It is fairly common that a new product roll-out is given a target date before the product is ready. But the date still looms, and a marketing plan needs to be put in place rapidly. New product announcements are often made at trade shows or other events. Press releases are distributed. Print buys in trade publications are made.

But, what are the best options for the online component of the plan?

Before outlining the tactics and strategies that often make the most sense, let’s set the stage for the most-common new product intro scenarios:

Traditional goals

• Generate awareness
• Create demand
• Generate quality leads & sales
  • Often, leads may be generated by the product “owner”, but the leads need to be distributed to dealers and channel partners.
    • The additional goal opportunity here is make your resellers happy and re-energize them to sell your entire product line.

Secondary goals

• Gather market feedback (it’s not too late)
• Cultivate “unbiased” champions and influencers

Company & product situation

• The company introducing the product is not a start-up, and has additional products in its portfolio.
• There is a company website in place, and promotional efforts do not depend on a full redesign and/or redevelopment of the site.
• A specific action can be defined as the primary success metric of the campaign (e.g. an online form is filled out, e-commerce sale is made, special phone number is called, etc.)

Given that these assumptions are true, an effective prioritization of tactics and strategies is likely to be:

1. Paid Per Click Advertising (PPC)
2. Social Media Marketing
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In addition to the specific tactics listed above, the following activities will be required for a successful marketing effort.

Keyword research

It’s obvious that keyword research is part of any PPC or SEO program, but it is often a piece that is not given a high-enough priority for a social media marketing campaign. You need to know who you are searching for in order to make meaningful connections with people who will not only be potential customers, but also potential product evangelists/champions.

Content development

It’s been said thousands of times before by others more articulate than me, you need content to connect with people.  For new product roll-outs you will need multiple levels of content:

• Technical specifications for information seekers
• Benefit statements (by vertical market being targeted) – people need to see quickly why it’s worth their time to listen
• Entertainment = admittedly, I didn’t want to lead with “Viral Content.”  But there does need to be something in the plan that makes people excited about the new product. Video and images tend to be good vehicles for this.  Show people how powerful your new product is and how it can make a difference to someone, anyone.

Priority one: paid search advertising

Why first priority?

• Generate leads and sales immediately
• Show results as quickly as possible
  • Ensure that any funding held in reserve is released for the additional efforts outlined below.
• Gather Keyword Intelligence to inform SEO & Social Media efforts (not to mention content creation decisions)

Benefits

• Instant exposure
• Controlled costs
• Ability to target specific audiences (through geo-targeting & the selection of keywords)
• Ability to target & test  hundreds or thousands of keywords
• Messaging is controlled and can be tested on the fly
• Traceable ROI
• Less Content is needed to support the effort

Drawbacks

• The moment you stop spending, your exposure goes away
• Less user feedback is gathered than in Social Media

Process

1. Define target actions and acceptable Cost Per Action
2. Determine budget
3. Launch with Google AdWords only to start (for simplicity and approximately 70% of searches occur there).
   1. Set campaigns to target active searchers only by turning off the Content Network.
4. Create a specific Landing Page, or modify an existing page on the site to conform to Landing Page Best Practices (MarketingSherpa has it boiled down and I made some additional B2B landing page suggestions recently).
5. Ensure tracking mechanism is in place to identify leads/sales by keyword, even when data is passed through a contact form into a CRM system.
6. Build campaign (keyword development, write ad copy versions, set bids, etc.) & launch
7. Test for 90 days
8. Gather data and analyze results
9. Feed keyword intelligence (and data about messaging and offers) into Social Media and SEO programs

Second priority – Social Media Marketing

Why second priority?

In terms of timeliness and results, Social Media Marketing lies somewhere between PPC and SEO. While it is slower to start than PPC, you can be sure that you will be able to generate awareness, while SEO never has a guaranteed result (especially for new content and/or a new concept.) Social media for B2B is a balancing act between generating awareness, lead nurturing, and lead generation. If you have pressure behind your product intro efforts, then Social Media Marketing may pose more risk than a PPC campaign.

