Digital Truth

Is Your Online Marketing Believable? The Online Trust Ladder

2010-02-19T05:00:00.011-05:00

Have you ever wondered why you’re not getting as much traction as you’d hoped with your online marketing? With the explosion of digital media, social networking and other online resources you want your voice to be heard, and to be trusted by your readers.

If you think you can achieve it by simply setting up a great website, corporate blog, Facebook profile page or a company Twitter feed, think again! You must also build a critical mass of followers who believe in you, and who trust you.

Would you believe me if I told you Al Dente Marketing is on the cutting edge of the digital marketing revolution, delivers all projects on time, and has an endless stream of satisfied customers? Most likely not, and here’s why…

“Corporate blogs rank at the bottom of the trust scale with only 16% of online consumers who read them saying that they trust them” Source: Forrester Research

(We find the above quote as ironic as you do, given that you’re reading our blog to learn how to build trust.)

By simply putting yourself out there and trying to leverage the increasing number of people online, there is no guarantee of success. So what works?

Our Secret: The “Online Trust Ladder” (OTL)

The OTL is the invisible ranking that people give to what they read, and who has written it online. At the core, OTL comes down to how much the reader feels they can trust the source of the information they are reading. They develop their trust level in a staged process we call the Online Trust Ladder.

So it turns out it’s not just what you say that makes a difference, or even where you say it. What matters most is who talks about you and who actually listens to them!

People buy more intelligently than ever before. According to a Business Week article “Amazon: Turning customer opinions into gold”, 70% of Americans say they consult product reviews or consumer ratings before making a purchase. Wow! That’s a lot of research going on!

If you’re paying close attention, you’ve also noticed that Google recently beta-launched “Social Search” to help consumers do online product research. They even promoted the site in a CNN.com article. Google “gets it”. They understand that people now regularly look for consultant, user and peer reviews before they make a purchasing decision. So, it’s becoming pretty obvious that if you want traction through digital marketing, you need to embrace the OTL and tap into this opinion stream.

To do that, just “being online” isn’t enough. Instead, you have to build relationships with independent resources that can review, comment and provide feedback on your products and services via channels that are separate and distinct from your website or corporate blog. As Ford’s CMO James Farley put it "You can't just say it. You have to get the people to say it to each other." So how do you get started? Below are 5 top tips for building trust online:

EDUCATE INDEPENDENT ANALYSTS. Set up meetings with independent analysts who are paid to focus on your industry, so they can review your business, services or products. Learn what they think is important and why, and make sure they understand the benefits you offer.

TEASE CRITICS AND THOUGHT LEADERS. Develop relationships with independent online resources who can spread the word for you. These relationships should include key critics or thought leaders in your industry. A great way to get their attention is to through online press releases. Write a good one containing the right messaging, and you might be surprised who calls Monday morning wanting to set-up a meeting or request a product demo. Cha-Ching!

MAKE BLOGGER MAVENS MORE BRILLIANT. Identify key bloggers considered to be informal experts in your field and reach out to them. These folks love to know more than anyone else. Make ‘em even smarter. Offer them a preview of an upcoming product or new service before it’s available to the general public - they are sure to want the ‘scoop’ before anyone else.

PUBLISH CLIENT FEEDBACK. Encourage open client feedback by making sure you give them plenty of opportunities to have their voices heard online. This might be through testimonials, product recommendations or interactions they have with others online through social networking pages.

“GIVE TO GET”. Don’t forget…. ‘give to get’! By giving something for free you are encouraging a “no pressure” opportunity for a potential new client to evaluate your business. In addition, they are likely to tell their friends or colleagues about it if they like it!

EMBRACE THE NAYSAYERS. Don’t be afraid of negative feedback. Often times embracing negative feedback can lead to a big win (such as “Dominos pizza user group TV ads”), and let’s people know you are trying to constantly improve, no matter how good you are.

Yes, we realize that there are 6 tips above instead of 5. At Al Dente we like to give just that little bit extra. In the spirit of this blog, tell your friends and comment below!

CPG Marketers Need To Spend Less Time Approving Label Artwork :)

2010-01-04T17:53:00.007-05:00

At the tail end of 2009, Carl Johnson & Henry Rak (ex-Kraft Foods alums and all-around very bright folks ... yes, I admittedly am biased) took a look at what ails the consumer packaged goods industry (CPG) today. Their write up speaks for itself and a good read for all marketers, but what caught my eye was a metric created by Booz Allen Hamilton a few years ago - "unhealthy marketing" and a breakout of several industries.

Anyway, seems CPG marketers need to devote more time towards positioning and spend less time approving label artwork.

Here is a link for the entire article http://bit.ly/6VuQXl

Enjoy!

