Understanding the Difference between Google Local and Google Places

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Currently Google Local and Google Places are two different Google products each with different data sets. They compete against each other and, in some cases, display duplicate results when those sets are not perfect matches.

Google is in the process of merging Google Places with Google Local. But until then, you need to make sure that your business is up-to-date for both. In the meantime, information submitted on Google Local overrules information listed on Google Places IF the location has been verified.

How will you know if the data for your business has been merged already? The only way to know for sure is observing carefully to see which dashboard appears when logging into Google Places. If the latest dashboard is displayed, then the Google account is already a merged data set. If the older dashboard is displayed, you must still update both listings.

Old Dashboard
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New Dashboard
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Being moved to the newest dashboard is a computerized, automated, process that no one, not even Google employees, can speed up.

The most important thing to remember is that without going through the verification process, it is impossible to change or edit any information on Google Local as well as Google Places.

Localization is as easy as #1, #2, #3

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The Impact Of Google Places / Local On Localized Searches



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There is no more important consideration for a bricks and mortar retailer than discovery. In the past, this type of discovery relied heavily on the local Yellow Pages. The big yellow book was the means by which many people found the services they required.

With the advent of Google Places in 2009, the importance of proper listing within this platform has become more and more important for local small businesses. In fact, the importance of a properly optimized and validated Google Places / Local listing for a small business in many cases outweighs their need for a full-scale web presence.

What drives such a bold statement you may ask? Relevance.

Momentum client Budget Brake & Muffler Auto Centres engages our services to optimize their current web property for placement in organic searches. We have taken on the challenge to create high rank for blanket search terms such as “auto repair” and “car repair.” We are optimizing the web property for localized searches that depend on the physical location that the search is taking place from. The results are dramatic. We concentrate a considerable amount of effort in this optimization campaign on mobile searches – as we can see through proper tracking that a large amount of searches occur from mobile devices. This comes as no surprise considering that a large portion of individuals requiring car repair are searching on a mobile device from the vehicle that requires repairs.

With this focus on mobile platforms we have discovered something about the traffic this type of search creates. A large portion of the traffic that searches for and discovers the location of a Budget Brake and Muffler Auto Centre never end up clicking through to the company website. Why? Properly optimized, up to date Google Places / Local listings for each Budget location provide a direct connection to the local Budget franchisee right in the Google search results. The relevance of the result provides a direct path to the franchisee – discovery equates to a customer at the push of a button. Pushing Budget’s Google Places / Local listings to the forefront requires a consistent effort and a cohesive strategy involving the participation of each franchisee within the organization. Each Places listing requires up to date location information and validation of the business owner through Google’s own phone validation process.

Beyond the administrative tasks of ensuring each listing has the correct contact details and hours of operation, one key factor came to the surface. Reviews in these listings have a direct effect on placement both in search results and map placement. Franchisee’s who have positive reviews within their Google Places / Local listing consistently rank higher than those with poor or no ratings. Google views these reviews as a crucial key to providing their users with relevant results that create a positive outcome for the searcher.

Every small business owner now needs to understand that the relevance of their online listing is not based solely on their hours of operation but on the service they provide to new and returning customers. The Internet and Google itself is in a perpetual state of evolution.

It’s critical to reach out to your digital team to stay in-synch with these changes in order to maximize discovery for your business and real-time conversion of search traffic into real traffic, real satisfied customers, and real revenue.

Reach out now, and let the work begin!

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Conversion Paths – Putting the cart before the horse: Why it’s never a good idea to put design before strategy

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For most clients, design is the fun part of a web development project. It’s exciting to choose colors and pontificate palette decisions. And it’s tempting to start there.

My counsel is always to take a step back and consider critical business issues. Ask key questions. Then let the answers inform the design choices.

For example, in the case of a retail business that sells online as well as in brick and mortar stores:

1. Conversion Paths – The objective for the web presence should be to drive customers to the point of purchasing product, filling the cart, or driving them to physical locations. These conversion paths can be plotted and mapped from existing metrics and taken into account when building out the wireframes. The objective is to get traffic to convert. Understanding and monopolizing the path will ultimately deliver a design that provides conversion. Not the other way around.

