Name Branding with Google

Getting people familiar with your company has been a primary part of marketing since it began. Why do companies like Coke or McDonalds advertise so much? You already know their products and will keep buying them even if they didn’t have that clever ad in the Super Bowl. The answer is to keep their brand a house hold name.

The problem with starting a new website is that you are quite so fortunate because noone knows your company, and noone cares. So lets say that you have already picked out a domain name that is perfect and that you have used search engine optimization to reach the first page in Google’s organic search. Your traffic is steady now and you are making money. No need to start paying for clicks now right? Depending on your business, this is the wrong attitude.

Funny math comes into play for this. Lets say that for every 100 impressions in the organics 20 people click on your link. If you are soley using AdWords, then for those same 100 impressions you would receive only 10 clicks. Logic tells you that you should stick to only the organics. Why would you pay for clicks when you can get more clicks for free anyway? The answer is name branding, albeit a different sort of branding than the traditional branding because you have to build that brand in a hurry, as in you have about 10 seconds to build it! Studies have shown that if you combine both organics and pay per clicks in the search engine, you would receive something like 50 clicks. Thats right: 10+20=50.

I said before that this depends on your business though. The reason for this is that you need to be actually making money off of the clicks. If not, then you are just throwing away money. Even if you weren’t getting those extra 20 clicks, if you are making money using AdWords then why wouldn’t you use it?

In conclusion, having your site show up several times in just one search builds confidence in the end user because you have branded yourself better than the site above and below you in the organics. Use both organics and pay per clicks and make as much money as you can!

Marketing 2.0

With the rise of the new Web 2.0, Marketing 2.0 has been developed to keep marketing up with the internet’s growth. With the new medium and outgrowth of technology, Marketing 2.0 accounts for the internet customers doing their research and buying online. These savy customers do everything without the guidance of advertising and marketing campaigns and messages, they make their decisions based on friends, their family, their collegues, and additional networks.

The core of Marketing 2.0 is content that is real and authentic that starts educated conversations that the purchasing decisions will be based on. Much of the creative concepts that are associated with traditional marketing techniques are left behind as marketers much focus on content concepts.

Since there are such major differences in how we think of marketing, there have to be changes in how marketing gets created. For example, marketing agencies that utilize marketing 2.0 concepts have to use new processes, skills, and deliverables to brand, engage customer, and sell to clients. Colleges are forced to update their curriculum, and hire professors that are fluent in marketing 2.0. Overall, the internet has completely shaken up how marketing is thought of all the way to the core definitions. With the rapid growth in new ideas, these concepts are sure to keep changing and growing right along with the web.

Three More P’s of Marketing?

In earlier posts, we have discussed the standard four Ps of marketing, and also the web 2.0 four Ps of marketing, but could there be more? Thanks to services marketing, the answer is yes. All of the marketing Ps combined together form what is know as the extended marketing mix. Below is the three Ps of services marketing.

1) People - These are the people that come into direct contact with the customers. They serve an important role in that they have a direct impact on the overall customer satisfaction.

2) Process - Represent all of the processes that go into providing a service to the customers.

3) Physical evidence - Services are different from products in that they are considered intangible objects. There is no way to deliver or “touch” the service. Physical evidence refers to providing the potential customers a way to experience what the service will be like. Examples of using physical evidence are testimonials, case studies, and demonstrations.

The Web 2.0 Four P’s of Marketing

Thanks to web 2.0 and the new internet marketing paradigm, additional “Ps” are needed to define marketing. View the prior post that defines the traditional 4 P’s of marketing.

1) Personalization - Using the internet as a medium to customize products and services to the end user. Companies like Amazon.com and Dell pioneered this concept, but sites such as MyYahoo and MySpace have taken this to a new level.

2) Participation - This involves letting the end user participate in what the actual brand stands for, the overall direction of the brand, and in some cases what advertisements to run for the products and services.

3) Peer-to-Peer - Marketing through peer networks and communities. Giving the end users a break from all of the disruptive marketing like popups and in-your-face ads.

