A blog can be your company's hub for communicating with its' target audience.  It is where ideas and opinions are exchanged.  Think of it as your opportunity for gaining feedback directly from your customers on your products and services.  A blog can be your vehicle to gain valuable insight into your customers' wants, needs and desires.

When used strategically, blogs can exponentially amplify the effectiveness of your offline advertising.  Your blog is an integral part of your online presence and allows you to demonstrate thought leadership in your industry.  Your blog is a platform that allows you to add value to your online community and be perceived as a trusted resource.

Successful blogging is just as much an art as it is a science.  At Proteus Design Studio, we have put together a guide to building a successful blog.  In the guide you'll find tips for creating useful content, strategies to maximize content distribution, and valuable resources for making social connections.  Please share this information with anyone you know that may find it beneficial.       

Having one of the most challenging recruiting tasks of any organization in America requires nothing less than an exceptional marketing plan. The five branches of the military each have a distinct military mission and therefore recruit a little differently. More specifically, I would like to discuss why I feel the U.S. military is using the internet to market more effectively than almost any civilian corporation in the world.

Just like any other organization, it is first necessary to have a thorough understanding of the military’s mission or business plan, in order to develop an effective web strategy. Let’s take a brief look at each branch of our military to gain a better understanding of their role in providing our overall national security.

I will be discussing the Military Branches in order from largest to smallest.

Data Sources: Wikipedia entries for Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard

*Special note - Although I served in the Marines and am somewhat biased, I think it’s pretty amazing how the Coast Guard, as small as they are, have such a big challenge in terms of their mission. Due to the fact that they are the smallest branch in size, their recruiting efforts don’t have to be nearly as aggressive as the other military branches. Therefore, I won’t be discussing their recruiting website. Also, their target demographic is typically a few years older than that of its’ DOD counterparts. Their message is very much like that of a civilian corporation rather than a military organization, “We’re Hiring”, literally.

What is the Military’s Product (what are they selling?)

They are selling what would be considered by any expert in sales, the most difficult product of all to sell, intangible benefits. Intangible benefits such as self-discipline, motivation, honor, and pride of belonging to name just a few. They are also selling the opportunity for higher education, career training, leadership development, worldly experience and travel.

Websites and Product Message

After carefully analyzing each branch’s recruiting website I was able to identify differences in messaging that address each unique demographic or target audience. The common demographic across all the military branches, though, are eligible males and females between the ages of 18 to 26 (approximately).

Over the past 200 years the military has been perfecting their recruiting efforts and understand their customer audiences better than most public corporations. But what I find particularly interesting is how quickly the military has fully embraced the use of the internet as an effective marketing vehicle and they have clearly put the pedal to the metal! Most corporations, however, have been slow to adopt or reluctant all together. More specifically, in regards to the use of social media platforms to reach their target audience.

Strategy

On each branch's website, you’ll notice how they have integrated their T.V. commercial into the site providing maximum brand awareness and increasing the effectiveness of its’ broadcast reach. The following is an excellent example:

One of the biggest sales objections that a recruiter faces are the physical challenges that Boot Camp presents to a potential recruit. Most young people are intimidated by the horrific stories they hear about how Drill Instructors are constantly in your face screaming and yelling. Most prospective recruits are also apprehensive when it comes to facing the extreme physical challenges like combat water survival, repelling from a 50 foot wall, and the confidence course (an extremely challenging obstacle course each Marine Recruit must successfully negotiate in order to earn the title, Marine).

The second biggest challenge for all the branches is parental consent. Many parents are apprehensive about the thought of their children serving in the military. Each service has addressed this sales objection with a special website geared just for the parents of potential recruits. These sites are extremely easy to navigate and answer all of the most common questions and concerns that most parents have. All recruiting sites are also translated in Spanish as a significant portion of the military’s prospective recruits are Spanish speaking.

Breakdown of each Branch’s Recruiting Website

U.S. Army

Designed to appeal to high school students both female and males. Their message is geared toward the young adult that wants to develop the qualities that are in demand by civilian employers. They are clearly advocating that the Army will make you a stronger person. I would like to note that they have cleverly left that interpretation up to the individual. In any case it can only be construed as a positive benefit that will result from becoming a U.S. Soldier.

The Army’s site has one of the most advanced features I have ever seen on a website, the "Ask SGT STAR" feature. It is a database driven application that allows the visitor to ask a virtual Soldier any question that would typically be asked by a prospective recruit. What a powerful database! It answered every question I asked ranging from pay to duty station preferences. It even addresses questions on family housing and includes a sample floor plan. Most impressive!

