Clever or Clear???

I really like this concept of being clear rather than being clever.
Some companies think they can manipulate the customers' mind easily, and actually companies are true in some extent. We customers are being manipulated by myriad ways such as discounts coupons, promotional offers, seasonal sales and etc etc. We all know that businesses are there to earn profit yet how profit is being earned is one of critical factors any firm should take care. Try to outsmart your customers  might sounds like a great idea, but actually it is not in long run . CLV depends upon the honest branding and honest positioning. Any wrong or much intertwined advertising always makes a customer believe week about your product. My personal experience : you get so much perplexed with the kind of restrictions they put on coupons that sometimes you return with nothing saved in your piggy-bank. As soon as you put coupons with you , you start feeling connected to company and visualizing buying something while saving big; however, when cashier makes you aware with all the limitation printed in their tiniest existence, you may feel like "Do they really want us to grab the magnifying lens before coming to store?" Such frustrating moments renders bad image of the company where they feel cheated.
      Hence, it is more beneficial if companies can communicate the information in a format which is EASY TO READ YET PRECISE.

Hence please don't think that you can be clever enough to outsmart consumer with a wrong or intertwined advertising, this cleverness will return as a big loss to companies only in long run.  

 

BLOGGING seems like a marathon?? What and How should I really Write.....

Now this is really getting into a serious business.... We talked WHY SHOULD A MARKETER BLOG and now HUBSPOT tell us the tip what should be written in a blog . Aint things going hand in hand ?

Here is the gist of the post



Step 1: Understand your audience.
have a clear understanding of your audience. What do they want to know about? What will resonate with them?


Step 2: Start with a topic and working title.
The topic can be pretty general, but it is essential to come up with a few topic ideas to get you started. After you choose one to run with, you need to create a working title guiding your post so you can start writing.


Step 3: Write an intro (and make it captivating).
First, grab the reader's attention. If you lose the reader in the first few paragraphs of the introduction, they will stop reading even though they haven't given your post a fair chance. Then, show the purpose of the post and explain how it will address a problem the reader may be having.


Step 4: Organize your content.
organize the info so readers are not intimidated by the length or amount of content. The organization can take multiple forms -- sections, lists, tips, whatever's most appropriate. But it must be organized!


Step 6: Fix your formatting.
Visual Appearance, Meta Description, Tags should be properly placed 


Step 7: Include a CTA at the end.
CTA ( call to action ) is not merely beneficial for marketers, it is beneficial for readers too and gives a lead to marketers. If  readers enjoy reading your post , they will love to click so why to leave an opportunity there.


Step 8: Optimize for on-page SEO.
 optimize your post for SEO.Don't worry about it. Google doesn't care about the length of your post.If there are opportunities to incorporate keywords, and it won't impact reader experience, do it. If you can make your URL shorter and more keyword-friendly, go for it. But don't cram keywords, or shoot for some arbitrary keyword density -- Google's smarter than that!
(http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-seo-modern-marketer-optimize-your-posts-ht)

       Anchor Text

Anchor text is the word or words that link to another page -- either on your website or on another website. Carefully select which keywords you want to link to other pages, because search engines take that into consideration when ranking your page for certain keywords.

      Local Search

More and more, social media is playing a bigger role in search engine optimization. When a piece of content is shared on social media, it's prioritized in the ranking results. Because of this, you'll want to encourage your readers to tweet out parts of your post.

   Optimize for Mobile

Having a website that is responsive or designed for mobile has become more and more important.  74% of users say they're also more likely to return to a site in the future if it's mobile-friendly.


Step 9: Pick a catchy title.

1. Start with your working title.
2. As you start to edit your title, keep in mind that it's important to keep the title accurate and clear.
3. Then, work on making your title sexy -- whether it's through strong language, alliteration, or another literary tactic.
4. If you can, optimize for SEO by sneaking some keywords in there (only if it's natural, though!)
5. Finally, see if you can shorten it up at all. No one likes a long, overwhelming title.

WHY SHOULD I BLOG ??????

I read this article on HUBSPOT and could not resist sharing  WHY SHOULD I REALLY BLOG ..... I think this should have been very first article to keep those motivated who really either don't care writing blog or are not interested in writing one. Even ending our week 8  with the reasons would also keep some of motivated to continue writing the BLOGS and honestly I really enjoy reading some of yours blogs and wish you will keep positing new stuff and sharing your experiences on it. Anyways let see what HUBSPOT says about the value marketer should be making out from blogging :

Of course, the overall  ROI on blog will vary from business to business. But there are few fundamental benefits to corporate blogging that should not be overlooked:

Gain Visibility as a Thought Leader:Each thoughtful post on your blog is a public demonstration of your thought leadership, personal integrity, humor, and professional insights. You don’t have to refute one of Einstein’s theories to get respect. For example, a summary of recent trends in your industry, or a reaction to a recent news article can be extremely effective blog posts.

