How the Growth of Mobile Search is Changing PPC Advertising

Mobile device use has skyrocketed in recent years, and this is especially true for search engine use. Now, Google has announced that more searches are officially performed on a mobile device than on desktop computers. As a Chicago Internet marketing Company specializing in PPC management Chicago, Design & Promote understands that it is more important than ever to keep up with the changes in mobility and adapt to the mobile world. On April 21^st, 2015, Google decided to take action based on this tremendous mobile growth, with a new mobile-friendly update. This update, nicknamed “mobilegeddon” aimed to make a seamless user experience for those on mobile devices, lowering the search rankings of websites who do not have responsive and mobile-friendly designs. Now, Google AdWords is becoming mobile-conscious as well, rolling out new features to better help both businesses and users get the best experience from mobile devices. Our Chicago Internet marketing company explores these new features. PPC Management Chicago: Exploring Google Changes in PPC Advertising   Google is especially focused on mobile device research being performed on search engines. In the first quarter of 2015, Google has seen a 175% YoY growth in shopping searches on mobile devices. What’s more, 93% of people that do research about their shopping on their smartphones go on to make the purchase. As a result, Google is focusing its efforts on enhancing mobile ad features to help advertisers be noticed by their customers during three key stages: ‘I want to know’; ‘I want to go’, and ‘I want to buy’.   Now, Google is making advertising on mobile devices better than ever for PPC management Chicago users. A few major features to come stand out as the star improvements of Google’s mobile changes. Auto-resizing for image ads: With the new update, PPC management Chicago advertisers now only have to create ads in three sizes (778x90, 160x600, and 300x250). Google will resize these images so that they can show on 95% of placements.   Automotive and hotel ads: An exciting update for any Chicago Internet marketing company, ads for these industries are now being specifically designed to help advertisers.   Data-driven attribution: Google will become more open about which keywords have led to a conversion so that advertisers can make smarter, more informed decisions about which keywords helped to lead to the conversion before the sale was made. This is one of the favorite features at our PPC management Chicago Company, because it helps businesses to evaluate SEO efforts and better their keyword usage.   Expandable product card shopping ads: When a search engine user is looking for a particular product, they will now see high-resolution images, user reviews, prices from different sites, and more.   Improved estimated conversions: Another favorite of our Chicago Internet marketing company, Google has new, improved estimated conversions. Today, 9/10 conversions start on one device and end on another. Essentially, most consumers may look onto a mobile device for research of a product or service they want, and finish the sale on a computer.   How a Chicago Internet Marketing Company with Expertise in PPC Management Chicago can Help   Do these new changes to Google sound like they will help your business perform well in search engine results? If you would like to benefit from paid advertising changes in Google, contact our PPC management Chicago company to learn more about the pay-per-click and advertising system, plus more of what our Chicago internet marketing company can offer you. But, don’t wait, because mobile searches are getting more important each day. Contact Design & Promote to talk more today:  http://www.designandpromote.com

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A Content Marketing Firm Helps Get Your Sales Team On Board With Content

As a marketer, one of your main jobs is likely developing content that is useful to your customers, especially if you have a strong online presence. From compelling web content that first draws a prospect in, to highly-targeted email campaigns meant to close the deal, content is a vital component to the overall marketing strategy for many businesses. Unfortunately, many marketers find that they struggle getting their sales team to use the content they created. Why? It often boils down to a lack of alignment between the two teams and a lack of communication about the type of content and messaging needed. To get sales to use your content, you have to be on the same page about content development. Here's how: Powwow With Sales One of the easiest and most effective ways to get on the same page as your sales team is to meet with them on a regular basis. At minimum, get together monthly; more often for larger companies producing a lot of content. The goal is to get feedback as quickly as possible about what's working and what's not. The more often you meet, the more quickly you can change gears and adjust your content strategy to provide sales with the content they need - and will actually use. Understand Your Brand's Sales Cycle How a consumer goes from a lead to a prospect to a buyer is different for every brand. Making sure both your sales and marketing teams understand the sales cycle each person goes through is vital to creating appropriate content at each touch point. Be Helpful, Not Promotional Obviously your content should promote your brand to some degree, but content that is deemed as too "salesy" is a turnoff to buyers. Instead, work with your sales team to understand your buyers' needs and concerns and create content that addresses those in a helpful way. Make Your Content Easy To Find Your content should be easily accessible and organized so that your sales team can quickly find what they're looking for. Cloud or server storage is ideal so that the content is updated in real-time and everyone has access to the most recent files. Be Sure Your Content Meets Its Goal If a free eBook download is supposed to result in 50 new leads per month but your email list is only growing by 20, you need to figure out what the problem is. It could be you're not promoting it enough and an extra email campaign may provide the boost you need. If not, the issue could be with the content itself. This goes back to the importance of regular meetings to provide feedback on the effectiveness of content. Meet Customers Where They Are Not all of your content will be in the form of an email or PDF. Brands looking to boost their online presence and authority will use various platforms for publishing content and connecting with customers. One of the most effective is LinkedIn. With more than 400 million users in various niche industries, it's one of the best places to find customers who are already interested in the type of solution you provide. The key is to ensure your LinkedIn profile is well-optimized so that your brand and content receive good exposure and traffic.   Design & Promote Can Evaluate Your Content Marketing Strategy If you're struggling to align your sales and marketing teams around content, a content marketing firm like Design & Promote can help evaluate and update your Chicago business's strategy. Call 630-995-7109 to learn how we can help you create content that your sales team will actually want to use!

