Google AdWords Recent Update

In true Google form, they thrust another update upon us with little to no warning. Fortunately, this is update is pretty cool. Starting mid-May, users will see changes in AdWords to keyword matching and quality score evaluation.

Change to Keyword Matching
Phrase + Exact Match Now Includes:

“…close variants, including misspellings, singular/plural forms, stemmings, accents and abbreviations. Based on our research and testing, we believe these changes will be broadly beneficial for users and advertisers.” -AdWords Blog

Previously, if you entered [ninja cat] in AdWords, your Ad would only be triggered if someone searched the exact term ‘ninja cat.’ Now, if you enter [ninja cat] your Ad will also appear for the search query ‘ninja cats’ (plural firm), ‘ninja caats’ (misspelling), ‘nja cats’ (abbreviation), etc…

Google does tell us that the Quality Score is still solely calculated on the keyword phrase you’re bidding on. So, hypothetically, in our scenario, you only need to worry about the keyword phrase ‘ninja cat’ as far as optimizing your Quality Score (using your Ad Copy + Landing Page].

This Update is certainly helpful as far as the misspellings go. As Google says…

“At least 7% of search queries contain a misspelling, and the longer the query, the higher the rate.” -AdWords Blog

However, while this update is certainly convenient and helpful in one regard, it does get in the way of discovering which specific keywords are the most profitable. By this I mean, if we want to figure out if ‘ninja cat or ‘ninja cats’ is a better keyword, it is now more difficult. We can now only determine which keyword (singular or plural) triggered the Ad by using the Search Term Tool in AdWords.

Overall, I think Google wants to show more ads so they make more revenue. I’m not sure that the Advertisers best interest is the main purpose of this update.

Change to Quality Score
Google did not change the way the Quality Score is calculated, however, they are providing more information as to why a particular keyword phrase is getting a lower or higher Quality Score. See the insert below.

This should be very helpful, as increasing Quality Scores increases Ad Rank which, in theory, should lower Average Cost Per Click, raise Average Positions, and increase Click-Through-Rate. Ad Rank = Quality Score x Keyword Bid.

Feel free to contact us with any questions, or if you’d like advice on how to implement these changes to create a more profitable business. 512-222-7141 or info@upbeatmarketingaustin.com.

Seth Kuhn
Online Marketing Specialist

How to Handle a PR Crisis

Every business has one fear in common: making a PUBLIC mistake. But should that be your biggest fear? No. Every company makes mistakes – it’s inevitable! Accidents happen or something slips through the cracks, but it’s the way that the situation is handled that leaves a lasting impression. Even the most serious of public offenses have been ignored due to the company’s impeccable problem solving strategy. In the event that a catastrophe does occur, how will your company respond?

Here are the “do’s” and “don’ts” of handling a public relations crisis:

Though your situation may be scary, stay calm and apply these rules. In doing so, you can maintain your credibility and not lose clients!

Upbeat Marketing can help your business create a PR problem solving plan. Contact us at 512-222-7141 or info@upbeatmarketingaustin.com, and we will work together to find your perfect solution!

Lindsay Satterfield

PR Intern

Get on the Mobile Marketing Bandwagon

Is your company on the Mobile Marketing bandwagon yet?  You should be! Check out these stats:

• In 2011, there were 5.9 billion mobile subscribers recorded and 1.2 billion mobile web users

• Today, mobile devices account for 8.49% of global website hits

• Mobile searches have quadrupled in the last year; for many items one in seven searches are now mobile

It is predicted that the use of mobile devices is only going to increase over time.  Smart phones and comparable devices such as the iPad offer connectivity that is becoming part of the world’s culture. So why not use this mobile trend as a chance to further market your company?

The good news is that a mobile marketing strategy doesn’t need to be started from scratch if you already have an online marketing strategy; it just needs to be tweaked. Step one is enhancing your website for mobile spiders—similar to SEO optimization. Spiders are used to customize your website for usage on mobile devices, making it easier for users to navigate. Don’t get overwhelmed! Mobile algorithms are still fairly new so getting started on mobile marketing now gives you and your organization a competitive advantage.

