Internet Marketing and Digital Media Strategy Sydney Australia

This is a Digital Media Strategy Beginners Article.

Local Search Results

One of the biggest failures of the web to date has been the generally poor results you get from a local search - particularly here in Australia where only around 30% of small businesses have a website.  The poor performance is understandable when it's only logical that if your business doesn't have a website, then it's hard for Google to know you exist and for people to link to your site.  

There have been many attempts over the years to address this gap, from the old, once dominant, Yellow Pages type paper advertising directories (which have finally migrated to online directories); Government and commercial initiatives like Google and MYOB (leading Australian Small Business accounting software); consumer comparison and ranking website portals; through to customer generated content - forums, bloggers; Facebook Places; Fourquare; Twitter; new Google+ and my new favourite service www.quora.com (founded last year by the ex CTO of Facebook).

From a business owners perspective it's a Catch 22 situation - if your immediate sales are not generated from the web then why as business do you need to invest the time, energy and money to develop new skills; keep information up to date; maintain the website; and also communicate through these online channels - "I sell coffee I'm not some computer nerd!" they cry.   

The answer to that question is very simple - depending on what report you're reading then 50-90% of new customers will search online before purchasing - Online Retailing's SOBO "Search Online Buy Offline". 

If you're not actively marketing and communicating online then there's a very high probability your competitors are or will be.

Opportunity and Competition Drives Innovation  

Ten months ago, I wrote about a new coffee shop which opened in the local neighbourhood "Foodies Deli Cafe" which brought a refreshing new competitor to the local coffee drinking marketplace - back then as a test I asked how long would it be before they commented on my blog post.

Today, that moment arrived, Matt - one of the owners told me they'd launched a website a couple of months ago; that it wasn't ranking in Google and if I could take a quick look (contra coffee).

Sensing a potential mutual win relationship (and also content for my blog) once back in the office the first thing I did was a test search in Google - 

As Matt said the website http://www.foodiesdelicafe.com.au/ doesn't rank at all, so we take a look at source code.  If you right-click on your website from your browser there is usually a "source code" option - it's gobbly gook stuff Google sees.  Without going into finer details the website is not search engine optimised (SEO) and in its current form I doubt it will never rank in the top three search results.  Yes, the web developers didn't mention that!

As mentioned there are many elements which influence search engine ranking but the most important is the "Search Engine Term" your potential customers will use.

Search Engine Term and Inbound Links

The key point to note is that most people will NOT search for the name of the coffee shop, they will search for "coffee shop Dolls Point" or "coffee shop Sans Souci" or maybe "best coffee shop in St George area".  The most important element to SEO is the title of any external websites inbound link to your site.  

The higher the Pagerank of the external website "referring" the more influence that will have on your page ranking and your subsequent search results listing. For example, A Sydney Morning Herald food guide review will have a greater link importance than my website blog (except when it is published in my Istrategy blog post).

Example - The top three results "Best Coffee Shop Sydney City" includes one of my favourites Vivo Cafe - Vivo has a SEO website plus Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare accounts - all roads lead to a destination. 

Social Media is the New Search 

We are increasingly using social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Youtube etc and applications like Trip Advisor to ask friends or other web users for their feedback.  On top of the social media layer, services like Google+; Linkedin Q&A (think corporate Facebook) and the previously mentioned http://www.quora.com/ are facilitating question and answer and developing expert status.

Google is already indexing this high quality content (except where it has very recently been precluded - ie Twitter real time results and public Facebook Status) and you are beginning to see this data influence rankings. 

Social Media Pureplay

Another local coffee shop I must mention is social media marketing pure play Montgomery St Cafe, headed up by the highly talented Internet Chef and Electrolux brand ambassador Bridget Davis and Twitterati Iconic88.  They did an exceptional job at building awareness prior to opening through Facebook status updates, #mostreet and regular Youtube videos.  

Increasing Competition

Last week another new local coffee shop opened - "Kiss the Barista" at Georges River 16ft Sailing Club; and another around the corner couple of weeks. 

There are now three new coffee shops that have opened within a short (less than 500m) distance within the last 10 months making a total six.

As you can see even at the local coffee shop level it's a highly competitive online marketing but you know the most important thing?  The customer experience they then share.

How do you rank on Google and what are your customers saying about you on social media?

