Dec 6, 2009

Why Coca-Cola Says Their True Homepage is Not Coke.com



I read a very interesting thought from Anne Carelli, Digital Communications Manager for Coke. She said:
"Several years ago, Coke realized that Coke.com is not their home page - it is Google.com, digg.com and YouTube. Take the time to keep abreast of what is showing up for your brand in these new social sites and search engines."
When it comes to search marketing and Internet marketing historically there has been a heavy concentration on the home page. Elements that are obsessed over are the content, the look, the feel, the navigation, the calls to action and so much more.
So many factors go into the creation of that perfect ‘front door' to your site that many companies forget that visitors don't always enter through the front. Search engines have given your prospect the power to find your site based on what keywords you're optimized for or based on what social channels you take part in.
Though Coke has buzz, human capital, and financial resources way beyond many people reading this blog, the concepts behind their strategy are spot on. Here are some helpful hints that come from Ms. Carelli via the Bulldog Reporter's Sally Falkow.
Coke's social media strategy revolves around 4Rs
  1. Review - Listen to what's being said
  2. Respond - What to respond to and who should respond. Be accurate and transparent.
  3. Record - Create more compelling video content. People are 7 - 10 times more likely to click on a video than text.
  4. Redirect - Search and SEO are very important. Make sure the right content is found when people search. User generated content is getting more search attention.
In addition, Carelli said that if she had another $500,000 to spend in Internet marketing she would spend it in SEO and video. What? Your budget isn't like that? Well, here's the good news: it doesn't take $500,000 to create remarkable content for your blog, monitor the conversation people are having about your brand, build a brand presence in social media, create meaningful videos for your potential customers, and optimize all the landing pages on your site.
You can invest another valuable resource to this effort: more time. Once again it's easy to say but if you want results from the search engines it requires a lot of sweat equity.
You need to concentrate on the many home pages you have. Truly optimizing every internal page on your site for important keywords can get found by search engines indexing your site. Search engines will then point the visitor to the exact point in your site that answers their question thus creating a higher likelihood of conversion.
What do you do that is a big brand ‘tactic' like Coke but brings you success where it matters to you: your bottom line? Share your success with us. Remember that all boats rise with a rising tide.