PR 20/20 Blog

Pinterest: An Introduction for Marketers

By Tracy DiMarino | Posted Jan 19, 2012 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing
My infatuation with Pinterest, a social bulletin board and image-sharing site, started at my college roommate’s wedding this past September. While she’s always been crafty, she took DIY to a whole new level, creating everything from centerpieces to ceiling drapery. When I asked the secret to her ingenuity, I got a one-word answer—Pinterest.

I was intrigued, and apparently not the only one. In joining the site, I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of my friends (more than just my techie, marketer ones) already had Pinboards—or personal online archives of things they’ve found on the web—and were actively saving and sharing everything from recipes to desired home décor.

The site’s quick rise in popularity among people who aren’t normally early adopters—like my mom for instance—is one of the reasons I think marketers need to pay attention. In fact, TechCrunch reports that site visits grew 40-fold from June to December 2011 to 11 million.

This kind of adoption presents awareness, branding, sales, SEO and customer-loyalty opportunities for marketers. Interested in getting started with Pinterest? Read on for more information and tips.

How it Works

Pinterest lets users save and store interesting things they find on the web onto online Pinboards using a browser add-on. For easy comparison, it’s similar to clipping recipes, wedding ideas, quotes, and other items out of a magazine and posting them on a bulletin board—except it’s all done online. (Note: The great part about this for marketers is that if somebody pins something off your site, you get a followed link, helping with search rankings.)

In addition to creating their own Pinboards, users can follow those of their friends, enabling ideas and products to spread quickly.

Below are screenshots of my Pinboards and activity stream as examples.

Pinboards

Activity Stream

Is Pinterest a Fit for Your Brand?

Pinterest visitors are 58% female, and typically between 25-44 years old. Consumer or B2C brands targeting these demographics are likely the best fit, especially if they relate to the following popularly shared items:
- Clothing and accessories
- Recipes
- Home décor and furniture
- Arts and crafts
- Wedding decorations, flowers, dresses, rings, etc.
- Baby clothes
- Activities and ideas for children
- Hairstyles
- Places to visit
Top brands that have found success on Pinterest include: Whole Foods, Real Simple, Bergdorf Goodman, west elm and the Travel Channel, among others.

That being said, participation is not limited to these types of companies or markets. For instance, nonprofits may find success by telling their story through images, as charity:: water or The National Wildlife Federation are doing. Be creative, and find a compelling way to present your brand’s products/services, values and interests visually.

Pinterest and Marketing

If Pinterest seems like a fit based on your audience, products/services and company goals, then below are some tips and considerations for getting started.

Create Pin-able Content
- Integrate plenty of visual content onto your website and blog. Pinterest is a visual site; attractive or interesting images are usually the ones that get pinned and shared. Pins automatically link back to the image source.
- Add ‘Pin It’ buttons to your site to make it really easy for people to share your content, like Etsy recently did.
Get Active in the Community
- Create a profile on the site. Include a keyword-rich description of your organization, and links to your website and social accounts. Keep your profile public so it appears in search engine results.
- Share things relevant to your target audiences and products/services; however, don’t be overly self-promotional. Be sure to follow Pinterest etiquette.
- When pinning, include keywords within your image descriptions to help your content get found in searches on Pinterest.
- Create multiple Pinboards based on specific topics, rather than placing all your content in one board. Assign a Pinterest category to each Pinboard to help people find them.
- Follow and interact with users by liking, repinning and commenting on things they share.
- Consider launching a contest or giveaway to get your online following excited. For example, Lands’ End Canvas held a “Pin It to Win It” promotion.
Share Your O-pin-ion

How are you using the site? What opportunities do you think exist for marketers? Share your comments below.

Tracy DiMarino is a consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyDiMarino or Pinterest.

Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.
Awareness to Action: Following the Success of the Anti-SOPA Movement

By Jessica Donlon | Posted Jan 18, 2012 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing
Communications professionals, from marketers to journalists breaking headlines, work with an overarching goal in mind: make people care about you or your cause so much that they take action.

Action ranges from encouraging audiences to comment on and share a blog post all the way to making purchasing decisions, but what about when the stakes are higher and sharing information as we know it is at risk? A milestone in the SOPA / PIPA legislation protests hits today as tech giants—including Google, Microsoft, Wikipedia and Reddit—take action and “blackout” their sites on the web.

