Stop the social media noise!
Can you grow your business faster with a blog? October 20, 2009

I Get Paid For: Delivering
best-in-class digital marketing strategies that grow our clients’ businesses. Prior Life: Founded R.O.Why! Marketing, a Cincinnati strategic marketing agency; director of marketing at On Assignment (NASDAQ: ASGN); director of marketing at Computer Task Group (NASDAQ: CTGX); Marketing manager at a software development firm. Training: B.S. in Marketing & Management from the University of Cincinnati College of Business. 8 years client side, 7 years agency experience. Passions: Social media, blogging, 1:1 CRM, leveraging BIC digital across the customer conversation Other Tidbits: Social media director for the Cincinnati American Marketing Association; frequent opinionated speaker & writer. Brian LeCount Associate Director, Strategic Planning

Part of WPP Group, the
largest agency holding company in the world with 2,000 offices in 106 countries Employee Makeup: Cincinnati, Ohio Headquarters: 1979 Founded: Top 25 Best Small Companies to Work For in America (2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009) 250 (and growing) people including Creative, Technology, Project Management, Research, Strategy, and Client Service

clients

show of hands • How
many have a blog? • How many are actively managing at least one social network? • How many posts per month?

it used to be so
easy 2009

budgets are tight & we’ve
got to make some choices

first, some harsh realities [the]
most credible source of information about a company is now “a person like me”, which has risen dramatically to surpass doctors & academic experts for the first time. 7th annual edelman trust barometer • your customers don’t want more friends • 3,000 – 5,000 ad messages • we’re looking for solutions

more
realities

marketers
aren’t yet
convinced

neither are
consumers

are we really surprised?

so why all the hype?

social media is great for...
- sharing news - staying connected - building networks - building relationships

how much is too much?
Thanks for sharing

are we solving our customers’
problems?

does it make an impact?
what?

you can measure social media

you can measure social media

you can measure social media

- Visits - Mentions -
Conversations - Forwards - Diggs -Tweets what about conversions? but what are we measuring?

that’ll be 5,000 tweets
please.

the problem with social media
Nobody wants to join your social network. Really.

what’s so great about a
blog? everybody searches!

- Preachers - Consultants -
Product reviewers - Pontificators - Soccer moms - Citizen journalists - Armchair quarterbacks aren’t they just filled with… Um….yeah.

but...great business blogs… • Win
the search • Solve customer problems • Deliver valuable information when I need it most

why aren’t blogs
measured
effectively?

too many think blogging is
an editorial exercise

corporate blogging is an acquisition
strategy

the goals haven’t
changed

ATTRACT

CULTIVATE

CLOSE

attract cultivate close every effort.
every marketing decision. every step you take. must first improve your ability to achieve these objectives

let’s get focused - HOW
MANY RSS FEEDS CAN YOU DIGEST? - HOW MANY TWEETS CAN YOU READ? - HOW MANY TRUE RELATIONSHIPS CAN YOU MANAGE? is social media feeding you customers or is it simply feeding your inbox?

social media should be in
your toolbox, but prioritize it

blogging is about winning the
search - titles - keywords - recent content - lots of content - links - relevancy

blogging is about winning the
search - titles - keywords - recent content - lots of content - links - relevancy

blogging is about winning the
search - titles - keywords - recent content - lots of content - links - relevancy

engage & convert calls to
action make it measureable.

engage & convert calls to
action make it measureable.

engage & convert calls to
action make it measureable.

so...

tired
yet?

prioritize the vast majority of
your audience finds the solutions to their problems via search. Image property of Compendium Blogware

blog for search - your
customers are telling you what they need - mobilize your teams to talk about the problems they solve everyday - organize your content around what your customers are looking for - serve them relevant content & meaningful calls to action

blog for search - be
there when I’m looking for you - introduce me, engage me - solve my problem better than anyone else - if you do this well, maybe I’ll friend you on facebook - if you deliver a great experience, I’ll talk about it on Twitter

2.7mm searches if you sold
toasters, where would you look for buyers?

questions? Brian LeCount 513.824.6245 b.lecount@bridgeworldwide.com
Twitter: @blecount Facebook: BrianLeCount LinkedIn: BrianLeCount