Data Doctors founder Ken Colburn gave 200 small-businesspeople a lesson in Social Media 101 in an Aug. 28 talk for Greater Phoenix SCORE.

The key takeaways from Ken Colburn’s recent talk on social media: “Use Facebook” and “Social media is free.”

“Facebook is now the third largest country in the world, behind China and India,” he said. “It has more than 500 million people using it.”

If one considers that the average user has 131 “friends,” that’s a lot of people you can reach via word-of-mouth, he said.

Using “word of mouse” is also a great form of marketing because it’s free.

“Using social media costs time, not money,” Colburn said.

The founder of Data Doctors, a computer-repair and data-recovery firm with stores in 11 states, spoke to 200 small-businesspeople Aug. 28 for Greater Phoenix SCORE.

The topic was Social Media 101, an introduction and how-to on engaging customers.

Colburn advocates a Facebook-centric approach.

“Facebook is great for customer feedback,” he said. “Let’s face it, it’s probably more conducive to engaging your customer than your website is.”

In fact, instead of directing customers to its website, Data Doctors funnels them to its Facebook page.

“Promote your Facebook page on everything,” he said. “Tell folks to ask questions on Facebook. That’s where connection occurs.”

Technology allows businesses to use a “like” button to connect customers to Facebook. These are your “brand apostles,” he said.

The key is to “engage.”

“This is not a marketing exercise to promote yourself,” he said. “It’s a place for conversations and relationships.”

Colburn said it’s the same as your approach at a networking event.

“You don’t go up to people and start talking about yourself,” he said. “It’s meeting people and engaging in conversations of mutual interests.”

If you’re not going to listen to your customers, don’t use social media.

If Facebook is where to engage your customers, Twitter is where to reach future customers, Colburn said.

“Twitter is the place to get information and make new connections,” he said.

There is a world of Tweeters to search, follow and interact with. Ask questions. If your subject is dry, make it fun. But if you want to be an authority figure, don’t be goofy.

His company monitors use of the phrase “data recovery” on Twitter. Someone then answers the comment with a Direct Message with an offer to help.

“It costs time, but not money,” Colburn said.

Similarly, Linkedin is a spot for employee recruitment. It is also a wellspring of subject authorities.

“Linkedin skews older,” Colburn said. “It has a neat section with what customers are asking.”

If you have answers, your visibility rises, he said. People are asking for your help each day

And it’s fast. Colburn posted a question on insurance for his business twice on Linkedin. Within two days he had 40 responses.

“What required months of research before was cut to a fraction of that time,” he said.

Designate a 15-minute segment each day as Linkedin time, he suggested.

Businesses can also take advantage of “free” marketing through Foursquare.

The location-based social media invites its 3 million users to “check in” at establishments for badges or points. Businesses can market to these potentially loyal customers by offering specials.

Adjacent businesses can also get involved, as coupons show up for the stop’s neighbors.

“If you eat at Panda Express in Mesa, it shows a special on computer services at our nearby Data Doctors location,” he said.

Colburn said Foursquare was useful during a recent trip to Washington, D.C. He was looking for a place to eat. If you Google “D.C. restaurants,” the list is unwieldy.

So he clicked on Foursquare and looked at “tips” posted by users for the adjacent area. One for a nearby bistro read that the mac and cheese was the bomb.

“I went there and had the mac and cheese and it was the bomb,” he said. “And I don’t even like mac and cheese!”

If you are unsure of which social medium to use, take a look at Ping.fm.

In addition to engagement, small businesses need to have a plan to listen and measure.

Tools like Addictomatic, SocialMention, Google Alerts (for the entire Web), Google Realtime (for social), and Monitter allow companies to find mentions of the firm and industries.

“Monitter also allows you to get customers within a 50-mile radius,” he said.

In addition, he suggests looking at MuckRack, a site that follows what journalists are working on (“Listen to them and then offer help on stories they’re doing), and Listorious, which lists experts in specific fields.

“Check on your own company and your competitors,” he said.

For measuring, investigate Bit.ly (which shortens URLs in tweets for free but also shows how many people clicked on your link and from where); Facebook Insights (shows breakdown of fan base by gender and age); Google Analytics (to track visits to your website); HowSociable (a brand’s social report card).

Notably absent from Colburn’s talk – which one questioner noted – was discussion of YouTube.com.

He said he considers it “not entry level” for small businesses.