2. Wire Framing – Before fixating on stylized elements there needs to be some importance weighed against the architecture, how you are drawing the customer in, and the paths you are pushing them through, etc.

This pushes usability to the forefront and provides clarity to the objectives of the website beyond its aesthetic value. Ultimately, proper wire framing will draw out the inherent flaws in architecture, providing insight into conversion paths, as well as where the roadblocks are from a user standpoint. 
It is important to draw the functionality out of the core branding and creative work. Otherwise the core functions of the website (selling the product) will be lost in the back and forth over colour, style, etc. A contractor wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint.

3. Brand & Creative – There is an established brand that already exists. Once the architecture, wire framing, and mapping is established then it is time to apply the brand elements. This will make the design process iterative in its nature, in turn providing a well thought out, properly executed design that serves the user base and draws them in to convert to a paying customer. I often sound like a broken record (remember those?) but not unlike the in-store experience, where stock is carefully placed according to consumer behaviour, one needs to need to understand the customer before choosing the website aesthetic. By evaluating metrics via Google Analytics, we can develop an experience that better suits the ultimate goal – conversion.

Assess. Wire-frame. Map. Then design it! Approaching it any other way is just plain “bass ackwards.”

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The Website: Shift is Happening

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Over the past 10 years business has been forced to move because an educated consumer has shown up on their doorstep armed with remarkable intelligence. Access to on-demand information has been a game changer in every business sector and with it comes an expectation of how your business enables and responds to its community.

A shift is occurring and we are seeing it with all of our clients – a changing dynamic in the function of their websites. Those metrics, which we track ferociously, now see brand engagement occurring on all platforms equally – or in some cases traffic and engagement of the brand outside of the website well exceeding the traffic to the organization’s URL.

Your website creates one destination for the information customers seek. A cohesive jumping off point for the brand. However, this is only the beginning of an overall strategy that needs to take into consideration all of the platforms currently available to support and enhance your brand.

The creation and dissemination of content may be what binds your website marketing messages together, however, that content now needs to be offered within the right context. Contextual content that your customers are compelled to share to their respective networks is the key to a successful strategy and a high traffic website.

The key motivator for this shift in contextual search results is, without a doubt, the deep market penetration of mobile devices. Predictive in its results, this type of search technology is pushing information to your customers based on what information the device already knows about their likes, habits, and social connections.

Effective marketing campaigns now have to adopt an active listening approach to fully incorporate customers in the feedback loop. The consumer voice has never been so strong and those businesses that pay attention to active consumer voices will see the rewards. Your company’s reputation online has never been as important as is it now.

In addition to active listening, inbound marketing becomes an important factor in an effective marketing strategy. Focusing on being found by your customers by providing high value content that is relevant to their wants and draws them into contacting you is now the strongest tool in attracting potential clients.

As your content takes shape and becomes distributed across networks your offering obtains authenticity. For many, this is a drastic shift from the traditional outbound model, however, brands that do not shift a portion of their marketing budget to an inbound marketing model will have more and more difficulty conveying their message.

We have said it before and we’ll say it again – online strategies aren’t just about setting up accounts on the right platforms – your strategy needs to involve true engagement. Engaging and driving online communities requires planning, risk management, and a cohesive objective.

Your company needs to measure the impact of each platform; your website, landing pages, request for information forms, YouTube channel traffic, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn traffic – all measured.

Consumers are educating themselves on your brand, where they what, when they want. The shift is happening. Business must meet the consumer with content and information that engages, informs, and a path to purchase.

Your inbound marketing agency can help you get your strategy right and show you how to implement and track it for optimum results.

Go ahead and Shift!

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3 Reasons Why Pinterest is a Female Marketing Dream

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Pinterest describes itself as a simple “Virtual Pinboard.” But don’t let this modesty fool you. Pinterest is the second most influential social networking site (behind Facebook) among women. It is also one of the fastest-growing with over 27 million unique visitors and 220 million page views per day. Here are some more reasons why it makes sense to use Pinterest as a marketing vehicle to reach women.

