Essential MCS-Compile_MAR-2012

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Creating Your Social Media Strategy

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It’s a little overwhelming, isn’t it? Everyone is chattering about social media like it’s

the cure for every business woe you’ve ever experienced, and you know it can be

valuable… but how in the world do you get started? And where should you be

present? And how should you be present? And how in the world will you fit it into

your already overcrowded day?

Think of this document as a deep breath to calm the nerves. We’re going to walk

you through your strategy step by step and by the time we’re done, you’re going to

be doing the right things for the right reasons. And best of all – have a plan you can

follow consistently.

Let’s dig into the key elements of your social media strategy.

Social Media

Copyright 2012. McLellan Marketing Group. All contents Creative Commons Licensed.3

Why are you investing the time?

Really – this is the part that most people skip. Hey, just open a Twitter account, slap together a Facebook page or open a free blog account somewhere and then they languish.

Let’s talk goals. What do you want to get out of your social media activity? What needs to happen for you to declare it a success?

Set 3-4 goals and make them SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. For example:

~ I want to create content that generates two new leads a month, within six months of launching our SM program.

~ I want to get my site on the first page of Google for these two phrases (list them) within a year of launching our SM program.

~ I want to give our best customers an easy way to tell others about us by sharing our content at least ten times a month within six months of launching our SM program.

Okay – your turn:

1. ________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________

Why?


Who?

Who are you talking to/with?

And don’t say everyone. Or everyone over 18. Just like in traditional marketing, it’s critical to know who matters. You only have so much time – so you want to spend it creating content for your key audiences.

While the why is probably the most important part of your strategy, the who exercise will be the most helpful, if you do it. It feels like a bit of work, so many people will skip over it. We seriously suggest you don’t. We’re going to create three personas.

A persona is a made up person who embodies your target audience’s traits, likes, needs, fears, and behaviors. Let us give you an example. Drew did this for his blog a few years ago. If you read through this post, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what we’re talking about: http://bit.ly/mmgpersona

Okay…now, think about the three types of people you want to connect with through social media. (Could be existing customers, potential customers, referral sources, business partners, employees, etc.)

Describe them in detail, as the example showed. And last but not least – give them a name so that they’re very three dimensional to you.

This is probably going to take about a sheet of paper per persona so do the whole exercise some place where you can capture all the specifics and share them with your team. On this master document, just capture their essence and name.

Persona One:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Persona Two:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Persona Three:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________


What?

What do our personas do online? (The Who, part two)

Now that you’ve decided who you want to reach, we need to figure out how and where to reach them.

Where do they invest their time when they’re online? Some of this will be educated guesswork on your part. (Check out http://www.quantcast.com for pure demographic insight) and then be observant and/or ask.

Go beyond where they go. Think about how they access content. Do they subscribe to everything via email or are they an RSS feed reader user? Do they get on the Web via their phone, a desktop or are they trendy and use an iPad?

When do they get online? Is it part of their 9-5 world? Do they only log on from home or at night?

What social media sites (blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) do your personas frequent?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

What tools do they use to access the Web?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________


Where?

Where do our personas hang out? (The Who, part three)

Now that you know who your core audience is – and the types of online sites and communities they frequent, it’s time to identify places where you can bump into those folks and create initial relationships on their comfortable turf.

Don’t believe the line “if you build it, they will come.” It may have worked for Kevin Costner in A Field of Dreams, but it’s not how social media works. There are many good blogs and Facebook fan pages out there that have very few readers. If you want an audience – you’re going to have to put in the effort. And that starts with engaging them in conversation where they already hang out.

Make a list of five places (could be blogs, Facebook fan pages, LinkedIn groups, Twitter topics or conversationalists etc.) where you could jump into existing conversations on topics that are tangential or parallel to yours.

Maybe your professional association has a blog or LinkedIn group? Is there a business that is similar to yours in another region of the country that shares your outlook on the industry in their blog posts? Use www.alltop.com to find leading blogs in your category.

If you need some help, use these tools to identify where the conversations are happening:

Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com/) searches the blogosphere for any keyword or phrase you enter.

Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com/) scans all Twitter posts for your keyword or phrase.

SocialMention (www.socialmention.com/) is a social media search engine that searches user-generated content like blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news, videos, etc. and delivers email alerts when a new mention is posted.

List your five hot spots:

1. __________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________

We’re going to use these hot spots when we get to the action plan stage of this strategy.


What?

What do they care about?

Many companies launch into the social media space talking about themselves. A lot. They post when they’re having a sale or have completed a project. I can hear them now… “Enough about me, tell me – what do you think of me?” That’s a conversation killer no matter what medium, but it is a surefire death in the social media space. (For more information, visit http://bit.ly/mmgcocktailparty.)

You need to create or share content that will matter to your personas. What do they care about? Why would they keep listening to you? What could you teach them? What could you learn from them? (Asking questions is the best way to generate conversation)

For each of your personas – think of at least five broad topic descriptions that would matter to them that are somehow related to your company. For example, if you made dentistry tools, one of your audiences would probably be the office manager at a dentist’s practice. Her list of topics might be:

~ Ways to entertain patients (and their kids) while they’re waiting for an appointment

~ Health issues related to the dental profession (bad backs, carpel tunnel, etc.)~ How to maintain dental tools~ Dentist humor~ Managing a medical/dental staff~ How to grow a patient base through referrals from current patients

You can see that none of those were about the dental tools you sell. So, if you talk about topics of interest to them 85% of the time, they will be happy to listen to your occasional (15%) talk about yourself and your offerings. Another way to think about this question is to ask – what kinds of information would this audience pass along to their peers? You can’t force something to go viral (being shared) but you can certainly help by being worthy of sharing. While you’re pondering topics, also note if you want to write about it, create or share video, photos, etc.

Okay – your turn:

1. ________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________


What?

What do we want them to do? (The What, part two)

Now that you know what you’re going to talk about, you should also think about how you want the audience to react. What do you want them to do?

Yes, it’s great that they are reading your blog posts or commenting on your Facebook page links – but marketing is about advancing a prospect to the point of being a buyer. Or moving a buyer to becoming a raving fan. So as you think about what social media tools you’re going to use and the content you’re going to share – ask yourself this: What do I want them to do next?

It might be to subscribe to an e-newsletter, request a quote, share your content with another prospective buyer, ask a question or buy something. But always give your audience a way to continue the conversation and move closer to you and your company.

What actions could you offer as a next step to your social media audience?

1. ________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________

Note: Depending on where you’re connecting with them, what you want them to do could be different. If they’re reading your e-newsletter, getting them to sign up for your e-newsletter seems like a silly goal. But, getting them to request a quote or ask for a spec sheet might not be.

Or, the audience might dictate the action. You might want your peers to share your blog post but your current customers to re-order.

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Putting All of This Into Action

Based on everything you’ve already discovered in this document, now is the time to

determine what social media channels make the most sense for you. Remember…

you should think about aspects of social media (listening and creating content) –

and plan to spend some time in both.


