Aaron Goldman is Chief Marketing Officer at Kenshoo, where he puts lessons learned from Google to good use through global technology solutions for managing online advertising. Goldman lives in Chicago.

Everything I Know about Marketing I Learned from Google

By Aaron Goldman

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-174289-4

Contents

Acknowledgments and Other MiscellanyIntroduction1 Relevancy Rules2 Tap the Wisdom of Crowds3 Keep It Simple, Stupid4 Mindset Matters5 Be Where Your Audience Is6 Don’t Interrupt7 Act Like Content8 Test Everything9 Track Everything10 Let the Data Decide11 Brands Can Be Answers12 Your Unique Selling Proposition Is Critical13 Your Competition Is Broader Than You Think14 You Can Learn a Lot from a Query15 Sex Sells16 Altruism Sells17 Show Off Your Assets18 The More Shelf Space, the Better19 Make Your Company a Great Story20 Don’t Rely on Search Engine Marketing Alone21 Future-ProofingConclusionIndex

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Relevancy Rules

GoogleyLessons.com/Chapter1

Why do you Google?

Because you’re looking for something, right?

Ah, but it’s not that simple, is it?

Why are you looking for something?

Because you’re researching a project at work?

Bored?

Maybe trying to figure out where to eat dinner tonight?

There are three main reasons we search—information, entertainment, andcommerce. We’re either looking for something to know, do, or buy.

Of course, there’s a fourth reason that accounts for countless search querieseach month, and that’s navigation. Did you mistake the search box for theaddress bar? Trust a search engine to get you there faster than a browser? Don’tworry, you’re not alone—the most popular searches each month are”Facebook,” “Craigslist,” “YouTube,” “MySpace,” and, yep, “Google.”

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Regardless of why you’re searching, there’s one common theme—decisionmaking.

Whether you’re looking for something to know, do, or buy, or a quick way tonavigate the Web, you’re making a decision. Where can I find accurateinformation about geothermal energy? Is there a video, preferably featuring acat, that will keep me entertained for the next five minutes? Is there arestaurant within walking distance where I can buy a hamburger? What’s thefastest way to get to Facebook.com?

In each case, you’re faced with a decision, and today the most popular way tomake that decision—assuming you have access to a computer or cellphone—is to Google it. In fact, according to comScore, a company thatmeasures everything that happens online, 65 to 70 percent of all searchesconducted around the globe are done through Google sites.

So, you have a decision to make, you turn to Google. More times than not, theWeb sites you find via Google will help you make that decision. Of course, whogets all the credit for having helped you make that decision? Certainly not thekeywords chosen nor the Web sites listed. All praise be to Big G. In fact,studies have shown that when people don’t find what they’re looking for onGoogle, they blame themselves and their poor query choices, not Google.

Why is this?

Why has Google become the verb for search? Why is Google the first place we turnwhen trying to make decisions? Why does Google always get the credit and nevershare the blame? Why Google?

I can just picture Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer channeling his inner Jan Bradyand whining, “All I hear all day long is how great Google is at this or howwonderful Google did that. Google, Google, Google!”

When Microsoft launched its Bing search engine in June 2009, it was branded as a”decision engine.” Clearly, the folks in Redmond had uncovered the insight thatwhat drives people to search is the fundamental need to make a decision. That,along with an estimated $80 million ad campaign, has propelled Bing to a 30percent increase in search market share through February 2010. However, Bingstill serves up only a little over one-tenth the overall pie, with Googleenjoying roughly two-thirds.

It’s All Relative

So, why Google? There’s only one relevant answer—relevancy.

Google simply provides the most relevant results. How it does so is somethingwe’ll talk more about in the next chapter. Suffice it to say for now, though,that the Google algorithm effectively harnesses all the collective knowledge onthe Web.

The truth is, Google doesn’t show the most relevant results for every singlequery. Wolfram Alpha often shows better results for quick facts. Many peoplethink Bing has better image results. And Facebook shows results from yourfriends’ status updates. But, generally speaking, across an aggregate of alltypes of searches, Google provides the most relevant results.

Accordingly, the Big G has benefited from a strong halo effect. Research hasshown that if you put the Google logo on another search engine’s results, peoplewill report a much higher relevancy score.

It doesn’t even matter if Google provides the most relevant results. In search,as in life, perception is reality.

Of course, possession is also nine-tenths of the law, but Google doesn’t need toown content to get credit for it and profit from it, nor do content publisherskeep 90 percent of the ad revenues generated by Google—but that’s anotherstory altogether.

Get Needy

Clearly, Google has carved out a position as the most relevant search engine.But Google is often credited with much more than just returning relevantresults. Google is seen as being a decision maker—or, at least,facilitating decision making.

By providing a solution to this fundamental human need, Google makes itselfrelevant to the masses.