How has this issue grown awareness, and encouraged people to care and take action? Let’s go through the marketing basics.

Note: For background on SOPA and PIPA, see our earlier blog post.

How The SOPA Protest Made Its Way Across the Internet

1. Gather Enough People Who Care

SOPA is polarizing because it impacts everyone that uses the web for business and in their personal lives, in a very real way. Its potential impact on entrepreneurs, business leaders, tech companies and more is too intense for people to ignore. So they decided to take a stand.

2. Educate and Empower Through Content

Making sense of complex issues, SOPA opponents created infographics to educate the public, and empower them to share the information in an easily digestible format. A few examples:
- What SOPA Means for Business and Innovation (Infographic)
- AmericanCensorship.org Infographic
- Google’s “End Piracy, Not Liberty” Infographic (linked from today’s homepage doodle)
People in many industries, and with many different viewpoints, have written on the topic and their stance, shared blog posts, commented on other posts, and therefore created community around the topic.

To help people relate to what may have seemed like a distant piece of legislation, tools like SOPA Track were created to show where legislators stand on SOPA / PIPA.

3. Spread Information through Social Media Wildfire

As content spread, more people got on board in the anti-SOPA movement.

For example, #StopSOPA and #BlackoutSOPA hashtags drive conversations on multiple channels, and “Stop SOPA” avatar icons sported by social influencers have kept the issue top-of-mind.

Marketing Land’s Greg Finn (@gregfinn) examined social media’s effect on the legislation in his article, #BlackoutSOPA: A Look at the Social Media Movement that Helped Stall the SOPA Legislation.

4. Don’t Forget about PR

As the conversation grew, both on- and offline media took note. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian (@kn0thing) has been a leading voice in the legislation’s opposition, pushing the issue through the tech industry and into mainstream media.

Media who support SOPA legislation—like MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC—have also come under scrutiny for not giving the issue coverage, as found in a report by Media Matters’ Ben Dimiero (@bendimiero).

The Culmination

The above are tactical elements that have snowballed, cumulated, and together call for action and even mass online protest.

A marketer’s mission is accomplished when you have communicated your stance on an issue clearly—and convinced another to take action. Whether it’s an individual’s action to spread the message or a government body shelving an issue, SOPA / PIPA invokes movement. Influencers do the same:
- Google Protests SOPA on Its Homepage
- Tech Giants Back Off SOPA Support
So why can’t you search Wikipedia today?

In protest, many in the #StopSOPA movement have aligned to “blackout” websites today in protest. The SOPA blackout list includes Wikipedia, Reddit, WordPress, MoveOn.org and others. Find a full list on Mashable.

Robert Plant (@drrobertplant) calls "Black Wednesday" a wake-up call for IT executives in his Harvard Business Review article, as he notes that passed bills would leave websites vulnerable to government repression and add risk and costs for organizations that need to continually police content.

To make sure organizations participating in Black Wednesday do it right, Google’s Pierre Far (@pierrefar) explains in a Google+ post how to code a website’s blackout protest correctly, also known as The Google-Approved Way to Take Down Your Website In Protest.

When web users see sites down, where will they go for information? Twitter’s Dick Costolo calls Wikipedia’s SOPA Blackout “Foolish” [Updated], as many would normally go to Wikipedia for information, but that site won’t be available on a day it may be most in need. In response, Wikipedia has left SOPA-related information accessible on the site today, encouraging visitors to contact their legislators and demand action.

Business PR Note: Assess & Communicate a Clear Position

College PR majors are taught an idealistic stance: PR is the backbone of an organization and is responsible for keeping that organization “right” in the eyes of audiences it cares about. To that tone, if you’re a publicly facing company, you may need to know where your company stands on major issues like SOPA, in the case that customers or prospects want to know.

Are you moved to act? Visit americancensorship.org to contact your Senator, voice an opinion, and motivate change.

Jessica Donlon is a consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Jessica on Twitter: @jessicadonlon.

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Background Information: SOPA, PIPA and the Internet Blackout

By Laurel Miltner | Posted Jan 18, 2012 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing
You may have some trouble navigating the web today, and it’s all driven by a an Internet blackout protest against proposed Congressional legislation intended to stop copyright infringementand privacy. Read on for a brief introduction to SOPA and PIPA legislation, where they stand in Congress, and why they impact every business andindividual with a web presence.

