Tweet

“Just Google It”

Written by: Scott C. Margenau

Article Overview: This article just google it explains about a new lesson in classical marketing, Classical marketing laws would tell us it’s the “first in market…first in mind” rule.

“Just Google It”

A new lesson in classical marketing

By Scott C. Margenau

I caught myself using this seemingly overworked phrase…again…in the midst of a sales presentation: “Just Google it.” I have heard this phrase on TV and radio and in conversations with friends…everywhere. And Webster’s has added the new verb ”google” to the dictionary!

Why is Google the first name that comes to mind when we think of looking for something?

Classical marketing laws would tell us it’s the “first in market…first in mind” rule. That rule points us to such brands as Coke, Xerox, Kleenex, Lite (Miller), etc.

But we “FedEx” a package now—right? Many other shipping companies were in the market long before FedEx. We “Google it,” not “Yahoo it”…or “MSN it”…or “Lycos it,” etc. So the first-in-market rule doesn’t seem to hold water in today’s fast-paced, high-tech marketplace.

Consider this modification to the rule:

“The first to make the biggest brand impact and reinforce its image with a great product or service will eventually become first in mind and in market…sometimes.”

OK, that’s better…and note that I left some wiggle room.

How do you keep that initial brand momentum in place?

After being marketed for decades, “Coke” is still used as a generic term. If you ask for a “Lite” and you get a Bud Light, you give the bartender the evil eye. And when we want to look something up…we “Google it.”

Why do some brand impressions last while others fade?

That’s because some companies continue to reinforce their “brand language” with smart marketing and advertising. And it’s because these companies produce very good products that are constantly improved and expanded upon. For businesses of all sizes, here is a list of media we find highly effective:

•Web Site Overhauls—Make your site more compelling and maximize it for strong conversions, by helping customers find what they want, piquing their interest and having calls to action that match their buying habits. Internal and external research has shown that sites in numerous industries fail to achieve core objectives.

•E-mail Campaigns—With a 56/1 ROI, they are the best way to keep in front of prospects as they go through a normal sales cycle.

•Online Advertising and Promotion—PPC, organic SEO, ads, social and viral campaigns…all work extremely well for most products and services.

•Impactful Print and Electronic Media—Echo your brand language and intrigue your prospect base from all marketing challenges.

•Blogs and Online PR—Effectively use blogs and press releases to enhance your “online value” relevant to your industry (which Google loves).

•Trade Show Marketing—This differs from industry to industry, but these shows are a great way to get in front of a large percentage of your target market in a short time frame. Today’s shows are much more interactive and informative than those in the past.
What can businesses of all sizes learn from this?

Create great products or services, and make sure your marketplace is aware of and impressed by your brand. All companies need to continue to effectively promote their brands and their key advantages to their target customers and prospect base. This should be done by a reputable firm or agency through the use of innovative and compelling media and strategies.

For more marketing information and tips, visit www.brandsthatsell.com

*See studies from Forrester at http://www.forrester.com. (Numerous studies concern Web site research.)

“Since 1999, Forrester has evaluated the experience of more than 1,000 Web sites. During that period, only 3% of the sites received passing scores on our Web Site Review methodology.”—Bruce D. Temkin

Related Articles
  Google Primer: 10 things you need to know (Part 1)
  Google Profiles
  SEO - How Important is Your Google Page Rank?
  Does a Domain Name Help with Higher Rankings?
  Google AdWords - 4 Factors That Determine How Much Money You Make (Or Lose)

Article Tags: bartender, brand impact, brand impressions, bud light, buying habits, coke, conversions, dictionary, evil eye, fedex, generic term, google, high tech marketplace, kleenex, midst, sales presentation, scott c, shipping companies, smart marketing, wiggle room



Related Forum Posts
How Do You Check Google Ranking? - Now that Google is so responsive to your own search history, how can you get a good idea of what your Google ranking really is for your web pages? Whenever I check my ranking for specific keywords on Google, my web pages appear on the front page, or suspiciously high. My way around this is to check Google ranking via other computer Internet links, i.e., whenever I'm working in a library I will use a library computer to check. I check Google ranking before logging into my Gmail or other Google-related accounts. Does anybody else have any other tips for discovering your Google ranking? Nowadays, I check Bing.com for my webpage ranking as it gives a much less favourable (and so, I guess, "truer") ranking for my webpages than Google does...
Re: Cool Video - How Google Updates it's Search Algorithm - Great Video Evan! As per the recent Google Algorithm update. Google also give more value to content and even shows rich snippet in Google SERP's.
Re: From $0.30 to $300 / Day on Google AdSense Part 1 - How To M - HI Evan, Look forward to hearing more. I like the point that you brought out with "testing." Google has some amazing tools that can help website owners track everything. From Google Adsense reporting to Google Analytic to Google Conversion and most recently Google Goal Tracking. Between all of those tools a website owner should know exactly what type of traffic is converting & making them money and what type of traffic is not. I even use Google PPC to estimate organic search engine traffic! Website owners would do well to follow your lead and create a base, and then test off that base in regards to advertising. Jeff
Re: Readers, Money or SEO? Which comes first? - Hi Chris, I like your passion on the subject; I would have to agree with you on this one. Our company is finding Google is starting to look at content more. Links & Link Value are far more important....but Google is giving link value to sites that have quality content. I read a leaked report from Google a while back that explained how Google manually reviews sites. They have 1,000's of outsourced employees that go through sites one by one and rank them on many different levels. Once a site like Mashable is ranked a certain way, that value sticks with them. That is why no matter what Mashable, techcrunch, Amazon, etc... put out they rank well for. Obviously they all have incredible links but Google has given them link value based on who they are. Obviously the idea of quality content is nothing new, just seems like it has gotten lost in the SEO world. Jeff
Re: Domain name sugestion - On the dashes question, I just did a test on my own site, Grasp-The-Nettle.com and found I got the following results: grasp the nettle = 6th on page 1 of Google graspthenettle = 5th on page 1 of Google grasp-the-nettle = 6th on page 1 of Google It doesn't seem to make much difference.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

3 Key Factors For Raising Capital

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

RULE YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A SHINE STAR

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.