Google Plus Sites Showing up in Search

Well, it didn't take long! As I predicted, having a Google Plus site for your business can help your Google Search results. So far, it doesn't seem to affect your ranking (see Todd Wasserman's Mashable story today here) but it definitely will enhance the results for your business. Mashable gives several great examples showing Toyota and AT&T getting results that include pieces of their Google+ pages right in the search results. Here's a quote I found intriguing:


"For Mattick, integrating G+ brand page information into search results is an obvious enticement for brands to join and be active on Google+." Google's folks say your Google+ page results could show up if your are eligible for their Direct Connect program. Learn more about Direct Connect here. With almost 2/3 of all searches taking place on Google, this is a powerful tool for marketers. It is also an evolving situation, so stay tuned.

New Book!

I've just published a brief guide for businesses on how to use social media called Social Media Rules of Engagement for Businesses. Check it out on Lulu!

No ROI in Social Media?

"Marketing, including social media marketing, is about efficiency. Marketing is a process of decreasing the time, money, and resources required to communicate with customers and make it easy for them to buy products and services.

The more efficient your marketing is, the more profit you make. That’s what you want to optimize for."

Thanks to Jim Kukral, I was able to appreciate this very interesting post (http://linkd.in/vbWRqb) entitled "There is No ROI in Social Media Marketing." Interesting point of view and one, I thought, that made a lot of sense. Like many experienced marketers, I've been in the situation where the organization I was working for constantly bounced from idea to idea looking for the shiny stuff. Chasing an elusive ROI with efforts that are easily distracted by the next new thing is probably the norm rather than the exception.

I like Sean Jackson's point that marketing is about profit, and efficiency, and not really about ROI. After all, I can generate lots of income with advertising but if it's the wrong kind of income, then I haven't done my client any good at all. What's the wrong kind of income? Loss leaders, for one. If I am selling lots of widgets at less than cost then there's no profit margin. That's an unsustainable model.

The other point I liked was this concept of "digital sharecropping;" that is, trying to do business using social media platforms rather than using them for what they were intended for - developing relationships. Do take a few minutes to read the blog, it is entertaining and informative. And then I'd like to hear your comments.

Holiday hype or economic boon?

I'll sound like my parents, but Christmas is coming earlier every year. The amazing thing is that my kids are starting to notice and object to that, too. Yesterday (the day before Thanksgiving) one of my kids was hauling the holiday decorations down from the attic. I thought his complaint had to do with the labor, but it wasn't. He was unhappy that we had not even had our Thanksgiving meal yet and we were already looking planning for Christmas.

That got me thinking. As marketers and merchants push the holidays ever closer to summer, do we risk a backlash at some point? One of my astute kids pointed out that an ad on TV for a car manufacturer was reminding viewers that their winter sale was almost over - but that we have not yet even reached winter yet (by way of the calendar, anyway).

I know the economic rationale for pushing the products earlier - maybe people will shop a little longer and buy a little more if they see it in October. Maybe we can stretch the holiday shopping season by another couple of weeks and increase profits.

But at what point do we push that too far? I am not sure that we do, but the thought of year-round holiday sales events is a little weird.

I am interested in your thoughts and when you think we will have gone to far!

Plus Up Your Business

Google+ for business has been around just a few days, but already the early adopters are aggressively using it to assist with their online marketing strategies. Many of the influencers in the industry are suggesting that having a Google+ page will help you with your search engine results. Why? Because it legitimizes your business in the eyes of Google, for one thing. You will have established yourself as a real entity with some degree of authority around the topic of your + Page. Jay Berkowitz of Ten Golden Rules suggested today in a webinar on the topic that early adopters will also have the advantage of being connected to other leaders in various industries because the field is just less crowded right now and you have a better chance of standing out.

I launched my Google+ business page a few days ago and I have been tweaking it and adding to it along the way. It is a simple process that takes less than 30 minutes to get launched. I recommend your business, or your clients, begin working on your Google+ page as soon as you can. It's another opportunity to be noticed on the internet and to influence search engine results.

Marketing Currents: Another Brand Bites the Dust

Marketing Currents: Another Brand Bites the Dust: I grew up in South Jersey watching Penn State and Joe Paterno throughout my childhood. He was an icon of dignity and class and, for me, rep...