SOPA

SOPA, the Stop Online Privacy Act, or House Bill 3261, was introduced to the United States House of Representatives on Oct. 26, 2011 with bipartisan support. Its intent is to more heavily enforce copyright infringement across the web, holding severe consequences for any site owner whose property is found to be in disobedience.
- Advocates, largely those in and supporting the entertainment industry, believe the bill is needed to crack down on increasing levels of online piracy, particularly from foreign websites.
- Dissenters believe that SOPA goes against First Amendment rights, is a form of Internet censorship and would limit information accessibility on the web.
SOPA hearings were held in November and December 2011. On Jan. 13, 2012, a provision that would have required service providers to block access to International sites accused of piracy was dropped.

The following day, the White House announced its opposition to SOPA, stating that it “will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cyber-security risk or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”

Congress shelved SOPA on Jan. 14, until a strong consensus is arrived upon. On Jan. 17 it was announced that markup of SOPA will likely resume next month.

SOPA background sources: Wikipedia | WashingtonMonthly.com

PIPA

PIPA, the PROTECT IP (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property) Act, or Senate Bill 968, is a similar measure in the Senate, intended to provide additional support for US government and copyright holders to restrict access to counterfeit and piracy-laded sites, again particularly targeting foreign sites.

It was introduced on May 11, 2011, also with bipartisan support. There is a hearing scheduled today to discuss its potential impact. PIPA is scheduled for a vote in the Senate on Jan. 24.

Support and dissent against PIPA mirrors that of SOPA.

PIPA Background Source: Wikipedia

In Summary

Both SOPA and PIPA want to eradicate online piracy and copyright infringement, but opponents believe they risk innovation, economic growth, information access and basic civil liberties. SOPA is a House bill; PIPA is a Senate bill. (And if you need some background on what this means ... Click.)

Is there an alternative? A bipartisan group of Congressional representatives developed the OPEN Act, which “addresses many of the most glaring flaws in both SOPA and PIPA.” (Source) The group asks for community collaboration on the bill.

Today, in mass protest against SOPA and PIPA legislation, many web owners and tech giants tare taking a stand by blacking out their sites. A few examples:
- Google blacked out its logo
- Wikipedia blacked out all content (except information on SOPA)
- Reddit and Copyblogger are going dark for 12 hours
Read about how we’ve come to this point in the PR 20/20 blog post that follows the growth of the anti-SOPA movement.

Resources on SOPA & PIPA’s Potential Impact

For additional information on what SOPA and PIPA may mean to you and your business, see the following resources:
- What Would a Post SOPA Internet Look Like? by Nona Willis Aronowitz (@NonaWA)
- The Problem with SOPA by Brian Clark (@copyblogger)
- It's Time for the PR Profession to Join the Opposition to SOPA and PIPA by Shel Holtz (@shelholtz)
- Everything Marketers Need to Know About SOPA by Pamela Vaughan (@pamelump)
- Related: Fair Use: The Legal Use of Copyrighted Material Guide
For details on how the SOPA movement made its way across the internet, see Jessica Donlon's (@jessicadonlon) follow-up to this post.

Are you moved to act? Visit americancensorship.org to contact your Senator, voice an opinion, and motivate change.

Laurel Miltner is the assistant vice president at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Laurel on Twitter: @laurelmackenzie.

Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.
2012 Digital Marketing Conferences [Downloadable Database]

By Tracy DiMarino | Posted Jan 11, 2012 | 11 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing, Resources
Back by popular demand, our 2012 digital marketing conferences database (download) features nearly 50 events, hand-selected based on their relevance to online marketers, speaker base, industry excitement and networking opportunities.

Similar to last year, the database includes the following information for each conference, providing a quick and easy comparison:
- Event name
- Description
- Date
- Location
- Attendee summary
- Pass cost
Download the free database here.

While all the conferences listed provide the opportunity for networking, ongoing learning and unique experiences, we're most excited about:
- South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive — An agency favorite that features emerging technologies, innovative digital strategies, gaming, mobile and more.
- Content Marketing World (CMW) — Launched last year in Cleveland, CMW is one of the best-run conferences we’ve ever attended, with quality speakers to match.
- HubSpot Inbound — This year's newbie, HubSpot Inbound is a three-day conference focused on inbound marketing that features six keynotes, 40 breakout sessions, expert-led training and certification, and hands-on product demos.
After reviewing the event database, use our free Conference Grader worksheet to further prioritize which events are worth your time and investment. This Excel sheet helps you compare events based on five variables: buzz potential, knowledge, connections, opportunity value and historical performance.

