Digital Influence Mapping Project

Future PR Skills 2008: Advanced Search Engine Optimization

 

As part of a series, I am exploring what skills the next communications professionals need to have in hand to succeed and lead. We once thought search engine optimization (SEO) was a technical, geek activity. Get the guys and gals who talk in 'algorithms' and meta-content together and they'll fix you up. Enter the social web. Now for all the reasons we know too well, SEO is a critical public relations function.

The reasons again:

• 80% of Internet users in developed markets start their online session at a search engine (In North America that is either Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL or Ask.com)
• Put another way: The Google search results page for your brand is your new home page
• Social media - blogs, reviews, Web 2.0 content, social networks - return really well in search engines
• Despite the algorithms behind the scenes, the key to great search results is great content that is socially connected
• SEO is more than technology and 'advanced SEO' is at the heart of brand and reputation management

I now love Tadeusz Szewczyk. His SEO blog is so simple and straightforward - no, not just the design, but his writing too. He defines very clearly a great definition for 'advanced SEO'

"In basic SEO you just want

• to rank
• get found
• or garner huge traffic.

In advanced SEO you make sure the traffic is viewed as people, customers, multipliers.

In SEO 2.0 people out there do not hate SEO, they don’t even notice it because it just perfectly fulfills their wishes. Advanced SEO is not about cool programming skills only, it’s about social skills."

The Future PR Pro has mastered the critical parts of advanced SEO:

• creating content that is authentically valuable to people (stakeholders, audiences, users, publics)
• syndicating, distributing and sharing content to encourage linking and mash-ups
• building partnerships to gain access to new networks
• creating multimedia content for universal search
• engaging with WOM 'relayers' to build more 3rd party content and links
• integrating SEO with SEM efforts for a complimentary 'boost'
• user experience design to ensure owned Web properties follow the prime directive: be useful and in sync with best-practice SEO design

Resources to help understand Search Engines and SEO:

How Search Works

• Google Guide
• Google Technology
• Search Engine Watch: How Search Engines Work
• Search Engine Land Guides
• Yahoo Ranking

How Search Works with Social Media

• Pandia The Year of Social Media and Search Engines
• Dominating with Social Networks
• Leveraging Social Media Sites for Search
• 10 Q's for David Sifry
• Top Web 2.0 Search Engines

The 11 Skills of the Public Relations Practitioner of the Future

The Army has their Soldier of the Future. Why shouldn't the communications (aka public relations) discipline have it's own model for the expert of the future? As marketing and communications continue to merge and change (and the post-industrial, corporate organizational forces that drove them apart continue to fade), as technology injects innovation and uncertainty into our lives, and the demands of increasingly global clients get more and more complex, today's PR professionals must evolve.

It's more than learning the significance of Twitter vs. Friend Feed. It's more than learning that long tail bloggers have different expectations & habits than journalists.

There is a full field of knowledge (things people "know") and skills (things people can "do") that must change to make PR pros relevant going into the next period of change. It still starts with the core attributes of The Trusted Advisor - that model defined by David Maister that remains as relevant today as when he first published it.

Now, the Communications professional must master knowedge in a number of areas and a new set of skills inclusive of new personal behaviors. (I don't want to get hung up in nomenclature but the term "communications" may be a more forgiving and forward thinking term than "public relations." We tend to think of them as synonyms but the latter comes with a lot of earned and unearned reputation 'baggage')

Knowledge

• Communications Strategy & Planning
• Integrated Marketing including Digital Marketing & Word of Mouth Marketing
• Basics of Paid Media Planning & Buying
• Digital Influence
• Change Management
• Marcom Measurement Standards
• Basic Psychology
• Best Practice Research Approaches
• New Media Relations
• Creative & User Experience Design that Activates

Skills

1. Create an integrated marketing and communications strategy
2. Deploy live 'listening posts' online and offline
3. Design and deploy an advanced search engine optimization program
4. Plan and run a new media relations program inclusive of head-of-the-tail and long tail "media"
5. Identify & engage with influencers online and offline
6. Manage communities
7. Integrate new technologies into their own lives
8. Model measurement and performance metrics including new "engagement" metrics
9. Run quick pilot programs  and evaluate on-the-fly
10. Train staff and clients continuously
11. (What am I leaving out)?

