Google+ is Now the Place

Google has just announced a major new change that affects millions of businesses -- the conversion of Google Places listings to Google+ (for the uninitiated, this is Google’s social network, akin to Facebook’s, but in some ways better). This of course follows the transition of Google Maps listings to Google Places and as some unwitting small business owners found out, listings on Google Maps and Google Places weren’t always in sync, especially if the business owner or owners unwittingly claimed listings on both Google properties using different Google accounts (if the preceding phrases weren’t confusing enough in and of themselves).

Google stated the transition of Google Places to Google+ Local took place on Thursday May 31st and a quick perusal of my clients’ Places listings verified that was indeed the case. And this transition is a good thing for local small businesses for the following reasons:

• Google+ gives you much more space to talk about your business and what you do for people 
• Google+ gives you more ways to keep your content fresh and interact with customers through posts (just like Facebook) 
• Partly because of all of the above, Google+ gives you more ways to affect high how you are placed in the search engine results.

Because of its search engine visibility potential I recommended that my clients establish a Google+ presence upon its broad introduction some months ago. Now that Google Places has been folded into it, Google + has become a must for small and larger businesses alike.

Comment on this post or email me if you have questions or need assistance in establishing a Google+ presence.

Is B2B Sociable?

As with the snack cracker whose name is similar to a word in this post's title (Sociables) social marketing should be served up in very specific business-to-business situations, when at all. There's a good article on the TargetMarketing.com website that deals with this issue head on.

I agree with the author that Facebook is fundamentally useless for a company whose target is primarily B2B. The exception would be the weekend get-together syndrome, as when someone as an individual mentions they need help with marketing their business and another individual says I know this cool guy Larry Bassani who provides affordable, effective marketing support and gives personalized service too (you can simply cut and past that phrase into your Facebook stream and thank you in advance). However, if your audience is primarily business and you're thinking of standing up a Facebook fan page you're pretty much wasting your time.

Now LinkedIn is a primarily a "professional" social space, but it's dominated by people who are looking for action and who want to burnish their reputations by linking or getting recommendations from other people looking for action. The exception would be recruiters, who are of course looking for people who are looking for action.

If you're a business who has tried to build a following on Twitter beyond the follows that come through your website, you know that most of the followers you get are like-minded people looking to sell you something. Of course, if you're a B2B company, that might not be such a bad thing.

The writer of the Target Marketing piece makes a lot of very good points on how to get people to interact with you on your primary website, instead of spinning your wheels with social. Also, I would say that YouTube and Google + are also good bets for search engine visibility, at least partially because they are owned and promoted by a search engine company.

And besides, if you have a really important potential client, you might want to serve something other than crackers.

Want Someone to Like You? Give Them a Reason

Too often, people put social links on their website or say like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter and then wonder why they don't get any likes or follows besides their friends and relatives. As I often say to my clients, just like in real life, if you want someone to like you give them a reason.

I recently got an email from Staples that dealt with this issue as directly as I've ever seen. The subject line? "Join us on Facebook and Twitter. Here's why."

The email goes on to talk about the exclusive offers, giveaways and special extras available to followers. And that's it in a nutshell. If you want likes on Facebook, followers on Twitter or if you want to get into people's circles on Google +, you have to give them something that can't get on your general website, whether that's deeper information, a chance to get questions answered, coupons, discounts, contests or special offers. Otherwise, there's no motivation for people to take action and getting people to take action is what marketing is all about.

You can view the Staples email here. By the way, the Like button at the top of this post is for illustration purposes only, but thanks for the thought!

Master of Your Own Domain

Recently, in the New York Times, there was an article published about an unfortunate small business owner who invested a large sum of money in a domain name (already taken) that was related to his business, only to see his site traffic drop off dramatically from the domain name he had been using.

I posted a response on the New York Times "You're the Boss" blog. Here's what I said:

As an online and offline marketing consultant, I advise my clients not to become too obsessed with their domain names. Far more important is how you build your brand and plug your website into your brand. And even when your website is your brand, there are always plenty of variations that will work just fine. Let’s face it, the only people who see intrinsic value in domains are re-sellers, squatters and those registrar companies that want you to snatch up those must-have .co’s “while they last.”

