I lead a 3-hour “Bootcamp” at the Portland Digital Marketing Conference this week with a hands on look at WordPress, Google+ and HootSuite — a synergy of marketing systems for professional communicators. So, I thought I would give you a few take-aways, and also provide you access to my slides which have notes, infographics, movies and resource links in them.
Some Digital Marketing Take-aways
- Use the Force — the WordPress Force: Did you know that WordPress has built-in capabilities to create a link directory, or group together special content for workshops, summits, or any type of focus you can think of, buit in? Most developers, designers and marketers miss some of the recent WordPress power that comes out of the box when concepting a new site or a redesign. Most have not understood how WordPress “taxonomies” work. Many also miss newer plugins and ways to configure them to address Content Marketing objectives. One example is our Webdirexion “Social Interaction Wall” which I cover more at the conference and also in my online course — WordPress Content Marketing Power.
- Google+ is becoming a community, video meeting, sharing, engaging, and presenting universe: Marketers seem to be understanding that it is the key to SEO and can really serve to create recognized experts when you use the “author tagging” with rel=author in your code. But it is also a place where you can market videos and events, connect in hangouts, surf hashtags, join communities, and place yourself in the right circles of influence. G+ IS Google. Here’s a circle of speakers from PDX Digital Marketing Conference for you (click “add people” to add them to your G+ network).
- Hootsuite* is your Marketing Automation Center: Did you know that Hootsuite not only drives the major social marketing networks allowing you to post to the big four (and more) all from one screen, but you can also sync and efficiently manage a suite of MailChimp, WordPress sites, SalesForce, and YouTube for an all-in-one marketing automation center? Add in more capabilities like polling from 52 apps currently available, and you have a powerful central control center great for coordinating teams and saving time.
My Digital Marketing Bootcamp Slides
The presentation is divided into three sections — one for Google+, HooteSuite and WordPress — with reference links to case studies, videos, cheat sheets, infographics and more…
* Webdirexion is a HootSuite Pro Solution Partner
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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According to the How America Searches: Health and Wellness Report by Noah Elkin, of iCrossing, the internet is the most widely used resource for health information. When the report was published in 2008 it stated that:
- 59% of adults used online resources to obtain health and wellness information
- 55% go to their doctor
- 29% talk to relatives, friends or co-workers.
Obviously there is an overlap – presumably because some people use more than one method of accessing healthcare information. If this report were published today, you would expect the percentage of those using the internet to source health related information to be even higher given the constant growth of the sector of the public which regularly accesses the internet.
Any hospital or private clinic that is not making full use of the internet as a healthcare marketing channel is most definitely losing out on Read More »
Author: Julie Hume
Julie Hume, Editor, SEO and Social Media Marketer:
Julie is a career Marketing-Communications professional, having served as Director of Communications for Amari Hotels and Resorts, and Content Director for eThailand. For the past several years, she has worked independently as a writer, SEO specialist, and Social Media Marketer for a variety of clients. Currently she is attending Hootsuite University to keep her social media skills updated, as SEO continues to merge with Social Media. Julie enjoys a good mug of coffee, long walks with her children and dog on the island where she lives, and a good laugh watching professional comedians.
Other posts by Julie Hume
When it comes to marketing a law firm online these days, there are a number of considerations from branding and messaging on through the look and feel of your site, then all the inbound and content marketing tactics you can put in play. Webdirexion has been taking a closer look at law firm marketing so today we’ll take a look at a firm that comes up on the first page of search for one key phrase, but still has some real opportunities left to explore.
So, I typed in “Law Firm Seattle” in Google Search because, well, when you need a lawyer what’s the first thing you think of when you want to compare firms? The industry (Law Firms), and your city. Turns out I was right on that gut instinct — Google reports there were 6600 searches just last month for that three word phrase.
Demco Law Firm makes the first page amidst the other things Google places there these days. TIP: note carefully it is NOT first on the maps listing (not on the list at all) which relies on reviews (click screen shot to see actual search results), and also that you can pay for a PPC position to be on the front page — a move that can be more affordable and faster than a prolonged SEO campaign.