Neat email I received to solicit my testimonial. Simple, effective & reminds me this is not rocket science :)

2009-12-30T18:11:00.001-05:00

Posted via email from aldentewrites's posterous

Been asked several times this week for the research, so here it is "Marketing in a Recession"

2009-12-17T11:36:00.002-05:00

Download now or preview on posterous

Marketing In A Recession Research Results.pdf (552 KB)

Posted via email from aldentewrites's posterous

Fast and Simple Tweeting Tip

2009-12-04T12:11:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share a neat tool you might find useful in helping organize your tweets. The tool is called TweetDeck.

It’s a power app allowing users to maximize the Twitter platform. The way it works is really simple. TweetDeck enhances the Twitter interface becoming something far more robust. You can search, spell check (yes, for me that is important), track specific folks and learn who mentions you or your firm. It even interacts with your company Facebook and LinkedIn accounts by displaying the news feed and allowing simultaneously posting.

So what’s the catch? None. The tool is free and takes 30 seconds to download. Why I am I sharing this? Because as a digital marketer I run into new things each day. A lot is garbage, but some turns out to be pretty useful. Anyway, while social media is just part of the marketing puzzle, it's grown to the point that leaders can’t claim “that stuff is not for my business.” If you have questions, feel free to reach out.

Lastly, on the “shameless” promoting side … am excited to announce that Al Dente just launched a new Digital Marketing workshop. Please CLICK HERE to download the eFlyer for more information.

Anyone else hungry? Great food marketing pic in Godiva email blast. Nicely done!

2009-11-13T13:12:00.001-05:00

Posted via email from aldentewrites's posterous

The "typical" Digital Marketing expert?

2009-10-30T14:42:00.005-04:00

Is your business so simple that a "one size fits all" solution by people selling template websites can handle? If so, count yourself lucky. Most folks have real needs that require real digital marketing expertise not availble from the "IT guy" selling out of his car. Caveat emptor.

Paid vs Free Content: No debate in my mind

2009-10-22T10:12:00.006-04:00

The following link from McKinsey summarizes the opposing views neatly. It's worth reading.

http://bit.ly/5iEH6

I think the “train has left the station” on this one. The final chapter on “paid vs free” has been written, and paid loses when it comes to content appealing to large segments. I can’t think of the last time I failed to discover a key factoid within a few search queries on Google or Twitter. Incremental cost = $0.

In an strange way this reminds me a bit of running a consumer packaged goods business. Sometimes you know your offer is in a state of decline due to changing fundamentals - Kodak and film - but yet you resist overhauling and self-cannibalization with a better offer such as digital. Reason: you have an asset base that is not easy to transform overnight and can still be "squeezed" until the inevitable happens.

Many years ago I sat in the buying office of Winn Dixie – a top 5 supermarket retailer with 1000+ stores. The film and camera buyer was fuming because in his words “Andy, consumers these days just don’t get it. Winn Dixie does offer digital cameras, but they just don't see it. I have these great disposable cameras that can provide a digital picture. The process is simple: take photos, develop the film and scan the pictures to create files.” Last time I checked these were gone from shelves (and that particular buyer is enjoying his retirement).

What happens when you take Diwali + Florida?

2009-10-16T14:37:00.008-04:00

What happens when you take Diwali + Florida? Well, you get something kind of different! (excuse my amateurish Photoshop skills)

For those of you not familiar with Diwali, click here to check out the wiki. It’s a big deal across Asia and worth knowing about!

Happy Diwali wishes from Florida :)

Is Digital Marketing the “CD” of the 21st Century?

2009-10-12T16:03:00.012-04:00

How many of you are still playing your 33’s or 45’s? Not many I expect! While the appeal of the old has some nostalgic charm, embracing newer more effective technologies is a trend for most people, and with good reason.

The same applies to marketing and advertising, which is seeing an increased shift toward digital as a cost effective preference for many businesses, replacing budgets assigned to TV, radio and print.

PricewaterhouseCoopers & IAB just released their internet ad spending update. While results showed ad revenue down -5.3% in first half of 2009, Internet advertising revenue in the U.S. was still a robust $5.4 billion.

What does this mean to me? The recession exacerbates a shift that was naturally occurring from traditional to digital. David Silverman, partner at PWC, sums it up nicely. "While the overall advertising market has continued to be impacted by current economic conditions, marketers are allocating more of their dollars to digital media for its accountability and because consumers are spending more of their leisure time online."

Just as the music industry's shift from records to CD’s occurred due to tangible benefits of the new technology, the same applies to the patterns now being seen in marketing spend changes.

