Marketing Logic

As I wrap up my sixth month as a bona fide internet marketing professional under the influence of Matt Bailey, I’m starting to hit my stride. I’ve figured out in which areas I’m naturally talented, what most interests me, what is effective and what isn’t, and what I’d still like to know more about. Besides, this industry is constantly evolving and there is always more to learn.

So I am beyond excited about attending the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference in Houston on April 21-22. Facilitated by the team behind Search Engine Guide and Small Business Brief, Unleashed is a two-day intensive conference complete with workshops, networking events, and a host of talented and knowledgeable speakers. It’s geared towards small business owners and newbies to the internet marketing industry.

I’ve been fortunate to quickly build a solid search engine marketing foundation working under Matt here at SiteLogic. But I’m not about to pass up a chance to learn from some of the best in the business!

Helping Small Businesses Level The Playing Field
I’ve always loved working with small businesses to help them make their communications more professional and effective. And the great thing about online marketing is that the internet levels the playing field between big business with big advertising dollars and small business with, well, not so much. With some SEO and a great link building campaign (for starters) a small business website can rank right up there with the big guys. And it doesn’t cost tons of money (or even very much) to get there.

Unleashed is geared towards small businesses and internet marketers who want to get the biggest bang for their buck out of their websites. Whether your site is geared towards sales, leads, memberships, or page views, the sessions at this conference will give you practical, easy-to-implement tools and strategies to vastly improve the effectiveness of your site.

The conference is purposely being kept small in order to facilitate the best possible learning experience for those who attend. Instead of a major industry conference with thousands of people and basic sessions, Unleashed will dig deep into each topic.

Practical Sessions And Workshops
The sessions and workshops I’m planning to attend are a nice mix of topics I know something about and ones I know little about. Regardless, I’m expecting to learn a lot from all of them. The first day of the conference is informational sessions. The second day is filled with a variety of intensive workshops to supplement the sessions from day one. Topics I plan to attend include:

• Keywords and Content. This workshop is all about how to choose the right keywords and then integrate them into your content. It’s about a whole lot more than just title tags.
• Link Building. I know why it’s important to get links, and I know how to get them for my blog. But I’m going to this workshop to learn how to plan and run an actual link building campaign. It focuses on creating a long-lasting strategy that will improve traffic and sales as well as rankings.
• Viral Marketing. I know a bit about viral marketing, the buzz phrase of the day. But I need to know how to actually plan and implement a viral campaign; what works and what doesn’t; and how to identify key “influencers.” All of these are key topics for this workshop.
• Blogging for Business. I’m a big believer in blogging for gaining links and traffic, branding yourself as an expert, and for fun. I’ve seen firsthand how successful running a blog with a few key tactics can be. This session will cover blogging as a component of your greater marketing scheme. It includes tips and tricks for building your blog and audience.

Those are some of the sessions that interest me most, but they all look amazing. I wish I had Hermione’s time-turner so that I could check them all out! Other topics include:

• Site Architecture
• Social Media Marketing
• Web Analytics
• Site Clinics
• Building a Community
• Paid Search Advertising

Knowledgeable, Approachable Speakers
The speakers for the Unleashed conference really are some of the best in the business. I’ve had some contact with several of them, met several personally, and read blogs for most of them. They really do know their stuff. Their expertise is also recognized by other top industry professionals.

Most of them will be available after their sessions and during various network events. They love to meet you, answer your questions, and talk about the industry or life in general. (Personally, I can’t wait to meet Christine Churchill and talk to her about that gorgeous horse I’ve seen in her profile pictures.)

Register Now And Get A Discount
The total cost for Small Business Marketing Unleashed is $975 and includes all of the sessions and workshops, a networking dinner, and a flash drive with conference materials. Enter the discount code PUPPY when you register and get a $100 discount. Workshops are limited to 50 people, so register soon to make sure you can get into the ones you want.

The ROI of Search Engine Optimization, Usability, and Analytics.
I’ll tell you why I love what I do. I love helping other people be successful in their business. And this industry provides the tools for making an impact. Right now.

SEO, Usability, and Analytics are the best investment that you can make for your online business. If you have never looked at optimization, usability, or ‘real’ analytics research for your website, then you have missed a wide-open opportunity to get the most out of your website.

These three factors have always resulted in success on many websites, and when combined, they are even more powerful in their results. Even websites that experience at least one of the three: search engine optimization, usability, or analytics; will experience a drastic change for the better, as each one provides significant direction to improve your website.

Regardless of the purpose of your website, selling stuff, getting leads, or page views, utilizing these three methods of website improvement will pay off far beyond your investment in a specialist, in-house training, attending a seminar, or however you choose to get it done.

Analytics = 900% to 1200% ROI
Forrester research showed that a company that brings in a dedicated analyst can result in a 900% - 1200% ROI. That’s something to get excited about. In my experience, that return can usually be experienced within the first few months of implementing the changes that the analyst recommends. The biggest problems will be identified first.

Usability = 80% to 200% increase in desired metrics.
According to Jacob Nielson, usability improvements six years ago averaged 135%, now it has fallen to 83%, (it’s higher when you look at specific metrics). The main reason is that designs are getting better than what we were accustomed to viewing in the 1990’s. However, from personal experience in usability, website sales in ecommerce sites can improve dramatically simply with a usability review. I have worked on some projects were the ROI of the usability changes was over 4000%. It’s amazing some of the obstacles that are placed in front of users, but never tested or reviewed with live subjects.

