Getting noticed on the Web - BedTimes

EDITOR IN CHIEF
Julie A. Palm
571-482-5442
jpalm@sleepproducts.org
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Barbara Nelles
336-856-8973
bnelles@sleepproducts.org
CONTRIBUTORS
J. Tol Broome Jr.
Elaine Dumler
Marty Stanley
Dorothy Whitcomb
ART DIRECTOR
Stephanie Belcher
336-201-7475
stephanie@jimmydog.com
VICE PRESIDENT
OF ADVERTISING SAlES
Kerri Bellias
571-482-5444
kbellias@sleepproducts.org
AD PRODUCTION &
CIRCUlATION mANAGER
Debbie Robbins
571-482-5443
drobbins@sleepproducts.org
COPY EDITOR
Margaret Talley-Seijn
BedTimes deadlines
Editorial deadlines for the Industry
News and Newsmakers sections
of the June issue of BedTimes are
Monday, May 2.
Volume 139 Number 4
BedTimes (ISSN 0893-5556; Permit 047-620)
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Editor’sNote
Things move quickly
on marketing front
It wasn’t all that long ago that a
broad, well-planned advertising
and marketing campaign included
television spots (if your budget
allowed and market reach required),
radio, newspaper and magazine ads,
and maybe some direct mail.
Then came the Internet and
websites. Then cell phones and text
messages. Then Facebook, Twitter,
smart phones, tablet computers, QR
(or “quick response”) tags… The list
goes on and on.
As I write this, someone somewhere
is creating the next technology
that will dramatically change the
way that you market your products
and reach customers. As quickly as
things are changing, by the time you
read this column, you might be using
that new technology. I exaggerate—but
only a little.
Complicating all of this is how
these new technologies interact
with each other and how consumers
interact with them.
Television, radio, newspapers,
magazines, direct mail—these are
fairly straight-forward media.
You prepare a message for a potential
customer, who then watches,
hears or reads it. The communication
is one-way and relatively isolated.
You might create a multimedia
campaign that crosses all of these
channels, but the potential customer
generally interacts with each one at
a time.
The newer digital media is a
mash-up. Messages are shared across
platforms, and not necessarily by
you.
A consumer may check your
website on a smart phone, tweet
about your brand and then one of
her followers might post a link on
Facebook. Word spreads quickly and
in ways you can’t predict.
Digital media began with the Web
and the Web remains critical to good
marketing efforts. It’s not enough
to have a well-designed, informative
website or even a well-“liked”
Facebook page.
The Web is an increasingly
crowded place and it’s far too easy
to get lost. This month’s cover story
examines the importance of search
engine optimization. (See Page 18.)
A good SEO effort means that
when someone goes looking online
for a mattress, she easily finds your
brand—and a dealer who can sell it
to her.
Sounds simple. In reality, it’s
anything but. In part, that’s because
all of your competitors are trying
to make sure that they are No. 1 in
search engine results, too.
SEO is a complex, quick-
changing field. BedTimes wants to
make sure that you’re keeping up. BT
Julie A. Palm
BedTimes | April 2011 | 5