In a recent article in PC Magazine, John Dvorak claimed that the process of search engine optimization (SEO)  “ruins the search experience for users” because “every hit is some commercial site trying to sell you something”. Well guess what John, you just found the secret to the internet…it’s not really free!

While judging from the comments on the site, I don’t think too many other people agreed with him either, but I will concede that over commercialization of any medium, without offering value in return is annoying and frustrating to the viewer.  SEO is a prime example.

Viewers are looking for  specific answers to their query. They deserve to get that answer without being lured to a site that offers some irrelevant sales pitch.

Google seems to do the best job of keeping their focus on the user’s experience. They penalize advertisers for high bounce rates by charging them more for paid search keywords. Google became one of the worlds biggest corporations by giving away the best FREE service. When that service  no longer includes the best user experience—which is returning the most relevant and accurate search results—that’s when Google stops making so much money.

The fact is, I don’t know of anyone that wants to see their favorite free online content restricted to subscription only access. You know there’s no such thing as a free lunch—that goes for online content too. If the content has any real value somebody has to pay to make that information, entertainment, image, video, review or whatever available. And that somebody is either going to be viewer paying for a subscription or the marketer that runs an ad next to it.

The user experience is not limited to what a marketer has on their landing page. It’s the overall connection between their ad or organic meta description, the landing page it connects to, and how they offer and deliver whatever it is they are promoting.

If consumers want to continue to access valuable content — be it network TV shows, online magazines, games or search engine results for free, then marketing including SEO, PPC, display advertising, etc. is a must.

And if marketers want prospects to be receptive to their message, then focusing on the entire user experience is essential.

What do you think?

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An “intermediate conversion” is simply offering an opportunity for a prospect to request more info, discounts, membership into a community, survey info, opting-in to a list or in some other method to indicate interest.

Offers must provide real value to the customer and have little or no barrier to entry — which includes the amount of information that prospects must provide in order to receive whatever it is they are requesting. 

It’s a simple step that many forget about or choose to ignore in the rush to closing a deal. Marketers can not only generate more leads, but can also learn a great deal about their prospects and what their interests are. It provides the opportunity to open a conversation with their prospects and find out what’s really on their minds. Understanding why a prospect chooses NOT to become a customer can often be more valuable to a marketer than why they do.

Additionally, allowing prospects to self-select into specific segments and areas of interest they are indicating which topics might interest them for follow up contacts. In short, it provides another opportunity for the marketer to get to know their prospects better, begin a relationship and can potentially fill a pipeline with new prospects that might otherwise have been lost.

Interim conversions are a basic, measurable, knowledge gathering, customer-centric marketing practice that’s a win-win for everyone — but it’s a sometimes overlooked solution. 

Let us know what you think.

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Claude Hopkins

They say, “if you wait long enough, everything old is new again”. That’s certainly true of Social Marketing.

People are talking about Social Media Marketing as though it’s brand new. It seems that SMM and Inbound Marketing in it’s purist sense, dates back almost to the beginning of the study of advertising itself. In 1923, Claude Hopkins wrote “Scientific Advertising”, a highly regarded advertising how-to described by advertising notables like David Ogilvy and Gary Halbert as a “must read”.

So what’s the connection? While reading through “Scientific Advertising” I came across several stories of circa 1920’s salesmen and their door-to-door marketing tactics. They offered housewives free samples, gadgets and advice — and would not take any payment. That same salesman might visit again days later to ask the housewife about what she thought of the sample he left — still not selling anything or asking for payment, just being helpful.

Because the salesman had begun a relationship, and the housewife had the opportunity to develop some level of trust with the salesman, these prospects began ASKING to buy products and sales dramatically increased. As a matter of fact, Hopkins cites at least 3 examples of similar tactics where he says “such offers were reistless, and about nine in ten of the trials led to sales”.

Let me repeat that, “9 in 10 trials lead to sales”!

This 90% conversion rate is not nearly as surprising to me as the fact that these are the exact same basic principles that make Inbound Marketing so powerful today. By engaging with prospects in order to develop a simple relationship, the marketer was able to first create a level of trust, and create an interest or need where one may not have existed before, so when the prospect was ready to buy, there was no question about WHO she would buy from. The purchase decision was not about price, but about the relationship.

Now I ask you to imagine that story again, but now add in amazing reach and effectiveness of today’s social internet so your talking to thousands of these prospects at once, and combine it with the low cost of entry — like offering simple helpful information instead of actual free samples, and I think you’ll see why I was impressed.

I think the similarity to Inbound Marketing is unmistakable. It’s fascinating that while this proven marketing practice dates back to 1923, some marketers still think Social Media Marketing is a fad and deny it’s value as an effective marketing tactic.

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The assumption has been that online marketing offers better metrics, the ability for marketers to respond faster and is a more cost effective marketing solution. But are we as marketers being self centered again? Are we looking at this from the wrong angle? Most professionals are talking about how online marketing benefits the marketer, but shouldn’t we be talking about is how it helps the consumer, and how marketers can join in.

