The Rocket Newsletter

July 2008

Have you noticed recently how many questions everyone's asking? See, there's another one! At Propellernet our clients are constantly asking us questions, especially about the ever evolving social element of the Internet and how it could/is affecting their business. Of course, we always do our very best to point them in the right direction and help wherever possible. When you think about it we all do this. We ask people, typically those we know and trust, seek credible answers and make our decisions based on what they tell us. The most exciting aspect of online behaviour right now is that this simple process is happening all around us. The vast reach of the Internet means there is always a group of peers, which have informed opinions, to ask a question to on any subject matter. If you want an example the Propellernet Team recently completed the Tough Guy race. Is it tough? Well we have the bruises to prove it but if you want another opinion see what an online community says.

Should I or Shouldn't I? That is the Social Media Question

Incorporating a social media approach within your existing search strategy may perceived as a bit of a risk...it may not. It's considered to be a new approach and thought by some, to be unproven in certain areas. We'd disagree on the latter point but asking businesses to consider adopting a new approach in times of economic uncertainty could be considered a big ask, especially where every single penny counts. Whether you are an innovator, early adopter or even reside at the other end of the scale as a laggard (no one wants to be a laggard!), it's not easy stepping outside your comfort zone.

So, to provide some guidance and insight as well we thought we would outline some considerations, which will hopefully allow you to make some better informed decisions.

The benefits

Firstly, social media (including social networks, blogging and online PR) is where your target audience are already spending a lot of their time online. Seeking out peer feedback, recommendations and comments around subjects of interest in these online areas carry a lot more weight and influence than a carefully constructed marketing message. People trust and are influenced much more through independent feedback from their peer groups.

Secondly, an integrated approach will enhance the return of other marketing investments. Ensuring messaging, content and imagery are all in sync across all channels and placed in areas where your target audience can be engaged will reap much greater rewards

Dominating natural search results

Thirdly, and from a search perspective, Google's role is to provide the searcher with the most relevant content from the most trusted and high quality sources. With this in mind, it is important to ensure your social media and online PR content is relevant, placed in the right areas and genuinely provides value to the reader. The Google Natural Search results will rank your site much higher, and you will achieve rankings for all your social media content as well. This means that for key search terms, as well as incorporating an integrated strategy, you could dominate the real estate across the Google Natural Search results. If you are incorporating imagery, maps, widgets/gadgets etc you will achieve higher levels of coverage within Google Universal.

And, it is measurable

Finally, it is all measurable. Not just through traditional web analytics but also with the measurement of referral activity and activity within the social media sites. The risk therefore is much lower than traditional advertising; it is measurable in real time and can be managed accordingly, which means no big investments will be wasted. This is unlike display advertising or other offline marketing mediums to which so many organisations have resorted in this downturn. We'd question why they would do this, but again tough times lead to behaviour which is usually within comfort zones - it worked last time so why shouldn't it work again? The reason why it won't be as effective is because the consumers' behaviour has changed.  Your target audience now has much bigger voice due to social media (remember the "bring back Wispa" campaign on Facebook?) and information from trusted sources is much more available. Social media cannot be ignored.

Propellernet have seen a lot of our major clients achieve great results and have really embraced the approach. Of course, every business is different and a bespoke strategy is required for each but having taken the time to research, plan and then implement, you will be pleasantly surprised by the results...guaranteed. 

As always, if you want to find out more please give us a shout rocket@propellernet.co.uk.

Best regards,

Client Corner - How the new domains affect your search strategy

How are you coping with your domain strategy? Already secured your .mobi or .travel domain names? Well, the rules are changing again. No longer will web sitesbe stuck with the limited crop of .com's and .co.uk's.

ICANN, the internet domain authority has recently announced plans to completely overhaul the Top Level Domain (TLD) restrictions, allowing brands to really own their own domain.

Find out what the implications of these new domains will be for your Search strategy, and make sure you're geared up for the change next year with this article from Propellernet's Head of Search, Adam Crawford on the e-consultancy website.

Chee Lo

Staff Profile

Name: Chee Lo
Role: Senior Search Consultant

Why Propellernet?
Good company atmosphere with family feel, with client focus being number 1 priority. The staff are fantastic and the office being by the sea is a big bonus.

Interesting Fact:
Represented England Schools in Athletics in 1990 in the same team as Kelly Sotherton (Beijing Olympics Heptathalon hopeful). Narrowly failed to be a contestant on Gladiators in 1992

 

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