In what has huge implications for the way people will arrive, (or not arrive), at your website, Google last week conducted a major restructuring of how organic, (the left hand side), search results are displayed. You will now notice that there is a new column on the far left of the search page incorporating tools such as blogs, videos, time-based results and more. So what does this mean for you?

1. Regularly update your site

Now there are many more filters that people can use to find what they are looking for. You need to ensure that your site is optimised to take advantage of these new methods of segmentation. This means regular updates / changes / additions to aspects of your site such as articles, blogs, pics and videos. It also mean that whoever your web designer is, they should at least know the basics of search engine optimisation (SEO) and be applying them to your site. Remember to make sure all these changes to your site are relevant to the product(s) or service(s) you are attempting to sell.

2. Embrace social media

One of the best ways to keep your site full of fresh content is to employ a social media strategy. It doesn’t need to have all the bells and whistles and you can start small and grow your campaign as time allows. Tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are good ones to start with. Check out the articles in sites like Mashable and on blogs like Thinktank Media and start the learning process now.

3. Start a Google AdWords campaign

Obviously there is a great deal of effort in trying to get onto that elusive Page 1 of any search engine, including Google. Whilst virtually every business appears at or near the top of Page 1 for their own business name, the unfortunate reality is that that is often where their ranking success ends. Some businesses manage to appear for a few keywords, but even the best ranking businesses on the left hand side will always rank better by using an effective pay per click (PPC) / search engine advertising (SEA) strategy. You can bid on as many or as few words as you like, but with recent studies showing searches are now involving many more words than in the past, a strategy employing many terms and geographic areas has never been so vital. Effective SEO and social media strategies may enhance your positioning, but effective PPC / SEA will all but ensure it.

Sure you can attempt to tackle these 3 points by yourself, but do you have the time, the knowledge or the patience? So what’s my advice?

Do some research and find a great web designer, a great social media firm and a great pay per click / search engine advertising provider. In the case of the latter, just like you’d be less likely to choose a builder that’s not a Master Builder, you should also be diligent in choosing a provider that’s a Google Authorised AdWords Reseller or a Yahoo! Certified Local Ambassador, or better still, a firm that holds both certifications.

So there you go. Do the research, get the knowledge and go kick some ass!

Have you ever looked at those listings on the top and to the right of Google, Yahoo! Bing & MSN and wondered what they were all about? Well if you answered “Yes” then hopefully you will find this post of value.

Search Engine Advertising (SEA) aka Pay Per Click (PPC) aka Sponsored Links. Whatever you choose to call this medium it has been the fastest growing method of advertising of recent years. It has seen companies such as Google & ReachLocal, both of which derive the majority of their revenues from this medium, achieve unprecedented growth levels as explained by this press release from renowned professional services firm Deloitte.

Let’s stick to the term SEA for the purposes of this post. SEA involves bidding on certain keywords (read phrases) that relate to a business. When a potential customer is searching for a product or service, they type in what they are looking for which brings up a list of ads related to that search. The person searching then looks for an ad that best describes what they are looking for, clicks on it and arrives at the advertiser’s website. Voila!

One of the main reasons that SEA has boomed in recent times can be attributed to how the advertiser pays for their campiagn. Just imagine conducting an ad campaign with traditional media but only paying for the ads that caused the audience to visit your website? Imagine trying to explain to your account manager that you don’t want to pay for those ads where the individual did not do this. They’d think you were crazy! But that’s how SEA works. Your ad could appear on Google, Yahoo! Bing or MSN millions of times and you won’t get charged a cent. You only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad and arrives at your site. In other words, it’s pay for performance. All of those occasions where your ad appears and the person doesn’t visit your website you can regard as free branding!

As SEA is a digital form of advertising it’s much easier for those that use this format to gauge the effectiveness of their campaign and to tweak it according to the information that the campaign produces. Those that run such campaigns, whether they be individuals or SEA specialist firms, typically look at which words get the most clicks and the highest Click Through Rate (CTR – the % of those who view your ad who then click through to your site) and then manipulate the keyword bidding accordingly. Another key factor taken into consideration is the cost of bidding on those particular keywords. For example, a word may have a great CTR but if it costs 5X the price of your average keyphrase, do you really want to be spending that amount of money on each click? However, the best way to optimise a campaign is to look at the keywords that cause the most conversions, ie. leads and sales and adjust the bids accordingly. The previously mentioned ReachLocal is the only company I am aware of that as well as knowing which words resulted in emails, submitted forms and online sales, also knows which words caused the phone of a business to ring and automatically adjusts the bids accordingly. Powerful stuff!

