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How Sticky are You?

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Naked Woman covered in chocolate holding a strawberry

Is your website just sticky or does it have audience loyalty? Social media builds trust.

Have you seen the recent study was showing that SEO was better at building sticky traffic than social media?. I believe this. When you go to Google and search for a site, you intend to spend time on that site. You are looking for it, and the search engine helps you find it. Boom…sticky.

Social media is not a tool for click-throughs, though you will get them.  It is not a tool for sales, though you will make them. It is not a tool to drive traffic, though you will do that.  Social media is a tool to build relationships with your audience.

This is more than click-throughs and short-term sales. This is more than singular traffic.

When you build a relationship with your audience you are creating:

  • Brand recognition
  • Loyalty
  • Positive customer service
  • Authority
  • Lifetime traffic
  • Trust

“The best part of relationships is they are protectable assets. When someone likes you, trusts you or finds you credible, it’s very hard to take that away.” –Why Social Media Matters

Relationships take time, and this is where studies that look at traffic sources and declare that SEO is more effective fail. They are looking at the one time click.  They are not looking at the lifetime business relationship.

Relationships are based on multiple experiences. They are built from a history of experiences and exposure. The formula is simple; the more you interact the deeper the relationship. And because the company view is built off this relationship, one bad review or blog post is not going to be able to sully that reputation.  Because your reputation is built from interpersonal relationships, it will not be tarnished by anonymous slander.

Yes, SEO is a wonderful tool that everyone should use. However, you are not comparing apples to apples when you compare SEO to social media.  SEO looks at searches. Social media looks at relationships. And let’s face it, when you really like a brand because you tweet and Facebook with them, you don’t need to search for their website because you already know their domain (and studies can’t identify how much direct traffic came from social media followers…yet).

 

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How Adult Compares in Social Marketing

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The old spice man

Old Spice was one of the most successful social media campaigns ever. It had sex, nudity and humor and was everywhere.

Social media integrates traditional marketing strategy with the social component.  It has become the powerhouse for marketing campaigns.

The Social Media Examiner recently released their Social Media Marketing Industry Report. The top findings show that social media is growing in its influence. Most marketers are increasing their social media efforts across the board. Though the report did not feature an adult section, most of the findings are reflected in the Adult Industry.

Here is a list of the top findings:

• Marketers place high value on social media: A significant 90% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business.
• Marketers want to know how to monitor and measure ROI and integrate those results into their strategy.
• Social media marketing takes a lot of time: Most marketers are spending a minimum of 6 hours a week.
• Video marketing is on the rise: 77% of marketers plan to increase YouTube and video integration into their social marketing plans.
• Facebook and Blogging are the two social media platforms marketers want to learn more about.
• The top benefits of social media marketing: Social media marketing is generating more business exposure (72%) and improved SEO (62%).
• The top social media tools: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs are the top social media tools used by marketers, in that order.
• Social media outsourcing is underutilized: Only 28% of businesses are outsourcing some portion of their social media marketing.

The adult industry is no stranger to the power of social media marketing.  Twitter is the playground for porn stars. It is an excellent way to grow networks, keep up with industry happenings and promote content.  But adult has not turned its back on any of the social media networks. Despite ongoing issues with Facebook, many stars continue to rock the Fan Page.

An interesting finding in the report was that video content is generally dominated by large companies.  The time commitment and tech requirements of video are often prohibitive to a lot of small businesses and solopreneurs. Video is one of the best forms of marketable content; it is far more likely to go viral and be shared across Internet platforms (ie. retweeted, posted in blogs, on Facebook, shared via email, etc.). Adult is actually ahead of the curve on the use of video in social marketing. This is not surprising since video is a cornerstone of the industry, but even un-produced content, like video blogs and behind the scenes shots from camera phones, are being actively used in marketing strategy.

Blogs have come in as the number one growth area for social marketing. 75% of marketers say they want to increase their blogging efforts.  Adult blogs are starting to emerge but finding good content has been a struggle.  Most adult sites do not know what to blog about, and the blogs end up focusing on product or site promotion. However, blogging is a great tool for driving traffic to your site. It will even allow adult sites to post content on Facebook, or other sites that frown upon adult content, as long as you keep your blog free of adult images and video.

