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Posted on January 8, 2010

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Learning How To Blog: A Short Exploration of Corporate Blogging


BY LAUREN MAYNARD

Why Hello There

Hi, I'm Lauren, the newest addition to the Room 214 team. As the company's new research maven, I'll frequently share my thoughts about all things social media and WOM. I'm looking forward to opening up some conversations with our readers about the way that you and I view and understand the ever-changing online world. 

As this is my first proper post for Room 214, I've done a lot of thinking about the concept of voice in a company blog. I've spent the whole week obsessing over this post. What should I say? What do you, the reader, feel like reading? Will you connect with me? Will you comment? How does one begin the practice of being a consistent, passionate blogger for her company? I began to search around.

Forming a Relationship

Spend some time Googling best practices for corporate blogs and you'll find an overwhelming amount of information. You'll also find this depressing study from Forrester, which says that in 2008 only 16% of those who read corporate blogs trusted them. Yikes. People think corporate blogs lack honesty.

Knowing that stumbling block, it's important to consider why successful corporate blogs create a sense of trust with their readers. Jason Keath compiled a list of great examples of corporate blogs that I spent some time looking through. The radically different styles of each of those blogs reminds me of the importance of knowing your audience as a basis for forming trust. So do you know your audience? How is it that you come to understand your audience?

JeremiahOwyang BlogJeremiah Owyang took the time to poll his blog readers and was kind enough to share the results here, which gave not only him but also his readers a chance to understand why people chose to connect with his website. Here at Room 214, we do this on a much larger scale, asking who, what, where, when, why and how as a basis for shaping communication with our clients' consumers. 

Creating Space for Dialogue

But it's not just about knowing your audience. It's about having a conversation with them, a notion that Jason Cormier explained as the top of the Conversation Maturity Model. Marriott shared a lovely, simple detail on hosting Cleveland's 18th annual Polka Festival, letting me know about their engagement in the local community. Zappos taught me the best way to wrap a package for return, which is helpful to both me and them. All the blogs on this top ten list, because they are blogs, are clearly sharing with me. But, as explicitly clear with the Zappos example, they let me know that they are listening to me or, rather, the collective "me" that makes up their blog consumer. I enjoy this. I feel empowered to let them know what is on my mind.

Marriott Corporate Blog

 

Zappos Corporate Blog

Where Do We Go From Here?

It's funny to me that, on a high level, the basic tenets of a good corporate blog sound like the same basic tenets of a healthy romantic relationship: establish trust, listen, create a forum for open dialogue. Interesting. So here I am, pondering what to do with all this and hoping that I can begin a conversation. In the coming weeks I'll spend some time highlighting interesting conversations I find online. To kick it off, I'd love to hear of the ones you think are most interesting, whether that means successful, bizarre, failed, or other. 

TAGS: ROOM 214BLOGGINGSTARTING CONVERSATIONSLISTENINGMARRIOTTZAPPOSJASON KEATHJEREMIAH OWYANG

Posted at 6:54 pm | 3 Comments | Share this blog post

Posted on October 15, 2009

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The Progression From Search to Social Media Marketing


BY PETE HALL

search evolution

**This article outlines a personal experience with a client, leading them from search marketing success into social media and word of mouth marketing. To respect their privacy, I will only refer to them as 'The Client'.**

Five years ago, search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising were only beginning to take shape as legitimate lead generation and marketing strategies. At the time, SEO and PPC were cutting edge marketing strategies - many brands and companies had heard the buzz surrounding SEO and PPC, but were unable to pinpoint strategy or purpose behind it.

Today, SEO and PPC have evolved into common marketing strategies for brands to place their marketing budget. Companies understand the huge opportunities that exist within search marketing for return on investment. Social media, conversely, exists much like SEO and PPC did five years ago. Companies and brands are keen to explore the social media space, but are often unable to define social media marketing success or execute a defined strategy.

