The Net Impact

The Net Impact’s Internet Marketing team attended the leading search and social marketing event, Search Engine Strategies San Francisco on August 16th-19th. A part of Connected Marketing Week, the West Coast SES Conference and Expo moved from San Jose back to its roots in San Francisco. SES attracts thousands of Internet marketing professionals who attend educational sessions and labs pertaining to the web marketing industry. This was the third West Coast SES Conference The Net Impact Internet marketing team attended.

The subjects covered at SES included: SEO, PPC management, social media, keyword research, local advertising, mobile engagement, link building, duplicate content, online video, site optimization, usability, and high-level strategy. The conference also featured an exhibition hall with over 100 companies, networking events and parties. The Net Impact team attended various informational sessions including: Search, PR and the Social Butterfly, Secrets of Top-Converting Websites, SEO through Blogs & Feeds, How to Become a Link Magnet, Mobile Marketing Strategies, and more.

“One of the most interesting things I learned was about the importance of citations in Google’s new organic caffeine algorithm,” said Lauren Pesko, Internal Marketing Associate at The Net Impact. “Google is now looking quite a bit at social networking sites and how many times your website or blog has been mentioned or linked to. This is really great to learn from an SEO standpoint. The speakers emphasized the importance of adding feeds to your “static” website and turning it into a blog. This can have an SEO benefit because Google’s new caffeine algorithm is giving weight to blogs due to the fact that they offer up to date information – caffeine is all about the real time.”

The first and perhaps the most memorable part of the week was keynote speaker – Jeffrey Hayzlett, Celebrity CMO, Best Selling Author & Former Eastman Kodak CMO. Jeff discussed the changes in the world of marketing and changes his former company, Kodak, had to undergo in order to compete with its competition and adapt to the growth of technology. To achieve this, Kodak’s brand image had to shift from an “old” and trustworthy to a more “modern” brand, while not abandoning their core values. Kodak was actually the first company to hire a Chief Listening Officer. Kodak tweets in 12 different languages over 120 countries, while monitoring all online communication surrounding their brand name. Jeff preached that “passion is not a substitute for planning” and that “creative people should never compromise what they do, or how they do it.” 

“Jeff’s presentation really resonated with me and was a motivating beginning  to our week at SES. His underlying message of the importance of keeping creative people engaged, challenged and free to make mistakes in order to implement positive change is a concept that people from all professions and organizations, large and small, should take into account,” said Web Account Mangager at The Net Impact, Angela Trokey.

The Net Impact Internet marketing team is looking forward to putting together an informational session to share with clients and friends what they learned at SES this September!

“This has been an exciting year for the ever-changing Internet marketing industry,” said Project Manager at The Net Impact, Mandy Christanell. “At SES we learned how to implement proven techniques for transforming tactics into proven strategies that garner results for our clients today, while ensuring they stay ahead of the competition tomorrow.”

User Testing – A Small Change can Make a Big Difference

Let’s  say you have just launched a new website.  Your marketing team loves the web design.  Your IT team is thrilled with the security and efficiency and the C class folks are all lining up to salute.  It’s perfect right?  Maybe, maybe not.  What about taking that quantum leap and testing your site with your intended audience, your customers?  Or, as The Net Impact recently determined for the City of Wentzville MO, why not test the site from the perspective of your citizens?

When it comes to a municipality website, the usability of the site by its citizens is a necessary condition for performance.  If the  website is difficult to navigate, people leave. If a landing page fails to clearly state what the municipality offers and what users can do on that page, people leave. If users do not like the access to pertinent informationof the website, they leave. If a website’s information is hard to find or doesn’t answer their questions, the visitors will be left hanging or will  soon be clicking away to a differetn website. Notice a pattern here?

So how do you determine if your website is user-friendly? User testing allows you to roleplay how citizens will navigate your site. At the same time, you record their comments and responses to their efforts to navigate and move through the site in order to accomplish a designed task.  Sound complicated?  It’s really not.   

