by Jennifer Laycock

For as long as there have been web sites, people have posted their thoughts, opinions and rants about people and companies and for as long as there have been search engines, consumers have found and read those thoughts. While it’s been several years since companies began to realize the value of tracking and managing their reputations online, the explosion of social media has made online reputation management more complex and necessary than it’s ever been before.

In this six part series, I’ll be exploring six valuable lessons you can learn from the classic story of Pinocchio and offering up some input on how to apply it to your own marketing plans. If you are just joining the series, catch up on past articles:

Six Lessons from a Wooden Boy: Part One: Search Engines Want to be Real Boys

Why Online Reputation Management Matters

Let’s think about why the things people say about you online matter. Back in 2005, I wrote a post called “Online Reputation Management, Are You Doing It?” In that post, I explained it like this:

Imagine that you’ve just left a business meeting with a potential client. You’ve pitched your services, impressed them with your portfolio and given them a competitive pricing bid. You’ve all but sealed the deal and are confident that with a follow-up call, you’ll have them signing the paperwork and faxing the contract over to your office.

Now imagine that you are the client. After a great meeting and a proposal that sounds great, you decide to run a quick search online for the company that just pitched you. You run their name through Google or Yahoo! and there, just under the company’s web site is a link to a message board. You click the link and find a posting by a disgruntled customer that claims to have had a bad experience with the company you are considering hiring. Is that search result going to taint your opinion of the company you were ready to sign a contract with? Chances are high that it will.

Of course these days it’s never as simple as one web page with one opinions. No…these days what we find are blog posts with long strings of comments, or daisy chained blog posts that refer to the original complaint and pile new complaints on top. We see these posts getting picked up and tossed around social media services like Twitter and Facebook and we see companies rise and fall in hours as the social media hordes decide whether to worship or vilify the company of the moment.

For Better or for Worse…

Sometimes, managing your online reputation is about slowing down or stopping negative momentum before it reaches the mainstream press. The makers of painkiller Motrin learned this lesson just last month after posting a fairly controversial ad aimed at baby-wearing mothers.

You can get a great recap of what happened from Laura Fitton, including a video with the compiled Twitter posts on the topic. The impact, though short lived, was huge. Jeremiah Owyang breaks down the numbers on his blog.

Granted, the story did get picked up by the New York Times parenting blog and by USA Today and both of those results now show in the top ten for a search on “Motrin” but the results could have been far worse.

Of course the impact of positive talk about your company can be just as strong. I’ve written in the past about the I Heart Zappos blog post and the impact a single post by a single person had on spreading the word and increasing good will about an online company.

So Where Does Pinocchio Fit In?

So at this point you’re thinking “that’s nice Jen, but what does Pinocchio have to do with all this?” Well, let’s consider Pinocchio and that fast growing tree branch of a nose he had. When Pinocchio told a lie, his nose grew longer. The more lies he told, the bigger (and more obvious) his nose (and the lies) became.

That’s a valuable lesson for companies looking to be involved in the conversation online because one of the single most important qualities any company needs to succeed online is honesty. Whether it’s being transparent about who you are and what your motivations are when contacting bloggers or owning up to the mistakes you’ve made and doing your best to correct them, honesty will get a company further in social media than just about any other tactic out there.

Tell a lie, misrepresent reality or fail to address legitimate concerns and the problem will grow as noticeable and become as much of a nuisance as Pinocchio’s nose.

People Are Savvy

Consumers are becoming more and more savvy these days. They have the resources to research almost anything they want to and they have legions of other consumers to gather input and opinions from. Self appointed watch dogs can bring a company to its knees. On the other hand, self appointed evangelists can send a company soaring.

Look at Dell and Walmart and how each company has handled themselves online. While Dell started off shakily, their turn-around is one of the most well documented social media success stories on the history of the web. Why? Because they understood the value of being credible, authentic and consistent. On the other hand, brands like Walmart have failed to find social media success time and time again because they continue to rely on self-centered, manufactured messages that are inconsistent and ultimately prove the company to be untrustworthy.

In the next installment in the series we’ll take a look at the realm of social media and why Pinocchio’s experience of growing a donkey tail and ears can teach you a valuable lesson.

Flick creative commons license photo credit: Llawliet

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Six Lessons from a Wooden Boy: Part Two: Online Reputation Means Straight Talk

by Jennifer Laycock

It’s been more than two and a half years since I first wrote about the “Pinocchio Effect” as a way to explain the ever changing nature of search engine algorithms. Earlier this month, while preparing for the new small business panel at SES Chicago, I read through that old article and realized just how many areas of the Pinocchio story can be applied to online marketing.

