Did you know that our new President Barack Obama was named Marketer of the Year 2008? Last month, Advertising Age named Barack Obama “Marketer of the Year”. Congratulations, on both counts. It doesn’t matter if you voted Republican or Democrat this year; I think we can all agree Barack Obama took campaigning to a whole new level. As an independent first time voter, I was impressed as a Marketer by the campaign overall. The dimensions of marketing they put to use stretched my marketing brain. With the use of direct marketing, event marketing, online marketing and new media the Obama team understood the need to reach out to voters as individuals – demographics and targeting were central to the campaign.

Obama and his team understood their target demographic/markets and how to use a mix of multi touch, multi level and multimedia platforms to reach these people where they were already hanging out. By using video game ads, Twitter, an active online community, and a list of other marketing vehicles, the Obama marketing team understood the importance of motivating the younger demographics and using multiple mediums that worked for them.

B2B Marketers take note. Our new President has something to say about reaching the right audiences with the right kinds of messages through the right vehicles. Below is a list a few places you can find Barack Obama marketing. Are you there for your business and what lessons can we learn from the reach created by his campaign?

Email marketing

• event based – I would receive text messages and emails while Obama was at an event or debate
• 1:1 with key players – email messages from Barack, Michelle Obama and Joe Biden – For example, I got a message from Michelle Obama reminding me it was the last day to give money to the campaign.

Community – currently over 1 million members. Through the community supporters can:

• find information about local events or groups
• connect with other supporters
• share information or real-life stories
• donate to the campaign

PPC – 14% of Barack Obama’s online traffic in August 2008 came from paid search

New Media – Barack Obama is out there, are you?

Polls are showing more young voters have registered to vote than ever before. I have no doubt that Obama and his team’s approach to reach them drove this involvement.

Thank you President Obama. You are proof that targeted marketing does drive real results…oh, and I’m sure your messages and positions on the issues helped too.

New stuff to do now!

I got the heads up from Chris Brogan, and now I want to share with all The B2B Lead readers about the new applications LinkedIn has released. On first glance I was really impressed. The list is not sooo long with applications (like Facebook) that have nothing to do with the business world, and I really think these apps will make LinkedIn much more interactive and useful.

So far I have downloaded the 2 apps for blogging and My Travel (to tell everyone I’ll be at Dreamforce next week), and am still exploring the others. Other applications let you show what books you are reading, upload slideshows and more.

Go check it out and start using. What other applications would you be interested in seeing?

What’s your Google Rank? No, not your Google Page Rank, your personal Google Rank? That’s right, according to a story published by Business Week, Google has filed for a patent on technology for ranking the “influence” of people on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Much like Google’s approach to ranking web sites, the algorithm would calculate your influence rating based on how many “friends” you have, how influential your friends are, how frequently you blog, etc. The article speculates that this breakthrough could finally make ads on social networks relevant and profitable.

Not sure about that. Sounds a bit too much like TwitterGrader to me and you all now know how much I like that product.

In this chapter, David covers the basics of search engine marketing without getting into the technical details. He makes the great point that if you follow the New Rules, you will already be practicing search engine marketing.  It really is all about the content.  (Some of you may scoff that inbound links are most important, but I contend that great content is what draws inbound links.)

David covers a few tips on SEM but I want to highlight his tips on landing pages:

• Make the landing page copy short and the graphics simple.
• Create the page with your company’s look, feel, and tone.
• Write from the prospect’s point of view.
• A landing page is communications, not advertising.
• Provide a quote from a happy customer.
• Make the landing page a self-contained unit.
• Make the call to action clear and easy to respond to.
• Use multiple calls to action.
• Only ask for necessary information.
• Don’t forget to follow up!

Landing pages are critical to direct buyers to your content.  Well optimized landing pages can rank highly in organic search and produce high conversion rates.

That pretty much wraps it all up.  Now that we have completed The New Rules of Marketing and PR, the title of the final chapter sums it up nicely, “Make it Happen.”  David, himself, admits that he has not put into practice every idea presented in this book.  The point is to find what works best for you and your organization, put it into action and start reaping the benefits.  Best of luck!

Written by Ellie Mirman, blogger at the HubSpot Internet Marketing Blog and Inbound Marketer at Internet Marketing company HubSpot.

So you’ve got a Facebook Business Page… Now what? Building a Business Page is one of the best ways to increase your presence and engage more potential customers on Facebook, but it’s more than just clicking “Create Page”. As you venture out into the social media world, here are a few tips to help you promote your Page and reach more of the 100 million Facebook users.

Create a Facebook Business Page worth becoming a fan of.