4) Predictive modeling - Using predictive analytics and algorithms like the neural network in marketing strategies.

The Four P’s of Marketing

1) Product - This is the actual good or service that the marketing effort is based on. This can often be very broad in scope and deal with warranties, guarantees, and customer support.

2) Pricing - Setting the price for the good or service being offered.

3) Promotion - Includes advertising, personal selling, and sales promotion for getting the word out on the company, brand, and product.

4) Placement - Refers to what distribution methods are used in getting the product to the customer.

Predictive Analytics

Often used in analytical customer relationship management (CRM), predictive analytics makes use of statistics and data mining of relevant data in order to predict future events. These predictions are calculations of the odds in which a particular event will occur in the future (they are not absolute).

Business will generally use the results of predictive analysis to manage the risk or opportunity when dealing with customers or transactions. The analyses tell the businessee how the customer might react to certain circumstances, helping to lead the business down a path that is most likely to provide the customer with the greatest satisfaction.

Customer decisions are the driving factor in predictive analytics. One example is a comsumer’s credit score, which is used to predict how likely he is to be able to pay off the given loan in a period of time. The credit score model uses a number of historical factors related to the consumer, and encompasses all of the analytical data into a simple, easy to analyze credit score. Other areas where predictive analytics are used are healthcare, insurance, travel, telecom, retail, and pharmaceuticals.

Internet Marketing Branding

Branding has been traditionally defined as creating an identity for a product or service to the consumers. While the goal of internet branding is the same as traditional branding, creating a brand that everyone is familiar with is quite a bit different. Internet marketing branding should be a major facet in your overall internet marketing strategy.

The main source of building an internet brand is to use the trusty search engines like Google and Yahoo. To be successful with the most popular search engines, you must properly optimize your site using search engine optimization (SEO), and properly market your site using search engine marketing (SEM). These two techniques will increase the traffic to your website, and get your site included in the search engine result pages (SERPs).

The more a visitor visits your site, and the more searchers out there see your site in the SERPs, the more familiar they will become with your website name. That being said, choosing your domain name plays an important part in creating your internet brand, because, in a sense, it is what internet users will become familiar with.

Attorney Marketing Basics

The key to success for a lawfirm is to lay out a successful attorney marketing plan. Believe it or not, attorney marketing is very similar to traditional marketing, and the same core concepts should be followed.

The most successful attorneys follow the traditional time-honored marketing techniques for generating new business (leads / prospects). The following are three activities to include in your attorney marketing plan:

1) Speaking engagements - Gives the attendees the ability to learn about the lawfirm’s expertise first-hand, and also gets the name of the firm out there.

2) Publishing opportunities - Writing articles makes you the authority on the subject matter. It is a good alternative to speaking engagements if that is not something you are comfortable with.

3) Seminars - Conducting seminars is a great way to setup a referral network with colleagues. Quality referrals mean more business for your lawfirm.

Internet Marketing Basics

Internet marketing is generally defined as the marketing of products or services on the internet. It is also commonly known as e-marketing or online marketing. This new way of marketing your business uses the design, development, advertising, and sales aspects of the internet in new and innovative ways not considered possible before.

The subsets of internet marketing are search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing, interactive advertising, viral marketing, display advertising, and blog marketing.

The companies that use internet marketing most effectively are applying the same strategies that they would apply to their normal marketing plans. Just creating a website or sending out mass emails does not cut it anymore, as the consumers are now far too savy to fall for these cheap solutions.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Basics

Search engine marketing (SEM), is a broad term that refers to a form of internet marketing. Its main goal is to increase the visibility of websites by promoting them through search engines.

There are several methods to getting listed in the search engine result pages (SERPs) including: search engine optimization (SEO), paid placement (pay-per-click), and paid inclusion (more like yellow pages).

The main goal is always to gain visibility as cheaply as possible. The best method to do this is through SEO, where you show up in the organic section of the SERPS and pay nothing for the clicks. This is a very competitive market though, and many times the best way to show up on the first page in Google’s results is to pay for it.