1. Don’t even think about doing it the illegal way.

Probably one of the most important characteristics to consider is the inability to spam via text. Due to U.S. mobile regulations, it’s very difficult (and expensive) to spam using SMS. If consumers are receiving spam, they can simply dial their service provider (AT&T, Verizon, etc.) and inform them that unauthorized messages from number xxxxxx are being sent to them. Guess who wins in this situation? Unlike email, SMS is hosted and controlled by a higher authority, an authority who can shut down spammers in no time. side note – stay away from SMTP email-to-text services, they don’t offer the proper opt-out functionality due to their one-way nature and are unreliable at larger scale campaigns.

2. You basically have three (legitimate) options.

Although this is somewhat true from an overview perspective, I think you actually have quite a bit more options. SMS and mobile services are becoming more and more common due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile phones, and it’s not difficult to find the service that best suits your needs. There are also hundreds of existing services that are incorporating SMS to make your lives easier. Most obvious example being Google Calendar offering SMS alerts, event creation, and more.

3. Text marketing can be supported by traditional marketing.

We couldn’t agree more. If you’re already running advertising campaigns through traditional media (print, TV, radio) there is no incremental cost to add an additional call to action (text KEYWORD to 465637), but the additional benefit is tremendous. Along with the mentioned methods in the article, there are actually some much more creative and beneficial things you can do with SMS marketing, like A/B split testing. Here’s how it would work — let’s say that it’s a print ad with the same creative and same message, except you’d like to test out different call to actions or offers. Well you could create the same ad, but switch out the headline or call to action in each and associate each with a different keyword: “text KEYWORD1 to 465637 to get 50% off your next purchase” and “text KEYWORD2 to 465637 and get a free scarf with your next purchase” and “text KEYWORD3 to 465637 for a chance to win a trip for 2 to the Bahamas”. In a similar manner, you can test different pieces of content on the page, including graphics, headlines, and other pieces of the ad, all while building your subscriber list!

4. It is better to give than to receive.

This is really true with any sort of marketing. As our attention spans get shorter and marketers try harder and harder to capture them, permission based marketing and honest communication becomes more important every day. Although email remains a powerful communication tool to this day, it has certainly lost its marketing luster of the years due to its unrestricted access, low cost, and nonexistent barriers. Just like any other communication channel, SMS must be used carefully and with respect.

5. Don’t waste your time with one-offs.

This is not only a great point from just a strategic perspective, but it’s also a regulatory conundrum. Due to the strict regulation surrounding SMS marketing, the database of phone numbers you collect are tied to the shortcode (phone number – ours: 465637) that they originally subscribed to. If you’re using a shared shortcode, you can’t take those phone numbers with you if you transfer to a different shortcode. So if you’re going to put all your eggs in one basket, make sure you’re not going to be regretting it later.

6. Show restraint (and don’t get too cute).

All valid points

Webconfs has a tool called Backlink Builder that can be used to easily build backlinks and reciprocal links. This tool searches for websites of the keyword you specify that contain keyphrases like “Add link”, “Add site”, “Add URL”, “Add URL”, “Submit URL”, “Add Article” etc.

What I’ve developed to be one of the most efficient methods of handling this tool and implementing it to work for me:

1. Open the backlink builder page
2. Insert the keyword or keyphrase that you’re looking for
   1. It’s possible to build this list to as many potential submission pages as needed using different keywords/keyphrases
      1. E.g. cheesecakes, “blueberry cheesecakes”, “new york style cheesecake”, etc.
   2. More than one keyword, e.g. herbal supplements, should be put in quotes (“ “) to search for pages with more exact results
3. On the backlink builder results page, highlight the entire list of results (including the text) and copy it to the clipboard
4. Open a new Excel spreadsheet
5. Paste this list into the spreadsheet
6. Scroll down toward the bottom of the list and delete the links that were generated with the keyphrases “submit article” and “add article”, unless this was the intention
7. Go to Edit -> Replace, and type in the following:
   1. Find what: * http
   2. Replace with: http
   3. This will remove the numbers before each URL
8. Insert a new cell above the existing top cell in the appropriate data column and type “Links” in the new cell
9. Highlight the column where the data exists and go to Edit -> Filter
10. Sort the column A-to-Z
    1. This will allow you to quickly browse through the list for inappropriate links
    2. Remove all of the non-link titles, e.g. “Finding sites with keyphrase…”
11. Highlight the column where the pasted list is and go to Data -> Remove Duplicates
    1. This will remove all the duplicate cells
12. Glance through the links and remove any links with:
    1. Usually less ranking TLDs, e.g. .info .biz etc.
    2. Inappropriate language
    3. Unrecognizable directories
    4. There are millions of sites out there, remove anything that is not relevant to what you’re looking for. Do not waste time looking through a site if there is a slight chance that it might not be relevant.
13. Label new column headings for PR, Submission Date, etc
    1. Start going through each relevant link and checking PR and possible link submission opportunity
14. If possible reciprocal link opportunity, label as such and come back to it after you create a reciprocal links page

Note: there are many other opportunities here for automation, but development and further research is needed in order to do so. The preceding is a human-touch approach and should suffice for link building opportunities in the low hundreds.