As you may expect there is a whole lot more to it than that. For example who sets the price of these words? Google? Nope. Yahoo!? Not them either. So who does determine the price? Adam Smith’s invisible hand doctrine, written more than 230 years ago is the blueprint for what sets the prices of keywords. It is also the blueprint for what we all know as the market. Similar to the stock exchange, if the market determines a word should cost $0.85 for a click, then that’s what it costs.

Aside from which words to bid for and how much to bid for them, a variety of other considerations come into play. Some of these include how to best segment a particular geographic area, choosing a budget that is appropriate for your industry and the goals of your business, how to write an effective text ad, how to tweak your website for both maximum conversions and improved SEA ranking, the vast array and quality of reporting techniques and systems … the list goes on. The capability of SEA “specialists” to manage all of the above varies widely, (believe me when I say I have seen some less than impressive workmanship), so as with most things in life it is extremely important that you do your research before committing to any contracts.

I think that’s enough information for now. Over the coming weeks I will be exploring each of the aforementioned considerations in more detail. If you feel you cannot wait that long, please feel free to get in touch and I will do my best to answer any queries you may have.

Disclaimer:

I work for ReachLocal Australia and any views that I express here are purely my own and are in no way representative of ReachLocal Australia, ReachLocal Incorporated or any of our corporate partners.

What you will find below is an email I sent to my client base after a number of them had asked me how they could use social media to improve their marketing. Hope you find it of interest 

Hi everyone,

As some of you may know I am very passionate about the concept of social media and its role in the effective marketing of a business. For those of you who are unaware of what social media actually means, it is a variety of software applications / platforms covering areas of multimedia, communication, collaboration, entertainment, reviews and more. Even the most technically-challenged of you would have heard of Facebook. Facebook falls under the communication banner and is part of a group known as social networks. Another well known member of this group is Myspace. Other applications from the other areas of social media include YouTube, Twitter, Digg, Flickr, Wikipedia, LinkedIn and WordPress.

It is becoming increasingly important to have an effective social media strategy as part of your overall marketing mix. Using social media you can build a community of people who may have an interest in your product or service. These people may be current customers, potential customers or people who like what you do and then tell their family, friends and colleagues. The viral nature of this burgeoning blend of technologies encourages the rapid dissemination of your marketing message and, executed correctly, this can have a very positive impact on the way the world views your business. Unfortunately it can also have a negative effect on your business. How, may you ask? You know the old adage that if someone has a good experience with your company they tell a couple of people, but if they have a bad experience they tell many more. Well the same rule applies to social media, except the effect can be multiplied due to the exponential nature of this medium. By gaining a better understanding of social media you can not only promote your business more effectively, you will also be better placed to arrest any detrimental comments that may be taking place, justified or otherwise.

As part of my passion for this space I host a weekly radio show on Melbourne radio station Kiss FM (www.kissfm.com.au). From 7.30am – 9am each Tuesday we look at how these and other technologies such as Google and Yahoo! can be harnessed for your benefit and also some fun stuff as well. I have recently posted my first blog on digital marketing which can be found here www.alblack.com.au  To promote this blog I have created a Facebook fan page which can be found here www.facebook.com/blackmarketingandsocialmedia and a Twitter account @alblack

As my clients I am more than happy to give you direction on how to best begin the social media journey. One client in particular has already begun their journey and is doing an amazing job! Caroline Serviced Apartments has properties in Brighton and South Yarra and these locations are managed by Alison Vosbergen and Mei-Li Holmes respectively. Just a few months ago (and I’m sure they would have no problem in me saying so), these guys had a very limited idea about the social media tools that were available for business. Since February however they have taken very active roles in learning and applying the basic strategies of this medium and from the feedback they’ve given me they’ve had a great time doing so! To find out more about how they are using these tools check out the following links:

http://www.carolineservicedapartments.com.au

http://www.facebook.com/CarolineServicedApartments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkkWB4MT0xY

And for those of you on Twitter, you can follow the guys @CarolineApts

Alison has very kindly offered to take calls from any of you who may want to chat to her about her experiences over these past few months. You can reach her during business hours on 03 8591 3333.

