But once search analytics firm Systrix collected some data on “farmer”, a different picture emerged: while some sites had been slammed, article marketing stalwart EzineArticles lost 90% of its traffic, and Yahoo!’s Associated Content lost even more, the big names were largely unscathed. Demand’s eHow actually rose slightly, although some of their other properties dropped.

I’ll admit it: my SEO strategies leaned a little too heavily on article marketing in the past. It was tempting, it was easy, and it was pure SEO.

The old trick was pretty simple: there were dozens of “article directories” online, which would pay somewhere between “A pittance” and “$0″ for 300 words or so of content, which could include a link. They took care of the hard part:  building a trusted site that could rank for the long-tail terms that showed up in the articles, and would pass link-juice along with traffic.

Google’s “Farmer” update didn’t end that process, but it definitely changed it. The first reactions assumed that Google was going after the big content farms — i.e. the biggest of all, Demand Media’s eHow.

But once search analytics firm Systrix collected some data on “farmer”, a different picture emerged: while some sites had been slammed, article marketing stalwart EzineArticles lost 90% of its traffic, and Yahoo!’s Associated Content lost even more, the big names were largely unscathed. Demand’s eHow actually rose slightly, although some of their other properties dropped.

“Farmer” means that doing article marketing the easy way is over. You can no longer treat low-level content production as a commodity, and crank up the dial in order to achieve rankings. Not only did many content farms lose rankings, but they responded by raising quality requirements and implementing no-followed links. Not only will you get a smaller audience, but you’ll have to invest more to get it.

Target the top content sites. eHow is still ranking well, and still delivers traffic. Youtube also benefited from the latest rankings change; it’s not hard to create a one-minute video around each of twenty different long-tail terms, which could easily rank on page one.

Reemphasize social media. Facebook was one of the top beneficiaries from this change. But more importantly, social media as a whole may benefit in a relative sense: you can’t get into the universal search results as easily, so getting into the stream and the newsfeed may be the next-best option. A few possibilities: Instead of five generic articles, write one compelling (and re-tweetable) piece of linkbait. On Facebook, don’t just “own” your business name. Try to own a mid-tail keyword, too. Find out which “sharing” icons your users click on; ditch the rest.

Start emailing. If you can’t own the SERP and you’re already at maximum capacity in the stream, you need to own the inbox. Read more at searchengineland.com

Social Glitz

I’m not telling you anything new when I say that Web 2.0 and social media have changed the way we use the Internet. Neither am I telling you anything new when I say that that’s the reason why marketers and PR professionals are finding themselves in an increasingly difficult situation. We, as consumers, are no longer as easily identifiable as we used to be. These days, us consumers can be any number of things. Producers, users, active participants, members of niche communities, and if worse comes to worst, even critics.

So how can the companies of today ensure that they don’t only find new customers and retain existing ones but also avoid all hell breaking lose when they are confronted with a critic that happens to be quite influential in the online space?

The answer to that question is rather simple but sadly, still very often misunderstood. It’s this question and the simplicity of the answer that led me to conduct research on how to use Twitter as a tool for relationship marketing. By telling you the topic of the research I’ve given away quite a bit upfront but not to worry, the most interesting part is yet to come.

The term “relationship marketing” is used frequently. In fact, it’s used to a point where everyone things they know what they are talking about but only few really do. What is it? How does it work? And how do we best use it in combination with online communication tools such as Twitter?

Transactional vs. Relationship Marketing

Before the 1990s mass marketing was all the craze. Most marketing activities were focused on finding as many customers as possible for a product. But then one of the most important changes in marketing took place. One that is now as important as ever. Companies these days continuously develop the right products for their customers, which is also where the idea of relationship marketing comes in. The idea behind it is simple. It’s not about solving individual customer problems but rather about the long-term support of customers in their processes. In contrary to transactional marketing, that has a raise in market shares as a goal, relationship marketing builds upon long-term relationships to raise customer value. Read more at socialmouths.com

Content marketing is hot right now. According to the B2B Content Marketing: 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report, 51% of B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budgets within the next year. That’s because publishing compelling content can help you attract customers, increase your brand awareness, promote your thought leadership and bring more visitors to your website. And that’s just a short list of benefits!

