Digital Capital Week, billed as a Washington tech convention, kicked off this past Friday night.  While I won’t be able to attend nearly as many sessions or gatherings as I’d like, I am encouraged by what I am hearing about the conference.  Over 5000 registered attendees, sold out sessions and interesting networking events are just a few snippets I’ve seen and heard.

In a post just last week, Mike Zirngibl of Ringio (a client of Right Source Marketing) bemoaned the typical DC technology events, which are usually marked by government-focused topics, conservative thinking, and the lack of true technology evangelists.  While Digital Capital Week cannot escape some of these elements, it seems that the folks at iStrategyLabs and Shiny Heart Ventures have made every effort to make this a diverse event, offering something for everyone.

One example of Digital Capital Week’s attempt to “break the mold” is Friday’s Digital Garage day, which features some practical sessions for commercial entities, and in particular a few startup-oriented sessions.  I will be participating in the Search for Startups session as a panelist, along with Chad Hill (your moderator and search marketer extraordinaire) of HubShout, Daavi Zain of Measured Path, and Zach Girod of Legal River.  Based on some of our pre-session prep, this promises to be a session that will be full of energy, different viewpoints and concrete takeaways for the audience.  Some of the areas we’ll likely cover include:

• Search Marketing Myths and Realities
• PPC vs. SEO for Startup and Launch
• Search Marketing Measurement and Analysis
• Prioritization of Search Marketing Initiatives
• Outsourcing vs. Insourcing Search Marketing

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Recently, I was part of a group discussion focused around content marketing, and had the opportunity to walk the group through an overview of content marketing. One of the first things to cover was simple enough – and Mike had actually blogged about this recently: What is Content Marketing and Why is it Hot?

We then went through a few research statistics around the growth of content marketing, some content marketing strategies and tactics, and ways to measure your efforts. It was a great session, I got a lot out of the other presenters and I think everyone received good feedback from the group as a whole. I’ve included a copy of my slides below for those of you that may be interested.

We’re heavily immersed in content marketing, both for ourselves and on behalf of our clients. And I’m proud to say that this blog was recently ranked in the Top 100 on Junta42’s Top Content Marketing Blogs. And yes – I’ll admit, it’s pretty cool to be just one slot behind Seth Godin.

I’m often asked why we are such big supporters of content marketing. Here’s a quick set of statistics that will put things into perspective:

According to the Custom Publishing Council and Roper Public Affairs, 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company, while 60% say that company content helps them make better product decisions.

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The name of this blog is Marketing Trenches. We chose that name because we like to give readers real stories, based on real situations, with real clients. From the trenches, if you will.

We’re currently working with a startup software company on various facets of their official launch. We work with lots of software companies, and a few startups, but this one is different. First of all, the company is funded, which is no small feat these days. Second, the co-founders are very bright and experienced, but also understand that – as Will would say – they don’t know what they don’t know. Last but not least, they recognize the value of good marketing, even though it’s not their specialty.

One of the areas this company (and by the way, you’ll hear plenty about them upon launch in a couple of weeks) has been particularly interested in is SEO, and for good reason. While SEO is merely a component of the marketing mix, it’s one of few things a company can do to drive some immediate traffic and even brand awareness without spending “media” dollars.

While I could make this into a pretty exhaustive list, let me focus on a few items that every startup (or frankly, any company kicking off an SEO strategy) should be aware of.

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We talk a lot about social media on Marketing Trenches.  And for good reason – Social media seems to be at least one item on the agenda for about 90% of the meetings we have these days.  Everyone wants to run 100 miles an hour to do something on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  I wrote about this previously in Want to Succeed In Social Media? It Sure Helps to Have a Strategy.

A big part of any strategic plan is revisiting that plan –  Making sure you are doing all the things you should, adjusting the pieces that aren’t working and continuing to optimize the pieces that are.  Sometimes though, we get so excited for the newest, shiniest, brightest, sparkliest things that we neglect the basics.  Herndon Hasty’s recent article in Search Engine Watch, That’s so 2004: Everything Old Is New Again, reinforces this – both from  a Social Media and Search Engine Optimization perspective.  I encourage you to read the whole article, but here’s one quick excerpt:

Blogging: The Oldest Social Media

In the midst of the discussions about Twitter strategies and how to build a Facebook fan page, the huge value that a company-driven blog offers has gotten lost in the shuffle. Maybe it’s because it’s easier to think about reaching out to potential customers in 140-character snippets, maybe it’s because these sites have already built the platform for us rather than having to create one ourselves, but keeping a blog for your company still brings value to your site and your brand that these newer social outlets can’t.

Combine a drive by the engines for fresh content with SEO value that newer social media can’t touch. It’s an invaluable channel that’s frequently overlooked and neglected — in many cases because it’s not the word on everyone’s lips at the moment. Remember, if you have enough news and content to Twitter about, you have enough to blog about.

I couldn’t agree more.  We like to view a blog as the hub for your social media efforts.  It serves as the platform that feeds the rest of those efforts, and it has undeniable SEO value.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly important to have a social media strategy that encompasses all the places you should be — just don’t neglect our old friend the blog.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to share your thoughts in our comments section.

About the Author: Will Davis is Managing Partner of Right Source Marketing.  Don’t hesitate to drop Will a comment on this post.  If you liked this post, follow @willdavis on Twitter for more commentary like this.

Whenever a conversation starts around the topic of social media, inevitably I find a number of people that immediately question the value and want to see some ROI numbers before getting involved.  We’ve talked about both sides of this discussion before in many posts, most notably Businesses: Stay Away From Social Media If You Meet The Following Criteria and Social Media: Justify Your Love With the Right ROI Approach.

Just today I came across this research in B to B magazine, which seems to once again prove some value to social media activity, particular as it relates to search

Social media searchers seek out ‘lower funnel’ terms

Internet users exposed to brands via social networks subsequently search for “lower funnel” terms associated with those brands, indicating a higher propensity to convert, according to new study.

The study, “The Influenced: Social Media, Search and the Interplay of Consideration and Consumption”-conducted by digital marketing company comScore and social media agency M80-found Internet users exposed to a brand in a social media setting were 1.7 times more likely to later search for that brand using keywords associated with a high level of loyalty and propensity to buy, compared with searchers not engaged with social media.

The study also showed a 50% increase in paid search click-through rates when Internet users were exposed first to social media mentioning a brand. The online survey, which drew 2,000 respondents, was conducted from May through July.

One of the basic tenets of branding is to build recognition and loyalty.  And, whether online or off, we’ve known for a long time now that building a strong brand can feed search engine success.  Social media is just one more place where that can happen, and as the study above proves, the payoff can be big.

So, what should you do about it?  I think there are 2 key takeaways:

1). If you have waited to develop a social media strategy until you have had the justification, this might just be it.

Note: Throwing it to the intern to figure out is not a strategy.  While that person may help you to execute on a strategy, the strategy itself shouldn’t come from someone rental companies don’t trust enough to rent a car to for four more years.  Social media should have a  role consistent with your overall marketing plan.

2). If your social media activities are generating more highly qualified searches, make sure you are maximizing your ability to be found there.

Do everything you can from a Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing perspective to ensure those highly qualified searchers will find you.  We know they will be out there looking and you need to maximize your opportunities to capture these high value searchers.

About the Author: Will Davis is Managing Partner of Right Source Marketing.  Don’t hesitate to drop Will a comment on this post.  If you liked this post, follow Will on Twitter for more commentary like this.