Marketing/Business Focused Blogs

THE BOOZE BIN

By, Rosalie Morton (@rosaliemo)

Meme 101

You might not think you know exactly what a meme (pron. MEEM) is… but if you’re reading this blog you do, promise. I think memes are best described through examples. So consider a few of my recent favorites:

-         Angelina Jolie’s leg from the Oscar’s

-         What my friends think I do (the PR one is priceless)

-         And of course, Tebowing

If you still want to get formal, according to Wikipedia, a meme is:

- An idea that is propagated through the World Wide Web. The idea may take the form of a hyperlink, video, picture, website, hashtag or just a word or phrase. The meme may spread from person to person via social networks, blogs, direct email, news sources, or other web-based services. An Internet meme may stay the same or may evolve over time, by chance or through commentary, imitations, parody, or by incorporating news accounts about itself.

A good meme is any marketer’s dream. It means your product or campaign goes viral (win!) and tons of people are not only looking at it, but they are:

1)    Interacting with your brand

2)    Making your brand their own

3)    And then… the clincher: they are sharing your brand with their friends.

(A bad meme could mean a crisis… but that’s a different post for another day.)

It’s textbook social media engagement, and it’s precisely why social media is more powerful than traditional media. As your customers interact with your brand, it becomes branded into their minds far deeper than it would through a TV commercial or a billboard.

Memes Behind the Bar

One thing is sure, people love their liquor, so it should come as no surprise that beverage brands and their supporters have had a LOT of fun with memes.

Here are two of my favorites:

The Most Interesting Man in the World – This is a marketer’s dream come true. The Dos Equis team created “The Most Interesting Man in the World” and not only did people love the commercial, it became a meme and went viral on its own. Kudos, Dos Equis. Kudos to you, indeed.

Bros Icing Bros - In my opinion, this is the best beverage meme to date. The game is simple. Hide a Smirnoff Ice somewhere for your friend to stumble upon – his sock drawer or say, the shower. When he finds it, he has to get on one knee and drink it, unless he is already in possession of a Smirnoff Ice. A website developed, bros posted pictures of their best ices. The game became a meme.

Like many memes, the mystery remains… was this a PR ploy by Smirnoff, or just 23-year old Joe’s mode of procrastination. According to a Huffington Post article, Smirnoff denies everything. Support a reckless under-aged drinking game? Of course not! Regardless of their involvement, the urban legend lives on… although brosicingbros.com sadly has been taken down.

The old Smirnoff in a Burrito. Classic!

And so, this morning I leave you with the famous Hitler Meme, hijacked by winos, The Downfall of a Cult California Winery

Share your favorite beverage memes, below!

Photos from: http://knowyourmeme.com/

BrosIcingBros.com

At TopRank Online Marketing, we are fortunate to provide consulting to quite a few innovative B2B companies that serve other marketers. A great example of that is PRWeb and parent company, Vocus, both long standing clients.

In late 2011 Vocus welcomed Jason Jue as Chief Marketing Officer. As Vocus & PRWeb’s Account Manager at TopRank, I was keenly interested in getting to know Jason better and learning his plans for the future – and what better way than through an interview for all readers of Online Marketing Blog to see?

In this interview Jason talks about the undeniable convergence of PR and marketing, what social media metric is most undervalued by many PR and marketing professionals, where marketers should invest for 2013 and his vision for Vocus.

Tell us a little bit about your background and what excites you most about joining Vocus?

Prior to Vocus, I was Vice President of Marketing at Rackspace and had several executive positions at Dell in the US and Asia, marketing to businesses. Vocus offers cloud marketing and PR software to businesses in every market sector and size that want to reach and influence buyers.

I’m excited about sharing with businesses how easily our products work wonders for our current customers. Some of the leading marketing consultants such as Sirius Decisions and MarketingSherpa use our products to maximize their online publicity.

For some people, Vocus is synonymous with Public Relations software. Can you speak to how and when Vocus first expanded to offering marketing solutions?

We have always believed PR to be a core part of “promoting a product or service” or marketing. Many customers who buy our PR software have a marketing title, and we’ve recently seen faster growth in this group. These customers use our social media and PRWeb news release features of our PR software. For them, we created a cloud marketing suite which integrates search, publicity, and social media marketing. Our cloud marketing suite was the most successful product launch in Vocus history, and will be even better when it includes email later this year.

Do you see PR and marketing professionals as two separate audiences? Or are they converging disciplines?

In marketing teams that have PR and marketing professionals, we continue to see them as two audiences with different product needs, although their roles are converging, especially around social media. PR professionals are using social media for brand positioning. Marketing professionals use social media for lead gen. Meanwhile, for the millions of businesses who have few, if any marketers at all, the marketing functions blend together.

Use your crystal ball and give us a glimpse into the future. How will the Vocus offering change over the next 2 years? Where do you see the most opportunity for growth?

The future of marketing is simple and powerful integrated campaigns. Every marketing team realizes that when working together on unified and integrated campaigns, lead generation and brand perception results are much better than working alone.

I know that sounds like a pipe dream as marketing complexity has increased to address the everywhere all the time customer. Today’s customers are constantly switching back and forth from website, news, social, search, email, and mobile. To add confusion, each specialty has their marketing tools resulting in silos and disjointed communication.

In the near future, marketers will be able to buy cloud marketing software to easily manage integrated campaigns. It will incorporate the trendy with the tried-and-true tactics of marketing The essential elements will work together for better results in lead generation and brand perception. And, it will recommend how and when to engage with prospects and customers.

Seem unbelievable? I think it’s unbelievable that it hasn’t already happened. In the past 15 years, every corporate function, from marketing to sales to HR, has seen a proliferation of technology tools. Marketing is the only function without a major product suite. IBM is doing it for large enterprise marketing. We are integrating all the important marketing tools into a cloud marketing suite so every business, large and small, can easily achieve big results .

Staying on social for a moment, what is one social metric that you think may be most overlooked by PR and marketing professionals alike? On the flip side, any stat that you view as overvalued?

The most important social media metric is how many people actively recommend your product or service. I think the most overvalued metrics are fans, followers, and likes.