Digital marketing approaches are proving themselves “winners", as they provide measurable ROI, have a vast and continually growing audience and can more readily be ‘tracked’ from inception to success (or failure!). Not enough reasons to leap into digital marketing? Then consider this… why does digital marketing work well?

The consumer has been trained to consume online media because online is where they spend their time working and playing. CLICK HERE to download the complete report. It’s loaded with great charts and figures.

One word (okay, maybe a few) of warning! Don’t think that you can just leap into digital marketing and guarantee sales successful. Digital does not equal a winning lottery ticket!! The ever growing levels of competition mean it’s more important than ever to "get it right".

Below are 5 quick tips to help ensure your business doesn't go the way of the 8-track, or worse, the gramophone!

1) Identify and allocate your digital marketing budget. Review how much money you can afford to allocate and where you plan to apply it (options include: SEO activities, social media marketing and PPC campaigns, to name a few!)

2) Plan your digital marketing dashboard. Outline digital marketing activities your business will consistently carry out to improve your online presence over time. Be sure to update your dashboard monthly to reflect the changed metrics you are tracking, and the traction obtained (this might include items like # of inbound site links, google page rank, # of indexed pages with google, # of delicious bookmarks etc)

3) Clarify team responsibilities and frequency of activities. Include "preparatory" work such as article writing, newsletter development or blog planning, as well as other activities including regular online postings to sites such as twitter, delicious and facebook.

4) Make it fun. Mastering digital and internet marketing is all about relationship building to create dedicated "fans". To do this, make sure your online presence is both engaging and stimulating. Humor is often injected into online postings and articles to emotionally involve your audience.

5) One Step At A Time. Do not expect instant results. Careful planning and consistent application of digital and internet media marketing can and should yield good results for your business. If you are looking for more instant results, then focus initially on onsite SEO followed by PPC campaigns - but beware - a good PPC campaign typically costs more per lead than social media and offsite SEO activities, so make sure you consider this when budgeting for your online marketing efforts.

To your digital success!!

How far can YOU ride by pedaling a bike without tires?

2009-10-07T13:31:00.005-04:00

It’s all about traction, with no traction between your bike and the path at your feet, you end up going nowhere, no matter how fast you are pedaling. Similarly, to carry out effective marketing activities, you have to tangibly measure your marketing campaign metrics and understand the traction of your activities as they relate to sales results.

Metrics? Yuk, boring stuff you may think … or maybe the answer is not that it’s boring, but that it’s hard to do? Have you heard the old adage “no pain no gain”? It applies as well to marketing efforts as to any other activity you wish to engage in. The truth is if we could measure and link our efforts to financial objectives we would. Period. It may not be pleasant or fun, but without having clearly stated objectives, measurable (and financially quantifiable) activities and a method to pull together all the information to truly understand the effectiveness of your efforts, likely you will be wasting your time and money.

So here is my advice: Don't start another project involving Social Media (or any other form of marketing investment) without asking yourself these simple questions.

1) What is the goal? If the goal does not involve selling more tomorrow (or in the near future), then please stop. Don't spend the money. Save it. Even in this lousy economy, banks still pay folks some minuscule return. Only when you are committed to generating more revenue - and willing to take the heat when you don't - should you move to number 2.

2) What keeps you from hitting the goal doing what you do today? In other words, if what you are doing is soooooo smart and everyone wants to buy it, then why change? What this means is take a serious look at your offer. The more "me too", the louder you will have to "shout" your message. Social Media will not save you from yourself. If you have a bad value proposition, you have a bad business.

3) Does my strategy for addressing #2 include things such as "thought leadership", "generating awareness", "efficient promotion dissemination", "efficient customer issue resolution", "lead generation"? If so, perhaps Social Media can help. But I must warn you. Alone it is not the holy grail.

4) How much is my business willing to spend for a lead? How many leads become revenue? How much revenue? Figure these out and you can begin to figure out what you can afford to spend. EVERY business has to make more money than it spends.

Remember - effective marketing is not a measure of how many different activities your marketing team carries out, or how pretty your spreadsheets and presentations are, but is measured by the minimum number of repeatable steps required, at the lowest cost possible, to bring qualified leads to your sales team…. Metrics Metrics Metrics!

One final comment. Don’t ever mistake an individual’s name and phone number as a qualified lead. Unless you know they are the decision maker, have an approved budget, recognize they need your product or service, and are willing to buy TODAY, then they are just a name and number….and you might as well get back on your bike (don’t forget to buy a set of tires this time)!

Are Print Ads & Buggy Whips Things Of The Past?

2009-09-25T09:11:00.009-04:00

This summary from eMarketer is very consistent with our research over the summer. The simple fact is digital marketing is BETTER, FASTER, CHEAPER. Also, folks are learning that a migration toward activities that yield a measurable ROI (such as a promotion) makes the head boss happy!

