Web Traffic Super Spikes
Hypothetical In Person Questionnaire
How many of us want to increase traffic to our websites?
>> Everyone raises their hand!
How many use one of the following: social bookmarking, blogging, search engine optimization, article marketing?
>> Again, everyone raises their hand and nods their head to affirm
How many really understand the true nature of web-based traffic?
>> Some hands raised, some people look to the ceiling as their mind dissects the question, and some people just have no clue.
Understanding the web’s inherent nature
Physorg published an article today suggesting that two electrical engineers have found the answer. Read more
You proved your business idea - now what!?
Milestone month!
During the last month, my business partner and I conducted interviews, obtained feedback, incorporated the feedback into our product, and signed the company’s first paying subscribers. It has, in short, been a momentous month, one that has infused both of us with a sense of optimism.
I attribute our modest success to three things: (1) insights into an opportunity born from efforts tangential to our first, and ultimately failed offering, (2) feedback from industry experts who have been generous enough to improve upon our insights, and (3) our rapid incorporation of feedback into our product.
Read more
S(M-cubed): Social Media Marketing Metrics -
Metrics, Metrics, Everywhere, But Which to Use?
MarketingCharts has a good write up on a report issued by Paul Gillin, author of The New Influences. The good news for Social Media Marketers is that SMM tools continue to see strong adoption, with blogs and online video leading the pack. The bad news, however, is that there is little consensus on how to best measure their effectiveness, the absence of which makes calculating consistent, reliable ROI numbers impossible. Rather than questioning whether social media lacks strong metrics, I think we should rephrase the question, beginning with What are my organization’s goals with SMM campaigns? Defining campaign goals upfront can provide the framework needed to effectively measure SMM.
Why Are Organizations Employing Social Media?
*graph is from the report
More Valuable Than Gold: SMM & Buyer Desire
“Rivers of Revenue” is one of the many books I keep on my bookshelf. I highly recommend it. In Chapter 3, Kristin Zhivago writes about tapping into buyer desire through customer interviews. In the current marketing environment, the growing adoption of blogs and social media tools make this easier and more effective than ever before. Through Technorati, BlogCatalog, and Google BlogSearch you can identify bloggers within your target market, and by commenting on these blogs, by truly adding to the conversation, you can overtime, obtain valuable “buyer-centric” feedback.
Let’s review a few of the reasons Zhivago outlines for conducting customer interviews and frame them in social media marketing terms.
“(Interviews) Are your best source of information”
If you have immersed yourself in business blogging or other social media tools like Twitter, your readers and fellow bloggers (those where you regularly comment on) are indeed your best sources of information. By actively engaging, reading, and writing on subjects similar to your business, they are in a position to provide you with feedback and, if your product/service is good enough, generate buzz by recommending it to their readers. Read more
Business Blogging - A $13,000 Investment.
Time, The Key Issue in Social Media Marketing (SMM).
Last month in her book review of Now is Gone, But It’s Not Too Late, Brandy Cummings wrote about SMM resource requirements. While I have not read the book yet, is has most certainly been added to my reading list.
The major resource that will need to be tapped in order to be successful with new media is time. This is something that I have said often before. Livingston suggests that a small business should be able to dedicate 8-10 hours a week to their blog or other social network activity. That is the minimum that you will need to be able to develop quality content and make quality contributions to your community. If you can afford that, you can afford to start your new media efforts.
An Approximation of SMM Costs
If as a small business you do engage social media and do follow the resource allocation Livingston suggests, you would have to contribute about 520 man-hours over the course of the year. Read more
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About
My name is Arpan and this is my blog! I'll be writing about things I find interesting, and hopefully some stuff that you might too. Some posts are intentionally controversial and are intended to provoke discussion. Don't be shy!
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