For an excellent example of  usability testing review the  recent case study conducted by The Net Impact for the City of Wentzville’s website.  After The Net Impact  launched the  The City of Wentzville’s new website, the city worked with our Web marketing team to conduct a series of usability tests to gauge how user-friendly the website’s navigation and overall experience was for visitors and to get a better idea of ideal traffic flow for visitor satisfaction. We created a series of scenarios and tasks for testers to complete on the City of Wentzville’s website.  These tasks were specifically designed to take testers through the navigation pathways of the site and to recreate the experience of a typical visitor to the website.  An impartial  third party service was enlisted to select a broad sample of testers.  A random sampling of testers, with diverse backgrounds including gender, age,  income level, and computer skill level, was determined.  This group best represented the  profiles of actual visitors to the site. As testers performed each task, their mouse movements, clicks and live feedback were all recorded.

Once the user tests were complete, our team of Internet marketing specialist analyzed videos and tester feedback to generate a recommendation report and next steps in order to improve the user experience. From the results we concluded that overall the testers were impressed by the amount of information provided.  Several commented that they wished their own city provided this information and thought this site set the bar high for other municipalities.  However, there were still ample comments from  testers reflecting confusion and difficulty in  finding information .

The Net Impact’s recommendations included consolidating menus, eliminating redundant information and making links to highly requested information more obvious. Some of the tester’s comments also regarded  web design.  The majority of the testers found the site aesthetically pleasing.  Many liked the colors and the rotating photos, but wanted to see more pictures of the city. In addition to suggesting Wentzville add more images to display the character of the  city, The Net Impact suggested different options for the city to make other tools, such as their community calendar easier to find and more simple for visitors to use. – Read more TNI  Case Studies

In conclusion, based on the invaluable feedback from the user testing, our team continues to work with the City of Wentzville to revise aspects of their website to in order to continue to increase effectiveness and functionality. 

Bottom line: User testing is an important aspect of any Internet marketing campaign. The Net Impact employs usability testing as part of our analytics methodology in order to construct  complete online marketing strategies. Remember as well that website testing is an ongoing process, but when managed properly it will drive your efforts and help visitorsrealize a greater satisfaction with your municipal website. Contact The Net Impact today to learn how we can help you find the most effective way to make your website visitors take action.

“The New Decade of Social Relationships”

Join a great lineup of marketing specialists, including Steve Thomas, President of The Net Impact, St. Louis-based Internet Marketing Company, on February 26th, 2010 at Maryville University, for a 1/2 day seminar presented by the American Marketing Association - St. Louis Chapter.  AMA-STL’s annual student conference is well known as one of the premier marketing conferences in the Midwest. Connect with hundreds of students and marketing professionals and learn from the experts at this year’s seminar -  ”The New Decade of Social Relationships”.  Register today!

Touchdown Google!

If you watched the Super Bowl Sunday night, you saw at least two ground-breaking events: Of course, the New Orleans Saints took home their first Superbowl Trophy, and the Search Engine Giant, Google, stepped into the world of traditional advertising.  Over the past decade, more often than not, the Super Bowl commercials have generated more buzz than the teams competing. Even when the football isn’t especially great – the commercials usually are, and this year Google took full advantage of the advertising world’s most anticipated event, with one of the most surprising commercials of the night.

Perhaps Saturday’s tweet by Google CEO Eric Schmidt put it best –“Hell has indeed frozen over”. Google ran its first major television ad, and during the Super Bowl, none the less. It was an unexpected move by the search engine leader, who retains a search market share exceeding 70 percent, to spend an estimated $5 million to have a 1 minute advertisement aired during the third quarter.  Google brings in billions from online ads but has steered clear of having a traditional marketing strategy for its own brand, even as industry competitors, such as Microsoft and Yahoo, continue to spent millions on tv and print advertising to compete with them. Google’s sheer size is in disproportion with their advertising budget. The world-known search engine has been mainly promoting itself on the web, via company blogs, and of course by being a constant subject of media reports and countless blog posts.

