Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

The Gift Card – The Lamest, Most Uncreative Holiday Gift in the History of Gifting

Gifts Cards are a Lame Holiday Gift

The holiday season is fast and furious for me as a digital marketer. I have the opportunity to help several companies with a wide range of holiday campaigns, from Search Engine Marketing campaigns to Facebook campaigns to Email Marketing campaigns. It’s an exciting time of year for digital marketers. But, as I’m brainstorming and developing campaigns, I’m often researching top gift ideas as part of the process (across industries). And it’s not long before I come across the dreaded gift card.

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while, as gift card buying has hit an alarming rate. I have nothing against the idea of a gift card. Instead, I have a big problem with the idea of giving one to family members and close friends (the people you will be gifting the most during the holidays). In a world where most people are moving at light speed to balance work, kids, friends, etc., I think the gift card has been a byproduct of this madness. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see gift lists now filled with “Gift Card From {enter company here}.” And that’s downright pathetic.

Sure, it’s easy, it’s fast, and overall, it gets the job done. But if you take a closer look, it’s not hard to find several key problems with giving gift cards to your loved ones. Let’s explore this in greater detail below.

Nothing Says I Love You Like a Piece of Plastic with a Number on It…
I love you honey, and that’s why I bought you a piece of plastic that looks like a credit card with a 30 digit number on it and a dollar amount. :) Think about it, if you know someone really well, have been observing what they do, while listening to them over an entire year, would you really give them a gift card for the holidays? No, you wouldn’t. You would think about what they like, observe what they need, identify things they would love to have, and then create a gift list filled with those items. Then, when the holidays arrive, you would have a great list of presents to buy them, without having to settle for a lousy gift card.

I don’t know anyone that believes a gift card communicates “I love you more than anything”, or “You’ve been a great friend over the years”, or “Thank you for being a great mom or dad!” Come on people, give up the gift cards. And you wonder why the divorce rate is so high! :)

Low Risk, Low Reward
Anyone that knows me understands that I am not risk-averse. Like business, gifting is a high risk, high reward activity. If you take risks gifting-wise, it could pay off huge dividends for you. On the other hand, if you stay conservative and buy something like a gift card, you may very well get a lukewarm response. Hey, can you blame the recipient? You just handed them a piece of plastic!

When you buy a unique gift, you come armed with the element of surprise. This can be incredibly powerful when gifting. If you hit a home run, that gift will be remembered for a long time. It also shows that you went the extra mile, thought about the person, identified their likes and dislikes, and made a decision to buy a gift. That alone will go a long way… And, if your effort fails, the worst thing that could happen is they don’t like the gift. They’ll still remember that you took a risk and bought them an actual gift. That’s right, an original gift idea, versus that flimsy gift card.

By the way, a recent study by Plastic Jungle found that Americans are sitting on $30 billion in unused gift cards. Think about it, someone receives a gift card, doesn’t really care, forgets about it, and the card is left unused. Wow, what a great gift idea…

A Better Approach to Gifting
OK, so you know where I stand with gift cards. But I’m not here just to hammer gift cards. I’m going to provide a bulleted list of recommendations that can help you break out of the gift card cycle. The approach I’m going to list below is relatively simple to follow, and can make a big impact on your gifting results (yes, I always think in terms of marketing) . Sure, you could still fail and choose the wrong gift, but you could also end up looking brilliant. Remember, high risk, high reward.

Try This Approach to Gifting:
* Identify and list all of the top interests someone has.
* Document the various things they do in a typical week or month.
* Identify pain points for that person. For example, if they jog a lot, do they have the right gear, the right sneakers, do they have a treadmill, are they tracking how far they go, etc?
* Listen to them. That’s right. If you actually listen, you can identify several possible gift ideas. The problem is that most people don’t listen…
* Take Risks. As mentioned earlier, don’t fall for the lame gift card. Sure, it’s easy, but so is buying lunch from McDonalds. The former will make you look dull, while the latter can kill you. Both are bad. Try and come up with something that could surprise them gift-wise. Remember, the element of surprise is powerful.

Leave The Gift Cards Behind, Be Unique, Be Creative
If you follow the bullets above, I’m confident you can find several gift ideas per person that have the potential to blow them away. Gifting should be fun, it should not be an afterthought, and it should not take three minutes at Barnes and Noble or Lowes. Instead, you should take the time and effort to come up with unique gift ideas for family and friends.

Remember, you can be successful at this… You’re not lame. You’re not boring. You remember what people say. You’ve noticed what people need. And when you come through like a gifting superstar, they just might remember what you gave them forever. And as they jump for joy after opening your gift, they can throw the wrapping paper on the person next to them. You know, the person that just got a lame gift card. :)

Happy Holidays.

GG

Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 4:41 pm in ecommerce, holiday-marketing
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Thursday, November 10th, 2011

How To Use Google Plus Ripples To Analyze Content, Sharing, and Influencers

How To Use Google Plus Ripples

Being neck deep in digital marketing, I can’t get my hands on enough data! Analytics is a core service of mine at G-Squared and I’m always looking for more sources of quality data (and tools that give me that data). Based on my experience over the past 16 years, I’m a firm believer that digital strategies should be guided by hard data and not opinion. And to me, Social Media Marketing should be no different. Yes, it can be a bit more challenging to get that information, but performance should dictate future efforts.

A core piece of Social Media Marketing involves the building and sharing of content. This includes developing the right content and sharing that content via number of mechanisms. It’s also incredibly important to build a following across social networks in order to spark that sharing, when you need it. That said, there are many times that marketers build some content, quickly shorten a URL, share on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, and then lose sight of that content as it hits the web. Sure, you can get some insight via various tools in the market, but it’s darn hard to track content as it gets shared across social networks. That’s an unfortunate reality.

So, wouldn’t it be cool if you could post an update and then view how that update was shared across a specific social network, including identifying influencers along the way? Yes, that’s my subtle lead-in to a free social analytics tool that enables you to do just that. It’s called Google Plus Ripples, it’s already live, and you can tap into its power right now. In addition, I’m going to help you understand more about Ripples and how you can use the functionality to impact your digital marketing efforts.

An Introduction to Google+ Ripples
Google Plus Ripples presents an interactive graph of public shares on Google+. It’s free to use and comes built-in with Google+. Ripples will visually show you who has shared a public post, along with any reshares. People who have shared a post will show up as a circle in the graph, and inside their circle, you can see others who have reshared that person’s post.

In addition, the size of each circle reflects the relative influence of that person. While interacting with the Ripple, you can hover over a member’s name to reveal their photo, name with a link to their profile, and their comment when they reshared the post. The graph is interactive, so you can zoom in, move around, etc. It’s awesome and enables you to drill into the various people (and now pages) that are sharing posts. To access a Ripple, click the dropdown arrow in the upper right-hand corner of any public post in Google+. Then click “View Ripples”.

Here is a screenshot of a Ripple in action:
Google Plus Ripples

Hovering over a user brings up their share, comments, and a link to their profile:
Viewing a share in Google Plus Ripples

The right sidebar contains the comments users have added when resharing the post. These are the same comments you will see if you hover over a person’s name in the graph. The sidebar lets you get a quick view of the comments people are adding as they reshare a post.

Viewing Public Shares in Google Plus Ripples Sidebar

But we’re not done yet. Below the graph is a timeline that shows how the post has been reshared over time. You can click the play button to view an animated representation of how that post has been shared by users on Google+.

Viewing The Share Timeline Google Plus Ripples

And last, but not least, you can view additional statistics below the timeline, including Social Hubs (people with the most reshares), the average chain length, and the native language in which the post was shared.

Additional Statistics in Google Plus Ripples

A few important notes:
* Ripples only show public shares, so you are not seeing 100% of the activity for each post.
* Ripples will show activity over the past 53 days. I don’t know why 53 days was chosen, but that’s what is listed in Google’s Help Center for Ripples.
* You can share any Ripple, by copying the URL and sharing with others.