According to Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics 2.0, cofounder ofMarket Motive Inc., and Google’s “analytics evangelist,” relevancy is “perhapsthe singular reason for Google’s success.” Kaushik marvels at the fact thatGoogle “still today continues to not show ads on a vast majority of terms [if ithas] no relevant ads or show ads that might earn less money but are morerelevant to the search query by the user.” He astutely observes that this is”hard to imagine now in a world of companies wanting to hyper monetize everypair of eyeballs.”

This is your challenge as a marketer. How do you make yourself relevant? How doyou enable your customers and prospects to make better decisions?

Of course, one good way to become relevant is to get your brand to the top ofGoogle for queries related to your business. After all, if a tree falls in aforest and no one’s there to hear it, does it really make a sound? Similarly, ifyou offer a great product or service but no one can find you, do you reallyoffer a great product or service?

Needles of Relevance

In order to become relevant, you must show people how you can help them solve aproblem or make a decision. This is what Google looks for when it decides whatWeb sites to rank and in what order.

When a query is submitted, Google scans trillions of pages across the haystackthat is the Web trying to find the ones that are most relevant to that specifictopic. As part of this process, Google looks for signals of relevance across anumber of different criteria—the title of that page, the copy on thatpage, the images on that page, the links pointing to that page (more on that inChapter 2), the date that page was created, the frequency at which thatpage is updated, etc.

Ultimately, what is Google looking for? A page that’s been around for a while,with frequent updates, and, most importantly, is all about that particular topicand only that topic. Assuming all else is equal—and that’s a bigassumption—if two Web sites cover geothermal energy but one also includesinfo about five other energy sources on its home page, the one that sticks togeothermal energy will get the top spot for the query “geothermal energy.”

In turn, a good rule of thumb for marketers trying to get to the top of Googleand build a relevant brand is to “corner the market” on one particular niche.Give off all the different signals of relevance. Make yourself indispensible topeople trying to make a decision that involves your product or service. Makeyourself the Google of your category. And then branch out from there.

No one has done this better in recent years than Apple.

iRelevant

What do you think of when you hear the word “music?” A particular artist maybe?A certain song? Genre? Album? Label? Concert?

Ten years ago, all of these answers would have been atop the list of focus groupresponses. Then, in 2001, with the release of the iPod, and later, in 2003, withthe iTunes Music Store, Apple made us “Think Different” about music. Morerecently, the iPhone launch in 2007 integrated music into our most personaldevice, and the iPad launch in 2010 gave us yet another way to get our fix.

Today, Apple is the largest music retailer in the United States and accounts fornearly 70 percent of worldwide online music sales according to NPD Group.

Ask a group of people—especially those under the age of 30—what theythink of when they hear the word “music,” and you’ll be surprised—ornot—by how many of the responses start with a lowercase “i.”

How did Apple make itself so relevant to the music category?

Well, for one, it built a better mousetrap. When the iPod was first launched,critics rolled their eyes at the $400 price tag and pesky scroll wheel. Butprice is generally not a barrier for early adopters—especially in the techspace—and the scroll wheel turned out to be a killer feature once peoplegot used to it.

Then, with iTunes, Apple capitalized on the emerging trend of instantgratification brought on by the likes of Google and, later, Twitter. Rather thanfocus on selling entire albums, Apple promoted the ability to buy individualsongs. In fact, the iPod functionality was built around song-by-song consumptionwith features like creating on-the-go playlists. Why listen to entire albumswhen you can just jump around to your favorite songs?

These days, an artist like Wyclef Jean would get laughed at for including shortinterludes as complete tracks like he did on his landmark 1997 album, TheCarnival. Can you image paying 99 cents today for a 15-second clip of alawyer defending Wyclef in court against allegations of being a player?

In January 2010, Apple announced its latest product, the iPad. As with the iPod,the launch was met with lots of grumbling over price and feature sets (What doyou mean there’s no camera?), but it’s hard to dispute the relevancy of the iPadto the core Apple audience.

As Rishad Tobaccowala, chief strategy and innovation officer at PublicisGroupe’s VivaKi and founder of digital marketing think tank Denuo, observes, theiPad fits a gap Apple fans didn’t even know existed in their lives.

In a post on the Denuology Web site, Tobaccowala calls the iPad the perfect”slouch” device. The Mac is perfect for “sitting” at a desk while”working/creating.” The iPhone and iPod are perfect for “walking or standing”while “communicating/traveling.” Meanwhile, the iPad will fit the niche of”slouching” in a chair or on the couch while “consuming/relaxing.”

GoogleyLessons.com/iPadRishadPost

According to a comScore survey conducted in late March 2010, just weeks prior tothe iPad release—and just days before I completed the manuscript for thisbook—the percentage of people who preordered the iPad was three timeshigher among iPhone and iPod Touch owners compared to those who didn’t own oneof those devices.

But the story of how Apple came to be the darling—er, disrupter—ofthe music industry goes beyond product innovation.

Filtered, Not Stirred

In the advertising world, no ads are cooler or sleeker than Apple’s. From itsfamous silhouetted figures with iconic white headphones to the vibrant music andcolor schemes, nothing could be more appealing to the Apple audience. And no oneknows its audience like Apple.

