Blogging started as personal online diaries, Twitter popped up first as an internal podcasting platform and Facebook was born out of a frustrated date.

The journey of online publishing and social networks was never a grand plan but it is the evolution of humans playing on a web canvas that continues to surprise us with its speed, reach and role in influencing buying decisions, building trust and marketing personal and business brands.
A decade later the internet landscape is unrecognizable. We are all still learning about what works and what doesn’t.

A recent report on “Digital Influence” by Technorati Media provides some insights into the fast evolving landscape that provides some metrics on the digital landscape. It was created from information gleaned from over 6,000 influencers, 1,200 consumers and 150 top brand marketers.

Technorati Media has a reach of of approximately 130 million US unique visitors per month and has published reports in the past on the state of the blogsosphere.

Social media is a small part of digital advertising

The report shows that despite social media having enormous mind share it is only 10% of all digital advertising spending. It also reveals that online influencers such bloggers are not being included in marketing programs due to lack of metrics from the likes of Nielsen and Comscore and also the lack of understanding of the power they wield online.

1. Blogs have significant influence on purchase decisions

Blogs are one of the top online services to influence a purchase. When making overall purchase decisions consumers rank blogs rank third behind retail and brand sites.  Despite this inflencing power brands are spending very little on blogging advertising and marketing initiatives with bloggers.


According to the Technorati Media research it seems this has more to do with a lack of metrics and the fragmentation that leads to their complexity as a purchasable medium.

In essence it seems it is too hard for brands to measure and buy advertising on blogs.

2. More Brands are on Instagram than Google+

When it comes to a social media presence the top three choices are clear. Facebook at 91%, Twitter at 85% and YouTube at 73%. The rest all then fall below 50%. What is surprising is that Google+ despite its rapid growth and its 500 million plus users is still struggling as a choice and relevance as a  platform that brands believe adds value to their digital marketing.

 

Blogs have a significant place in the top eight being placed at 6th at 32% above Instagram and Google+.

3. Social is only 10% of the digital advertising budget

You would thinks that with all the noise online about Facebook and Twitter that it would be a big part of paid advertising. The reality is much different than the buzz.

The top 3 include:

• Display ads such as banner website advertising – 41%
• Search advertising such as Google Adwords – 19%
• Video advertising including YouTube – 14%

Total spending on social media advertising is only 10% across all social media networks with Facebook taking 57% of that pie. Blogs only obtain 5% of the overall advertising budget that is allocated to social.



What is interesting is that mobile is growing at 8%.

4. Over half of Brands have “earned” social media goals

Growing Facebook “likes is still the main objective for most marketers with website traffic, Facebook fans and Twitter followers following close behind. Brands are also placing major  earned goals against landing page visits, Retweets and comments.

Pinterest followers and repins are in the top 10.



What I do find surprising is how low the importance email has as an earned goal metric.

5. Brands aren’t taking much notice of Klout

When it comes to selecting which influencers to work with then the following metrics are the top four are:

1. Audience index from Comscore and Nielsen
2. Twitter 
3. Facebook
4. Basic blog statistics such as unique users and page views

Despite the only recent addition of Pinterest and Instagram to social media mind share they are in consideration as a an influencer metric.



Even though Klout,  Peer index and Kred are on the list they rank as less than neutral.

6. If you want to be an influencer you need to blog

Influencers have realized that to have their voice heard on a social web then they need to have a blog. The power of the reach and velocity of online publishing supercharged by social media cannot be underestimated.

A third of influencers also said that they have been blogging for five or more years.



7. Text blogging dominates on influencers blogs

Despite the rise and use of multimedia it seems that text is still the main communication media. The magic of the written word is not going away anytime soon it appears



8. Facebook and Twitter dominate where influencers get social

Online influencers have realised that to communicate and message online that the two social networks that are mandatory are Facebook and Twitter. This can be seen in the blue metric below that shows Facebook is published to once a week 83% of the time and Twitter sits at 71%.

The rest such as LinkedIn and Google+ are not above 30%.

The research also show that  Facebook and Twitter create the most referrals, the most shares and generates the most revenue.



9. The majority of influencers make revenue from blogging.

Despite nearly two-thirds of influencers making money from blogging for 80% it generates less than $10,000 per year in revenue. 11% make more than $30,000 per year and 4% make more than $100,000 per annum.



10. Banner advertising is the top revenue generator for bloggers

The top three by a large margin  include banner advertising in top position with text ads and affiliate programs at two and three. Sponsored content such as sponsored articles, product reviews and brand content round out the top 6.

The number of banner ads is an interesting metric with only 1% having more than 10.



Conclusions

The report also makes some relevant insights into what the influencers major pain points were when being approached by brands.

Here are the top three.

• Brands expect that the bloggers time is available for free – 68%
• Pitches by brands are sometimes irrelevant – 50%
• Brands don’t listen to the blogger/influencers ideas about what works for their audience – 38%

It also appears that lack of knowledge of the role and the power of online influencers and the lack of available and trusted metrics is making it hard for brands to justify spending advertising budgets on influencer marketing.

