Round Up of “2011′s Top Social Media Blunders”

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We’re three weeks into the new year and just about every social media, public relations and marketing blog has weighed in what they think are the “Top Social Media Blunders of 2011.” To a PR professional, these faux pas are the stuff of nightmares, so read at your own risk. We’ve rounded up our top list of lists, but we’ve also included a few social media blunders from consumer companies below. Hopefully, there are a few lessons we can all learn from these.

Top Lists for 2011 Social Media Blunders:

Zenzi’s Top Consumer Brand Social Media Blunders:

1. Kenneth Cole Spring Collection vs. Cairo Revolution

The revolution in Cairo had begun and only hours later Kenneth Cole tweeted, “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo – KC.” Not only were its Twitter followers stunned, but so was the mainstream media. As news programs covered the historic events in Cairo, they also interrupted coverage to mentioned Kenneth Cole’s poor marketing ploy. This decision was especially egregious considering people were fighting for civil liberties – some even dying along he way. Kenneth Cole later tweeted, “Re Egypt tweet: we weren’t intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment –KC.” For many, it was too little too late.

2. Entenmann & Casey Anthony

What do Entenmann and Casey Anthony have in common? Well, if you were on Twitter during Casey Anthony’s notorious trial, the trending hashtag #NotGuilty! Entenmann, the baked goods company, started incorporating trending hashtags in their tweets as a way to reach a larger audience, but in this case it went too far in many people’s mind.  Entenmann tweeted “Who’s #NotGuilty about eating all the tasty treats they want?” This tweet was either a result of ignorance or insensitivity, but regardless of the reasoning, the angry backlash was substantial.  Entenmann tried to apologize, but the damage was already done. Tech Crunch’s article “Entenmann’s Hashtag Surfing Fails Hard With #NotGuilty Tweet” noted “Entenmann’s has raised the bar for social media stupidity, taking the cup from previous #winner @KennethCole.”

3. Ragu ‘Disses’ Dads

Many companies have been chasing the ever-elusive goal of making their video go “viral.” Some companies’ videos have knocked it out of the park like Jennifer Aniston Goes Viral for SmartWater, but others have been met by crickets. Unfortunately, Ragu’s video “Dad Cooks Dinner: What is Dinnertime Like When Dad Cooks?” went viral for all the wrong reasons. The video featured a few moms discussing and poking fun at their husbands in the kitchen, but the video’s poor editing, unpolished nature and lack of comedic timing made it more offensive than funny. Several ‘daddy bloggers’ got a hold of the video and publicly criticized Ragu for this sexist view on family dynamics.

4. Chrysler Drops the F-Bomb

Chrysler had just launched the Imported from Detroit campaign at the last Super Bowl, when an employee at New Media Strategies used the F-bomb under Chrysler’s Twitter handle.  To make matters worse, he also was using it to describe Detroit drivers. The tweet said, “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to (insert expletive here) drive.” Needless to say the employee was fired and New Media Strategies lost the Chrysler Group account, but the damage was done. Apparently, the NMS employee thought they were logged onto their own personal account. Yikes! For more information, see this article from AdAge.com. 

5. NetFlix Forgets Twitter

Lastly, you’ve most likely heard about NetFlix making a separate company for its DVD-rental service called Qwikster. Immediately, customers began canceling their memberships altogether. Many took to Twitter to express their displeasure, but they were met by @Qwikster, a “foul-mouthed stoner” as Mashable described him. Netflix had failed to secure the @Qwikster Twitter handle before the launch. The Twitter account was filled with tweets about girls and smoking weed – not the image any company would want to be associated with, especially when announcing service changes that consumers are already unhappy with.

Ultimately, if there is anything to take away from these situations, it’s that you can’t be too careful. Whether you work for a PR agency or in-house, you are controlling the reputation and future of the companies you represent. One of the best ways to avoid these kinds of mistakes is to create editorial calendars, get tweets and Facebook posts approved ahead of time, schedule future posts and have separate Hootsuite or TweetDeck accounts for your clients and personal accounts. A little preparation and organization can go a long way!