When it comes to organic search, what you do on and off page and how fresh you keep your content (blogging) probably carries a lot more way than the domain name (although I’ve seen an advantage for local search, so if he was trying to sell nuts in Newark, Newarknuts.com can have value). And besides, the search term (nuts) was already in the domain name, so that wasn’t even an issue.

Beyond organic search, using social, paid search and plugging into the so-called Web 2.0 dynamic are better places to focus your efforts and resources than going after the rare “four-letter domain name” which, with all due respect to the people quoted in the article, is pretty much nonsense.

All I can say is "buyer beware."

The Brain Power of Words

A recent article in the New York Times discussed how reading words, in this case as it pertains to fiction, actually stimulates areas in the brain in the same way as real-life experiences. In other words, being exposed to descriptive language, and to a lesser extent evocative multi-media, broadens and enriches our lives by exposing us to new and different perspectives.

This got me thinking: this could be the reason why evocative print, direct mail or brand advertising can have, when done well, an extremely powerful, visceral and emotional effect. There's a lot to be said for behavioral targeting (where for instance you target people who are looking in a search engine for the product or services that you offer) demographic profiling (as with direct mail targeting) or self-descriptive profiling (using someone's Facebook profile to anticipate a want or need) to better target who you're sending your message to. But especially in the case of online search or display advertising, you don't have the time or space to really capture someone's imagination or draw a compelling picture that inspires people to think of new possibilities and take action.

Years ago, before the advent of online marketing, I created an innovative direct mail campaign promoting new car loans for a financial services institution. Not only did it describe in evocative detail the visceral pleasure of owning a new car, we created a "new car fragrance" and subtly embedded it in the letterhead. The mailing beat the control that included the same targeting used to identify potential new car buyers by more than 300 percent in response rate. Clearly, the evocative language and the visceral sensory experience did map areas in the brain that inspired recipients to take action.

Keep in mind the power of language when building your brand or any marketing campaign. Check back for the four key questions to ask when building your brand.

Commonsense SEO That Won't Get You Dinged

Recently at South by Southwest (SXSW) Google’s Matt Cutts talked about an upcoming “over-optimization” algorithm adjustment aimed at those who sort of abuse search engine optimization to game the system. This would included stuffing the page repetitively with keywords, link-buying, automated link building and other tactics that go beyond "what a normal person would do."

But you don't necessarily have to worry about wearing a black hat, grey hat, white hat or any hat at all. By following these practical steps, you can achieve strong search engine rankings, stay clear of the new Google adjustments and sleep well at night:

• Make sure your page title, main headline (h1) and the content immediately under that headline contain the keywords for what you want to be found for
• Write deep, authoritative content about your subject matter, content that people may also want to link to
• Have a blog on your site and post frequently on topics that you want to be known for, using the same keywords as your content strategy
• Foster links with companies that you're affiliated with or with like-minded sites
• Build links by posting comments on other peoples blogs related to your targeted topics and include your URL or reference other blogs (with a link to their URL) on your blog.

There are, of course, other things that you can do but these basic steps will get you results while keeping you in Google's good graces. You can read more about what Google said at SXSW here.

All the Mad Men

The title of this post also happens to be the title of a track on one of David Bowie's great, but lesser known albums -- The Man Who Sold the World. Released in 1970, the title track may be familiar to more people because Nirvana covered it on their MTV Unplugged record and show, not long before Kurt Cobain's alleged suicide.

The reason why I bring this up in a marketing blog (besides trying to snag unsuspecting glam and grunge rockers traversing the Internet) is that the song generated in me a feeling of nostalgia and I began to wonder whether the appeal of Mad Men the show was mainly nostalgia-driven (this is admittedly a circuitous route to get back on topic but I guess it works).

There's plenty of nostalgia to be had, from the cool retro style, the historical context familiar to most boomers and the idea of a bar in your office and drinking that begins no later than noon. But I don't think that tells the whole story.

I think we're drawn to the mythical days of Madison Avenue because they remind us of a time when we connected emotionally to brands since buying is often an emotional decision, or at least has a significant emotional component. In these days of dispassionate algorithms or ever more smarmy and sophomoric Super Bowl ads, we long for marketing that generates a feeling, a feeling that can stay with you for years or come back whenever you read that brand name or hear that jingle.

So when you're trying to connect with an audience or build your brand, remember to speak to the values, experience and aspirations of your audience to generate a feeling. Look for a post on the four most important questions you need to ask yourself when building a brand identity and brand voice that people can connect with.