The first such firm that popped up after all the other stuff including maps, map listings, and ads (these elements are important parts of the first page game now too), is Demco Law Firm… in Seattle, of course. So far, so good — they made the first page, “organically” — without directly paying for PPC ads, though I wager they spent some money on their SEO onsite and off.
Opportunities for strengthening presence: Now there are some serious things for the Demco people to consider about their brand. They have no real logo, They are emphasizing short sale and property consultation, with other services from the eight attorney firm taking a back seat — that’s ok if that’s their marketing strategy, but there are smarter ways to Read More »
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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For anyone launching a B2B social media campaign, Google Hangouts offers a winning combination of live broadcast, client communication, social network communication and content creation. If you have not experienced a Hangout on Air yet, it is sort of like a webinar, but with a select number of speakers visible and public access. Questions can be accepted via social media hashtags and answered live on air. The end result of a Hangout on Air is a recording which can be edited and embedded on your site or elsewhere. So, have you tried Hanging out with your colleagues yet?
Above, the Webdirexion stream team meets for a session on client projects, and online marketing in a Google Hangout.
As a content and outsourced marketing agency Webdirexion has, from its very inception, been Read More »
Author: Julie Hume
Julie Hume, Editor, SEO and Social Media Marketer:
Julie is a career Marketing-Communications professional, having served as Director of Communications for Amari Hotels and Resorts, and Content Director for eThailand. For the past several years, she has worked independently as a writer, SEO specialist, and Social Media Marketer for a variety of clients. Currently she is attending Hootsuite University to keep her social media skills updated, as SEO continues to merge with Social Media. Julie enjoys a good mug of coffee, long walks with her children and dog on the island where she lives, and a good laugh watching professional comedians.
Other posts by Julie Hume
As social media marketing merges with SEO and the tools evolve, the Webdirexion team has some ongoing tips and social strategies to help you stay on the top of your game.
This week there are three Social Media Marketing tips from our team outlined here with the video below. And remember to join us on the last thursdays of June, July and August for one hour Social Strategies Sessions with experts — you can ask them questions, and win prizes.
This week’s Social Media Marketing Tips:
- Julie Hume – Hashtags to search and get visibility: Use Hashtags to help you find tweets, posts, and influencers in a particular industry, and also use them in your own tweets to extend visibility. Julie mentioned Symplur, which focuses on Healthcare Industry connection tactics (Webdirexion has a focus in Healthcare and Medical Industries). Julie focuses on Twitter marketing for Webdirexion:
Above is Symplur.com — a site dedicated to boosting connections within Healthcare social media.
- Danette Sheppard-Vaughn – SaaS Tool for FaceBook Marketing: Danette put us on to a good new FaceBook tracking service Read More »
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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What’s in the cards for modern user interfaces? The new Google+ uses cards — surfable squares of content — to boost focus and interaction and we’re trying out two new plugin interfaces for WordPress sites at Webdirexion to foster engagement. Let’s look at how these new interface engagement strategies work.
Have you noticed the move to presenting content in a square, card-like format? You probably have if you spend much time on a mobile device, and the meme is making its way back to the desktop. Have a look at the responsive new user interface for Google+, just out this week. We’ve seen a lot of these hyperactive squares in layouts on mobile devices of late, and there’s a distinctly 2000-teens feel to it. Now G+ is taking it to Read More »
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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Another author I met at the 3rd annual Content Marketing Strategies Conference is Michael Procopio, whose book lays out 42 Rules for B2B Social Media Marketing. I like the B2B focus, and purchased an ebook version. Here are some key take-aways…
The book’s title is, “42 Rules for B2B Social Media Marketing”, and it not only presents tactics, but also delivers concise usage studies — often lacking in a lot of quick posts on the subject. And in addition to Michael, there are two other co-authors for the book, so you get quite a bit of real-world insights. Here are some examples and take-aways:
- In “Bonus Rule 1 — Use LinkedIn for Market Research”, we learn how Michael was researching user needs for a new product. He researched appropriate job titles on LI, emailed four on the 10 pages of users that showed up and quickly received two positive answers. He also used a related LinkedIn group and asked Read More »
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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I met two authors, one a branding expert, and the other a social media consultant at the Content Marketing Strategies Conference 2013 where I spoke about marketing with Google+ (link to my slides). I read both their books and had a chance to pull out some key take-aways for you on the plane ride home. In this post we’ll look at some key insights about branding strategy for content marketers.