Within our niche in the industry, we execute both search marketing and social media marketing for clients. As such, there exists a unique opportunity to take learnings and success from search marketing efforts and transition into the social media space. This is what happened with an opportunistic client of ours.

We were initially hired to restructure The Client's AdWords account and increase conversion volume. They had managed their PPC efforts internally, and reached out to us to take their account to the next level. After much research and testing, we were able to determine what converted within their account - what calls to action best resonated with users, what keywords and themes were most effective, and what landing page variations were most conducive to converting. We branched out their PPC efforts into Yahoo! and Bing with continued success. Eventually, The Client began asking, "what next?" - their PPC accounts were converting in record numbers at the lowest cost per conversion yet.

Moving forward, we thoroughly researched The Client and their presence online and saw a huge opportunity for them to improve their organic search rankings. Therefore, our next step in their overall strategy was an SEO overhaul. We were able to construct an SEO blueprint based upon their PCC successes and laid out a clear strategy with actionable goals. This SEO strategy is still being executed, but we have already seen important gains in organic search results for several search terms. Recently, The Client again asked "what next?" with their sights set on entering into the space of social media.

The next phase in the overall strategy for The Client was taking the business intelligence learned from successful PPC and SEO implementation and applying it into the space of social media. Sometimes, depending on what industry you are looking to engage with, simply setting up a Facebook page or a Twitter handle is not a priority for a client. After all, you cannot fit a square peg into a round hole. With The Client being in a niche industry, there simply was not enough chatter or interest on Facebook or Twitter to warrant developing a strategy. Therefore, we researched alternative, more relevant opportunities in the social media space for The Client to engage with.

After meeting with key stakeholders and discussing goals, we were able to conclude that the next logical step was for The Client to begin a blog. A blog strategy presented the best opportunity to base conversation in the social media space around learnings from search marketing. Why? Because through search marketing, we are able to pinpoint what inspires potential customers to engage with the company. The Client will be able to create engaging conversations based around these learnings through a blog. They will be able to reach their target audience, reach industry influencers who act as information-hungry word of mouth propellers, as well as comment on other niche blogs, message boards and forums.

As it was with search marketing five years ago, social media marketing today poses a conundrum for brands - they realize that they should probably participate in the space, but are unclear how to enter in and achieve success. For a company like The Client, calculated steps and a logical progression from search engine marketing to social media marketing proved to be the best strategy. The calls to action that have worked best through SEO and PPC now act as a road map for content creation we know will be relevant to prospects, customers and influencers in the social media space.

Has anyone else had success transitioning learnings from search engine marketing into social media? Have any questions or comments? Leave them here!

TAGS: SEARCH ENGINE MARKETINGSOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGSEMPPCSEOBLOGGINGPAY PER CLICKSEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Posted at 10:02 am | 0 Comments | Share this blog post

Posted on February 12, 2009

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Blogging Best Practices Checklist


BY JASON CORMIER

blog check listI know there is already a great deal of information on this, but it keeps coming up in client conversations. Since one of our clients recently requested that we create a checklist, I'm posting a version of it here to share with you all. As always, feel free to add your input too!

Blogging Best Practices Checklist


When Posting

1. Title: Intriguing titles go a long way. Consider using odd numbers as part of your title (example: The 7 Deadly Sins of Social Media)

2. Keywords: As much as possible, use your top keywords in:
i.) The post title
ii.) Hyperlinks pointing to older posts or specific company web pages in the post body
iii.) Tags used to describe the post subject matter

3. Scheduling: Consult your editorial calendar, in addition to top keywords highlighted in your SEO/Analytics report and/or your keyword analysis. No less that one post per week if possible.

