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luni, 17 noiembrie 2014

The Coming Integration of PR and SEO

Posted: 16 Nov 2014 02:57 PM PST

This post was originally in YouMoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Moz, Inc.

Earlier this year, I published a Moz post that aimed to introduce the basic principles of public relations that SEOs and digital marketers, I argued, need to know. (Specifically, the post was on media relations and story-pitching as a means of getting coverage and "earning" good links.)

Following the positive response to the post, Moz invited me to host a recent Mozinar on the integration of PR and SEO. ( You can listen to it and download the slides here for free!) As a former print journalist who later became a digital marketer, I love to discuss this niche because I am very passionate about the topic.

In summary, the Mozinar discussed:

Traditional marketing and communications theory
Why both inbound and outbound marketing are needed
An overview of the basic PR process
How to use PR software
Examples of messaging and positioning
Where to research demographic data for audience profiles
How to integrate SEO into each step of the workflow
How SEO and PR teams can help each other
Why the best links come as natural results of doing good PR and marketing
"Don't think about how to get links. Think about how to get coverage and publicity."

At the end of the Mozinar, the community had some intriguing and insightful questions (no surprise there!), and Moz invited me to write a follow-up post to provide more answers and discuss the relationship between SEO and PR further.

Follow-ups to the PR Mozinar

Before I address the questions and ideas at the end of the Mozinar, I just wanted to give some more credit where the credit is certainly due.

People like me, who write for major publications or speak at large conferences, get a lot of attention. But, truth is, we are always helped immensely by so many of our talented colleagues behind the scenes. Since the beginning of my digital marketing career, I have known about SEO, but I have learned more about public relations from observing (albeit from a distance) The Cline Group's front line PR team in Philadelphia over the years.

So, I just wanted to thank (in alphabetical order) Kim Cox, Gabrielle Dratch, Caitlin Driscoll, Max Marine, and Ariel Shore as well as our senior PR executives Bill Robinson and DeeDee Rudenstein and CEO Josh Cline. What I hope the Moz community learned from the Mozinar is what I have learned from them.

Now, onto the three Mozinar Q&A questions that had been left unanswered.

Why do you use Cision and not Vocus or Meltwater or others?

I do not want to focus on why The Cline Group specifically uses Cision. I would not want my agency (and indirectly Moz) to be seen as endorsing one type of PR software over another. What I can do is encourage people to read these writings from RMP Media Analysis, LinkedIn, Alaniz Marketing and Ombud, then do further research into which platform may work best for them and their specific companies and needs.

(Cision and Vocus recently agreed to merge, with the combined company continuing under the Cision brand.)

Do you have examples of good PR pitches?

I've anonymized and uploaded three successful client pitches to our website. You can download them here: a mobile-advertising network, a high-end vaporizer for the ingestion of medicinal herbs and a mobile app that helps to protect personal privacy. As you will see, these pitches incorporated the various tactics that I had detailed in the Mozinar.

Important caveat: Do not fall into the trap of relying too much on templates. Every reporter and every outlet you pitch will be different. The ideas in these examples of pitches may help, but please do not use them verbatim.

Are there other websites similar to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) that people can use to find reporters who are looking for stories? Are the other free, simpler tools?

Some commonly mentioned tools are My Blog U, ProfNet, BuzzStream and My Local Reporter. Raven Tools also has a good-sized list. But I can only vouch for My Blog U because it's the only one I have used personally. It's also important to note that using a PR tool is not a magic bullet. You have to know how to use it in the context of the overall public relations process. Creating a media list is just one part of the puzzle.

An infographic of integration

And now, the promised infographic!

I told the Mozinar audience we would provide a detailed infographic as a quick guide to the step-by-step process of PR and SEO integration. Well, here it is:

A second credit to my awesome colleague Thomas Kerr, who designs most of The Cline Group's presentations and graphics while also being our social media and overall digital wizard.

Just a few notes on the infographic:

First, I have segmented the two pillars by "PR and Traditional Marketing" and "SEO & Digital Marketing." I hate to sound stereotypical, but the use of this differentiation was the easiest way to explain the integration process. The "PR" side deals with people and content (e.g., messaging, media relations, and materials, etc.), while the "SEO" side focuses on things (e.g., online data, analytics, and research, etc.). See the end of this post for an important prediction.

Second, I have put social media on the online side because that is where the practice seems to sit in most companies and agencies. However, social media is really just a set of PR and communications channels, so it will likely increasingly move to the "traditional marketing" side of things. Again, see the end.

