Blog
Seems everyone and their dog has a blog these days. It goes without say that a search marketing blog should provide commentary and insight about search engine marketing; practices and principles; heroes and villains. We like to think of ours as a reflection of who we are. And of course, as a platform for putting blog marketing theory into practice.
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Category Archives: Tips
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Is your call center simply handling your cranky callers or are they becoming an extension of your sales force?
For all you businesses out there who are having call centers field customer complaints, you MAY be missing out on the bigger picture.
Being in Toronto, call centers are a plenty and continually competing with each other on a regular basis for coveted awards, such as the CAM-X award for call center excellence and distinction throughout North America. Of course this is an amazing accolade and helps guide potential clients to ethical call centers to do business with. Wouldn’t it be great if YOUR call center was not only a CAM-X award winner year after year, but also a revenue stream for your business?
What if instead of having your call center politely rushing through your customer complaint calls, you empowered them not only with the ability to resolve the complaint, but also to upsell or cross sell your product or service once the complaint has been resolved?
There is a great article on Adage called “Why Marketers are Turning Call Centers Into Profit Centers” which provides some great insights around selling to that cranky caller. The article also goes on to talk about the necessary shift in thinking that will need to go along with this. For example, call duration will no longer be the metric used to measure call success simply by how quickly the call can be ended, but instead on the ROI of generated income while using the call center services. With the added functionality of becoming a sales channel, call duration will need to increase to resolve the issue, calm the caller, and then woo them with products or services that will give them that product or service they need to make life better.
Just something to think about.
Cheers!
Doug Gebhardt
Posted by: Doug Gebhardt on June 18, 2011 in Light Reading, Marketing, Tips
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I am sitting here with a coffee and a powerpoint deck entitled Why Search Is Important.
At this point, I think the deck should be titled Why I Am Giving The Same Presentation To Your Organization For The 10th Time.
It feels a little like Groundhog Day.
I am more than aware that search and explaining search can be a learning curve requiring patience. I am also aware that I have a tendency to speak over people’s heads as I have been both doing and explaining search for more than 14 years now.
In today’s presentation, I will be speaking to three audience segments. Senior management stakeholders who know that search is now a requirement because of competitor market presence. They will not show up.
Then, there will be middle brand managers. Search is maybe 1% of their overall marketing budget so not really enough to warrant undivided attention as they check and recheck incoming emails because they could be missing something important, but they know they have to be there if only to say they attended.
And finally, that one familiar face from the IT department. Of course, search and analytics is not part of your job description and you’re tired of hearing about search.
In short, no one, for the 10th time will be invested in the process.
There’s a simple solve. Invest in one person. One single person within your organization who can become a search ambassador between all three audience segments. One single person who understands the challenges of your myriad flash web sites; or the fact that your secure server which won’t allow for brand presence can be easily solved; or one single person who gets the value and importance of analytics and how they apply not only to your individual sites, but to the aggregate learnings across all of your sites.
One single digital mind who need not be told why search is important because they already know.
If you break it down into ROI metrics, the cost of that person is less than $200 per silo per month.
Have a good one.
~ S
Posted by: Shane on November 6, 2009 in Engines, Light Reading, Marketing, Search, Tips
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We received a call last night from the LA Times asking for insight into a certain niche market with which we’re very familiar. After providing some background information and resources, we also provided the name of a contact in Los Angeles who would better serve as an subject matter authority as we are from Toronto and a quote from us wouldn’t lend the necessary credibility.
That we were called over other, possibly more established contacts was not a surprise but a realization of a plan initiated over five years ago and still in place today. We chose to become the authority on a particular niche and devoted not an inordinate amount of time to do so. The result has been conference speaking opportunities throughout North America, quotes in established media properties including The New York Times and new business.
That of course begs the question: How did we do it?
Search. Specifically organic search engine optimization. Nary a penny has been spent on paid search (although to be sure, we are huge advocates of PPC as a critical component of any online marketing strategy.)
Becoming the authority is not as hard as it may seem. Julie Powell parlayed her Julie/Julia Project blog into a book and then a movie. Along the way she became an authority on, if not Julia Child herself, then on her recipes.
