Studies are proving that TV advertising is becoming less and less reliable. According to an article on MarketingProfs.com, “in 2010, most advertisers plan to move budget dollars away from traditional media to social media (77%), online advertising (73%), and search engine marketing (59%).”

There is talk that allowing fewer commercials per pod may be more effective, but with the population turning to search engines to find a resource to fulfill their needs, having a strong online presence is a must.

Social marketing tops the charts as the number one source advertisers and marketers will turn to for brand building. Through various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others, a strong brand strategy and marketing plan can have a huge effect on brand awareness. With these vehicles, you can build brand loyalty and an overall solid presence in today’s competitive market. By having a strong presence in social media, you allow your product/service users, fans, and, on occasion, addicts to feel like they belong have a place in the world of your brand.

But what good is being searchable when your web content is weak? That’s where web development and brand identity design come into play. Once your product or service reaches your target, the images they see need to tell them how you fulfill their need.

So give into the online tidal wave. Swim with the social media current. Develop a strong online marketing plan and you too can have a brand with substance.

Ready? Set? Rock!

Bloggers, YouTubers, Tweeters, and Facebookers!

Tomorrow is December 1st, and in the midst of all the pre-holiday craziness have you remembered that the new FTC guidelines go into effect tomorrow? Don’t worry, it’s not that scary. Some important clarification has been made that makes the whole thing much easier.

The thought process behind these guidelines is to add more transparency to the internet reviews and endorsements we see almost everywhere. Have you ever seen a magazine ad with “paid advertisement” at the bottom? What about those endorsement ads with the “paid for by…” blurb at the end? That’s exactly the sort of transparency the FTC is aiming for us to have here on the internet.

The “$11,000 fine” that was talked about? Does not exist. The FTC guidelines are guidelines, not laws. They do however enable the FTC to pursue charges against someone and get a court order so that someone can be fined. Don’t fret, the FTC is much more likely to go after advertisers than bloggers. Think about it from their standpoint. The internet is saturated with bloggers. It is much simpler to just make sure advertisers understand the rules and expect them to communicate them to the bloggers they work with. Since without advertisers sending things to bloggers this would be a non-issue, I feel this is the much smarter way to go. The FTC does not have the time or resources to go after everyone in the blogosphere. This is not to say that you shouldn’t make an effort to comply! Just that you should not be freaked out that the FTC is going to come knocking on your door.

What needs to be disclosed:

1. Paid posts (that includes videos). If someone gave you money to post something, you need to disclose it.
2. Free services/product. If a company or its PR representative sent you something for the purpose of using it and then sharing it on your blog/YouTube, etc. you need to disclose it.
3. Affiliate links. If you use affiliate marketing (ie LinkShare, Commission Junction, or are partnered with one of the many companies that do their own affiliate marketing), you need to disclose it.

What does not need to be disclosed:

1. Free samples anyone can receive. If you bought a shampoo that had a sample size goodie taped to it and you want to review that free sample, you do not need to disclose anything.
2. Things you bought yourself. Likewise, if you want to review the shampoo itself.  Since you bought it, you do not have to disclose anything.
3. Gifts. If you bought the shampoo for your sister who wants to review it on her YouTube channel, she does not have to disclose anything.

I have also seen many ask if these guidelines are just for U.S. bloggers. Yes, they only apply to bloggers in the U.S. since the FTC is a U.S. entity and has no jurisdiction over bloggers from other countries. However, don’t go moving your servers to an underground bunker in the Ukraine any time soon – you are considered a U.S. blogger if your physical body is blogging from the United States. It is not determined by where your server is.

One last thing that came as a huge relief to me is that these guidelines are not retroactive. You do not need to go back through hundreds of blog posts and add disclosures. Thank GOODNESS.

The disclosures themselves do not have to be anything complicated. They do not have to be in legal jargon. In fact, it is best if they are not! They are meant to be read by your readers, not their attorneys. Simply putting a short blurb along the lines of “This post was paid for by _____.” at the bottom will suffice.

Bottom line, just use common sense and you will be A-O-K.

YouTube is another useful site that can be very beneficial to your company’s online marketing strategy. But, instead of just having your video floating around in the YouTube galaxy, nowhere to be seen, get it seen!  Here are a few hints to get your YouTube video seen throughout cyberspace:

1. When posting your video, write a content-rich (use your keywords!) description.  Use your top one or two keywords to help describe the video.
2. Submit your website to 10 different video sites using a free tool called TubeMogul.  Send the link to your original YouTube video and use those top keywords in a description.
3. Submit relevant and keyword-rich articles of the video to all the different article directories on the internet.  Make sure that your article points back to your original YouTube video and use your best keywords in any description.  There are multiple programs available that help you submit to various directories.
4. Lastly, free services like OnlyWire, ShareThis, or AddThis or let you submit to all the different social sites at once.