How Digital Marketers Can Use Ripples:
I don’t know about you, but I think this is a pretty nifty tool Google has given us for free. Used properly, it can provide important insight for digital marketers. I have provided some ways you can use Ripples today to analyze how content gets shared across Google+.

1. Find and Connect With Influencers by Vertical
Finding the right people to connect with across social networks can be a daunting task. Google Plus Ripples enables you to see who has interest in specific pieces of content, who reshares posts, what they are saying about those posts, etc. In addition, you have a mechanism for viewing their profile right from Ripples (by clicking their names in the graph or from the right sidebar). This enables you to find people that 1) are actively sharing content, 2) are interested in content within a specific category, and 3) might be providing how they feel about that topic via their comments. That’s outstanding data for anyone looking to follow the right people.

For example, if you focus on selling the latest computer gear, then finding people that actively share content about computer gear is obviously a smart thing to do. Using Ripples, you can find those people, and then find the downstream users that reshared posts. Compare that process to browsing Circles to find people to connect with. I’ll take a user that actively shares over a profile bio any day of the week. :) Remember, these can be the people that end up resharing your own posts about a given subject.

2. Analyze How Various Types of Content Get Shared (and Which Types of Content Get Shared The Most).
If you are developing a content generation strategy, then analyzing Ripples can be incredibly powerful. Using the functionality in Ripples, you can identify the types of content that get shared heavily, how that content is written or presented, and which members are sharing it. You can also view comments about the content, which can tailor your own content generation plan.

For example, you can track how blog posts, videos, infographics, and whitepapers all get shared within your vertical. Based on the data you collect via Ripples, you can tailor your own content plan (which can give you a greater chance of success). Building content takes time, resources, and money. Ripples enable you to analyze what works and what doesn’t within your specific category. You can also combine this data with an inbound link analysis to view activity, shares, comments, and then inbound links that the content has built. More about linkbuilding below.

3. Using Ripples Data for Linkbuilding
Linkbuilding for SEO is extremely important. When developing a linkbuilding strategy, you want to identify the right content to produce, while also finding the right people to connect with that can potentially link to your new content. Google Plus Ripples provides a way to view both pieces of data.

As I explained earlier, you can view how pieces of content get shared and who is sharing that content. But then you can also correlate that information with the number and quality of inbound links the content is generating. Therefore, you can determine what to build, and who to connect with, in order to start building high quality links to your content.

Summary – Watch the Ripples
I hope this post helped explain what Ripples are and how to use them to analyze content, shares, and influencers on Google+. I’m excited that Google decided to empower users by providing a free social analytics tool that’s interactive, easy to use, and extremely valuable. Now it’s time for you to try out Google Plus Ripples. I have a feeling once you dig in, you’ll see how powerful it can be.

GG

Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 7:21 am in google, google-plus, SEO, social-media, web-analytics
3 Comments »
Monday, October 3rd, 2011

How to Set Up Remarketing in Google AdWords Using Custom Combinations [Tutorial]

How to set up Google Remarketing using custom combinations.

Last year I wrote a tutorial explaining how to set up remarketing in Google AdWords, which ended up being one of the most popular posts on my blog. I’ve received many emails from marketers who used the tutorial to successfully launch their own campaigns, which can be a confusing process if you are new to remarketing. That’s awesome, but one common question I received from readers was how to use custom combinations to ensure you present remarketing ads to the right people. For example, if someone converted on your site, you probably wouldn’t want to present a remarketing ad to them asking them to come back to the site to place an order. That can be an embarrassing situation.

In order to accomplish this type of targeting, you would need to use a custom combination, which would tell Google to present ads to a specific audience, but NOT for people who already converted. You can think of it as a conditional (Include Audience A, but not Audience B). By the number of requests I was receiving, it was easy to see that people were confused by the topic.

Well, the readers of my blog have spoken, and I’ve been listening. I’m happy to announce that the tutorial below explains how to use custom combinations to achieve your remarketing goals (less the embarrassment of presenting ads to people who already converted). Note, “conversion” can mean a lot of things, including an ecommerce transaction, filling out a form, downloading a pdf, or even visiting a specific page on your website. Conversion is determined by your specific business and website and should be determined while building a strong analytics strategy.

Revisiting My First Remarketing Tutorial
The tutorial below is for marketers already familiar with setting up basic remarketing campaigns. If you are new to remarketing, I highly recommend you walk through my first remarketing tutorial to gain a solid understanding of the setup. Once you learn how to set up a basic remarketing campaign, you can revisit this post and learn how to use custom combinations for advanced targeting across the display network.

A Quick Overview of the Sample Remarketing Campaign We’ll Be Using
I’ll walk through an example below of a common remarketing campaign that would benefit from using custom combinations. For this example, imagine we run an ecommerce site selling sports equipment. We want to use remarketing to present ads to people that visited a section of our site, but didn’t convert. Those ads will show up across the Google Display Network to visitors who viewed pages from that section of our ecommerce site selling sporting goods.

For this example, our “audience” will be visitors to our football gear section of the website. This means we’ll need to place remarketing tags on any page within the football section. But again, we don’t want to present remarketing ads to visitors that actually converted (and purchased something). So, we’ll need to make sure we know when certain people converted by creating a second “audience”. We’ll need to add that second remarketing tag to our thank you page, which is presented after a customer completes a transaction. Then we can set up an ad group within our remarketing campaign that uses a custom combination to present ads to only non-converting football visitors.

Step by Step, How to Set Up Custom Combinations
Without further ado, let’s dig in and set up a custom combination, based on the scenario I listed above. Again, I’m not going to cover the initial steps of setting up a remarketing campaign in detail, since that was covered in my first tutorial. Instead, I’m simply going to focus on the process for setting up a custom combination in the AdWords interface.

1. Set Up Your Remarketing Campaign and Ad Group
Go to your remarketing campaign (set up during my previous tutorial), and add a new ad group called “Football Gear”. This ad group will contain ads for people that we know visited our football gear pages, but never converted. If you haven’t gone through my previous tutorial, you’ll need to set up a new remarketing campaign and then create this ad group. You can review my previous tutorial to learn how to do this. Remember, this ad group will not contain any keywords, since we will only be presenting ads to the “audience” we are targeting. You can set up a basic text ad when creating the ad group, since we’ll revisit ad strategy for remarketing campaigns later in this tutorial.

Custom Combination in AdWords, Creating a New Ad Group

2. Create Your First Audience
Set up your first audience (visitors to our football gear pages). Access the “Football Gear” ad group you just created and then click the “Audiences” tab. Then click the “Add Audiences” button. Note, if you don’t see the audience tab in AdWords, you should review my previous post to learn how to find it.

Adding a new audience in Google AdWords

3. Create Your Remarketing List
Click “Remarketing Lists”, and then “Create and Manage Lists”, which is located below.

Creating a new remarketing list in Google AdWords.

4. Enter The Details For Your Remarketing List
Now click the “New Audience” button and fill out the details for your football gear audience. Note, you should choose “Remarketing List” from the dropdown menu. You can name the new audience “Football Gear Visitors” for this example. You can review my previous tutorial to learn more about this process and the fields you need to fill out at this stage.

Selecting Remarketing List When Creating a New Audience in Google AdWords.
Setting up a new remarketing list in Google AdWords.

5. Access Your Remarketing Snippet
Once you create your audience, you will need to access the tag that AdWords generates, and include that in all pages within your football category (on your website). You can find the snippet of code by clicking the link under “Tags/Rules” for the audience you just created. You can place the tag before the closing body tag in your football category pages. Note, this snippet needs to be added to ALL pages in your football category (if you want to target any visitor to those pages).

Finding the remarketing snippet of code in Google AdWords.