Can you think of one I haven’t mentioned? Which do you think is the worst?




Choosing Your Web Browser

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Just 3 years ago, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) dominated 69% of the web browser market share. According to StatCounter, the 2011 web browser market share is split 37% IE, 27% Chrome, 25% Firefox and 6% Safari. It might seem like IE is still dominating the market, however, keep in mind that IE has been around since 1995. Chrome launched late 2008, just 3 years ago.

The fact of the matter is, the top browsers are all pretty damn good and choosing your web browser really depends on your browsing purpose. Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Rockmelt are all the fastest, sexiest and bestest. As for IE and Safari, well, I advise to use them for one activity only: downloading one of the browsers below.

Chrome.

Google Chrome is a must for web-aholics. Like all of Google’s other products and services, Chrome sticks to its open-source guns and is very simple yet highly customizable, not to mention, it’s disgustingly fast. Chrome and Firefox have many great features; I’ll highlight those unique to each in order to avoid redundancy. My favorite Chrome features include:

  • Built in Sandboxing – Top-notch security that keeps any data to individual tabs including your Flash and PDF plug-in. This might be very technical, so if it doesn’t make sense to you, just know that it’s a very good thing for your computer’s security.
  • Incognito Browsing – Your computer won’t log any history in this mode, great for when guest uses your computer and wants to log you out of all your auto-signed in accounts. Note: the websites you visit can still track cookies and all the other crumbs you leave.
  • Google Integration – Data is fully synchronized with your Google Account.

Firefox.

Evenly matched with Chrome is Mozilla’s Firefox. It used to be that Internet Explorer was the backup browser when something on Firefox wouldn’t run. But now, Firefox is compatible with almost all websites – I even use it as a backup for pages Chrome can’t run. Favorite Firefox features:

  • Do Not Track Mode – Complete privacy where your browser nor visited websites can track your data
  • Extensive Add-ons – Customize Firefox to your browsing style.
  • Widely Compatible – I have already mentioned this, but really it’s a big deal. Firefox does beat out Chrome in support with a number of websites.

Opera

Opera is THE choice for mobile browsing. iOS or Android, do yourself a favor and download Opera and forget about your stock browser. Opera Mini Browser is optimized for iOS while the full-blown Opera Browser is available to Androids with powerful hardware.  Both Opera and Opera Mini are extremely powerful, extremely well built out and will noticeably speed up your mobile browsing and efficiency.

 

Rockmelt.

Here’s a wildcard browser many of you might not even know about. Rockmelt is a browser for social media lovers. This browser fully integrates with your Facebook, including chat, posting, newsfeed etc. Additionally, you can add practically any social network as well as other website apps such as Tumblr, CNN, etc. for live news updates. Imagine Facebook and a browser like Chrome or Firefox getting together and having a baby – you’d get Rockmelt (see below).


Look out! A Few Noteworthy PR & Marketing Trends for 2012

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With 2012 a whopping 3 days old, it’s time for—Out with the old, and in with the new! What better way to jump-start the New Year than to begin thinking about where and how you can improve your business? No matter how big or small your company is, these PR and marketing trends will show a strong presence this year.  So, get to know them inside and out!

Social Media Platforms

While traditional social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have held their own in PR and marketing, in 2012 we’re going to see a huge rise in Google+ usage and other social media platforms such as Pinterest. With the increasing popularity of these tools, companies can extend their reach and engage with their consumers more than ever before.

While Google+ was quickly adopted by techies, as Peter Pachal from Mashable states,

“Google+ has had favorable growth and many positive reviews, but it’s still relatively unknown among “real” people. And those that do know it have the distinct impression that it’s the social network for hard-core nerds. That’s something Google has to change if it wants people to use its service instead of competitors, and going mainstream has to be a primary goal in the New Year… and most of all it has to find its voice — its one-sentence description that doesn’t have the words “like Facebook” in it.”