In this six part series, I’ll be exploring six valuable lessons you can learn from the classic story of Pinocchio and offering up some input on how to apply it to your own marketing plans.

Today’s post sets the stage with an updated take on my original article: “Search Engine Algorithms: Understanding the Pinocchio Effect.” Here’s how I described it back then:

You see, deep down, search engines want nothing more than to be real boys (or girls). That’s right, it’s that simple. As search engine engineers gain more and more ability to tailor the algorithms, their ultimate goal is to help the search engines make choices the way that people do.

Succinctly put: Search engines seek to replicate human judgement with their algorithm. Every change they make aims to help them judge a site the way a human would judge a site.

The original post was inspired by questions that kept popping up during the Q&A of some sessions at a past SES New York show. At the time I wrote:

People would ask what keyword density they needed to focus on, or how many words they should use in their Title tag. Well-meaning attendees would ask for the magic number of links to get per week or how to know exactly when to request an incoming link instead of a reciprocal link. In other words, everyone wanted to know the magic formula that would guarantee them great results.

The problem with this line of questioning is that there is no magic formula. Each and every time these questions were asked, the panelists would carefully try to explain that while there may have been magic numbers in the past, those days are behind us now. That’s not really the answer that attendees want to hear, but the reality is that search marketers need to find a new way to explain the concepts of algorithms to their customers, one that takes the focus away from math.

For the most part, I’m seeing these types of questions fade away at search conferences. That said, they’re now being replaced with new questions that follow the same patterns. People want to know how many links they need to get a good ranking. They want to know which social media sites carry extra “weight” to help them rank better. They want to know if blogs are the magic tool to rocket their rankings. They’re still ultimately looking for a magic formula, even if they know the ingredients in the formula have changed.

Why Chasing Down the Algorithm Simply Leaves You Exhausted

Of course that leads to another problem…the problem with SEO formulas. While it’s true search engine algorithms are essentially complex “formulas” it’s not generally feasible to focus on reverse-engineering them so you can determine exactly what changes to make to your site. Engines like Google rely on literally hundreds of factors in determining ranking and no one but their engineering team truly knows how each of those factors are weighted. While it’s true there are some individuals and companies out there who are fairly well known for their ability to test and determine new algorithm factors, this method of optimization simply isn’t practical for 95% of the companies looking to increase their rankings.

For the rest of us, this type of optimization is known as “al go-chasing.” You’ll often see it on discussion forums as one person announces the results of a “test” they’ve run and legions of other rush off to make edits to their web sites to reflect this new information. Unfortunately, algo-chasing generally results in a lot of work with very little pay off. Stoney deGeyter wrote a great advice post on this several years ago called “Common Sense Algorithm Chasing.”

Applying Common Sense

Let’s go back to our simple definition of the Pinocchio Effect and see it in action. If search engines are looking to replicate human judgement, it means we can match up the changes in the algorithm with a better understanding of how humans value a web site. This is probably most clear through the progression of how engines like Google have valued links.

Back when Google first blasted on the scene with some of the best search results any engine had delivered, it was their reliance on links that made them special. Google had figured out that linking was the online equivalent of a vote of confidence. With that in mind, the algorithmic adjustments went a little something like this…

1.) Link Quantity – Originally, search engines were most concerned with the number of links pointing to a site. They viewed each link as a vote of confidence and made the natural assumption sites with more links were of higher quality. (Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for site owners to figure this out and to start finding ways to build new links on their own.)

2.) Link Text – As site owners began actively seeking links, search engines realized they needed to improve this area of the algorithm to give them a better idea of just how valuable a link was. A natural progression was to read and consider the anchor text (the blue, underlined text a user clicks on to link to a new page) and to factor that text into the algorithms. It made sense that if a site had a million incoming links using the word “pizza” the site those links were pointing to was probably about pizza. (Once again, it didn’t take long for site owners to figure this out and to begin seeking specific link text.)

3.) Link Quality – As site owners once again began to catch up with the algorithm, the search engines moved on to the next stage. This time around they not only looked at the number of links and the text describing those links, they looked at the quality of the site the link was coming from. By using their first two link judgements, they could easily tell if the site giving the link was popular (lots of links) and related (topical words and anchor text). It was natural to assign more weight to the links coming from respected, related sites. (Any surprises here? Site owners catch up and start seeking these types of links.)

