No! Seriously!  You can learn a lot by being a ‘lurker’ on the social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.    Lurkers, just to calm everyone’s fears is someone that is passively sitting on the sidelines just listening to the conversations that are going on.  By being a lurker you can gain a lot of insights as to what people are thinking, online.

Now apply this concept to finding information that would benefit your company.  What if you were a ‘lurker’ to the conversations that were taking place in the social media channel that are related to your company or your product or the products that you carry?  Could you use that information to provide better customer service?  Could you use this information to gain a leg up on your competition?  Sure you could.  Anytime you can gather valuable unbiased information from people about your company, products/services, or your competition you will benefit from that information.

So how to you start down the path to being a ‘lurker’?

• Setup searches on Twitter for your company name or your product names
• Try variations on the spelling for your company or your product names
• Join groups that you typical customer would probably be a member of

There are three types of people when it comes to new online marketing concepts

• Early adaptors – these are the brave people leading the charge
• Early majority – these people are willing to take a risk but it is a calculated risk
• Laggards – these people are longing for the ‘old days’ and they are critical of anything new.

It’s happening!  Internet Marketing, Online Marketing, Digital Marketing, whatever you want to call it, it’s no longer an experiment, it’s now part of the marketing mix.  This may be old news to many of you but did you know that advertising revenue for online grew to $20billion faster than any other media?  Yup, it took online marketing only 13 years to attain 20 billion is ad revenue.  In comparison, the next closest is Cable TV which took 25 years to attain the same revenue goals!

And, it’s not just the interactive industry that is noticing this, even the big guys are realizing the importance that technology is having on the marketing sector.  Were you aware that Deloitte recently acquired the mobil marketing agency Ubermind?  What about Accenture creating Accenture Interactive a marketing services division.  Using this new division and by partnering with agencies they are racing into the digital marketing channel.  The Gap between marketing and technology is blurring…and blurring fast!  Everyone is racing to find the optimum model of marketing, creative and technology.

As we see the big boys moving in the direction of eliminating the gap between marketing and technology, you have to know that it is good for business and the sooner that we as small to mid-sized business start to look at the online marketing channel with a seriousness that hasn’t been offered to this channel, the better your business will perform.

A recent survey by Chief Marketer revealed the following strategic goals (in order from top to bottom) I’ve only listed the top 5

1. Build brand awareness
2. Drive consumers to website
3. Generate sales
4. Generate leads
5. Build loyalty
6. Build opt-in email list
7. Build online community
8. Gain viral spread
9. Drive attendance at live events
10. Launch products

When we start talking about search engine optimization frequently the conversation turns to the tech end of optimization.  Things like meta tags, programming, back-links, etc.  Unfortunately, what is left out of that equation is the human aspect of search engine optimization.  I’ve gone on record in the past saying that any agency can get your website top billing for generic key-phrases, the trick is to get top billing on key-phrases that humans are using to find your products or services.  We have to ‘think’ about the strategy of search engine marketing; what are your customers going to use as a phrase to find what you do or what you sell?  What are their goals when they use a search engine? Are they just beginning their research or are they ready to buy?  The answers can only come from thinking about your customers (humans) and building a strategy around those humans.

The second aspect to the search engine marketing conversation is where does the user want to go when then enter a key-phrase into the search engine?  Chances are great that they are not interested in landing on your home page, just to be forced to find the information they are in search of, on their own.  Let’s think this one through, if your potential customer is looking to educate them selves on your company, it’s longevity in the industry and the value proposition that you offer, is there a page that would be more relevant than the home page for them to get that information?  I’m betting that there is.  Make sure that key-phrases related to your value proposition are leading your potential customers to that page.

In the end search engine marketing is not about the technology, it is about the people that use search engines.  This can have a very big impact on how you develop your search marketing strategy.

Every time we start to talk about the need for usability I can immediately start to see people’s eyes glaze over, their heads start racing about how difficult this will make a project, oh, and then the infamous “how much does all that cost” comes up and the conversation about usability goes right out the window.  The point is that usability is the single most important issue with any online initiative, if you want results.  If your going to do an online project (i.e. website, blog, ppc campaign, social, etc) just because you have the money to do it, then save yourself a lot of work and donate your money to a worthwhile cause!  The simple fact is that if your not putting your customer at the center of the process you will fail!