1. Pinterest Fosters Unique Shopping Behaviors

One of the key factors in the success of Pinterest among women is that they use the network in very specific and different ways than men. According to Edison Research, men utilize Pinterest boards as shopping carts to display what they have already purchased whereas female Pinterest users view the platform as wish lists filled with items they are exploring with an interest in buying. According to a recent Women’s Buying Behavior Index survey of thousands of online women shoppers, 36% of women shoppers use Pinterest to research items they are already considering buying and 60% use Pinterest to get gift ideas.

2. Google Doesn’t Understand Fashion and Beauty

When it comes to fashion, the purchase trigger can be discovering and viewing a special item you didn’t even realized existed. Google is the biggest search engine on the planet. It offers an image search but lists every result without the benefit contextualization, which is Google’s downfall. For instance, according to BuzzFeed, a woman looking for “ruffles” on Google image search would end up with these results:

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Whereas searching for the same term on Pinterest yields the following results:

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Pinterest virtual pinboards and women go together like sugar, spice, and everything nice because content is contextualized and curated by its users. What could seem to be a flaw, is actually its greatest strength: Female users are making Pinterest a better visual search engine for women than Google.

For example if she is looking for “trendy shoes,” she’ll see this:

shoes2

3. Pinterest Followers Cost Less and Spend More

The last and probably most compelling argument in favor of utilizing Pinterest as a marketing tool to reach women resides in the quality of the users. According to Reuters, women Pinterest shoppers spend an average $170 per session. That is double the average of Facebook shoppers.

Also women utilizing Pinterest follow more retailers than they do on any other social site, according to Google Ad Planner. Women shoppers who use Pinterest are informed customers that do not fit the typical social networker profile.

The cherry on the cupcake: acquiring a Pinterest follower costs between a 1 penny and 50 cents, which is considerably lower than Facebook (50c to $2.50).

Are you leveraging all the marketing power that Pinterest can offer?

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What is Organic SEO?

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Last year, our Director of Interactive, James Wallace, garnered lot of attention for his blog post entitled Does SEO Really Matter Anymore? Over the past year, the answer to this question has proven time and again to be: “Yes…but not as we know it!”

Search engine optimization has changed. In short, this is because Google has eschewed the antics and tricks engineered by SEO companies to thwart search engines and has instead altered its algorithms to reward the virtues of bona fide content and expertise. It’s not magic. It doesn’t involve smoke and mirrors. But it is strategic and highly measurable. It’s Organic SEO – a potent way to showcase the expertise of your business and facilitate discovery for your brand like never before.

Given that 81% of consumers start with a web search when they begin to look for content, it’s critical for your business to be found when and where consumers expect you to be found.

Here’s how to get started with Organic SEO:

  1. Facilitate Discovery – Work with inbound marketing experts to develop a plan to ensure discovery at the moment of interest. Conduct competitive research and develop a keyword strategy for organic search (which is very different from paid search)

  2. Optimize Your Content – Once you have identified which keyword phrases you should be targeting it becomes much easier to develop SEO-written website content, blog posts, and other textual content that attracts and engages your specific audience and meets their needs. Chances are you already have a wealth of content (text, audio, and video) that can be optimized organically.

  3. Generate and Nurture Leads – Marketing agency software such as MomentumOptify can give you real-time intelligence on visitors and their browsing activity, facilitate data-capture with landing pages, and allow sales nurturing campaigns that drive conversion. This is especially helpful if your company is involved in B2B activities or depends on creating direct sales relationships.

  4. Measure and Repeat – It is critical to understand, identify, and track a core set of metrics to guide your online strategy. The quality of the data that you collect is as important as its volume. To determine whether inbound marketing efforts are ultimately successful you need to measure all traffic, not just visits. Above all, you must analyze the data. Content may be king, but if you don’t understand what content and campaigns are driving traffic, the true potential of those efforts will never be realized. Your marketing team can help you interpret data and make sound business decisions based on it.

At the end of the day, Organic SEO presents a stellar opportunity for business owners and managers to set their offerings apart from their competitors by presenting high quality, educational, and helpful content to their customers. Additionally, by utilizing inbound marketing software and implementing well-conceived content strategies, you will facilitate discovery of your products and services at a much higher rate than using previous tactics.

