently with the website traffic. This new report was rolled out toward the end of 2011 and has been a lot of fun for marketers to begin using.  A few key things we can track using real time reporting include new vs. returning visitors, pageviews per minute or per second, top keywords, top active pages, and top locations.  Real time reporting allows you to access analytics before and during your marketing campaigns critical launch phase.  You can also easily identify which channels are sending your traffic into the site, in real time.

Source: ChromatixSEO

Building Links

Like any website, getting links to your Facebook page is extremely beneficial. Every time your site receives a link, your site becomes more authoritative.  The more links that your Facebook tabs and pages receive through different sources, the more important Google will think your page is.  If possible, be sure the links are coming from popular, recognized sources, as Google will also take this into consideration.

It is also important to understand that “Likes” count as “Links!” The more people that Like and share your posts, the better the SEO value will be.  Posting things that engage users will increase the share and like using.

Optimize Your Multimedia

Optimize videos to their fullest potential by giving them good titles, both on Facebook and on sites like YouTube and Vimeo.  Videos are the easiest form of multimedia to optimize because the titles are heavily weighted in the eyes of the search engines. So make sure you’re giving your videos good titles, both on Facebook and on sites like YouTube and Vimeo.

Use your brand name in your post
Search engines crawl the content of your page. Using your brand name will help boost the SEO for name recognition. For starters, tag the text in your posts with your brand name or company to give your page an even larger SEO boost.

Use Fan Boxes

Facebook allows users to add “Fan Boxes” on your site that will feature recent posts to that your fans can see them all. This will ultimately drive traffic to your site and is a great way to engage your audience.  If you are just starting out and don’t have many fans yet, fan box has an option that allows you to show recent posts until you get over 25 fans.

Vanity URLs

Now that Facebook allows its users to have “vanity URLs,” everyone should be jumping on board.  These URLs make it easier for fans and people who like your brand to find you and your page.  When selecting your vanity URL, remember to keep your company or brand name in mind.  You want to select a name that will be easy for people to remember.

Measurement is fundamental to ROI-focused, lead driven marketing i.e. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Search (Pay-Per-Click), and now Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).  Yes, Google Analytics can track referral sources, keyword conversions, goals and other actions that drove ROI. However, the launch of their new tool Multi Channel Funnels, takes tracking and reporting to a new level.

Until now, when a website visitor completes a conversion on your site (signs up or buys) the tracking tools credit the most recent link or ad clicked. In reality though, customers research, compare and make purchase decisions via multiple touch points across multiple channels. All those actions taken between the first click and the last click are not being tracked. Marketers were forced to measure return solely on the last channel that a customer touches before converting, potentially missing out on important opportunities or channels to reach their customers.

By looking at interactions across multiple digital media channels, including clicks from paid and organic searches, affiliates, social networks, and display ads, marketers can understand how different channels work together to create sales and conversions.

Queue Google’s Multi Channel Funnel Reports.

Below are some high level features and benefits of Multi Channel Funnels:

• Only available in the new analytics dashboard and can be found under the “My Conversions” tab in the top left navigation
  
• Consists of 5 new reports generated from conversion paths
  
• Conversion Paths Measured: Email, Paid Advertising, Direct, Organic Search, Social Network, Affiliates, Referral Sites, and Custom Campaigns
  
• Measures the full path to conversion over a 30 day period
  
• Multi-Channel Funnels reports show how previous referrals, searches, and exposure to other channels contributed to your sales.

If you are interested in learning more about Multi Channel Funnels contact your Marcel Media representative today, send us an email at info@marcelmedia.com, or tweet us.

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at results” – Winston Churchill

Online marketing has many complexities. The work itself is based on traditional marketing principles (i.e. drive brand awareness, create a community, and get people to buy my stuff!) yet highly technical. With Google as the “gate keeper” of search marketing, and the fact they release new updates almost daily, it can be challenging to stay current.

Source: PPC Crew

So what is the best way to cut through the confusion, and sift through the constant change? Just like anything else, set goals for your campaigns and grade performance by your firms ability to reach those goals. It is imperative to identify benchmarks and set out goals for your company and your online marketing campaigns even before launch.

This single factor can better insure that all parties are rowing in the same direction. It will make your process, implementation, execution and ongoing optimization more efficient and effective, and help keep your executive team sane.

The process of goal selection is not easy.

On the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) side of online marketing, the most typical initial goal request is “first page of results”.