So watch out in 2012 to see where the Google innovators take Google+, and how it’ll appeal to the masses, not just the “nerds.”

Pinterest on the other hand has proven to be a quick and easy way for companies to engage with their consumers, techies or not. Companies have become increasingly present on the Pinterest prowl and many have found that this platform is a quick and easy way to improve business. With Pinterest seeing a 4,000% increase in visits over a 6 month span, it’s no wonder why businesses are jumping on the bandwagon. Pinterest is an effortless way to collect your favorite images  (products, clothing, furniture, art, you name it, it’s on there!) and pin them onto inspiration boards. Just click your images, and you will be taken to the original site that pinned it and voilà, just like that a business can make a sale.

Reputation is Everything!

Maintaining a strong reputation online is going to be more important than ever this year.  With social media spreading like wildfire, it has never been easier for consumers to quickly voice their satisfactions or lack thereof. Instead of allowing negative feedback to impact your business, devote several hours a week to clear up any misunderstandings or complaints you may receive.  Keep those Facebook accounts clean by determining when and how you will deal with an issue. It’s the best policy to maintain responsibility and offer a resolution if one of your consumers is upset. Better yet, give that consumer a specific person and email to direct their concerns to. Not only will it help resolve their problem, but it also takes the conversation off social media. If you are proactively showing your followers that you are willing to fix the situation and doing it publicly, other followers will see that your company takes responsibility. Your responsiveness will NOT go unnoticed.

Specific Pitching

Let’s face it, people are not picking up their phones and they’re barely replying to email. So, as a PR professional, how are you going to stay ahead of the game when it comes to pitching?

A Few Rules of Thumb to Use in 2012

Take the time to build some meaningful relationships. Are you pitching mom bloggers or tech ninjas? Then you need to start following their blog, Twitter and Facebook and comment on their work! As we learned from BlogWorld 2011, bloggers respect and notice when you write meaningful comments and in turn will be more likely to recognize your name when you officially pitch them. Pitching editors and journalists? A little background research can go a long way. If you are writing a customized pitch, do your homework! Always mention a previous article in your pitch, it shows you took the time to read their work and therefore gives you more credibility.

With more and more agencies moving towards “niches,” it’s important that your media lists are continuously evolving and being updated. Starting from scratch with those bad boys? Start with the basics and go through all your media lists. Are they out of date? Are they relevant to what you’re pitching? If your company has moved away from representing clients from all walks of life, to specifically just food and beverage, then maybe it’s time to re-think having all those “other” lists.  If you don’t need them, throw them away.

Next, start building from the ground up. Even though it’s tedious to pull new media lists, you won’t be sorry if you take the time to do it right. You would be amazed at how far a few good media lists can take you. Lastly, once you’re ready to pitch those amazing bloggers, journalists and editors that you have cultivated relationships with, make sure you are using an attention-grabbing, quick and to the point, informative subject line (did you get all that?)

Follow Up? Yes Please.

Like we said, a phone call won’t cut it, so instead of wasting precious time. Get online! Using social media is a great way to connect with the people you’ve pitched. Second, don’t be afraid to send multiple emails. Oftentimes, journalists and editors are inundated with emails from people just like YOU (yeah, you). If you have done your research and you know your story is exactly what that writer covers, keep emailing them because they might’ve erased your original message. Don’t forget, nothing beats face-to-face interaction. Go beyond normal office hours (who are we kidding, we’re in PR) and take the time out of your schedule to attend events and meet the people you are pitching, this will make future pitching that much easier and fun!

 

 

Our New Year’s Resolutions 2012

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Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanza! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! From all of us at Zenzi, we wish you an amazing holiday week and a fantastic time ringing in 2012!

