Kevin Trye
Rise of the Small Directory Sites
We’ve had a lot to say in recent years around the coming demise of directories like Yellow, Finda, Gopher, Localist etc. These each compete head on with Google and in every instance I’ve seen, provide a tiny fraction of the leads, typically say 20 leads per month vs 1,000 leads via Google. The stats confirm these all-purpose directories are a waste of time and money as a means for any business to get new customers. In my book they only exist through the use of high pressure sales tactics and the gullibility if business owners.
Yelp Now in New Zealand
Yelp has arrived, complete with all the features available in the US. Local businesses and consumers will be the big beneficiaries. Losers include local competing directory providers like finda, localist, menus, dineout and others. The Yelp system can largely replace what most others can offer consumers looking to track down good businesses to deal with. And Yelp do it better and cheaper too. i.e. FREE.
Digital Marketing – Like Formula One Racing?
I love watching Top Gear on TV. A recent episode showed Richard Hamond attempting to drive an Formula 1 racecar. Although Hammond is certainly no ‘Stig,’ one has to admit that he’s driven some very fast cars over the years and has to be classified as a very competent amateur, putting aside perhaps from that minor crash at 200mph last year. Checkout the Youtube clip below of his F1 attempts.
Marketing Better – With Data
An article in todays Auzzie Marketing Magazine lamented the problems around the issues of utilising ‘Big Data’ in marketing. i.e. Getting Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) on board with the idea. Apparently in the Auzzie market at least, it’s become a catch-cry this year.
WordPress Sites Under Bot Attack
Websites running open source software like WordPress and Joomla have had a busy week. Last Friday morning saw the emergence of some serious bots scanning the internet looking for sites with ineffective passwords and security. (Ref nextweb article).
Marketing Campaigns – Big Mistake?
We’ve recently started re-reading the Seth Godin blogs. Was a big fan years back, but had gotten out of the habit of reading them.
However a recent article entitled “Communication is a path not an event” reminded me of how much marketing has changed. Why consumers are turning off to the big sales pitch and ‘broadcast marketing’ methods. They may want to continue talking to us if the product/service being offered appears a fit, but often on their terms and timeframes.
State of Digital Marketing in NZ
It looks like Digital marketing will come of age this year. As copyblogger owner Brian Clark noted “2013 is already shaping up to be an epic year for marketers and writers. It’s the year that content, social, search, and email are coming together, working in sync for the greater good of marketing-kind. It’s also the year that wise marketing departments will use analytics and automation to scale their efforts and make better decisions.”
Blogging – Does it work in business?
This has become a popular term recently, the idea that writing a lot of posts and dissemination information can get you traffic and sales. Essentially that’s what this blog does, but I’ve never been convinced that it’s a strategy with a high priority. 
Surely other marketing tools would do a better job… However we stumbled across this article in the New York Times that put a business perspective on content [educational] marketing.
Better SEO with more Backlinks & Beer
There’s lots written about the need for having your website up to scratch. Good coding structure, keywords and plenty of relevant content. In fact content marketing is the latest magic pill in the industry to get you ranked higher. It’s all about how good your website is and how often you upload good content, preferably daily. But it’s a lot of work and effort.
Google Now – Web 4.0
Announced this week by Google is Google Now. Upon viewing the intro video, I immediately thought of one of my earlier posts on this site back in September 2008. It was an interview by Marketing guru Seth Godin, below. In that old interview, he outlined what he thought web 3.0 and web 4.0 would be and it seems Google is now getting close to this concept.
All advice and opinions here are offered freely on a no-liability basis.
