Latest posts from Danny Brown

Enjoy the latest posts from Danny Brown, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments after the post.

Why Research is Key and How to Create a Research Station For Your Social Media Strategy

Back in the day, if you wanted to know how successful your marketing had been you had to use expensive and time-consuming analysis.

You might have spent time putting together a direct mail package that had a call-to-action to return a slip with a customer’s details on it, and the amount returned to you would show how successful that campaign had been.

Of course, the problem is, if you sent out 10,000 flyers, you don’t know how many actually arrived at a home; how many were read versus how many were put in the bin; and how many never made it out the post office.

The only gauge of success were the returned slips, and when you’re spending money and time creating and distributing 10,000 flyers, knowing what worked and what didn’t becomes pretty damn important.

The same goes for radio ads, TV ads, newspaper ads – sure, you’re guaranteed airtime but unless you know who saw or read your ad and what their actions were afterward, you’re no better off than that wayward flyer.

Thankfully, that was back in the day. Now you have a lot more power at your disposal when it comes to grabbing results – and by using the research from that to tailor your future moves, you can have a research station ready for every campaign.

A Research Station?

Sales are great. Sales are what helps pay the bills, pay the employees, pay stakeholders – without sales, no business will succeed. Of course, to get sales, you need to market.

But to market effectively, you need to research and then use the research to prepare your future marketing for your next batch of sales. This is where your research station comes in.

All a research station is is clever use of information-gathering tools, and collating these tools into a cohesive action plan. There are a ton of tools to use, but I’m going to look at some of the best free ones and how you can use them for your needs.

So, first things first – where to start.

Building Your Research Station

To build a solid and practical research station, you need to know where to grab your information from. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds (although the level of information will vary – free is good, but premium research will always offer more).

The best way to carry out any research is to have the information at hand you want to know about. Then you start collecting the bricks to build your station.

Google Alerts. Still one of the best tools for knowing what people are saying about you and your company. Set up your keywords, set up the frequency of alert, and let Google Alerts do the rest.

Social Mention. One of the best free solutions for finding information across the social web, Social Mention even gives a basic overview of sentiment and shared value.

Social Search. Not a single tool as such, but using platforms like Twitter Search and Facebook Search (amongst others) can yield a ton of information.

Analytics. Research is nothing without analytics. Choose from Google Analytics, Quantcast, Expo-Maxx or Sitemeter for some free options.

Vanity URL’s. Having a call-to-action is great – having a call-to-action that appeals to your audience is better. Use URL services like bit.ly or budurl are great for providing URL’s to increase your level of attraction. (budurl is premium but offers a free trial.)

These are just some options I recommend. As I mentioned earlier, Google is your friend, so use its search to see which other platforms might interest you.

So now the bricks are in place to build, it’s time to solidify the foundations by mixing them together.

A Research Station Campaign

Because each tool above (and any you find to use) offer different strengths, the easiest way to show an example of how to use them together is with a dummy campaign. Hopefully, this can be transferred to your needs.

Let’s say you have a widget to sell. It’s not a revolutionary widget, but it’s a damn cool one. So you want to market the heck out of it and sell a ton, and retire to Barbados.

While you still use TV, or radio, or other “traditional media” to advertise, this won’t tell you why your widget is selling (other than folks like your advert, possibly). This is where you combine the research station with the media station.

Every flyer or ad you send out comes with a vanity URL (make sure the URL appeals to your audience and the needs your widget meets). This URL sends interested folks to a micro-site built specifically for the campaign.

Every area of advertising or marketing also has its own URL – so newspapers, radio, TV, etc, would be URL/tv or URL/radio (just as an example – you can be more creative).

To make your campaign even more effective, use multiple URL’s to take people to different pages of your site, based on demographics, type of widget, location, etc.

The micro-site has more call-to-actions, like a downloadable mobile APP or a QR code to scan, along with a newsletter sign-up for free updates about the widget, etc, where to find you online and more. Or you have coupons to download to get discounts from offline purchases, or to share with your friends.

You have your analytics package set up ready to grab the information about your visitors as they arrive and leave.

Your campaign is also set around specific keywords, which should also be in your micro-site URL for added visibility and measurement.

So now you have all the pieces in place, and you’ve sent the marketing out, it’s time to use your research station to gauge, measure and act upon.

Planning New Stations

By setting up your research station before your campaign – alerts, URL’s, micro-sites, type of media, what message is going to each, etc – you’ve created the basis of what information you want to receive.

