May 29, 2012 in Content Marketing, Marketing by Clay Zeigler
HEADS UP: Idea Grove SVP Shares About Sharing in PRWeek

Our senior vice president, Reg Rowe, has authored an article on communications integration and the importance of sharing that appears today in PRWeek.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Today’s PR professional must employ a holistic approach that integrates marketing and sales channel strategies with branding, messaging, web design and development, search engine optimization (SEO), print design, video, and media relations. Corporations must participate in the ongoing conversation about their industry and their company via blog posts, web content, tweets, bylined articles, white papers, trade shows, seminars, speaking opportunities, community relations outreach, and more – or be left out of the conversation.”

Check out PRWeek on Wednesday and Friday for more articles from Reg.

 
0
April 17, 2012 in Media Orchard, Social Media Marketing by Clay Zeigler
HEADS UP: Scott Baradell Talks Twitter on CBS 11

Yes, that was Idea Grove President Scott Baradell on Dallas’ CBS 11 this week talking about how consumers can get good deals on products using Twitter.

“More and more brands are realizing that in order to attract the kind of audience that they want on social media they have to give something in return,” Baradell told reporter Melissa Newton. “Many times these are deals or discounts or other special benefits to their Twitter followers or others who interact with them on social media.”

To find the best deals, Baradell recommended that consumers follow specific companies, brands and retailers they already know.  Curation pages are another option.

“It’s just a matter of finding the ways to get that information,” Baradell said of the algorithmic sites, “based on the validation of it being retweeted or interacted with, they tweet it here.”

You can also check out the story here; and don’t forget to share it on Twitter.

 
0
February 13, 2012 in Social Media Marketing by Clay Zeigler
ADVICE: In Content Marketing, Seek Virality Over Conversation

Internet marketing expert Brian Carter recently recounted a telling exchange with someone at a big public relations firm. The PR guy seemed to think that the value of content marketing is derived solely from the “conversation” it creates.

“I felt like I was talking to a guy whose definition of social media came from 2008,” Carter said. “Conversation is basically comments and reply-tweets. That’s a limited portion of the kind of response we need from people in order to achieve business objectives.”

“In 2012, we need content that gets likes and comments on Facebook so your page remains visible to fans. On Twitter, if you want visibility and clicks, you need a lot of retweets. So, I wouldn’t call that conversation at all. I would call it virality, content that’s good enough to pass on. They’re not necessarily talking about it; they’re passing it on to their contacts.”

The power of social media to stimulate conversation is unprecedented – so much so that it’s tempting to focus only on conversations. Of course, no one in marketing or public relations is shy about creating interest. It’s what we do; and our opportunities have only grown with the advent of social media. But starting conversations can’t be all we do.

As marketers we have to be mindful of what we’re saying. The message has to be the starting point. The message is carried by content and stems from a cohesive marketing strategy. Social media isn’t a strategy, it’s a delivery system – a delivery system for content.

It’s the quality and durability of their content that should motivate marketers more than the direct response received. Great content marketing sets organizations apart. It establishes authority and encourages trust. It builds over time into a compelling case that builds a brand. But it has to be worth passing along.

 
0
January 24, 2012 in Content Marketing, Marketing, Media, Media Orchard, SEO by Clay Zeigler
HEADS UP: A Content Marketing History Lesson from Joe Pulizzi

Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute just came to town to remind us that content marketing is not only here to stay, it’s been here for a long time.

As members of the Social Media Club of Dallas tweeted busily, Pulizzi introduced them to The Furrow, the quarterly journal of agriculture published in 12 languages and distributed in 40 countries by Deere & Company. It debuted in 1895.

“Brands have been publishers for a long, long time,” he said, before introducing a free 1905 recipe book featuring recipes for Jell-O. “We can do a lot of what media companies can do, and sometimes we can do it better.”

The key difference between the media and the marketers, he said, has been their monetizing method. While media companies look for advertising, marketers seek new customers. “Everything else is the same,” he said. Continue Reading

 
0
March 21, 2008 in Media Orchard, PR Agencies, Social Media Marketing by Scott Baradell
I Almost Forgot My Birthday: Media Orchard is Three

Wow, I was just shutting down the laptop for the week, looked at the calendar and realized it was the third anniversary of my first post.

It’s been a pretty wild ride when I think back on it. I started out kind of wishy-washy, not sure whether to use my “corporate voice” or my real voice. Ultimately, I settled on the latter, for good or ill.

I started out as an outsider, then hit it big for a while, then got bored and burned out, then decided to give it another go with a few changes in focus and format.

Now we’re back to a respectable Alexa ranking of 150,000, have about 1,100 RSS subscribers, and average about 40,000 unique visitors per month. (Sure, a lot of them are coming to see pictures like these, but they all count.)

So I’m glad that I’ve been able to stick with it. I feel like I’ve gone through a couple generations of blogging relationships, starting out with Steve and Jeremy and Shel and Todd D., and now interacting more with Geoff and Rich and Ike and Cam. There have been a few true blue types like Kevin and Kami and Alice and Bill and Todd A., too. I count all of you, and others out there, as good friends.

Next week (programmers willing), we expect to launch a full redesign for Spin Thicket. Before too long, you’ll see that site dwarf anything that Media Orchard has achieved. So I think the fun is just beginning.

Stay tuned.