Step two is to make sure you have a strong mobile database. Keep track of your customer’s home address, email and other demographic details. Updating customer information is also a crucial aspect in mobile marketing so that you can stay up-to-date with customer preferences. It is important to observe your customer’s preferences so that you don’t approach them with the wrong kind of information or break their trust.

Creative marketing is step three. Your efforts are essential to the success of your mobile marketing strategy. Organizations should always strive to send unique forms of messaging to their customers and offer them exclusive deals. Engaging customers in creative ways ensures their attention and maximizes their allegiance.

Examples of some effective mobile marketing strategies are SMS messaging, creating mobile versions of your company’s emails, QR codes, creating mobile applications and pay per call mobile.  Always encourage customer loyalty and engagement through your mobile marketing efforts by offering incentives or mobile loyalty programs.

With the number of mobile users sure to increase in 2012, don’t wait another minute!  Get started on your mobile marketing strategy today!  Call or email Upbeat Marketing 512.222.7141, info@upbeatmarketingaustin.com

Boomer Marketing

It’s not often we come across an under-served and under-marketed captive audience. Well, we’ve got one, 77 million-strong, and they have discretionary income, flexibility and high credit scores. They are Baby Boomers!

This unique group, which has lived through and driven every major social change in our nation’s history, is open and waiting for products and services that will help them stay young at heart. Born from 1946 – 1964, these folks make up 26% of the US population, they have $2.3 trillion in spending power and they control 50% of discretionary spending. Really? Yes! Woodstock, the Civil Rights Movement, The Beatles, the SUV, the cell phone, the internet – they have seen immense amounts of change and growth, and they aren’t stopping just because they’re officially going to be senior citizens.

In fact, for this generation, 50 is the start of a second life. Many boomers are starting businesses, teaching classes, building their communities and living a full, active life. Don’t underestimate them, and don’t try to sell them nostalgia. They approach this second life with a sense of reality, authenticity and agelessness, and they are continuing to learn by enrolling in community college, booking travel experiences and indulging their passions.

Brands have a tremendous opportunity to reach this group by considering how Boomers would use their products and marketing accordingly. Boomers are tech savvy – out of any other demographic, they spend the most on technology, and they spend it online. They also watch the most TV. Not surprisingly, they aren’t too interested in social media, but they are very social and will give high praise to brands they like.

But boomers aren’t just going to spend on anything, the products and services need to speak to deeper values such as becoming a grandparent, buying a home, civic leadership, starting a business, going back to school or surviving a health-related event. Most of all, your marketing toward Boomers should be respectful, stylish and a little bit sexy. These folks are young at heart and expect to live two to three more decades enriching themselves and their communities!

Whether you’re marketing to Boomers or babies, Upbeat is your positive partner for positive growth. Please contact us for all your marketing needs at 512-222-7141 or info@upbeatmarketingaustin.com

Thanks for reading!

Sarah Holick

Don’t Get Tied-Up with Facebook Timeline

This Friday, March 30th, Facebook will be transitioning all pages to the NEW Timeline format.  The new format will change the way businesses and fans interact on Facebook, so we’ve put together a few tips and suggestions to help you organize your page for an optimal fan experience.

The first new feature you will notice on the Timeline is the Cover image at the top of your page.  You are able to choose an image from a Facebook album or upload a new image. We recommend a Cover image that best illustrates your business like a specialty food dish, real estate listing or quality photo of your staff. For optimal viewing, the image size should be 851 x 315 pixels.  Your Cover image is the first thing people will see when visiting your page – choose an image wisely!

Your Profile picture is now located at the bottom left corner of the Cover image. The image size should be 180×180, and we recommend using an image that is different from your Cover image like your company’s logo or a photo of your product.

Slightly below your Profile image is the About section. This is where fans will find your company information such as your location, hours of operation and contact information. If you are a location-based business, your address, hours and telephone number will appear. If you are not a location-based business, or choose not to list your address, you will be able to write short description about your business.  AND, here’s the bonus, you can add a live link! We recommend your web address.