It’s not unusual for our clients to experience an exponential increase in search placement vis-à-vis competitors. That translates into an increased number of phone calls, in-person and website visits, pre-qualified sales inquiries… and inevitably more revenue to the bottom line.

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How Analyzing Big Data Can Lead To A Big Payoff For B2B Companies

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Sharability. Reshare. Retweet. Likes. Inbound links. Page views. Social CRM. All of these digital metrics, and many more, when combined, can be described as “Big Data.”  Big Data is more than the latest tech meme. When mined and measured by marketing specialists and then translated into meaningful information that can be used to move a business forward, Big Data can be a goldmine.

But first we have to knock big data down from its scary overlord perch in order to avoid analytics overload. Then we can view Big Data as a delicate gemstone, a collaborative tool to give business access to the most accurate information about its customers and to develop a targeted, data-driven, marketing strategy.

So let’s break down Big Data shall we.

An Engaged Community Can Drive Re/Branding

The best way for your brand to avoid stagnation is to ask yourself these questions:

  • Does my brand generate organic buzz?
  • Where can I reach my customers?
  • What compelling messages are we delivering to our buyers?
  • Are we giving them reasons to come back?

Finding out what brand characteristics resonate with consumers can diagnose your brand health and prescribe ways to strengthen the relationship with consumers therefore increasing brand loyalty and making customers less vulnerable to competitive marketing.

Example: Samsung Galaxy S4

When Samsung launched their Galaxy S4 smartphone, their keynote was all about services and hardware specs were left on the sideline. This strategy was a direct reflection of the data gathered from their consumers’ use of the previous model: S3 adopters cared more about the Samsung’s software prowess than the number of cores their devices had. To become what some are calling “the hottest smartphone company on the planet,” Samsung had to rethink their brand and evolve to become what their consumers expected it to be.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-samsung-became-the-hottest-smartphone-company-on-the-planet-2013-1

Content Marketing Builds Brand Equity

Word of mouse is the new word of mouth. Producing valued content is the best way to get consumer attention. By monitoring real time social media conversation it is possible to target affluent brand advocates and learn what will reinforce the brand image and make the public remember it. Creating a water cooler moment is a science, not a lottery.

Example: House of Cards only on Netflix

When Netflix produced the 13 episodes of House of Cards, the company delved into the information it gathers from its users in order to identify what type of content as well as who would be the lead actor its consumers would pick. Investing millions on the show was not a gamble, but a sound investment.  Since its release February 1st 2013, House of Cards has become the most watched piece of content on the streaming service and has been the first show watched amongst the vast majority of new subscribers.

Source: http://www.salon.com/2013/02/01/how_netflix_is_turning_viewers_into_puppets/

Engaging The Next Generation of Consumers/Brand Advocates Starts Now

In a world where social media is driven by consumers, not businesses, coping with change isn’t the problem. It’s our behavior. Online strategy needs to be tailored to our customers. The strategies to engage baby boomers are not efficient when it comes to engaging millennials. Building trust with customers is fundamental to business success. Observing trends and their evolution is key in optimizing the reach and success of a social marketing campaign among the target.

Example: NASA’S Curiosity

To gather public support in order to keep its government funding, NASA decided to learn about the online behavior of its future brand advocates and turn the launch of the Mars-bound probe Curiosity into an event engaging audiences across all platforms. From hyping and then live streaming the “7 minutes of terror” to posting tweets and broadcasting the new tune from Will.i.am from the surface of the red planet, Curiosity has had the same impact on the public perception of NASA as the Moon landing.

Source: http://www.technewsdaily.com/17274-mars-curiosity-social-media-secrets.html

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What is a Digital Strategy?

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A well-conceived and properly developed digital strategy is absolutely critical to most every successful marketing plan. When executed, it will leverage all your internet, social, and content marketing initiatives in a way that will generate leads and result in new revenue incredibly fast.

Every business is different. The only common denominator is that all business –regardless of industry – is evolving at an exponential rate. For this reason, it is critical that marketers access the best expertise available to design and create an effective ecosystem that is optimized to deliver the desired results.