As 2012 is well underway, what is one investment you think marketers must make in order to succeed the rest of the year and into 2013? (i.e. invest in mobile marketing)

Focus on marketing fundamentals that will dramatically accelerate growth. Who is your target customer? What product or service should you develop for them? How should you promote to them? Why should they buy from you?

Then, find the best product for you that simplifies all the marketing tactics and trends. This product will then let you focus on the marketing fundamentals.

Thanks, Jason!

 

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | Interview: The Future of Cloud Marketing Software with Vocus CMO Jason Jue | http://www.toprankblog.com

The parking meter was rebooting. I guess we're supposed to walk to the other end of the garage and find one that's working.

We're seeing digital awareness coming to just about everything. In this case, it was the parking meter near the library. Of course, it's not really a parking meter, it's a centralized fee collection system that saves the town a lot of money. It's easier to collect from, certainly, it doesn't waste the time of meter readers (who get alerted as to what spaces aren't paid for, as opposed to checking them all) plus it doesn't let a new parker enjoy a few minutes of the last person's payment.

I understand how the incremental sale of this device was easier to maket to the town and to the community. It's just like what we have now, but better.

The problem, of course, is that it's not as better as it could be. Just about every traditional non-digital solution is bounded by the limits of mechanics. Once we start connecting (and the connection revolution won't rest until it's all connected) then the problem can be reset--we can find the best solution, not a better way to solve it the old way.

Why do I have to guess how long I'm going to be parking? Why pay a penalty if I underguess, or waste community resources on patrolling for compliance?

Of course, I don't care much about parking meters. I care a lot about using digital shadows of real world devices because we don't have the imagination to reinvent them.

In this particular case: why bother have a meter at all? After all, the state knows my license plate, the state has a billing relationship with me, the state can (and does) collect money for my driving behaviors (like EZ Pass). So why not drive into the space and have the space just take care of all the paperwork and billing? No tickets, no meter readers. If you don't want local merchants to park in the good spaces, no need to spend a lot of time searching them out...

Instinctually, we want to maintain the hunter/prey relationship of the independent citizen who isn't being snooped on. But you know what? You're already being snooped on, ceaselessly. A parking meter isn't your problem.

Obviously, parking meters aren't the important device here. The connection revolution is going to upend the way we understand the where, who, how much and when of everything around us.

By Emily Lacy (@emstheticket)

This past weekend, I visited a shop in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom neighborhood for my regular dose of neo-hippie products. College times past left their mark, and I have a shamefully soft spot for huge patterned pieces of cloth.  Furthermore, much to my parents’ confusion and dismay, no apartment for me is complete without the smell of incense smoking up the place. New apartment calls for new incense, so it was time. Little did I know, I’d also be walking away with a renewed wonder at brands and the captivating stories at their cores.

As I was picking up a familiar box of hippie sticks, something weird caught my eye. Atop a shelf, it looked like a dusty piece of driftwood that had been long forgotten. I didn’t know if I was allowed to touch it, but I did anyway, and it turned out to be a homemade incense burner. Someone had taken a piece of wood, bored two tiny holes into it, and carved their name in the bottom. I was at a loss. Was this even for sale? Did someone actually think they could put two holes in a piece of wood and garner money for it?

Yes, someone did, and his name was George.

The owners of the shop told me George spends his days down by the James River, finding and picking up objects he finds beautiful. If he sees something special in that object, thinks it might be useful to someone, might serve a purpose, he helps it along its way. This is what he loves to do.

I paid seven whole dollars for a nondescript piece of wood that day. However, looking back on the experience, it wasn’t the piece of wood I paid for, it was the story. I love that in my apartment sits a piece of wood that George noticed, picked up, and touched with his own hands. I love that he took the time to carve tiny holes in it, and that those holes now hold my incense. I love that I got a chance to help him do what he likes with his time and life. I can go find a piece of wood down by the James any day, but it won’t contain the story of George.  Herein lies the magic of brands and their unique stories.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the products of our clients and completely neglect the place where much of the true value lies: their stories. I’d have a pretty hard time meaningfully connecting with a piece of stray wood, but I can definitely connect with and get behind George and the way he makes his living.  Great brand stories impart energy to the products and services they inspire.  They forge connections where none existed previously. In this day and age, when distinction can be fleeting and consumers are practically bombarded with choice, we can use brand stories to give them something we all hunger for: meaning, and the chance to be part of a story larger than ourselves.

Release Your Internal Marketing Warrior

In March of this year I made a decision: I wanted to get healthier.  The problem I have always faced is that I didn’t see the point of exercise, just for the sake of exercise.  Treadmills and stationary bicycles never did much for me, but I was looking for a way to regain some focus and start down a healthier path.

About a month ago I spoke with my good friend Ali who had recently started a training program to become a yoga instructor.  She convinced me to attend a class with her and I even though I’ve done yoga before, this was an entirely new experience.  After 75 minutes in a sweltering room (enduring one of the toughest workouts I’ve had in a while) the strangest thing happened. I felt stronger, lighter, and more focused.

Many times as marketers we get caught up in daily tasks and lose focus of what is really important.  When we lose focus, we may become uninspired, lazy, and complacent.  It is undoubtedly just as difficult, yet as essential, to breath new life into our marketing plans as it is to jumpstart our bodies.  The question is: where do we begin on the road to creating a “healthier” internet marketing strategy?

4 Tips For Strengthening Your Internet Marketing Plan

# 1- Become An Agent of Change – Don’t be Afraid to Try New Things
Fear consumes many people both personally and professionally.  A fear of failing or disappointment can often lead to a stagnant and uninspired plan for dominance on the web.   Instead of allowing fear to make an appearance, instead recognize that mistakes will be made, but they will be a learning experience. What are some changes you can begin implementing today?

• Surveys of existing customers
• Develop different ways of communicating with your audience (blog posts, social media outreach)
• Ask questions of industry thought leaders
• Join new virtual groups on LinkedIn
• Begin attending more events locally to gain industry insight

# 2- The Journey Is Just As Important As the Destination – Just Make Sure You Document
Along the way to creating your “perfect” internet marketing plan, there is a lot to learn.  Remembering that the journey leads to our destination will put us in the right frame of mind to learn from the experience.  As you’re making mistakes or experiencing success it is essential that you document the steps that you took to get there.