Maybe that will change as measurement tools mature and brands realize the growing power of online bloggers and influencers.































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The big question that is often asked about social media when it comes to investing money, resources and time is “what is the return on investment?”

Some pundits will say that is not the right question because it is like asking “what is the ROI on your phone?”. Others will say social media should stand up and be measured in its own right. The challenge though is that we live in a multi-channel marketing world and the path to your sales door for your product is not a straight path and easy to measure.

It is not unusual for a company or brand to have the following digital channels and tactics that are all engaging, marketing and selling.

• Email
• Paid search ads
• Organic search results
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog
• Slideshare
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest

And I have only just started and haven’t even mentioned Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr or a multitude of other channels.

These are all working to drive the prospect to your business and buy your product or service.

But there is also another question.

Should the first click or the last click get the credit?

In our social and online world seeing that your friend  liked a certain brand could lead you to visit that Facebook page and click on a link that offered a discount for their product that took you to their online store. You didn’t buy but left the site.

A week later you do a Google search for the brand, visite the site and buy the product.

Who gets the credit? Google or Facebook?

Research by Adobe analyzed 1.7 billion visits to the websites of more than 225 U.S. companies in the media, retail, and travel industries. It shows that the ROI for social increases significantly if the first click attribution is accepted.

“Using first-click attribution for the retail websites we analyzed, the average visitor from social media sites delivered $1.13 in revenue. In contrast, when using last-click attribution, the average visitor from social media generated $0.60”

In the end both contributed.

Is social media about engagement or selling?

“Social media’s” main role in this online marketing game is revealed by the first word in the  phrase. It is about engaging first and selling second. It is human and social. Do this well and selling your product becomes easier. Your content will define your brand. It is achieved with images, videos and content that humanizes your business.

Social media’s value is not always captured by first-click or last-click attribution models. This value includes:

• Brand awareness
• Customer loyalty
• Engagement through social conversations
• Engagement due to content
• Offline channel transactions
• Personal referrals due to awesome content that adds value

These are hard to put a value against but they are real but soft metrics and should be in your marketing tactics tool box.

10 Examples of Social Media ROI

So what has been the results achieved from social media marketing? Here are a few examples.


Infographic source: psoshul.com

So what about you?

How do you use social media? Is it more about engaging than selling?

Does your CEO need more hard facts and wants to see the ROI before they commit the resources and cold hard cash or is creating brand awareness and customer loyalty valued?

Look forward to reading your stories in the comments below.




































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In an age where content is the new gold standard of web-related and social media marketing; it’s time to start producing great content or find someone who can.

Content marketing is part art and part science. It needs to touch hearts and minds.

Anyone can write, the real feat comes not from putting words on paper, but from producing artistically crafted and genuinely interesting pieces of content that evoke a desired emotion from your readers. In Internet marketing, that’s done by creating something informative that leads your customers to a desired action.

Just because anyone has the ability to put words on paper, doesn’t mean they can deliver your message in a concise and convincing manner. Everyone has the ability to write, but that doesn’t mean everyone is a good writer. Quite the contrary, actually. If you’re someone who isn’t confident in your writing ability, it’s time to look for outside help.

But what exactly are you looking for when it comes to hiring a content production specialist?

I get asked this question all the time, so I wanted to take a second to explain exactly what I’m looking for when I’m seeking writing help.

Timeliness

Deadlines are nearly as important as the actual content the writer produces. If you can’t be on time, then you’re just causing more work for me and I can’t have that. I don’t have time to chase you down looking for content that I assigned a week ago and I’m sure most business owners feel the same way.

Voice

A good writer has a definitive voice. In short, you can typically tell they wrote something by their style and delivery. I tend to avoid generic content writers as they are a dime a dozen. I’m looking for something distinctive in a writer’s delivery and ability to tell a story. This writer stands out from the pack by being creative, unique and a cut above the rest.

It’s a hard characteristic to describe, but you’ll know it when you see it.

Adaptability

Writing academic papers might require a more fact-driven and dry approach than producing blog content. A good writer knows how to differentiate the two. Good writers are able to adapt their voice and style based on where the content is being published. Bad writers carry the same style across all formats and this doesn’t really lend itself to producing content across multiple channels. They might be great at blogging, but you’ll need a second writer to produce whitepapers, e-books or research papers.

I typically like writers who are adaptable enough to create content across multiple channels as well as in different formats.

Research

The best content uses statistics or facts to drive home the point the writer is trying to convey. Does your writer use numbers or facts in his writing? If it looks like the writer could open up Word and write the article without referencing anything, the content generally isn’t up to the standard we’re looking for. We want someone who can research any topic in order to produce a great piece of content.
Obviously they aren’t going to be experts at everything, but you won’t be able to tell based on their writing alone.

Availability

I don’t want a writer who is booked solid weeks in advance. I need someone that has the flexibility to deliver content when I need it. We’re not talking about placing unreasonable demands on time, but a 500-word blog post isn’t something I want to wait a week for. If the writer can’t turn around most short projects within 48 hours or so, I tend to move on to those who can. This is one of the most profound arguments for hiring professional, full-time writers rather than hobbyists and those that use content as a means to derive a second form of income.