Clearly this is an incomplete list. What else should be on here?

(thanks to Force of Operations for the awesome illustration)

Links for Listening

  I had the great opportunity to speak at the SilverDocs Film Festival today to a roomful of documentary filmmakers. Each is trying to build their brand for their films and for themselves. Our session was called "Brand You" which tells you a lot of what we were trying to accomplish.

Amy Eisman and David Johnson from American University were on my panel. Great ideas. The territory we covered can be summarized by:

• Social: go deep in social media to truly engage people - ZeFrank, EpicFu, Neil Gaiman, CutLab
• Search: do everything to command right serach results from site design to social and more
• Site Design: usability and social features matter

To offer filmmakers some valuable research and listening resources we use everyday, I am publishing a list that our crack 360 Digital Influence  team has put together:

BLOG & MICROBLOGGING SEARCH ENGINES
Tool	URL	Tips
TECHNORATI Search	http://s.technorati.com	This is technorati's new search interface. You can use it to find top blogs based upon inbound links only.
TECHNORATI Advanced	http://www.technorati.com/search?advanced	The advanced search page allows you to search for blogs (rather than posts) based on tags.
GOOGLE BLOGS	http://blogsearch.google.com	Search Google's index of blog posts. The advanced search tab allows you to search based on additional criteria.
TWEET CLOUD	http://tweetscan.com/	Search public tweets for keywords and phrases.
TRENDPEDIA	http://www.trendpedia.com/	Create charts showing the volume of discussion around multiple topics. Generates cool graphs.
BLOG PULSE	http://www.blogpulse.com	Search for blog posts by keyword. Developed by Nielsen BuzzMetrics.
ICEROCKET	http://www.icerocket.com/index	Another blog search engine. You can also search MySpace content.
BLOGSCOPE	http://www.blogscope.net	Search 24 million blogs. Has several great features, including volume charting, related terms and geographical search.
BUZZ CHARTING
Tool	URL	Tips
BLOGPULSE TRENDS	http://blogpulse.com/trend	Compare the mentions of specific keywords and phrases in blog posts (GMAT vs. LSAT)
OMGILI CHARTS	http://buzz.omgili.com/graphs.html	Omgili Buzz Graphs let you measure and compare the Buzz of any term. Mostly from review sites/forums.
MULTIMEDIA SEARCH
Tool	URL	Tips
YOUTUBE	http://www.youtube.com	Search for videos and channels by keyword.
METACAFE	http://www.metacafe.com	High-traffic video search engine.
FLICKR	http://flickr.com/search/advanced	Search Flickr for photos, groups or people/users.
VIRAL VIDEO CHART	http://www.viralvideochart.com	Displays top 20 most-viewed video (1, 7, 365 days). Includes view counts and charting.
TRUVEO	http://www.truveo.com	Aggregate video search engine. Search videos from YouTube, MySpace, and AOL.
BLINKX	http://www.blinkx.com	Blinkx indexes and searches videos, podcasts and video blogs. Searches content of the video.
PICSEARCH	http://www.picsearch.com	Image search engine.
VTAP	http://www.vtap.com	Beta video search engine. Create feeds delivered to mobile devices.
FORUMS & MESSAGE BOARDS
Tool	URL	Tips
BOARD READER	http://www.boardreader.com	Search multiple message boards and forums. Sources are sometimes questionable.
BOARD TRACKER	http://www.boardtracker.com	Searches more than 37,000 message boards and forums. Similar to board reader.
OMGILI	http://www.omgili.com	Vertical search engine that focuses on "many to many" review platforms, such as, forums, discussion groups, answer boards and others.
GOOGLE GROUPS	http://groups.google.com	Searches usenet groups.
YAHOO! GROUPS	http://groups.yahoo.com	Searches all Yahoo! Groups.
INBOUND LINKS
Tool	URL	Tips
TECHNORATI	http://www.technorati.com	Enter in the URL to see how many POSTS link to a site/Web page.
GOOGLE ADVANCED	http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en	Use this search to find out what Web pages link to a site/pag - this includes both blogs and traditional sites.
KARTOO	http://www.kartoo.com/flash04.php3	Visual display for inbound links.
SOCIAL METER	http://www.socialmeter.com	Counts inbound links from several sources.
WEB SITE TRAFFIC
Tool	URL	Tips
COMPETE	http://www.compete.com	Estimates only of monthly visitor data. Best used on large high-traffic Web sites.
QUANTCAST	http://www.quantcast.com	Estimates only of monthly visitor data. Allows you to compare multiple Web sites in one chart. Best used on large high-traffic Web sites.
ALEXA	http://www.alexa.com	Comparative traffic graphs. Includes estimated reach, rank and page views.
BLOGFLUX PAGE RANK	http://pr.blogflux.com/index2.php	Tells you Google Page Rank for a web page. Best to use to compare top sites.
SEARCH DATA
Tool	URL	Tips
GOOGLE TRENDS	http://trends.google.com	Allows you to search trends and see search volume by country and region.
WORDTRACKER	http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com	Enter a keyword or phrase and will display average daily search volume.
YAHOO KEYWORD TOOL	http://inventory.overture.com	Displays previous month's search volumes for specific keywords and phrases.
FACEBOOK LEXICON	http://www.facebook.com/lexicon/	Displays volume of wall postings for specific term(s).  Similar to Google Trends.  Not great with obscure terms.
GOOGLE KEYWD TOOL	https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal	Get ideas for related keywords and search volumes.