Purpose

• Generate awareness
• Gather feedback
• Answer questions
• Connect with influencers (editors, journalists, bloggers, et.)
• Support existing lead pipeline
  • Find your known, named prospects where you can and engage (don’t stalk)
• Generate leads and sales
• Build links to website (lay the groundwork for SEO to come)

Benefits

• Messaging more likely to be passed around
• Creates positive impression at a deep, individual-person level
• Drives traffic to website
• Very specific audiences can be targeted

Drawbacks

• Results are typically less traceable than with PPC and SEO
• Takes time commitment from real people.  You have choices, use internal staff only, outsource the majority of the effort, or use a blended in-house/outsourced solution.
• Often requires some participation from product/service specialists at the company.  Someone needs to engage in meaningful, and knowledgeable dialog with people in the social communities chosen for the program.

Process

1. Set high-level goals
2. Identify audiences
   1. Think about vertical markets, job titles, applications, etc.
3. Determine appropriate social communities
4. Identify resources (people)
5. Create/find Content to support messaging
6. Establish social profiles
7. Find individuals to connect with
8. Communicate, collaborate, message
9. Gather data and analyze results

Third priority – search  engine optimization

Why third priority?

Simple – search engine optimization takes time to show results and there is never a guarantee of the targeted exposure you need. For a new product introduction/rollout, SEO is a tactic that you do want to employ for long-term results, but it is the tactic you can put on the back burner while you work hard to get your message out quickly and generate awareness and sales.

Purpose

• Generate relevant website traffic:
  • Generate leads & sales
  • Build brand
• Be present in search results
  • Build brand
  • Enhance recall of brand, company, and product

Benefits

• Long-term presence in search engines
• Organic search results are “trusted”
• Generates more traffic than PPC
• Establishes authority when at the top of a search results page

Drawbacks

• No guaranteed results
• Takes time
• Requires high-value content/assets
• Takes more ongoing effort than many think

Process

1. Keyword research
2. Set goals
3. Conduct site audit
4. Tackle any technical issues
5. Tag site
6. Edit copy
7. Add new copy
8. Engage in link building
9. Analyze
10. Continue to edit copy, add content, and reach out

Surprise ending

If I were pressed to recommend only one of the three tactics above, I would not go with “paid search advertising.”

Instead, I would opt for Social Media Marketing.

But, going this route would require some things that are very difficult to find in the fast-paced environment of a new product introduction :

• Time - to seed the market, to engage with people, and time to wait for traceable results.
• Resources – people at the company who truly have specialized product knowledge to participate in engaging people.
• Creativity – compelling content that breaks traditional boundaries can make or break a campaign.
• Risk Tolerance – paid search, when done well, will generate leads and opportunities, even if the ROI isn’t ideal. Social media marketing is betting on real product acceptance by real people, and then figuring out if the increased demand can be credited in a meaningful way to the social media campaign, or whether the demand generated came from the trade shows, print, TV, radio, outdoor, direct mail, and other traditional product launch vehicles.

Understand your goals, priorities, and resources, and then choose your tactics. But, think fast! That product has to go to market whether you’re ready or not.

People are already writing some amazing content about great B2B articles in 2009, B2B social media predictions for 2010, and ideas for improving your B2B search results in 2010.

I am going to take a slightly different spin looking ahead into the next year, and share my own personal wish list for B2B search and social media marketing in 2010:

1) Flexible budgets

Given the rough ride the economy has given companies the past year and a half, it is no surprise that many of us who speak with marketing executives on a regular basis are hearing that they are being asked to put together conservative budgets for 2010. I hope that as 2010 progresses, we will see companies incorporate any financial success they may realize back into revised budgets in order to take advantage of opportunities (if you don’t, someone else will and they’ll take “your” leads).

2) More Universal search results

Back in 2007 Robert Murray, iProspect’s CEO, identified an opportunity for B2B search in Google’s Universal Search “product”. Murray was spot on, and we have seen an increase in the frequency and variety of content types in Google search results (news, book search, shopping results, images, video, etc.). I wish that in 2010 Google will further integrate various content types into business-related searches in order to give us a starting point for finding interesting and valuable information. I’d like to see more videos and diagrams find their way into page 1 (and page 2) SERPs.

