July 31, 2011

Google Boost is Now Google Adwords Express

Google Boost was renamed Google Adwords Express and officially launched on July 25, 2011. Google Boost was extremely effective for small businesses that draw customers from their surrounding communities. Enhancements have been added to make Google AdWords Express even more effective.

Google Adwords Express Enhancements

• Ads can be created for each of your business categories: Ads written specifically for each of your categories will perform better than using the same ad for all of them. The advertising budget can be divided up by category for more control over spending.
• Ad title editing: To make ads even more specific, ad titles can be changed to any customized message.

June 13, 2011

Google Boost Puts Your Business on Page One of Search Engine Results

More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, so it's important to make sure your business listing can be easily found on Google. Google Boost, the new, low cost pay-per-click platform that promotes Google Places listings, puts your business on page one of search results and no website is needed.

Google Boost Promotes Your Google Places Listings and Gives Your Business Listing Priority Placement
Every day, consumers are searching Google for the products and services your company offers. One in five of those searches is location specific. When the Google Places platform was introduced, it was a real win for business owners because it allowed them to appear on page one of Google. Business owners added photos, videos and coupons to their Google Places page, creating a robust advertisement that helped attracted new customers.

With Google Places, business listings appear near the top of the first page of a Google search.
Click here to see an example of a Google Places business listing.

With the Increased Popularity of Google Places, Listings Receive Less and Less Exposure
Over time, more and more businesses claimed their free Google Places listings. The increasing popularity of Google Places resulted in less exposure for each listing. Google started rotating the Google Places listings so that every business listing could have exposure. The increasing popularity of Google Places and the rotation of ads is eroding the exposure for each business listing.

Google Boost Gives Your Google Places Listing High Visibility
Google Boost is the newest pay per click (PPC) advertising push from Google. The Boost ad, which is generated from a Google Places listing, appears in the sponsored spots at the top of the search engine page or to the right. It features a blue balloon and is only offered to businesses that have a local place of business. The process for buying a Boost ad is the same as buying a PPC ad except that the Boost ad is much cheaper. Click here to see an example of a Google Boost ad.

Special Google Boost Promotion
Try Google Boost with a $100 Google Boost credit from Keco. For more information visit Keco Google Boost Promotion.

January 25, 2011

Branding 101: Branding Isn't Optional to the Success of a Product

The decision to purchase a particular product is not a rational process. If it were, no one would purchase Advil, an expensive brand of ibuprofen, when there are much cheaper generic brands available. Yet Advil enjoys a 51 percent market share. The product's brand identity is so strong that Advil commands a premium price.

What is a Brand?

A brand is not a name, logo, product, service or business. It is the perception that a consumer has of a product or service. When a consumer initially encounters a product, the brand is what advertising says about the product. Once a product is purchased and used, the brand becomes what the consumer perceives it to be. The stronger, more coherent and motivating the consumer's perception is, the more likely it will influence purchase decisions. A brand:

• Is a company’s or product's face to the world
• Is how customers perceive a company or product
• Represents the business ethics, personality and values of the company or product

What is Branding?

Branding is a process that includes defining all the features, benefits and qualities of a product, defining the target audience for the product and deciding what is different about the product that will make it stand out in the marketplace. Considering all this, what will the consumers perception of the product be? Just keep in mind, CEOs, managers and marketing departments don't define the brand. Consumers define the brand.

Branding Defines the Perception Consumers Will Have of Your Products and/or Services

These companies determined the perception their target audience should have of their products. Their products deliver the benefits that create the perception. Their advertising reinforces the perception.

• The consumer perception of Apple is that the brand is exceptional, hip and cutting edge. Apple's I'm a Mac campaign drives this perception. The Mac guy is youthful, smooth and self-assured, while PC is frumpy and clueless.
• The makers of the sleeping pill Ambien, settled on the perception, “Works Like a Dream.”
• The  Crisco Vegetable Shortening brand identification drives the perception that people who really know how to cook, use Crisco.  They reinforced the perception with the tag line “Cooks who know, trust Crisco.”

Benefits of Branding

Branding saves products from being selected solely on the basis of price because it tells consumers what they can expect from a product and what differentiates a product from the competition. Branding adds value, allowing companies to charge more for a product because of how consumers perceive the product. Branding is what makes consumers go out of their way and endure inconvenience to purchase a particular product. Branding:

• Creates customer loyalty and builds name recognition for a company or product
• Deliver the marketing message clearly  and consistently
• Forms an emotional connection between the target market and the product.
• Motivates purchases

Branding in Action

• Consider Coca-cola, a product that demands a higher price than generic cola.  The brand is so powerful that coke drinkers won’t consider trying another brand of cola.  Even people who don’t drink cola will buy Coca-cola for their guests to consume. 
• Many drivers go out of their way to find a Shell station because of their perception that Shell V-Power will clean up engine gunk and improve engine performance.
• It isn't necessary to know the name of the designer of those stylish pumps with red soles to find stores that sell the shoes. A Google search for shoes with red soles will produce dozens of links for stores where Christian Louboutin shoes - the designer shoes with red soles - can be purchased.

Successful Products Have Strong Brand Identities

• Would Kentucky Fried Chicken be the market leader it is today if not for Colonel Sanders, the eleven secret herbs and spices and the slogan, "Finger lickin' good?"
• The Energizer Bunny and the slogans, "Nothing outlasts the Energizer" and "It keeps going, and going, and going," form powerful perceptions in the minds of consumers and helped make the Energizer battery brand an industry leader.
• During the recent depression (2007-2009), Louis Vuitton, a luxury fashion and luggage brand, experienced a $1 billion gain in its fashion and leather-goods sector. For more than a century and a half, this brand has dominated the way no other luxury brand has – not Gucci, Hermès or Chanel. Louis Vuitton successfully differentiates itself by focusing on the art of the journey and this marketing message resonates with the company's target market.

Nike: A Powerhouse Brand

The Nike brand is an attitude. It's the attitude that consumers will never have to worry about their apparel or equipment if they have selected Nike. The promise of the Nike brand and the consumer's expectation are in perfect alignment. Nike provides the highest and most appropriate quality apparel or equipment and that apparel or equipment supports the consumer's aspirations. Nike gives the consumer the freedom to just do the sport. The brand is not the "swoosh." That's the corporate logo. The brand is not "Just do it." That is a slogan. The logo and the slogan are brand elements and valuable in marketing but the main value of the brand is the perception it creates. The perception of the brand is what makes the brand so popular.

This is the first of three articles that will cover the basics of branding. The next two articles are:
Branding 102: Defining a Brand
Branding 103: The Systematic Development of a Brand to Enable it to Meet its Objectives
Keco Digital Marketing's search engine optimization services leverage a strong brand identity and help a company or product stand out from its competitors -- at the top of search engine rankings. Keco Digital Marketing has provided online marketing, branding and search engine optimization services since 2003. The company has a customer base that spans the United States, South Africa, Nigeria, China and Korea. Contact Keco at 877 318-3883 or thru the web.