“Valentine day roses ” -the link between SEO and Google AdWords Ad position

Valentine day roses -StratoServe
We are about ten days away from Valentine’s day and here is the results page we saw when we searched for “valentine day roses.” We have Super Bowl Sunday coming up this Sunday, so most folks are pretty focused (in 2016) on the Broncos and Panthers game. Many men haven’t got around to figuring out the Chicken Wings and Beer plan for Superbowl.  Valentine’s day is the very next Sunday (February 14) and there are fewer guys who have started thinking about Valentine day  flowers.

[ Note: This post was written 5 years ago on February 3, 2016. It turns out the we are on February 3, 2021 and Superbowl is this Sunday February 7, 2021 in a very different COVID environment. Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be playing Kansas City Chiefs. The ideas of this post still hold. For a more recent updated post and video see Your Website Does not Rank- Your Web pages do}.]

But that doesn’t mean that online florists have been inactive. In fact, one florist (Proflowers) must have been working on the  “valentine day roses” landing page for years. Here is why (Note the comments apply to search results at our location and your  search results will be different)

  • They are on Google Shopping at the top of the page
  • The Google Ad is also Number 1
  • You can see Proflowers is no. 1 in organic search against “valentine day roses”

It is this last organic search number 1 that must have taken a lot of hard work and months if not years to build and we find impressive. The URL has valentine day right off the root website instead of adding words like “/categories/valentines day” that some other first pagers have done to their webpage URL. After all no searcher online will use the word “categories”….

But it’s the payoff of being on page  one on SEO that is sweet when you advertise. You  pay the least for the ” valentine day roses,” keyword phrase because of it’s very high quality score compared to advertisers who do not appear in organic (SEO) results.

And by the time the customer has recovered from the Super Bowl party there is a flower delivery crisis for Valentine’s day and no one really is complaining that prices are much more than the $19.99 pictured above.

Wish our readers great Super Bowl viewing and do order your flowers early for Valentine’s day. ( Disclaimer : we have no connection with any flower sellers and cannot expedite your order. This post is merely an illustration of good digital marketing. This disclaimer is in case you see this post when you search for “valentine day roses”).

About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

Think Web page not website for PageRank AdRank and SEO

Page not Website-StratoServeThink about it,whatever way you arrive at a website – you really arrive at a particular page of a website(see an earlier post Your website does not rank on search engines -your web pages do). Sure, if it is a brand you deal with often (say Amazon or Expedia) – then you just type the brand name and get to the home page which already has some of your prior searches helpfully waiting for you.

For all others trying to get some consideration with the customer, they might get to your web page either through organic search or advertising.

There is a whole lot on the web about being no. 1 on Google and various techniques of SEO that are useful but they miss the most important point. Search engines and particularly Google is in the business of trying to get the searcher what he/she is looking for. In fact, if you look at the Google mission statement and the section “What we do for you” and we quote:

Larry Page, our co-founder and CEO, once described the “perfect search engine” as something that “understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want.”

What it gives you back is a web-page and NOT a website against your search keywords.

The calculation of PageRank (named after Larry Page but also means Page literally, if you ask us!) is complex and proprietary but the underlying logic is from part of the quote above i.e. “exactly what you want.” It follows that every page must have a purpose for a reader and answer a question that the reader has about the business,its products,its maintenance,customer support or whatever. In other words, a web page must help the businesses’ stake holders understand one single aspect of whatever the business is wanting to tell the world. The clearer and simpler the explaining more likely it is that the visitor will stay longer (more than 30 seconds preferred) and check out other pages on the website that helps.After arriving at a page if the visitor stays on the website it helps the PageRank because it indicates that the visitor found what he/she was looking for.In short, quality of the page counts-a lot.

The other, now less important element of PageRank, are back links or what other web pages refer to your web page. It sure helps if New York Times or CNN refers to a particular page on your web site. But again referrals from other respected websites is a signal of quality of a particular web page. For example, one of our pages is cited (against a  keyword phrase )in the Harvard Business Review among others  and that page seems to be no. 1 on Google  all over the world.

