By now, you may be one of the more than 13 million YouTube visitors who have viewed the clever, genuine yet very purposeful Xmas Jammies video, or saw it on any number of major broadcast outlets that picked it up. For marketing, creative, and PR professionals, viral videos can be maddeningly elusive. There are some characteristics universal to viral videos, but just as many that fall In the excerpt above, he discusses the technical problems with the federal health anthem insurance marketplace website and what his administration is doing to help consumers get enrolled in an anthem insurance plan. outside the blueprint as well.
In my latest article for PR Week “The Hub,” I take a look at some reasons why Xmas Jammies took off, and what digital marketers can learn from its success.
The third-party cookie is under attack and may soon be a thing of the past. Microsoft recently confirmed that it was developing a new tracking technology to eclipse the cookie. The idea is to have a proprietary product that it controls across platforms allowing it, and other large players, to consolidate their power through newer tracking technologies.
That might sound like the natural progression of online marketing. After all, cookies have several challenges that critics use to argue for their demise. From a privacy stand-point, many privacy advocates see third-party cookies, the ones that marketers and advertisers use to follow individuals, as intrusive. And indeed, Microsoft and other players say they have protecting consumer privacy in mind with their new technology.
But more important from a marketing standpoint, cookies are remnants of technology designed to follow users across desktop browsers. They don’t transfer to mobile devices and platforms, let alone Xbox, PlayStations and connected television and the host of new ways consumers are accessing the Internet. An advertiser has no way of knowing, for example, if a sale came from an ad viewed on a cell phone or other device because of this limitation.
On the other side of the debate, advocates for cookies point out their benefits, including as an open source technology that has been a key element in “democratizing” the Web. The technology has allowed small publishers and bloggers to flourish, and has enabled marketers to anonymously and efficiently target consumers on the Internet.
Let me give you an example of how we use cookies for our clients’ campaigns to deliver the right kind of information to their potential customers. As part of a campaign, we often create lead-generating landing pages and microsites that contain useful information on an industry challenge for which a company has a range of solutions. A visitor might go to that site and search for white papers or other premium content on a specific challenge they are facing. By utilizing an anonymous cookie to that individual, we can serve up a series of banner ads that direct him or her to more information. If the person had gone to a page on pricing, a marketer can logically guess that this person is most likely a potential buyer and can deliver banners that are tailored to that stage of the buying process. Cookies enable this type of efficient and effective targeting to work.
As one observer recently wrote, “In clamoring for the demise of third-party cookies, privacy advocates may be urging the creation of a system that elevates proprietary tracking technology – technologies that may stifle competition and may be an even bigger privacy concern with personal data being concentrated in the hands of a few powerful corporations.”
We’re not quite that alarmist, but it is worth recognizing that third-party cookies are an important part of many of the targeted campaigns that Bluetext designs and implements for its clients. They allow companies to identify potential customers who have expressed an interest in their solutions through Web searches, and provide information and links tailored to those specific interests. This type of narrow-casting ad delivery makes targeting much more efficient, serves up information relevant rather than random to users, and provides needed revenue streams to web properties including news and information sites.
“In order to pay for a better and more expensive internet we need to continue to improve online advertising,” said Zach Coelius, CEO of automated ad buying company Triggit told AdAge. “There are only two ways we can do that: One is to make the ads more intrusive, bigger and in your face, or two, we can make them more targeted so that we no longer have so much waste with the wrong ads going to the wrong people.”
Why is this so important for marketers? First and foremost, it marks a potential trend by Microsoft and other large internet platform companies to control how individuals are tracked and followed across their browsing. That’s good for those large corporations, but not so beneficial for companies that will have to purchase or obtain that information from them. It reverses the path of “democratizing” the Internet that cookies allowed for in the first place.
So what do marketers need to do now that Microsoft is going to make it more difficult to identify and track potential customers through third-party cookies? Here are a few recommendations:
- First, cookies aren’t going away yet. There will still be a need and market for them, so don’t abandon the ship.
- Be creative! Targeted campaigns that use premium content and compelling creative will attract attention from potential buyers and customers.
- Content will still be king, and content syndication can drive key targets back to your campaign site.
- Three-part campaigns that combine digital, physical and follow-up marketing will deliver better results than a one-dimensional effort.
- Follow the trends. If the large platform players are transparent about the information they collect on your behalf and can demonstrate solid results, they may be worth a try.
- Social media sites that allow segmented targeting, like Facebook and LinkedIn, will offer strong alternatives to traditional banner ads.
- Try a little bit of everything, split test messages and creative, and refine and revise until you have the best combination to deliver the results you want.
Everywhere you turn, people are talking about responsive design. It is a critical website solution for providing your customers and prospects a seamless experience across all devices and making it easy for you to manage one web infrastructure.