A Unique Way to Get the WOM Manual Volume II

Dave Balter and I serve on the board of WOMMA. He runs a company called BzzAgent which you have probably heard of if you are in the marketing business (or if you are a BzzAgent). We actually have a partnership with BzzAgent because we believe in the value of their business for our clients and have run several very successful agent-based word of mouth campaigns.

But back to Dave. Before I knew him, I read his first book, Grapevine: The New Art of Word of Mouth Marketing. And while I knew he was using the book to make a case for his company, it was a really smart assessment of the power of WOM and his experiences making BzzAgent work. It remains a solid business book.

Dave has a new book - The Word of Mouth Manual Volume II. I read it this weekend in my backyard. And I can heartily endorse it. I will tell you why in a second so you can be your own judge.

But before I do, I want to give you the opportunity to download the pdf of the entire book for free by CLICKING HERE.

Of course you can buy the self-published book via Amazon where for $45 you will also get a signed piece of artwork. While I enjoy Seth B. Minkin's illustration (awesome Monkey!), I am more interested in more people reading the book. Here's why:

1. Dave is a practitioner, not a pundit. He speaks from deploying WOM programs via BzzAgent and examining programs from our WOM colleagues around the world. He offers insight from his professional experience ( while also being a human being about it thus the references to Weezer and "the Dude")

2. He offers practical knowledge like why post-purchase is the best time to share and that the third-person stories following a product experience become essential first-person narratives (Chapter 4).

3. He acknowledges the importance of measurement and offers a model. His first few paragraphs in Chapter 5 were channeling the exact points I have been making with clients throughout the year: study after study proves the overall strength of WOM, Brand marketers need a way to valuate it and compare to other marketing choices, and that we in the WOM business are being held to a higher standard of measurment than our advertising brothers and sisters. He goes on to propose a model which I plan to challenge in a later post but it is well worth our consideration. 

4. The book starts with recent insights and then goes back to cover some basics. This makes it instantly relevant to experienced WOM practitioners and those just starting their exploration of WOM.

5. There are lots of real world examples and not just the big guys - iPhone and TIVO. Brands like American Express and Lacoste and a myriad of pop culture examples abound to make relevant points.

6. Yes, the book supports the choices Dave has made with his business, BzzAgent, but what I like about his accounts is they remain relevant to much of the larger arena of WOM. 

7. We will recommend this book to all of our colleagues within Ogilvy and we don't take the use of their time lightly.

Pass it along.

