This infographic presents research and data that both suggest a fundamental shift in consumer behavior towards “inbound” marketing / advertising.
Blog Archives
The Content Marketing Explosion [Infographic]
Content marketing isn’t exactly a new marketing technique, but it’s seeing massive growth in 2012, with new and innovative ways to promote brand awareness and build customer retention.
From articles and social media to data visualization such as infographics, brands are using these techniques to leverage their marketing efforts and create a wider reach.
Read more here-below.
Source : http://unbounce.com/content-marketing/the-content-marketing-explosion-infographic/
Make Your Blog Posts Go Viral With This Cheat Sheet
Make Your Blog Posts Go Viral With This Cheat Sheet, an infographic. What is viral marketing and how to make your post go viral is one of the most asked question by bloggers and internet marketers
Source : http://blog.kissmetrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/viral-marketing-cheat-sheet-sm.jpg
How to influence the Social Consumer ? via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
The consumer uses social media to search for information before purchasing a product or service.
He read the opinions of other consumers, check the comments on a well or solicit its virtual network etc …
You manage a business ? Do you know that some channels are more suitable than others for social influence and this depends on the product category you sell?
That’s what I propose you to discover through the study of M Booth and Beyond, for which 1500 consumers were questioned about the products they were looking on the Internet and the channels they had chosen to find .
You will learn for example that the channels that have the most influence on the social consumer are:
- the results of search engines,
- websites,
- newspaper articles,
- sites,
- comparative online ads.
However, according to the results of this study, if you sell electronics (as I do by the way), you should focus on the following channels in descending order: the comparison sites, the sites of your company, news articles and blog entries.
The results in full via this infographic:
What’s the average day on Facebook ? [infographic], via davidmerzel’s BLOG.
Here-below, a great infographic created by JESS3
You will learn that in 2011, the average user is 38 years old (so five years more than in 2008) and has 229 friends, 7% he never met .
But we also know that 26% of users like at least one status /day, or that 15% of the members update their status every day.
Need Basic Training on Linkedin ? Follow Linkedin Boot Camp [infographic), via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Cool infographic showing how to use Linkedin.
With help from the LinkedIn guru himself, Lewis Howes, mindflash.com gives you, via basic LinkedIn boot camp training, the fundamental tools necessary to use the site for all your business and personal marketing needs.
What are people doing online ? [infographic], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
As we all know, the world is changing.
People want to stay informed / connected everytime & everywhere and it’s interesting to see that the basics / primary needs remain the same.
This infographic shows what are people doing online.
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You will discover what are the things they do the most are basics things, meeting primary needs : Send or read a mail, Search for Info / Product / Services, Look for health / medical info, Check the weather.
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The things they do the least are : Create a personal journal / Blog, Use Twitter, Sell Stock, Use a dating website, Visit Virtual World as Second Life,
Infographic: Things That Happen On Internet Every 60 Seconds, via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Click on the image to enlarge
The end of Business as Usual ……. via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
I’m passionated about the impact of new technologies on consumer behavior.
In that framework, I’ve developed a new approach called close contact marketing that I’m presentating in a confertence called “are you a white belt or black belt marketer”
The spirit in Close Contact Marketing is basic: Treating your consumer with respect is the best way to win their heart.
The close contact Marketing is based on the following belief: once you convince the consumer, he becomes your best ambassador.
Close contact marketing has its roots in eastern values of the martial arts such as karate that I practice: respect and direct involvement are part of it.
Its six rules are symbolized by belts of the sport that I practice so much.
More on close contact marketing HERE
I’m happy to see that Brian Solis, released a new book called The End of Business As Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consumer Revolution.
In the book, he talks about the importance of brand and brand essence during an era of what he calls Digital Darwinism, the evolution of consumer behavior when society and technology evolve faster than the ability to adapt.
With businesses chasing the great “friend” grab in social networks, brand and brand essence are more important than ever before. A brand is recognized as the unique identity of a product, service or company. Brand essence, however, is felt.
I’m happy to see some similarities with my approach as :
- Create personal engagement.
- Create Experience.
- Create Enchantment.
Here-below, the approach from Brian Solis : To help make brands socially relevant, he created the following steps for brand managers to review.
- Focus: Attention is a precious commodity and to earn it, the brand must make an immediate impression in order to capture attention and convert it into curiosity. Identify a list no more than five words that contribute to the brand, especially in a social setting. Your job is to deliver a unique experience and document what it is you want to evoke through engagement.
- Feeling: Social networks are emotional landscapes that are populated by human beings, not consumers. Describe in two or three sentences what it is you want a consumer to feel when she comes into contact with your brand and how she would communicate that feeling through her actions and words to her friends.