4. Images: Including an image with a post is recommended when possible. Use your keywords in the image "alt" attribute when possible

5. Links: Link to other blogs and/or to previous posts of your own (using keywords for links to posts of your own when possible)

6. Post Length and Content: Mix up length of your posts. Don't be afraid to be brief (i.e. 200 words). When possible, offer analysis, new tips and tricks

7. Submitting: If resources are available, run your pending post by a trusted advisor or editor who can do a review, make minor edits and immediately submit on your behalf. If it has to go back to you for your "final approval," it may not be worth having an approval process.

8. Announcing: Sometimes announce on other social networks to notify others about your post (example: Facebook or Twitter). Chris Brogan recommends doing this tactfully by writing a question, then including a link to your post. Also remember not all posts are Twitter worthy - so don't abuse this.

When Commenting

1. On Your Blog: Comment to other's comments in your own blog. This will grow the conversation and ad more value to your posts

2. On Other Blogs: Make your comments thoughtful, beginning often by referencing what stood out to you in the post or in another's comments. Strive to include a valuable take-away for anyone else reading your comments

3. Frequency: No hard rule, but remember conversations are easier to join than start. Commenting on a few of the same blogs often can establish a relationship with the blogger and their audience.

4. Linking: If you are linking to content of your own, be sure it very relevantly addresses the topic at hand. Consider including links to other blogs often. Linking to your own content in a comment is better received when the blogger recognizes you have commented earlier.

TAGS: BLOGGINGBEST PRACTICESSOCIAL MEDIA BEST PRACTICESBLOG COMMENTINGBLOG CHECKLISTBLOG POSTING

Posted at 5:00 pm | 9 Comments | Share this blog post

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A Social Media Discussion with Marshall Kirkpatrick


BY JASON CORMIER
Size: 10.7 MB
Length: 11:34

Listen to our Podcast:

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Show Notes:

Room 214 Co-founder, Jason Cormier, interviews ReadWriteWeb's lead blogger and social media consultant, Marshall Kirkpatrick.

In this podcast, we discuss:

1. Quick Advice for what's working best in blogging these days (unique analysis, being first to release the news, posting out to others and broader participation in new social networks).

2. What's exciting in terms of new social media tools? Friendfeed's new instant messaging integration, enabling people to be more consistently engaged in online conversations.

3. ReadWriteWeb and their latest project, Jobwire.

4. How the state of the economy is effecting social media. The importance of Community Managers in social media: Do startups need Community Mangers?

5. The need for a Community Manager as it relates to drawing out the highlights of conversations, team building and response.

Note: Talking with Marshall is always a treat because he is so effectively tracking with what matters most in practical applications of social media. We had the pleasure of using him as a consultant last year to review our blog and podcasting application, Post Zinger - and he was able to provide some great insight within minutes of our first conversation.

Be sure to check out his new Jobwire project with ReadWriteWeb, and follow his personal MarshallK blog or via twitter at http://twitter.com/marshallk

TAGS: MARSHALL KIRKPATRICKREADWRITEWEBJOBWIRESOCIAL MEDIACOMMUNITY MANAGERFRIENDFEEDBLOGGERBLOGGINGCAPTURE THE CONVERSATION PODCASTPOSTZINGERINSTANT MESSAGING

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Posted on May 11, 2008

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Why Do You Want To Be Transparant, and How That Will Help Your Business Grow


BY STEPAN MAZUROV

If you are an ecommerce business, word of mouth marketing can help you grow it beyond the boundaries of your niche.  Gary Vayerchuk, a guy in wine business, said something very interesting on Tues, May 6th show CNBC's Big Idea:

  • Be who you are, be as transparent as possible.
  • Don't play in your own playground, be active in communities that might find what you offer attractive.  
  • It is imperative to be involved in the social networks on the Internet and the real world
  • We live in a world where every person's word of mouth reaches a lot more people.

Lets look at some examples of these at work.

Continue Reading...

TAGS: WORD OF MOUTHBLOGGINGCONVERSATION TRACKINGTWITTERTRANSPARENTSOCIAL MEDIAGETSATISFACTION

Posted at 5:00 pm | 2 Comments | Share this blog post