Search Marketing: How PPC Can Enhance Your SEO

June 29, 2010 Filed under: PPC,SEO — Tags: , , —

PPC keywordsIn the “old days” of traditional marketing (about 2-3 years ago) advertising and PR were the two mainstays of marketers.  In advertising, big budgets and creative talent allowed you to control your message and build your brand.  In public relations, influence and relationships with the media allowed you to add credibility to your brand through stories in the press.  But aside from shared branding themes, there was typically little overlap between the 2 worlds, and almost no shared learning.

Search marketing changes things.  In the Internet Marketing world, search advertising (PPC) is the latest form of paid brand-building, while SEO and Social Media are the newest strategies for boosting your  credibility online.  Traditional advertising and PR still exist, of course, but there are good reasons why companies are increasingly shifting their marketing budgets away from these channels into search-based Internet marketing.  The most obvious reasons are:

  • the growing number of hours that people now spend online
  • the fact that businesses can target audiences more effectively and less intrusively, since PPC ads and organic search listings display only when they’re relevant to what someone is actively searching for
  • the ability to measure results and improve the return on your marketing investment

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Social Media – Just a Fad?

June 14, 2010 Filed under: Social Media Marketing — Tags: —

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Check out this video, if you haven’t already. Then tell us if YOU think social media is just a fad?

Source: Based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman.

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Social Media For Small Business: It Boils Down to 2 Steps

June 3, 2010 Filed under: Social Media Marketing — Tags: , —

There’s no getting around the fact that involvement in social media takes time.  It’s the one thing I hear small business people fret most about when they decide to get involved.  “How can I find time to do this?”  “I have a business to run!”  “I’m overwhelmed before I even begin!’  The next thing I hear from them is “What will I write about?”

Can you relate?

Social media marketing is all about sharing content and connecting with people across the web.  In the early days, critics dismissed social media channels like Facebook and Twitter as little more than gossip and chat outlets, leaving many business people with the impression they weren’t serious enough for business interactions.  That is no longer the case.  Facebook and Twitter have both evolved into critically important communication channels for business of all sizes and industry types.  LinkedIn has also evolved from a networking tool to a major resource for discussions, information sharing, and prospecting.  Blogs have become a primary source of expertise sharing, discussion, and basic education for professionals and consumers everywhere.  Bottom line:  whether you think you have time for it or not, social media is fast becoming the norm for business communications.  And like anything you do in your business, you’ll be more successful if you approach it with clear goals and a deliberate strategy.  Here’s a simplified, holistic way to build your social media strategy.

At its most basic level, social media marketing consists of 2 primary activities:

  1. Creating content
  2. Sharing content

Here’s a summary of how to execute those 2 things effectively.

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