But he does encourage its use.

“Start generating video content,” he said. “Maybe you’ll be like the ‘United Breaks Guitar’ guy, whose video now has 9 million hits and he’s got a record contract.”

]]> http://www.johnswolfe.com/socialmedia/facebook-centric-strategy-for-small-businesses//feed 0 http://www.johnswolfe.com/socialmedia/using-social-media-to-recruit-hire/ http://www.johnswolfe.com/socialmedia/using-social-media-to-recruit-hire/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:02:22 +0000 admin http://www.johnswolfe.com/uncategorized/using-social-media-to-recruit-hire/

The Arizona Technology Council held a panel discussion titled “Recruiting and Branding with Social Media” on Aug. 25 at the Jobing.com office on North 22^nd Street. Participants were, from left, Claudia Reilly of Avnet, Andrew Vess of Cox Communications, and DeAnne Russell of St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Why pay to advertise – or pay too much – when social media and technology allow for easy interaction with customers and potential employees?

That question hit every business during the economic downturn; hiring was limited but every company needed to “stay in the game” despite slashed budgets.

This issue was at the center of the “Recruiting and Branding with Social Media” panel discussion on Aug. 25 at Jobing.com, organized by the Arizona Technology Council.

DeAnne Russell, senior recruiter for St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, said one organization with a magazine sought to charge $500 for a print ad and $75 for a Tweet to solicit for a medical position.

With no funds available, Russell admitted she went to the Twitter account, wrote down its followers, and engaged them directly. For free. And it worked.

Companies have also found employees by connecting with influential contacts – through LinkedIn, Twitter or blogs – and shared a need for a specific individual for an open position. Not only do they get results, the turnaround time can be as little as 24 hours.

This explains why the Arizona Republic careers section on Sunday is now only a few pages.

Claudia Reilly, recruiting manager for Avnet, said she turns to LinkedIn to identify candidates at the professional level.

“You can easily find people in your industry and the caliber of candidates is pretty good,” she said.

Both Russell (@StJosephsJobs) and Reilly use company Twitter accounts to announce openings.

Andrew Vess, talent acquisition manager for Cox Communications, said the company was admittedly slow to engaging in social media but says it plans to do more in 2011. He doesn’t Tweet.

“LinkedIn has been most successful for us,” he said. “Our approach is to show what we do and what it’s like to work here.”

Cox also shifted some of its advertising dollars from traditional media to Google and Facebook ads. He said the ads were effective and a fraction of the cost.

“The old way was ‘post and pray,’” he said. “Now, with cost per click, you only pay for what you use.”

He added that another option is to join LinkedIn groups to find candidates or connect with educators at university pages to help identify skilled individuals.

Russell also uses Twitter to promote the brand. Using TweetLater at SocialOomph, she can take a few hours at the end of the month and schedule all of her Tweets for the next month.

Then, if something newsworthy occurs, she can create a Tweet and send it out. This avoids the chore of setting aside time each day to participate in social media.

Reilly told the 20 business people in the audience to only engage in social media if you are ready to interact.

“In social media, they expect to have conversations,” she said.

Russell, because of the “push” nature of her job Tweets, said she doesn’t have many Twitter conversations.

Another advantage to social media is that information is shared instantaneously, Vess said. Company websites rarely change.

Vess added that it’s important to monitor what your competition is doing.

“If they’re there and you’re not, that’s a red flag,” he said.

Interestingly, Reilly noted that using paid-ad sites like Monster or Jobing.com can include costs that many companies would like to avoid. Russell admitted she likes @TweetMyJobs

Greta Suda, Jobing’s assistant general manager in Phoenix, said the company is aware of the environment and is also looking to innovate.

“We’re evolving, too,” she said. “Now we have a tech service team that can create the apps that companies and organizations can use for their own microsites or Facebook pages.

“We’re not just a job portal anymore,” she said.

Participating in the Aug. 17 panel discussion of sports marketing were, from left, Steve Ryan of the Cardinals, Cullen Maxey of the Diamondbacks, David Burke of the Coyotes and Lynn Agnello of the Suns.

In marketing to the masses, much of traditional media’s reach has been carved up – cable and DVRs vs. the networks; iPods and satellite radio vs. over-the-air stations; blogs and social websites vs. newspapers.

What’s left? Billboards and sports marketing.

