Inbound Marketing | SEO | Responsive Website Design | Digital Consultant Omaha
On-Q Marketing helps businesses get found in a Search when their prospects are looking for what they do. Once the lead is captured, Inbound Marketing tactics are needed to qualify, nurture, and convert the suspect to a prospect, and then into a customer are used.
Many times I see businesses ignore one of the first tenants of social media marketing…and that is to LISTEN.
It is actually more than that as not only should they be actively listening to what might be said about them or their business across not only social channels like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Yelp* and many others. They also need to take control of lists and aggregators like, Angie’s List, Manta.com, and Merchant Circle. [Read more…]
This certainly seems to be the case. Even major companies like LOWES can’t get it right.
I run across businesses all the time that think since Social Media is FREE that they can easily set up accounts, profiles and business pages. They think by doing it themselves they will save money and still get good results. [Read more…]
![MP900314087[1]](https://onqmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/mp9003140871.jpg "MP900314087[1]")
TV changed a lot about marketing. In the 1950s it became the way to communicate with the masses. You had three maybe four channels in a market (not including public television, which was commercial free), with a variety of local and national programming. Marketers took to the airwaves like flies to honey. They could target their messages during specific shows that attracted certain demographics; Soap Operas for the stay at home moms, I Love Lucy and the Andy Griffith show for families. What about Perry Mason, The Original Star Trek, or the Twilight Zone?
Great times, when you could push your message out to the masses and have a great deal of reach with a small amount of frequency. It was the age of “one to many” communications.
Then the masses wanted more.
Now there are hundreds of channels to choose from with specific audiences, much smaller than in years past. Still the fragmentation has meant that you could possibly target your message better, but reach is much smaller and you have to increase frequency in order to rise above all the other commercials. In the Golden age of TV there was about 10 minutes of commercials per hour show. Today there is about 20 minutes per hour. Almost double what it used to be. And the cost of placing a TV commercial has certainly not gone down with the decreased audience size. Nor is the production cost any less with the advent of digital equipment and computer editing.
The Market has also adapted with the changes in television. But it does not make any difference if it is TV, radio, newspaper, direct mail, etc. All the traditional forms of advertising have taken a hit as the market is now taking more control over how they wish to receive your message. Traditional outbound marketing is just not as effective as it once was even if you increase the dollars invested in it.
Here’s a little factoid from the “Convergence Consulting Group’s” industry research reports of 2010 and 2011. In the April 2010 report, the CCG reported that between 2008 and 2009 alone, 550,000 households cut the cord to cable and satellite TV, opting to get their news and entertainment through other means, primarily the internet. In 2010, another 1 million households did the same. Now with an overall TV market size of 100 million households, that represent a small percentage, but the trend is accelerating. People are getting their news through online channels and RSS feeds; entertainment via channels like Hulu or Netflix.
Newspapers are seeing circulations shrink, as are magazines. People are tired of direct mail. The overall impact is your marketing dollars in traditional forms of marketing just do not reach the consumer or prospects as easily as they once did.
People still use these traditional channels, but less and less and in other ways. The consumer and businesses have changed how they make purchase decisions or solve business problems. Enter the age of Inbound Marketing.
So now everyone seems to be jumping on the social media bandwagon. Social media is where there are many-to-many conversations taking place. This is a radical departure from the past where you could push your message to the masses. Now the masses are in control and you need to be ready to engage in the conversations. That does take time, and few marketing dollars, but the conversations are worth participating in.
Years ago, you weren’t anything unless you had a web site and now it seems your company is nothing unless it has a Facebook page. Just like in the Web 1.0 world, simply putting up a web site without a strategy, purpose of goal in mind, it is the same today that you should not engage in social media unless you have a plan and a goal in mind.
Trouble is I know there are companies that are not adopting social media or implementing inbound marketing tactics as they just do not want their “sales team to rely upon the new tactics.” I can see their logic, but that logic is flawed. Your market has changed how their operate, don’t you think your marketing strategies and tactics should change too? Are you still stuck in the past thinking that nothing has changed and the only way to reach your prospect is to use tools that were successful 20-30 years ago?
Keeping some of what works (i.e., traditional marketing) is fine, but adding the new channels of communication to increase your market presence, will pay off in more leads into the pipeline, greater brand recognition, improved customer service, SME status (subject matter expert) and overall…more business.
The Internet has changed the way “people” solve business problems and make purchase decisions. No longer is it just OK to have a web site. That is so web 1.0; when your business was not cool if it did not have a web site.
Still businesses are putting up web sites with pages that are NOT optimized for search engines. You need to do more than just put up pages. Each page has to have a unique Search Engine Optimized title, motivating description and page content. Your web site should also have an XML site map placed on the server to make it easier for search engines to index your site.![MP900386794[1]](https://onqmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/mp9003867941.jpg "MP900386794[1]")
Also businesses that have catalog pages, need those pages to be indexed too. Here’s why…
Recently I had to change oil in my wife’s Mazda 3i with the 2.3 liter engine. I have changed oil in my cars for more than 20 years, but if anyone has owned a Mazda 3, this is not your typical oil change. So I Googled, “ How do I change oil in a Mazda 3?” which offered more than 3 million results. Being a typical consumer I began looking at the results and selected one that I thought might be helpful based on the description. Robert Atchison’s page(on the first page of results) was the one I selected. He listed the steps and the tools necessary. One of the tools I did not have, a Cap Type Oil Filter Wrench – Diameter 76mm x 14 flutes. The link on his site took me to a Internet parts supplier, but I needed the tool right away, so I searched for “Oil Filter Wrench – Diameter 76mm x 14 flutes” local shopping results and found more Internet based stores and then a hit on a SEARS automotive tools. There is a Sears real close by and for $13, I could have the tool right away.
But then I wondered, “
Why didn’t the other Auto Parts stores like O’Reilly’s, NAPA, AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts” show up in the results on the first several pages.
Surely they would have such a tool. That is there business and the tool cannot be that uncommon.
I started a search on each one of the specific Auto parts stores and discovered that I could not see their online catalog unless I put in the Make, Model, Year, and engine size for my wife’s car. Guess what? Search Engines cannot provide such information to index these pages.
That can, and will lead to lost sales opportunities. Now I understand
that these auto parts stores are trying to provide useful targeted information to the specific vehicle to the consumer to help make a purchase decision. Hey, this is for an oil filter wrench? This could be for a variety of cars, not just a Mazda 3. Don’t you think they are also missing the point of not having their catalog indexed?
Now this is just a simple example of a consumer making a purchase decision on a low ticket item. For larger purchases the process is somewhat more involved and will take more in-depth research. This process could last a week, month or several months. It all depends upon the item or the problems that needs to be solved. When I was working at the software company that that was a VAR for several hardware companies, a purchase cycle could take 18 months. Due diligence would require a lengthy search and review process.
Speaking of reviews, when I was making a purchase for a large screen TV last December, I specifically read many reviews on the make and model I was considering. I specifically avoided reviews on any manufacturer web site. There were plenty to see. Now have you Googled your company, its products or solutions lately? You need to see what other people are saying about you and your company. This “Listening” process needs to be a daily part of your social media strategy.
Whether it is the consumer making a purchase decision, or a business manager solving a problem, your web site, and other internet activity, needs to be Search Engine Optimized. I would be interested in hearing what you are doing to make your site SEO friendly.