If your pages are not number 1 on Google, then you have the option of advertising on Google AdWords through pay per click advertising. Here again there is no escape from good quality of the page where a visitor will arrive(the landing page)  after clicking on your ad. Google calculates an AdRank based on the amount you pay for a click and the quality score of the keyword. If the keyword-ad-landing page are not “exactly what the searcher wants” you get a low quality score and your ads don’t show and don’t get clicks. Merely spending money on AdWords will not help. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

Revisiting the Chicken MahaMac in India and the Big Mac Index

MahamacOne could not help but check out the Chicken MahaMac at the still very Bill-MahaMac0001swanky Indira Gandhi International Airport and the meal and bill is pictured. Prices have risen  from Rs. 225 to Rs. 295 or about 6% a year from 2011 somewhat less than the average inflation of 7%. See the earlier post India trip: How much does the Chicken MahaMac cost in 2011?).

What has not changed is the significant larger crowd at the McDonald compared to the other eateries at the Food court. Clearly McDonald’s is popular among travelers at the terminal. The Chicken MahaMac is the equivalent of the Big Mac that is made popular by the Big Mac Index of The Economist.

Indiia Big Mac Index-The Economist-StratoServeAccording to the above January 2016 article in The Economist, the Indian currency, based on the new  line of best fit between GDP per person and Big Mac prices the Indian currency is undervalued by 61.4%.

The last week has seen some further dip in the Indian Rupee but then the oil crash, foreign exchange outflow based on Chinese slowdown and general nervousness with emerging markets are also  listed as factors.

On the ground though, the Indian economy did not show any signs of slowing down as internal demand continues to rise as does the adoption of technology by the predominantly young country. One evidence was the nonchalance with which the young cashier accepted my credit card compared to the cash transaction of 2011.About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

India trip: How much does the Chicken MahaMac cost in July 2011? – See more at: http://www.stratoserve.com/2011/08/india-trip-how-much-does-the-.html#sthash.zFLIprl6.dpuf

Peak-End Rule and Customer Experience

Peak-End Rule -StratoServe

Atul Gawande’s great book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End discusses the peak-end rule (Fredrickson and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman) in the context of medicine. The peak-end rule seems to apply rather neatly to customer experience both online and offline. But first about the peak end rule.

According to the peak-end rule customers think back on their experience in terms peaks and ending. Thus, if during a service encounter there is a delightful experience and the service experience ends on a positive note the overall recollection is positive. Such a customer is likely to refer customers, like your business on Facebook. It does not matter if there was a peak negative experience (as illustrated in the graphic) that is lower than the peak positive experience. Hence the idea of “service recovery” which means that if a service provider makes a mistake and immediately rights it, customers tend to forgive easily. The important thing to remember is that the customer should leave happy. Thus, businesses should plan the customer experience so that there are some clear “peak positive” experience opportunities. For example, searching and finding stuff on your website should be “super-easy” and if you are say a tour operator you should have some list of peak positive experiences that you would want your customers to experience. The great news is that just one peak positive experience that exceeds the peak negative experience can do the trick. This provided the customer leaves with a smile and thus overall happy memories. In all of this, customers do not differentiate between times on the experience. If a website or brick store experience is great then the visitor is not too keen to leave.

So what does the peak-end rule mean for giving customers a great experience? Here are some thoughts:

  • Identify some peak positive experiences: You tend to know some particular experiences that customers have appreciated in the past. For example a great restaurant owner we know, himself serves  a complimentary small dessert at the end of a meal. The meal does not seem that expensive !
  • Look out for peak negative experiences: Again experience tells you some frequent customer complaints. Addressing these on priority is a good idea. If you cannot eliminate some known negative experiences systematically, try to right perceived wrongs immediately. This will help with your customer experience.
  • Fond goodbyes and “do visit again” are essential: As the customer leaves the goodbye experience must be great. Most airports do a poor job with this. Departures at airports are generally nice and welcoming while Arrivals tend to be poor experiences overall for the air traveler leaving the airport. Some online store check-out experiences are also poor. Given that this is so important for customer’s  memories, its worth investing in enhancing the check-out experience both online and offline.About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.
    About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.
    About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