The latter is also evolving, as teams and leagues realize they need to innovate and compete off the field just as their teams do on the field.

Their efforts to work with businesses on new game and stadium promotions were the focus of the Aug. 17 meeting of the Phoenix chapter of the Business Marketing Association. The two-hour event was held in a locker room at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

About 40 members listened to comments from Cullen Maxey, executive vice president of business operations for the Diamondbacks; Steve Ryan, vice president of business development for the Arizona Cardinals; Lynn Agnello, senior vice president of marketing partnerships for the Phoenix Suns and Mercury; and David Burke, vice president of ticket sales and service for the Phoenix Coyotes.

Each noted that their organizations have gone from simply selling packages to needing to employ consultative approaches to boost business.

Burke, who worked for the New Orleans Hornets and Dallas Stars before coming to the Valley last year, commented that sports teams have needed to become better marketers.

“In 2001 to 2003, teams could pretty much say something would cost $150,000 and shove it down throats,” he said. “Now it’s about ‘What does the customer need?’ and here’s how we’ll over-deliver.”

Fans of sports teams now see specific times or scores or activities regularly brought to them by a corporate sponsor. The scramble is to do a needs analysis and then customize a sales package, Agnello said.

“You have to ask, ‘What’s the return on the objective?’” she said. “How can we create a personalized branding message with ‘stickiness’ (to be memorable).”

The Diamondbacks used this approach to develop a promotion this season with Henkel Consumer Goods, a Scottsdale subsidiary of Henkel International.

Laundry detergents, shampoos and sealants aren’t exactly compelling or memorable, so Henkel now gets out its message at D-Backs games during the “Racing Legends” competition.

Modeled after the Milwaukee Brewers’ sausage race, the local version features 10-foot-tall “legend” mascots Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams, Randy Johnson and Mark Grace sprinting to the dugout between halves of the fifth inning.

“We started with a blank canvas,” Maxey said. “Now they can promote a brand each night.”

Ryan said the arrangement between the Cardinals and a business partner is now more relationship-based, not transactional.

“You really have to be creative with packaging,” he said. “You need to customize programs for each company.”

He noted that sponsors have hopped on board for new events like a kickoff luncheon and an off-season bowling competition.

With the state of the economy and consolidations, Burke explained that teams are now getting creative with smaller companies.

“We want to make sure they’re not priced out,” he said.

The new approach also means a change in how teams handle sales.

Most have replaced “sales” people with “service” people, staff members who will massage sponsors and trouble-shoot problems. Value propositions have changed.

“We’ve gone from ‘hunters’ getting a sale to ‘farmers’ cultivating a relationship,” Burke said. “You have to invest in sales training.”

Added Agnello, “It’s almost like we’re becoming brand managers, acting as extensions to the partner’s marketing team.”

There is a surprising amount of communication and cooperation between the teams. They realize they are promoting sports marketing instead of other marketing, and if successful, all teams will succeed, regardless of record or place in the standings.

It’s a competitive market in Phoenix, with additional participants like Arizona State sports, PGA golf, NASCAR and spring training baseball fighting for ad dollars.

“Brand affinity will be what separates us,” Maxey said.

While the teams generate revenues through advertising and ticket sales, they are also building the brand through social media. Each organization is dedicating a team of employees to maintaining websites, overseeing Facebook and Twitter feeds, and listening to fans.

“We monitor it a ton,” Maxey said. “We’ll call on negative ones and try to build the relationship with information.”

This image of a “virtual” Times Square reinforces the idea that businesses today need to operate in the “real” world and the “cyber” world.

When I talk with clients about the importance of an online strategy, I still see some reluctance. It’s time-consuming, there’s a cost involved, it’s unclear if it’s effective, and our customers really aren’t online are some of the refrains.

But those opinions ignore reality; there is a cyber world out there and, like it or not, your business is in it already.

Consider it “space”: people are in there sharing information and recommendations, on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, blogs, consumer forums, and user-review websites. Don’t you think you should be there?

Companies large and small need to have a strategy for competing in the virtual world, just as they have a strategy for the real world. If they devote attention to how employees answer the phone, where to distribute ads or flyers, and what the office or storefront looks like, they also need to do that online.

There are four key online segments for any business. Some may be more important to you than others, but each is significant.

