Creative Marketing Channel

Last week I published A Digital Marketing Primer for C.E.O.s Part I because C.E.O.s themselves must grasp the fundamentals of digital before they’re able to make wise digital marketing choices.  Companies on the losing side of digital who’ve recently assigned budget dollars to social media are under great pressure to claim some online territory.  C.E.O.s want to see their companies build both quality connections and brand advocates.  Yet, catching up to one’s competition takes months of time, precious budget dollars, and real skill.  Referrals from old media friends (who have no real digital presence of their own) are no longer useful.  With dollars, time, and even jobs at stake the answer to the burning question, “How do I vet a digital marketing agency?” is explored here.  Special Note:  Social media, content creation, design and SEO are inexorably linked and part of a good pull marketing strategy. All are under the digital marketing umbrella.

How do I vet a social media or digital marketing agency?

1. Search for them (online) using industry and geographic specific keywords. If they don’t show up on free search (unpaid search links) then your product/company won’t show up either.

2. Read their blog which should be filled with comments and replies.  Blogging is the heart and soul of social media. Run their blog through Blog Grader to check their grade and traffic score.  No blog?? No traffic?  No comments? No responses? No community? Blog not found in search? Move on.

3. Don’t assume they participate appropriately in social media. Instead, find out which social media platforms they participate in and evaluate what they’re doing.  Ask, are they building a community? Are they interacting with others? Do they understand reputation management? Are they responsive? Remember, social media marketing is about creating a community and inspiring that community to share your brand. Look for concrete evidence.

4.  Do a creativity check. Read their content and ask: “Is it creative?” “Is it educational?” “Is it inspiring?” “Does it show up in search?”

5.  Do a construction check. Do they use RSS? Is it easy for others to comment and share their posts on other social platforms?

6.  Find out how they use analytics and ask which analytics tools they prefer. Do they use them to evaluate and refine your campaign?  How often? Do they share your analytics with you? In what format? How often?

7.  Ask to see an SEO success story. They should have at least one client who ranks very well in Google’s natural search. Then, do a little legwork and search for this company on Google yourself.

8.  Listen to the questions they ask you. One size doesn’t fit all so they should be asking you what a successful social media campaign looks like to YOU.  They should ask you about your goals and be able to show you how success is determined and measured throughout your campaign. Expect to hear questions about your customers and your current social resources.

9.  If you’re considering a big agency, then vet the junior level staff person who will do your work. Ask this person to share his/her personal brand.  Check out her/his blog, social media accounts, and community.  Go through steps 1 – 8 above.

Many of my esteemed readers are competent digital marketers and I invite each of them to add to my list in the comments area below.  To contact oz 2 designs LLC about digital marketing for your company, email cl@oz2designs.com. Keep an eye out for upcoming post, ” A Digital Marketing Primer for C.E.O.s part III (Sherryl you were right – LOL !) which answers the question, “What should I expect to pay a social media agency?”

“As the global economy struggles to correct itself, and social media marketing becomes a strategic imperative, companies will have exciting opportunities to expand in new directions this year…the current shift in geotargeting, mobile marketing, and online reputation management require that small businesses modify their plans to surpass competitors.” – Susan Gunelius, Reuters.

“Still Waiting to Commit to a Strategy…You’re Going to Lose” – Adam Singer
Gunelius is correct; current trends point businesses toward a holistic digital marketing strategy but, the fact is, if your business hasn’t made a commitment to digital yet, surpassing your competitors (even with a gigantic budget) probably won’t happen. Those who’ve already implemented a smart digital marketing strategy are so far ahead of their competition it’s disturbing.  Renowned digital marketing blogger and PR expert Adam Singer exemplifies the seriousness of this type of loss with a simple runner’s graphic.  In it, the newcomer to digital is running uphill struggling to make it to the top while his competition has already crested the hill and is enjoying the benefits of his win.  Stop looking for an easy way out – there isn’t one. Singer writes, “Figure out how the digital channels can best serve your brand. The net result should be a focused strategy that is based on your overall business objectives, economic value to the organization, and a tactical plan.” If you’re in the C-Suite, do your homework and understand digital marketing now, because it’s already too late.

Figure it out!
Here are some social media marketing fundamentals.  Social media starts with content and compelling content is predominantly found on blogs and websites with blogs.  Compelling content is a viable marketing tool. Gunelius on Reuters explains, “Amazing content is essential to break through the noise.” Yes, social media includes Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Delicious, Buzz etc. but before we go there it’s imperative you see the following key distinction: Your blog and your website are YOUR brand. Facebook and Twitter are not your brand – they are Facebook and Twitter’s brands. The goal is to get your friends and followers to link back to your brand.  Have social media accounts but no blog? You’re losing.  Fill your blog with compelling, keyword optimized content which inspires others to share what you write on Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Buzz, and more. This is how you boost your brand’s visibility on search.  Are you posting weekly on your blog?  Is your content interesting enough to share? Do you regularly add fresh content to your website? Your answers to all should be YES.

Search engine attention and author authority
Compelling blog content combined with the creative use of Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and other social media channels is a good start.  Specifically, you build communities on various social media platforms, share valuable information with your communities in an interesting way, then maybe they’ll share your information with their communities.  Sounds simple, right? It isn’t. Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz writes, ” We now know that those link sharing activities on Twitter and Facebook are evaluated based on the person/entity sharing them through a score Google calls ‘Author Authority,’ and Bing calls ‘Social Authority.’” Recently both Google and Bing confessed they give more search engine attention to links tweeted and retweeted by authoritative Twitter users. Know how to leverage social and search.

Time is not on your side.
You won’t get instant gratification from a newly implemented digital marketing plan. It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it, the fact remains, a good digital marketing plan needs to be up and running at least six months before you’ll see any benefits.  At least.  A year is a much more realistic time frame.  If you study up you’ll understand the daily commitment,  knowledge base, and creativity required to make it work.  Ready to learn more?  Keep an eye out for “A Digital Marketing Study Primer for C.E.O.’s – Part II” and find out how to vet a social media marketing agency and discover how much you should pay them.

Consistent, relentless adaptation to the ever changing business climate takes passion and dedication.  2010 was a tough year for some businesses and many are grateful it’s over.  Before us lies a new year filled with opportunities which can only be discovered by pushing oneself and one’s business to be better.  The right words may be all it takes to help a business owner stay on target and achieve her goals. Last October, The Creative Marketing Channel held a totally subjective Original Coach Quotes Contest asking coaches for original quotes to inspire businesses in 2011.  Today we’re very pleased to announce our winners. Read the rest of this entry »