A briefing on using Quora for digital marketing
Before I start my mini-rant I have to say I do see the value of online Q&A services. I really enjoy answering questions and reading answers - it's one of the best ways to learn. They can also help in a small way in learning about customer needs and making folks aware of your services.
Buzz about Quora
I decided to write this summary since there's been a massive amount of chatter about Quora in the digital marketing world in the first week of 2011. Like me, you're probably thinking: "what is it", "what makes it different from Yahoo! Answers?" and "how can it help my online marketing?" I think many became aware of it through this widely shared article on the Telegraph and similar stating that "Quora will be bigger than Twitter".
I initially picked up on it through a Tweet giving this giving an…
To complete our look at trends to review to include within your Internet marketing strategy in 2011, here are my suggestions on key issues to consider when considering your social media strategy in 2011.
1. Content
Social media is nothing without content, your content, partners content and of course customers content. As marketers incorporate social media more to engage visitors in their brand or business, they will wonder how they can make use of the several profiles that have been set-up. It's my belief is that the realisation will be that the answer lies squarely with content. As social guru Chris Brogan commented about a year ago, "it's the firewood around which social campfires form". 2011 will see marketers see the results of content investment (ebooks, video, PowerPoint presentations) and test the waters en masse.
Though great content is born from the unique intersection between your brand and the needs of the…
Despite the proclamations that email marketing was dead in 2010, the data and practice by marketers suggests that email marketing is alive and well and will continue to be a mainstay of customer communications in 2011. Given the continued importance of email marketing, as we go into 2011, I thought it would be useful to highlight some of the opportunities to make better use of email marketing based on my following of the trends and the email marketers, email consultants and agencies I spoke to in 2010.
5 success factors for your email marketing in 2011
1. Decide how email best creates value for you in 2011. One of the best posts giving advice here is by Loren McDonald - read his 8 implications for email marketing in 2011. For me his suggestions show how you must understand the value email marketing can create for your organisation. This starts…
Is Twitter the canary in the coal mine of customer relations?
Despite the buzz surrounding it, Twitter is not the fastest growing customer service option out there. It"€™s understandable if people have that impression but the numbers don"€™t appear to back it up.
According to a recent post by Diane Clarkson of Forrester data show the number of online consumers to use Twitter for customer support to be under 1%. (Source: North American Technographics Customer Experience Online Survey, Q4 2009 and US Online Omnibus Q4 2010.)
(more…)…
Trends From Social Tech 2010
Value: [rating=3]
Our commentary: So, you have the website, the blog, Twitter account (with a degree of usage) and maybe even Facebook fan page, you're tooled up - but do you feel like you're just a hamster on a treadmill - we all do, sometimes. The question is - where's the magic? Ann Handley notes in a recent post at the Daily Fixblog, "B2B marketers + social = lots of room for improvement." She's written up her 4 take-aways from 'Social Tech 2010', an event focussed around the B2B marketer, and in particular for the high tech industries.
Marketing implications:
All content is not equal: You know the new mantras - "Content is King" - "We are all publishers"! But, "B2B companies have to produce the right kind of content: Web content that is honestly empathetic, seeded with utility for your customers, and that reflects your business's core values…
A case study of a Virgin Atlantic campaign showing the factors that matter
When marketers discuss email marketing we naturally tend to talk a lot about the creative and certainly it's a great way to learn. I love the inspiring examples at the Retail Email Blog and the Campaign Monitor Gallery. But is it the creative or copy that matters most? Other factors are equally or more important.
To help as a reminder of the email success factors I created the CRITICAL mnemonic which you can apply to just about any digital tactic.
To illustrate CRITICAL, I'm going to use this example of what I think is great email creative. It's not new, in fact I've used it in training for years and it features in the first edition of my Email Marketing book, but not the second. But I thought I'd dust it off for this…
Considered, clever and committed - Cisco share their insight
Since experimenting with a blog back in 2005 Cisco's clever use of social media now plays a serious part in the company's worldwide presence, writes Meryl K. Evans in a post at the B2B Social Media Digest - Cisco staff update content regularly and engage with audiences, it's part of the company culture and their pride in being the 'human network'.
As background and context for colleagues on the journey to social media you may want to check:
The Timeline of The Journey to Social Media at Cisco
The company's vision to inform it's social media strategy is considered and simple - the company's director of social media, John Earnhardt says Cisco "€œchanging the way we work, live, play and learn" We believe it's something that networking technology inherently does. We connect. We make the world a smaller place through video and…
Social network LinkedIn beefs up company profile pages
Aside from improvements to the user profiles and implementing Groups half-way through this year, Techcrunch have posted about the beefed up Company profile page, a feature originally launched back in April this year. Now with over 1 million company pages already, LinkedIn is clearly seeing the value and creating new ways in which to members and companies can interact within the network.
The expansion appears to not only make the network a more social place but to also provide meaningful data to users about the company, to really start opening up and provide new ways to mash-up the 75 million+ members"€™ data. We can only assume that this is something that we are going to see more of from LinkedIn.
So - what's interesting in the update?
Company profiles are getting more social. Admins can…
The overhaul required to add a few percent to your results can easily leave you wide-eyed and intimidated. And casting worried glances at your budget.
Fortunately, there is such a thing as a quick fix in email marketing. Sort of.
Quick in the sense that very simple changes to words or design elements can have a huge impact.
Not so quick in that you'll need to tweak, test, explore and experiment to find the right change that brings the dramatic improvement.
Here are three areas where minor modifications can bring a quick result boost, each backed with real world examples illustrating the potential.
1. Sign-up, subscribe or join?
There it sits on your sign-up form, waiting to accept the click after someone filled out their email address. But does the wording on the button affect whether people choose to press it?
Of course it does. The "wrong" wording drove down sign-up conversions by 22.9% for one newsletter publisher.
The…
Benchmark your email marketing against these 10 trends
Value: [rating=4]
Our commentary : A new ten page whitepaper from Lyris to help review your email strategy into 2011. If you haven't seen it, my 10 factor email marketing audit may also be useful to benchmark your approach.
Marketing implications : These are the 10 strategy issues covered in the Lyris report:
1. Email Remains the Cornerstone
2. Email Automation as an Essential
3. Web Analytics Enhances Email
4. Social Media Maximizes Email
5. Mobile Marketing Goes Mainstream
6. Search Marketing Extends Email Marketing Intelligence
7. Global Reach Equals Opportunity
8. Relevance Builds Engagement
9. Integration Reinforces Online Marketing
10. Marketing Technologies Provide Competitive Advantage
Recommended link: 10 email strategies whitepaper from Lyris (PDF requires registration)…
