With the exception of exotic cases like Dell’s early promotional Twitter tactics, the best social media strategies are often as difficult to tie back to your bottom line as your efforts to improve customer service, be socially responsible or provide resources and information for your industry. These sorts of efforts tend not to ‘graph’ as well as website analytics and measurements that digital marketing has become known for.

Why are many of the best new media strategies so hard to track? Because, they’re new channels for the very business acumen that’s always been hard to connect to your bottom line; the effects of customer service, the impact of corporate social responsibility and the benefits of industry outreach.

As brands successfully adopt social media, they’re adopting new levels of community and industry outreach without rejecting customer care. The correlative data is there to match customer service quality and revenues. However, in a quest for the immediate and exacting metrics of other digital channels, too many agencies are pitching social initiatives stripped of customer relations in favor of more easily tracked broadcast methods. These rarely pay off in the long run, and it’s not really a strategy within the spirit of social interaction.

Today, we’ll discuss customer service and it’s natural extensions into social media. Every brand is different, but the gist of what you’ll read is that social media simply adores remarkable customer service.

Exploring Amazing Customer Service

In The Thank You Economy, marketer extraordinaire Gary Vaynerchuck recalls the lessons of his father and other community business members who would take pride in service derived from knowing and communicating with each customer intimately. Those were the ‘good ole’ days’ many of us have never experienced, and that is exactly what makes these kind of experiences so remarkable today.

To pull an example from Gary V’s book, it’s the butcher who remembers to leave a hambone aside for you on cold, wintery Fridays.  Why? He knows, you always make split pea soup on cold, wintery Fridays.

An inspiration of Jeanne Bliss’ I Love You More Than My Dog, a children’s shoe store owner, had earned a generation of clients for his ability to simply ‘be real.’ Running his business on passion, empathy, humanity and the occasional shared lunch, every stranger received the invitation to become not a customer, but family. Jeanne would take those same ‘old world’ values to become the first leader of Lands’ End’s customer experience team –a brand that would become one of the most respected, desirable brands in their industry for their customer experiences.

These aren’t social media strategies; they’re the customer service passions that have proven to generate referrals and word of mouth for decades. Today, those conversations are happening on Twitter, Facebook and a plethora of relevant social media platforms. It’s new media for old values.

The Customer Service Comeback

Somewhere in the 80’s and 90’s, customer service gave way to automation and bottom-line fanaticism. Grocers learned that they could increase profits by not having an associate carry your bags to your car. Mechanics started to upsell fluid checks that were once a courtesy at the pump. Customer service from most brands became a patience testing listening exercise of frantic mashing of our phone’s ‘0’ in our sanity’s swan song for human interaction.

For my generation, the ones who use reading glasses to Tweet, our cultural references for customer service lie somewhere between Sam the butcher from the Brady Bunch, the Soup Nazi and the movie Served. How’s that for a crowd with low expectations? That’s the bar and over the course of a few decades most of us have forgotten what customer service used to be. Our expectations today are lower than they used to be, which is why a spark of caring from a brand can ignite a wildfire of buzz.

In an underwhelming swell of streamlined business’ with clear profit channels, a scrappy digital shoe store named Zappos would make a name for itself with a daring leap into fanatical customer service.

In his book, Delivering Happiness, CEO Tony Hsieh credits the foundation of fanatical customer service for the brand’s booming success. In 10 years, through the .com bust, Zappos would rise to $1 billion in revenue – big shoes to fill for hopeful competitors.

Customer Service Goes Viral

Today, the brands who embrace remarkable customer service become, themselves, remarkable.

Customers want to be known! Customers want to be valued! Naturally, customers gravitate to brands with excellent service, avoiding those brands who have burned them in the past.  This is why many consumers seek reviews from peers before bothering to call for pricing.

When many of us experience extraordinary customer service, good or bad, we share it in conversation offline and on. It’s not unreasonable to think that remarkable customer service can go viral. Know that online, a fireworks celebration of positivity will drown out even the loudest squeaky wheel. Even Zappos gets customer complaints, but good luck finding them in the piles and piles of love letter reviews online.

How Service Gets  Social

Embracing social media is hard for many brands with dreams of Old Spice man, but it’s important to remember that social interactions from sewing circles to social media are the realm of the customer. Broadcasts into the conversation will land about as well on Facebook as they would shouted over the shoulders of a group at the pub –and it’s hard to tell which is more likely a venue for you to get socked for the disrespect.

There are strategies that can be designed to best fit your brand to the conversations and platforms happening online. While there is no ‘best strategy’ for all brands online, there are a few methods that have proven to be epic failures. That being said, when fanatical customer service becomes essential to your online conversation strategy, success –though a bit hard to graph- will be there.

Expand your Brand

Sure, you’re brand isn’t the local butcher shop, mechanic or shoe store. Your customers may be global with prospects numbering in the millions, but there are tools to help scale customer service. Customer relationship management solutions, or CRM, serve as your memory and marketing automation platforms, such as those built into Salesforce, can act as reminders to connect. Social media is your eyes, ears and voice.

Social media channels are a showcase for customer service, social responsibility and community involvement (your local community and the community of those you serve –where ever they may be in the world.)

Brands are quickly learning that it’s not enough to simply ‘be there,’ and that there likely isn’t a return of a non-strategic approach. The ‘age of the guru,’ it’s buzzwords and lack of acumen has passed. It’s time for social media to be recognized as an extension of communications. The channels are as measurable as a telephone in the hands of your best associates, and the realization is similar.

There is a bit more science to social media than traditional word of mouth. While you’re still dealing with the same dynamics of a traditional social graph for organic spread and sharing of brand awareness and messaging, you’re also adding a lot of the technical elements that come with the software interface of the communications channel, such as Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, the equation dictating which posts from the friends and brand you follow appear with relevancy in your feed. A proper social media strategy will balance both worlds in a way that best fits your brand, your audience, and your assets.

When you call SilverTech, you get a human being and not a phone tree. Usually, it’s Nanci. If you have the time, ask her about her dogs –you won’t meet a more passionate poodle aficionado. Why have a Nanci? Because the human touch, and the service that touch can provide, is core to our agency.

Customer service is back. Even brands who can afford to ‘buy out’ of customer service are rebooting their brand and reinvigorating the focus on customer care beyond price.

If you’re ready to explore how social media can  be used for your business in a way that best serves your sales, marketing, and overall business goals, contact us.

For the uninitiated, Pinterest users categorize your interests into boards populated with ‘pins’ of images found from around the internet. Others can vote it up and follow or like it boosting the board and growing the group of that interest. If you have an interest in ‘Ski Gear,’ and share your favorites from various online stores, others can re-pin and increase the position of the content by essentially ‘voting it up.’ Additionally, all of your Pinterest posts can be shared on to Facebook and Twitter.

Pinterest will be the love of e-commerce, affiliate marketing and product reviews. Why? People post images or videos of things they like, interests, things they want or things they want to do.

While the platform lends itself to art, culture and meme, it’s becoming the home of fashion with many creating boards of items they pull off the virtual racks from around the world -from a single brand or an hereto unimagined collection. With a click of the “Pin it” button from the browser bar, sharing is a single click for users.

What about the brands themselves? SilverTech client, Mimoco, designs really cool USB flash drives in original creations and licensed inspiration from Star Wars to Hello Kitty to Einstein. Mimoco could create various boards of interest and by typing in the dollar sign ($) into the description; the image will display a banner price point over the item also allowing it to be featured in the Gifts section of Pinterest. Fans can now post that item into a “Cool Office Toys” board or “Birthday Wish List” and this can continue to spread the brand item as users and fans see it.

As an aside, the use of Pinterest’s ‘Pin It’ button on a website, which is artfully crafted to resemble Facebook’s ‘Like’ button and Twitter’s ‘Tweet’ button, invites sharing while offering brands some ‘suggestion’ power for the picture and description pinned.

Now for something completely different -Gourmet Rasberry Honey Mustard. Pinterest has wildly popular with recipes and culinary inspiration where brands and gourmands can use Pinterest to help promote their own recipe sections from their websites by posting the recipes within various categories.

Imagine the power for a brand-created board called “Super Bowl Food Ideas” which includes a series of field approved, party recipes and that board’s ability to drive mouth-watering traffic to e-commerce and grocery isle satisfaction. As always, digital marketing should be connected through all of these channels.

From a tracking standpoint, focus on the website containing the products. By tagging the links on the site, marketing can begin to see how Pinterest is affecting sales and brand reach (most directly as a growing traffic source.)

Pinterest is fairly new but growing very fast. Who knows where it will be a year from now but I believe it will continue to be big and what I think will be the biggest change is how it will dramatically change social marketing for ecommerce.

Mulu Who?