The biggest inhibitor is the time factor.  When most people get into social media they worry about the time commitment.  Though there is a high percentage of people in Adult who invest their primary marketing efforts in social marketing and spend a lot of time with it, this concern is reflected in the Adult Industry. The Social Media Marketing Industry Report shows that marketers who invest more time into their social marketing found more success.  The great thing, though, was that even people who spent 6 hours a week still gained significant business results:

6 hours per week

  • 58% use social media for a minimum of 6 hours per week. 
  • 65% showed an improvement in their SEO
  • 78% showed an increase in their web traffic.
  • 81% said that social media helped increase their exposure

Less than a Year

  • 45% reported new partnerships
  • 52% had new sales lead generation

More than a Year

  • 73% reported improvement in their SEO

More than 3 years

  • 47% spent 16 hours or more per week on social media
  • 72% reported that social media helps close sales
  • 72% strongly agree that social media increases business exposure
  • 91% report increased traffic to websites

Facebook leads the pack, followed closely by Twitter. If this report were done specifically for Adult, I believe the result would have been reversed.  Twitter is still the social powerhouse.

Social media has become the most effective long-term marketing strategy. It drives traffic, creates business partnerships, facilitates alliances, increases exposure, generates sales leads and improves brand reputation.

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The Phoenix Forum and the Importance of Conferences

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Feature Friday Photo: Ruby Violence

Friday Feature Photo: Coquettish and fetish, all wrapped into one; the exquisite Ruby Violence.  

Next week I am heading to Arizona for The Phoenix Forum, a networking and educational business event for the Adult Industry.  Though I was hoping to speak at the event, I will have to settle for simply attending (well, that’s what happens when you ask too late).  It should be a great opportunity to have some in-depth discussions on business trends and social media.

I really enjoy going to conferences. They are an excellent way to network, make some great business connections, make new friends, learn about up-and-coming trends in the industry and get your face in front of people. As a social media strategist, I spend most of my time behind a computer screen, so being able to get my face in front of people really helps! Plus, I love opportunities to talk to people about what they are doing and have some off-the-cuff social media discussions.

This weekend is Adultcon. I wish I were able to go to this conference as well. One of the challenges is deciding which conferences you are going to attend – they can be expensive, time-consuming and energy-consuming.  It is not possible to attend all of them, unless you are a professional conference-goer. Most of us still have to work when we are not conferencing (and even when we are), so balancing the work and travel can be challenging.

How to Evaluate a Conference

  1. How important is it? Some conferences are really big and significant to the industry. These should be priority.
  2. Is it important to you? Some conferences might be really important to fans and stars, but not to businesses. Make sure you know why you are going; attend the conferences that meet your needs.
  3. How much time and money can you can invest? Like I said, conferencing is expensive. We would all love it if someone were paying all our expenses, but that is not usually the case.  Take a look at how much time you can afford to be away from your daily life, because when you are conferencing you are not doing your regular business. Then take a look at how much you can afford to spend. The costs add up quickly: registration, travel, hotel, car rental, food, entertainment: what seemed like a nice $300 trip just cost you $2000.
  4. Are the business connections important? Sometimes you choose to go to a conference not because of the content it is offering, but because of what its attendees are offering.  Take a look at who is going and if there are people important to your business or brand then you might want to make an appearance. Conferences are about networking, so make sure the networking is valuable.

I decided that The Phoenix Forum is crucial for me, mainly for the networking. I already have some important meetings set up and am looking forward to the new connections I will make.

While I am there I will also take advantage of what the conference is offering. Some of the seminars I am thinking of attending are:

  • Frenemies- Learning from your competition or arch-rivals
  • Technology and Monetization: A 2 Way Street
  • Listening to the consumer Are your price models effective? Learning from consumer spending habits.
  • Head in the Cloud- integrating cloud computing
  • Dot XXX How is .XXX affecting your business?

I am also planning on going to the YNot Grand Prix. This will be my first Grand Prix, so I am pretty excited. Remember, networking is as much about being social as it is about talking business. So make sure you go to social events, but don’t burn yourself out. Ultimately you are there for your business, brand or personal promotion. Don’t let the parties get in the way of your goals.

I’ll head out to Phoenix on Wednesday and will dive into networking and conferencing first thing on Thursday. I already have some great meetings on my schedule, but am looking forward to those that will come up spontaneously . If you’ll be at the forum next week and would like to meet, make sure you email or tweet me.

I will be blogging about the conference and will be live tweeting the entire time. Hopefully, I’ll have some great information to share. I will keep you posted!

