Out of the Fog Marketing

Apple Overrated, Cisco Underappreciated

2010-03-08T13:09:00.004-05:00

Check out IT Database's latest report Business Press Technology Coverage for a fascinating look at how business publications cover the technology industry. Tech gets far less coverage than its finance counterparts even though it's a huge part of our country's economic engine.

Particularly vexing is Gartner predicted $3.3 trillion in IT spending in 2010, yet enterprise IT is barely covered in the mainstream media.

In the study IT Database also asked tech PR pros which companies they thought were overrated or underappreciated by the business press. Look at the results and see that hip and hype really matter when it comes to PR coverage:

Overrated	Underappreciated
Apple (32%)	Cisco (18%)
Google (28%)	Microsoft (12%)
Twitter (12%)	VMWare (12%)

Technology Companies Diving More into Social Media

2010-03-02T15:48:00.002-05:00

A new MarketingSherpa Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report found that more than 55% of marketers surveyed in the hardware and software industries plan an increase in their 2010 social media marketing budget. This trend implies that B2B marketers recognize that IT buyers are using social media to make informed purchasing decisions.

The best Superbowl ad was cheap

2010-02-09T15:56:00.003-05:00

The best Superbowl ad last Sunday was Google's. Hands down.

It's so simple anyone with a computer and free movie editing software could have made it - as witnessed by the Tiger Woods spoof of the video that was up by Monday.

The real power of that Google ad was the message, the music and the emotional connection it made with the viewers. Contract that with all the inane ads of people slapping each other in the head. Simple sophistication and emotional connection sells.

3 Myths about SEO Companies

2010-02-04T13:33:00.002-05:00

Great post by Aaron Muller discussing myths related to search engine optimization companies.

You can almost think of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as a somewhat secretive industry. You see a lot of people claiming to be SEO experts, and some charge a lot of money for their SEO services. Some people guarantee results and some don’t. At the same time, almost nobody will tell you the exact methods he or she uses to improve your web site’s rankings, so you are left wondering: am I paying too much? Am I being too cheap? Am I hiring the right person? What should I look for when hiring a SEO company? Is it worth the investment?

If you think about it, there is a reason that the SEO industry is somewhat secretive. For one thing, search engines like Google do not like people tampering with their search results. If you are a dentist in Chicago and you realize that thousands of people type “Chicago dentist” into Google every week, imagine how much more business you would get if your web site comes up first in the search results! When I say search results, I mean the organic search results, not the paid advertisements, since 70% to 80% of people click on the natural search results instead of the paid advertisements.

This brings me to the second reason why search engine optimization companies are somewhat secretive. They take away Google’s revenues from paid advertisements! The more people hire SEO companies to improve their rankings on the natural search results, the less likely they are to use paid advertising with the search engines such as Google AdWords and pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements.

For these reasons, search engines such as Google do not like search engine optimization companies, and the SEO experts have to be somewhat hush hush with their methods. As a result, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions when it comes to hiring SEO companies. However, this does not mean you need to be at a lost. You are likely to get better investment of your dollars with some SEO companies than others. With a little education and understanding of SEO companies, you will be better equipped to choose the right SEO company for you.

Here are the top 3 myths when it comes to search engine optimization…

1. The majority of the SEO work takes place on your web site. The logic behind this myth is that if you design a really search engine friendly web site, your web site would be ranked high by search engines such as Google. Yes, it may be true that having the right keywords and meta tags on your web site help your ranking, but if it were that easy, don’t you think everybody would be doing the same thing? The truth is – only a small percentage of the SEO work is done on your web site. The majority of the SEO work to improve your ranking should be done on other people’s web sites! Search engines tend to care a lot more about what other web sites think about yours rather than what you have on your own web site. This is the reason that a good web designer is not necessarily a good SEO expert, and vice versa. Web designers tend to focus almost all of their energy working on your web site. Good SEO experts, on the other hand, tend to focus their energy on other web sites in order to help improve your web site’s rankings.