6. Create Your Second Audience
Now use the same process we just went through to set up a second audience for visitors that converted. When you need to get the remarketing tag (the snippet of code), make sure you choose “https” in the dropdown, if the conversion page will be rendered via https. For example, if you are collecting credit card information, then it will probably be https. You can add this snippet to the thank you page before the closing body tag. Note, if you are unclear about using https or http, just check out the URL as you go through the process on your website. If there’s an https in the beginning of the URL, then choose https as your selection.

Copying the remarketing tag in Google AdWords.

7. Create a Custom Combination
OK, now you have two audiences set up that will become part of your custom combination. Click the “Audiences” tab, and then the “Custom Combinations” link. At the bottom of that window, click “New Custom Combination”. Give your combination a name and description. For our example, let’s use “Football Gear Less Converted”.

Creating a new custom combination.

8. Adding Audiences To Your Custom Combination
In order to create a custom combination, you will need to create a conditional using the dropdown menus in AdWords. First, select “all audiences” from the first dropdown titled, “Users included or interested in…” When you use the second dropdown for “Select audiences”, you’ll need to select “Remarketing Lists” to view the two lists you created. The default view will show you “Interest Categories” and not your remarketing lists. Now add your football audience by clicking the “add” link next to the remarketing list. Click the “OK” button below to proceed.

Step 1 in creating a new custom combination.

9. Exclude An Audience
Now click “Add Another” to add a second condition. Choose “none of these audiences”, since we want to exclude visitors that converted. Now use the “select audiences” dropdown to select the “converted” audience. Again, you’ll need to choose “Remarketing Lists” once you use the dropdown, since “Interest Categories” will be the default view. Add your “converted” audience by clicking the “add” link. Click the “OK” button to proceed.

Step 2 in creating a new custom combination.

10. Save Your Work
Click “Save and Continue” to complete the process of creating your new custom combination. Last, click “Save” at the bottom of the window, and you should be good to go.

Saving your custom combination.

11. Create Your Remarketing Ad
OK, you’re almost there. Your custom combination is set up, which is awesome, but your ad group doesn’t contain a targeted ad yet! At this point, you’ll need to create ads that will be presented to people that visited your football gear pages, but never converted. Note, you can include both text and display advertising in your remarketing campaigns (and I highly recommend doing so).

When creating your ads for this ad group, make sure you have a solid strategy for your remarketing efforts. For example, I mentioned in my initial remarketing tutorial how easy it is to creep people out with very aggressive remarketing ads. Just because you know they were on your site doesn’t mean you should mention that in your ad. :)

Presenting special offers, discounts, etc. is smart to do, while you should refrain from “We know you like our football section, come back now!” For our purposes, let’s include a 20% off special offer to get those visitors back to your site. We know they were checking out your products already, so maybe the special can nudge them to come back and buy. Also, you can drive these visitors to a specific landing page customized for this audience. You can provide tailored content, knowing they already visited your website (and that they’ll be receiving a 20% discount).

Creating a remarketing text ad.

Congratulations! You have set up a custom combination in Google AdWords, and you are ready to remarket to a targeted audience!

Summary – Advanced Remarketing With Custom Combinations
Remarketing in AdWords can be extremely powerful when set up correctly. My hope is that between the two remarketing tutorials I’ve provided here on my blog, you can be up and running relatively quickly. As you can see by going through this tutorial, you can come up with some interesting targeting scenarios using custom combinations. Once you get comfortable with setting up a basic remarketing campaign using custom combinations, you can easily expand to more advanced tactics.

Happy Remarketing!

GG

Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 10:18 am in adwords, google, SEM
9 Comments »
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

When We’re All On Page 1 – The Potential Impact of Google’s Infinite Scroll

Last month, there were several sightings of Google testing “infinite scroll” in its main search results. If you’re not familiar with infinite scroll, it would all but eliminate the need to click through to page 2, 3, and beyond of the search engine results pages (SERPs). Instead, you could simply click a button at the bottom of the search results to “show more results”. Then via AJAX, Google would load additional sets of search results. Yes, that means we would all achieve page 1 rankings. Not exactly, but you get the point. :)

Note, Google Images already uses infinite scroll, and Yandex just rolled it out on yandex.ru last week. You can check out both properties to see how it works. You can also check out the YouTube video below to see one of Google’s tests in action.

Google Testing Infinite Scroll (Credit: Waebo):

Google has also been testing a locked search bar (the header), which makes sense. Google will still want users to be able to refine their searches, even when viewing additional sets of results via infinite scroll. By implementing a locked header, the search bar would remain at the top of the page as you scroll down. It’s similar to freezing a row in Excel. The search box would always be accessible.

The Potential Impact of Infinite Scroll
It’s widely known in Search that many people won’t click through to page 2 or beyond. This has been highlighted in various studies, and I also documented this when analyzing the long tail of SEO. Instead of clicking through to page 2, many users would scan the top listings on page 1 and then refine their queries if they didn’t find what they needed. This obviously made ranking on page 1 extremely important, but also made targeting the long tail extremely important (as you would want to rank for long tail keywords that followed searches for head and torso terms).

So, now that Google is testing infinite scroll, there are many questions about how this could impact organic search, paid search, local search, etc. Therefore, I spent some time taking a look at infinite scroll, with the goal of trying to determine its potential impact. Below, I’ll cover several ways that the Search results could be impacted by infinite scroll and what this means for companies trying to gain more exposure, clicks, and sales. Note, I did not cover every possible way that infinite scroll could affect the Search results. Instead, I focused on some core elements within each category of Search.

Multiple Number 1 Rankings
Prior to infinite scroll, if you didn’t rank on page 1, you would need to rely on users clicking through to page 2 and beyond to see your listings. With infinite scroll, users might be more apt to simply click a “show more results” button to reveal another set of listings on the same page. If that’s the case, then rankings 11, 21, 31, etc. will become more important real estate-wise. Sure, they won’t be as strong as a true #1 ranking, but the first listing in a new set of results will give that listing more exposure than it gets now.

In addition, this doesn’t just apply to rankings 21, 31, etc. The first few listings in each new set will increase in importance. We know via eye tracking studies that users tend to focus on the first few listings in the search results and then their focus fades as they scan down the listings. If you have content ranking high on page 2, those listings could very well gain more exposure when infinite scroll kicks in.

Standing Out Via Universal Search
When infinite scroll kicks in, users might be viewing many more listings per search session (versus just 10). For example, if someone clicks the “show more results” button twice after searching, they will see 30 listings. This leads me to think that Universal Search will become even more important than it is now. If you’re not familiar with the concept of Universal Search, it’s the blending of various types of content in the SERPs. For example, video, images, news, blog posts, shopping, etc.

An example of universal search in action (Shopping Results):
Example of Universal Search Result (Shopping)

Universal Search can help you stand out, since it often includes image thumbnails, whether that’s a video thumbnail, news thumbnail, product thumbnail, etc. With infinite scroll, users might be scanning 30 or 40 listings to find what they need. If you make sure that you target various types of content with a strong content generation strategy, you can have a greater chance at showing up within the blended results. And that can very well lead to more exposure and click-through.

Rich Snippets Will Become Richer
Similar to what I explained about Universal Search, rich snippets could become more important too. If you’re not familiar with rich snippets, you should start researching the topic today. The core engines have come together to support schema.org markup , which can provide more information about content across the web. For example, you can use markup on your site for articles, events, ratings, reviews, people, etc. Rich snippets enhance listings in the SERPs, and each snippet can look different based on the data at hand.

When you break it down, the engines advocate using this additional markup, the snippets can help your listings stand out, and the markup is relatively easy to implement. Again, I recommend understanding how rich snippets work and then determine how your content can benefit from adding the necessary markup. You can see an example of a recipe rich snippet below.

An example of rich snippets in action (recipe):
Rich Snippet Example (Recipe)

(Stronger) Paid Search Inventory
Although Google already provides additional paid search ads when users click through to page 2 and beyond, we know that many people don’t take the effort to actually venture beyond page 1. Since Google generates ~97% of its revenue from paid search, ad inventory is very important. With infinite scroll, I believe users will be more apt to load additional sets of search listings. If this is the case, then AdWords inventory will increase, which can help both paid search advertisers and Google. In addition, I believe the “new” ad space will be stronger for advertisers. The increased ad inventory can help both advertisers gain more exposure and clicks, while also helping Google increase revenue. It’s a win-win.

