PBNJ Marketing Blog

If you thought that Google was going to just sit back and let everyone else get closer and closer to their market share… Think Again!

Now this giant is thinking of dishing out ovr $1 Billion dollars to purchase ITA Software. They are the makers for the airline search and pricing systems that almost all airlines use. Read the article here.

Little by little.. I wonder what is next for this bohemeth.

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Today I came across these very simple but yet effective ways to promote sales via social marketing efforts. Read entire article here.

The three items listed are:
1) Expect social media to deliver measurable, qualitative outcomes, not quantitative novelty.

2) Trust your instincts, question your consultants and ask yourself, “am I a tool of the tools?”

3) Ask better questions that don’t seek universal standards.

Some think that creating a Facebook ad or group will accomplish their social marketing efforts. That is but the first step of many. There are several things that need to be researched in order for it to become effective. Any social marketing effort must have some sort of measurable outcome in order to know if it is truly working for you. Accumulating fans is great but how are you going to convert those fans to a sale? How are you going to keep your fans informed and interested so that they can keep coming back.

Questions needs to be asked of any marketing professional that is delivering this methodology to you and they should be able to answer all of them and/or at least go out and find the information for you. Innovation plays a key roll in all of this. What is ‘it’ going to be that makes me convert my status from a fan to an actual sales figure. Then once I become a ’sale’ why would I want to share that experience with everyone else. Those are the questions that need to be answered, tried, and practiced in order for any type of social marketing to take effect. You don’t just want to be like everyone else. You need to stand out and deliver.

“It is not easy being cheesy”, taken from the infamous Cheeto’s advertising, but you may have to think along those lines in order to get establish yourself an outcome.. that can be measured.

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If you haven’t heard, Microsoft and Yahoo have been approved on a search and advertising deal announced last year. In a nutshell, Yahoo has agreed to use Microsoft’s algorithm for their search product. What does that mean exactly? Do I still optimize my website for all three search engines or do I just focus on Google and Bing? That seems to be the question of the hour according to many SEO professionals.

The project itself is in its infancy and there are a ton of details that need to be figured out. What elements will Yahoo keep for its search experience? What apps will they keep? Facebook and Flickr are huge apps for them so they will need to be integrated. As all these questions come up, one thing is clear, Yahoo will be powered by Bing but the user experience will be all Yahoo.

Even though we are talking about the “Big 3” en search engines, there are other contenders that are just as important. Did you know that YouTube is ranked number 2 in search? It would probably be a good idea to incorporate a video strategy to your search to capture some of that traffic.

So what other search engines are contenders? I have included a list below according to ComScore but among those listed, you will find Ask.com, AOL search (It is powered by Google but not necessarily provides the same results), craigslist even social media’s MySpace and Facebook.

Search is no longer up to the “Big 3” as people will search from the sites they spend the most time on. A well rounded search strategy needs to be more than just optimizing your website for Google, Yahoo and Bing. Incorporate social media and a video strategy to enhance search traffic to your website.

Do you have a search strategy? If so, who are the players that you optimize for?

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