Listening/Commenting/Sharing

Here’s where your five hot spots come in. You’re going to want to monitor these conversations and jump in and add value on a regular basis.

Why? Because every time you do – you get to list your name and your Web address.

Sooner or later, because you’re adding value and are incredibly interesting – the people of that community are going to get curious about you and click on your website link to see who the heck you are. And that’s how they are going to discover the content you are creating…and hopefully find it fresh and relevant – so they stick around.

These are also sites you can use to find good content to share with others and as kindling for your own content. There’s nothing wrong with building off of someone else’s thoughts, as long as you give them credit and a link back to their original site.

This is the part of the action plan that people will never take the time to do. Which is why they’re frustrated when they have very little traffic coming to enjoy all of their hard work.

If you want people to discover you and participate in the conversations that you start… you need to exhibit that behavior first.


Creating Content

Okay…this is the part you thought we’d get to several pages ago. We now have the horse firmly in front of the cart, so it’s time to think about what social media channels you’re going to use.

We recommend that you build your web of content creation in a hub-and-spoke model. You need to have a core, or hub, for all of your social media activity. You can have lots of spokes…but they all build off the same hub.

Look at how Drew’s model plays out – with his blog being the center of the action. Note how we’ve blended online and offline marketing among the spokes.


Creating Content (cont)

Now we’re not suggesting that you need to have anywhere near this many boxes or levels of engagement. But you can see how all of the spoke activity was born on the blog or points back to the blog.

Using the blank hub-and-spoke below… think through what you want as your spokes and hub. Keep in mind that every spoke does not have to be where you create content. It could also be where you listen and comment. You might also include some items you are already doing – but can now link back to the hub.


Your action plan’s schedule

Now that you can see the bigger picture of your social media’s digital (and analog) footprint – determine your social media schedule. For each box, identify how often you are going to add new content.

So your schedule might look like this:

Every day:

• Reviewlisteningpostdata(GoogleAlerts,SocialMention,Kurrently,etc)• Tweetlinktocontentthatwouldbeofinteresttooneormoreofyour

personas• Commentonatleastoneofthehotspotlocations • JumpintoaTwitterconversationandaddvalueorstartaconversation

Every week:

• TwoFacebookfanpageposts–oneaskingarelevantquestionandtheother,sharing knowledge

• ScanyourLinkedIngroupstoseeifyoucanaddtotheconversation

Every month:

• Hostawebinaronatopicofyourexpertise• Submityourbestblogpostofthemonthtoarticlemarketingsites• AttendalocalTweetup(agatheringforTwitterusers)


Your action plan’s schedule

Your turn:

Every day:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Every week:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Every month:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________


How will you be real?

Here’s the kicker. If you write like you’re “marketing” or “selling” you will very quickly be talking to yourself. Social media is a different beast. Whether you’re Dell or Debbie’s Deli – people want to interact with a real person. A living, breathing human being.

So how do you find the blend of communicating about your business and being real? It’s simple – how do you talk to people who walk in your store, e-mail you a question or call your business phone number?

Better yet – how do you talk to clients you’ve worked with for years? You talk to them like you. All of you. You might mention that you’re having a sale but you might also share that you’re heading to Hawaii for vacation.

That’s how you are real. Don’t use technical jargon. Don’t sound corporate. (even if you’re in charge of social media for a huge corporation). Let your personality breathe into your blogging, tweets and wherever else you might hang out online.

There’s a fine line, of course. You want to watch your language and tone. You’re still representing your organization. But be you. And don’t worry if a little bit of your personal life seeps through. People do business with people. And they like knowing you have a dog that ate the sofa cushion, or the kid who got on the dean’s list in college.

Relationships are forged by sharing and connecting. Be sure that you give them enough of you to make that connection.

Be real.

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Final Thoughts

Just a few words about this. Don’t think of your social

media activity as a separate activity from your other

marketing and communications.

Think about how you can integrate all of your

marketing efforts.

• Atyourclientappreciationgathering–havea

computer opened up to display your Facebook page

and ask your guests to become a fan/like it.

• OnTwitter,sharealinktoyourprintadcampaign(whichofcourseyoupostedon

your blog or website).

• PutyourFacebookpageURLorTwitternameonyourbusinesscards.

It’s all one big effort so don’t lose sight of how they connect together.


Holy buckets! Where do I get stuff to write about?

Hopefully the work we did in the “what” section of this exercise got your brain percolating a bit. But it can be a daunting concept – you are a content creator and you’re going to be producing content on a regular basis. So what happens when you get writer’s block?

Let’s identify some sources of kindling… idea starters, brain joggers, and even complete news to you places. There’s nothing wrong with getting inspiration from someone else’s writing or ideas. As we said earlier – just give them credit. And don’t be surprised if people start using your words as their kindling too!

Some kindling sources are:

• Contentyou’vealreadycreated(backissuesofnewsletters,presentations,articles, interviews you’ve done, etc.)

• Booksyou’rereading• BlogsinyourRSSfeedreader(youmightwanttosubscribetoafewmore…

to keep the fires stoked)• Conversationswithclientsorcustomers• Questionsyouoftengetaskedaboutyourproductorservice• Tradepublicationsorindustrywebsites,magazinesormeetings• Twitter/Facebookconversations• Questionsyouremployees/teammatesaskyou

Where else could you find kindling? List at least five specific sources so you’ll never have a dry spell:

1. ________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________

Congratulations. If you’ve actually worked your way through this entire exercise, you’re well on your way to really understanding and enjoying the potential of social media.


A Final Thought or Two

First, congrats on actually working your way through this ebook. You’ve thought through strategy, audiences, topics, media -- it’s all downhill from here, right?

Almost. Social media is not for the weary, thin-skinned or instant gratification crowd. It’s an investment of time, energy, focus and expertise. That investment will pay off in ways you can’t imagine. But it won’t be overnight. So don’t get discouraged and don’t check your stats every day. You’ll drive yourself nuts.

Instead -- recognize that what you’re doing is for the long haul and stay the course. It probably won’t end up being exactly the course you charted. Social media has a way of taking you on some pretty spectacular adventures with some unexpected destinations. But it will serve you and your organization well.

That, we promise. Enjoy the ride!

If you have questions about the content in this book or marketing in general — here’s how to reach out to us:

E-mail: [email protected]: @DrewMcLellanCall: 515.251.8400Facebook: www.facebook.com/McLellanMarketing

Baromètre de rayonnement numérique des candidats - 1

Présidentielles 2012:

François Hollande, champion sur le Web, sur Twitter, Facebook et DailyMotion, et

leader du 1er Baromètre de Rayonnement numérique des candidats

Jeudi 8 mars 2012

Depuis les élections de 2007, la sphère digitale a largement gagné ses galons en tant qu’outil

d’information, tribune d’expression, espace de débat, plateforme d’interactivité, d’échange,

d’engagement et d’activation militante… La tactique sur le web et les réseaux sociaux mise en

place par les équipes de Barack Obama cette année-là représente le modèle ultime d’un

rayonnement numérique réussi.