To quote David Meerman Scott, nobody cares about your products and services (except you). People care about how you can help them solve their problems. To extend that thought to Facebook, don’t use your Facebook Page to talk about your products all the time. People aren’t interested. Instead, create some interesting, useful content that people want to receive. This could be blog posts, whitepapers, or simply discussions.

Take advantage of the viral nature of Facebook.

Facebook provides great opportunities for viral marketing. Facebook creates a “News Feed” of your friends’ activities on Facebook, like posting photos, changing statuses, or becoming fans of a Page. What this means is that every time someone interacts with your Page in some way, that action is published across all of their friends’ News Feeds, giving you exposure to that person’s entire network. The best way to take advantage of this is to engage your users and give them more opportunities to interact with your Page, for example, by fostering discussions, inviting them to events, allowing them to post links. Leveraging the power of the News Feed is a critical part of establishing your presence on Facebook and building a fan base for spreading your messages.

Don’t forget to draw on your network.

All promotion does not need to take place within Facebook. Feel free to email your opt-in e-mail list, blog about your Page, and post a link to your Page on your company website. The best people to help you build up your fan base for your Business Page on Facebook are those people already subscribed to your blog or engaged with you in some way.

Optimize your Page for Facebook – and public – search.

Another way to get found and build your fan base is through Facebook’s search. Facebook – like all other search engines (Facebook was noted the most used people search engine) – has an undisclosed algorithm that ranks search results in a way that aims to return relevant and useful results to the searcher. The best think you can do to show up higher in these search results is to build a large following of your existing fans, because entities with a larger network tend to show up higher in search results. Also note that Facebook Business Pages are public and indexable by search engines. This potentially gives you exposure to those searching in broader search engines like Google. To make the most of this, start lots of engaging discussion threads on your Page, so that if someone is searching in Google on that very topic, they can stumble upon your Facebook Page and discussion thread.

Get an extra push with Facebook Ads.

If you want to give your Business Page an extra push at the beginning, you can also buy some advertising slots. Note that Facebook ads are much less effective than the viral marketing options on Facebook, and the click through rate for Facebook ads is notoriously low. Facebook advertisements show up on the sidebar as users browse through their friends’ profiles, groups, and so on. When you set up your ad, be sure to include “social ads” – these draw on a users’ network to see who in their network has already engaged with your Page and shows, for example, “Jim Smith is a fan of Company ABC” next to your ad, potentially improving your click through rate. Also, make sure that you give viewers a relevant reason to click on your ad by inviting them to connect with industry peers or offering a free whitepaper, for example. Also in this vein, note that you can target your ads by age, gender, interests, geography, and other factors, to reach users who may be more interested in your Business Page.

Bonus Tip: Measure your results.

Once you’ve built up your Facebook Page it’s good to measure what you’re actually getting out of your social media program. Some metrics you may want to measure are:  number of fans, page views, and unique users. Facebook’s “Insights” provide some of these metrics, including demographic data. You’ll also want to track actions beyond your Facebook Page, namely, website traffic, leads, and sales that come from Facebook. Hopefully some of these tips will help you get your Facebook Business Page off the ground and build it into a valuable channel for reaching your potential customers.

All this said, social media, including Facebook, is by no means static. It is constantly changing and we, as marketers, are constantly learning the right way to leverage these channels for marketing. If you want to see what we at HubSpot have done, you can become a fan of our Page at http://facebook.hubspot.com. And, if you’re looking to network with other marketers on Facebook, you may be interested in the Facebook Pro Marketers group, a group for marketers passionate about marketing. Perhaps there we can continue discussing ideas for marketing on Facebook.

Wikipedia’s definition of Facebook – a social networking site where users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves.

I got on Facebook when I was in college (when only college students could be members), and used it to keep up with hometown friends, keep up with other students I had met, join groups that I cared about, send messages to friends and post fun pictures and wall posts reminiscing from the weekend before. Now that I am out of college and working, I still use Facebook to keep up with friends (maybe a few less pictures and groups), but I also use it now for networking and more business purposes. My personal and professional life are definitely colliding!

Facebook has made itself easier for professionals to use with groups, discussions and ads, but I think the best thing you can do for your business on Facebook is Facebook Pages. Facebook Pages help to build a business presence and engage with customers, co-workers, partners and fans on Facebook. Users can express their support by adding themselves as a fan, writing on your wall, uploading photos, and joining other fans in discussion groups. You can send updates to your fans regularly — or just with special news or offers. Add applications to your Page and engage your users with videos, reviews, flash content, and more. More importantly, it is free and easy!

