Marketing in the Age of Google: Your Online Strategy IS Your Business Strategy, Revised and Updated

MARKETING, ADVERTISING, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

We know that organic search should be integrated into other marketing activities—everything from market research to Super Bowl commercials. What do the marketing, advertising, and public relations departments need to know about search?

• Your customers are also searchers. For any advertising campaign you undertake, ensure organic search is part of the planning process. What taglines and products are you promoting? What might your advertising efforts cause your audience to search for? Do you have pages on your website devoted to those things, and can search engines access them?
• Searchers are also your customers. The people you are trying to attract through search are the same people you are trying to attract through e-mail campaigns, other online and offline advertising campaigns, press releases, and other channels. Share data and you may be amazed at how much more complete a picture you can get of your audience and how much better you will be able to provide them with a compelling, consistent experience.
• Be wary of all-Flash sites and microsites. We’ll talk about this a bit more in Chapter 7, but advertising agencies sometimes build microsites and Flash sites as part of a campaign. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either tactic, but both require a bit of extra attention to ensure their content can be easily found by search engines. Make sure your ad agency knows that searchability is part of the project requirements.
• Understand online ...