The World According to Mitch Fanning

I often meet with business people who want the following:

• more leads
• more customers/clients
• more sales

Really, if you’re in business, who wouldn’t want those things.  Chances are, if they’re taking to me, they want to get these things using some form of online marketing, search marketing, and/or social media.

At the same time, however, most don’t want to create ongoing useful content in any form via the web.  I find this rather interesting considering that content is the “seed” for search engines and the “outcome” of social media.

Think about it…

When people “consider” purchasing something where do they look for some of their information?

Search engines?

Simple Example

Customer: I need a widget (Search Google)

Search Result from Company X: “10 Widgets That Will Save You Money.” [the seed]

Customer: Are these widgets any good?

Company X: Read our reviews.  Show customer’s friends who has used and/or “liked” these widgets (via Facebook social plug-ins).

Customer: (after doing their own research) I’ll take one.  Customer response on Twitter: “I just bought a widget from Company X and saved X%!” [the outcome]

Customer Loyalty: via blog, email, newsletter, etc. (all content marketing initiatives)

Today’s customer & client want more.

Gone are the days, where a customer or client will call your business, talk to you, and purchase on the spot.  Today, people use search engines to check and compare facts, read reviews, ask friends via social networks, purchase, then share their experiences online.

Content powers your search and social media marketing results.

Today, businesses need to develop and optimize content with their target audience in mind.  They need to develop editorial plans and think like publishers.  They need to develop channels of distribution and social links.  They need to both leverage and understand social media and web analytics to improve results.

What do you think?

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is VP of Strategy & Business Development for Fruition Interactive (Toronto, Canada), a professional member of Social Media Club, and founding member of Social Media Club Niagara. He’s spent 10 plus years working with businesses of all sizes, from global brands to mid-sized b2b companies to some of Canada’s fastest growing Internet start-ups ranked in the PROFIT 100.

photo credit: 10ch

When Buddha was asked to sum up his teachings in a single word, he said, “awareness.”

According to Buddha, to find happiness, one must become aware of reality. This awareness of reality – as a Whole – is accessible to anyone who pays attention to actual experience.

However, many people (including yours truly) get so wrapped up in thought they sometimes cannot “see” reality as a Whole. Funny enough, it’s our own thoughts that keep us from becoming “aware.”

The same can be said about online marketing.

I’m not a Zen Master, but when it comes to online marketing, the same basic dilemma exists. People are confused and mystified about the subject. Especially, when it comes to making it work for their business.

As a result, they deal with this confusion the same way they would in their personal lives. They “think” they need (or want) the latest shiny tool, tactic, or superficial outcome. “If only we had more traffic coming to our site, more fans/followers, more newsletter subscribers, more…something.”

The reality many businesses forget is online marketing is not just about having more of something or better web design, twitter account, or SEO. It’s the combination of content, search engine optimization, and social media that creates results – becoming “aware” of (and using) all three in a unified manner is the Zen of Online Marketing.

Effective online marketing starts with educational content.

As long as there are long sales cycles, there will be a need for education. Content that attracts readers through search and social media channels can do its job of teaching and motivating your target audience to act (i.e. click-through, re-tweet, share, comment, reply, contact, sign-up). Remember, without content, Google wouldn’t exist and social communities would have little to share with each other.

Start here – While SEO and Social Media are important, organizations needs to get clear on what their content is (and then create some!) before spending time optimizing these areas. Having educational content (and a home for it) is required to create an effective SEO and Social presence.

Once upon a time, there was something called SEO copywriting.

By placing the right keywords in just the right places and densities one could achieve top rankings in search engines. That’s all you needed, or at least that’s what the “SEO experts” advertised.

Here’s the deal…

Much of what determines the ranking of any page is due to what happens off the page, in the form of links from other sites. Simply put, if your content isn’t good enough to attract authoritative, natural links, it doesn’t matter how “optimized” the content is. That’s why we always start with good educational content (for your target audience).

When it’s good, each piece of content – with it’s unique URL or web address – can be optimized to create a destination for other websites to link to with a clear entry point for search engines and searching.

On its own, SEO, can provide a lift in rankings and traffic, but when combined with educational content and social media marketing it’s like putting rocket fuel in your car.

Attracting links with social media

Getting links naturally has become the hardest part of SEO, which is why we’ve seen the mainstream emergence of social media marketing as a way to attract links with educational content.

Links from social networks and other authoritative websites and blogs can serve as a signal for search engines to decide how to rank your content in the search results. Links from within social networks can send potential clients directly to specific product or services pages.

True, your company may not be ready for social media, but it’s likely that your clients and competitors are already there.

Become a Zen master (of online marketing)

Sure, at first, it might be more exciting to experiment with individual tactics and tools, but to be successful, take a step back and become “aware” of how content, SEO, and social media can work together – as a Whole – in a coordinated effort.