Third, there is a CMO / VP of Marketing / Project Leader (based on the structure of a company and whether the context is an agency or an in-house department) column between SEO and PR. This position should be a person with enough experience in both disciplines to mediate between the two as well as make judgment calls and final decisions in the case of conflicts. "SEO," for example, may want to use certain keyword-based language in messaging in an attempt to rank highly for certain search terms. "PR" might want to use different terms that may resonate more with media outlets and the public. Someone will need to make a decision.

Fourth, it is important to understand that companies with numerous brands, products or services, and/or a diverse set of target audiences will need to take additional steps:

The marketing work for each brand, product, or service will need its own specific goal and KPI(s) in step one. Separate audience research and persona development will need to be performed for each distinct audience in step two. So, for a larger company, such as the one described above, parts of steps 3-8 below will often need to be done, say, six times, once for each audience of each product.

However, the complexity does not end there.

Online and offline is the same thing

Essentially, as more and more human activity occurs online, we are rapidly approaching a point where the offline and online worlds are merging into the same space. "Traditional" and "online" marketing are all collectively becoming simply "marketing."

Above is our modern version of traditional communications and marketing theory. A sender decides upon a message; the message is packaged into a piece of content; the content is transmitted via a desired channel; and the channel delivers the content to the receiver. Marketing is essentially sending a message that is packaged into a piece of content to a receiver via a channel. The rest is just details.

As Google becomes smarter and smarter, marketers will need to stop thinking only about SEO and think more like, well, marketers. Mad Men's Don Draper, the subject of the meme at the top of the page, would best the performance of any link builder today because he understood how to gain mass publicity and coverage, both of which have always been more important than just building links here and there. The best and greatest numbers of links come naturally as a result of good marketing and not as a result of any direct linkbuilding. In the 2014 Linkbuilding Survey published on Moz, most of the (good) tactics that were described in the post – such as "content plus outreach" – are PR by another name.

At SMX West 2014 (where I gave a talk on SEO and PR strategy), Rand Fishkin took to the main stage to discuss what the future holds for SEO. Starting at 6:30 in the video above, he argued that there will soon be a bias towards brands in organic search. (For an extensive discussion of this issue, I'll refer you to Bryson Meunier's essay at Search Engine Land.) I agree that it will soon become crucial to use PR, advertisingand publicity to build a brand, but that action is something the Don Drapers of the world had already known to do long before the Internet had ever existed.

But things are changing

The process that I have outlined above is a little vague on purpose. The lines between SEO and PR are increasingly blurring as online and offline marketing becomes more and more integrated. For example, take this very post: is it me doing SEO or PR for our agency (while first and foremost aiming to help the readers)? The answer: Yes.

In a Moz post by Jason Acidre on SEO and brand building, I commented with the following:

Say, 10 years ago, "SEOs" were focused on techie things: keyword research, sitemaps, site hierarchy, site speed, backlinks, and a lot more. Then, as Google became smarter and the industry become more and more mature, "SEOs" woke up one day and realized that online marketers need to think, you know, like marketers. Now, I get the sense that digital marketers are trying to learn all about traditional marketing as much as possible because, in the end, all marketing is about people -- not machines and algorithms. What the f&*# is a positioning statement? What is a pitch? I just wish "SEOs" had done this from the beginning.
Of course, the same thing has been occurring in the inverse in the traditional marketing world. Traditional marketers have usually focused on these types of things: messaging documents, media lists, promotional campaigns, the 4 Ps, and SWOT analyses. Then, as more human activity moved to the Internet, they also woke up one day and saw an anarchic set of communications channels that operate under different sets of rules. Now, on the other end, I get the sense that traditional marketers are trying to learn as much as possible about SEO and digital marketing. What the f&^% is a rel=canonical tag? What is Google+ authorship? I just wish traditional marketers had done this from the start.

In fact, such a separation between SEO and PR is quickly dying. Here is a simplified version of the marketing and communications process I outlined at the beginning:

Traditional marketers and communications professionals have used this process for decades, and almost everything that (the umbrella term of) SEO does can fit into one of these boxes. A message can appear in a newspaper article or in a blog post. Content can be a sales brochure or an e-book. A channel can be the television or Facebook. A lot of technical and on-page SEO is simply good web development. The most-effective type of off-page SEO is just PR and publicity. Public-relations executives, as I have written elsewhere, can also learn to use analytics as yet another way to gauge results.

It all goes back to this tweet from Rand, which I cite in nearly every offline conversation with the marketing community:

SEO as an entity (sorry for the pun) unto itself is quickly dying. The more SEO entails, the more the umbrella term becomes useless in any meaningful context. For this reason, it is crucial that digital marketers learn as much as possible about traditional marketing and PR.

