And by “freshness”, of course we mean Google’s new Freshness algorithm that favors frequently updated content in the search results delivered to you. Amit Singhal, from Google, says that “search results, like warm cookies right out of the oven or cool refreshing fruit on a hot summer’s day, are best when they’re fresh.” While that may be true, it could also affect your website’s search engine rankings, especially if others in your market or category are updating their platforms on a more regular basis.

This new algorithm update stems from the completion of their Caffeine (aptly named!) web indexing system last year, which crawls and indexes the web for fresh content much quicker and on a much larger scale. The new Freshness algorithm further builds on Caffeine and impacts roughly 35 percent of searches. Different searches have different freshness needs and Google’s new algorithm accounts for that, differentiating between what queries require recent content and those it is less relevant for. For example, if you are searching for information on when the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting will take place, you are more likely than not interested in the 2011 tree lighting and not 2008 or 2004. However, if you are searching for a cookie recipe, timeliness is less critical. As a result of this, the search results that will be most affected include those in the following categories:

1. Recent events or hot topics (latest news about NBA lockout, Occupy Wall Street protest, etc.)
2. Regularly occurring events (elections, X Factor results, etc.)
3. Frequent updates (best SLR camera, safest SUV)

This freshness shift shouldn’t be seen as a detriment, but rather an opportunity to increase our search rankings by making sure content is relevant, updated and takes into account both social media and search. Now, more than ever, analytics, keyword research and trending topics should have an impact on the content we push out on the web, in social channels and press releases. Let’s shift our thinking to “real-time” so we can really embrace the “freshness” and provide our target audiences with the updated, relevant content they are looking for.

“Checking-in” using platforms like Foursquare, Gowalla, Whrrl, Facebook Places, among others, is popular for many reasons, including showcasing to your social graph the cool places you are frequenting. Now, imagine checking in somewhere unheard-of. This is exactly what one astronaut has done. On Friday he unlocked the “NASA Explorer” badge and checked into the National Space Station. Where will someone check-in to next?  http://bit.ly/9Wx91U

Privacy on Facebook, or Not?

We all have our privacy settings set to our liking on Facebook; or so we thought. This week millions of Facebook users found that their personal information was being leaked to advertisers through apps on the social networking site. Facebook is taking immediate action but it’s yet another instance of privacy breaches on this wildly popular platform.  http://bit.ly/buDn6d

Apple Apps Becoming More Available?

Apple announced this week, that in 90-days they will be allowing users to purchase apps on their desktop or laptop computers through an online store with their i-tunes account. Previously the services were only offered to i-devices. Do you think this availability increase has then potential to hurt other software providers. http://bit.ly/cKgsde

Amanda Sanchez

Amanda was originally hired in 2009 as PR account coordinator and was quickly promoted because of her dedication, originality and expertise. Amanda leads projects for clients including Questar, Zions Bank, Polynesian Cultural Center, Dairy Farmers of Utah and Ultradent and excels at media outreach, community relations, event coordination, social media, and the concept and development of grassroots and guerilla PR campaigns.

James Carroll

James first started at Richter7 as a client services intern but quickly showed everyone what an asset he was and was brought on full time as an advertising assistant account manager and analytics coordinator. Having graduated from the University of Utah with a BS in marketing and information systems, James will be working with Living Planet Aquarium, Christopherson Business Travel and Zions Bank, among others.

Peter Brown

Initially joining Richter7 as a public relations intern, Peter has experience with event coordination, video production, media relations, and the planning and execution of PR campaigns. Peter is working with clients such as CR England, Utah Highway Safety Office and Zions Bank and is a great asset to our PR department.

Welcome to the team!

A recent survey by Alterian shows some interesting numbers about how companies are engaging in this new paradigm shift in digital marketing.  Here are some key findings and excerpts from that survey.

1. How many different providers of marketing services do you leverage for digital marketing, database marketing, data hygiene, brand strategy, web analytics, email marketing and statistical analysis?

It is very revealing that almost 70% of respondents work with 3 or more suppliers, and almost a quarter (23%) work with a staggering 7 or more suppliers. Ensuring the consistency of messaging and brand across so many suppliers can be a challenge, made all the more difficult by marketing teams working in silos with disparate applications and information.

Suppliers will have to change how they operate if they want to provide clients with strategies for customer engagement across multiple channels.