Le digital est devenu incontournable dans la campagne présidentielle 2012

Aujourd’hui encore, la campagne digitale du Président américain, candidat à sa propre succession,

reste la référence dans l’hexagone, montrant ainsi que l’ensemble des candidats a compris

l’importance de préempter ces espaces d’influence et de prendre en compte le poids et

les voix des internautes-citoyens. Mais dans le même temps, ils semblent avoir du mal à se

démarquer de l’empreinte américaine ; l'équipe de campagne de François Hollande déclare

volontiers travailler avec celle d'Obama. Comme en témoigne la création de playlists sur

Deezer de Nicolas Sarkozy et François Hollande, quelques jours après celle du candidat

démocrate US.


Les 5 principaux candidats français1, qui allouent à leur campagne web des budgets de l’ordre

de 100 K€ (J.L. Mélenchon) à 2 M€ (N. Sarkozy et F. Hollande), montent des équipes

dédiées (entre 6 personnes pour F. Bayrou et 45 pers. pour F. Hollande) afin de démultiplier et

gérer leur présence sur le digital. A cet égard, on note que la création récente d’un profil Facebook

et d’un compte Twitter officiels par les équipes de Nicolas Sarkozy a été amplement commentée,

confirmant l'importance donnée aux candidats français aux réseaux sociaux.

Les candidats Leur directeur de campagne digitale Equipes Budget

François Bayrou Matthieu Lamarre 6 personnes 600/700 K€

François Hollande Vincent Feltesse 45/50 personnes 2 M€

Marine le Pen David Rachline ND ND

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Arnaud Champremier-Trigano ND 100 K€

Nicolas Sarkozy Manuel Diaz (eMakina) 25/30 personnes 2 M€

Mesurer le rayonnement numérique des candidats

Dans l’objectif d’analyser la présence de ces 5 candidats sur les nouveaux médias et réseaux, NPA

Conseil a mis au point un baromètre de rayonnement numérique fondé sur 11 univers2 et 31

critères, afin d’établir un classement sur chaque item de 6 (meilleur rayonnement) à 1 (faible

rayonnement) et 0 (pas de présence ou pas d’indication de présence).

Selon ce Baromètre, réalisé entre le 1er et le 05 Mars 2012, François Hollande a développé une

meilleure présence numérique que ses concurrents, avec une note de 6,6/10. Il est suivi

de N. Sarkozy (5,6), F. Bayrou (5,4), M. Le Pen (4,5) et J. L. Mélenchon (3,7).

En termes de rayonnement numérique, F. Hollande devance les 4 autres candidats étudiés

(Note de rayonnement numérique des 5 principaux candidats / 10)

F. Hollande N. Sarkozy F. Bayrou M. Le Pen

J.L. Mélenchon

Total Web 2,3 1,5 1,3 0,7 1,9

Total Twitter 0,9 0,7 0,5 0,4 0,7

Total Facebook 1,1 0,9 0,7 0,7 0,5

Total Google+ 0,5 0,0 0,6 0,3 0,0

Total Blog(s) 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,3 0,2

Total YouTube 0,3 0,6 0,8 0,9 0,0

Total Dailymotion 0,7 0,3 0,5 0,5 0,1

Total Foursquare 0,0 0,7 0,4 0,0 0,0

Total mobile 0,0 0,0 0,3 0,3 0,0

Total Flickr 0,3 0,3 0,3 0,3 0,3

Total Instagram 0,5 0,7 0,0 0,0 0,0

Total Rayonnement 6,6 5,6 5,4 4,5 3,7 Source : NPA

Le candidat socialiste enregistre de bonnes performances sur :

- le référencement de son site : en nombre de visiteurs uniques, réf. naturel et puissance

(mesurée via le site Alexa.com)

Les sites Rang parmi les sites français (Alexa.com)

Lien vers les réseaux sociaux

Contenus exclusifs

francoishollande.fr 1 373 Oui Mot à mot

lafranceforte.fr 1 481 Oui Kikadikoi

bayrou.fr 1 838 Oui

placeaupeuple2012.fr 2 050 Oui En marche

marinelepen2012.fr 3 242 Oui

Source : NPA sur données opérateurs (01/03/2012)

1 : Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, François Bayrou, Jean-Luc Mélenchon et Marine Le Pen. 2 : Site web, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Blog, chaîne YouTube et Dailymotion, Foursquare, Mobile, Flickr, Instagram.


- l’interactivité sur son site de campagne : liens vers le parti socialiste, vers les réseaux

sociaux sur lesquels F. Hollande est présent, et incitation à l’action à destination des

internautes. A noter, l’existence d’un « outil de mobilisation » exclusif : « toushollande.fr ».

- Twitter : par le nombre de followers, de tweets dont sur les 8 derniers jours.

- Facebook : le développement homogène du profil (quand bien même sur plusieurs critères,

il est dépassé par d’autres candidats) lui assure la pole-position. De plus, c’est le seul à

avoir lancé une page spéciale, « le changement, c’est maintenant ».

- Dailymotion : il est tête en termes de nombre de vidéos postées et en nombre de vues.

Les grandes tendances de la présence numérique des 5 candidats

Twitter semble être l’un des instruments privilégiés des équipes de campagne, en raison de

sa réactivité en temps réel qui permet d’être en phase avec l’actualité du candidat, et d'un format

qui favorise les phrases-choc. Sur les 8 derniers jours, on compte 169 tweets pour N. Sarkozy, 140

ex-aequo pour F. Hollande et J. L. Mélenchon. Toutefois, il est à noter que la plupart des candidats

délègue à leurs équipes le soin de tweeter sur le réseau de micro-blogging, à l’exception de F.

Bayrou (11 tweets / 8 derniers jours).

Twitter Nombre de followers

Nombre de tweets

Dont les 8 derniers

jours

@bayrou 83 408 488 11

@fhollande 179 957 2 014 140

@MLP_officiel 44 508 625 9

@melenchon2012 26 005 3 309 140

@NicolasSarkozy 105 314 338 169

Source : NPA sur données opérateur (01/03/2012)

Les équipes de communication des candidats semblent miser sur l’aspect ludique tout

spécialement sur le digital, à destination d’électeurs plus jeunes et connectés et peut-être plus

réceptifs à cette manière de prendre la parole. On trouve ainsi une rubrique « Volontaires » sur le

site de François Bayrou, qui s’inscrit « dans une dynamique de rassemblement et de

renouvellement politique », selon Matthieu Lamarre, responsable de la campagne web du candidat

du Modem3. Avec cette approche fondée sur la gamification, inspirée de Foursquare, les inscrits

ont des actions de soutien à effectuer pour gagner des « décibels » qui leur permettront de gagner

des badges à l’échelle locale et nationale.

3 : Interview du Buzz LCI – 10/02/2012


De leur côté, le PS et l’UMP ont également choisi d’adopter un ton plus léger, voire en décalage

avec les discours offline, via la production de vidéos courtes visant à critiquer leurs positions et

propositions respectives : « Mot-à-mot » pour le PS et « Kikadikoi » pour l’UMP.