This, coupled with sales of the widget from the campaign, can give you focused information that will make your next one even more effective.

So what do you take from each nugget?

Google Alerts. Set your keywords up from your campaign, as well as the widget name, the company name, the website address and “blog posts about WIDGET NAME”. See when you’re mentioned; where; who by; what topic they normally talk about, etc.

Social Mention. Type in your keywords and marketing efforts (WIDGET X on the radio, for example). Bookmark the most relevant mentions from the network results. Measure the Positive/Negative/Neutral feedback for each term.

Social Search. Much like Social Mention, but this time view more about the demographics on who’s talking about you. What Groups do they belong to on Facebook? Are they part of a bigger picture (mommy bloggers, widget enthusiasts, etc). Are they sharing you with their networks? If so, good or bad?

Analytics. Which URL’s were used? Which landing page had the biggest bounce rate? Why? Did your call-to-action work? How many apps or coupons were downloaded? What nationality was your biggest visitor base?

Vanity URL’s. Which keyword URL drove the most traffic? What medium offered the most return? Were location-based URL’s useful?

By collecting all of this information and more, you’re painting a picture of your customers, and how they want to be marketed to.

You’re no longer guessing about which media worked and which didn’t. No longer questioning traffic spikes and who was responsible for them. No longer wondering if people were liking your approach or if they bought on a whim.

Once you have that, it’s not rocket science as to what comes next – you use that information to get rid of the crud and build upon the good.

You eliminate the need for costly mistakes and solidify the best parts of your previous campaign into your next one. And your next one. And your next one.

You win, the customer wins – result.

How about you? How are you building stations and what binds yours together?

image: Zanthia
image: Krista76

The Clear and Continuing Need for Blogger Outreach Specialists at PR Agencies

Last week, I received an email pitch from a PR agency looking to feature their client on my blog. The pitch was friendly enough, but had one glaring error. Here’s the pitch:

Hi Danny,
Thanks to social giant Klout, Badgeville gamification customers can now associate a numeric score with social interactions.
Bottom line: companies will find it a whole lot easier to influence the behaviors of their customers.
Badgeville will leverage Klout?s influence-ranking technology to help enterprise leaders increase online engagement. The partnership will allow businesses to pinpoint which customer/employee carries the most influence and provide key analytics to score social influence.
I?d be more than happy to put you in touch with Badgeville and/or Klout to discuss what this means for social business. Please let me know if you are interested.
Thanks and Happy Friday!

Like I said, the pitch is friendly enough and offers a quick, punchy overview of why I might be interested, which is always a bonus. It sure as hell beats some of the pitches I receive!

But, as I also said, there’s one glaring error – the sender of the email clearly isn’t aware that there’s no chance in hell I’ll write about Klout in any way that promotes them.

As I’ve mentioned a few times, my opinion of Klout is that they’re unethical, they ignore user concerns, and?issue pat responses to criticism. Simply put, I think Klout is a joke.

Unfortunately, the fact I was sent the pitch demonstrates another example of how pitching needs to adapt, and PR agencies would do well to have either a blogger or someone that truly understands blogger outreach as a core promotional outlet versus just another?medium.

Bloggers Aren’t Special, Just Different

It used to be really easy to promote a client’s story. Grab some quotes, some images, meld into a news release, and send out to the wires. Newspapers and trade publications would run features, and clients would be happy with the exposure.

NB:?For my friend Gini, I know there’s a lot more to PR than news releases and publicity – I’m just using as an example here.

Then along came bloggers, and their taking over of the media as the perfect news channel. Since they weren’t (usually) limited by editorial, nor were they necessarily baised to brands or products, they offered a great alternative to traditional print media.

They also offered excellent SEO juice, as well as a captive and trusting audience in the blogger’s community of readers and subscribers. The problem was, the strengths and attraction of a blog were also its sore points, at least as far as PR agencies were concerned.

Because of the trust and non-bias bloggers could offer, they had to be approached differently.

Instead of blind pitching to a publication, where there were scores of journalists a pitch could be dispersed to, blogs are very often solo-driven. Sure, you have your Techcrunch’s and your Mashable’s but more often than not it’s individual bloggers with engaged communities that are approached.

And they need to be approached very differently.

Blogger Outreach – It’s Not That Hard, People

The difference in approach is exactly why you’ll hear good PR agencies (and marketers, and strategic advisors) talk about blogger outreach programs, and how they tailor their approaches and make sure the blogger is a fit for the client.