1. Listening: It is very easy for individuals to express opinions today and publish them for wider distribution than just the table at the coffee shop. To protect your brand, you need to know what’s being said, who is saying it and what traction it may be gaining. This can be done by an employee using search or, for larger firms, a provider like Radian6 or Synthesio. While critical comments can be demoralizing, they create an opportunity to win back fans by solving problems. Interacting with them is more beneficial than ignoring them.
2. SEO: Ted Turner once explained his secret to success this way – “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.” In 2010, advertising can be often be equated to how your business shows up in user searches. If you Google your brand and you’re not on the first page, you need an optimization effort. This involves website design, titles, keywords and a host of other factors. Don’t overlook this fundamental necessity: You probably rely on Google or Yahoo or Bing; so do your customers.
3. Engagement: There has been some discussion that corporations today don’t even own their brand. Customers do, and they can make it or break it through their comments. Imagine if your company could harness the allegiance, emotions, suggestions and megaphones of your customers. Would that make a difference in a positive way? The virtual world affords easier ways to get immediate feedback, identify and hone new products or services, and build brand loyalty. Rather than expect individuals to visit your website, companies need to go where they are – like Facebook or Youtube – and interact with them. And use tools like email and Twitter to solicit feedback and – most importantly – engage customers in a positive way.
4. Thought Leadership: In a world drowning in information, people thirst for knowledge. Every company – from the cell-phone provider to the extermination service – has the opportunity to educate customers on trends, innovations, regulations and challenges. Done in a timely and succinct manner, a company can extend its brand, become a trusted resource – and increase sales. If you’re not doing it, someone else is.

Of course, one size does not fit all. Most companies may find only a few of these “channels” to use, based on their market, their product or service and their capabilities.

Before your company jumps in, it’s vital to identify your objective, know your target audience and its preferences, and select the “tools” (social media, email, SEO etc.) that will be most impactful.

To sum up: Don’t forget about the “real” world. Just don’t ignore the “cyber” one.

So July 31 has had special meaning for me: That’s Major League Baseball’s trade deadline, the last chance for teams to freely swap players.

For the Diamondbacks, it’s a chance to trade whatever value you might have in a disastrous season for young prospects – and hope for a better future.

This year the team had plenty to shed and rumors about 10 of the 25 players began circulating July 1.

So as the July 31 deadline neared, I and probably hundreds of thousands of other baseball fans were looking to see how their favorite team’s makeup would change.

In the past – way past — that meant reading a newspaper or magazine. In the recent past that meant checking a sports website like ESPN or Fox Sports, sometimes on the hour.

But 2010 was different. The best information, the most timely information, came from that little 140-character newsletter: Twitter.

Throughout July 29, July 30 and July 31, baseball writers and sportscasters provided tidbits on what they were hearing from baseball executives and agents. This went on at all hours of the day and night.

I got my information from KTAR’s Dave Burns (@Burns620), Paul Calvisi (@PaulCalvisi) and John Gambadoro (@Gambo620), the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro), Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) and Jon Paul Morosi (@jonmorosi), Diamondbacks’ team writer Steve Gilbert (@dbackswriter and @dbackswire), MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors), USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale), Fox Sports Arizona’s Todd Walsh (@walshtodd) and Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder), Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman (@SI_JonHeyman) and Baseball America’s Jim Callis (@jimcallisBA).

Sometimes the Tweeters would include a link to a story they had done for the company’s website. Many times it was just a brief item, with no corresponding link (and a tidbit that wouldn’t make it onto the website, except in the Twitter feed). Often these scribes would re-tweet an item from one of the others. Sometimes they would respond to fans’ comments.

My guess is that each individual Tweeted between six and 20 times each day.

I found myself following tweets, not visiting websites. My Google Alert emails for the Diamondbacks were dated material.

Significantly, I was not too connected to ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports. Their baseball writers are behind a pay wall – ESPN Insider – that puts off fans like me. I don’t see the added value or unique insights that it would cost me per month. I could see some of their Tweets on the homepage but I was frustrated when the link took me to a subscription pitch.

More significantly – for all of us in social media – my following these baseball Tweeters involved no advertising. None. Zip. Nada.

There were no ads on my Twitter app on BlackBerry. The tweets contained information, not marketing information.

So … what to do?

Could the Tweeters include some sort of sales pitch in every fifth Tweet? Mentioning perhaps a sponsor from the next telecast or publication?

Would followers be irked if Ken Rosenthal, for example, included an Old Spice Move of the Day? Probably not.

