"Several years ago, Coke realized that Coke.com is not their home page - it is Google.com, digg.com and YouTube. Take the time to keep abreast of what is showing up for your brand in these new social sites and search engines."
When it comes to search marketing and Internet marketing historically there has been a heavy concentration on the home page. Elements that are obsessed over are the content, the look, the feel, the navigation, the calls to action and so much more.
So many factors go into the creation of that perfect ‘front door' to your site that many companies forget that visitors don't always enter through the front. Search engines have given your prospect the power to find your site based on what keywords you're optimized for or based on what social channels you take part in.
Though Coke has buzz, human capital, and financial resources way beyond many people reading this blog, the concepts behind their strategy are spot on. Here are some helpful hints that come from Ms. Carelli via the Bulldog Reporter's Sally Falkow .
Coke's social media strategy revolves around 4Rs
- Review - Listen to what's being said
- Respond - What to respond to and who should respond. Be accurate and transparent.
- Record - Create more compelling video content. People are 7 - 10 times more likely to click on a video than text.
- Redirect - Search and SEO are very important. Make sure the right content is found when people search. User generated content is getting more search attention.
In addition, Carelli said that if she had another $500,000 to spend in Internet marketing she would spend it in SEO and video. What? Your budget isn't like that? Well, here's the good news: it doesn't take $500,000 to create remarkable content for your blog, monitor the conversation people are having about your brand, build a brand presence in social media , create meaningful videos for your potential customers, and optimize all the landing pages on your site .
You can invest another valuable resource to this effort: more time. Once again it's easy to say but if you want results from the search engines it requires a lot of sweat equity.
You need to concentrate on the many home pages you have. Truly optimizing every internal page on your site for important keywords can get found by search engines indexing your site. Search engines will then point the visitor to the exact point in your site that answers their question thus creating a higher likelihood of conversion.
What do you do that is a big brand ‘tactic' like Coke but brings you success where it matters to you: your bottom line? Share your success with us. Remember that all boats rise with a rising tide.
SEO for Lead Generation Kit
|
Your Visitors Don't Always Use the Front Door
Learn more about how you can optimize your site to get found online in search engines to generate more leads for your business. Download our search engine optimization for lead generation kit . |
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Jason Walbridge 1:27 PM on December 04, 2009
Very interesting! Good article.
Rich H 2:01 PM on December 04, 2009
Carelli is right on with her strategy. As a small business, we have experienced at least half of our "entries" to our website through pages other than our home page. Our blog, hosted on Hubspot's platform, has been a major entrance point for lead conversions. It can't be understated how important videos are - a few months ago, we invested into a Canon HD camcorder ($500 off Amazon) and Final Cut Express. We have a steady stream of traffic now coming from our Youtube Channel. It reminds me of the first movie ever created: a train pulled into the station - the people watching it ran out of the theater thinking they were going to be killed! People love the moving image!
Bayberry L Shah 2:02 PM on December 04, 2009
This article reinforces what I have been doing for clients regarding landing page optimization. I use tools like LiveBall to create multiple versions of landing pages and then test them against each other. Each week we declare a new winner and we have been able to increase their conversion rates by as much as 20%.
Blue Sail Creative 6:07 PM on December 04, 2009
I agree with this post more now than ever. I just read an article about how important it is to build a keyword glossary that expands large enough for all of the personas visiting your site. It also is important to think about how each page can be optimized for each persona because they dont always come through the front door.
Good post and always a great way for me to think outside the box!
Willy Lim 10:28 AM on December 05, 2009
I love the simplicity of the 4Rs in Cokes' social media strategy.
It's a good spin from Listen, Learn, Participate and Engage.
Ricky 8:08 PM on December 05, 2009
Very good post, and very useful
I got this online marketing and advertising post also very useful if like to have look.
http://www.msinghinteractive.com/blog/tag/online-marketing-techniques/
Cheers
HumInt Conslting Private Limited 11:19 AM on December 06, 2009
Right strategies for social media optimization SMO.
Neytri 11:24 AM on December 06, 2009
4R were concept is perfectly fine for such big brands. They themselves have more then $75bn brand value of coca cola. Now what they want, only retaining.
Van Marciano Art 4:37 PM on December 06, 2009
Fantastic post and useful information, thanks for sharing.
Rachael Lord 5:17 PM on December 06, 2009
Thanks for the info - good post
Jonathan 3:49 AM on December 07, 2009
Great information Great article.
Josh 4:44 PM on December 08, 2009
I wish more execs were like Ms. Carelli. Great post.
chris yates 6:54 PM on December 28, 2009
Great post. I totally agree that the conversations and opinions taking place on Social Sites is your brand not what you try and create.
I've interviewed CEO's and top executives at Southwest Airlines, The Container Store, Budweiser and many others that believe this is the best way to connect with customers.
Check out this report from IBM that says Advertising as we know it is over.
http://www.huddleproductions.com/?p=361
Thanks again for your article.