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The End of Link Building as We’ve Known and Loved it

30 Jan 2012

The process has already started, and as a publisher you need to make sure you are adapting your marketing strategy to line up, or get left behind.

Google made the link building algorithm popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was a revolution in its time because it provided search engines with a method for identifying the most important web pages for a given topic. However, as has been well documented, spammers have assaulted the algorithm with a wide variety of methods for buying links or creating them in other ways that don’t work for the algorithms.

Even if you generate all your links in a pure white hat way, through reaching out to site owners and requesting them without compensation, or are doing high quality guest posts, you aren’t necessarily generating the best possible signal for search engines. Certainly this type of link building done properly would not be a violation of the Webmaster Guidelines, but from the perspective of the search engines it also doesn’t represent a groundswell of opinion raving about your product. It still means something, but it is brute force driven through your efforts, rather than resulting from the enthusiasm of your audience.

I don’t believe that search engines will penalize people who link build this way, but I think they will value the link profile that is manually built less than one that obtains unsolicited endorsements from the web.

Author: Eric Enge

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=5564347457074110468&ids=0UdzgMcj4QdP0TdjgTd3cQdzkRb3oSe30UcPsRczkRcP8UdzgSdjkId30VczcUdz8Sdj8Sdz0Td3oRdiMRcjcPe3cVcj8TejwMcjkOdzkRb3wPdPwPc3ATcP8Ocj8OcPgSdjkIejgOc34QczwTdP8SczAQd3oRdiMNczsQd3kVc3wSdz8MejgOdzkR&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod2-b-ttl-6&ut=2m5VGEJQELrl41

Four Seasons Embraces Digital Marketing, Virtual Experiences

Posted By: Stevens & Tate Category: Ad Agency| Advertising consultants| Chicago Ad Agency

16 Jan 2012

Before they arrive, visitors to the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts are enticed by a slew of virtual and real experiences. There are wine tastings on Twitter, the mobile hot-chocolate bar in Chicago and the opportunity to release floating lanterns at a Thai property’s tropical festival of lights.

“We create personal experiences,” said Susan Helstab, a 25-year veteran of Four Seasons. Named VP-marketing three years ago, she oversees global sales and marketing from the company’s Toronto headquarters.

Ms. Helstab spends two-thirds of her time visiting the 35 countries where Four Seasons operates. Traveling to exotic destinations like Bora Bora is simply part of the job.

With half of Four Seasons’ marketing budget devoted to digital channels, its launch of a revamped website this month is a milestone. It will incorporate user-generated reviews — still somewhat unusual for luxury brands. Marketers in the category have historically guarded their brands and trademarks closely.

“We’ve taken a leading position in creating different kinds of engagement opportunities,” Ms. Helstab said.

One example is the Twitter wine tastings. Introduced two years ago, the event attracted 14 of Four Seasons’ 86 hotels last year. “You can get the wine yourself, and taste it and listen to the description and evaluations [on Twitter], or you can go to the participating hotels,” Ms. Helstab explained.

By: Frederic Colas

Have you ever wondered who was the builder of your home? And I also am betting that you know more about your car than the biggest purchase of your life. Why is that? Branding the American Dream isn’t any less important as your disposal car. You probably have researched your flat panel television maker more than what insulation was used in your home.

Here is an interesting fact. General Motors spends THREE BILLION dollars on media every year. Chevrolet spends close to ONE BILLION. Homebuilders spend between 80- 90% less in marketing dollars to help brand their offerings. Typically everyone buys a car within their lifetime, probably 50% buy a new car, yet SEVEN MILLION new homes were built last year in a terrible economy and I am betting again, you can’t name four builders in your area.