Similar to what I explained about the organic listings, there will now be multiple top paid search rankings. If your paid search ads did not reach page 1 due to a lower Ad Rank, you now may have a greater shot at a top ranking (as users load additional results). We’ll have to see what the final implementation looks like for infinite scroll, but Yandex manipulates the page to jump the new set of listings to the top of the page. If that’s the case, the top paid search listings on load 2 and beyond will look very similar to what it looks like on page 1. And again, infinite scroll could increase the amount of time these ads show up, which can obviously impact impressions, clicks, and sales.

Paid Search Ad Formats and Ad Extensions
Both ad formats and ad extensions in SEM will become even more important when infinite scroll rolls out. If a user is viewing additional sets of paid search listings, then having your ads stand out is very important. I see this already with my own clients when they effectively use ad sitelinks, location extensions, product listing ads, product extensions, etc. If you aren’t familiar with the various ad formats and ad extensions available to AdWords advertisers, then now is a good time to research them. For example, by using the range of ad extensions, your ads gain more real estate and provide additional visuals that can help your ads stand out, gain more credibility, and enhance click-through. And those are all good things in SEM.

An example product listing ads (AdWords):
Example of Product Listing Ads in AdWords

Local Search, More Places To Choose From
Similar to organic search, rankings #11, 21, 31, etc. will be additional #1 spots for local businesses. Obviously the first set will be more important, but 11 won’t be so bad either (if infinite scroll is used more than clicking to page 2). Place Search is critically important for local businesses. With infinite scroll, more places can be dynamically displayed, which can help even more local businesses gain much-needed exposure.

In addition, if set up and managed correctly, the combination of paid search and place search could be extremely powerful for local businesses. As I explained earlier with paid search, there will be more ad inventory as users load more results using infinite scroll. Ensuring you have a solid local paid search strategy will be extremely important. Also, I mentioned ad extensions earlier in the post. Location extensions and call extensions can be a local business owner’s best friend. They enable advertisers to provide address information and a clickable phone number right in the search results.

Social and Google+
If more people use infinite scroll to view additional listings, Google could possibly add more Google+ related information in the right sidebar (along with ads and/or universal search elements). For example, if a user loads additional sets of listings via infinite scroll, Google could decide to provide social recommendations in the right sidebar that drive users to Google+ (to either sign up or to interact with other users and organizations).

Also, and it’s something I mentioned in my post about Google+ Advertising opportunities, advertisers might be able to run Google+ ads that leverage both Search and Social information. As I explained in my post, Google will be the first company to close the loop between Search and Social. This can enable Google to drive more advertising revenue, while also helping Google+ grow (which of course can lead to more users, more ad inventory, more revenue, etc.)

Infinite Summary
We’ve seen the tests, we’ve seen it in action on Google Images, and now Yandex has rolled it out. In my opinion, infinite scroll is coming soon to a SERP near you. I hope my post explained the potential impact that infinite scroll could have on organic, paid, local, and social search. Let’s face it, if Google can enhance usability, increase ad inventory, gain more clicks for advertisers, while also increasing revenue and profitability, why wouldn’t it implement infinite scroll? Now the ball is in your court. I recommend reviewing your digital marketing efforts to make sure you’re ready for infinite scroll.

And by the way, now is probably a good time to visit page 2 and beyond before they are gone forever. Go ahead and click past page 1, take some screenshots, and then say your goodbyes. It won’t be long now…

GG

Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 3:44 pm in adwords, google, google-plus, SEM, SEO
10 Comments »
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

How To Customize The +Snippet When Users Click The Google +1 Button To Share Content

Last week Google announced that the +1 button now enables you to share content with your connections on Google+. This is the natural progression for the +1 button, which hit the scene before Google+ (the platform) did. Similar to the Like button for Facebook, it makes sense that the content you +1 can get pushed back Google+ for your connections to view, visit, share, etc. You can view a screenshot below of this in action.

The Google +Snippet

When you choose to share content via the +1 button, you’ll notice that an image thumbnail sometimes shows up, along with a title and description. Google announced that they are giving site owners more control by letting them customize these elements, including the title, description, and image used for the thumbnail. This can definitely help publishers achieve “maximum sharability”. By adding some additional markup to your webpages, you can tailor the elements that show up when visitors share your content via the +1 button. I’ll cover those elements and how to add the markup below.

Maximum Sharability
I quickly mentioned this above, and wanted to explain what this means. I’m a firm believer that the image, title, and description can have a big impact on how your content gets shared, re-shared, +1’d, liked, etc. The reason is simple. Most people have hundreds of friends across various social networks (and some people have thousands of connections). The right “creative” can help your content stand out as your connections are scanning their circles in Google+. If you can catch their attention, you have a greater chance of having those people visit your content, +1 your update, and then share your post or update with their own connections. This can lead to a spike in traffic and exposure, which are both good for your business, blog, company, and digital efforts. Let’s take a look at how you can customize the snippet shared on Google+ when visitors click the +1 button.

Schema.org Attributes
In a previous post, I explained how you could customize your +1 button code to unlock exclusive content. You can check my post out in greater detail to learn more about adding the button to your site, editing the code, etc. For this post, I’m going to focus on how to add markup to your html content in order to tell Google which elements should be used for the thumbnail image, title, and description when shared. You can accomplish this by adding schema.org attributes to your content, which will tell Google which elements to use. In order to do this, you’ll need to use the Article item type when adding the code.

The three pieces of markup that you’ll need to add to your webpage include:
1. itemprop=”name”
2. itemprop=”description”
3. itemprop=”image”

In addition, you will need add an element and attribute to your opening body tag in your document, which is the itemscope element and itemtype attribute. See below.

 HTML |  copy code |? 
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<body itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article">
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The “name” attribute will provide the title you want to use when visitors share your content, and the “description” and “image” attributes are self-explanatory.  The great part about adding this markup is that you choose which elements to use for the image, title, and description versus leaving Google in charge of doing so.  For example, if you have a killer visual that you want to make sure is used, or if you want to include a great title that’s not the title tag of the page, then you should use this markup to make sure your suggestions are used.  Remember “maximum sharability” that I mentioned earlier?  Controlling these elements can help.


Note, if you want to understand the order of precedence that Google will employ when choosing the elements for the snippet, check out the help page about the +snippet attributes.  You’ll see that Google recommends using the schema.org attributes over other methods.  


+Snippet Example:

Let’s walk through a quick example.  I’ve added the necessary markup to this blog post in order to show you how it works.  You can walk through the following steps to add the markup to your own webpage.


1. Add ItemScope Element 

The first thing you want to do is to add the itemscope element and itemtype attribute to the opening body tag.  It looks like this:


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<body itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article">
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 2. Add The Title For Your +Snippet

Next, let’s use the title tag as the title of the snippet.  To do this, you need to add the itemprop=”name” attribute to the title tag.  


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<h1 itemprop="name">{your title tag goes here}</h1>
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3. Add The Description For Your +Snippet: 

Now let’s focus on the description for the snippet.  You can choose which text to use and then add the itemprop =”description” attribute to the html element containing the description.  For example, imagine the desired text was contained in a paragraph tag:


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<p itemprop="description">{your description goes here}</p>
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4. Add The Image That Should Be Used For The Thumbnail:

Last, let’s choose the image thumbnail that gets displayed by default.  Find the image that you want to use and add the itemprop =”image” attribute to the img tag.  Note, you can use any image that’s on the page in question.


 HTML |  copy code |? 
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<img src="{img file name here}" itemprop="image" {other image attributes here...} />
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That’s it!  You have successfully added the necessary markup for controlling the +snippet.  If you want, you can test it out this page now by clicking the +1 button above.  You should see the elements that I chose for the +snippet when you share this on Google+.  


