Improve your digital marketing with the use of a strategic approach that joins your sales goals to your digital marketing activity. Topics covered include content strategy, SEO, blogging, social media, email marketing, and pay per click.

1. introducing

2. Digital Marketing Fundamentals
Presented as a SCORE
Workshop

3. what will we cover?
• Content Strategy
• SEO
• Blogging
• Social Media and social media sharing and advertising
• Email marketing
• Search marketing pay per click

4. digital marketing
• digital marketing is the promotion of products
or brands via one or more forms of electronic
media.
• allows small, local businesses to compete
• Requires business marketing strategy
• planned: annually, 6 mos, quarterly
• use a planning template

5. which is more plentiful?

6. how they relate
Email
marketing
Website
+
Blog
Social
Media
Search
Marketing
PPC
Customer

7. Digital Marketing
Content Strategy

8. content is king
• Anchors plan
• Can be basis for social
media
• Starts a conversation
• Positions

9. why strategy?
If you put effort into planning your
marketing and content strategy you
you’ll have a higher success rate and
also continue to execute based on a strategy,
versus reacting to what is wrong due to lack of
organization.

10. strategy
Before you jump into planning answer these
critical questions:
– What triggers your customer to purchase?
– What are you seasonal / sales goals?
– What do you want to communicate?
– Who are my customers; personas/segments
– What questions can you answer, problems can
you solve, or understanding can you add?
– What can you reasonably commit to?

11. content planning questions
• My audience is...
• I’m offering them...
• They will find it via...
• They will care because...
• They will interact by...
• Their next step will be...
• They will share it because...
• They might not share it because...
• The solution for this is...
From How to Create a Winning Content Promotion Plan by Stephanie Beadell on BuzzStream Blog

12. From How to Create a Winning Beadell on BuzzStream
Blog

13. customer path
need a new fridge
search net for deals
visits yr site
and calls
buys

14. sales funnel
show up in SERPs
visit website
sign up for newsletter
open / read
buy
or see your
PPC ad
or call for information

15. owned earned paid
Owned=Channel a Brand Controls
Earned=When Customers or
traditional media become
the channel
Paid=Brand pays for
Using a channel
Website Blog
Tumblr Pinterest
Flickr Twitter
Facebook Google+
Advertisements
Facebook Promoted Posts
Promoted Tweets
Google AdWords
Your marketing sweet spot
Facebook shares
Magazine articles
Newspaper articles
Re-Tweets
+ ups in Google+

16. distribute content

17. content types
• Photos
• Videos
• Text / written articles
• Curated content
Photo credit: Yutaka Tsutano

18. SEO

19. truth
“SEO has evolved to become the
result of an actual marketing
strategy versus marketing tactics”
Rae Hoffman

20. seo planning is step 1
• seo is not an item to be
left to the end
• plan first
• w/o planning, you’ll
never get where you
want to be
Photo credit: Oatsy40

21. search engine optimization
• Company you keep
• Associations
• Quality results first
• Demoting poor quality in favor of higher
quality

22. Google’s goal = best answers
“We show the results at the top that
answer the user’s queries directly
(after all we built Google for
users, not websites).”
Posted by Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google

23. seo components
• A strong SEO strategy has three core components:
– links
– content
– social media
• What's become more pronounced in the last year is
the relationship between these elements.
• Best user experience, e.g. mobile compatibility is no
longer optional
Read more: 5 SEO Trends Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know for 2014

24. pandas, penguins, hummingbirds

25. fundamentals
• solid, strong brand
• great copy
• adds value
• well-designed site
• useful information
• fast
• mobile responsive

26. all ins
• Title
– page
– file media library
• Text
• Tags
– alt
– post
– H2, H3
• Page
• Subheads
• Descriptions

27. other considerations
• Inbound links
• Bold
• Cross site links as on-page
navigation
• No “click this link”
rather, “click for map to
our location”

28. Your Blog

29. why blog?
Companies that blog have
434% more indexed pages.
And companies with more
indexed pages get far more leads.
--Search Engine Strategies Conference, NYC 2013

30. blogging is..
Blogging is an essential
marketing component for
your business

31. reasons to blog?
• Improve Search Rank
• Build for Long-Tail Content
• Community and Market Education
• Communicate High Trust Content
• Build Lists, Conversions and Reach
• Build Brand Value and Equity
--Search Engine Watch

32. control of message
You are a self-publisher
New earned media
Gain share of voice

33. blogging steps
1. Platform Decision
2. Platform Setup
3. Research
4. Plan
5. Create
6. Post
7. Promote
8. Evaluate/Adjust

34. wordpress
• WordPress is the
dominant content management system
platform.
• WordPress is used by
60.9% of all websites
whose CMS is known
• 23.1% of all websites
• 2 ‘flavors’
W3Techs article

35. WordPress.com

36. WordPress.org

37. blogger

38. tumblr
Source Tumblr's Top Draw as a Marketing Platform Is Its Wealthier User Base
Ringing up revenue for retailers By Garett Sloane via AdWeek

39. Research
Blog Posts
Business Goals

40. what do you post about?
What your
customers
care about
What you
care about
What you blog about

41. simple advice
Not sure where to start
with your blog content?
Follow one, simple rule:
Help other people
From Shareaholic Blog: 4 Ways to Increase Audience Engagement Kali Hawlk

42. advice on content
Valuable content:
• Useful or functional for readers
– how to do something
– suggests an answer to a question
• Offers insights readers can apply to their own lives
for clarity or solutions to problems
• Compels
– strong, unique and genuine voice
• Speaks directly to a specific person
• Demonstrates authority in niche
From Shareaholic Blog: 4 Ways to Increase Audience Engagement Kali Hawlk

