Ideas for Business

The New Year will soon be here and we are looking forward to continuing to learn from some of the top marketing minds on the web about the strategies and tactics that will shape  online marketing efforts in 2012 and beyond. To help you get a jump start, I have compiled a list of books coming out in 2012 that cover a range of online marketing topics including:  mobile, social media, content and search engine marketing. Enjoy.

[Note from Lee: We didn't include second editions, re-releases in paperback or books that didn't have cover images uploaded yet.]

Mobile, Local, Location Based Marketing

Mobilized Marketing: Drive Sales, Engagement, and Loyalty Through Mobile Marketing (Wiley) by Jeff Hasen

Jeff Hasen, CMO of mobile marketing forerunner Hipcricket, provides timely mobile strategies and tactics leveraging his experience from more than 130,000 past campaigns.  As mobile marketing continues to move to the forefront of the marketing world, the insight Hasen provides into mobile optimization, budgeting, and measurement should prove to be indispensable in 2012.

Go Mobile: Location-Based Marketing, Apps, Mobile Optimized Ad Campaigns, 2D Codes and Other Mobile Strategies to Grow Your Business  (Wiley) by Jeanne Hopkins and Jamie Turner

Go Mobile offers a step by step guide for mobile marketing in 2012.  It includes practical campaign instructions in order to develop a mobile website, deploy SMS for business, utilize QR codes, leverage mobile apps and more. One can also benefit from strategic instructions to use location based marketing in order to build your customers base and how to integrate social media into mobile campaigns.

Search & Social Media Marketing

Social Media Intelligence: Extracting Knowledge from the Fire Hose of Conversations (Que) by  Sally Falkow

Upcoming in June of 2012, Social Media Intelligence illustrates how to use the leading social media analytics tools in order to gauge the effectiveness of social media marketing and make strategic decisions. Sally Falkow will guide you in moving from reactive brand monitoring to proactive information gathering in order to take advantage of business opportunities. This is a great read for those looking to progress from just doing social media to using it as an effective piece of their marketing strategy.

Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything  (Que) by Chris Brogan

The much buzzed about Google+ seems likely to have a big impact on search in 2012.  Author, Chris Brogan, discusses how businesses should be taking advantage of the newest social network and defines those strategies and tactics to use for business.

Content Marketing

Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customer by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing (Wiley) by Lee Odden

TopRank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden helps companies develop an optimized and socialized content marketing strategy to attain new levels of customer acquisition and engagement in 2012.  Balancing the practical with the innovative, Optimize is ideal for those marketers that want a more effective content marketing strategy that wins and retains more customers, builds thought leadership and dominates the competition. Scheduled for release mid-March 2012.

Content is Currency: Developing Powder Content for Web and Mobile (Nicholas Brealey Publishing) by Jon Wuebben

Already receiving great reviews, Content is Currency, by Jon Wuebben delivers practical instructions and step by step guides to manage content through four key phases: Creation, Optimization, Distribution and Curation.  This book is a great opportunity for business owners and marketers to understand how to create content which will engage their audience and drive results.

B2B Marketing

The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIN, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More (Wiley) by Kipp Bodnar and Jeffrey L. Cohen

The B2B Social Media Book is the ultimate reference guide for B2B marketers looking to expand their knowledge of social media strategy and contribute to their business growth.  Readers will discover actionable items for leveraging blogs, LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter and more to form the cornerstone of their B2B marketing strategies.

B2B Digital Marketing: Using the Web to Market Directly to Businesses (Que) by Michael Miler

B2B Digital Marketing looks to be a great resource for B2B marketers interested in learning how to sell directly to other businesses using digital marketing. Leading with a broad summary and then diving into individual channel tactics for strategy, implementation and measurement, B2B Digital Marketing is another good guide for those looking for a B2B marketing overview.

There are many books publishing in 2012 that promise to introduce us to new ways to strategize, develop online marketing plans and deploy campaigns across a variety of channels. What books are you anxiously awaiting in 2012?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | Top Online Marketing Books for 2012 | http://www.toprankblog.com

Local and mobile search is being used more frequently by customers on their smart phones and other devices now more than ever.  As local search becomes more and more prevalent, marketers must ask themselves what can they do to incorporate this marketing strategy into their arsenal.

According to a recent release by ComScore, nearly 3 billion search queries contain local terms each month.  For companies that have a local presence, top visibility on local search is essential or that traffic will simply go to competitors.  Google Maps is one of the most frequently used local search destinations and even comes standard on many devices including the iPhone.  Google Places provides a great opportunity to begin marketing on a local level to your potential customers.

A best practice approach to local online marketing will greatly increase your chances of success.  The Google Places optimization tips listed below will help you create or modify your Google Places page to become more relevant to both search engines and potential customers.  I’ve also included suggestions on how this .

