In the first March Madness Marketing blog post, I introduced the bracket – 64 online marketing tactics battling it out for a chance at being the best online marketing strategy out there.
Here’s the original bracket:
Round 1 has finally concluded, lending to the following results:
Round 1 Recap: What Were The Best Teams?
Content Automation Vs. Blogging
Game Recap: 86 – 45
Content Automation went up against Blogging in Round 1 in a game that most people could have guessed the outcome to. Blogging played a more solid game, scored more baskets, and easily beat Content Automation. Automation just couldn’t keep up with the quality of play that Blogging kept throughout the game.
Content Automation In Marketing
Content automation refers to spinning (rewriting) content using a robotic system. The bot reads the content you plug in from somewhere else and spits out a spun version of it. Content automation like this creates problems because the automated content:
Can have grammatical mistakes
Can sound artificial
Can accidentally say something completely wrong
Does not sound like something written by a person to a person
Spun content can put a site at risk for ranking penalties
Marketing should never include content automation
Podcasts Vs. Crowdsourcing
Game Recap: 68 – 65
A close game from start to finish, this one was a nailbiter! Neither team was exceptional the whole way through the game, but there were moments of glory on both sides. Podcasts went on a 12-2 run in the first half to put them up 38 – 30 at halftime. But Crowdsourcing wowed the crowd with a big 3-pointer to start the second half, and they gradually trimmed Podcast’s lead all the way until the last few minutes. With the game tied at 65 and only a few seconds left, Crowdsourcing put up another 3-point shot to put themselves ahead and seal the deal.
Podcasts In Marketing
Podcasting is a great idea – it provides a steady flow of audio information that can be used by many people. The problem with it is the time involved in creating a high quality podcast and gaining an audience. For many businesses, the idea is tempting, but can become a substantial waste of time as relatively few people may end up listening to a podcast that takes quite some time to produce.
Could podcasting be a viable option for you business?
Absolutely! But, weigh the pros and cons and understand the hurdles.
Video Blogging Vs. Whitepapers
Game Recap: 80 – 78 OT
Video Blogging put up a fine fight and proved themselves to be better as a 13 seed than many might have guessed. The game was close all the way through and even went into Overtime, but Whitepapers pulled ahead at the end and kept a small lead to win the game by 2 points.
Video Blogging In Marketing
The downsides of video blogging are very similar to those of podcasting: videos can be expensive and time-consuming. Creating poor-quality videos is also an easy trap to fall into.
Web 2.0 Vs. Guest Blogging
Game Recap: 77 – 54
Web 2.0 was able to keep up for a while, but the longer the game went, the further behind they got. Guest Blogging had the better edge in just about every way and left with a big win.
Web 2.0 In Marketing
Web 2.0 in this context refers to sites like Squidoo and Tumblr on which you can post your own content or keep your own blog. Using sites like these performed better in the past, but Google has stopped giving as much ranking potential to these sites and they no longer provide the power they used to. As a general rule, it is better to have an onsite blog than use a Web 2.0 option.
Content Spamming Vs. eBooks
Game Recap: 84 – 49
This was not a very enjoyable game to watch. Content Spamming simply couldn’t keep up, but the worst part about it was how lazy the team looked. Despite being down, they never showed any effort to get back in the game! EBooks played well together and didn’t get cocky, they simply did what they do best – and that’s play good basketball.
Content Spamming In Marketing
I’m using “content spamming” to mean writing a plethora of low quality articles on a given topic so that Google will notice you for being a top-notch source of information on that topic.
Bad idea.
One excellent publication will go way further than 100 spammy short pieces of content. In fact, throwing lots of duplicate, spun, or just spammy pieces of content on your site is a sure way to get Google to hate you. The long and short of it is to only put up content that actual people will love. Never throw up a bunch of content to try to achieve rankings or good traffic.
Popups Vs. Case Studies
Game Recap: 80 – 64
I regret watching this game; the Popups team was just so irritating to watch! They made bad decisions with the ball that just made the whole game obnoxious. Case Studies played fluidly and with few errors, but they still weren’t exciting enough to make the game enjoyable. Thankfully, Popups was beaten good, and we won’t have to see them play next round.
