Total Marketing Solutions

Back in the old days, that is the 1990’s, when Altavista used to rank web page content solely according to its relevance to the user’s query, bless ‘em, life seemed so much simpler somehow. Since the arrival of Google’s algorithm, content is ranked according to 0ff-the-page elements as much as, if not more than, what is on the page itself. Whilst no-one outside of Google’s hallowed walls knows the exact formula of the algorithm, a whole SEO industry has sprouted up around it and people the world over spend hours a week ensuring that their site is optimised to the hilt. But how can you be sure that a little tweaking here and there will bring results? Here are a few points to bear in mind before you start tinkering with your website:

• How to play the ranking game: There are two types of ranking factor: query dependent or query independent. Query dependent criteria - these assess content acccording to the relevance of content in the original search request. It not only assesses frequency of key words but more importantly where and how they appear. Query independent factors - these are pieces of information a search engine already knows about a page, like Google’s PageRank, which measures a web document’s popularity based on among other things the number of links that point to it. The assessment of inbound links to your webpage is now the most important element of most search engine technologies and should be ignored at your peril.

• Don’t be an online potato: Whilst “Search” has been the main technology for getting your information online since all this SEO fun started, the advent of Web 2.0 - since broadband speeds enabled the internet to become a 2-way medium - has changed this forever. Now, potential customers can upload content rather than just passively receive it and has changed the way people spend their time online. This can encompass everything from keeping your blog up to date in order to interact with your target audience to incorporating Web 2.0 marketing methods into your future marketing strategies.

One thing’s for sure, nothing is going to stay the same for very long and the better we are as marketers and online marketing consultants at embracing all new channels at our disposal, the rosier our future - and that of our clients - will look.

Whilst we are not ones to jump on the next marketing guru’s bandwagon, having read Seth Godin’s “Meatball Sundae - Is your marketing out of sync?”, we felt it had some nuggets in there of particular interest and relevance to our clients at Total Marketing Solutions. As marketing strategy consultancy we have regularly helped our clients with their online marketing strategy and it is clear to us that the whole area of Web 2.0 and how to make it effective is still little understood so here we try and learn from the ‘master’ himself.

The title of the book alludes to how companies undertaking traditional marketing activities [the meatballs] can’t just add cream, chocolate flakes, raspberry sauce [web 2.0 marketing techniques] on the top of what they do to make it into a sundae that is going to work and people are going to like - unfortunately it isn’t that simple!

The book tracks the decline and fall of some traditional marketing activities and outlines the need for companies to use new marketing techniques. But the fundamental message is about authenticity and how web 2.0 can quickly and easily find you out if you don’t act with integrity, honesty and try to create genuine products that give people what they want. The key barrier to this in the most part is the nature of the organisations that are trying to make this change from ‘old marketing’ [ie. TV advertising] to ‘new marketing’ [ie. social networks].

Seth goes on to identify some key trends, including:

The need for an authentic story as the number of information sources available increases: Telling true stories is the only way to spread messages on the unforgivable medium of the internet. Those being economical with the truth will be found out and their brand will suffer or be destroyed.

Extremely short attention spans due to clutter: This speaks for itself - organisations have to get over the fact that they can’t engage individuals unless they are totally relevant at a specific moment in time

Outsourcing: The internet has delivered a global supply of resources, skills and talent and enables all companies to outsource the stuff they can’t do or don’t do well enough.

Google and the dicing of everything: Search engines have enabled consumers to buy everything they need in component form, such as holidays, ultimately eliminating whole service sectors.

Infinite channels of communication: With new platforms and web sites being developed almost daily it is key to keep abreast of what is going on, what works and what doesn’t. Internet experiences will need to become entirely tailored to the individual [web 3.0].

Direct communication and commerce between consumers and consumers: Customers now gravitate towards each other via social networks, sharing experiences and creating communities of interest who can exert pressure on organisations.

The shift from “how many” to “who”: One of Seth’s previous work, Flipping the Funnel, covered this subject. The use of technologies like Google Adwords have put individual consumers in touch with companies rather than companies having to find them through uneconomical techniques.

New gatekeepers, no gatekeepers: The rise of the likes of YouTube has broken down the barriers to communicating with audiences and blogging community are becoming influential in the spread of messages.

The book is meant as a warning to organisations expecting the new marketing techniques to just replace traditional communication channels and effectively just ‘plug and play’ into their marketing strategies. As ever with Mr. Godin, there’s a good range of case studies, reference sites and examples to explain and support his argument, including one of his own companies, Squidoo, which features quite heavily.

If you’re already employing web 2.0 marketing techniques, or “new marketing”, with some degree of measurable success then this book may well inspire you to build what you’ve learnt into other aspects of your business. If you haven’t started yet you may well find the premise of the book quite daunting, in terms of how your organisation may have to change before you can exploit these techniques.

Either way, it’s well worth taking the time to explore how best to plot your future route through web 2.0.