Engage Customers in a DialogueGive users option to comment on each article. Folks who comment on your blog may be sales leads, or they may just challenge or support your views. Either way, comments beget comments, and you will soon be at the center of an industry-relevant dialogue with customers and partners.

Every Blog Article is an SEO Opportunity
You can’t realistically optimize your site for every long tail search term, but you can certainly write blog posts targeting niche keyword phrases that are likely to draw highly qualified prospects. For example, blog a reaction to a speaker in your vertical at a local tech conference. You may not draw much natural search traffic, but there is a good chance your blog will rank well very soon for searches like “vertical + conference + speaker + city”, and those visitors may be highly interested in your reaction to the speech.

Blogs Are Link Bait:
Blog articles garner links because they are interesting, informative, and not overly corporate or sales-focused. The benefit to you is that more links means better search engine ranking and more site traffic, which translates into more sales leads.

In Google, Fresher Content = Better WebsiteGoogle will periodically crawl websites looking for new and updated content. In general, it is better to have Google crawl your site as often as possible. Sites that get crawled more often have more frequent updates and more authority. Blogging consistently ensures there will be fresh content on your site.

these last one are one of my favorites
What about these excuses :
1) I Don’t Have Time to Blog
blog is better than a newsletter or a white paper because readers can join the debate and be positioned to respond to other  call to action you may place adjacent to or within posts. In addition, readers will be able to navigate your blog to read older articles that would otherwise be in a deleted newsletter or white paper. Best of all, each blog article you post will provide lasting benefit because it is a web page that can be optimized, indexed, and drawing natural search traffic for you ad infinitum.

2) What if My Customers Actually Find Out What I’m Thinking?
On this Internet word its next to impossible that customers wont get to know about you and if this is the case then why don't we try to control what our customers' perception by direct engagement with them.  People love honest brands than all the time clean brands.Be confident that transparency is the best policy, and customers will reward your candor.

 

Reference

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/1676/6-Reasons-Every-Small-Business-Should-Be-Blogging-Are-You-Missing-the-Boat.aspx

Privacy Statement

I opened the privacy statement of retailer Target earlier too but this time observed this with different perspective. There are few things which captivated my attention :

Target Privacy Policy Revisions
Last update: 08/13/2013

Aug 2013

Added Target ticket and web site analytic services opt out information, social media widget information, and a disclosure about sharing aggregate information with third parties. Updated the security methods description, the description of Target affiliates, Information from Other Sources, and the California resident opt out.

Mar 2013

Clarified when "information" referenced within the policy means "personal information". Updated description of Target and its affiliates. Updated Target Cookies and Third Party Cookies sections. Added disclosure regarding sharing of personal information with our bank partner, TD Bank USA N.A. Added information about Target Mobile Applications.

Aug 2012

Updated Third-Party cookies section and added information about collection of User Experience Information.

What is so special and good about this is Target is making an effort to let user trace the changes it is making in its policies on the other hand Spam mentioned on its Privacy Policy "It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users' personal information, we will notify you through a notice on the Website home page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable e-mail address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes."

I think Target has conveyed the message in more appropriate way and giving the track of changes gave convenience to customer.

Second uniquely standing out statement is provision of direct link to opt out from third party cookies which i have not seen in any other privacy statement

Third Party Cookies

To opt out of third-party cookies, visit the Network Advertising Initiative website and the Digital Advertising Alliance website

and the disclosure that caught my most attention is

In-Store Cameras

We use in-store cameras for security purposes and for operational purposes such as measuring traffic patterns and tracking in-stock levels.

I could not find any other privacy statement which has mentioned so detail and honest information on their websites. Apart Target , I have found other privacy statement quiet similar and concise. Target has given a very detailed information of their Privacy Policies which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Customer is many times is not interested in reading such a long Policies , however its easy readability can make customer go through it more likely.

Time to Ramp Up Your Pinterest SEO: Bing Now Includes Pins in Image Searches

Bing image search now includes results from Pinterest boards. Now, whenever you do an image search on Bing, you'll see Pinterest boards appear in the top-right corner:

 
you can drive even more traffic and leads to your website through two of Bing's sexiest features: the unencrypted keyword search data and the Pinterest integration. The links from pins are considered "no-follow" links -- which means that people can't link to content and hope to have that content gain authority because of it. So the way you're going to profit here isn't by gaming search engine rankings through links, but rather through providing quality, clickable content on Pinterest that also happens to have search-friendly names and descriptions. 
 