Zenzi’s New Year’s Resolutions 2012

Arianne Schumacher

Professional: To build quality media and professional relationships that will help further my clients’ goals, message and mission.

Personal: Breathe. Laugh. Love. Dream. Achieve. And drink more water… just because it’s good for you! …and maybe go to the gym..
Courtney O’Rourke

Professional: Turn my online relationships into IRL relationships. I’m even *considering* not following someone on Twitter until I meet them in person first. Radical, right?

Personal: I WILL learn to speak French in 2012!


Hilary McCarthy

Professional: To work with my teams to stalk (ahem…), be even more targeted and proactive to the top 3-5 reporters identified with my clients. To think outside of the box on how we can offer something special just for them, in so doing, make their lives easier. And, of course, to always think about the big picture for clients and their audiences (always look at it from the perspective “what’s in it for me?”).

Personal: To have greater balance; turn off the “thinking me” every now and then and just be present in the moment.


Jenn Tsang

Professional: Remember that whenever I get stuck or it feels like I’ve hit a wall that there IS a resource to help me out.

Personal: Bump my parents to the top of my most called list.

 

Julie Lyons

Professional: Become an expert in new media measurement, providing our clients an accessible, accurate way to measure social engagement, online conversations and more.

Personal: Take a photography class and pull my food blog out of hiatus.

Lanette Jorgensen

Professional: To build my professional network with media, clients and other PR professionals!

Personal: To find a true balance in hopes to make more time for me!


Lauren de la Parra

Professional: Continue to learn and absorb as much as I can about PR and to work on my public speaking for CTR next year.

Personal: To try and find one thing everyday to be thankful for and to continue giving back to others.

Sarah Hardwick

Professional: Grow my influencer network by 150% and learn one new tech tip, trend, or tool each day.

Personal: Breathe, hydrate, meditate!

 

Tenaya Wickstrand

Professional: To increase my efficiency by 20% for day to day tasks.

Personal: To get involved in theater/a band/ you name it… just something musical!

 

 

 

In Hot Water? Crisis Communication on How to “Clean Up”

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It can happen to any company, you get into a situation over your head and need to react fast to fix a problem. Most of the time, we can detect potential issues and work to nip them in the bud before they explode, but what about the issues that we can’t plan for? A crisis communication plan is an important PR strategy to diffuse negative situations by showing a proactive attempt to alleviate a problem.

Why is it Important to React Quickly and Launch Your Crisis Communication Plan?

As crisis communication expert Gerald Baron says, “If you’re not quick, you’re not relevant” and he couldn’t be more right. Time is of essence when dealing with company crisis. For example, Sea World managed to promptly address the tragic incident where one of the park’s 12,000 lb. killer whales drowned a seasoned trainer.

What Worked?

Sea World did an excellent job of implementing a quick and effective crisis communication plan by releasing a company statement of what happened (although they changed the trainer’s cause of death later). In addition to the all-important statement, Sea World hit the social media platform running and addressed the situation on their blog and via Twitter. Sea World even suspended the @Shamu Twitter handle because of its controversial voice.

You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide!

Sea World did a great job of utilizing their President, Jim Atchison to address and ensure viewers and media that Sea World would not take the situation lightly, and would be conducting further investigation into the incident.

We’ve all seen it happen, (ahem… Tiger Woods). People and companies make poor PR moves to avoid a negative situation all together. Instead of taking responsibility, they hide to avoid public scrutiny, hoping the action will eventually be forgotten. Conversely, Sea World addressed the killer whale incident head on. In the grand scheme of things, Sea World’s responsive, hands-on approach saved their brand from a lifetime of negative publicity.