- Individuality: In these communities, brands are people, too, and they require a persona, character, mannerisms and everything necessary to stand out. Illustrate the persona of your brand. Who is it? What does it stand for? What are its characteristics and mannerisms? The key here is to create a unique and desirable impression. As my good friend Guy Kawasaki says, we must be “enchanting!”
- Experiential: When a consumer experiences a product or service, what is that each encounter eliciting? Articulate in a sentence or two the experience you wish your consumers to feel or associate with the brand.
- Consistency: Consistency is what a brand conveys every day across all networks, social presences, content, apps, and engagement. List three attributes that must be communicated through all things social.
- Personal: Brand essence must carry meaning, something personal that people aspire to become, embrace, and be part of, something that resonates with them. List the top three emotional hooks that will convey why and how people will be drawn to you in social media.
- Portable: Networks cultivate unique cultures and how people connect with brands is different within each. Brand essence requires scalability and portability to extend brand value and resonance across each network while still creating a holistic experience. Clearly define in two sentences how brand essence will be communicated or expressed at the top level and within each network.
- Longevity: Is the essence designed to last? Is it something that can stand the test of time and patience regardless of medium? At some point a brand must become an extension of the culture of the organization, and now’s the time to put into words how the culture will transfer from the real world into each network. In one sentence, two at the most, capture your culture and describe how it will be enlivened in new media. Define what people are aligning with and representing to their networks.
- Credibility: People walk away with an impression based on how a brand is portrayed and enlivened. There must be an alignment between these nine steps and the experience people actually do have. Understand where the disconnect may exist today, list the gaps, and take actions to fill them. Without this step, the brand will lose credibility through engagement and that’s not an option in today’s digital economy.
Everything that we do including the words we choose and the imagery we use is instrumental in the definition of brand essence. Thus, our words, and actions, contribute to the last mile of customer engagement.
5 Steps to measure results of Social Media [infographic], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
I must say that I’ve never met an agency presenting an approach regarding the way to measure results & ROI of Social Media.
This infographic is a good summary of 5 steps to measure results of your Social Media strategy.
Are you a white or Black Belt Marketer ? If you want to know more, join Digital Marketing First @ BXL, 11th of Oct …., via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Tomorrow 11th of Oct @Digital Marketing First Tour & Taxi Brussels (4.30 PM – Room 3), I present “Are you a white or Black Belt Marketer?”
- Take a look at fool program HERE
So, are you a White belt or Black belt Marketer ?
Discover tomorrow a new approach, we’ve developped with my Team within Microsoft Belgium,
Inspiration came from my experience as marketer and in martial art.
I give you already some taste before tomorrow …
The spirit in Close Contact Marketing is basic: Treating your consumer with respect is the best way to win their heart.
Applying the Close Contact Marketing technical I have developed within my team has been very succesful, for the launch of Kinect in Belgium.
I want to share with you the approach that leads Belgium to be that successful.
The close contact Marketing is based on the following belief: once you convince the consumer, he becomes your best ambassador.
Close contact marketing has its roots in eastern values of the martial arts such as karate: respect and direct involvement are part of it.
Its six rules are symbolized by belts of the sport that I practice so much.
Let me introduce these to you:
-
Rule #1 : Engage Personally
Involve yourself personally as a Marketeer. Make your hands dirty, talk, surf, have a dialogue with journalists, retailers, consumers and colleagues. This rule seems obvious. Those who experienced it know it’s not.
For the launch of Kinect, we decided to invite journalists, retailers, consumers and bloggers to come and test this new stuff in a friendly atmosphere. The Kinect Loft has been created to enhance the networking with influencers.
-
Rule #2 : Trying is Believing.
Set up an authentic, winsome experience on your products.
More than seven thousand people tried out the Kinect, including the Kinect Loft (see below in the slide share the LOFT) in Brussels, as the device was not launched yet.
-
Rule #3 : Invite Influencers Generously
Take the time to discuss with influencers as they carry on your message.
Journalists, bloggers, retails partners deliver your message to an audience. The Kinect Loft has been on its way, in a mobile version, within the retail field and events for consumers. The commitment level was so high; the content was shared on Facebook, Twitter and over 350 blogs in Belgium.
-
Rule #4 : Enchant the Masses
Find the best way to enchant the audience, focusing on spending that much money on advertising .
In Belgium, Kinect has spread its words in more than 36 newspapers and magazines, 6 radio show s, 18 TV shows .
