Introduction to SEO/PPC, Banner Ads, E-Mail, Social Media (Web2.0) & Analytics

New to the online space? Not sure where to start marketing your business, or even how? Well that’s okay…because you’re not alone. This article is geared towards small business new to online space, bringing them up to speed on what’s out there and how they can take full advantage everything .

Unlike traditional marketing, the internet broadens the reach between businesses and consumers. Lower costs, mass distribution and instant responses are but a few benefits to taking your campaigns online. The beauty of the internet is that it provides many unique ways of capturing your audience by tying together both the creative and technical aspects of design and development. Below you will find a basic introduction to the many forms Online Marketing and what you should take advantage of. If you’re business is not online, you should look into testing some of the practices introduced below. For those of you familiar with the online space, consider this a refresher.

SETTINGS GOALS

Online marketing takes goal setting very seriously. Without a goal, how can you measure success? There’s so much information you can collect about your website users: Hits, Clicks, Views, Purchases, etc…but which of those are most important to you must be defined before you begin a campaign. For example, let’s assume you’re trying to sell shoes. If your site generates 1,000 hits a day, and you didn’t sell a shoe, then you weren’t successful. Now, let’s assume your website is an online newspaper and your goal is to get readers. In that case, a 1,000 hits a day is a great thing. Everything is relative. Set your goals early on so as to not get distracted.

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING (SEM)

As the internet became more popular in the 90’s, search engines were created to help individuals locate information more efficiently on the internet. Considering the amount of new information published daily, search engines were relied more heavily upon in order to help direct traffic. Using “spiders” and “crawlers” sent into cyberspace, search engines were/are able to categorize websites and rank them. If you go to a search engine and type in “CAMERA”, what comes up is probably the most “relevant” result to that word. Unfortunately there are millions of sites competing to get to the top of that list. This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into play.  In what could be an entire article in itself, SEO is the process of improving the amount and quality of traffic to your site from organic searches within search engines. There’s no cost to get listed naturally in Google, Yahoo and MSN and your goal should be to rank high for any relevant searches. There are free tools out there to help you optimize your website and I would highly suggest using Google Webmaster as a starter.

Search Engine Optimization allows you to drive customers to your website simply by showing up in their searches.  However, there is another route you can take to drive traffic to your website, but you’ll have to pay for it.  Pay-Per-Click advertising was instituded by search engines to drive revenue on their sites. Businesses and individuals could sponsor links at the top of search results in order to increase the chance of someone clicking their link, and they would pay for every click. Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google AdWords are two popular examples of this type of marketing. This became the primary business model and source of income for search engines.

BANNER ADS

Another more traditional form of marketing is banner ads. Similar to driving down the freeway and passing oversized billboards, these ads are very visual and in-your-face. Located either at the top or on the sides of websites (aka: Skyscraper Ads), these ads follow both Pay-Per-Click and the more traditional Pay-Per-View models. With the advances in online technologies, these ads have been increasing the way audiences interact with them. For those of you who have seen the “click the monkey to win a FREE I-POD”, you know exactly what I mean. Not every banner ad is interactive, but there are many variations and the options are nearly endless.

E-MAIL MARKETING

If you are considering direct-marketing or have experience using snail-mail in some form, E-mail marketing is the electronic approach. Companies can benefit from e-mail marketing in many different ways:

• Low Cost- 1,000 e-mails costs a lot cheaper than 1,000 envelopes+stamps+paper
• Fast- Will arrive in their inbox within 30 seconds, depending on the service
• Mass Distribution- Global Reach
• ROI Tracking- You can track successful delivery’s, who opened the e-mails and what links they clicked
• “It’s Eco-Friendly- No trees will be harmed in spreading your message (as with this post!)” – Sam Shron, Acxiom Digital.

Considering most internet users check or send e-mails every single day, this is a highly effective form of reaching mass audience effectively. BEWARE!! This form of marketing is also highly controversial and must be done the right way or not at all. Please refer over to the CAN SPAM ACT OF 2003. The list of requirements are very specific including an unsubscribe button, who you send it to, how you send it and more. As a result, many businesses use Agency’s to handle their e-mail marketing efforts.