What Are You Attending?

Share with us which events you’ll be attending in the comments below, as well as any events we may have missed.

Tracy DiMarino is a consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyDiMarino.

Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.
Do I Need a Mobile Website?

By Keith Moehring & Laurel Miltner | Posted Oct 20, 2011 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing
As smartphone adoption continues to explode, mobile visits to your website will likely start to increase, if they haven't already. If you aren’t debating whether to launch a mobile version of your website, you might want to start.

Using websites designed for a mouse and keyboard can be difficult for visitors on mobile devices with small screens, touch controls and limited user interfaces. As a result, if your site isn’t mobile friendly, you may be missing out on potential new business.

But, how do you know when it's time to invest in a mobile website? Here we offer three simple tips, and all you need are Google Analytics, access to a few mobile devices, and a gut check.

Review Mobile Traffic in Google Analytics

In the left-hand navigation in Google Analytics, click "Visitors" > "Mobile" > "Mobile Devices."

Set your analytics date range to 12 months—or at least long enough to give you a feel of both current and trend data—and use the graph (pictured below) to visualize how your mobile traffic has changed over time. Has it steadily increased? Spiked and then receded? Grew early and then plateaued? This can show you how your mobile traffic is trending, and may help you forecast mobile traffic in the coming months.

If you're willing to do a little math, here's another trick:
- Set traffic to the last calendar month (e.g. Sept. 1-30, 2011), and compare it to the year to date, through that month's end (e.g. Jan. 1, 2011 - Sept. 30, 2011).
- Take the previous visits number, and divide it by the number of months it includes. (In the example shown in the image below, I'm dividing 2,566 by 9.)
- Take that number (285) and figure out the percentage change between it and the mobile traffic received in your most recent calendar month (289).
Though we see a negligible change in this case (1.4% increase), if you notice a high and regularly increasing percent change each month, you'll have hard numbers to share regarding how much mobile site visits increase over time. Another tip: Use this handy website that calculates percent change for you.

Also, pay close attention to the data Google provides underneath the chart (as seen in the image below). What percentage of total traffic comes from mobile? How does the bounce rate compare to your site average? If a large percentage of your traffic is mobile, and they're leaving immediately, it's time to seriously consider a mobile website.

Note from Laurel: Some people may advocate to compare engagement metrics—average pages per visit and average time on site—from mobile to site standards, but think about it: On mobile, users likely aren't going to browse as much as they might on a desktop or laptop, as they're typically seeking specific information or looking to satisfy an immediate need. In my opinion, mobile engagement metrics will almost always be "worse" than desktop, but if you have a great mobile site, I think they probably should be.

Test the Mobile Site Yourself

Next, take a look at the devices and/or operating systems that drive mobile visitors. (You can toggle between these options at the top of the gray table in "Site Usage," seen in the image above.) Find colleagues, friends or family members that have the high-traffic-driving devices, and use them to visit your site. What's the user experience like? Go to your homepage, navigate through some interior pages, read a few blog posts, maybe even try to fill out a lead form. Get a feel of what mobile visitors encounter when they come to your site.

Do a Gut Check

Be honest: What is that mobile experience like? How usable is your site on an iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Droid? Can you find what you're looking for? Is the experience frustrating? Do you find yourself wanting to give up and leave?

Balance this experience with the data you found in Google Analytics. For example:
- If your mobile visits make up 3% of an average 3,000 monthly visits, and the site is usable on most devices, you may decide that it's not worth the investment at this time to optimize the experience for 90 people.
- Conversely, if mobile visits account for 2% of one million monthly visitors, and the mobile experience is highly frustrating, that's 20,000 people you're failing to reach, engage and potentially convert into leads and sales.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
- Let's say that the most popular device used to access your site via mobile is the iPhone. Is this the device that the majority of your employees use (or even a few top executives), and do they regularly visit the site via their phone, outside of the office? If so, your data may be skewed.
- Gartner predicts that "by 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide," and Morgan-Stanley research expects mobile Internet users to outpace desktop Internet users by 2014. In other words, mobile site access is only likely to increase as mobile adoption continues to grow, and become a more integral of our daily personal and professional lives. So, if you have budget to use before the end of your fiscal year, investing in a mobile site may be a smart, forward-looking use of that money.
- Depending upon your target market, mobile may be the preferred or primary method of Internet access. A study by On Device Research breaks this trend down by country, age, education, income and other demographics. If you're looking to expand reach to a new target, your current analytics data may not translate properly. Understand how this new audience prefers to access information online.
Your Turn

Are you considering a mobile site? What made you decide that it's time, and how are you making the case for it? The comments are open for your thoughts.

