New Trends in Internet Marketing Shape up the Industry
4/30/2009
By Libby vanBuskirk
Internet marketing has changed drastically in the last few years. Between the growth of search engine optimization and analytics, and the advent of social media sites like Twitter, businesses have been trying to figure out how all these opportunities fit into their marketing strategy. Four Internet marketing experts weigh in on what trends in Internet marketing have piqued their interest.
“Search is still growing,” said Ian Lurie, who writes the blog Conversation Marketing. “Search engine optimization and page search are both still growing, and that’s exciting to me because search engines are such a large part of what happens online.”
Elisabeth Osmeloski, the managing editor of the blog Search Engine Land, has also seen a growth in search. But some of the growth may in fact change the way search marketers do business.
“Personalized search is certainly another trend we've watched develop over recent years, and it may well be great for users, but for SEM professionals, it's a great challenge,” she explained. “But I think moving from a one-to-many marketing model to a near one-on-one experience (or at least the perception of it) presents great opportunities for insights into search behavior.”
Blogger Peter Kim, who writes the blog Being Peter Kim, cites the growth of social media marketing as an exciting trend that can also provide perspective on how customers act and think online.
“I think marketers are going to implement truly conversational campaigns, instead of one-way replicas of typical above-the-line advertising,” explained Kim. “As a result, relationships with customers will fundamentally change, and we'll be more connected than ever.”
Lurie has watched the concept of conversation marketing evolve for many years, from the days when businesses launched their first Web sites and began to track their customers’ behavior online. He still believes in the importance of these aspects of Internet marketing, but also recognizes the possibilities behind using a site like Twitter to engage customers.
“I see Twitter, and resources like that, as a great audience-building venue, a great place to contact a lot of your customers. It’s an amazing way to tell a really great story about your organization,” he said. He also cites the ability for companies to “respond quickly to statements and concerns.”
Susan Payton, who writes the blog The Marketing Eggspert, also sees potential for companies needing to reach their customers.
“Twitter is great for creating conversations around your brand and your industry, as well as introducing new people to your company,” she said. “I tell people it’s not about getting instant sales. Branding your company takes time.”
Of course, Twitter is a tool available to everyone, company and consumers alike. The recent furor over the behavior of Domino’s Pizza employees in a YouTube video, and Domino’s subsequent response online, is evidence that social media can both help and hurt a company.
“When you have tools like Twitter and Facebook out there, the ability of your customers to tell thousands of other people about something you did right or wrong is … multiplied by a factor of ten or twenty or a thousand,” said Lurie. “I think Domino’s did a very good job, once they got into action, of responding to the video.”
Osmeloski also noted that there are two sides to using Twitter and other sites. “Social media is a never-ending conversation,” she said. “You can't control the message, you can only hope to steer it in the right direction. But you must join it, for better or worse.”
However, Twitter is not the only thing that these marketers have on their mind. In fact, each cautions against relying too heavily on one Internet marketing strategy.
“Obviously Twitter is the hottest thing of the moment,” said Osmeloski. “But let's make a distinction for a second here: Twitter is just a social media tool, which needs to [be] part of a complete SEM/SMO (social media optimization) strategy.”
“The best strategy involves multiple tools,” Payton said. “You won’t be successful just writing press releases or just getting on Twitter every day. But by using many strategies that play off of one another, you can have a successful campaign.”
Lurie feels that businesses are finally starting to grasp this idea. “For a long time, business treated design as one thing, Web development as another, analytics as another, and search as another, and the really savvy business people are starting to understand that you can’t really separate them,” he said.
Of course, marketers are also on the lookout for new ways to reach customers, and with growth of Web 2.0, there is always potential for a new tool or technology to take the lead. So what do these marketers expect to come?
“It’s hard to say. Things have changed far more than I could have predicted over even the last year,” Payton said. “But I expect social media platforms to get more precise in their offerings to businesses. More applications will be developed for Twitter, and we’ll see more useful, more affordable methods to market companies.”
Kim thinks social media marketing is “still in the early and experimental phase.” He sees sites like the Skittles homepage, which provides an instant feed of Skittles-related Tweets, YouTube videos and other content from around the Web, as a stepping stone toward the next stage of social media marketing. He also cites Procter & Gamble’s Digital Night, a recent charity event where social media and other Internet executives raised money for charity via t-shirt sales, which they promoted using social media and other digital tools.
For Lurie, he believes that people will find new and better ways to improve their search results.
“I think you’re going to see more and more automation. I think you’re going to see a lot of people working to try to fold analytics – the kind of data you get from your site, the feedback – directly into the way your site behaves.”
He added, “I also think you’re going to see a lot more dispersion. I’ve always said the Web site is just one part of a larger marketing strategy online, but I think you can see a lot more companies putting that into practice. The Web site is still central, but it’s not going to be a huge chunk of how a company markets itself.”
Making the Pitch
All four bloggers urge PR professionals to read their blogs and educate themselves on the audience.
“Read up on the blog's content, follow my Tweets, and then you'll better understand where I'm coming from,” said Kim. “There are plenty of smart PR professionals, and I respect the ones most who I see participating actively in the space.”
Lurie is also on Twitter, and urges PR professionals to take a personal approach to pitching.
“I love to hear about new companies, but don’t just send me a press release, don’t just send me the standard boiler plate; explain to me why my readers would want to hear about this company,” he said. Lurie also believes that PR professionals have far more to offer than just press releases. “Be ready to make a pitch to a reporter in 140 characters or less. That’s a good place to start.”
Osmeloski also urges PR professionals to connect with the editors at Search Engine Land before making a pitch.
“Obviously building a new relationship takes time, but [it’s] well worth it,” she said. The one question she advises PR professionals to keep in mind when pitching the site is the same one the editors do: Is it search related?
“You are more likely to get covered if your pitch has a natural fit in our coverage,” she said.
“The biggest thing is: if you’re sending me a press release, it better be pretty relevant immediately why you’re sending it to me,” said Payton. “And it must have a cover letter. I get cut and pasted releases and I think I’m getting spammed. I’ll write back asking them not to send them to me and then they tell me why they sent it.”
Kim has had the same experience. He explains that he can judge very quickly whether a pitch has any relevance to his work.
“They're as easy to ignore as a 468x60 banner ad,” said Kim. “If we've never met, your first message should probably ask for permission rather than trying to promote something. Otherwise you might as well be telling me that I have a long lost inheritance in Nigeria that you want to help me reclaim.”
Contact Information
Conversation Marketing
www.conversationmarketing.com
Ian Lurie, blogger
ian@portentinteractive.com
http://twitter.com/portentint
Marketing Eggspert
www.sparkplugging.com/marketing
Susan Payton, blogger
susan@eggmarketingpr.com
http://twitter.com/eggmarketing
Search Engine Land
searchengineland.com
Elisabeth Osmeloski, managing editor
elisabeth@searchengineland.com
http://twitter.com/sengineland
Being Peter Kim
www.beingpeterkim.com
Peter Kim
See his Web site for contact information
http://twitter.com/peterkim