A new company looking not unlike the little sister of Pinterest has already launched called mulu.me. And you guessed it… the core focus is on ecommerce.

Mulu’s twist allows users to identify charities for which they are raising money. Then, revenues generated from affiliate marketing are split between Mulu, the poster’s charities and the poster. Blended with a bit of gamification, users are awarded “Guru” points based on activity.

Mulu could be amazing, but it looks like it may run the risk of turning into a massive collection of spam depending on how items are indexed. One early suggestion I have is for the budding platform may be to partner with Open Table to allow the same percentage sharing for users that book at a suggested restaurant. Look for the Mulu launch party at SXSW in March.

Wondering if Pinterest, Mulu, Quora or even Facebook and twitter might be a hit for your brand? We’re here to help. Contact us or drop a question in the comments below, on Twitter or via Facebook.

Sounds familiar, right? Well, it should. With the latest economic downturn, cities and towns from all over the United States needed to diversify their local economies. The low-hanging fruit? Tourism. Visitors come, they spend and they leave – the perfect equation for stretched municipal budgets and small business owners’ pockets.

For all the businesses and brands out there that have been doing this awhile, you know it takes a lot of time, money, time, innovation and time to get vacationers to come to your town — and there isn’t a silver bullet. Mobile applications, traditional marketing and public relations will all be part of a successful equation, but a website is where the highest return on investment resides with the easiest methods for tracking goals. And guess what? Everyone else competing for your visitors has figured out that, too.

Luckily for brands and businesses, not all websites are created equal. There are good destination websites and there are bad ones. There are websites that look beautiful, but users can’t figure out where to click. The key is to find a happy medium with functional design.

Find Your Niche

I can’t even tell you how many travel sites I’ve seen that try to be all things to all people. I learned early in my tourism marketing career that EVERY destination has “something for everyone.” Don’t believe me? Do a Google search for the phrase “something for everyone” and see what comes up (after the Angela Lansbury movie filmed in 1970).

If your brand has something that no one else has, it needs to be front and center, not buried in an inner website page filled entirely with text. Tell me why I should do it, tell me how to do it, tell me when to do it and tell me what else I can do while I’m there. Is there an itinerary or vacation package? The easier you make this process for me, the better chance you’ll have of me converting to a real, live visitor – not just a browser on the web. Because, at the end of the day, it’s about how many heads are in beds and buying tickets – not how many visitors your website got in June.

Use high-quality photography

This is a pet-peeve of mine undoubtedly left over from an incomplete graphic design minor. There are so many travel websites that use pixelated photography, with bad composition or lighting.

Your destination is competing worldwide for visitor dollars. It is imperative that your assets, from hotels and shops to whitewater rafting and golfing, are showcased in the best way possible.

Take a look at the two photos below. Which one makes you want to take a trip to go golfing?

If you don’t have the skills or time to take hiqh-quality pictures of your assets under the best lighting, make a deal with a local photographer. There are always aspiring photographers who will trade services or photos for a link to their website or photo credit for recognition. If your organization has membership, doing a trade for photos in exchange for a complimentary membership is a great way to ensure that your photo library will stay updated.

To take it to the next level, use high-quality photos that include people. Those beautiful landscape shots are just that, beautiful. While potential visitors may look at them and think, “What a beautiful place” the key to really sealing the deal is to include people having a good time in the setting.

Again, take a look at the photos. Which one really makes you want to take a trip to go golfing?

Of course, photos should include your target demographic. Here, the Omni Mount Washington Resort (featured by SilverTech clients, www.visitnh.gov and www.nhgrand.com) chose to picture middle-aged males to convey a business retreat.

Rethink homepage real estate

A beautiful, edgy and just plain cool website is what everyone wants, but if the user doesn’t know where to click, your investment goes out the window. Additionally, if your most important assets aren’t on your homepage, what is the point of even having a homepage?

When was the last time you looked at your website’s analytics? Are people viewing certain pages more than others and are those the pages you want them to view? If your organization or business’ main goal is to get website visitors to sign-up for an email newsletter or book rooms, do these items have prime real estate on your homepage?

The eye naturally reads from left to right in a clockwise fashion, which is why the business logo is always in the upper right hand corner. But after that – what are you looking to show?

When we redeveloped the website for SkiNH, (www.skinh.com), SilverTech worked to the organization to determine what the top three goals for the new website. First, SkiNH wanted to make sure that www.xcSkiNH.com was equally highlighted and that both sites were given a similar look and feel. Next, the organization’s social media is a huge component of their business. Having a direct feed to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, contact email and Text Message alerts was key. Finally, that the cool features, such as the SkiNH Photo Contest, Interactive Resorts Map and Lift Ticket Pass were front and center on the page to achieve better conversions.

Of course, other items, such as the video of the week and upcoming events are important and were given homepage real estate, but the top three goals received prime locations.

What are the top three items on your homepage? Are they what you want/need to be there? If not, rethink a bit of the layout.

Track Everything

When was the last time you really looked at your visitor destination website without the rose colored lenses and without excuses? Do the callouts on the homepage entice you to delve further into website? Are they well designed and is the content engaging?

How many brands/businesses know how their website is really doing? Sure, Google Analytics has allowed us to see how many visitors to the website, their page views and average conversion rates – but do you know how many website visitors become actual visitors?

Be Fun

Vacation is all about having a good time. As the digital extension of your business or brand, your website needs to give the appropriate look and feel. For an older couple doing a winery tour, “fun” would be a completely different definition than a family vacationing in Disney World.

What is your target audience? Is it families? Is it couples? Is it a certain interest group like hikers, cyclists or skiers? What is the income level of the visitor you are targeting? Are your guests looking for a more sophisticated vacation spot or a place to kick back and relax?

For example, if catering to families, do you have coloring printouts or interactive games built into your website tying back to your brand? For the winery tour, is there an interactive map with interesting information or cool features? Is there a feature that allows your visitors to engage with your brand after the visit is completed? And no, QR codes don’t count. Think outside the box – and don’t go straight to QR code. Ironically, like the word “unique,” everyone has them.

Bonus: Find an Experienced Partner

You can’t take a better first step into bettering your digital marketing than partnering with an agency that’s done it all before. If you’re looking to earn your brand, community or business more recognition (and visitor dollars) then consider contacting SilverTech.

“Our web presence is a major part of our brand strategy and our goal was to select a partner that understood and shared in our culture and goals. SilverTech proved to be the right match for our current and future needs,” said David D’Angelo, vice president and second generation company co-owner. “We will create a truly unique b to c and b to b experience. We are a boutique brand and we want our website to evoke that look and feel,” said D’Angelo.

The scope of the project is wide ranging from creating an impactful brand feel, with spectacular lifestyle imagery to allowing wholesale customers to extract key information regarding inventory and order status. “The site will be a living breathing location that will encourage consumers and retail customers to return often,” said Steve David, director of marketing. “On one hand, a wholesale customer’s priority will be checking availability while a consumer may want to check the latest Facebook post or Twitter feed. We will create a unique online community,” said David.

“47 Brand is a remarkable story and we are excited to help enhance their message with a new digital platform optimized for PC’s, tablets and mobile devices. We are a team of digital marketing specialists and sports fans that have been wearing ’47 Brand products for years,” said William Storace, creative director at SilverTech, Inc.

The company will unveil 47brand.com to coincide with the start of the 2012 MLB season in April.

SilverTech, Inc. is a national digital marketing agency based in New England that expertly solves online marketing, technology, operations and commerce challenges by creating value driven, web, digital and data powered solutions to fit exact business requirements. SilverTech partners include: Life is Good, Polartec, American Water and Le Gourmet Chef.

’47 Brand is a privately held sports licensed company founded by twin brothers Arthur and Henry D’angelo in 1947. Forty Seven Brand is proud partner of Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and over 600 collegiate programs. Forty Seven Brand employs 200 corporate and retail associates and is located in offices in Boston and Dedham, MA.

When Listing Online, It’s Tag It Right or Pay Up

When the Federal Trade Commission passed ‘The Textile and Wool Act,’ it was cause for most retailers to change how they display product online – and not everybody has updated yet. The act states that most textile and wool products display a label listing fiber content, manufacturer identity and country of origin. We know that you can look at your shirt, pants, jacket and even underwear to see where those tighty-whities were made, but brands also have to indicate country of origin online. Here is an excerpt from the act:

When a textile or wool product is advertised in a catalog or other mail order promotional material, either printed or disseminated on the Internet, the description must include a clear and conspicuous statement that the item was either “made in U.S.A.,” “imported,” or “made in U.S.A. and [or] imported.” Of course, catalog information about origin must be consistent with the information on the label. (See p.22 for more information about origin disclosures in catalogs.)