The Google Rich Snippets Testing Tool

Google provides a way to test the markup on your webpages to see if your code is set up properly.  It’s called the rich snippets testing tool and you can use it to test your +snippet.  Simply visit the tool and then add the URL to the form.  Click “Preview” and you should see the structured data that Google extracted from your webpage.  You should see each attribute listed, along with the elements you chose to use in the +snippet.


Google's Rich Snippets Testing Tool


Control the +Snippet

Google+ is growing rapidly, and members will be sharing more and more information there.  As I covered in this post, Google is now enabling webmasters to control the snippet that gets shared, which can definitely help with exposure, +1’s, shares, etc.  Using some basic markup, you can easily control the elements that gets used for your +snippet.  So, in a digital world where you often can’t control how content gets shared, you can have some control here.  Therefore, I recommend you add this markup.  Again, think about “maximum sharability”.  


GG


								
                

				                
                

                
				

                
                	
Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 9:24 am in blogging, google, google-plus, social-media, viral-marketing

				
					
7 Comments »

                
				

                
                

                
				

			


		
			

			
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

            
            
G-Squared News: Glenn Gabe in Direct Marketing News and Google Analytics Featured Articles


			

				
I rarely take the time to post updates on my blog about company news, as I try to keep The Internet Marketing Driver focused on providing helpful digital marketing posts!  That said, I’m really excited about some recent G-Squared Interactive news and decided to post an update today.  


Direct Marketing News

First, in July I wrote a post on Search Engine Journal about Google+ Advertising Opportunities, based on the recent launch of Google’s social platform.  That blog post was quickly noticed by Direct Marketing News, and a quote from my post was featured in the August issue.  You can see a screenshot from the magazine below, and you can view the entire article as a PDF. If you end up reading the entire post on Search Engine Journal, you’ll understand the incredible opportunity Google has for connecting Search and Social, which is something that no other company has done in the past.  Google could potentially add billions of dollars in advertising revenue via Google+, and my post explains some possible ways it can be implemented.  You should check it out if you haven’t already.


Glenn Gabe in Direct Marketing News – Click the image below to view the full article (PDF):

Glenn Gabe in Direct Marketing News Regarding Google+


Google Analytics Featured Articles

In addition, I have exciting news about some of my analytics-focused blog posts.  In June, Google reached out to me regarding my post about using Advanced Segments in Google Analytics to Identify SEO Problems.  It ends up Google decided to feature that post in the Google Analytics Help Center!  The featured article went live last month.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to see Google feature one of my posts.  I love writing in-depth tutorials about using Google Analytics to analyze digital marketing campaigns, Search traffic, etc., so I was honored to have Google feature one of those articles.   In addition, I found out that several more of my posts will be listed in Google Analytics Help Center in the coming months.  I will post updates here on my blog when that happens.


Glenn Gabe’s post about using Advanced Segments Featured in the Google Analytics Help Center:

Glenn Gabe's Post About Advanced Segments and SEO Featured in The Google Analytics Help Center


Subscribe to My Blog, Follow Me On Twitter, and Connect on Google+

Although I write extensively here on The Internet Marketing Driver, I’m also a columnist at Search Engine Journal and a contributor at the Microsoft adCenter blog.  You should definitely subscribe to my blog to keep up with my latest posts about digital marketing.  In addition, you should follow me on Twitter.  My Twitter stream contains a constant flow of the latest news and information on technology, search engine marketing, web analytics, social media strategy, etc.  You should also connect with me on Google+, which as you can probably guess, I’m a big fan of.  :)


I look forward to sharing more exciting news from G-Squared.


GG


								
                

				                
                

                
				

                
                	
Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 8:43 am in google-analytics, google-plus, social-media, web-analytics

				
					
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Thursday, August 18th, 2011

            
            
How to Remove Mobile Contacts and Phone Numbers from Facebook [Android Instructions]


			

				
**Update, January 2012**

I have updated this post based on recent changes to Facebook.  Due to the introduction of Timeline, the process for removing your mobile contacts has changed.  And yes, it’s harder to find now (which isn’t shocking since we’re talking about Facebook. :)  Follow the updated instructions below to remove your mobile contacts from Facebook.

**


Last week, yet another Facebook privacy issue hit the scene.  Actually, it has been around for a while, but was just brought to everyone’s attention last week.  This time users learned that there was a good chance all of their mobile contacts had been synced (and uploaded) to their Facebook accounts, including the phone numbers of those contacts.  The sync functionality was opt-out, and not opt-in, which is absolutely ridiculous.  It was somewhat disturbing to see all my mobile contacts sitting in Facebook, including all of their phone numbers.  Again, that functionality has been live for some time now (years), but was somewhat hidden in the interface.  That caused many people, including myself, to not realize what was going on.


Wait, But I’m Not Friends With Them on Facebook!

I started noticing certain issues before the news was released by major blogs and publications.  The reason is simple.  Facebook started showing profile information in my right sidebar of people I wasn’t friends with on Facebook, but did know via business (people that were in my mobile contacts).  It struck me as really odd… For example, how did Facebook know I was connected with them at all??  That’s either a pretty darn robust algorithm, or they have additional information.  Well, Facebook did have additional information, which was a list of my mobile contacts that had been synced with my Facebook account!  Although this was disturbing, it unfortunately wasn’t shocking given Facebook’s history with privacy issues.  


Remove My Mobile Contacts Please

After the issue was uncovered and friends started telling friends that they should remove their mobile contacts from Facebook, reality hit.  Nobody knew how to do it.  This was brilliant for Facebook, which would love to keep your contacts in their system.  Think about it, Facebook now had access to the contact information of millions of people, some of which weren’t on Facebook.  They could also use that information to help members grow their following and connections on the massive social network, which could end up impacting advertising revenue.  Think about it… there would be more inventory and opportunities to display advertising.


Some instructions popped up across the web, but most referenced how iPhone owners could turn off syncing via their Facebook mobile app.  There simply weren’t great instructions for Android owners.  Some instructions I read simply said, “turn off sync in your mobile app”.  The problem was that the Facebook Android app doesn’t have a sync option.  Given what I do for a living, I had several people ping me for accurate instructions, since they were still seeing their mobile contacts on Facebook (with phone numbers).  That’s after going through the removal process that Facebook provided on the site.  Again, to be fair, Facebook did state that you should turn off “sync” before clicking the remove button on its site.  The problem was that many people didn’t know how to turn off sync.  


A Step by Step Android Tutorial for Removing Imported Mobile Contacts from Facebook

The confusion I’ve seen and heard with Android owners is why I wrote this post.  My hope is that you can follow the steps below and feel confident that your mobile contacts will stay on your mobile phone, and not find their way to Facebook (where they can be used a number of ways by the social network).  Without further ado, here are the steps you can take to remove your mobile contacts and phone numbers.


1a. Turn Off Sync on Your Android Phone

Facebook states you need to turn off syncing on your mobile phone before using the page on its site to remove your contacts.  But where is the “sync” option on your Android phone? Good question and I finally found the option after digging around.  The option is not in your Facebook mobile app, which would be the logical place…  Instead, it’s in your Android settings, under Accounts and Sync.  But it gets more complicated than that.  When I went into these settings, I saw several accounts that were syncing, but not Facebook.  That’s strange and could be the issue that others were running into when trying to remove their mobile contacts.  


I ended up adding my Facebook account in “Accounts and Sync”, and then making sure that sync was off.  Then I went and removed my mobile contacts from Facebook.  This worked for me.


1b. Access Your “Sync” Settings

On your Android phone, tap your menu, then tap “Settings”, and then “Accounts and Sync”


How To Access Sync Options on Android Apps


2. Disable “Sync” for Facebook

If Facebook is listed, tap the icon to bring up its settings.  Make sure “Sync Contacts” is turned off. You can also turn off “Sync Calendar” as well.