# 3 – Take Some Time to Breathe – Step Back and Survey the Situation
A true marketer knows that our industry is a very customer-centric business. Without our customers we wouldn’t have jobs.  It can become very easy to fall into time sucking tactics that may only put us further behind.  Before jumping head first into the newest social media platform or marketing tactic take some time to ask a few questions:

• Who will we target with this approach?
• What will be our core messaging or strategy?
• Why should we include this tactic?
• How will my team accomplish this tactic and how will this benefit my customers?
• How much will this cost in both time and money?

# 4 – Have An Open Mind – Brainstorm With Your Team Regularly
Collaboration with fellow team members can be of benefit to all parties involved.  Not only will collaboration open up new ideas, but it will also improve buy-in from other associates.  If you’re in an internet marketing rut, or just looking to breathe that new life into your plans to dominate the search and social web, be aware of the resources you may already have at your disposal.

All of the tactics mentioned above will lend themselves to creating a stronger, more cohesive marketing plan.  At one time or another, most of us have faced a situation where we knew our plan wasn’t working, but weren’t exactly sure how to fix it.  I hope that these tactics will become part of a stronger plan and give you the jumpstart you need to get on the road to internet marketing success.

I’m curious to know what experience you have had as a marketer attempting to breathe new life into and strengthen your internet marketing plans?  What were some of your biggest obstacles and what was the most important lesson you learned?

Namaste.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | Channel Your Internal Marketing Warrior: 4 Tips for Strengthening Your Marketing Plan | http://www.toprankblog.com

I don't think winners beat the competition because they work harder. And it's not even clear that they win because they have more creativity. The secret, I think, is in understanding what matters.

It's not obvious, and it changes. It changes by culture, by buyer, by product and even by the day of the week. But those that manage to capture the imagination, make sales and grow are doing it by perfecting the things that matter and ignoring the rest.

Both parts are difficult, particularly when you are surrounded by people who insist on fretting about and working on the stuff that makes no difference at all.

We recently interviewed Dennis Dayman, Chief Privacy and Security Officer, Eloqua, who has been a hands-on participant in the ongoing online privacy debate in Washington, D.C. Read on for an inside look at the current political process involving proposed privacy regulations here in America as well as find out about some conversations he had with officials from the European Union.

I know many of you hate the term “expert”. It’s like the frustration-filled cry of the internet, second only to “down with Comic Sans”.

But we all strive to excel at something, and be perceived as doing so. The trick is how you demonstrate expertise and accomplishment without being christened with titles like “douchebag”. If you’re good at what you do, there are ways to communicate and exemplify your good work without having to rely on a flashy few words and adjectives to convey it.

And when you do it right, you won’t need to call yourself an expert, because other people will do it for you.

Here’s my list, but I’d love to hear from you, too.

1. Keep a Welcoming Home for Your Ideas

Keeping a home requires two things: building it, and nurturing it.

That could be a blog. It might be a forum or community you build. But the point is to give your ideas somewhere to take root, to reside, so that it’s yours to keep and tend, and for others to visit. And not unlike the home you live in, it takes constant work, investment, and elbow grease to keep it in tip-top shape. Don’t skimp. Give stuff away. Try other stuff. Put into your work every bit as much as you expect to get out of it. And invite people to join you with genuine welcome.

2. Let Them Spread.

Grabbing onto your ideas for dear life doesn’t give them wings. With the exception of blatant plagiarism, consider sharing your content and ideas liberally. Let them grow legs (check out things like Creative Commons attribution to help set the boundaries).

Don’t sweat minor misattribution, and celebrate it when ideas find purchase with someone and inspire new ideas of their own. There’s nothing new under the sun, so your ideas aren’t that original. Give them breathing room, and worry about your body of work for the long haul, not your ownership for the short term. (Unless you’re patenting flying cars. That one I’d keep to myself.)

3. Get Comfy With Individuality.

Don’t be a copycat.

Find your own voice, your own identity, your niche or your speciality. Some might even say you should get comfortable being unpopular. And wallow in YOU, up to your neck. Stop struggling to be the “next whoever”, and be the first and last someone like you. It’s okay to play in a familiar sandbox, it’s okay to collaborate with peers and be part of a community, but relish the building of your own sandcastle and the work that it takes to get there. The notables stand out. They never completely blend in.

4. Focus on the Right Accolades

A self-bestowed title isn’t where the magic is.

Be clever if you want, and if being the Director of Awesome turns your crank, give it a shot. But remember that it’s not what you call yourself that matters, but eventually, how other people remark about your work and character, and what they’re willing to tell others about you. Titles and trappings are easy to manufacture. Reputation and trust are bestowed by others, and carry much more lasting value.

5. Practice the Hard Stuff.

We love to spend time on the things we do best, because it makes us feel good, empowered, accomplished. The best in their field spend time working on the things they’re not so good at, too.

It’s a matter of balance: the honing of strengths alongside the mitigation of weaknesses. And sometimes, getting out of your comfort zone is enough to gain some momentum in a new place. Stagnation is the enemy if expertise and authority are part of your quest, because you simply never find breakthroughs when you practice the stuff you already know best.

6. Exercise Humility and Graciousness.

Even the experts don’t know it all. The most respected ones not only know that, but say so, openly. And they’re gracious about thoughtful feedback (even if they don’t agree), they’re open to new perspectives, and they embrace the notion that there’s always something left to learn.

They hunger for knowledge, and seek it out regularly. Expertise to them is a state of mind and a never-ending journey, not a finite destination, and certainly not a laurel upon which they’ll ever rest. Recognize that there are perspectives other than your own, be thankful and polite when people share with you in return, and get rid of the notion that the loudest mouth gets the most ears.

7. Share the Stage.

You’ve heard the adage that a rising tide lifts all ships, and it’s true. Share the credit. Welcome the competition and let it drive you. Share your ideas, and promote the work of others lots more than you promote your own.