-
Rule #5 : Share Close Contact Marketing
I share my passion for marketing, social media , new technologies
I’m having a leadership position throughout a blog who made more than one hundred thousand visits over the past year. Thanks to the comments on the blog and on social networks, I’m aware of the reactions of the target audience. The key audience at the Kinect launching was families and the most important move was to keep a strong image towards the communities of players within our core audiences. I have shared my passion and vision of marketing in universities (ULB, VUB, IHECS, KDG Antwerp, KH Leuven) and professional organizations (BMMA, IAB, BetaGroup). I met by then more than two thousand people that year and I really enjoyed that !
-
Rule #6 : Improve Society
The boundaries of your job are not settled by your products, as a Marketeer you obviously have a role to play in society.
With the help of Fishing Cactus, a Belgian company based in Mons, and the Erasme Hospital, Microsoft has developed revalidation softwares for the Kinect platform for people suffering from brain damage. Kinect gives the patients the ability of visualize daily tasks, and teaches them how to improve their lives . As a candidate of Marketeer of the year, I know that less is more.
For people who can’t come tomorrow, you can learn more on the slide share here-below :
You Feedback is Welcome and See you tomorrow.
5 Twitter Tips to Give Your Content More Exposure, @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Use the following 5 tips to help give your content more exposure on Twitter
1. Schedule Tweets
- Scheduling tweets and updates is a fantastic way to make sure you are getting valuable content out to your audience around the clock — even when you’re sleeping!
- Using third-party tools like MarketMeSuite allows you to schedule your tweets for specific dates and times.
- This can help you stay on top of your social media content promotion.
- Scheduling tweets can also be helpful if your business extends to a global audience.
- Bufferapp.com recently published a study that showed carefully selected times for scheduling tweets increased click rates by 200%.
- Use TweetWhen.com to help you determine the best times to tweet.
2. Analyze Your Data
- There is no better way of knowing whether your tweets are being read than by analyzing your data.
- Use a third-party application to monitor your Twitter presence and understand how people are engaging with your tweets.
- You can determine if your tweets are getting seen and provoking conversations and discussions.
- Is one type of tweet getting retweeted or generating more clicks and discussion than others?
- To track a particular marketing campaign you’re running, create and promote a particular hashtag. Using hashtags allows tweets about a particular subject to be more searchable by users.
- After the campaign is over, marketers can search for the hashtag and identify how effective it was in promoting the campaign and generating more tweets.
- Monitoring your retweets is also a very effective way to see not only who has read your tweets, but also who found them interesting enough to retweet them.
3. Connect Your Blog to Your Twitter Account
- Connecting your blog’s RSS feed to your Twitter account will allow your Twitter followers to receive tweets about your newest blog content automatically.
- These feeds encourage maximum exposure and save you the time of manually promoting your blog content to your Twitter followers.
- Just be sure your Twitter feed doesn’t turn into an automated stream with no Twitter interaction.
- Participate in the conversation that evolves from the content you’re tweeting, and always make sure your Twitter account is about more than just content promotion.
4. Tweet Questions
- By tweeting questions, you’ll be inviting followers and other Twitter users to interact, converse, and engage with you and your brand.
- The more engaging and valuable you make your Twitter stream, the more followers you’ll generate.
- Something as simple and easy as asking “What do you think of ABC?” or adding, “We would love to know your thoughts about XYZ” at the end of an update will encourage responses.
- Conversely, remember that if someone asks you a question in real life, you tend to respond it automatically. Think like a human being when you tweet, and be responsive, too.
5. Be Personal, React, and Engage!
- It’s extremely important to make sure your followers know there is a real human behind your tweet.
- If you tweet like a robot with no level of personal engagement with your audience, your Twitter account will look like spam, and your followers will get bored with your messages.
- Use personal touches in your tweets now and then.
- As long as you keep your Twitter stream relevant and valuable over all, there’s nothing wrong with tweeting things like, “What a lovely day here in the office!” or “Happy Friday — hope you’re all well!”
- The more you engage with your followers on a personal level, the more they’ll understand you care about, and the more willing they’ll be to connect with you and build a relationship.
- As a result, they’ll grow to trust you, listen to what you have to say, and be more receptive to your marketing messages.
The original post is written by Nikki Peters, community manager of MarketMeSuite.
What are THE 10 Levels of Intimacy in Communication ?, via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
What are THE 10 Levels of Intimacy in Today’s Communication ?
This is back to basics but the real & authentic communication remains off-line talking.
I really believe a real engagement starts with that kind of communication.
This is my first rule of “Close Contact Marketing”.