However, you may have come across a few myths that are preventing you from getting the greatest ROI from your content marketing efforts. If you’re in the early stages of a content marketing strategy, you may believe at least one of the following myths.

Reality: It takes more than simply publishing a blog or posting a tweet to bring visitors to your website. Sysomos recently revealed that the average lifespan of a tweet is one hour–meaning that if no one retweets you within an hour, you’ll have to either try again later or post something more compelling.

Reality: Publishing keyword-rich content can improve your search engine rankings and bring more visitors to your website, but those visitors won’t stick around unless your content is engaging. Don’t try to get to the top of the search engines by stuffing your social media content and website with keywords. This makes your copy boring and tells your readers, “I wrote this for Google–not for you.”

Reality: You have a huge opportunity to attract customers with your content. However, many marketers turn their blogs, white papers and social media messages into blatant sales pitches. If you try to pitch to potential customers before they get a chance to know, like and trust you, they will tune out. The bulk of your content should educate potential customers and help solve one of their key problems. Once your prospects view you as a trusted and helpful resource, they will be more likely to turn to you if they need your product or service. Read more at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com

If you follow the idiom “fish where the fish are, it might be tempting to focus all your marketing eggs in the Facebook basket with over 600 million users and growing. But the question that naturally follows is: with pools of fish (read: customers) swimming in the Facebook virtual hot tub, why am I still wading in the kiddie pool (translation: has my website become as obsolete as my Apple 2GS)? If a new client or brand is starting out on a limited budget, do they still need a website or can they just skip ahead with a tricked-out Facebook fan page?

Spoiler alert: you probably still need both, but here are the pros and cons for each, and if your marketing budget is limited, some good news.

· All the Cool Kids are Doing It: According to a Reuters article, “more than 80 percent of 109 grape growers, distributors, retailers and other wine experts in the California who were questioned in a survey by the Wine Industry Financial Symposium Group and the University of California-Davis Graduate School of Management said they were using Facebook in their business, up from 46 percent in 2009.” If usage nearly doubled in a year’s time among a marketing savvy group, it’s probably no longer a fad.

· Engaged Audience and Customer Feedback: Websites can be a one-way street, offering brands a great way to put out their message, but receive nothing in return from customers. Facebook, and social media in general, are exactly the opposite, opening the flood gates to feedback (positive and negative) and engagement. According to

· Consolidate and Customize: Not only can you incorporate all of your social media activities onto your Facebook fan page, but you can create fan-only pages or tabs (depending on what version you have), opening up the possibility of traceable promotions, incentives, coupon codes, etc. Here’s another piece of good news for the budget conscious. With various other integrated social mediums as part of your marketing mix, your website doesn’t have to be as elaborate with a million built-in features. Instead, it should now serve more as a well-designed and easy navigable home base for key information. Read more at www.livingstonbuzz.com

Content creation and marketing are arguably the toughest tasks in marketing for a business to wrap their heads around.  The smaller the business, the harder it is to consistently create valuable content. Not to mention finding the time for content marketing.  I like to share a little process with my clients called the green approach to content marketing–based on the same principles tree huggers advocate to save the planet.

Reuse valuable content,

Reduce time wasted, and

Recycle for better results.

A key time-saver and smart way to create fresh content is to reuse valuable content your audience has already showed they love. Reusing content is not about re-writing the old, its about giving it a face lift and making it more valuable by re-presenting it to your audience in a useful and valuable way.  (Not to be confused with Recycling content, which we cover in part 3).

How you reuse content will depend entirely on your market.  Some ideas that have been useful in the past to my clients include: Read more at websuccessdiva.com

This is another post that is back by popular demand, with several changes and additions. In the last two years, content marketing has matured, and many more voices have joined the conversation.