Being seen as an expert is as much because you’re a gateway to information – a librarian, perhaps – rather than a miser hoarding and meting out the information all by yourself. There’s so much out there for the taking that you can’t possibly be the only source of good things, and if you’re stingy and above it all, the community will go somewhere else to get it. Demonstrate how much you value collaboration by shining a spotlight on good work in your field wherever you find it.

And more than occasionally, turn down the volume about yourself or your work. You don’t need to tap dance for attention in order for people to appreciate your work. I promise. Great resources create magnetic attraction.

8. Let Work Go Sometimes.

If you’re all about work, all the time, you become really uninteresting.

Remember, being respected is about more than being able to regurgitate facts and information. It’s about being the kind of person that other people can draw inspiration from, and that doesn’t always have to be in a professional sense. Have a sense of humor. Laugh at yourself, and be careful at whom you laugh in return. Share your personality, your interests, the dimensions of you that make you different from everyone else. Never take it too seriously all of the time. Enjoy the adventure a bit, and make people feel as though they’re along for the ride.

9. Work your Butt Off (and Be Patient)

Experts are made, not born. And they’re made over years, not weeks or months. They’re devoted to what they do, to a degree that most people are never willing to invest.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, calls it the 10,000 hour rule. That’s 1.14 years. 416 days. Of dedicated time on your chosen focus, exclusively. Which means that there ain’t no such thing as just-add-water expertise. You have to work at it. Relentlessly. So instead of talking about it, you do it. A lot. You screw it up, you learn, and you do it some more. Expertise and influence based on same is a slow burn, not a flash in the pan aided by a clever campaign. It’s one helpful bit of information taught at a time, to the people that need and appreciate it, in between bouts of practice. Over, and over, and over again.

That’s my list. I think you can be outstanding and what you do, as well as respected in your field for your knowledge and your character. Expertise exists, and we all need experts in fields that are not our own. Becoming one? Hard work, devotion, practical application, and the patience to understand the breaking point between expertise that is claimed, and that which is truly earned.

What do you think?

This post is from the BTT archives, back in the good ‘ol days (sometimes before this site was even BTT). From time to time I’ll be updating and posting a few of these when the content stands the test of time and fresh commentary will undoubtedly make it as useful as ever.

9 Ways To Be An Expert Without Being An Ass is a post from: Brass Tack Thinking

Are you optimizing your conference experience?

TopRank receives a lot of value from having me speak at conferences but you don’t have to be a speaker to realize a positive return from events. Small, large online or offline, there are numerous ways to optimize and maximize your return on conference involvment both in the short and long term.

If your company is considering whether to send you to events because of uncertain return or benefits, show them the following list.

In fact, if I were running a conference, I’d make sure these tips are shared with attendees, sponsors and speakers alike.

The first step in getting more value out of event attendance is to understand the “why”. What benefit that brings value to the business can you get from attending conferences, workshops, webinars and educational meet/tweetups? I like to say that I can “make money” at any conference. The reason why is that I am specifically aware of multiple ways to create value with events – beyond simply prospecting for new business. Here are 5 key benefits you can create from event participation and goals you can set for each:

1. Grow Your Network

There is no substitute for a quality network. It takes time to grow a personal network and if you’re advocating for your company, then community development is also ongoing. Attending events online and off are essential for productive networking that can result in a variety of valuable outcomes including:

• Recruiting
• Collecting competitive intelligence
• Vendor and consultant sourcing
• Partner sourcing
• Prospecting for new customers.

When you attend events, set goals for the kinds of contacts you want to make. Go so far as to make a list of people you want to meet if they’re particularly important to your goals. Initiate new connections with qualified prospects, marketing partners, vendors to outsource to and job candidates. At the same time, reinforce existing connections with contacts in your social networking pipeline. Each day, tally them up and plan how you will follow up. Follow on Twitter, connected on LinkedIn. Share useful tips, links and info that are relevant to your interactions with them. Give to get, but have a purpose and a goal for the connection.

Make sure you have goals and a purpose to your online and event networking. If you leave it to chance, you’re leaving a LOT of value on the table – for your competition.

2. Get Smarter. Repeat.

There are numerous benefits to attending conference sessions. The obvious is to hear smart speakers give presentations on important topics with useful tips. Sometimes speakers deliver on that promise and sometimes they don’t.

Don’t let bad conference content get in the way of getting smarter.

Pay attention to how the speaker gives their presentation and observe how the audience responds. You might think the information isn’t useful to you, but if the attendees are leaning forward, writing notes and holding up their phones and ipads to take pictures of the presentation slides, then the speaker is connecting.

You can benefit from understanding how the information is presented as much as from the actual tips. The format, sequence, design and presentation of information that connects is a model you can leverage for your own purposes: whether it’s speaking at a conference or event yourself or communicating and persuading people internally.

Planning your conference session attendance is essential. Think of how many sessions will you attend and how will you capture the information presented. Will you take notes on an iPad, laptop or (gasp) on paper? Will you take photos or video (where allowed)? Do you know where to get a copy of the speakers’ presentations? Introduce yourself to speakers and ask them a key question on video so you can review later and share with your team.

When meeting new people, discuss the sessions with them. Compare notes – it’s a great way to network and to get other opinions. Before the conference, make a grid or a plan for which specific sessions you’ll be attending. Often times, there is not much time between sessions and the difference between getting a good seat and standing room only can be a matter of minutes and you might miss out on the session entirely because rooms can fill up.

