Small Businesses and the Wonders of Google

Google Analytics and Google AdWords: Marketing Opportunities Galore!

Google has truly transformed the way the Internet works, for both consumers and businesses. Think about all the things Google does/has:

• Google search engine
• Google Chrome browser
• Google Maps
• Google Docs
• Google Plus
• Gmail
• Google Analytics
• Good AdWords
• Google Translate
• Google Earth

I'm sure I'm forgetting to include a LOT of other things on that list, as well. Google is basically an Internet Giant. A mecca of information: a search engine that outshines all of its competitors, a social network to rival Facebook, an e-mail system that has an estimated 26 million (or more) active users... Again, THIS list could go on and on... and on!

Sitting in class tonight, our professor showed us how Google AdWords works. And it made a light bulb go off in my head. I realized something profound and amazing... Well, I think it's profound and amazing. Most people probably won't care. But I realized that Google AdWords is an amazing way for small businesses to advertise themselves in a relatively inexpensive way.

Now, I should include the fact that I'm hyper-aware of small businesses and the struggles that small businesses face. My dad owns a small business, and it's struggling in this failing economy. I see what he deals with on a regular basis, and I know getting the word out about his agency (he is in advertising) is hard in this day and age. It's all about networking, knowing the right people, and getting people to engage in word-of-mouth. But how does an advertising agency go about... advertising itself? And especially a small advertising agency, at that.

And so, while watching my professor demonstrate how to use Google AdWords in class, the light bulb moment occurred. And I realized.. Wow, my dad could do this! Whether he uses it for his advertising agency, to put it out there online and make people aware; or, whether he uses it to start up a small consulting firm on the side. Either way, Google AdWords could be just the thing he needs, especially on a tight budget.

Google AdWords...

1. Is relatively inexpensive. You can set your monthly budget to what you are comfortable with, and you can set the highest bid price you are willing to pay for certain keywords and the top positions on Google searches. Therefore, Google AdWords can be seen as inexpensive, because you are only spending the amount you are WILLING to spend, and COMFORTABLE with spending.
   
2. Is fast, easy, and has almost instant implementation. The video tutorial (http://youtu.be/tx2L6EGa9DY) briefly and clearly explains the process, making it easy even for someone who has minimal computer skills to get set up. According to one blogger, it only took about 20 minutes for their ad to appear after they set it up. To read that article, go here: http://www.newfangled.com/benefits_of_google_adwords
3. Lets you edit, or completely stop, your campaign at any time. Realized different wording would be better? Need to change the site URL for some reason? Don't have the money that month, and want to stop the campaign all together? Piece of cake!
   

And so where does Google Analytics come into play? Easy enough: it helps you analyze every little detail about your website, the site traffic, etc. And it helps you determine if what you've done with Google AdWords is affective. Did you chose the right wording? Are the keywords you picked right on, or way off?

It's a beautiful match, like peanut butter & jelly: You almost can't have one without the other. I mean, you could... But why would you?

Price: The Online Value

Internet Pricing is (basically) in the Hands of Consumers

As has been mentioned in this blog several times already, the internet has created a power shift from seller to buyer, and the online consumer wants what they want, when they want it. Of the 4 P's (product, price, place, promotion), price is the easiest to adjust to consumer demand. And it's important that companies be willing to make this adjustment, if necessary, especially in light of the concept of price transparency. Price transparency is the idea that both buyers and sellers can view competitive prices for items sold online. It's as simple as going on to Google, typing in the product you want, and clicking the link on the left called 'shopping'.

Check it out: http://www.google.com/search?q=ipod&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=ipod&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=PBn&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnsr&source=lnms&tbm=shop&ei=R2OjTrZd6uvSAdyG4YsF&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=6&ved=0CEwQ_AUoBQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=2f7b5fcc5835b72d&biw=1440&bih=695

Google then brings up the product you searched for, and tells you what stores or websites have it for what price, so the consumer can easily pick the cheapest price (or nearest location). With online shopping, consumers also need to keep in mind - and understand - the "real costs" of the product, which might or might not include shipping, tax, time, and energy. A product might be list priced at $10. But then tax could make it $12, and shipping could add anywhere from $0-$20 dollars, depending on how patient (or impatient) the consumer is, or how desperate the need for the product is.

Online buyers are more sophisticated. They do their research, they seek lower prices, and they won't settle for less than what they want. Some will even seek out auctions (Ebay) to find fair prices, or submit to reverse auctions, in which the buyer sets the price, and sellers decide whether to accept these prices (Priceline and Hotwire).

Companies can chose one of three pricing strategies:

1. Fixed pricing - A strategy in which sellers set the price, and buyers must take it or leave it. In this strategy, everyone pays the same price for the product. Fixed pricing can either be for price leadership, in which the company focuses on having the lowest-priced product in a particular category; or, promotional pricing, which is meant to encourage a first purchase, repeat business, or close a sale.