4.) Link Age – As site owners began creating better link building campaigns, the engines needed to create better ways of judging those links. The next step for the engines was to put value on the age of a link. After all, a site that has had quality links pointing to it for years is a sure sign of an established and trusted site. At the same time, a very recent link could be a great way to tap a site as having good coverage on breaking news or a hot new topic. As such, the engines began adding the age of a link to their equations. (and once again, site owners took notice and started working on this strategy, often by buying established domains with incoming links to build new businesses on.)

5.) Link Buys – Eventually, seeking out quality links from quality sites in a world where everyone else is doing the same became fairly difficult. While still doable, many businesses turned to purchasing links as a faster way to control and build the links coming into their sites. The engines, always seeking to replicate human judgement, decided a purchased link was not worth as much as an “earned” or freely given link. As such, they’ve spent the last year or two working on ways to combat paid links and threatening to harm the rankings of sites who either buy or sell links.

Applying the Pinocchio Effect

What’s next in this progression? Any number of possibilities exist. Overall though, the path becomes clear. Each and every adjustment made to the algorithms is designed to better judge a site the way a human being does. Ultimately, the sites that are built in a search engine friendly manner and designed to benefit users tend to come out ahead. It’s essential to understand search engine friendly design techniques and to learn how to find out which keywords to target. Once you get the basics down, it’s really about focusing on your customer and giving them the best experience possible.

In the next article in this series, I’ll take a look at how Pinocchio’s rapidly growing nose teaches us a valuable lesson about online reputation management.

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Six Lessons from a Wooden Boy: Part One: Search Engines Want to be Real Boys

by Jennifer Laycock

I’ve spent the last month offering up a series of posts based on Chip and Dan Heath’s book about viral marketing. In the last article of the series I’ll be examining the craft of telling a story. The idea of using a story to make a point stick is an ancient one, going back to Biblical times when parables were used to explain spiritual principles.

Of all the keys to creating a sticky message, I have to admit this one is my absolute favorite. Anyone who has seen me speak knows I’m a story teller. I’m one of those people who teaches and explains best via analogy or example and I’ve been told time and time again by people in my sessions that those stories really help drive home the point.

The nice thing about story telling is it’s not just for teaching, it’s a compelling way to get someone to both remember and talk about your point.

(I’ve pulled these six components from Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick and put my own spin on them.)

Part One: The Need for Simplicity
Part Two: Deliver the Unexpected
Part Three: Be Concrete
Part Four: Carry Credibility
Part Five: Tap into Emotions

We’re Conditioned to Recall Stories

Stories are nothing new, in fact, they’re one of the earliest ways we are taught things as children. We hear nursery rhymes and fairy tales and learn life’s lessons in the form of short stories. “The Tortoise and the Hare” teaches us the value of perseverance and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” teaches us not to lie. Most of us only need to hear these stories once before we remember them well enough to repeat them.

We’re able to digest the message from the story because we’re so easily able to relate to the story. We can internalize the fear of being attacked by wolves in the story of the “Boy Who Cried Wolf” and we can relate to the frustration and eventual abandonment by the people in town who were repeatedly tricked. We can place ourselves inside the story, therefore, we can digest its points.

Stories can Help us Address Challenging Topics

Companies that sell products that are difficult to talk about often have a hard time relying on emotions and passion points to spark something viral. Insurance is a perfect example of this. After all, who wants to focus on buying something they hope they’ll never need?

That’s part of why I’ve always been a fan of Nationwide Insurance company’s “Life Comes at You Fast” campaign. Rather than tout the low cost or excellent service of their agents, the team at Nationwide has turned to storytelling as a way to offer a subtle, yet memorable reminder of just how important your choice of insurance companies is. They do this by reminding us that just because we don’t plan on having any accidents doesn’t mean we won’t.

The team at Nationwide describes the shift from agent selling to story telling this way:

“…just because everyone knows life can change in an instant, it doesn’t mean they want to talk about it.”

If you’ve never seen the commercials, here’s my favorite:

Sure, the commercial is more than a little over the top, but the entire series of commercials does a great job of reminding us that what we think is a nice normal day can go insanely wrong in an instant. It’s the over the top nature of the commercial that makes it viral. Most people have heard of the butterfly effect, so the story uses a great starting point to paint a picture of life’s possibilities. That makes it memorable and the series ties it together to build a strong (and passable) brand image.

Testimonials are a Simple Form of Story Telling

There’s a challenge to this type of campaign building. Story telling is hard work. Few people have the ability to craft a story that’s memorable enough (and gets your point across well enough) to do the job.