Sur le registre de la vidéo exclusive et originale, le Front de gauche a décidé de lancer une web-

série, « En marche », qui met en scène Jean-Luc Mélenchon tout au long de sa campagne. Réalisée

par des sympathisants bénévoles, ces vidéos d’une dizaine de minutes sont conçues à la manière

d’un documentaire scénarisé, avec à chaque fois en début d’épisode un rappel des faits précédents

(rappelant l’entame « previously on… » des séries feuilletonnantes américaines).

DailyMotion Nombre de

vidéos proposées

Nombre de vidéos vues

Nombre de vues par vidéos

proposée

François Bayrou 266 498 236 1 873

François Hollande 327 1 734 247 5 303

Jean-Luc Mélenchon 3 4 947 1 649

Marine le Pen 174 568 759 3 268

Nicolas Sarkozy 37 442 109 11 949

Youtube Nombre de

vidéos proposées

Nombre de vidéos vues

Nombre de vues par vidéos

proposée

François Bayrou 218 426 538 1 957

François Hollande 88 17 013 193

Jean-Luc Mélenchon - - -

Marine le Pen 158 1 219 480 7 718

Nicolas Sarkozy 39 250 996 6 436

Source : NPA sur données opérateurs (01/03/2012)

Avec la prolifération des plateformes disponibles, la présence numérique des candidats peut

paraître plus opportuniste et surfer sur des effets de mode que véritablement structurée,

utile pour s’adresser aux militants, aux sympathisants ou recruter des électeurs hésitants. On

compte 3 candidats actifs sur Google+ (F. Hollande, F. Bayrou et M. Le Pen) et deux sur

Foursquare (N. Sarkozy et F. Bayrou) et Instagram (N. Sarkozy et F. Hollande).


Facebook

Nombre de messages au

cours du dernier mois

Nombres de Fans

Nombre de Fans actifs

Proportion de fans actifs

François Bayrou 111 23 597 3 485 0,15

François Hollande 78 65 657 14 406 0,22

Marine le Pen 142 42 347 8 099 0,19

Jean-Luc Mélenchon 96 32 020 12 869 0,4

Nicolas Sarkozy 30 558 875 37 768 0,07

Source : NPA sur données opérateur (01/03/2012)

Les autres plateformes virales

Foursquare Flickr Instagram

François Bayrou

François Hollande

Marine le Pen

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Nicolas Sarkozy

On peut a contrario s’interroger sur la faible présence sur le mobile. En effet, parmi les

candidats suivis, seuls ceux du Modem et du Front national ont lancé des applications

smartphones, dont un seul (François Bayrou) dans les deux environnements iPhone et

Android. Or, selon une étude publiée par Compete en juin 2011, 43% des détenteurs de compte

Twitter se connectent à la PF de micro-blogging depuis un mobile (vs 34% pour Facebook et 9%

pour LinkedIn). Ainsi, les points de contact mobiles des candidats pourraient être

complémentaires ; le compte Twitter et l’application n’ayant pas les mêmes fonctionnalités et

partant les mêmes finalités.

Face aux réseaux les plus récents, les plateformes digitales les plus « anciennes » (blogs et

YouTube) conservent leur efficacité pour créer de sphères d’influence. La stratégie de M. le

Pen d’agréger « un réseau informel de blogs et de sites » qui soutiennent la candidate, via la

« Toile Bleu Marine » lancée en janvier dernier, permet à moindre frais de démultiplier les points

de contacts et de discussion, en contrepartie d’un contrôle moindre sur les discours relayés par les

blogueurs affiliés. Toutefois, les équipes de la candidate FN ne délèguent pas l’intégralité de la

campagne aux sympathisants, comme en témoigne leur réactivité avec la création du site

« Ruralité 2012 », en parallèle du Salon de l’agriculture et du renoncement de Frédéric Nihous à se

présenter. Bien que ce dernier soutienne N. Sarkozy, la candidate FN cherche probablement à

gagner des voix auprès des agriculteurs, traditionnellement plus à droite, par ce biais.

Dans l’ensemble, il apparaît que les stratégies web actuelles sont davantage, si ce n’est

exclusivement, centrées sur des objectifs d’activation de réseaux et de militantisme auprès

des électeurs déjà intéressés que sur la mise en œuvre d’espaces de débats, de discussions.

Contacts : Philippe Bailly – [email protected]

Presse : Matthieu Amelin – [email protected] – 01 74 71 43 80

mailto:[email protected]


®Link Building Guide

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Link Building Guide®

2

© 2011 Optify, Inc. All rights reserved.www.optify.net 1-877-2-OPTIFY @optify

®

®

Table of Contents:

3 Introduction

4 Why Build Links

5 How to Build Your Links

10 Widgets and Distribution

12 Measurement

14 Conclusion

Link Building Guide

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Shady Link Buying Tactics Include:

Buying from Link Farms: A link farm is a group of websites that all link to every other site in the group. The

primary purpose of linking schemes is to manipulate search engines, as opposed to adding actual content to

the Web. This behavior can get you banned from Google.

Purchasing Irrelevant Links: Some sites will allow business to buy links with whatever anchor text that

business wants, regardless of whether it is relevant to what is actually being sold on the site. As an example,

JC Penney was found suspect of acquiring a high number of inbound links with anchor text like “bedding,”

“area rugs,” and “skinny jeans” from sites with no content or relevancy around those items. As a result, J.C.

Penney was penalized by Google and publicly scrutinized for their poor decision.

When uncertain as to whether or not a link strategy will land you in hot water, ask yourself, “Would I be able

to defend my actions if asked?” If the answer to this question is unequivocally yes, then you’re fine. If not,

steer clear. Remember your brand is your biggest long-term asset. This is especially true online where the

speed of conversations is increasing at an exponential rate. If you want people to do business with you

online, you need to present your brand in the most favorable light possible, which means employing only

above-board, “white hat” inbound link building practices.

IntroductionFor companies looking to enhance their SEO through link acquisition, planning a cohesive inbound link strategy

can be daunting - especially when multiple potential link building pitfalls can steer you the wrong way. The right

ways, involve strategies that are considered credible and will keep your company in the good graces of search

engines. The wrong ways, also known as “black hat” SEO strategies, are considered unethical and punishable by

search engines.

This Guide is Focused on Credible, Ethical Inbound Link Building Strategies:

First, let’s briefly cover the less savory types of link buying activities, so you can be aware of paths best not taken.

Once you are clear on which practices are considered “black hat,” we’ll attribute the bulk of this guide to walking

you through the numerous, acceptable types of quality link building tactics available to companies today. By the

end of this guide you should have a comprehensive framework of how to strategize, plan and expand your in-

bound links, thereby improving your standings in search engine rankings.

Link Buying Versus Link Building:

Most link buying (there is one exception to this rule which will be addressed later) is considered outside the

bounds of major search engine guidelines. We’d advise you to steer clear of these types of link purchases.