2. Dynamic Pricing - Here, companies offer different prices to different customers, with either segmented pricing, which is based on market segments; or price negotiation, which is done with individual customers.

3.Negotiated Pricing and Auctions - In which price is set more than once in a back and forth discussion (again, Ebay).


Companies have to decide what strategy works best for them. And if a particular strategy isn't working, it needs to be re-thought or replaced. And as the most flexible of the 4 P's, doing so is pretty easy.

Well, not THAT easy. But still easier than changing other aspects, such as the product, place, or promotion.

Product: The Online Offer

Customer Value = Benefits - Cost

Some companies use the internet as a way to introduce a new product or a new product line, whether they be under the company's name, or whether a company creates a new company name for their product. And some companies simply use the internet as a new distribution channel for their existing products.

When it comes to the product and the internet, companies must create customer value. Some ways in which a company can do this are:

1. Product benefits: Benefits are what the customer will get out of using a product or service. Product benefits include attributes (overall quality of the product, and specific features), branding (identifying features of the brand) to legally protect the brand, and brand equity (the intangible value of the brand, usually measured in dollars).

2. Co-branding: An extension of branding and product benefits, this is when two companies work together and put both their names on a product or services. This helps draw in consumers who are loyal users of either brand, collectively bringing in a larger market for the product or service.

3. Product Strategies: When using online marketing, companies must decide how they want to handle their product mix strategies. They have six options:

• Discontinuous Innovation - This strategy involves new to the world products that have never been seen before.
• New Product Lines - This is when companies take an existing brand name and create new products in a completely different category.
• Additions to Existing Product Lines - Here, companies simply introduce new products to current product lines.
• Improvements/Revisions to existing Products - This is when companies introduce products as "new and improved." They replace the old version of the product.
• Repositioned Products - Current products that are targeted to a different market or promoted for new uses.
• Me-too lower-cost products - These products are introduced to compete with existing brands by offering a price advantage.

By doing any, some, or all of the above things, companies can create value for their brands that will help draw in new and existing customers.

Segmentation, Targeting, Differentiation, Positioning

Micromarketing and the Internet

With the Internet came the consumer demand for individualization:

• Consumers want to watch movies and television shows on Hulu, and they want to be able to skip ads that aren't relevant to them
• Consumers want to go on to Pandora Radio (http://www.pandora.com/) and listen to the music they like. They want to be able to skip the songs they don't want to hear, and they want to be able to listen to music similar to artists they already enjoy.
• Consumers don't want to be bombarded with ads that have nothing to do with their wants and needs.
• Consumers go to the websites they WANT to view...
• ...and they sign up for company e-mails from the companies they actually buy from
  

So, with the internet, company's are taking the concepts of market segmentation and targeting to a higher level. Now, marketers target either small niche audiences - that is, when a company selects one market segment and develops one or more marketing mixes to meet the needs of that segment - or, company's are micromarketing (individualized targeting), which can target a small number of people, as small as one individual person.

In today's world of consumer control and demand for individualization, company's must re-evaluate their marketing segments. To save money and better reach their intended target markets, companies need to specialize their message for their consumers. They must make their consumers feel as if they are important, as if they matter - as if their wants and needs matter.

By observing a consumer's online behavior, companies can see what is important to specific consumers. Companies can then use that information - along with demographics psychographics, and more - to make up more specialized and individualized marketing plans for their consumers.

While segmentation and targeting are important, companies also need to be concerned with their differentiation and positioning, as well. Especially with the Internet, consumers can easily use a search engine to compare products and services, and decide which brand or company is best for them. Because of this ease, companies need to ensure they closely focus on their differentiation. In the next few blog posts, price and its online value will be discussed in further detail. However, as a quick note, price is the easiest of the 4 P's to change, if price differentiation is the way in which a company wishes to go. Other areas that can be used to create differentiation are: product, service, personnel, channel, image, site environment/atmosphere, trust (site security), and the ordering process.

Positioning goes hand-in-hand with differentiation. Positioning is the process of creating a desired image for a company in the minds of a chosen user segment, according to the textbook. It doesn't matter if a company has the best differentiation of all the brand in their category; if the consumer does not have a positive image of a particular company or brand in their mind, then they will not buy that product, no matter what the marketing campaign is like.

In conclusion: Segmentation + targeting + differentiation + positioning = a successful company with happy consumers.

Consumer Behavior Online

Consumers: The Power is Yours!!

Okay, if you didn't grow up watching cartoons in the early to mid 90s, then you won't get the Captain Planet reference (sustainability, anyone?). But the point remains the same: with the internet, social media, and the shift towards a digital era, there has been a power shift from seller to buyer, and consumers have more control over what they, as well as others, buy - now more than ever.