In my opinion this is a HUGE opportunity for any homebuilder to take hold of America and brand itself so its top of mind when you are searching for your next home. Yes, it takes capital and heavy marketing. Which reminds me of this story about cutting your loses:

GM had invented the first electric car. When doing the math, they came to realize they would lose 200 million dollars if they released that car. They were so proud of figuring out how the battery compartment fit that they overlooked of how the board would scratch the project. Toyota heard about this advancement in transportation technology and went to town inventing the Prius. Of course they knew they were going to lose 200 million dollars the first year, however, that did not stop them. They realized that year three and four would be when America would catch up to the idea and Toyota would be the FIRST to own the brand of ELECTRIC. The president wanted electric and Toyota to be synonyms. The rest is history.

Today when you think of Electric do you think General Motors?

When you tell people about your car, you know the brand, everything in that brand, features, history, and brag about the service department. When you buy a house you simple buy a house. Do you see the opportunity?

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This time of year can terrify even the most seasoned builder and senior housing marketers…it’s the heart of the dreaded planning season! Don’t fear; there are ways to make the experience less frightful and more insightful. Here are some things to consider as you approach 2012.

Is your spending mix designed to optimize results for how media is consumed today or are you relying too much on what has worked in the past? There’s a new media mix—and it is far different than ever before, with more media channels, more devices, and even more opportunities to connect with home shoppers. How do you find the most effective balance within a budget that makes sense now?

Take social marketing, for example, which has completely redefined the digital media space. Many builders are still struggling to understand how to monetize social media. The key is to treat it like any other corporate initiative—establish a business and messaging strategy that elevates your brand and execute on it. Read the rest of this entry »

LOMBARD, ILL., October 28, 2011 – Stevens & Tate Marketing, a full-service advertising agency offering award-winning marketing strategies, has published a white paper titled “The Power of People: Social Media for 2011 and Beyond.” This white paper addresses several aspects of the new social media mix including: social environment, consumer behavior, benefits of being social, social involvement ladder, valuable ways to use social media, and how to measure results.

According to Dan Gartlan, Stevens & Tate president, the social media white paper is the latest educational tool the company has employed to assist marketers by providing them with valuable insights. He believes that every executive looking to move their business forward—not just marketing professionals can benefit from learning more about this rapidly growing and changing media vehicle.

“Companies are still struggling to understand how to monetize social media,” he said. “The key is to treat social marketing like any other corporate initiative—establish a business and messaging strategy that elevates the brand and execute on it.” Read the rest of this entry »

During a recent webinar from Covario, over 100 digital marketers were asked what the main goal of their Facebook page is. The results aren’t surprising. In general, driving sales is the No. 1 priority of digital marketers’ social media programs. However, 45 percent of the respondents said driving engagement and brand awareness is their top priority.

This is important because as much as we’d like to be able to benchmark advertisers based on their ability to drive sales via Facebook, that data typically isn’t available to the public. Therefore, competitive benchmarking must be done on advertisers’ behalf to drive soft metrics like fans and engagement relative to their overall brand presentation on Facebook. Read the rest of this entry »

B2B Marketing: Content Marketing Key to B2B Sales Funnel

25 Oct 2011

Lead generation, nurture both benefit from content marketing

With the average cost per lead increasing and marketers competing for buyer attention, traditional lead generation tactics are no longer enough. Business-to-business (B2B) companies are looking to content marketing to boost their lead generation efforts.

“Informative, nonpromotional content in the form of webinars, white papers, videos, blogs and peer recommendations on social networks and forums can attract prospects,” said eMarketer’s Lauren Fisher, author of the new report, “B2B Lead Generation: Using Content to Acquire Customers.” “It can also be used to build and maintain ongoing relationships with potential buyers—a must for remaining top of mind throughout the purchase process.” Read the rest of this entry »

Older Entries

Erik: I don't think it's so much of an outpouring of support for the old logo, but rather a great disdain [...]

Erik: Working with the right vendors that can help develop high-profile, creative packaging solutions at a [...]

Erik: I need a clarification. It appears that you're saying that visual design of a web page will indirect [...]

Erik: These are all great suggestions. Like any successful marketing campaign, using Facebook requires a c [...]

JassiMostru: Hi Very nice and intrestingss story. [...]

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