QR Codes are popping up in more and more places. QR is short for quick response and they originated in Japan where they are very common (mostly as a result of the ubiquity of smart phones in Japan). If you haven't already, you'll see QR codes on billboards, in magazines, advertisements, coupons, even t-shirts. Smartphone users will need a QR code scanner application for their phone. When they use this application to scan the QR code, the QR code will provide information about the business, a web page, or possibly a coupon to be used in-store. These codes may even be used on business cards that could link to a YouTube video, for example.
One interesting function for these QR codes is that it is suspected that search engines may soon begin to read QR codes and index the content within them.
The question remains whether or not customers will use these codes. Some may not be technically savvy enough to understand how to use the codes, so the adoption rate may be slow. However, these codes blur the lines of media -- integrating digital with print.
Social media is all the rage these days, but some large company executives think social media is 'just for kids' and not a profitable business function to include in its plans. However, today's social media relationships that consumers have with businesses and brands goes beyond fun and games. Businesses like Comcast and Jetblue are using social media as a channel for customer service and unsolicited feedback. According to a March 2009 Nielsen report, about two-thirds of the world's internet population uses social media. With so many people using social media, it provides brands an opportunity for an additional channel to interact with its customers, provide marketing messages, provide fast customer service through a new channel and get unsolicited feedback from customers. What companies need to now do is take this information to a new level and take action on this information. This chart shows that consumers agree that they expect brands to participate in social media, especially to identify service and support issues. Companies that utilize the social media channel, and ultimately use this information to improve products and processes, will most likely succeed in the customer's eyes. This article provides more information on voice of the customer and web 2.0.
Social media hit a high note today with Facebook's "I Like on" today around 6 pm today. I Like it on is showing up all over facebook and people are using Google to search its meaning as well. I Like it on is an attempt to unite around breast cancer awareness month in a top secret way. Last year's "I Like it on" was all about bra colors -- bringing awareness to breast cancer, while creating a buzz throughout the facebook community, keeping people (mostly men) guessing as to what all their female facebook friends statuses with "I like it pink" meant. This year's topic -- where you like to put your purse when you get home. A seemingly simple and not necessarily conversation worthy status setting, but the viral nature of the message has created a buzz in the online community. The campaign started with a viral email telling women to use "I like it on" to denote where they like to put their purse. Not only was this marketing technique viral within the facebook community, but it also hit the general online community with users trying to figure out what it meant. This is a great example of internet marketing and a campaign generating buzz, creating awareness!
I've read up on some of the initial impacts that paid search has been seeing in the first few weeks of Google Instant. SEO results will still take some time. For the full story, see a Search Engine Land newsletter that went out this week. The high level is below:
1. Slight jump in impressions, but no indication yet of the mass amounts of impression increases that had been expected.
2. No shift in paid positions 1 through 3 in terms of impressions, however, reported higher conversions were seen. The hypothesis is that with instant on, users had more time to fully read the paid results, and therefore accurately make purchasing decisions, increasing conversions.
3. Low positioned paid results experienced a 20% decline in traffic.
4. More head terms were seen among searches.
5. Bidding on competitive domains or trademarks fell off the map. This could indicate a decrease in Quality Score, which had been anticipated as a result of Instant.
6. "Short Typing" -- Accidentally hitting enter when the user sees the desired result appear half way and hitting enter. Example: "Dis" completes as "Dis"ney. The user hits enter after typing Dis but sees "ney" in grey. The search results populate for "Dis" including the stock ticker instead of for Disney. This may mean advertisers may need to start bidding on partial terms.
If last week threw the search world in a tizzy with Google Instant, then this week is the aftermath. Every agency, blogger, and expert is publishing their two cents on what the impacts will be.
Here is the high level: Natural Search Results
1. You will see on the Google Instant search results page that natural search results are now pushed much further down the page. It is anticipated that this will mean increased clicks on positions one and two of natural results which appear above the fold. At the same time, we will most likely see a decrease in clicks on positions 3 and 4, as less people will scroll below the fold to find what they are looking for.
2. Long tail search terms include search queries with 3 or more terms. The speculation is that once a user types one and maybe gets to 2 words in a query, the user will find their answer, and not continue to type the long tail query they may have been intending to type. Long tail queries historically have meant high conversion due to the specificity they provide, though low volumes are usually realized. These high converting queries, however, have been like gold to SEO'ers, and with the advent of Google Instant, the gold may be gone.
Paid Search
Since each time a letter is typed the page refreshes with new results, this means that many results will be shown to users more often than they otherwise would have. If a user stays on the page for 3 or more seconds, Google will count this as an impression. Impressions have an indirect impact on the amount you will pay for a keyword. Though your click throughs will not necessarily change, your impressions will increase. Higher impressions with the same amount of click throughs means a lower click through or conversion rate. CTR is tied to Quality Score, a metric used to indicate how relevant your ad is to your keyword, and ultimately used to determine how much you will pay for ad placement. What does this mean? Higher prices!
The jury is still out, and we will need 30 to 45 days worth of data to start seeing what the real impact is. In the meantime, you can read more about the impacts of Google Instant and assess if you like using it as a user or not.
Background
While working in direct marketing for the past four years doing product management, I began to realize the ever growing importance of the digital space. The impact that technology and the internet has on our lives is immense. As a marketer, I decided that it was important to become educated on the digital space, and began to take action to move my career in the direction of digital. Between formal education through DePaul, webinars, books, and industry discussion boards, the amount of information that exists is huge and a lot can be learned if you have the desire to learn it.
What to Watch For With my current job now focused on Search Engine Optimization and Enterprise Search, most of what I have been learning is search related, however, I continue to want to expand my knowledge into other areas of internet marketing. While most of my blog posts may be centered around search, social media is another big interest of mine. Social media and search can be highly integrated, providing increased opportunity for findability. I am also especially interested in how large brands and large companies manage and utilize search and social media. It seems like everyday there is evidence of how a large brand is using social media -- whether its commercials with Facbook call to actions, Groupon integration or promotions through Twitter -- observing new applications of successful social media campaigns will provide ample learning opportunity.
The next 11 weeks plan to be a great learning experience and I hope to share what I learn with a following who is also interested in Internet Marketing. Sharing information and experiences are welcome and encouraged!
And Since I Can't Resist... The latest in the search world this week is Google Instant. Last Friday, Google completed a full roll-out of its latest enhancement to its search bar. Google Instant is an extension of the previous suggest feature, and claims that it provides more predictive, faster searches. The verdict is still out in terms of what the impact will be, and I will discuss this in more detail later in this blog as details are released. My curiosity lies in how users will perceive this new change. My informal poll has shown a 50/50 split response -- some people love it, some people hate it. User adoption or non-adoption will determine how much impact this change has on the industry, hence illustrating my interest in what users think of this. The fact that Google Instant can be turned off, but that the link is fairly subtle, makes me wonder how many people will even know that the option to turn it off is there.
Before I reveal the impacts to SEO and Paid search, I want to get your untainted opinion -- What do you think of the new Google Instant? Will you keep it turned on or turned off?
Read more from Google itself... Google Instant Info
QR Codes are popping up in more and more places. QR is short for quick response and they originated in Japan where they are very common (mostly as a result of the ubiquity of smart phones in Japan). If you haven't already, you'll see QR codes on billboards, in magazines, advertisements, coupons, even t-shirts. Smartphone users will need a QR code scanner application for their phone. When they use this application to scan the QR code, the QR code will provide information about the business, a web page, or possibly a coupon to be used in-store. These codes may even be used on business cards that could link to a YouTube video, for example. 