With a responsive website, businesses can be in front of consumers at every step of their online journey. A user viewing a website on the go via a mobile device can have the same powerful experience as when sitting in their office.
Responsive websites provide continuity between different viewing contexts, remaining completely agnostic to the type of device used and the size of the screen it has.
Unfortunately, a mobile version of your website isn’t good enough anymore. Responsive websites simplify internet marketing and SEO. Instead of having to develop and manage content for multiple websites, businesses with responsive sites can take a unified approach to content management because they have only the one responsive site to manage. The same applies to analytics and strategy development and deployment. A responsive website means there is only one set of analytics to examine and a single strategy to develop and deploy.
Responsive websites are easier for consumers to find than traditional or mobile sites because they come up higher in search engines’ rankings. Google recommends responsive web design because having a single URL for desktop and mobile sites makes it easier for Google to discover content and for Google’s algorithms, which are constantly changing, to assign indexing properties to content.
Responsive Design in the Future
Responsive design is still in its infancy, and the future looks extremely bright. All of our websites are responsive today, and our developers are exploring emerging areas of responsive design by testing a multitude of integrations that are now available.
As the internet transforms further into a platform of services and user interfaces that tie those services together, leveraging responsive design principals will allow companies to integrate a plethora of back-end services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Salesforce.com and Amazon Web Services, and then present the integrated data to users in an integrated manner. Expensive back-end solutions are no longer a requirement to integrate legacy systems with business partners.
One thing is certain, you don’t want to fall behind and watch your competitors launch responsive websites while yours is still stuck in 2012. The time to get responsive with your web design is now.
Looking for a DC WordPress development company? You have found the right WordPress development company! We are located in Georgetown Washington, DC. The WordPress developers at Bluetext are fun, energetic, and dedicated to the cause. There is a level of professionalism that comes with hiring us that you won’t get with any other Washington DC web development company. We love discovering new tools to help create the best sites for our clients. WordPress is currently one of the most popular CMS’s to have a site built on, and we understand why. In fact, we think so highly of WordPress that we have built our own website on it! It is a great resource for companies of all sizes. If you work with us keep in mind, throughout the development process we will offer WordPress training so you will be able to make any and all edits and you decide are necessary.
Our DC WordPress developers will work with you to build a new web presence that you can be proud of. We choose to work with WordPress because it allows our developers to have complete control over the layout of the site yet it is still easy for site administrators to make any and all edits to the page. Our Washington DC WordPress development company has built a reputation of excellence. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you improve your web presence. Throughout the entire process, we will work closely with you to build a top of the line, modern looking site that engages your audience and decreases bounce rates.
BENEFITS OF A SITE BUILT ON WORDPRESS
- We can help you improve your online presence with a custom built WordPress site through:
- Custom WordPress Plugins
- WordPress Training
- Extensive knowledge of WordPress themes
- Custom website development
- WordPress hosting advice
- Experienced WordPress team
- Top of the line features
- A passion for development
Discussions around the current state of public relations – relative to where the industry was five years ago – inevitably boil down to the slow but steady demise of print newspapers and magazines, or that an organization absolutely must use social media, infographics, Slideshare, and so on.
I think that all kind of misses the point. Sure, maybe there aren’t as many CMOs busting into the Executive Suite brandishing a copy of The New York Times with a feature on their company with the assumption it will vault sales, or the brand, into the stratosphere.
It’s more about, ok, so I have a piece of content here that could be valuable for my company – in this case it’s a news article but it just as well could be a case study, or research paper, product launch announcement or marketing campaign – and now I have to figure out how to fully leverage it. Could the content be multi-purposed into a lead gen white paper campaign or speaker series? Can I use the content to capture new leads through a dedicated e-mail or search marketing campaign? And if I do these things, is my website optimized in a way to fully capture these leads? Finally, do I have a way to get these leads to my sales team to translate the content into new business?
Moving beyond the content, there is also a breakdown of what had been considered traditional channels to distribute content and communicate with consumers, partners, and customers. The channel is really anywhere that these target audiences reside. It might be the website for an industry publication, a webinar audience or physical Conference, but it could just as easily be Kickstarter, YouTube or Pinterest.
That, to me, is a big part of where public relations currently resides. The need for an integrated perspective that governs individual initiatives for PR, branding, digital, creative, social, advertising is key to ensuring that public relations efforts do not simply wander from one announcement to the next. This isn’t to say that today’s PR firm has to offer every single service, or that there isn’t a critical role for PR specialists to play. But it does mean that these moving parts must communicate and align with one another, and my opinion is that PR firms moving the needle today are the ones who understand how to make the pieces work together for the benefit of the client.
Well, you’ve survived the Mayan Apocalypse, finished your last-minute holiday shopping (why shop if the world is ending?), and slept off the New Year’s Eve revelry. Today it’s back to work! What’s the first thing on your to-do list? Get smart on your digital marketing strategy!