5 Steps to Crisis Communication

  1. Create a crisis team:  It is critical that this team consists of the most senior-level executives, public relations professionals, corporate communication and marketing departments, etc. Furthermore, a crisis is NOT the time, I repeat NOT the time to receive media training. Anyone on this team must be previously trained in dealing with the media and ready to address the hardest-hitting questions publicly.
  2. Monitor potential risks: CEO’s and top executives usually have a good idea of what kinds of risks their company might encounter, whether this stems from the state of the economy, to potential government regulation or even potential threats from competitors. Although these are mostly foreseen issues, there is always the chance that lower-level employees can encounter unique problems that your crisis communication teams needs to be aware of. Keep communication channels wide open, every employee offers valuable input. Think of potential risks as an ongoing project, if you continually monitor your risks, then you will always be in a good position to handle a problem if it arises.
  3. Pre-planned processes and protocol: If a crisis occurs, it’s imperative to have processes and protocol in place for quick reference. Who is your chain of command? Do you have pre-approved information and protocol set up to address the media? Crisis can happen at any time, will you be ready to address issues and answer questions on behalf of your company?
  4. Keep a close eye on social media: More than ever before, social media can be a blessing and a curse. In a time of crisis, companies need to consider the fact that traditional means of communication such as a press conference is not necessarily the most effective way to extend your message. Instead of sticking to traditional mediums, companies should think outside the box and remember that people get their information from a variety of sources these days such as, blogs, discussion forums, Facebook and Twitter to name a few….plan accordingly. Careful monitoring of company Facebook and Twitter accounts is key. Social media can be your quickest medium to media and consumers to address difficult questions, correct false assumptions and in general, be a voice of reason – since you know your company best.
  5. Q&A, role-play:  Companies can easily identify potential risks and monitor them, but there’s more to that. Role-playing can offer tremendous insight into how to deal with a company crisis. After identifying potential risks (see question 2), come up with dialogue to address each of those problems. If you have a good idea of what could happen, then you should be able to establish some dialogue on that issue. Think of questions the media might ask and come up with answers…you won’t be sorry you did this!

Getting to Know You. Reaching Out to Mommy Bloggers.

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As a parent, the first place you may go when little Suzy or Johnny gets sick or acts up (and you want to find out how to deal with it) is on the Internet.  If you do, you are not alone.

Blogs, in particular, are growing in popularity, and can be a great resource—whether, as a parent you are looking for insightful behavioral wisdom, observations on the joys of raising kids or helping your family to eat better—if not a great escape to hear from other moms and dads facing similar challenges.

But just as your needs for information vary, so too do blogs, in the ways that they provide it. The following are just a few examples of the types of blogs out there:

Continue reading →

Building and Styling your G+ Brand Page

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Though Google has made Google+ Brand pages fairly intuitive, there are a couple features that I want to highlight so your page can be as “you” as can be! If you’re not personally on G+ already, check out our Google+ Walkthrough to familiarize yourself with its features before diving into making a brand page.

If you haven’t created your G+ brand page yet, go to your personal Google+ page and on the bottom right side bar, select “Create a Google+ page.” Google will then walk you through creating your page.  Whether you’ve created your brand page already or not, make sure you take note of these features – highlighted in this image.

  1. Have a Punchy Tagline. Right under the name of your page, you get 10 words to describe your page. Make sure these 10 words (or less) alone gets your message across.
  2. Posting. Like your personal G+ page, posting to your brand page works the same. It is set to default share with the public, so make sure everything you’re posting is relevant and what you want the world to associate with your brand. For more info on posting to certain circles versus public, see our Google+ Walkthrough.
  3. Circles. One of the major differences with G+ Pages versus your personal G+ is that pages cannot add individuals to its circles without the individual first adding the page to one of their circles. However, pages can add each other freely.
  4. Photos. If you’re building a brand page on G+, you probably already have a Facebook brand page. To easily repopulate all your photos from your Facebook page to your G+ brand page, check out Pick&Zip. It will let you select anything from your pages’ albums to your own albums to your tagged photos. Then you can easily go into your G+ brand page and re-upload your albums or use Picasa Desktop (free) which can sync directly with your G+ account. Unfortunately, you will have to redo all your captions and tags. Sorry ‘bout it. For more on Google+ photos, check out Charlie Sorrel’s article in Wired.
  5. Videos. G+ pages has a tab to easily upload and share videos. It also gives a nifty option to disable the video link if you have no videos to share to keep your page clear of clutter.
  6. Scrapbook Photos. The 5 photo spread across the top of your Google+ Page is your “scrapbook photos.” These are photos you define and will not change without your instruction, unlike Facebook where the top photos on your page are defined by the most recently added photos. This gives you a chance for some very creative branding such as these Google+ Pages.