Where many companies have not followed the law closely on is the online world. Even some of the biggest retailers haven’t become fully compliant. Even some of the brands I personally love, such as Billabong, haven’t caught up with the newer labeling requirements.

By contrast, take a look at this example from The North Face and you can see under ‘specifications’ that the source is “imported” along with the proper fabric breakdown. SilverTech client Life is good® has also been updated in their newest optimistic products.

So why is this so critical? As the FTC has shown signs of enforcing this more, the penalties can be pretty steep, upwards of $16,000 per catalog item. No need to show some basic math examples here, brands can’t afford not to make this change.

The bulk of The Textile and Wool Act can seem quite complicated, but reads similar to a brand identity guide with how you should and should not display things. For example, you should not list 80% polyester and 20% SILK in an effort to highlight the premium fabric. Fonts and styles must be similar.

I strongly encourage brands to brush up on The Textile and Wool Act to learn more about what falls under these restrictions and how to make the most of it.

Over the past 16 years, SilverTech has worked with companies on their digital experience to include ecommerce, systems integration and ultimately everything dealing with customer interaction. We have seen a lot and learned a lot, and whether you’re Billabong, The North Face or a purveyor of the optimistic, let’s chat.

“Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration.” – Sumner Redstone

How the heck did we get to the end of the year already?  It seems like just yesterday we were working on Q3 and Q4 plans.  But, here we are, with less than 15 days left of 2011.

It seems right to take a moment to reflect on some of the common frustrations we’ve heard from marketers in 2011, to direct you to some great tips from this past year’s most popular blog posts in hopes to help you overcome some of these challenges in 2012.

Top Five Marketing Frustrations of 2011:

1. I optimized my website for search engines when it launched. Why is it not ranking well now?

I know it seems totally unfair that Google, and other search engines, continue to change the rules on marketers.  I mean they have the gall to switch things up on us without thinking about how much time went into our SEO planning or the cost and time associated with updating it.  Well, unfortunately for us, Google and those other search engines don’t work for websites or the companies behind them – they work for consumers seeking goods, services or information online and who want faster, more relevant search results.

So, yes, if you’ve blinked over the past one to two years, you may have seen your organic search ranking slip right out from under you.  So, what can you do to get it back?

First, don’t expect a quick fix.  Although we’ll occasionally be asked to work with someone who is inadvertently doing something that search engines frown upon that we may be able to fix fairly quickly, the majority of cases can no longer be thought of as something you do quickly and one-time prior to launching a website.

Search Engine Optimization needs to be something that you work at all the time.  Although that sounds like it could add more stress to your job, it isn’t so foreboding once you’ve developed a plan that prioritizes those elements that search engines like Google and Bing prioritize.  I could go on and on to explain but you’ll learn way more from watching this great video that includes great SEO tips.

2. We have a Facebook page but our fan base isn’t growing fast enough and we aren’t sure if investing time in social media is worth it.

Not every brand will grow fans, friends or “likes” by the thousands on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t successful if those they do get make meaningful connections.  Those who are successful, have a few things in common. They:

• Understand how consumers want to interact with brands in social channels. Consumers don’t mind hearing from brands now and then about special deals, exclusive events or even product benefits but they don’t want to hear the hard sell.  And they don’t want brands to fill their news feed so that the status updates of friends and family are buried.  There is an art and science (tip: review your Facebook Insights) to crafting appropriate, compelling messages on social channels.  If your fanbase is not growing, you need to take a hard look at why you aren’t engaging your users.  Are you using the right tone? Are you giving them information that provides a benefit/ value to them as individuals?  Are you showing off your personality and exposing your business’ emotional side?  Are you making them feel special for connecting with you?  Are you giving them information they will want to pass along to their closest friends/family?    For more tips, check out ‘Do they “Like” Like You?’ It’s Complicated on our blog.

• Have a social media plan. They are proactive with strategies to observe social user behavior (note we didn’t say guide user behavior – that’s a big shift in thinking for some marketers) and understand that the conversation on Facebook or any other channel has to flow or move in a direction that moves that relationship toward your end goal in order to show a return on your investment (time or money).  Strategic inspiration can often come from a brief look at some of the Common Social Media Strategy Archetypes.

For our clients, a social media plan consists of target definition, user behavior or social personas, objectives, intended success measurements, social channel tactics, content strategy with an editorial calendar, user engagement and sharing incentives, analytics integration, and resource assignments and tasks.  This provides us with a game plan so that we know if something is working or if we’re going off track and something needs to be adjusted.  And this is recommended for all types of businesses – not just retail.  We have clients in healthcare, utilities and even banking who are finding ways to succeed in social marketing.

• Use analytics to help measure success and calculate ROI. Unless you can conduct business on Facebook via a social shopping tool or something of the like, you are hoping your connection leads to business conducted with you somewhere else – in a store, online or via phone.  You need to have a plan that helps you to determine whether the time spent managing social media strategies result in measured success.

With clearly defined objectives set, you can use online analytics tools to measure whether or not your social efforts are driving anything from traffic to goal completions.  Check out these two posts for more information on how to set up your analytics Tracking On-Site Social Media Engagement with Google Analytics and Tracking Clicks from Social Media with Google Analytics. For the more adventurous data-based-marketers, Google’s Multi-Channel Analytics helps give your digital channel attributions credit.

3. I can access analytics for my digital assets and campaigns but I don’t have time to do anything with it.

This is one of the most common challenges we hear.  It’s not surprising seeing how distributed or divided marketing has become – even just digital marketing.  Digital strategies can no longer be lumped together as a line item that traditionally just includes your website.  It’s now an entire network of devices, assets, websites and channels that each needs their own strategies and measurement methods.  Because of this, marketing executives often collect analytical data without having the time or resources available to look at it, nevermind do anything about it.

I’m not going to say there is an easy fix for this but I will stress the importance and the impact that either finding the time to evaluate, test and tweak your strategies or hiring a digital marketing agency to do it for you could make to the bottom line.

Often the largest conversion increases come from some of the most seemingly simple and small usability changes.  This means, testing – even just a little bit – can make (and save) you a significant amount of money – thus allowing you to squeeze every last bit of ROI out of your investment.

4. I probably should be preparing a mobile strategy but not that much of our traffic comes through mobile devices.

Yet.  If you aren’t sure whether or not your business would be impacted if you’re site isn’t mobile optimized (or at the very least mobile friendly), let me tell you that the answer is yes.  To refresh your memory on how to find out exactly how much mobile traffic you are getting now, read Are You Losing Business to iPhones and Androids? a blog post from January 2011.  And, if you looked into it back in January when this post originally ran, run the report again now – you’ll see it’s grown exponentially in just a year’s time.

There are several ways to keep your mobile and tablet users happy.  If you don’t have time to put together a mobile strategy, I recommend you hire a consultant to help.  The more time that goes by, the more you risk frustrating busy customers and consumers and handing them over to your competition.

1. Mobile-friendly sites function across common mobile devices, even if it is the desktop experience squeezed into a four inch screen. The site is device friendly in that it won’t ‘break’, but neither the user experience nor results are optimal.
2. Mobile-optimized sites feature a user experience and design that feels native to mobile devices designed for smaller screens, such as touches instead of clicks and the slower download speeds of 3G networks over your home broadband connection. Not only does it work for the phone, it works for the user.
3. Device Agnostic Design, also called ‘fluid design’ or ‘adaptive design,’  uses a combination of design sensibilities and web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3 to create a design that feels as optimized on your desktop as it does from your phone or tablet by being literally flexible to fit your 22 inch monitor, 10.1 inch tablet or 4 inch smartphone.
4. Mobile Apps offer extensive flexibility in capability and greater access to mobile phone capabilities such as cameras, accelerometers, GPS and more. The downside? App development is often an expensive process, and few app types can be developed in such a way to be easily accessible to iPhone, Android, Blackberry and WebOS users alike. However, with the advance of HTML5, many apps, especially ‘utility’ apps, can be created as mobile optimized, device agnostic content rather than more expensive, less accessible apps.

5. We have data everywhere.  Customers get aggravated when our systems don’t talk to each other.

When security and privacy is a concern, signing into a website with your own user name and password brings a bit of comfort. But, when you find yourself constantly entering your login credentials for each task, your value for security can quickly give way to frustration.

The problem tends to stem from a combination of 3^rd party systems strung together like a yard full of Christmas lights with a single blinking bulb. The log in can turn an otherwise beautiful experience into a teeth grinding memory. In many cases, these systems can work more effectively with each other to make your user experience smoother, faster and generally more enjoyable without risking security.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, having your own login system may not even be necessary. For blogs, ecommerce and certain membership sites, Facebook Connect integration allows your users to sign in into your service using their own social media connections. For your customer, it reduces the need for memorizing login credentials. For your site, it allows you to use some of the customers social media profile and connection data to offer more personalized information, offers and communication.