To get started:

• You need to be a member on Facebook
• Go to facebook.com/business/?pages (or go the bottom of the page and click “advertising”)
• Click “create a Facebook Page” and follow the directions
• Upload a picture (best to use your logo for this)
• Fill in company information
• Take it from there…add photos, discussions, notes, video, etc. (you should see all the categories to edit right there on the page or if not click “edit page”)
• Click “more applications” if you would like to browse what other applications are out there (like RSS Feeds) – you can look or type in the search box
• Publish the Page (in red lettering at the top of the page)
• Ask co-workers and customers to become fans and start getting the word out

Now you know how to get started with a Facebook Page, how do you manage it? We over here at ReachForce just put up our own page, and are still working to get the word out. Luckily, our friend Ellie Mirman from HubSpot has some experience. Look for a post from her soon on how to manage your page and get fans. HubSpot already has 797 fans!

Podcasting and video can be very scary to use…buying new equipment and software, and then learning how to use it all. The procedure might be a little more difficult than just writing text, but the outcome of engaging your audience is worth it. And if that doesn’t sell you, then what David has to say about it will. It sold me!

“The potential to deliver information to buyers in new and surprising ways is greater when you use a new medium. And while your competition is still trying to figure out ‘that blogging thing,’ you can leverage your existing blog into the new worlds of audio and video and leave the competition way behind.”

Who doesn’t like to watch a short video (mostly if it is funny) while reading a blog post? I won’t speak for everyone, but I am willing to bet the majority does. And it might seem scary at first, but putting a podcast or short video together really is not all that hard. Luckily, David has some tips for us to use as well:

For Podcasting

• Show preparation -gather ideas and create a script
• Recording when you are near your computer -use a microphone that delivers audio into your computer (need software here)
• Mobile recording gear – is required if you are going to be moving around interviewing people at different places
• Phone interviews – require a digital recording switch device that connects to your telephone
• Editing your audio files – optional
• Postproduction editing – sometimes includes running a noise-reduction program and sound compression
• Tagging the audio -adding text-based information about the audio to make it easier for people to find
• Hosting and distribution – so people can easily obtain your podcasts
• Promotion – you must provide links to your show
• A companion blog – to discuss the content of each show, and will also help to be indexed by search engines

For Video

• Posting to video-sharing sites – like YouTube, just shoot and upload
• Developing an online video channel – usually used with a unique URL
• Attempting stealth insertions to YouTube – dangerous, YouTube will find inauthentic video
• Vlogging – “video blogging” by embedding a video into a blog post
• Vodcasting – a podcast with video tied to a syndication component
• Inviting your customer communities to submit video – to help generate viral marketing interest

Our friends over at HubSpot recently posted a really funny video about imbound vs. outbound marketing that was a real success. They told us it only took an afternoon to come up with idea, write it, shoot it an edit it. See…worth it!

This is a fantastic chapter for anyone thinking about or embarking on starting their own company blog.  I have blogged about this subject quite a bit in the past but I want to pull out a few great tips from David (and one of my own) that I have not covered before.

Following the ethical guidelines for blogging David outlines is very important.  Here are the high points:

• Transparency - Let readers know that the blog is tied to the company, don’t try to pass it off as a third party.  When commenting always leave your real name and don’t comment for someone else.
• Privacy - always ask for permission to blog about anything that could be considered private.  If a customer emails you to share their success using your product, be sure to ask permission before sharing it on the blog.
• Disclosure - Always disclose any connection you might have to what you are blogging or commenting about.  If you are recommending a product be sure to reveal that they are a partner.
• Truthfulness - Don’t lie, period.
• Credit - It is very common practice to read someone else’s blog post and write about it on your own blog.  This is fine but always give credit to the source.  (Tip: be sure to add some new idea to the topic and don’t just regurgitate their ideas)

Another tip David suggests is password protecting your blog in the beginning so you can get input from those you trust before opening it up to the entire online world.  I would add that it is a good idea to build up a few posts before you begin promoting your blog so that visitors can get an idea of what your blog is all about.  When we launched The B2B Lead, we wrote about ten or fifteen posts before we actually posted a single one. That way it was easy in the beginning to post something everyday.

One of the best reasons to start a blog is for SEO, but keep in mind you will be not be ranked #1 on Google your first day.  From what I understand (and please correct me if I am wrong) Google searches sites only every few months.  When it notices that content changes have been made it will crawl that site again sooner that a site with no or only minor content changes.  Your blog should have lots of new content so you want Google to crawl it everytime you have a new post.  Over time, Google will recognize that it it a site to be checked frequently, but there is a way to “train” Google  to crawl your site frequently.  You can submit a new site map to Google everytime you post.  I am not a technology expert so my advice is to ask your webmaster how to do this in your blogging software.

