Category Archives: General Marketing

Airlines: Free Business Advice (PROFIT)

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Categories: General Marketing

What do I do in the air? Complain.

No. This is not complaining, I love airlines. I get to a lot of places fast due to airlines. I especially love Alaska Air (no relationship with them). But there are some things I think that could make them better and in turn make them lots of money.

Power

I’ve said this before, as have others: To have wifi bring in the most profit, power is required. I have a brand new Dell Vostro for work. Battery time: 2 hours. I took my MacBook to London in January as this one just won’t make the trip.

It turns out some of the airlines are working on it! Check out the news from American Airlines, Delta and United. What did I learn?

  1. American is listening and updating.
  2. Delta has it but you really need to pay the big bucks.
  3. United is working on it and tells you about the adapter.

Overall not bad. Alaska, please? Please? You are greater in so many other ways, just not in power. But what I am here to say is not about power, it’s another business idea. I hope someone takes this from me.

Food and Drink

I have been bumped to First Class all of twice now. Surreal experiences. Not the boarding, not the seats, not the coat hanging.

The Food.

I have been changing my eating habits over time to be more natural (read: real food, not just “organic”). I try to eat more meat and veggies than anything else. While traveling this is all but impossible – check any snack packs … all full of carbs in some form. And all processed food. Le Sigh.

First Class gets meat and veggies. A meal. Coach can buy food, but it’s a burger. *rage*

So here comes my idea: When people purchase a flight online, ask if they would like a meal like that. Charge a premium for that first class meal, but at least allow it. And while you are at it, ask if we know our snack and beverage choices yet so that you can ensure it’s available on the plane.

I can hear the cries now. Too much to negotiate, too many options, costs, etc. I’ve got this covered, I think.

  1. Availability - Asking the all passengers if they would like that meal (that you are already making and putting on the plane) gives you a head count. You know where we are sitting, it’s not hard to find us. The food can be confirmed on check-in. No food goes to waste. This means first class too.
  2. Cost – Talk to LSG Sky Chef or whoever and get a system in place. The plane is loaded with what is ordered. Have a deadline to order these meals. The drinks it just gives you a better idea of demand and the crew can load more Diet Coke if needed over Coke Zero. Getting this data over time will also let you see trends. More cost savings.
  3. First Class Privilege - They still get it free. Other passengers will pay a big premium to be allowed to do it. You charge us for leg room, to be at the front of the economy cabin, etc. Why not help all of us eat better and profit off of it?
  4. Time Savings – You know those passengers. Those that get 30 mins of connection. We run. Hard. Out of breath and holding our sides, we get to the gate and take the “walk of shame” down the aisle as the last on board. Not our fault but still we are holding up the plane. Did we get to eat? Nope. No snacks, no bathroom. You provide all of that, but badly. So some people take their sweet time getting on board … delaying the flight more. Keep your flights on time better by knowing what they want to have ready for them (especially on short connection flights). I don’t know about anyone else but I’d pay for having a bag of macadamia nuts and a bottle of water waiting for me after a tight connection.

So there it is. My idea. Do I think it’ll happen anytime soon? Nope. But I can dream.

Letting the Dogs Out: Image Search

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Categories: Facebook Google Great Marketing SEO

Just making it known, I am testing something but if you’re up for an inspired post regardless, read on.

I have spent the last year working with an image powerhouse. The power of images is great, an untapped source of traffic for sure. I am a search marketer that is all about the conversion, but if all you want it traffic, images are just awesome and long tail. What’s just so sharable? Images. Why do you think we take data and make it pretty (ala infographics)? People love images. The most recent, not sure if it’s really the brain child of Paula Holmes Crimm, but maybe.

It Was Me. I Let The Dogs Out
Shared almost 2k times as of 5:12pm CDT

Really. How freaking cute. He/She let the dogs out. Took claim for the apparent mess it caused. You just want to kiss that puppy and the share it with all of your friends. I saw it this morning, reshared it, and 5 of my friends have done the same and not all from me.