As a buyer of business services, are you influenced by educational content you find online via search and social?

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is VP of Strategy & Business Development for Fruition Interactive (Toronto, Canada), a professional member of Social Media Club, and founding member of Social Media Club Niagara. He’s spent 10 plus years working with businesses of all sizes, from global brands – to mid-sized B2B companies – to some of Canada’s fastest growing Internet start-ups ranked in the PROFIT 100. Follow Mitch on his adventures in new media at [mitchellfanning.com].

photo credit: Okko Pyykko

A teacher affects eternity:  He can never tell where his influence stops. – Henry Adams

Be like Mr. Miyagi - Teach your audience something.

I just finished reading 37signal’s new business book, Rework.

At 288 pages it’s a quick read (about 3 hours).  It’s about getting back to the basics, making things easier not harder, and focusing on what really matters (in a business).

I’ll publish a full review soon, but for now I want to focus on the idea of “out-teaching” (not out-competing) your competitors.

Specifically, the notion that you’re more likely to buy stuff from someone who teach you something rather than being influenced by traditional marketing tactics, which is one of the topics in the book.

Teaching vs Marketing

Personal experience has also shown me that teaching vs traditional marketing does produce better results when attempting to create a loyal audience.

Most businesses do the opposite.

They focus on selling or servicing, but rarely do they teach their audience something.  Teaching shows you give a #*%@.  It helps you stand out.  As Fried puts it, it also helps you “out-maneuver” the competition.

There are lots of ways to put this idea into practice online.  One way (but certainly not the only or best way for you) is to start a blog.

Here’s a few examples to get your creative juices flowing.

MBA Mondays

Fred Wilson, a New York-based venture capitalist, has a very popular (and at times, controversial) blog.  Among other topics, each week he writes a post under the category MBA Monday, where he steps back and connects the dots for those wanting to develop their business acumen.  It’s here that budding VCs, start-ups, and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to learn from a VC veteran.

As a result, Wilson is now recognized as a leading voice of the venture capital finance community.  He also happens to be #60 on Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” list for 2010.

Oh, one more thing.  His firm’s portfolio has swelled with some of the hottest tech start-ups, including Twitter, Foursquare, and Zynga.

What Wine Goes Better With Fish?

Gary Vaynerchuk, who owns a large wine store called Wine Library, probably spent hours answering this question (and many like it, I’m sure) on Internet forums while teaching people about wine on Wine Library TV, his daily video blog.

As a result, his video blog is watched by tens of thousands of people each day.  Just as important, from 1997 to 2008, his wine business went from $4 million to $50 million.  He’s also the author of Crush It! a book detailing how he used social media to build his audience and business.

Stop and think about it.

If, like me, you consistently work to improve yourself (and your business) you probably consume content online in an effort to learn something.  In some cases, this content might even come from a company or site that sells something.

QUESTION – Have you ever bought something from a company or site after you’ve consumed their content for some time?  Have you ever purchased something in the hopes of learning something?

I have.

Sometimes even after a year later of being introduced to the company and their content.

Instead of trying to outspend or outsell your competition maybe its time you did something different.  Maybe, it’s time you tried out-teaching them.

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is an online marketing and social media practitioner. He’s spent 10+ years (and put in his 10,000 hours) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brand (NBC.com, Nestle) to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100, creating, selling, implementing both traditional and digital marketing opt-in strategies.

Click here to contact Mitch directly.  Or skip right through the garden and grab Mitch’s RSS Feed right here.

Hi there! Welcome to the future.

Entrepreneurs, small to mid-sized businesses, and online marketers can harness the awesome power of the social web to quickly distribute their message and generate brand awareness.

However, in a crowded marketplace, you need to convert “awareness” into trust, revenues, and profit.  To be successful, you must consistently deliver compelling and “infectious” content that inspires people to take action.

Content Marketing is Impossible Without Compelling Content

Compelling content is the driving force behind the Internet.  Your customers are seeking information to solve their problems, not sales pitches.  The trust and credibility your content creates will knock down sales resistance; while at the same time introduce your product or service.

Now that social media has become a popular method for distributing content, it’s going to be your ability to create compelling and “infectious” content (that solves your customer’s problems) that sets you apart from the crowd.

Content marketing can help you:

1. Acquire customers without selling.

2. Build a “tribe” of loyal repeat customers.

3. Create content your target audience will look forward to receiving.

4. Create an army of influencers who work, market, and sell your stuff for free.

Okay, but what the heck is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is creating and sharing relevant, compelling, and entertaining content as a means of attracting, engaging, and converting members of your target audience into a “tribe” of loyal repeat buyers.

Your goal is to obtain opt-in permission to deliver content via one or several media channels.  This regular exposure builds trust over time that provides opportunities for conversion, rather than a fragmented “all-or-nothing” approach.