Ok I recently registered on PinInterst after reading a blog from one of our mates. I am really not much into it however this is way Pinterest is expanding its wings and making people to use it. To drive the traffic on their sites people are going to use it and I am sure we all get used to it after a while. I would say GOOD MARKETING PINTEREST

References

 

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/bing-pinterest-search-integration-seo-nj?utm_campaign=blog-rss-emails&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=10479158&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--oePfSxFyqOChTeqdqBV5ETvsdvLPssY2nOyiLlPQbHOwBc0m0thrTD8GNxtRLUiPqsL2VGOLISoYYhIxdp3jFGHhsyw&_hsmi=10479158

Metrics : Every-Marketing-Manager-Should-Be-Tracking

Data speaks louder Having data at your side will help you make smart decisions, suggest fast changes when necessary, and find opportunities for different marketing channels and teams to work together. HUBSPOT  states some of the key marketing metrics and reports should be analyzed if looking to advance your marketing game.

1. Goal Setting and Progress Tracking  
2. Channel Effectiveness 
3. Content Effectiveness 
4. Marketing Qualified Leads 

Goal Setting and Progress Tracking 

1) Leads Waterfall
This chart helps you guide your progress by visualizing what you need to achieve on a day by day basis. As your month progresses, plot what you actually achieve each day to compare your results to your goal. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/14222/The-One-Graph-Marketers-Should-Update-Daily-The-Leads-Waterfall.aspx

2) Traffic Waterfall The same concept as above can be used for traffic

3) Average Lead Close Rate It will help you monitor the quality of your leads at any given time. If it's high, you're attracting high-quality potential business. If that close rate drops, you might not be attracting the right people. Recommended on a monthly basis

4) Average Leads Per Business Day Month Over Month Growth

Lots of marketers track month over month growth, but fewer track lead per business day month over month growth.  Well, not every month is the same length!For example, Achieving the same in February what you achieved in January, needs more efforts due to it being a shorter month.

Channel Effectiveness

This section is to help us ensure we're closely monitoring how well each specific channel is performing
5) Month-to-Date (MTD) Goal Per Channel

6) Close Rate Per Channel
Every marketer should understand what channels work best for their business from a customer acquisition standpoint.Maybe SEO is your best volume-producing lead generation over social media.Regardless of lead volume, it's possible that social is driving more customers for business! Perhaps the close rate of leads generated via social media is significantly higher than leads generated via SEO  so much so that SEO's volume isn't enough to make up the difference. That high close rate is also a very strong indicator of the quality of those leads coming from that channel. Hence should do more on that channel! It's your sweet spot.

7) Paid vs. Organic Lead Percentage
keep a close watch on how much of your leads are coming from one bucket over the other. You might also set a goal to decrease paid channels as a lead source over time. Measure what percentage of your leads come from each bucket to get a sense for how your organic efforts are working for you, and if you are scaling to reduce your dependency on advertising.

Content Effectiveness

8) Leads Generated Per Offer
How many customers are enrolling for the offer after coming to landing page, this should be tracked to know the effectiveness of content of each offer.
9) Landing Page New Contacts Rate
To differentiate your repeat form-fillers from your newcomers, new contacts rate is a great place to start! This metric is a wonderful tool to let you know the percentage of new people you're attracting to your business.

10) Call-to-Action Clickthrough Rate
By monitoring your call-to-action clickthrough rate, or the rate at which people visit a page and then click on the page's CTA, you'll be able to understand how valuable that offer is to incoming traffic.

11) Traffic-Driving Keywords
to evaluate if your content creation is impacting your business is by tracking how well relevant keywords related to your business are performing in search.

Marketing Qualified Leads(MQL) 

 http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30889/How-to-Expose-the-Best-Leads-to-Your-Sales-Team.aspx
An MQL is a lead that is more likely to become a customer compared to other leads based on their activity before converting. As a marketing organization, if you only serve up the MQLs, then Sales spends less time searching for those MQLs in their typical process and more time selling to the golden nuggets you supply, thus closing more deals.


12) Total MQLs Per Month
How many of these MQLs are you generating month over month? This is a good metric to know if you're helping your leads get to the "marketing qualified" stage via nurturing and more sales-driven content.

13) MQLs Per Channel
It would also be great to know if a particular channel is a strong source of MQLs for your business.

14) Percent Leads That Are MQLs
Are more leads being nurtured into MQLs over time?  By monitoring what percentage of your leads are MQLs over any given time, you'll be able to understand how well MQL generation is working compared to lead generation.