The reason for this is simple: a blogger’s key currency is their audience, and there’s no way a good blogger will ever risk that for a story that doesn’t fit and is clearly promotional.

If I suddenly started writing great things about Klout based on the pitch I received, my readers would call me out for double-standards, and rightly so. The same goes for any blogger, and emphasizes the point about the outreach hitting the right targets, which this one missed.

The thing is, blogger outreach is actually pretty easy – if you let it be:

Take the time to research the blogger.

Seriously. That’s all it takes. (Okay, it takes a wee bit more to build a great blogger program, and these six blogger outreach pointers from Monica O’Brien are great guidelines to help you with this.)

But as an example of knowing your target, all it would have taken was for the PR person that emailed me to use the search box in my sidebar, and type in Klout.

That would have shown my opinion of Klout and that I wouldn’t be interested, which?would save the agency time and negate the need to tell the client why they didn’t get editorial placement on certain blogs.

Because, ironically enough, bloggers (mostly) do?want to help PR agencies share their clients -?especially if it helps benefit their community and let the blogger share early news about an awesome and relevant product or service in their niche.

So, PR folks. It’s simple. If you don’t have a blogger outreach specialist as part of your make-up, it’s becoming increasingly important that you do.

Blogs aren’t going away any time fast – but your clients might if the coverage isn’t there because your outreach wasn’t researched…

image: bamalibrarylady

Creating a Corporate Blog People Want to Read

While many of the tips on blog resource sites concentrate on ?personal blogging?, many can be transferred to a more business-minded blog.

Yet what about corporate blogs, where many of the tips given might not apply, or come up against everyone?s favourite, the?Red Tape Roadblock?

Can generic tips apply to more organizational blogs?

Yes and no ? depending on the company in question, and their willingness to experiment. Here are some ideas for those that might be willing to look at how their organization could use a blog.

Work Around the Legal Blocks

One of the biggest complaints I hear about blogs for organizations and enterprise is that the number of legal hoops they have to go through, just to get a post approved, means it?s not worthwhile to pursue.

By the time the approval comes, it?s too late to miss a hot time for a particular story, or opportunity. Fair enough ? but if you?re missing out on a lead generation or business opportunity because legal is syphoning you, perhaps you have bigger company issues than jumping on a trend?

Organizations don?t always need to write things where legal minefields are visible. There are way more things to write about, that can receive instantaneous approval (if any is needed). These could include:

Loyal customer or preferred client showcase / thank-you.
Highlighting your great team.
How your company came into existence.
Cool innovations in your market that aren?t necessarily from you.

These are just some suggestions, but each offer a way to have continuous content without waiting for a dozen rounds of approval.

Use Video and Education

People are visual creatures. We like to see things, as opposed to just reading about them. So why do so many businesses not use video as part of their blogging strategy?

The great thing with video is that you don?t even need to have someone in front of the camera (although offering a face to the company is always a great way of humanizing it).

Video also makes it easy to offer an educational portion to your blog ? how to use your online purchasing system, for example, or how to put together one of your products, as opposed to a fifty page manual.

The opportunities with video blogging for businesses is huge, and it doesn?t even have to be top-notch production. You can get a great set-up ? camera, tripod, external mics, etc ? for under $1,000, which in the grand scheme of things isn?t that much.

Allow Honesty

The reason social media is so popular with customers is because it allows a greater connection between them and the brands they choose to connect with.

Connect well, and the potential for lead generation and sales ? as well as brand loyalty ? is palpable.

Another reason social media is so popular is one word ? honesty. There?s nowhere to hide online, and this is encouraging businesses to be better at how they deal with customer queries, issues and more.

Blogging?s just another facet of social media ? so use it as such, and try and be honest in your blogging.

Use it to admit to mistakes made by your company and how you aim to rectify.
Correct false news stories and present the facts to back your point(s) up.
Use everyday grammar as opposed to techy business talk, or creative talk (unless that?s specifically your audience).
Accept criticism of posts, and reply professionally and honestly, accepting the critiques if they?re valid.

Again, these are just some of the ways you can make your corporate blog more interesting.

You could also share examples of how you help in the community; or support local charities; or encourage guest posts from your customers about their experience with you (although this may come under legal, for obvious reasons).

The point is, there?s a lot you can do with a corporate blog to stop it being just another dull news site. And you might just be pleasantly surprised how well your customers ? existing and potential ? respond to a non-dull approach.

