The Future of Advertising and NFC (Part 1 of 2)
Written by ray.silva on October 27, 2011
Near Field Communication Series (Part 1 of 2)
The Promise of One-to-One Marketing
In a world of hype and unfulfilled potential, near field communication (NFC) devices and apps are making a strong case for going mainstream with a new class of services. With 1.3 billion Internet users worldwide and companies such as Google, Apple, and RIM working on NFC-based tools and services, marketing professionals need to keep an eye on developments in this area.
What is NFC?
Near field communication (NFC) allows short-distance (“near field”), encrypted wireless data exchange for transactions and data communications between devices that are touching or in close proximity of less than 20 centimeters. Two NFC-enabled devices can exchange information or launch applications by simply touching with a tap or being close together.
Read more…
When SEO Firms Make Guarantees: What You Should Know
Written by Martin Wong on October 19, 2011
When you run a digital marketing agency, the #1 query you get is: if I contract with you for search engine optimization, can you guarantee a first place ranking on Google?
What this tells us is that there are SEO providers out there who make such promises. As a result, there are clients who may achieve a top ranking – but not much else to show for their investment in SEO. The words “guaranteed rankings and traffic” have tainted the reputation of the industry. One of the most common tactics is for the SEO provider to select your keywords for you. They will select non-competitive keywords which your potential customers are unlikely to use. This makes it easy for them to deliver a high search ranking based on those keywords, but this does not deliver quality traffic.
Companies who spend a lot of money raising their ranking from #2 to #1 may lose sight of conversion or dismiss pay-per-click campaigns that could help their bottom line. It’s possible to reach #1 and achieve little or no impact. It depends.
Search Engines Warn Against Guarantees
Google provides a very instructive set of guidelines on search marketing that every SEO client should read. They make one very clear statement: No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Although this section specifically warns about providers who claim to have special relationships with Google (such as access to knowledge of the ‘secret sauce’ behind Google’s search algorithms), the warning comes straight from the company who would know better than anyone that SEO guarantees are not feasible. For one thing, this would destroy the integrity of Google’s organic search model, which is the entire basis of their business success.
Rankings are Dynamic and Unstable
A reputable provider knows that search results for the same search term can vary from hour to hour, and from location to location. It depends on which search engine server is fulfilling your query at any point in time; whether you log in to your personalized Google account or some other account; or which city you’re in when you type the query. These factors change the order of results, so making guarantees based on uncontrollable circumstances does not make sense.
Rankings are the Wrong Metric for Business ROI
This is the most important thing to remember. The reason companies want high search rankings is to increase business. Rankings are a means to an end, not the end. Rankings alone do not increase traffic or convert traffic into business.
The most basic metric of SEO success is quality traffic. If an SEO campaign shows a marked increase in search engine traffic, that’s one part of the success. The other part is whether visitors stay on the site and spend time on product and services information, play with demos or watch videos. This means SEO has brought the right audience to the site.
Traffic is good, but converting traffic into visitors who take action is the ultimate success metric. Conversion could mean buying a product, or for non-eCommerce sites, it could mean signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a white paper. When visitors land on a company’s website, how easy is it to find information? Is the content clear and informative? Is the website easy to navigate? Does it provide calls to action in visible, logical places? Does the company know which phone calls or emails to the sales department come through search and which ones through traditional marketing?
SEO can drive traffic but not conversion once the visitor lands.
This is where Analytics come into play. An SEO provider will always install analytics to determine where the traffic is coming from, which were the most popular search terms and so on. Analytics can also monitor user behavior on a website: which pages were most popular, how long did visitors spend on each page, when they abandoned the site and on which page. This helps determine how a website could be improved for better conversion. A website optimized for conversion is also part of the business equation. A high search ranking definitely helps, but by itself will not convert business for you.
So What’s a Reasonable Promise?