I ran across a very good video that shows the development of an iPad application that was done in the heart of a department store with nothing but user input to move the development of the application forward.  This video demonstrates the need for usability, user-centricity and what can really be done when you listen to the voice of the customer.

Are you?  A recent survey that was published by Marketing Profs showed marked increases in budgets for marketing activities in 2012 with 29% of the respondents stating this increase.  Based on these increases in investment, as you would imagine, the vendors of these marketers that are providing the services are becoming increasingly important to the marketers companies.

So, given this outlook, what are your plans for 2012 and is your marketing agency going to be more important to you and your company in 2012?  Maybe the better question to ask is: will your current marketing agency provide you with the appropriate council and services to take your company past your competition in 2012.

Dive into this topic and let us know your thoughts.

There is a business phrase that could rattle the most stagnated marketer into reality, if only it hadn’t become so overused

If your doing business today, like you did business yesterday, you won’t be doing business tomorrow”

I’m not sure who to credit for this chunk of wisdom but their words have never been more true than in todays business environment, especially as it pertains to internet marketing.  Think about it for a second, your customers and potential customers have never been more active in a marketing channel than they are in the digital channel; search engines, blogs, websites, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, on and on and on…  Yet so often we see marketers still trying to improve their business by tactics that they were using 5, 10 and 15 years ago.  The customers have changed, and it doesn’t matter what age group your marketing to they have changed!

For many, this change in marketing will require a swift kick to start the mental change that is required to engage today’s customer.  Here are a couple of thoughts that may help:

1. Listen: More than ever, we have to be customer-centric.  Listen to what your customers are saying and you’ll start to realize that they are telling you where they get their information and what type of information they are looking for.
2. Relevancy: The group of people that make up your customers are all different.  Either different niches or at different stages of their buying decision, or they have different personalities. Make sure that the information that you have online is the information that all of your customers are looking for.
3. Conversation: Have you ever been out to dinner or lunch with that guy that talks at you for hours?  Remember how you felt when it was finally over with?  Let’s not make that same mistake, online.  When your posting within the social platforms, look to have a conversation with your audience.  Engage with people, you will see the benefits.

In the mid-2000′s commercial real estate provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) made a strategic shift in their sales packages to move to solutions based selling.  They found that clients that had purchased commercial properties from JLL then wanted JLL to provide the building management for their properties.  By adding building management to their service portfolio they increased their sales and profits, dramatically.

As we see our services become more commoditized, every year, providing solutions to our clients as opposed to services starts the reversal of that commoditization but we have to be willing to commit to solutions and look at the situation through the eyes of our client.  Often times, looking at a situation through the eyes of our client is where the ‘solution’ falls apart because the best solution for their situation may need a service that you don’t offer.  You may find yourself creating a solution package that requires you to provide services that you don’t normally offer, you may have to engage another company to assist, or you may have to share a part of the project with another company.  In the end though the solution will be a win-win for you and the client.

There are four components to a successful solutions-based selling philosophy:

1. Cooperation: People across all disciplines have to come together to work out the best solution for the client.
2. Capabilities: If your agency doesn’t have a particular capability to deliver the complete solution, where can you get the capability.
3. Coordination: You will begin to find a new role as a coordinator in completion of the solution.
4. Connection: Relationships with vendors will increase the ongoing efficiencies and effectiveness of your solution packages.

Within the marketing arena the best example of solutions offerings is in the application of multi-channel marketing campaigns.  We can no longer operate in the online and offline silos and hope to bring a client the solution for their situations that will set them apart and help them win!  We have to come together, recognize that every, yes every, client and campaign will benefit from a solutions-based approach.  It will take a commitment on our part as the agencies to ‘think out of the box’ on how we come together in support of the client.  By helping the Client with a solution, we will ultimately help ourselves.

In the wake of the commoditization of services, solutions based selling is the differentiator that will bring increases in client loyalty, client acquisition, and most important profitability.