15) MQL Conversion Rate Per Offer
This metric is your tool to measure both MQL conversion and content effectiveness.

references

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34179/15-Metrics-Every-Marketing-Manager-Should-Be-Tracking.aspx

Inside Search: Fifteen years on—and we’re just getting started

Inside Search: Fifteen years on—and we’re just getting started: Google Search is turning 15 . Remember what it was like to search in 1998? You’d sit down and boot up your bulky computer, dial up on your s...

HUBSPOT SAYS :Google's Hummingbird Algorithm Perfect for Inbound Marketers

 Its name comes from the speed and precision it shares with its animal counterpart.

So we already know about search Engine optimization which works under different algorithm designed by various search engines like Google , Bing etc . Hub spot reported a new algorithm HUMMINGBIRD which is perfect for Inbound marketers.

 

Inbound marketing is advertising a company through blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, e-newsletters, whitepapers, SEO, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing. Inbound marketing earns the attention of customers, makes the company easy to be found and draws customers to the website by producing interesting content.

 

outbound marketing buying attention, cold-calling, direct paper mail, radio, TV advertisements, sales flyers, spam, telemarketing and traditional advertising are considered.

 

Here are some highlights from the post :

 

1. Hub Spot wrote on October 4, 2013 "Hummingbird , has been live for about a month now and is meant to improve search results -- especially for long tail queries, or “semantic search.”"
2. New algorithm allows Google to more quickly parse full questions. They are now prioritizing the context of the query as much as the content. For e.g. if I search "How do I fix the chain on my Trek mountain bike?” Google now understands that you’re neither shopping for a bike nor a bike chain, but you're looking to fix said chain.
3. Hummingbird is part of today’s shift to a “mobile-first” online landscape.Google is laying the groundwork to maintain its dominance in search for an increasingly mobile world.These long-tail searches are the kinds of things you might say into your phone

  Sara Angeles ( "Business news Daily" , 2013 ) stated the affect of the Hummingbird update as

"The Hummingbird update will likely result in a shift for business website rankings."

 

She explained  instead of traditional keyword searches, it uses conversational searches to deliver search results that are more on point with what users are looking for. In practice, this means that users' searches are becoming longer and more specific. Whereas prior search algorithms focused on keywords, the new algorithm will now focus on users' intent by answering questions that they are asking in their searches. 

 

 

benefit from Hummingbird

One way to look at Hummingbird is this: If you blog about topics your customers are interested in, Google will help you get found. You will become a resource for your community. You will develop a relationship with your ideal buyers, and that relationship could lead to a sale or a referral down the road.

 

To meet the search standards set forth by the Hummingbird update and not suffer in search rankings, businesses should rethink how customers are using the Internet to find products and services.



 

 

 

References :

http://blog.hubspot.com/why-googles-hummingbird-algorithm-perfect-for-inbound-marketers?utm_campaign=blog-rss-emails&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=10479158&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Dwr4KNU6T_Lm55Qmo3XBuoNRcFtghyJu5enj28FlMfpvc88bGQBpXaEcUoL_1A0ecjFJLLPPlCfF_Wa9oUvPKoPcR_w&_hsmi=10479158

 

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5245-google-hummingbird-update.html

CRM : Target Vs HardRock

 

CRM System of Target to provide seamless customer experience: 

CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. 

Customers of Target uses various channels like retails stores, internet, email, telephone call centers, direct mail, catalog, service technicians, sales representatives, social networks like Facebook, mobile apps, Twitter, YouTube.to get the information  

Below are the lists of technologies as part of CRM that Target uses to facilitate seamless customer experience:

1.      Email – Target uses it for customer service as well as exclusives promotions.

2.      Telephone – Target uses call center technology to provide assistance to customers like questions on online orders, shipping & returns, gift registries, credit card services, credit card services, Target Gift Cards.

3.      Push – automatic delivery of content to user’s computer as part of planned schedule of communications or triggered by an event.

4.      Social media platforms – Target is present on various social media platform such as  Facebook , twitter, blogging, you tube for listening, conversing, and provide customer service

5.      Mobile platforms – for communications, accessing the internet and purchasing. 

Using these CRM support, target is trying to provide seamless customer experience to the customers which help to boost Customer Lift time Value (CLV). 

Hardrock.com provides more social media connection, than target. Hard rock seems to be giving more live updates and news on its website which engages the customers along with creating cool ambience on the site. I should not be comparing and contrasting both companies sue to their involvement in different business. Hardrock.com has given more channels to get connected to them for different reasons such as different contact number for CUSTOMER SERVICE, information regarding website problems , information regarding press events, press releases, public relations and interviews contact , information regarding legal issues, counterfeit merchandise, trademark or copyright infringement claims, information about Hotel, Casino or Cafe franchise & development opportunities, information regarding Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos press events, press releases, public relations and interviews.