The textbook discusses three cornerstones for attracting customers online: reputation, relevance, and engagement.

1. Reputation: In short, consumers trust each other. And the surge in user-generated content in online communities (Facebook, Twitter, Amazon) has consumers turning to each other for advice, opinions, and help.

Amazon has an extensive rating and review section, where customers can use a 5-star rating system, and post reviews of the product. On the Amazon homepage, several different sections prompt consumers to check out other products; these categories include "More Items to Consider," "Related to Items You've Viewed," "New For You," "Inspired By Your Browsing History," "Recommended Based on Your Browsing History," and, at the very bottom of the homepage, a section labeled, "Customers who bought items in your recent history also bought." This last section can also be found any time an Amazon user visits a specific product's page.

Amazon's use of reviews, ratings, and customer recommendations shows that consumer trusts consumer. If a fellow consumer trusts a company, brand, product, or service, and speaks highly of it, then a consumer is more likely to trust the reputation of that company, brand, product, or service, and also purchase/use it.

2. Relevance: Customers - especially online - do not want to be interrupted with irrelevant information. Examples of this in the textbook include the advent of the national "do not call" registry (which is offline, but still a good example). Some people, for whatever weird reason, don't mind telemarketing calls. For those that do mind, they can place themselves on the list and ask not to be called. And online, users subscribe to companies and products to which they wish to receive e-mails and notifications from. Likewise, they "like" and "follow" only those companies of interest to them on Facebook and Twitter.

3. Engagement: Social media is a prime example of how to draw in internet users with relevant, engaging, and interactive content. Facebook, especially, is considered a social environment, with wall posts, polls, pictures, and more. Companies need to use social media to create compelling environments for attracting and engaging customers. By engaging consumers, it helps them build a personal - and hopefully positive - association with the brand. Good examples of this are when companies ask questions and polls on Facebook, or ask a question in a wall post, asking for consumer feedback, and then actually REPLY to some of what the consumers are saying. This makes a consumer feel as if what they say has value, and matters.


While engagement is important, companies do need to be mindful that:

-Information overload can overwhelm customers. While staying up-to-date with social media is important, it's also important to limit how much content you post per day. Too much could become annoying to your consumer, but too little could cause them to check your page less frequently and, possibly, never again.

-People want what they want, when they want it. Especially with the internet and online shopping, as everything is open 24/7. So companies need to be sure, more online than with their brick-and-mortar stores, that they stay on top of their inventory, and can give as many shipping options, with varying price options for each, as they possibly can. Some people really are willing to spend more on shipping if it means getting their product sooner.

-People online, and especially on social media, want to be connected. They want to be in the know, and they don't want to be left out of the loop. So companies that acknowledge this with various applications and programs will garner positive brand recognition with their consumers.

-Self-service is MUST in the cyber world. Customers want to know that they can go on to your website, find their product, place their order, track their shipment, and pay in a way that is convenient to them. With that, customers need to know that the personal, private, and sensitive information they are giving you via your website will be safe and secure, that they will not be hacked, and that no third party will obtain any of their information unless they request it.


So, companies with positive peer reviews, with relevant information for their consumers, and with engaging and interactive content will be the ones to win favor with their customers; these will be the companies that keep current customers, and bring in new customers.


Now for those of you who were deprived as kids and have never seen it, go watch Captain Planet!

E-Marketing Research

Data for Dummies

It used to be that when marketers, researches, and college students alike wanted to find useful data for marketing research and homework and projects, they would either look for secondary data via a database of articles, scholarly journals, and studies by others in their field. Or, they would cultivate primary data by creating and sending out questionnaires, conducting focus groups, or doing things like telephone surveys, mail intercepts, and (more recently) email interviews.

But with the Internet, all of that has changed.

Secondary Data... In the Digital Age: Sure, people still use databases like LexisNexis, Mediamark (MRI) and Business Premier. And yes, people still use trusted groups like the U.S. Census, Nielsen, and Arbitron. But now more than ever, companies are turning to short-cuts such as...

1. Wikipedia: Well... this might be more along the lines of a short cut for college students who waited until last minute to write their 20-page papers. I highly doubt well-respected marketers are going to Wikipedia for information.. Or, at least, I really HOPE they aren't doing that... But either way, Wikipedia can be great for short, quick references. It has over 15 million articles and is edited by about 91,000 contributors in an estimated 270 languages (according to our textbook). Despite the impressive numbers, it can also be an incredibly unreliable source of information, as anyone with a computer can contribute (false) information to the site.