U.S. Air Force

They don’t make an obvious attempt to reach out to either gender. Approximately 20% of the Air Force population is female compared to the Marine Corps’ 5%. This should not be surprising as the majority of duties in the Air Force are combat-support and do not involve direct combat. What is obvious from a customer demographics perspective is that the website clearly represents diversity in terms of race. The primary benefit to the prospective recruit that I noticed is self improvement through higher education. The Air Force’s marketing message is clear in its appeal to those who value continuing education.

When one thinks of the Air Force, the first thing that comes to mind is cutting-edge technology. The Air Force’s recruiting site truly lives up to that branding image. It is probably one of the most interactive sites on the internet. This site has countless activities that engage and stimulate the interests of a young high tech enthusiast. From video games that simulate piloting and destroying enemy targets with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to simulations that allow you to learn more about training military working dogs, the Air Force recruiting website delivers a user experience that is unparalleled in online marketing.

U.S. Navy - Accelerate Your Life ™

Many young people in high school are in a rush to grow up and be viewed by friends and family as adults. I can’t think of a life decision that requires more careful consideration than making a 4-6 year commitment to serve your country in the military other than getting married and having children. The Navy’s recruiting website is every bit as impressive as the other branches.

The major feature that differed from the other sites and caught my immediate attention, was an interactive area that connects directly with the female demographic. It showcases women in the Navy and allows the user to learn about the role(s) they have in the Navy. It’s a very engaging experience that most likely dispels any apprehension or concerns that a prospective female may have when it comes to meeting the challenges associated with serving in a male dominated military. This is an awesome feature and clearly illustrates the importance the Navy has placed on internet marketing.

U.S. Marine Corps

Designed to appeal to the male, high school student, who is looking for the ultimate challenge of self-discipline. Their message in itself is a challenge and is aimed directly to a small target audience. The Marine Corps needs candidates that are highly motivated and willing to take the challenge of becoming a member of the World’s Most Elite Fighting Force. It’s no surprise that only one in every one million Americans claims the title, “United States Marine”. Can you tell I served in the Marines?

The Marine Corps faces its’ biggest sales objection straight on by providing one of the most incredible user experiences I’ve seen on a website. They include excerpts of video taken from the recruits’ perspective while engaging in the most challenging activities during training. They have the entire 12 weeks of Boot Camp broken down on one, navigation friendly page. This user experience allows for the visitor to see first- hand the challenges Marine Corps Boot Camp Offers.

Summary

Each branch of service is augmenting their online presence with YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. They are benefiting from the power that social media offers in spreading their message virally. As a member of Facebook and a former Marine myself, I decided to become a fan of the Marine Corps’ Fanpage. Within minutes, I was bombarded by other fans asking me about my experience in the Marine Corps. Most of them are young people that haven’t reached the qualifying age yet, but had already decided they are joining the Marine Corps.  I was surprised at the amount of questions they were asking in regards to the Marine Corps.  I think they were intimidated to talk to the recruiter.  This was a way for them to get their questions answered without feeling pressured by a potential sales pitch.  It just goes to show that your customers are going to talk about your product with other people outside of your organization.  Companies can benefit by monitoring the conversation and learning about what concerns their customers have in terms of their product.

Once they have a better understanding of those concerns, they will be better able to address them via the social platforms they utilize. There is no other marketing tool more powerful than word of mouth. Conversations about your products by your prospective customers is your most powerful marketing tool. The military is one organization that “Gets It” and definitely participates in the conversation.

Brand Awareness - Is your customer aware of your existence? They need to know about you as a source or option. Your location, whether it be brick and mortar or the first page of Google are important factors in determining your Brand Awareness and market penetration.

Product Features and Benefits - We are all customers. Have you ever compared features of a particular product or service? We all do it. A good example is when shopping for a Cell Phone Service Provider. We compare the features of various plans offered by the competing companies. Most importantly as customers though, we focus on the benefits. What will that cell phone do for me? Maybe it’s the security and peace of mind to know that I can call anytime or anywhere during an emergency? Or maybe it might make me feel good to know that my monthly bill will be a flat rate every month.

Product or Service Pricing - Let’s face it, there are customers that price shop. Then there are customers that are willing to pay more for what they perceive as a better value. Have you heard the term, “Getting the most for my money”? 

