Even my largest clients are on the run from high-cost advertising.

Probably I don’t need to find a graph showcasing how consumers don’t respond well to interruptive marketing such as cold-calling. I know I’m not very fond of being interrupted. Sometimes I yearn for days spent on a farm with nothing but family, friends and maybe a goat – until my phone rings or I get a text – breaking my reverie.

Of course, there’s more to an effective marketing plan than just Inbound Marketing. It’s going to be a while before a company can just cut out all their traditional channels of advertising and just rely on an Inbound approach. Especially if a new company is just getting started or if a new product is being launched. Let’s face it, it’s hard to beat the awareness direct response TV ads can create over a short period of time. Currently I reccomend companies continue whatever traditional marketing they are doing now, and back it up with an online campaign.

Starting out with an Inbound Marketing campaign? One of the first to-dos on your list needs to be understanding long-tail keyword research and getting a long list of keywords to design a blog campaign around. Today’s enterprise social media plan must include blogging, so make that a priority!

Hubspot, a leader in Inbound Marketing, recently surveyed 644 companies to ascertain the state of both Traditional Media (print ads, telemarketing, tradeshows, etc.) & Inbound Marketing. As Hubspot defines it: “Inbound Marketing is a set of marketing strategies and techniques focused on pulling relevant prospects and customers towards a business and it’s products.”

This is part 11 of a 13 part series of blog posts that share bite-size portions of Hubspot’s overall report, “The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing.” If you’d like a full copy of the report, feel free to contact me by clicking here or search for the report by name on Google.

Since all the companies surveyed were already involved in social media, I supposed this data might be a little slanted in favor of that topic. However, it’s still probably pretty accurate to say that most companies are investing more time and energy into a social networking platform of some kind.

Direct mail is taking a huge hit at 50% less importance. I wouldn’t rule it out completely for any effective marketing plan, as it can drive some awareness. I notice that SEO is a close second to blogs, which is only natural as long tail keyword research is a primary factor in the success of a blog and/or website.

For the few companies that don’t have a website yet, I’d wager that your best bet is to start with a blog, if that’s all you can afford. There are plenty of decent (and free) blogging services to use to get your started. I recommend www.posterous.com for ease of use and excellent visibility when it comes to search engines.

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Interested in learning more about how The Association can help you implement enterprise social media and Inbound Marketing? Visit my resources blog for helpful videos  or fill out a request form here.

Although this is probably not a surprise to many people, The audience for news moved online up 17% over last year. In effect, the Internet was the only major news platform that did not decline in 2010.

The above graph illustrates the need for an effective marketing plan to include a corporate social media element. I have to admit, I hear less and less of the older generation complaining about the Internet and I hear more and more questions about how to utilize this amazing tool.

Although it may seem like there is an endless array of choices, those just starting out in the Internet Amazon should start with a blog and a Facebook business page. Then create tons of unique content centered around good keyword search terms.

While perusing the web this morning, I came across a Canon DSLR video featured on the blog of Philip Bloom. For those not in the know, Philip Bloom is a thought leader in the Canon DSLR video community, as well as an accomplished DP, Director and Producer.

We love the Canon 5D/7D look. We love that it can save up to 85% on production costs on commercial productions as well as our custom video productions. What caught my eye about the video I saw on Philip Bloom’s blog, however, was how a single man captured the street level action at the recent "Royal Wedding of The Century." Of course, I am talking about the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.

This was shot using a manfrotto 290 series tripod, Canon 50mm, 16-35mm and a Tamaron 70-300mm lenses, and a Canon 7D:

The Canon 7D so beautifully captured the essence of the people participating in the event, it’s easy to forget that a single man with a very simple setup was able to achieve 35mm-like quality shots.

There’s the real beauty for the new cinematographer: the ability to capture life’s messages as they happen, practically in the palm of your hand. No crew needed, Mother Nature provides most of the lighting.

Of course, when we shoot our short films in our Canon camera classes, we often use a full set up. And lighting. But because of the huge sensor in the Canon 5D and 7D, we have the option of a very light crew and virtually a backpack’s worth of equipment.

Do you have a short film using the Canon DSLR? We’d love to see it. Send it to info@theassociation.tv and we’ll pick a few to feature in upcoming blogs.

Hubspot, a leader in Inbound Marketing, recently surveyed 644 companies to ascertain the state of both Traditional Media (print ads, telemarketing, tradeshows, etc.) & Inbound Marketing. As Hubspot defines it: “Inbound Marketing is a set of marketing strategies and techniques focused on pulling relevant prospects and customers towards a business and it’s products.”

This is part 10 of a 13 part series of blog posts that share bite-size portions of Hubspot’s overall report, “The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing.” If you’d like a full copy of the report, feel free to contact me by clicking here or search for the report by name on Google.

Looks like I’ll be spending a lot more time talking about Linkedin in the coming months. Although the network isn’t as large as Facebook, it clearly has the advantage when it comes to B2B models. The only place it takes a major hit is higher education and retail, which actually makes sense.

Personally I find Linkedin more complicated than Facebook, so I gravitate towards that tool. I suspect other small business owners feel the same way. However, if you have a B2B model, best to sharpen your online digital pencil and study up on Linkedin.

Blogging is going to be a good middle of the road tool for any online effective marketing plan, so long there’s a generous helping of long tail keyword research sweetening each post. If you’ve already been blogging for awhile, but aren’t experiencing good conversion rates, the content might need some help with a consumer analysis to dial in on what your target market is looking for.