NetVibes for Marketers

Michael Cohen from Netvibes presented the basics of the customizable interface for the Netvibes service. He is talking to a room full of CRM marketers for a major CPG (consumer packaged goods) in Barcelona. They all want to know how they can brand widegts and pages within the service and then count the hell out of everything. CRM folks are data geeks, data junkies, Ninjas of ROI.

So netvibes remains a small enterprise - 39 employees in Paris - with a deceptively prolific developer core - currently there are over 120,000 widgets created by more than 700 developers. They have 60 million pages created but then comes the kicker that they are trying to remedy: most users are not registered and rely on cookies-only to maintain page-state. They recently released 'Ginger' which prompts you to upgrade (and register). But as an avid Netvibes fan and user, I have't upgraded yet, myself. (Ginger offers a bit of a social network that allows people to "push" changes to their subscribed users - think Facebook.)

Brands can work 2 ways: Premium Universes
There are two ways that brands can "use' Netvibes. The first is to create  a "premium universe" - a branded page that collects widgets together in a private-labeled user experience. If you were Marshalls (disclosure: client of Ogilvy), you might assemble a bunch of bargain hunter widgets - store locator map, Web site homepage, trendspotter blog feeds and more. Anything with an RSS feed or HTML can be embedded in a widget. You market that as a custom url to your customers as an added service (and Google food).

Michael showed examples where Figaro and Tagged have embedded NetVibes customized 'start pages" in their services. He, of course, then demonstrated our client's branded start page. The moment of truth happens when the brand realizes that the user can combine their brand with any other widget content from the library (competing branded content, non complimentary content, etc...).

Widgets
The other way to make use of Netvibes is to create widgets and place them in their library (dollars for premium placement).  1000 brands have created widgets. they come in 76 languages from 69 countries. In this mode, you are leveraging (I said the "L" word) Netvibes user base which they don't know enough about to satisfy even the least disciplined marketer (never mind the CRM folks). For the few that are registered, they know age, gender and town. They could do more but they respect their users privacy.

They have a very versatile approach to widget compatibility (not in the OpenSocial sense). Netvibes Widget Platform (Universal Widget API - UWA) makes widget sportable across OS, device and browser platforms.

Brands track number of downloads and can use their own tracking (like a special Feeburner feed). Netvibes is working on reporting "canceling" or dropping the widget. They have their own CPC-like model = "Cost per installation" (CPI).

He showed examples from NYTimes and CBS (CSI Video widget).

Michael had some good one-liners:

• "The user is your best friend to distribute the brand" - speaking to letting users spread your widget
• "The brand as a service provider" - this is the new mantra from marketers who know that product brands have to think differently now to build stronger relationships with theihr customers. they have to think like service providers.
• "Really Sexy Syndication" - they are enthusiastic about RSS

I love Netvibes

Netvibes has put togther a very useful platform for brands. On the widget side of their business, until they convert more users to registered users, they will attract brands looking to reach the great unwashed (young tech males?). The premium universe offering is a great user experience but relys on the brands existing marketing strategies to drive awareness and usage. Also, it is at the end o fthe day a supercool portal concept. Brands have been trying to capture the start page of their customers for years (most rightly gave up). How many people need a widgetized portal from their favorite soap brand? Still for the right product and service, it is a great solution (slam dunk for any major media company).

The Open Room from Singapore

We have a great Digital Influence team in Singapore. Smart people working with some of the best brands in the world. The team launched a blog a couple of months back and they also launched an idea called the Open Room. It's a meeting place for those neck deep in social media and marketers. Not too much structure - just enough to have a conversation or a meet up.

They have posted a terrific video with sound bites from noteworthy digital leaders from SG:

The Learning, Teaching, Doing Continuum

In marketing, communications and the integration of social media in each, there are practitioners and there are pundits. There are practitioners who are in a constant state of growth from learning and teaching. There are also analysts who fall somewhere in between. They are also in the learning-teaching practice as they try to make useful sense of what is happening in the market.

