Interactive marketing strategy and best practices, includes a roadmap for brands and an overview of social media business case, common pitfalls and keys to success.

1. Interactive Marketing Roadmap for 2010"
Strategy and Best Practices
Steve Latham, CEO
Spur Interactive
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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2. Why Brands Invest Online
Web accounts for > 33% of media time (1)
Online is medium of choice for all ages (2)
 85% of adults age 30-50
 51% of adults 65-75
 25+ million seniors are online
Web impacts all businesses (3)
 25% of offline decisions influenced "
by online research
 70% of Searchers take action offline
Offers Compelling Advantages
 Able to Target, Engage and Interact
 Measurable, Affordable, Accountable
(1) (2) Pew Research Foundation 2009
(3) Shop.org
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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3. Media Landscape is Changing…
In one word… fragmentation
• 1966: 5 mediums dominated
• 2006: 30+ mediums
TV no longer offers same reach
• 1977: 70% reach  3 commercials
• 2007: 70% reach  184 commercials
• >50% of primetime TV is time-shifted
Print news circulation is declining
Radio losing share to Satellite + iPods
Direct Mail is losing effectiveness
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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4. Implications for Marketers
Customers are now in control
• “Push” tactics don’t work
• Customer choose when & how they engage
Customers have high expectations
• They expect to find “it” quickly and easily
• Regardless of location
Customers have many more choices
• It’s not always clear who is the best choice
Competition is increasing
• Providers now compete globally
The marketplace is changing. To succeed you must adapt.
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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5. Online Success Requires an Integrated Approach
Search Social Video Display E-Mail
Paid + Blogs, Networks, Display and Rich Media, House & 3rd
Natural Content Sites Pre-roll
Banners Party email
Awareness
Interest
(Consideration / Preference)
Decision
Customers
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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6. Online Roadmap for Marketers
Understand your audiences
Optimize Your Web Site
Create demand for your brand
Engage and Interact
Measure results
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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7. 1. Understand Your Audience
Who are they?
Where do they live?
What are their needs?
What drives their decisions?
What do they know about you?
What do they need to know about you?
Your message and language must meet the
needs of your audience
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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8. 2. Optimize Your Site
Branding and Messaging
• Strong brand image and message
• Make it easy for them to determine:
• What You Do
• How You Differentiate
• Why they should contact you
Usability
• Easy and intuitive to navigate
• Minimal steps to find what they need
Effectiveness
• Speak to visitors in a way they understand
• Make it educational and engaging
• Use Calls to Action to drive conversions
Search visibility
• Optimize for natural search rankings
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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9. 3. Create Brand Awareness and Consideration
To win over customers, they must know:
• Who you are
• How you are uniquely positioned
• Why they should choose you
Success requires passage through the conversion funnel
Awareness
Consideration
Preference
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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10. Brand Awareness and Consideration (cont.)
Demand is created by utilizing…
Owned Earned Media
Paid Media
Media
Rules of thumb:
• Display and 3rd party email are best for creating awareness
• Search works best for capitalizing on awareness
• Social media does both, but reach may be a challenge
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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11. 4. Engage and Interact
There are now many ways to interact
• Your Web site
• Blog
• Online Groups
• Social media sites (Facebook)
• Micro-blogs (Twitter)
• Social bookmarking sites
Interaction and engagement drive action (decisions)
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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12. 5. Measure Results
Success requires:
• Defined and measurable objectives
• Metrics that tie to those objectives
• Tools for monitoring metrics
• Ability to translate metrics to business results
• Methodology to calculate ROI
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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13. Sample Reports
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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14. A Few Words on Social Media…
It’s here to stay."
You need to figure it out!
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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15. 5 Reasons to Embrace Social Media
1. You are already involved in Social Media
 Your employees are doing it
 Discussions about your brand are taking place
 If you participate you can shape outcomes
2. Comparative advantages
 Word of mouth is #1 influencer of purchases
 Does not require a media budget
 Viral effect can carry a message a long way
3. Revenue growth
 Among top 100 Brands, those using social media
saw 18% lift in revenue (Altimeter / Wet Paint 2009)
 91% of Inc. 500 use social media (Umass Dartmouth 2009)
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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16. 5 Reasons to Embrace Social Media
4. A Killer App for Marketing:
 Brand awareness and consideration
 Customer service
 Community relations
 Recruiting
 Crisis / corporate communications
5. Search Engine Rankings!
 Can produce great results!