Or, if you're ready to invest in a mobile site, see these tips from Google Webmaster Central Blog or HTML5Rocks.

Authors:
- Keith Moehring is business development manager and a senior consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Keith on Twitter @keithmoehring.
- Laurel Miltner is the assistant vice president at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Laurel on Twitter: @laurelmackenzie.
Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.
SXSW Interactive 2012: Panel Picks

By Laurel Miltner | Posted Sep 1, 2011 | 2 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing
Though next March may seem far away, if your months are flying by like mine, it will be here before we know it. And you know what that means: SXSW.

In preparation for the event, SXSW opened up community voting for proposed sessions. Voting began on Aug. 16 and ends tomorrow, Sept. 2. If you haven't had a chance to check out what may be in store for interactive marketing next year, take a look and make your voice heard by voting for the panelists and speakers you want to see.

I sifted through the sessions over the past few weeks, and below list the top ten that I hope make the cut (in no particular order).

SXSW Panels I Hope to See in 2012

Vetting in the Age of Social: Who do You Trust?
A panel of representatives from PR Newswire, CNN, UBM TechWeb, Webb Media Group and Code Name Max will discuss social media’s impact on news consumption and the influence of traditional journalism. What sources do people trust? Does a “like” from a friend make you trust something more than an article in the New York Times? And, how can PR pros and marketers best get their clients’ messages to the right audiences?

Understanding Digital Content and Human Behavior
Jeff Pfaller (@pfallerj) of Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide plans to talk about the new best practices of content development, considering audience needs, format and device preferences. What sold me on this one is the line: “Explore how content creators can make their content not just useful and usable, but something desirable that actually changes human behavior.” Could be interesting.

What’s Good for the World is Good for the Agency
When your success relies on billable hours or otherwise revenue-generating projects, it can be difficult for agencies to embrace pro-bono, socially conscious work. This panel, with representatives from Enlighten, Zemoga, Reactive and Pereira & O’Dell will feature case studies of firms that encouraged employees to take on such projects, and how they resulted in happy, engaged teams and created new agency skillsets.

PANTS ON FIRE! Content *is* Customer Service
I picked this session solely because the speaker, Stephanie Hay (@steph_hay), had the best presentation of all that I saw at SXSW 2011. Next year, she wants to speak about using content to improve customer service and satisfaction. Hay will share stories of companies that have found success by speaking their customers’ language, and maintaining consistency in both messaging and action.

How Your Brain Engages with a Smartphone
Speakers Jamie Turner (@60secondtweets) and Jeanne Hopkins (@jeannehopkins) will take attendees on a deep dive into mobile marketing strategy, based on how consumers interact and engage with their mobile devices. Turner and Hopkins know what they’re talking about; they co-authored the upcoming book, Go Mobile (Wiley, March 2012).

How Brain Science Turns Browsers into Buyers
This panel has some serious marketing-science A-listers—Derek Halpern (@derekhalpern), Roger Dooley (@rogerdooley), Brian Clark (@copyblogger) and A.K. Pradeep (author of The Buying Brain)—who will explore what marketers can learn from neuroscience and behavior research. They’ll cover topics from pricing to creating customer evangelists, and more.

Does Free Content Cannibalize Your Paid Consulting?
Joe Pullizzi (@juntajoe) and Jay Baer (@jaybaer) plan to discuss how much thought leadership can really do for a business. Does giving away free advice bring in more clients, or lose money on services that audiences should have paid for? And, how can you measure results to know for sure?

Content Design Ideas for a Rich Audience Experience
Panelists from City on Fire, Bleach Online, Free People and Fantrail will discuss the relationship between content publishers, producers and audiences, and how to engage all parties in the content development process to create well-designed, high-quality and engaging content across multiple platforms.

