The Search vol 12: Top Online Marketing Articles

January 31st, 2012 | Posted by

Welcome to the twelfth edition of The Search, a weekly recap of all the interesting posts from the areas we deal with most: paid search, web analytics, social media, SEO, email, and mobile marketing. Check back each week to stay on top of the latest and greatest techniques in online marketing so that you can improve your skills and better serve your clients. Enjoy!

Paid Search

Search Engine Optimization

Social Media

Mobile

Email

Web Analytics

Post Category: Marketing Tips —

Recap on the MnSearch Inaugural Event with Raven’s Taylor Pratt

January 27th, 2012 | Posted by

Three Deep was very excited to host the inaugural event for the Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association (MnSearch) last night. The event featured Taylor Pratt of Raven Internet Tools, and it was definitely a full house! We had 106 people in attendance along with a few of Three Deep’s own crew, and 14 people watching the event via streaming video.

The space was packed, but so was Taylor’s presentation on SEO tools, ranging from keyword research to conversion tools, and even PPC tools! It was a comprehensive overview of the quality tools in the industry and Taylor’s own tips on what to look for in the technology. The slides can be found on Slideshare. Trust us, there are a lot of fantastic tools to take a look at!

After his presentation, Taylor gave a great demo of Raven’s suite of tools to anyone who wished to learn more about what Raven had to offer.

Photos from the MnSearch Event

MnSearch Photo from Josh Braaten

Photo taken by @jlbraaten

Mn Search Photo by Paul DeBettignies

Photo taken by @MnHeadhunter

MnSearch Photo by Luke Kuhlman

Photo taken by @causinruckus

What did you think?

So far, all of the feedback we’ve received about the event has been extremely positive. If you attended the event, or watched it via live streaming, what did you think of the event? Do you believe that you will take part in future MnSearch events? Sound off in the comments!

A big thanks to Taylor Pratt for being a part of this inaugural event, and to the MnSearch group for allowing us to take part in it! We can’t wait to help with more events in the future.

Post Category: Events —

Three Deep Welcomes MnSearch!

January 12th, 2012 | Posted by

Since our founding, Three Deep has made it part of our mission to have an active role in the marketing associations of the area. With search marketing part of our core set of services, we are proud to be a part of the Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association launch, and very excited to host their first event at our offices on January 26th.

How To Choose The Right SEO Tool

The MnSearch group will be welcoming Taylor Pratt, the VP of Product Marketing for Raven Internet Tools. Taylor will be discussing the ever important topic of search marketing: How To Choose The Right Tool? Taylor will address the variety of options open to you and your company to better optimize your website(s) for search. As an added bonus, Taylor will be available after the presentation to walk through the capabilities of Raven’s suite of tools and answer any of your questions.

About Taylor Pratt

Taylor is the Vice President of Product Marketing for Raven Internet Tools. Before coming to Raven, Taylor served as a senior search specialist for both nFusion and LunaMetrics. At Raven, he promotes the use of conversion-focused, analytics-based SEO for clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

 

Launching MnSearch

We are also proud to be a part of the official launch of MnSearch. Three Deep has been a part of the beginnings of the Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association, with our own Jeff Sauer as a board member. Jeff and other members of the MnSearch board will be on hand to answer all of your questions about the new organization and how you can get involved.

Ready to Sign Up?

If you’re thinking that this is an event that you definitely want to attend, we encourage you to register for this event! We look forward to welcoming you to our offices! 15 tickets remain as of this posting, so sign up soon!

MnSearch Logo

Post Category: Events —

Google+ For Business: An Online Marketing Perspective

January 5th, 2012 | Posted by

With the release of Google+ pages for business, many companies may be wondering whether a page is right for their business, and how they can most effectively use this tool to enhance their online marketing efforts.  While the benefits of having a Google+ page for a business are still being discovered by most companies, there are a few very clear opportunities for businesses to succeed using Google+ for business.

Here are the top 4 reasons as we see them:

SEO Enhancements

By using Google+ to post and promote your website content, you are allowing Google to directly understand the impact and popularity of the content you provide.  There have been strong indications that if many influential users of Google+ post links to your content, Google will rank your pages higher in organic search results.  Since Google owns all of this data and factors it into their search results, adopting this platform becomes extremely important for brands wishing to achieve SEO success.

Understand Who Shares Your Content with Google+ Ripples

When great content is posted to Google+, there is a good chance that it will be shared by others in your Google+ circles. This was very much a nebulous activity that took time and effort to measure how content spread throughout a social graph.  Google+ has added a feature called Ripples that creates a gorgeous illustration of how content is spread across the network.  Use this information to target influencers and work with the to help promote future content.