Now the image search for this image. I figured “I let the dogs out” would do it.

Let the Dogs Out Image Search

Alas no. I may be wrong in the search or it might just not have been shared outside of FB yet. Therefore, Google hasn’t seen it. So I’m posting it. With good alt text and image name. Let’s see what happens and if I can get some traffic from it. </SEO>

Take Away for Search Marketers and Businesses

This small picture is being shared. There is no commerce behind it, no linking scheme, just an image. So I want to impart something I have seen as I’ve developed client infographics and link bait, don’t make it about you. Make it about users, your target market, the everyday user, the facebook user, whoever you want to see and share your content. Make it about them and they will share it. This does not have a 100% success rate (meaning making “viral linkbait” is still not possible to just create) but it does help get to the heart of the user and that might transfer down to the tip of their “share” finger.

Sell me this dress ModCloth!

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Author:
Categories: Facebook General Marketing Showcase

Updated (Like 2 hours later) – They’ve done it! The ad below goes to the Bossa Nova dress in the ad. <3 Thank you!

Dear ModCloth,

I love your Facebook ads, they are one of the few that work for me … repeatedly. I even bought one once, took it with me to Mexico and it was even borrowed from a friend! Great stuff.

On the left, myself and Lauren Polinsky. To the right, Kristy Bolsinger wearing the same Plum Role Dress.

 and 

There is an issue though. Those ads … they feature pretty dresses that catch my eye. I click … and am taken to the dresses page. The dress I loved is NOT THERE. I have to search for it.

Example

Modcloth Facebook ad
Landing Page:

Modcloth Landing Page

No pretty blue dress. *sad face*

How to Fix This Issue and Sell More Dresses

Talk to your developers. Find some way to land on something like this:

Modcloth dress overlay

Or the product page (bonus you have suggested other products!). Maybe retrofit the landing page to be the product page but rather than suggested accessories, you suggest other dresses. Or add a call to action at the top of the page “see other dresses” or something more catchy.

Thank you for your time,

Kate Morris

PS I do love your products. Ordered another one the other day. But please make it easier!

Thanks to Lauren Polinsky for the photos from a great trip!

Rewarding Good Behavior

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Categories: Great Marketing

Last Summer I went to the Blue Glass conference in LA. Having never been to LA, I came in that weekend to see some sights and hang out with my good friend Joanna Lord as well. It was an eventful weekend including a visit to a friend’s church. It was there I got to see Reese Witherspoon in person. Pretty cool huh?

But I digress. What this post is really about is the paradigm to reward those customers that bitch, moan, and complain loudly. On the internet and in search marketing, companies spend thousands of dollars dealing with unhappy customers. In many instances they ignore the customers that could potentially make them more money in the future by being advocates.

During my stay at the Marriott, my first night was met with very little sleep. My tweet stream shows the progression of annoyance. In short, there was a wedding … and the people staying on my floor were very drunk.

Okay, I didn’t mention Marriott here, but there is the first indicator.

There is the main mention. And I’m defending them. I mean it’s not their fault that there are annoying people in the world right? Right.

Rant continues … and yes, Josh Groban makes me happy … and calms me down.

A friend notices, and at this point I am pissed.

And now more so … that was the last time someone knocked though. ;)

And now still sticking up for them. What do I hear in return from this on Twitter? Nothing. I mention it to the front desk the next morning and they apologize. But it makes me wonder, if I had ranted, raved, and made a scene … could I have gotten a free night? Upgrade? I hear about people doing this all the time but can’t bring myself to do it.

Here is my point though.

Scenario 1: A customer complains of noise, yells and screams, and demands an upgrade to another room.
Typical Response: Giving what this customer wants to silence their negativity. The irate customer is silenced never mentioning the event again.

Scenario 2:  A customer gets upset but understands. Mentions the incident to the company.
Typical Response: They get an apology.
What should happen: In addition, they are compensated with a free night, spa treatment, or even just a few free drinks.
In Return: They then spread the word to friends, family, and maybe even online.