India 7% growth rate: Ola,Uber and car pooling apps

OlaUberBlaBla-India 7 percent growth-StratoServeOver the winter break India was an exhilarating and at times an overwhelming experience. The top growth rate of the world at 7% and young people moving fast in an ancient culture added to the exciting nature of the experience. Here are some examples:

The Private Taxi Business is over and Ola and Uber have taken over:

During previous trips one used to have a whole day taxi that operated on a 8hour/80km basis with extra charges for extra hours and extra distance. Generally the driver would be exhausted at the end of say 12 hours and arguments were common. Now with apps like Uber and Ola the taxi experience is completely transformed. Consumers get a cab within minutes and fares have never been more transparent. Anyone who ran a taxi business now is a member of Ola or Uber. Ola has a simple 15% commission it takes on rides from taxi operators and prices are sometimes as low as the three wheeler auto.  If it is chilly weather, you tend to take a car rather than the open auto much to the dismay of the auto drivers. Uber too has all kinds of promotions going on including a 100% bonus on rides that are ordered during peak times in Delhi. Both Uber and Ola have jumped into ride sharing to try and help with pollution control that is a real problem in Delhi.

Outside Cyber-city in Gurgaon you have bunch of Uber cars waiting in the night to avail of Uber’s “surge pricing” and we paid 3.1 times the fare as the driver waited for the “duty” to come in through his mobile phone. The more conservative taxi operator tends to go with Ola because cash transactions and commissions are easier to understand compared to the more complex Uber billing. There is really no need to have your own car today if the costs continue at the current levels. For the entrepreneurial driver, it is much easier to make 3-4 times more money as a driver-entrepreneur than as a salaried driver.

Car pooling apps and pollution control in Delhi:

Delhi has the dubious distinction of being the most polluted city in the world. The beleaguered Delhi Government under Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has put in an “odd-even” car rule that asks people to use private cars with “odd” numbers on “odd” days (1,3,5 dates) and “even” car numbers on “even” (2,4,6 calendar) dates. People were initially very skeptical about compliance but a massive outreach by the state government and huge volunteer involvement has seen a surprisingly large uptake. Amazingly the Delhi population understands that pollution is a crisis and have taken to using “car pooling” apps to try and car pool. A prominent app is “BlaBla Car.”

Technology adoption by both the uneducated taxi driver and the educated middle class at such a scale and with such rapidness is quite amazing. Clearly, Indians realize that there will never be enough roads and transport infrastructure that will be “enough”. Technology to make life easier in the new high growth economy seems to be the only way out. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

Why build a brand?

NyQuil-CVS-StratoServe “Why is our limo service competitor so busy and yet they charge 50% more than us?”….Limo service operator

“Advertising (eg. Coupon Book, Newspaper and online) has not worked for us in the past “….Restaurant owner

All advertising should result in immediate sales is the underlying expectation. The expectation is unrealistic and we try to explain why building a brand is important with these examples:

  • Compare Lead Brand and Store Brand Medicine prices: Go to a drug store and compare the prices of  the cold medicine “Vicks NyQuil” with the store brands like “CVS”. Similar store brands are available at  Rite-Aid and  at Walmart with its store brand “Equate”. The lead brand and store brand  have similar package locations on the shelf so that consumers looking for the lead brand cannot miss the store brand.  The store brand has  the prominent package declaration “Compare to the active ingredients in xx(name of lead brand) ” as pictured below. But colds seem always severe to the sufferer and going with the lead brand seems to give comfort right from the point of purchase! CVS-compare to NyQuil-StratoServe This imagined comfort is  despite the lead brand being far more  expensive than the store brand. For example, Nyquil at 87.4c/oz is  155% more expensive compared to CVS at 55.4c/oz  according to the CVS pharmacy website. But you can’t take risks with your health, our friends argue. So what about milk brands? we ask  – why does store brand milk sell at a lower price when the same milk branded sells at a higher price? And so goes the discussion about store brands vs. national and global  brands. Keep in mind that brands like “CVS” are  big brands in their own right and do give a lot of comfort with the “CVS” name. Try selling a new and unknown brand with the same ingredients as the leading brand in the OTC (over the counter) medicine category….
  • Big brands have BIG value: Tata Motor’s bought the Jaguar and Land Rover brands for $2.56 Billion and while car making factories sound expensive, they cost no where near the amount paid. Even more stunning is the $19.5 Billion that Kraft paid for Cadbury’s. Factories for making chocolate and soda don’t cost anywhere near that amount. But if you put the name Cadbury’s on any confection (including traditional sweets from any culture) distributors,retailers and consumers in hundreds of countries would give it a serious try. Try instead to come up with the best chocolate in the world with a new brand and it would take years to convince a retailer in Africa to stock it. Let alone advocate for the new chocolate brand. This after spending millions in advertising, sales staff,retailer and distributor commissions by the new brand.
  • No one ever got fired for buying IBM: This is an old B2B marketing quote that was mentioned in an earlier post titled “B2B marketers think value while Supply Managers think risk“. B2B brands have great value so when IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo it did not sell its iconic brand and successfully diversified to software services for businesses.
  • We are all building a brand as individuals: From the education credentials we get to the volunteer activities we do -we are all in the process of building a brand that is us. In fact a book You are a Brand! is considered a Goodread. LinkedIn is entirely devoted to help build professional brands. At a more granular level professional associations for every profession you can think of, are geared to help the brand “you.”