Another Brand Bites the Dust

I grew up in South Jersey watching Penn State and Joe Paterno throughout my childhood. He was an icon of dignity and class and, for me, represented what was still good and pure about college football. The events of the past several days have brought a sudden and ugly end to that reputation. I'm saddened by that, especially for Joe Paterno and the young men he influenced over the years. I don't think Joe is a bad guy, but he clearly didn't do everything he could have to protect the young men exposed to danger. I am furious for those young men, and heartbroken at what they endured.

There is a marketing point here. Brands, no matter how shiny, can be tarnished in mere moments. Penn State's brand is certainly dinged up a bunch right now, and Paterno's brand is in bad shape. Can they recover? Of course they can. Tylenol did. BP is doing it. Toyota has managed it, Exxon did. Bill Clinton is a highly-sought-after speaker and best-selling author despite his antics in the White House and being the only modern president ever impeached.

As a marketer, I am extremely cautious about aligning my client's brand with an individual spokesperson. Celebrities and athletes can be wonderful spokespeople, but they can also behave badly and take your brand with them. Even CEO's can get into trouble and damage the brand.

It's impossible to predict when your brand will suffer because of the bad actions of one of your employees or a spokesperson. Your best defense is a complete crisis communications plan with an identified process for dealing with any situation. If you don't have one of those, I would be happy to help you put one together. Please contact me at Kim@DeppeCommunications.com

Have you heard about Facebook Edge Rank?

First there was the Google Page Rank, which indexed your website based on a series of factors that essentially determine how important your site is compared to others. On the 1 to 10 scale, Google ranks a 9 or a 10 (depending on who you talk to). Amazon is right up there, as is Facebook. A few weeks ago, folks started to talk about your Klout rating. This is a number that determines how influential YOU are among the people you interact with. Now, I'm reading about Facebook's Edge Rank, an index that determines which of your "friends'" posts you see and which of them see your posts. (Here's a great article that gives a good explanation: http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/7885-edgerank-the-most-important-algorithm-you-ve-never-heard-of)

So, as marketers we are challenged with an ever-changing series of factors that determine how we place our advertising, what content we should develop and how and where to place it. My dashboard is getting busier and bigger as I try to keep ahead of the latest way to measure me, my business, and my influence in the digital world.

The power of SEO

There's a great article on searchengineland.com today (http://searchengineland.com/seo-beats-ppc-social-media-for-generating-leads-99064) that indicates marketers are seeing the power of SEO. What's interesting to me is that while marketers who were part of the study said they felt like SEO was producing more leads, they are still planning to expand their spending on social media and SEM. That may be because they are shifting resources from traditional media to online media, but it also may be because it is easier to track and, therefore, justify those expenses. SEO takes a lot of time and it's a continuous process. Running banner ads is a lot less labor-intensive even if it is becoming less and less effective.

I see the cost increases on social media restricting some of that investment in the near future, but that is reflective of the results people are seeing, too.

How to invent, internet style

A few weeks back, I attended a banking conference in Chicago and had the good fortune to go to a session where I learned about Quirky.com. This is a very cool site on so many levels, but it says something to me about where we are going vis-a-vis product development and marketing. At Quirky, inventors or people with a great idea pitch their ideas. They are asked to write a brief summary of the idea, attach a sketch or photo, and pitch it to the others who frequent the Quirky site as well as market it to their friends on Facebook and Twitter. The idea is out there for comment and voting and the staff at Quirky will also review it. If the idea is chosen, crowd sourcing is used for refining and developing the idea further and judging its marketability. If it selected to go further, Quirky puts the idea out for pre-orders and, if enough are sold, then it goes into production and distribution. The coolest part is that everyone who "influences" or plays a part in the final product receives a percentage of the profits from the sales. If you influenced 5% of the final product, then you get 5% of the profits, in perpetuity.

Crowd sourcing as a model for marketing intrigues me. I'm fascinated by the Quirky model and, in fact, am using it to pitch an idea I had of my own - what I call a Patient Poncho (vote for it here: http://www.quirky.com/ideations/125855). I will be watching to see how the crowd sourcing model might be applied to marketing strategy in the near future. And, hoping that my cool idea gets chosen!

The Changing Consumer

I've had the good fortune to be part of the Marketing and PR professional community since the early 1980's. Back then, only the most forward-thinking companies were dabbling in computers. Most folks were dazzled by the "word processors" that eliminated the need for carbon paper and re-typing. Secretaries (you may remember those) were thrilled.

My first computer had no hard drive, just two floppy disk drives (the big ones that really were floppy!) and I had to switch disks back and forth to load programs and then save them. The screen was an eye-killing amber and I was ecstatic to be one of the few to have one.

