Outbound Marketing is dead, or at least mostly dead (“I’m not dead yet”, “you will be soon” kind of thing –Monty Python)
On site Seminars, Trade shows, Telemarket, Mailers, email campaigns, traditional advertising, etc. are all losing their effectiveness with conversion rates falling to single digits and many even fractions of a percent.
So what happened, well first off people moved from broadcast consumers to on demand. We get our news, entertainment and information all when we want it not by waiting for it to air. Add to this fact that technology keeps making it easier to get what we want when we want it and block the rest; DVRs, Caller ID, Spam filters, Do Not Call lists, Sirius Radio. And there are new channels for media consumption; Google, del.icio.us, facebook, YouTube, StumbleUpon, Yahoo Answers, Linkedin, Digg.
It becomes obvious it is time to retool your Marketing!
From Outbound Marketing (Bullhorn) to Inbound Marketing (Attraction)
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Outbound Marketing Telemarketing Trade shows Direct mail Email Blasts Print ads TV\radio ads Interrupt Driven |
Inbound Marketing SEO Blogging Free (services, product, trials) Social Media RSS Viral videos Permission Based |
SEO, the first step for any Inbound Marketing plan.
A recent Marketing Sherpa survey shows that 98% of all B2B searches start with Google.
This is a staggering number and ultimately tells you if you are going to do online marketing you need to understand the mechanics of Google.
Google is a Search Engine and ultimately has the goal of matching your search to the most relevant pages of your query.
Studies show that 75% of people searching trust and use the free or organic search results while 25% choose the paid search results. This article is focused on these 3 out of 4 searchers that the industry calls Organic Search results.
The art of increasing your results in Organic\Free search results is called SEO or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a more sustainable model for most companies with a higher ROI as money spent on optimization continues to generate leads long after the spend. Paid search engine models such as pay-per-clicks stop producing leads immediately when you stop paying. Paid models can be a great way to jump-start your business, but can be hard to sustain as the more successful you get or your market becomes the costs typically go up.
A lot of people look at inbound marketing and describe it as a magnet; while this is easy for people to grab the pulling aspect I think it is limited in its application. I prefer to view it as Gravity, made up of mass (how much content your site has on a topic) and distance (links increase your pull by shortening your distance through links) Google measures the gravity of your site.
Google Rankings are comprised of two components; On site (your website) and off site (links to your site).
On site rankings are controlled by SEO. SEO is based on searches and keywords. The goal on moving up to a top page ranking will be attainable by focusing on keywords that are both relevant to your business and not hyper competitive with high powered websites. Ultimately you are going to compete with other websites to be in the top 10 (first page). If you feel the competition is too steep on that search term you should find another. There is a success tactic in business that applies here.
What can you be best in the world at?
Another metaphor is look for the Blue Ocean not the Red Ocean. Find your differentiator that makes you Top Ten and build your website SEO strategy around that positioning and search terms. This is really going to be a Ready, Shoot, Aim approach. You can fine tune and tweak your messaging and keywords as you get feedback from the first shot, second shot, and so on.
What should I be focused on?
Four keys to success with Keywords:
- High Volume (there are lots of people looking)
- High Relevance (if they click they will find relevant data)
- Low Competition (the Top Ten are beatable, at least ranking six through ten)
- Value (a combination of traffic and price for click).
Google ranks your On Site score via these key factors.
- Page Title
- URL
- Headers (H1, H2, H3 tags)
- Page Text
- Description
- Meta Keywords
Google ranks your Off Site score via these key factors.
- Page Rank (0-10 rank based on
- Inbound Links (Sites that are linked to you. Note: their site ranking counts)
- Link Anchor Text (the text in the link to you)
You can’t learn to swim by reading, so Jump in!
What you will find is content is king. You must focus your message, keywords and website for success and then provide content that supports your position. Overtime the wisdom of the crowd will let you know if your content, messaging and website are interesting enough by attracting more. As you attract more your size increases and thus your pull or gravity grows, growth that can become exponential.
If you are still afraid and need a kick board J (help) I am just an email a way.
For a free 15 minute consult of your site please contact me at jeff@jeffadcock.com