“The future of the industry lies in understanding the customer’s intent.” –thinkwithgoogle.com

With the rise of voice assistants, chatbots, and conversational search, the customer journey more often starts with a question, a desire, a need, and AI-powered¹ discovery services (ex. search engines, apps, maps, etc.) are responding with more relevant, detailed information.  With this shift in consumer search behavior, following are insights for SEO² (Search Engine Optimization) strategies:

IF THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY STARTS WITH A QUESTION:  HOW DO MARKETERS ANSWER?

• To ensure your business appears in search results as the answer to your customers’ questions, manage your brand data, which is made up of hundreds of facts, concepts, and details about your products/services.
• The ideal architecture for AI-powered search and discovery services emerging today is to consolidate brand information in a single location. It must be accessible and structured to align to the changing digital ecosystem.

THE NEW CUSTOMER JOURNEY

• Search engines are retraining consumers to ask instead of search; the customer journey starts with a question, which leads to new, different questions as a part of the research process
• Google search results pages include a feature that shows what “people also ask”, with a set of questions to click on for answers, and to click through for a full search.

QUESTIONS ARE THE NEW KEYWORDS

• To keep up with the shift from keywords to questions, marketers must structure their brand data to provide direct answers, on and off the brand website.
• Question = Search = Intent: search marketing has moved beyond keywords to searcher’s intentions, and consumers’ questions state exactly what they want.

UNDERSTANDING INTENT ALONG THE JOURNEY

• To understand the customer’s journey and what’s important to them, examine their searches and the questions they asked.
• Map the journey by looking at when those questions were asked, and strategize to meet similar customers along the way.

BUILDING AN INTENT MODEL

• Build an intent model, which creates the basis to answer consumers’ questions, and identifies which search terms to target to get the best return for your customers.
• The goal is to understand and optimize marketing strategies for the customer’s path of intent.

DEMOGRAPHIC VS. INTENT MARKETING

• Demographic targeting studies who your customers are, but not what they do or how they feel. Relying only on demographics to reach consumers risks missing more than 70% of potential mobile shoppers.
• Research customers’ intent based on signals of interest in a product/service. Intent marketing is more effective at reaching and converting customers, and is reactive to their stated needs and raises fewer privacy concerns.

The customer journey starts with a question, and consumers expect answers. Provide accurate, consistent, brand-verified answers to consumer questions, no matter where or how customers are searching.

 

¹Artificial intelligence (AI):  the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems (searchenterpriseai.techtarget.com).  ²SEO (Search Engine Optimization):  the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through search engine results (moz.com).

Source:  Marc Ferrentino, Chief Strategy Officer at Yext; thinkwithgoogle.com; how-to-build-buyer-intent-model

PwC’s Entertainment & Media Outlook Report contains projections for U.S. advertising growth through 2023.  Following are highlights for major media:

	Online Advertising Online is expected to have a +8.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR)¹ through 2023. Mobile online is projected to grow at a +13.1% CAGR, with wired forecast to decline at -16.6%.
	Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Digital out-of-home (ex. billboard, DMV, elevator, gas station) remains strong with a +7.1%. Out-of-home has the strongest forecast of traditional media with a +3.1% CAGR, buoyed almost entirely by digital out-of-home’s.
	Cinema Advertising Cinema is predicted to grow at a CAGR of +3.6%. Cinema advertising revenues are much smaller than box office takings, although its CAGR is higher.
	Radio Advertising Radio is expecting a slight increase with a CAGR of +0.7%. Online radio will be the fastest-growing segment at +7.1%.
	Television Advertising TV continues to grow slowly at a +0.3% CAGR, in part due to declining TV viewing. Online TV is also growing slowly at a +4.6% CAGR, below the forecasts of the past several years.
	Magazine Advertising Consumer magazines remain pessimistic with a -2.8% CAGR; digital’s +3.9% is not enough to offset print’s -8.3%. Trade magazines -1.1% CAGR expects digital’s +4.8% to make up for print’s -7.6%.
	Newspaper Advertising Newspapers are expected to see a decline with a -4.7% CAGR. Digital’s CAGR of +2.5% is not growing quickly enough to offset print’s -9.3%.

¹The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is the proportional growth rate from year to year for a business, used to calculate growth over a time period.

Source:  PwC’s Entertainment & Media Outlook, reported by Marketingcharts.com

AI (artificial intelligence) assistants*, like Alexa, could better connect businesses with customers, and new features expand Alexa’s reach.  Here are four Amazon updates for voice application developers that could change how businesses operate:

 1) Skills Recommendations

“Skills” are applications (apps) that let Alexa speak to devices, even websites, allowing users to perform more actions with voice-activated control and third-party offerings:

• Amazon’s “CanFullfillIntentRequest” interface checks location, so Alexa can answer questions like “Help me find a nearby carpenter”.
• Alexa can tap into its universe of voice apps with this interface, offering a new and growing way for local businesses to reach customers.

 2) Payments

Amazon accepts Amazon Pay for one-time payments or ongoing subscriptions:

• Curation services that recommend local activities and offer to buy tickets could also help facilitate commerce and provide convenience for users.
• With user location access extended to third-party voice app developers, businesses can complete the transaction loop by offering delivery.