First up is Maria Ross (I’ll be back with notes about Social Media tactics and a related book next week), a branding expert and consultant who has written a book at once both accessible and thoughtful. Maria owns Red Slice, a brand and messaging consultancy, and her book, “Branding Basics for Small Business” delivers on the subtitle’s promise to help you learn “how to create an irresistible brand on any budget”. I’ll give you a list of key take-aways and tell you an insight Maria gave at the conference, but first a question: As you look at the following business page “cover” image for our client, Provider Advantage, on Google+, can you tell clearly what their “brand” on that social venue might be?
Above is the “cover” image for our client, Provider Advantage, on Google+. For this business page, we have chosen to feature it’s flagship software product logo — Revenue360.
If you answered either “Revenue360″ or “Provider Advantage”, you are only partially right. An actual brand is what is in the mind of your prospects and customers and includes key opinions about your company, products and services. What you see above are logos, not products, though we are incorporating other images as message clues about the company (it’s products make hospital administrators happy). As Maria states in her book, “Brand is what your customers say it is, but you can shape and influence it through intentional decisions and actions.” Here are three more key insights from her book (recommended – every Marketing Manager will benefit from this read):
- A brand is a “promise, a reputation, and an actual experience…”
- “Human beings want to know consciously or subconsciously that their efforts are going toward a higher purpose… a Brand Strategy can lead to this inspiration”.”
- The “single most important aspect to a brand strategy”?
Remember the page for Provider-Advantage, our client at Webdirexion shown above? I asked Maria about the double logo and its affect on branding, since we are featuring both a product logo (Revenue360) and the company logo (Provider Advantage) on the Google+ cover image for their business page.
Regarding juggling multiple brands, Maria advise (after first noting that each situation will have different considerations):
- Get clear about your company “portfolio strategy”.
- How important is the Corporate Name (for example, Proctor and Gamble doesn’t care if you know and remember the corporate name so much as the names of its individual products))
- Consider changing your Company Name into the Product Name — if product name assumes the primary identity. Here, note that brands, like the companies they represent, are living, growing and changing things.
- Ask, “what is the name that you are trying to build the meaning behind”?
Great stuff, and much appreciated in the trenches as we visually strategize about logos — and tune in to their overall affect on the brand… in the minds of prospects and customers.
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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The Content Marketing Strategies Conference is held at the beautiful, historic Claremont Hotel in Berkely, CA.
No matter how much you think you know about marketing, there’s more to learn and that was proven again at the 3rd annual Content Marketing Strategies Conference in Berkeley this week (May 7-9 2013). Here are some primary take-aways from the first couple of days including notes from my own presentation there (on Google+ tactics).
Day 1: Social Strategies and Tactics
Arnie Kuenn, President of Vertical Measures, had some great insights about SEO. Some of my favorites:
- Though a lot of gurus advise that you keep your blog posts short, at least one study found that longer posts — 2000 words or more — were their best performing content. We’re going to experiment with same at Webdirexion.
- Google looks at captions to understand how to rank images. Years ago, before the web, I learned that people tend to read picture captions a lot more than actual copy when they are in a hurry. So this is a win-win… captions are good for your readers, and good for Google.
- Blog 15 times or more per month and your traffic will shoot way up… and also your leads.
Scott Frangos (me), President of Webdirexion, spoke about Read More »
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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Scott's Latest Articles:
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Most Marketing Directors understand that Google plus marketing is now more important than FaceBook (business focus demographic) or Twitter (more active users). So…let’s look at newer Google plus marketing tactics (and I hope to see you at the 3rd annual Content Marketing Strategies Conference in Berkeley next week, where I’ll be doing a workshop on same):
Extend Reach and Engagement with the New Google+ Comments WP Plugin: We have WordPress/Google Plus Fusion with the G+ Comments for WordPress plugin, by Brandon Holtsclaw. There were 2 other competitors in the plugin directory, but Brandon has more downloads and more 5-star reviews (Kudos). Now when we write about content on our site from G+, we get an immediate addition to the comment thread on site (try it below) — so our work immediately serves double duty. Usually I write a bit longer “tweets” on G+ (like this one), so they can “extend” my article and thinking, informed by colleagues, rather than just serving as a short comment. Article + G+ Exposure + Comment Luv… tough to see any downsides. Many people don’t want to use G+? Well… that’s changing (surpassed Twitter), and they can use a FB or regular comment via the “W” tab.