Looking for a team of experts to help you with your own marketing frustrations? For over 16 years, the professionals at SilverTech have been helping brands make the most of their marketing budget with effective digital marketing strategies, web design and development and advanced system integrations. Feel free to contact us, or jot a note or question in the comments below.

Here’s to a successful frustration-free 2012!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas, lean your ear this way.  Or, lend me your iPhone.  Either will do.

Holiday shopping can be the most stressful time of the year – for Santa’s “elves” (aka Macys, Target, Best Buy and Main Street) as well as the patrons desperately searching for the best deal on Let’s Rock Elmo.  However, the perception is that when consumers add smartphones into the mix, the scales tip in their favor, leaving the stores the task of merrily matching their competitors’ prices.

There are stores, such as Lowes, that are embracing the mobile wave this shopping season.  Corporate issued over 42,000 iPhones to their employees in 1,700 stores with a simple task: help the customer.  Store employees were instructed to access inventory, check prices and refer customers to other stores if the product wasn’t in house.   It’s a little “Miracle on 34^th Street,” but it gets back to the basics of customer service.  Who knew that new technology would help stores get back to old school principals?

However, even with all the excitement that comes from finding that exact same TV $25 cheaper at Target than Best Buy or the thrill of asking for a price match, consumers are still not entirely happy about mobile usability.

According to a study release by Tealeaf Technology, a consumer analytics company specializing in optimizing web, 58% of the negative conversations about mobile shopping with leading mobile retailers was focused on “customer struggle issues” such as payment and search-and-sort problems.

Additionally, 21% mentioned features that would have simplified the mobile buying process to make it more intuitive – but were not available on that version of the website/application.

On the flip side, only 17% said the mobile sites and applications they used were easy to utilize.

Overall, the study is one indication of a popular viewpoint: mobile is a huge market – that isn’t even close to reaching its full potential.

So what does this mean for brands?  Holiday shopping is automatically following the growing trend of smartphones overtaking desktop computers by 2013 and undeniably, online retail shopping is making a comeback.  Since 2001, there have been seven online shopping days that have surpassed 1 billion in spending.  Six of those days were this year with Cyber Monday leading the pack with 1.25 billion – the largest online spending day in history.   This gives brands, of all shapes and sizes, the ability to set themselves apart digitally and harness a bit more of the coming flux in holiday spending power.

It sounds simple.  The best thing brands can do for their business during the holiday season to increase their online sales is to have an intuitive, mobile-friendly, mobile-optimized or even application with easy to use features.  Want to buy that TV from Target while standing in Best Buy?  Of course you can.  Don’t feel like driving back to pick it up?  The store will hold it for you or ship it to your house the next day.  Automatic price comparison of the top three competitors for this particular TV? Always available with a barcode scan.  Features and tools like these not only simplify the buying process, they are a value-add to the consumer.

We’ve all heard the adage: the best gifts really do come in small packages.  The brands paying attention to those small packages (mobile devices) are the ones who are getting the best gifts (happy stockholders).

Inbound links matter. A lot.

In a correlative study analyzing searches for over 10,000 keywords, it was found that inbound links account for over 40% of the weighting factor on search engine ranking. To put the gravity of inbound links into perspective, on-page and on-site keyword use barely accounts for 25%.

Now, before you jump on the careening ‘buy-links-bandwagon,’ remember this marketing geek’s search rule-of-thumb- The harder it is to get, the more it matters to great ranking.

Signals of Quality

Quality is more important than quantity, especially for long-lasting, sustainable results from your efforts. Some links are worth more than others. Quality is a measure of the linking site’s clout, content and context.

Clout

In search circles, we used to talk a lot of PageRank. Page rank was Google’s scoring of a website’s quality based on on-page signals such as keyword usage in content, domain authority and, yes, inbound links. While we don’t use the term PageRank that often anymore, the authority of a website still matters. Websites with authority tend to rank highly in their own searches and are often the go-to website in their field. A good reference, in the form of a contextual, in-content link, is a signal of your own site’s quality.

The ‘recipe’ for an authoritative site is robust, but it boils down to ‘trust.’ A respected publication is worth more than a personal blog. A master of your industry is worth more than a master of something completely different. A single link from a respected government website (.gov) is worth far more than a handful of links from a ‘cheap’ low-quality exotic domain often used by spammers, such as .info, .ly, and .ws.

Content

Being referenced in the content of a page, rather than as a link listing or menu item, is a signal to search engines that you just might know your stuff. To Google, you’re a research source on that topic… so long as the content is relevant.

Earning a link from myfishingblog.com stuffed inside an article on ‘building a better tackle box’ is so out-of-context that it would (literally) flag an alarm at Google. If it would be suspicious to a user, search engines have designed their algorithms to also be suspicious.

Context

Anchor text is the blue, underlined part of a link, and it’s what gives the link context. A keyword-rich link to your website is much more useful (and valuable) to search engines than a simple URL. Examine the links below.

www.silvertech.com | NH Ski Deals | SilverTech, a Digital Marketing Agency

Which link is the link for a digital marketing agency? While link A and link C will both take you to the same destination, link C’s context is much more useful for those trying to classify the link –be it a user or a search engine.

Also note that ‘click here’ is not a desirable keyword for any industry.

Jumping the Shark – Bought Links and the Demise of JC Penny

Quality is better than quantity… but what if there is a LOT of quantity? A hundred-pounds of copper is worth much more than a few karats of gold, but nobody has ever proposed marriage with a scrap heap.

For a price, you can buy a figurative ton of low-quality inbound links, but that’s not a great way to romance search engines. In fact, it’s what led to the very public, very messy breakup of Google and JC Penny.

In an effort to earn a fast rank increase on highly competitive keywords, such as ‘sweater,’ JC Penny’s SEO firm purchased thousands of links. The results were instantly phenomenal, with the retailer appearing in top ranking for a majority of their desired keywords, including ‘sweaters.’ Job well done, right?

Ask any baseball player about the long-term repercussions of quick-performance boosters, and you’ll find a story similar to JC Penny’s.

The ranking was short lived, and within days, their search performance began to sink. The links, while used in the right context, were from sites without much clout and without the right content. Google’s algorithm began discounting the weight of these links automatically, and flagged it for manual review by Google’s special-forces quality team, led by the amazing Matt Cutts.

Within hours, JC Penny dropped from top-spot ranking to ranking even lower than when they had started, and they were lucky to have only lost their reputation with a primary website traffic channel as catalog sales plummeted –it could have been worse. In baseball terms, it was just sent back to the minors.

Many who try similar schemes earn placement on Google’s blacklist, where the offending site is no longer eligible to appear on any search, even a search for the URL itself. In mafia terms, it’s dead to Google.

Getting Away with ‘Boosting’ Search Marketing

The aim of a quality search engine is to understand what the user is looking for, and return exactly that. It does this be using its own research from ‘crawling’ the internet to match the search to the best match in its memory, called an index. The algorithm is how the search engine conducts research, and how it ‘recalls’ the best results from its index.

Link schemes try to ‘hype’ the value of a website.

Some sites get away with it. There are thousands of sites link-scheming their way to higher results. It can be tempting to try it for yourself –to get an edge with the newest ‘untraceable’ boost.

With nearly 600 changes to their algorithm each year, Google is constantly working to provide better search results to their customers, meaning they’re looking for ways to constantly destroy attempts to ‘game’ their systems. Search engines are being tuned to get past the hype, and focus on the quality.

The best ‘boost’ for a baseball player is practice. It takes longer, but the results are more sustainable, and more likely to earn the respect of management. The best ‘boost’ for a website is to build a digital strategy for attracting quality inbound links.

There is no ‘best workout,’ despite the infomercials, because every player and every goal is different. What we do know, is that the best start is with a qualified, experience personal trainer.

There is no ‘best link building strategy,’ despite the ads, because each business and business goal is different. What we do know, is that the best start is with a qualified, experienced digital marketing agency.

Final Thoughts

Practice is time consuming and damned hard work, as is proper link building. In both cases, it’s not a ‘task’ as much as it is a lifestyle change with gains that make all the efforts well worth the pain. A proper strategy will balance your business goals and abilities, setting attainable, realistic targets as your begin to take your brand to #1 –and keep it there.

In this on-demand webinar, you’ll discover the on and off page signals essential for search engines to rank your website’s relevancy. Learn what it takes to earn better ranking without tricks, and the dangers and pitfalls of unsavory SEO tactics.

Though this is an on-demand presentation, we invite you to ask questions in the comments below, via SilverTech on Facebook or to SilverTech on Twitter.

Google+ is counting on a surge of brands to bring our followers into their platform just as we did with Twitter and Facebook. A sort of amalgamation of Twitter’s brief public sharing and Facebook’s rich media, Google+ offers brands interesting sharing and listening opportunities.

