The Giant Robot Guide to Combining Marketing Tactics

Today’s guest post is by Andy Crestodina

When I was a kid, I watched Voltron, Defender of the Universe.

Unlike other giant robots, Voltron was actually five robotic lions that could combine into one huge robot.

I loved it.

Those robot lions were tough, but there’s no way they could have defended the universe by themselves.

Your marketing is no different.

It’s marketing combination that gets the best results.

Here’s a guide to combining marketing tactics with a single piece of content.

Search Optimization

SEO is about driving traffic over time, by indicating relevance to Google.

• Research keyphrases using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. Choose a phrase that gets a decent amount of search volume, isn’t too competitive, and is relevant to your audience.
• Use the phrase in the title, the header, and several times in the body of the article. Link to the article from other pages and posts, using the target keyphrase in the text of the links.

Email Marketing

Email is a powerful and, often, underestimated traffic driver.

• Write a subject line that both grabs attention and describes the article well.
• In the email, use a short paragraph as teaser text that doesn’t give away too much.
• The link to the article should include tracking code generated by Google’s URL Builder. This will segment out email traffic as a campaign in traffic sources within your analytics.

Social Media

Sharing the content inside and outside your network is a powerful traffic driver.

• Schedule tweets promoting the article. Send a few during the next few days and a few in a month or two.
• Use FilterTweeps to find people who are both influential and interested in the topic. Mention them in tweets.
• Post on the major social networks, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. Also post the content on sites where your audience is likely to spend time.

Conversion Optimization

The true power of the content is in its ability to compel visitors to take action.

• Add a call-to-action at the end of the post, encouraging visitors to comment.
• Make sure there are email signup forms appears near the post. The form should be prominent and give visitors a reason to subscribe.
• Link from the post to product and service pages, creating a path from the post, to your offerings and ultimately, to your contact form.

Analytics

If you aren’t measuring results, you can’t keep improving your results.

• Measure open rates to optimize your subject lines
• Measure clickthrough rates to optimize your teaser text
• Measure sharing to optimize your social media activity
• Measure rank and search traffic to optimize your keyphrase targeting and keyword usage
• Measure conversion rates to optimize the real value of the entire effort.

Only when you combine these tactics does your marketing turn into a giant robot. Only then do you become Voltron, Defender of the Universe.

Andy is a web strategist and co-founder of Orbit Media, a web design company in Chicago. Yes, you can connect with Andy on Google+ and Twitter, or contact him using his favorite web marketing tool: 773.353.8301.

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