3. Curate and Create Content

Content Marketing is hotter than ever but sourcing content is probably one of the biggest challenges for companies getting into the content publishing realm. The good news is that events from Twitter chats to webinars to keynote presentations and breakout sessions all provide opportunities to capture, curate and even create content. Some examples include:

• Liveblogging – Transcribe what the speakers say word for word. Listen for key quotes or pieces of information and make a “list post” around a specific topic. Pre-write an article about the session topic and fill in stats and quotes from the speakers.
• Interviews – Reach out to speakers in advance and collect tips from their presentations as a way to help boost attendance to their session. Shoot video interviews of speakers or other smarties at the conference. Record podcast interviews with the same people. Capture single tips on video from a large number of people and compile into one video. Go to exhibitor booths and ask them for a 30 second pitch on video and compile them. Survey attendees on what they like best, tips they’ve heard, etc into a compilation video. With video, you might want to get sign-offs. Also, non-speakers may be reluctant.
• Journal – Keep notes and write a summary of key points from the day and publish like a journal entry. Link to other bloggers that are publishing liveblog posts at the same event.
• Curate – Use a tool like storify to curate the buzz of the conference. You don’t even need to be at the event to do this if a conference hashtag is used consistently.
• Track Your Own Buzz – If you are speaking, make sure someone from your team is tracking mentions of you, your company and topic on social streams like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Monitor any liveblogging of your presentations as well. Give people an incentive to liveblog your sessions too. If anyone liveblogs one of my presentations, I will send them a copy of Optimize (for example). Curate those mentions into a roundup post on your company newsroom.

Think about how you can leverage your conference experience to create new content for your company blog, articles, or process documentation. Set goals for how many content objects (blog posts, articles, videos, tweets, images) you’ll create each day. Organize what you will capture, with who and with what devices. Plan where you’ll publishing this content and when as well.  For curation, compile presentations posted to Slideshare, interviews others have posted to YouTube and liveblog posts covering interesting sessions – then add your own commentary as the icing on the cake.

The content you capture and create can supply a company blog with numerous posts and show clients, staff and prospective clients that you are on top of what’s happening in the industry.

4. Share the Smarts: Knowledge Transfer With Your Team

The explicit purpose of attending conferences is to hear industry experts share advice and insights into topics that your business can benefit from. Collecting actionable tips, statistics and other useful information form conferences to share with your team, clients and other groups in your organization can multiply the value of one person attending an event. If multiple people attend, the value can be even greater.

To make knowledge transfer from conference content work, it’s important to create a process for information capture, synthesis and distribution.

• Capture: Target specific speakers and sessions. Write questions you want answered and if the presentations do not contain those answers then pursue subject matter expert speakers to ask them directly. Capture information in text, audio, video and image. No one ever comes back from an event thinking they took too many photos. Maybe the wrong photos, but not to many. Also, be aware of conference policies on video and image capture.
• Synthesis: When you formulate questions, have specific applications for your business in mind. When you get the answers, filter the information in a way that will be practical and useful when it is shared – vs. all theoretical. Discuss the information and tips collected with fellow attendees to filter out what’s most useful.
• Distribution: Have a plan for how you will present the useful tactics, insights, statistics and case studies with your co-workers, clients and other interested parties.  You could write a report, you could create a presentation to give live or via webinar, you could compile video clips and images to narration. Individual tips could be saved on an internal knowledge base blog according to category. You could have a post-conference brown bag lunch discussion or a more formal presentation. There are many different options, but have them in mind before the conference to increase the likelihood they will actually happen and in an effective way.

Knowing you will be required to present the information you are gaining at a conference with the team back at the office can helps you focus on takeaways and practical interpretations of what’s being presented, instead of what you don’t like or the lacking presentation skills of the presenter.

5. Optimize the Marketing Value of Events

For nearly all events, I like to break things up into pre-event, during and after.  You could actually further distinguish near-after and long-after as well as a recurring component if the event is held at regular intervals, like many are on an annual basis.  Many conference speakers rely on the event to do the marketing. That’s a big fail.

Here are a few tips before, during and after the event to gain more attendees, more media coverage and post-event value:

Before the event:

• Write headlines, descriptions, tags and make trackable short URLs
• Pre-write tweets, updates and decide on a hashtag
• Submit your session to event listing sites, create events on Facebook and LinkedIn
• Create a contest or buzz around your presentation to inspire others to tell their networks
• Issue an optimized press release
• Schedule interviews with media attending the event and/or local media
• Connect with other speakers in advance
• Create a teaser for your presentation
• Announce your event attendance through email and your social channels
• When you meet people before your presentation, don’t be shy about sharing when you are speaking
• Create a check-in notice on Foursquare inviting people to attend your session

During the event:

• Create content the audience can participate with. I like to take photos of the audience and post to our Facebook page so they can tag themselves.
• Use tweetable, shareable content in your presentation
• Give something away to motivate desired behaviors like asking questions
• Always include a report or fulfillment piece in your thank you page
• Have someone on your team monitoring tweets and buzz during your presentation. Interact as appropriate

After the event:

• Curate buzz about the presentation into a blog post and/or newsroom post
• Follow up on questions asked and fulfillment deliverables
• Connect with new contacts through appropriate social channels
• Thank the conference for having you
• If you were on a panel, thank the panelists and moderator
• Thank any livebloggers that covered your session
• Use media coverage from the event in your newsroom, corporate email and other communications
• Follow up!!!!!

This should probably have been turned into an ebook on the topic, so congratulations on making it to the end of the post!  Heck, maybe we will make it into an ebook and add a few forms, checklists and examples.  In the meantime, share this list of tips with those in your organization that hold the purse strings for your event attendance. Try one or two of these tips for your next conference and share what you’ve done to get more value out of event attendance.

As always, if you like these tips, be sure to get your copy of Optimize for a deep dive into an integrated approach to optimizing your online marketing.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | 5 Ways to Optimize the Business Value of Attending Conferences | http://www.toprankblog.com

By Priya Ramesh (@newpr)

Facebook’s new “HIGHLIGHT” feature leaked in New Zealand
TechCrunch calls it “Reckless New Ads Test”

I Paid, Now You Have to Listen to Me (Courtesy: TechCrunch for title caption)

At the Facebook Marketing Conference in Feb, Brian Boland, Director of Product Marketing, Facebook revealed that the average news feed story from a user profile reaches just 12 percent of their friends. Business Pages meanwhile only get 16% of their fans seeing each post, which is why Facebook launched its new “Reach Generator” to help marketers buy extra distribution of their Page posts on the ads sidebar, in the web and mobile news feed, and even on the logout page.