3) Deeper integration of social media and search

One could easily argue that this is happening already, and at a rapid pace. The social communities and search engines themselves are charging ahead with integrating our favorite communities into the world of search. In 2010, I wish for more companies to adopt a comprehensive approach to embracing their presence in social communities and working to tie the two together. As an example, in my last column, I provided a concept of how to tie PPC landing pages and social media together.

4) Keep LinkedIn for B2B and Facebook for fun

LinkedIn has had some severely limited functionality in the past, at least compared to Facebook (and MySpace), which I believe has contributed to companies setting up Facebook pages and Groups to market their businesses. My wish for 2010 is that LinkedIn push to enhance its functionality and features (both for individual profiles and for company pages) and give B2B companies a reason to leave Facebook to friends, family, fun and good-old-fashioned consumer marketing. LinkedIn: please give us Facebook for B2B! Or, Facebook, maybe we could see you do Facebook B2B?

5) Marketing & Sales collaborate and share

In 2010, I’d like to see more internal corporate Marketing and Sales teams collaborate on search engine marketing and social media marketing initiatives, and share data about what’s working and what’s not. One can dream…

Conventional wisdom in the world of landing page optimization is that “less is more.”  Keep the visitor focused on the conversion action typically a contact form in B2B marketing -  by stripping out content and navigation. We have certainly seen successful landing page tests that take this into account (even stripping out small noise contributors such as breadcrumb trails.)

But, almost every B2B marketer faces some common challenges that conflict with this methodology:

• Long sales cycles
• Multiple buyers & purchasing influencers
• Complex messaging
• Need to educate prospects
• Demonstrating ROI and value

The key in B2B marketing is to get someone to become aware, listen, and be interested in engaging with you.

Not every offer or campaign will resonate with the reader and convert that website visitor into a lead. If you have just spent $6.83 (for example) paying for a click on a PPC ad for a keyword that is spot-on for your category, it’s a good idea to do what you can to maximize that interaction. Even if you have a great offer, you may have brought a visitor to your site that just isn’t interested in what you have to say at the moment, but that person could be a fantastic prospect over the long run.

Here are some suggestions for how to maximize your chances of staying on that person’s radar, and in the loop with that company’s buying cycle in general:

Tagline to remember

Expect high bounce rates with any landing page you create. Not all of the people leaving right away are a poor fit for your company. Give your visitors that one, perfect sound bite that they will remember the next time they are thinking about the same thing that brought them to your landing page in the first place. You probably use short value/branding statements all the time in your overall marketing efforts, so just make sure to emphasize this tactic on landing pages as well. Don’t rely on someone looking up at the top, left corner of your site and seeing your logo with the company’s tagline. Create a phrase that resonates with the keywords and/or concept that brought them to this landing page, and put it right out there for them on the page itself.

Social media icons

A nice alternative to someone filling out your form right then and there is to have them become a fan or a follower in places like Facebook and Twitter.

Use the icons of the social media sites where your company has a presence to add some eye candy to your landing page. Keep the images above the fold so that these are images that the user will see without having to scroll through your page. Visitors that do not decide to follow your company now may at least remember that you can be found on those communities at a later time.

Video that is social

I would recommend combining your social media and rich media efforts in this case. Load all of your (quality) product demonstration, training, thought leadership, and related videos in YouTube in your company-specific YouTube Channel. On the PPC Landing Page, use the YouTube embed code to bring in 1 to 2 of your best/most-relevant videos onto the page. Make sure that the page design accommodates a neatly-packaged space for the video(s), and that this element does not clutter your page.  The imagery of the video will add visual appeal to the page, the content of the videos themselves will add to the education process, and the use of YouTube will add the potential for users to share, comment, and view more materials in your YouTube Channel.

Events & trade shows

Consider having a small box on the side of the page dedicated to highlighting the next 1 to 3 events and/or trade shows where you will be attending. You can use this space to highlight one of your own Webinars as well as reminding people that you will be at one of the major industry shows.

e-Newsletter

If you have a newsletter and a subscription process already in place, give users a link or provide the actual sign-up form if it is short enough (especially if it is simply an e-mail address box.)