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Social Media Marketing Strategies: Is Social The New Search?

When consumers want more candid information about a topic - say, real pictures from other people about the latest wedding venue in town, or frank reviews about a hot new restaurant - Google and other search engines no longer provide the most relevant data in real-time. But social media does. And more and more consumers are turning to social to discover raw, user-generated content that isn't indexed in regular search engines.

How Does Social Search Work?

Using social search is as easy as logging into your platform of choice (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) and using the search function. In this I-Want-To micro-moment, you want to quickly know something, do something or go somewhere, and the relevance of what your search uncovers greatly depends on other users' micro-moments and how they (knowingly or unknowingly) categorize the content they publish on social media as they go through their days. Any time a person posts on social media using hashtags, location tagging and check-ins, they instantly become a "micro-content producer," making their content public in order to share their experience and connect with like-minded consumers. Whether the content is relevant and useful to you is subjective, but the raw, unfiltered results in social search is part of the appeal to most users.

Search Multiple Social Media Platforms At Once

For casual users who only use Facebook or Pinterest, searching directly from the site isn't an inconvenience. But for more serious searchers who want to get the pulse on a topic from across all social sites, there are social search engines with aggregate results in one place. Smashfuse and SocialMention are some of the most popular, and are free and easy to use, returning real-time results from all the major social sites. Of course, not to be outdone in the search sector, even Google offers a free social media search engine called Social Searcher.

How Can A Brand Leverage Social Search?

In a society dominated by social media with consumers who strive to be in-the-know at all times, social search provides the trending information about people, places and events they crave. For brands, the important thing to remember is that a lot of consumers are more interested in content created by other users - not content put out by brands themselves. That's not to say you should halt your own social media marketing strategies, but instead shift your focus to encourage more engagement from customers and followers. Create unique, but intuitive, hashtags for your brand and use them in your own posts. Don't hesitate to ask users to use them as well! Also make sure the information on your location listings is accurate, and ask customers to check-in when they arrive to your place of business, or share their content using specific hashtags. Most people know that when they check-in, use location tagging or a hashtag in their social media posts, the content becomes public. The reason people choose to do this is specifically because they want their friends and family to know where they are, what they're experiencing at that moment, and what their opinion of the place or brand is. And that's precisely what other users are looking for when they use social search.  

This following post Social Media Marketing Strategies: Is Social The New Search? was originally published on Design and Promote Naperville

Think You Need SEO? Ask Your Chicago SEO Firm

High rankings in the search engines will make any website owner proud. As a leading SEO company in Chicago, we know firsthand the many benefits and advantages offered by a search engine optimization campaign. We also know the limitations on SEO. Work an SEO strategy just right and businesses of every size and scope, even a startup, can stand out from the online competition. However, there might be a time where an SEO professional tells you that SEO is NOT the solution.

Design & Promote: Working With a Leading Chicago SEO Firm

Once our clients understand SEO, they often collaborate with us on ways to effectively include this method into their current web strategy.  While SEO in Chicago is one of our core services, we don't always recommend moving forward with a search engine optimization plan. Our reluctance to work with a client on SEO may initially come to a surprise. But we don’t shut the door on SEO without explaining why. We will sit down with our partners to discuss why, or why not, they should consider a specific marketing approach. Not sure if you should team up with our Chicago SEO firm? Here are some of the most common reasons why SEO in Chicago may not make sense for your organization: Industry Saturation (A.K.A. Too Much Competition): Type in a few common industry keywords; how many results return from your search? If you find yourself weeding through an endless list of competitors, a general SEO campaign may not prove enough to help you stand out from the opposition. At Design & Promote, we suggest pinpointing a few distinctive specialties to really separate your company from everyone else operating in your industry. New Product Provider: Maybe too much competition isn't the issue; perhaps you're a business bringing a new product/service to market with no current competitors. Emerging product lines often struggle with a SEO strategy because customers simply don't know how to search for your company. The team at our Chicago SEO company can help you create a plan that showcases your business in various search results based on solving problems for your consumer sect, rather than relying just on industry keywords. Wanting Complete Site Control: As a business owner, it's understandable to want some control over your website. However, an effective SEO plan often means strategically reworking your current content. If you are ready to give up some of your creative control, this type of marketing may not be right for you. Not Ready To Commit To The Process: A plan for SEO in Chicago can yield impressive results; however, achieving sustainable marketing momentum requires time and patience. If you're looking for a quick fix, this strategy probably isn't the right option for you. Keeping The ROI Bar Too High: Finally, many business owners come into the SEO process wanting maximum results, without having the appropriate type of budget to achieve it. Our team can work with you to ensure you have reasonable expectations on results. We can partner with you to take management steps forward to build sustainable momentum for long-term ROI. Rest assured, if it turns out that SEO is not the right solution for you, it’s important to work with an agency who gives you some other options. There are other things you can do to craft your best online presence, i.e. redesigning your website or pumping up your social media marketing. It’s important to discuss your options with a search engine optimization professional. Want to get in touch with a Chicago SEO firm? Contact the team at Design & Promote today!  

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