Facebook Sync Account on Android


Facebook Sync Options on Android


3. Add a Facebook Account (if needed) and Then Disable Sync

If Facebook is not listed, then click “Add Account” to add it to the list.  Then make sure that “Sync Contacts” is turned off. You should now be set from a mobile phone standpoint.


Facebook Sync Add Account on Android


Updated Instructions, Based on the Release of Timeline

4. Access Your Contacts on Facebook

Log into Facebook, click the “Friend Requests” icon at the top of the screen, then “Find Friends”.  


Access Mobile Contacts on Facebook


5. Manage Imported Contacts

Then click “Manage Imported Contacts” in the upper right-hand corner.  Your contacts will be displayed (including both Facebook friends and mobile contacts that were uploaded).  You might see all of their phone numbers at this point.  Don’t worry, we’re about to remove your imported contacts.


Access Facebook Contact Information


6. Remove Imported Contacts From Your Mobile Phone

Now you should see a mention about removing your imported contacts.  Click the link, which will take you to a page with the option to remove your mobile contacts.  


How to Remove Imported Contacts From Facebook


7. The Remove Button

Go through the process of removing your contacts by clicking the “Remove” button.  Once you click the button, Facebook will tell you that your contacts are in the process of being removed, and that it can take a while.  This is normal.


Confirm You Want to Remove Imported Contacts From Facebook


8. Receive Confirmation and Check Your Contacts

You should receive a message from Facebook that your mobile contacts have been removed.  That said, you should check your contacts again to make sure those contacts have been removed.  Note, you will still see your Facebook friends listed, including their phone numbers.  You cannot control what they are sharing, so don’t automatically think the process didn’t work.  If you don’t want your mobile phone number to show up, then you should remove it from your profile (by clicking the “Home” link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, then clicking the “Account Settings” link, and then clicking the “Mobile” link in the left side options).  You will be able to remove your mobile number at this point.


Congratulations, you have successfully removed your mobile contacts from Facebook!


Summary – Keep an Eye on Your Information

If you followed this tutorial, then you have a good chance at keeping your mobile contacts safe from Facebook (including their phone numbers).  Unfortunately, there are stories every day about privacy issues with social networks, so it’s important you keep up to date on the changes.  This specific issue has been around for a long time, but finally was revealed.  I don’t know about you, but I think we are quickly heading to a time when the idea of “social networking privacy” is a misnomer.  Until then, hang on as tight as you can to your information, your contacts, etc.  If you don’t, then there are a thousand ways it can be used by various businesses.  Some for good reasons, and others for bad reasons.  Let’s try and minimize the bad. 


GG


								
                

				                
                

                
				

                
                	
Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 9:43 am in Android, facebook, privacy, security

				
					
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Monday, August 1st, 2011

            
            
How To Quickly View Mobile Visitor Performance in Google Analytics Using The New Mobile Reports [Tutorial]


			

				
Analyzing Mobile Performance in Google Analytics


As smartphone sales boom, and mobile traffic is on the increase, I’m finding many marketers are unclear about mobile visitor performance.  I say this because whenever mobile comes up during conversations, I ask how well that traffic is converting, and I typically hear crickets (unfortunately).  On a similar note, there are some marketers that are making decisions about creating mobile apps, mobile websites, transforming content, etc. without analyzing their mobile traffic.  They hear that Android phones, iPhones, and iPads are selling like crazy, so their knee-jerk reaction is to make serious changes to their websites.  That’s dangerous, since they are basing changes on opinion and not data.  And if you’ve read previous posts of mine, you know I’m a firm believer in basing changes on hard data.  It’s one of the reasons that analytics is a core service of mine.


So, if you are wondering how your mobile traffic compares to your desktop/laptop traffic, then this post is for you.  I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to use the new Google Analytics to understand top-level mobile performance.  Note, you’ll probably want to dig much deeper than what I’m going to show you, but this process will give you real data about mobile performance.  I want you to be comfortable the next time your CMO brings up mobile traffic at your weekly meeting.  As everyone else in the room is nervously quiet, you can be the one that starts presenting real numbers, based on Google Analytics reporting.  Let’s dig in.


Gaining a Mobile Baseline

In order to make smart and informed decisions about mobile strategy, you need to at least have a basic understanding of how your current mobile traffic is performing.  In addition, it’s a wise move to have data points handy when asked how your current site handles mobile visitors.  For example, if your CEO or CMO suddenly want to know the percentage of revenue or conversion coming from mobile visitors.  As explained earlier, instead of awkward silence, you can be the one speaking up and giving hard numbers.    


Using the methods listed below, you can fire up Google Analytics, access just a handful of reports, and view performance data for mobile visitors.  In addition, you can view mobile performance by operating system (iPhone, Android, iPad, Blackberry, etc.), since we know that’s the next logical question your CMO will ask.  :)  Before we hop in, you’ll be happy to know that the latest version of Google Analytics provides mobile reports that contain this information.  Using this data, you can quickly understand if mobile visitors are having problems when visiting your site, if they are bouncing, not converting, etc.  After you run this top-level reporting, you can choose to dig deeper, identify changes to make, and form a stronger mobile strategy.


Two Quick Methods for Viewing Top-Level Mobile Performance

I’m going to explain two quick methods for accessing mobile reporting in Google Analytics. Both reports are contained in the Mobile reporting tab within the Visitors section of Google Analytics.  The first will enable us to see a top-level report for desktop and mobile visitors, while the second report will enable us to view mobile visitors by operating system.      


Accessing Mobile Reporting in Google Analytics:

In the new Google Analytics, you can access mobile reporting in the Audience section of the UI.  Click Audience, and then Mobile to reveal two reports (Overview and Devices).  Note, Google Analytics has updated the interface, and the tab used to be named Visitors. 


Accessing the mobile reports in Google Analytics


The first report we are going to access is the “Overview” report.  This report simply shows mobile visitors versus non-mobile visitors.  Although this looks like a simple report, it can show you the overall performance difference between the two segments of traffic (mobile and desktop visitors).  Once you access the report, you’ll see two rows of data, one labeled “Yes” for mobile visitors, and the other “No” for non-mobile visitors.  View the screenshot below.


Click the image below to view a larger version:

The mobile overview report in Google Analytics


At this point, all of your mobile traffic is lumped into the “Yes” row.  You can quickly view top-level metrics like Bounce Rate, Pages Per Visit, Average Time on Site, etc.  After taking a quick look at the report, how does the Bounce Rate look for mobile visitors?  If you see a much higher bounce rate with your mobile traffic, it could obviously mean they are not having a great experience on your site.  You might start asking some questions at this point… Does your current site render ok for mobile visitors?  Is your navigation missing or broken on mobile devices?  Can users convert, complete a transaction, etc?  When helping clients review this data, I’ve seen some reports show a bounce rate for mobile visitors twice that of desktop visitors.  There’s probably an issue if you see this…


Checking Conversion for Mobile Visitors

If you have set up multiple conversion goals, then click the Goal Set tabs.  


Viewing mobile conversion in Google Analytics


Now you can see the difference between desktop and mobile visitors with regard to conversion.  If you run an e-commerce site, you can view revenue numbers for each segment, as well.  Again, we are just looking at a top-level view right now.  Based on what you find, you will probably want to dig much deeper into traffic sources, campaigns, keywords, content, etc., but that’s for another post.  :)  


By the way, notice the process you are going through to analyze mobile traffic in Google Analytics is quick and easy, but also very powerful.  Many companies I speak with aren’t armed with even the most basic data regarding mobile performance.  By quickly going through this process, you will have a top-level view of mobile performance based on data.  This will enable you to make informed decisions about how to best move forward with your site content, how to drive conversion via mobile visitors, etc.  Basically, you’ll have data backing your case. 