I was reminded of this recently by a simple post from Seth Godin on How to Read a Business Book. I aspire to read lots of books - business, marketing, fiction and the occaisional left-field of my interests. I cannot read or consume them all as swiftly as I would like and have a considerable backlog. (Reading "Leading for Growth" by Ray Davis/Umpqua Bank now.) But Seth's post reminds me that me drive to "consume" them may not be the best use of the time. How will I pass along what I learn from the reading? How will I find the useful, actionable gems available in almost every book (or any life experience)?

He suggests that I dive into the next book in a different way:

"1. Decide, before you start, that you’re going to change three things about what you do all day at work. Then, as you’re reading, find the three things and do it. The goal of the reading, then, isn’t to persuade you to change, it’s to help you choose what to change.

2. If you’re going to invest a valuable asset (like time), go ahead and make it productive. Use a postit or two, or some index cards or a highlighter. Not to write down stuff so you can forget it later, but to create marching orders....

3. It’s not about you, it’s about the next person. The single best use of a business book is to help someone else. Sharing what you read, handing the book to a person who needs it... pushing those around you to get in sync and to take action..."

Read with the intent to get something out of it - something you can pass along to be of service to your peers. There is a discipline in living in a constant state of growth and learning. I have found that teaching is part of that discipline, as is actually "doing." Even our team - 360° Digital Influence, the social media, word of mouth team - has adopted a constant learn/teach/do discipline to be as sharp as possible about what we do for clients. We have developed a curriculum for new recruits and clients that pass along the best practices that we have learned from actually planning and implementing word of mouth marketing. The process of actually building that curriculum which everybody on the team has participated in helps us all learn as we are forced to communicate information and experience.

We don't pretend to know everything.We do believe that living in a culture of learn/teach/do makes us more valuable to our clients (and to each other). Seth's approach to book reading captures that spirit beautifully.

Stories at the Personality Project

One of my favorite "features" of Rohit's new book, Personality Not Included, is a related Web site he created, The Personality Project. I, along with lots of more luminous luminaries are featured there talking about the importance of personality in marketing. each does it with perosnal stories and examples from their business or their lives. The great thing in most is that there is not a huge division between their POVs as business leaders and their own personaloutlooks on life.

My story is very personal and includes Air Canada. You will find many other stories from the likes of Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com. I had the chance to see Tony speak at Community 2.0 this past week. He told the story behind Zappos. At times, it sounded like he aspired to be Amazon (the epitome of customer service, selling everything not just shoes), but he revealed that personality is a big part of their story. You can read his Personality Project post here. I love that his staff will check three competeing web sites to find something for a customer if they, themselves, do not have it and then will drive that customer to a competitor.

Tony, a serial entrepeneur at a disgustingly young age, is serious about the Zappos culture. 'Culture' is the whole point of my post. Culture is real and organic. It is a value system that lets people be themselves (yes, they must share some of teh values to fit in, but unlike our families, we "choose" our job, and can move to one that aligns with enough of our values). Culture promotes someone at Zappos to go the extra 10 miles for a customer not just because it feelsl good but because customer retention is key to profits and to outbound word of mouth.

So, I love The Personality Project because of all of the original stories from a collection of not-the-usual personalities. And I also love it as a great example of what I will now call "transmedia" - a term that first noticed last week in an article (where was that article?) about the new generation of Hollywood science fiction geeks - the creators of Lost, Heroes, Battlestar Gallactica. These followers of Joss Whedon are super sharp about extending the experience of their stories and characters into different mediums without resorting to indiscriminate license deals. No lunchboxes. They only do what will extend the story. That is what Rohit has done with the Personality Project. It complements the book but takes it further in a new direction (not to mention that it's a great way to invite people in to whitewash the fence with you a la Tom Sawyer).

There are a hundred slots. Let's see who shows up next. 

Marketing: War Metaphors Should Surrender to Community Development Metaphors

Many of us complain about the use of war metaphors in marketing: target audiences, campaigns, strategy & tactics, KPIs (not sure this is really a war thing it just sounds like KIAs). We really attack our problems. We report out campaign success with McNamara-like data devoid of much humanity. Try as I might, I always come back to calling people like myself "target audiences." I do it so the different marketing teams that I work with will know what I am talking about. The war college vocabulary is that ingrained.