2. How difficult is it to coordinate resources across your digital and direct marketing agencies?

Almost 40% of respondents reported that they found this ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ difficult. Marketers do not need just a direct marketing agency that claims to be digital experts, or a digital agency turning to print. What is needed is a truly integrated agency that solves the problems marketers are having with coordinating multiple resources.

3. In the next 12 months how much of your marketing budget will be shifting from traditional direct marketing (direct mail/telemarketing) to digital/interactive/social channels?

Marketing budgets are shifting away from traditional direct marketing towards digital, interactive and social channels. 40% of respondents anticipate a shift of over a fifth of their budget towards digital channels, with 21% predicting more than a third of their budget shifting.

4. Which of the new marketing techniques are you currently investing in or planning to invest in?

The most popular new marketing technique was Social Media Marketing.  Two-thirds of respondents (66%) were planning to engage in marketing through social media channels.

36% of respondents reported their intention to invest in Social Media Monitoring tools. This is a very high percentage, particularly considering the relative immaturity of the channel.

Coming this Friday I will post “Part 2 – Digital Marketing: Are You Ready.” I will explore additional research results for integrated multi-channel engagement and staff readiness.

Source:  Alterian (LSE: ALN).

Spam Complaints

Email services (Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) are getting more spam-adverse every day. If the people you send emails to mark your message as spam, the email services will take notice.

Email services put up with a certain level of users being spam-button-happy. But if they get too many spam complaints from your email recipients, then they’re not only going to stop sending your emails through to those people–they’ll stop delivering your emails to everyone.

Furthermore, you won’t just get your email address flagged as spam, but they will reject anything coming from your IP address. All the major servers will do this: Yahoo, Gmail, MSN/Hotmail, etc.

Email Content No-No’s

It all starts with the content of your email. Some words and phrases will potentially get your email rejected, regardless of whether it’s actually spam or not. Things to avoid in the subject line and content of your email:

1. FREE. The word “free”, especially in all caps, is a BIG RED FLAG. That’s one reason you see emails break up the word “FREE” into F*R*E*E and FR-EE. Email providers have caught on to this trick. The word “free” isn’t necessarily bad, but phrases like “free membership,” “free money” and “financial freedom” are BIG RED FLAGS as well.

2. Punctuation. More than two !! in a row is going to get you marked as a spammer.

3. ALL CAPS. Sometimes you want to put a little emphasis in your message. Occasionally using ALL

4. CAPITAL LETTERS is not bad. Just don’t leave the “caps lock” key engaged all the time. Take a step back, and then type your message using lower-case letters just like you would do in any other normal communication.

5. MLM. It’s unfortunate, but mentioning “MLM,” “multi-level marketing,” “network marketing” or “business opportunity” will get you marked as spam.

6. Flagged Terms. Terms like “make money,” “make millions,” and multiple “$$$” are all red flags. Any mention of cheap medication, erectile drugs and other common spam fodder will definitely get you thrown into the spam category.

7. Images. If a significant portion of your message is built from images, then providers are going to assume you are trying to slip something past them; spammers often try to hide the content of their message using words in an image.

Pick the Right Email Provider

Often, users will sign up with what looks to be a perfectly legitimate email provider, only to find out that all their messages go straight to spam. Is this because the user is a spammer? No. It’s because they use an email provider that has been flagged as producing a lot of spam. For example, if you manage your email list through a paid service that sends a lot of spam (somebody else’s spam), there is a high degree of likelihood that everything coming from that provider will be marked as spam (including your emails).

1. Make sure your email marketing manager or partner requires (or at least highly encourages) double opt-ins. This will cut down on spam significantly.

2. Ask how they deal with too many spam complaints. For example, the strategic partners used by Richter7 are all very good about keeping spammers out of their systems. They will actually call somebody if they get more than .1% spam complaints over several emails.

3. Ask what is being done to keep in good graces with email services like Yahoo and Gmail. For example, one of Richter7’s main partners actively maintains a good relationship with all the email services to keep any emails sent through them “whitelisted”. Because of this relationship, our clients get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to accepting or rejecting emails.

It’s Easy to Get Your Email Delivered

This may all seem like a lot, but the main thing to remember is to write valuable, relevant emails, send them to people who want to hear from you and use a reputable partner.