43. Your content must:
• Provoke thoughtful
questions.
• Encourage interested
discussion.
• Provide intense
happiness.
• Offer solutions to
complicated problems.
From Shareaholic Blog: 4 Ways to Increase Audience Engagement Kali Hawlk

44. taxonomy
• Map it out
• Identify primary
• Supporting branches
• Categories
– One per post
• Tags as micro-categories
– Not contained in post
titles

45. plan blog categories
Parent
Category Cupcakes
Child or
Secondary
Categories
CChhooccoollaattee BBBiiirrrttthhhdddaaayyy Decorating

46. plan ‘tags’- micro-categories
Dark
Chocolate
White
Chocolate
Milk
Chocolate
Child
Category
Chocolate
Tags

47. create editorial calendar
Topic Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Cakes Birthday
Cupcakes
Chocolate
Cupcakes
Desserts How to
decorate
cupcakes
with real
flowers
Favorite
Milk
Chocolate
Cupcake
Recipes
Superhero
Birthday
Cupcakes

48. after posting...promotion
“The real magic lies in content promotion.
Without it, your content will struggle to earn a
social mention, let alone a quality backlink.”*
• Where will they see it?
• What will motivate them?
• Where will you/they share it?
*Robbie Richards in 16 Explosive Content Promotion Strategies

49. Social Media

50. why use social media?
“...value in bonding with
an online community
and reaching people
where they already
spend much of their
time — on mobile
phones and in social
media apps.” NY Times

51. pew internet stats
73% of online adults use social media
42% use multiple social sites
71% of online adults are Facebook users
***Know your customer and where they are most likely to be in social media.

52. Social networking/media |61% of all adults
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
9%
89%
7%
78%
6%
60%
0.01
30-49 50-64 65+
7%
38384.0 38930.0 39569.0 39904.0 40299.0 40756.0 41122.0 41395.0
Slide credit: Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet Project Presentation 5 MEDIA SPACES WHERE PEOPLE LIVE

53. who uses what?
• Pinterest appeals especially to females users (4:1)
• LinkedIn is especially popular among college
graduates and internet users in higher income
households.
• Twitter and Instagram have particular appeal to
younger adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites.
– Substantial overlap between Twitter and Instagram user
bases.

54. Slide credit: Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet Project Presentation 5 MEDIA SPACES WHERE PEOPLE LIVE

55. understand each channel

56. social success
• YouTube appeared to be the strongest of the
social networks at introducing new products
(18%) and driving conversions (14%).
– video is an important format for advertising to
potential customers.
• Facebook came in a close second place in
terms of introducing new products (11%) and
closing sales (10%).
from: Myth-Busting Social Media Advertising

57. social media best practices
• complete profiles
• share other’s content
• ask, answer, participate
• use different types of
content in different
channels; esp. images
• monitor analytics/metrics
• create for specific personas
• calendar everything; plan;
schedule
• social media plan

58. channel changes = ads
• All channels are either using or contemplating /
experimenting with paid ads; ad promotion
• Dec 2013 Facebook changed the algorithm that
determines which "stories" show up on the News
Feed
• Facebook’s algorithm changes caused a decline in
“organic reach and organic reach percentage 44% on
average, with some pages seeing declines as high as
88%.”
• “Brand Page Reach Now Often Under 3%” Business Insider

59. compare success of ads
• due to changes
in algorithms for
social channels,
paid ads are
performing far
better than
organic.
from: Myth-Busting Social Media Advertising

60. 3x higher conversion rate
from: Myth-Busting Social Media Advertising

61. case study
• Teach for America
– enhancing reputation, mission driven
– positioning organization for recruiting & placement
– creating positive PR
• Strategy – fully integrated
– blog
– TeacherPop separate channel for teachers w/ it’s own
social channels
– organization social media separate from teachers’

62. teach for america Pinterest

63. teach for america Twitter

64. teach for america instagram

65. share, friend, participate

66. e-mail marketing

67. 1:1
email
one to one
communication

68. email marketing creates ROI
• Recent survey of marketing professionals, 64%
“believe in the ability of email marketing”
• integrate all marketing with their email
marketing/list development
• adapting email marketing to mobile devices

69. email marketing requirements
• email marketing platform; e.g. MailChimp or
ConstantContact, Vertical Response
– CAN SPAM act
• list of ppl who have opted in to your email
– segments work best
• brand centric template to use for your emails
• email campaign strategy

70. common email marketing uses
• keep in touch with prior customers
• nurture relationships with potential customers
• seasonal offers or specials
• product updates or news
• sharing helpful articles or information
• bringing traffic to your website

71. email marketing best practices
• Establish a clear purpose of communication
• Tailor content to suit your audience
• Distribute regularly
• Make it visually engaging
• Monitor the effectiveness of your emails
– Unique Opens, CTR, Forwards, Social Share, Best
customers
The Next Web

72. Middleton Place Example
Why is this good?
• Visually Interesting
• Relates to Seasonal
Goals
• Clean, organized
• Links to website
• Social Profiles
Improvements?
• Social sharing

73. pay per click

74. pay per click knowledge
• best for businesses with online sales
– direct sales
– when you can ask for specific action
• ads must be placed so they intersect your
customer at the right time in buying
cycle/search
• buyer personas can guide campaigns
• landing pages

75. pay per click must dos
• determine network, Google, Bing, Facebook
• set budget
• keyword research
• word ads
• refine ads, campaigns, keywords
• placement, mobile? Network? Search results?
• Google Adwords will help you get started

77. lather, rinse, repeat
• monitor
• adjust
• refresh
• keep alert to changes
• competition
Photo credit: 1950sUnlimited