Think Like An Internet Marketer: What Would Steve Do?
Want to think like an Internet marketer? Let’s start with a story. Recently over lunches, phone calls, webinars and emails an important idea surfaced. Were Facebook LIKES becoming the new “link love”? Friends who run startups, large ecommerce sites and other Internet marketers I trust were seeing something in their web analytics, something new. Are Facebook LIKES the new link love?
The Facebook “LIKE” button was mentioned by Byron White, CEO of IdeaLuanch, Phil Buckley Interactive Media Director at Capstrat and entrepreneur and CEO of PointShops Eric Garrison. One friend mentioning “Likes are the new link love” has me reaching for a thinking cap, two friends saying something similar creates a search for articles and links. Three smart friends = a new Internet marketing truth.
But we didn’t have confirming data, or nothing my friends would share :).
Hope you are as blessed with smart, smart friends since life is so much easier. My friends pay for their lives knowing statements such as “Likes are the new link love” mean our Internet marketing world is changing again. We lucky few Internet marketers must change or lose traction. Traction is life online. Traction is NEVER neutral. You always gain or lose traction.
Search Engine Optimization is the giant scorecard in the sky. The most immediate interim step, the thing before you earn money, is creating an ever expanding Google presence and why platforms beat web sites. Platforms, sites capable of putting up hundreds of thousands of pages (Amazon is on their way to a billion), win Google’s content marketing network race.
Google is always only an addictive environment. Take things away and pain ensues. Take away too much from Google all at one time and MONSTER pain ensues (been there, done that, burned the t-shirt and NEVER want to do it again). Since almost every Atlantic BT customer HAS a web site these days, our jobs are changing again. Back in the day we preached search engine optimization (SEO), content network marketing and social media marketing.
We carried, new and so suspect Internet marketing messages to a mistrusting, skeptical mob. We rode a noisy old roller coaster clattering its way up a towering railed mountain hoping wheels held and no one moved suddenly. Reaching the top we threw our hands up in sheer joy as Newton’s roller coaster laws came into full force. In search of consistent absolutes we never find (or never find fast enough),”Facebook LIKES are the new link love,” sounds good.
We wait and wait for data. Reviewing NorthFace, Patagonia and Oakley for a prospective customer we found the data, the sword in the stone. Each major adventure sportswear brand finds a way to win with Internet marketing. How they win reinforces their branding. Web marketing is an accurate reflection of who you, your product, brand and company are. Here is how three different and competitive brands found blue oceans in the adventure sportswear online RED OCEAN:
- NorthFace rules Facebook with 1.4 million likes producing a magical PageRank of 7
- Patagonia has the most pages in Google, a great blog and link love also PR7
- Oakley’s page count is way down, but they are Twitter scrappy with a PR6
Each company creates a unique strategy. They find ways to win traffic and Google “Authority”. Each understands internal strengths and weaknesses. They know how to play poker with competitors avoiding strengths in favor of exploiting weaknesses. There MUST be weaknesses creating blue oceans somewhere.
Every Internet marketer trades off gross # of site pages for winning on Twitter (Oakley), Facebook likes for blog posts (NorthFace) and Blog posts for Facebook Likes (Patagonia). Each brand’s character is visible in their Internet marketing choices. NorthFace is adventure, Patagonia community and Oakley adrenaline buzz.
Maybe your site sells high end audio like Moon Audio, is the leading construction M&A firm in the country such as FMI or your Informer application connects disparate databases for easy web reporting such as Entrinsik. Your business segment doesn’t matter. Somewhere there is a blue ocean. There is a blue ocean in every business, a piece of ocean not yet red with carnage. Watch the Prezi below to see how Oakley found Twitter, NorthFace cornered Facebook and Patagonia knitted strength from a campaigns (1% for the Planet), blogs, social media and site strength (Patagonia had the largest number of pages in Google).
Are Facebook LIKES the new link love? YES, unquestionably.
On Monday, if your site doesn’t have Facebook’s LIKE button LARGE and IN CHARGE, think, “What would Steve do?” And, plaster the thumbs up all over your site in clear and present danger, make your customers trip over it, campaign on it (free something when you LIKE us on Facebook) and you will be doing what Steve would have done. You will be thinking like an Internet marketer.
Not convinced?
Watch this Prezi and then plan to walk over to your IT department, beg, plead and cajole to get Facebook LIKES all over your website as soon as possible.
Think Like An Internet Marketer Prezi – Watch the VIDEO NOW.