Digital Curation: Why Value Over Volume Wins
Alicia Kan (@aliciakan), Len Kendall (@lenkendall) and Neil Perkin (@neilperkin) will dive into the topic of digital curation: why it's needed, the benefits it provides to both curator and consumer, and how to pull it off. I’m highly interested to hear what these individuals have to say, particularly regarding the balance of automated versus manual curation.

Death of the Traditional Marketing Agency
Our very own Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer) submitted this topic, so I’d be remiss not to mention it as one that I’d love to see. He plans to discuss the driving factors behind the demand for new marketing services and hybrid agencies, and how firms can take advantage of the opportunities this provides.

What Did I Miss?

If you’ve attempted to sift through the proposed SXSW sessions, you know that there are a lot and getting through them is next to impossible. So, what did I miss? What do you want to see? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and get voting!

Laurel Miltner is the assistant vice president at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Laurel on Twitter: @laurelmackenzie.

Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.
What ICANN Top-Level Domains Mean to You

By Tracy DiMarino | Posted Jun 29, 2011 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Brand Marketing, Internet Marketing
Last week, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved the use of generic top-level domains (gTLDs). The result: organizations can now purchase TLDs outside the 22 suffixes historically approved for general use, such as .com, .net and .org. For example, Apple can purchase the branded .apple, or more descriptive terms, such as .computer or .phone.

The Specifics:

Brands and organizations can apply for gTLDs between January 12-April 12, 2012 for a fee of $185,000 per gTLD. If multiple qualified organizations apply for the same domain, then the suffix will be sold in an auctioning process to the highest bidder — so popular extensions may prove even more costly. Note that this fee is just to start the process; a yearly $25,000 fee will be applied as well.

The application process itself is complex and includes the submission of business plans and policy documents to outline how organizations will administer URLs within their gTLD. Because of this detailed application and approval process, new gTLDs are not expected to go live until 2013.

For more specifics on the application process, read Christina Warren’s Mashable post, “9 Things You Need to Know About ICANN’s New Top Level Domains.”

What This Means:

Due to the hefty fees associated with applying, it’s likely that only the top brands and government entities will be able to afford the new domain names at first, with the entertainment and financial services industries expected to be early adopters. Consider the following from Mashable:

“… It’s important to remember that it took years for the current TLD structure to become a viable and affordable strategy for individuals and non-Fortune 100 companies … It will take time for the process and oversight aspect of the new gTLD policies to be worked out and automated. However, we expect that community-driven TLDs for things like .music, .sports and .film [will] become more available in the future.”

For those organizations pursuing the new domains, most are doing so to create a competitive business advantage or to protect against brand infringement.

With the addition of the new domains, cyber squatting is a threat; however, the high cost is a strong barrier to entry, and ICANN has safeguards in place to try to prevent it.

But, this doesn’t prohibit large corporations from snatching up numerous generic domains, such as .purses, .toys, .doctor or .electronics. As described on PCMag.com, “all they [companies] need is the money and the ability to prove they deserve the right to own [it].”

SEO expert, Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineLand, doesn’t believe the new domains will have an impact on search engine rankings.

To Buy or Not to Buy:

Ultimately, whether or not you should purchase a gTLD will come down to your company’s financial resources, and an evaluation of the opportunities and risks. For many small-to-midsize companies, the price tag alone will make purchasing unlikely. Others may find benefit in securing a gTLD for branding or social/marketing campaigns.

What are your thoughts on the new gTLDs? Are you planning on purchasing? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tracy DiMarino is a consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyDiMarino.

Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.

Image Credit: ivanpw
One Tip to Improve Your Website Effectiveness

By Tracy DiMarino | Posted May 25, 2011 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing
As a HubSpot partner agency, we often use Website Grader when evaluating the marketing effectiveness of prospect and client sites.

Website Grader is a free tool that analyzes search engine data, website structure, approximate traffic and site performance, and then compiles an Internet marketing report based on its findings. Your Grade is from 0 to 100 (just like in school) and compares your site to the millions that Website Grader has analyzed since its debut in 2007.

Patrick Shea at HubSpot gave us a challenge: What’s the ONE best way to improve your Website Grade?

Our answer: Build a Blog Editorial Calendar.