Fan Engagement Drops Post-Timeline Launch: Ever since Facebook launched its Business Timeline pages, brands have seen a significant drop in engagement. According to Facebook analytics tool EdgeRank Checker, the switch to Facebook timeline may have very little impact, period (regardless of brand size). EdgeRank analyzed 3,500 Facebook pages, comparing brands who had made the switch to Timeline (early adopters) and those who hadn’t. The results? 41% of brands that converted to Timeline saw increased engagement and fans, while 59% of these brands saw a decrease in those metrics. The data was remarkably similar to those brands that did not convert to Timeline: 38% saw an increase in engagement and fans, while 62% saw a decrease over the same time period.

So the jury is still out on whether the new Timeline is helping brands increase fan engagement. We at CRT/tanaka, have definitely seen fan engagement take a dip for several of our consumer clients that were enjoying steady engagement with “likes” and “comments” to status updates.

In the meantime, as repoted by TechCrunch and first spotted by Stuff, Facebook is currently testing a new feature called “HIGHLIGHT.” Facebook might charge its members US$2 to “highlight” important posts so they are more visible on the social networking site. The feature is being trialed and was chanced across by a Facebook user in Whangarei, New Zealand who initially assumed it might be a scam. However, Facebook spokeswoman Mia Garlick confirmed it was a new “feature” it was testing. Facebook released this official statement to TechCrunch on the “highlight” feature:

“We’re constantly testing new features across the site. This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.”

$2 to highlight your status update doesn’t seem too much BUT the bigger question is, are brands going to start spamming us with the “highlight” feature? TechCrunch calls the new feature “a reckless new ads test.” According to TechCrunch, “Highlight could show Facebook’s willingness to try more aggressive ways of making money, which should delight potential investors. But Facebook is playing with fire here. The service has always been free for users, and a pay-for-popularity feature could be a huge turn off, especially to its younger and less financially equipped users who couldn’t afford such narcissism.”  

With the pending IPO (scheduled this week) Facebook is under a lot of pressure to convince Wall Street investors about its long term revenue model and the ‘highlight’ feature seems somewhat of a gimmick to please investors.

The “highlight” feature if rolled out will reduce the general relevance of the news feed. Facebook’s news feed sorting algorithm is designed to show posts by your closest friends or that have received a lot of Likes and comments. Highlight distorts this, and will encourage news feed spamming club promoters, musicians, small businesses, or anyone else with something to gain from more clicks.

What’s your opinion on the “highlight” feature? Spammy or useful?

Intelligence is the combination of knowing a lot about a little while you also know a little about a lot.

Deep domain understanding helps you create analyses. Your ability to understand how a particular system (no matter how small) works allows you apply a confident analysis to new systems you encounter. Once you know everything there is to know about nuclear physics, soccer or the praying mantis, it makes it easier to understand new systems.

At the same time, it's impossible to be smart without also being aware of the wider world. That's because it's the random interactions and the surprising coincidences that help us navigate our daily lives.

The challenge of the net is that it made the large world a whole lot larger. There are the personal lives of your 1000 closest friends, on display, every day. Here is the news of the world, the whole world, not just what used to fit in the newspaper. And over there is every book ever published, every scientific discovery, every fringe political candidate.

Suddenly, it's a lot more difficult to know a little about a lot. It's tempting to spend ever more time pursuing that goal. That doesn't mean, I think, that you should give up knowing a lot about a little in order to devote ever more time to the noisy mosaic that's on your doorstep, nor does it mean you ought to give up and dive back into your hole. We've redefined worldly, but being an expert remains just as tough and important as it used to be.

If you insist that they are wrong, they stop being your customer* (if given half a chance).

People spend their time and attention and money in places that make them feel valued.

*There's nothing wrong with asking customers who are wrong to leave. Just be sure you do it on purpose.

For an author, one of the nicest parts of the traditional book is the dedication page. The dedication is far more than an acknowledgement to someone who helped you write the book, it's a permanent signpost, a capstone to the work of a year or more.

Even if the person you've dedicated the book to can't read it, the writer benefits from the knowledge that a connection was made and that a memory was preserved.

Here's the thing: you can dedicate just about anything. A project, a meeting, a tweet. You don't have to tell anyone but yourself. This blog post, like all the posts before it, has a dedication page, at least in my head.

When you start creating for and in honor of those that have made a difference to you, your work changes.

How come there are no ants as big as Buicks (except in the movies)? Why not have a college with a million students (or ten)?

The physics and economics of a business determine whether it's the right size or not, whether it ought to get bigger or smaller. Starbucks, for example, was not the right size when it had 11 stores. That's too many stores for just one senior manager to handle, but not enough stores for centralized purchasing and marketing and organization. The cash flow from an eleven-store chain just doesn't easily connect to the staff requirements necessary to make it efficient.

A web company might do really well with thirty people and a few million dollars in revenue. To get to a thousand people (big enough for an IPO, say), it will need to transform both the product and the way it's sold. And in between the size it is now (which is working) and the size necessary for the public offering, there's a dead zone. This is a leap, not a stroll.

When I was growing my first successful business, I kept saying that one day I'd hire enough people that the people I was hiring could manage themselves. I went from having four direct reports to eleven before I realized that I wasn't going to be able to make the leap in scale that was going to be necessary to reach a comfortable size.

The same rule applies to independent musicians and comedians. At the solo level, you might be very happy making a living gigging at certain kinds of venues and being supported by a given audience. On the other hand, to support a manager, a band and a label, you can't just add a few more fans. You need different venues, different gigs, different revenue streams. If you can't (or don't want to) get to that new level, the new team isn't going to help, and it might destroy everything you've built.

It's worth charting both profit per employee and owner satisfaction against the number of people in the organization. Perhaps getting a little bigger isn't what you want, and it might not even be possible.

"Over there, by the fire, is that a stick or a snake?"

It turns out that humans have been naming things for a long time. If we know that this is a cheetah, or a grapefruit, we can make intelligent decisions on how to deal with it.

Lately, though, we've been naming more than things. Now we classify ideas and opportunities as well.

Getting smart about naming is at the heart of marketing. Calling every single person a 'customer', for example, is hardly a nuanced way of engaging with the public. Salespeople are especially nuanced at this, but often make mistakes as well. Car salesman are notorious for misnaming women who walk in (spouse instead of primary decision maker).