Something different

Try something, anything, that will differentiate your landing page from all of the other cookie-cutter landing pages that are popping up out there. Yes, you do want to have a Contact Form directly on the landing page, placed strategically in the right margin. But, just because that is a best practice, does not mean you cannot inject some creativity into how you use landing pages to engage people over the long haul.

That said, trade shows have proven to be a cost-effective method of generating leads and closing sales. Meetings and Conventions Magazine provides a quick summary of findings from The Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s study, The Cost Effectiveness of Exhibition Participation (a two-part study that can be purchased here – Part I & Part II).

The data indicates that the average cost of generating a sale from exhibiting at a trade show is $2,188.  This is 42% less than the $3,102 average cost of closing a sale.

Every trade show marketer’s goal is to maximize their investment in exhibiting, and lower the cost of lead generation and closing a sale.

There are a number of ways that you can use SEO, PPC, and Social Media to maximize your investment when exhibiting at tradeshows.

SEO your events calendar

If your Web site does not already have a section for Events, add a dedicated area for this content.

Use basic Keyword Research, Page Tagging, and SEO Copy Writing to frame the context of your Events section.  For example, if you provide data storage technology products and solutions, you may want to structure the main page to target the keyword “data storage trade shows.” You might use an HTML page title like “Data Storage Industry Trade Shows – Your Company Name”. The page heading would be either identical to the first part of the page title, or a variation of that. A summary paragraph at the top would mention that below is a list of upcoming data storage industry trade shows where Your Company participates.

You will have to keep the list of shows fresh. All too often, Events pages are left stale and list past events in the upcoming events area.

There is a way to leverage your participation in past trade shows in the overall section. Below the list of upcoming shows, you might have a section for recent trade shows attended. Each of the mentions of past shows should contain a link to a page dedicated about the show.

As with the main Events page, you should make sure to use appropriate keyword strategies and tactics for the pages for individual shows (e.g. Storage Expo 2009 Recap). Use the page to highlight any announcements you made.  More importantly, provide a write up of the key findings and announcements presented across the entire show. If available, use rich media such as video (consider embedding code for YouTube videos). Link to resources from the show organizer’s site.

You may want to add in a stream of social media content, such as a Twitter feed for discussions about the show (e.g. use the most-common hash# tag for the show as the keyword trigger for the feed). The Twitter feed content may go stale after the buzz is done, but it will provide rich content, and a valuable resource for visitors to connect with other people.

All of this rich data for past shows will likely generate inbound links to your site.

Using PPC to generate face time

Paid search advertising can be an effective method for facilitating appointment setting prior to the show.

Set up a Campaign for trade shows, and use Ad Groups for each individual show. Bid on keywords specific to the next show(s) where you will be exhibiting. You can also bid on more-generic keywords related to industry events (e.g. “data storage trade shows”).

Use the structure you set up for the SEO efforts highlighted above. Use this as your opportunity to set up a page for each specific show (you can transition the page from a Landing Page to generate appointments to the archived recap pages described above). The pre-show incarnation of the page should be targeted at encouraging users to contact you to visit your booth and speak with your booth personnel (you might want to indicate that a user can connect with someone other than/in addition to a sales representative, such as a product manager, engineer, industry expert, C-level officer, etc.).

Create compelling PPC ad copy that encourages users to visit the Landing Page. Mention the show by name, and set the expectation that you have something to announce, present, say, and so forth.

Use Social Media to highlight participation

There are a number of ways to use social media to promote your participation in the show, and to set appointments.

• Broadcast news and announcements through Facebook.
• Blog about the show before it happens.
• Find bloggers talking about the show and engage in meaningful commentary on their blogs.
• Participate in LinkedIn Groups to connect with people about the show.  LinkedIn can be an excellent way to set appointments.
• Participate in Twitter discussions about the show, making sure to use the hashtag# convention in your stream (e.g. #storageexpo).  Twitter is perhaps the most effective social media tool (currently) to make one-to-one connections and set appointments.
• Don’t forget to find niche communities and forums specific to your industry, and find opportunities to connect with people there.

