Posts tagged as:

content creation

Super Social and Search Tips Before the Big Game (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – February 3, 2012)

by Tim on February 3, 2012

in E-commerce, Social Media, del.icio.us links, social strategy

This weekend marks one of the biggest days of the years for marketers: the annual Ad Bowl among commercials during some kind of football game or something (I kid, I kid… let’s face it: my beloved Giants are going to crush QB-turned-male-model Tom Brady). But, with props to the great Gary Vaynerchuk, here are some tips to help you crush your competition:

ProBlogger looks at a 4 point formula for developing irresistible content.
Cutting right to the chase, Smedio offers an excellent Small Business Social Media Cheat Sheet.
Speaking of big ad budgets, Business Insider reports that CPG powerhouse P&G is going to slash its marketing budget in favor of social and search. Seems that even old dogs are beginning to learn some new tricks, eh?
Mark Suster looks at balancing web and mobile in a post called “Web Second, Mobile First” that’s well worth the read as you plan your mobile strategy.
And, finally, there’s been a lot of news about the importance of social sites for driving traffic and business. First, one study suggests Pinterest drives more traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. But, HubSpot offers data suggesting LinkedIn provides much greater value at driving leads. My take? Follow a “core and explore” methodology, focusing first on core initiatives, then testing new channels to see what works best for your business.

Of course, conducting successful tests requires solid measurement. If you’re not sure how to do that, take a look at our Website Analytics Fundamentals series or drop me a line and I’ll give you a hand.

Have a great weekend, Big Thinkers. Enjoy the game. And, say it with me now… Let’s go G-Men!

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

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Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: Google, google, Google Plus, Google+, Google+ Pages, LinkedIn, social, social commerce, social marketing, social media, social search, social strategy, YouTube

Tagged as: content, content creation, content marketing, google plus, linkedin, links, pinterest, social, social business, social commerce, social e-commerce, social ecommerce, social marketing, social media marketing, social media metrics, social network marketing, social search, social strategy, social web, youtube

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Build a better blog: 7 tips from top marketers (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – January 13, 2012)

by Tim on January 13, 2012

in Blogging, E-commerce, Marketing, Social Media, del.icio.us links

Getting customers to care about your business often depends upon the quality of your content. And I know of few better ways to build a committed community of customers than with a great blog. In fact, my guide on how to build your small business blog remains one of the most popular parts of this site.

But what if you want more? What if you’re ready to move past the basics? Over the coming weeks, I’m going to look at building a better blog in more detail. But to get you started, check out these 7 tips for improving your content—and improving your marketing:

Leading off, HubSpot shows 11 ways to use content to build your authority online.
Writing can be hard. Thankfully, ProBlogger suggests 10 David Ogilvy quotes to inspire your blogging.
OpenForum has a great piece on 5 simple ways to get more traffic to your website. Spoiler alert: great content factors into heavily in the mix.
Mashable offers 5 steps for creating “magnetic” content.
CopyBlogger looks into the 2nd most important element in your writing.
Getting people to read your content is only half the battle. Which is why I love this ProBlogger piece on what motivates readers to share.
And, finally, Social Media Examiner has a terrific video that explains how to use content marketing to increase your sales.

Enjoy the list, Big Thinkers. And look forward to more in the coming days.

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And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: blogging, blogs, content, content marketing, content strategy, integrated marketing, internet marketing, marketing, marketing best practices, online brand building, online marketing

Tagged as: blog, blog writing, bloggers, blogs, content, content creation, content marketing, integrated marketing, interactive marketing, Marketing, marketing 101, online marketing, online sales

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Web marketing is more integrated than you think (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – October 7, 2011)

by Tim on October 7, 2011

in E-commerce, Marketing, SEO, Search, del.icio.us links

Marketing on the Internet seems to get harder all the time, doesn’t it? Content marketing, paid search, natural search/SEO, display advertising, remarketing, and on and on and on. How can anyone expect to keep up?

Well, happily, here’s a secret: They’re all much more related than you might think. You build content to meet your customer’s needs. That’s a landing page. Make sure it’s got some appropriate keywords in it, get some folks to link to it, and you’re doing SEO (admittedly, a simplified version, but it’s better than nothing). The better its relevance, the less you pay for clicks if you point paid search or display ads to it. And so on.

Happily, loads of resources exist to help you tie your activities together. Here are just a handful of excellent posts to help you start:

Google’s Agency Blog has a great look at using Audience insights to improve your ad campaigns. While Google’s presentation focuses on paid search and display media advertising, the tools offered can help you develop better content and understand your customers’ behaviors more readily, too. (I’ve added the full video below if you’ve got the time to watch it.)
Rimm Kaufman Group’s RKGBlog (one of the Thinks 2011 All-Stars), explores paid search conversion by position. Very cool.
What, you don’t do and paid search or display advertising? You might want to consider it. The Certified Knowledge blog shows how to use PPC to test SEO. Sweet. (And sorry about their “enroll” popup when you land there. The content’s still worth reading.)
Social Media Explorer follows up this theme of “content meets search meets SEO” with this post that, well, explores the future of content in SEO. Very much worth the read.
Now, in case you wonder why all of this is a good idea, check out Drew McLellan’s report on mixing media types. It seems customers exposed to the same message in multiple media channels (surprise, surprise) showed better recall than those seeing the message in only one. Offering the same message, in multiple channels, targeted to the right customer, goes a long way to achieving your best results.

Have a great weekend, folks. And remember, we’re here at Thinks every day helping you untangle the Web to improve your marketing and e-commerce activities. Why not subscribe via email and get these updates delivered to you?

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: brand building, branding, content marketing, content strategy, conversion rate optimization, E-commerce, e-commerce, E-commerce strategy, e-marketing, ecommerce, google, google adwords, internet business, internet marketing, landing page design, landing page optimization, marketing, marketing best practices, online brand building, online marketing, ppc, ppc marketing, Rimm-Kaufmann, search, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, sem, seo, strategy, integrated marketing