Be glad you aren’t Tony Hayward, CEO of BP, these days!  In his recent public response regarding the BP oil spill nightmare, he was quoted as saying, “I want my life back.”  Well, sorry Tony, but what’s done is done, and there is not much you can do now to rewind your life.  Instead, focus on fixing the situation, making things right with the public, and moving forward with your head held high.

This situation above was a hot topic at the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) conference, which was held at the Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Oregon, on June 16th.  During panel discussions at this informative conference, it was acknowledged that no business is perfect, and that it is wise to have an action plan prepared for when the fires do come.  With today’s ever present social media networks, it is simply impossible to hide your problems or brush them aside.  Therefore, the best response is to face them head on.   In a nutshell, don’t spin it . . . fix it (i.e., plug the leak!).

During the OMS session titled ‘Managing your Reputation via Search Engines and Social Media’, the message was conveyed that “a good defense is always a good offense.”  In other words, don’t wait until it is too late to put defensive measures in place.  For example, there are many websites with the URL www.(insertbrandname)sucks.com.   Often times, when a customer feels hurt or unfairly treated by a company, they will vent their frustrations in a public setting by creating a hate website.  One strategy to prevent this is for you to register as many domains as possible that include a combination of your brand name with negative connotations.

While you never want to ignore negativity connected to your brand, what happens when you do address issue, and it’s still all over the first page of Google search engine result pages (SERP’s)?  There are many strategies that you can employ to “push” negative content deeper within the SERP’s.  Start by listing your brand on as many social sites as possible.  Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter all rank well for branded searches, and will continue to do so as the popularity and strength of social media continues to thrive.  One tool that is especially helpful with this is www.knowem.com.   KnowEm.com checks more than 350 popular social media sites, and for a fee, will register your brand information on every site.

The way that Google delivers information to searchers is constantly evolving.  While before, there were only links on Google results pages, now there are also sponsored links, images, videos, recent news, local results, and even real-time Twitter results for popular trended topics.   Because of this plethora of information, it’s crucial to have your branded content be found within all these type of listings.  For example, BP is currently running Paid Search campaigns for the keyword “oil spill” and “BP” related searches, in an attempt to gain control of information across the online landscape by placing their own positive content within popular SERP’s.

Another take-away from this panel session was the importance of actively monitoring your brand name.  There are many tools that help with this, but a free one that works well is www.socialmention.com.  This application enables you to discover what is being said about your brand within social networks, and to stay informed on the sentiment of your audience.  Remember, not every negative comment is the end of the world.  Having some negative reviews can actually help build credibility.  Of course, the overwhelming majority of your reviews still need to be positive.  However, if a company does not have a single negative review, something may seem fishy, right?  Also, understand the strength of one person’s influence.  Not every disgruntled customer will be able effectively damage the reputation of your company.  As conveyed in the session, “If a tree falls in a forest and there is no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

In conclusion, never underestimate the effect that social media can have on your business and your brand.  Your advertising message can take on a whole new life of its own after your fans get a hold of it.  In today’s connected world, you no longer have a three person marketing department; you have a 23,000 person marketing department!

This was one of the many examples that speakers at the Social Fresh Portland conference, which took place last Monday here in Portland, used to describe the mistakes that many companies are making as they embark into the world of social media.  These days, in order to succeed online, businesses need to do more than just have a splashy Web site; they need to be highly social, as well.  Companies not pursuing a direct online relationship with their target audience and social communities are falling behind companies that have embraced Social Media Marketing.

However, brands can’t just jump into social networking communities blindly, and hope for the best.  Nor can they expect to formulate an action plan that aligns perfectly with their expected results.  In fact, the best social media campaigns begin with a solid strategy as a foundation, and then let their online communities and fans decide where it goes from there.  Being able to rapidly adjust and adapt to your target audiences is crucial for any company striving for social media success.

A perfect example of this was conveyed during the keynote presentation at Social Fresh Portland by Social Fresh founder Jason Keath.  During his delivery, he presented a video that demonstrated that losing control of a social media campaign isn’t always a bad thing.   An example of this fact can be seen an interesting story about Greenpeace, and a whale named ‘Mr. Splashy Pants’

Next up on the docket was Richard Foo, Global Brand Marketing IT Director at Nike.  Richard has been at the forefront of a massive restructuring of Nike’s internal business platform in an effort to make it more social.  The active apparel company has implemented a model similar to Flickr, where everything is categorized by tags, and not by folders.  Richard conveyed that his goal is to create a more social online experience for Nike employees, similar to the conversational feedback that Nike customers experience on their Web site.  He put forth that, since Nike’s customers are desiring a more social experience online, then his staff should operate in this fashion, as well.