Bluetext’s resident creative director and co-founding partner, Jason Siegel, has unveiled his 11 top digital marketing trends to watch in 2013. Take a look for a glimpse into the factors that will impact:
- Opportunities for cross-channel promotion
- Why your infographics aren’t getting the attention you think they deserve
- Maximizing paid online media
- Snackable content
- The evolution of live IP content
- How to best leverage geofencing
- And more!
We’re extremely excited for a big 2013 here at Bluetext! If you’d like to ask us any questions about these trends or how we can help with your digital marketing and strategic communications programs in the new year, please feel free to comment, contact us, or hit us up on Facebook and Twitter.
I recently gave a presentation to 50 CMOs of large enterprises about the changing landscape in digital marketing. A section on advanced search engine optimization drove especially strong engagement and curiosity from the smart crowd. Some key take-aways include:
1. ATTACK OF THE PENGUIN
Google’s algorithm has changed. If you are gaming anchor text and looking to replicate the same content and links on many niche sites, your site will be penalized. Inbound links are now measured by BOTH the relevancy of content on the page you are linked from, AND the relevancy of the site content and the niche site it focuses on.
2. THE HIDDEN GEMS
SPEED: Google loves speed more and more. How fast does your homepage and rest of your site load? Is your code as light and smart as it can be for your homepage? Will a few extra dollars with a CDN hosting strategy drive your SEO and quality traffic by exponential amounts?
SOCIAL SIGNALS: Sharing, liking, pining, tweets, etc. All these social signals are weighed positively by Google. Be smart about this in your template integration and information architecture.
3. MY NEIGHBOR IS WHO?!?!?!
Investigate if you have any questionable sites (i.e. gambling, porn SPAMengines, etc.) sharing infrastructure with you if you host in the cloud. This could hurt your SEO. A few smart questions to your host provider can go a long way.
4. BEING OLD IS GOOD FOR ROOKIES
Corporations looking to rebrand or look to brand new assets, products, or services should look to buying an aged domain. Age of domain has weight in SEO.
5. THE KING: Content. Content. Content.
Google’s optimizing to serve up fast, relevant and high quality content. More energy needs to go into editorial strategy or looking for angles, cutting corners and gaming. Make sure you look at keyword behavior, web analytics, email analytics and search behavior, and question all trends, to help inform all publishing decisions.
Many of our clients have been calling asking for recommendations on year-end projects to use on expiring budget. If you are in a similar situation and want to maximize your marketing investment, or looking to jumpstart 2013 planning, we thought it would make sense to send out some recommendations. All of these campaigns or concepts could be launched quickly and could help augment 2013 marketing efforts you already have planned this year.
- Build an infographic to effectively position your products or services for 2013
- Audit your website. Is it optimized for lead generation, search, and content marketing?
- Optimize your demand generation solution. Are you maximizing your Eloqua or Marketo platform?
- Optimize your mobile site, as stats are showing that nearly 50% of all web traffic is coming from mobile devices
- Launch a YouTube re-targeting advertising campaign promoting your videos
- Conduct a website analytics review with recommendations and next steps
Those are just some of the ideas we have been recommending. Got a question about optimizing your brand, website, or communications campaign? Give us a call…
Critical Elements to address when thinking about a re-brand?
- Do you really know the audience you want to influence with your brand and what they think of your company? If the answer is, “We think so but are not 100% sure or in agreement,” start with research into your customers and prospects to understand your brand starting point. Determine the channels they use to interact with your brand. Do they visit your site via a mobile device but you have not optimized for mobile?
- Don’t rebrand for the sake of re-branding. What are the corporate goals you are trying to accomplish? Are you launching a new product or service line? Have you slowly transformed your market but your current customer base does not know it? Do you need to energize your employee base?
- Analyze and agree upon your story and message. Many people can design a great logo, but it is the story behind the logo and brand initiative that is critical.
- Use the rebrand as your chance and excuse to re-introduce yourself to current customers.
- Think about all the brand elements to drive consistency. A new logo without a matching website experience, family of templates, new business cards, office signage, etc. can really fall flat. Make sure you design a corporate style guide that is strictly followed across the board, and can be expanded to business partners and other audiences.
- Start with your internal audience to roll it out. Your employees are your number one brand ambassadors. If they are excited about the brand and message you will immediately have a fleet of people ready to share it.
- Measure the impact of the rebrand. What are the key performance indicators you are measuring? Are you getting more meetings? Are you getting more website visitors? Is there a better understanding of your brand six months after launch? 12 months?
- Is your rebrand designed to scale as you enter new markets or expand with new products?
- Are there international considerations now or in the future related to your brand that you need to address?
- As you think about all of these, remember that planning is critical. A strongly mapped out strategy will get you the required results you desire for your brand.