Many of you may be asking….what’s going on in social media marketing? Why is it changing faster than I can keep up? Reality is that we now have to “be fast on our feet and quick with our brains.” This is why link building is now obsolete. As a result of the latest Google updates, link building is useless in the long run. In the past, increasing links to direct people to your website took advantage of search engine algorithm shortcomings However, user experience wasn’t a consideration. These shortcomings were recently addressed with algorithm updates such as Google Panda and Penguin. Today digital marketing firms have transitioned from traditional link building to a new concept referred to as earned media. Gone are the days of link building!
Earned Media
Earned media comes from the concept that your brand can earn instead of paying for a placement within online publications. You can earn this placement only by creating a centerpiece with value-added content (the media). It has to be custom-tailored for the specific community in combination with high-touch social media networking. In order to be considered value-add, the content centerpiece must be an online resource which educates, entertains, or solves problems.
Creating a “teaser article” that highlights main ideas of the content centerpiece with a link to the actual article for readers who want to know more is key to earned media. The users have to submit personal information to download or view the content centerpiece. These users are the most valuable to an earned media campaign.
The Difference Between Earned Media and Link-Building
Increasing the number of links that point to your website is the main goal of link building. Earned media campaigns also achieve links to your website. However, this isn’t the main goal. The goals are to grow lead lists, increase online sales, and increase brand awareness. You can only accomplish these goals by focusing earned media campaigns around a true value-add content centerpiece.
Results
With link building, search engine rankings of your website were increased. With Panda and Penguin updates, the algorithms of Google won’t allow for increased search engine ranking. The results from an earned media campaign include: lead list growth; online sales and conversion growth; keyword portfolio growth; increased brand exposure in search engine results and social media conversations; and increased online brand relevance, authority, and awareness.
Earned media is the new trend in online marketing. Earned media campaigns build a business alignment between search engines, your brand, and the user. By educating, entertaining, or solving the problems of a specific target audience, earned media allows your brand to partner with search engines.
Source: www.inc.com
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