It happens all the time. Really, it does. You know, those times when you watch that short flash animation over and over again on a website. Or think about how many of those “how-to” videos you watch in order to use something you just bought, try a new recipe, or just because it makes you laugh.

That’s the power of implementing motion graphics to “move” your brand. It has a way of capturing our attention. It pulls you in and takes you along for the ride.

Motion design has a way of telling a great story like no other medium. Through the combination of movement, stunning visuals, and music, you can connect with your consumer on a very personal level. And in doing so, you will strengthen your brand and your message. For example, a well done web video on a company’s homepage can set the tone of their brand and quickly build interest within the viewer. These first few seconds a viewer spends on your page is vital and more often than not will decide whether they will stay or continue on to somewhere else.

Motion design is memorable. Yes, that song you’ve been humming all day is from that TV advertisement you watched before you left home. You were drawn into it for that brief moment and it stirred up emotions that made an impact on your day. That’s pretty powerful stuff.

Beyond television, more and more we are realizing that the general public is getting a lot of their information and recommendations from online sources such as YouTube. For example, a company that makes a specific product could create their own “how-to” videos and connect with their consumers. Or a company that provides services could create a video series in which they educate their consumers and eventually become known as the “leading expert” in their profession.
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How are you choosing your domain name? Is it part of your marketing strategy? A short, memorable domain name will let people remember your product or service, but a short dictionary word domain name will also help your SEO positions.

Although many good names may have already been registered, you can still find good names available on secondary market websites such as Sedo and SnapNames.

The Value of Short Domain Names
It isn’t hard to understand why short domain names are valuable. A generic dictionary word domain name may cost thousands of dollars—or even millions. According to DN Journal, Social.com was sold for $2.6 million in the past July. However, don’t be discouraged! A recent study by SnapNames says that a vast majority of the domain names are bought and sold between the $500 to $5,000 range.

What’s a fair price for a domain name?
Generally, the more words in the domain name, the less it is worth. But a common two-word name is worth more than a rarely used single word name. A domain name without dashes or numbers is often worth more because typical users do not use dashes when they search. (Google, too, ignores dashes when you search.) Names ending in “.com” are also more popular than “.net” names because most people equate “.com” to the Internet.

Buy your Ideal Domain
Even when a domain name is listed for $10,000, you may still be able to buy it for significantly less. Like everything else, domain name prices can be negotiated. You can find out the domain owner’s information by looking up its registration records from DomainTools. One word of advice: don’t assume the domain owner is “squatting” on a domain name. Many domain name owners are very organized and have a large portfolio. A few of them are even public traded domain investment companies.
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As we all know, and often write about, Google is always making changes (aka “making us crazy”). Whether an interface, algorithm, or product change, sometimes these stay at the “test” status and never really have an impact on a business’s SEO efforts, other times we’re not so lucky. Either way, it’s important to watch them for cues from Google that you can use to drive new search marketing tactics.

So let’s look at one of my favorite recent updates in Google house cleaning news.

Google Places Pages: Google recently updated their Places pages, de-cluttering and reprioritizing certain elements. In the process, they hid some information that always seemed important to SEOs and provided tantalizing keyword opportunities. However, no big surprise here, the pages are much more streamlined and user friendly.

The biggest change and takeaway is related to reviews. Google has added big pretty buttons inviting visitors to write reviews of the business (as seen in the screenshot below), and they they are no longer displaying reviews from 3^rd sites right on the page (they are instead still linking off to some of those sites, though).

This is Google moving into the social realm (in line with Google+),  competing with sites like Yelp, and telling us that customer feedback is important.

So what do you do with this? It’s simple! Just like you (hopefully) already have subtle drivers from existing marketing touchpoints to sites like Yelp where customers can share their experiences with your business, it would be a good idea to more actively ask them to also drop praise on your Google Places page. It is Google, after all, so it’s probably smart to build up your presence there. Start with your Facebook page, where you should have a nice community of your most loyal customers. Post a light message thanking them for all their support, share your Google Places link, and see if they’d like to share their positive feedback there.
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Sky King Fireworks, one of the nation’s premier fireworks retailers, has officially rocketed into the fireworks season with a new multi-prong digital marketing campaign. From the launch of a brand new (search engine optimized!) website, to the creation of a social media campaign that includes Facebook and an extremely large video library on YouTube, to an overhaul of their email marketing program, Sky King Fireworks is ready to kick off their summer selling season. The 2011 summer campaign holds a lot of opportunity for their 18 stores across Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, specifically:

- the opportunity for the site to be found on online and map searches to create a competitive edge over nearby stores in their local markets
- the ability to create a “wish list” of products that the visitor can print off and bring into a store, decreasing the likelihood that they stop at a competitor fireworks tent on their way to Sky King
- housing a central database of their organically-acquired email addresses that they can now send segmented and targeted emails to
- videos of their products can now be shared through social networks.
- analytics on their website so they can monitor usability, engagement, and make educated decisions about their site moving forward

EIM created a look and feel with an integrated approach across all their channels that brings the “King” to the forefront, with a whimsical and fun design. Check them out!

www.skykingfireworks.com

Sky King Fireworks website

www.facebook.com/skykingfireworks

Sky King Fireworks on Facebook

www.youtube.com/skykingfireworksinc

Sky King Fireworks on YouTube

We talked last week about the 5 year anniversary of Twitter and the crazy growth it’s seen and will continue to see. The numbers don’t lie–people are on Twitter, and no matter what you may think, those people aren’t just the gum-smacking tween types. While the adolescents are certainly out there in the Twittersphere, the biggest estimated group on Twitter right now is in their 20s and 30s, and there’s a strong representation of users in their 40s. So whatever your target audience, it’s a good chance they’re hanging out on Twitter and that this is a social media platform that needs to be monitored and considered in your business’s web marketing plans.

One challenge of Twitter is maintenance.  While it doesn’t seem so bad to share a few 140-character thoughts every once in awhile, building relationships and making connections on Twitter requires relatively regular monitoring. And building relationships is really what you want to be doing on Twitter. It’s a tool that will give back what you put into it. So with that in mind, here are some thoughts on how to make the most of Twitter and to build your loyal network, even if you don’t have a ton of extra time:
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1. Know what your fans and potential customers are interested in. Follow conversations on Twitter about topics important to you. Search for tweets about products you sell, services you offer, the industry you work in, etc. You can make decisions–both on and off Twitter–about your business based on this information.
2. This is a simple one: know who’s talking about YOU. Do regular searches on your own brand and misspellings of your brand name. If you find people referencing you, talk to them! And follow them! Don’t be shy…but DO, of course, stay sensitive to what it is they’re saying.

So, you’ve been told 2011 is all about local. As well as mobile. And social. And video. And reviews. And probably a number of other important elements of the online world. So what the heck do you focus on? Well…when it comes to getting your site found on search engines: all of them.

But! Fear not. Don’t freak out. This doesn’t require elaborate marketing campaigns combining all of these mediums. (In fact, avoid that.) And you don’t need to have the next “Old Spice Guy” idea for social media to have an impact. This just means getting your presence into a healthy mix of all of these mediums, which really comes down to providing great service and engaging with your customers. In other words, do good business. And use these online elements in a natural way.

Here’s an example of how you might integrate them into your everyday business process:
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1. Let’s say you have a special 3-day only deal for your retail website. Assuming you have your Google Places page claimed and optimized, you post the deal there on Monday (the start of the sale–one of your slowest days).
2. You also tweet about it and share it on Facebook, thanking your existing customers for being loyal fans
3. An hour later, you notice several retweets of your deal and thank those followers for sharing the love
4. Another friend of one of the retweeters sees the message, but wants to learn more about you first, so they search for you on their mobile phone. Luckily, you have a well-optimized mobile site, so this person quickly finds you and has easy access to exactly the information they needed (maybe info like what your company does, some testimonials, products, etc.).

Alright, so you’re back in the office and ready to start the year off right. You want to invest more of your marketing budget in social media, email marketing, PPC advertising. You know that this year is going to be different. You can feel it. But you sit back and wonder, “what’s going to be the biggest trend and growth area this year in online marketing?” Local search. Trust me. Everything is going local.

2011 is going to be the year of Local. The Internet is getting bigger and bigger. Google has indexed over 1 trillion websites. There are millions of pizza restaurants, cafes, and florists. There are millions of everything. What does this mean? Local matters. It’s no longer important or in many cases possible to be number one on Google for the entire country. What matters is where your business shows up in your local market.

Remember that Google can tell where someone is searching from and this means SEO and SEM become a local game. You want to show up higher in search than the pizza place down the street, or more importantly you need too. With Google Maps, Groupon, Foursquare, Bing Local, Yahoo Local, and Facebook Places it’s become a local game.  Just look at Google trying to buy Groupon for $6 billion….they understand what the most important trend is. The Internet has arrived in your neighborhood and it’s crucial that your house look better than the one next door, or at least be easier to find.

One place to start: Make sure your business address is listed on every database and online map you can think of. Google, Bing, and Yahool Local listings are critical in helping your business show up in local search. Claim the listings and optimize them to show all facets of your business. Always remember to think local.

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