Could Tweeters use TwitPic to promote an advertiser?

Could a brand like the Diamondbacks aggregate all #dbacks tweets on a special page, with a frame with ticket and promotional information?

Would any of this work?

Well, compared with nothing, it’s probably worth a try. Especially if folks are not going to the website.

Fresh off her talk last week to the Arizona Interactive Marketing Association, Kloefkorn had the dais to herself July 20 in an afternoon presentation to the Business Marketing Association’s Phoenix chapter at SkySong in Scottsdale. (Co-presenter
Fionn Downhill, CEO of Elixir Interactive, was ill.)

For 90 minutes Kloefkorn provided a “state of search engine optimization” address for about 50 media professionals. She led the group through recent changes in search and the top 10 facets of on-site and off-site search to embrace.

“SEO is not just meta tags, titles and keywords,” she said. “Now it’s find, index, categorize, and rank web content.”

Search has also moved beyond the “universal” search users are most familiar with. For example, searches are now being personalized based on the individual’s prior searches, she said.

“Google is tracking your searches,” Kloefkorn said, noting that one user’s mention of COBRA may turn up a piece of electronics, not the health-care option, if he had previously searched “CB radios.”

Similarly, Microsoft’s Bing considers itself a “decision engine,” anticipating what the user means when using search, to streamline the experience.

Bing has effectively grabbed the travel-arrangements segment in search and has its eyes on education, she said.

Google Caffeine is a new infrastructure the company is using to index web pages. Thus, if your page is a slow-loader because of images or volume, you may be penalized, she said.

Then there are the “big three” of 2010: Local search, mobile search, and video search.

Search results based on the user’s location – providing convenient and local products, services and businesses – is becoming more common. Google features such local results toward the bottom of its results pages.

“Google wants to provide relevant results,” she said.

Video search is booming, while social search (of social media websites) is also gaining.

KEO Marketing’s Sheila Kloefkorn was the guest speaker at the July 20 meeting of the Business Marketing Association Phoenix chapter. Al Maag of Avnet is its president.

Kloefkorn emphasized that web-page builders need to optimize their work for search engines.

“Google sees a bunch of text,” she said. Fancy images, graphics and pieces in Adobe Flash can’t be read by search engines.

She suggested visiting www.webconfs.com to test what search engines see on your site.

She offered a SEO primer on the “top 10″ elements to address on your company’s website:

1. Keywords or phrases in the title tag (the words at the top of the web page)
2. Keywords or phrases in the H1 or headline tag (the first words on the page)
3. Internal link/external link to anchor text on the page (repeating the full keywords in links, not just “click here for more information”)
4. The first 50 words in the HTML on the page
5. Meta description tag (the site’s name and information like phone numbers and forms, but remember to include a call to action, she said)
6. A URL structure with keywords (i.e. www.johnswolfe.com/socialmedia/3-facets-of-effective-non-profit-websites)
7. Other headline tags
8. Image Alt text
9. The number of repetitions in the HTML text
10. Keyword use in image names (labeling an image with specific names or companies, instead of “pic3″ or “event photo7″, and use dashes, not underscores)

Sheila Kloefkorn speaks at SkySong on July 20.

Kloefkorn then noted that your SEO effort also has to include “off-site” strategies, ways to tie your site to others, so search engines are impressed by your vitality. This is where engagement with customers through social media like Facebook and Twitter creates a network that boosts your site’s prominence.

The second “top 10″:

1. Use unique content (not syndicated or “re-freshed” content) on the page; search engines like original content
2. Employ keywords used by individuals in their searches in the article or video title or description
3. Be fresh; search engines like “recency,” which is why blogs have soared up results
4. Create internal links on your site to other pages on the website
5. Change your content frequently
6. Use external-pointing links, like back-links from other websites like media or trade associations
7. Use keywords in the URL
8. Minimize the amount of code showing up within the text in the HTML
9. Make sure there’s a meta description tag
10. Seek HTML validation from W3C standards

The Google vs. Yahoo search fight has a new look, now that Microsoft’s Bing has been connected to Yahoo. Kloefkorn noted that in June Google saw its first decline in market share for at least five years.

It went from 65% of all searches to 62%. Yahoo’s 19% and Bing’s 12% gave the partnership new weight – and a legitimate option for businesses looking at paid search advertising. (Ask.com‘s 3% and AOL‘s 2% were the other choices.)

