Tech Talk for Entrepreneurs: Google Changes the Game With 'Caffeine'

By Ken Mays



Is your marketing and advertising company telling you that a strong presence on social networks like Facebook and Twitter is essential to a healthy online marketing plan for your business? This statement is right on the mark.

Is it also telling you that social network marketing (SNM) will build and extend your brand identity as well as bring in legions of new, loyal customers? This statement is not completely accurate, and if you cut your budget in traditional brand advertising venues like television, trade print and pay-per-click advertising to finance your SNM, you may be hurting instead of helping your brand awareness.

Social network marketing has become like everything new that comes along in the age of digital marketing: 20% reality, 80% perception. For a quick primer on everything SNM, the following represents some of the latest research on social networks and their influence.



Socially Networked

It is important to understand what social networking does and does not do. Contrary to the opinion of many media companies pushing for higher budgets for social network campaigns, SNM remains a more passive method of marketing. It does not affect brand recognition and is best used to augment and enhance existing online marketing and traditional advertising. Paid search, direct e-mail marketing, web site optimization and television advertising are the current media power players.

¥ Although 50% of social network users are still aged 18 to 34, baby boomer and Gen Xer usage is trending up as these older generations embrace the convenience of communicating through social networks. Ages 35 to 64 now represent 48.7% of social network users.

¥ With the exception of LinkedIn, women tend to be more active on the social networks than men.

¥ LinkedIn users boast the highest average income ($ 96,937). Facebook, bloggers and Twitter users have average incomes of $ 69,000.

¥ Facebook is the top social network. Facebook traffic has increased 400%, giving it 58.6% of the U.S. market.

¥ More than 50% of all social network users login at least once a day.

¥ Only a small percentage of social network users turn to social media when making buying decisions. The highest percentage is for travel services, where 24% of users say they "sometimes" turn to social media for information before making a travel decision. Other industry percentages are less than 10%.

¥ Sixty-four percent of social network users aged 35 to 54 prefer watching videos, followed by viewing photos (55%) and reading blog entries (51%).

¥ In terms of brand perception, social networks are still not that important. In fact, 96% of social network users say their perception of a brand does not change if it does not have a presence on a social networking site.



'Caffeinated' Google

Google has always been user centered, with the quality of its search engine results pages (SERPs) the driving force behind its success. However, every business with great intentions has issues, and Google has had its problems lately, especially with the thriving, unethical business of selling links to get web sites ranked higher in Google organic search.

The Google search engine algorithm uses the number of links a web site has as a major indicator of site quality. If you have enough cash, you can pay an offshore company to "link your way" to the top of the Google organic search.

Now along comes Google's new search algorithm, "Caffeine": the paid link killer. With its launch in January, Google began using "social bookmarking" to replace traditional links as a key indicator of web site relevance and quality.

This is pretty smart thinking by Google. The link scammers are going to have a tough time buying tweets, Facebook posts and Diggs. This should get us back to fair, more equitable results on the search results page.

The next time you Google your major keyword message, like "Howard County widget company," expect to see more companies like yours at the top of the results page, with books on widget production at Amazon.com and the Directory of Worldwide Widget Companies relegated far down the results list where they belong.



Social Network to the Top of the Search Page

The most important takeaway from all this information is this: SNM may not build your brand directly with your customers yet, but if Google Caffeine works the way it is designed to, your SNM may help you get to the top of the search results page. And that's big for every small business out there competing online for its fair share of the market.



Ken Mays is president & creative director of Mays & Associates Inc. (www.ad-mays.com), a web development and graphic design firm located in Columbia. Mays specializes in the development of Web 2.0 dynamic web sites and corporate branding campaigns. An award-winning writer and designer, he can be reached at 410-964-9701 or by e-mail at ken@ad-mays.com.