SOCIAL MEDIA (WEB2.0)

The popularity of social media created an entirely new type of effective marketing that has been increasingly growing stronger year by year. Why? Well, for one, considering the amount of personal information that users put online, advertisers are able to better understand who they’re advertising to and what is more likely to be effective. Within social media, you’ll find a vast amount of options:

• Social Networks (Facebook, Myspace)
• Online Videos (YouTube, MetaCafe)
• Blogging (WordPress, Blogger)
• Product Review/Comparison Sites (Amazon, cNET)

Your campaign can go from zero to hero all because one individual liked the ad and sent it to all of his friends. Just take a look at the recent Susan Boyle video which has gained global success, with over 145,000,000+ views online. The video was featured on blogs and social networks and it was all FREE marketing. That’s the power of the internet and Social Media. But it doesn’t stop there. You can use the social networks to interact with potential customers and gain insights unlike ever before. I highly suggest you research this type of marketing and get involved any way you can. Your efforts will be pay off and the results could be endless!

ANALYTICS

As I stressed in my last article for HP, Free Website Essentials 101: The information you can collect about your visitors is extremely valuable. The only downside is the amount of information can be overwhelming. Without a question, analytics is the double-edged sword of Online Marketing. Set a benchmark for yourself and use analytics software to help define whether or not you’re reaching pre-assigned goals. Google Analytics has an internal feature to help track visitors and goal reaching. By understanding such things as, source of traffic and content-overview, you’ll be able to help your site evolve into a stronger source of business…and again, this software free, so there’s no reason to pass it up.

Posted under Blogs, E-Mail, Online Marketing, Online Video, SEO/SEM, Social Networks, Tech2.0, Viral Marketing

B&H Photo and Video, one of the largest non-chain photo and video equipment store in the United States closes their doors to observe the Jewish day of rest. Simply put, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?

I first heard about this in Webtribution.com’s article “E-Commerce: Religion Versus Revenue“. The author of the blog, Kieran Hawe, was on the hunt for a camera this past Saturday and came across the following message:

“Please note that B&H does not process web orders from Friday evening to Saturday evening!”

Kudos to B&H for religious observance, but what about the 100′s of other Jewish eCommerce sites that happen to keep their online stores open on weekends. I decided to do a little research of my own… I am quoting sensitive opinions so please, read this with an open mind…

Jewish Weekends 101: What is Allowed On ‘Shabbat’?

Shabbat (Hebrew: shabbat; Yiddish, shabbos; “rest” or “cessation”) is the day of rest in Judaism and lasts from sundown Friday until Saturday night. About a month ago, someone posted the following question on TheYeshivaWorld.com: “Does anyone know what’s a Jew to do about selling via an e-commerce website on Shabbat?” Overall, the response remained consistent. “The website can be available for browsing, but NO buying,” but this was no a universally shared opinion.

On the other hand, Nicholas Zamiska, previously a staff writer for the Wall Street Journal, provides an opposing opinion. He published an article on Hashkafah.com in which he concluded that “Technically speaking, the vendor’s monetary acquisition, happens on a weekday so there is no issue”  (Rabbi Heinemenn). Web sites don’t process transactions on Saturdays…no money changes hands, so the sites should be able to remain open.

These are simply 2 different opinions. It all boils down to the companies choice and the ability to rationalize “religion vs. revenue” when a company could potentially be missing out on millions of dollars.

What Is There To Lose?

Some websites simply can’t give up selling on Jewish holidays. “One of my hottest business days was on Rosh Hashana,” says Rabbi Mayer Pasternak, creator of JewishMusic.com. Considering it’s one of the most important holidays of the Jewish year, this wasn’t an easy decision for him. “I felt a twinge of guilt, coming back and there were a couple hundred orders.” (Hashkafah.com) But that’s simply not the case with B&H Photo and Video. Owned by Herman Schreiber, an observant Jew, they decided to close both their store and website purchases on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Of the 1,500+ employees, Jews and non-Jews both support this decision. Richard Spiess, 34, a salesman at B&H for 2 1/2 years, said there are some advantages to being non-Jewish in such a heavily Jewish environment. “We get a lot of nice holidays off,” he said. (Post-Gazette.com) The employees may be happy about this, but this is still a huge loss for the company.