To know more about CLOSE CONTACT MARKETING, click HERE
Are you a WHITE belt or BLACK belt Marketer ? [slides], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Discover a new approach based on my own experience as marketer and in martial art.
Thanks to this innovative approach, I’ve been nominated Marketer of the Year. Just Click here_below to access the voting page.
Vote for Me on
The spirit in Close Contact Marketing is basic: Treating your consumer with respect is the best way to win their heart.
Applying the Close Contact Marketing technical I have developed within my team has been very succesful, for the launch of Kinect in Belgium.
I want to share with you the approach that leads Belgium to be that successful.
The close contact Marketing is based on the following belief: once you convince the consumer, he becomes your best ambassador.
Close contact marketing has its roots in eastern values of the martial arts such as karate: respect and direct involvement are part of it.
Its six rules are symbolized by belts of the sport that I practice so much.
Let me introduce these to you:
-
Rule #1 : Engage Personally
Involve yourself personally as a Marketeer. Make your hands dirty, talk, surf, have a dialogue with journalists, retailers, consumers and colleagues. This rule seems obvious. Those who experienced it know it’s not.
For the launch of Kinect, we decided to invite journalists, retailers, consumers and bloggers to come and test this new stuff in a friendly atmosphere. The Kinect Loft has been created to enhance the networking with influencers.
-
Rule #2 : Trying is Believing.
Set up an authentic, winsome experience on your products.
More than seven thousand people tried out the Kinect, including the Kinect Loft (see below in the slide share the LOFT) in Brussels, as the device was not launched yet.
-
Rule #3 : Invite Influencers Generously
Take the time to discuss with influencers as they carry on your message.
Journalists, bloggers, retails partners deliver your message to an audience. The Kinect Loft has been on its way, in a mobile version, within the retail field and events for consumers. The commitment level was so high; the content was shared on Facebook, Twitter and over 350 blogs in Belgium.
-
Rule #4 : Enchant the Masses
Find the best way to enchant the audience, focusing on spending that much money on advertising .
In Belgium, Kinect has spread its words in more than 36 newspapers and magazines, 6 radio show s, 18 TV shows .
-
Rule #5 : Share Close Contact Marketing
I share my passion for marketing, social media , new technologies
I’m having a leadership position throughout a blog who made more than one hundred thousand visits over the past year. Thanks to the comments on the blog and on social networks, I’m aware of the reactions of the target audience. The key audience at the Kinect launching was families and the most important move was to keep a strong image towards the communities of players within our core audiences. I have shared my passion and vision of marketing in universities (ULB, VUB, IHECS, KDG Antwerp, KH Leuven) and professional organizations (BMMA, IAB, BetaGroup). I met by then more than two thousand people that year and I really enjoyed that !
-
Rule #6 : Improve Society
The boundaries of your job are not settled by your products, as a Marketeer you obviously have a role to play in society.
With the help of Fishing Cactus, a Belgian company based in Mons, and the Erasme Hospital, Microsoft has developed revalidation softwares for the Kinect platform for people suffering from brain damage. Kinect gives the patients the ability of visualize daily tasks, and teaches them how to improve their lives . As a candidate of Marketeer of the year, I know that less is more.
You can learn more from this approach here-below.
You Feedback is Welcome !
Who will be Marketer of the Year in Belgium for 2011 ?
Short List Marketer of the Year 2011 has just been published.
It’s a real honor to be on this list.
See details by clicking http://bit.ly/piFWrR.
Good luck to all of us.
Good or Bad Marketing ? via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Excellent Food for thought to evaluate of youe Marketing is good or bad … 
Good marketing starts with a cause. Bad marketing starts with a goal.
Good marketing drives loyalty. Bad marketing drives transactions.
Good marketing promotes values. Bad marketing values promotions.
Good marketing tells us exactly what a company really thinks. Bad maketing tells us what the company thinks they want us to think they think.
Good marketing seduces. Bad marketing targets.
Good marketing never mentions price. Bad marketing always mentions price.
Good marketing uses the products to help tell a story. Bad marketing tells stories about products.
Good marketing is about us. Bad marketing is about them.
Bad marketing manipulates. Good marketing inspires.
The Social Media Brandsphere [Infographic], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
The Social Media Brandsphere is a handy tool that breaks down the division of media opportunities for marketing professionals.
The infographic goes beyond the standard opportunities of Paid, Owned, and Earned Media (P.O.E.M.) and includes the more recent strategies of Promoted and Shared to create a complete picture of the opportunities available to engage audiences.
