Sweetmantra: Internet Marketing Advice

How I Ended Up Doing Social Media Marketing for ABC TV's Traveler - Part 1

For a few days earlier this month, I found myself running the social media marketing campaign for ABC TV's new show, Traveler.

After all, somebody had to.

Allow me to explain...

On May 30, 2007, ABC TV launched a new summer series, Traveler. No doubt inspired by the success of rival FOX's Prison Break, Traveler follows the misadventures of two young college guys who are on the run from the FBI for a crime they didn't commit.

The reason they are accused of the crime (the Oklahoma City-esque bombing of a New York City museum) is that one of their college housemates, a sketchy, technologically-savvy guy by the name of Will Traveler, appears to have framed them. Now Will has gone missing, and our two intrepid heroes must track down the elusive Will Traveler in order to clear their names.

Here (below) is a 3-minute trailer for the show that will give you a sense of how the whole thing revolves around the quest to uncover 'Who is Will Traveler?"

I caught the first episode of the series a day after it premiered, and while I quickly deduced the show wasn't for me (it was too predictable) I was struck by one thing: ABC and the producers of the show had completely missed the social media boat.

Halfway through the first episode, our heroic college boys are beginning to wonder if this Will Traveler guy they thought was their friend was really who he said he was. They begin to ask themselves questions about his background, and who this Will Traveler may be connected to. Then one of the guys decides to do some research into the mysterious Will Traveler.

Right about this point I'm thinking, OK, here comes the scene where they Google his name. But instead, one of the guys goes over to his girlfriend's house and rifles through printed (ahem) photos he has of Will Traveler.

When I see that, it suddenly hits me. These are American college kids in 2007. They wouldn't have a stash of printed photos. All their photos would be on Flickr or Facebook. In fact, why don't they just log in to their Facebook accounts and do some searching for Will Traveler there?

So that's what I do.

I log in to Facebook and do a search for Will Traveler thinking, duh, ABC or the producers of the show will have already created a 'profile' page for Will Traveler in order to extend the experience of the show. After all, it wouldn't cost them a penny to do this.

Nothing. Nada. No Will Traveler.

But surely hundreds, if not thousands, of fans of the show would be turning to Facebook to do their own 'investigation' into who the mysterious Will Traveler is? Think of the fun ABC or the producers of the show could have with this. Think of the buzz this would generate.

The more I think about this, the more excited I get.

So I do what ABC or the producers of the show should have done in the first place. On May 31, 2007, I create a Facebook profile for "Will Traveler."

And then the fun and games begin...

Stay tuned, as they say in TV land, my Will Traveler story will be continued in a week.

Search Engine Strategies Toronto 2007 - Day 2 Highlights

The Search Engine Strategies Toronto conference was held in Toronto, Canada on June 12-13, 2007 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. As always, it was a tightly-run event that was jam-packed with valuable information.

Here are some of the highlights from sessions I attended on Day 2:

Session: Seth Godin Keynote Presentation

• "Search didn't become a business until the yellow pages." - Seth Godin
• In the battle between SEO tricksters and search engines, "the search engines are really winning" because they are becoming much better at determining relevance.
• "Search engine advertising is a classic example of permission marketing."

Session: Perfecting Paid Listings

• "The interaction [with search engine ads] is very quick." - Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro Search Solutions
• Effective search engine ads provide "a bridge of relevance" to the user. - Jonathan Mendez, OTTO Digital
• Brands matter: using a brand name as a keyword (e.g., "Sears") will have no influence on traffic, but will increase the conversion rate and significantly increase the revenue per visitor.
• Perfecting your search engine ads is important; doing so can have a 36% increase in overall lift.
• "Get the site right, then try to grow [by doing paid search]" - Andrew Goodman, Page Zero Media, on the importance of making sure your Website will convert well before you begin advertising it
• "You can buy a lot of 15 cent click in Toronto and Montreal." - Andrew Goodman on what a "bargain" search engine advertising still is in Canada
• Even national advertisers should consider regional targeting and campaign differentiation because searchers in different parts of Canada behave differently.
• "If Canadian advertisers don't step up, US advertisers and affiliates will come in and take [search engine advertising in Canada] over." - Gord Hotchkiss
• "You really want your brand in the ad, including the display URL." - Bill Tighe, Google Canada, on the importance of leveraging your brand

Session: Linking Campaigns and Beyond: Getting Authoritative Online "Mentions"

• A link "is a vote." - Mike Grehan, Searchvisible
• "It's absolutely NOT about more [links] is better." - Eric Ward on the importance of soliciting links from relevant, niche topic sites
• "I ignore [Google's] Page Rank; I use the internal algorithm in my head." - Eric Ward on how he focuses on the content and the user when he's researching sites to solicit links from
• "The people who are getting the most link love are the in the news biz." - Greg Jarboe, SEO-PR, on the power of links from mainstream news sites like CNN and The New York Times
• Soliciting links is "not a begging process, [it's] a PR process." - Greg Jarboe

Visit www.searchenginestrategies.com for more information about this and future conferences.