Aside from the design and content on your page, make sure to add your official G+ badge to your website! They provide the code snippet and by adding it to your website, you easily “verify” this is your brand’s official page and drive traffic to your new G+ brand page. To find your G+ brand badge, in the left hand column click “Get started.”

Then follow to “Get the Badge>>.” Also on that page is your direct link to your brand’s Google+ page.

Another important note is that Google+ Pages currently only allows one admin. Mashable has reported that Google+ will enable multiple admins for brand pages before 2012. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

If you have any further questions, I’d love to help answer them! Leave a comment and we’ll get back to you. Add us to your circles for more more trends and insights!

Tastefully Developed: Favorite Foodie Apps of 2011

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It’s official, the 2011 holiday season has arrived in all its glory! While I truly love the holidays and savor every moment with family and friends,  for me and many others the holidays are always paired with a variety of new but familiar angst all centered around one thing:  FOOD.

Where will we be dining this year? Will we be hosting? Do we really want to do a turkey? How can we possibly fit 20 people in our tiny apartment? Should we brave the turkey fryer this year? What is Tofurky, and is it really shaped like a turkey? What day am I going to brave the lines at the market? How about a standing rib roast instead? What is a standing rib roast, exactly? Can’t we just get Chinese take-out and call it a day? What time should we make the reservations for? Are there any restaurants in our neighborhood that are even open on Thanksgiving?

Sound familiar?

Whichever path you choose this season- be it the path to culinary nirvana or your favorite restaurant down the street, here are some of my favorite iPhone and iPad apps designed to help pave the way.

Forkly: Move over Foodspotting, there’s a new, cooler app in town. Forkly made its big debut this summer, and with recent awards from the Denver Web Awards and big props from Mashable, it’s quickly risen to the top of the most tasty food apps list. Forkly allows you to share your foodie adventures by tasting and rating your meals and drinks. It is designed to match your tastes against those of fellow forkers to provide you with the smartest recommendations. My favorite part of Forkly is the ease of use. Never before has it been easier to share your tastes, complete with photos. From a restaurant, your fridge, a food truck- wherever you and your iPhone end up dining, there’s the opportunity to “Fork It” with your friends. Sync up with your Facebook and Twitter forkin friends, and before you know it you will have an arsenal of new “Wants” to try from across the globe. I have gotten into the routine now of looking up tastes, or “Discover” from a restaurant even before I see the menu. I call it planning ahead. If you haven’t already, you can download Forkly for your iPhone from iTunes. Happy Forkin!


Epicurious: From the folks at Epicurious.com, this app is my go to app for recipes, shopping lists and inspiration. Epicurious has been by my side long before iOS existed. I have had many successes, and only a few failures that I can recall over the years. Although I am passionate about cooking and culinary exploration, I loathe the shopping part of the process. Reason #1 why I love Epicurious- the shopping list feature. It automatically populates a shopping list that can be emailed to you or whoever you have deemed your personal shopper to make the shopping experience a breeze. I find the interface to be very user friendly, including the search feature, which makes for easy discovery of new recipes from all types of cuisines. User reviews always come in handy and offer up interesting variations and alterations to each recipe. When it comes to seasonal recipes, they provide an excellent array of menu options from easy to difficult. I have both the iPhone and iPad app, with the iPad always being the preferred device in the kitchen. It makes a perfect electronic cookbook. Epicurious is available in iTunes, for a wide selection of devices, iPhone, iPad, Android, B&N Nook, and Windows Phones.