But the question remains as to why brand building is so important. A short answer is that a respected and trusted brand makes business transactions much more easier. People feel comfort because of the brand.These people include not just customers but also employees,suppliers,distributors,investors and bankers. Naturally the entire organization behind the brand has worked hard over several years to earn trust and respect through great product and service. These lead brands have excelled in delivering on their core value proposition over time. They have also kept up with consistent advertising in putting the word out and building their brand.Leading brands do understand that no amount of money on advertising can help a bad product or service on a sustainable basis.

To summarize, it is unrealistic to expect every dollar spent in advertising to give you immediate results although pay-per-click (PPC) advertising like Google AdWords does give immediate results for several types of businesses. However, keeping up with advertising (both online and offline) does help build your brand. The caveat is that the advertised product or service must be great and result in repeated customer satisfaction. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

Customer knowledge and stage of sales funnel for complex solutions

Marketing Complex Solutions-StratoServeComplex solutions and offerings are by definition well..complex…. and difficult to market.To us complex solutions are those that are difficult to explain in less than 2 minutes to a qualified prospect. Complex solutions also tend to be new to the market and sometimes new to the world. Sometimes complex solutions involve integrating several existing products in a novel and new way that can impact customers in significant ways. In some ways complex solutions are similar to explaining the “it’s complicated” relationship status on Facebook. It’s not as simple and clear as either married or single!

Yet businesses tend to assume that all prospects will understand quite quickly what their complex solution does. This seems to be true whether the business is large or  small. Here are some ways to think about the segments of potential customers by their problem knowledge levels.

  1. Customer does not know that there is a problem: This one is the most challenging because the customer does not know that there is a problem for which you have the solution. Bringing the customer through the AIDA stages is a long educational process. Content and appropriate Google AdWords advertising can help but be prepared for a long sales cycle. It’s really worth investing in web content development to deal with these customers who don’t even know that there is a problem for which you provide a solution. There is some nice content advice at Kapost Community. Keep in mind that your content will start working only when the customer has at least a mild interest to do a Google search. The good part is that the interest needs to be just enough for the (very little effort) effort to do a Google search. We know many businesses who haven’t got around to even Googling  back-burner issues because they are too busy with fighting the fires of today. Direct mail and email can help with this group. Direct mail can sometimes help more than email, as there is much less competition for attention.  Remember even trashing  junk mail involves the customer for at least a minute compared to the deleted (1-2 seconds) or spam folder for the email.
  2. Customers who know that they have a problem: These customers are actively searching online for solutions. If you have awesome web content that allows the customer to find you – it’s great. If your content is less than awesome but at least relevant to this segment -search advertising like Google AdWords can help to get a conversation started.
  3. Ready to buy customers: The ready to buy customer are those who know that they have a problem and have evaluated some alternative solutions at least through web searches. Few customers are ready to buy complex products and services immediately unless there is a referral from an existing delighted customer. So it is a good idea to ensure that existing customers are so delighted that they talk about the improvements they have seen among their industry friends. These industry friends have similar challenges even if they fall into to the first category who were not aware of the problem they were facing. Industry friends typically meet at conferences and trade fairs which allows interactions that discuss common problems.