Brand Reputation - what does your market think about your brand? Dominos Pizza recently learned that the majority of their market had the opinion that their product sucks. They learned specific details as to why their customers felt their product was inferior against their competitors. Dominos then used social media to their advantage by asking for customer input to develop a new and improved product.

Word of Mouth - What are your customers saying about your company, product or service? Results from studies have shown that a satisfied customer may share their buying experience with 1-3 people. On the other hand, if they had an unpleasant experience with your company, they are likely to share that information with 10 people. This is one of the reasons customer loyalty is so important. Social media and customer rating sites have made it extremely easy for customers to review and share their buying experience. Smart companies are learning these new marketing concepts and using them to their advantage.

The most successful companies today are leveraging their knowledge of the fore mentioned concepts with social media technologies. In my blog post titled, “Corporate Marketing– Simplifying the Social Media Challenge”, I discuss a simple and effective way for companies to approach their social media strategy.

Connect with me:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• E-Mail

So before you start inviting or suggesting your Fan Page to your Facebook and business connections, use the following methods to get the biggest bang out your invite.  People will be more likely to join your page if they see there's an effort being made to stimulate their interest.

1. As I'm sure you've heard before "content is king", especially relevant and engaging content.  One of the fastest and easiest ways of producing content for your Fan Page is to feed your company blog to it.  Of course, this will only work if you're company is posting to the blog at least 2 to 3 times a week, though more would be best.  Your posts should be informative, helpful, conversational, and don't forget to bring a little of your company's personality into the mix!

   There are different methods of connecting your blog to the Fan Page.  It can be as simple as setting up your Fan Page Notes to Import your Blog, or you can use a 3rd Party RSS application.  We use NetworkedBlogs to feed our blog which is much more robust than the Notes option.  It's also a great way to find your Facebook friends' blogs, if they have it registered on NetworkedBlogs, as well as subscribe to some of your favorite bloggers.

2. Create a "Landing Page" tab that will encourage people to join your Fan Page as well as give them a "Call to Action".  The CTA should be something easy and non-intrusive.  We use the Static FBML application to create custom Landing Page Tabs, it adds a box to your Page in which you can render HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language) for enhanced Page customization.

3. Upload Images or Videos of your product(s) or service.  If you are uploading videos, make sure they are short and to the point.  The YouTube Box application is an excellent tool to publish and manage your videos from your YouTube profile if you already have one or are planning on creating one.

4. Place a Fan Page Badge on your company website and/or blog.  Let your current visitors know that they can now interact with you via Facebook.

5. Keep your fans engaged!  They joined your page because they found it interesting, make sure they stay interested.  Update your page with new content as often as you can and then let them know about it.  Use the Insights tool to keep track of what works and what doesn't and then adjust as best as your company can.

I hope you find this post helpful in getting your Fan Page started and on the road to great success.  As long as you're providing quality information you will begin to see an increase in your fan numbers.  Just make sure that if a Fan posts a question or comment on your Wall or Discussion board you or someone at your company responds in a timely manner.  After all that is why we're doing this in the first place

Please feel free to share your experiences in the comment section below or if you have a suggestion to add to the list, I'd love to hear it!

It’s simply about being transparent and being you. It’s about meeting people and being genuine. The best part is, it’s especially easy to use Twitter to find people you have common interests with. Just search for them using the keywords that best describe your interests.

You have to give, in order to receive. Take a real interest in getting to know those that follow you. Take a look at their blogs. Click on the links they share. The best compliment you can give on Twitter is a Re-Tweet, so do it. It will pay dividends in the long run. And before you even realize it, you will have followers swarming in to follow.

There is so much garbage being tweeted that it just gets tuned out. Be the one that sends the Tweets that people look for. This is what will make you a winner on Twitter. Once you’ve gotten their attention through genuine friendship, your followers will look for opportunities to refer you business. Just my thoughts, what are yours?

If you have any questions regarding the use of Twitter for your business or social media in general, please contact our web design company. 

What is different about my product or service? What will make my fans tell others about my product or service? What digital information or media can we produce for people to share that is useful, interesting, or humorous? How can we tie it in with our product or service? Who are our fans? What are their likes and dislikes? What are their fears and concerns? Can we solve a common problem amongst our fan population? What have I seen from other companies that I have liked and passed on? Why did I pass it on?