The digital ecosystem schematic will illustrate how internet traffic (demand) will be generated and how it is commandeered and routed between web site, blog, audio, video, ebooks, eNewsletters, as well as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other social sharing platforms.

All internet marketing, social media, and content initiatives must facilitate discovery and inspire social sharing across all appropriate platforms. All content should be shaped specifically for the venue in which it is deployed. And above all, clear rules of engagement must be implemented to avoid public relations disasters.

When working with a good digital agency, it’s not necessary that you have all the answers. Your digital experts will guide you through the process and begin delivering results your business needs and deserves.

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How Associations Can Harness The Power Of Social

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Associations, whether national, regional, or local, are essentially communities. They are comprised of groups of tribes or individuals who are united by shared goals, interests, or preferences. Associations are, by their very nature, social.

This presents a unique and especially prescient opportunity for associations to leverage the power of new social communication, marketing, and media techniques to achieve their goals like never before. Whether they are professional, charitable, trade, political, cultural, or otherwise, associations may need to fulfill multiple mandates: advocacy, awareness, fund raising, education, communicating, lobbying, among others.

Chances are your association’s key initiatives include:

• Communicating with members
• Demonstrating value to the membership
• Advocating on behalf of consumers at large

What Social Can Do

Utilizing social marketing can open a community of engaged advocates, both members and non-members, who are willing to share your message across their respective social networks, generate awareness, and solidify your associations mandate with the public at large. However your association will have to engage with those advocates and leverage the power of social channels effectively. Here’s how.

Three Key Factors In Harnessing Social Channels

1. Be In The Community

Your association needs to be an active participant on all of the obvious networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. This means you need to go where your members are, and they are everywhere.

2. You Need A Plan

Simply signing up for an account on any given social platform does not mean your association has fulfilled its obligation. Social connections via your chosen networks are not obligations but opportunities to engage directly with your members. This direct connection requires a clear plan with regard to infrastructure, integration, and most importantly a set rules of engagement policy. There is nothing more important than a planned and coordinated process for responding to negative comments.

3. Content

Well-crafted and professionally produced text, audio, and video that clearly communicate your organization’s message are core to a great content marketing strategy. Content is the essential asset that will drive readers to your association via online and mobile. Since many associations are in the enviable position of having a business model based on providing information to their members, the raw materials for stellar content is often at their fingertips. Niche by definition, associations that create well crafted, shareable, and SEO friendly content can effectively push their message online.

Harness The Power Of Social Channels

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What’s the Value of a Facebook “Like?”

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The answer on Facebook is $0 if you don’t have a strategic plan to monetize it or otherwise leverage social media in a way that creates revenue.

Internet coffee shops are rife with “social media experts” who sip lattes and brandish the word “engagement” about as if business were as simple as chatting with friends. Engagement for engagement’s sake often results in a whole lot of yakking with little or no regard to whether or not the conversation is consistent, on brand, on target, or, most importantly, leading somewhere. In short, these “experts” can do a lot of talking and not much for the bottom line.

Almost every brand can benefit from unique and specific marketing initiatives that can be employed to drive revenue using social media.

However, if your social media strategy begins and ends with the word “engagement,” or worse, you have no strategy at all, you are missing out on the huge and essential opportunity to drive your business forward in a quantifiable way.

The truth about employing social media marketing is that it is challenging work. It requires great focus and skill. But when it’s done properly, social media will establish credibility for your brand, expose you to a social reach far beyond your current network of followers, and allow you to significantly impact the bottom line

This requires a unique and comprehensive brand strategy that is informed by specific goals for the brand, deployed with proven tactics and creative that is in-line with the strategy, and validated with a variety of simple measurement tools to ensure a worthwhile return on investment.

And most importantly, there are a variety of specific metrics that will determine the value of a “Like.” You will know and you will like it!

How to Get Your Social Media on Track

• Restart with a solid strategy.
• Avoid BS. Get qualified help.
• Develop a unique plan that addresses revenue.
• Formally define rules for social deployment.
• Monitor all activity for consistency.
• Measure. Adjust. Repeat.

What’s The Value Of A Like?

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