How about you? If you?re a corporate blogger, what have you found that works? Or, if you?re a reader, what would you like to see more of in a corporate blog?

image:?maxymedia

How to Get More Blog Readers By Having Your Content Syndicated

For most (if not all) bloggers, one of the key metrics on how their blog has grown comes from how many readers it has.

These don?t necessarily have to be subscribers, either, although I?m a fan of subscribers being more a metric than readers for success, since these are folks that are investing their inboxes with you. But I digress?

But as any blogger knows, wanting more readers and getting more readers can be two wildly separate entities. It?s a big blogging world out there, and people can be sparing with their time and where to invest it.

The good news is, there is a way you can attract more readers to your blog, and that?s through content syndication. The bad news, you may have to give up some control. So what are the benefits and how do you get syndicated?

A Quick Introduction to Content Syndication

Before we look at how you can get your blog in front of the eyes of more readers, let?s just take a quick look at what content syndication means. The easiest way to compare it is to local news journalists and major newsrooms.

For most local journalists, your stories are mainly read by the local township. There?s nothing wrong with this, and it?s a solid enough career. However, now and again you might write a human interest story that gets picked up by the nationals, and your piece is quoted in the New York Times or on CNN.

That kind of exposure can lead to bigger gigs and paychecks, as you?re approached to provide stories (or images) for these bigger outlets, as well as your local publication where it all started. This is the journalism version of content syndication.

Now, take that back to your blog. That?s the local publication, and the bigger newsrooms might be Mashable, or ReadWriteWeb, or Techcrunch, or Technorati ? basically, anywhere that might be in your niche but has an audience hundreds of thousands of times bigger than yours.

If you could get your content into their feeds, then the sky is the limit to where you can go as a blogger. So how do you get out there, and what are the best options for you?

The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Content Syndication

The simplest way to have your content syndicated is to do it yourself.

Yes, it?s also the most time-consuming, as you have to do all the legwork and find the sites in your niche that accept blog feeds to be shared. But until you have the good fortune to be noticed by other websites for your blog content, getting yourself out there in syndication land is the only way to go for now.

To help you make this process a little quicker, here are some of the best (and most widely-read) syndication sites and options currently out there, regardless of your blog?s niche:

Alltop: Although Alltop gets a lot of stick from many people, it can still act as a great library of blogs and bloggers. With a complete A-Z of topics and syndication as easy as submitting your blog details, it?s a great way to get your blog in front of a new set of readers.

Networked Blogs: Primarily a great way to share your blog posts on Facebook, Networked Blogs also has a library of blog topics to submit your blog to. The cool thing about Networked Blogs is if you can get enough of your Facebook friends and colleagues to follow your blog via their Facebook app, you can rise to the top of the topic list and get even more readers.

Scribnia: From my friend David Spinks, Scribnia has become a great resource for finding quality new blogs due to their voting system. People can show their approval (or disapproval, so make sure your quality is good!) of your blog with a vote and description and, like Networked Blogs, this helps you rise in the ranks until your content is in front of thousands. Again, submitting your blog is straightforward.

These are just three options you can begin submitting your content to for syndication. There are more (and this is where ), but I chose these for the width of topics and audience size.

As a way of potentially growing your readership, syndication offers the best ?bang for your buck? when it comes to the number of new readers you could attract. However, it does have some downsides.

I Get a Whole Bunch of New Readers ? So What?s the Problem?

While syndication can get you new readers, by its very nature it can also be a limited amount of new readers. If you take a look at the three options I highlighted above, you?ll see that there are hundreds (thousands) of other bloggers syndicated there too.

So, to make sure your blog stands out, you have to know how to best use each network for promotion. A widget on your blog (Alltop, Networked Blogs and Scribnia all offer this) is a start. As is adding the syndicated feed to your email signature, or other online destinations.

Additionally, syndication often means losing control of your content. For instance, instead of people sharing your blog post on Twitter, Facebook, etc, they share the syndicated feed. So, your work is read but readers still aren?t necessarily coming to your site versus the syndicated one.

Just a couple of things to keep in mind before going down the syndication route. There?s no doubt it can work ? just make sure you?re ready to do the work to make it work.

Then again, isn?t that how all blogging growth really happens?

This post originally appeared on For Bloggers By Bloggers. For more blogging tips on how to grow your blog, you can subscribe here.

image: Google Libraries