Google’s heartfelt ad, “Parisian Love”, consists of a series of 11 searches, which come together to tell a compelling story through search phrases. The commercial tells the story of a romance helped along by a series of Google searches conducted by a young man. The subtle, yet powerful marketing message resonated with viewers, and in some cases (myself included) left them a bit teary eyed. The commercial illustrates the story of a young man who finds love after a simple plan to study abroad in Paris turns into love, marriage and a need to know how to assemble a crib.

The buzz-worthy ad has left many viewers comparing it to competitor commercials and many are left confused as to why Google felt it needed to make such a dramatic move to promote its best known product, a product with no real marketing problems. Of course, not everyone thought it was a wise investment for the brand who’s name is almost a verb in the world of search. In the words of YouTube commenter, ShadyHady, “Google commercials? Isn’t that rather like, say, oxygen commercials or knife and fork commercials?” But with Google’s approach to internal marketing, one Super Bowl slot may be efficient when it comes to coverage vs. expenditure.

While the commercial probably did not introduce the Google brand to anyone for the first time, here are a few reasons Google may have made the dive into television advertising:
 

The buzz. People are talking about the ad right?  While the majority of the media coverage has not been about the actual ad content, but rather the fact that there was an ad, it is still coverage. And while it may be short lived, Google is the most talked about search engine at the moment.

Make a statement. Amid the over the top million dollar mini-sagas that make up the line-up of Super Bowl commercials, Google’s ad simply explained what the search engine does and showed just how well it works. This message mirrors the search engines’ simple, yet highly effective performance, which is the very basis of the Google brand.
 

Appeal to advertisers. Some businesses still view online advertising with suspicion. No matter how big Google already is, a Super Bowl slot reminds people that it’s a major mainstream player in the advertising world.

Reinforce their brand. Many commercials serve simply to remind people who the market leader is, rather than inform them about a new product or promotion. World-known brands find it helpful to remind the public about themselves in a positive light — especially on the Super Bowl.

Keep up with the competition. Google may be feeling some heat from Bing and Yahoo’s new campaigns, as well as Apple’s successful advertising. Especially with the growing number of Microsoft Bing search engine “attack ads”, Google may have decided to make their mark in the advertising world. Marty Orzio, partner and chief creative office of ad agency Gotham in New York, called the ad:

 ”A classic little love story told beautifully” that highlighted why Google was different from the competition. If you think about Bing or any of their competition, nobody else can say they are playing an important role in people’s lives,” he said. “They have not have been around long enough to have an impact like that. Google is claiming territory that only they can claim, which is why I thought it was absolutely brilliant.”

In conclusion, what Google’s memorable and somewhat controversial Super Bowl presence may signal is that after relying heavily on word of mouth marketing alone, the company is finally learning how to market itself via traditional paths, something that will take a great deal of stategic planning, and  will be crucial as its business diversifies and competitors continue to gain a foothold in the search industry. Using only its own outlets for promotion, such as YouTube, isn’t enough for a company looking to reach a broad mix of consumers. Google is clearly skilled at selling online ads, but formulating a marketing strategy for itself, well it remains a work in progress.

Missed Google’s Super Bowl commerical? Watch it Here.

The decision to take on a project like a new website is daunting enough.  Often coupled with that decision is another that is make-or-break for an organization, do we build the new site in-house or hire it out?  There are a lot of great reasons for each extreme of this decision.  There are also some real dangers for each.  I have to admit, in our years of working with clients and prospects, seldom do we see an internally developed site that comes in on time, on budget and supporting industry best practices.  This is not to say it can’t happen, and great if it does.  I’ts just not that common.  Why is that?

First a quck case study.  An Internet marketing client of ours, very progressive and intelligent group, leaders in their industry and well recognized nationally were operating a 6 year old ecommerce site that had just become ungainly.  Too many add-ons to the database, too many demands that were unanticipated at time of build and too many new generations of marketing people and IT had taken it’s toll. So, the right decision? Build a new site.  Off the shelf?  No way, too many special needs.  Custom but reusing exisitng platforms, yeah, that’s an option.  Bids for the new site from our team and competitors came in between $30k to $60k.  Expensive?  Maybe.. but for a web content management system that is customized for the exact business needs of a mission critical element, probably worth it. 

