Study shows Small Businesses with Revenue Growth due to Increased Online Marketing

There’s not doubt that many businesses have substantially cut costs in Sales, Marketing & Advertising. However, according to the “Small Business Marketing Health Check” report from Hurwitz & Associates, small businesses that are doing well have increased their expenditures in marketing, especially online.

The study showed small businesses with increased revenues shifted marketing initiatives toward cheaper digital media and away from traditional channels. The three key online marketing methods used by these small businesses were use of social networking, email newsletter campaigns and ’search’ (which really means “Pay Per Click”, such as Google’s Adwords platform).

“The survey clearly reveals that the use of low-cost Web-based marketing tools is playing a strategic role in helping businesses succeed,” said Laurie McCabe, partner, Hurwitz & Associates

Thanks to eMarketer’s blog for originally posting details of this report. There are graphs showing various breakdowns of small business revenue, marketing spend and projected spend at this blog.

News Corp’s Murdock says WSJ and The Times may block Google Search bots

I’m not comfortable with the continued demise of newspapers. I feel most folks don’t understand the real loss of paid local journalists and local classifieds. Granted, CraigsList seems to be replacing many local classifieds, but we’re not getting the by-product benefit of local articles about very small community events and issues, written by people in the community…and some nice “sale” ads of interest scattered around it.

I’d like to see an electronic version of local papers somehow survive…I’m betting on Steve Jobs and the much rumored Apple Tablet. (I’m hoping he’s pitched to these papers a similar digital store concept as he did to music labels for iTunes+iPod.)

So, am I a fan of serious content producers charging fees for content? Yes! Required subscription to a site? No!

I’d prefer to use a micro-payment method from Paypal or Google Checkout…where I’m charged a penny or three for various content that I’ve just requested. I like to consume my news and information on an RSS reader on my iPhone while waiting for something…anything really.     

So, I was disappointed to see this statement from News Corp Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch:

Rupert Murdoch says he will remove stories from Google’s search index as a way to encourage people to pay for content online.

Murdoch Speaks to Content Producers

He has been evangelizing about the value of content to the entire Internet Ecosystem…and he’s right. We all turn to the Internet, mostly via Web browsers, to find content that has been published…whether it is a recent product for sale or a great “How to” article. Content IS King! And I really, really want newspapers and other traditional media outlets to figure out ways to monetize and profit from this new digital distribution and consumption model. So…I applaud an easy, transparent, fast and inexpensive way for me to pay for content I care about. I LOVE that iTunes makes it easy to purchase music that I could find myself for free…but the price equals the convenience, so I pay.

But…I rarely seek out articles or content, rather I subscribe to various news feeds and blogs that fall in my personal interest ‘radar’. And as I consume a blog or product announcement, I find “other related articles” and referenced content that I would never have found that way. MOST of my NYTimes or WSJournal articles I have read in the past year were ‘discovered’ this way.

So, here I am all ready to pay for their content. So, I just need to find something that interests me enough to buy it (even for a penny). It would also help if someone I “trust”, such as a weekly blogger I follow, thinks it is a great article. But Murdock thinks he needs to block Google from finding it on his content sites? That makes NO sense to me at all. If the articles aren’t easily found, they won’t be analyzed, commented, supported and trounced by the masses. So, I likely won’t ever hear of the original article, so I won’t try to access (and PAY!) for it, either.

Yes, I applaud the unknown and upcoming change where content producers end up in the driver’s seat. However, I don’t think it will succeed without ease of finding it. With thousands and thousands of webpages published daily, I believe search engines will continue to play a critical role, be it computer driven or human driven (ala, facebook networks or twitter tweets). I don’t see how blocking search bots will help any client monetize their web content going forward.

Online Advertising Increases, but Newspapers are losing there too.

It’s sad. Even online advertising on major newspaper home pages is dwindling. These guys can’t catch a break. I fear the death of newspapers and really believe Craigslist is the killer. Not really Craigslist, because online classifieds were going to happen; effectively diminishing a multi-billion dollar local classified industry down to the $100+ million revenue of just one company with less than 50 employees.

And this New York Times article shows even major newspaper brands continue to lose revenue to more pedestrian online sites. So, while online advertising continues to increase, these news outlets are seeing less and less of the money. Apparently, even major advertising campaigns spending $100,000 per WEBSITE are finding that smaller, targeted ad campaigns are more efficient and effective. However, I think blending the use of these sites, as discussed in the article, is very effective for Brand Image promotion along with product sales/lead generation.

From the article: Over all, the Internet is the only advertising medium expected to grow this year in the United States, rising 9.2 percent, to $54.1 billion, according to figures released this month by ZenithOptimedia, a media service firm.

My small business accounts already understand this. I’ve encouraged them to increase spending on their Internet marketing from improving their websites to trying new pay per click or direct email campaigns. We’ve found funds by cutting back in more traditional marketing areas, such as less print (Ads & collateral), less trade shows, less travel. And so far, we’re very pleased with our results.

So it begs asking…what multi-billion dollar industry are we hurting? I guess I shouldn’t think poorly of my ‘friend’, Craig. Afterall, ‘he’ did help me sell my leather Den furniture in just two days.          

