2016 DIGITAL MARKETING MARCH MADNESS
A WEEK FROM NOW, THE NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT WILL HAVE THE FINAL FOUR TEAMS DECIDED. THIS GOT ME THINKING A LITTLE BIT. IF THE BEST OF THE BEST MARKETING PLATFORMS SQUARED OFF, WHO WOULD BE CUTTING DOWN THE NETS AND WHO WOULD BE SENT HOME?
DIGITAL MARKETING, VISUAL MARKETING, VIDEO MARKETING, SOCIAL NETWORKING, EVEN SEARCH ENGINES...
DON'T WORRY, I'M NOT GOING TO MATCH UP TWO POTENTIAL #1 SEEDS RIGHT OFF THE BAT. THIS IS BASED ON IF YOU HAD ONE AND ONLY ONE SOURCE OF MARKETING FOR YOUR COMPANY/BRAND. WHO WOULD YOU PICK? NO GREY AREAS. JUST ONE. YOU CAN BE ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, EVEN PINTEREST, BUT NO MORE THAN ONE. AND KEEP IN MIND GOOGLE. YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU WOULD NEVER WANT TO BE FOUND ON GOOGLE? YIKES!
LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, MEET OUR DIGITAL MARKETING ELITE 8 -
______ (WINNER)
______ (WINNER)
______ (WINNER)
YouTube
______ (CHAMPION)
Yahoo
______ (WINNER)
______ (WINNER)
______ (WINNER)
WHAT I LOOK FOR IN A TEAM
- Highest ROI - Paid/Free Marketing
- Level of Competition - Who are the competitors?
- Experience - How long have they been in the game?
- Depth - Multiple services or one
- Head Coach / General Manager - CEO/Owner
- The Future - Where are they headed?
LET THE GAMES BEGIN. SQUARING OFF IN OUR FIRST MATCHUP IS POWER-HOUSE #1 SEED, FACEBOOK VERSE A FAN-FAVORITE, PINTEREST. I LIKE PINTEREST, I REALLY DO. I JUST DON'T THINK IT HAS THE MULTI-CAPABILITIES NEEDED IN THIS TOURNAMENT. WITH A FEW MORE YEARS EXPERIENCE, ON TOP OF A WIDE VARIETY SKILL-SET, I THINK FACEBOOK TAKES THIS ONE HOME FOR THE WIN.
LINKEDIN VS. YOUTUBE
THIS IS MORE OF A BACK-AND-FORTH MATCHUP THAN YOU MAY THINK. I KNOW SEVERAL COMPANIES THAT DO JUST FINE USING LINKEDIN AND NOT YOUTUBE (M1 DATA) AND VISE VERSA. I DO SEE VIDEO MARKETING AND YOUTUBE CONTINUING TO GROW AS A LEADER IN VIDEO, BUT LINKEDIN IS REALLY BECOMING THE NEW DIGITAL RESUME'. I'M TAKING LINKEDIN IN OVERTIME.
GOOGLE VS. YAHOO
UH-OHHHH NORTH CAROLINA VERSE DUKE, ROUND ONE, I LOVE IT. ALTHOUGH GOOGLE HAS TAKEN THE LEAD OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, YAHOO REMAINS RELEVANT AND IS CLIMBING IT'S WAY BACK TO BEING A CONTENDER. IT'S LIKE THAT ONE TEAM WHO PLAYS IN THE CONFERENCE THAT JUST WILL NEVER GET OVER THAT HUMP AND WIN IT ALL - YAHOO. SORRY GUYS, GOOGLE TAKES THE WIN. STARTERS DIDN'T SEE THE LAST FIVE MINUTES OF THE GAME.
TWITTER VS. INSTAGRAM
THIS COULD BE MY FAVORITE MATCHUP OF ROUND ONE. THE CREATION OF HASHTAGS HAVE SINGLE HANDEDLY SHAPED SOCIAL MEDIA, CREATING CAPABILITIES WE NEVER THOUGHT OF IN THE BEGINNING. VISUALS ARE TAKING OVER SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, NOT ONLY INSTAGRAM, TWITTER AS WELL. OPEN AND CLICK RATES SKY-ROCKET WHEN A CAPTIVATING IMAGE IS ATTACHED. BUT WAIT A MINUTE, THE DECIDING FACTOR HERE IS FROM A CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDPOINT. THE FEEDBACK FROM CUSTOMERS, BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE, ARE EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL TO A COMPANY AND/OR BRAND. TWITTER CAN BE USED FOR COMMUNICATING, RUNNING SPECIAL PROMOS OR CONTESTS, CONDUCTING POLLS AND SURVEYS. THERE ISN'T MUCH TWITTER CAN'T DO. TWITTER ADVANCES.