Consistency Is Key

It is important that your Google Place profile contains the same information as any other profiles your company may have online. Google Place pages create another opportunity to build trust and consistency as part of your marketing strategy. Be sure to audit your other profiles and answer each question as consistently as you can.  There are some additional ways you can create consistency on your profiles such as:

• Linking: improve searchability by linking your additional profiles together
• Imagery: utilizing the same imagery on multiple place pages will create consistency
• Branding: consistency in naming and referencing your brand is extremely important

*Content Marketing Tip: Go back to basics.

• Are you using the same contact information for each of your social profiles or business pages?
• Do each of your social profiles or business pages reflect your current management team or employees?

Complete All Information (Even if it is Not Required)

Have you ever heard the expression “better off safe than sorry”?  Take the same approach when setting up or editing your Google Places profile.  There may be questions that you consider irrelevent but could ultimately have an impact on how you are found online.  Make sure that you are filling out all standard information including:

• Company Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Website
• Email Address

Adding additional elements to your page such as photos or videos are also an opportunity to optimize your content and share a little bit more about your company with your prospective clients.

*Content Marketing Tip: Take an audit of your other local and social based marketing initiatives.

• Have you completed each profile to the best of your ability?
• Can you repurpose some of your existing content for your Google Place page?
• Brand focused images used on other social profiles can be repurposed for your company Google Places page.

Encourage Interaction & Reviews

User generated content can be a very powerful optimization tool.  Actual customers may be using additional or different keywords or phrases to describe their experience with you.  Reviews also add validity to your statements and information written by your company.  Nothing speaks higher of a company than the testimonials of it’s customers.  I would recommend encouraging customers or clients to participate or simply urge them to visit your page and see what they think.  Some additional ways that you could encourage interaction would be:

• Posting video testimonials on your Google Places page
• Encourage clients to upload photos of themselves at your establishment or with your team

*Content Marketing Tip: Moderate, moderate, moderate.

• Are you currently moderating comments on your blog, website, or social profiles?
• Are you making a point to interact with your potential customers online?

Keywords

Including relevant and purposeful keywords in your Google Place profile is a strategic way to increase optimization.  However, you will want to avoid over stuffing your description with keywords or utilizing keywords in your business name that are not relevant to your offering. Do your research up front utilizing your analytics account to determine what keywords are appropriate for your business.

*Content Marketing Tip: To create an effective strategy you must research, implement, and adapt.

• Use keywords in your file names to improve optimization
• Update your information frequently to provide fresh content

Focus on Your Specialties

Do not be afraid to add details about your service offering, solutions, or products that will help your customers find you.  A simple analysis of your google analytics account can tell you what keywords users are searching for to find your company.  Do your best to use those descriptions in your company overview and specialities area.

• Think of what your customers will be looking for and provide imagery or documentation that will show your expertise.

The example included above separates this company from their competition.  I would venture to say that of the companies that came up in my search this for “Tire Repair, Minneapolis” their profile was the most consistent and complete.  Instead of having to further investigate on the company on their website I was given adequate information which would led me to contacting them immediately.

An optimized Google Places page is a marketing tactic that does not take a lot of effort but can have a very large impact on your searchability.  As with any online marketing strategy it is important that you present factual and consistent information for your customers or clients.  If you are ready to get started or make some change to your existing profile be sure to visit Google’s Getting Started page which will help you through the process.  Do you have an idea of how many of your customers have found you on Google Places? If so have you encouraged them to interact with your page and share feedback?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | 5 Tips for Content Marketers on Google Places Optimization for Local Search | http://www.toprankblog.com

You have your brand new website up and running. It looks fantastic and you have a lot of great products listed along with article or blogging content. Are you wondering what else you could do to enhance your website?

Consider doing various videos or podcasts about you, your business, what your products are and other ways. The general online public loves short podcasts on just about anything.

For instance, maybe your website business is providing a service. Whatever the service is, you could have short videos on tips and tricks of the trade to help someone do something instead of always hiring to have it done.

You can also have a how-to section for people who like to have do-it-yourself projects. Look at it as giving away freebies. Everyone loves freebies and if you give your customers something, they will be sure to give back by purchasing something from your website.

It’s also a great way for SEO. Podcasts and YouTube videos will get you moved up in the search rankings faster than without them, thats for sure.

If you are not sure how to go about making videos, there are a lot of self-help videos online. See there! You are even using them now! A world of information is right at your fingertips so why not use it to optimize your business presence on the internet.

With a new year upon us, now is the perfect time to try something new. You will be surprised at how effective videos are on your marketing campaign. You can even attach them to your marketing emails for an even bigger response.

The year 2012  is going to be a good year! A positive outlook goes a long way in making your small business grow. The coming year will be new; it’s time for a new look and a new way of doing things.

The first thing to consider is employees. If you have employees and you are growing, think about if and how many new employees you need. Figure out a new budget which includes employees and any upgrades or repairs that need to be done.

It’s also an excellent time to make a new marketing plan, some fine tuning to your website and possibly new business cards. Consider how you want to advertise your business such as online, radio, television, newspapers and the simple newsletters or e-letters.