For several reasons, the “build it here” syndrome, paying for services when you have staff etc… the decision was made to go internal.  Result? 

• If this had been an outsourced project with a  forecast at the high side at $60k to the high bidder,  timelined to take six months to complete and consume approximately 200 hours of the client’s staff time (say at $100k with full load).  You have six months of disruption and $160k out of pocket for internal and external. 
• As an  internal project it took 2 years to build, consumed a full-time developer and a great deal of IT, web design and marketing team assistance and still didn’t result in the responsiveness that marketing needed.  That calculates into well over $350k of internal costs and a delay of an extra 18 months in getting to market.  I’d like to say that this is an exception but it is not.  This kind of experience seems to be more common than you would think.

Does that mean that it is not possible for a firm to build their website internally as well or better than using an agency?  No, absolutely not.  Plenty of horror stories exist for the alternative path.  Planning, resource selection and scope definition are needed on every project.  With that in mind, either way, inside or out,  there are few things you need to consider if you are planning to replace your site.  Let me share.

1. The first issue is to determine, “Who is this site meant to serve?”  in other words, “Who is the customer?”  In too many organizations there is still a turf struggle between IT and web marketingstaffs.  If your website is a mission critical piece of your marketing, then I am sorry to point out that the marketing department must be the customer. (IT staffers please insert “groan” here.)  The needs for content updates, product promotion, advertising and line extension has got to be where it starts. Your firm will be at a tactical disadvantage if every change, especially content changes and image changes, has to go through IT.  Truth is, most IT staffs really do not want to make the changes. They just don’t want to clean up marketing’s errors. What they tell me is that: “We would rather do it than fix it.”  Can the non-techy marketing team mess up a website?  Absolutely, but with the right platform and training, this won’t disrupt the server side of the equation.  In most enterprise focused WCMS platforms you can build in the proper level of authorities with enough containment to be certain that your content is fresh while the site maintains it’s integrity.  Most also have a life preserver allowing you to roll back to a recent correct instance and just do the changes again.
2. Second thought is, “What technology choice do we make?”  In some cases there is no choice.  Your infrastructure is in place and you will select an approach that fits.  In a cloud environment or SaaS though your choices are wide open.  How about, static or CMS?  It has been a long time since anyone argued the value of a static site over a CMS.  I think that debate is settled for any major player. 
3. Who will maintain the site once it’s built?  That  issue is sometimes, “Which CMS to use?”  I personally have no issue with open source IF a firm has the in-house expertise to maintain a Joomla or .NetNuke site with redundant developers or IF you sign a maintenance contract with the agency that developed your site initially.  Your call.  I will remind you though that there is not a corporate body with open source that is obliged to keep your personalized code and customization in step with new releases and or required web-wide advances.  Once you pull a version off the shelf then it is an obligation of your team or your development partner to keep things running through all of the changes that move the web forward.  Is there a fee for that?  Sure but you are either paying that fee as a service expense or payroll expense anyway.  Your new site will need fixed, debugged and modernized.  That’s how it is.  Plan on it.  If up time is critical then you need a resource.  24/7 support? Inside or outside is up to you.
4. Hardest point of all, “Do we build it here or partner?”  The build-it-here approach is admiarable but usually not a great argument for ROI.  The other questions linger about skill sets, priorities and redundancy.  The solution very well could be to perform all functions in-house if that effort does not challenge other customer centric or high priority projects.  Without redundant and comparable skill sets then you have to ask, “Who gets the B team?” - your clients, your other internal projects or your new website.  Part two of this question is to make certain that the bench strength will be in place in case your ace developer, artist… gets hit by the proverbial bus or a superior job offer.  A sudden change in business fortune can also change your priorities.  If that dreamy project for your top customer finally gets signed you may have a new dilemma, pull your web development team or hire into the new project.  It happens.  Who carries the ball if any of these events come to light? 
5. Often overlooked as well is, “Who manages the project?”  someone has to hold numerous feet to the fire or deadlines fall onto a to-do list next to ‘turn in my expense report’.  I have seen several projects falter because it is not the high priority of a critical task holder. 
6. Is partial partnering an option?  Could your creative team hand off designs to an outside web development team working in an environment that your IT team has proposed?  We do it all the time, and I’m sure other firms do as well.  Your look, feel, branding and functionality requirements built to your specs don’t necessarily require a 100% custom back-end to still give you the responsive machine you want developed in a stable platform that IT will approve and maybe even later support.  How about content and page population?  Often we will build out a sample set of pages and train the client’s marketing team how to populate the rest.  This combines some real hands on training with just in time creativity and also transfers the project ownership to your team pre-launch.
7. Finally, remember that you are building the site for a purpose.  It needs to bring traffic, develop leads, generate sales and build you brand.  All of your post-launch requirements have to be in place.  Can you do the SEO?  Can your team determine and your developer build testing oriented calls to action?  Will your analytics be built in?  Site map prepared for the search engines?  Having a great looking site that no one sees , or even worse, no one converts on, is not the reward for a long project like this.  Who makes sure that the new site is built for driving trafffic, improving conversion and testing for improvement? 