“It’s important when you consider that 1% market share equals about $100 million a year,” she said.

She noted that this week the Bing/Yahoo is taking shape.

“You will start to see different results on Yahoo because they will be coming from Bing,” she said.

Why is search so important? Because studies show that 92% of purchases are made by consumers who use it before the sale. Kloefkorn guessed that the remaining 8% of purchases are likely groceries.

And paid search is valuable because companies may not have the resources to generate fresh content and optimize web pages to move up the “natural” search results.

***

The BMA’s next event will be a sports marketing discussion at Chase Field on Aug. 17, prior to the Diamondbacks’ game against the Cincinnati Reds.

The second annual Technology Marketing Summit will be held Sept. 23 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

But that doesn’t mean they should ignore the Web altogether.

The July 13 meeting of AZIMA – the Arizona Interactive Marketing Association – featured a second panel of Internet marketing consultants, who looked at the site of a Phoenix-based non-profit group. WingstoFly.info promotes building self-esteem in young women ages 12 to 17, primarily through one-week educational camp in the summer.

The panel analyzed the site based on usability, search engine optimization and social media links.

Panel 2: From left, David Wallace of SearchRank, Ward Andrews of Drawbackwards and design.org, and Matt O’Brien of Mint Social

Usability, by Ward Andrews of Drawbackwards and founder of design.org:

•           To dream, inspire and empower are all good parts of the story. Take that image area and also have a call to action there, to tell the story and also have the visitor take action toward a goal.

•           “Hover over” navigation no longer works. This has more importance as users adopt devices like touch interfaces like on the iPad.

•           Instead of photos of the girls at the camp, show a video of them having fun camp. Embed the video from your YouTube channel. This builds a social outpost off-site and upgrades the quality of storytelling on-site.

•           On the home page, instead of describing “quick links,” describe what the list is about. If the list is about sponsors and donors, who you are recruiting as well as highlighting, list them with their logos. “It’s a sales tool,” he said.

•           One of the site sections is for after-school programs, there is nothing listed. I recommend you not include links until the content is there, he said.

SEO, by David Wallace of SearchRank:

• Many non-profits haven’t done much with search engine optimization but it’s crucial, he said.
• First, use a keyword search to determine the words and phrases people are using when doing a search.
• Next, employ keyword mapping to assign specific words to specific pages, the ones best suited to match searches.
• Each page should have unique title tags, with keywords and the brand name.
• Don’t forget a meta tag, the description of the organization and its mission, with keywords, for the website.
• You need to use header tags, and footer tags.
• If you use cascading style sheets for design, you made need to adjust them to include keywords.
• Use of p tags will make pages load faster.
• Include a link in images in order to show up on Google’s Image search.
• The site has nice incoming links from KNIX and KNXV-Channel 15. The group may want to pursue more of these, as part of a strategy to build the site as an authority in this domain.
• .info is a bit out of the mainstream. “It would be great if you could get the .com or .org domain,” he said.

Social media, by Matt O’Brien of Mint Social:

• WingstoFly does have a Twitter account but it doesn’t seem to be your audience. You have the girls attending the camp and the parents who would like to send their daughters to camp.
• The group does have an interesting Facebook page. But there isn’t a prominent tie-in to the page from the website.
• What are your content strategies? If the girls are “cold turkey” on gadgets during the camp, could volunteers capture the cool things going on?
• The Wing Story is buried on the home page and difficult to find. This is your biggest asset, so find a way to tell it on video or using Flickr. “Your audience is out on social networks,” O’Brien said. “You need to go there to engage them.”
• The group’s blog is also hard to find. This needs to be a part of the website, with a domain of www.wingstofly.info/blog.
• Pare down the site to tell WingstoFly’s story. Celebrate your big fund-raisers and donors.
• Is there a contest that you can introduce, perhaps for scholarships?
• In the off-season, can the girls participate by talking about their experiences at camp?
• The kids will be viral so you need to make the parents aware of the camp.
• You may also want a listening strategy. Perhaps there are parents looking for answers to some problems with their daughters. If you find forums or follow tweets where these discussions are taking place, you can participate and bring up WingstoFly, the website and the camp.

The July 13 meeting of AZIMA – the Arizona Interactive Marketing Association – featured two panels of Internet marketing consultants offering their suggestions for a commercial site and a non-profit site.