The piece in particular that I’m quite fond — what role content plays in your business. It shows how an article or youtube video may attract potential customers and valuable connections.

Content plays a massive role in search engine optimization. The more [relevant] content that a search engine can index or follow back from other’s links, the more relevant traffic you will likely realize and the more online “authority” a search engine is likely to grant — hence higher rankings for your specific keywords and industry.

I would recommend watching this piece to anyone who owns a site and particularly my clients.

Don’t forget to check out their other presentations as well: http://vizedu.com/

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) released version 3.4 of its Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services in the U.S.  The CBP is updated twice annually and in conjunction with the specific mobile carrier playbooks are the standard for mobile content services.

Updates include:

• Clarification of Terms & Conditions specifically for Web Print/Video
• Clarification of each carrier’s “Standard Rates May Apply” language
• Removing triple opt-in from premium IVR program
• Clarification on Alcohol & Tobacco marketing guidelines
• Adding new section providing update on MMS interoperability

Take a look at this car:

Initial reactions/assumptions:

• Clean
• Maintained
• Well taken care of

Now look at this car:

Yes, it’s the same car. There’s no interior or engine… The car starts and drives, but it sputters around and isn’t really put together all that well.

Here’s my point — you can have a car that looks amazing with a brand new paint job and all the right fixin’s, but if the guts aren’t up to par, you’re going to be driving down the highway at 40 MPH.

Now think of the internet as a highway – the information super highway – and your website is the car racing down it.

It doesn’t matter how beautiful your site is or how many features it has or how many modules you have installed. If the guts don’t do what they’re supposed to, you’re going to be stuck in 2^nd gear.

Think of an add-on/feature/module/widget as an aftermarket part on a car. You can have dozens of them and they all do neat tricks and intrigue passer-byers. But add enough of them and your webiste starts looking like this:

You’ve got your massive spoiler, widebody modification, and Z rated tires to help you achieve the optimimum aerodynamic downforce and stability at 200+ MPH.

But under the hood you have a standard 4 cylinder SOHC engine with a dirty air filter, knocking valves, and standard oil leaking from from the engine gaskets. How fast is that going to get you?

It is crucial that the website guts are up to par with the rest of the modifications. It is only the simultaneous optimization of these elements that will ensure optimum performance.

How the guts of your site affect SEO

Any car enthusiast will tell you to fix everything that is wrong with the car before you start modifying it. All the add-ons in the world will not make the guts perform any better.

Most people don’t understand much about cars and only see the exterior. They don’t know what to look for when they pop the hood. But when someone that knows what they’re doing (mechanics, dealers, etc.) look at a car, there are distinctive characteristics that they know to look for that will tell them more about a car in 10 seconds than if an inexperienced individual were look over it for 10 minutes.

Search engines are mechanics. While everyone else only sees the shiny exterior, search engine spiders will get their hands dirty by pulling apart your website piece by piece. Search engine algorithms are evolving daily and technology has become advanced enough that search engines can dissect a site at speeds and levels lightyears beyond humans.

What this means is that your site has to be architecturally sound before you start spending money on all the additional widgets and features. The database interaction and code architecture must be stable and functioning at optimal performance. There can be no broken links or images. The servers where you host your site should be up to date with the latest technology and the fastest and redudant throughput connections.

Initial SEO Steps – Tools and Resources

Here’s a quick overview and what I recommend as being the very first steps of SEO – web development optimization and the free tools that correspond to each:

Please Note: as with any automated tool, there may be errors in each of the below resources, but remember that these are only guidelines to help steer you in the right direction. Take the results of these tools with a grain of salt and be sure to consult with a professional.

• No errors in HTML validation
  • http://validator.w3.org/
• No errors in CSS validation
  • http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
• 301 redirects set up
  • Either www or no-www, pick one, otherwise search engines might see it as different sites/duplicate content
  • http://www.isitebuild.com/301-redirect.htm
• Page file size no more than 150 KB=153,600 bytes (before images, CSS and other attachments)
  • http://webpositionadvisor.com/tools/page_size_cheker.php
• No more than 100 unique links per page & no broken links
  • http://validator.w3.org/checklink
• No more than 4 levels deep in URL
  • Bad Example: http://www.sample.com/topic/subtopic/local/sublocal/danny/car/
  • Good Example:http://www.sample.com/topic/danny/car/
• Robots.txt set up
  • http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=40360
• No duplicate content
  • http://www.copyscape.com/
• HTTP headers
  • http://www.seoconsultants.com/tools/headers.asp

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what SEO is all about. After the above page architecture and foundation has been established, think of SEO like this — you now have a Ferrari of a website, but it’s sitting in your driveway – who’s going to see your beautiful car?

The rest of SEO takes your ferrari out of your driveway:

And puts it front of the people that actually care to see it (your target audience):

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck with your site!