 

I think more doesn’t always mean good. It’s entirely depends how well one is doing with specific social media. Tool like TRUESOCIALMETRIC could help us here knowing how well both company are doing with social media.

.

trueSocialMetrics: Target and Hardrock

 I have used the  http://www.truesocialmetrics.com suggested by Avinash Kausik and analyzed Target and Hardrock. I have signed in and fetched this report. This image is dashboard of Target which displays the conversion, applause, amplification and economic value of different social media platform . If you cant see this clear out here please save the picture and read then . I could not find any other way to attach files here. This data is fetched for last one month as this is what you get in free access in Truesocialmetrics. We can see Facebook is playing a very crucial role here. People are more involved on conversation . Facebook has lot more conversation rate than any other social media. Target have more conversation rate than Hardrock , more people are engage with it and talking on it.  This site is really awesome as it gives you graphical representation of all the data it gathered. It difficult to write on all aspects that this websites cover.

We can compare which social media is helping us more and where we are lagging behind. We can compare data with our competitors and set the target limit too. Its really a helpful tool to see all at once and compare.
I have not gone to Google analytic due to some problem occurred , hence could not get the economic value.

but I find this data very interesting and helpful. We can really see what is going on and take actions accordingly. ( Please let me know if you want to see this online, I will share my login credentials if you want or its really worth a try to try by your own . Fun . )

Its really good to know that whatever we do on social media, matters to company. Visualizing the data helps planning for strategies and funding for any business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIAGNOSING SEM - Little bit

OK Now when I know more detail in SEM ( SEO and PPC ) let analyze HTML of few sites:
 
I looked for keyword  "baby stuff:

www.target.com/ ( Page ranking 1 ) and www.carters.com( Page ranking 2 ) came up as paid ad. Then  Google displayed sponsored ad from diapers.com, Wal-Mart, toy r us.com 

Google explained Sponsored ad as : "Based on your search query, we think you are trying to find a product. Clicking in this box will show you results from providers who can fulfill your request. Google may be compensated by some of these providers."

‎
 
Target pooped up first having page ranking of one (1). Its HTML Page have META TAG Keyword and  description  as :
   

<meta name="description" content="Shop for baby and kids stuff at Target" />

<meta name="keywords" content="baby and kids stuff, baby and kids stuff online, Target" />

<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.target.com/s/baby+and+kids+stuff"/>
 
<link rel="canonical" signifies canonical page which is a  version of a set of pages with highly similar content.
-----------------------------
Let see what carters have:
<meta name="description" content=" Discover clothing essentials for your children at Carter's, the most trusted name in baby, kids &amp; toddler clothing. Shop our selection of cute baby clothes and kids apparel."/>

<meta name="keywords" content=" baby clothing, baby clothes, baby clothes online, cute baby clothes, baby clothing stores"/>
--------------------------------------
 
Even Organic search is displaying TARGET at top. I don't know why Target plan to have a paid ad at top when natural search is displaying at top. however we need to keep in mind that natural search is cumbersome and needs time for experimenting to improve the page ranking whereas Paid Ad guarantees the placement of your ad.
---------------------------------------------------------
Baby Items and Baby Supplies - Walmart.com and Babies"R" Us are at second and third at natural search.

Walmart HTML Code :
<meta name="Description" content="Save on baby items, baby products, baby gifts and baby supplies in our massive Baby store. Save money. Live better. Walmart.com.
 <meta name="Keywords" content="Baby gear, baby supplies, baby items, baby products, baby store, baby gifts">



Babies"R"Us - HTML Code:
<meta name="description" content="Babies&#34;R&#34;Us is the leading retailer with a baby registry of strollers, car seats, baby gear, cribs, baby furniture, baby bedding, diapers, formula &#38; more." />
  <meta name="keywords" content="baby registry, strollers, car seats, baby gear, baby furniture, baby bedding, diapers, cribs,formula, baby shower, baby gifts, favors, baby shower ideas, baby gifts,kidsrus" />
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

we can see that word "baby" is used many a times. here comes the concept of  Keyword density which is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page. In the context of search Engine optimization keyword density can be used as a factor in determining whether a web page is relevant to a specified keyword or keyword phrase.Today, the overuse of keywords, a practice called keyword stuffing, will cause a web page to be penalized.

-------
Search results differ by Search Engine selection. I looked the same keyword "Baby stuff" on Bing and results are altogether different. This is due to different algorithm used by different search engines to rank the page and these algorithms are not publicly published.