I had the chance to speak to one of their employees earlier today. Joshua Grashin, a Search Engine Marketing Optimizer at B&H for the past 2 years also agress that “it’s great to have holidays off”, but adds that he believes Herman’s decision actually improves the companies image in the public eye. “At first I thought that is must hurt them in some way becuse they’re literally closed for a 7th of the week which can add up over the course of a year. But the more people I talk to, the more I realize its something that people universally respect. People are fine with it because they still know they’re getting the best service. They respect their religious decision to close, to the point that they view B&H as a respectable company -  a company that has ideals! And any company that has ideals will directly relate to the business as a whole.”

To get an idea of what they’re missing out on, B&H serves over 11,000 customers daily, while a considerable amount of the company business comes from their website (sales, affiliate ads, etc.)  “The amount of money lost during the 24 hour +/- time period of Shabbat is significant, however it is obvious the owners of the business could care less about the lost revenue and focus more on their core religious beliefs and principals,” says Kieran Hawe, Co-Founder of Hawe Digital and  previously Sr. Director of Online of Online Marketing at Folica.com. This does wonders for their repuation. In fact,  Sergey Brin, President and co-founder of Google, said that B&H “happens to be my favorite camera equipment store.” (Google Q3 Earnings Call Transcript) Whether he relates to their ideals or not, there’s no doubt that this is a decision everyone respects.

In Coclusion

It’s apparent there are two strong opposing opinions. Based on Nicholas’s article, you can remain open without worrying about fiscal transactions occuring on Shabbat. On the other, you can maintain a stricter approach. Simply shut down and in return, come off as a business built on strong convictions and values. The choice is ultimately yours to make.

Posted under Blogs, Events, Jewish Marketing, Online Marketing

“If you haven’t heard of Susan Boyle, it’s YOUR FAULT!”

Superior Viral Marketing

After a shocking performance on Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle, a 47-year-old Scottish woman, broke all kinds of YouTube and online video records. According to ViralVideoChart, her video has over 143,389,133 views across all video networks. That’s a goal to be sought after. But how did they do it?

For one, they had the viral ‘emotional factor’ with her emotionally affecting TV performance of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables. (<- For those of you haven’t seen it!) Dubbed the “Singing Virgin” (Crikey.com), the mix of her outdated fashion sense and a self-declared un-kissed church singer, you can only wonder about her YouTube life that is now heading toward 100 million views (the record is 120 million), including 20 million within the first 24 hours of its posting. That’s a record right there!

Susan Boyle has her own Wikipedia Page: Susan Boyle, and a Susan Boyle Fan-Site. Oh, did I mention she was on Twitter as well? Win or lose, it doesn’t matter because she is set.

In The Press

Many British newspapers carried articles on Boyle’s performance and subsequent Internet coverage. US & International news outlets also carried stories on her, including among others, The Times of India, Germany’s Der Spiegel, China’s Xinhua News Agency, Brazil’s Zero Hora, Israel’s Ynet, and the Arabic-language Al Arabiya.

On TV

Within the week following her performance on Britain’s Got Talent, Boyle was a guest on STV’s The Five Thirty Show. She was interviewed via satellite on CBS’s Early Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s Today, and The Oprah Winfrey Show, and via a telephone interview on FOX’s America’s Newsroom. Boyle also appeared via satellite on CNN’s Larry King Live.

Still Going Strong…

Just to gain a sense of  how current all of this is, if you check out YouTube’s most popular videos of the week and the month, you’ll notice that most of the videos are from Britains Got Talent,  (including one of my favorites,  Mr. Methane).

Conclusion

Britain’s Got Talent left BIG SHOES TO FILL for America’s Got Talent (the US version). Either they’ll ride the wave of press, or fail horribly. In a sense, the real Talent show is “Which Talent show will prevail as #1 Marketing?” Ultimately you, the reader, will be the one to decide.