When presented with this goal from prospects or clients, we like to immediately ask “why”? The most typical answer is “more traffic” and when we ask why they want more traffic they typically state that they want more conversions.  For purposes of this post, let’s assume a sale is a form of conversion.

We have therefore been able to dig down to the heart of the goal.  The goal, in this case, is not to be #1 on Google or “on the first page”.  The goal in this case is more conversions.

Here is where it gets fun. The next steps are answering the following:

• How many conversions are you currently getting?
• How many conversions are currently coming from organic (the direct result of SEO work)?
• How much gross or net revenue is derived from an organically originated conversion?
• How many conversions would you get by spending that same budget elsewhere (opportunity cost)

Being #1 on Google does not always ensure success. Driving tons of traffic to your site doesn’t always mean more sales. However, user testing and site optimization through specific and highly technical marketing techniques will help you to achieve an increase in organic conversions and that will most certainly drive revenue.

Source: Harper Marketing

1. Google Analytics: If you don’t already have G/A installed on your site, request the free code at google.com/analytics and add it to your site ASAP. It’s important to set up Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and to monitor those consistently. We prefer to track Visitors, Time on Site, Bounce Rate, Conversion Rate and Goal Completion as standard KPI’s. Each site will have its own benchmarks and set of goals and objectives.

2. ClickTale: Heat map and visualization tool, ClickTale, offers valuable insights into the behavior and experience of your users. This tool (or one like it) is key to increasing conversions (ecommerce, number of leads, newsletter sign ups etc) and should be used to help track and understand what users do (or don’t do) when they land on your website. ClickTale offers mouse tracking, heat mapping and conversion tracking. There is a free trial for ClickTale and monthly packages start at around $99. www.clicktale.com

3. Website Grader: This is a free tool that offers an analysis of your website, as well as your top competitors. It will take several factors into consideration and calculate an overall score for your site. Website Grader will also give information and tips about the SEO value and the Social Media popularity of the site. www.websitegrader.com

4. Google Insights for Search: This tool is essentially a crystal ball for keyword search volume. It can be very helpful when planning and projecting the success of paid search or SEO campaigns. Simply type in a few keywords and see the trends that Google is predicting for the search volume (number of searchs) for those keywords into the future. You can also segment by geography, category, seasonality and Google properties (shopping, local, image etc). http://www.google.com/insights/search/#

5. Optimizely: The simplest and most effective CRO (conversion rate optimization) tool, Optimizely does not require a lot of technical heavy lifting to get an A/B test started. By creating experiments, the stress-free interface allows you to test small tweaks to the website (like changing the color of a button or the wording of a call to action) and see dramatic results. www.optimizely.com

6. Blogger: This free blogging tool makes it quick and easy to create and launch a blog. Blogger integrates well with your website and your analytics and is very simple to manage and keep up to date. Blogger also recently launched a mobile friendly app which optimizes your blog for mobile devices. www.blogger.com

7. Compete: Track and compare your competitor’s online performance, using this free or subscription tool. Compete also allows keyword comparisons and demographic target audience tracking.

Source: All Facebook

Google wants to have a conversation with searchers, and provide them with more ways to share their likes and interests. What if the people who love your site could help their friends and other users find your great content from the SERP pages? With Google +1 button they can.

Released in March 2011, +1 annotations show your customers which pages people they trust have found and enjoyed first, making it easier to find content they’re likely to care about. On June 1, 2011 Google implemented the +1 button for sites across the web.

You’ll also start to see +1 buttons on other Google properties such as Android Market, Blogger, Product Search and YouTube.

How does it affect your bottom line? By adding +1 button strategically across your website, you help your ads stand out on Google. It will provide your online visitors with more chances to +1 your pages,. The end result could mean your search ads and organic results might appear with +1 seal more often, which could lead to higher conversions, and drive qualified traffic to your website.

To add +1 to your website, visit the +1 button tool on Google Webmaster Central, where you can pull a small snippet of JavaScript code to add to the pages where you want +1 buttons to appear. You can pick from a few different button sizes and styles to customize the look and feel of the +1 button on your site.

Try it out and let us know what you think of Google’s new social search tool!

Source: SEO.com

A Pre-Campaign Questionnaire

It is imperative your website is healthy and that the anchor text is not linking into broken pages, or those not optimized for the terms. The checklist below includes 7 questions you should ask yourself before you start the linking process.