 See example on next slide
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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17. Case Study: Social Media Drives Search
Using social
media, I have 3
of top 4 listings
for “social media
business case”
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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18. Social Media Pitfalls
Rush to action without a plan
Lack of objectives and measurement
Content guidelines
Failing to engage
Limited Reach
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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19. Social Media Pitfall #1: Rush to Action
Rushing to action without a plan (shiny new object)
• Hasty decisions and knee-jerk reactions
• One-off approach
• Focus on the wrong objectives or platforms
• Failing to understand requirements and resources
GMOOT!
(get me one of those)
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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20. Social Media Pitfall #2: (Lack of) Measurement
Engagement metrics
Web 2.0 Metrics
 Site visits
 Posts
 Unique visitors
 Tweets and ReTweets
 Visit frequency
 Facebook Fans
 Page views per visit
 Followers
 Time on site
 Ratio: Friends vs. Follows
 Registrations
 Mentions
 Conversions
 Content views
 Content uploads
 Shared pages
 Sentiment ratio
 Page 1 search rankings
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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21. Social Media Pitfall #3: Content
While content is critical, it is often an afterthought
• Once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s too late
Requires content planning
• Format: copy, video, photos, audio
• Type: original vs. repurposed
• Source: where will it come from?
May require internal approval
• Brand guidelines
• Legal issues
Above all… Content must be engaging!
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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22. Social Media Pitfall #4: Failure to Engage
• Social Media is about listening and "
interacting vs. shouting
• “Spray and Pray” doesn’t work
• Think: Telephone vs. Megaphone
• Engagement hurdles:
• Lack of interesting and relevant content
• Self-focused content
• Too much self-promotion
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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23. Social Media Pitfall #5: Limited Reach
• Social Media works best if you have an audience
• Process of building a network is often overlooked
• Without reach, there is no ROI
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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24. Avoiding Social Media Pitfalls
Goals: Who and What?
• Define audiences and identify influencers
• Define objectives
• Set reasonable expectations
Media: which social media platforms?
Engagement: how to listen and interact?
• Content: types of media, voice, frequency
• Duties: producing, posting, sharing, responding
• Policy: addressing negative comments
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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25. Avoiding Social Media Pitfalls (cont.)
Reach: how will you promote your program?
• Online, email, offline, PR, word of mouth
• How will you build your network?
Resources: what is needed; what will it cost?
• People, process, assets, tools, etc.
Metrics: how will you measure success?
• What metrics will you use?
• What tools will you use?
• How will you translate into ROI?
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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26. In Closing…
Your customers are online; you must be there to greet them.
Interactive marketing success requires a strategic, integrated
approach.
Let’s stay in touch!
• http://twitter.com/stevelatham
• http://Facebook.com/slatham
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevelatham
For more info:
Visit http://SpurInteractive.com
or http://blog.spurinteractive.com/
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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27. About Spur Interactive
Strategic Interactive Agency
Full Service Approach
• Brand building
• Strategies
• Lead generation
• Creative
• Customer cultivation
• Media
• ROI measurement
• Analytical Insights
Uniquely Positioned: Advisor and Implementer
Planning  Execution  Measurement  Optimization
Thought leaders in digital media:
• Strategic planning and execution
• Integrating Social Media, Search, Advertising and Email
• Pioneers in analytics and measurement
Track record of successful programs
• 7+ years of ROI-based successes for leading brands
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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28. About the Presenter
Steve Latham is the founder and CEO of Spur Interactive, a strategic interactive
marketing agency. In this role, Steve has planned and managed successful
campaigns for brands such as Continental Airlines, FedEx Kinko's, ConocoPhillips
and others. In the realm of social media, Steve has extensive experience in
developing and executing social media strategies that produce measurable
business value.
Steve is an accomplished industry lecturer and thought leader. Steve speaks
frequently at industry events including Search Engine Strategies, Online Marketing
Summit and Interactive Strategies. Steve’s articles have been published by
MediaPost, Online Media Daily, iMedia Connection, Marketing News and
Bizjournals.com. Steve has been quoted in B2B Magazine, PR Week, Fortune and
CNN.com.
Steve received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA from the
University of Oklahoma. You can read Steve’s articles at blog.spurinteractive.com
and at OnlineMarketingConnect.com.
http://facebook.com/slatham
http://twitter.com/stevelatham "
www.linkedin.com/in/stevelatham
Interactive Marketing Strategy and Best Practices © Spur Interactive 2010
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