Search Engine Strategies Toronto 2007 - Day 1 Highlights

The Search Engine Strategies Toronto conference was held in Toronto, Canada on June 12-13, 2007 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. As always, it was a tightly-run event that was jam-packed with valuable information.

Here are some of the highlights from sessions I attended on Day 1:

Session: The Canadian Search Landscape

• Canadians conducted 12 billion search engine queries in 2006.
• Canadians are now conducting an average of 1.4 billion search engine queries per month.
• 80% of Canadian search queries are for Website content, 18% for images, and the balance are for video content, which is growing fast
• Depending on whose numbers you want to believe, Google currently has approximately 75-80% of the Canadian search engine query share, with Yahoo! and Microsoft evenly split over the remaining 20-25%. Expect Microsoft's share to increase as they continue to invest heavily in search.
• MSN adCenter's a 'bargain' deal for Canadian paid search advertisers because it is still relatively new and there's less competition.
• Only a small percentage of advertisers are taking advantage of the Quebec search engine advertising market; lots of great opportunities to get cheap traffic this way.
• 50% of Canadian search queries are related to finding a product or service.
• 78% of Canadians will turn to search engines to research a product or service.
• Martin Byrne from Yahoo! Search Marketing made the interesting observation that companies who have top ranking organic search results convey a "perception of [brand] leadership."
• Canadian searchers are knowledge seekers not bargain hunters.
• Canadian searchers are engaged: they are very active, will look at more brands, explore more choices, and like to build and share their expertise.
• 82% of Canadian businesses with Websites engage in online advertising, but only 36% of them use search engine advertising or search engine optimization.
• When asked why they weren't using search engine advertising, the number one reason Canadian businesses cited was "too expensive" ... which, of course, is ridiculous.
• Search engine advertising in Canada is now as large as the entire online advertising market was in 2004.
• In general, Canada is a less competitive search engine advertising market, which means there is still a great opportunity for advertisers.

Session: Search User Behaviour

• Searching from the Web browser's toolbar has increased 57% in Canada over the last year.
• Toolbar makes searchers more loyal to a specific search engine, and more engaged with that search engine; they conduct more searches.
• When it comes to having an impact on an online purchase, running search engine advertising alone can have a 20% lift, running online display advertising alone can have a 20% lift, but combining the two can have an 83% lift!
• Google image search is starting to get a significant amount of Canadian search traffic: 2% per month and growing.
• On average, a typical Canadian Website can expect to generate about 80-85% of its search traffic from organic listings versus 15-20% from search engine advertising.
• 1 in 4 searches are triggered by offline advertising. Television and print advertising aren't dead yet!
• Mainstream search engines (i.e., Google, Yahoo!, MSN) are the number one choice for B2B product or service research.
• Of those B2B researchers who want to go directly to a potential vendor's Website, 27% of them will still use a search engine to find that Website.

Stay tuned for highlights from Day 2...

The Future is Simple, Literally

Want to ensure the success of your next product or service?

One way to do this is to buck today's "more is better" philosophy and instead aim for the utmost simplicity.

Start by reducing the number of features. Cut back on the options. And focus on doing one thing, and only one thing, well.

You can never make something too simple. Don't believe me? Ask yourself when was the last time you heard someone complain that a product was too easy to use?

Case in point: the Jitterbug mobile phone, a partnership between Samsung and First Street (for the US market). I came across a print ad for this product recently and was immediately captivated by the headline:

"It doesn't play games, take pictures or give you the weather."

Billed as "a cell phone that makes life simple," the Jitterbug features a big, bright screen, large, clearly-labeled buttons, and 24-hour operator assistance.

Designed with the (massive) boomers market in mind, the Jitterbug may also pick up admirers of all ages who appreciate an extraordinarily easy-to-use mobile phone.

Brilliant.

What does this have to do with Internet marketing? Well, I encourage you to take a cue from the Jitterbug and look with fresh eyes at your own products and services, and how you market them.

Have you made things as easy to understand or accomplish as possible? Are you using technical or marketing jargon that few laypeople would understand? Are you potentially confusing consumers by offering them too many options or features?

Perhaps the most "innovative" thing you can do is pare things down to the essentials. Easier said than done, of course, but worth considering.

Do this right and I'll bet the world will beat a path to your door.