And no, not everyone can become an authority to the tune of a significantly larger bank account… But it is possible. Let’s face it, the very act of showing up at work every day gives us 8 hours of niche marketing authority building opportunity in every business day. Start there.
So, how does one become the authority?
Capitalize on a passion
Research the market
Understand the available resources
Watch your competition
Network, including your competition
Construct a sustained dialogue
Approach with confidence
Capitalize On A Passion or Specific Knowledge
As mentioned, the very act of showing up at your desk every day gives you a headstart on becoming the authority about something. It’s long been said that your best friend at the office is the receptionist as he or she knows pretty much everything about everything going on, whether business or personally related. (Imagine the knowledge.) What knowledge do you have that you are not capitalizing on?
Research The Market
This whole Interwebs thing is the most amazing business tool you will every run across. Not only can you research subject matter but you can research the research on subject matter.
The Hummingbird that settled at the bird feeder is intriguing. Do Hummingbirds ever stay still? Could I build my own Hummingbird feeder? (And if I can, once I have become the authority I can market and sell Hummingbird feeders because I’ve done the “Hummingbird” research.)
Understand The Available Resources
By setting up alerts around, birds, bird watching and Hummingbirds, you can fast become the authority not only about information available regarding your subject matter, but resources on who disseminates that information and topical subject matter. And alert information comes to you, you need not go in search of it.
Watch Your Competition
Again, set up alerts on competitors and their primary products. Moreover, if they have a blog, subscribe to it. (Tip: Get a freemail address so you can remain under the radar.) And physically monitor their web site on a weekly or monthly basis to see what changes and how frequently.
Network, Including Your Competition
Whenever possible, get to know your competition. Particularly in other markets. You never know when the LA Times is going to call and you’re not going to be the best resource. But the ability to effortlessly provide them a resource they can use contributes to your position as the authority. And, what goes around comes around.
Construct A Sustained Dialogue
With opportunity abounding and research done, it’s time for an action plan to realize your niche marketing authority position. Build a web site. (Base your build on research – whimsy is for content, not construct). Start a blog. Do facetime on Facebook. Tweet on Twitter. Establish a footprint.
Approach With Confidence
In becoming a niche marketing authority when you decide to have a voice, decide to have a voice. Afterall, Hummingbirds don’t particularly like shrinking violets.
Have a good one.
S
Posted by: Shane on August 7, 2009 in Light Reading, Marketing, Tips, Trends/Insights
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A friend’s daughter, young, idealistic and fiercely independent decided to spend the summer in Africa teaching. On departure, she carried the vision of change that the young are so entitled to, a profile in courage.
On arrival in Africa, her vision changed. In a teaching role for the summer, she was stunned to find out that corporal punishment remained a carryover as reward for a wrong answer, the irony being that frequently the teacher did not know the right answer meaning, in short, a child could get punished for the correct response if it diverged from that of the teacher’s. A tough learning environment to be sure, for both student and student teacher.
And then she caugth malaria in spite of taking malaria pills, winding up in a rural African hospital where her fear of the institution far surpassed her fear of her disease. Interestingly enough, in the face of firm parental insistence that she consider returning home, she not only elected to stay, but decided to go on a foot safari with her last remaining weeks.
In the face of all of it, her perspective change from that of wanting to change the world to that of simply believing she was making a difference.
 Managing Expectations Managing expectations is one of the hardest challenges that comes with any business day. I expect brilliance and more often than not, I get it. (Thanks, Douggie.)
I get it not because it’s demanded but because we start every day with the assumption that it is well within reach. I don’t expect that every day will be fraught with mistakes. I do expect mistakes will be made with the stated goal of rectifying them.
Perhaps the most freeing change of expectation I’ve experienced was a simple change of perspective. I make a conscious effort every day to realize that everyone around me is doing the best job, myself included, that they possibly can. Not the expectation that everyone is perfect, but also not the expectation that everything could be better while at the same time, not settling for the status quo.
I expect that accounts will be checked and rechecked throughout the day and along the way, insights and actions will be undertaken that do not require a meeting, a brainstorming session or even permission.
I expect to be pleasantly surprised and most days, I am.
I expect to make a difference. I expect to make a difference by making my client’s business day easier and in so doing, by making them look good. That’s my job. I expect to make my staff’s day easier by giving them the confidence that we are moving together in the right direction; a direction that ultimately has me responsible for their livelihood. That too is my job.