Friday Feature Photo: Ruby ViolenceThe fabulous Ruby Violence is the Feature Friday Photo.  Ruby and I met through Twitter when I tweeted about her being on the cover of the new DVD, Girlfiends #9. An avid tweeter, @rubyviolence is a great person to tweet with, quick to respond and a good conversationalist. Her website has a lot of  content, from videos to pictures, and a great blog that gives you tantalizing previews of her site.  Ruby’s blog not only previews sexy vids and pics, but she shares insights about her photo and video shoots. Her philosophy is “Violently Sexy”, which says that women can be beautiful and sexy without being ‘sluts’ or ‘whores’; they can be sweet and pure and still be strong. This ethos is captured in her photos and her demeanor.

Go to her website: www.rubyviolence.com

Talk to her on Twitter: @rubyviolence

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Following up from Xbiz

Sexy teacher showing tops of her garters, retro pencil drawn image

Today's Lesson: Follow up! Follow up! Follow Up!

We last talked about the business card strategy to help you remember who you have met. Now it is time to hit the follow-up. This may be the most important part of your conference experience.  A good follow-up can actually be more important than a good first impression.

At conferences you meet hundreds of people.  It is likely that a good first impression will get you the next conversation; when you reconnect, will the person really remember that first impression? Chances are they won’t – at least not in any great detail.  Your follow-up needs to be strong, because this is the impression that lasts.

When you get done with Xbiz, email every person you received a business card from within 4 days.  Give people a day after the conference to get their bearings and take care of business – but don’t wait too long. People have short memories; strike while the iron is hot and take that initial connection and try to turn it into something more.

You might ask, what about those who I don’t think will be beneficial? Maybe they are not in your industry, or they don’t have services that you find useful, but that doesn’t matter. You need to connect with everyone. You never know who will be a good connection. Maybe they know someone you want to meet; perhaps they will give you a referral some day.  It does not cost you anything to send them an email that says “Hi! It was great meeting you.”

When you send the email try to reference something from your conversation. Remember those notes you made? They are going to come in handy right about now.  If you can even remember a tidbit of the conversation, by mentioning it you are telling the person that you were invested enough in the conversation to pay attention to what was talked about. They will appreciate the reminder, which will serve to jog their memory.  It also opens up an opportunity to continue the conversation you started, and develop a potentially beneficial connection.

The biggest difference I notice between people who are successful and people who are trying to become successful is how they operate their business. It sounds so simple, but successful people take care of the little things, like following up on business cards.  This not only makes you seem professional but it also puts you out there as someone who is driven and dedicated.  Be that person.

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Hypocrisy & Sex in Advertising, more from Blogworld

Hypocrisy riddles advertising when it comes to sex. Some interesting dichotomies were discussed at Blogworld Expo 2010 such as the portrayal of acceptable sex in the media. The delineating line in advertising being romantic sex is ok to use for sales but sex for the sake of sex is not. For example, KY Jelly ads always portrays married couples having sex. The message being, recreational sex is OK if you are married.

Of course this is not a new message or a new issue.  In the United States married sex is truly the only kind of sex that is OK to promote, whether it be recreational or procreational.  Sex between unmarried people for pure pleasure is frowned upon, at least in advertising.

Now outright sex might be frowned upon but implied sex, ie. provocative imagery, is not.  At least it is not frowned on for everyone.

The ability to utilize provocative imagery in advertising is inherently tied to the purveyor of the imagery. The brand is the ambassador not their image. So if the brand is respectable then sexually provocative imagery will be accepted, but if the brand is not considered mainstream acceptable then even conservatively provocative imagery will be viewed as innappropriate. This of course is a generalization. We do see backlash when even respectable brands push the envelope too far.  But they can still push the envelope much farther than so-called not respectable brands.

picture of a highway billboard for Adultcon

The image to the left is a Calvin Klein ad that is featured in mainstream magazines. Similar ads are on billboards in major cities, off highways and scattered across the country. The image to the left is a billboard for Adultcon, an adult entertainment convention. The Adultcon billboard was asked to be taken down because of its proximity to a school despite there being nothing provocative about the billboard. The only questionable thing it says is “Adult” and that word is not that questionable, though many would consider the inferred industry to be questionable.

Interestingly though, if you search “Porn Billboard Ad” in Google images, the first image you see is not some big breasted heaving porn star.  Nope Jenna Jameson was the third image! An ad by Calvin Klein is the first.

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