2. Good SEO can be done cheaply. There is a saying that people tend to get what they pay for, and this saying applies to hiring SEO companies. However, you should not base your decision on price alone. What you should understand is why some SEO companies charge you so little (such as $49.95 per month). Some keywords are more competitive than others. For instance, let’s say you run a hair salon in Los Angeles called “BJ Hair Design”. Which keywords do you want to optimize? Do you want to optimize “BJ Hair Design”, or do you want to optimize “hair salon Los Angeles”? I can charge you very little to improve the ranking of the keyword “BJ Hair Design”, but potential customers searching for hair salons on the Internet don’t know your company name (which is why they are searching in the first place), so no one is going to type in “BJ Hair Design”. Chances are they will type in “hair salon Los Angeles”, and this is when you want your web site to come up first. It is much harder to get a high ranking on competitive keywords such as “hair salon Los Angeles”, which means it will cost you a little more to get high rankings on highly desirable keywords. So before you go with the cheapest SEO company, think about this… Which keywords are they helping you optimize?

3. SEO stops when your ranking is high. Another myth is that SEO is a one-time investment. If you have a very high ranking on Google, there are probably 9 other companies trying to compete with you. If everyone else is advancing but you, your ranking will eventually drop. That is why you should think of SEO as an ongoing investment for your business. By continuing to invest in your web site’s ranking, you will ensure a steady stream of new customers that will visit your web site and call you up.

Running ads before online video loses 16% of audience

2010-02-02T12:05:00.003-05:00

TubeMogul just released the results of an interesting study showing almost 16% of viewers will abandon watching a video if there is an ad before the video starts playing. Read the full report.

This is interesting data since many online advertisers may be paying on a cost per impression model when the viewer did not even watch the ad.

Know your target demographics?

2010-01-21T17:07:00.002-05:00

Microsoft Adcenter Lab's Demographic Prediction tool is pretty interesting. I have no idea how accurate it is, but it's informative to compare one site or one term to another. This tool predicts a user's age, gender, and other demographic information, based on their online behavior, such as what queries they search online and what web sites they visit.

I was amazed to find 25% of visitors to our site are between 18 and 24, until I remember all the job opening requests we get from recent college graduates.

Should you advertise on content networks?

2010-01-06T14:12:00.004-05:00

In an attempt to find a revenue generation model, LinkedIn and other social media sites now allow direct pay-per-click advertising on their sites. So when should you advertise on these sites and other content networks. Here's my advice....
1. You've maxed out search network PPC and have budget to spare. When folks search for terms in the traditional search network, you know they are looking for something particular to the keywords you have in your ad campaigns. On LinkedIn they might just be looking for their buddy's phone number and many times don't even see the ad. That being said it is another channel and your cost-per-click (CPC) should be much lower than a search network CPC.
2. You can advertise on a niche site. If you sell a medical device for headache relief and can advertise on a migraine discussion forum site, then content network advertising makes a whole lot of sense.

See who's linking to your site on Twitter

2009-12-11T13:28:00.005-05:00

If you would like to see who is Tweeting with a backlink to your site, check out Backtweets.com. The advanced option tab lets you set a date range and setup email alerts.

If you would like to see how your company can take advantage of Twitter and other social media sites, check out our social media programs for healthcare and technology companies or give us a call for a free consultation.

Google expands personalized search results

2009-12-08T15:44:00.005-05:00

Google has extended its personalized search results to worldwide users - not just those signed into their Google account. So now when you search with Google, it will provide results that are aimed at higher relevancy to you as an individual user, as opposed to relevancy for the average person.

For example, since I always search for [recipes] and often click on results from epicurious.com, Google might rank epicurious.com higher on the results page the next time I look for recipes.

The feature has been available to Google users who have accounts, are signed in, and have their web history enabled (on Google) for a while. Now it appears to just be the standard way of delivering search results to everybody.

You'll know when Google customizes results because a 'View customizations' link will appear on the top right of the search results page. Clicking the link will let you see how Google has customized your results and also let you turn off this type of customization.

What Does This Mean for Organic SEO?

Our agency has never promised search placement results (such as we'll get you the #1 ranking for a particular keyphrase) because we believe it's unethical. Now for certain search phrases it's impossible to make that promise. One user's search results could look significantly different than another user right across the hall. What we do promise with our internet marketing services is to increase lead generation and conversion, which in the end is the only metric that should matter.

