10 THINGS BEGINNERS NEED TO DO IN DIGITAL NOW

10 THINGS

BEGINNERS NEED TO DO IN DIGITAL NOW

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says Dana VanDen Heuvel, president of B-to-B marketing consultancy The MarketingSavant Group

in Green Bay, Wis.

Follow the industry. Sign up for Google Alerts and pay attention to buzz words and general trends,

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co-founder of digital marketing consultancy Digital Voodoo in Austin, Texas.

Talk to people using social and ask them why and how they fi nd it useful, says Dave Evans,

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companies in your sector, a couple of companies outside of your sector and a few thought leaders

in your sector,” says Sarah Milstein, co-author of

day for three weeks checking those accounts and see what is coming in. Figure out what they are

doing and take notes of the ones you like so you can mimic them.”

Get into social. On Twitter for instance, “Create an account so you can follow a handful of otherThe Twitter Book. “Spend 10 minutes a day every

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LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, a division of Mountain View, Calif.-based LinkedIn Corp. “You

probably wouldn’t just barge in front of somebody and start shouting. You’d come up and

introduce yourself and try to come up with something that’s relevant to that person.”

“Approach social media as if you’re joining a community,” says Steve Patrizi, vice president at

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co-founder of Disney’s social media agency DigiSynd. Find joy in what you do.

Make sure the content you create is compelling, says Rob Maigret, senior vice president and

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operations at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook Inc. “Pay attention to where your consumers are

spending time and what they are doing and make sure your marketing plan refl ects that, so you

are speaking to people where they are and based on what they’re doing.”

“Walk in your consumers’ shoes,” says David Fischer, vice president of advertising and global

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online marketing consultancy Find and Convert in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Focus on a content strategy so your digital outreach has a purpose, says Bernie Borges, CEO of

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social media strategy fi rm Convince & Convert. “If you have a website or e-mails that are not

formatted for mobile ... you have to get a handle on that this year.”

“Get a handle on mobile content consumption,” says Jay Baer, founder of Bloomington, Ind.-based

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communication vehicle … and e　 ective for SEO.”

Get over your fear of video, Baer says. “It’s not that hard or expensive. … Videos are a powerful

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to send out as part of your marketing outreach, advises David Glass, director of online marketing at

the U.S. division of the World Wildlife Fund, based in Washington. “There’s always an opportunity

to learn,” he says. “The status quo is never good. You should always be moving in a direction that’s

more positive than negative.”

SOURCES: http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Publications/MarketingNews/2011/3_15_11/Digital%20Marketing.pdfSocial, mobile and video are hot, but don’t neglect e-mail. Make sure you test every e-mail you plan