Google AdWords Enhancements for Local Targeting

88% of people who search for local information take action within a day.

Now that’s a powerful statement.

Announced this month, Google has released three new feature enhancements for organizing local ad campaigns. The new features build on the advanced location targeting that first launched in March 2011.

Let’s take a look:

Target Customers by Zip Code

Advertisers now have the ability to target 30,000+ US Zip Codes. Additionally, AdWords Location Targeting lets you add up to 1,000 postal codes at a time.

Location Insertion

Using location insertion for location extensions, this feature will automatically insert the city, phone number, or zip code into your ad text. So, there isn’t a need to create multiple ads for multiple locations anymore.

Better Clarity for Location Targeting Options

There were four additional enhancements made to the location targeting options:

• Location targeting now simplified
• Show ads to people in a physical location without any exceptions
• Better control over location targeting on the Display Network
• Easier to avoid getting impressions for excluded areas

By analyzing your AdWords performance data, you can also identify the geographic areas that need more of a focus. If local advertising makes sense for your business, the above features are a must for testing.

Please share your success stories in the comments below.

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: superfem

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents: Top 10 Testing Tips to Increase Revenue

Justin Rondeau knows exactly how to harness your customers' interests to improve connection on potential company revenue. As the Chief Evangelist at WhichTestWon, a boutique marketing firm geared toward testing, Justin looks at ways you can really pinpoint the interests of your core audience. Design and layout of your website's offers are very important, but are you fully prepared? If you are unsure, this webinar is perfect for you.

Click here to register (4/18 at 12:30PM)

http://bit.ly/IMCtestregister

About Justin Rondeau:

Justin Rondeau is the Chief Evangelist at WhichTestWon, a company that measures and tests your abilities to properly evaluate your market. He's spent considerable time public speaking on SEO and Conversion Optimization at events such as Affiliate Summit, AllFacebook Expo, Conversion Conference and Socialize West. Justin received a BA in Philosophy from the University of New Hampshire and has earned valuable experience with a number of different tech companies, serving as a vital graphic designer, online marketer and copywriter.

Click here to register (4/18 at 12:30PM)

http://bit.ly/IMCtestregister

Facebook + Instagram = Beat Google?

This week, Facebookannounced its acquisition of photo sharing program Instagramfor… (picture Dr. Evil putting his finger to his lips)  $1 billion dollars. Was this a desperate act to buy up the perceived competition or did Facebook have other motivations behind the purchase?

Most social media marketers seem to think it was a move to stop the competition and gain additional brainpower by merging with the innovative Instagram team. Another way to look at it, as proposed by Jim Dougherty’s blog post on Leader’s West this week, is that Facebook’s buy is actually a chess move against Google to shore up the young, mobile user demographic. It’s an interesting theory, and it will be fascinating to see how this acquisition plays out over the coming months.

New Google + Profile

In the meantime, Google announced an update to its Google + user interface on Wednesday and – surprise, surprise – it looks eerily familiar. The overall looks and navigation is designed to be cleaner and simpler with an improved Hangouts section. You can even add a cover photo to your profile, although the general feeling is this effort may be “too little, too late.”

I, for one, am excited to see Facebook and Google go head to head. America was built on healthy competition to spur innovation. What do you think of the Instagram acquisition by Facebook? Which social media giant do you think is going to come out on top? Leave us your thoughts in the comments section.

Quick Tip: Using Negative Keywords in Google AdWords Campaigns

Are you currently using negative keywords in your Google AdWords campaigns?

Negative keywords are essential for refining your keyword lists. If your goal is to generate qualified leads and not just traffic, negative keywords help you filter out unwanted impressions, thus reaching more targeted prospects.

By adding a negative keyword, your ad will not show for searches containing that term. They can be applied on a campaign or ad group level. You also have the option to use negative keywords with the Google Display Network, which works slightly different.


Here are a few links to get you started:

What are negative keywords?

How do I add, edit, or delete negative keywords?

How can I find the right negative keywords to benefit my campaign?

Use lists to exclude keywords from multiple campaigns

Please share your tips for negative keywords below.

EnemyGraph for Facebook: Like Us...Or Hate Us

A new app for Facebook will allow users to 'hate' and not just 'like.' EnemyGraph has the potential to hurt, but how might this affect your business?

• EnemyGraph could draw more attention to flawed products, services, or other company errors. For companies that often interact with their customer base, this means that reputation management may have to be doubled.
  
• EnemyGraph could provide good market research. It's informative to know what the target market you're looking at dislikes, just as much as it is helpful to know what they like.

EnemyGraph may not last long, though. According to this blog post by the creators of EnemyGraph,

We give them a couple of weeks at best before they shut us down for broadening the conversation and for “utilizing community, building conversation, and curating identity” their three elements of social design. EnemyGraph is a kind of social media blasphemy.

However, if it somehow does last, businesses will definitely have to take care of their brand and reputation with increased fervor. Do you think this is one app that will stick around, or is it out the door as soon as it causes enough ruckus on Facebook?

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents: Data-Driven Content

Sure, creating content for your website seems like a surefire way to increase traffic, improve consumer awareness and promote your brand. But you can't just copy and paste the same rhetoric, over and over. That content needs to come from somewhere, and sometimes writer's block just seems to hit you at every corner. Does this seem like a familiar scenario? Join Ian Lurie, CEO of Portent, as he presents his webinar on Data-Driven Content and how to use web analytics to produce great content for your website.

Click here to learn more and register (4-11-12 at 12:30pm)
http://bit.ly/datacontentregister

About Ian Lurie:

Ian Lurie is CEO at Portent, a digital agency he started in 1995. His firm provides search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), social media and general strategic services to a wide range of small, medium and large businesses.
Ian believes strongly that great marketing, online and off, relies on clarity and helps customers make good decisions about products, services and people. Several years ago he wrote the book Conversation Marketing to be a common-sense guide to internet marketing. He's also co-author of the Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies.

You can follow Ian on Twitter at @portentint, or find him on the Portent blog, at www.portent.com/blog.

Click here to learn more and register (4-11-12 at 12:30pm)
http://bit.ly/datacontentregister

Brief Overview of Google View-Through Conversions

Although the Google AdWords View-through Conversions option is not new by any means, you may find this is an underutilized option that you might gain some intelligence from. Not sure what this is? Here is a short summary:

Google defines a View-through Conversion as: A View-through Conversion happens when a customer sees an image or rich media ad, then later completes a conversion on your site. This is different from a Click-through Conversion, which happens when a customer had previously clicked on an ad (such as on the Google Search or the Google Display Network) and then completed a conversion on your site. View-through conversion reporting measures the number of conversions that occurred within 30 days of your display ad appearing for which there was no ad click generated.

Introduced as an enhancement for display advertising campaigns on the Google Display Network, this is an improvement to the overall measurement of conversions. Basically, this option shows ad conversions without the clicks. It can be used in performance comparisons between the Google Display Network and other display advertising campaigns.

Do you find this metric helpful in optimizing your Google Display Network campaigns?