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SEO Fundamentals Get a +1

Posted by Alex Peerenboom on August 31st, 2011 at 3:44 pm

Success is neither magical or mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals. - Jim Rohn.
With all the hype these days around social media or whether or not to build a mobile app, two recently published studies help reinforce the idea that websites need to focus on the basics first.  Organizations need to ensure that they're discoverable on search engines and have processes in place for SEO.
The first comes from a Pew Internet survey conducted in May that 92% of adults use search engines to find information online, and 59% of those are daily users:

So what does mean? Make sure you have a structurally sound site that search engines can crawl and index (not all Flash).  Use proper title tags, H1, alt tags, and meta descriptions that are unique to each page and optimized for relevant keywords.  Build links to your site, and don't remain static. Search engines tend to like sites that update regularly, so try an integrated blog and valuable content (which can attract links).
The second positive reinforcement for SEO basics comes from the 8th annual MarketingSherpa 2012 Search Marketing ... Read more

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Posted in Search, Websites | 4 Comments »

Report: Facebook Engagement Tactics of Bands

Posted by Doug Schumacher on August 31st, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Bands have some of the highest fan counts of all the Pages on Facebook. This analysis examines differences in what works for bands versus corporations, as well as some similarities.

This report analyzes the Facebook engagement trends for the following bands:

Black Eyed Peas
Green Day
Lady Gaga
Linkin Park
Metallica
Bob Marley

Yes, we realize Bob Marley's dead. But he lives on, partly through his Facebook page.
Three of the big takeaways for the music industry are:

Bands should be posting more content

Strong correlation between posting volume and engagement level

Weekends are a big opportunity for bands

It's a time when bands can engage with their fans when they're most free to check out new music or buy concert tickets. Bands in this report aren't posting much on Facebook.

Offline events can be used to drive considerable fan growth

When Facebook is THE place to go for information from the band, it encourages fans to Like the page.

You can review or download the entire report here:: http://bit.ly/bands0831
And if you register for Zuum, you'll have free access to the data we've used to crunch this chart. Access will remain open for the next week. You can register for Zuum here:
http://www.zuumsocial.com/register

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Posted in Creative Best Practices, Emerging Platforms, Entertainment, Research, Social Media, Web Analytics, Word of Mouth | No Comments »

Starbucks Offers Branded Entertainment as Pick of the Week

Posted by Tom Edwards on August 31st, 2011 at 1:42 pm

As an incredibly frequent customer of Starbucks, I do pay close attention to the itunes Pick of the Week cards that are available close to the register. Apple & Starbucks have partnered together since 2007 and the Pick of the Week program has kept my interest since its inception. The core focus has been on music but I had held out hope for branded entertainment either in the form of video or ultimately apps.
For those of us that work with entertainment brands, driving awareness is incredibly valuable and leveraging strategic partnerships is just as important to amplify your brand. With such a significant global footprint on the local level and the market penetration of Apple's iTunes services the likelihood for success is high, especially if you are one of the first brands to leverage the new direction of the partnership.
I was excited to see a TV show as the Pick of the Week over the holiday's with the Charlie Brown pick of the week and that appeared to be a test leading up to the expansion beyond music.

Starting on August 23rd, Starbucks and Apple are now partnering together to deliver free Pick of the Week apps. This is significant as... Read more

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Posted in Word of Mouth | No Comments »

Defining Sexy in the New Digital Advertising Economy

Posted by Steve Parker, Jr. on August 31st, 2011 at 1:22 pm

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down for an interview, one-on-one, with the notorious Bob Garfield. Bob is well known in the advertising industry, mostly for his 25-year column “Ad Review” for Advertising Age, which he recently discontinued to focus on a future initiative, Listenomics. I was forewarned about Bob’s notoriety; “Bob will try to get a rise out of you,” I was told. That said, Bob is also well known for stirring things up in the advertising industry – but that’s not at all bad. It needs to be stirred frequently, and I’m happy to have Bob stir it. He had a solid point-of-view.
Bob is a unique individual with many stories to tell, including the fact that he co-wrote a song for the one and only Willie Nelson. Now, I grew up in Nashville, so I am very partial to Willie. I know many of his songs by heart, and I’ve seen him in concert – Bob and I discussed that for a short while prior to the interview, but I digress…
When I initially met Bob, he was busy taking a few puffs on a large-and-in-charge cigar, smoke wafting from the balcony of the room. Fit my expectation... Read more

Posted in Opinions | No Comments »

How Disloyal Customers are Driving the Banking Business… And How to Fix It

Posted by Mark Simpson on August 31st, 2011 at 11:26 am

For consumers, retail banking is a buyer’s market. Offers arrive in the mail almost daily. Rewards and money-saving deals are peppered throughout websites. Banks are now competing for consumers in more ways than ever before—mobile, real-time recommendations, email, and so on.  With so many options, and such little product differentiation, there's really very little incentive for consumer loyalty.
The fact remains that people simply don’t spend much time reading web pages—often ignoring parts of the page that are attempting to grab our attention. Instead, they are linking around the Internet from site to site and going to the most enticing pages, or to get answers to their questions. The opportunity to capture a visitor is often just a few seconds, yet the methods to present a compelling offer are often ineffective—targeting on a “one size fits all approach”, while limiting the promotions to only a few products.
But with this fickleness comes opportunity…for both banks and consumers alike.
Many customer-loyalty issues in banking and finance companies can be traced to poor marketing and customer service—which means that those that know how to effectively entice, capture, and maintain deal-hungry customers are looking at a blue ocean of opportunity. Meanwhile, customers can just keep playing... Read more

Posted in Targeting, Websites | No Comments »

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