1. Are all the pages on my site working and free of broken links etc?
2. Do I have contact information displayed on the site?
3. Can I capture email address with my current platform?
4. Has my website content been updated recently?
5. Does the on page content correspond to the title tags?
6. How many keywords/key phrases am I using as an anchor or in my tagging, and have you written out variations of the anchor text phrase/link as not to overuse one phrase and neglect others?
7. Does my internal linking structure have a strong foundation?

The Checklist

1. Do you have a credit card or PayPal account open?
2. Do you have a large pool of pre-written content to offer?
3. Do you have at link mining tool available? You will need one of the following to explore back links and generate reports. (i.e. SEO book or Linkscape)
4. Do you have access to a cloud for additional storage? We use DropBox and CrocDocs.
5. Identify forums, and highly visible bloggers in your niche. If you plan to drop link filled articles on content sites, you’ll want to target these platforms for inclusion.
6. Use a press release wire service to syndicate your press releases, and include anchor text. Some services to look into are PR Web, Marketwire and PR Newswire.
7. Set up social media profiles and social media bookmarks? Use GoToWeb2.0 to find a social media platforms in your niche and get involved with them.
8. Add your blog to the Networked Blog category on Facebook for additional exposure.
9. Create a Google Alert and Social Mention alert that is focused on your:
   • Keywords
   • Company name
   • Name of all your competitors
   • Phrases like “news” plus your keywords/company etc

Get Your Customers Involved

• Ask your customers what they are looking for regarding your partnership. Are there any additional products and services you could, but are not currently providing?
• Issue a survey to customers and provide an incentive for filling it out. What blogs are they reading, what they are talking about on their business social media profiles, where they are going to hear about new industry trends.

Several highlights (which were pulled verbatim from the Bing Social Search Page) are included below.

Facebook profile search
Find old friends or discover new ones through Facebook Profile Search on Bing. When you search for people on Bing, we find the people closest to you based on your social connections on Facebook. Bing and Facebook have made it easier to reconnect with old friends, or find new ones.
Liked results
When searching on Bing, Bing includes results based on the things your Facebook friends have “liked” and shared on the web. Whether you’re deciding where to get take out or what movie to watch, you’ll get a more personalized search experience because you’ll see what your Facebook friends have “liked” and shared. When you’re looking for opinions on a new action flick, you can see what your Facebook friends have “liked.”
Below is a video that show you all the new (super cool) features Bing is offering.

VIDEO – Facebook Friends Now Fueling Faster Decisions on Bing

We also included several screenshots to help you visualize how the results appear. This is exciting news for search marketers and avid users of search in general. Nicely done Bing!

Search Marketing and ROI

ComScore recently released a new study that unfolds the impact that an integrated marketing campaign has on your bottom line. This report provides insights that might have you reevaluating your current search and social media campaigns.

It is no surprise that search marketing is still the driving force for online traffic to a website. However, there are additional factors that now contribute to the conversion or sales process.

The comScore study found that 58 % of purchase decisions started with search. 18 % of purchase decisions started with social media. 51 % used ONLY search in their decision making process, while 48 % relied upon both search and social to influence their purchase.

The key here is to think about integrated marketing. There is no doubt that search marketing, such as pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimization, drives highly qualified traffic to your website. With the advent of blended search results, Google now incorporates social media content into search queries as well. User reviews and online referrals from social media sites that show up in organic searches absolutely influence a consumer’s decision to buy.

The key factors to focus on here are that if you are ONLY focusing your budget on search marketing your missing out on an opportunity for client retention, which is a marketing tool that social media executes well. We suggest focusing on Paid Search and SEO to drive traffic to your sales and marketing campaigns, but also pepper in social media to keep your customers engaged after they make their initial purchase.

It is important to use social media as a platform for customer service and a ongoing, posiitve brand experience. For instance, you execute an SEO campaign and drive qualified traffic to your site. That traffic converts into a sale. After the purchase has been made, provide an incentive for your customers to write a review online either on your website, Facebook page or through Twitter.

A satisfied, loyal customer can transition into a brand evangelist and engage potential customers on social media channels on your behalf; just because they are happy with their experience. Help your online brand evangelists spread the good word by providing them with social, dynamic, branded content they can share with their network.

Always link content of any kind back to your website in hopes that consumers who interact with your brand in the social sphere, will think of you next time they are looking for a webinar provider, financial advisor or healthcare specialist.