The Complete Cheese Directory: A newer addition to my iOS foodie toolkit, the Complete Cheese Directory is simply easy to use, and informative. I absolutely love cheese, but consider myself to be a novice when it comes to building the ultimate cheese platter. I’m always challenged by putting together that perfect selection that is both complementary and delicious. My favorite feature of this app are the photos that accompany each cheese, along with a suggested wine pairing. It boasts one of the largest selections of cheeses, and continues to be an extremely valuable companion for any visit to the cheese counter. The Complete Cheese Directory is available for the iPhone, and can be downloaded on iTunes.


Urbanspoon: You gotta love Urbanspoon! This was the very first iPhone app I remember downloading, and it’s never let me down. With an enormous network that’s forever expanding, Urbanspoon has really pioneered the foodie restaurant finder app world. The ease of use,  giant network providing a plethora of reliable reviews, and the slick yet simple design are reasons enough to love it. The slot machine style shake search feature is still one of my all-time favorite search tools out there. It allows you to search for restaurants by location, cuisine type and price range. Thanks Urbanspoon, it’s been great having you around. Download Urbanspoon on iTunes, available for the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry.

 

From our table to yours (be it your coffee table, your favorite restaurant table, or your fancy, glorious dining room table) We wish you a very Happy Holiday Season! Bon Appetit!

 


How Does Blogging Increase My SEO?

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We’ve all seen it – whether it’s a Fortune 500 conglomerate or the cabin rental company in “nowheres-ville” – the truth is people everywhere are BLOGGING! You can’t visit a major site anymore without seeing a blog of some sort, and I’ll tell you… it’s only going to get more popular.

Large company executives and small business owners alike have gotten hip to the idea that blogging can boost search engine optimization, which helps them get face time with their customers. Basically, what it boils down to is Google (which we know is ruler of all that is e-commerce) wants to see new and evolving content on a consistent basis. This is why blogs have started to take off. What people don’t realize, though, is that the content has to be relevant to the consumer, which is where “content marketing” comes in!

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Marcus Sheridan (@TheSalesLion) at this year’s BlogWorld Expo LA, and let me tell you he is a true pioneer! Not because he invented content marketing or anything like that, but because he explored how to use these concepts in his real life… and it worked! With that in mind, let’s dive into a few tips Marcus shared at BlogWorld and few more he outlines in his free eBook, Inbound and Content Marketing Made Easy.

 

7 Blogging Ideas That Boost Your Online Presence

1. Pricing Articles
Most companies are afraid to talk about prices, but the fact is it’s the first thing on a customer’s mind. Now, as Marcus points out, most companies want to avoid all talk of prices until a sales agent can sit down with a customer. But they won’t even get that far. The companies that refuse to talk about their prices are loosing potential leads and business. When a price isn’t easily accessible, people move on to the next site. So, the moral of the story is talk openly about price. It doesn’t have to be exact. It can be a range, but Google will reward you for addressing it head on!

2. Cost Articles
You might be doing a double take right now, as I did when I first read this tip, but don’t worry, this isn’t a typo. When it comes to SEO you have to realize that “cost” and “price” may mean the same thing to you and me, but in the world of Google there is no relation. Google has algorithms that are designed to help people find exactly what they are looking for. Some people will type “price of xyz,” while others will enter “what does xyz cost?” Our job as content creators is to write with all of these variations in mind. If we can write how our customers think, our SEO will instantly go through the roof.

3. Vs. Articles
When customers go to make a big purchase, they’re going to look around for a variety of quotes. You have to know who your competitors are and write about them. People instinctively want feedback when it comes to purchasing decisions, which used to come mostly from family and friends.