Full Disclosure for Blog and Author. Summary: Not for ‘Secret’ Hire.

I’m very happy that the FTC unanimously approved new guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials, specifically the online ‘bloggers’ requirements.

I figure I should at least state what I hope has been obvious: I don’t blog for compensation.

Want the in-depth details?  I am a partner of Astute Marketing. I receive a compensation in the form of both salary and equity. Astute Marketing receives compensation from clients for performing various marketing and business services, such as consultation. The following statements encompass both my personal full disclosure as well as Astute Marketing’s full disclosure. Bottom line, no one at Astute Marketing, including myself, accepts money or gifts for endorsing, blogging or reviewing products or services as an independent, neutral, non-compensated source. We do produce press releases, web pages, brochures, sales flyers and represent clients in the most positive, factual way possible while clearly and publicly associating closely with the client and/or their brand.

Other than compensation from Astute Marketing, I do not accept any money or other forms of compensation, such as gifts, from any companies or individuals. I have not and do not accept speaking fees, honoraria, or trips. I don’t accept free, discounted, or loaned products. Products that are given to me are either returned or given away.

I have not been paid to speak at events, nor would I accept payment for doing so.  Either my company or I pay my own travel and hotel expenses when I speak at an event, unless I am working and representing a client who has paid those charges as a business expense similar to their own employees.

I do not run advertisements on any of my sites, nor otherwise receive any monetary compensation from the operation of my website. All opinions expressed on this blog are mine.

Finally, I don’t post anonymously. I grew out of that when I grew up. I’ve been posting, commenting and building my on-line reputation since the ’90s as “J. Chandler Hall”. The reason I emphasis and use my first initial “J.” is because there are lots of universities with a Chandler Hall dorm room, or some such building. As long as you search for “J. Chandler Hall”, you’ll almost certainly find my ramblings and such. Have fun and thanks for ’stopping by’…     

Good Adwords case studies and tips from article in New York Times

The New York Times has just published an article that provides a decent overview, tips and case study of four small business and their experience with Google Adwords, even though it glossed over some issues a bit incorrectly (but mostly corrected at the very end of the piece). The biggest error suggests one owner had huge runaway costs before realizing it. That’s just flat wrong as you have to set a budget, which isn’t confusing or misleading, and Google doesn’t exceed it. Otherwise, it shows one business that likely isn’t appropriate for Adwords, one that did well after analyzing and adjusting the keywords being bid upon, one that modified a campaign to just target potential customers near his two brick & mortar stores and finally one small business that hired a professional.

There are several great lessons in this article, especially around geographic ‘local’ targeting and using specific keyword and negative keywords.

A few quotes from the article:
“… Monitoring an AdWords campaign requires a lot of effort. That’s why some entrepreneurs, like Rick Smith, prefer to outsource the management of their campaigns. … After attending an S.E.O. trade show … Mr. Smith hired a firm to run his campaigns for him. … They update or change the ads on pretty much a weekly basis, adding in seasonal or holiday hooks when appropriate, and they monitor the results… “I’m spending less than I did when I did it myself,” said Mr. Smith, “and I’m getting more sales as a result.”

Looking for a Google Wave “Web Dev” team…

UPDATE: Got my invites. Sent out my core ‘5′ invites. Will select and send out the rest during first week of Nov.

I’ve recently received a Google Wave invite. I’m going to use my invites to build a team that can try out Wave on a fun collaboration.

I would like to set up a pilot project oriented around a typical small Web Development project. Fundamentally, I would like to include a few different skill sets, similar to how I outsource today to various professionals.

I anticipate this project to be a very minor time impact on a weekly basis. Fundamentally, we won’t worry about making this perfect or look fantastic. Instead I just want to make a quick pass touching on the major milestones of a web site development.

So, I’m planning on taking the role of overall director of marketing (final approval), and also as an individual contributor for page copy writer, SEO & SEM work.

I want to invite:

• A Graphics Designer, Photoshop, Illustrator or some similar skills
• An HTML / CSS guru (IE, ‘our web coder’, would love HTML5 knowledge and/or Joomla/Druple)
• Flash person
• PhP person

I may not get exact fits, so I’m going to look at my group and try to come up with a fun, solid mix.

If you’re interested in receiving an invite for this effort, please follow my twitter account and send a tweet stating:

@chanhall I want to collaborate on your Google Wave Project #googlewave

I’ll pull those in the evening, follow you back, check out your profile and Direct Message you for an email address to send the invite to…or possibly to follow up with additional questions before making my decision.

THANKS for reading this and hopefully taking the time to join me on this effort!

Huge Growth in Sales? Consider Mobile phones & local searches

The dramatic growth in searching from mobile phones (particularly smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry Storm and the Palm Pre) suggests many businesses can obtain significant growth in sales by properly implementing a mobile search and/or advertisting plan.

This recent report from The Nelson Company, General Mobile – Strategies for Growth, details various research about mobile cell phone features, usage and predicated growth, along with historical facts such as smartphone market share by country.

