SponsoredLinX – The Google Partner All-Stars for 2015!
Google has never intended to become a conventional company, as Alphabet CEO Larry Page is known for famously saying. With no other company around the world quite like Google, I’d say they’re doing very well in sticking to their guns. The basis of what they do hasn’t changed – to find you whatever it is you may be searching for. As we demand more information now than ever before, our quickly emerging demand economy means that online marketing agencies such as SponsoredLinX need to work smarter than ever to deliver the services, tools and products to help small to medium sized business owners adapt and prosper.
It’s why when Google announced their Google All-Stars competition that I knew we had to enter in order to continue to provide our clients with the most up to date resources, talent and value. The prize for winning was a trip to Google’s Googleplex in Mountain View, San Francisco. I’m over-the-moon happy to report that SponsoredLinX won for the second year in a row.
This year the conference was a much larger and comprehensive event in comparison to last year. It was held in the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley over the space of three days. Incidentally, the Wearables Exhibition was on at the same time. We got to see the evolution of computers and wearable technology, plus I got to see the first ever prototype of Google Glass. I was also privy to Google’s self-driving car and I was briefed on the technology driving that (pun intended).
Over the three days my brain was working over-time to keep up with all of the information we were exposed to. I have been able to narrow down the essential key points for Australian business owners and within them you really can build an online marketing blueprint and strategy for the coming year. First and foremost, mobile technology and the way we use mobile devices is not slowing down, which means that mobile search is more important than ever. As a consequence of this, video content is going to continue to rise not only in popularity, but the quality of production. Watch this space! At the end of the day though, it all comes down to getting the right marketing message, in the right format, at the right time to the right people. Google likes to call them Micro-Moments. As business owners, the best way to prepare for these changes is to work with online marketing professionals to achieve this.
Being informed means you can make smarter decisions, so I want to take a look at Google’s three principles of innovation. They are:
1) Focus on the User
Google takes the point of view that if a user experiences difficulties in using Google products, this is Google’s problem to solve, not the users. By focusing on the user, Google are able to effectively and continuously work towards a better user experience.
2) Freedom
Google knows that if you don’t innovate, you die. It’s that simple. So in order to keep on innovating, they understand they have to offer their employees a level of freedom to do so.
3) Ten Times Better, aka 10X
Google has the 10X principle, which forces them to completely rethink how they do things. In fact, there are special teams within Google which focus purely on this. It is how Google are still the powerhouse they are today.
If you are prepared to step outside of the status-quo, you can do it. It is this train of thought which has led to Google’s next innovation, which is focusing on what is called their Knowledge Graph. To take it back a few steps, Google’s index, which is similar to that of a library, would take four millennia to watch. Let that sink in for a moment. Sure, it means Google can use the data to provide users with the right results when someone enters a search term, but it also goes a long way to predicting what type of information people want. Google’s mission statement refers to storing the world’s information and providing relevant information to people when they want it, but I think it has gone beyond this. Contextual Search is where Google’s future is, and its potential is staggering.
There are three billion searches every day, and with the amount data Google indexes, they’re continuously adding to what is called their Knowledge Graph, as mentioned before. Basically, it looks to connect information about people, places and things and how it is all connected. It’s how, for example. Google Instinct was born. We know Google has purchased some quantum computers and we know the amount of data Google has. What’s going to happen in the very near future is that Google is going to know exactly what you want, when you want it, where you are, how you want to search for it, all before you do. This is what Google’s Knowledge Graph is all about, and it is how Contextual Search will take place.
There are some exciting innovations around the corner for Google Maps too. It is going to change big-time! Google have bought Waze, which is a collaborative GPS app. It allows users to update areas in real-time, such as ‘Don’t travel via Smith Rd as there is a traffic jam’, or, ‘Speed camera on Boxton St’, for example. Google has given Waze premises at Googleplex, and have given them funding, which means we’ll start to see Google Maps with Display Advertising in a way we have never seen before.
Imagine this; you could be driving down the main street of your city or suburb when all of a sudden an ad will come up on Google Maps (for which you’re using for GPS) to notify you of an ad for a business you are about to drive past. It could be for something like a coffee and muffin deal, or something larger scale, like that new wireless speaker system you were browsing on your tablet the night before. This new technology will enable businesses to reach users in what Google likes to call Micro-Moments. These moments often take a user on a whim, but it comes down to businesses predicting the various scenarios users find themselves in which will in turn make them think of searching for a product or service a particular business offers. Whoever can capture users in these Micro-Moments is where there are conversions to be made.
Again, it comes back to Google’s Knowledge Graph. It is interested in what you are doing and what you want, so if you searched for a specific item the night before (that wireless speaker system) Google will then notify you when you are approaching somewhere which sells that item. When you start thinking about the amalgamation of all these new technologies converging, the realm of possibility for businesses to leverage these Micro-Moments takes online marketing to a whole new level.
While some of these changes may feel like they are too far away to affect you, think again. Google truly is a global company, and during my time at this year’s Google All-Stars conference, I was really hit with the realisation that the only limits we see are the ones we enforce on ourselves, and the way we run a business is no different. The conference provides a chance for Google Partners around the world to gain an inside glimpse of what is currently going on at Google. The conference is unique because at the end of the day as a Google Partner, SponsoredLinX is responsible for rolling out Google’s suite of products and services; we are the middle man between Google and small to medium sized business owners like you.
If you want to run your business with confidence in the knowledge that you are prepared for the changes the digital economy is about to throw your way, then get in touch with SponsoredLinX on 1300 859 600 to future proof your business today.