Richard’s reasoning behind this shift is to implement a more social platform that encourages employee interaction and connectivity.  He stated that employees know less about their co-workers than they do about friends they haven’t seen in ten years due to how impersonal most businesses have become.  He also didn’t want to have employees currently using new social networking channels and platforms at home, but not using them throughout their workday.  “Employees are consumers, too,” exclaimed Richard.  “They are social.  Not having social business software is like being the last company in an industry to get e-mail.”

Of course, not every company has the resources to implement an internal system such as the internal social platform at Nike.  However, the importance of being innovative is the point that Richard was trying to get across.  A lot of Nike’s success has been due to their desire to always be one step ahead of their competition.  “The best way for us to predict the future is to create it,” Richard added.

Richard Foo then presented a great example of an innovative, successful social media campaign implemented by Nike.  For the NBA All-Star weekend this year, Nike wanted to do something big to celebrate 25 years of working with Michael Jordan.  To do so, they created a social mosaic focused exclusively on Jordan, and turned it into a massive, interactive touch-screen, Through online social promotion, more than 100,000 fans participated in the creation the Jumpman 23 Mosaic.

A significant amount of time at Social Fresh Portland was spent discussing the ROI through social media.  How does today’s Internet marketer convince his/her boss that social media is a worthwhile endeavor? Most companies want to relate everything back to ROI to prove its effectiveness compared to other forms of marketing. Sean O’Driscoll from Ant’s Eye View separated this matter into three distinct types of questions that most CEO’s want to know about social media ROI:

1. Analytics questions – How much traffic will it drive? Will these visitors convert to customers?

2. Business questions – Is it driving sales?  How many employees will we need to hire to manage this?

3. Resistance questions – Why do we need this?  What if it backfires?  Why don’t customers just call us if they need to get a hold of us?

Resistance questions are the most common type of ROI questions. Many businesses view social media as a passing trend or just a fad that doesn’t fit in with their long-term objectives.  Overall, it’s not going to be easy to win an argument that being on Twitter is going to increase revenue by such and such percent.  However, you really do not have to address this fact if you can convey the positive effect upon brand awareness and direct contact with a brand’s target audience that can be gained through Social Media Marketing.

It all starts at the beginning by establishing proper goals.  “Having trouble determining ROI is not necessarily a tools problem, but a goals problem,” stated Sean O’Driscoll. “If we’re all using different tools to measure our effect, then there probably isn’t a right tool to use.” Instead of worrying about tools, focus on defining metrics, and following the following three steps towards building online communities: 1. helping, 2. Learning, and, then 3. sharing. Note that you can’t just jump to sharing. You have to meet basic needs first.

It’s also important to measure the effect of social media on other areas of your business.  For example, even if Twitter doesn’t show a strong ROI, how else is it helping advance your brand? Maybe it’s driving call-center costs down, or helping to improve customer sentiment.  Sean presented a situation at Comcast as an example.  Comcast had a terrible customer relations reputation for quite some time.  However, through Social Media Marketing, they were able to turn this negative sentiment into something positive.  They accomplished this by creating @comcastcares to give customers an easy way to contact the company for customer support. Comcast has done a great job implementing this solution, and their brand image has been greatly strengthened as a result.

Another key factor take into account is to understand where your brand’s target audience is socializing online. Yes, you should have a Facebook page and a Twitter account, but don’t just stop there.  There are many other social sites, such as www.Ravelry.com, that are specifically for niche audiences.  Ravelry is a social networking site for fans of knitting, which makes it a very relevant site for yarn or craft brands.  If that’s where your customers are, meet them there! Also, don’t overlook one-on-one connections that can be built through social media.  Personal outreach is huge for increasing your number of loyal fans.  Even little things, such as saying ‘thank you’, can often have a major effect.  A speaker at this conference mentioned that he measured a 30% increase in interactivity as a result of thanking fans on social networking sites. Say ‘thank you’ to your community, and engagement will increase.

The final point I took away from Social Fresh Portland pertains to what not to do in social media.  A presentation of the current mess created by Nestle is a perfect example a poorly executed Social Media Marketing campaign.

To reiterate the first point of this blog post, you can’t always maintain complete control of a social media campaign. Once something goes viral, you no longer control it; fans do.  At this crucial point in a campaign, it can become a public relations nightmare if not managed appropriately.  The key takeaway here is that you may not always be able avoid a crisis, however you need to have a plan for how to address one if it does come up.

It’s also important not to over-react to negative comments by arguing with fans.  Sometimes, companies make mistakes.  They need to understand that it’s OK to be honest with your audience, and admit when you’ve screwed-up.  By rapidly addressing the situation, you can deliver a positive response to your online community.  As conveyed by Amer Naslund with Radian6, “The cardinal sin in social media is silence.”