A good digital marketing provider will focus on increasing a client’s business. This means taking a consultative approach that is broader than merely SEO. Typically this means an audit of the client’s existing online presence that includes search, website effectiveness, social media, and even offline mediums that drive visitors to the website. This will generate recommendations which may include content strategy, website optimization, or a social media strategy. This takes a lot more work than just promising to submit a client’s website to all the search engines.
A client may not have the budget to implement all the recommendations, but the provider will be able to advise which components are the most critical.
The other factor is time. There will always be components that only the client can implement. This includes tasks such as freshening content and images, developing marketing content specific to the business, regular blog posts, and setting up offline mechanisms for tracking (different phone numbers for web queries and print ad queries is a good example). Fresh content helps boost search engine rankings; this is why regular blog posts are important. Social media also requires real commitment from the client. But a client may not have the staff or time to do this, so again, a good provider will explain how the various components impact the success of the plan and help the client prioritize.
Given factors such as: competing SEO campaigns, changing search algorithms, client resources and/or ability to implement, the only guarantee a digital marketing agency can give a client is: to provide the best advice possible for using the Internet to increase traffic and improve business.
A Digital Marketing Company Supports the Written Word
Written by Martin Wong on October 17, 2011
On October 22, twenty-six emerging writers will take the stage at SFU Woodwards. These students, from SFU’s The Writer’s Studio program, have just published a student anthology, emerge 2011, and are launching the book with readings from their works of fiction, poetry and lyric prose, and creative non-fiction.
MarketingSmartt is proud to be a corporate sponsor of this event. We have a passion for communication. We help clients communicate their brand, benefits, and values. We communicate these messages through social media campaigns, email, or a great website. In an age of increased digital communication, the written word matters more than ever.
When any person with an opinion can publish online, quality content lifts worthwhile reading above the digital slush pile. While tweets and texts may dominate the airwaves, it is still the well-honed sentence that slices through our consciousness. Good writing will always find its audience.
TWS poetry and lyric prose student Meg Torwl agrees. With an established career in photography, video, radio, and new media, she still works hard to master the “old” medium of writing.
“It’s about finding the right medium for each story,” she says. “Whether a poem, photograph, video, radio, or live performance, the skills of narrative, pattern recognition, dissonance, editing are the same in each media. Writing is the backbone of all arts. I often include poetry in radio, video, live performance, and at exhibition openings. TWS teaches you everything – from creative and technical aspects, to trusting your instincts, ergonomics of writing, getting published, networking and readings.”
What draws students to TWS is the way the program addresses all the needs of a writer.
“I was attracted to the well-rounded blend of individual courses,” says fiction student Claire De Boer, ”from how to workshop your prose to navigating today’s publishing world. Few creative writing programs offer an opportunity to work in a one-one-one setting with a mentor. This feedback is invaluable. The program also places great emphasis on community and I knew this would be critical to my writing journey.”
The notion of community underscores The Writer’s Studio, which encourages participation in literary events and public readings.
“Writing is a solitary pursuit,” says Carol Tulpar, creative non-fiction. “We need to meet readers and hear what they have to say about our work. We also need the fellowship of other writers, who can articulate their sense of what needs work, regardless of their own genres. TWS founder Betsy Warland says ‘To write is to enter public space’. The opportunity to gauge audience response to my work has been priceless, both within the workshop setting and in our public readings.”
In the past, MarketingSmartt has supported charities, such as A Loving Spoonful and the Union Gospel Mission, which feed our community. We support The Writer’s Studio because the arts also feed our community.
Register to attend the emerge 2011 Student Anthology book launch and reading. Admission is by donation.
Copies of the anthology available for purchase at the event, the SFU Bookstore at Harbour Centre, or by contacting: twsinfo@sfu.ca
Tweet and post about the TWS emerge 2011 event
Chat about the event live on Twitter: #TWSEMERGE2011
Join the discussion on the TWS Facebook page
Find out more about The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University