For more blogging tips, check out these posts:

Blogs – Don’t Underestimate Their Reach – ReachForce Book Club

Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Corporate Blog

Keep Your Blog on Track to Support SEO and Other Business Objectives

Page Titles are Important

Blog Basics

In a good example of “better late than never,” LinkedIn finally added group discussion functionality to its professional networking network. Here on The B2B Lead I wrote about how much I was looking forward to LinkedIn going social and why I believe it will be so important for B2B marketers.

While commenters on the TechCrunch blog were quick to cry “inadequate,” we at BreakingPoint are happy with the early results and look forward to using the functionality to grow the group and make new connections. BreakingPoint’s Director of Marketing and Engage in PR blogger Kyle Flaherty got the party started right away in the BreakingPoint Application, Network Performance & Security Testing group. He produced this handy video tour of the new features.

So those are the new features. What are the benefits? Well, for week one, I can sum it up with the words: connections, market research, and web traffic. While our LinkedIn group is still very new, membership has grown to 60+ qualified professionals interested in testing tools. We’ve already connected with several influential buyers, shared helpful resources, conducted research, and benefited from a small burst of web traffic. LinkedIn jumped into our top 10 web site traffic referrers in the week following the introduction of user discussions. Notice I didn’t mention closed a few deals?

On the Lessons Learned front, I advise readers of The B2B Lead to set up the rules for behavior on the group right away. Kyle clearly established our group as a Sales- and Marketing-free zone after one newbie launched into a blatant sales pitch. Blasphemy, you say? This is The B2B Lead, after all. Why create a group at all if you aren’t going to use it to market to your customers?

If you are asking yourself these questions, then I recommend you read more of Kyle’s blog. While I sometime tease Kyle about being a social media purist (OK, I actually use the word “boy scout”), Kyle is a perfect example of how to build relationships with potential customers and the community at large by actually engaging in online conversations, providing value, and earning trust. In a recent post he wrote called “Seeking Inspiration” Kyle wrote:

“Inspiration comes down to a measure of trust, which comes from a solidly built relationship.  The same goes for your marketing.  A trusted brand has an easier time inspiring because they have created a relationship with you over a period of time. When a company enters social media they, of course, need a strategy, but the idea of building trust must be in conjunction with building relationships.”

And, when Marketers take this approach, the benefits will follow. If you are looking for real tangible ideas for leveraging social media and want to see exactly how serving your community can deliver big results, have a look at Kyle’s 3 part case study on BreakingPoint’s social media programs.

Here on The B2B Lead I’ll be posting about how we integrated social media into our overall programs along with our laser-targeted direct outreach. Look forward to your first hand experiences with LinkedIn and other community building efforts. Do tell.

This chapter couldn’t have come at a better time.  Leigh Anne and I were just talking about this.  We need to update our ‘News’ page on our site.  It feels so old school and is really due a 2.0 update.

David opens the chapter with a very important message – “…all kinds of people visit your online media room, not just journalists.  Your buyers are snooping around your organization by visiting media pages on your Web site.  Your current customers, partners, investors, suppliers and employees all visit those pages.”  He goes on to say, people go to the online media room to know what’s current about the organization.  I totally agree.  If there’s no updated news does that mean the company isn’t doing well or is stagnant?  Maybe.

As we are about to take on a site overhaul, here’s some of the best practices David suggests that we’ll be implementing:

• Needs Analysis – Before the reconstruction begins we’ll be identifying persona of the people visiting this new media room.  Once identified we will then be sure to include content that meets the needs of each persona.
• Optimized news releases for searching and browsing – gone are the days of the aged list of press release headlines.  When updating we must always consider SEO best practices.  This spot has a wealth of good information, we’ll be sure to leverage this.
• Background Information that Helps Journalists Write Stories – This is often called a press kit and typically includes – company history, executive bios, investor profiles, board of directors, product and service information, analysts information/coverage and links to recent media coverage.
• Multimedia content – some like to listen, some like to read, some like to watch and listen.  We want to make sure we have what their looking for.
• List Executive appearances, conferences and tradeshow participation – we want to be sure the journalists know where we’ve been, where we’re at and where we’re going.
• Don’t forget the bloggers – all news releases going forward will include bloggers distribution lists as well.
• Avoid Jargon, Acronyms and Industry Speak – we’ve covered this in an earlier chapter.  Everyone sees through it and would appreciate us all just speaking in common terms we all understand.

Are we forgetting anything here?  All of these ideas are great, right?  For more ideas for a great media room, check out Hubspot’s Press Room.