Finding writers isn’t easy, and finding good writers is exponentially harder. It’s much easier to retain a good writer once you have him, than it is to find another one once he moves on to greener pastures. Find yourself a writer that produces above average content and do whatever it takes to keep him happy. In the age of content marketing, it’s a writer’s world; we’re just living in it.
























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Just about everyone is a blogger these days whether they realize it or not.
If you write something on Facebook and receive comments and feedback then you are a blogger.
Tweet a short sentence of 140 characters on Twitter and you are a micro blogger.

Upload a video to YouTube where you can obtain subscribers and elicit comments, then you are a video blogger.

Arianna Huffington said that “self expression has become the  new entertainment” and people are increasingly likely to participate online than just vegetate in front of the television.

It is creating an explosion of creativity and  expression that is opening up digital doors for invisible experts worldwide.

Formal qualifications such as a degree or a diploma are still vital in a knowledge economy and display good educational discipline. The fact though is that no longer do you have to wait 20 years to be declared a visible formal expert by an institution or mass media outlet who has picked or anointed you. Pick yourself and publish.

The democratization of publishing and marketing through self publishing (blogging) and self marketing (social media) are breaking down barriers to display invisible experts who previously would have been hidden from view.

Professional Blogging Platform

If you want to take a serious stake online to display your passion and knowledge then a self hosted blog with your own domain name is the clever way  to proceed. This is a professional blogging platform. If you want to play then Tumblr or a Facebook “page” can provide a simple home base for amateurs.

If you have an inkling or even a tiny thought that your online brand may become your day job and profession, or you may want to change your lifestyle in the future then building a good foundation with a WordPress blog is essential.

Any good home requires a solid base to build on that “you” own.

The 10 Benefits of Blogging

I have discovered that blogging has many side benefits that are not apparent from an outsider looking in. This is what I have found to be the bonus benefits to blogging that you may find empowering and maybe enlightening.

#1. You will  become a better writer

Just the discipline of sitting down and writing will improve your writing skills. Thinking and planning doesn’t  cut it…action and doing does!

#2. Your video skills will improve

If you spend some time interviewing people with videos or even  recording yourself to provide online education and “how to”‘ tips via video, then your video skills will improve whether that is the lighting, the structure of the set or even the sound quality.

#3. You will learn

To write you have to read. There is a very distinct direct bonus from this activity. You will learn …a lot!
Stephen King the novelist summed it up well ”If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

#4. Visibility – People will hear about you

People discover information online today, so if you want to be a discovered and become a visible expert then blogging and social media will provide you with the visibility. Conducting a Google search is how we find people and information today not the library or the town square unless you are a stalker.
Geoffrey Rush the Oscar winning actor said “In my career two things have been vital.. Credibility and Visibility”

#5. Expert status

Perceived or real, the art of publishing online via blogging will transform you from an amateur to a  professional. Keep doing this with enough passion, purpose and focus and you will become “that” expert on your chosen topic if you persist.

#6. Become a champion researcher

You will also find the best ways to obtain information as you hunt down information and resources for your blog. You will identify global bloggers, resources and experts that will provide the insights and information you need to provide ongoing value to your readers.

#7. Power networker

As you start to become noticed people will want to connect with you and catch up for a coffee or invite you to their events and gigs. What a great way to meet your tribe who love your topic as much as you do.

#8. Your memory will improve

Exercising the brain through writing and learning will provide much needed exercise for the neurons. Keeping the body fit requires physical exercise. The mind needs stimulation and activity as well to be mind fit. You will be amazed by what you will remember from participating in mental gymnastics provided by blogging activities.
This will also have a the side benefit of looking more intelligent at cocktail parties and that has to be a good thing!

#9. Your creativity will increase

Nothing like a focused passion to improve your creativity.You will find that your brain will think more creatively as you move from conscious skills to unconscious and automatic activity, that frees up the thinking for out of the box thinking.

#10. Synergizes and Synthesizes Focus

The act of writing and expressing yourself online will provide you with internal and external feedback that sharpens the intuition and focuses your mind. The benefits of a social interactive web is that it taps into the global mind that will provide you with the feedback loop that will sharpen and amplify your purpose and passion if you are willing to listen.

Blogging as Self Fulfillment

Blogging for me has been a path to not only to self expression but self fulfillment that has become a journey of self discovery. I have found what works for me and what doesn’t. I write about topics that resonate with my soul and purpose while keeping focused and relevant.

These elements combined have provided an experience that has both changed me and others around me, both in the physical and cyber world. It is an exciting time to live where you can connect to your global tribe with rich multimedia that transcends time and place.

We all now have the power in our hands to make a difference and maybe leave a legacy. If you embrace this global and interactive social mind by participating actively you will be surprised and amazed as to where it will take you.

What About You

Has blogging changed you. What are the benefits you have discovered on your blogging journey?
Look forward to hearing your experiences and stories.



































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