Popups In Marketing
I. Hate. Popups.
I think everyone does, actually, but somehow they are still used. Actually, I take that back – marketers still like popups. Yes, it’s true, they can create engagement, but, personally, I don’t like the user experience that popups provide. Just think about it… have you ever heard someone speak highly of a popup?
I never have.
To the contrary, popups seem to the be the bane of the internet user’s existence. I believe that a business needs to be about making customers happy, and popups do not do that.
Note: I personally think a future Google algorithm update will penalize sites with popups. I will get to say “I told you so” if this happens.
Adobe Flash Content Vs. Press Release
Game Recap: 85 – 76
This game was quite good until the last 8 minutes or so of play. Flash Content actually had the lead for the better part of the First Half, but Press Release pulled ahead as the game neared an end. Flash Content was obviously getting worn out as the game progressed, while Press Release’s energy remained from start to finish.
Adobe Flash Content In Marketing
Flash has long been an exciting tool for web designers and tech savvy businesses. Even in its early years, it provided a cool way to display animations and create interactive elements that weren’t viable any other way. As time went on, it became more and more powerful and started being used more and more.
So, why did it lose to Press Release?
Well, there are a few reasons why Flash actually isn’t a good idea anymore:
Flash content on your website can’t be read by Google, so it doesn’t help you rank at all, even if the content is amazing.
HTML5 and Javascript (or jQuery) have made possible without Flash what used to only be possible with Flash.
Flash, while powerful, is very often misused to create cheesy elements that look outdated and perform nothing good. For a good example of Flash, check out the NCAA March Madness live stream site. Just remember, the general rule is to use HTML5 and avoid Flash because you’re more than likely to derp it.
Content Spinning Vs. Infographics
Game Recap: 85 – 56
Infographics got the first bucket and they never lost their lead the entire game. Content Spinning looked awful the whole time, and, like Content Spamming, they looked extremely tired and lazy. Infographics didn’t really have to try to earn this win; they played well and we’ll see them in the next round.
Content Spinning In Marketing
Content Spinning is often used to describe what I previously labeled as Content Automation, in which content is spun by fancy software. Content Spinning, however, is technically a term to describe any method of taking content and rewriting it, whether it be done digitally or manually. But while manual content spinning seems harmless compared to automated content spinning, it still creates content that is typically redundant and offers now new value. Writing unique articles is a far better method of content marketing.
Mass Email Vs. Search PPC
Game Recap: 89 – 76
This was a high scoring game with both sides shooting well, but with a lack of defense, especially from Mass Email. Search PPC shot 71% on 3-pointers, adding up to 30 points from behind the line, and over 60% overall. Mass Email played good offense most of the game, but steadily drifted further behind and ended up losing by 13 points.
Mass Email In Marketing
General mass email can often just be a fancy way of saying spam email… a technique in which you accumulate all the email address you can and send emails regularly out to your whole mailing list. When you send a lot of emails out to a lot of people, it will probably result in some traffic increases. But eventually, the people on your list can unsubscribe from the lack of focused emails and give you a bad name online.
Be careful how you use the email addresses you gather. Don’t abuse your mailing lists, and only send quality emails.
Promo Video Vs. Affiliate Program
Game Recap: 54 – 50
This was an interesting game. Promo Video had a great offense, and Affiliate Program had a great defense, so the teams had a hard time playing against each other. It was pretty much that way throughout the game, but Affiliate Program held on to win it by 4 points.
Promo Video In Marketing
People love videos. Visuals in and of themselves are very good to include on your site, but a good video especially can go a long way. A promo video helps your audience engage in learning about your company, can be entertaining to view, and helps show the value of your product.
The downside to a promo video is that it can be expensive to produce, and a low quality promo video can produce the opposite effect of what you want. So while a promo video is highly recommended for businesses that can afford to produce a nice one, creating an affiliate program is probably going to be a more profitable use of your time.
Social Media Ads Vs. Page Optimization
Game Recap: 65 – 62
Social Media Ads put up a good fight against Page Optimization. They even had the lead at half, but the consistency of Page Optimization’s playing outdid the higher seeded Social Media Ads.