 

Paid Search Enhancements through Social Extensions

In order to link Google+ data with paid search efforts, Google AdWords has recently enabled a feature called Social Ad Extensions.  Enabling this feature allows an advertiser to display the number of people who have subscribed to a businesses Google+ page inside of the ad unit as a +1.  This was previously reserved only for people giving a +1 to a single landing page.  Now you can display a much larger +1 count based on the total number of followers on Google+.  This brings instant credibility and differentiation to advertisers active on Google+

Google+ Hangouts to Deeply Connect with Customers

While a one-on-one connection with consumers is a great goal for companies, often connecting on a one-on-one basis with customers can be expensive and requires a huge commitment.  One way to make this more palatable for businesses is to arrange a Google+ hangout, where they can talk with a group of people in a single setting.  You could have a hangout between fans and product development teams, customer service, spokespeople, marketing – anyone really!

Google+ Hangouts can provide a way for companies to spontaneously and genuinely connect with their biggest supporters, or even turn casual fans into brand advocates.

More to Come

Google is making a huge push to integrate Google+ into their entire portfolio of products and services.  Unlike their previous forays into social networking, Google+ has already seen wide adoption and support, and is going to be baked into everything Google does moving forward.  Early adopters of the service can really get ahead of the game by embracing features that provide short term benefits, while amassing a list of loyal fans to help spread the word about future initiatives.  Companies that are serious about the future of their search marketing programs really need to consider making a push into Google+.

Post Category: Base —

MIMA Summit 2011: Re-Thinking Email Innovations

October 24th, 2011 | Posted by

I attended the 10th Annual MIMA Summit last week and a lot has changed since the last time I attended in 2009. Mainly, the number of presenters and attendees has steadily increased though one thing remained constant: the presenters did not divulge their top secrets. After going to close to 2-4 conferences and workshops a year for the past 4-5 years I have learned that the people presenting will rarely offer their specific marketing formulas to success. Which is fine, because I also would not give away my secret tips and tricks unless there was an opportunity to work together, so I look for presenters to offer different ways to approach basic themes and topics… bottom line, I enjoy the thought provoking presenters. If the presenter can make me re-think something I previously had a firm opinion on, I appreciate it.

Re-Thinking Email with Dela Quist Headshot of Dela Quist for 2011 MIMA Summit

That is the main reason I enjoyed Dela Quist’s presentation at the MIMA Summit. Dela is the founder and CEO of Alchemy Worx in London which, according to its website, is the only digital marketing agency with a 100% focus on email marketing. Like most presenters, he did not give specific details on what his agency does to drive results for their clients; however he did present the theory of the Nudge Effect, which is the influence of subject lines in unopened emails on recipients.

The Nudge Effect

Since most emails go unopened, subject lines should be viewed as opportunities to influence future consumer behavior through on and offline channels. The challenge in optimizing the subject line for future behavior is to provide enough information that the subscriber retains in and acts on in. Some examples are: “Best deals in store all week” and “Huge savings this weekend only online”. The recipient may not open the email but knows to go to the store or online for savings, promoting future engagement in both off and online channels… and what I particularly like the most, you can attribute the email back to an increase in online and in-store sales.

Another example of subject lines influencing future behavior is to include a certain phrase or word in every subject line. For example, if you are promoting recipes, why not include, “Best recipes – …” at the beginning of every subject line? The point is that even though the recipient does not open the email, they continually see Best recipes next to your brand name in the from-address and will think of your brand when they need a recipe in the future. I have to be honest that initially I was a little skeptic on the idea because the repetition lacks any creativity; however I warmed up to the idea after thinking about it and applying to a testing scenario. Why not apply it to a historically less engaged segment? It may not necessarily spark opens and clicks on that email, but it may drive traffic to the website or store?

Reflection on Dela Quist’s Presentation

So how did this provoke thought in me? Like I mentioned above, perhaps incorporating a repetitive phrase in the subject line in less engaged segments will generate interaction, but more specifically it could be another testing or segmentation strategy. The bottom line is that the Nudge Effect is not a silver bullet for email strategy; however it is something to take it into consideration when developing email tactics.

Did you attend Dela Quist’s presentation at the MIMA Summit? We’d love to know your thoughts! Feel free to share in the comments below.

View more MIMA Summit posts.