There are a content marketing institute, an Alltop category, and now a content strategy conference, Confab2011. Why is everyone all of a sudden talking and writing about content?

First the definition - content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience — with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

Many more interactions with products and services take place online today. Individual and social search are both becoming an important way of finding and filtering relevant information.

When you create content, you need to keep in mind what attracts customers and prospects, and their friends. Educating, informing, and creating with them are all ways to engage people in a conversation with you.

It should therefore not be surprising that the Top Ten reasons why your content marketing strategy fails are: Read more at www.conversationagent.com

WTH!?  QR Codes?  Are QR Codes really viable for marketing? Wait a minute, I’m not Gucci, Ford or some other big brand… Indeed, you may not be a big brand–I would argue, as I have done for several clients, QR Codes are not just for the big boys.  A good understanding of your customer and how QR Codes can be used can help you make the decision to QR or not to QR.

Wikipedia tells us a QR Code is, “A QR Code is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.”

Blah, blah, blah… A QR Code is a scannable/readable barcode that allows you to share text, data or a URL with people. Anyone with a smart phone (Android, iPhone, etc) and a QR Code reader can play along.

A QR Code can be almost anywhere, Calvin Klein replaced their racy billboard ads with a “Get It Uncensored” strategy, Best Buy used QR Codes to enhance shopping, and Mashable has featured 5 Creative Uses for QR Codes.

QR Code readers do not come pre-installed on smart phones and it is likely the majority of your audience, at this point in the game, will not recognize or feel compelled to participate in the QR Code party.  That said, QR Code scanning is increasing, particularly among the Gen Y, affluent or techie markets.

As a business, you’re probably thinking this is way out of your technical scope.  You’re wrong.  That’s the beauty of QR Codes, they are relatively easy, free and painless to create.  Seriously, the harder part is figuring out if and how to implement them.  Creation is the easy part.

Now comes the real dilemma, if and when to use QR Codes for your “not-a-big-brand” business.  Rather than go down a long list of do’s and don’ts, I thought it would be more helpful to showcase the many ways my clients and others are using QR Codes in their marketing, with some helpful hints. Read more at websuccessdiva.com

If you could characterize a business as lucky, then Threadless is super lucky. The online retailer of T-Shirts, in which the site’s community designs the Tees, became wildly successful because they own a unique space in the marketplace. Their product—the Tees—are also their content. As HubSpot has been preaching, if you offer remarkable content, you will get found online and grow your business.

So if you are looking for ideas to stand out from the competition, keep your eyes on Threadless. To get us started on this path, check out HubSpot’s interview with Liz Ryan, Director of Email Marketing at Threadless:

1. Do you have buyer personas or how do you think about list segmentation in your email marketing?

2. How frequently do you send emails and what type of content do you introduce?

3. You recently launched a very bold re-engagement campaign (with a subject line “Open this email or say goodbye forever. (Kinda sounds like your crazy ex, right?)”). What was its goal? Were you taking any risk?

4. What results did you see from it?

5. Which company’s email marketing program do you admire & why?

6. What is your number one email marketing tip for our audience? Read more at blog.hubspot.com

Privacy challenges by public interest groups and the FTC are threatening to dismantle or seriously curtail the behavioral targeting model of interactive advertising as it stands today. Fearful of damaging relationships with their readers, many publishers are removing third-party widgets and other technologies when those technologies are found to capture and sell user data without the user’s express permission.

Even Facebook itself has cracked down on unauthorized data scraping. Recent “Do Not Track” efforts are trying to move choices about data sharing from publishers to the people via browser technology. But these are merely symptoms of a larger problem with interactive advertising: a lack of transparency. It’s a problem that new social tools will play a significant role in addressing.

Rather than an endgame where consumers completely block any sort of data sharing, I see a future where marketers take the high road and both sides benefit from better quality data, advertising and content.

The concept of “Permission Marketing” isn’t new; in fact, Seth Godin’s 1999 book about “turning strangers into friends and friends into customers” seems remarkably prescient in today’s age of “Friending,” “Liking,” and “Following.” Godin told the (then e-mail-dominated) interactive industry, “By talking only to volunteers, Permission Marketing guarantees that consumers pay more attention to the marketing message. It serves both customers and marketers in a symbiotic exchange.”