As an investor, are you misnaming the businesses you look at, mistaking a cliff business for a bootstrappable idea? Dozens of book editors misnamed Harry Potter at first glance, labeling it a 'loser from the slush pile' instead of the most profitable book they were ever offered.

Job interviews are nothing but sessions where we try to put a name on a stranger looking for employment. Is she a superstar in the making or someone we ought to avoid?

Most of all, are you misnaming opportunities and calling them risks instead?

When you are isolated or if the world is stable, your need to name new things goes down, and the world might feel safer as a result. Most of us don't live in that world, so our ability to name things becomes critical.

Just because we're not good at it doesn't mean it's not important.

By Jason Poulos (@TheSaganaki)

If you were to look under the hood of Google you’d be presented with an extremely complex and intricate math formula. Since it’s virtually impossible for humans to keep track of every website on the internet, Google has turned to it’s algorithm to help determine how a website ranks on their search results page.

Knowing that their formula isn’t perfect Google periodically changes these algorithms in an effort to provide searchers with the most relevant and accurate content. When this happens, it’s known as an “update,” which in turn has an impact on the search results we get. Sometimes the updates have a big impact; sometimes they’re hardly noticed but within the last year two major updates have occurred that now determine some characteristics of a “quality” website.

The first of these two updates occurred in February of 2011. The Panda update was designed to filter out thin, un-fit content that lacked substance. When the update first ran, some websites that had number one rankings were now shuffled to the back of Google’s index due to the website’s lack of content. The Panda update isn’t a one time update either. Google will occasionally run the update in an effort to re-sift through all of it’s content to ensure the best search results.

On April 24th of this year Google released it’s most recent change to their ranking formula. The newest update named “Penguin” targeted content that over used keywords (keyword stuffing) and sites that have “unusual linking patterns,” such as links from content with text that is completely unrelated to the actual on-page content.

How to Survive in Google’s Panda-Penguin World?

As Google keeps on throwing out more and more bumps in the road it might seem impossible to attract and maintain those #1 rankings. We have no idea what lurks in Google’s update future but one thing that will never go away is Google’s thirst for compelling content. Not only is Google thirsty for content but we can see through recent updates that the search engine seeks quality content. Focusing  on the creation of engaging content will not only attract strong rankings but good content will also avoid getting caught in an update that could potentially hurt your website’s rankings. As we look to the future, here are some timeless tips:

1.Create valuable content.

If you aren’t producing content that is entertaining, informative or educational it will be a struggle to get ranked. Excellent content will be relative to your keywords and provide enough detail to fully satisfy your readers inquiry. A good way to see if your website contains valuable content is by taking a look at your website’s social profile. When users are excited, surprised or humored by the content they interact with they react by buying, sharing, connecting or returning to the site. A site with valuable content will have lots of return visits, shares or purchases.

If you feel that your website’s content might be lacking take a look at Google’s guide for quality content.

2. Don’t try to game the system with your content.

Their are tons of ways  out there to try and trick a search engine into better rankings. The recent Penguin update tried to eliminate some common “black hat” techniques but as time goes on it’s inevitable that a new technique will show up that will “guarantee #1 rankings.” As tempting as it might be to follow the latest and greatest cheat, your site will most likely suffer down the road. From a content stand point, make sure that you aren’t over using a keyword as this will come across as keyword stuffing and you could get penalized. The copy of your website should sound natural and not like a broken record repeating the same phrase in every sentence. If you can work your keyword into your copy at least 2 or 3 times you should be in good shape. Image from Warrior Forums

3. Diversify how people reach your content.

You’re taking a risk by solely relying on organic search for traffic as a simple algorithm update can annihilate your rankings. To help avoid a situation like this, look towards other methods to market your content  as putting all of your eggs in the organic search basket could be disastrous. Beyond a well optimized site for organic search, paid search, e-mail marketing and social media marketing should fit into a your content and distribution strategy.

Actionable Social Analytics

This recent infographic by awareness takes a dive into social analytics.  In an era where virtually every brand is online, it is essential that action is being taken off of the data we are collecting from social networks.  This infographic provides not only some of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that your company should be tracking, but how to calculate these numbers as well.  Examples of the KPI’s your company should be tracking:

• Brand Awareness & Reputation
• Marketing Program Effectiveness
• Lead Generation Effectiveness

Use LinkedIn to Get Juicy Industry Scoop
LinkedIn has proven to be a great recruiting mechanism and means of connecting business professionals.  Many organizations are now using the social networking platform to gain insight into potential clients.  Sounds a little bit like stalking to me, what do you think?  Via Inc.

You’re Fired! Facebook “Likes” Gone Wrong
Should companies have a say in what their employees post on social networks on their own time?  Can these posts or “likes” be grounds for termination?  That is exactly what judges are trying to figure out based on two recent cases where employees claim they were fired for what their employers deemed inappropriate “likes” on Facebook.  Via BtoB.

Google is King of the Mountain on Mobile
comScore’s Mobile Metrix report examines mobile media usage across different devices, applications, and web browsing.  According to this report, Google is leading the pack by reaching over 98% of the U.S. mobile audience.  Via TechCrunch.

Use Social Media to Target Existing Customers
Social media can be used in a variety of ways to target new and existing customers.  Your team can take a customer centric approach which involves answering questions and solving issues.  Additionally, social networks are a great way to offer loyalty programs which encourage repeat business.  This article offers 5 great tips for using social media to target your current customers.  Via Social Media Examiner.

Online Marketing News From the Top(Rank)

Shawna Kenyon – Facebook’s Stock Price in Context
Facebook is going public, well kind of. Last Thursday they announced the release of 337,415,352 shares to hit the marketplace, making Facebook one of the most valuable US Internet companies to date.  But is Facebook really a good investment? How does the offering/pricing compare to its tech counterparts?  Check out the Infographic in this article to see how Facebook stacks up.  Via Mashable.

Brian Larson -‘Cannibalization’ Not Good For Fast Food…Or Any Other Business
To be clear, we’re talking the cannibalization of revenue. Fast food giant Wendy’s launched the ‘W’ burger last year and saw sales for the new product display consistent growth. So where’s the problem? Sales of the ‘W’ burger were rising while higher ticket items were dropping. In effect, Wendy’s had been successful in down selling their menu. Let this delicious example be a friendly reminder that just because you can launch a product doesn’t mean you should.  Via AdvertisingAge.