The Disruptive yet Logical Convergent Media Landscape

We live in incredible times, just a few years ago it used to be said that Google flattens everything it touches - the disruptive but yet logical nature of search engines disintermediated ineffecient links in any information or supply chain, from a media perspective - 

• Newspapers and magazines have had to develop new business models to survive (from sacking staff, subscription models, adding value services and video content partners); 
• The music industry has also been changed forever by i-tunes; 
• The television industry is embracing Twitter to interact; 
• Social media conversations can make or break a new film 
• Celebrities can have more followers than the population of some countries (Justin Bieber has over 10m Twitter followers - Australia has a total population of 24m people) and 
• Gamers are now mainstream (more revenue than Hollywood).

What we've seen over the last ten years is a continual convergence of media, communications, entertainment and technology layers - from the first PC's with their multimedia capabilities (hardware - note: innovation driven by gamers); then computing and communications (Internet connectivity and VoIP); through increasing mobility (mobile broadband) combined with a parallel evolution from text based email to social media and real time mass niche social video conversation.

Media-wise we've progressed from the old village community hall to the flyer to the printing press through to interactive Internet television - and back again to the digitally connected virtual village!  

But now that the fragmenting social media tide has spread across the communications landscape, that we're all "involved", what's after Social Media 101? What's beyond more Facebook "likes" and Twitter "Followers" and what does that mean for businesses - brands - advertisers - consumers?

Social Media Maturity - Television Convergence and Interactive Story Creation

The television and film industries have a long history of creating creating compelling content ie story telling but they are also being challenged by the digital revolution - the old business models from advertising through production to distribution are being flattened.  Every business today with a bit of creativity and talent, a video camera or smarthphone; an edit package and an Internet connection is now their own media channel - but do they have the reach and influence?  

Many are looking for that viral video which will skyrocket their brand success like a Justin Beiber Youtube video clip.

Creating Frameworks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLIVEvideo.com - leading Website Presenter and Internet Video Production company announces controversial Viral Video Director Chisholm Van Schwizer joins CLIVE to produce a new, community driven, social video branded web series.

Sydney, NSW June 16, 2011 To target corporate Digital Video Advertising, controversial Viral Video Director Chisholm Van Schwizer has joined Internet Video Production company http://www.clivevideo.com to produce a new, community driven, social video branded web series.

Chisholm was the creative director behind controversial adult entertainment industry documentary “It Won’t Suck Itself” and the corporate funded “Brad & Burt’s 2005 Surf Trip”.   “Internet video combined with social media has come along way in the last ten years and so have advertisers - with this show we want to create integrated social video marketing experiences for brands that people can participate in” said Chisholm

With US television upfronts (where networks sell their commercial inventory to advertisers) currently under way CLIVEvideo.com is targeting the increasing amount of television advertising budgets being allocated towards Internet Digital Video Advertising.  “Advertisers can no longer rely on owning the media space and pushing a message down a customers throat, they have to create compelling content that resonates and influences their target audience” said Sales Manager Ernie Cash “you need to create sports-team like passion for brands that customers love and want to share”

Internet video is set to skyrocket, there is an estimated 48 hours of video uploaded to Youtube every minute, online video consumption is forecast to increase 45% year over year and Digital Video Advertising is predicted to increase 22% over the next 12 months. 

CLIVEvideo Online User Behaviour Analyst Professor James Goodfellow , said “According to the IAB 'An Inside Look at Demand Side Perceptions of Digital Video Advertising' report, integrated video is set to explode”   Key findings were

• Advertisers are finding that their audiences respond better to DVA, with consumers showing a higher engagement rate with online video. 
• DVA is more trackable and targetable and DVA production is less expensive, making it more cost efficient. 
• Marketers will migrate TV ad dollars to digital video based on the belief it will deliver better ROI; 
• agencies and television decision makers will shift ad dollars in an attempt to follow their target audiences. 
• Among the different available DVA formats (pre-roll, in-banner, expandable banner, mobile video, rich media overlay and post-roll), agencies primarily use pre-roll while marketers are not committed to any specific format.  Most respondents believe the appropriate length is 15 seconds. 
•  A majority of marketers and a majority of agencies believe they should each be responsible for deciding whether to use DVA and how much budget to allocate to it. 

CLIVEvideo.com CEO Franklyn Un Curruthers said "we're all very excited to have Chisholm on board, he’s been involved in many of the most successful Internet viral video hits ever produced so we knew we had the right man for our clients and this new project".

To see CLIVE in action visit http://www.clivevideo.com

Collaborative Creation

The next phase is to involve fans and brands in a near real time collaborative creation process. 

Also, more mobility, geo location data and contextual advertising.

