Digital Engagement: Internet Marketing That Captures Customers and Builds Intense Brand Loyalty

In an age of overwhelming Internet competition, we all face the daunting challenge of understanding how to engage customers online. In Digital Engagement, online marketing pioneers Leland Harden and Bob Heyman team up to show you how to leverage search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and all of the Web 2.0 tools you need to compete in the digital marketplace. Filled with the latest advice on maximizing online marketing efforts, plus the lowdown on social networking, virtual worlds, widgets, wikis, and emerging media, Digital Engagement shows you how to:

stop burning money on web ad campaigns that don’t deliver • tweak your website to improve conversions and traffic flow • master proven strategies for online consumer word-of-mouth to generate buzz and improve brand recognition 

Featuring case studies from companies like Toyota and Tommy Hilfiger, and lists of key vendors for online marketing software, Digital Engagement offers a truly comprehensive guide to making the most of all the new online marketing tools. 

 

Leland Harden and Bob Heyman cofounded Cybernautics, a standard-setting new economy marketing agency that launched some of the biggest brands on the web. Harden is Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Hardin-SimmonsUniversity. He lives in Abilene, Texas. Heyman is Chief Search Officer at Mediasmith, a leading media buying, plan­ning, and strategy agency. He lives in Sausalito, California.

 

Early Praise for Digital Engagement:

 

“Harden and Heyman turn traditional marketing upside down by offering dozens of clever, thought-provoking strategies for captivating consumers online. Digital Engagement is a well-researched, practical guide to marketing in the new millennium. I ordered copies for everyone on my key staff. You’ll want to do the same.”

— Bertina Ceccarelli, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Resource Development, United Way of New York City

 

“A few business books a year make their way to my hand-picked library of must-reads. Digital Engagement is such a book. A blend of provocation for the strate­gist and clear guidance for the practitioner—delivered by gentlemen with the creds, roots, and industry intelligence to make the experience stick. Read this book. Its applicable wisdom will far outlast your read.”

—    Kendall Allen, Managing Director, Incognito Digital

 

“Marketing success today means understanding the digital world. It’s an exceptionally fast-paced evolving arena, with options that are constantly colliding with conventional marketing tactics. Knowing how to choose among them, and where to turn for specific insight, is the mark of true marketing genius. With this book, you can be an expert and have the answers based on real-world marketing programs. Learn how to address the opportunities and where to find the right tools—online.”   

— Adrienne Skinner, Vice President, Partner Sales, Comcast Interactive Media

“The best learning in life comes from experience. Within these pages, you have the wisdom and prac­tical knowledge of two entrepreneurs who set the standards for Internet marketing....”

— Jeff Sandefer, Master Teacher, ActonSchool of Business

Harden and Heyman, co-founders of an Internet marketing agency, have written this guide on maximizing online marketing for business executives who need to familiarize themselves with new technologies such as social networking, Web 2.0, search engine optimization and affiliate marketing. The authors use case studies from Toyota, Tommy Hilfiger and McDonald's to explore the best practices in online marketing, and to reveal how web innovations such as blogs, wikis, RSS feeds and podcasts are currently being used to help the smallest companies remain competitive with giant corporations. Advice is given on how to identify ineffective web campaigns, improve brand recognition and increase web traffic flow and conversions. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In an age of overwhelming Internet competition and rampant takeovers, marketers face the very real challenge of understanding how to engage customers online. Leland Harden and Bob Heyman, online marketing pioneers and authors of the popular book Net Results, team up again to teach marketers how to use search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and all of the Web 2.0 tools they need to compete in the digital marketplace. Filled with up-to-date information on the best venues for online marketing, as well as explanations of social networking, virtual worlds, widgets, wikis, and emerging media, Digital Engagement shows marketers how to:

stop burning money on web advertising campaigns that don't deliver • tweak websites to improve conversions and traffic flow • master proven strategies for consumer-generated media to generate buzz and improve brand recognition

Featuring case studies from companies like Toyota and Tommy Hilfiger as well as lists of key vendors for online marketing software, this is the only book that offers a truly comprehensive guide to all of the new online marketing tools.

Leland Harden (Abilene, TX) and Bob Heyman (San Francisco, CA) are the co-founders of Cybernautics, a standard-setting new economy marketing agency that launched some of the biggest brands on the web. Harden is vice president of Institutional Advance­ment at Hardin-Simmons University. Heyman is chief search officer at Mediasmith, a leading media buying and planning agency.

Contents

Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xi

PART I: FUNDAMENTALS OF SUCCESS FOR

DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT 1

CHAPTER 1: Goals and Expectations 3

Case Study: Kidzter.com: Launching into Kid Space

CHAPTER 2: Making Over Your Website: Can You See

Me Now? 29

Case Study: Tommy Hilfiger USA: When a Picture Is Worth

a Thousand Dollars

CHAPTER 3: Your Domain Name: How Online Branding Works 46

Special Section: Branding in China

PART II: ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS 65

CHAPTER 4: Search Engine Marketing: Optimize and Win 67

Special Section: Legal Issues of Paid Search

CHAPTER 5: Let’s Go Viral: Creating Buzz 94

Case Study—Sega: Kick-Starting Virality with the Sega Rally Revo™

17083-DigitalEngagement 10/15/08 9:07 AM Page vii

CHAPTER 6: Web Video: The New, New Thing 112

Special Section: Here’s the Pitch: Best Practices from Team TubeMogul

CHAPTER 7: Affiliate Marketing: The Automated

Referral Network 135

Special Section: Publisher Code of Conduct—Still a Good Idea

CHAPTER 8: Public Relations 2.0: Moving Beyond the

Traditional Media 148

Case Study: Toyota’s Branding in the Blog Space Aims for Conversations,

Not Conversions

CHAPTER 9: Paid Media: Advertising Works Harder

on the Web 174

Case Study: Napster Returns

CHAPTER 10: Metrics and Measurement: Direct Marketing

on Steroids 193

Special Section: Puzzling Out the Metrics of Engagement: An Interview

with Dave Smith

CHAPTER 11: New Marketing Channels: Virtual Worlds,

Advergaming and Wireless Mobile Search 215

Where Do You Go from Here? 230

Digital Engagement Scorecard 231

A Web Marketing Glossary 233

Index 237