Each panel featured three individuals, who looked at site usability, search-engine fundamentals and links to social media marketing.

Panel 1: From left, Jack Smith of Social Latte, Sheila Kloefkorn of KEO Marketing, and Chris Sietsema of Teach to Fish Digital

The first site was www.giftideas.com. The first panel actually looked at a prototype for the company’s next website.

Usability, by Chris Sietsema of Teach to Fish Digital:

• First, you need to ask what the site visitor is asking: What is this site about? What can I do here? How is this different from other sites? What does the website want me to do?
• With such a broad scope of “gift ideas,” it might easier to select a niche to emphasize.
• The site’s graphic only reaches halfway across the page; it looks broken so extend it across the entire header.
• Visitors take in information in different ways, so mix words with images.
• Test vertical and horizontal layouts to gauge effectiveness.
• Employ software that shows links under the cursor as the user “hovers” over it, so as to not require a click.
• Consider creating recommendations for users. “I searched garden hoses and there were no products,” he said. “That could be a spot for recommendations.”
• Use breadcrumb navigation to give users a way to keep track of the pages they visit.

Search engine optimization, by Sheila Kloefkorn, president of KEOMarketing.com:

• How do search engines see your site? she asked.
• Keywords are crucial. Instead of simply “gift ideas,” it’s important to “tag” each page – for example, women’s products or men’s products – so that there is unique content on each page. “Use file names to identify the best gift ideas in search,” she said. “Optimize ‘gift ideas’ – for women, for girls, for boys, etc.”
• When constructing the site, be sure to use complete terms for links. For example, for gift ideas, don’t just use a link for “men’s.” “Men’s gift ideas” will allow the page to come up in searches. (Such tag lines are used effectively by Red Envelope, another gift site. Gifts.com pitches its gifts selected by “experts.”)
• Meta descriptions need to be optimized. This involves a 150-word description for the site that includes a call to action.
• Meta descriptions need to be repeated on every page. “70 to 80 percent of your traffic will come in on an inside page, not the home page,” she said.
• Visit Google’s AdWords and use the Keyword tool to determine what words users are using in searches, then incorporate those words on your website. For example, searchers may use “gifts for men” most frequently.
• Your search results will improve if you can increase the number of incoming links to your site. “That’s 70 percent of the battle,” Kloefkorn said.
• Use analytics to determine what people want, based on what they click.
• WordPress sites are a challenge for e-commerce enterprises.
• Consider adding a blog, as that will get Google’s attention.
• Get in the Google Directory.
• Use press releases and announcements to get the site to show up in Google News searches.

Social media links, by Jack Smith, online marketing barista for The Social Latte:

• Identify what social media tools to use to market the business and put the logo links “above the fold” on the front page.
• Consider enhancing the look of the link with a bit of flair – a ribbon around the Facebook “F,” for example – to be unique.
• If you want people to “like” you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter, you need to give them a reason to.
• Create a blog to have conversations with customers.
• What makes you unique? For a gift site, look at ways to help or entertain customers. Offer unique wrapping ideas or creative ways to give gifts. Alert users to gift ideas, for holidays and bizarre events like “Blueberry Month.”
• Get users to share their stories, which will provide additional content to your site.
• Create customized landing pages on Facebook (not just the “wall”) for specific events or times of year.
• Introduce a newsletter.
• Consider including a Twitter feed on the site that follows specific hashtags, like #flowers.
• Can you hold contests, like stories behind gift-giving or video reactions to gifts?
• Have a “listening” strategy; engage people, hear what they are saying in social media about gifts, and what they are looking for.

AZIMA has a new meeting place: the Scottsdale Hilton. The group’s next events will be Aug. 10, Sept. 14 and Oct. 12.

NEXT: The second AZIMA panel assesses the effectiveness of a non-profit site.

Henry Cowling knows how to get a laugh.

The creative director of The Viral Factory led off his talk at the June 17 Social Media Marketing conference in London with this video of an old woman kicking a baby and then some funny photos.

He was demonstrating the first of four principles of creating viral content: Be relevant to your audience.

To this group of social media enthusiasts, the use of the video was appropriate and it demonstrated Cowling’s offbeat approach, his “badge of personality.”

“It’s very tribal,” he said. “You need to speak to a specific group.”