To summarize, examine your target market for your complex solution and divide them up into the above groups and recognize that each needs a different marketing approach.About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

The comfort of a daily budget in Google AdWords

AdWords Daily Budget Comfort-StratoServeA budget is critical in managing the calories you eat, your personal finances or the line item budget of your organization.  You are never completely sure that you are within budget on a daily basis. Not so with Google AdWords where you can set a daily budget.

But first about budgets in  food and finances:

  • Calorie Counting: Unless you enter every food you munched  into apps like MyFitnessPal you are eating more than you planned to eat. And that goes for all calorie management systems including Weight Watchers recently in the news with Oprah getting involved. You have to do something – constantly.If you do not actively watch your calories -you go over budget.
  • Under and Over budget in organizations:  Everyone can recall the number of times you have found that you have exceeded the budget on a certain line item while money remains unused in other line items. Unless you have an easy process to reallocate budgets you just stop doing long term impact things because the budget has run out. You stay with the urgent and try to fight fires as best you can with the money left on that line item budget. Here you have the paradox of overspending on some items and under-spending in others.
  • Personal finances is over the budget: With the holidays and shopping most people will be over-budget despite all kinds of resolutions. You cannot program or persuade your credit card to not go over the $20 dollar budget you had set for each gift. And you don’t want to be a scrooge over the holidays- so you go over budget. The budget review will take place only in December and January when the credit card bills start arriving.

Not so with Google AdWords and most other digital and social  marketing platforms. You set a daily budget for AdWords and you can be sure that there are no surprises. Your ads stop appearing if your daily budget is exhausted but there is no risk of exceeding your budget.

You may be missing out on showing your ads if your budget is depleted.But the comfort of knowing that you will be within the daily budget is like having some warm soup on a cold day…

A monthly review will let you know your impression share. Impression share is the number of times your ads were shown compared to what was possible if you had a bigger budget. Competing products might have taken over some of the impressions and depending on the results you see of your campaign – you can change your daily budget at any time.

Turning back to calorie counting – if you have exceeded your calorie count for the day there are two rather tough options viz. 1) Stop eating  or 2) Get on the treadmill. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

High velocity B2B New Product marketing: Ignore 5000 prospects

High Velocity B2B Marketing for New Products-StratoServeHigh velocity B2B marketing is critical for new B2B products, whether launched by innovative start-ups or by established organizations. You want to have a significant customer base for your new product as soon as possible.

Market Segmentation is that early step in marketing strategy that urges the marketer to focus resources for results. In a perfect world, if the B2B marketer could identify a segment “perfectly”  then she could sell to each organization in that segment with a very short sales cycle.

Instead of the at least 9 touch points before purchase- perhaps the touch points  might be just two or three and instead of the sales process going on for 12 months with an uncertain outcome; sales would close in less than 3 months.

Since the marketers understanding of the market is always a work-in-progress, we suggest a more modest approach i.e.

Segment your B2B market very very  narrowly and then target for a 50% conversion at one third your typical sales cycle time. Ignore other prospects not in your target segment- unless they are beating down your door  for your product

Here are some reasons to try this approach:

  1. B2B Markets have buying centers: The B2B buying process is all about group decision making that can be painfully slow and complex. Focusing only on a select set of prospects that have certain common criteria makes your sales and marketing pitch and process easier.  Remember that the idea of segmentation is to bunch “similar’ types of customers together so that your entire offering viz product,price, distribution and advertising can be geared to to that segment…. only. For new products you need to account for the characteristics of “early adopters” for your category for quicker diffusion of your innovation.
  2. You have limited marketing resources: No organization has endless funds for limit-less advertising, sales promotion or sales force. Your limited marketing resources must focus only on a few prospects that are the best prospects or “super” qualified leads.
  3. Identifying target B2B segments is easy in the digital age: If your market organizations have a website and web presence, researching them is far easier today. Let us say that there are 5500 prospective customers and you believe that only 500 might immediately benefit by adopting your product or service. Creating a list, using your criteria is relatively easy and then ordering that list by “best” prospect is also easy from public sources.
  4. Focusing on 500 prospects than 5500 can change your marketing game: Instead of spreading thin with 5500 prospects focusing on just 500 “hot” prospects makes your marketing task that much easier.
  5. Marketing content becomes easy to tailor: Both online and offline marketing content is far easier to tailor for 500 immediate prospects that 5500 diffuse prospects that might eventually all buy your product.