• For every 1 click on a paid search result, the organic results generate 8.5 clicks (this is on a keyword parity basis, not counting those search results that have no paid ads)
• Based on action/conversion tracking, paid search clicks convert, on average, at 1.5X the rate of organic clicks (no surprise, since that ad text and landing page is custom optimized by the advertiser)
• From the numbers above, we can see that the opportunity from organic search is 5.66X that of paid search
• Across the board ad spending (via SEMPO):
  • 2004 was 85% PPC vs. 12% Organic
  • 2005 was 87% PPC vs. 11% Organic
  • 2006 was 87% PPC vs. 12% Organic
  • 2007 was 88% PPC vs. 10% Organic
• Spend on SEO is 1/8th of PPC
• Paid Search Agencies earn, on average 10% of their clients’ PPC spend (this number may actually be low)
• By this logic, SEO Agencies earn 1/45th ( 1/5.66 x 8 ) as much as paid search agencies (from a direct keyword-to-conversion path perspective)

(original source)

Unfortunately, these journals have some pretty strict reprint policies, so I’ll only be posting the abstracts on here, but they are usually well summarized and you’ll get the gist of the information this way.

Enjoy!

Journal of Consumer Marketing

Customer satisfaction and loyalty: start with the product, culminate with the brand

Abstract

Purpose - Studies on customer satisfaction and loyalty have focused on brand rather than product. It is not that brand is not important, but the process of loving a brand starts with a product. Customers appreciate products by themselves, independent of the brand, as shown in their pursuit of satisfaction and development of loyalty. Such appreciation seems to be prominent regarding innovative products when compared to traditional products. This paper aims to investigate this issue and provide a product-brand typology. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of empirical research on a partial application of the typology.

Findings - Results show that the relationship satisfaction-loyalty is significantly present when evaluating products alone albeit a weaker presence than when evaluating brand alone. Such unequal presence is corroborated in both traditional (bottled wine) and innovative (electronic) products even though it is much stronger in innovative products. The relationship satisfaction-loyalty is also present when evaluating product and brand combined, indicating that there is an intermediate position between product and brand. In contrast, the literature treats brand and product-brand as being in the same category thereby diminishing the importance of a useful difference between brand and product-brand.

Practical implications – There are practical consequences of applying the typology and examining the findings. The relationship satisfaction-loyalty starts with the product, includes the product-brand, and culminates with the brand. This process is significantly more important regarding innovative products, such as electronics, as compared to traditional products such as wine.

Originality/value – This study introduces a typology underscoring the pursuit of satisfaction and development of loyalty in three conditions of product presence versus brand presence, that is, product alone, brand alone, and product and brand combined.

Keywords Customer satisfaction, Customer loyalty, Brands, Electronic commerce, Wines

Paper type Research paper

Age cohort analysis in adoption of mobile data services: gen Xers versus baby boomers

Abstract

Purpose - This study aims to examine the differences in adoption of mobile data services between two age cohorts (gen Xers and baby boomers). Three elements in the extended Technology Acceptance Model – perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived fun – were used to identify the differences in adoption of mobile data services for the two age cohorts.

Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 200 mobile services users drawn from a purchased consumer panel participated in an online survey. Of this sample, 67 gen Xers and 86 baby boomers were used for the analysis (n ¼ 153). Multigroup structural equation modeling analysis was used to examine the differences in adoption of mobile data services between the two age cohorts.

Findings – This study found that baby boomers perceived mobile data services as more difficult to use than gen Xers. However, the perception of usefulness of mobile data services was stronger for the baby boomers than gen Xers. Usefulness of mobile data services may be a critical motivator for baby boomers to adopt mobile data services. Mobile data service marketers should focus on mobile data service usefulness when they are targeting the baby boomer cohort.

Originality/value – The results of this study provide insights to assist marketers in developing and positioning appropriate mobile data services to targeted age cohorts during the adoption stage.

Keywords Mobile communication systems, Data communication systems, Consumer behaviour, Age groups

Paper type Research paper

Understanding older shoppers: a phenomenological investigation

Abstract

Purpose - This research aims to explore the shopping behaviour and needs and wants of the over 55s market. Retail spaces have been most concerned
with targeting the young, but the growing importance of the older segment now dictates that retail environments must increasingly communicate with
older shoppers.

Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior executives from the retail property industry. Focus groups
were conducted with older shoppers to explore their perceived needs and wants.

Findings - Key findings include the need to use “perceived age” rather than chronological age in determining marketing strategies. The importance of
shopping as a means of socialisation and a leisure pursuit was emphasised by older consumers and that they see themselves as experienced, astute
shoppers who seek quality and service.

Research limitations/implications – The heterogeneity of the mature market was highlighted; outlook and lifestyles of older consumers are likely to
continue to change with successive generations. This indicates the need for continued research in this field to fully understand the needs and wants of a
diverse and important market segment.

Practical implications – Findings are evaluated in the context of previous research to draw out implications and potential actions points for the retail
and shopping place industry, specifically to create aspirational shopping spaces for older shoppers and use targeted brand management to
communicate effectively.

Originality/value – The paper provides insights into the needs and wants of older shoppers and highlights that while this group values the shopping
environment for social and leisure usage, retailers and shopping places needs to better understand and tailor their offer to benefit from the growing
importance of the older shopper.

Keywords Older consumers, Retailing, Shopping, Age groups, Socialization

Paper type Research paper

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