Once you’ve effectively broadcast your YouTube video to the various websites and directories, you will have more links to your video than any other video.  Your video should quickly rise to the top of YouTube’s search as well as Google’s for your top keywords.

Yahoo is planning on making Microsoft’s Bing its new search provider. The effects of this transition are many. But how could it directly affect online marketing?

First of all, there will be a change in traffic from the various search engines. Although many people have switched to Bing, it has not created a threat for Google. However, if Yahoo and Bing combine forces, then Google will have some much greater competition. This will mean that online marketers will need expanding their attention to the other networks if they are already not. Or if they are, it means that they will need to spend more time focusing on Yahoo/Bing.

As rankings vary on each search engine, your rankings may change. If you had good position in Yahoo and poor ranking in Bing, your position will drop and vice versa. Pay-per-click campaigns often reflect your organic rankings when you pay for ads on keywords that your organic rank is not high. So, the changing in rankings in both Yahoo and Bing may cause you to do some revisions in your paid search programs.

In order to stay on top of things, online marketers will need to be revising their client’s current metrics and strategies to see where change would take place.

For more information on the Yahoo/Bing transition, click here.

1.    It’s where the party is at

The major search engines account for over 90% of all online traffic.  Although there are other sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) that bring traffic to websites; Google, Yahoo and MSN still bring the majority.  Did you know that 80% of Internet users start with a search?  Will you be there when they come looking, because they WILL come looking.

2.    Targeted consumers

Those who are searching for YOU, find YOU.  With keywords and phrases that are specific to your industry, product or service, your consumers are looking for you.

3.    Beat your competitors

SEO allows for a very competitive atmosphere.  For once, the smaller companies can beat out the bigger companies if their website bring more value.  Companies that are serious about having a large share of the Internet market should be committed to securing top 10 rankings for their keywords or phrases.

4.    ROI

A well planned, long term strategy can bring return to your investment.  SEO will get consumers to your website and if your business plan works, it will produce results that will keep coming.

5.    Broad presence

You can spread your website presence across a multitude of keywords.  If you have content that covers a large amount of varying content, SEO can stretch your presence across the different search engines.

6.    Unlimited clicks

You won’t have a monthly PPC budget because they are already at the top with good SEO.  Once you have achieved a high rankings, the clicks will keep coming with no added cost.

7.    Quality websites

Quality Content that is well optimized. Websites that have quality content for their users do best in the search engines.

8.    Measurable

With tools like Google Analytics all movement from the search engines to your website and within your website can be tracked.  This really helps you measure ROI.

9.    People choose organic

No matter what study you are reading, most people select the organic search first. Some suggest that 60% of click are on the top organic searches, others say even higher.  Either way, the majority of clicks are on top organic listings.

10.    And most importantly…

Search engine algorithms are always changing. SEO is important to continue doing each month, because what might work this month might not work next month. Being proactive is the best strategy, not reactive when your sites rankings have already plummeted.

At the beginning of this month Microsoft introduced their new search engine – Bing. Microsoft is not using Bing as an attempt to dethrone Google but to offer a more competitive product than Live Search as well as offer a search engine that may give more informative results.

Microsoft says that the search engine is designed to help users “make better decisions.”
The new search engine differs from others because it “delivers answers, not web pages.”  It is designed to help people make purchasing decisions, make travel plans, research health conditions, or find businesses online.  It helps searchers find what Bing believes to be relevant information to their searches.

But what does this mean for online marketing?

As far as SEO is concerned, Bing will present sites that offer quality information, not just sites that have a specific keyword.  “For example, a search for “Britney Spears” may organize by the subcategories “biography,” “videos,” “music” and “concert information.”  This means SEO strategies will adjust in order to optimize Web content for select sub categories, rather than select keywords only.”

Bing takes a valid position to Internet marketing.  As many of us have now noticed, the Internet is now flooded with web pages.  It may be good to have a less diluted search engine available.

Try out Bing for yourself and let us know your opinion.

For those who are trying to catch up in the social marketing networks, it’s likely you’ve stumbled into Twitter.

Polls now show that 1 in 20 Americans has a Twitter account. Good social marketers have acknowledged its incredible marketing potential and ran with it, adding it to every client’s overall online marketing mix.

But, for those of us who still don’t quite understand the Twitter-mania yet, click here for a good explanation.  (I thought it was funny)