2. Social Media: Using social media rather than consulting a scholarly journal can either be considered a complete cop-out, or a complete genius. It's a cop-out because anyone can create a Facebook account or company page, and go on to review how many "fans" there are, or how many people "liked" the group/company or are "following" the group/company. Whereas, it's much more complicated and time-consuming to scroll through a database with hundreds, thousands, and even millions (if you don't carefully word search terms) articles. But, using social media is also complete genius because it's where the target market is. It makes it easy for a researcher to see what the target market is doing, what they like, what they don't, and what they do and don't respond to. It can save a lot of time and energy. A potential downfall, however, is: You can't necessarily take everything at face value. Just because someone "likes" something, doesn't mean they agree with it. And just because someone follows a company, doesn't mean they actually keep track of that company's posts, or visit the page every single day to see the latest news.


Primary Data... In the digital age: When it comes to primary data, the Internet has made methods of primary data collection faster, but it has also made it harder to determine authenticity, validity, and reliability. For instance...

1. Survey Monkey: This site makes it incredibly fast and easy to create a survey, but that means it also has a lot of drawbacks. First, everyone and their brother can make a survey, for just about anything, and try to pass it off on people. This could even be a way for a hacker to trick people into giving up personal information. Second, there are certain formats a survey needs to be successful. And if it's all right there for someone to just drag and drop, how will we ever learn how to do it right? Another drawback of doing surveys online (not in relation to Survey Monkey, but just in general), is the fact that you can't guarantee the person you want to take the survey will actually take it. People use many different computers, browsers, and e-mails. And just because you THINK you've sent it to the right person, doesn't mean you did. Not to mention the fact that people online can fake answers, or write false information down.

2. Chat rooms: Chat rooms can be used as online versions of focus groups. But as with Survey Monkey and giving surveys online, there are a lot of drawbacks. Many of them are similar to that of the online survey: You don't know who is really behind that screen name. You might be looking to interview females ages 18-24, and you might really be talking to a male age 54 (Wow, that sounded like a campaign against online dating, huh?). And even if the person IS the right age and gender, you still might not be getting true answers. The person might say what they think you want to hear, or might falsify other personal information. The interviewer will have no idea, and can't use nonverbal communication to gauge the focus group members.


So, in some ways, the Internet has made collecting primary and secondary data easier, with Wikipedia and Survey Monkey, as well as social media. But in some ways, it has made it more difficult, time consuming, and unreliable (Remember that 54-year-old, very manly-looking 18-year-old girl you're interviewing?)

Think about that next time you log in to Survey Monkey.

Ethical and Legal Issues

Jurisdiction: Who has it in cyberspace? How it relates to cyber-bullying.

So this post kind of deviates from the class content a little bit. The chapter discusses ethical and legal issues and jurisdiction more in terms of businesses and products, the Federal Trade Commission, digital property protection, cybersquatting, and fraud.

But with the advent of technology, the internet, social networking, mobile phones, etc, bullying has become an epidemic that follows kids home. I feel it's an important topic to discuss, so I'm going to use the information in the chapter to focus on cyber-bullying.

There was a time when bullying was done at school. It made getting out of bed in the morning difficult, but kids had the comfort of knowing that once they got home, they'd be free of their tormenters.

Not anymore (Thanks a lot, Facebook).

Now, social networking allows bully's to follow kids home, and insult them online, whether it be anonymous or under a false name. Or, for the more brazen bully, with full disclosure of their real names.

Kids can take pictures and videos on their phones at any time, and can use embarrassing footage against one another. If someone is getting picked on, someone else can record it and immediately upload it to Facebook. On Facebook, kids can write mean and nasty comments on the Facebook wall. Rumors now spread like wildfire. And, worst of all, once something is out there in cyberspace, it can never be taken back.

According to our textbook, new laws that can regulate the Internet are at a disadvantage, because laws are passed slowly, and the Internet is ever-changing. Laws are often rendered obsolete before they are even passed.

According to our book, there are four categories of invasion of privacy:
1. Unreasonable intrusion into the seclusion of another
2. Unreasonable publicity of another's private life
3. The appropriation of another's name or likeness
4. Publication of another's personal information in false light

When it comes to cyber-bullying, 2, 3, and 4 can all be applied. And there aren't very many ways to police bully's who harass others online.

The two biggest issues with cyber-bullying are:
1. Who has Jurisdiction? Who can be held responsible? The child? Their parent? The host site (such as Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo Mail, or AIM)? If a kid comments on a news story or a celebrity or company blog post or Facebook post, and someone from another state or country replies with scathing comments, what state should prosecute? In which state COULD you prosecute? And then's there's age... Do the laws that govern face-to-face bullying applying to internet bullying in respect to age?
2. How can we stop it, if kids won't come forward? Most kids are too embarrassed to come forward to their parents, teachers, and even their fellow peers, when they are faced with a bully. So how can it be stopped if the child in question doesn't tell someone?

Bullying is bad enough. Cyber-bullying is worse.

But what can we do to stop it?