One afternoon not long ago I took a moment to sit down and read the morning newspaper.  I’ve always been an afternoon newspaper guy. (Deseret News, can you hear me?)  Immediately, frustration set in — not with prognostications about the recession, but with the advertising content.

I noticed a local grocery store insert – jammed full of prices and items, but nothing else.   Then I happened upon a second insert — different grocery store, likewise packed with products and prices.  “Fresh, crisp broccoli, 69 cents a pound,” the first screamed at me. Not to be outdone, the second insert’s main headline also touted “Broccoli, 69 cents a pound.” “Citrus sale” both also loudly announced. Other prices and featured items in the two competing inserts were similar, as well.

A few minutes later, my frustration level rose. This time two competing sporting goods stores were announcing similar “40% Off” sales on almost identical “active apparel.” Again, sale items galore. Then, finally, a logo, address and the dreaded, microscopic disclaimers.

I wanted to bellow, “Give me a reason to choose one of you!”  “Any good reason besides price!”  “Please, tell me why I should select your store over theirs!” “Offer me a worthwhile point of differentiation!”

Is it a disease transmitted by local, retail advertisers only?  Sadly, no.  A day later I sat down with a recent issue of Fast Company Magazine.  Hot car ad #1 looked like hot car ad #2 which looked like hot car ad #3.  In each instance, I beheld a page-dominant photo of a glistening machine in full zoom mode, accompanied by a small, pithy headline about escaping life.  My wife and I were actually in the market for a car at the time.  None of the ads, at the cost of about $60,000 per page, left me with a clear understanding of their respective vehicular differences.

The same could be said of that issue’s multiple laptop computer ads. Shame on them.

Come on now, how long has the philosophy of “positioning” been around?  Yet so many companies (and, apparently, ad agencies) still ignore it.  Failure is fully deserved when the principle of positioning goes unobserved.

Jack Trout and Al Reis introduced it in their classic business book, “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.” The year was 1972. They spoke convincingly of creating and owning a unique position in the prospect’s mind and heart. A pretty photo with a word-play headline just doesn’t do the job.

No client will succeed long-term with a grocery store mentality. Someone else will always announce a can of beans at a lower price. Price is not a powerful, long-term marketing position, in my opinion. Target has created an “upscale sale” niche that has nearly destroyed K-mart – by focusing on something more than mere coupons.  They’ve created an edgy feeling and attitude about their value-oriented brand.  They’ve carved out a position that differentiates their stores from competing retailers.  Target is a hip place to save money.

Apple has done the same thing.  No matter the product, their approach is “think different.” It’s a brand that stands for innovation, design, and revolution.  Bottom line, it stands for something meaningful.

If only those grocery store ads had given me a reason to smile, to think, to feel, to like them for more than just the price of broccoli. Wild Oats does that in spades.  They’re willing to take some of that supposedly precious price-and-item ad space to build a meaningful, lovable personality that creates long-term loyalty.

The principle is the same regardless of the venue in which you practice capitalism. The goal is to avoid that grocery store syndrome at all costs. Give consumers a reason to buy, to be loyal, to love your product or service. Build a unique brand, not merely a me-too ad. It’s called meaningful differentiation, and it makes a difference at the cash register.

Image courtesy of jbcurio on Flickr.

Although Romeo and Juliet is now regarded by many as Prokofiev’s finest work, soon after it’s unveiling, critical carping began.  In the local press, his score was decried as odd, inadequate, and lacking sufficient feeling and melody to effectively portray the emotions of the story.  It was different.  And different was, well, bad.

Prokofiev retorted, “My own conviction is that there is plenty of all that [emotion] in it.  I have never shunned the expression of feeling and have always been intent on creating melody – new melody, which perhaps certain listeners do not recognize as such simply because it does not resemble enough the kind of melody to which they are accustomed.”

There in the proverbial nutshell is the world’s oft-repeated critique of creativity.

“If people find no melody and no emotion in this work, I shall be very sorry.  But I feel sooner or later they will,” Prokofiev opined.  And they did.

Later, one New York critic wrote, “Prokofiev has written music for the masses and at the same time has attained extraordinary nobility.”  About the score, Prokofiev’s biographer, Israel V. Nestyev declared, “Here we find no trace of surface inventiveness, grotesquerie or expressionistic hyperbole.  The music recreates with extraordinary power and compassion the passions and dramatic conflicts of Shakespeare’s immortal characters.”