THIS IS ONE OF THE GAMES WHERE IT WOULD START OFF FAIRLY CLOSE IN THE BEGINNING, MAYBE EVEN TIED COME INTERMISSION. BUT FACEBOOK WOULD BEGIN TO PULL AWAY. AND PULL AWAY FAST. AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, NOT EVERYONE USED LINKEDIN. BUT THERE AREN'T TOO MANY PEOPLE (BUSINESS OR PERSONAL) THAT DO NOT HAVE FACEBOOK. SO TO HAVE THE BIGGEST FAN BASE ESSENTIALLY, AND A HALL-OF-FAME COACH (MARK ZUCKERBERG), LINKEDIN WAS MIS-MATCHED FROM THE GET-GO. I USE LINKEDIN WAY MORE THAN FACEBOOK, BUT I KNOW SOME COMPANIES DO NOT. I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT. WHAT DOES FACEBOOK NOT HAVE? CRICKETS.... GOOGLE VS. TWITTER
IN ESSENCE, OVER THE LAST DECADE GOOGLE HAS BECAME THE UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE DICTIONARY. THE PHRASE "GOOGLE IT" HAS BECAME THE NORM. SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE GROWN FROM ONE OR TWO LOCAL ESTABLISHMENTS TO THRIVING BUSINESSES WORLDWIDE THANKS TO GOOGLE. BUT NOT SO FAST. SOMETIMES WHEN A TEAM JUMPS OUT EARLY THEY CAN GROW CONTENT A LITTLE. TWITTER CAN HOLD THEIR ONW, TRUST ME. CELEBRATING 10 YEARS (THIS WEEK ACTUALLY), TWITTER DESERVES THANKS FOR INTRODUCING THE GIFS WE ALL LOVE TO HATE, DIRECT MESSAGING, AND A MOMENTS FEED AS IF TMZ AND MTV HAD A BABY. HOWEVER, GOOGLE IS TRANSCENDING IN SO MANY WAYS. GOOGLE IS NO LONGER ONLY A SEARCH ENGINE, BUT A PART OF OUR LIVES.
2016 DIGITAL MARKETING CHAMPIONSHIP
TALK ABOUT A MATCH UP. EACH WITH THEIR OWN STRONG POINTS, BUT BOTH VITAL FOR ANY MARKETING EFFORTS. THIS MATCHUP YOU ARE REALLY GOING TO HAVE TO WEIGH THE PROS AND CONS. THINK ABOUT WHEN SOMEONE NEEDS TO SEARCH FOR YOUR TYPE OF SKILL OR SPECIALTY...DO YOU STILL WANT TO BE THERE? WHAT ABOUT FACEBOOK? AND THIS DOESNT MEAN YOU JUST CAN'T POST ON FACEBOOK, THIS MEANS NO FACEBOOK AT ALL. NO GROUPS, NO LINKS OR E-COMMERCE, NO ADVERTISING, I THINK YOU'RE GETTING THE POINT.
ONE OF THE MAIN POINTS I LOOKED AT IN EACH OF THE HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUPS, WAS THE RETURN OF INVESTMENT (ROI). FACEBOOK IS FREE AND SO IS GOOGLE. HOWEVER, ONE OF THE MAIN USES FOR GOOGLE IS YOUR PLACEMENT IN THE RESULTS PAGE. THIS YOU MAY HAVE TO PAY FOR, DON'T GET ME WRONG...FACEBOOK HAS THEIR WAY OF MAKING MONEY OFF YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS, BUT NOT NEARLY A NECESSITY LIKE GOOGLE IS.
RIGHT ABOUT NOW I BET SOME OF YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHO IS GOING TO WIN THIS CLASSIC SHOW-DOWN, BUT NOT SO FAST. FROM A BUSINESS STANDPOINT, GOOGLE SERVES AS SO MANY TOOLS. FROM GOOGLE DOCS TO BEING ABLE TO CREATE A GOOGLE + PROFILE, GOOGLE CAN DO EVERYTHING FACEBOOK CAN ESSENTIALLY, IT JUST DOESN'T HAVE THE ADDICTING APPEAL TO IT. THINK ABOUT LIFE WITHOUT GOOGLE MAPS? COME ON. I WOULD STILL BE TRYING TO FIND MY WAY HOME POST ST. PATTY'S DAY. ARE THERE OTHER PLATFORM AND APPS THAT CAN PERFORM SOME OF THE FEATURES OF FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE? ABSOLUTELY. BUT FOR A ONE-STOP-SHOP, GOOGLE IS YOUR 2016 NATIONAL CHAMPION.
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER - @JtownW / @M1Data
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