New technological advances need to be considered as well. Implement a plan for texting, email campaigns, phone apps or video chat. There are now so many ways to stay in contact with clients, suppliers or employees. These new ideas are just the ticket to jump start your small business right into 2012.

Since you are now thinking of all kinds of things you can do or start in the coming year, be sure to organize your files and get tax information ready. That dreaded time of the year is not far off. At the same time, clean up all the old email addresses you keep telling yourself you need to update. Even if it is winter, get the mind set for spring cleaning.

And don’t forget to add social media to your new marketing plan. It’s such a simple and free way to get your business noticed and out to the public, using social media. Word of mouth goes a long, long way in bringing in business.

What does 2012 hold in store for online marketing? The acceleration of innovation in online technologies and the ways we can discover, consume and engage with information can be a challenge to keep up with. But as digital marketers that are more than shiny object opportunists, seeing future trends is exactly what we need to do in order to anticipate our place in the digital universe.

It’s not just about where you can sell stuff to people right now, but next month, next year, 5, 10 or more out.  That’s why I think the concept of discovery, consume and engage is so important, because it transcends ideas like “social network” or “search engine” and focuses more on consumers and technologies. Will be using a search engine like Google in 5 years? Will we be using desktop computers in 5 years? What will future social networks look like? Answers to those questions are answers to the future of marketing and customer engagement.

Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and plenty of other large companies are innovating at amazing speed to gain control of our attention. Some are doing it through devices, some through content, others through infrastructure. A handful of companies have a huge impact on what we do online and at the same time, new companies, start-ups and individuals are creating amazing solutions. What are you doing to see the bigger picture and what it means for your business?

Rather than jumping sequentially from one thing to the next, marketers would do well do develop adaptive models that allow for rapid assimilation of new technologies and trends. As it stands, companies may adopt early with some risk, move with the crowd giving up first mover advantage or wait and see until it’s too painful not to change. The ramp up time to adopt new technologies and trends is expensive. As an example, over $100 billion has already been invested in social business and that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the next 5 years as companies implement enterprise collaboration platforms and social technologies.

In order to survive and thrive, I think more companies are going to evolve their ability to adapt more quickly, tune in to trends and data more efficiently and at the same time have the infrastructure and partnerships that will allow them to evolve and innovate at greater speed.

From a practical level, the new internet no longer exists on your computer as consumers as content shifts to tablet devices and smartphones. The search experience has not only become distinctly different for consumers through user interface and back-end changes, but also for marketers trying to play Google’s game in achieving top search visibility.

Imagine how many more changes there will be in technology as well as with consumer behaviors in the coming year. Here are 7 reports and infographics outlining key technology, social business and digital marketing trends for 2012 and beyond.

Envisioning Emerging Technology. At the heart of the fast changing digital ecosystem of mobile, internet and information is technology. 10 years ago not many marketers could have predicted the ubiquity of tablet devices and smartphones we see today. What’s in store for the next 20 years. Or 30? This smart data visualization from Michell Zappa charts future technologies like artificial intelligence, interfaces and robotics through 2040 on several dimensions including relative importance and consumer impact. Virtual Reality life forms anyone?

2012 Social Business Developments. What’s the future of business? Social Business. Here are 12 social business predictions from Dion Hinchcliffe of Dachis Group covering the move of social to mobile, marketing consolidation, budget and operational aspects of social business and some keen insights on social business applications.

“It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed. Globally, social networking is the most popular activity online according to a new study from comScore. The impact of Facebook and microblogging have had a profound impact on how bands and consumers connect and engage around the world. Any company doing business globally would benefit from reading this report that covers social media usage, adoption and trends.

Mobile Outlook 2012 (pdf). Mobile predictions finally came true in 2011 and companies have invested significantly in mobile websites, apps, advertising and integration with local and offline promotions. The future of mobile is even brighter as outlined in this report from Mobile Marketer including Mobile payments, Advertising, the continued effectiveness of SMS, mobile social media and search.

B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends (pdf). The second annual survey from Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs tapped over 1,000 B2B marketers and shows continued investment in content marketing as well as its uses and intersection with other channels like social media. This report provides useful insight for B2B marketers to gauge where their peers are investing, challenged and applying best practices content marketing in 2012.

Digital Marketing Budget Trends for 2012. What are the lowest cost but most effective online lead generation tactics? Where are companies investing in their marketing for the coming year? 6smarketing assembled a great collection of digital marketing budget trends ranging from overall digital marketing spend to online advertising and mobile marketing.

Internet Statistics Compendium North American Edition.  This isn’t a report or infographic on future trends, but a collection of statistics compiled by Econsultancy regarding: Affiliate Marketing, Internet Advertising, Web Analytics, Social Media, Search Marketing, Mobile, Email Marketing, E-commerce, Customer Experience and Technology Adoption. Part of seeing future trends is having a baseline of data on what’s happened in the past. This report, which is one of many you get with a paid Econsultancy subscription $495, is a useful compilation of that kind of data.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | Future Trends: 2012 Online Marketing & Technology Predictions | http://www.toprankblog.com