Wordsmithing with SEO

How do words affect a post?

This post is written with the help of "SEO Blogger" a browser plug-in from Wordtracker. For fun I wrote what came out of the finger tips, then checked my thinking against the tool.

When people write posts blogs they choose specific terms keywords to convey a message. The choice is often based on thoughts and intent keyword research in order to plant an idea in their minds. Hopefully the result is a topic for conversation conversation starter.

If you're crafting stories and messages technical writing then this tool might help.

10 Marketing Disciplines Defined

How do we describe what we do at a party?

Sometimes I need a simple way to explain what I do. So, here's my list of definitions for marketing that usually work:

1. Marketing: aligning solutions and needs to everyone's mutual benefit
2. Outbound Marketing: getting seen, heard and hopefully some attention
3. Inbound Marketing: getting found through different and unusual places
4. Content Marketing: sharing what you know and have to help people make decisions
5. Social Marketing: leveraging human interactions to convey a message
6. Search Marketing: increasing the odds of being in a prominent position when people look
7. Email Marketing: saying or offering something of value to those interested in hearing from you
8. Direct Marketing: targeting a single individual in the hopes of eliciting a response
9. Affiliate Marketing: encouraging and rewarding others to market to their audience
10. Inline Marketing: leveraging media in ways that meet customer/prospect expectations

I'm sure there are many more. Got one to add? Drop me a note.

The Personalities of Education Seekers

What kind of people go to different types of schools? and why?

Earlier I wrote about the four different sandboxes marketers can think about in the education space. Using the (in)famous 2x2 quadrant four different goals can be obtained based on how general or specific the program and school are. In summary, they were defined as follows:

• Stepping Stone: the badge needed to eliminate a potential objection
  
• Short List: the credentials to be recognized as highly qualified
  
• Open Doors: the secret hand shake (and Rolodex) to move in certain circles
  
• Keys to the Kingdom: the seal of approval from the most respected place to gain skills

People who follow each of these paths do so for different reasons and there selection process of where to go to school is very different. As such, they can be turned into personae that help us develop the right messaging and media plans.

The following picture highlights each of the benefits, decision behavior and motivations of each of the four named personae.

Leveraging Content in Marketing

Why is content important?

Lately there has been lots of discussion around both 'content marketing' and 'inbound marketing'. On the former Kat French has written the '10 commandments' for content as well as a recent addendum and Todd Defren (and commenters) has offered a definition of inbound marketing. From the two writers:

[Content marketing is] transforming "information and data" into "engaging, portable, search-friendly content"

Inbound marketing is findability based on authority based on authenticity based on content based on passion.

Doing a typical web 2.0 thing, I'll create a mashup:

Content marketing: sharing what you know and have in ways that it makes it easier for people to decide to do business with you.

People make decisions emotionally and they defend their decisions rationally. Content can be used effectively in support of both needs. Along with context, content is paramount to helping people make choices. Consider the purchase of technology or making entertainment choices: we continually consume content in all manner of forms to help (and defend) why we choose what we do. If this is the case then there is no 'one right way' to package and distribute content. Since bits want to be free, our job is to facilitate their dispersion.


PS - I ended up dropping the explicit reference to inbound because in this day and age of the social graph, engagement and conversations I simply lose track of the concept of 'us' and 'them' or sides. Inbound still has a bit of company centricity to it. If there is 'inbound' marketing then there must be 'outbound' marketing where the only difference I see is a possible swapping of 'telling stories' for 'findability'. If you aren't an authentic, passionate authority then you probably shouldn't be a marketer.

Marketing of Education

What do I get from a degree?

This post is a little different and reflects more of 'my day job' rather than purely personal thoughts.

Recently we've had the opportunity to talk to several education institutions and this intense activity got us focused on the question: How do we approach marketing a degree?

Rather than start with the media plan, we thought about the reasons why someone gets a particular degree. That in turn provided insights into who and why a person wants that benefit. Finally, these considerations informed the media planning process. Using the classic consulting 2*2 matrix approach for positioning and differentiation we've outlined outcomes for various types of schools and programs giving each a name, an image and a reason for being.

• Schools: range from general state universities to very specific niche or prestige schools
  • General: full range of education opportunities: national online schools, state schools, general liberal arts
  • Specific: Branded B-Schools, any 'top 10', single focused schools
    
• Programs: range from general purpose degrees, e.g. liberal arts, to specific skills and credentials
  • General: Masters Finance, BA Psychology
  • Specific: Masters in Jurisprudence Health Care, Bachelor in Internet Marketing, Cosmetology Diploma
    

What people want as an outcome from these two dimensions is fairly easy to imagine and explain using an analogy of sand boxes.

• Stepping Stone: a general program from a general school allows you to get the next level of your career. This is often a default or local choice where 'any sandbox' will do. (Masters in Finance, UofU)
• Short List: a very specific program from a general school gives you the credentials to get in the short stack of resumes in the HR office. This combination gives you the 'tools to make things from sand'. (MJP Healthcare, Loyola)
• Open Doors: a general program from a specific school is about the network and access. A 'business' degree from branded B-Schools opens the doors because it was the 'right sandbox.' (MBA, Wharton)
• Key to the Kingdom: the singular focus of a program and school is all about achieving a dream. The degree gives you the ability to make sand. (Rhode Island School of Design; Computer Science, Neumont)

What we draw on the whiteboard looks like this:

Each quadrant has a persona and hence warrants a different approach to marketing. For instance, it is clear that the brand may be the school or the program. In rare cases like Thunderbird, they are one and the same. This impacts messaging. The degree to which one of the dimensions is 'specific' influences the choice of broadcast or targeted media because people are more likely to research and extend effort to attend one of these options.

More to follow.

Innovation Needs Roundup

How do we know which ideas to pursue?

The transition from ideation to execution reminds me of tending a perennial garden. There's lots of stuff growing there but not all of it is desirable.

• Ideas sprout up everywhere, in places we don't want, and usually a lot faster than we can control.
• Good ideas, like perennials don't look like much when you first plant them.
• Bad ideas can be aggressive and crowd out those needing nurturing.
• Good ideas produce sustainable, year-to-year, growth; bad one's are seasonal.
  
• Bad ideas attract as much attention as good ones yet are designed to be viral (dandelion).
  

Most ideas are weeds, we need a weed killer.

Personally, I need to heed my own advice -- lots of ideas; some should be killed. Although at $9 a pound 'wild greens' (aka weeds) are the new gourmet food and maybe I should sell them.