In any given network, brands can invest in digital assets that span five media landscapes:
1. Paid: Digital advertising, banners, adwords, overlays
2. Owned: Created assets, custom content
3. Earned: Brand-related conversations and user-generated content
4: Promoted: in-stream or social paid promotions vehicles (e.g. Twitter’s Promoted products and Facebook’s Sponsored Stories)
5. Shared: Open platforms or communities where customers co-create and collaborate with brands. (e.g. Dell’s IdeaStorm and Starbuck’s MyStarbucksIdea.)
Any combination of the five media strategies defines a new Brandsphere where organizations can capture attention, steer online experiences, spark conversations and word of mouth can help customers address challenges or create new opportunities.
To visualize the model that reflects the state of new media, Brian Solis partnered with JESS3.
Source : http://www.briansolis.com/2011/08/new-inforgraphic-the-brandsphere-by-brian-solis-and-jess3/
What’s the Growth of Social Media [infographic], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Interesting infographic showing the Growth of Social Media.
Click on the picture here-below to enlarge.
Source : http://techtrends.eu/la-croissance-des-medias-sociaux/
Killer Tips for Better ROI (online campaign), via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Interesting article regarding how to improve your ROI for Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is key to most online marketing campaigns today, and it’s often expensive and overwhelming.
Here are 10 tips to help improve your PPC campaign in hopes of a gaining a greater ROI and making the whole process more enjoyable and fruitful.
1. Run a Negative Campaign
No, the idea is not to openly bash your competitors through ad copy. Instead, utilize negative keywords, one of the most underused features offered for PPC campaigns. Negative keywords allow you to choose words that won’t trigger your ad. For example, if you are a new car salesman, place the word “used” on your negative list to target customers looking for a new vehicle. When used correctly and updated often, negative keywords help pare down your clickers to serious buyers and save your PPC dollars.
2. Location, Location, Location
Why have your ad viewed or, even worse, clicked by someone in Iowa when you only sell insurance in California? PPC dollars are wasted because unsophisticated users don’t focus their impressions by location. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo all offer geo-location features, which allow users to target their markets based on IP addresses, geo-specific keywords or both.
3. Make an Offer They Can’t Refuse
With so much competition, you need to differentiate your ad. Are you running a promotion? Is shipping free? Offer value and then capitalize on it with a call-to-action. Use terms like “Learn More” and “Free Download” to draw in customers. Encourage searchers to act and let them know what to expect on the other side of the click.
4. Be Dynamic
Dynamic keyword insertion allows you to create more relevant ad copy by placing the exact phrase searched into your ad. When the potential customer sees the exact term they searched, they are more likely to click. While dynamic keyword insertion is very useful and can increase your click through rate tremendously, it is not for the PPC novice. If poorly executed, dynamic keyword insertion can result in ads that appear unclear and irrelevant and can drain your budget quickly.
5. Utilize Long Tail Keywords
Long tail keywords are three-to-four-word phrases that are specific to your product. The reason this works is that visitors using very specific search phrases are often further along in the purchasing process and can result in a higher conversion rate. Someone looking for shoes might search for “boots,” and then have it narrowed down to “black knee-high boots” when she’s ready to buy. Another benefit to long tail keywords is their lack of popularity among PPC novices. With less people bidding on your keywords, your cost per click decreases. Add high intent words to your long tail, such as “buy,” “price” or even “where to buy,” in order to grab those on the verge of a purchase. If you are stumped and need long tail keyword suggestions, visit Wordstream.
6. This Is a Test
Don’t just set up a PPC campaign and hope for the best — proper testing and analysis are required. Metrics allow you to better understand your campaign and results, so set up A/B tests to track what works. Remember to test multiple ads simultaneously, but only allow for one variable at a time and run your tests long enough to gather proper data.
7. Timing Is Everything
In addition to geo-targeting, PPC campaigns allow for time targeting. Analyze your metrics to determine when your ads are at their highest conversion rate. If you are receiving hundreds of clicks at 3 am, but making no sales, restrict ad impressions during those hours to save your budget.
8. A Homepage Is Not a Landing Page
I repeat … a homepage is not a landing page. Don’t throw away all your hard work by sending targeted customers to a non-targeted homepage. Create a simple landing page that picks up right where your ad left off. Don’t lose your visitor — and potential sale — by confusing them with unnecessary content.
9. Get to Know Keyword Generators, but Not Too Well
Keyword generators prove helpful in getting you started when mining keywords. Some great tools are the Microsoft Advertising Intelligence and tools by Market Samurai. However, do not rely heavily on keyword generators — often a human touch is what you need to target that human searcher. You know how you typically search, so go with your instinct.