So, I’m already over 1400 words and haven’t explored all the possibilities. Just remember that as you embark on a new site, there should be a set of KPIs you hold the project members accountable for, whether internal or external.  Speed to market, usability, platform stability, ease of support and marketing effectiveness cannot be written off because it was an internal job. Hold your project to a higher standard.  Then decide who to hire.

Will Having a Facebook Presence Really Help my Business?

I remember when my University got Facebook my freshman year in college. Back in the good ole’ days, when Facebook was strictly for college students, I would have gotten in some serious trouble for trying to check my Facebook Page during class. Back then I would have laughed if someone would have told me that an important part of my future job would require me to make daily Facebook updates to my company’s business page. But wow has Facebook has changed dramatically in the 6 years since its birth. Recently reaching 300 million users, Facebook is no longer a virtual community for college students to share information with friends (and “friends”). The social network has rapidly evolved into a networking platform for individuals as well as businesses to share information from the trivial to the vital. This global phenomenon has left businesses large and small asking the question: “Does my company need a presence on Facebook?”

More and more businesses are hitting the ground running with Facebook, as analytics continue to prove this social networking tool to be a successful and inexpensive way to reach your target audience. It is quick, easy and completely free to create a Facebook page. You can make your page viewable by everyone and anyone, whether they are members of Facebook or not.  Once the page is created, invite your clients to join and interact with them frequently by posting videos and photos, updating company news, publicizing discounts, initiating and taking part in discussions, and developing custom applications.

A great way to get a an idea of how powerful a tool Facebook can be to establish a strong online brand identity, is to check out some examples of business pages that have found a way to successfully utilize the medium. Pizza Hut, Atlantis Resort and Coca-Cola, are all examples of major companies that have used their Facebook Page to create a genuine community for “fans” of their brand. Another great example of Facebook Business Page we are currently working on here at The Net Impact is The King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort Page.

A few benefits of using Facebook for business include:

Increased Exposure: An important reason to invest time in creating an engaging page is each and every activity of your fans (this includes anything from becoming a fan, to posting a comment) gets shared with a greater network – giving your business increased visibility. You can also link your Facebook page to your other social networking sites, your company site and even on your email signature to personalize your brand.
 

Targeted Advertising: Facebook ads allow you to advertise a website, event, company or content you manage on Facebook. Facebook allows you to target the reach for your ad by location, gender, age and interests. As you add these customized filters, Facebook will automatically update the count of people fitting your criteria so you can gauge the size of your target market on Facebook.
 

Increase traffic to your company site: You can use your Facebook Page to link through to your company website. As a Page grows in fan base, traffic to the website will also increase. In addition, Facebook Pages also show up in search engine results.