So, in the end, how does one integrate public relations and SEO? By simply doing good marketing.

Want more? Don't forget to watch the Mozinar -- I'd love to get your feedback in the comments below!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Seth's Blog : Is a photo of a Magritte painting better than the original?

Is a photo of a Magritte painting better than the original?

A major Magritte show ran at the Art Institute of Chicago. It was fascinating to see all of his greatest hits in one place, nicely curated and hung.

Unlike the Louvre, photography was forbidden, which got me thinking about ideas, photos and originals.

In front of the Mona Lisa are hundreds of people, all taking a picture, sometimes with their cameras held overhead to get a better view. Why? What's the point of taking a picture of the most famous, most photographed painting in the world? You're certainly not going to take a better picture than you can find online with a few clicks.

It feels obvious that people aren't capturing the painting, they're capturing the moment, their proximity with a celebrity. "I was there, here look." Can you imagine going to the Louvre and walking right by the Mona Lisa? (I did this once, and I confess it wasn't easy). I mean, she's famous.

Magritte was an artist who worked in ideas, not in craft. A photo of his painting is totally sufficient to get the point he was trying to make. The paintings themselves almost feel like ghosts, like non-digital represenations of the purity of his original idea, the one we saw a thousand times before we ever walked into the museum.

By forbidding photography, the museum does nothing at all to protect copyrights, but instead creates a different sort of intimacy. Is this a famous painting? Can I prove I was here?

The most useful impacts of a show in real life, I think, are the juxtapositions created by intelligent curation and display. Missing for me was any connection at all to the other people in the room, the buzz of celebrity, the tribal aspect of, "oh, hey, you're here too?"

For those of us who work in ideas (which is most of us, now) the real question the Magritte show asks is, "if your ideas spread far and wide, do we need to see the original?"

When the idea is famous enough, what is the original, anyway?

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duminică, 16 noiembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Swiss Gold Referendum in Perspective

Posted: 16 Nov 2014 05:54 PM PST

A number of readers have asked me to comment on the Swiss Gold Referendum and what it may mean for the price of gold.

Let's start with a recap of the three primary points that citizens in Switzerland will vote on.

Switzerland Gold Initiative

Halt all Swiss National Bank (SNB) gold sales
Repatriate Swiss gold held in foreign vaults (UK and Canada)
Establishes minimum 20% level of SNB Assets in gold

Of course, central bankers everywhere are horrified by the idea they should have to do anything, especially hold sound assets.

And in a flurry of fearmongering by the central bank and inflationists in every corner, it appears the initiative is headed towards defeat.

What If?

Polls aside, let's play a bit of "What If?"

Specifically, what would happen to the price of gold if the referendum passes?

Spanner in the Works

Variant Perception says Swiss Gold Referendum: A Spanner in the Works.

As polls continue to swing around ahead of the Swiss gold referendum on 30th November, we expect increased volatility in the FX and gold market.

After the implementation of the EURCHF floor, gold's share of the SNB balance sheet has fallen to 7.5% from around 30% in 2007 (top chart) [SNB Balance Sheet]. The SNB has already pointed out the untenable nature of the peg should the referendum pass, but the impact on the gold market would also be significant.

Taking the current balance sheet of 522bn CHF and spot gold prices, the requirement to hold at least 20% of assets in gold would necessitate buying 1,800 tonnes of gold over 5 years. Total global production in 2013 was 2,982 tonnes, thus the SNB would need to buy at least 10% of the annual production every year for the next 5 years.

The bottom chart [SNB Reserves] shows the latest composition of the SNB's FX reserves. The requirement to buy gold will necessitate selling reserves, mainly EUR (which makes up 45% of all reserves). Should these euro selling flows come to pass, it will weigh heavily on the currency.

SNB Balance Sheet

SNB Reserves

Missing the Boat

I am a fan of research by Variant Perception, but I believe they may have missed the boat here.

Specifically, I question if gold production is much of a factor at all. That may sound strange since the referendum would require Switzerland to purchase a big percentage of all future gold mining over the course of 5 years.

However, mining is not the only supply. Nearly all of the gold ever mined is available for a price. It's reasonable to exclude gold in museums, historic items, rare coins and the like, but in aggregate there may be over 170,000 tons or so of gold supply.

A few charts courtesy of Nico at Sharelynx Gold will explain.

Annual Gold Production

Cumulative Gold Production Since 1835

Central Bank Holdings vs Cumulative Production

Of the 2013 total (a bit higher now), central banks hold about 31,877 tons.