Can you think of more questions? Please comment with your thoughts and suggestions…
 

1. Monitor: In most cases, companies dive into the social media mix by jamming their traditional mainstream media messages into a social media venue. It just doesn’t work that way. The two-way dynamic of social media requires a different, more delicate approach. Careful, unbiased listening skills are a necessary part of a successful social media strategy. In order for companies to start off on the right foot, they must have an open mind to discover new possibilities and insight that their customers and potential customers will invariably deliver.

2. Engage: Companies have to take an active role in social media by engaging with their audience by providing thought leadership. This can be accomplished by participating in relevant conversations with key influencers in their industry. Their goal here is to make a positive impression with influential participants that are outside the company. The company ultimately needs to be perceived as the industry leader and a subject matter expert.

3. Integrate: A company’s marketing efforts should be integrated with their traditional marketing channels such as seminars, trade-show events, radio, television and print advertising. Social media has always been a challenge to measure in terms of ROI. When possible, it is advisable to use social media technologies to drive traffic to channels that can be measured through analytics software. Also, it pays to have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution in place for tracking customers and managing prospects. Managing your company’s internet presence can and should be scalable.

Our simplified three pronged approach is not an end all, but provides an easily definable starting point that any company can begin to execute. What are your thoughts?

If you would like more information regarding internet marketing or social media, please contact our web design company.

1. Call to Action - Every successful website has a well defined call to action. This is a predetermined goal or action that we want our website visitors to take once they have arrived at our site. The website has to communicate these goals clearly and consistently. The following are good examples:
   - Call today for a free consultation
   - Start your free trial today
   - Free delivery with every purchase over $120
   Helpful Tip: Avoid choice overload; too many choices equals lower sales

2. People Imagery - Include the “human element” on your website page design. Smiling faces communicate a sense of customer service as well as build trust. A well placed graphic of a person or people that is relevant to your industry helps build trust and confidence immediately.

3. Credit Card Logos - Most businesses today take credit cards as payment even if their website is not a shopping cart. The logos of Visa/American Express placed at the top and bottom of a site instill buying confidence in your company.

4. Contact information - such as a phone number needs to be placed at the top of the site. This again builds confidence on a subconscious level. People like to know that they can reach your company easily if there is an issue with a transaction.

5. Guarantees, warranties, and cancelation policies - make sure the link to this information is visually noticeable on the homepage. This minimizes the level of risk perception in the buyers mind.

6. Secure Checkout Logos - ensure that the secure payment logo or image is visible. Online shoppers look for this indication before using a credit card.

7. Shipping Information - do your best to provide and link to an explanation of your policy regarding shipping and delivery. When appropriate use a graphic such as the UPS or FedEx log to establish brand familiarity and trust.

The art of converting website visitors to customers is a very complex science. No two websites are the same. It takes a lot of time and effort to get a website optimized for success. If you have any questions or would like additional information on how to increase the performance of your website, contact our web design company at www.proteusdesignstudio.com.
 

1. Make profiles on each social bookmarking site listed at SocialMarker - The initial setup of these profiles will be time consuming, but it will save you hours of manually bookmarking your blog posts on all the bookmarking sites.

2. Complete at least two (2) high quality, relevant blog posts that are meaningful to your audience a day.
   Helpful Hint: Write several blogs in advance and schedule them to be time released with your blog administrator software.

3. Make profiles on all the video sharing sites listed on TubeMogul -The initial setup of these profiles will be time consuming, but it will save you hours of manually uploading your videos on all the bookmarking sites.

4. Produce one (1) video a day using either a camera or video editing software such as Microsoft Movie Maker. You can even make a Powerpoint presentation and upload the slides into Movie Maker. Write a script and record your voice or use music for a nice touch. Embed the finished product to your blog.

5. Distribute each blog post using SocialMarker on a daily basis.

6. Distribute each video file produced using TubeMogul on a daily basis.

7. Create profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  Both Facebook and LinkedIn have a feature that will allow you to setup a news feed from your blog. Each time your blog is updated, the friends in your network across these sites will receive your post.

8. Use SEO strategies and tactics that are explained in detail on SEOmoz and make sure to apply these techniques to your blog site.

9. Ensure to install some sort of sharing widget on your blog. There are many available depending on your blog technology. One of my favorites can be obtained at Share This and is feature rich. This will allow your viewers to distribute your blog posts virally.

10. Rinse and Repeat!

Helpful Hint: Good, high quality, content is essential to other people finding it useful and wanting to share it! If you have any questions regarding web design, web strategy or internet marketing, don’t hesitate to contact Proteus Design Studio.