Last Friday I journeyed down to Shoreditch in London for the Google Engage: Box Of Tricks event, and I am so glad that I did. Google Engage is the department of Google that looks after agencies like Fountain that support businesses in using Google products and websites. They really pulled out all the stops to impress us, and help us to make the most of their products – new and old.
Aside from the neon lights, sweets and games that were on offer, what else did I take away from this event?
Google +
While Google + has been around for a few months now for those with Gmail accounts, it is only within the last month that Google Apps For Business users and businesses have been able to get going with it. A week or so ago I wrote an article about linking your Google + Account with Google AdWords to get better recommendations but there are plenty more advantages to having a Google + account or Page.
Why not try a Hangout to get better connected to your customers? Google showed a fantastic example of Zen Bikes, a New York based company, making the most of a Hangout to engage with their audience in a tutorial style. Even if the video isn’t selling your product directly, you are making your business more personal, and more likely to be remembered.
To get more from your Circles, you could try segmenting them into different marketing categories. For example, a café could have a Circle for Coffee Drinkers, Tea Drinkers, Early Risers or Lunchtime customers. You could ask people to categories themselves with the incentive of receiving personalised discounts, updates and information.
AdWords Express
AdWords Express is Google’s latest offering to help very small businesses get a presence online - you don’t even need a website to get going as you can easily send visitors to your Google Places or Google + Page.
They have made the process of setting up an AdWords campaign far easier, as it automatically chooses Local Targeting so you don’t have to fiddle with the Location Targeting Tool. You don’t even have to choose keywords – simply select the appropriate category for your business and Google does the rest. You ads will also be shown on Google Maps.
Even the reporting is far simpler, featuring just keywords, impressions and clicks.
The downsides from this are that you don’t actually have that much control which is the biggest advantage of Google AdWords. While you can add negative keywords, you don’t have manual bidding control which reduces the ability to target specific positions. However, for small companies that don’t have the time to run a complicated campaign, it could be a good starting place.
Mobile Search
Mobile search has been steadily growing for some time now, and studies have shown that user-behaviour is different on mobile devices, and that shoppers are buying products online using them. This increases the importance of getting a mobile compatible version of your site up and running as soon as possible.
It was also interesting to hear Google say that one in three mobile searches are local, showing that mobile websites are now just important for local companies as national ecommerce sites.
Google had also conducted some research into click-behaviour in Mobile Ads and found that on average 28% of people who see a mobile ad, click it, and that the average click-through rate is around 11.5% - much more than the average click-through rate for search on desktops and laptops which is around 2%.
There were also sections on AdWords and Analytics, with the features of the new Analytics dashboard being outlined to us – including the Funnel Visualisation which is particularly interesting.
All in all, it was a brilliant event that was very impressive and gave me a lot of think about. Over the next few weeks I’ll be adding more articles that focus in more detail on the topics I’ve talked about above. If you want any more information on anything I’ve mentioned, feel free to drop me an email at laura@fountainpartnership.co.uk.
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