Apple doesn’t have customers, it has fans. And it’s had them since beforeFacebook made it possible for people to officially become “fans” of brands.Apple fans were putting branded stickers on their cars long before it waspossible to put badges on blogs or follow a brand’s tweets.

Apple fans are passionate about design and the arts. In the iPod, Apple combinedboth of these elements while also making the brand more accessible to theeveryday consumer, not just artsy types. And by making the iPod work seamlesslywith the Mac, Apple only reinforced its product benefits to its keyconstituency. Enter iTunes with its elegant organization of music files on theiPod and Mac, and the virtuous cycle continues.

Despite making the brand more accessible to the masses, Apple retained itsfilter of cool and feeling of elitism. How? Ever pay attention to where and whenApple runs its ads? They’re typically at the beginning of a commercial pod, onthe inside front or back cover of a magazine, on large out-of-homeinstallations, on Web site home pages, or in the number-one ad slot on Google.

Music is all about being cool, and being cool is all about being on the cuttingedge. By placing its ads in premium positions, Apple subtly reinforces itspremium attributes—not to mention justifies those high prices—andmakes itself relevant to an audience that wants to think of itself as on theleading edge.

Behold, the Apple marketing filter.

Just as Google helps people with their fundamental need to make decisions, Applehelps people with their fundamental need to be cool. And by doing so, Applemakes itself relevant to the masses.

Staying relevant is not easy though. The Apple filter is as tight as any in theworld. Recall the importance to Google of signaling relevance by presentingauthority on a niche topic: the Web site that gets the nod in the organic searchresults is the one that has the home page screaming “geothermal energy” andnothing else.

Rumor has it that, to ensure the “cool” filter remains intact at Apple, SteveJobs does more than personally approve every new device or design feature; heapproves every single piece of advertising creative, even those 95-charactersearch ads. As for who died and made Steve Jobs the arbiter ofcool—especially given his fondness for black turtlenecks—I can’thelp you there.

While the Apple one-man-show tactic may be a bit extreme, it’s hard to arguewith success. Every marketer should take heed.

Find Your Filter

What products can you develop that will be relevant to your customers andprospects? What positioning and calls to action will make you relevant to them?What apertures can you find to reach them and reinforce your relevance?

Apple helps people make decisions about what’s cool. What decisions are yourcustomers and prospects trying to make? How can you make yourself relevant tothat process?

We must keep in mind that marketing is more than just advertising, just as beingcool involves more than simply sporting the latest Apple product. Apple hasturned iTunes into a full-on record label by creating direct distribution dealswith up-and-coming artists. The iTunes artist of the week gets promoted via e-mail to millions of registered users and gets untold exposure andalbum—er, song—sales. By controlling distribution, Apple not onlycan command exorbitant revenue shares, but it can set the standard for cool. Allit has to do is feature artists on iTunes or in an iPod commercial and watch astheir popularity soars.

As you can see, being relevant means more than just aligning yourself with youraudience’s passion points; it means cultivating them and, when you reachcritical mass, dictating them.

Of course, we can’t all have the luxury of moving the market like Apple. Wecan’t all have a rabid cultlike following. And we can’t all have a visionarylike Steve Jobs.

But we can all have a filter. Create yours now. Or further refine it. Make sureit’s relevant. Make sure your entire organization is aware of it, if not fullyon board with it.

Stay true to your filter. Apply it to all of your brand development, productdevelopment, marketing, and distribution tactics. Every communication touchpoint should be run through the filter, from PR to point of purchase. Eachmorsel of content you create should be run through the filter, from long-formvideo to 140-character tweets.

Always be mindful of your filter. And evolve it as the world changes and yourcustomers and prospects change with it.

Speaking of the world changing, don’t forget that relevance is relative. What’srelevant in the United States may not be in the United Kingdom, much less in theUnited Arab Emirates. As Damian Blackden, president of Omnicom Media Group (OMG)Digital in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), cautions, “The key to successis to balance international consistencies and efficiencies with a high degree oflocal relevance.”

Lawrence Wan, general manager of Digital for OMG in China, concurs. He advocates”taking a ‘global’ approach to … campaign essence but localizing to matchlocal audience interests, motivations, and behaviors.” That said, he alsoreminds us that “gravity still works the same in China as it does in the UnitedStates.” It’s just that “laws of attraction and rules of engagement” aredifferent.

Need help creating your filter?

Use your Google listings as a litmus test. If you’re on the first page for thetopic you think your business is most relevant to, you’re in good shape. If,like most companies, you’re not, then you have two options:

1. Optimize your digital assets—or create new ones—and startgenerating links. Better yet, hire a search engine marketing firm.

2. Create a tighter filter.

Nine times out of ten, I’d recommend trying what’s behind door number two. Ifthere are other companies more entrenched in the search results for the nicheyou want to fill, find another niche. That doesn’t mean give up on your businessmodel. It just means you’re not as relevant to that niche as you thought youwere. You can always branch back out into that area or continue to service itfrom your current market position. But don’t throw good money after badrankings.

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