We need a new model that we can teach at B-school and start using in the marketplace. I don't have the ultimate right answer but I think it has something to do with community development.

I don't mean community online. I mean like urban, suburban and rural community development. I remember designing a town in 5th grade complete with streets, buildings for government and businesses. You know - ice cream cone shaped ice cream stores, schools that looked more like amusement parks (I remember one boy designed a strip joint into his town that looked like a pair of breasts - 5th grade!). Anyhow, the ideas behind designing communities are very positive and appealing on some level.

The Ol' In-and-Out vs. a Committed Effort
Campaigns come and go. We dial them up and then close them out. We always "win" in marketing campaigns as we cannot admit defeat. Community development is a long term play. When we think about how to design and support a community, we spend time observing what's important to the people in that community - what are they talking about, where do they spend their time, what are their shared values.

We design to bring value to their lives, sometimes to make their lives easier. We try things that may serve the people. What if we add a community center with a gym since the schools sports programs are underfunded? If we insert a road here will it spark more commerce between neighborhood A and B?

What is the language of community development? I am no expert despite my fascination. I would guess we talk about "the public," community groups and citizens. We talk about community enhancements, projects and initiatives.

If the ultimate goal is selling ("We sell or else!"), does selling have to be such a conquest? Can it be not just a transaction but part of a relationship, a long term commitment to build up communities?

Links of use:

• What are KPIs
• Eric Petersen's Great Book on KPIs
• The Dashboard Spy
• Peace Magazine - History of Military Metaphors

(Photo CC from AtomicShed)

Social Media at Verge Toronto

I spoke about Word of Mouth Marketing at this year's Verge Toronto - Ogilvy's digital confab for clients (thanks to Guy!). Paul Beck, Digital Strategist at Ogilvy and all around smart evangelist, delivered a great snapshot of innovative digital programs - many of them anchored in social media - in the B2B and B2C space. He has been a tremendous ally within Ogilvy from the advertising side and is pushing some terrific "social" programs with clients like American Express.

I shared about choosing a new coffee making solution (thanks Gerry!).

Paul shared about his "Cell Phone Experience." Paul dropped his phone in a puddle. He went online to research the right replacement. He started at Google (only customer acquisition links there), to Technorati, to YouTube. He bought the LG Envy based upon cgm videos and positive mentions from "strangers with experience." He wanted to do what many of us want to do now - hear what others have to say about their exeprience with the product. 

This category - "Strangers with Experience" - has grown as a source for product referral more than any other source from 1997-2007. This starts to speak to the idea of who we find influential amongst people we do not directly know.

Paul has a very clear and strong POV about transforming the marketing process. He describes this as "Flipping the Long Tail." It's simple really. Find and connect with your advocates and fans, engage with them, amplify what they say or do and then market around that to ultimately reach a mass audience.  This is the true promise behind word of mouth programs.

Paul's 3 point program
1. Listening as a disciplined marketing practice: Don't listen once. Don't just do focus groups. Make listening a fundamental and ongoing practice.

2. Advocacy as a deliberate marketing channel: Don't just tack on a WOMM program. Make it core and make the discipline of making it work central to your team.

3. Unlock and unleash the content: Once you have engaged consumers to create cgm - work it, merchandise it, get it into search engines

Cardmembersvoice.com
He shared a great program he leads with American Express which just launched. Cardmembersvoice.com asks members for their input and feedback. Using our 'Voice of the Customer' platform, they solicit ideas and report back to customers what they may do with that good thinking. I know this was a journey of internal evangelism and education to get to this point. It's a great program and reflective of what experts like Paul - real practitioners, not pundits - can do to transform marketing.

My favorite Paul quotes from his session:
"Open source problem solving - don't ask broad questions - invite them to help solve a specific problem."

"Community is not a place. It is a shared set of values"

He also left the audience with four related imperatives:

• try it
• experiment now
• it does not have to be pristine
• learning will lead the way