Stop the social media noise!
Can you grow
your business
faster with a blog?
October 20, 2009

Brian LeCount
Associate Director, Strategic Planning
I Get Paid For: Delivering best-in-class digital marketing strategies that
grow our clients’ businesses.
Prior Life: Founded R.O.Why! Marketing, a Cincinnati strategic marketing
agency; director of marketing at On Assignment (NASDAQ: ASGN); director
of marketing at Computer Task Group (NASDAQ: CTGX); Marketing
manager at a software development firm.
Training: B.S. in Marketing & Management from the University of
Cincinnati College of Business. 8 years client side, 7 years agency
experience.
Passions: Social media, blogging, 1:1 CRM, leveraging BIC digital across
the customer conversation
Other Tidbits: Social media director for the Cincinnati American Marketing
Association; frequent opinionated speaker & writer.

Founded: 1979
Headquarters: Cincinnati, Ohio
Employee Makeup: 250 (and growing) people including Creative, Technology,
Project Management, Research, Strategy, and Client Service
Top 25 Best Small Companies to Work
For in America (2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009)
Part of WPP Group, the largest agency holding company
in the world with 2,000 offices in 106 countries

clients

show of hands
• How many are actively managing at least one social network?
• How many have a blog?
• How many posts per month?

2009 it
used
to be
so
easy

budgets are tight
&
we’ve got to make some choices

first, some harsh realities
• 3,000 – 5,000 ad messages
• your customers don’t want more friends
• we’re looking for solutions
[the] most credible source of information about a company is now “a
person like me”, which has risen dramatically to surpass doctors &
academic experts for the first time. 7th annual edelman trust barometer

more
realities

marketers
aren’t yet
convinced

neither are
consumers

are we really surprised?

so why all the hype?

social media is great for...
- sharing news
- staying connected
- building networks
- building relationships

how much is too much?
Thanks for sharing

are we solving our customers’
problems?

does it make
an impact?
what?

you can measure social media

you can measure social media

you can measure social media

but what are we measuring?
- Visits
- Mentions
- Conversations
- Forwards
- Diggs
-Tweets
what about
conversions?

that’ll be 5,000 tweets
please.

the problem Nobody wants
to join your
with social social network.
media Really.

what’s so great about a blog?
everybody searches!

aren’t they just filled with…
- Preachers
- Consultants
- Product reviewers
- Pontificators
- Soccer moms
- Citizen journalists
- Armchair quarterbacks
Um….yeah.

but...great business blogs…
• Win the search
• Solve customer
problems
• Deliver valuable
information when
I need it most

why aren’t blogs
measured
effectively?

too many think blogging is an
editorial exercise

corporate blogging is an acquisition
strategy

the goals haven’t
changed

ATTRACT

CULTIVATE

CLOSE

every effort.
every marketing decision.
every step you take.
must first improve your ability to
achieve these objectives attract
cultivate
close

let’s get focused
- HOW MANY RSS FEEDS CAN YOU DIGEST?
- HOW MANY TWEETS CAN YOU READ?
- HOW MANY TRUE RELATIONSHIPS CAN YOU MANAGE?
is social media feeding you
customers or is it simply feeding
your inbox?

social media should be in your
toolbox, but prioritize it

blogging is about winning the search
- titles
- keywords
- recent content
- lots of content
- links
- relevancy

blogging is about winning the search
- titles
- keywords
- recent content
- lots of content
- links
- relevancy

blogging is about winning the search
- titles
- keywords
- recent content
- lots of content
- links
- relevancy

engage & convert
calls to action make it
measureable.

engage & convert
calls to action make it
measureable.

engage & convert
calls to action make it
measureable.

so...

tired
yet?

prioritize
the vast majority of your
audience finds the
solutions to their
problems via search.
Image property of Compendium Blogware

blog for search
- your customers are telling you what they need
- mobilize your teams to talk about the problems they solve everyday
- organize your content around what your customers are looking for
- serve them relevant content & meaningful calls to action

blog for search
- be there when I’m looking for you
- introduce me, engage me
- solve my problem better than anyone else
- if you do this well, maybe I’ll friend you on facebook
- if you deliver a great experience, I’ll talk about it on Twitter

2.7mm
searches
if you sold toasters, where
would you look for buyers?

questions?
Brian LeCount
513.824.6245
b.lecount@bridgeworldwide.com
Twitter: @blecount
Facebook: BrianLeCount
LinkedIn: BrianLeCount