Posted under Online Marketing, Online Video, SEO/SEM, Social Networks, Viral Marketing

Remember Quake? The first-person shooter video game that was released by id Software in ’96? I’ll never forget it, b/c it was the first time I tried to download to download a game off the internet. It was also the first time I downloaded a virus. 5 minutes later my Macintosh hard drive shut down for the final time, never to turn on again. 13 years later and my father still doesn’t trust me on his computers.

13 years later and the internet is exponentially filled with harmful crap. Now more than ever, it is import to have Antivirus software on your computer. You need them to prevent and remove computer viruses  including worms, trojan horses, adware, spyware and other forms of malware.

Viruses: 30 Second History Lesson

Before Internet was widespread, viruses were spread via infected floppy disks. Soon after Antivirus Software came into use, but unlike today it  did not require frequent updating. Emails soon became a central target using executable attachments. Virus checkers essentially had to check executable files, floppy disks and hard drives. As Internet usage became more common so did the online-virus. Check out the evolution of online viruses on Wikipedia’s: Timeline of Computer Viruses and Worms.

Virus 2009: Still A Relevant Issue

This past January, “businesses worldwide were under attack from a highly infectious computer worm that has infected almost 9 million PCs, according to antivirus company F-Secure”. (PC-World) It is known as the Conficker Virus and it was predicted that on April 1st, 2009 the creator would activate this virus on all the effected machines. Computers in schools, hospitals and government departments (including the defense forces of Britain, Germany and France, grounding the French Navy’s fighter jets for a time). In march the House of Commons memorandum revealed that the parliamentary IT network had been infected. According to TimesOnline, Microsoft had offered $25,000 (£17,500) for information about Conficker’s creator. So as you can see…Virus’s continue to pose a serious threat.

Protect Yourself: Free Tools

Unless you have online-storage and don’t care about your computer, I would highly suggest you get Anti-Virus software ASAP! Check out the following 3 tools. They’re free, easy-to-use and without them, you’re computer is at risk of getting sick:

AVG
This is an easy-to-use programs that kills virus’s and spyware and stops users from going to infected websites. AVG also prevents users from opening infected executable files or programs already on your computer. Type “anti-virus” into Google and AVG ranks #1. The beauty is how fast it works and everything is pretty much automated and auto-updated. I’ve been using for 10+ years and haven’t had a single issue.

Advanced Systemcare by IOBIT
The pitch is simple: “A Click A Day to Clean, Repair, Protect & Optimize your PC”Advanced SystemCare Free (formerly Advanced WindowsCare Personal) has a one-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC. With over 20 MILLION downloads since 2006, this fantastic, award-winning, free PC repair software is a “must-have” tool for your computer. 100% safe with no adware, spyware, or viruses; a PC maintenance program that’s incredibly easy to use.

AVAST! Home Edition
This all-inclusive program will protect you from viruses, malware, spyware and creepy little programs that try and hide on your PC. They’re known for protecting computers from malware picked up by peer-to-peer programs (LimeWire, BitTorrent, Napster, eDonkey, etc.) and Instant Messaging Services (AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, etc.)

Posted under Tech2.0

Wikipedia defines outsourcing as “subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party company.” A practice that is common in many industries and is a growing trend in todays boot-strapping economy. But today I discovered a whole new low for outsourcing: Mom Sourcing – “Want to wish your mom a happy Mother’s Day this Sunday, but can’t be bothered to fit the task in to your, uhh, four hour work week?”

My room mate, e-mail marketing expert at Acxiom Digital, sent this to me. I thought it was a joke, but boinboing.com aparently has a friend of a friend who’s running the site and claims “They swear they won’t keep the data or use it for any other purpose, they just think this is a funny thing to do.” I decided to fill it out for myself. After a few hours I got a call from my mom…she was laughing histarically and told me “this is a mother’s day I’ll never forget” – SCORE! I guess outsourcing really does pay off.

All humor aside, this is a notably successful viral marketing compaign done by marketing agency MotherNewYork. They are a creative agency that uses traditional, non-traditional, and invented media to do inspiring things for great brands all over the world. Congratulations on a succesfull campaign and hopefully this will inspire them to improve their website

Posted under Online Marketing, Viral Marketing