Benefits of a Blog Editorial Calendar

Everybody knows that using a blog to publish informative, buyer-persona focused content on a regular basis can increase indexed pages, organic traffic, inbound links and site engagement levels — and consequently your Website Grade.

Well, in our experience, we’ve found that a blog editorial calendar keeps you committed to creating that content ongoing. By mapping out your topics ahead of time — complete with priority keywords, target buyer personas, publishing dates, associated PR opportunities and more — you can ensure that your blog doesn't fall by the wayside.

Tips to Get Started

Develop the calendar with your buyer personas in mind to guarantee that all content addresses their specific needs. The more relevant and interesting your blog posts are, the more likely they will be shared on social networks and other sites — giving your content legs. This can build inbound links, expose new people to your content and impact search results.

In addition, analyzing keywords and incorporating them into blog topics within your calendar ensures that all your content is optimized, and thus more easily found by searchers.

As an added bonus, we recommend syncing your internal blog editorial calendar with those of your target publications, many of which are published online, to propel PR opportunities. Plan ahead and write a blog post on an upcoming topic, and then use that information to fuel your pitch. Resulting coverage could lead to inbound links and new traffic.

Like all tactics, a blog editorial calendar needs to be part of an integrated inbound marketing campaign. However, it’s a great way to keep your team committed to strategic content production.

What’s your number one tip to improve Website Grade?

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How to Create a LinkedIn Group

By Tracy DiMarino | Posted May 11, 2011 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing, Social Media
A great way to establish your company's experts as a thought leaders is to create and manage a LinkedIn Group that discusses specific topics related to your industry. LinkedIn groups enable you to share helpful information and engage members in discussions on topics of interest. Below we offer a few pointers to get started.

1) Understand Group Dynamics.

Prior to diving in and creating a group, join a few groups that interest you and actively participate in the conversations. Through this experience, you’ll gain insight into how people interact within a group that can be drawn on later to stimulate conversations and manage users in your own.

2) Do Your Homework.

The key to creating a LinkedIn group is to find a unique position that is not already dominated by one or more powerful groups. To do this, you must first have a full understanding of existing groups in your industry and topics discussed.

Perform some searches on LinkedIn to see what’s already out there before selecting your topic. You may find that a thriving community already exists. If that’s the case, it may be more beneficial to join this community than to start one from scratch.

3) Select a Topic.

Combine your research of existing groups with your buyer personas’ interests and needs to determine the most effective topic for your group. Remember: it is essential that the group be centered on community and education, and not be used to blatantly promote your product, solutions or employees.

4) Create Your Group.

After logging into your LinkedIn account, fill out the “Create a Group” form found here. Below are some best practices when doing so:
- Select a title and description that clearly explains what the group is about and is attractive to target audiences. Include keywords to improve your chances of appearing for specific search queries.
- Use a logo or image that is visually appealing to garner attention and so that members will add the badge to their profile page, thus exposing the group to their networks.
- Choose your level of access based on the group’s objectives. Enable auto-join functionality to make your group open to all LinkedIn users. Use request-to-join if you would like to limit the group to select individuals (for example: your customer base). Note: Keep in mind that request-to-join will add an additional layer of administrative work, which you’ll be responsible for on an ongoing basis.
- Group discussions can also be open or closed based on your objectives. WIth an open group, discussions and activity are visible to all LinkedIn members, regardless of membership status. Closed groups, on the other hand, keep content availability exclusive to members.
5) Pre-populate with Content.

Set up a welcome message within your group to help new members understand what they have joined and how they can contribute. This can be found in the Manage Tab by clicking on “Templates,” “Welcome Message,” and “auto-send.”

In addition, add some interesting questions and discussion topics into the forums to drive initial participation. Before actively promoting the group, encourage those within your network to join and participate in these conversations. This will guarantee that new users don’t land on an inactive discussion.

6) Promote and Manage.

See the PR 20/20 guest blog post “How to Manage a LinkedIn Group” for tips on growing your membership and ongoing management. The post features a Q&A with Matt Bertuzzi, marketing manager for The Bridge Group, Inc. and manager of the 8,800+ member Inside Sales Experts group on LinkedIn.

Tracy DiMarino is a consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyDiMarino.

