How Do You Rank?

Everyone is always so concerned how many hits their website gets. But more important than hits is where do you fall in the food chain of web exposure?  There is a TV spot running that tells the small business owner that without a website, you are invisible on the web.  This is partially true but it’s not just about the website. As a marketer you know that one marketing tool is not enough.

Everyone that uses the internet uses Google, Bing, or some other search site. Most people will stop the search as soon as they think they found what they are looking for.  But are they finding you?  What if you are half way down the search page or even worse on page 2?

There are tons of companies that claim they can get you to the top of the search page.  Most of them are full of shit! I get email from them every day making this claim.  They must not Google my site. There are two ways to get you to the top.  One costs money and the other does not.  You can buy ad space from the search sites or you can work to get yourself on top.  

Just having a website is not enough.  The more exposure you have on the web, the better your chances of coming out #1 on a search.  For example, I have a website, a blog, two Twitter pages, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  Google my name and I am the top eight of nine rankings.  The only reason I am not all nine is because my great great grandfather was a famous doctor listed on Wikipedia. 

Some people think I waste too much time on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. There is a method for my madness.  As a marketer I understand you have to work the web to get the results.  Every time you post anything you raise your overall ranking.  If you use Twitter for your business then you need to tweet every day.  This not only helps with your ranking but also gets you more Twitter followers.  

Next time your boss catches you playing on Facebook, just tell him/her you’re marketing.

It’s How You Look

Anytime you want to know about a company, a brand, or a person, you Google them.  The results usually bring you to a website.  This is the first impression.  What does your website say about you?

I am going through entire website change right now.  As my regular readers know I am changing my core business to meld with culinary.  This requires all new information.  To go along with a new website I am creating a new logo. 

As I go through this process, it is giving me a chance to think about what a potential client will think.  Will they get my business at first glance?  This is really important.  If they don’t, I can lose them before I am even given the chance. 

I believe it all starts with the logo.  What does your logo say about you?  Is it eye appealing?  Does it explain your brand?  As we are building the website, my web people built the home page first without the logo.  They kept asking me what I thought.  I did like the page but without a logo I just can’t see the page.  The home page needs to revolve around the logo. 

We are now working on the logo.  Now that we are really close to having the logo complete I want to see it on the home page.  My guess is that we will need to re-work the page because the logo will change the overall look.

Today, a website might just be your most important marketing tool.  Make sure it tells your story.  Make sure your customer loves it!

We Are All Critics – Hear Us Roar!

Today’s web 2.0 has offered up a great marketing opportunity and a possible marketing nightmare at the same time.  Our customers can give their two cents.  What are you doing with this?

Ten years ago the internet was very one sided.  Companies and brands put up a website to market their product.  Today, we can actually participate in two-way communication.  We can praise something when it’s great.  We can complain when something is not great.  We can have an actual dialogue.

As marketers we need to jump all over this.  A big reason we don’t like two-way communication is because we think we can’t control the message.  We are afraid of “negative”.  We need to get over the fear because two-way communication on the net is not going away.  If we sit back and do nothing, then the negative boo birds are going to rule the roost.

For many years we have run advertising that included customer testimonials.  We all know they work.  Today’s internet gives us the opportunity to take it to the next level.  NEWS FLASH:  Your customers are googling you!  What are they reading about you?  We should be encouraging our customers to give testimonials.  Have them offer real-time feedback on Facebook and Twitter.  Give them an opportunity to post comments on your website.  There are websites that offer customer feedback such as Yelp. Yes, you will get some negative feedback.  However, if you have a great product your loyal customers will take care of you.  Plus, I believe a little negative is good.  It gives you real customer feedback to fix any issues. It also makes your overall customer comments believable.

Today’s internet had made everyone a critic.  We don’t need to wait for the review to come out in the newspaper after the event.  Plus, we should really be listening to our customers not a newspaper reviewer.

We can’t control today’s internet but we have the marketing know-all to make it work for us!

Expose Yourself!

This is what you should be telling any and all potential sponsors/partners.  Our shows, events, and venues are just the place to do it.

We have discussed in the past niche marketing and grass roots marketing.  Speaking directly to our customers has always been the best way to market but today it’s even more important.  Today, customers have the internet.  They go looking for what they want.  They look for the direct source. Think about it.  Don’t you always Google anything you are interested in? 

Today, running ads on TV programs with good ratings in the proper age demographic may not be the best use of marketing budget.  Yes, I am sure you will hit some of your potential customers but how much waste are you also paying for? If you are going to buy TV/cable then buy a niche channel or program for your product.  For example if I marketed a casino, I would look to buy spots on the poker shows and the horse racing networks. But I would not limit myself to TV. You still need face-to-face with your customers.

All of us in live events have a great vehicle for exposure marketing.  It gives a sponsor an opportunity for “hands on” direct contact with a customer.  Today, companies are looking to speak directly with customers. It’s an opportunity to give them a sample of their product (as we discussed last week).  They can receive direct feedback from a customer.  Why wait for them to post negative tweets.  Let them tell you in person. 