Mike Yanke – Google Extends Search Results with ‘Sources’ Area
Extended information about movies, books, people and music will soon start populating the third column Google results as the search giant confirmed its ‘Sources’ experiment this week.  Learn more about this experiment – and see some early screencaps – in this article posted by Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land.

Kodi Osmond – Google, Big Data & What it Means for SEO
Big data – it’s exactly what it sounds like.  Marketers have always been astutely aware of how gathering and analyzing customer data allows for relevant, impactful, and timely communications.  Google, one of the grand poobahs of big data companies, has alluded to how big big data will be for the future of search.  So is big data really the next big thing, and what big impact will it have on search marketers?  Via Search Engine Watch.

Time to Weigh in: Has your company used LinkedIn to target customers in the past?  If so what were your results?  What is your policy or preference on employees and social media usage, both personal and professional?  We look forward to your feedback on the news articles we found the most interesting this week.  Have a great weekend.

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TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | Online Marketing News: Take Action on Social Data, LinkedIn Gets the Scoop, Google Reigns Supreme, Google & Big Data for SEO | http://www.toprankblog.com

It bothers me to watch the hordes at the farmer's market, swooping in to each booth, grabbing a sample and walking away. The thin slices of handmade rye bread, or the perfect strawberries or the little glasses of juice--all of them disappear into the hands of people who have no intention of buying.

Sure, someone stops and buys now and then, which is why the farmers keep offering the samples. To them, it's merely a cost of doing business, a relatively inexpensive way to keep prospective customers coming. I'm not sure I could do it--the people afraid to look me in the eye, all that slinking around, and most of all, the profits walking out the door, over and over again. Enough thin slices makes a loaf.

This is vexing, even to someone who merely makes ideas. Watching people sneak endless tastes with no intention of making a purchase--sometimes I gasp at the audacity.

The distinction in the digital world is profound. In the digital world, the more free samples you give away, the better you do. The miserly mindset that afflicts the merchant watching inventory walk out the door at the market is counterproductive in the digital world. That's because more free samples cost you nothing.

The scarce resources in the connection revolution are connection, attention and trust, not molecules, atoms or strawberries.

With 72% of smartphone users looking for information on the go, brick-and-mortar stores – everyone from big box stores to mom and pop shops – can now leverage the power of search by tapping into customers' needs. View the MarketingSherpa infographic to learn more about mobile search, and the opportunities it holds for companies, including B2B.

By Jason Stemm

The annual restaurant show in Chicago offers a peak into the future if you know where to look. Smoked basmati rice, zero calorie noodles and All-Natural/Gluten-Free everything align with current trends, but where are things heading? Here are 5 areas to watch out for in 2012.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Nancy Kruse’s Menu Innovations session is not to be missed. Each year she highlights trends that are driving growth at foodservice. New menu items both limited and permanent were up significantly in 2011, and she anticipates that to continue as operators try to attract customers back from the recession dip with new and exciting offerings. Waffles, hot dogs, food trucks and authenticity were all covered with real world examples that highlight these trends in action. Even chain restaurants that can be slow to change are embracing more flexibility with menu offerings to excite customers and entice them to visit more regularly to see what is new. A look at Wendy’s Signature Sides is a prime example of this trend in action. Expect to see more as operators try to capture the increased traffic returning to restaurants.

A Dash of Health: Better-for-you items are expanding at the show. The Wendy’s example is relevant here since one of their choices is a baked sweet potato. At the show, the popularity of the Greek yogurt category was evident, with multiple players displaying the versatility of the product. The Miracle Noodle is nothing new in Asia, and with the specter of menu labeling on the horizon it provides opportunities for restaurants to save calories in a dish. Hoping to ride the wave of waffle popularity, while delivering a better-for-you product, is Protein Fiber Cakes. They boast double the nutritional benefit of traditionally made pancakes and waffles. With breakfast on the rise, they have good momentum behind them. Kids Live Well was also widely visible with some high-profile chains joining the initiative.

Food for Everyone: Gluten free items have been growing, but now we are seeing more offerings addressing the needs of vegans and people with food allergies. No matter the diet restrictions an operator may face, the options to meet these demands are greater than ever. Daiya Foods was one of my favorites. They provide cheese that is free of dairy, soy, gluten, eggs, rice and nuts so not only are they vegan, but they can be enjoyed by those with the most restrictive of food allergies. Dessert was also on the menu with HomeFree cookies that much like the cheeses from Daiya, have been developed to be enjoyed by everyone. With the growing number of people on restrictive diets, restaurants that can cater to everyone are positioned to capture a larger share of this market. Even if just one person in the family is affected, dining decisions can impact everyone.

Updates on Wine Service: New ideas on serving and preserving wine were on display. Wine taps have been around, but with the proliferation of wine bars, it provides an easy delivery system for an extensive wine list. The Corkcicle offers an innovative way to keep wine cold without an ice bucket. Its sleek modern look can help distinguish an operation in an area most people wouldn’t normally consider. Another idea for wine service came from Wine Preserva, makers of Wine Shield. Their simple invention can help restaurateurs extend their wines by the glass program and introduce new wines to diners. The profitability of beverage service will continue to drive innovation.

Food 2.0: Technology innovation is taking place in both the front and back of house. New tools for ordering within and outside an operation are expanding with iPad wine menus and easy pre-ordering to reduce wait times. The recession has driven increased efficiency throughout the industry, and likely helped to accelerate adoption of this new technology. Behind the scenes, ovens that cooked faster and products that improved sanitation are meeting the needs of today’s operator.

As a whole, the show had a lot more energy than just two years ago when the industry was reeling from the economic collapse. Today they are emerging from 2 years of belt tightening to look at quality and capabilities and not just price. As the industry reemerges from the recession, expect it to be stronger than ever and lead job growth in the coming years. It is an exciting time in the restaurant industry and there was a buzz at this year’s show with enthusiasm for what is to come.