Personalized search, in addition to Google's recent announcement it will include real-time results from social media sites, will play to the strengths of companies with truly integrated web marketing strategies. Long tail keywords will become even more important and companies may have to rely more on Adwords for lead generation.

What about Privacy?

If you're worried about privacy, Google lets you turn personalized search off altogether. For signed-in users, all you have to do is remove web history from your Google account. For signed out users, click "web history" in the top right corner of a search results page, then click "disable customizations." You can also just clear your browser's cookies.

The best affordable inkjet printer I've owned

2009-12-08T14:35:00.003-05:00

While I normally don't do product reviews on this blog, this one warranted it. For 10 years, I've owned HP printers...everything from low end throw away units to more expensive office printers. I've always been unsatisfied with the overall quality of both the hardware and software, but I could never find a suitable alternative. Well now I've found one.
Over the weekend, my latest HP all-in-one printer, scanner, fax died. I did some research and found Canon has a great product. As an amateur photograph, I've always been happy with Canon's cameras and photographic software. So I purchased the Canon PIXMA MX330 Inkjet All-In-One Printer which is on sale at Amazon and Staples for less than $70. It's normally $149. For the price it's amazing...great speed, well made, easy to open, and it's easy to change ink. It even has a mini LCD color screen. Most importantly their software does not crash my Microsoft Office applications like HP did.
I hear it's not the best printer for very high resolution photographic prints, but as a general office or home office printer, it's a very good buy.

Evaluating a Social Media Agency

2009-12-03T14:30:00.000-05:00

We are getting many inquiries in the past month from prospects looking for social media and interactive marketing campaigns. Paul Dunay's blog Buzz Marketing for Technology had a great entry on how to choose a social media agency given this marketing area just hasn't been around that long. Here's Paul's advice...

Now that we are beginning to feel the relief of the economic uncertainty that has been hanging around us for the past few months, I am beginning to hear a lot about the invention of some new roles inside organizations looking to get “social media”.

Typically this means hire someone who knows our “space” really well and someone who is an expert in social media.

Well it’s the latter part that is the hard part. Consider that in Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book Outliers: The Story of Success he goes into a discussion about Violinists and how long it takes them to become a master at their craft. So without spoiling the book for you – the bottom line was – it takes 10,000 hours to become a Master Violinist. This got me thinking about how it could apply to Social Media and how long it would take to become a Social Media Expert.

So if you practice Social Media on the job for a few hours a day, let’s say 3 hours a day learning more about social media and 2 hours a day practicing social media times 5 days a week that means you could become a social media master in 7.6 years. Throw in the weekends and that drops to 5.5 years! But wait, social media hasn’t been around that long!

So since you can’t hire an expert, what qualities would make for a good social media marketer? Here are 4 macro competences to look for:

1) Story telling – in social media you need to tell good stories, stories that people will be attracted to, identify with and want to share. Story telling is key!

2) Packaging – they need to be able to package the stories up and be able to make them shareable this means the content can be found in a variety of media forms not just one.

3) Reach – they need to know how to reach people with their content, the more forms the better. So that means they need to be fluent in many social media sites.

4) Measure – and finally the hardest part for most people is the measurement of the effectiveness of the media and the efficiency of the story being spread in those media.

Pros and Cons of Content Management Systems

2009-12-02T00:11:00.005-05:00

I'm reposting a blog post from Josh Freedman of Seattle's Web1Marketing that outlines wonderful criteria to evaluate if your company needs a content management system (CMS) for its website(s).

Clients often if they need a Content Management System (CMS) to help manage website changes. In theory, these systems allow organizations to effectively manage their own site changes. This post will delve into the pros and cons of using a CMS.