In 15 minutes and only five steps, your brand can have a page on Google+.

Step One: Log In to Google+

Log into Google Plus and scroll to the very bottom of your page.

You’ll want to have a personal account before creating your brand’s page.

In your page’s footer, you’ll find a link to ‘Create a page.’ As you scroll, Google+ will keep feeding you content, making the footer a little harder to catch than you may expect. Alternatively, you can visit https://plus.google.com/pages/create.

Step Two: Select Your Page Type

Are you a local business, big brand, institution or artist? What about ‘other?’ Take your best guess, but if you’re stumped, refer to the Open Graph protocol to ensure your pages are consistent across platforms. Ironically, you can find that information through Facebook’s Open Graph Protocol Guide under ‘Object Types.’

In this example, I’ve chosen to create a ‘Company,’ though the setup is the same for Products, and Entertainment page families. Google+ Pages for Local Businesses are even easier, and require only a phone number if you’re listed in Google Places.

Step Three: Enter Your Page Information

Complete the form provided to create your Google+ page. While it might be tempting to get in-depth in your description, anything above 60 characters is likely to be trunc… [truncated.]

You’ll be asked to upload a photo or logo following this step.

Step Four: Customize your Page

Click ‘Edit Profile,’ then the section of your profile you wish to edit. With this, you can add recommended links, edit your page information and upload pictures to your scrapbook, the row of five photos on the top of your brand page.

The Google+ scrapbook images remain in the order you post them, unlike Facebook’s randomization.

Step Five: Google+ Page Administration

Congratulations on your new Google page! Like Facebook, you can ‘use’ Google+ either as yourself or as your page. As an administrator of a page, you now have a small arrow beside your name in your profile. Clicking this arrow will display a list including yourself and each page you’ve created.

Great Google+ Page! Now What?

Like Facebook and Twitter, earning business and building relationships on Google+ will require both strategy and training to develop a ‘voice’ that fits the platform, your customers and your brand. Consider partnering with an experienced digital marketing agency offering social media marketing strategy. This strategic partner should be able to offer both tactical and technical guidance unique to your company and business strategy, including ways to profit from and promote a Google+ page.

Digital marketing forensics just keeps on getting better. A recent addition to the Google Analytics tool kit that exemplifies this improvement is Multi-Channel Funnels. With Multi-Channel Funnels you can now measure the effectiveness of each digital channel (and even off-line channels to some extent) that you use to reach audiences and drive them to conversion.

Conversions are (obviously) a wonderful thing. Like the high scoring star player on a soccer team they tend to be the focus of attention, while the other players who helped move the ball down the field often go un-noticed. Just like in sports there are often other players, or sources, that assist in achieving that coveted moment of conversion in digital marketing.

A coach of a sports team has an advantage. They can watch the conversion unfold, as the ball moves from player to player and finally into the goal. They can then watch films, to refine their game, utilizing successful plays more frequently and eliminating or refining less fruitful ones that waste time, effort and expense.

Digital marketers don’t have the luxury of watching a multi-channel conversion unfold in real time. But, Multi-Channel Funnels offer the digital marketer the equivalent of films in the coaching arsenal. Using Multi-Channel Funnels in Google Analytics reveals the traffic sources involved in your customers buying cycle.

(Graphic Source: Google Analytics > Multi Channel Funnels > Overview

In the image above, the Assist Interactions show the referring source of traffic to your website. These interactions could take place in a day or over the course of a month or even more. If your analytics and channels are set up appropriately, Multi-Channel Funnels will reveal pre-conversion touch-points in order and tell you when each one occurred. You can even see the Assisted Conversion Value (ACV).

What about those traffic sources that aren’t showing up very often in conversion paths? Should you ignore or do away with them all together? That depends. Let’s say that SEM is showing up somewhat frequently as an assist in your conversion paths, but organic search is failing you miserably. If the cost of SEM is disproportionately high compared to the ACV, maybe it’s time to consider investing in SEO to generate better organic results.

If you know the cost associated with the channel providing the assist then understanding the value of its conversion assist and the frequency with which it is appearing in different conversion paths gives you the ability to measure the return on investment for the different channels you are using or relying on. Now you can fine tune your playbook for greater success. Requesting, appropriating and justifying your marketing budget just got easier!

Among the agency’s new or continued client relationships are:

• The Jimmy Fund / Dana Farber Cancer Institute
• Pepco, A Utilities Company Serving Mid-Atlantic Region
• Silver State Schools Credit Union, Nevada
• Midland Memorial Hospital, Texas
• Harvard Affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center, Massachusetts
• Norfolk Hardware, New England Kitchen and Bath Sales, Designer and Installations
• Catholic Medical Center, New Hampshire
• Loon Mountain Resort, New Hampshire
• SkiNH.com and Cross Country SkiNH
• New Hampshire Grand
• New England College

“We are fortunate to have the ability to continually bring in respected brands while continuing to serve the clients you already have,” said SilverTech Founder, Nick Soggu, “especially where some of our clients have been with us for nearly a decade.”

SilverTech was recently listed among Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing companies for the fourth consecutive year.

The full-service digital marketing agency serves brands with services and consultation to include in marketing strategy, web design and development, social media, email marketing, search engine marketing and online branding.

My decision to leave one of the largest, most prestigious agencies in the world was the hardest choice I’ve made in my career. The decision came with much anxiety and even some guilt. Like this article, it was based on my personal experiences with a big agency and the pleasing culture change of a smaller agency. Now settled into my new (smaller) agency home at SilverTech, I can honestly say that I feel it was worth the move -and here is why.

Big agencies can have the ability to make you feel small amongst the big brands, big budgets, and all-too-often big egos. With this, big agencies can see employees as “what have you done for me lately,” instead of recognizing each individual as a talented and valuable member of the team.

I was competitive and know that I offered the skills to be successful in big-agency advertising, but I was not seeing that my thoughts, opinions and expertise made a noticed ripple amongst the countless others fighting for the spotlight. I was ready to move on to a culture built on teamwork focused on client success. I chose to leave big agency life and go small.

Some big agencies can be very good at keeping secrets, and the best may be how they promote talent. I have over a year of insider experience and, frankly, I have no idea how people move up. Employees of mega-agencies can be left with no idea where their career path is headed and little reassurance that they’re on track for a promotion.

Employees are much more engaged when they feel they’re an influential member of a well-coached team. That’s why many small agencies are very successful in increasing output without adding to the employment pool. At SilverTech, I know that every member of the team is absolutely crucial to client and agency success, from founder to yours truly.

You may have heard the claim that big agencies lack the creativity or focus on effectiveness which many small agencies are known for. Too often, this can be an unfortunate truth. Not only do small agencies stand by their creativity with clients when it is the right decision for the brand, but they create and foster an environment where putting politics before a client’s returns on investment and honest innovation is unacceptable.

The switch to small has been a rebirth in my love of the industry and client service. Since joining a small, dynamic agency, I’ve learned that you can love what you do and still be human. My tweet on August 8^th sums it up best, “Really happy for the first time in over a year”.

Are you ready to join a motivated team? Whether you’re an experienced small-agency pro or looking for a change from the big-agency path, keep an eye out for digital marketing careers at SilverTech.

For many marketers, ‘like’ and ‘fan’ are interchangeable, but when Facebook dropped the ‘Fan’ moniker for the more enigmatic ‘Like,’ connections between brands and fans likers (?) earned an “it’s complicated” relationship status.

With less than half (42%) of Facebook users interpreting ‘Like’ as fandom for brands and 58% expecting exclusive access to content and deals, the otherwise approving ‘thumbs-up’ reads more like a subscription than a cheer.

As a marketer, I know what I hope for in a ‘like.’ I hope that they become customer, advocate and sounding board. That they have our Facebook page and hold our status updates for as long as Mark Zuckerberg shall allow us to live (or we move on to Google+). I’m hoping, like many marketers, that ‘Like’ is the first step to a brand-and-fan marriage.

Unsurprisingly, those people behind the ‘Like’ button clicks may find that whole brand/marriage thing a bit creepy. A ‘Like’ isn’t that serious. In fact, 37% have absolutely no expectation.

Source: ExactTarget, “Subscribers, Fans and Followers: The Meaning of Like.” Sep 21, 2011

Statistically, the brand ‘chit-chat’ ranks fairly low, and promotional messaging is less than welcome… unless the messaging is an exclusive discount or promotion. (?!)