The Search and Social Media tactics described in this article are just a few ways to maximize your trade show investment.  In the end, it will be your creativity that is the X Factor in generating cost-effective leads and closing sales.

From an SEO perspective, content is a key component in any successful search program (more keyword opportunities, longer tail terms, freshness to encourage more frequent crawls, internal cross-linking opportunities, inbound link building materials, etc.).

The most common obstacles to content generation that B2B marketers express are time and money.

It would be too simplistic, and perhaps even inaccurate, to make the following statement:

Time + Money = Content

Even if it were as simple as combining some amount of time and money to create content, there is zero guarantee of creating Value.

Time + Money = no guarantee of Valuable Content

Content, for content’s sake, is a waste of resources. Adding loads of content, such as Glossaries and FAQ Sections, may add page weight to a site and provide opportunities for cross-linking pages and themes together. But, there is little-to-no value created for users (i.e. prospects). Poorly-planned Resource Centers and White Papers also offer little value.

What is valuable content?

By definition, it helps the user get to know your company and products better, and moves them closer to becoming a lead. Valuable content is also much more likely to resonate with those that might link to your site. The links generated (often passively) will also be of higher value in terms of relevance – anchor text, thematic relationships, semantic variety, trusted sites, etc.

The missing variable in the value equation is creativity.

Time + Money + Creativity = Valuable Content

At the risk of losing you, the reader, by using algebraic expression, you could express that time and money are variables that can range from zero to infinite as follows:

xTime + yMoney + Creativity = Valuable Content

The consistent, but intangible, variable here is Creativity.

Content types that are likely to add value to the lead generation/nurturing process, as well as adding value to SEO efforts, include:

• Articles
• Blog Posts
• Images
• Interactive Tools
• Video
• Webinars

Each of the above can help explain who you are, what you offer, why you are better, how you solve problems, etc.

Here are some thoughts on how you can use Creativity to reduce Time and/or Money in the content creation process.

Articles

A tactic that can work nicely here is an interview-style article. Someone in the Marketing department can put together a series of questions to pose to a Product Manager, Customer Service Manager, Lead Engineer, etc. Send the questions via e-mail and this makes it easier for the recipient to respond to the questions. Edit, format, and then publish. To prevent overloading any one individual’s time contribution, find a number of different people in the company who would be willing to participate in this way.

Blog posts

Just as with Articles above, you can use an interview-style approach to generate content for the blog. In the case of blog posts, you might expand your outreach beyond your own company by asking industry experts to participate. Keep in mind that while recruiting guest bloggers can save tremendous amounts of time, this type of content may not serve the goal of enhancing the lead generation/nurturing process (i.e. generate as much Value.)

A differentiating point of blog posts vs. articles is that blog posts do not typically require as much length/depth as an article, so you can break out the questions and responses into a series of blog posts (saving even more time.)

Images

In a Resources section of a Web site, or other relevant area of the site, you can use images of products in use – reporting interfaces, output generation, close-ups of product features, etc. – and create pages for each image (or, group images into pages by theme). Write a description of what you want the user to take away from the image they are viewing. Remember to name the image files using keywords, use alt tags with the images, and allow users to view the image in a separate page (i.e. provide an image URL.) These tactics are more likely to help you get your images indexed and found in search.

Interactive tools

Creating interactive tools can be time consuming and costly. Consider having higher-education student groups take on this task as a project for their class work. Or, create a contest where the person/group who creates the winning entry receives something of value.

Video

As with Interactive tools, you can limit the time and cost of production by recruiting students and/or creating contests. The videos do not have to be extremely creative to serve the purpose of creating Value. Product demonstrations can provide Quality Content that helps prospective customers move further down the sales cycle. You can consider breaking up product demonstrations into pieces. Breaking down the videos into smaller chunks will help retain users’ attention, and helps extend the life/use of the content.

Webinars

If you are already engaged in Webinar creation, making that content as accessible as possible on your site can generate search engine traffic and leverage the Time and/or Money you have already invested.

