OrangeSoda Internet Marketing Blog

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You’ll need to watch this video first!

Facebook started out as a place for college students to connect with their classmates. Now it’s open to everyone. It’s become not only a social network, but an Internet marketing strategy. It’s easy to see how a person or small business can use Facebook but I’m interested in how a larger organization can participate.

Today I found the Mayo Clinic’s Facebook page (and an article on their online marketing strategy at 1to1 Media). And talk about a cool title - they have a “manager for syndications and social media.” Maybe I could trade in my “seo evangelist” title for something more like “social media marketing manager” here at OrangeSoda.

Here’s a quote from the 1to1 article on why the Mayo Clinic has a Facebook page: “Consumer self-expression brings authenticity and impact…If consumers are happy with their experience with the Mayo Clinic, and they tell others, it will undoubtedly help Mayo to grow its reputation and market presence.”

Notice how they used their name in the URL. Then they post stories from blogs (put a Google alert on your name and track your company or organization online). They also inserted RSS feeds to news and health information.

This is obviously for branding and for relationship-building.
Besides their reasons for building a Facebook Page, the Mayo Clinic is proactively building a strong reputation online.

When people search for them in search engines the results are full of quality information and web sites that reflect well on the company. That’s something every company should aspire to build.

“That is why search is powerful. You do not hunt for your customers, they hunt for you. You pick the keywords and the customer picks you. You not only “sell what your customers want,” but you also sell it “while they are actively looking for it.”
- Aaron Wall, SEOBook.com

I’m reading the Aaron Wall’s SEOBook and he’s talking about a marketer who is selling baseball cards the old-fashioned way. The guy spammed people. He interrupted them and tried to get them to buy from him.

Rather than annoy or talk people into buying from you, how about you just find out what your customers are looking for and position yourself so they’ll find you? Using a combination of paid search (advertising) and SEO (building trust in search engine so your web site can be found by potential customers) your business can grow. No matter what size it is.

Why do so many businesses think they cannot afford internet marketing services? Businesses of all sizes and with small or large budgets can benefit. After all, what’s a fair price for unlimited distribution?

I saw this story today about how one YouTube video flooded a small business with thousands of orders for a DVD. It illustrates perfectly how internet marketing can impact a business. The web site www.a-cappella.com, a business with just two full-time employees sold 5,300 copies of this DVD. In the past their record sales were selling 100 of one DVD in a year. That’s what I call great ROI.

I can see that they could do better with their SEO and web site marketing (I’d post that video and highlight the group on the front page of their Christmas section for starters). Also, I’d start a blog and highlight the other YouTube videos of groups they carry.

Here’s the video:

Here are some web site marketing strategies from Search Engine Watch. Lots of clients want to be on the first page of search results for the key terms relating to their business. They want it fast. This article talks about things to consider.

First the honesty. We can’t read the algorithm’s mind. No matter how good you are there is a lot of unknown or things beyond your control. The good news is the payoff is big and if you implement sound search engine optimization, you’ll see an impact over time. Normally over several months, depending on the competition.

Clients and readers often ask why a site that’s younger, smaller, or just plain “uglier” outranks them. There really isn’t a simple answer. More than a few times I’ve had to say, “I don’t know.”

What Matters for Web Site Marketing:

1. Publish quality, original information on your site that establishes you as an expert in your industry. Blogs are a great way to do this. Each blog entry is like adding another web page of information to your site.
2. A larger more established web site will generally rank higher than smaller separate sites. It pulls more weight.
3. Get quality, relevant links from a variety of sources.
4. Set realistic expectations - if you want to rank for the words “internet marketing” it’s going to take a while. Or, you may not have much of a chance. It’s a general term and a lot of other web sites want to rank high for it. Also, your competition may have been around much longer with many links, great content, and trust built in search engines.

I like to think of web site marketing as a relationship - it’s something you build over time. Since many clients like to see results faster, paid advertising in search engines can fill in the gap. Notice the difference - one is running an ad, the other is building a relationship. Sure you pay for every link, but it’s quick. That’s why doing both is key.