Blogaholic

The world of internet marketing is awash with agencies and consultants who are now all specialists in the world of SEO, PPC, social media marketing, Facebook marketing, and Twitter marketing. For someone who has been involved in the world of traditional advertising agencies, and the world of SEO and online marketing for the past 20 years, it is amazing how many traditional advertising agencies have managed to re-invent themselves as online marketers in a very short time. Are you being taken for a ride by your advertising agency? Here is a look at the issues. The way they use the term CRM (consumer relationship marketing) is almost annoying.

Photo: xotoko

What About SEO?
Consumer relationship marketing has been the catch-cry of traditional marketing and advertising agencies for a long time, especially when they are talking about anything to do with the internet. They have had little experience in the world of SEO (search engine optimisation), they are not admitting it, and the simple fact remains, the biggest and best way to make the most out of online marketing and websites is with SEO.

SEO is king, and has little to do with consumer relationship marketing. These agencies are still refusing to admit they are way behind the game, especially when we have agencies, in cities like Sydney, Australia, who have been involved in the business of SEO for over a decade, and continue to take their client’s business to new levels.

SCO – Another Advertising Agency Sales Pitch
Advertising agencies have amazing skills to create theories and explanations, of how they are the best in the business. If you have ever worked in an advertising agency, you will know the most important part of your job is to baffle the client with your sophistication, and ultimately dazzle them with your complicated and yet convincing sales pitch. You are selling your agency, not discussing how you will improve the business of the client. SCO (social content optimisation) is the latest of these theories and hype-loaded strategies to come out of advertising agencies. Their pitch starts with something like, “is SCO the new SEO?”

How these two can possibly be compared is an absolute joke. Without getting too involved in the details of the strategy (sales pitch is a better way to describe it), a general summarisation goes as follows. The (big name global) agency states they “believe search and social are intertwined”. It is amazing that they can come to such a belief, considering Google search has had integrated social features and functions for a very long time. There is no ‘belief’ needed – it is a simple fact. The SCO theory goes on to talk about how the consumer’s mind is influenced and how that is a big part of the optimisation process of the content to be disseminated with social media market.

Photo: PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

This is another example of advertising and agency bluff and pomp. The internet is not that complicated, and there are very real tools that we can use, and they are very clear cut. Advertising agencies are doing what they do best make out how sophisticated and stunningly impressive they are to sell themselves to their clients. Those professionals in the world of online marketing, don’t have sophisticated strategies, they have systematic methods that work. Those results can be seen in exact numbers.

There is no ‘feel’ to how popular your website has become. You will know exactly how many visitors you are getting for exactly the amount of money you are investing. If you want help with marketing your business online, go with those professionals who have been in the business for over a decade. Let the advertising agencies do what they do best, bluff and plunder large amounts of money out of global corporations and spend that on TV advertising. You can get the same reach at 1% of the cost. Go with those in the SEO know.