There are few rules in managing Doug’s expectations. Don’t yell. Don’t chew gum. (Because I do it badly – to the point of aggravation particularly when I’m deep in thought.) Don’t bring a day to him in distress because that is the day he will carry with him and it will impede any progress we might envision – and I have come to learn he’s right, if we start in distress, we are distressed throughout our day. So we make every attempt to start our day from a perspective of curiousity and success.
What do you expect from your business day?
Have a good one.
Cheers
S
Posted by: Shane on August 5, 2009 in Light Reading, Marketing, Tips
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I know of few people, myself included, who use their web analytics to full benefit – although admittedly, we’re getting much, much better about it.
By now we’re all familiar with the Google eye-tracking chart courtesy of Enquiro that identifies how users scan a web page.
 Source: Enquiro.com As visual as it is, and seemingly innovative, in reality, the Newspaper Association of America has been doing eye-tracking studies for far longer than any of us on the Internet. (There’s a well researched reason the front page image lives where it generally lives.)
One of the most enlightening features of any analytics packages, whether WebTrends, Omniture or others is the overlay feature. My favorite is Omniture’s just for its visual immediacy.
 Omniture Analytics Overlay Example All of them offer value in understanding how users engage and interact with any given web page. Some of that value comes in understanding what resonates with site users.
While we take the Enquiro graphic as gospel, it is imperative to understand that it is specific to search engines (and primarily one in particular) and not to every web page.
You might be suprised to find out that a specific article, link or content proposition proves the most compelling. For our business site (this one), the two most trafficked features are “about us” and our blog postings (one specifically stands out among all the others).
For our “playpen” site (used for theory testing), we have been pleasantly surprised to see two specific content areas jump out. They differ dramatically from our organic keyword entry points. In fact, they differ enough that we will (delicately) reformat our homepage and test the theory that in moving these two content areas to a stronger position on the page, we will help mitigate our bounce rate.
Of course, we have the luxury of having a “playpen” site. Some marketing managers don’t. Even so, if a site remodification is on the horizon, an overlay, in concert with PPC findings and organic rankings can play an invaluable role in giving users what they want.
Analytics, are fundamentally about your web site. Not merely a tool by which to measure PPC campaign performance. (Quick tip: If your organic analytics information tells you that you’re Top 500 keywords all involve your brand name, it may be time for an organic SEO strategy. Conversely, if your top 500 organic keywords don’t include your brand name, it may be time for a PPC campaign as you have tons of traction but little brand awareness.) They can help define areas of strength to be promoted. By using all the available features within analytics, they can also help identify content deficits.
Take the time to understand the role of analytics and the innumerable tools available within.
Have a good one.
S
Posted by: Shane on July 31, 2009 in Light Reading, Marketing, Search, Tips, Tools/Analytics
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It’s no secret that to produce well, you have to plan well, and in our world of digital marketing, so much is planned out, voted on, and then produced, but there is a heavy “measure once, cut once” production going into the majority of today’s online and offline media production. As we all know from the world of construction, that can lend itself to some rather embarrassing learnings…
So with the world of PPC so readily available to all of the big brands and giant retailers, why are there so many out there who measure once, cut once, or worse – produce first and measure second?
When done correctly, PPC can be an infinitely long ruler used to pre-measure the success of offline and online media, whether its imagery, verbiage, or overall message. PPC should be looked at as a first step in creating the most effective audio, video, and contextual advertising. It is the least expensive way to find out where the majority of market is and what resonates best with them to create brand awareness and/or conversions (leads, sales, sign-ups, etc).
Just think! Instead of spending the money on television commercials that bomb, start first with PPC to discover what message gets through to the most people. Instead of throwing an ad on that magazine back cover, find out what imagery and/or message your audience will respond to in the best way. Create INFORMED media!
Reputations are at stake, and in this ever increasing world of digital marketing, we have to start making our clients aware of how we can positively influence all of their marketing plans before sending them off to production. Lets show our clients how we can inform traditional media.
Cheers!
Doug Gebhardt
Posted by: Doug Gebhardt on July 29, 2009 in Marketing, Search, Tips, Trends/Insights
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