Social Media Ads In Marketing
Advertising on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter can help your social pages get more traction, but only a few categories of businesses may actually see money come in from social advertising. Some business categories that could see some good results from social ads are:
Fashion
Media
Gadgets
Bookmarking Vs. Google+
Game Recap: 70 – 60
Google+ wasn’t expected to win this game, but just 5 minutes in, it was clear they were the better team. Bookmarking’s host of fairweather fans were left disappointed with their team’s 10-point loss.
Bookmarking In Marketing
Bookmarking is the content curation practice of posting links to your site’s content on sites like Reddit, Digg, or StumbleUpon. These sites allow anyone to post simple links, and the popular links hit the homepage and are clicked on a lot.
The nice thing about bookmarking is that it’s quick, easy, and free.
The problem with bookmarking is that it’s unlikely for your link to go viral, so you run the risk of not producing much traffic using this method – and the traffic you get probably won’t purchase anything from you, making it, more or less, useless.
Popular bookmarking sites that can be taken advantage of include:
Reddit
Pinterest
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Forum Participation Vs. Email Newsletter
Game Recap: 58 – 53
Forum Participation showed more talent than many were expecting to see from them. Email Newsletter fulfilled everyone’s predictions as the favorite, but not without a real fight. The game was close the whole way through, but Email Newsletter’s two 3-pointers near the end put them ahead until the deal was closed.
Forum Participation In Marketing
Many marketers never even consider this strategy, but it is actually a completely valid and useful tactic. The downside is the amount of time that it can take to find your niche in forums.
How can forum participation be used in marketing?
People everywhere are asking questions on forums. Assuming you have great content on your site, you can find forums and point to the answers on your blog. By doing this, you target a very targeted group of people: the people who are specifically looking for the information you have available. What better people to target?
Some forum threads even start ranking, so this can be good in a number of ways. But, like so many SEO tactics, it can be easily abused, so be careful!
Social Group Promotion Vs. Remarketing
Game Recap: 65 – 64
Wow, was this ever a close game! There were a total of 19 lead changes from start to finish and moments of glory from both teams. Social Group Promotion showed exceptional talent for an 11 seed, but when all was said and done, Remarketing left with the win.
Social Group Promotion In Marketing
The best kind of promotion you can do is the promotion that reaches the specific people interested in what you do.
That’s where the attractiveness of social group promo exists.
Social sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have groups where people can gather to discuss specific topics. By finding groups about the topics that your business excels at, you can reach the people that care about the same topics you care about.
Don’t post in these groups too often, and make sure to engage in other people’s posts so that you don’t come across as spam.
AMA “Ask Me Anything” Vs. Social Pages
Game Recap: 83 – 63
Social Pages was expected to win this game big, and they delivered. AMA were thought to be weak from the start, and they were. There were short stretches when they looked like they might bounce back, but they simply couldn’t compete against the strength of Social Pages.
AMA In Marketing
AMA stands for “Ask Me Anything” in the online social world, and it described a celebrity or expert receiving questions about anything from anyone for a period of time, and they give answers. Questions are asked and answers are given via a social network. Not all questions will get answered, but it can be a fun and informative way to learn about and from a respected individual.
Sounds like a great idea! Why did they lose so bad?
Well, the problem is that more than likely, your business’s fan base isn’t big enough for an AMA to actual take flight and make a splash. It also requires you to sit in your chair and dedicate undivided time to answering all kinds of questions. Also, one can’t really pull off an AMA without social pages.
YouTube Ads Vs. Social Engagement
Game Recap: 62 – 58
This game turned out to be quite close. Neither team played like rockstars, but they both shot well consistently and made few turnovers. Social Engagement got a handful of fast-break points and hit more free throws, which ultimately gave them the win.
YouTube Ads In Marketing
Advertising on YouTube isn’t the worst marketing option out there. Like any video, you have to account for the price of production, and then you have to consider whether or not YouTube users will be the type of people who will want to purchase your product. If you have a local product or service, YouTube advertising is probably a bad option when you can put money into location-specific Search PPC.
As a general rule, YouTube ads shouldn’t be a priority; they should be an option for when you have a very substantial marketing budget and it’s the right fit for reaching your potential clients.
Comment Links Vs. Domain Name
Game Recap: 79 – 46
No one expected Comment Links to pull off a victory, and no one was fooled. Domain Name was unstoppable right from the get-go, and there was no turning back from there. Comment Links turned the ball over, shot poorly, and defended poorly.