Viewing Mobile Traffic by Operating System

Let’s say that mobile traffic has a high bounce rate and low conversion (obviously).  Your next question might be, “which mobile operating systems perform best or worst on my site?”  For example, Android vs. iPhone vs. Blackberry vs. iPad.  The good news is that you can quickly see the breakdown via the “Devices” report in the Mobile reporting in Google Analytics.  Once you click the “Devices” report, you can dimension the report by mobile operating system by clicking the “Operating System” link (which is located horizontally at the top of the report.)  See screenshot below.


Viewing mobile reporting by operating system in Google Analytics


Once you click the operating system dimension, you will see all of your mobile visits broken down by mobile operating system.  Then you can go through the same process we used above to view bounce rate, conversion, revenue, etc.  You might find that certain OS’s have more problems than others.  For example, maybe iPad traffic has a 92% bounce rate and very low conversion rates, where Android phones have a 42% bounce rate and decent conversion rates.  You won’t know until you run the reporting.  And again, you will probably want to dig deeper once you get a top-level view by OS.  But again, that’s for another post. 


Fast and Easy Can Still Be Powerful

The next time you’re in a meeting and someone asks how mobile visitors perform on your website, you can now be armed with data.  As I’ve mentioned before, don’t base decisions on opinion when you can analyze hard data via Google Analytics reporting.  In just minutes, you can gain a top-level view of mobile visitor performance, and then dig deeper to view performance by mobile operating system.  


Are you ready to analyze your own site now?  Don’t hesitate, go and access the reports I just covered in this post.  You never know what you’re going to find. 


GG


								
                

				                
                

                
				

                
                	
Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 6:10 am in Android, google-analytics, iphone, mobile, web-analytics

				
					
11 Comments »

                
				

                
                

                
				

			


		
			

			
Monday, July 4th, 2011

            
            
AdWords+ | The Effect of Google+ on SEM and Social Advertising


			

				
How AdWords+ Can Work With Google+


I’ve been heavily testing Google+ over the past week, and it’s hard not to be impressed with the new social platform.  Google+ is extremely slick, includes outstanding functionality, and I especially like the way that Circles enable you to silo connections to control privacy.  I understand that Google+ is new, so it’s not really a fair comparison, but I found myself going to Twitter and Facebook less over the past week.  And I’m pretty sure I wasn’t alone.  I’m excited to see how Google+ will expand, and the opportunities are easy to see (gaming, local, business profiles, ecommerce, etc.)  This is just the beginning of Google taking a serious jump into Social and it’s exciting for digital marketers.  


As I’ve been going through Google+, I keep thinking about the business impact for Google (and its competitors).  Since Google generates most of its revenue from the AdWords platform (~97%), I thought it would be a good idea to write a post about how AdWords could be incorporated into Google+.  Let’s face it, ads are coming (and they should be coming).  Google needs to show growth in the face of Social Media booming.  And when Facebook has 700+ million members, Google needs to show how it will fight off the giant social network in the coming months and years.  If Google could utilize and expand its already incredible advertising platform (AdWords) for Social, then it could potentially give its already strong revenue and profit numbers a serious bump.  And by the way, that’s what Wall Street wants to see.


Facebook Ads and Google Social Ads

As many of you know, Facebook has approximately 700 million members.  It monetizes its platform several ways, but its ads system is an important component.  To reinforce how much Facebook ads has grown, it was recently reported that Facebook will overtake Yahoo in display advertising this year.  That’s impressive, but here’s the deal.  Facebook hasn’t connected Social with Search yet.  Sure, Google hasn’t either, but it could connect the two much easier than Facebook could (since it controls the largest search engine in the world).   And connecting Social with Search is incredibly important to advertisers.  


With Google+, if Google can attract users at scale, which I believe it can do, then it has an opportunity to marry AdWords with Social in a way that Facebook can’t.  AdWords already has a huge base of advertisers, as it has ~70% market share in Search in the U.S. (and I’ve seen this percentage higher with my own clients – across industries).  You can bet that advertisers would love to reach more users via Google+, or more importantly, reaching the same users but with the ability to close the loop between Search and Social.  


Closing The Loop Between Search and Social

Currently, you can reach users searching on Google, Bing, and Yahoo via AdWords and adCenter .  You can also reach users on social networks via other platforms like Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, etc.  Both Search and Social advertising can be very powerful, but there was a missing component.  That missing component was the ability to track someone from Search and then target them on Facebook (the largest social network that attracts millions of users on a daily basis).  Those people also spend a lot of time on Facebook.  So, as an advertiser, the person that searches, visits a site, leaves and visits Facebook goes off the grid (from marketing perspective).  The amazing thing about Google+ is that it will enable Google to connect Search and Social, and provide advertisers a closed-loop system.  You can target users in Search, and follow them to Google+.  Yes, you will be able to reach them when they go back to their friends and family to find recommendations or to share information.  


This is an amazing opportunity for marketers.  You can’t do that with Facebook now.  You don’t know where they were before Facebook, and you certainly don’t know what they searched for on Google.  But Google can do this, and many of you who focus on SEM already know the mechanism available for accomplishing this.  AdWords provides the ability to leverage behavioral targeting across its Display Network.  Using remarketing or interest-based targeting with Google+ can open up endless possibilities for advertisers.  And as a paid search marketer, I’m darn excited about the opportunities this presents.  My clients will be excited too.  :)  Let’s take a closer look at the opportunity.


Google+ Can Uniquely Close The Loop Between Search and Social

How Google+ Can Close The Loop Between Search and Social


AdWords+, The Behavioral Targeting Opportunity

For those of you familiar with AdWords, you already know how powerful of a platform it is.  From paid search ads on Google.com to remarketing on the Display Network to the recently released interest-based targeting, AdWords is a killer advertising platform.  Now with Google+, AdWords can finally connect with a Social Network the way that Google has wanted to for some time.  Sure, Google had you in Search, but they lost you when you went to Facebook to share information.  Now they can close the loop and follow you across Social borders.  


They can “follow you” due to their advancements in behavioral targeting, mentioned earlier.  I already run remarketing campaigns for my clients where I can cookie users on a website and present targeted ads to them as they travel the web (knowing the site or pages they visited).  That’s powerful, but again, I lose them when they hit Facebook.  They go off the grid.  With Google+, if I could use remarketing to follow you from Search to {enter website here}, and then to Google+, then that provides an incredible opportunity for advertisers.  And it’s one that digital marketers have been looking for…


But wait, AdWords+ wouldn’t have to stop there.  Since Google controls both Google+ and Search, advertisers would be able to follow you from Social back to Search.  For example, when someone leaves Google+ and performs more searches, advertisers can remarket to them again. To quickly recap, AdWords+ could track you from initial Search to website to Social (with Google+) and then back to Search.  Again, this is incredible for marketers.


Remarketing Campaigns Could Easily Expand to Google+

Google Remarketing and Google+


More Behavioral Targeting

In addition, the recent interest-based targeting enables me to target a browser and not just provide ads based on contextual targeting.  That lets me follow your browser as you travel the web, and Google+, based on your activity on the web.  I can then present targeted advertising to you without worrying about the keywords you enter or the content that’s on the page.  I just know the type of person you are and then present ads to you.  Again, that’s powerful, but can be even more powerful when integrated with Google+.


Google+ Expands Display Network Inventory 

Then of course, there’s good old contextual targeting via the Display Network, which can also be incredibly powerful when set up and used properly.  Google+ will probably be part of the Display Network, like YouTube is, Gmail, Google Maps, etc.  That’s unless it gets its own platform, which is possible.  More on that soon.  Using contextual targeting, advertisers can target types of content and present ads that relate to that content.  So, if you post an update about fireworks on July 4th, I can present July 4th sale ads.  Or, based on location targeting, I can present a coupon to my July 4th restaurant specials.  If you post about your latest 5K run, I can present ads for the latest running sneakers from Nike.  If you are reading an article about baby formula, I can run ads for baby bottles. You get the picture.