I was heading across town the other day and saw a local plumbers mobile phone number on the back of his truck and an old "Find Me in Yellow" sticker , I called, left a message and three days later still not reply. 

What's the point of advertising if you can't get the next part right? 

In hindsight I suppose it's just supply and demand and that some plumbers don't need to advertise - a good reputation and word of mouth is most important. 

Anyway, in other industries that's not quite the case, there's a battle for customers and advertising is critical to the mix.   Even in a 50% downturn there's still 50% to be spent!

Yesterday small business advertising landscape was dominated by the Yellow Pages.  Today advertising dollars are migrating to where customers now find out and talk about your products and services - that's online - whether Google, Facebook or the other billion or so websites and services out there.

The majority of those online advertising dollars are going to Google Adwords - the paid, auction type classifieds listing in the right hand column of search.

It's sort of funny how a majority of businesses have just transferred the old Yellow Pages, dominant market share "Not happy Jan" if you're not in, belief across to Adwords.

Don't get me wrong, Adwords is important but IMHO it's not as important as good content and design, SEO (Search Engine Optiminisation) and a good business to start with.

For example spend money on advertising and web only to take ten rings to answer the phone or three days to reply to an inquiry email.   Not good.

I'm amazed how much is thrown at all these advertising options to  drive people to a website only to deliver an ordinary experience.  That first 15 seconds on a website is the most important - it has to quickly build trust and transform a web site browser into an inquiry. 

The better your website qualifies the visitor the less physical resources required to manage the leads.

As a student of marketing and advertising we were always taught to create a Sustainable Competitive Advantage - whether that is brand, a unique selling point (USP),  service, distribution, your company culture, staff, partners and systems.

Whatever it is, it has to be something that is important to the customer.

With the today's Connected Net - Internet advertising delivers online word of mouth marketing and reputation building.

Tsunamis of Change and the Creative Economy 

This is Part 1 in a new creative project I'm working on looking at Australian Digital Media Strategy.

As every business owner knows the economic landscape has been rapidly altered after the stock market crash of last year - it's a bit like looking out the window after the Pearl Harbor attack - most of the destruction done, the full reverberating impact still too early to tell. 

The old supply demand ratio and attitudes (including the much maligned Y-Gens) of the last twenty years has changed, as a result, new thought-models, approaches, attitudes and opportunities will surface and prosper.

In today's market Buyers are now back in full control - cash is scarce and surviving companies must actively compete.  As a supplier you are either a commodity or added higher value - the middle ground will be flattened.

A contracting marketplace offers smart expanding companies the ability to increase market share as their competitors retreat and defend - head in sand, reactive.

From the laggard industrial manufacturing complex through the Information Economy we will move towards an Innovation/ Creative Economy 

One of the biggest impacts will be on the media, advertising and the entertainment/ Internet video space (think how Ipods changed the music industry and how faster broadband wil impact video, film and television).  

There will be an accelerated shift towards online video advertising and marketing away from conventional television, newspapers and magazines.

A great little video from PRBlogger

How PR works online

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This then raises the question of who are Australia's most influential Internet users?

How would you create a list? Some initial thoughts...

• Top 100 Australian Bloggers - how many subscribers?  How many comments? (any list needs to be contextual and relevant)
• Facebook and Linkedin - how many friends/ associates - engagement and influence?
• Google - number of articles and links etc
• Corporations/ Government - The Telstra's, News Ltd's, Seven Sunrise, politicians and celebrities
• Twitter/ Flickr/ Youtube and so on 

Engagement

Once you have your list how do you engage?

In sales, the best customer is through a trusted third party referral.

For example, hey Scott, you're in marketing do you know a good event management company?  Absolutely - Monique at Creative Stars.

Most people begin any new purchase with a search (see How PR works online above).

The question is how do you engage influencers without trying to sell them, ie jamm a message down their throat like historial repeat and interupt advertising?

WIIFM  - What's In It For Me?

1. What is your product or service? (keywords and message)
2. What does it mean to your customers (wants and needs)?

Inspire

In the online world original, quality "content is King".

Find a creative approach, create something new and share. [Goes for swim and walks to coffee shop]

At coffee this morning the idea crystallizes.  I've been looking to incorporate more of my photography interests (particularly portraits) within my work.

Implementation

1. Broad scope campaign -the 6 w's - Who/What, How, When, Where, How much, Why?
2. Research lists and compile
3. Create holding content pages
4. Begin target engagement
5. Market/ Share/ Engage