Fans of Malcom Gladwell’s TED presentation on Howard Moskowitz will remember that what people report to prefer, and what people will reach for, are often dramatically different. He uses the example where most of us would report to enjoy a dark, rich, hearty roasted coffee… but a majority will order weak, milky drinks instead. (Watch the TED Talk)

As brands, our relationships with social media followers are complicated –riddled with mixed expectations, emotions and concerns over personal space. Like any relationship, there is no ‘right’ way, but contrary to marketer belief there is such thing as ‘couple’s therapy’ for brands online, and the fans they cherish.

‘Couples Therapy’ for Social Brands

When the relationship between your brand and your followers seems rocky, neither pushing harder nor abandoning the channel are likely to bring you any level of success. Instead, try something new and actively listen and watch for feedback.

Try an exclusive promotion, and track the results carefully.

Design and share content of value, rarity and exclusivity –an ‘inside look,’ sneak preview or captivating back-story of your brand or product.

Bark less, increasing your social appeal can be as easy as broadcasting less often, and more on target.

Experiment and test often, and always with well-defined goals of your brand’s social media expectations.

Stop looking for a cookie-cutter relationship template, and embrace the uniqueness of your brand and followers. If a self-help book stated clearly that the key to successful marriage was Wednesday night dinners out at a casual restaurant paired with white wine, you’d cry ‘horseradish!’

Consider professional assistance. There are agencies available that can help strengthen and grow your brand’s social network while helping measure more clear paths to your marketing goals. SilverTech, for example, has been helping brands connect digitally for over 15 years! That’s a decade-and-a-half dedicated to the art and science of online marketing, building our unique insight into both digital culture and the business of brands.

If you’re looking to make the most of social media for your business, we’re here to help.

On Tuesday, October 4^th, SilverTech strategists will be hosting roundtables on three critical and current digital marketing topics.  All are free and will provide attendees with tips, ideas and success stories that you can use in your own digital marketing plans.  Space is limited to 25 per roundtable so follow the instructions below to register right away to reserve your spot!

‘Like’ This Roundtable – Social Media for Direct Marketers

Tuesday October 4^th, Exhibit Hall (Meet at Booth #100)  11:30am – Noon

In this roundtable session we will discuss how, as highly targeted messaging platforms relying on relevance and audience size, social media and direct marketing have more in common than many would think.

• Can social media be used to augment direct marketing, or is it an unnecessary distraction?
• Can social media success be tracked in direct marketing terms?
• Can social media be more direct than traditional direct marketing?

To register for ‘Like’ This Roundtable – Social Media for Direct Marketers:

Go to http://dma1.eventbrite.com or email Erik Strout at erik.strout@silvertech.com

Small Changes for Big Results – Conversion Optimization

Tuesday October 4^th, Exhibit Hall (Meet at Booth #100)   3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

What can just a 1% improvement in conversion rate mean for the online landing page of your next marketing campaign? In this session, we will discuss the small changes in usability and design that can lead to big results.  Plus, we will discuss best ways to do online multivariate and a/b testing.
Attendees will walk away with a conversion guide that SilverTech digital strategists have put together.

To register for Small Changes for Big Results – Conversion Optimization:

Go to http://dma2.eventbrite.com or email Erik Strout at erik.strout@silvertech.com

Digital Marketing Trends – Are You Keeping Up?

Tuesday October 4^th, Exhibit Hall (Meet at Booth #100)   4:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Join us in this roundtable discussion to learn about current digital marketing trends and which ones:

• Should be watched or monitored closely for the future
• Should be part of your current marketing mix
• Won’t stick around for long so don’t spend too much time on them

We’ll discuss ideas and success stories that will help get you started on future digital marketing plans.

To register for Digital Marketing Trends – Are You Keeping Up?:

Go to http://dma3.eventbrite.com or email Erik Strout at erik.strout@silvertech.com

MANCHESTER,  NH – 25 August 2011 – SilverTech, a national digital marketing agency, announced that the company was named to the 2011 Inc. 5000 list, ranking amongst the fastest growing companies in America for the fourth consecutive year.

“This award signifies the transformation and growth of our agency,” comments SilverTech Founder and President Nick Soggu, “our team has grown, our services more advanced and our clients more diverse.”

This year, SilverTech continued partnerships with clients such as Life is Good®, American Water, and Polartec®, while signing new clients such as Markem Imaje, Mimoco, Midland Memorial Hospital and the Joslin Diabetes Center.

The 2011 Inc. 5000 serves as a report card on the U.S. economy. SilverTech continues to rank among the fastest growing advertising and marketing companies.

About SilverTech Inc.

SilverTech, Inc. is a national digital marketing agency based in New England that expertly solves online marketing, technology, operations, commerce, and communication challenges for businesses by creating value-driven web, digital and data-powered solutions. Services such as online strategy, information architecture, website design & development, e-commerce, multimedia graphics & animation, search engine optimization, digital marketing, performance analysis, web application development and content management solutions are designed or customized to fit exact business requirements.

SilverTech clients include Life is Good®, American Water, Dr. Hauschka Skin Care, Le Gourmet Chef, Polartec®, Rita’s Ice,  and Pizza Fusion, among many others. For more information go to www.silvertech.com or contact SilverTech at pr@silvertech.com.

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. (www.inc.com) is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today’s innovative company builders. With a total paid circulation of 710,106, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Visit us online at www.inc.com

SilverTech Media Inquiries: Contact Marc Frechette, Marketing Communications Specialist, SilverTech, Inc. pr@silvertech.com 603-669-6600 x 28

Discussing the return on investment, or ROI, from digital marketing efforts is an essential and challenging aspect of my role as a Business Development Executive. The ability to demonstrate ROI for most marketing activities can been a challenge. The advantage of digital marketing, unlike a radio spot or an ad in the Sunday paper, is that the tracking and measurement capability can be embedded in the digital media itself. Email tracking, social media, pay per click, tagging and web analytics all provide a digitized stream of intelligence that can be gathered, sorted and analyzed for optimization and the measurement of ROI. In fact, a Pay Per Click campaign will add itself up for you! So why is the conversation around ROI still challenging?

There are many times that I am introduced to clients when they have already decided that they need a new website, an email marketing campaign, social media strategy or some other glorious investment that will save, launch or augment their brand. The prospect has a budget number in mind and has issued an proposal request or is looking to gather pricing and proposals from various agencies. You would expect most people in my position to be excited about finding an opportunity with some urgency behind it, but I really enjoy creating the solutions that solve business challenges, streamline processes and increase brand awareness and sales. Solutions like that provide ROI.

One aspect I use to gauge the ROI potential of new business opportunities is the prospects approach to their digital marketing project. To me, the clients approach has an impact on whether I can propose a solution that:

1. Can produce ROI
2. Can be executed by both the client and the agency
3. Can be projected
4. Can be measured

Sometimes clients approach various elements of digital marketing silos. They must have a website or social media presence for credibility these days. Maybe they will use it as a place to easily provide information about products and services. Maybe they will even implement ecommerce. Yet, despite the many functional areas of a business that a digital marketing strategy could enable, websites and other components of a comprehensive strategy are too-often implemented in a stand-alone fashion. Just another element of the corporation with a similar look, accurate information and a “Contact Us” form longing to be submitted. Consistency alone doesn’t build multi-channel strength.

In contrast, digital marketing elements that provide return on investment are tightly integrated with the various business functions they could serve and the business and marketing plans that guide them. Integrated digital marketing solutions such as this take time, pain staking discovery and open communication with stakeholders from different departments throughout the client’s organization. Just like this blog post, the first conversation is just the beginning!

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engines like Google and Bing are in the business of matching web searchers with relevant content. Search engine optimization is the art and science of making your websites and webpages more appealing to the complex and top-secret algorithms used to match web-searchers to websites.

The inner-workings of search vary from search engine to search engine, but the basic premise remains the same for modern providers like Google and Bing. The relevancy of your page to a search term is based on a combination of on-page and off-page elements.

SEO focuses on the on-page elements, to include the quality, relevance, originality and even formatting of content, website architecture, navigation, and the overall ability of search engine to ‘see and understand,’ or index, your website.

Content Originality, Relevance and Quality

Search engines match users with original, high quality content from around the internet relevant to the user’s search.

A large part of search engine optimization is creating your content to account for relevant search behaviors and highly searched relevant keywords.

Optimum target keywords and phrases are identified by starting with a seed list of keywords and phrases relevant to your website and comparing them against search behavior data from popular search engines. Using these optimum keywords and phrases in your content ensures your website is relevant to more search opportunities.

Off-page elements, often referred to as signals, include the quantity, quality and context of other websites who link to your content, geographic proximity and even social media network connections.

Content Formatting

Formatting helps users understand your content better with the use of headers (<H*> tags), lists and other formatting elements. These same elements can also help search engines better understand your content when used properly.

The use of ‘alt attributes’, or ‘alt tags’, allows your page to describe non-text elements such as images and animations. Though their use is intended for visually impaired users, search engines also rely on them to ‘understand’ non-text content.