Develop Credibility: Facebook Pages provide a form of dialogue between customers and the brand, this unique opportunity gives companies the chance to build better relationships and to show consumers that they care about their opinions. Facebook also allows for the companies to gain a deeper understanding of how they are perceived online via direct contact with consumers. Each business Facebook Page should showcase the value of their individual brand and share valid information to emphasize the company’s position as an educated leader in their industry.

 
If you have the time to devote to building and using your social media for marketing, Facebook may have unlimited potential for your business. Before you consider how you will leverage your contacts on Facebook, it is important to learn the etiquette appropriate for social networking. Unlike traditional advertising and marketing, you do not want to simply broadcast your message, but instead influence your fans by grabbing their interest and developing an active community to enhance your brand.  

Here are some important things to remember before creating your Facebook business page:

-Set Boundaries- It is a good idea to have a code of ethics guideline available to all employees to use as a reference for their social activities online. Also remember the importance of transparency and establishing honesty and integrity up front while interacting online in association with your company. Once you lose your credibility, it is pretty hard to get back.

-Create an Effective Profile Page - Give users a reason to want to become a fan of your page and to become an active member. Take advantage of applications such as the discussion board or YouTube video box to add appealing content to your page.

-Be Consistent and Frequent- The most successful and credible social media campaigns promote a strong message that is frequently heard and consistent in tone and voice. This helps consumers connect the dots from a series of your company’s marketing efforts; this leads to an increase in sales potential and sharper brand awareness.   

- Measure Analytics-Tracking these metrics over time can help you measure the ROI of using Facebook and be smarter about how to utilize Facebook as an ongoing part of your overall marketing strategy.

Bottom Line: Facebook has quickly transformed from a fad to a highly effective business tool. If you are willing to commit the needed time and effort to develop a Facebook strategy, go ahead and build a Facebook presence and start the conversation. What do you have to lose? You never know where your next business deal may come from!

The Net Impact Produces Traffic Based Design™ Plan for St. Louis-Based Retailer

DorothyLee, a unique online store that provides quality and customizable apparel and accessories at affordable prices to families, small businesses and Fortune 500 corporations, approached The Net Impact in search of an Internet marketing firm that could provide them with a plan of action to improve their search engine traffic. The customer service-oriented company had worked with several SEO firms to create search engine optimization plans and to implement the determined SEO efforts.  The firm had not yet seen any concrete, positive end-results from these past marketing efforts and the related expenses.

The Net Impact analyzed the online store’s analytics for their primary URL http://www.dorothylee.com/, compared traffic patterns to the site architecture, conducted thorough keyword research, investigated the marketplace and analyzed the competition. Using this information, TNI then developed a Traffic Based Design™ that would greatly improve the site’s visibility for key search terms organically and increase traffic.

This Traffic Based Design™ plan included:
• redefined site architecture to create the required landing pages
• rewritten meta information and content for each landing pages
• optimized links and title tags
• URL rewrite recommendations
• Image alternative text tag recommendation
• Website validation testing
• Website ADA compliance testing
• Competitor Analysis Report
• Keyword Rankings Strategy
• Baseline Keyword Positioning Plan
• Suggestions for calls to action to improve conversion

 “It was a pleasure working with The Net Impact.  We met with the company president, Steve Thomas, before getting started.  He never used any sales tactics and we felt that he was always being straight forward and honest with us.  Upon coming aboard, we found the company to have great customer service and communication skills.  They responded to all emails and calls promptly.  Also, the completion of our project was done in a timely manner,” said Nicole Minor, Owner, DorothyLee.com.

The Net Impact’s partnership with DorothyLee is continuing to grow as we are currently working with the retailer on the next steps for improvement, including the creation of an annual web marketing calendar with defined deliverables, conversion testing using Google Optimizer, a social media strategy to support the main ecommerce site and a regular review of Google analytics that will define monthly recommendations.

“Ultimately, we were very happy with all of the work that was performed; in fact The Net Impact exceeded our expectations on all fronts.  We highly recommend any company in need of SEO work to select The Net Impact as your #1 choice.  We’re sure that you will not be disappointed,” said Minor.