The more content or links you acquire beyond search engine guidelines, the higher the probability you will be

penalized either through a drop in rankings or worse – through a ban of your entire domain from the search

Introduction

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Why Build Links?The search engine optimization process is comprised of three

basic elements:

1. Keyword Strategy and Selection

2. Site and Page Optimization

3. Link Building

In order to be successful in SEO, you need all three elements

working together to boost rankings, visits and conversions. In this guide

we focus specifically on number three link building. Credible, quality

inbound links to your site pass their trust and authority to your site or

page. Thus, pushing your content higher up the ranks. As you build your

inbound link authority, your SEO rankings should improve.

How Is Link Value Assessed?Search engines take into account a number of criteria when determining

link value or link authority.

Quality: Not all links are created equal. It is better to have one high quality link than ten mediocre links.

Google Page Rank (PR) is a common method of assessing the quality of a host page. A PR10 is a fantastic

(and rare) link whereas a PR0 is a common and therefore not very valuable link.

Relevancy: What is considered relevant? As an

example, a business-to-business site with content

about servers would be considered a very relevant

link host for a target site focusing on technology

for businesses.

Diversity: Search engines are giving increasingly

important weight to the diversity of domains which

link to your site or page. 10,000 links from 1 or 2

sites will do you less good than 5,000 links from

1,000 sites.

Placement: If the link is included as part of

content, otherwise known as an in-line link, rather

than in a footer or sidebar, it is better.

Quantity: Quality trumps quantity. However, the

more high quality links you have, the better.

» PR10, Related Content, Keyword Rich Anchor Text, One Way Link, in Body of Content

» P3-9, Related Content, Keyword Rich Anchor Text, One Way

Link, In-Line

» PR3-9, Related Content, Keyword Rich Anchor Text, One Way

Link, Side Bar or Footer

» PR 3-9, Keyword Rich Anchor Text, Reciprocal Link

» PR 3-9 Keyword Rich Anchor Text to a Content Specific Page,

Reciprocal Link

» PR 3-9, Domain Anchor Text to a Content Specific Page,

Reciprocal

» PR 3-9, Domain Anchor Text to the Home page, Reciprocal

» PR 0-2, Domain Anchor Text to the Home page, Reciprocal

» PR 3-9, Paid Link with lots of other links on page

» Any Link Farm

BEST Assessing Link Quality

HARMFUL

Why Build Links

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How to Build Your LinksNow that we’ve covered the “what” and the “why” behind link

building – we are ready to tackle the “how.” There are numerous

respectable inbound link building strategies. For the sake of simpli-

fication, we’ve grouped these tactics into the following categories:

1. Technical

2. Content Focused

3. Online

4. Offline

5. Partnerships

6. Distribution

Before you build your strategy, it is important to understand the key

characteristics of the various options available to you.

Technical Link Building TacticsDirectory submissions of all types are a common link-building

strategy. Directory submissions include: web directories, blog

directories, podcast directories, niche directories, members’

only directories, etc. It also includes posting links on Craig’s List,

establishing reviews on Yahoo!, and enlisting links on your local

chamber of commerce sites. These tactics are legitimate,

but there are two rules you must follow when pursuing these

strategies. If you do not, you may find yourself in hot water.

1. You must register your site with the two first tier web direc

tories – DMOZ, and Yahoo! The first is free, and is used by

most search engines. The second costs $299/year.

However it is faster, easier to edit, and is also used by most

search engines

2. Do not use automated submissions. Google detects this

tactic and definitely considers it a “black hat” strategy

LINK STRUCTURE:

» The visible text portion of a link

is called the anchor text. This is

an important signal to the search

engines regarding the content on

the target URL.

» The use of JavaScript re-directs

for internal linking does not pass

page authority unless coded as

a 301 re-direct. Whenever pos

sible, use simple HTML links in

order to pass both the anchor text

and the page authority from host

to target page.

Example:

Link Host Page: http://www.micro-

soft.com/online/default.aspxLink

Anchor Text: Learn more about

Exchange OnlineLink Target Page:

http://www.microsoft.com/online/

exchange-online.aspx

Be aware of the “No follow” linkat-

tribute. If the link has rel=no follow

as part of its code, it will act like a

normal link for the user but will not

pass on its link authority or trust.

This code is traditionally used to

limit spam posts and links. While it

may not be useful in terms of pass-

ing authority, it can still be of value

when it comes to generating traffic.

How to Build Your Links

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Technical Link Building Tactics


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As you analyze and build your list of directories consider using the following approach:

1. Compile a list of directories

2. Analyze the various directories by competition,relevance, cost and public relations. A template of this

analysis can be downloaded from Optify

3. Rank your directories to create a prioritized workplan

4. Determine your budget and your ratio of paid versus free directories

5. Publish to your list

Create an HTML draft of title, short description (160 characters,) long description (up to 500 characters,) and

keywords. This will increase efficiency as all directories request a variation of this information.

Keep track of your progress via excel. Maintain a status column and a last updated column to track your progress.

Check your listings periodically. They may need to be updated over time.

Link Reclamation is another technical link building tactic, which you may choose to pursue.

Link reclamation essentially means finding links or domains that are broken and re-directing these links to

good pages. This strategy is best used for mining high quality links from sites that want good content.

Technical Link Building Tips:

» Review inbound links into your site and a few of your competitors

» Look for blank anchor text, broken pages and poorly edirected pages

» Research and reach out to those sending links and try to adjust them to fit your structure or new page

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Content Focused Link Building TacticsThere is no doubt that good, interesting, well-written content will

be more likely to attract visitors to your site, than poor, recycled,

shoddily written content. But even the best content can get lost, if

it’s not optimized for the web. The content you create should be

interesting and insightful as well as optimized.

Create some form of content that will be willingly posted and

linked from many sites by site owners. For example, create a “best

product” or “certified partner” badge and reach out to partner or

related sites with this “award.” Or, create a template for wordpress

or other content management system with a link back to the design

website in the footer. Build valuable content that people want to

link to. Reach out to opinion leaders to review and consume

content for link backs. When creating great content don’t forget to:

1. Promote it

2. Research related keywords that are being searched and use

those keywords for content creation ideas

3. Use keywords in headline and title tag of page content

4. Include link with good anchor text back to the main content

page

Online Link Building TacticsNow that you’ve written, optimized and distributed your

content, it’s time to let people know it exists. If you’ve employed

technical and content distribution strategies then you’ve already

begun the process of building visibility. However, there is still

more to do. Here are additional online strategies, which you

can use to build inbound links:

Next step? Get ready to tap into social media and other online

resources to direct traffic to all the locations where your content

has been published.

Content Focused Link Building Tactics

CONTENT SYNDICATION TIPS

» Put your site’s content, data, etc.

into the hands of many sites with

attribution links back to your site.

» Make syndication part of every

content publishing effort, and

push content out on blogs and

as RSS feeds. Then, syndicate

articles through an article data

base. For more specifics on how

to create great, optimized content

visit the blogs below.

