Here at Zenzi, we strive for excellence in all areas of the marketing matrix. We pride ourselves on keeping up with every new trend and delivering unprecedented PR results. In an effort to increase the quality of our PR efforts, we have launched the Zenzi SEO PR service.

Zenzi SEO PR is a new service that leverages blogs, online and traditional media, reviews, video search, photo search, events and social media networks to influence and optimize your Website results.

With Zenzi SEO PR, we have expanded the traditional definition and approach for SEO to include both Organic SEO and Universal SEO. Organic SEO is about optimizing your own site. Universal SEO optimizes links from influential sources such as reviews, video sites, social media and directories, which can either positively or negatively impact your website’s level of relevance.

We offer a variety of SEO PR plans to fit your individual needs. Please give us a call for more info!

Traditionally, college students are early adopters of social media platforms. Twitter is one notable exception to the rule. Only sixteen percent of Twitter users are under age 25. However, those students who ARE on Twitter may have an advantage over their non-tweeting peers.

Over 30 percent of college professors use Twitter regularly. They use Twitter to post and answer questions from students, effectively expanding the definition of “office hours.” Professors host Twitter study groups that allow students to participate in active and continuous academic discussions from anywhere. Students can also collaborate on group projects via Twitter.

Everyone knows that no matter what you choose to do in life, networking is the way to get there. Twitter is a great networking tool for college students. They can follow professionals in their chosen field and keep up with relevant trends. Starting a conversation with a pro can open doors for the future. On that note, Twitter can be a useful tool for job searching. The ability to respond directly to a job inquiry might give Twitter users the upper hand.

Even though college students are reluctant to join Twitter, I think many will soon realize the benefits. Instant access to news, professors and job opportunities are crucial to every college student’s life.

One of the latest trends in the social media scene is improving customer service through Twitter.  Here at Zenzi, we think this practice comes with great opportunities, but must be approached cautiously and with key guidelines in mind.  Here are a few quick do’s and don’ts we’ve put together:

1.     Don’t try to be “Big Brother.”  Eavesdropping on people’s conversations and offering unwelcome answers to their negative comments about your brand can end up turning your customers off and basically freaking them out.
2.     Do monitor and track public conversations to be aware of the general public’s tone and feeling about your company.
3.     Don’t place too much emphasis on comments made about your organization by tweeps with few followers – do take into consideration how sizable someone’s audience is and make your decision on the value of their tweets based on the quality and quantity of their followers.
4.     Do communicate individually with customers in a timely manner when they pose a question or comment to your company via Twitter.
5.     Do make your customers feel special – your Twitter followers are in fact a special group of customers and anything you can do to offer them special promotions or savings will go a long way.
6.     Don’t miss any direct comments or questions that need to be answered — Do use the right tools to manage and organize your Twitter account to make sure all your bases are covered (see Zenzi blog post on managing and organizing social media).
7.     Do keep your tone and style of writing on Twitter casual but professional and not overly formal. Be creative and use personality.
8.     Don’t ignore or place less emphasis on your current customer service tools.  Twitter is a great new tool to expand the way we communicate with key audiences but it should be integrated into your strategic communications and customer service plan so that it makes sense and adds value to the programs you already have in place.
9.     Do have fun with Twitter!  It’s a great way to connect and develop stronger relationships with customers and should be fun and playful while keeping standard business practices and professionalism in mind.

And by the way… DO follow Zenzi on Twitter!

It was every PR practitioner’s nightmare and further evidence of the fact that we as marketers are the most out of control and the most in control we have ever been. Editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of the book The Long Tail, Chris Anderson listed the email addresses of 350 names he has blacklisted from his email inbox on his very public and popular blog, thelongtail.com. The 350 offenders had allegedly sent Anderson irrelevant PR “pitches” one too many times. To the mortification of many public relations people who were on that list (with their company name in the email address), it served to show no one is safe from the fire hose, not even the people you hire to protect you from the fire (or to start it) depending on your needs. Anderson’s public protest sends the message that you must choose wisely when picking a PR firm to represent you, and it is essential you select one that knows the rules of the game and how to create compelling messaging directed at the right audience. The fact that mass distribution outlets for information exist these days is no excuse to spam irrelevant information in the hopes it randomly catches a reporter’s attention.

Increasingly, companies are searching for ways to reach specific niches online and capture customer their information. There are many low-cost tactics companies can do right away to improve their visibility and ensure regular communication with potential customers. Anyone on the first page of Google is your competition, so first identify what terms your customers are using to search for products and services like yours and which online outlets your customers visit for information.

Amy Selbach, Business Development Director for Zenzi, a San Diego based PR and marketing firm offers the following tips:

Make a list of search terms you think consumers may be using to find you online.
Use WordTracker.com and Overture.com to indicate key search terms for your business and include those search terms in your press releases and web content.

Create videos and podcasts and host them behind a registration page. I.e. if you are a tax specialist, offer a tax seminar on the SBA’s Web site or a hyperlink to your site where prospects can download in exchange for their contact information which you can pass off to sales teams.

Use customers to do your marketing for you.

Use sites like stumbleupon.com and del.icio.us.com, which allow members of the community to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on sites submitted. The more approval votes a site receives, the more it is forwarded to other members of the community who have expressed interest in that type of content.

Establish relationships with key bloggers and Web sites that cover your subject matter. Keep pitching them but also comment on their pages with your product name incorporating key words for your service or product.

Include hotlinks to special landing pages in the first paragraph of your press releases or newsletters rather than your general URL so that you can track where leads are coming from.