Check out the 4 min video below. It’s a great eye opener to the world of social media and at the very least I’m sure you will find at least some of what it contains of interest.

http://www.sammutimer.com/2009/09/16/social-media-you-cant-ignore-it

And here is a great article that gives further insight into the use of social media for business http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/social-media-business

There is also a free, monthly, social media event known as TweetUpMellers which I help to run. The next one is on Thurs 29 Oct at The Social, 116 Chapel St, Windsor. This is a great opportunity for you to meet others who may also be taking those first tentative steps, as well as those who could be considered at the top of their game. More info can be found here http://tweetupmellers.info/about-2

And the best thing about social media? Getting the basics up and running costs absolutely nothing! At certain stages of the process, as well as some basic pointers from me, you may want to get some professional advice. However, it is you and your staff that will be the driving force behind this new marketing tool.

I would encourage all of you to visit these links and start thinking of how an effective social media strategy could benefit your business and I look forward to being swamped by those of you eager to take this next step in the future direction of your business. Unfortunately due to time constraints I am not in a position to contact you individually about this, so if the aforementioned sounds like something you think may be of benefit to you, I would ask that you contact me at your earliest convenience. 

Cheers,

Al

The digital age has brought with it some of the most exciting developments in marketing since Professor Neil Borden of Harvard Business School and Professor E. Jerome McCarthy of Michigan State University developed the Marketing Mix and 4Ps in 1953 and 1960 respectively.

When most people think of digital marketing it is likely that the Internet would be the first medium that comes to mind. Encompassing email, interactive and search technologies, it is these areas of advertising that have experienced the greatest growth in recent times. It is also these areas that are expected to experience the most growth in the foreseeable future. Round 2, Media Survey Results & Analysis shows 40% of U.S. marketers are planning to increase their spend on email, 31.3% are seeking to boost their spend on interactive and 23.5% plan on increasing their outlay on what has been the biggest boom segment of the past few years, search. Other digital mediums include digital tv, the recently launched (in Australia) digital radio and digital outdoor.

Sections of the market most likely to see a reduction in spend are those traditional arenas of print where 37.5% of marketers are planning reductions, tv at 21.4%, radio 8.9% and outdoor at 5.4%

This tremendous shift towards digital marketing in recent times can in part be attributed to the Global Financial Crisis, with marketers looking for more accountability than can be gained from the traditional methods of print, terrestrial radio & tv and outdoor.

At the 2008 ad:tech event in London close to a thousand event attendees were surveyed. Of those, 48% expected to assign over 30% of their budget to digital marketing for the ensuing 12 months, a 9% increase on the previous year. Of the reasons given for this level of commitment, the No.1 response was a belief that “online marketing delivered greater ROI than offline marketing channels” (PRNewswire, Aug 18, 2009).

Mobile marketing & video advertising were also increasingly being seen by respondents as worthy receivers of those precious marketing dollars, with 37% of respondents planning to invest in mobile marketing. Global spend for this burgeoning sector is forecast to grow from $1.8b in 2007 to $24b in 2013. Whilst only 15% of respondents planned to channel funds towards video advertising, this is still a significant percentage and this space will definitelty remain one to watch.

Now let’s have a look at the digital advertising industry as a whole. According to “The Kelsey Group’s Annual Forecast (2007-2012): Outlook for Directional and Interactive Advertising,” we’re looking at at an increase for digital, (search, display, online classifieds and other interactive products), of US$45b in 2007 to US$147b in 2012. Compare this to the projected growth of the entire global advertising industry from US$600b in 2007 to US$707b in 2012. That represents compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of 23.4% and 2.7% respectively.

Breaking it down even further we can see the local search sector move from US$2.1b in 2007 to US$6.6b in 2012 (CAGR 25.5%). This is in direct contrast to print Yellow Pages which is expected to have US$2.1b wiped from its annual coffers over the same period.

This first post is only meant to provide some general trends with respect to digital marketing, highlighting the fact that it has experienced and will continue to experience extremely strong levels of growth, especially when compared with tradional forms.

In future posts I’ll be having a much closer look at the various parts that make up the digital marketing world, including the aforementioned market sectors and the influence of social media platforms, applications and assorted technologies.

Until then