Want to Rank Higher: Create Great

Content

Search Engine Ranking: A Step-by-

Step Guide

To efficiently distribute your

content without harming your link

building efforts, you’ll need a work

plan to help you track and control

distribution. “The only thing more

damaging that having six versions

of content on your site, is having six

versions of it on six other big,

powerful sites.” Hence a work plan

to help you keep track is essential.

A simple excel spreadsheet will

suffice. As you create content, be

sure to distribute it in the appro-

priate manner across channels.

Meaning, if you create an excellent

blog entry and wish to repeat the

message via YouTube, you should

reformat the blog content into a

video.

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http://www.optify.net/seo/want-to-rank-higher-create-great-content/

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http://www.optify.net/seo/search-engine-ranking/

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Internal linking:

By linking high authority pages within your website to less authoritative pages, you can quickly improve the

value of the lesser pages. To do this use keyword rich anchor text to link from page to page and headlines as

links and link text. Then, find ways within content, to link to other pages on your site. A good tactic is to use

blog posts to link to product or pillar pages. You’ll want to ensure the navigation can be crawled by search

engines. Javascript re-directs cannot be crawled. Next, implement bread crumbing to add good link content

on every non-homepage. Include a sitemap.html that has links to top categories (max 100 links per page) and

is linked from a universal footer. Finally, put “NoFollow” pages in the footer (privacy, terms of service, etc.) that

you don’t want to pass value to.

Social media:

Distribute content to your extended network in hopes they will post, re-distribute and link. Add and promote your

social media profile with a link to your homesite. Use Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks. If you

don’t you’ll be at a competitive disadvantage.

Use your blog to the fullest: One of your strongest tools at your disposal is your blog. Social media and the blogo-

sphere drive traffic and leads. Recently Google, Bing and Twitter have shown that Real Time Search is becoming

increasingly relevant when directing people to sites. This means your blog content should be updated regularly.

Link to other blogs from your blog: Outbound links are one of the cheapest forms of marketing available. Many

bloggers track where their traffic originates from, so linking to them is an easy way to get noticed.

Comment on other blogs: Most of these comments won’t provide value from an SEO perspective. But, if they are

useful, insightful and relevant they can drive direct traffic. They will also make other bloggers aware of your

Internal Linking

Social Media Tips:

As in all SEO related activities, we aim to stay above board – with ‘white hat’ tactics and recommend our clients do the same. The SEO benefits of a well-executed widget include:

» Fully complete and optimize social network profiles

» Build your network, friends and followers

» Participate and communicate in a positive, helpful way regularly

» Promote your own content through your network with shortened links back to your site

» Use bit.ly or an alternate URL shortener which uses a 301 re-direct when posting links back to your

site

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Offline Link Building TacticsA common mistake by online marketers is assuming online

products and services should be exclusively marketed

online. Offline activities like PR, networking and advertising

can increase your inbound links from authoritative sites.

Press releases are a particularly useful tool. For example,

a news post in the Wall Street Journal mentioning your

company will drive traffic to your site with or without a

link on the WSJ website (although a link would be terrific

too…). Be sure to train your PR team on SEO optimized

press releases and include press releases in your content

work plan. As for frequency, release news on no less than

a monthly basis and release news every time you have a new piece of content, major review, launch etc. Always

host press releases on your domain on an optimized page and use an optimized service online such as PRWeb.

Additional offline tactics include: placing your URL on your stationary, business card and office supplies; issuing

a press release; having an event conference booth; using paid print advertising; networking with industry-insider

bloggers, media editors and journalists.

Partnership Link Building TacticsThere are a few ways, which you can work with other businesses and organizations in a mutually beneficial

manner. Link exchanges, manual link requests, legitimate link purchases (when done right,) and widgets, are

all acceptable forms of link building.

Partnership Link Building Tactics

Partnership Tips

» Include link exchanges with experts when you contract for content

» When engaging in business development deals, include link exchanges – one way (them to you if

possible

» Be strategic and relevant with cross-linking

» Do NOT join link farms or spam-like link exchange programs

» Include link exchanges with experts providing content

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Link Exchanges allow you to associate your site with

other respected, relevant sites through an exchange of links.

This is best used for seeking out specific relevant pages.

When exchanging links it is important to remember the

inbound links must be relevant to both sites/pages.

Manual Link Request involves targeting high quality, highly

relevant sites for links and exchanges, building relationships with

the owners of these sites and essentially asking them to link to

your site. Consider it part of your business development process.

Purchase Links that are of high quality from specific, related

websites. As we mentioned earlier, many forms of link buying are

frowned upon. Again we strongly advise you stay away from large

link buying services. This is not what we are recommending

here. Rather, we are suggesting you purchase links that are truly

relevant to your business.

When buying links target specific, high quality .edu and

.org sites that will sell links. Look at university newspapers,

non-profit organizations and smaller blog sites that are willing

to sell relevant placements. Focus on buying links from blog

services. Links should always come from relevant sites and be

written by a real person. The goal is in-line linking (links in the

flow of the content, not on the side of the page). Last but not

least, budget for these expenditures as part of your media plan.

Widgets and DistributionWidgets are one of the best-kept secrets marketers can use to

capture the attention of potential visitors and drive traffic to their

website. Widgets are a great way to promote a business and a

website by presenting would-be visitors with interactive content

that engages their interest and interaction. Put literally, a widget

is a small software application for distributed websites that

displays a user interface designed to perform an action or

activity based on data or calculations living on a different server.

We’ve all seen them. Groupon uses widgets to help merchants

design their own online offers. Payscale provides a library of

widgets that work with their real-time database to help other

website builders add salary calculators, cost of living indexes

and such, etc. At Optify, we use widgets within our own application to surface data from reports,

Twitter for Business, lead intelligence and SEO applications into a customizable dashboard.

Widgets and Distribution

CREATING A POWERFUL WIDGET

Creating a useful, popular widget,

that the masses would be inclined

to include on their websites is

optimal, but for that reason it is

also extremely difficult. Creating

an effective widget is more of an art

than a science; a good idea, a really

good idea, is the toughest part of

the process. When contemplating

a widget, ask yourself the following:

» Would I use it on my web

site?

» Who would want to use this

widget?

» Would traffic generated from

their sites (the folks who

want to use it,) be traffic that

I’m interested in?

» What is the value that this

widget will provide to a web

site?

» Is it easy to imitate?

» Will this widget require

maintenance, if so how

much and can I sustain it

over time?

» How easily could it be

placed on a website?

» How will I monitor its

success?

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Widget “Rules of Thumb”Creating a great widget is only the first step in widget success.

Marketers should adhere to the following best practices when

thinking about adding widgets to their websites. Widgets are an

effective way to expose data or crowd sourced information in easy

to access ways. They can also serve as a scalable way to build links

back to your target site while offering an easy-to-implement

distributed application that people find valuable.

Transparency: The embedded link in the widget should be

visible to the end user – do not hide the link using CSS or other

coding tricks

No Bait and Switch: Make sure the link is relevant to the

creator and content of the widget. Don’t use the widget anchor

text and link to send traffic to a site that is irrelevant to the content

of the widget. For example, if the widget is from a pop culture site that displays

the latest news on celebrities, don’t include anchor text and a link that goes to an online college sign-up site.