Comment Links In Marketing
Some marketers attempt to build backlinks by commenting on other people’s blog posts with links back to their site. This is a very bad idea, as comments with links, as a marketing method, are frowned upon by both internet users and search engines. So, all in all, nothing good can come from them, unless people seeing you as a spammer and lost rankings are good, which they aren’t.
Redirecting Vs. Web Analytics
Game Recap: 61 – 59
This turned out to be a very good game. Both teams showed some impressive talent and played well, but Web Analytics was on their free throw game and that’s what made the difference. Redirecting shot only 4 out of 10 from the line, and that’s what sealed their loss.
Redirecting In Marketing
Redirecting is something every technical SEOer should do. It’s typical for there to be broken URLs on a site that need to be redirected to another page on the site. The process of finding these broken links and redirecting them is not difficult, just tedious, but it should be done. Outdated articles that have spoken to in recent articles can receive the same treatment.
Give a few hours of your time to redirect broken links or analyze your site based on analytics, I highly recommend it.
Image Optimization Vs. Title Tags
Title tags won on this one, but enough game recaps… let’s focus on the marketing tactics.
Image Optimization In Marketing
Image optimization is a simple procedure of adding alt text to your images so Google knows what the picture is about. Ideally, the alt text will include the keywords you’re shooting for. This isn’t the most important SEO tactic, but it’s definitely worth doing and recommended.
Micrositing Vs. On-Site Optimization
Micrositing lost this game pretty big. That is all.
Micrositing In Marketing
Microsites are basically mini versions of your main site that you host on different domains. Usually they focus on different aspects of your industry. The idea is that by having more sites that all point to your business you get more accumulated and more business.
Micrositing takes time, but can’t replace onsite optimization. See, when you have microsites you have to keep all of them up with unique content and information for them to have any online authority. This takes time and energy that could be spent building up one solid site, so the danger is being left with a handful of sites that don’t rank instead of having one epic site. It’s can also potentially be annoying to clients when you have multiple sites and they don’t know where to go for what.
Reciprocal Backlinks Vs. Site Structure Optimization
Reciprocal Backlinks didn’t show signs of having a change in this game. Site Structure Optimization won easily.
Reciprocal Backlinks In Marketing
Sometimes marketers will make a deal to link to someone else’s site if the other site links back to them in return. When two pages link back to each other the links are referred to as reciprocal links. This sounds like a viable way to get good backlinks, but Google has cracked down on this tactic and made it go sour. Pages using reciprocal links as the main marketing tactic will typically rank poorly and can negatively affect the whole site.
Meta Descriptions Vs. Authorship
This game was pretty good, but Authorship pulled ahead in the second half and won by 6 points.
Meta Descriptions In Marketing
The meta description on a page is the term for the text displayed by search engines to describe a search result. Example:
A custom meta description should be written and plugged into each page on your site. This, like some other tactics, is definitely needed, but not the most important thing to do on your site.
Link Farming Vs. Broken Backlink Fixes
This was a huge upset! #2 seed Link Farming was creamed by Broken Backlink Fixes in a game in which Link Farming started off strong, but lost all energy after only a few minutes.
Link Farming In Marketing
For a long time people thought they could build random sites and fill them with links back to their site to make it rank. Back before Google was good, this worked – but not anymore.
But, link farming creates lots of links to my site?! Why isn’t that good?
Search engines absolutely despise this type of link building. They recognize these farmed links as unnatural and will penalize your site for it.
If you are currently hiring a link building or SEO company, make sure they aren’t using link farming tactics.
Site Map Vs. Heading Tags
These teams are relatively even, but Heading Tags pulled off a 7 point victory.
Site Map In Marketing
A sitemap is a menu of the main pages on your site that can be read by a search engine. Here’s an example of what search engines picked up from the sitemap of Amazon, for example:
Having a sitemap built into your site is necessary for good internet marketing, but it isn’t the priority if your site hasn’t already received the more important technical optimization.
Ads Above The Fold Vs. Site Appearance
Ads Above The Fold tried to fight hard against Site Appearance, but they simply didn’t have the talent they needed to win.
