Aviso | SEO Coaching

Online marketing has become a hot topic.  SEO, social media, link building, Twitter, Facebook, paid search, banner ad placement … the list goes on and on. And like Philippe Petit, famous tight rope walker, seen here crossing the Twin Towers in NYC in August 1974, expectations are high and the pressure is on for Search marketers to deliver the sought after traffic that is expected to increase visibility and ultimately convert visitors into revenue.

Ultimately everyone wants the reward but the path to success is often a mine field of obstacles that are difficult to overcome such as:

• Time

• Budget

• Failed expectations

• Dedicated staff

For an Agile Search Marketer, the above obstacles cannot exist. The challenge is finding the right balance that fits your schedule, budget and ability to invest time or resources into online marketing efforts that work.

So what is an Agile Search Marketer? There are 2 concepts that define “agility” when describing an Agile Search Marketer.

Definition of “Agile” (verb)

1. the power of moving quickly and easily; nimbleness: exercises demanding agility.
2. the ability to think and draw conclusions quickly; intellectual acuity.

Definition of the Agile Scrum Project Management Methodology

“The Scrum project management methodology introduces the idea of “empirical process control.” That is, Scrum uses the real-world progress of a project — not a best guess or uninformed forecast — to plan and schedule releases. In Scrum, projects are divided into succinct work cadences, known as sprints, which are typically one week, two weeks, or three weeks in duration. At the end of each sprint, stakeholders and team members meet to assess the progress of a project and plan its next steps. This allows a project’s direction to be adjusted or reoriented based on completed work, not speculation or predictions.” *Source Ask.com

To think and to move quickly are important characteristics of the Agile Search Marketer but in order to become agile, it requires a journey that will change not only how you work but in how you view your online search marketing role in your business or within an organization. Search marketing is a long term commitment that involves:

1. Ongoing discovery
2. Project management
3. Time management
4. Setting expectations for yourself and for stakeholders
5. Defining reasonable, realistic goals
6. Measurement and testing

None of this happens overnight. Becoming an Agile Search Marketer involves acquiring knowledge over time and achieving incremental successes that build into high level milestones. Each win or loss is valuable in terms of helping you to think and draw conclusions quickly about the visitors you want to convert, bringing you closer to online marketing agility.

Anna Maria Virzi from ClickZ describes how corporate giants, American Greetings and Hunt’s applied Agile Marketing using Scrum concepts and adapting an agile mindset. AG found opportunity to showcase an e-card campaign during a hot political event that was showcased on YouTube during the last presidential election while Hunt’s mitigated a potential large scale PR issue due to a product recall.

Google has an awesome checklist to guide you through:

• Account setup
• Custom reporting
• Linking accounts with your AdWord campaign and Ecommerce data
• Exploring advanced features
• And more…

http://www.google.com/analytics/discover_analytics.html

Emily Pronin of Princeton University and Harvard University’s Daniel Wegner identified the following:

(straight from Wikipedia) “a link between the short bursts of activity that microblogging frequently involves and feelings of elation, power and creativity, have been cited as a possible reason for the rapid growth of microblogging..”

What is micro blogging? (Wikipedia again) “Micro blogging is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, digital audio or the web.”

Michael Gray of Search Engine Land introduces us to 5 micro blogging sites that aren’t Twitter:

1. Posterous
2. FriendFeed
3. Tumblr
4. Dailybooth
5. 12 Seconds

Check out Micheal’s full column to develop strategies to inspire power, elation and creativity with your customers:

http://searchengineland.com/5-microblogging-sites-that-arent-twitter-23481

The phrase “social media” has become a catch-all for a long list of viral marketing strategies often associated with the chicklets listed under a blog post for well known platforms like Facebook, Wordpress, RSS, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Del.oc.ious, Technorati and others. How to make these platforms work for your business is often a mystery that scares the hell out of many business owners.

Two chef’s in L.A. created a roach-coach success called Kogi that mixes Korean and Mexican flavors in a mobile taco truck experience. When they first started the business no one came. They quickly found that people liked their tacos and created a strategy to get the word out quickly regarding their daily location and specials using Twitter. They now have 8,000 followers. YouTube is another platform that they use to showcase the unique experience Kogi brings to a neighborhood. Notice the very young audience Kogi attracts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQuCW95ESQ

So how do you decide which social media platform is right to promote your business?

1. Create compelling content - Kogi’s content is a unique menu as well as a dynamic experience
2. Think about your target audience. What social media platforms do they use? If your demographic falls in the age range 30-50 consider email as a social media platform.
3. Define measurable business goals to reach that target audience such as selling 20 subscriptions over the 1st quarter.
4. Develop a strategy to reach your business goals factoring in how a social media platform can compliment your marketing efforts. If you have a blog, there are plugins to allow your subscribers to share your information with others easily.

Don’t rule out social media altogther. Be creative and think of social media as platform to deliver information much like email (a social media strategy.) If the platform compliments your business goals, test it out. When it comes to the new social media platforms, don’t rule them out completely as millenials are bringing the Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers up to speed quickly.