Today, we live in an age where customers want to see, touch, taste and hear everything.  They want full exposure.  Creating these opportunities for your sponsors/partners and your ticket buying customers will payoff for all.

Brand Yourself

Today’s career and business climate is brutal.  The days of working for one company your whole career are very rare.  The days of the company protecting their employees are over.  This is why it is so important to brand yourself. You have a talent and you should make sure everyone knows this. 

As a marketer, you know how to market and brand the products you sell for a living.  It is shocking that so many of these same marketers don’t brand themselves.  What are you doing to get your name out there? 

How many of you have “Googled” yourself?  I bet all of you have.  How many times did you pop up?  Today, when anyone wants to find out about someone, they usually Google them first.  The more you show up on a Google search the better.  Of course you hope only good things are popping up.

There are lots of ways to brand you.  If you are on social network sites like Facebook and Twitter you can start today.  In fact, you are already branding yourself.  What you put on these sites can be passed around to thousands of people.  I get Google alerts everyday from stuff I post on Twitter. Are you on Linkedin?  If you are, do you belong to groups?  Do you contribute comments and feedback on these group sites?

Do you attend conferences for your industry?  If you do, what are you doing at these conferences to get your name out there?  If all you do is sit and listen, you are not branding yourself.  Get other people to listen to you.

How about writing a blog?  Start a topic you are familiar with.  Write your thoughts and opinions.  You will be surprised how quickly people will start reading it. If you know what you are talking about (and you better), you will soon build yourself a reputation as an expert in your field. 

Even though we don’t currently live in a “me, me, me” society it is still very important to market and promote yourself.  If you don’t do it, who will?

What Goes Into Your Marketing Plan?

When I first started in the business almost 25 years ago, my first job was with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc.  Today you know them as Feld Entertainment.  As a new Regional Marketing Director (promoter) we were taught from day one how to properly market a city for either the circus or ice show.  This included the marketing plan.

As a new promoter you learned how important the plan was.  Of course no matter how well it was written or researched it was never good enough.  If it seemed to thin to your boss, it was thrown back at you. They wanted it thick with market information.  I sometimes wondered if they really read the whole thing.  I was temped to fill the middle of the plan with blank pages.

What the exercise of writing a marketing plan did accomplish, is make you understand your market.  You learned more about the market then you would ever care to know but that is a good thing.  Useless information can come in handy sometimes.

Researching your market is the hard part.  Putting your market information and ideas down on paper is easy.  Here are some items to think about when writing your marketing plan:

• Research is more then doing a Google search.  You do need to visit the market.  How can you ever understand a market you have never been too? 
• When you are researching, it is not only okay but important to gather too much information.  You don’t have to write everything you learned into the plan.
• Lay out the draft of your plan in outline form.  It makes it easy to fill in the blanks
• Make sure you put statistical data into the plan.  This will help shape the direction.
• Put all your ideas down so you won’t forget them.
• Make sure you have a “what if” plan written into the marketing plan.
• Write the plan for yourself.

Do You Know Your Market?

How well do you know your market?  I mean, do you really know your market?  I learned years ago that you can live in a market your entire life and not really know the market.

When is the last time you did some hard market research?  When I first started in the industry, we didn’t have the internet.  This meant doing it the old fashion way of going to the library or the chamber of commerce.  I used to pull every demo and stat sheet I could find.  This didn’t mean I would use them all in my marketing plan.  But it’s always better to have too much information then not enough.

You would be surprised at what you can find out about the market by doing a little research.  For example, I learned years ago that St. Louis has more bowlers per capita then any other market.  The bowling hall of fame is in St. Louis.  I took this information and did a promotion with it.

Today, we have Google and the World Wide Web to assist us with market research.  But are we using it? More importantly, can we really learn everything about a market from the internet?  Isn’t it even more important to experience the market first hand?  The other day I wrote how face to face communication is your most important selling tool.  The same goes for market research. 

Should market research happen before or after the tour is routed?  If the show or event is playing in a market that doesn’t have a strong demo, should it play in that market?  We have all heard the line: “the show has to play somewhere”.  But does it?  Wouldn’t it make better business sense to play where the business is versus where it isn’t?

Use Your Marketing Skills for You

One of the biggest surprises for me at this year’s Event & Arena Marketing Conference was the amount of unemployed event marketers.  I know the recession has done damage to our business but I didn’t realize how much. The percentage of the unemployed at this year’s conference was really high.  We are talking about very talented people.  For those event marketers out there looking, I dedicate today’s post to you.

As event marketers you know how to market. You write your marketing plan, pitch your media deals, and put your marketing into play.  Now you find yourself looking for a new job.  I am sure part of your daily search routine includes checking the internet job sites, making phone calls to your contacts, and reading the trades.  But what else are you doing?  How can you apply your event marketing skills to marketing you?

Marketing Plan

If you write a marketing plan for your shows, why not try it for yourself?  Make yourself the event.  Put everything down just like you would for a show.  Write down all the stats.  This should include what is happening in your industry.  If you are looking in a certain market, research the market. Who are your potential employers? What are their goals?  What are their needs?