Brand Attribution: Focus on the brand creating the widget with a keyword modifier in the link. The anchor

text value is only one component of an effective widget link. To make the most of the link include both the

brand and a lock-up of the focus keyword you are targeting. An example would be Powered by PowerPoint

Presentation Software.

Widget “Rules of Thumb”

The SEO Litmus Test:

As in all SEO related activities, we aim to stay above board – with ‘white hat’ tactics and recommend our clients do the same. The SEO benefits of a well-executed widget include:

» A distributed, persistent brand presence on other sites. Brand exposure can result in awareness

and additional brand searches in the engines.

» An increase in the number of different domains linking into your site. Domain diversity is a key

component of any inbound linking program.

» An increase in the quantity of inbound links. The more useful and compelling the widget, the more it

will be added to other sites.

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Development Guidelines for WidgetsA widget should be well designed, load quickly and be lightweight from a code perspective so that it doesn’t slow

the load of the page. The key to making the widget useful for SEO (including links) is making the widget visible to

the search engines as part of the hosting page. This means the following:

» Using a build technology that can be “crawled” or “read” by the search engine bots –

HTML, JQuery, etc.

» Avoiding iFrames (see sidebar)

» Using effective meta tags – NOT “no-follows” or “no-index” tag on the content

» Making the widget as code light as possible to keep the page load speed of the host page strong

» Making the widget as customizable from a color and targeting perspective as possible or as it makes

sense for the application

Widget PromotionA good widget has a usefulness that excites webmasters, marketers and end-users. However, the most helpful

widget in the world can get lost without the proper positioning or rendered useless if users are unaware of their

existence. To make widgets easier to find and distribute, create a stand-alone page on your site for the widget.

Use good SEO page optimization practices and build the page into the navigation and site map structures. Then,

promote the page by having the widget embedded into your own site, partner sites or sites you have a business

relationship with. Next, create blog posts, mentions in your social media channels, profiles and email newsletter.

As a final step, find specific, relevant sites to partner with to “seed” the widget and get early feedback.

MeasurementLike with other marketing activities or campaigns, make sure you have referral measurement mechanism set-up

in place, so that you can learn which widgets are performing per your expectations. Track click-throughs, visits,

conversions, and leads captured from your distributed creations. Keep the widgets that perform well, and remove

the ones that are underperforming and potentially causing damage to your brand.

Using iFrames for Widgets:

» In general, this is a difficult approach to use and make successful for this type of application. As

the iFrame is a distinct page within a page, it has it’s own set of properties that make it difficult for an

engine to associate the content of the page with any other. This hurts crawling, indexing and creating

authority in the iFrame.

» Google will “try” to associate the external frame content with the page it is on, but cannot guarantee

it. Use of the “noframes” tag (think of it as an alt-tag for frames) can help. If you can, avoid using

iframes, and rather use a technique that pulls the content dynamically on the page (e.g. AJAX).

Development Guidelines for Widgets

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A Six Step Inbound Link Building ProcessAchieving the right mix between the various inbound link-

building options (online, offline, and partnership tactics) is a

process. For the most part it is not a linear one – often many

tactics can be pursued in parallel. Although, some strategies

are best executed once others have already been implement-

ed. For example, creating and distributing your content should

precede public relations efforts. On the whole, offline-market-

ing should happen only after you’ve created great content, and

put it up on your site.

The graph and six steps outlined below summarize a

suggested link-building process. Together, they illustrate how

having a comprehensive link-building plan can save you time

and translate into maximum success.

Step 1Create a list of directories you wish to target. Draw up a budget and decide on your paid versus free mix.

Submit your site to your selected list. Be consistent throughout the process. When possible, submit your

landing pages too.

Step 2Choose your keywords; draw up a work-plan to create great content that uses these keywords. Make

sure your content is relevant, not promotional, and is of quality and interest. Optimize your content, publish

it to your site and syndicate it to other channels.

Step 3Let the world know about the great content you’ve created. Blog, tweet, email, comment on others’

blogs, etc. Get folks to your site and reading your content. If it is good, people will use it and will give

you credit in the form of inbound links.

Step 4Call your local news desk; let them know about your product, press release or new research you’ve just

posted. Network, make connections with people in the industry, and find partners who’d be willing to

exchange links or manually link to your site. Put your URL on your business card, in your newsletter,

on your thank you notes and in your email signature.

Step 5Create a useful tool or widget that other sites would be inclined to put on their website. .

Step 6Track, monitor and document your process and results. The more data you are able to collect and

analyze the more refined and efficient the entire link-building process will become.

A Six Step Inbound Link Building Process

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ConclusionOnce you understand the do’s and don’ts, know the legitimate strategies that exist, and commit to an organized

game plan, link building is not particularly complicated. As you pursue your link building strategies remember:

» Your brand comes first. Optimizing your website is important, but not at the expense of your brand equity.

» Content is key. The first step to any good link-building plan is to create something legitimately worth

linking to.

» Link building efforts are best executed with a comprehensive plan that focuses on multiple channels at

one time.

» If you build it, they will come. As you increase the number of quality inbound links to your site, not only

will visits and conversions hopefully increase, but your search engine rankings will improve.

Like its optimization counterparts–keyword selection and page optimization-with careful tracking and

monitoring of your link building tactics, you’ll be able to refine your strategies and become increasingly

cost-effective over time.

About Optify

Optify provides an Inbound Marketing Software Suite to help

marketers reach more buyers and generate more demand for

their business. Our Inbound Marketing software is SaaS-hosted

and runs 100% in the cloud, all you need is a browser.

For more insights on how to market in real time, visit

the Optify Lead Generation Blog.

Conclusion

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Digital Trends for 2012

Identifying Marketing Priorities and Trends for 2012

Which three digital-related areas are the top priorities?

From this chart which 3 digital-related areas are top

priority for your organisation?

This is protected by Digiprove

http://www.digiprove.com/


Should Social Be the Top Priority?

From this chart which 3 digital-related opportunities are most exciting for your organisation?

What are the three most exciting opportunities?




Has this become a key challenge/not an issue or

on the radar for your company?

Social Media has added many more programs & goals




Social Media Engagement Against Social Media Analytics

Is this a top priority or an exciting

opportunity for your company?




The New World of Marketing Needs Techies and Mathematicians

Does your marketing department have the technical skills to utilize your client’s technology?

How do you regard the following challenges for 2012?




How would you rank the above very important/quite important or not

important?

How important will the following be for digital marketing?




Do you agree/disagree that your company has a more cross-channel

approach?

Will you have a more cross-channel approach to marketing?




Why Not Make Conversion Rate Optimisation a Priority?

Is CRO a top priority or just an exciting opportunity for your company in 2012?

Is conversion rate optimisation a top priorities?




Growing Need for Real-Time Response

‘Real-time insights now with 80% accuracy are more important than 100% accuracy in three months’ time-do you agree/disagree?

Real-time insights are more important?