Post Category: Email Marketing,Marketing Events — Post Tags: , —

Plugging Three Deep into the Minneapolis Speaking Circuit and Beyond

October 21st, 2011 | Posted by

Hi, I’m Jeff.  You haven’t heard from me in a long time on this blog, but rest assured, I have been involved with a flurry of activity over the past few weeks from local events to nationwide webinars and more.

For the month of October, Three Deep has committed to no less than 10 speaking engagements, award ceremonies, industry events, sales meetings and educational opportunities.  It has been an exhausting month, but it has also been very fulfilling!

Fast 50 Awards Ceremony – October 6, 2011

Three Deep finished #6 on the list of the Twin Cities 50 fastest growing companies.  This was our first time applying for the event, and we were very excited to receive local recognition.  We look forward to being on the list again next year – maybe even higher!

Check out our write up in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

MIMA Summit Intensive Workshops – October 11, 2011

As a speaker at the 2010 MIMA Summit and current MIMA board member, I wasn’t sure that I would be invited back to do a workshop this year.  The good news is that not only was I invited back, but my session was popular both in person and on the web.  It currently has over 53,000 views on Slideshare!

Google Analytics: Going Beyond Traffic | MIMA Summit 2011

View more presentations from Three Deep Marketing

MIMA Summit – October 12, 2011

This was my “day off” where all I was expected to do was represent MIMA to our speakers, sponsors and membership… And give introductions to two people I look up to: Marty Weintraub and Rand Fishkin.  I also got to talk with Avinash Kaushik, the Michael Jordan of web analytics.  The highlight was going to dinner with Rand Fishkin, who is an all around great guy.

Three Deepers meet Rand Fishkin

Three Deepers meet Rand Fishkin

Google Think Branding in NYC – October 13, 2011

After about 5 hours to sleep off the Summit I headed out to New York to join clients, colleagues and friends at Google’s Port Authority offices.  The event was private, so I can’t share any details, but I can share that the key message of the session was reaching customers at the ZMOT.  What is ZMOT?  Well, it’s the Zero Moment of Truth, the time before visiting a retail store when a consumer makes their decisions about what to buy.  Guess how they make decisions?  Online!

Business Marketing Association of MN Panel on Social Media – October 18, 2011

This was arranged by friend of Three Deep, Colleen Foster and was my first BMA event.  My role was to moderate the event on Social Media for Business to Business (B2B) organizations.  We saw great case studies from 3M Interactive and Ergotron on how they have been able to use social media to bring revenue and cost savings to their business. To paraphrase a member of the crowd “This is my first BMA event, and if this is the quality of production you put on every month, I will be joining your organization and coming to a lot more events”

I have a feeling that I will be more involved as well!

James Hardie Social Media for Home Improvement Webinar – October 19, 2011

You may have seen James Hardie more than you have heard of it.  They make beautiful and long lasting exteriors for homes.  They also have been doing a great job of educating home improvement contractors on how to be better marketers. In September, Tom Audette from Three Deep hosted a webinar on online marketing.  This month we were asked back to talk about social media where we provided some great examples of social media for the home improvement industry.  Check out our 55 minute webinar below!

University of St. Thomas MBA Lunch and Learn – October 20, 2011

You either love your alma mater or are indifferent.  I love mine, so I take every chance I can get to give back to the community that gave me many major life and business skills.  The presentation was to 15 MBA’s who are interested in career opportunities in Interactive marketing.  I provided stories about how Three Deep became a company, my career path, and what we look for in new candidates.

They must have taken the advice to heart, because I got 5 business cards and 6 LinkedIn invites within hours of the session!

Google Analytics Training – October 25, 2011

Ever since we became a Google Analytics Certified Partner in 2009, we have received many requests for Google Analytics training.  We didn’t have anything to give them until we partnered up with Demandquest to offer Google Analytics Training in Minneapolis.  Depending on demand for future sessions and turnout, it would be great to do these educational events every 3-6 months.

Guest Blogs

Without even knowing it, I posted more on external blogs than I did on my personal blog or Three Deep:

Everything Else

Met with two of the largest insurance companies in the US, had introductions with three Minnesota based Fortune 500 companies and I will be doing a lunch and learn with a local PR firm.  Oh yeah, I’m also a groomsman in the wedding of a fellow Partner at Three Deep.

October has been a jam packed month, but it has also been among the most exciting months we’ve had at Three Deep.  Now we just need to figure out how to top it in November and beyond!

 

Post Category: Company,Events — Post Tags: , , , —

The Search vol 11: Top Online Marketing Articles

September 28th, 2011 | Posted by

Welcome to the eleventh edition of The Search, a weekly recap of all the interesting posts from the areas we deal with most: paid search, project management, social media, SEO, email, and mobile marketing. Check back each week to stay on top of the latest and greatest techniques in online marketing so that you can improve your skills and better serve your clients. Enjoy!