The way I look at it, the change in marketing is not as much from offline to online, but rather from outbound marketing tactics to inbound. And in my opinion, the change is not being driven by marketers, but by consumers themselves.

We have seen consumers who were fed up with being interrupted during dinner by telemarketers legally strike back at an entire industry. People who wanted to relax in front of their TV but felt berated with annoying self-serving commercials, gladly fork over hundred of dollars for a Tivo just so they could fast forward through the ads. And folks that were once easily targeted with drive time radio now are listening to their downloaded MP3s so they have more control over what they hear.

When running a direct mail campaign, most advertisers would be pleased with anything over a 2% response rate. How many marketers have given any real thought to the 98% of recipients that are not interested and are now asked to make that daily trip to the trash to dispose of the handful of unwanted envelopes and catalogs that arrived with their name on it?

There has been a change not just in consumer behavior, but in consumer thinking. Consumers have discovered that their free time and attention are both limited and valuable. And just like money, they want to use it wisely, not just give it away. I think it’s consumers that have changed and now marketing is trying to catch up.

Traditional outbound marketing theory presumes that by spending money on media where people are focusing their attention, a marketers message will get through as well. If that message is repeated enough times and has some connection to the viewer, a small percentage might remember or consider the message.

Inbound marketing on the other hand is based on the idea that people’s time and attention has value. By offering something of value in return with no strings attached, such as information or entertainment in an honest and personal way, people will be willing to listen. More importantly, they sometimes engage and influence others. But it’s on their terms, not yours.

So the next time you get an un-requested credit card application, have to sift through unsolicited email or have to wait to hear the weather on the news because that Sham-wow guy is back, think about what your time and attention are worth.

Do you agree?

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With the ever expanding variations in search, PPC, and contextual models, and now add the introduction of Facebook’s own PPC program, advertisers have increasingly more options to determine not only the medium, but the location, format, and cost structure that works best for their individual needs.

“Facebook serves as a perfect example. They offer advertisers the choice to buy display ads on a CPM basis or bid for PPC placements. These big, successful publishers would not be using the model if it didn’t work.”

The Options Multiply

The variety of options to accurately pinpoint specific markets continues to increase in the form of inbound marketing tactics, PPC, contextual, social media, and display advertising.

In a rush to account to management for their advertising budgets, marketers are jockeying for position and adjusting their numbers between search, PPC, contextual and display advertising. Offline budgets are giving ground to the increasing online tactics, and the allure of easily attainable metrics.

Online marketing is not slowing down anytime soon. It will continue to grow and change, further fragmenting the audience and the marketing mechanisms that we use to reach them. Marketers will need to try new things to determine exactly what the right mix is for them. As they do, new tactics will continue to emerge and further complicate the formula.

“IBM for example has been utilizing a combination of social media, with traditional marketing to create a broader strategy since 2006”, says Sandy Carter, VP Service Oriented Architecture and WebSphere.

Use a Comprehensive Strategy

The most reasonable solution for marketers is a comprehensive one. Learn and adapt utilizing the metrics from the variety of online efforts, while integrating traditional marketing methods, social engagement and a host of inbound marketing tactics.

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These days, when consumers are looking for specific information, they often go online. That’s when pulling your audience in to your site through SEO, PPC, and Social Marketing shine. It’s a perfect opportunity to find a self-described interested audience that’s ready and willing to listen with an open mind to a message tailored just for them.

While customers are mentally prepared to absorb the details of your offerings, they may also be prepared to compare them mercilessly to your competition or be distracted by checking email, downloading other some other multi-tasking effort. Basically, many online consumers go on “information-gathering expeditions”. For that reason online information must always be easily accessible, quick and to the point.

So is there still a need for traditional advertising? Much of the public still has a love for magazines. First, there’s the portability and leisurely aspect traditionally associated with periodicals. Readers expect longer, more detailed articles then they usually find online so they can delve deeply into a subject. Folks read magazines because they’re interested in the subject and they have time to relax a bit. It gives them a chance to discover things they weren’t specifically looking for. Television, Radio and Out-of-Home marketing have a similar logic. Consumers exposed to traditional push advertising have a very different mindset than consumers online where research is usually the goal. Reading a magazine or watching TV is less about searching for specific information, brands or products and more about discovery.

Since the mental state of a viewer is different from online to print, it’s necessary to maintain a presence in both mediums. Whether you call it “Convergence Marketing” or “Integrated Marketing”, building a joint online and offline marketing campaign is not just a matter of adapting the message to the medium. It also requires adapting the message to the mindset. And while the specifics of the content change, the basic strategy, positioning and overall image should remain consistent to compliment and support one another. A well executed integrated push-pull marketing campaign is ultimately more effective than the sum of it’s parts.

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