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Image Credit: Coletivo Mambembe
Healthcare Social Media: Opportunities and Risks

By Tracy DiMarino | Posted Mar 30, 2011 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing, Social Media
While at SXSW earlier this month, I attended the “Patients/Caregivers on Facebook: Establishing Boundaries without Barriers” panel, which provided great insight into healthcare and social media from the perspective of medical practitioners, marketers and legal counsel. The panel included:
- Dana Lewis, interactive marketing specialist, Swedish Health Services
- Jen Dyer, physician, The Ohio State University
- Dan Goldman, legal counsel, Mayo Clinic
- Keely Kolmes, clinical psychologist, Dr Keely Kolmes Private Psychotherapy Practice
- Ed Bennett, director of web strategy, University of Maryland Medical System
The discussion brought to my attention many items I had not yet considered regarding this market — and the opportunities and risks present online — which I’d like to highlight below.

Room for Enhanced Participation on Social Sites

In monitoring approximately 900 hospitals that use social media, Bennett has found that most only put out basic communications (for example: press releases). Overall, there is very little interaction between patients and caregivers on these sites. However, there are numerous opportunities for more active involvement. Some that were cited during the presentation include:
- Improved patient education on diseases, conditions and prevention, through the active sharing of related resources.
- Better connecting medical practitioners with each other to facilitate information sharing and knowledge transfer.
- Enhanced ability to control online messaging — by being active online, you can influence what appears in Google search results for your name or facility.
- Established presence where people are searching for information — with 80% of people looking for healthcare information online, inactivity has a consequence.
While Opportunities Exist, Be Mindful of Risks

The risks associated with social media seem to be the main reason medical facilities refrain from active involvement. However, with proper planning and education, most risks can be alleviated. Goldman even indicated that “you are more likely to get sued practicing medicine than participating on social media.”

According to Lewis, the goal should be to “protect patient privacy but also allow two-way communication when relevant and appropriate.” Recommendations to stay HIPPA-compliant and professional include:
- Make sure people are aware that social media is a public forum by establishing terms of use or using pop-up notifications to remind users to refrain from sharing personal medical information.
- Have dialogue with your patients about how you will and will not use social media, and what is acceptable for them.
- Only post general information, and not specifics on individual cases to ensure you aren’t considered to be practicing medicine online. One panelist suggested pretending you're on a radio call-in show where people are phoning in with their problems: you wouldn’t give specifics; instead you’d go into education mode. That type of response is a critical part of what healthcare professionals should do in the social media sphere.
- Understand that by being online, you open yourself for people to ask questions. Think clearly about how to respond to inquiries. If someone asks a personal question, you may have to say “the only way I can address that question is if you set up an appointment, and come see me in person.”
- Be wary of people’s differing opinions on privacy. Some people view social media as place to gain knowledge about their condition; others would be horrified talking about their issues online. You need to find ways of communicating with both of these very different audiences, without alienating either.
- Let people know how you would like to receive feedback or reviews. This will encourage people to provide feedback in the manner you’d prefer. For example, Kolmes was concerned that recommendations on Yelp might be perceived as those she had requested them — something the American Psychological Association's Ethics Code restricts her from doing. To resolve this, she added a clause to her Yelp page and included in her social media policy that individuals should contact her or the licensing board directly to discuss their satisfaction with her services.
- Know what your patients are reading online. Ask them what blogs or sites they visit. Address the information presented online, and offer recommendations on which sites, blogs and communities are the best places to seek additional information. People will likely do their own research; it’s your job to guide them to the most accurate sources.
Overall, panelists agreed that professionalism needs to guide the activities of medical personnel at all times, and this doesn’t change in social media.

Create a Social Media Policy to Guide Actions

One way to prepare for the risks is to create a social media policy. Panel recommendations on doing so included:
- Focus more on behaviors than tools so that your policy doesn’t easily go out of date. For example, instead of talking about what you can and cannot do on Facebook or Twitter, talk about general behaviors that can apply across the spectrum of platforms.
- Consider coupling your social media policy with internal social media training classes to offer physicians added guidance.
- Give people example situations so they can relate the policy back to everyday experiences.
- Post your policy online so that your patients understand your boundaries.
For an example, check out Kolmes’ social media policy.

Your Thoughts?
- What medical facilities or practitioners have you seen that are using social media effectively?
- As a medical professional, what concerns do you have with becoming more active online? How do you protect patient privacy?
Tracy DiMarino is an associate consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyDiMarino.

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