As their name implies, Content Management Systems are software packages that make website maintenance more systematic and (in theory) easier. Typical features include:

Security — Password protected logins and different levels of control over site design and content.
Multiple users with multiple roles — Different users can have different capabilities so that, for instance, many people can create new content, but only certain editors and administrators can make those changes part of the live website.
Templates — Standardization of web sites and site sections, and removing the need for special formatting of each new piece of content. Also enables some things to be changed site-wide very easily.
Simplified content creation and editing — Most common CMSs allow users to create and edit content without knowledge of HTML and CSS.
Task automation — Automatic creation of menus, navigation tools, sitemaps, RSS feeds, etc.
Expanded functionality — Many CMS systems support “plug-ins” that provide additional functionality like blogs, email list management, usage statistics, etc.
Lower cost — Simplified content creation and editing saves time and reduces the reliance on technical services and outside vendors.

The above list is by no means complete, but they summarize the basic capabilities and point out the most popular benefits. There are hundreds of different CMSs that offer a variety of additional capabilities that may be valuable for particular situations.

The most common alternative to a CMS-based strategy is to built websites using standard HTML and CSS (and perhaps limited use of ASP or PHP). Much of the initial design and development work is the same for sites that do and do not use CMSs. You will either have to know or pay for HTML expertise to make changes, but there are tens of thousands of people and firms that can help, which cannot be said of event the most popular CMS.

So what are the downsides of CMS use? Well, there are many potential challenges:

Software cost — There are many open-source (hence “free”) CMS tools, but there are many that cost hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Installation and configuration cost — Any CMS must be setup and configured for a particular site design, group of users, initial information organization, and any additional features of the CMS or integration of other tools. This process requires significant technical expertise and experience with that particular CMS. The required level of expertise is typically much greater (and more expensive) than HTML and CSS authoring. Typical installation and configuration costs run from the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
Database dependence — Virtually all CMSs rely on database software. This adds technical dependencies that static websites do not share and may require the skills of database experts for advanced configuration issues.
Lack of portability — Unlike static websites, CMS-based sites typically require a variety of technical steps to be relocated from one server to another, and the underlying server software usually needs to be the same. Moving a static site is usually as simple as copying files form one location to another.
Maintenance — While a CMS may make creation of content easier, systematic changes to a site require expertise with the particular CMS and specific implementation, and they can be expensive.
User training — Content authors, editors, and anyone else who will be using the CMS must be trained on its use, which includes how NOT to create new problems in configuration.
Upgrading — A CMS is a piece of software that must be upgraded periodically to insure that any security patches or bug fixes are implemented in a timely manner.
Vendor dependence — The cost of making systematic changes is usually lower if you work with the people that installed the CMS because of system and installation-specific knowledge. This makes it much harder to cost-effectively to change vendors.
Security — Any software that allows multiple users introduces the risk of abuse by a user or someone who gains access through other means. The risk rises as more users are granted access. Integration with other systems (e.g. lead management) can introduce security risks for those systems.
Breadth of failure — In a site that relies on “static” HTML and CSS, problems are typically isolated to a particular page and are not catastrophic. Problems in any software-dependent system can bring down an entire site. Such instances are rare, particularly with high quality CMSs and skilled vendors, but the risk is not zero.
Feature additions — If you need a capability that your CMS doesn’t offer, it may require custom programming that requires integration with the existing system. This can be simple or it can get very complex, and any integration may complicate subsequent upgrades to the CMS.

With all of these challenges, it should be pretty clear that for very small sites and those that are changed infrequently, CMSs can be a very poor investment. For larger sites or those that require frequent updates from multipe authors, a CMS might be a good solution.

What's the Most Popular Word of 2009?

2009-11-30T22:55:00.003-05:00

Believe it or not, "Twitter" beat out h1n1, Obama and Michael Jackson as the most popular word in the English language in 2009. While it's not completely fleshed out, online social interaction is here is stay. Read the full story.

If your company doesn't already have a social media strategy, now is the time to get one. In the very least you should do a land grab for vanity name URLs on Facebook and claim your company profile on LinkedIn and corporate/product fan pages on Facebook. And start to play with Twitter. There are tools such as Ping.fm that link all these social sites and your blog together, so in 5 minutes per day, you can provide a status update on each site with just one login.

Create color themes with Adobe Kuler

2009-11-24T23:09:00.002-05:00

Check out Adobe's web-based application, Kuler, to view a gallery of created color themes or create your own from a particular base color or even a photograph. The tool is especially useful in presentation and website development.