SNB Purchases Irrelevant

One must exclude central bank holdings from the amount of gold available for central banks to buy. And as stated earlier, one can subtract various other items like rare coins, but the overall numbers show that it's safe to conclude "buying 1,800 tonnes of gold over 5 years" is essentially irrelevant from a "gold available" for purchase standpoint.

That said, one must also factor in gold psychology. It is entirely possible that SNB purchases could significantly alter perceptions on the desirability of holding gold.

From that aspect, Variant Perception may indeed be correct on their assertion of the importance of the referendum should it indeed pass.

Most Gold Analysis Wrong

Many gold analysts point out gold production vs. jewelry demand. It's essentially the same miss-analysis. Jewelry demand is of little meaning in and of itself as a factor in price.

Someone has to hold every ounce of gold ever produced. It's that demand for gold, all 170,000 tons of it, that determines the current price, not production.

I discussed this previously in Truly Inane Bloomberg Analysis On Gold

By the way, 170,000 tons of gold would fit into a cube about 67 feet wide, high, and deep. It does not take a lot of space to hold a fortune in gold.

What the Future Holds

I do not know the future price of gold, nor does anyone else.

But I do know the fundamental drivers as well as the reasons to hold gold. And neither of those has changed.

For further discussion, please see Plague of Gold Bears Now Say "Gold Unsafe at Any Price"; What's the Real Long-Term Driver for Gold?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Kiev Effectively Cedes East Ukraine to Separatists; Poroshenko Withdraws Hospital and School Funding, Bank Card Operations

Posted: 16 Nov 2014 11:46 AM PST

Scorched Earth Policy

Last week, the government in Ukraine cut off pensions benefits to residents of rebel-held areas until such time as these areas return to Ukrainian control.

Yesterday, in yet another scorched-earth policy move, president Petro Poroshenko announced Ukraine Rebel Areas to Lose State Services.

Ukraine's president has ordered the withdrawal of all state services, including funding for hospitals and schools, from rebel-held areas.

Mr Poroshenko's ruling says all state companies and institutions should end their work in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions within a week.

It also says Ukraine's central bank is to close down all banking services - including card operations - in some areas within a month.

Initial Thoughts

Poroshenko just ceded major portions of Ukraine to rebels
Expect a run on ATMs
Russia will have to intervene for humanitarian reasons
Western Ukraine will have a difficult time getting needed coal from the East

Point number two is happening already.

I picked this up from ZeroHedge Ukrainians Line Up to Withdraw Money from a Bank in Donetsk.

That's a small line now. I suspect it soon won't be.

Human Rights Violations

Here's some additional details on Poroshenko's Bank Servicing Decree.

"National bank of Ukraine [shall] adopt measures within one month to stop serving bank accounts, including card accounts, that belong to economic entities… and residents in the territories of anti-terror operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the decree said.

Poroshenko asked the government Saturday to keep the Council of Europe informed on Kiev being forced to take steps violating the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights in Donbas.

"To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine… together with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine… to ensure that within a week in accordance with the article 15 of the [European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms… a statement on behalf of Ukraine about Kiev taking measures derogating from its obligations under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights on the several territories of the area of special operation in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions, is sent to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe," the decree said.

Expect Major Rebel Advance

Reader Jacob Dreizin, a US citizen who speaks Russian and reads Ukrainian, offers these thoughts via email.

Hello Mish,

I am tentatively calling for the start of the rebel offensive for on or about Friday, November 21st.

I may be wrong on the "when", but I will be right on the "how".

I expect the rebel offensive will be similar to the one in late August to early September and it will proceed in a direction or directions unexpected by Kiev and its CIA handlers.

The outcome will be that Kiev will lose almost all of its remaining heavy weaponry.(Over half was already lost by early September, according to both the rebels and Poroshenko himself.)

Most of the major population centers of Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk provinces that have not yet come under rebel control, will come under their control. This will demoralize the remaining Ukrainian troops.

Once that happens, Kiev has no strategic reserve and nothing to stop the remaining areas of historic Novorossia from being overrun or simply breaking off on their own accord. So this will not be a "long retreat." Once the tension snaps, things will be decided very quickly.

Then there will be a slowdown for winter. The winter will be so brutal for Ukraine that by the time spring comes, the rebels believe they will simply waltz into neighboring regions without much effort and be welcomed as liberators. On that point, we shall see.

Major Mistake?

To combat alleged terrorism, Kiev announced it can suspend article 15 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Lovely.

If Ukraine was looking to give Russia a humanitarian reason to invade, it just did.

Is this a brilliant play by Poroshenko to trap Putin into invading, or was it just plain stupid?