I attended an AMA luncheon last week and felt bad for the printers in the audience. A few actually asked the panelists - made up of pretty good group of CMOs - if they thought print would see a resurgence. Polite answers followed. Short and sweet truth: Not in our lifetime. Buggy whips are a thing of history too.

Key here is to innovate and not except the norm. Printers still have a lot of value to offer, but when they allow themselves to be "order takers" they are DOA.

Experience Is The Best Teacher

2009-08-15T16:33:00.007-04:00

I read today that 54% of the Fortune 100 have Twitter accounts and marketers prefer it almost 2 to 1 vs Facebook. I scratch my head and wonder what the other 46% are waiting for??

Are you on top of your social media name?

2009-08-15T16:29:00.005-04:00

Ever try to secure a name (brand, user, vanity) on a social media website only to find out the one you want is taken?

There is a website called KnowEm that allows you to plug in a name and learn if it's taken. It's a great tool, fast and free http://www.knowem.com/

BTW, am sharing this as I don't want what happened to me to happen to you. I waited too long and now struggle to find AndyMartin available on the more popular sites. Fortunately my business name is quirky enough and I can still list Al Dente on most sites.

Why Great Marketers Should "Eat the Stunned"

2009-07-13T15:41:00.002-04:00

Thanks to all that attended our Eat the Stunned presentation at the Business Marketing Association's annual conference in June!

Call me biased, but my partner Ian Heller of Real Results Marketing sums it up best in this clip :)

Enjoy!

What Do They Have In Common?

2009-05-09T16:01:00.009-04:00

None of them will ever make any money !! Their business model is intellectually bankrupt. That means "as is" they will fail financially.

Drink the social networking Kool-Aid as a consumer. Why not? It's fun. As a professional marketer remember that any path that seems too good to be true, is too good to be true.

Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce

2009-04-04T17:37:00.001-04:00

Easy to understand and loaded with insight.

Rookie Sales Mistake

2009-01-29T22:18:00.002-05:00

Marketing Insights & Perspective

2008-11-17T18:08:00.003-05:00

Presented at Invention to Venture workshop at UCF on Nov 14, 2008

Google TV Ads

2008-10-28T09:34:00.001-04:00

Every day we get closer and closer to controlling our own destiny!

Stretch Goals

2008-09-12T08:31:00.003-04:00

Has this ever happened to you?

19.5

2008-08-17T11:44:00.005-04:00

This is total trivia and has nothing to do with marketing topics.....

Do you know how many gallons of gasoline are typically produced from a barrel of crude oil?

Now you do. It is 19.5 gallons according to various sources.

Web 2.0 ... Is It In You?

2008-06-15T10:07:00.001-04:00

A week never goes by without someone asking me about Web 2.0, what is it and how they should it use for their company. This video, originally posted on YouTube, provides a nice foundational explanation. Web 2.0 is to be experienced, not merely explained. Enjoy!

What Keeps Entrepreneurs Up At Night?

2008-05-26T10:39:00.011-04:00

While never touted as an easy path to success, over the years I've observed a few drivers of entrepreneurial insomnia. In fact for many the challenges far outstrip their personal drive and tolerance for risk.

Six Common Entrepreneurial Fears:
1) Selling and rejection
2) They said “yes” – now what do I do?
3) Inability to cover living expenses (or make payroll)
4) Not building “career” for future employment
5) Figuring out what to do when your first attempt fails
6) Losing your family

Net, most folks have “day jobs”, “work for the man” and “sleep at night” :)

Brand Well or Die!

2008-05-17T10:49:00.000-04:00

Ok, so maybe you won't die, but you will make less money.

Proven fact: "world-class" companies take branding seriously, while "also ran" organizations think their brands are logos.

Which one do you aspire to be? Who does your branding? Remember, your customers can spot "amateur hour" a mile away.

Google AdWords or Starbucks Latte?

2008-05-11T20:41:00.000-04:00

Does this guy look familiar? How are you ever going to successfully cold call him?

Let me share a secret - YOU CAN'T ! In the B2B game no one ever buys this way. Smart decision makers seek solutions every day; however, THEY decide when and who they want to hear from.

Next time you are tempted to generate a hot lead by buying someone coffee and hoping they introduce you to their rolodex, don’t. Instead focus your energy and dollars in a solid Google AdWord campaign. It's not as tough as you may think and it's a lot easier to "sell" when someone has called and asked you for information.

Why Innovation Fails

2007-10-27T15:20:00.000-04:00

.... timing is everything.

It's the Strategy, Stupid

2007-10-27T15:17:00.000-04:00

.... and yet they wonder why.