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Apr 05
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Remaining Calm Regarding SEO

By Communications, Corporate Strategy, Media, Social Media

We just got a call from a potential new client that runs a web site. Her site is currently the market leader in our area for her specific area of expertise, but a new competitor has just launched and she was a little worried about how that would impact her. She already has an excellent publishing platform, writes, contributes and shares regularly on the topics her customers care about, and has built all the necessary relationships behind the scenes to support her customers. She has a presence on all the appropriate social networks, but she still felt the need to get in touch with another local “SEO expert” to make sure she was on track.

Whenever I hear that, my neck tightens up.

The bottom line with SEO, just as it was way back in 2007 when this seminal post by Scott Karp was originally created, is that good content and user experience drive links and readers, and links and readers drive good search engine rankings. That hasn’t changed. In fact, Google already hinted at SXSW this spring that if you try too hard to optimize for SEO you could actually LOSE rankings. One thing that HAS changed is that your supporting social media presence is now a big part of how well ranked your site and content remain. Social is tied directly to search results. So what does this really mean and what should you do?

  • Google+ is going to have a huge impact on search results. One way Google can drive adoption of Google+ is to reward participation. What a concept! They have over 90MM users already and they all see personalized search results (SERPs). High participation and large, well-connected circle counts matter in Google’s search rankings. So get on there and start sharing!
  • Conversations and traffic are being emphasized almost more than keywords (which are still really important). The more visibility and connections a piece of content can generate, the better it does for SEO. Social networks are now the primary drivers of those connections.
  • Content remains king. The king is dead. Long live the king! Content has to be fresh, regularly updated, and well-distributed over the social web. So a good content publishing strategy with social distribution is a core competency for your business to develop.
  • Tweets and retweets matter. Google says they don’t directly count tweets in rankings, but a popular tweet containing a link earns a lot of re-publishing across the web that Google does crawl, index and count.
  • Facebook really helps Bing results. Through Bing’s partnership/integration with Facebook, results are massively personalized for any logged in Facebook user. So building a presence and sharing content there is no longer optional.
  • Social content distribution drives awareness and branding, which also drives searches. People just knowing about you and what you think will make them search for you more, yes? It also can lead to more love from the press, who are looking for easy ways to generate stories via social networks and connections.

In the end, it all comes down to content. As usual. If you regularly publish things that are worth reading and sharing and you hook up the necessary social platforms to actually DO that sharing (and enable your readers to help you), you will earn a social search rankings boost, gain natural followers and links, amplify your reach and influence, and bias consumers towards your stuff. And towards your business. All will be well. Deep breaths…

 

Mar 29
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I am Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy.

By Communications, Social Media

For anyone who may not know, Jaggers Communications is a small business. Marijean and Rusty are very busy organizing our plans for clients and doing the actual work along with Amy while my job is to bring in the business. I am out there talking with prospective clients on an almost daily basis. We have a pretty good idea of who we work well for (mid-sized companies looking to increase their bottom line by engaging new customers and building loyalty with existing customers through the social networks).

The idea is that we like to work with companies who are also the right fit for us (often science based or educational businesses, but always forward thinking with goals in mind). I have clear idea of who I should be talking to, but I’m also interested in working with clients who I find interesting (fashion, restaurants, fitness, wine). And so, like a lot of sales, I mean, business development people, I get all excited when a prospect that I’m interested in throws me a bone and lets me talk with them. Cut to a very famous scene from Tommy Boy . . .

 

Sometimes I am Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy. But I’ve found out that my nerdy obsession with social media and marketing campaigns works out when the companies are also excited, when they are ready. But not all companies that I talk to are ready.

Here are some signs that eventhough your company likes the idea of starting a social media campaign/brand positioning/crisis communications plan/basically any PR initiative, you aren’t really ready:

1. Your boss is not onboard. I can’t tell you how often I see this. The marketing team wants to launch a blog where they can speak directly to clients and share product stories. The boss thinks “surfing the web is a waste of time.”

2. Your company is you and an intern. I want to give you a hug and say that in a few years when you have a bigger staff and a larger budget, we will totally work together. But I don’t want to take all your money. But I will absolutely let you know when Marijean has the next seminar because it will be useful to you.

3. You don’t see the need. Although it boggles the mind, I occasionally run into companies who are so ok with their profits that they feel like they’re fine where they are. Crazy, isn’t it? And we’re all a little jealous.

When these situations come up, I hand over my card and say something cheesy like, I look forward to being a resource should an opportunity arise. But actually, I mean it because we aren’t going anywhere and companies are ever changing and growing. So, I guess I really do hope to work with them in the future.