Consumers were discovering CD's and walkmans and stereo TV. We reached them through broadcast and print media and direct mail. It was a very one-sided kind of marketing where you cast your net based on some generic demographic data. The only way you knew if you reached your potential customer was if they actually walked through the door and told you so, or happened to answer a telephone survey.

Fast forward 30 years or so and consumers are in a totally different position. They are managing the flow of information they get from advertisers. They decide where, when, how and IF they will receive messages. Traditional media still has its uses but the days of placing an ad in a newspaper to advertise a sale are over.

Today we have to track down the consumer and we must entice her to read, hear or watch our message. We have to understand what motivates her, how busy she is, and we need to know a lot about her. Fortunately, we have loads of data available to tell us that but, frankly, I am a little wary about how long that particular gravy train will be around for us to use. I wonder if consumers will get a little weary of marketers knowing everything about them. It wouldn't take much for them to start shutting the windows we have into their lives.

Of course, we won't go back to the stone age of the 1980s marketing tactics. But the plethora of messaging has its drawbacks. By one estimate, every consumer sees upwards of 5,000 messages daily. Some people put it at much more than that, but it is clear that communication overload is part of our lives. How long will we stand for that? I don't know, but I do think that while today's 20-something has less of an expectation of privacy than the over-50 crowd, I believe there may come a moment when that window does indeed start slamming down on our fingers.

So what will we do then?

Wow, I've just started my own Marketing firm! This will be an adventure, and I look forward to sharing the ups and downs on my blog. When I discovered that my nice, safe corporate job was gone, I decided right away that I would follow my long-held secret wish to create my own future. So, I launched Deppe Communications that very day. Within hours, I had reached out to a number of colleagues to ask for their help. It's amazing, but when you ask people for help they are incredibly responsive!

I have made appointments with a number of people whose opinions I trust and value. I am asking for guidance on starting a business, but also for referrals. By day two, I had my first client! Today is Day 3 of being on my own and I am getting ready to dig in to my first job. I have appointments scheduled for the next two weeks, and I am excited about this opportunity.

This blog will be my way of sharing what I learn and what I know about Marketing. There are so many small businesses out there that cannot afford to hire a marketing person, but need someone to guide them as they work to grow their business. That's my niche. I can provide years of expertise gained at large corporations where I managed all the marketing, PR and communications functions including websites. My specialties are branding and integrated marketing.

I am looking for referrals so if you know of someone who could benefit from 30 years of marketing expertise, I'd appreciate it if you would recommend me, or Email me the referral at kdeppe@comcast.net.

Today's Tip: Keep your website fresh. Make sure you are updating the content at least once a week. Add pictures when you can, but make sure to tag them with a description so the web crawlers will "see" them.

What's Your UVP?

Every organizations I've ever worked for has pretty much had the same Vision statement and it goes something like this:
"We will be the premier (insert industry here) in the region, with the highest level of customer service possible."

Blah. Boring, and useless, if you are really trying to create a vision. How can employees see themselves in that? Lots of companies "strive for excellence" but every time I hear that phrase I think of Yoda ' "Try not. Do, or do not."

Your vision statement really needs to reflect your Unique Value Proposition - your UVP - because otherwise it is just another collection of fancy words. The UVP defines not only who you are as an organization, but what benefit you bring to your customers that they can't get anywhere else. Your UVP should be completely understood by all employees so that they can verbalize to your customers. It should be the underpinning for your entire marketing strategy, as well.

How do you find your UVP? For heaven's sake, don't ask your employees. They will have all kinds of ideas that sound reasonable but probably don't reflect your UVP. Instead, ask your customers. Ask the customers who left you, and the ones who aren't your customers. Ask why they chose you - or why they didn't. Ask them what it is about your company that makes you different. Ask a lot of them and write down their answers. If you are getting a lot of different answers that will tell you that your brand is not well established in the minds of your customers. It may tell you that your company hasn't distinguished itself yet as having a UVP. Either way, it indicates you have work to do in clarifying that vision.

If you are getting consistent answers, that tells you that your brand is understood. You may not be happy with what the brand is, but at least you know where you are starting from. If the results don't define your company in the same way you do, then you will need to do some gap analysis and figure out how to get there.

Your UVP is out there, somewhere. Finding it is your first step but then you must refine it and make it the basis of all you do whether that's writing a new Vision statement or creating a new ad campaign. Until you know your UVP, you may just be wasting a lot of resources in your marketing.