This is why I love helping clients with the Display Network.  Contextual targeting can be extremely powerful.  And with Google+, the amount of inventory across the Display Network can exponentially expand.  And, Google will know even more about you, since you’ll be sharing incredible information on Google+ on a regular basis.  Think about the types of information you share on Facebook, including updates about friends, family, kids, work, play, location, sports, restaurants, hobbies, etc.  Now think about what you share with Google when you search, including queries about health, commerce, clothes, food, local, questions (across categories), etc.  Let’s face it, you share a boatload of information when you search.  Now combine the two, and you have Google+ advertising, or what I’m calling AdWords+.  


Innovative Social Ads

Google+ inherently provides a wealth of opportunity for creating innovate ways to advertise.  And with the incredible engineers at Google, you can expect new formats to enter the scene.  With Circles, Hangouts, Huddles, Photos, Video, the Mobile App, etc., there are many ways Google can innovate.  And again, with behavioral targeting, this could be a huge win for Google and advertisers.  I’m excited to see what’s coming, and more excited to implement those innovations for my clients.  It’s an exciting time to be in digital marketing.


Advertising+ Meet Privacy+ 

Can you see why this has incredible potential for Google?  Can you also see why this has incredible potential for advertisers?  But, can you also see why this presents some privacy challenges for the average person?  The answer is “yes” to all three questions listed above…  Google needs to be very careful on this front.  There are already privacy concerns with Google and there are already privacy concerns with Facebook.  Google+ can trigger privacy concerns that dwarf any that has come before it.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.


AdWords+ Can Mean Revenue+ for Google

Although it’s easy to get caught up in the impressive social platform Google has developed, we shouldn’t forget that Google is a business.  It’s a business that needs to show growth, when Social is impacting Search, which is where Google makes 97% of its revenue, and where it has failed several times before.  If Google+ gains traction, the revenue implications could be massive.  If you’re a digital marketer, get ready for Paid Search Marketing with AdWords to turn into Paid Social Marketing with AdWords+.  


Now let me go share this on Google+.   :)


GG


								
                

				                
                

                
				

                
                	
Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 8:16 am in adwords, google, google-plus, SEM, social-media

				
					
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Monday, June 27th, 2011

            
            
How to Use the Google +1 Button Callback Parameter to Unlock Exclusive Content


			

				
Google +1 Button Callback Parameter


Since the release of the Google +1 button for websites in early June, many webmasters have been trying to figure out the best ways to implement it across their sites.  In its most basic form, the +1 button is relatively easy to add to a webpage.  You can grab two line of code, add them to your webpage, and be on your way.  That said, Google has provided several parameters you can use with the +1 button that control how the button looks, what is displays, which URL should receive the +1, and which function you want to call when someone clicks the +1 button.  Wait, did you catch that last part?  Google added a mechanism for webmasters to trigger a JavaScript function when someone clicks a +1 button.  The mechanism I’m referring to is the “callback” parameter of the +1 button, and it opens up a world of opportunity for webmasters.  Let’s explore the parameter in greater detail, including what it is, how to use it, and how to avoid problems down the line.


What is the Callback Parameter?

As I mentioned earlier, you can implement the basic +1 button on your site with just a few lines of code.  You need to include a JavaScript tag and then the +1 button tag.  It’s essentially two lines of code and you’ll have a +1 button on a webpage.  But, if you review the Google Code page for the +1 button, you’ll notice several other parameters.  You have count, size, and href, which control the display of the +1 button, as well as identifying the URL that should receive the +1.  Then you have the callback parameter, which takes the name of a JavaScript function as the value of the parameter.  The JavaScript function you trigger can do anything you want (ok, not anything), and I’ll cover more about this soon.  


Here is what the google +1 button code would look like when using the callback parameter:


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<g:plusone callback="helloWorld"></g:plusone>


When you include the callback parameter in the +1 tag, you provide the name of a JavaScript function that will be triggered when someone clicks the +1 button.  In this example, the function called “helloWorld” will be triggered.  Note, helloWorld() needs to be part of the global namespace, meaning it needs to be included in the page or referenced in the html file via a script tag.  The function will receive a JSON object, which includes both an “href” value and a “state” value.  “href” will include the URL that received the +1 and “state” is either on or off (where on represents a +1 and off means someone removed a +1).  That information is good to know and you can handle each situation separately.  More about this soon.


Example: A Simple JavaScript Function

Below, I have included a very basic JavaScript function that’s called when someone clicks a +1 button.  It simply throws an alert displaying the state of the button when clicked.  Note, this function could either reside in the page itself or it could reside in an external JavaScript file that’s referenced in your html page (via a script tag).


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 function helloWorld(plusone) {
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	window.alert('+1 Triggered, State=' + plusone.state);
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}
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How the Callback Parameter Can Be Used

Based on adding the callback parameter to the +1 button, Google is enabling webmasters to creatively use the functionality to interact with users.  For example, you could reward users that +1 a page on your site.  There are some rules, though.  Remember, +1’s impact rankings, so you don’t want to “buy” rankings.  I attended a Google webinar last week that covered best ways to implement the +1 button and Google made it very clear that you should not pay for +1’s.  That means you shouldn’t incentivize users with money, product, or services based on those users clicking a +1 button on your site.  Here is the actual language from Google’s policy page:


“Publishers should not promote prizes, monies, or monetary equivalents in exchange for +1 Button clicks.”


The reason Google doesn’t want publishers incentivizing users with prizes or money is simple.  +1’s impact rankings, rankings should not be manipulated in any way, and paying for +1’s is like paying for links.  Don’t do it.


Unlocking Content is OK

Although you can’t provide products or services, Google explains that you can unlock exclusive content.  Here is the language in Google’s policy regarding enabling content and functionality:


“Publishers can direct users to the +1 Button to enable content and functionality for users and their social connections.”


If someone +1’s your new blog post, you could unlock exclusive content for that user  (and you can use this approach creatively, depending on your specific industry, business, etc.)  For example, you could provide a study that goes deeper into a topic, you could provide additional tutorials on the subject matter, provide additional news about a topic, etc.  Just make sure you wouldn’t ordinarily charge for that content.  Yes, this seems like a slippery slope, since exclusive content might already have a price tag associated with it.  As a webmaster (or marketer), you might need to build new content that could be part of your +1 program.    


An Alternative Approach – Catching +1 Removals

Earlier in this post, I mentioned the “state” value that gets passed to your JavaScript function in the JSON object.  That value will tell you whether someone +1’d a page or removed a +1.  Knowing that someone just removed a +1 is important information, and you can act on it using the callback parameter of the +1 button.  For example, maybe you can ask the person why they removed the +1, ask them to reconsider their +1 removal, or redirect them to a page that provides a more creative approach to catching +1 removals.  Now, you don’t want to go overboard here.  If someone just removed a +1, they obviously had a reason.  You don’t want to add fuel to the fire and push the limits of getting that +1 back.  That said, the right messaging could act as a legitimate confirmation that a user will be removing a +1, which could potentially save some of those votes.  It would be interesting to test this out to see how many +1’s you can gain back by using the callback parameter.  


Unlock Content, Get More +1’s?

As you can see, the callback parameter can be a helpful addition to the +1 button code.  Depending on the “state”, you can either reward users with exclusive content, or you can address the removal of a +1.  Remember, +1’s impact search rankings, so they can be extremely valuable to your organic search traffic.  Just be careful about what you’re giving away to users that +1 content on your website.  Make sure you aren’t giving away prizes, money, or services.  The last thing you want is for a creative use of +1 to get you penalized.  And if history has proven anything, you can bet that some webmasters are going to try and manipulate the system to gain more +1’s.  As I said earlier, don’t go down this path.  It’s not worth it.  Play by the rules, be creative, and gain more +1’s the right way.  


By the way, have you +1’d this post yet?  :)


GG


								
                

				                
                

                
				

                
                	
Posted by Glenn Gabe @ 9:09 am in google, SEM, SEO, social-media

				
					
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