Google ranking changes in 2010...think fast

2009-11-13T14:30:00.005-05:00

Interview with Matt Cutts more than hints to the fact that the speed at which your site loads may start to enter into the search ranking factors. You can test the speed of your site and get access to many free tools at the this Google site speed page. We especially like the Page Speed Firefox app.

Monitor your branded traffic

2009-11-13T00:28:00.001-05:00

Check out this nteresting post by Andy Edmonds on using Google Analytics to monitor your brand. I tried it on a couple of accounts and found some pretty interesting results. You can set it up in 5 minutes per account.

Want free publicity?

2009-11-09T14:00:00.004-05:00

Free media coverage is one of the best deals going. If you want to see your company's name in print, scan the daily emails from Help a Reporter Out (HARO). It will only take you 5-10 minutes each day to scan dozens of inquiries from reporters looking for information on stories they are writing. Our efforts in responding to HARO posts recently landed us a nice mention in Oregon Business Magazine.
Here's some advice when pitching editors through HARO:

Make sure your response is relevant to the editor's inquiry. For example, don't send information on electric vehicle sales if the writer is doing a story on low-cost auto repair.
Think before you write. The information you provide should be descriptive yet to the point. Don't send paragraphs of information on a first reply. The writer will contact you if he needs more info.
Be patient. We get action on only about 10% of the responses we provide. However, the ROI is still there.

Responding to editor and freelance writer inquiries can be a great addition to your public relations strategy. Combined with press releases, media outreach can get your company great press which often garners new leads and establishes your management team as experts.

Clarity Quest Opens Third Technology Marketing Office

2009-10-28T07:35:00.001-04:00

We are proud to announce the opening of our third technology marketing agency office. This time our new office is in Roseburg, Oregon -centered between the tech hubs of Silicon Valley and Portland. Our headquarters will remain in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Read the press release.

Share this post on Facebook

Using WordPress for static website builds

2009-10-26T14:47:00.009-04:00

We just completed a website for Cobb School in Oregon using the WordPress platform and a custom theme. The site is for an elementary school that needed a easy to learn content management system for multiple authors. As a nonprofit, they could not afford a custom content management system.

Designing a basic site using WordPress is fairly straightforward. There are hosting companies, such as A2 Hosting that offer 1-click WordPress installs. In working with WordPress we found a number of advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages

For the most part, WordPress is easy to learn and use for folks that do not know coding. The one exception is tables, which do demand a bit of HTML coding knowledge.
WordPress keeps a revision history of each page which is great for novices and their webmaster alike!
The image editing options are excellent. Being able to downgrade an image size within the application saves much time.
Novice editors really liked the "preview before upload" capability.

Disadvantages

In the theme we used, some aspects of the theme rendered differently in Internet Explorer compared to Firefox and Safari. For example, we could create true orphan pages by selecting a "private" publishing option. Privately-published pages show up on Firefox, but do not on Internet Explorer This was not a shocker and our developer was able to create workarounds in most cases. In our case, we hid orphan pages under a section that's not frequently visited.
You can upload images directly from your computer when editing a page, but you have to upload documents such as PDF files directly into the Media Library.
In the theme we selected, the homepage is considered a theme element and therefore, does not keep a revision history. Also, the homepage does not allow for visual editing. It must be edited in HTML.
The theme we selected did not have a true "blog posting" section, so we had change a real estate listing section into a blog section.

So lesson learned, choose your theme carefully. We actually purchased a pretty high-quality theme on ThemeForest, but it was still not perfect. Your webmaster or marketing agency may have to tweak the theme for it to meet your requirements. But overall, WordPress is a budget-friendly content management system that's easy to use.

Google and Bing to add Tweets to Search Results

2009-10-22T17:07:00.004-04:00

Microsoft today announced that it will add live updates from micro-blogging service Twitter to its Bing search engine results. Google also announced plans for live Twitter updates integration in its search engine. At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Microsoft announced it has access to the public Twitter feed and released the Bing Twitter search bet a for U.S. residents. Google promised to roll out Twitter integration in its search engine "in the coming months". In addition, Microsoft has inked a deal with Facebook and Google is said to be in talks with them.

Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft's online services group, said, "We are going to get access to all of the public Twitter information in real time." Bing will also get the Facebook status feed at a later date. Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer, Facebook, said, "We are giving Bing a feed of data made open to everyone. No money exchanged hands. We are not trying to make money on data."

Bing Twitter search sees the text of a Twitter update and any shortened links tagged with it. Domain names are displayed after the shortened links mentioned in the Twitter update. However, Bing Twitter search only shows Tweets that happened in the past week.

This is the first attempt of the search engine giants to show real-time information in search results. Stay tuned to see how both Google and Microsoft will roll this search functionality out of beta. If you do not have a social media strategy, it's time to get cranking.

Custom Top Level Domains- Part 2

2009-10-20T22:48:00.004-04:00

Last week we reported that ICANN(Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will be allowing customized top level domains starting sometime in 2010. ICANN is instituting the change to allow more visibility and intuitiveness to domain names. After all, what does a “.com” mean to most people? A .nike would be much more intuitive.
ICANN is reviewing its application process and will soon announce when in 2010 the customized top-level domains will be available. However, it's not going to be as easy as buying a .com or .org domain name. The ICANN application process will require the following

Business plan - including how you will maintain the domain over a 5-year period
Policy overview
Extensive documentation of community support (if the domain is for a community site)
A competent and stable technology provider for registry services and hosting

So this is not going to be a minor or cheap undertaking for most companies. There is going to have to be a large budget and commitment to the project.

Walk this Way this Blog Action Day

2009-10-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

I'm participating in Blog Action Day today, so I won't be talking marketing or SEO. Today's topic is climate change.
When I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I used my car only once a week for grocery shopping and maybe 2-3 times per month for outdoor adventures or out-of-town client meetings. By virtue of the town's great pedestrian and bike-friendly paths and a thriving downtown, my husband and I both walked to work for 3 years and I walked my daughter to preschool every day. That's everyday - even in Michigan winters.

Now alas I find myself in Oregon suburbia and I'm in the car all the time it seems. The "downtown" of the town in which we live has amazing historic homes but we don't feel it's a safe environment for our young daughter which is a complete shame. I encourage everyone in a similar situation to get involved with Main Street revitalization efforts. Imagine how we could affect the climate if everyone could walk to work at least 3 or 4 times a week.

Own .YOU

2009-10-12T17:47:00.005-04:00

If you're looking for a more direct and personal way to interact with consumers, instead of
sending them to your company's Facebook page or Twitter profile, what could be
better than an entire section of the Internet devoted solely to your brand?

That is exactly what you'll be able to get in early 2010 when you'll be able to grab a .brand instead of .com. Your company name can replace the .com! Imagine our emails coming .[your brand here]. Or your emails coming from you.[yourlastname]! Will Nike launch branded communities on a .nike domain? Can your company create an engaging microsite on .[your product name]? Whether you are a brand owner, technology company or healthcare organization you need to know how this upcoming domain registration change will affect your brand.

We will let our blog readers know exactly when these domains will be available and how to grab them. Stay tuned.

Buy a Cookbook, Warm a Child

2009-10-07T11:59:00.002-04:00

Our client SVS Vision is selling cookbooks at their 50 optical centers or by calling 800-SVS-4600. All proceeds go to the Coats for Kids Foundation. Eat well and keep a deserving child warm this winter!

Advertising to Change More in the Next 5 Years than in the Last 50

2009-10-01T16:40:00.003-04:00

An IBM study is predicting the end of advertising as we know it. It floors me that IBM has an Institute for Business Value that probably used a six-figure budget to tell us things we already knew. 18-24-year old use iTunes? Duh. The traditional ad agency is a dying breed? Of course. We've been predicting that traditional advertising agencies have been declining for years. That's why boutique ad agencies and tech-savvy marketing firms are thriving.

I will give them that the scenarios make the report more interesting especially for folks outside of ad agencies. It's worth a quick read even if just for the pretty graphs.