I’ve highlighted a few facts that suggest if you sell products or services that tend toward the impulse or discretionary purchase, particularly if it is attractive to a demographic of “males aged 18 – 34, making on average over $75K per year“, you should be targeting mobile advertising, especially ‘local’ proximity ads via Mobile Search. Other methods for attracting their attention close to purchase time is through “mobile marketing activities like providing product information, coupons, discounts and event notifications“.

What’s important to understand primarily about this movement? More and more customers are seeking and finding what they want by searching on their phone. Anyone that has spent more than a few minutes around someone with an iPhone understands the phenominal attraction to launching Google Maps and keying in “fine dining”. I have often and quickly helped small groups decide on where to eat by doing so, giving some quick ‘at-a-glance’ star rating summaries, called up a menu or two and then called the place to reserve a spot as we’re heading that way.

If you run a business that mostly caters to geographic point-of-sale customers, you need to understand how to make sure your business shows up in such a scenerio. Is your business registered with Google’s Local Business Center? Do you have any online coupons available? Does your site show up in the 10-Pack? It’s not critical today, but it will be…

Traditional Sales & Marketing down 50%, but Adwords growth is 4.5 times Higher

Are you cutting costs? Decided to cut back on some of those sales give-aways, travel and advertising? You may find your competition is actually cutting back traditional ’spend’, but increasing their Google Adwords campaign spends. Many, many businesses are doing just that in a more increasing fashion every year.

How do I know?

Google recently created various financial trend indexes, based on various keyword searches going back to 2004. They’re called “Google Domestic Trends” and can be found at: http://www.google.com/finance/domestic_trends

If you select a particular index, say “Sales and Advertising”, you’ll see a graph showing how frequent related terms (Google selected) were searched on at a particular time…and then all of that data is totaled and graphed showing a timeline trend. Above the graph, you should look for a link in the description that says, “To see more details on the queries that make up this index, visit Google Insights for Search.”

If you select this link, you can compared this trend against your own keywords. Here’s a chart where I selected “Sales & Advertising”. First, Google’s domestic trend index shows “Sales & Advertising” to be down about 1/2 of its size since 2004. (This seems to track with general data points I have read from other sources.) But does this mean ALL Sales and Advertising is down? What about online spend? Pay Per Click…such as Google Adwords?

I used this tool to plug in two other terms: Google Adwords & just Adwords (some people only search on “adwords”, so I’ll have to add these two together roughly). Here’s a screenshot:

Google Adwords growth over Traditional Sales & Advertising

It should be no surprise that this shows people searching for typical sales & advertising keywords are down by 50% since 2004…but during that same time period, more and more people have been searching for “Google Adwords” (285% higher) as well as just “Adwords” (185%). I’d estimate that combined together 3.5 – 5 times more people, today, are searching on Adwords.

Should you be considering Adwords as well?

Disabling bing’s ‘preview’ and Click Through Rates (CTR)

Microsoft’s Bing search engine is continuing to maintain its initial single digit market share. I know some of my clients now see it providing 3-5% of their search engine traffic. Therefore, it may not be worth most web master’s time to worry about SEO differences between Google and bing yet. One big difference that most identify as a unique benefit is bing’s “preview” feature, such as document preview of Bing search results via the “Hover Links” feature. By holding your cursor over a link on the bing results page, the user will see a pop-up showing extended snippets of text and links from the destination site, without having to click on the link. bing will attempt to show this document or page preview (or image or video), even if the site is entirely flash-driven. However, what content bing decides to use in those situations isn’t obvious.

Therefore, if web masters’ just want to make sure the preview isn’t generated for a particular page, they just need to add the following meta tag in the <head> section on that page to disable previewing:

<meta name=”msnbot”, content=”nopreview”>

And if you would need to disable previews on every page of the site, the following line should be added to robots.txt:

x-robots-tag: nopreview

One thing to note…bing has implemented these previews with an expectation that users will quickly review to help them determine which site they should choose from the search page of results. By turning off the preview, you may reduce the number of users that click through to your site, if other previews tempt them away. Or, you may find they do click on yours because you aren’t previewing something they aren’t looking for. You’ll need to monitor and possibly revisit this previewing if their share of search traffic increases.

Google Adwords Quality Score is Critical…but not shown by default.

One of the most respected groups of Adwords experts I have been involved with over the years is the Adwords Help Experts. Originally, several of us Adwords help forum “top contributors” started loosely supporting each other during the beginnings of those forums. Eventually, a small group of individuals created the AWHE to cover some gaps in the support forums during a big change to them. Their postings are always worth a read.

Today, a new blog post discusses an issue that we’ve tried to have Google address for years: the critical Adwords Quality Score. Really, the Quality score is *the* most important variable in determining your costs and more. It is widely misunderstood and often not even reviewed by many internal company Adwords campaign managers. We believe part of this problem lies with Google itself. They don’t display the Quality score by default…you have to customize your view in order to automatically display this most critical point.

Here’s a screenshot that shows how to configure your Adwords account to display your keyword Quality score. Take a look, you may begin to understand why some of your keywords cost more than you’d expect, or the opposite. By reviewing these anomalies, you’ll likely discover a few areas where you could improve your site to increase that score…and lower your costs.