Website Architecture

Your website’s structure plays a role in search engine optimization. Search engines see your website much in the way we may see a text book. Your website should feature a table of contents, or ‘sitemap’ in web-terminology, as well as clear navigation sections, and descriptive titles and link structures.

The Secret of Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization helps your site rank higher in search engine results, but it cannot guarantee a high ranking on its own. Even a ‘perfectly optimized’ website is highly unlikely to earn a spot in front page results without essential off-page signals such as quality contextual inbound links, social media network ties, and some essential elements of search engine marketing.

Lee Therrein

Scuba Diver / Software Engineer

SilverTech is pleased to welcome experienced interactive developer, Lee Therrein, to the agency. In his new role with the team, he’ll be constructing the functionality of our award-winning work.

A member of both the International Game Developers Association and the ACM SIGGRAPH, Lee knows a thing or two about developing for exciting, engaging digital works.

Lee is a self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades, bringing experience in not only software development, but sales, management and underwater camera housing repair to the clients he’ll help. (Ok, that last one may not come up too often.)

Please join us in welcoming the agency’s newest talent in the comments below.

A Growing Team

Our agency is growing at an incredible rate. We’re searching for the best, brightest and most creative talented professionals in marketing, design, development and support roles. If you enjoy new challenges, driving success for businesses in every industry and constant improvement and learning, consider a career with SilverTech.

We’ve discussed tracking social media success before, but sometimes the key metric isn’t simply driving traffic to the site. In some situations, a great goal is to drive engagement with the visitors already there –from every channel. Now, you can track that too.

Social sharing is an essential part of driving organic (‘viral,’ if you must) traffic to your content. ‘Like,’ Tweet and +1 have become natural extensions of word of mouth in the age of online social networks. If the goal is to have your content shared, and the shareability of your content is paramount, then tracking the use of those share buttons is a darned good metric to track. There’s a great metric built into Google Analytic allows for just that.

Google Analytics recently added a new report and series of metrics for all Analytics users. The new social metrics track social engagement to the page level. An engagement, by default, is the use of a +1 button. (You do have the +1 button, don’t you?)

Get Tracking

For more complete reporting, the social metrics can also track your other favorite Social Chiclets, such as Like and Tweet buttons. A code-level implementation, social tracking isn’t for the feign of heart. For the script-initiated, it’s a matter of firing the following line of code on the completion of a social interaction.

_gaq.push(['_trackSocial', network, socialAction, opt_target, opt_pagePath]);

*More details of code implementation are available direct from Google’s API documentation.

Why Am I Tracking This Again?

Data is only useful if, well, you have a use for it.

For business place bloggers, this is a perfect tool for learning what your most shareable content actually is. Noticing a trend in the shareability of ‘Top 10′ lists? Write more of those! Nobody sharing your more corporate press releases posted to the blog? Shake up your delivery.

For socially-enabled e-commerce, you’ll know at a glance what your most shared products are, and how often they’re being shared.

Interesting Intersections

Once enabled, there are some interesting intersections of your Analytics data that could be worth exploring. Are your most ‘Liked’ products the most sold? Is there a direct correlation between Tweet button and sales velocity? Are those who ‘Like’ more prone to purchase?

What data correlations would you look for? What social network use would you track? Is this something that might fit your company’s website and marketing metric needs? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

(Oh, and don’t forget to ‘Like’, +1 or Retweet this post!)

Clark Van Der Beken

Actor / Account Executive

Clark joins SilverTech from one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, bringing with him not only some serious client relationship skills, but also the ability to look at projects with a holistic point-of-view. He helps clients see how digital will seamlessly fit into (and enhance) their overall marketing strategy. As a veteran in nurturing and maintaining client relationships, his passion lies in helping each and every client find success through digital channels. In addition to guiding clients through the crazy world of digital, he is a watchdog for hot new digital trends! His relentless curiosity has enabled him to create out of the box ideas that strengthen business and catch consumers’ attention.

Please join us in welcoming the agency’s newest talent by leaving your toast in the comments below!

Is it really best to partner with a full service marketing agency for all things internet, or is there kismet in a host of service specialists and consultants? Both have merit.

Full disclosure: I’m a bit partial, but I’ll readily admit that both full-service and a collection of single-service providers have some great edges. While SilverTech is a full service digital marketing agency, we’ve both partnered with specialist companies and acted as the specialist ourselves. I’ll also note that the opinions of this article are completely my own, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the agency.

What’s a Full Service Digital Marketing Agency?

Digital marketing spans website design and development, email marketing, mobile marketing social media strategy and just about anything else you can access through a button push and a broadband connection. A full service agency is capable of all of the above.

How It Works

Brands work directly with dedicated account executives from the agency they choose to partner with as a liaison between your team and an agency’s team of designers, developers, copywriters, and digital marketing strategists.

Using SilverTech as an example, you’re introduced to a dedicated account executive. This person’s goal is to know you, your company, your industry and your goals inside and out. Your account executive works as a member of your marketing team. They come up with great ideas, push for the best results, and help manage the creation, execution and measurement of your digital marketing strategy.

Beyond being specialists in your business, they’re digital marketing veterans. Most marketers in any given industry may experience a few rebrands, comprehensive digital strategy creations and website launches in their career – Account executives may have two or three successful launches each month.

Designers, developers and digital strategists are known for our jargon. To us, it’s an incredibly useful and effective special language. To those who don’t speak it, it’s a half bottle of aspirin by the end of the day.

Your account executive acts as a collaborator for your team, bringing you actionable (understandable) reports, data and recommendations. For the agency, they’re a project collaborator, connecting the team powering every aspect of your digital marketing and ensuring every gear fits together and that the total performance is optimal.

The Good

• An experienced digital marketing professional, acting in your brand’s best interests and working as a member of your marketing team, helps drive your digital marketing success.
• A holistic approach keeps your digital marketing ‘on the same page,’ ensuring effective cross-channel messaging.

The Bad

• Not all agencies can keep up with the constant updates in best practices, capabilities and laws of the entire digital landscape.
  
• Many agencies prefer to work with the ‘big picture’ of your digital marketing, especially if they see opportunities for improvement in the channels beyond your RFP.
  

What’s a Service Specialist?

From pay-per-click to social media strategy, there are countless service specialists for nearly every aspect of digital marketing. These solution providers range from consultants to some of the largest service companies in the industry.

How It Works

As the marketer responsible for your brand’s digital marketing, you may pick and choose from service providers around the globe. In time, you create and manage your own collection of service providers for every aspect of your digital marketing strategy, from research to strategy to web design to social media and more.

Knowing the unique language of each solution is essential to ensuring that the product of each service provider connects seamlessly into the total plan.

The Good

• Many service specialists have developed time-saving templates and automation tools designed to reduce the amount of time spent on each client. This time savings is often passed on to you as a lower-cost solution.
• As specialists in their field (and with only one field to focus on), single-service providers are often up-to-date on the latest best practices, technologies and laws in their practice.

The Bad

• Coordinating the often-disconnected efforts of single-provider-contributors for a complete, effective and on-message marketing strategy can be a full time job to itself.
• Needing to know the right jargon to most effectively communicate your goals is a goal that can take years to develop –and they may not understand your brand’s special language either!

Which is Best for You?

Many of the companies that can afford the staff needed to collaborate, orientate, and keep track of numerous specialty shops enjoy the flexibility of frequent team changes to keep the marketing fresh.

For small and midsized companies, or large companies with more Spartan marketing teams, the built-in collaboration of a full-service digital marketing agency allows marketers to focus on their brand –knowing that their digital needs are well taken care of by an invested partner.

While a specialist solution provider may be less expensive, the partnership may come with increased overhead costs for your brand. Furthermore, each may offer different billing programs for a similar services, which can make apples-to-apples comparisons tricky from a value stand-point. For example, many pay-per-click service providers bill on a percentage of advertising spend, while most full-service agencies will bill hourly for building, managing and reporting on your PPC advertising campaigns.

Of course, there is a third path that many brands choose – The full-service capable partnership. Choosing a full-service digital marketing agency for a small part of your total digital strategy allows you to quickly meet a marketing goal while beginning a long-term relationship with an agency that can continue to serve your future marketing needs for anything web, without your having to shop, re-shop and retrain new vendors in the finer details of your business.

I have been a fan of U2 since I was a child. I can remember how cool they were in the 80′s when they first got really popular and then in the 90′s when they showed that they had real staying power. In the 2000′s, I vowed to see as many U2 shows as I could. I learned something you can’t capture on vinyl, cassette, CD, MP3 or streamed audio – these guys not only make amazing music, but strive to include their audience into the performance in any way possible. The cheapest seat in the house is the one closest to the stage! Call it ‘Social Rock,’ if you will.