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Interested in learning more about how The Association can help you implement enterprise social media and Inbound Marketing? Visit my resources blog for helpful videos  or fill out a request form here.

Note: This is Part VII in an seven-part series I’m writing about Press Releases. Press releases are possibly an overlooked item in the enterprise social media toolbox, so I’m going to cover a few points and talk about how I’ve used them successfully for client campaigns.

Tracking Results: Where Performance is Measured, Performance Improves. A company considering a press release campaign, whether it’s 1 release or 10 releases, should have some way of measuring the results. Typically these results will be expressed in terms of visibility for certain keywords. When it comes to visibility online, one must pick one’s battles. Online that battle means showing up when people are typing in certain keywords.

Make sure whoever writes your press releases can give you a follow up report on what happened. How many keywords got your press release to the 1st page of Google, Yahoo or Bing? How many search engines featured the press release on the first page? How many other sites picked the release up? Your press release professional should be able to provide you with a formal report showing similiar numbers.

Pretty much anyone can write a press release and figure out how to get it distributed with today’s online tools. I’m not saying it’s hard to do. But pretty much anyone can paint an abstract oil painting too. The quality may be horrible…and typically you get what you pay for, so keep those two points in mind. Especially when it comes to investing in the long tail keyword research.

Ideally the best measure of success would be the sales results. But sometimes just better visibility or reputation management is the goal, so knowing those results are important. If your corporate social media campaign budget doesn’t allow for anything fancy, at the very least set up your own schedule to check keywords and record the results yourself. You might be surprised at what you find out!

Good luck and see you on the 1st page!

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Hubspot, a leader in Inbound Marketing, recently surveyed 644 companies to ascertain the state of both Traditional Media (print ads, telemarketing, tradeshows, etc.) & Inbound Marketing. As Hubspot defines it: “Inbound Marketing is a set of marketing strategies and techniques focused on pulling relevant prospects and customers towards a business and it’s products.”

This is part 9 of a 13 part series of blog posts that share bite-size portions of Hubspot’s overall report, “The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing.” If you’d like a full copy of the report, feel free to contact me by clicking here or search for the report by name on Google.

Which online social network to use is a question that often comes up.  To some degree I don’t think it matters as it will help give your name exposure. But when it comes to customer acquisition, it appears clear that your business model is the determining factor.

Does your enterprise social media campaign include Linkedin and Facebook? Which one is the most effective for your business model?

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Interested in learning more about how The Association can help you implement enterprise social media and Inbound Marketing? Visit my resources blog for helpful videos  or fill out a request form here.

Polly morgan visits the Canon Boot Camp in Prague

I figure that most people are pretty aware that there is a “generational gap” in the world of online marketing. Anyone over the age of 35 is probably having a tougher time understanding and shifting with the tides of marketing, as things go digital. There’s even a new name I heard that describes the younger set, “Digital Native.” It’s a great description.

But what about all us non-digital natives?

How do you understand something that you can’t really see or touch? Marketing online is a bit like being on a Ghost Hunter’s TV show. Talking to things that aren’t there, or are they? Is my marketing really working? I have a hard time even describing what it’s like for older marketers. But I finally came up with a description.

For many business owners who have had a website for the past few years, they understand the importance of having a presence online. However, they may be getting visitors and NO sales. Why is that? Weren’t we supposed to just build a website, and everyone would just show up and buy something? How come “someone” shows up, but they don’t take that next step?

Many “effective marketing plans” fall down right at that spot. Visitors arrive, and they are standing on the edge of a cliff, except they don’t see the chasm between them and actually signing up as an actual lead. If this is happening on your site, what you are missing is a conversion process. That conversion process is the virtual bridge between a visitor to one of your web presences, and actually buying something.

The first step of this conversion process is really understanding your target market. What do they need? What does your consumer analysis tell you about the people that would buy from you, if they could find you?

Are your website visitors falling into a chasm? If there aren’t any sales coming from your website or blog, but you have some consistent volume of online visitors, why yes, they are! That means the content of the site needs an overhaul, probably, as well as implementation of a conversion process.

Hubspot, a leader in Inbound Marketing, recently surveyed 644 companies to ascertain the state of both Traditional Media (print ads, telemarketing, tradeshows, etc.) & Inbound Marketing. As Hubspot defines it: “Inbound Marketing is a set of marketing strategies and techniques focused on pulling relevant prospects and customers towards a business and it’s products.”

This is part 8 of a 13 part series of blog posts that share bite-size portions of Hubspot’s overall report, “The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing.” If you’d like a full copy of the report, feel free to contact me by clicking here or search for the report by name on Google.

So you’ve started a blog and just don’t have the time to post frequently? Well, you’re in good company. The majority of companies surveyed blog weekly. The minority blog daily. Face it, it’s tough to come up with good, unique content.

We use a system I call Topic Optimized Marketing. While it does all the technical aspects right, like the utilization of long tail keywords, is also makes the implementation of a corporate social media plan easy. About as difficult as sending an email, once the content is created.

In other words, if you can log in to Gmail and send an email, you could use Topic Optimized Marketing. And so can all your employees or ghost writers. It even allows your customers to post stories and successes to your blog with the click of a button.

Worried about random posts and rants from customers? Relax. The whole system is moderated and only approved content appears on the system.

Regardless of what platform is utilized, the main thing is to create content and post it frequently.

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Interested in learning more about how The Association can help you implement enterprise social media and Inbound Marketing? Visit my resources blog for helpful videos  or fill out a request form here.