Only the final outcome will tell. But one thing's for certain now: Poroshenko stirred up major resentment against Kiev, not the rebels, with his decree.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Seth's Blog : "I need you"

"I need you"

Three magic words. They light up our brain, they grab our attention, they initiate action.

But they're being corrupted by the ease of reach and the desire by some organizations to grow at all costs.

I doesn't always mean a human. More and more, "I" means us, the corporation, the shareholders, the faceless. I is actually, "we," and you're not a part of that we.

NEED more and more means "want." We want you to do this, to buy this, to forward this, to write about this. We want it because it will give us more.

YOU doesn't mean you in particular. It actually means, "anyone." Anyone who can see this site or read this email or drive by our billboard. If you've got money or clout or attention to spare, sure, we want you.

Political fundraisers have turned this from an art to a science to an endless whine. So have short-term direct marketers with access to a keyboard and the free stamps of internet connection.

We used to have our ears open to anyone we loved or trusted whispering, "I need you." It's been overwhelmed lately, though, by selfish marketers shouting, "WE WANT ANYONE."

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sâmbătă, 15 noiembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

John Major Sees 50% Chance UK Leaves EU, Sides With Cameron on Need for Immigration Reform

Posted: 15 Nov 2014 02:30 PM PST

Former UK Prime Minister John Major warns of Split Between UK and European Union.

The split is blatantly obvious, but since we have a major new voice chiming in, let's take a look.

The case for leaving the European Union will be fuelled further if EU countries do not help the UK limit immigration, Sir John Major has said.

The former prime minister said there was a "very real risk of separation" that would damage Britain and Europe.

David Cameron wants to renegotiate the UK's membership of the EU and hold an in/out referendum by 2017.

In a speech in Germany, Sir John said the UK had a "compelling" case to change the free movement of people.

Addressing German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats in Berlin, Sir John - whose Conservative government was dogged by rows over Europe - put the chance of a British exit from the European Union at "just under 50%".

But he said the probability would rise if Mr Cameron, who has promised the referendum if he is prime minister after the general election, could not secure reforms beforehand.

British governments were always willing to work with Europe on "the big issues", Sir John said, but added: "Our people deeply resent interference in the day to day activities that have been part of the British way of life for generations."

The UK's concerns are "not a political ploy" he said, warning of a "breach that is in no-one's interest".

He said he hoped other European countries would understand Britain's "dilemma", saying: "It can only inflame resentment if we are told our concerns are non-negotiable and we must toe the line."

Assessing the Odds

Major thinks the odds are "just under 50%" now but "probability will rise" is Cameron cannot get reforms.

That's a curious position because the odds Cameron secures a significant rule change are slim to none.

"'Point of No Return"

Cameron already received a "Point of No Return" Warning From Merkel.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has said that she would not support any plans to change the freedom of movement rules that allow an unlimited number of EU migrants to live and work in the UK. br />
At a recent summit in Brussels, Mrs Merkel is reported to have told Mr Cameron that Germany would not accept any of his demands of freedom of movement and told him: "That's it."

Both Merkel and Cameron change their colors like Chameleons, but Merkel is far more adept. Regardless, it's Cameron who is on the hook (assuming he holds a vote).

As part of his anemic promise to hold a referendum, Cameron first has to win reelection. Then he has to live up to his promise, whether or not he gets concessions from Merkel.

Since those concessions are highly unlikely, does Major have the odds at 50-50 partly based on the chance there will not be a referendum?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Seth's Blog : Crowding the pan

Crowding the pan

One thing you'll discover when you start pan roasting brussel sprouts or tomatoes (or running a theater or an airline, or just about anything for that matter) is that more is not always better.

Sure, I know that you have three uncooked sprouts left, and it would be a shame to not serve them, but if you add those three to the pan with the others, the entire batch will suffer.

Adding one more is just fine, until adding one more ruins everything.

Greed costs.

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luni, 17 noiembrie 2014

The Coming Integration of PR and SEO

The Coming Integration of PR and SEO

Follow-ups to the PR Mozinar

An infographic of integration

Online and offline is the same thing

But things are changing

Seth's Blog : Is a photo of a Magritte painting better than the original?

Is a photo of a Magritte painting better than the original?

More Recent Articles

duminică, 16 noiembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Seth's Blog : "I need you"

"I need you"

More Recent Articles

sâmbătă, 15 noiembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Seth's Blog : Crowding the pan

Crowding the pan

More Recent Articles

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luni, 17 noiembrie 2014

Follow-ups to the PR Mozinar

An infographic of integration

Online and offline is the same thing

But things are changing

duminică, 16 noiembrie 2014

sâmbătă, 15 noiembrie 2014

Pagini

Persoane interesate

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