Embed Calls to Action with Interactive Posts on G+: Hey… you’re a marketer, right? So you like asking people to Buy, Donate, Register and Sign up. Usually to do that on Google+ you have to link back to a post that contains your call to action. Now you can get around that. Here’s an an overview image of what they do:
Using this new interface is a Marketer’s dream… but the GUI is not quite there yet.
To implement, you have a couple of choices right now. Use the Google Developer instructions here. There you’ll get a geeky list of code for the call to action buttons. You can also try Mike Arnesens first attempt at a GUI. I more expect GUIs to emerge soon.
Hangouts for Business to make Authentic Connections Online and Off: Your last tip is to just dive in and start using Google Hangouts. Our Agency team uses them each week for both internal and external video conferencing… free in the cloud. We also use them to meet with clients. Here are two more ideas to get your marketing thinking going:
- Hangout Online In an Offline Restaurant: That’s exactly what one enterprising marketer is doing, and the possibilities are intriguing. Patrons can be interviewed live, people could watch from home live, and the restaurant can post the #hangout video to youtube for ongoing promotion. Looks like they’ve picked “moderators” with good social klout, too. Think of the other businesses that could do this. Hmmmm… why couldn’t a local business person/marketer do a series on a “channel” for their town?
- And Entire Online Business Built Around Hangouts: You’r ea chef and you wish to teach cooking classes in the comfort of your students kitchens (no drive time) from afar — in your own kitchen and get paid handsomely by the hour. Check out ChefHangout.com
Remember that you’re getting a tripple ripple effect with these tactics: you’re using one of the “Big Four” social networks for your business, you’re improving your SEO value and drawing qualified visitors back to your website, and you’re facilitating interactive “lead nurturing” as you collaborate with your sales colleagues.
For more helpful Google Plus Markting Tactics articles — we have a topic archive focused on just that. And the Webdirexion outsource marketing team is always happy to give you an overview of how we can help you with smart Social Media campaigns.
Author: Scott Frangos
Scott Frangos, President of WebDirexion LLC (see G+), is a career MarCom professional focused on Content Marketing, Social Media, and WordPress Web Development. He loves introducing strategies and tactics to boost ROI at your websites. He also loves pizza, coffee, and Tai Chi — not necessarily in that order. Scott serves as Founder, Chief Optimizer and Strategist at WebDirexion.com. Before the Web, he worked in Advertising, Marketing and PR.
Currently he is the instructor for the new online course, "WordPress Content Marketing Power". He recently taught a class on Content Marketing with WordPress for the Langley Center for New Media, and in May of 2012, spoke on G+ and WordPress Combo, at WebVisions PDX. Scott is the lead imagineer behind Webdirexion's popular Max-Ref Content Marketing Widgets plugin for WordPress. In the past he has taught HTM, CSS and Photoshop, and also eCommerce and general business courses at colleges and technical schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Scott is lucky, blessed, and at times cursed with a right-brain/left-brain ability to both program for the web and work on creative marketing solutions. He also writes for Content Marketing Institute. Link up with him at ScottLinkedIn.com.
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Scott's Latest Articles:
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Digital Marketing with WordPress, G+, and HootSuite
Scott Frangos, Webdirexion President, leads a 3-hour Bootcamp on Digital Marketing with G+, WordPress, and Hootsuite at Portland Digital Marketing Conference
I lead a 3-hour “Bootcamp” at the Portland Digital Marketing Conference this week with a hands on look at WordPress, Google+ and HootSuite — a synergy of marketing systems for professional communicators. So, I thought I would give you a few take-aways, and also provide you access to my slides which have notes, infographics, movies and resource links in them.
Some Digital Marketing Take-aways
My Digital Marketing Bootcamp Slides
The presentation is divided into three sections — one for Google+, HooteSuite and WordPress — with reference links to case studies, videos, cheat sheets, infographics and more…
* Webdirexion is a HootSuite Pro Solution Partner