Next to the About section is an Applications Banner where your fans can choose different types of content to view.  By default, the four featured apps are Photos, Fans, Map and Likes. If your old page had custom tabs, they will transfer into the new App Banner. The Photos app will always remain in the first position. You can reposition the others or customize them by clicking on the drop-down arrow and clicking the edit pencil in the top right corner of the app you wish to alter. If you wish to alter the image of an app, the dimensions are 111×74. Fans will be able to see 4 of 12 possible apps without any extra clicking so carefully consider your app positioning. If you would like to create special apps like “Make an Appointment”, “Blog”, “Welcome” or “Join Our List”, you will need to hire a developer (unless you can write code!)

The Like feature has not changed. What is new is the starburst icon next to the Liked button. When fans hover over the Liked button, they will be given options such as adding your page to an Interest List. Interest Lists are a great way for your fans to organize business pages on Facebook.  Encourage your fans to add your business page to an Interest List and give them suggestions as to which list name is best suited for your business.  For example, Upbeat Marketing may suggest their fans create a ‘Marketing Resources’ or ‘Small Business Resources’ Interest List where they can keep track of businesses like ours.

Fans can also now Subscribe to your page so when you post an update, your fans receive a notification – make sure to ask them to subscribe by clicking the arrow next to the Message button so they can be the first to receive deals, promotions and great information (just make sure you keep those promos out of the Cover image!)

One other new great feature is Messages. Your fans can now send you a private, direct message. In the old format, you had to do all customer interaction on your wall, now these interactions can be private – great news! To see your Messages, click on the Admin Panel button at the top right of your page.

The Timeline format also had Filters so you can view your page by Highlights, Posts by Page, Posts by Others and Fan Activity. By default, the Timeline is on Highlights. By clicking Highlights, located directly under the business block, you are viewing the posts that Facebook deems most important to your page.

Fortunately, posting a Status Update remains largely unchanged – Hooray! You have the option of adding a location and language to the updates, but otherwise keep up the spell and grammar checking because there still isn’t a way to edit mistakes in your status updates.  If you want to add a year to a post, remove a post or mark a post as spam, hover over the post, and an edit box appears on the top right corner. Click it and make the edit you need.

The status bar does have a great new type of post you can create: Milestones.  You can add a business Milestone to your Timeline at any time by clicking Milestone in the status bar.  A Milestone might include an anniversary, new location, product launch, ribbon cutting or client acquisition. Fill in all of the pertinent information, add a photo or image with the dimensions 843×403, and it will appear chronologically on your Timeline designated by a flag icon. You also have the fantastic capability to edit these posts once they go into the news feed.

There is also an option for you to Highlight a post.  Hover over the post and click the star icon. It will in stretch the post horizontally across your Timeline making it more prominent.  Next to the star icon is an edit icon that allows you to Pin the post to the top of your page where it will remain for seven days.  Types of posts we suggest pinning to the top of your page are special promotions, reminders, events and complimentary comments. We also suggest rotating the posts that you Pin so your page doesn’t appear stagnant to frequent visitors.

The last new feature on the new Facebook Timeline is the Admin Panel.  It’s located in the top right corner of the page and is only seen by page administrators of the page. It allows admins to access Insights, Messages, Notifications and Tips and allows you to view your page by a specific month and year. The Insights section shows you all the metrics of yourpage: fan demographics, page reach, which types of posts are most effective for your business, etc. The Message Inbox is the feature we mentioned above. Notifications show you recent activity on your page, and the Page Tip gives you tips on how to enhance your Facebook experience and interactions with other organizations and fans.

We hope this post will help you feel comfortable with the Facebook’s new Timeline format. If you need help or are interested in having Upbeat Marketing optimize your page, please contact us at info@upbeatmarketingaustin.com or 512-222-7141. We offer page optimization packages starting at $250, and we also provide tutorials, advanced strategies and social media campaign maintenance.

Visit our website at www.upbeatmarketingaustin.com.

Thank you for reading!

The Upbeat Marketing Team

Google AdWords “Remarketing” and Privacy Policy

Remarketing, while it still looks like a spelling mistake, is a word that’s becoming more and more common. And for good reason. Remarketing is one of the most powerful tools, inside of the most powerful online marketing tool kit…Google AdWords.

What is it?
Google AdWords Remarketing allows Google to note who’s visited your site, and then proceed to follow them all over the internet, showing them your ads. It’s quite impressive.

So, if I visit a site that has Remarketing running, Google takes note of this, and then when I go to my Gmail or happen to be checking out a business on Yelp, I’m shown an ad from that first site that I visited.

How does Google know?
Google “takes note” of a visitor in the cookies of that person’s browser. Google describes how they identify visitors as such:

“This cookie contains a randomly generated 18 digit ID number that uniquely identifies a web browser on a specific computer, but isn’t used to identify an individual person. If you use multiple browsers and a different computer at home and at work, each one has a different cookie.”

Why is this effective?
Remember the ‘ole marketing adage “you’ve gotta get 7 impressions/touches on a consumer before they’ll buy.” Weeeelll, if your Ads are following your visitors across Google’s online presence (85% of the internet, roughly the size of Simba’s Kingdom), then you’re going to get some serious impressions. And even if it takes 10-14 impressions, there’s a good chance that you’ll be converting a higher percentage of visitors.

Limitations?
1. When you start Remarketing, you or your developer will have to put a snippet of Google code on your site, much like the Google Analytics or Conversion Tracking Code that you may have implemented (or should have…). When you generate this code, you have the chance to give Google a time period of which to follow people. 30 days? 60 Days? 90? You decide.

2. Another limitation (and this is where Google’s Privacy Policy comes in) is that, of course, Google has to give everyone an “out.” So, anyone who wants to “opt out” can go to the Ads Preferences Manager and opt in or out, which will either establish a cookie in the browser or turn it off. This is a new policy from Google as of March 2012.

3. Lastly, before your Remarketing Campaign begins, you’ll need to add a disclaimer to your website policy page stating that you are using Google Remarketing and reasons for use.

If you decided to utilize Remarketing, try to give people a reason to come back to your site, such as a sweepstakes or a coupon code or free shipping. Doing so will increase the effectiveness of your Remarketing Campaign.

If you have any questions about Remarketing, please contact us at 512-222-7141 or info@upbeatmarketingaustin.com. And especially if you’d like to get Google Remarketing rolling for your business, we would love to help you set it up.

Thanks for Reading,

Seth Kuhn
Online Marketing Specialist
Upbeat Marketing
seth@upbeatmarketingaustin.com

How To Write A Killer Press Release

You spend several hours drafting press releases that urge people to come out to your event or to use your service or product. Then you spend several days sending these press releases out to dozens of reporters. After not hearing back, you spend hours wondering why that you didn’t get the response you were hoping for. The problem? Reporters need fresh news, and they are short on time. How do you make your story interesting and entice reporters to call you back?

• Use an attention-grabbing headline: The first text that a reporter sees when they look at a press release is the heading. If it doesn’t instantly pop or reads like spam, it gets deleted. Use concise, active language and give enough information to entice the reporter to keep reading.
• Be informative: Your press release should have the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why) in the first paragraph. This information gives the reporter everything he or she needs to know about your event/product/service that is significant to the public. Be sure to include your  logo or an image, a link to your website, your contact information and social media information. One more tip: Avoid overtly endorsing your company – it’s both distracting and annoying!
• Keep it short: Reporters receive hundreds of press-releases a day, so sticking to one page of crucial information will automatically improve your chances of getting a response. Remember reporters are on a deadline: tell them what they need to know and save the details for when they call you back!
• Avoid the standard claims: Phrases like “Low Prices!” or “Great Service!” are      generic and overused. Make your event/product/service stand out by highlighting unique qualities you offer, how you differentiate yourself from your competition and how your business connects other businesses (growth and connectivity make great stories!).
• KEEP IT INTERESTING: Probably the most important aspect of writing a press release is being able to engage the reporter and peak their interest. Use language that paints a picture, describes an experience and shines a light on what makes you unique! If they are intrigued, they will call you back. If they report it, you are more likely to see results and meet your goal!

Undoubtedly, writing press releases can be stressful. But by keeping these points in mind, you can avoid the headaches. Most importantly, have fun with them! If you aren’t interested in writing them, why would a reporter be interested in reading them?

Lindsay Statterfield
Upbeat Marketing – PR Intern

For more information about Upbeat Marketing and our PR services, please visit www.upbeatmarketingaustin.com or call 512-222-7141.