He mentioned that some tech enthusiasts produce and share “unboxing” videos. This one from March on the unboxing of a new iPad has had more than 700,000 viewers on YouTube.

(The Viral Factory had a little fun by producing this video on unboxing a Samsung Omnia phone – marching band included.)

“Going viral” usually begins with bloggers of that tribe and, if memorable, the sharing of it leads to mainstream coverage.

Henry Cowling describes the dos and don’ts of viral marketing at the June 17 London conference.

Cowling’s second principle to the marketers was the reminder that you are working in editorial space, not advertising. This isn’t purchased marketing.

“You need to entertain first,” Cowling said. “Absorb the culture of the audience you’re trying to reach.”

Companies need to act as brands in editorial space, and should invest in better production values.

“Your competition is Lady Gaga and World Cup goals, not competing brands,” he said.

And, like it or not, edgy material gets eyeballs, he said. Diesel, the fashion company, speaks to its particular audience with this potentially offensive – but funny, to some – party video. It has 13 million views.

Third, there is a difference between receivable vs. sendable, Cowling said.

Viral has its own rules and it’s hard to write the funniest content, he said.

“You need to appeal to specific communities,” he said. “It’s getting people to hit ‘send.’”

Would you send this video of Scary Maze reaction? It’s been seen almost 19 million times, so you can assume it’s being passed along.

Or this one about walking on water, or “Liquid Mountaineering“? Five million views.

Last, marketers need to stay “on message,” he said.

Brands can exist and thrive in the social environment.

“People don’t object to advertising,” Cowling said. “Viral is not about ‘unbranded’ content.”

Skype has a video called “Laughing Chain.” It has 6 million views on YouTube. (Check out the “gnaw” guy’s laugh midway through!)

Finally, Cowling said photos and interactive games can go viral but videos are typically best.

“The barrier to entry is low,” he said.

Before you get started marketing your product or service online, it’s crucial to assess what you’re selling and what you want to achieve. Social media is not “one size fits all.”

That was the message of Loic Moisand, CEO of Synthesio, a web marketing and research firm based in Paris.

“You need to know your brand’s social profile to know how to measure the results of your digital strategy,” Moisand told a crowd of 200 at the June 17 Social Media Marketing conference in London.

There are four types of brands and four ways to measure response, he said.

The measurements are:

1. Volume of buying
2. Sentiment (good and bad)
3. Social media presence
4. Number of comments

The first type of brand is the Boring Brand, like toilet paper or insurance.

As Moisand described, such a product may generate average buzz in buying, but have low levels of sentiment, social media and comments.

He recommends an approach that creates fun. This could involve a designing a price-comparison website or introducing a strong character to associate with the product through marketing.

The second type is the Functional Brand, like cell phones or hotel accommodations. Customers expect basic functions and want good customer service, he said.

Against the measurement matrix, such brands’ sales have a high correlation with effectiveness, consumer sentiments (good and bad) have high impact, and a high social media presence is crucial. Customer comments have less impact, as many people won’t share their opinions, he said.

For these firms, Moisand recommends focusing on online customer-service experiences.

“By responding in forums as the name of the company, the company can help customers and decrease the number of questions being asked,” Moisand said.

The third type is the Exciting Brand, the type that appeals to consumers’ desire for association and community. Brands like Apple, Nintendo and Nike come to mind.

The importance of sales volume is high, a social media presence is integral and comments are valuable. The sentiments of customers are of average importance.

These companies’ online challenge? “To nurture the community,” Moisand said.

He cited the efforts of Quick Restaurants, a chain in Belgium and France with knock-offs of McDonalds and Burger King hamburgers.

Look familiar? This is a Giant Max (Big Mac-like) value meal in a Quick restaurant in Belgium.

The company created a Facebook page that invites fans to describe “My Best Quick.”

They can suggest the kinds of products they want, Moisand said. A recent hot topic was home delivery, and the company responded with a pilot project at one restaurant.

“The result was positive connections and lots of joiners,” Moisand said.

The fourth and final type of brand is the Vital Brand. Such a product affects an individual’s primary concerns: health, family, the future.

A mistake could lead to anxieties and doubts.

To the marketer, volume of sales is of great importance, as is the number of comments about the product. A social media presence is of high value. Sentiments are of only average importance.

Moisand recommends discovering insights about the products and reassuring customers.

“One client provides medical services for diabetes,” he said. “They changed their packaging to give more information.”