They’ve led the change in how global concerts connect with fans. For their latest tour (http://www.u2.com/tour/), they were one of the first groups to gain access via the campaigns they stood behind, launching the ‘One’ campaign via email and text. They would ask fans to hold up cell phones instead of lighters and offered fans the ability to send a text message that then displayed on the stage screens! Today, they have people walk around with iPads as you wait.

So what makes them so special now? After seeing them in both Boston, and a year later in Montreal on the 360° tour, I’ll note that they still delivered an amazing show, but feature an even more impressive use of technology as the show evolves.

U2 delivered something not really “new,” but unique for the rock concert audience with the 360° degree Fan Cam! The Fan Cam is a 360-degree 5-billion pixel digital photo taken at every show allowing you to view every seat in the show. Each show is actually thousands of shots all stitched together to form the massive final image.

Prior to the show starting, they had two guys on stage. One with a camera and one with a yellow pole pointing in the direction of the camera to get you all excited, hands in the air, screaming like a 10-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Want to see what I mean? Look for the guy in the white visor with his hands up in the air, screaming like a 10-year-old girl. http://www.u2.com/gigapixelfancam/110708/2530743-jeff-mcpherson

U2 took the Fan Cam a step further, allowing fans to post their Fan Cam photos to Facebook, Twitter and of course email. They have expanded their marketing and brand while allowing people to connect with those around them. After all, you are rocking out for hours with the strangers to your left, right, front and back and often share a good story or two.

From a revenue standpoint, the Fan Cam integration is incredibly smart. You can place your photo on U2′s big screen and have a print made for $30 to $90. The beauty of this is that without a lot of additional tour costs and overhead, the revenue increase is amazing. The Fan Cam can also be credited with additional effects, including increases in their Facebook fans as more people are now checking out the band.

The downside? Privacy. Take this show in Seattle (http://www.u2.com/gigapixelfancam/110604/ ) where, as rumor has it, Bill Gates told Melinda that he went out for a jog… Can you find him in the Fan Cam photo? He was there! (In his defense, rocking-out is still a great cardio workout.)

In one of the show’s most memorable moments, U2 ‘connects’ to the International Space Station to introduce “Beautiful Day.” Taped or not, U2 is about world communication and convergence. They are utilizing social media, technology and mobile in ways no other band is, and are able to celebrate the success of a connected, engaged fan base. That is a big reason why (in my opinion) they continue to be the greatest rock band on Earth.

Back in the 1980s there was a huge television event where Geraldo Rivera was going to reveal the treasures of “Al Capone’s Secret Vault”. People were wondering if it could be the American version of the King Tut’s Tomb where massive riches hid behind the wall. In the end it turned out to be an empty room and a huge disappointment.

Flash forward to 2011 and the launch of Google+. Some pundits are heralding it as the new King Tut’s Tomb, with untold wealth and knowledge just waiting to be revealed. Others are calling it a 21^st Century version of Al Capone’s Vault that contains nothing new and will, in the end, disappoint.

There are two certainties behind this debate:

1. Google does what it does very well.
2. The only thing that people like more than being on Facebook is complaining about Facebook.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time on Google+ and, while it appears to be a pretty good product with a ton of functionality, I don’t think Facebook has to worry about subletting their offices anytime soon. Where I think Google + will prove its value is by merging social networking with life and time management.

Facebook is very good in the social aspect of social networking. From status updates to Farmville, it is one giant party. Google is dominant in the networking piece of the equation however with tools like shared calendars, email, maps, and Reader. I believe that the primary advantage of Google+ is that people will be able to use the network to manage their schedule and commitments with their friends, family and co-workers. In Google’s best case scenario, it becomes a vital “one-stop-shop” for managing your life. Facebook has tried to move into these areas before, but users were hesitant to cede that much power over their lives to a company that had significant privacy concerns. Plus, Google essentially already owned this market. It simply needed to take all of these tools and meld them into a single platform. Voila, Google+.

Google+ also has an advantage that no other Facebook challenger has enjoyed, Android. It’s estimated that as of April 2011, Google’s Android mobile operating system has earned 36% of the mobile market, and that number is increasing daily. While Facebook had to build its mobile sites and apps within external operating systems with mixed results, Google was able to build Google+ entirely within the Android framework, ending up with a much more seamlessly integrated product. For Android users, Google+ was literally made for your phone. (Et vice-versa.)

These advantages, coupled with Google’s considerable resources, will afford time for Google+ to work out the kinks without having to worry about paying the bills. In the end, I expect both to survive, but Google+ may become the less fun, but more useful tool that embeds itself into the lives of its users. Give people tools that make their lives easier in a single network and let them access it through multiple channels, and you could make history, just like King Tut.

Below are ten useful guidelines to consider when choosing the right CMS.

1. The CMS should be really good at whatever you do.

   What do you want your website to do now and in the future? Is it going to be primarily a static website or is it going to be a fully functional ecommerce site? Whatever your site’s primary function is going to be, you need to define it and then find a CMS that does that particular thing really, really well. Making an elaborate list of the features and functionalities you want on your website will save you a lot of time, money and energy.

2. The CMS should be intuitive.
   

   When you open up the administrative, or ‘backend’, of the site, you should be able to figure out how to do basic functions without much instruction. Different elements of the site should be clearly labeled. The basics of posting a new page, editing a page, and even changing themes or sidebar elements should all be relatively simple to figure out for the average computer user. Updating and maintaining your website shouldn’t be rocket science… even if you’re a rocket scientist.

3. The backend needs to be standardized.
   

   Things should basically work all the same in the backend of the site. A good CMS should have standardized format for each area of the website. If a particular section uses a dropdown input field for day/month/year as a date selector, it should not have a custom date picker field in other areas of the site. Also it should follow a standardized naming convention across all sections of the CMS. For example if a sidebar is called as ‘menu’ in one section it should not be called as ‘left navigation’ in some other section to avoid confusion. A quality content management system keeps it simple.

4. The backend should not have a ton of extra functionality you will never use.
   

   An ideal CMS should not have a lot of unused functionality. It should fit the needs of the website you are trying to build. A good example would be a site that is more static in nature with images and videos but the CMS has the functionality which focuses on ecommerce. Instead, find a CMS that does the one thing you want to do really well. Unused functionality isn’t excess horsepower, it’s excess weight in the trunk, slowing you down and making handling a chore.

5. The right CMS should be easy to use for non-technical users.
   

   The CMS should be easy to use especially to the non-technical users. Though majority of people are familiar with word processing and spreadsheets, they may be not be technically savvy. Considering the number of non-technical users, the CMS should be easy to use for everyone – which brings us to the next guideline.

6. The CMS needs to include a WYSIWIG editor.
   

   WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) editors make life easier for everyone. Most clients don’t know how to program in HTML and don’t care to learn, but they want to be able to format the copy or use header tags to create sections within their pages. A WYSIWYG editor makes that all possible for non-tech-savvy users.

7. The font-end display needs to be customizable with little effort.
   

   You need a content management system that allows flexibility in the way content is retrieved and presented. For example, can you retrieve news stories in reverse chronological order? Can you display events in a calendar? Is it possible to extract the most recent user comments and display them on the home page? Flexibility makes a CMS stand out with a fit custom to your needs.

8. Roles and permissions should be well defined and should support multiple roles.
   

   As the number of content providers on the website increases, you will want more control over who can edit what. One group may need the ability to post job advertisements but you wouldn’t want them adding content to the home page. Controlled access and rights requires a content management system that supports permissions. Also there may be instances where a particular content needs approval from a senior staff member. In this case, there needs to be well-defined roles with the provision for multiple roles within the CMS.

9. The right CMS should allow versioning of pages and content.
   

   Versioning is an essential feature which allows editors to revert the changes made to a page or content. It also allows administrators to keep track on ‘who changed what and when.’ Though this feature is not used often, it allows the administrators to revert changes to the content, in case of an accidental change made by a content editor.

10. The CMS needs to have a good SEARCH functionality.
    

    Search is an important aspect of any website. Approximately half of all users start with search when looking for content.

    Here are a few things to look for when assessing search functionality:

• Freshness: How often does the search engine index your website? This is especially important if your website changes regularly.
• Thoroughness: Does it index the entire content of each page? What about attached files, such as PDFs and Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents? Can you filter them based on the type?
• Speed: Some search engines can take ages to return results. This is especially common on large websites.
• Scope: Can you limit the scope of the search function to a particular section of the website or refine search results once returned?
• Customization: can you control how results are displayed and easily customize the layout?

Conclusion

Consideration of features is an important part of the process of selecting the right CMS, but it is not everything. It is also important to consider issues such as licensing, security, stability, extensibility and much more.