Posts Tagged ‘expertise’

• Google launches ThinkQuarterly from UK

  Friday, March 25th, 2011

  The first edition of Think Quarterly is all about data, and it is telling that the introduction mentions the aspect of speed – to connect, to market, to share, to shout etc.

  The Executive Insight actually reinforces something that will be in our next book about social media – stop focussing on numbers. Whilst you need to know them, you do not always need to rely on or share them. You need to understand them, and react to the information behind the stats.

  CEO of Vodafone, Guy Laurence cannily states:

  You have to take the action you think will work and the numbers follow.

  Google adds:

  Data is something that informs his hunches – but never rules them.

  Are you, as a company, spending so much time analysing marketing data that you are not taking timely decisions? You won’t be alone if you answer “Yes”.

  UK companies need to start to act, rather than react to expensive consultancy projects that say what worked last year. Is something working today? Great, then keep doing it. Did it work yesterday but has dropped off today? Then change.

  In a connected world, that change can be as simple as changing the hashtags you include on your tweets. Linking to new companies or trends. In the olde worlde, the oil tanker mentality meant that it could take literally months to change track. Now you can do it in 140 characters.

  The ThinkQuarterly ‘magazine’ has thousands of similar insights that your business can read and apply over the coming months. Take an hour out over lunch, and then change the course of your business this afternoon.

  Tags: expertise, Google, newsletter, search marketing, thinkquarterly, UK
  Posted in Blog, Google, SEM Industry

• Why your PR dept doesn't need to know everything

  Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

  Imagine a large corporate, looking to increase links to their site and also raise brand awareness amongst potential customers, and demonstrate the  expertise within their company.

  Forum marketing is an ideal tool at this juncture, so let’s wheel out an in-house expert to post to a variety of fora and help out those communities with technical problems. Thus clearly exhibiting the knowledge within the business, plus reinforcing the image of a caring company.

  However, due to company policy and a culture of fear about online damage to reputation, this expert can only post after getting permission from the PR department. Generally, most PR and Marcomms department are specialists in press releases, marketing communications, crisis management and so on.

  Now, they are expected to be able to judge the value of a response made to a question in a forum on a subject in which the expert has spent 25 years becoming so knowledgeable. It may well be that they do not understand the question. After all, it is being asked for a reason ie the answer can’t readily be found elsewhere.

  The expert then needs to educate the PR department as to why he has given said answer, and why the question is being asked, and how this fits into the overall marketing strategy of the company (not the expert’s forte, of course).

  This all takes time, and therefore costs money. And is also utterly pointless.

  If you employ your staff because they are GOOD at what they do, then trust them. Sure, monitor their excursions into fora to start with to ensure they are fully au fait with the brand and are on message, but don’t involve the PR department. Leave them to get press releases out, deal with the media, develop marketing strategies on and offline;  don’t expect them to suddenly become experts in the minutiae of your technical department’s expertise.

  

  Tags: Brand awareness, expertise, forum marketing, marcomms, marketing, Marketing strategy, pr
  Posted in Link Marketing, SEO, Tips & Tricks