As with Videos, it can be highly useful to break Webinar content into smaller chunks. You can create “chapters” for the Webinar and place each one on a separate Web page. Create a brief synopsis of the value the user will receive by watching each chapter and use that content as a means of generating the search engine traffic you are seeking.

Creativity is limitless. Time and money are not. Leverage the creativity within your organization, and with partners of all kinds, and you can create Valuable Content that serves both your SEO and Lead Generation goals, while making the process manageable.

But, what would they really want if they could have anything from you?

How about more customers?

Many companies do support their resellers in some manner, including funneling prospects to them.

Whether your company has a reseller support program or not, there are two very important assets that are probably being underutilized for this purpose—your website and your search engine rankings.

It’s not hard to imagine how you can enhance your website to deliver leads to your customers. By creating a “vendor locator” application on your website you could help visitors find services and products related to your business offerings. Take it one step further and you can use your status as a “trusted source” to gather lead information and allocate leads among your key customers appropriately.

If you are like most companies today, you are likely spending some time and effort optimizing your site for search engine rankings and/or spending money on search engine advertising programs. Companies that are successful in their SEO efforts have one more tool in their marketing toolbox than they might have thought about: leveraging “tertiary” keywords—keywords that are relevant to your website but aren’t “core” search terms—for the benefit of their customers rather than for the direct benefit of the company itself.

A great example would be a manufacturer of printers. Let’s say 3-D printers. While the company likely does not offer “printing” services, it is reasonable to expect that the company’s website could rank high in search engines for “3-d printing.” Much of the SEO effort that a company engages in will produce rankings for these types of tertiary keywords. The traffic that is generated to the website for the “printing”-related keywords may not generate much in the way of sales, but that traffic can be converted into leads for the company’s customers (and used as a selling tool when presenting to prospects).

A smart manufacturer of specialized printers may already have a tool on its website for users to find printing service providers in their area that use the company’s equipment. A really smart company would consider adding a means for users to submit a request for a quote or similar contact request. The printer manufacturer could supply those leads to selected customers that sign up for the program. This would be an excellent sales tool for sales representatives to use in the field when highlighting everything that their company does to support its customers.

Here are 10 other similar tertiary keyword concepts that would fit this model for manufacturers or wholesalers of:

• Air conditioning/HVAC equipment = air conditioning, central air
• Art frames = framing, custom framing
• Construction equipment = construction, construction companies, excavating
• Data security technology = data security companies/consultants
• Environmental testing products = environmental testing, air testing, mold testing
• Industrial gases – neon gas, helium, carbon dioxide (dry ice)
• Packaging equipment = packaging, packaging companies
• Paints = paint, painting
• Prototyping equipment = rapid prototyping
• Warehousing equipment = warehousing, warehouses

Use your SEO investment, and search presence, to increase customer loyalty and acquire new customers. This line of thinking can also help you increase your Internet marketing budget as you discuss the sales benefits with management.

Perhaps a better question would be, “Is direct industry experience really necessary to be an effective SEO?

Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, discusses this topic in his article, How to Hire a SEO Firm – According to Google:

What’s your experience in my industry? – Experience in a particular industry may be important on one level, but a company that specializes in a particular vertical warrants questions about conflict of interest. How can a company specialize in “real estate” for example, without working for competing firms? The biggest advantages that come industry specific experience is the ability to quickly ramp up on client key messaging and audience needs as well as connections made online for content promotion, online public relations and link building.

I agree completely with all of the above!

Overall though, I am a believer that a good SEO agency, or search professional, can be highly successful for a client without having prior experience in that client’s industry.

Here are some thoughts on both sides of the issue.

Why industry experience is not critical

Conflict of interest issues. An SEO agency should not work with more than one client in a given keyword space. If there were a way to ensure that a large agency would be able to keep its professionals from sharing information, perhaps this is feasible. If not, then how can you possibly decide which client you work harder for? Who gets the best, unique content? Who gets the coveted link placements? Would a client even be comfortable with such an arrangement?

Technical SEO is technical SEO. In many cases a large part of the opportunity for improvement in search engine results comes from technical issues related to URL structure, domain management, solid website architecture, pulling content out from behind a search function, dissemination of data feeds and so on. This requires absolutely no prior experience in a given industry.