Word of mouth is the highest trusted form of advertising there is, so why not give up a $100 to a customer that may make you thousands in return? Think on that. </rant>

SEO for the world – thinking beyond English

The growth of the internet means it’s never been easier to reach a truly global market. Your products or services are now accessible to anyone with internet access from Birmingham to Beijing but just because the potential for reaching a new audience exists, that doesn’t mean the connection will be made without properly localizing your approach for your multilingual market.

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Categories: General Marketing SEO
Guest Post from Lingo24

The growth of the internet means it’s never been easier to reach a truly global market. Your products or services are now accessible to anyone with internet access from Birmingham to Beijing but just because the potential for reaching a new audience exists, that doesn’t mean the connection will be made without properly localizing your approach for your multilingual market.

Geographical barriers might not mean as much these days, but linguistic and cultural barriers remain. English is still the single most widely used language online, according to Internet World Stats, but it’s the native language of only 22% of web surfers. Consider also research showing that the majority of multilingual internet users place more trust in websites written in their own native language, and it’s apparent that a multilingual approach to online marketing is essential.

Targeting your market

The first thing you have to decide is whether to target markets by geography or by language. It may well be cheaper and easier to target several territories that share a common language – for instance, Spanish will provide accessibility to users in Spain (naturally) as well as vast swathes of South America, while French will provide inroads within France, Switzerland, Belgium, parts of Canada and former French or Belgian colonies such as Senegal and Gabon.

You should bear in mind, however, that linguistic usage can vary tremendously from one area to the next. Just as the English spoken in England, India and Australia varies in vocabulary and especially colloquialisms, so does the Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America, and the French spoken in France and Quebec.

If targeting by language, you should ensure that all content is understandable across the board and avoid any culture-specific references and jokes that might not translate. Targeting individual markets by country will help you avoid losing your message in translation – and it also opens up a number of marketing and SEO options.

Country code domains

The algorithms used by Google and other search engines take location into account, so investing in a separate country code top level domain (such as .de for Germany or .fr for France) hosted in the target country for each localized version of your website will considerably boost your rankings on Google other local competitors.

If you decide to have a single top level domain (such as www.example.com) you should at least set up separate subdomains or subdirectories for each localized version of your site. An example of a subdomain would be de.example.com and a subdirectory would be example.com/de/.

Google’s Webmaster Central blog advises that you keep your multilingual content separate – don’t mix languages on one page – to avoid confusing Googlebot. [Editors note: This is not true in all cases. You could technically have a Canadian site and have French and English user generated content on the same page.]

Handily, the same content in different languages is not considered duplicate content for listing and ranking purposes – and Google also has a Geographic Targeting tool in Webmaster Tools that allows you to specify particular geographic targets for different subdirectories or subdomains – so your Indian subdomain, for instance, can have its location set as ‘India’, and it will be turn up in the results when web surfers in India search for your keywords.

Keyword research

There are several ways to translate your content. The most effective is to employ the services of a native speaking translator, but if your budget does not stretch that far, then you could also use machine translation for content which is not business critical.

Regardless of whether you opt for machine translation or a professional to translate your website content, though, you should never rely on a straight machine or dictionary translation of your keywords.

This is because synonyms, colloquialisms, abbreviations or alternative terms may be the more popular keywords in any language. By all means use the direct translations of your English keywords as a starting point, but be sure to thoroughly research the alternatives in each target market. This may involve a brainstorming session with a native speaker from that country, and should definitely involve using Google’s keyword tools to check what results each keyword yields in that market.

Either way, multilingual SEO is an ongoing process of researching and refining, just the same as English language SEO, but if you’re willing to invest the time and money in expanding your market with localized multilingual websites, then the rewards can be beyond your wildest dreams!

About the author

Christian Arno is the founder and Managing Director of global translation and localization agency Lingo24. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 4000 specialist translators worldwide, operations spanning four continents and clients in over sixty countries.

Contact Lingo24 with a translation request mentioning www.katemorris.com before 30 October 2010 and you’ll receive a 10% discount on your first order.