 3) Notifications

Voice apps are bypassing some voice commands to interact with users through notifications:

• Notifications can be sent via an auditory noise or by animating the ring of light atop an Echo speaker.
• They’re available for a select group of skills, including Domino’s Pizza delivery updates, Washington Post news, and AccuWeather alerts.

  4) Voice Identification for Skills

If paying by voice alone, Alexa needs to understand whose credit card to use:

• “Your Voice” by Amazon is a voice identification service that provides personalization: playing news flash briefings, adding events to calendars, choosing the right number to call, and logging a user’s previous interactions with a game or skill.
• Alexa can also remember whatever you tell her, including what you recently said.

Don’t Fret/Forget! If you are a GSM client with business listings management, you are already listed on Alexa!  Since Alexa uses Google, Yelp and Bing listing data for local service/product voice searches, your business will be found if someone is searching for a service/product you provide.

 

*AI (artificial intelligence):  Conversational computers that people can interact with simply by having a conversation.

Source:  Venturebeat.com, reported by Khari Johnson.

Many internet marketing companies state that their services can get you to “number one” on Google, but do you know what is actually being done to get you there? Search engines have changed and “number one” cannot be guaranteed. Here is what you should know:

1. Getting to “number one” on Google isn’t necessarily the best goal for local businesses.
The first position on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are paid ads. This is what is being offered to you when you hear the line “we can get you to number one on Google” (see example at right)

• People who search for local businesses tend to ignore ads, and scroll to listings and search results.
• Searchers know that ads may be from national companies with no local presence in the community.
• Nearly all clicks on ads are accidental during searches for a local business.

2. No one can guarantee that you will be “number one” on Google.
Google doesn’t allow any website to be the “king of a keyword”; it’s about showing searchers what THEY want to see, based on their prior internet activity and location at the time of search:

• Google changes its ranking algorithms¹ frequently, so what worked previously, might not work today.
• If your business/website was previously visited, you are more likely to be number one, or high up on the page, if that person does a search relating to your business.
• You might be number one for those who live around the block from you, and number five for those who live one town over. Your position is NOT static even if it looks that way when you search for
  your own business.

3. Google AdWords² is not Search Engine Optimization, so what is?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about the content/structure of your website being tuned to peoples’ searches, not about placing ads leading to clicks to your website:

• The hit on your website through AdWords is not making it more “in demand” in the eyes of the search engines because the click did not originate from your website’s link on the SERP.
• Focus on actual SEO, so that the rankings you generate are real, with quality over quantity content that is relevant to who you want to drive to your website.
• Come up with a specific goal, such as pushing a product, service or sale and keep track of results.

Local businesses should have a unique approach when it comes to SEO, based on industry, location, and other factors. Be wary of companies making promises before getting to know your goals. Being number one on Google is not necessarily the ticket to success anymore in today’s digital landscape.

¹Algorithms: how social media platforms filter, rank and organize the content we see based on a specific set of criteria (prosperforpurpose.com).

²Google AdWords: An advertising service by Google for businesses wanting to display ads on Google and its advertising network. Businesses only pay when people click on ads; the service is largely focused on keywords. (webopedia.com).

All businesses are digital in some aspect.  Between finding new customers or staying connected to current ones, there’s much to consider for your marketing strategy.  Below are 4 key ways to give your business a digital tune-up:

1) Give your digital platforms a review.
Consider the look of your website, which is often your first impression to consumers:

• Ensure that your website is clean, responsive and easy to navigate.
• Fix broken links, refresh images, and update designs to engage more visitors.

2) Yes, you probably should pivot to video.
Research predicts that video will account for more than 80 percent of web traffic¹:

• Video can often better engage and tell a story than can a whitepaper or blog post.
• Video can be repurposed and shared across multiple platforms.

3) Think about your social media strategy.
Determine how social media plays a part in your overall business:

• If it is a source for new customers, or if continued engagement is important, then focus more attention on social media.
• Social media platforms each have their own strengths and weaknesses. If you have a loyal following or products/services that do well on a specific platform, stay the course.

4) Great content still matters.
Research indicates that longer-form, higher-quality content will be even more important in the years ahead²:

• Avoid generic filler content that populates the page with useless language.
• Provide readers with value so they feel they’ve learned something beneficial.

Leading trends in digital marketing will help move your business forward with a vision for success.  A balance between traditional marketing and an eye toward the future of brand building through digital is important in today’s media landscape.

Source:  BusinessNewsDaily.com, written by Derek Walter, founder of Walter Media; ¹Cisco Visual Networking Index-Forecast and Trends 2017-2022; ²Forbes-buzzsummo.com; internetmarketinginc.com

A recent study shows that CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) rank business growth as the top priority in marketing goals. Following are insights into achieving this objective, as well as other strategies and challenges*.

What are the top priorities in marketing?

Business growth ranks first as the primary role of marketing:
• #1: Delivery of business growth.
• #2: Ensuring effective brand management.
• #3: Developing the overall customer experience.

How do CMOs support business growth?

Building lasting relationships with customers is key to delivering business growth:

• #1: Securing long-term customer relationships.
• #2: Driving revenue growth.
• #3: Enhancing margin growth.

CMOs see a battle for consumer attention.

There are challenges in building long-term customer relationships:
• #1: Increasing levels of competition.
• #2: Consumers’ less responsive to traditional advertising.
• #3: Information overload.

*Top 3 rankings for each category

Source: Dentsu Aegis CMO Survey Report, reported by Marketing Charts