Unbiased keyword research. On this side of the argument, I would say that it is the job of any good SEO professional to help a client uncover the most-valuable keywords through extensive research. In fact, lack of prior experience in an industry could have a positive effect by pushing the client to think about how they position their products & services as the agency moves up the learning curve and discovers for themselves how people search in that space.

The process in itself is often extremely eye-opening for the client. “Sure, that’s the CEO’s favorite search term. But, what we see in our research is that these 20 phrases have high search volumes, are much better qualifiers of buying intent, and this is how people in the trade are talking about what you offer.”

Not to mention that when you are digging deep into keyword research, you will use as many data sources as possible—keyword tools, trade publications, blog content, social media conversations, analysis of competitors’ websites (be careful here—they may not be as smart as you think!), internal site search data, any existing PPC data, web analytics data, review of materials written by the client (hopefully materials that are a bit more “organic” than marketing collateral, such as articles & opinion pieces), etc.

Content generation can be outsourced. I suspect that, in general, an SEO firm is not going to have staff members that have actually worked in the client’s industry (i.e. on the “client side”).

If you are lucky enough to find an SEO firm where someone there was in charge of marketing or product management at a competing firm, partner, vendor, etc., then you should strongly consider working with them (assuming that they also have strong technical skills and a track record).

If not, then producing great content typically takes the form of either using the client’s internal resources, finding an expert in the field to write content/consult on content generation, or working with a content writer that has successfully shown in the past that they can adapt to new industries quickly.

Link building is link building. As with keyword research, it is the job of an SEO professional to find high-quality link/promotional opportunities. And, just like keyword research, there are specific techniques for finding those opportunities:

• Find the right bloggers, trade publications, trade associations, niche social communities, etc.
• Leverage client relationships with partners, vendors, associations, educational institutions, etc.
• Check out competitors’ in-bound links (e.g. use of SEO tools, basic search commands such as link:www.domain.com, or using Yahoo! Site Explorer)
• Monitor broader social networks for opportunities (Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Delicious, etc.)

Why industry experience is beneficial

Industry experience counts for something. If you have no conflict of interest issues with working in the same keyword space (not just direct competition), and it is a situation where prior industry experience comes from working in a related area (partner, vendor, etc.), then there isn’t much of an argument against working together. At least I can’t think of anything at the moment.

Knowledge-based keyword research. There probably is something to be said about the benefits of already knowing which keywords resonate with searchers and produce results. If someone were to deposit 12 months of PPC history on your doorstep, with conversion metrics, you’d probably take it (unless you knew that it was stolen, broke confidentiality agreements, etc.).

But there’s that old, prickly “conflict of interest” thing again. If you are looking for an SEO firm with prior experience in your industry, and they agree to work with you, let’s hope they are both willing and able to keep your information confidential.

Content expertise. Prior experience could absolutely help in the area of creating great content. If you happen to find that agency that has a staffer who used to work in/and around your industry, then there could be a great fit. Just hope that if you choose that firm that they are putting as much energy into creating unique, valuable content for you as they are for any other clients in your space. Or that they are not the type of firm that will break confidentiality agreements to leverage their experiences with content that worked for someone else in the past. You could be next.

Insider link building contacts. It would be ideal if you could find someone with a database of contacts that could be mined to quickly start disseminating your message. Instant link outreach. It’s quite possible that there is an argument in favor of finding a link specialist who has done this in your industry before.

I’m having a hard time finding the negative to this—unless that link specialist had to make decisions about “either/or.” Having a great network is likely one of the strongest selling points that experts such as Jim Boykin, Eric Ward and others have (but they are smart and creative as well).

Link building is one of those areas where you can make decisions about staying with your SEO partner for the overall optimization program, but then either supplementing link building with a 3rd party and/or having your SEO partner source the appropriate link acquisition talent (I am not talking about paid links in any way, shape, or form here).

What are your thoughts on whether or not prior industry experience is a must have for a successful SEO program? Please share your thoughts in the comments area below.