SEO = (the wildcard) 40% to 4000+%
Search Engine Optimization is the real wildcard. Some sites respond very quickly to simple on-page optimization techniques an there is an immediate change to improved rankings and increased visitors. Other sites require more attention and additional off-site or on-site optimization help, or even a full marketing campaign in order to see results. It really is determined on a case-by-case basis. However, you can’t get around the fact that a simple optimization project on a website can result in increased rankings.

The full impact of SEO cannot be fully measured, as factors such as “the long tail,” ranking positions, and tracking systems make it very hard to calculate the true return from an SEO campaign. Not the least of which is that SEO campaigns have grown far beyond what they were in the past. Simply placing keywords in the title tags is not the primary concern of the Professional SEO. Search Engine Optimization has become more more integrated into the entire marketing process, which makes ROI in this area very hard to nail down as a general rule-of-thumb for all types of websites.

Combined Campaign = Exponential Results
Amazingly, when any of these disciplines are coupled together, the ROI factor increases. SEO combined with Usability provides amazing results and will usually result in a change of website navigation and architecture. Usability combined with Analytics will usually produce SEO-type recommendations and improvements, along with significant awareness of the visitor and their tendencies on the website. You may not like what you learn about people’s opinion of the site after that type of review. However, implementing those changes will provide a dramatic return on the investment.

After attending last week’s Search Engine Strategies, I saw first-hand that the (possible?) recession, while on some people’s minds, is not going to stop business, and it won’t stop online marketing. Savvy marketers will take this opportunity to improve the customer experience and get the most out of their websites.

This is why I love what I do, and why I focus on these three areas first when marketing websites. Most companies want to run headlong into the social media game, when they have not even taken the first steps to get the most out of their own websites.

Improve the experience at home first, and then invite others over.

Related Articles:
Marketing without Metrics?
Destructive User Testing with Rayco
The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

I recently came back from an extended trip to England, where my wife and I spent some time in Northern England with Mike Grehan. Mike is incredibly passionate about living in Newcastle, and should be knighted as an evangelist for Northeastern England. Visiting Mike’s pub was probably the most enjoyable experience I had. Not in the least of which was the glorious fish ‘n chips and sticky pudding. It was one of the best meals I had that week.

The people are very proud of their city and their way of life, of which I admit a profound jealousy. I think we let life get to busy for us here in America, and we typically feel out of control. We lose touch with those that live across the street, or on our block, and we long for simpler lives, but can’t find the time to make it happen.

The English pub is nothing as it is imagined in the States. Many of my observations about the pub were remarkably similar to the concept of Social Media. Of course, this could just be the nerd in me, contrasting every “real” experience with online behavior.

1. No TV’s, no juke boxes.
The typical distractions are removed. I loved that there were no barstools. As Mike explained, “in the US, I have to get my drink over some guy’s head.”

Observation: You can hear the conversation without the pounding of music or the distraction of sports on the television. It’s focused on developing a relaxed atmosphere for conversation.

2. Focus on conversation
Areas of chairs and table were scattered about, depending on what type of visit you were making (drinking, drinking+ eating, or sitting). However, I immediately noticed that there were no barstools. We got the large over-stuffed chairs next to the fire. We intended to stay for a while and have some great conversation. Later we moved to a larger table for dinner, but the conversation kept going.

Observation: There is more emphasis on leaving the bar and sitting with people. You can still get drunk if you want, but you’ll be having fun with everyone else while you do it.

3. Sense of Ownership
Mike kept saying, “my pub.” Mike’s son, Joe, explained the three priorities in life: “football, the pub, the wife. In that order.” The pub is a local meeting house and is located near your home. Everyone who lives near it calls it “their pub.” What’s interesting is we also passed by his brother’s pub and his mother’s pub. Everyone knows where THEIR pub is.

Observation: Ownership is vital to a sense of community. Unless you feel a sense of pride in what is being built and a sense of participation in the success, then you don’t have a true investment in the community.

4. Sense of Belonging
You belong because you live nearby. Everyone knows each other, and you can meet your neighbors at the pub. Because it’s the pub from your area, you care about it and want to be a part of the success.

Observation: Similar to the sense of ownership, the sense of belonging. It is a vital part of the community and everyone is welcome. Even is you choose to site near the fire and read the newspaper, you still belong. You are still part of the conversation.

5. Sense of Priority
See #3. Even though football is higher than the pub in priority, very few pubs offered televisions. I was surprised that the local football team was in a very important match that night, but they did not have it on television, there were no televisions available. I know it drove Joe nuts, but his friend kept texting him the score.

Observation: Even the priority of football in Newcastle didn’t supersede the priority of the pub. It didn’t replace the conversation of the community pub, even though it was of vital importance. There was a place to go if you wanted to watch the match, but it wasn’t being watched at the pub.

6. Sense of Community
Conversation with your friends is to be valued. If everyone knows who you are, then you are accountable. You have to be friendly. Mike pointed out the history of the pub as coming from the concept of Public Houses, where homes were opened up to the community for socializing. They grew into the pub, where the concept of community and socializing is lived out today.

Observation: If you want to get something out of the community, you have to contribute. Those that contribute the most are rewarded the most.

7. Old stuff is Cool
Sometimes, you don’t need technology. The best times are with people, and technology only keeps us unsatisfied. Taking time away to invest with people, rather than pursuing “what’s next” is very rewarding and fulfilling to one’s soul. We went to the Durham Cathedral, completed in 1096. It’s old. I haven’t felt a sense of awe like that for a very long time… I think we get so caught up in the “new” that we forget that there is still quality to be found in the “old”.

Observation: I was struck that conversation with people is what lasts. Friends that I made on forums ten years ago are still friends today. The forum helped to develop conversations both on a public and private level. Meeting people afterwards in “real life” simply cemented those friendships. You don’t build relationships like that by gaming Digg.

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