After a week in Seattle for the SMX Advanced Search Engine Marketing Conference, not only did I come back with a lot of great tips and confirmation, I got to thinking about different strategies, avenues, etc and came to discover the two secret ingredients for Search Marketing success - Commitment and Engagement.

Engagement

"Social media has overtaken email as the most popular consumer activity according to a recent Nielsen study. Importantly, consumer growth is coming from an older demographic than social media's historical base; for example, Facebook's strongest growth is coming from 35-49 year olds adding twice as many 50-64 year olds as opposed to those under 18. (Nielson "Global Faces & Networked Places," March 9, 2009; MediaPost Blogs Research Brief, "Social Networking Is No Respecter of Age," March 18, 2009.)"

Source: iab. Social Advertising Best Practices, Released May 2009.

As a business you need to engage your customers from the start. You may not be on Twitter, but I can almost guarantee your customers are. You may not like Facebook, but the market does. Your market is all over the web, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, or YouTube. Research your competitors, I bet some of them are already ahead of the game. Your competitors could be attracting customers that otherwise would have came to you.

Not only do you need to engage your customers on Social Media avenues, but also on your web site. Incorporate interactive features on your web site. Add a blog, videos, a photo gallery, polls and questionnaires, news, etc. Provide visitors a reason to be engaged on your web site. By keeping visitors engaged on your web site not only do you keep them onsite longer, but they usually come back again for more.

Commitment

In order to achieve engagement with your customers you must also provide a great deal of commitment. Being engaged on various Social Media avenues and to your web site requires a considerable amount of time and expertise. Your business must be committed to providing the resources necessary in order for your Search Marketing program to thrive.

Sure, anyone can "tweet", but can they "tweet" effectively in reaching your business objectives and goals. Can they be active on Twitter making your tweets a resourceful avenue? Someone can quickly throw up a Facebook Business Page, but can they turn it into an interactive hub for customers to ask questions and discuss your products or services?

If your business is not completely committed to search marketing efforts, the program will not reach its full potential. Your business needs to be committed to designing a search friendly web site, continually adding content and growing the web site, being active on various Social Media networks and opening up the direct line of communication with customers. If top management isn't on board your success on the web will be limited.

An integrated Search Marketing program including Organic Search Engine Optimization, Pay per Click Advertising and Social Media Marketing along with an engaged and committed core on behalf of the business equals the potential for long lasting success on the web.

Labels: Organic SEO, PPC Advertising, Social Marketing