Blah, blah, blah*, or rather…Blog, blog, blog
Written by Jean
Tuesday, 8 November 2011 06:28
Blah, blah, blah*, or rather…Blog, blog, blog
My Top Ten Takeaways from BlogWorld 2011
On November 3 and 4, I attended BlogWorld in Los Angeles. BlogWorld is a new media and social media convention, the only industry-wide conference dedicated to blogging, social media, SEO, etc.
One of the most important things I learned was: WE DON’T KNOW YET. That is the answer in response to clients, other marketers, colleagues and friends who ask: what works, what doesn’t, what should I be doing, what shouldn’t I be doing, to build my business, my brand, my bank account? As blogger, author and speaker Amber Naslund said in her keynote: There is no rule book, no case study, no proof yet to what really works. It’s too new. We just have to keep trying, failing and ultimately, succeeding.
Also, is there really such a thing as a social media expert when we still just don’t know? Should we be leery of persons jumping on the band wagon calling themselves so-called experts of this still-developing media platform? Instead – we are separated into the social media savvy – those that will likely become experts once we figure out this whole new market and social media neophytes – those that don’t get it yet, but know enough to hire someone that does.
Here, I share a few helpful tidbits, tips and just plain reminders about new and social media. Sources are cited for the most part; some were just observances made after hearing multiple speakers:
1. Linkbait (my favorite 2011 social media word; definition: content that will hook people into linking to your content and, hence, my first item) includes top ten lists, infographics, quizzes, event coverage, checklists, cartoons and tools (via Jennifer Miner)
2. When working on blogger campaigns, switch your mindset/strategy from “leveraging” influencers to “creating” advocates. Build blogger outreach organically (personally) and encourage them to be open and honest about whatever their relationship is with the brand. (via Shani Higgins)
3. “When did we fall out of love with doing the tactical work? We’re not all strategists. We still need builders.” (via Amber Naslund with a nod to @bgindra’s Tweet)
4. Google doesn’t index anything on Facebook, but Google+ content is indexed right away. (via Chris Brogan)
5. Don’t keyword stuff, e.g. use too many key words in your content (Yeah, we know, but reminders are always good.) (via Peter Shankman)
6. If your blog posts are video-based, tag that video. SEO picks those words up too! (via Jennifer Miner)
7. Bloggers say that only 25 percent of brand marketers (and this can include outside agencies or internal staff) are knowledgeable about their blog. Most are just trying to push their brand information out without reviewing the blog’s structure and content (via Shani Higgins)
8. According to Technorati’s 2011 report, blog traffic is driven first by Facebook, followed very closely by Twitter. (via Shani Higgins)
9. I don’t think we should under estimate Google+, if we are to believe the many social media experts who converged on BlogWorld; lots of buzz for it
10. Dear Brands/Marketers: You’ve only got more fragmentation of social media tools to look forward to. Have fun! Or hire a PR agency to help with your social media strategy:)
*In honor of our 5W’s Blog “Blah, Blah, Blah” section
Thank you so much for writing about BlogWorld, Jean! It looks like you came away with some pretty good tips (I especially liked the quote from Amber, since I made a note of that one too during her presentation). Hope you can make it to more of our events in the future! Thanks again!
Number seven definitely rings true with me. The amount of pitches I get that have absolutely nothing to do with what I blog about is astounding.
Number one worries me a bit. More traffic is good but it has to be for the right reasons and if people are just clicking on to your/client’s site just to view the ‘linkbait’ and then bouncing right off that can’t be beneficial. There needs to be a strong push to convert those that come to a site just for the linkbait to then look at the actual content.
Totally agree Jeff. First message should have been that the content needs to be relevant, engaging, interesting, educational or entertaining…and targeted!