Each week my feed reader and email inbox fill up with great links on search engine optimization, paid search marketing, social media marketing, and general search industry news. Many of the links become popular on sites like Sphinn, and others end up flying under the radar.  Each week I am going to highlight articles, blog posts, and online discussions that I feel are particularly valuable.  So without further ado, here are this week’s trophy links:

The X Factor: Your SEM program is doomed

Sean X Cummings writes:

SEM is all about efficiency. It may not be the ad venue that’s glamorous, and you’re not going to be able to point to the television or billboard and brag as you tell your friends you did that. But if you start strategically and approach the process diligently, you will see better results with less of a headache.

15 Internet Sites That Can Make or Break Your Brand

Todd Mintz & Brian Provost write:

…profound business implications can occur for brands that become the topic of discussion on certain influential Web sites.

The secret to paid search: treat it like a media buy

Michael Hubbard writes:

Approaching search like a media buy helps increase your brand awareness while delivering ROI via leveraging your other online media buys. By supporting and optimizing search in this way, you can end up with increased conversions and drive brand name searches up even when the industry search trends are flat.

The purpose for this post is to evaluate the effectiveness of Trackur.com as an Online Reputation Management (ORM) tool. We, at EngineWorks, currently use this ORM tracking application to gain a broad view of online mentions or links pertaining to our clients’ presence across the Internet.

We love Trackur
(To it put succinctly!) Andy Beal, founder of Trackur.com, has developed a fantastic tool for search marketing professionals. One that can be used to add tremendous value to client relationships.

Trackur is better than the rest.
Today’s blended search results provide online marketers plenty of opportunities to have alternative content represented in the top 10 search results. However, they also can allow negative consumer-generated content, including videos, press releases, RSS blog feeds, etc., to be pushed to the top of Natural search results.

Andy Beal points-out that his tool is different from Google Alerts by stating the following: “Trackur goes beyond just Google content. It tracks images, videos, Digg, del.icio.us, Twitter, as well as the usual news and blog stuff.” Trackur allows you to see, with good clarity, what people are saying about your company, brands, and services across the diverse Internet landscape.

Understanding how a community communicates is the first step to an effective ORM strategy. Followed by detailed tracking. Trackur delivers on both of these critical components.

Value to clients

We use Trackur in conjunction with several other proprietary applications to understand our clients’ current presence online, and to efficiently monitor their image and reputation. With Trackur, we are able to immediately identify potential challenges to a client’s reputation. In turn, we can rapidly engage with the company, and implement a strategic plan-of-action to minimize any negative impact.

Learn more about Online Reputation Management services
Our experienced ORM specialists can help you put together a well-thought-out reputation management plan to maintain your favorable image and reputation, and to ensure that if the proverbial (insert explicative here) ever hits the fan – your company is prepared. Request a consultation.

Unfortunately, many companies do. The explosive growth of social media has created numerous opportunities for consumers to broadcast their opinions over the Internet. With the introduction of “blended” or “universal” search, it is now common for video, pictures, news items and alternative content, to show up in the search engine results pages (SERPs). A company that has spent years managing their brand’s reputation can be ruined by a single piece of negative content. Is it possible for a company to monitor and manage these issues? Yes, through Online Reputation Management (ORM).

Online Reputation Management

ORM is a hot sector of search marketing. A combination of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and traditional Public Relations, ORM leverages numerous online sources to minimize and address inflammatory consumer comments while proactively capitalizing on positive comments. Additionally, ORM provides piece of mind, allowing you to monitor every mention of your brand which in turn helps you tailor your marketing message.

Plan for Reputation Management

ORM involves continually monitoring mentions of your brand, identifying positive and negative information and the source of that information, and addressing any issues. ORM also requires a well-conceived plan of action for your company and your company’s employees.

How Do You Monitor Reputation Online?

It only takes a few hours for a story to be shared and posted on 100s of blogs and in 1,000s of media outlets. So how do you monitor this?

EngineWorks develops a list of sites, media outlets, and tools that are constantly monitored. A few examples include:

• General RSS Aggregators – Sites like Technorati.
• Social Media – Sites in your niche, like Kirtsy, Digg or Reddit.
• Buzz Sites – Yahoo Buzz or Google Hot Trends are a few of our favorites.
• Reputation Management Applications – Applications such as Andy Beal’s Trackur.

Engage and Solve the Problem

To ensure that your audience finds favorable information pertaining to your brand within the SERPs, proactive management is required. Strategies for addressing positive and negative results include:

• Search Engine Optimization - Optimize your Web presence. This includes your corporate site, blogs, communities, and micro-sites. The goal is to control as much of the SERPs as possible.
• Leverage Social Media – Actively participate in relevant social networks, industry blogs, and targeted forums. By simply participating in these communities and addressing comments you may be able to avoid major issues.
• Write Strategic Content – Is there a particular theme which arises on a regular basis? Are people complaining about a certain incident? Write strategic content which addresses these issues. Make sure your audience knows you are aware of the problem and are addressing it.

Want to Learn More?

EngineWorks can help you put together a plan of action, so that when the proverbial (insert explicative here) hits the fan – your company is prepared. Request a consultation.