The Right Mix –Experimentation versus the Tried-and-Tested

Does your company/clients plan to heavily experiment with digital in 2012?

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?




Which three digital-related areas are the top priorities for your clients in 2012?

Which three areas for your clients are the top priorities?




Which three digital-related areas are the top priorities for your Organisation in 2012?

Which three areas are the top priorities for you?




THE

2012 State of

Inbound

Marketing

#SOIM

Blogging

Social media

MIKE VOLPE HubSpot Chief Marketing Officer

@mvolpe

MELISSA MILLER Inbound Marketing Manager

@mcdmiller

#SOIM

State of Inbound Study

• Survey conducted in Jan 2012

• 972 marketing professionals

Telemarketing

Direct Mail

Trade shows

Email

VS.

SEO

Blogging

Social Media

4

Agenda

Marketing costs & budgets

Lead quality & sales

What’s important to marketers?

1

2

3

Costs & 2012 Budgets 1

How much is your average

COST PER LEAD?

Inbound Consistently Yields Lower Cost Leads

Blogs cited as least expensive

Trade shows ranked as most expensive

The worst thing we did in marketing last year was attend several trade shows and events with low yield and ROI.

Marketing Professional Professional Services/Consulting 26 to 50 Employees

Direct mail is very expensive and ineffective for new leads.

Marketing Professional Hardware Technology 11 to 25 Employees

89% are maintaining or increasing their

inbound budgets

Increases Driven by Past Success;

Decreases Driven by the Economy

Budgets Shift to Inbound

Budget Growth within Inbound

Outbound Budgets Remain Stagnant

SMALL V. BIG

BUSINESSES

Small Businesses Level the Playing Field

Lead Quality & Sales 2

Inbound converts leads into customers

Data pulled from

analytics tracking

of a sample of over

1,000 HubSpot

customers.

Social Media & Blogs Generate Real

Customers

The best things we’ve done to drive leads and sales this past year is embrace social media, establish a blog, and convince ownership to accept inbound marketing strategy.

Marketing Professional Manufacturing Industry 201 to 500 Employees

Blog Frequency and Customer Acquisition

70% of Businesses Blog At Least Weekly

Facebook Is More Effective for B2C; LinkedIn Is for

B2B

LinkedIn is the best

social media channel by far for us as we are

in B2B… Facebook is not getting much traction.

Marketing Professional Hardware Technology 11 to 25 Employees

What’s important to marketers? 3

Which sources of

leads have become

MORE important to

you over the last

six months?

Social Media & SEO Growing in Importance

Direct Mail Declining in Importance

This past year we spent a few hundred dollars on a door-hanger marketing piece and got no response—at all.

Business Owner Professional Services/Consulting 1 to 5 Employees

25% indicated their company blog is CRITICAL

81% rated their blog as USEFUL OR BETTER

Company Blogs are Increasingly Valued

THANK YOU. MIKE VOLPE

HubSpot Chief Marketing Officer

@mvolpe

www.linkedin.com/in/mikevolpe

MELISSA MILLER Inbound Marketing Manager

@mcdmiller

www.linkedin.com/in/mdibellamiller

EVENT SNAPSHOT

15 small group workshops

6 inspiring keynotes

50+ breakout sessions

7 learning tracks

3 days

2000 inbound marketing professionals

0 reasons not to GO!

REGISTER TODAY! http://inbound2012.eventbrite.com/

www.InboundConference.com

http://inbound2012.eventbrite.com/

Q&A

WWW.HUBSPOT.COM/IMA Receive a complimentary marketing

assessment from HubSpot:

PewInternet.org

The State of Mobile America

Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet Project

3.16.12

NFAIS –

Philadelphia / webinar

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @Lrainie


The Very Nature of Information Has Changed

All around us

Cheap or free

Shaped and controlled by consumers and networks

Designed for sharing, participation and feedback

Immediate

Embedded in our worlds

Scarce

Expensive

Shaped and controlled by elites

Designed for one‐way, mass consumption

Slow moving

External to our worlds

Information was…

Information is…

What I think I know about the rise of mobile learning

1.

Mobile connectivity is changing social and information spaces by enhancing/enabling …

–New access points to knowledge

–Real‐time information sharing

– Just‐in‐time searches

–Perpetual, pervasive awareness of social networks

–Augmented reality


2.Ubiquitous small screens are changing attention and media zones (including text‐based media!)


3.Mobile connectivity is changing public and private space/time continuum


4.New kinds of learners are emerging in the digital environment

Information is Woven Into Our Lives

Mobile is the needle, Social Networks are the thread

Social Networks…

Surround us with information through our many

connections

Bring us information from multiple, varied sources

Provide instant feedback, meaning and context

Allow us to shape and create information ourselves and

amplify others’

messages

Mobile…

Moves information with us

Makes information accessible ANYTIME and ANYWHERE

Puts information at our fingertips

Magnifies the demand for timely information

Makes information location‐ sensitive

Overall, if you had to use one single word to describe how you feel about your cell phone, what would that one word be?

Mobile phones – 88% of adults

327.6

Total U.S. population:

315.5 million

2011

Mobile is the Needle: 88% of US Adults Have a Cell Phone

Teen data July 2011 Adult data Feb 2012

% in each age group who have a cell phone

Changes in smartphone ownership

Smartphones – 46%

56% of adults own laptops –up from 30% in 2006

44% of adults own MP3 players –up from 11% in 2005

52% of adults own DVRs –up from 3% in 2002

42% of adults own game consoles

19% of adults own e-book readers - Kindle

19% of adults own tablet computer - iPad

Cell phones as connecting tools

2/22/2011 16

% of cell owners

• 64% send photo or video– Post video 25%

• 55% access social net. site• 30% watch a video • 11% have purchased a product• 11% charitable donation by

text

• 60% (of Twitter users) access Twitter

Apps – 50% of adults

Apps downloaders by age

Apps provide direct

connections to information

Based on August 2011 Pew Internet Tracking Survey

Apps: From Superhighway to Bypass

Mobile health

• 17% of cell owners have used their phone to look up health or medical information; 29% of

cell owners ages 18‐29 have done such searches.

• 9% of cell owners have software applications or “apps”

on their phones that help them

track or manage their health; 15% of those ages 18‐29 have such apps.

Mobile politics ‐

26% of adults used cell phones for political purposes in 2010

3/9/2011 21Internet and Politics

• 14% used their cell phones to tell others that they voted• 12% used their cell phones to keep up with political news• 10% sent text messages relating to the election

• 6% used their cells to let others know about conditions at their local voting stations

on election day

• 4% used their phones to monitor results on election night

• 3% used their cells to shoot/share photos/videos about election

• 1% used a cell‐phone app that provided updates about election news

• 1% contributed money by text message

News and local news

All adults

84% own a cell phone and/or tablet computer

47% get local news or information on

their cell phone or tablet

Mobile local news topics

Instant action – Haiti earthquake donations

In‐store purchasing decisions

How Phones Function In Our Lives

% of US adult cell owners who had done each of the following in the past 30 days…

Thank you!

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