Compelling Content & Social Media:  a Powerful Combination

Your content is useless if people can’t find it on the web, it’s like you don’t exist.  Content needs a vehicle(s) for people to find it, share it, blog about it, bookmark it, and re-tweet it.

Social media is a powerful way to distribute content.  Great content is the “oxygen” that brings social media to life.  It gives people something more interesting to talk about (and read) besides what they had for lunch.

Grab a Seat and Join the Conversation

Are you creating and distributing “infectious” content that encourages people to respond the way you want them to – by buying what you sell, becoming your advocate, and joining your “tribe” of loyal repeat customers?

If so, welcome to the future of “new marketing.” (BTW – the future is now)

About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is an “available-for-hire” online marketing and social media consultant.  He runs three6media, a “new marketing” consulting firm that advises small to mid-sized businesses how to use content marketing and social media to encourage members of their target audience to become advocates and join their “tribe” of loyal repeat customers.

He’s spent 10+ years ( and put in his 10,000 hours ) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brand (NBC.com, Nestle) to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100, creating, selling, implementing both traditional and digital marketing strategies.

Click here to contact Mitch directly.  Or skip right through the garden and grab Mitch’s RSS Feed right here.

As a rule, when someone “mentions” my name online or on a social network I want to know about it so I can comment.  However, I actually find “listening” more valuable when observing what my target audience or thought-leaders say about topics that are important to “them”.

For example, by monitoring the term “content marketing”, I gain insight into how people use the term in general.  It also introduced me to thought leaders like Joe Pulizzi, who is an advocate of content marketing.  This information helps me shape my own content because I’ve been “listening” first.

How To Listen: 9 Tools I Use for Listening & Observation

A number of tools exist ranging in cost from free to very expensive. For example, you can employ a “do-it-yourself” approach using the following tools to track keywords, basic sentiment, and trending topics.

Free Tools

Google Alerts: Alerts are the steady rock in the sometimes white-water world of monitoring. You can easily target keywords that are important to your brand and receive streaming or batched reports.  You can receive these alerts as emails or via RSS, which can be dumped into a Reader (see next).

Google Reader: I use Google Reader as my home base for collecting and reading all the various sources of information (i.e. alerts). It’s web-based, fast, and easy to use. It allows me to blaze through content in 5-10 minutes without thinking much about it.

Technorati: Billing itself as “the leading blog search engine”.  Go to Technorati, put your company (product, brand, etc.) name into the search bar, and see what people are saying about you. Dump into Google Reader as one of your listening searches. Repeat this for your competitor’s name, brand, individuals, and some industry terms.

Google Blog Search: Go to Google Blogsearch and do the same thing. Sure there will be some overlap, but it’s important to capture both. The subscription to searches link is on the left hand side of the page.

Twitter Search or Professional Twitter Client (i.e. TweetDeck or Hootsuite): If you’re seriously thinking about using social networks and social media, it’s likely that some of your customers are using Twitter. If so, go to Twitter Search and put in your search terms there as well.  If you’re a “lifehacker” like me, I’d recommend using a free Twitter Client such as TweetDeck or Hootsuite, which allows you to track multiple accounts, keywords, and groups.

SocialMention: Real-time social media search and analysis.  Socialmention is billed as the Google Alerts for social media.  Again, there might be some overlap with Google Alerts.

The following tools are more for “observation” and “analytics” to determine what content resonated with my audience as well as to decide on what type of content to create in the future.

Crazy Egg: If you want to see how people are looking at your website when they’re not commenting and talking about you, try out Crazy Egg. The tool is full of visualization data, including heat maps, that show you how people are interacting with your website. Sometimes, people aren’t saying something on your blog posts because they’re being distracted by something else. Here’s your chance to figure that out (Note: this tool will run you $8-$10 per month).

Google Analytics: Like crazy egg, I like to know what content resonates with my audience and what didn’t.  In addition, I also look at the number of times a blog post was shared via a social network from my blog.

URL Shortener (bit.ly, owl.ly, etc.): These tools allow you to track your links to determine overall “sentiment” of the content you’re sharing (based on click-throughs and re-tweets)  As time goes on, this information will give you insight on how to shape your content to meet the needs of your audience.

Paid Solutions

Listening to online chatter is both art and science.  Much like SEO, listening can require skill and in-depth knowledge of technology and linguistics.  If you want something more advanced, you might try Radian6, tmSocialBuzz™ (disclosure:  I’m affiliated with tmSocialBuzz™), or Trackur (they’re all listening, so I’m sure others can swarm here and give links in the comments section).

Take Action

The web provides the ultimate focus group.  The data you get from using these tools is authentic because people are expressing themselves without being solicited or fed bad pizza for their opinion.  Sure it takes time to set up and use these tools, but people are having online conversations whether you’re listening or not.

Remember, a successful content marketing and social media strategy is dependent on how well you know your customer’s needs and wants.  Listening is necessary to achieve this.

Happy listening!