Clear the Brush from your Marketing Plan

If you work in a corporate setting, like I do, you can get bogged down in what I call "brush." That's the day in, day out stuff we do routinely - newsletters, updating brochures, putting on employee events, flyers, etc. It can take up all your time just keeping up with the regular stuff and before you know it, the plans you had for creating a big, creative and innovative campaign are still sitting on your mental shelf - and they're dusty.

Do you have a strategy for clearing out the brush so you can get to chopping down those big trees? How do you stay focused on the big rocks in your jar - the big ideas that will really bring change to your organization (or client). Here are my top 5:

1. Set aside time in your week to do that. Calendar it. Block it off and protect it the best you can. It can be difficult to be creative on demand, I know, but if you at least make a space in your week to do it, that can help.

2. Make a list of your brush items - and your brush fires. I find that if I clear out the little things, take care of what is suddenly urgent, then I can tackle bigger things. Brush can consume you and keep you from wading through the forest to get to the path you need. Clear it away first.

3. Commit to a time frame for completing your big issues. In essence, by assigning them a place on your task list with a timeframe, you create an accountability. Make it part of your work plan.

4. Talk to your boss and let him know that you have a great idea, but need some time to work on it. If your in box keeps filling up with more brush, you may be able to negotiate with your boss to let some of that slide while you work on the bigger issues. You'll need to win her over, but if your boss buys in to your concept, you can probably get support.

5. Use your time wisely. I don't mean just be efficient in how you use your time, I mean choose the time of day when you are most creative and use that for your big idea work. For example, I am most creative early in the morning. So I try to set aside any writing or proof reading or creative work for that time of the day. By day's end, I'm less creative so I leave Email, invoices, and other less mentally taxing tasks until the end of the day.

Those are my top 5 - I'd like to hear yours!

Did Online Kill Old Media?

It is trite to say that marketing is part art and part science. As marketers, we must use metrics, ROI, behavioral analysis and other scientific, concrete tools to deliver and measure campaigns. But what we do also requires creativity - writing, design, a "gut" feeling for what will work. We have to understand our audiences at both the logical and the psychological level, then figure out how to meet them at both places at once.

CEOs are looking for the results - what did we accomplish, how much did it cost, did we reach our goal. As marketers, we have to put those questions at the top of our lists, too. Where the struggle can come is in focusing only on the immediately measurable results. As we move into the age of online, on demand marketing we gain the ability to have near instant results on our marketing activities. That's an advantage we haven't had before. 

The temptation, of course, is to discard all the traditional media we have used - outdoor, print, tv, radio, etc. - in favor of something that can be precisely measured. But those "softer" and less measurable media have an important place in the marketing mix. They provide the opportunity to tell a more complete message, or to create an emotional response, even to make people think, cry, laugh. That's hard to do in a search engine ad or a 140-character tweet.

Building your brand requires a consistent, multi-faceted approach to explaining who you are and what you stand for. Over and over and over. It cannot be one and done, or you will lose whatever investment you made. Yes, you can definitely build brand through online marketing. And yes, you can do some amazing targeting online to reach out to your prospects and customers. But don't overlook the fact that not everyone is online, that everyone responds to different media in different ways, and that there's no substitute for meeting your customer where they are in that moment when they need your product or service.

Surviving the Herd

There is no handicapped parking in the jungle.

I heard a comedian say this on the XM Radio today and it really struck me. Not just because it was funny - it was - but also because it is true. There's no pass for being different, no leeway for the wildebeest that can't keep up. Run, or die. If you are wounded, surround yourself with the herd for protection. Don't strike off on your own, especially if you are not the fastest or the strongest.

And while I do see the truth in this, I also see the lie. What makes us powerful as marketers is our ability to push beyond the safe and drive our companies into iffy territory. Marketing really must drive the marketing strategy and push those new and scary ideas ahead of ourselves.
CEOs like risk. At least the ones I've known do. But they like a calculated risk with some high level of expectation that success is on the other side of that wooden slat bridge. Yes, we might fall into the deep gorge below, but if we make it across then the rewards will be great.

But if marketing is the wounded member of the herd, then it is highly likely that there will be no protection from the rest of the herd. The herd, of course, is filled with jackals just waiting to tear you to shreds. They eat their own young, and they will have  you for breakfast, too.

I wish I could say that brilliance or creativity or perseverance is the answer, but that is not true. After 25 + years in the trenches, I can honestly say there will always be people - completely unqualified people - who believe in their heart of hearts that they know better than you about which marketing strategy you should follow.
For heaven's sake, ignore them.