Ads Above The Fold In Marketing
There are a lot of marketers that think they can put ads at the top of their web pages (ie above the fold). After all, ads above the fold are seen easily and can be nice ‘n’ wide so people click on them. What a great way to monetize your site! Right?
Personally, I think it’s a strategy that has to be taken with great care.
Ads above the fold can significantly detract from the experience users have on your website. Because Google is focusing more on the user experience, it’s important to run your ads in a way that doesn’t negatively affect the user experience.
Sliders Vs. Site Layout
Despite the large fanbase of Sliders and the projections of many that they would win, Site Layout solidly won this game to move on to the next round.
Sliders In Marketing
Image sliders have been extremely popular in recent years. The animations look pretty and images are lovely, but interesting research has shown that moving sliders are actually harmful. They decrease the chances of a site user converting and buying your product, which no one wants!
A Mascot Vs. Local Listings
A Mascot isn’t bad by any means, but as we’ll see in a future post, Local Listings are more important for most businesses.
A Mascot In Marketing
I’m actually a big fan of business mascots. I even wrote an article and made an infographic on how to use a mascot like Geico. So, yes, I highly recommend coming up with a mascot for your business because of the great branding it lends, but there are more important things to be doing with your marketing time and money.
Mobile Apps Vs. Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion rate optimization won this one as it is simply more important for every online business.
Mobile Apps In Marketing
Mobile apps are a big deal in this era of the digital age, but for most businesses, they won’t do a whole lot. Some businesses release an app because it’s trendy, but they often get any return on their investment. Apps are often incredibly expensive and need to serve a specific need in order to be profitable. Be careful not to waste time, money, and effort on an app that won’t make you money in the end.
Free Graphics Vs. Testimonials
This isn’t a close match. Free graphics might attract a few extra visitors, but the likelihood of increased sales due to free graphics is minimal. The likelihood of increased sales due to good reviews and testimonials is almost guaranteed.
Free Graphics In Marketing
It’s not uncommon for a business to offer desktop wallpaper or other graphics free to download. The principle behind it is good (people love free things), but the purpose of your marketing should be to make more money. The chances of low value downloads, like graphics, increasing your profits from your website is very low, so you probably don’t need to spend your time on this tactic.
Virtual Conference Vs. Live Chat
Virtual Conference played a good game, but, despite their potential, Live Chat had the upper hand and proved to be better.
Virtual Conference In Marketing
A virtual conference is much like any other conference – it’s a presentation of information on a specific topic from various experts – but it’s streamed online. A business can bring in experts or just be the experts themselves and host a streamable virtual conference.
The cool things about a virtual conference is that it has the educational perks of any other conference but requires no travel and can be viewed from anywhere.
The problem with your business hosting a conference like this is that it requires substantial time to plan and produce – and you really have to have a large audience or the right connections for it to be worth it.
Online Games Vs. Mobile Site Optimization
Online Games are a big deal, but we’re talking about your business here. Mobile browsing is also a huge deal, and your site needs to be ready for mobile users. Mobile Site Optimization wins.
Online Games In Marketing
A handful of businesses have gotten the idea that having a simple game on their site is a splendid idea. This was more popular a few years when Flash was a bigger deal, but it’s still pursued by some businesses.
Like other tactics, a business owner or marketer must ask if an online game will help their business make money. The answer may often be “no” in this instance.
Page Animations Vs. Landing Pages
Page Animations and Landing Pages are both good, so this is a fairly good matchup, but with the end focus of making money, a landing page is more important.
Page Animations In Marketing
People love beautiful websites. Animations can contribute in a big way to this, but they can also drastically detract from it. Smooth and simple is the key here since an abundance of heavy or rapid animations can be devastating. I recommend a very short fade-in animation for menus and simple gliding elements here and there, but be careful not to overdo it.
A good example of tasteful animations can be found at www.awwwards.com.
Are animations the most important thing about your website? No, they really aren’t, but they’re nice to have when they’re done right!
There we go! Round 1 in the March Madness Marketing series is completed, with enough information to keep a business person thinking for hours. I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to comment if you think any of these games should’ve turned out differently.
Watch out for Round 2 next time to see which of these 64 online marketing tactics will move forward!