Last updated 13 days ago
Do you know your Klout score? In case you’re wondering what we’re talking about, Klout purports to measure a user’s influence on social media using analytics of data from Twitter, Facebook and a growing list of other social media sites.
Rating personal or business influence is a good way to identify key connectors and to measure the success of your social media campaigns.
Klout has enjoyed almost cult-like devotion from some circles, people and businesses alike, who seem hooked on ever-increasing Klout scores. Chevy offered some high-scoring Klout members a Chevy Volt for a three day test drive.
Many users take Klout scores beyond their intended role of measuring influence to include reputation.
But this may be Klout’s achilles heel because unfortunately, Klout’s reputation is not spotless and its influence is questioned by many.
A quick Google search for “klout” quickly reveals the backlash from numerous reputable social media analysts against Klout. Indeed, the first paragraph of the entry for Klout in Wikipedia states: “The company has been subject to substantial criticism, both for its business model and its operating principle.”
There’s even a number of Klout spoof sites, including Klouchebag.
What does this mean for your business? While it seems that many people use Klout to pass judgment on personal or business influence and reputation, there appears to be an almost equal number who look on the pursuit of a higher Klout score as a poor goal for digital marketing and potentially a negative indicator.
While there doesn’t appear to be any real downside to a social media campaign, the same can’t be said for open and enthusiastic pursuit of a higher Klout score.
Last updated 26 days ago
Consider the press release. Once the domain of a rarefied few public relations artisans possessing the enviable combination of agency and/or reputation, media connections and a knack for divining a hook where others found none.
Now, it seems like any 5 year old with an iPhone can work a press release.
But press releases deserve more of the respect they enjoyed in pre-digital days and less of the misuse they endure today.
Want to get on the first page of Google immediately? Legally? All while you:
- Add to your Content Marketing
- Improve your Online Reputation
- Boost your Keyword Marketing
- Create more Backlinks
- Provide fodder for your social media marketing
- … achieve so many more digital marketing goals??
Write a good press release.
It’s important to note that “Generate Media Exposure”, traditionally the main function of a press release, is not mentioned in the list above, though it could be.
The role of the press release has changed and that’s the reason it deserves more respect, and the reason it’s abused.
The press release has emerged as a very powerful
digital marketing device that’s like an energy drink for your campaign, garnering an instant Google Page One appearance in “News” results. Unlike an energy drink, press releases have the pleasant side effect of lasting
search engine optimization led by content that rolls across the internet to sites you’ve never known.
Unfortunately, the ease of doing this has led to a fungal growth of junk releases with content not worth the paper they would have been printed on if released 15 years ago.
What’s missing in the new species of press release? The hook; the angle; the spin; a compelling slant that all but forces media outlets to put the content into their feed. most followers of internet “wire” feeds will lament the numbers of releases with tenuous, hyper-specific hooks only the writer’s Mother could find remarkable.
The silver lining is that poor press releases
give writers of good press releases an opportunity. The old days of the press release have returned online with the emergence of digital media outlets like like
Mashable,
TechCrunch and
Alltop. A mention in one of these link-juice-rich sites and your press release will do the work of tens or hundreds of ordinary content pages.
How do you get there?
Write a good press release.
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Last updated 1 month ago
29/03/12 on Twitter
Well done post by @StephenDaCambra on Adopting & adapting print publishing tools for digital http://t.co/G1ppV1hq via @WSI_Comandix
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Last updated 1 month ago
You can count on three things happening when a new communications medium comes along:
1. Mystique Building around the new medium creates interest beyond what the new medium is due, causing businesses to spend copiously and aimlessly.
2. A Death Knell is sounded for all "old" media - like warnings that the arrival of radio will be the end of newspapers.
3. Adoption of the tools and techniques developed for the "old" media.
Point 3 is how the Editorial Calendar has made it from newspapers and magazines, through radio, television and is now touted as an integral part of a digital marketing strategy.
As the initial wave of interest in social media recedes and we realize that those who hailed content as king were correct all along, a large part of digital marketing becomes publishing that content.
Print and web publishing are similar in many ways and the editorial calendars used for print can be very helpful for digital publishing too.
But there's actually a fourth thing we can count on when a new medium comes along:
4. Imitation of the previous media.
Inaugural radio stations broadcast newspaper stories. Many of the first television shows were adapted radio programmes. But as each medium matured into a distinct role, that original content became obsolete.
In using an editorial calendar for your digital publishing, the implication of point 4 is, if you use your digital editorial calendar like a print editorial calendar, it won't work very well. Digital content can't be dictated six months, one month, a week - a day? - ahead of time.
Your digital editorial calendar is a guide, not a plan. It will help you keep your publishing well-paced, keep track of what you've published, where, and suggest ideas for spins on what will be published, and where. But no way will it ever be able to tell you with any surety what you'll be posting to Facebook or Twitter.
Click on the following link to the WSI Digital Marketing Blog for more on setting up your digital publishing editorial calendar - http://ow.ly/9VNTw
Last updated 2 months ago
The buzz around mobile marketing and location marketing is nearly deafening. But, with the proliferation of mobile devices, and increases in the time we all spend on those devices, the volume is understandable and is a clear indication of the perceived potential for the new channels.
So what happens if you add an older, proven channel, like event marketing, to the mix?
Forecast is a newer location-based app that let's you tell the world not where you are, but where you will be. The immediate advantage for users of location-based apps like Foursquare is, instead of finding out that all your friends/colleagues are enjoying the hottest party, night spot or industry gathering right now, Forecast tells you beforehand where you connections will be - up to two weeks in advance.
It doesn't take long to see the advantages of Forecast for business event marketing that aren't possible with most other location-based apps. For example, if you have a customer-focused event, like a seminar or workshop, it can't be promoted on Foursquare until the moment attendees start arriving. With Forecast, you can start enjoying that Foursquare-like promotion two weeks ahead of time.
As with most mobile and location-based apps, your content on Forecast can be shared on social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
This is a more important feature for Forecast than for more-established apps. With less than a year under its belt and still being in Beta, the Forecast user base is miniscule compared to Foursquare and the social media big boys, but that makes it a great opportunity for businesses to get on board before their competition.
For more on Forecast, check out this post on the WSI Digital Marketing Blog.