” We will loose out on 5000 customers” is something that you might agonize over

Not at all because, its just a time bound program for those 500 without the temptation of chasing the other 5000 unless they come knocking. Sounds like a sacrifice but we assure you that it makes good marketing sense for high velocity B2B marketing.

The question is – can you resist the temptation of going after 5500 customers instead of the most easily possible 500? About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.

New Product B2B marketers and the junior manager prospect: problem or opportunity?

Junior Manager in the Buying Center-StratoServe

You are trying to sell your new accounts receivable system and are talking to the Asst. A/C receivable and occasionally to the Manager-Accounts of a B2B prospect.

No junior or middle manager would like to admit that they have a problem when faced with a new B2B solution that has the potential to vastly improve efficiency or reduce cost. Such an admission involves potentially admitting that the manager is not doing her job. The risks seem just too much with a new supplier, legacy systems and the fear of the unknown. A classic case of marketers trying to promote value as buyers try to reduce risk. And we are not just referring to purchasing and supply management folk- but the potential users of the new product that the marketers is trying to convince in the buying center.

Unless of course the buying organization has a culture of openness to new ideas from new suppliers. The fact is that most organizations are not even willing to look at new ideas from existing suppliers is the idea of “S” curves of innovation from an earlier post. Why? because new is outside the comfort zone and frequently involves changing links with other processes,training people and for really disruptive products (say a robot) firing people. Unless there is a compelling reason-most organizations are reluctant to deal with the change that a new B2B product into their existing system would create. An exception are retailers (like WalMart, Costco) who are willing to look at new products that are a good fit. For these retailers adding a new packaged food from a supplier is not a whole lot of internal organizational trouble.

To make innovation happen, here is what marketers and buyers should consider:

B2B Buyers

  • Get promoted: Buyers including junior managers who are specialized users and supply chain folks (in the Buying Center)  should know that no-one ever got promoted for doing the same old thing. While doing something new involves some risk and some internal selling and headaches- it is far easier to do new stuff with a new supplier than trying to motivate co-workers internally to do something entirely organic.
  • Understand that  sellers Motivation is always high: B2B Marketers- particularly new suppliers who are trying to get something new started will be highly motivated. They’ll attend meetings when you ask them to and go much beyond an internal employee for the rewards of success in your organization is very high.
  • Be kind and friendly to new suppliers: We tend to treat sellers badly. It is very common to cancel meetings at the last minute, make sellers wait at the reception unnecessarily and worst not return calls after the first meeting. Sellers (like everyone else) look for a little respect and kind (negative is OK) feedback is great because you generate an industry friend who will continue to be in touch with you with new developments if you say “stay in touch.” Why – see the first two points!

B2B Marketers

  • Understand the world of organizations:Employees who are not salespeople in your customer organization generally have a lot of drama going on in matters frequently unrelated to your product or service. They are fighting fires on a daily basis. Your product or service  is not their priority, so periodic email newsletters and emails are a must.
  • Follow-up is a must: Most marketers give up on hearing back as you don’t want to be seen as a “pain”.  Remaining in touch is the key to success.
  • Reduce perceived risks to the managers: Understand the risk concerns that junior managers have and address them upfront. Offer to post your engineer on customer premises to help internal people adopt the new product. Training offers and 24 hour support can also help a great deal. Anything to reduce the career risks of the junior managers who are discussing with.
  • Never undermine the user: You need the support of users for your new concept to succeed. Do not paint the junior folks in a bad light when you do get to meet the VP or CEO – stay with the task and how much better things will be with your new solution. And how you are willing to support implementation,training for a smooth transition.

Thus, dealing with junior members of the buying center is a problem or opportunity – depending how you see it. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.