Hate to break it to you people, but “next year” is about to show up on your doorstep. All those goals that you have on hold, well guess what, your freezer just went on defrost. So between now and that ugly Monday that shows up after New Year’s reveling, I’m going to help you—and me—get into fighting shape for the year ahead.
If you want to rise above the noise, it’s time to up your Digital Marketing/SEO game. This includes better storytelling and a revised roadmap to get that content seen. Hunkering down with a copy of SEO for Dummies isn’t such a bad idea; there’s a lot of information out there, and if you’re like me, writing for your, or your client’s, business is hard enough without agonizing over keywords, meta tags and the like.
However, 2014 is putting SEO and Content Marketing on an even higher pedestal than ever, requiring us right-brained communicators to make fast friends with big data. The good news is that the numbers have the power to improve overall efficiency and streamline marketing efforts. If you feel like you/your company has been putting a lot of information out there, but hasn’t gotten past a one-way conversation, it’s time to crunch the numbers.
Obviously, we all have our skill sets; you may be a fantastic writer or project manager, but not be the best person to tackle an SEO overhaul. There are plenty of smart companies out there who want your business, but I advise wrapping your head around the lingo once and for all and taking an active role in the conversation. Even if you have a co-worker or employee who is responsible for your digital marketing (SEO falls under this), you will be more credible if you can speak the same language as those helping to take your company to the next level.
You probably have some familiarity with online advertising terminology, such as impressions, page views and click-throughs (if not, resources such as this will prove helpful) but maybe not so much with terms and phrases related to search engine optimization such as link building, long-tail keywords, etc. I’ve only recently begun expanding my knowledge on this as well, so don’t feel bad. You don’t HAVE to know everything.
What I’m hoping to do through this blog series, is whittle things down to the essentials to help you engage with your in- or out-of-house digital marketing team on a more meaningful level. The more you understand about the process, the more effective you can be in the planning or execution of eNewsletters, guest blogging opportunities, social media contests, white papers, infographs, social media engagement, mobile marketing and other must-do tactics for reaching your audience and/or growing your brand.
Here’s what’s going to be “in” on the social media-SEO-engagement front:
- Content Marketing: quality over quantity; better storytelling
- Big Data
- Images and Graphics
- Social Enterprise
- Crowdsourcing
- Real-time Engagement
- Mobile Marketing In; Traditional Advertising out.
- Hashtags rule
- Social Media is King
- Two-way Marketing gets the job done
- Traditional media budgets get reallocated to digital
- SEO is the next Big Brother (eye is on consumer); impressions are not so impressive
- Rubber meets the road (the numbers will guide you)
- Inbound Marketing stays alive
Right now I am doling this information out in soundbites, but moving into the next blog post, we’ll take a deeper look at what these tactics mean, and how they can help you meet your business objectives. What I am excited about the most, by this process, is that WE can demystify all of these bullet points (and some of that Rubik’s Cube-stumping SEO phraseology) together. After all, blogging isn’t meant to be a monologue; it’s an invitation to share information and experiences that can benefit us all in business and in personal dealings. I want to be the best I can be in 2014, and I know that you do too. Let’s step into the New Year together—and smarter. And don’t worry, we’ll get some public/media relations pointers and storytelling tips in as well—press releases play a critical role in online visibility, as do stories that spotlight your brand in a compelling way. Brand journalism boosted by earned editorial in quality, relevant publications make great partners.
It’s an integrated world out there, and we will (try to) conquer it together.
Dawn Elyse Warden-Reeder
A former lifestyles magazine editor and reporter covering an array of topics including philanthropy and business, health and well-being, sustainability, fashion, music and food, Dawn entered the public relations and social media field in 2010 as Executive Partner of The Whole Enchilada PR, now the culinary division of The Warden Ettinger Group. You can find Dawn on LinkedIn and Twitter (@eatDEWwrite).
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