See more at mashable.com

Much has been written about days of the week, times of the day and seasons of the year during which email marketing recipients respond best. Where, though, has been the information about weather-related timing - that is, when an area gets slammed with snow as the East Coast has this week? To be sure, there are plenty of people in the industry who think such calculations are bunk. But others don’t as the following examples Gold Lasso gathered show. Recently:

Domino’s Pizza placed ads on local news advertising “school closings” deals.

An Oriental trading company sent weather-related emails to subscribers in states with snow.

Bounce U, geo-specific email messages related to school closings and their extended business hours.

To seize the opportunity, Gold Lasso suggests the following:

Add RSS feeds of weather reports to create a sense of urgency for “hot” seasonal products or services. Feeds can be customized based on subscriber state or zip code.

Create display ad campaigns featuring discounts or special events related to school closings.

Sponsor or partner with local news outlets for optimal placement.

Businesses in warm states often hold “if it snows” promotions. Create excitement by frequently updating customers on the status of the contest. Read more at www.marketingvox.com

With all the talk about social media these days, you might think that the key to marketing your business and even driving sales lies entirely with sites like Facebook and Twitter, but, if you market your product or service online, harnessing the power of Google for your small business is still important. By this, of course, we mean search marketing, the general focus of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and, while there are other search engines to consider, SEO expert Aaron Wall reckons Google still makes up about 75 percent of the search market. Here are some things every small business owner planning to market online should know to capture it. Read more at smallbiztrends.com

You have a message and so does your competitor. Which one receives the most exposure and reaches prospects is often dependent on any company’s commitment to creating resourceful, unique and compelling content to reach that audience.

If you are creating content, promoting it and still finding yourself behind the competition, below are 3 tips to help you cross the marketing finish line in first place.

1. Create Your Own Sandbox. Going head-to-head is a tough marketing battle to win and often requires considerable resources, so make sure your key messages stand out by explaining what makes your product or service better than the rest.

2. Use more communication vehicles than your competition. Are your competitors on Facebook and Twitter? Then perhaps you should be too – and take the time to explore which marketing channels make sense for your audience.

3. Have a faster communications cycle than your competitors. Update your material regularly, and make sure to get new data out as quickly as possible, while maintaining communication standards. Find ways to automate delivery of your communications so that your news is always more recent than the competitors.  Quick updates to your newsroom, is a great way to get started. Read more at www.socialmediaexplorer.com

For large companies, websites have long been a staple of the marketing mix, but even today, many small businesses struggle to establish a web presence. Lack of resources or knowledge about web development can often keep a small business offline.

But for small, local businesses, a website can serve as digital storefront, providing a platform to convince consumers that the company is a reliable, trusted operation and provides them with the information necessary to easily and quickly make a purchase.

The research firm BIA/Kelsey notes that the website now serves as the core of local business marketing, combining all other forms of advertising including print, Internet Yellow Pages, mobile, SEO/SEM, video, reputation management and e-mail/direct mail.

So what do you need to develop a high-quality website for your business? Here are five tips to get you started: Read more at searchengineland.com

A new year brings new opportunities and a perfect time to evaluate and step up your marketing efforts.  Every year (in reality every quarter) I take a look at my marketing efforts and perform a check-up of sorts–evaluating what’s working and what’s not, tightening up the machine.  The first step is to focus on my main hub and general marketing activities, here’s my running checklist.

The point of this checkup is to get the basics in order–taking a look at your failures and successes to make smarter marketing decisions in the new year.  Your checkup should continue throughout the year, as you launch and quarterly for overall review. Read more at websuccessdiva.com

This is part of my weekly mashup series featuring internet marketing resources from some of my favorite smart people.  This week, there are great resources covering everything from blogging to ebook creation to running a blogger outreach program. Read more at websuccessdiva.com