How about you? Had any Tommy Boy moments lately?

Mar 19
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Conquering Your Shame: The Key to Innovation and Change

By Corporate Strategy

I just watched this TED talk by Brené Brown, a leading researcher on shame, vulnerability and courage. Wow, a weird topic for a communications company blog post, you say. Maybe. But once you watch it, you may never look at yourself in the same way again. I won’t even spoil its power by trying to sum it up. Just watch it. Some aspect of your life will resonate within her words.

Here is the video.

 

Mar 15
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You Can Pry My Facebook Password From My Cold, Dead Hands

By Media, Social Media

There was an amazing article posted last week that reported a new and highly disturbing trend. Here is a recap. Apparently, more and more employers, college admissions offices, and even sports coaches are under the mistaken impression that they have the right to request or even demand login and password information to potential employees or applicants’ Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube accounts so they can browse them for potentially damaging information contained in posts.

I’m sorry, but I think that’s completely, totally, heinously inappropriate. Not only is it a serious invasion of privacy, highly presumptuous, rude, obnoxious, patronizing and potentially illegal, but it probably won’t work. Any player, student, or applicant worth having will probably run away from these opportunities because they will see this amazing privacy breach for what it is, a serious overreach. In other cases, they will simply conceal their true identity with dummy accounts designed to retain the privacy we all know is our right. Others will simply close their accounts, if the job is serious enough.

My problem is that I don’t think anyone should have to choose between employment, education, sports, and privacy. Last time I checked, it was an inalienable right. I can see certain industries, like national security or defense, requesting accounts to be closed or suspended, but I cannot advocate requiring actual access to personal account information as a condition of anything valid or legitimate, ever, nor can I condone forced friendship for “monitoring purposes.” What happens in the public area is fair game. Scrutinize all you want any thing I post for public consumption. But my friends, my data, my private time outside of areas I agree to share are just that–MINE. You can pry them from my cold dead hands. If you dare.

Thoughts?

Mar 12
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The Genius of Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 Campaign

By Public Relations, Social Media

Unless you were living under a rock last week you have seen the video or at least heard about the celebrity support of Kony 2012. Invisible Children (IC) is the name of the organization responsible for this film. By all accounts, IC hit a home run its campaign and social media strategy. The film which enjoyed 71 million views within 5 days on YouTube could have sat collecting dust for months without a solid campaign in place.

The co-founder, Jason Russell has been all over TV, radio, web and the social networks explaining their organization’s mission. IC wants to make Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), famous with the goal being that in fame comes awareness and ultimately, arrest.

Much has been said about the questionable expenditures of Invisible Children, their oversimplified explanation of the situation, and the colonial idea of Westerners swooping in to “save” Africa when the Ugandan military is already in pursuit of Kony, and Obama’s deployment of a mere 100 military advisors back in October. Nonetheless, we all know who Joseph Kony is now. He is, in effect, famous.

But how did this happen? How did this campaign explode as it did when thousands of organizations are marketing themselves every day with little fanfare. They’re on Facebook and Twitter. They have blogs and maybe even events as well as news releases and traditional advertising.

IC’s genius is in their strategy. This campaign was designed with laser focus, crystal clear goals and an adaptive plan to make it happen. Their plan was outlined in the video.

The number one goal was to make Kony famous.

They had two target audiences to mobilize: the young and the powerful. This young (25 and under) audience could be reached through “culturemakers” rappers, actors, personalities, etc. The powerful were Congressional members. They chose “policy makers” former presidents, senators, etc who could be influential to this group. The idea was to reach out to the influential groups and ask them to speak to the target audiences on behalf of IC through retweets, sharing of posts on multiple social media sites and publicly displaying support.

The message was simple, compelling and always accompanied by the opportunity to donate and connect and share via Facebook, Twitter or email.

Of course, all of this did not occur in a vacuum. There were interviews, events, articles, unending hype to drive more traffic to the site. And lest we forget that all this has occurred, “Cover the Night” on April 20th should remind us with a worldwide call to paper our cities with Kony 2012 posters and paraphernalia. Is it at least a coincidence that 4/20 was chosen as the date? No, their pot smoking target will be celebrating anyway. Go ahead and piggyback on the holiday. And yes, UVA, I see you’re onboard. Cheers!

Whether or not you buy into this brand of activism, there is a lesson to be learned here. It’s hard to argue with what these tactics have achieved. If you find your organization achieving less than stellar response to your online campaign, ask yourselves a few questions. Is your message clear and compelling? Have you created a solid strategy with tangible goals? How well do you know your primary, secondary and tertiary target audiences? If this raises more questions than answers, I know a great PR firm that can help.