Media

Write down your media plans.  No, you don’t have to buy TV, radio, or billboards.  That would be cool if you could afford it.  I did see where someone did this recently.  But you can afford to use non-traditional (21^st Century) marketing.  Use the internet and social networks to promote yourself.  The key to the internet is having your name everywhere.  Your goal is to have your name rise to the top of the Google search.  You don’t want to this happen only when someone searches your name.  You want your name to show up on marketing searches.  You want your name (brand) to be associated with marketing.  This blog is a perfect example. My name and this blog show up in marketing Google searches all the time.

You need to use Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.  Linkedin has become the number one online social tool for the unemployed.  It is designed to post everything you have ever done in the professional and educational world. They also have a job finding tool. Being active on these social sites will also promote you on Google searches.

Promotions

Why not create promotions around you?  I am not kidding on this.  Why not offer a contest for free marketing services?  Offer this contest to any company or industry that you are interested in.  This will get your name out there, tell them what you offer, and someone will win a free taste of your expertise.

If you skip over everything I just wrote then remember one thing:

You are re-building and marketing the brand called “You”!

SEO Marketing Is All In The Name

I have wanted to write about SEO (search engine optimization) for a while.  This morning I read a good piece on SEO from my favorite marketing blogger Seth Godin.  Check out his post on “How to Make Money with SEO”. 

Seth’s post gives an easy explanation of SEO.  He compares it with the Yellow Pages and the White Pages of a phone book.  If run a big ad for your product in the right section of the yellow pages then chances are you will get phone calls.  If you just let your product list on a Google search, you could get buried.  He gives the example of a plumber.  Do a search on “plumber” and you will get 4 million results.  If you own a certain name and you market that name this narrows your Google search results.  This would be like the White Pages.

If you search and/or collect followers on Twitter then you know there are “thousands” of “SEO experts”.  Or it just seems to be thousands.  If you come up with a way to stand above the clutter with your product or brand then you too can be a SEO expert.  There really is no one way to market in the SEO space. As with any marketing or advertising tool once someone does it one way, someone else is trying to beat it another way. 

Google makes a living selling advertising.  This advertising can come in the form of those ads you see on the side of the results page and on top of the results page.  How effective are these search ads?  No one really knows.  That is the problem with SEO paid advertising.  From personal experience I usually don’t click on these search ads.  For some bad reason I think that clicking on the “free” search results is more authentic. We all know how wrong that can be. I guess we believe that doing “investigative research” will lead us to the correct results. 

There is a perception problem with SEO marketing.  If you believe in what you see and hear with paid TV, newspaper, and radio advertising why not paid search ads?  Search engine marketing is only going to get bigger and better with time.  As we spend more time on the internet and less with other media, main stream marketers and advertisers will devote more effort to this direct and personal marketing tool.

BTW, I did a Google search of “event & entertainment marketing blog”. There were 12,900,000 results.  This blog came up first, second, and tenth in the first ten results.  Not too shabby!

 

Stop Looking Back At Marketing

As I read through all my morning newspapers and online sources today I find a very common thread. Marketing in the digital non-traditional way is hot, traditional (old school) advertising is not.

21st century online newspapers

Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke yesterday to newspaper executives at the Newspaper Association of America’s annual convention.  He told newspaper peeps that if they want to survive in the online world they need to push online advertising revenue and not charge readers.  He made a very good point.  People don’t need to pay for online news.  The way the internet is set up, you can find whatever news you want for free. Of course by using Google.  He suggested pushing more online advertising and maybe charging readers for niche articles.  For example the online paper is free but if you want to know more about wine, then you can buy this type of service.  He compared this to the TV business.  The broadcast networks started and continue to be funded by advertising.  Cable networks are niche and can charge. 

Maybe the traditional version of newspapers should charge less and gain more readers.  This in turn will bring back advertisers.  As I say this The Boston Globe has announced a price increase at the newsstand.  Yea, that will keep your readers.  “Our NYT owners want to close us so let’s charge more”!

Mobile marketing is slowly getting there

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that mobile advertising is gaining momentum slowly. The biggest issue I see facing mobile advertising is budgets.  As companies cut back on advertising, marketers tend to go into the “comfort zone”.  They look to traditional advertising methods which don’t have the ROI they once did.  Mobile marketing has a few different elements for use of advertising.  You can run banner type ads like internet websites. It has better data capture for an enhanced personal sell.  You can send text messages directly to a customer.  You have a better chance that a customer will read your advertising message on this personal small screen.  The article quotes Eran Hertzmann from Mobixell Networks ”it’s the last screen they look at when they go to bed, and the first one they look at in the morning”.

Ad Age today is full of digital marketing

Today’s online version of Ad Age is full of articles about marketing in the 21st century because they have been hosting a digital conference. 

There is an article about venture capitalist Fred Wilson telling marketers at the Ad Age Digital Conference to spend more dollars on Facebook and Twitter and less on TV.  He calls these sites “earned media”.  He gives examples such as the Burger King Whopper Sacrifice “killed friend” promotion on Facebook or Disney promoting the Jonas Brothers online instead of radio.  He also predicts that Twitter will have 50 million users by the end of 2009.  Check out today’s Ad Age online.  They have some really good stuff.