The good news here is testimonials serve as a wonderful way to tell a “story” based on someone’s experience. Consider what may be one of the most successful fast food promotions of all time; Subway’s Jared Fogle.

The story of a man who lost (and kept off) hundreds of pounds simply by eating from the healthy menu of choices at a fast food restaurant is a memorable one. In fact, it’s one of those stories you almost couldn’t make up. That’s what makes testimonials so great. They not only tell a story, but they carry credibility.

For a small business on a budget, testimonial driven stories are an affordable and effective viral tactic. Getting out there and offering an awesome product or amazing customer service can be a wonderful way to drive and gather these stories. Keeping your eyes peeled to find interesting ways people are using your products or to find those blog posts that rave about you can go a long way toward helping you craft a good viral story.

Putting it All Together

Of course the most effective viral campaigns are going to be the ones that incorporate multiple sticky tactics. The Jared campaign told a story, was simple, carried credibility and was unexpected. The VW crash campaign was unexpected, simple, emotional and concrete. The more of these traits you can use in your campaign, the more you increase the chance of it taking hold and going viral.

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Six Keys to a Viral Message that Sticks – Part Six: Tell a Story

by Beth Harte

There was a time when companies (or non-profits, universities, etc.) controlled their brand. Today companies control their brand logo, brand colors, and message but what they no longer control is the brand experience or “emotional aftertaste” (coined by Ze Frank).

There’s been a power shift and the first mistake many companies make is believing that they do and can control the brand experience. That’s no longer the case. It’s the people on the other end of that experience that control it. Today, customers sharing brand experiences happen every day, everywhere without being edited or seeking a company’s approval. And sometimes, a brand experience (positive or negative) could be with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. That said there are some new challenges in brand management. So then, what are some basic first steps companies can take?

Listen
The first step? Listen. “Listening” to what’s being said about a company on-line can unveil a lot of critical information. Listening includes, but is not limited to, reading comments, reviews or rankings. Listening is not about collecting “on-line hits.” Listening can start out as simply as setting up a Google Alert for a company, brands (i.e. product names), and people (any employee who is in the public eye).

by Jennifer Laycock

I scan hundreds of feeds and read dozens of articles each day so you don’t have to. From building a slow and natural link profile to the ethics of sponsored blog posts, find out which articles I dubbed as must-read for the small business crowd today.

• I love John Jantsch’s post from last week about how social media is a tool and not a religion. John hits the nail on the head when he points out the need to use common sense while exploring social media outlets but not letting fear get in the way of exploration. I hear from far too many small businesses who are terrified of getting into social media because they think they’ll “do it wrong” and get themselves in trouble. There’s nothing wrong with finding ways to use these tools to build your business, nothing. Just listen to folks like John and remember to use your common sense.
• While I’m not much of a paid search guru, I’ve always been a huge fan of the idea of using paid search to test keywords, campaigns and offers before rolling them out to an entire web site. Greg Meyers has put together a great little post offering up some input on how you can use paid search to test new campaigns. It’s a quick, but valuable read.
• Peter Kim has compiled a list of social media predictions for 2009 from some of the best and brightest in the industry. You can download the full spectrum of thoughts on 2009 social media changes in PDF form. It’s a good read and has both expected predictions and surprising ones. Overall, I’d wager any company looking to expand or explore social media marketing next year should give it at least a quick read.
• If you’re trying to catch up on some of the great viral videos from this year, you’ll want to check out Time Magazine’s list of the Top 10 Viral Videos of 2008. Now I’m not personally sure these would count as the “top ten” in my book, especially since I had never even heard of some of them, but I must admit I’m fighting the temptation to head to Expedia.com after watching “Where the Hell is Matt” again.
• Heard a great comment from Todd Friesan at SES last week about how he’d rather have one really great link than a ton of average links. A simple truth, but one forgotten by far too many online marketers. If you’re working on your link building plan for next year, you may want to read over a post called “The Secret to Making Every Link Count for Your SEO Rankings” over at Winning the Web.
• Sometimes the commentary on an issue is what leads you back to the issue itself. (One of the joys of social media.) I ran across Amber Naslund’s awesome post on The Sanctity of Social Media” today and then had to go read about the Chris Brogan controversy that started it. The original fuss is over a blog post from Brogan where he talks about a Kmart shopping spree with a $500 gift card they sent him. Brogan also responds to the controversy with an excellent post on his social media blog.

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Puppy’s Picks – SES Coverage 12/15/08