“No trace of surface inventiveness.”  Few definitions of creativity are more accurate than that.

Was Prokofiev creating “art for art’s sake?”  He said, “ In Romeo and Juliet I have taken special pains to achieve a simplicity which will, I hope, reach the hearts of all listeners.”

There, in another nutshell, is what I believe to be the battle cry and the redeeming value of creativity.  “Reach the hearts.”  Loyalty and brand bias are built in your beating chest organ far more than in your cranial cavity.

That’s why, though you’ve decided to purchase a new car based on facts and figures, when you suddenly see an alternative that sets your heart aflutter, facts take a back seat.  (Hence, I personally bought the Saab 9-5 instead of the more logical Toyota.) It is my opinion that people buy with their emotions, and later justify the purchase intellectually.  Even many mundane purchases are generally the result of some previous or immediate emotional connection.

I propose there is a very crucial link between creativity in communication and consumer awareness, sales, and loyalty.  Creativity, of the intelligent, well-strategized sort, is all about the bottom line.

It’s not uncommon to hear so-called marketing experts snidely proclaim, “It isn’t creative unless it sells.”  I reply, “But it doesn’t sell unless it’s creative, because if your message is not interesting, entertaining and relevant in the first place, it will be ignored or despised.

Oh sure, leading brands must also rely on effective positioning.  But even the cleverest positioning must be communicated in fresh fashion if it’s to be noticed, remembered and acted upon.

Thankfully, there is now considerable industry research that confirms that premise.  I have a stack of it I’ll share with you if you’re interested.

Spying on your competition is legal and ethical. It is a time-honored tradition to determine what works and what doesn’t. As the theory goes, let competitors spend the time and money. Then by observing them, you can create something that will have an ROI much quicker than if you started from scratch. With that, you save yourself months of trial and error trying to perfect your online marketing strategies and tactics.

Learn From Your Competition

You probably already know who your competitors are just by reputation. You want to study these companies first because you are probably going to be in direct competition with them; these are the people that you want to outperform.

The first step is quite simple: to beat them, you want to join them. Opt in to as many of their communications as possible:

1. Subscribe to their email lists;
2. Join their site;
3. Join their community; and
4. Read their blog.

Scrutinize Their Strategy

Every business, in order to operate, has to communicate with their customers. Follow these communications; they are the best place to find a gold mine of information and will help you learn what is already working for them. Some things to look for include:

- Your competitor’s marketing message;
- Where they are advertising;
- What types of advertisements are working; and
- What types of customers they are targeting.

With this information, you can quickly shape your marketing strategies at a fraction of the cost and time of your competitors.

But it doesn’t end there. If you are just following in your competitors’ footsteps, then you are only going to be as good as they are. If you want any chance of outdoing them, you will need to expand outside your current list of competitors. If you are local, look at national competitors. If you have a national presence, consider international industries.

Gather Competitors’ Information

So, your competitors with the most high-powered back links, largest customer base, website age and authority are typically ensured a position in the upper echelon of retailers and search engine rankings for multiple keywords and key phrases (such as Wikipedia). Taking on these behemoths is going to be a long-term strategy. But in relationship to a less competitive industry, it may be more wide open to someone with a budget, a great marketing strategy and a well thought-out competitive analysis strategy.

Simply put, if you want to find out why Company A ranks so well for Term B, you need to launch your own investigation online using various methods for extracting their information.

Narrow the Focus

But where do you start? With all the mountains of data available, where is the right place to begin? The key to making this happen is to do it in an organized and effective way.

1. Pare down the mountains of data into small amounts of information.
2. Avoid information overload and analysis paralysis.
3. Quickly analyze the data.
4. Form actionable strategies.

Final items to consider:

1. Watch their ad spending;
2. Watch their top performing keywords;
3. Keep on top of who they are hiring through job posting and LinkedIn;
4. Watch bookmarks through tools such as Delicious; and
5. Watch for changes to their website with tools like Versionista.

So with all this talking about spying on your competition through competitive research analysis, you may be asking yourself the question, “What tools and methods can I actually use to level the playing field?”

This is where Richter7 enters the picture. We have strategies, expertise and tools to help you not only catch up to your competition, but to quickly and effectively surpass them.