Paid Search

Search Engine Optimization

Social Media

Mobile

Email

Web Analytics

 

Post Category: Base,Marketing Tips —

Facebook Ads Effectiveness

September 19th, 2011 | Posted by

Is Facebook a viable advertising platform? Are Facebook Ads effective?

As search engine marketers, we find ourselves when talking about any new ad platform asking: will it be effective? Given the popularity and mass adoption of Facebook, it is logical that there are many conversations about the effectiveness of Facebook Ads. Here is how we’ve focused on this conversation.

Are Facebook Ads Effective?

Two Common Scenarios

When evaluating Facebook ads’ effectiveness, we consider two common scenarios for people or businesses considering Facebook as an advertising platform:

    1. I have a Facebook Page and I want more fans.
    2. I have a website and I want more traffic.

In regards to #1 the clear answer is: Yes, for driving your desired conversions (fans), Facebook will be the most effective advertising platform.

#2 has a slightly more complex answer. The effectiveness of Facebook ads depends on your target demographic. Facebook is no longer the home of teens, it’s the home of everyone! From teens to men and women in their later 50s, they are on Facebook. You can target on city, education, workplace, language and personal interests! It’s hard to imagine a demographic that couldn’t be effective.

Facebook ads can lead a visitor from one page on the site to your brand or organization’s Facebook page. Or an ad can lead them from a page to an external website. These internal and external ads are both effective and can bring about an effective return on your investment.

Two Questions for Facebook Ads

The greatest question with any advertising campaign is: what is your objective? This will greatly influence the direction your Facebook ad campaigns will take.

  • Are you looking to build a community?
  • Are you looking to build loyalty?
  • Is there another objective in mind?

The next question is: who are you trying to reach?

As we mentioned before, Facebook allows for very specific ad targeting:

  • Country
  • State
  • City
  • Education
  • Relationship status; dating, engaged, married
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Workplace
  • Personal interests: from hobbies to actors to competitors of your company.

Will My Facebook Ads Be Effective?

Once you have these questions truthfully answered and a campaign set up to match it, there’s nothing that should hold your Facebook ads from being effective. If your objectives match your targeting, we believe you can find success in Facebook advertising.

What’s your story in regards to Facebook ads and their effectiveness? Have you seen great results, or are still trying to figure out how to improve your ads? Leave us a comment, we would love to hear what others have to say about their experience with Facebook advertising!

Post Category: Advertising,Facebook,Facebook Advertising — Post Tags: , , , —

A Home Improvement Blog — Your Best Way To Increase SEO

September 15th, 2011 | Posted by

home improvement contractor for blog post

Are you considering adding a home improvement blog to your website to increase your SEO efforts? As a company specializing in online marketing for home improvement companies, we would like to outline what a home improvement blog would do for your SEO.

Objectives of Home Improvement Online Marketing

Often times when we first start talking to a home improvement client about their online goals, one of the first things we hear them say is something to the effect of the following:

  • “I want to get my website to show up #1 on Google”
  • “I want to dominate the Internet”
  • “I want to show up higher than my competitors”

This usually triggers a 5 Step Website Effectiveness Audit of the Client’s current website by the Three Deep team.  When we look at a company website we look at it from both a technical Search Engine Optimization standpoint, but also with respect to the actual content on the site. Very generally, most home improvement retailer websites are still very behind the times from an Internet effectiveness standpoint.  We look at upwards of 150 retail home improvement sites a year.  The vast majority of those sites, to quote the CEO of Forrester Research, are “hard to use, confusing to the visitor, poorly designed and cast an unfavorable shadow on the brand.”   With respect to the search engine optimization of the sites we look at, it is quite common that including proper SEO best practices was never even part of the original site development.

Up until a few years ago, designing an effective website; one that gets found and ranked by the search engines, and also is effective in converting site visitors into actual prospects was not even a strategic priority for a lot of  contractors.  Now days, with the effectiveness of traditional lead generation methods like print, TV, and direct mail declining, home improvement contractors are looking to expand their Internet presence and talking to companies like Three Deep.  We see the industry quickly being segmented into two groups; those companies that embrace the web and have a well rounded customer acquisition strategy based upon driving traffic and generating leads, and those with no coherent strategy at all.  We have several case studies of clients who now are generating more than 25% of their total sales from online sources.  For most home improvement companies, the Internet represents the single biggest opportunity for future sales growth.  Getting there takes dedicated financial and personnel resources, “hope” is not a strategy!  We know that many business owners expect immediate results, but that mindset clashes with the view that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.

