This week, I’ve been thinking about the wood, rather than the trees; or, to play marketing BS bingo, I’ve been “joining the silos in a holistic schema”!
Specifically, I’ve been thinking about how there is so much focus on the praxis in our industry that it can sometimes feel like we are just moving from one checkbox to the next, completing the steps in a process until we get to the end, whereupon we return to the beginning and repeat.
This is great for consistency and for efficiency but whilst those factors are central to success, they don’t make you a winner; they make you a worthy contender.
The winners are the ones who can follow the steps whilst consistently thinking of the end-game.
By being aware of what the ultimate goals are, you can step off the path when it makes sense, responding intelligently to opportunity. It’s this ability to modify the micro to more effectively achieve the macro that takes you away from the pack – the hard-working, diligent, worthy box-tickers – and into the lead.
And to give you some background music whilst enjoying the links below, here’s the Flaming Lips singing “Race for the Prize” live at Jodrell Bank – making a more complex (and articulate) point than I am but still evoking the fear of missing the bigger picture:
A number of articles this week (albeit whilst discussing a variety of aspects of marketing) have endorsed this sense and I guess that’s why I’ve focused on them particularly here – why I’m stressing the need for regular perspective breaks; to step back, breathe and give consideration to WHY you’re taking each step in your working day.
To see the bigger picture.
- A great articles on link acquisition and remembering that links are about demonstrating validation from others, not specifically about getting the “link juice”…
- On a similar note, remembering that social media is about engaging with other humans – not to game them into providing you with algorithmic kudos, but because that’s how people learn to trust you and validate what you do…
- On this note, the usage of audience engagement to maximise the impact of your content marketing, here’s an interesting slide show – don’t presume to know what people want to hear – listen to what they say they want and then give it to them…
- http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/the-lie-of-content-marketing/
- Or as, Courtney says here – listen first, then talk…
- http://socialmediatoday.com/courtney-hunt/2171311/five-social-media-engagement-principles-or-mantras
- And finally, even Rand Fishkin was chiming with my thoughts in this week’s Whiteboard Friday, where he’s stressing how the best marketing relationships are about human relationships, not just business transactions.
Other links that caught our eyes this week:
- The importance of monitoring the right metrics to ensure your social media work is working:
- On mobile / hummingbird
- http://econsultancy.com/blog/64299-mobile-seo-what-should-you-be-thinking-about
- http://socialmediatoday.com/rtmixmktg/2168101/6-things-you-should-consider-about-google-s-hummingbird
- A flawed (imho) but interesting experiment on the impact of authorship attribution on rankings. Definitely one to keep an eye on as it receives further comments and development:
- Historically, users have preferred infinite scroll whilst Google has, through aspects of its algorithm, directed site designers towards pagination. Looks like Google is squaring the circle for us all:
- Some advice on succeeding in a highly competitive PPC battle:
- This week, Klout has rolled out a new version. Previously, it was a bit thin but I’ve always felt the metric had value and there was a tool to be developed. Looks like they’ve made that step now with their content curation feature – if it continues to add functionality like this, it could become indispensable:
And finally
- Here’s Flappy Bert for you (you’re welcome!)
- And, as it’s Valentine’s Day:
