AdWords Revenue Per Click Down 23%

Posted under Digital Marketing on Thursday, 27 July 2017 by Ottaway Digital

GOOGLE REPORTED TODAY PPC REVENUE DECLINED 23% LAST QUARTER. The decrease occurred mainly in Mobile AdWords advertising and AdWords ads that ran on Google’s YouTube. Can your company profit from Google’s PPC decline on Mobile? It is not clear if the decline is attributable to lower CPC or due to the payments to partners on websites where the AdWords ads appear, but we would definitely recommend lowering your bids for Mobile to see.

You can first check on whether your Mobile ads’ CPC is already lower than your Desktop ads’ CPC by clicking on Segment and then Devices. To further lower your CPC on Mobile as well as Tablet: Click on Settings. Scroll down to Devices. Click on “Change Devices Bid Adjustment.” Check the box by Mobile and decrease your bid by 20%. Do the same for Tablet. Watch the results for the next few days to make sure that you’re still getting plenty of impressions. If so, decrease it again. This is “trial and error,” but you should get more clicks for the same amount of money. Here’s to more leads!

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Pinterest Is Positioned To Take On Search Advertising

Posted under Digital Marketing on Friday, 7 July 2017 by Bob Ottaway

Pinterest is positioning itself to be a major player in search advertising. Creating ads on Pinterest is more similar to Google than Facebook. When you make a Pinterest advertisement or Promoted Pins, they should resemble what users post to Pinterest. These are pins that add value and genuinely generate interest. This is the reason people who use Pinterest and Promoted Pins need to play by the same rules. For advertisers, it is important to recognize the growing trend of sharable content involving graphics, photography, instruction and tutorials. People use social media platforms like Pinterest with a natural curiosity for their newly discovered interests, and advertisers who are visible in that moment will reap the bounty of rewards.
Pinterest ran its first brand campaign earlier this year, and there is a buzz building around the visual social media platform for many reasons. Considering the increase in visual searches on the web and how Pinterest users generate data about their interests and demographics, it should come as no surprise to see Pinterest find their seat at search advertising’s proverbial big boy table. An article written by Sapna Maheshwari, “Pinterest Is Ready To Run With The Big Dogs,” which appeared in The New York Times, describes Pinterest’s growing reputation among advertisers.

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Want To Advertise On Google For Free? Really.

Posted under Digital Marketing on Wednesday, 5 July 2017 by Bob Ottaway

SEO FACTS from OttawayDigital.com.

USE A GOOGLE “POST” ON YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PAGE.  This is new and it’s free.  It gives you a great opportunity to test the value of Google in your marketing plans for free, and we’re going to tell you how to do it for free!  Here you go:

• • Sign into your Google My Business account.  If you don’t have one, set one up.  They are crucial to getting found on Google.
• • Enter “[name of your business]” in the search bar.
• • Click on the “blue house icon” that will appear on the right-hand side.
• • Click the “Posts” tab on the left-hand side menu.
• • Write Post and then click “Publish”.

Call our Help Line 9-5 EDT M-F if you need free support.  Happy Selling!

Watch our latest webinar on YouTube. Secrets of Designing Your Website for Moving Sales Leads

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Google Will Stop Scanning Your Gmail for Targeted Ads

Posted under Digital Marketing on Friday, 30 June 2017 by Bob Ottaway

Google’s Gmail currently boasts over a billion users, but some are not fond of their current practices involving serving targeted advertisements based on content found in a user’s email account. Gmail has been around since 2004 and is currently the most popular email service, but that doesn’t mean they are not listening to feedback from their users. Due to users of Gmail showing concerns over the privacy of their Gmail accounts, Google will stop scanning accounts for its advertising purposes later this year.

Though you may still receive targeted advertisements through your Gmail account, Google will not scan your messages for the data they use to target them. This adaptability and willingness to change shows how Google is determined to reassure corporate users of the integrity of their overall brand and to buy in to using Google Cloud for their business. An article by Daisuke Wakabuyashi, “Google Ends Scanning Of Gmail To Aim Ads”, appeared in the New York Times business section detailing this upcoming change to Google’s Gmail service.

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Detroit Internet Marketing Company

Posted under Digital Marketing on Wednesday, 28 June 2017 by Bob Ottaway

What are your goals? What are you looking to do? Where do you want to be in three years? Read this. We’ll help you get there.

The words “Internet Marketing,” “SEO,” “SEM” and “digital this” and “digital that” are tossed around everywhere nowadays. Certainly on the internet, certainly in blogs, but now even on TV, in the newspapers, magazines, radio, you name it… Digital This and Digital That are “happening.” Well, that’s somewhat true, but we want you to know it’s actually been going on for a long time. It’s just that it’s becoming so well recognized and used by millions of people, that it’s becoming news.

Who’s The Target? Where Are They Spending Their Media Time?

So, let us decipher all of this “Digital” stuff for you. You see, it’s really pretty easy and not that hard to understand. Why? Because it’s still just communication, with some marketing and new channels. In fact, that’s a big problem for many “old line” companies… there are unlimited channels. Now the FCC or a big capital investment like in millions of dollars of printing plant equipment don’t stand in anybody’s way of entering the marketplace. It’s the Internet baby… welcome aboard!

Thus if you are a business owner and are looking to increase your sales, your choices of how to go about it have multiplied significantly. There are not just three radio stations in town any more, nor are there just three TV networks… It’s basically unlimited. So what is a businessperson to do? Find a pro to help you out. You can do it on your own, but the time involved to bring yourself or your in-house marketing staff up to speed isn’t worth it. Hire it out.

Here are our suggestions on how to dissect the marketing whirlpool today. The vortex is spinning and we want to keep you out of it. Once sucked into the vortex your budget gets blown and you probably won’t see any results, so your ROI is zero.

The Plan:

1. Hire a pro in today’s digital marketing landscape. This doesn’t mean that she/he should not be competent in traditional media, too. Radio, TV, Outdoor still can be effective depending on your product/service to be sold, and your target purchaser.
2. Where to advertise? This is no time for playing favorites. The starting point is what are people in your target doing with their time? What media are they spending the most time with?
3. This can easily be ascertained from research. Much of it is readily available over the internet, such as eMarketer’s “Time Spent With Media 2016.” It’s updated every year if you are reading this in late 2017 or thereafter.
4. It only makes sense that your message needs exposure, so your message must be placed where your target audience is present and spending much of their time.
5. So, in looking at the eMarketer report we see that adults in the US spend more time with Digital than any other medium. When the time spent on the cell phone, computer at home and office, and in-car streaming is added up, Digital wins.
6. Let’s say that Digital is a good match with the product or service you are looking to advertise, what is next?
7. A good internet marketing company specializing in Detroit should be well versed in how to match your product/service to digital media offerings.
8. For example, first ask what kind of market exists for your product? This will greatly influence how your digital marketing company will respond in recommending digital media choices.
9. Following this line of thinking, ask yourself if your product/service is in a “broad-based” industry, or a “narrow-based” one. This is the crucial first step in defining your internet marketing plan for Detroit, or any U.S. market for that matter.
10. The broadness of the industry will dictate how you go to market digitally… and here the business owners in a “narrow market” finally get a real break. They can now market efficiently and effectively for the first time in the history of advertising. This now gives “the little guy” marketing power!
11. This is because there is a product by the name of AdWords Text Search that is created by Google. Never in the history of advertising has a “narrow based industry” such as Heating & Cooling been able to advertise efficiently. With Google Text Search your Detroit internet marketing company can bid on terms that you and they have agreed that potential customers of yours will type into the Google “query box” to find a seller of your product/service. With competent management and strategy your business name will appear in front of a prospect who is IN THE MARKET TO BUY your product or service. Holy smoke! No waste. Just tenderloin.
12. Even better, the AdWords Text Search ad can just be shown by zip code. Period. That’s right. If you only want to dominate one zip code with your ad message, now you can do it.
13. Let’s say, that your product/service has a “broad base.” Let’s say that you’re McDonald’s and you know that everyone in Metro Detroit is going to eat three times today, and you want to make sure that they visit one of your hundreds of restaurants. You could still use AdWords Text Search, but you need volume sales and that will take way too long on Search. Plus, most people in Southeast Michigan already are familiar with your brand, you just need to give them a little nudge by reminding them that you’re ready to serve them, and what your specials are.
14. This calls more for “awareness” advertising than “search” advertising. Now there are many more opportunities for advertising your product/service. You could use Google Placements, or banner ads, that might run on thousands of websites with your message. You might use ads on Facebook and Instragram. How about a “customized overlay” on Snapchat targeting an office building, college, or school? If you want to get real sophisticated there are all sorts of programmatic digital advertising available that can be very effective and very targeted.
15. And this is just Digital advertising. A “broad based industry” also can look into their potential ROI from Broadcast TV, Cable and/or Radio. These are great awareness mediums, and still up there in the eMarketer report on Time Spent with Media 2016.

The steps above have hopefully helped you to navigate the digital internet advertising space, as well as see that traditional media can still have its place. It all begins with that priceless extra of experience. So do your “due diligence” and determine:

1. How long has the agency you’re talking to been in business?
2. How many years do the principals have in the industry?
3. Who are their clients… current and in the near past, and for how long have they been on their agency roster.
4. How much money do they spend a year for their clients on all forms of media?
5. Can you get three client references?
6. Can you get three trade references? You want to know if they pay their clients bills on time.

Choose these premier options as you vet your new agency. Taking the time to do this will serve you well in the long-run. Good luck, and onward and upward!

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