Archives for June 2009

A quick check to see where your company head is at…

Depending on which source you prefer, the average person is exposed to anywhere from 2 to 3,000 advertising messages each day. That’s an awful lot of noise, an awful lot of people shouting about their product.

People are so bombarded by advertising messages that they are becoming immune. It’s not just banners and display ads. Most companies treat their website just like an advertising brochure: a chance to shout about their product.

The challenge is to stand out. People are hardwired to notice things that are different. So instead of talking about ‘you’ – your product features and spec, try talking about ‘them’ – the problems you solve for your prospects and customers.

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Using online content to build relationships…

Want to harvest emails? Then don’t ask for people’s email address. Not just yet. Instead, try giving them some great free content first.

It’s pretty amazing to see how much valuable stuff one can obtain via the World Wide Web. I’m talking not only about valuable content you can find on websites, blogs and forums, but also downloadable documents such white papers, e-books, case studies, trend reports and market research to name but a few.

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Comparing apples and pears…

Recently a press release was put out by e-Dialog, a leading provider of email marketing solutions, which stated: “E-mail trumps other direct marketing channels for driving sales conversions”.

Unfortunately some media outlets especially in The Netherlands all gave it their own spin, leading to misleading headlines such as ‘Consumers are more sensitive to email marketing than to social media marketing’.

OK. Now I’m angry. Let’s look at the facts here:

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A successful case study on ‘Crisis Management’ SEO…

My last blog post talking about the benefits of an independent blogging platform and url as opposed to putting your blog on the root corporate web domain. My advice was catered towards small business blogs with a desire to establish thought leadership, build links, gain advocates and encourage conversations.

As a matter of habit I always submit my blog posts to the News and Discussion sections in relevant Linkedin Groups. The topic kicked off a lively debate between PR professionals with many valuable contributions. One of the contributors, Jonathan Bernstein – President at Bernstein Crisis Management Inc – brought some deeper and very practical insights to the table.

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The benefits of an independent blogging platform…

OK, you decided to start a blog for the benefit of your business. While you are developing your blogging strategy you will hopefully stop and think for a moment about where to host the blog.

I sometimes have the feeling that many companies automatically place their blog on the domain of their own corporate website. But is this the right choice?

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New service offers hourly Twitter alerts…

Twitter. Some love it, some hate it. Some say it’s a great platform to share your interests, reach new customers, promote your blog or voice your opinion. Others don’t see the value of telling the world what they’re up to in 140 characters.

But whether you are participating or not, it’s a pretty good bet that valuable conversations are happening on Twitter: conversations about your product, your brand or your competitors.

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Great primer for the new rules of marketing and PR…

In nearly all the organisations I visit, I hear people actively debating a more effective use of online communication as a means to reach business objectives.

One of the biggest challenges here is to convert the collective ‘mass communication’ headset to a headset that embraces the new communication rules of the web.

If you want to get your organisation on the same page quickly, we recommend buying a few copies of this book by David Meerman Scott.

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