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In this issue....
» TREND REPORT - “Using Web 2.0 for B2B Marketing (Part 1)”
» Frequently Asked Questions
» ElymediaFrenzy - Come see our new blog!
TREND REPORT:
“USING WEB 2.0 FOR B2B MARKETING (Part 1)”
How is the business community utilizing Web 2.0 for their marketing activities? We have been surveying our clients and attending webinars and trade events on the subject to cull the salient points for our readers.
Our clients tell us that the challenges are:
- Technology itself - how to create a podcast, an onging blogging effort etc.
- The organization - your company may provide the biggest barriers to success.
- The culture of Web 2.0, and does it fit in with your corporate culture?
- Devising a meaningful strategy.
We also found that the areas of greatest participation (from highest to lowest in frequency) were in creating RSS feeds, blogging, and Video and Podcasting. The overall tone for activities, and the real key to success, is to teach, not sell. Sharing information is what creates the viral nature and culture of a community, which is one step removed from — and really a new flavor of — lead generation. A few lessons learned in each of these areas may save your company some pain in the short term.
RSS
RSS feeds are used to communicate large amounts of text and graphic content in a shorter form to subscribers, content aggregators, and RSS directories. The content can be product information, trend analysis, company news, and offers. The subscriber is dedicated but has a short attention span, so keep it short and simple, but keep it frequent. The article titles should be carefully crafted, since this will quickly catch the reader‘s attention or not. Optimize all keyword meta tags — just as you would a website‘s landing page.
Ping the RSS-analytics sites on a regular basis to update and optimize their indexing and search results for your feeds. Remember, another objective of RSS (and all forms of Web 2.0) are to create a larger footprint on the Internet for your brand, so search optimization should always be part of the strategy. Place an RSS icon (or “chicklet”) on every page of your website, if possible, so that visitors can subscribe. Publish and promote your feeds by working with the RSS aggregators to get the word out.
[Part 2 next month will talk about how blogging, Podcasting, and Videocasting are being used and will include helpful tips for each area.]
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. - We‘re fine tuning our budgets for 2008 and want to get much better pricing on our rented lists. What options do we have?
A. - You may have an option to license data, as opposed to renting it for a one-time use basis. Several of our clients who have been testing and continuing on some of the larger list files have opted to license part of the database for a one-year basis. The overall pricing needs to be negotiated with the list manager, and should include quarterly refreshes so that the data is cleaned of records that have changed address, are no longer at that address and can‘t be found, or who have been asked to be removed. Quarterly additions to the file will also be provided in the refresh. The mailer can mail the licensed data as many times as desired within that one-year period. Other options might include looking for volume discounts, where the mailer can define the quantity of records they can commit to over an extended period of time. Many lists that are from the same publisher or owner, or handled by the same list manager, can be bundled together for a similar volume discount.
ElymediaFrenzy!
Our jump into the blogging pool launched this month. We are never shy, and full of opinion, and a tad on the evangelistic side regarding new media, social networking, communication of all kinds, and how it builds stronger businesses, communities and relationships. To see the new blog and register, click HERE. We would love to get your take on our rants and raves.
Interested in more info about emerging media?
Just call Elyse Tager at 510-769-7352 for a free consultation.
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Elyse Tager
Elymedia, LLC
1361 Park Street, Ste. 222
Alameda, CA 94501
p 510-769-7352 - f 510-337-9371
www.elymedia.com
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