This is still predominately the case, but the Internet has changed this dynamic forever. Now, customers can quickly Google “Which is better? Company X or Company Y.” You can’t control what friends or family might say, but you can make sure this potential customer gets an answer to their questions and that it comes from you! Write an article that compares your company to each of your competitors, and make sure it’s thorough. Your customers will appreciate the fact you’ve done most of the comparison work for them. Click here for an example of  a “Vs. Articles.”

4. Problem Articles
Customers always want to know what the drawbacks are, and as with everything else – they turn to Google. No matter your industry, these blog posts are universally important. In Marcus Sheridan’s example, he wrote a blog post outlining the problems with fiberglass pools, but also paired it with solutions that would convince his customers that fiberglass pools were still a reasonable option. The intention of these articles is to understand the consumers concerns, and then to assuage their fears through useful and detailed articles.

5. Review Articles
All companies will contrast and make comparisons to other products when selling, but for some reason they are apprehensive about carry that same conversation online. The reality is, your customer is online and will Google these phrases one way or another. The question is: “Do you want to have a voice in the conversation?” If you are willing to write reviews on your products and services, as well as your competitors, your blog posts’ SEO will help your website rise to the top of Google searches.

6. Awards
You are an expert in your field, right? Why not create your own industry awards? This is not to say you give them all to yourself, though. Include other businesses in your industry. With blog posts like, “2012’s Trendiest Restaurants” or “Best Landscaping Designs of the Year” you will get tons or organic hits on Google, plus it will certainly increase the amount of inbound links to your site. Everyone wants to show off awards they’ve received or free press – even your competitors will be linking to YOUR site.

7. Gimmicks
Even the best of industries have their fair share of sales gimmicks or scams. Your customer just may not know about them. Here is your chance to set yourself apart from the other companies in your industry. Position yourself as a champion for the customer instead of being one of the “good ole boys.” Expose these scams and gimmicks through your blogging. You may not gain any friends in your industry, but they are your competitors anyway. If you care more about your customer, you will create loyal fans for life. Click here for an example of a blog post exposing an industry flaw.

Ultimately, the key is to write a lot, about EVERYTHING. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and Google will reward you!

 

Reaching Audiences Through All Senses

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Attending BlogWorld can certainly be overwhelming with the flood of information! During my time there, one session stood out to me not just for the insight, but for the humor and straightforwardness of the speaker, Pat Flynn. Flynn is creator of the site Smart Passive Income Blog.

The stand out for me was that Flynn focused on the two main drivers of traffic to his site: itunes (podcasts) and youtube. I never thought of videos and podcasts as main parts of getting traffic to your site, but it is!

Here are some of his great tips.

YouTube
Flynn suggests adding videos to your blog to supplement some of your current content. Whatever your blog focus, use the tools you are already giving and put them in a video for greater emphasis.

Video tips:
1)   Do your research first
2)   Have a call to action in your video. Maybe you want viewers to go to your site, or sign up for a newsletter. Whatever it is, ask them to do it.
3)   Your video title needs to attract and be keyword rich
4)   Tag your video correctly. You can piggyback on heavily trafficked videos to see their tags.
5)   Pick the right thumbnail. Look at video that are similar and pic a thumbnail that will make your video stand out.

Podcasts
Podcasts are awesome connecting to your audience. People can listen and be tuned in to you anywhere and at anytime. Whether they are in the car, at home or on a plane.

Podcast tips:
1)   Create an outline for each show
2)   Bring guests on for variety
3)   Be concise
4)   Have good sound quality
5)   Try recording unedited for authentic feel
6)   Include great artwork
7)   All copy for the podcast needs to be keyword rich
8)   Have a call to action
9)   Post notes or full transcript of show

There are so many mediums these days to engage with your audience that it may seem a little daunting, but just take one thing per day and before you know it you will be achieving more than you ever thought possible!  It’s not about doing all of it at once, take your time to build your readership through these different channels.

Have you recorded a posdcast or video? What kind of success have you seen? We want to hear about it!