The Best Way to Increase SEO for Your Home Improvement Business

At the outset, let me say this:  SEO is hard work.  There is a perception out there that getting good organic search rankings is easy and can happen overnight.  Nothing is further from the truth!  We’ll talk with a client who says “I want to get to number 1 in my market on Google.”  When we look at his 5-10 page website, we’ll quickly find its technical SEO components; title tags, meta descriptions, keywords, header text, etc. to be completely missing or fundamentally flawed.  Those items can be fixed relatively quickly.  But the most pressing issue is that the site usually lacks good content.  In fact, it seems to be a general practice among many contractors to simply copy content from a manufacturer’s product website and post it on their own site — verbatim.  Duplicate content, text or words that exist somewhere else on the web provides virtually no SEO benefit at all!  Getting fresh, original, engaging content on a website is where the heavy lifting really is.  Quite frankly, it usually requires a substantial copywriting effort on the part of someone, either the business owner himself or a professional — either way it’s a big investment of time and resources.

One recommendation that we’ll tell our home improvement clients that they can do to increase their organic search rankings is to start writing a blog.  A home improvement blog, if incorporated into a client’s website, can serve a number of purposes.  First it is a great way to add original, fresh content to a website.  Each new blog post will be seen by the search engines as a new web page.  The search engines like seeing sites that are constantly being updated.  By writing just two new blog posts a month a company would add 24 new site pages at the end of one year. Home improvement blog posts can also be syndicated out to company Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts, allowing that content to be seen (and shared) by an even wider audience.  A third, and possibly the biggest benefit of a blog is that it allows a company to target the actual keyword traffic they want to achieve search rankings website to appear.  Well-written blog posts will have good keyword usage in the copy itself. For example, if you are reading this post you likely did a Google search for a home improvement blogging or home improvement search optimization related keyword….you found our blog, if you are interested in learning more about our services you’ll probably visit our website and maybe you’ll even contact us?

Why You Should Have a Home Improvement Blog

When we mention the benefits of blogging to Clients, the first response we’ll usually get is some type of reason why they can’t do it:

  • “I don’t have the time to write a blog.”
  • “I don’t have anything to write about.”
  • “I’m not a good writer.”

The fact is that in 2011, without fresh, original content regularly being added to your website, you simply will not achieve good search rankings. A well-written and regularly updated blog will help you reach those local consumers making “long tail” searches around windows, siding, roofing, bathroom remodeling in your area — the exact prospects you are looking for!  Writing copy that is engaging will stimulate them to learn more about your company and ultimately reach out to you, increasing your online lead generation; which at the end of the day is the goal of your website isn’t it?  Examples of good blog topics could include:

  • A feature on a recent job you did, including Client testimonials.  Window World of the Twin Cities does a great job of posting video testimonials shot by their sales reps on smart phones to their home improvement blog on a regular basis.  Those testimonials also get posted to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
  • An article on the benefits of your particular product, and why homeowners should consider your product or service.  Long Fence and Home used their home improvement blog to announce the launch of a new solar product. Bordner Roofing blogged about how to identify if a roof needs replacement.
  • A public interest story on some charitable work you did in the community.  For example, Creek supported Race for the Cure.
  • A news story of interest to homeowners in your area.  Minnesota Exteriors wrote a post about what to look for in a storm damage contractor immediately following a hail storm in Minneapolis this spring.

A home improvement blog should be viewed as a key component to a well rounded Internet strategy. Other critical components include a conversion optimized website, an effective paid search (PPC) campaign, optimization, social and email nurturing campaigns.  We’ll address these topics in future posts!

 

Post Category: Home Improvement Contractors,Lead Generation,Marketing Tips,Organic Search Optimization,Search Engine Optimization,SEM —

The Search vol 10: Top Online Marketing Articles

August 31st, 2011 | Posted by

Welcome to the tenth edition of The Search, a weekly recap of all the interesting posts from the areas we deal with most: paid search, project management, social media, SEO, email, and mobile marketing. Check back each week to stay on top of the latest and greatest techniques in online marketing so that you can improve your skills and better serve your clients. Enjoy!

 

Paid Search

Search Engine Optimization

Social Media

Mobile

Email

Web Analytics

 

Post Category: Email Marketing,Google Analytics,Marketing Tips,Mobile Marketing,Organic Search Optimization,Paid Search,Search Engine Optimization,SEM,Social Media —
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