Entries Tagged 'Digital Marketing' ↓

Metrics are all the rage now.  Get on board.   As demand for understanding the impact of all this web stuff meets expanded capability in tracking web activity, we find ourselves a little measurement happy.  It’s tempting to create report after report about where people are clicking, who’s tweeting what, and on and on and on.

I’m not going to lecture long because, well that’s not my style.  I’m a bullets and more resources kinda girl, so here goes:

• Meaningful measurement takes time.  If you develop the metrics based on your goals, you will better understand the progress you’re making.
• I believe that measuring also allows you to test different types of content and content delivery.  Don’t be afraid to experiment.
• When we’re thinking about websites, we don’t just want to know how many people went there but did they do what you wanted them to do?  Did they make the purchase, sign up for the newsletter, forward the article?

I’ve been going through a self-paced certificate program on web metrics.  Okay fine I’ve been reading books and blogs and that’s more than a lot of certificate programs.  So there.  Let me share some of my great reads so far:

• Avinash Kaushik is Analytics Evangelist for Google.  He’s written two books, both worth reading:  Web Analytics: An Hour a Day and Web Analytics 2.0.  He also has an awesome blog:  http://www.kaushik.net and you can find him on twitter @avinash
• If you need site analytics, Google Analytics is pretty great, and free.
• Klout.com – Free twitter analytics tool.  Pretty interesting…

Remember, focused measurement can be a powerful tool in helping your organization achieve it’s goals!

If you’re a marketer, you should probably be joining some professional development organizations.  This helps get you networked, stay in touch with industry practices, and up to date on new trends.  Here’s the list of organizations I know about.  Did I miss any?

• Social Media Club |   http://www.socialmediaclub.org/ – My local branch in DC is pretty active: Shout to http://smcdc.wordpress.com.  They do many events around the DC area where digital marketing professionals can meet up to discuss best practices.  It feels a little less stuffy than the more developed associations but it depends on what you’re into.  I paid the membership fee immediately, because I could pay from PayPal!  You also get good discounts to events.  I’m not sure if I’m attending the online marketing summit, but it is one example of how joining the SMC could be a good thing.  http://www.onlinemarketingsummit.com/2010-washington-dc/
• American Marketing Association | http://www.marketingpower.com – I joined the AMA in 2006 and have been off and on with my membership.  They produce a quarterly journal that can be helpful.  They also have a great job board that is open to site visitors.
• Society of Digital Agencies | http://www.societyofdigitalagencies.org – I joined SoDA the earlier part of this year.  There was no membership fee, though I would have paid something for all the value I got.  They manage the site through a Ning network and did a awesome digital marketing outlook document.  Some people want to know that SoDA began as an Adobe venture but I don’t have a position on that.  It’s a great org that gives you access to great resources and allows you to contribute meaningfully. I cross post marketing blog posts on their site and check out the other contributors.

Are you:

• A marketing professional?
• Curious about why Americans are such consumers?
• Curious about how the masses bought in to democracy?
• In PR or any related field, (like marketing or communications)?
• Just curious about what I’m talking about now?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to watch a documentary that I’m watching.  It’s called – Century of the Self.  It was a British documentary that focused on the “engineering of consent” and the influence of the masses.

The eye-opening film shows how powerful people found ways to influence and in most cases manipulate the American people.

“Bernays had manipulated the American people, but he had done so because he, like many others at the time, believed that the interest of business and the interest of America were indivisible… but Bernays was convinced that to explain this rationally to the American people was impossible because they were not rational.  Instead one had to touch on their inner fears and manipulate them in the interest of a higher truth.”

The origins of this influence came from studies Sigmund Freud did in psychotherapy.  There was a focus on how to work of Sigmund Freud, his nephew Edward Bernays, and his daughter Anna Freud.  You can find the clips on YouTube and I’m going to do more posts about the marketing focused parts.  Stay tuned!

madia

I’ve been challenging myself to come up with one slide that shows the digital landscape and I think Brian and Jesse theconversationprism.com may have beat me to the punch, but I have trouble seeing this on a slide. It has to be on one slide. Anybody else seen anything great?

I’m working on something… something great.

I have long desired to work with other people who believe in the power of digital marketing as much as I do. Many of my posts have been geared towards selling people. I’ve been selling people on the idea that they have to accept digital marketing and create strategies to understand and take advantage of this new way to communicate the values of their brand. I’ve been selling colleagues and clients at work, on Twitter, on my personal blog, on my consulting blog, on blogs that I write for others.

And I’m not doing that anymore.

If the last five years haven’t proven to you that digital marketing (communications, media, etc…) is important, well I’m just not sure that reading my blog is going to be that convincing push you need.

Today, Feb. 23, 2010 I am shifting my focus. I am putting my energy into seeking out other people and organizations who believe to create an impact. I want to work with businesses who have a brand worth believing in to get them an audience of customers that share their values.

If that’s you… reach out. me@madialogan.com.