The first and possibly most important step of any paid search program is to define and understand your customer. It’s not only critical that you understand their demographic information, but it’s equally important to understand their online purchasing process and what search terms they use during that process. This understanding of a customer’s intent can lead to creative ways of managing a paid program or can influence how you establish the program’s structure. For instance, more
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Digital Marketing your Catering and Food Delivery Business
Serving up delicious food with logistical precision requires incredible attention to detail. So much so, that it is easy to dedicate precious hours to daily arrangements rather than long-term business development. Nonetheless, in this piece I’ll cover the “why’s” and “how’s” of the roles that digital marketing should play in your business if you hope to retain and increase your customer base.
Why use Digital Marketing for Food Delivery Services
People turn to
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Big Trends Shaping the Future of Search – Rocks Digital
Search and local digital marketing are changing dramatically right in front of us. A number of big trends will have a significant impact on how consumers find businesses and make buying decisions. The changes also effect how businesses will reach consumers in the future. These include: The continuing decline of the desktop
The increasingly transactional nature of mobile
The impact of artificial intelligence
Location analytics
Virtual assistants (as well as messaging and
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Search Trends to Keep an Eye on in 2017 & Beyond
Actionable Insights from MNSearch Summit 2017
MNSearch Summit 2017 was an exciting day. The St. Paul River Centre was packed with search marketing professionals and well-known experts. Learning side-by-side from experts and with experts is always a great experience. And the best part of it all? Learning tangible items that you can take away and apply to your own company and clients. We definitely recommend attending next year, but if you missed out this year don’t worry--we’ve got the inside
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Google Home Service Ads (HSA) Rollout Proves to Be a Bitter Pill for Plumbers
Google Home Services (GHS) is a newly-developed advertising functionality that alters how search results for home service companies appear to consumers. A Home Services beta launched in San Francisco last year, and was expanded to cover Los Angeles and Philadelphia. In all likelihood, Home Services will scale nationwide by the end of 2017. While the new program will work great for Google themselves, it’s bad news not only for digital advertising agencies, but for businesses and consumers, as
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Gruen Agency: One of 2016’s Best Companies to Work For
When Kim Holen first arrived at Gruen Agency nearly seven years ago, it was still very much a classic Yellow Pages agency on the cusp of transitioning into the realm of digital marketing. The general manager has since witnessed a complete metamorphosis — not only in the way the business functions, but in how it’s structured. She’s a gatekeeper, finding the people that fill the bright office overlooking Minneapolis’ skyline. Those people were humbled to learn last month that their employer
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Three Google I/O 2015 Announcements that Could Impact Your Business
Since 2008, Google has used its annual I/O conference to give software developers, engineers, and other tech-oriented folks a glimpse at the near and distant futures of Google products, services, and technologies. Recent years have been the debut stage for everything from Google Glass to Google Cardboard, with dozens of developments in-between. Yesterday's I/O 2015 keynote placed a great emphasis on Android and how Google's smartphone OS will be optimized and reinvented in the months and years
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Say Hello to “Hello”: What Facebook’s New App Could Mean for Businesses
Last month, the announcement of third-party app support for Messenger--making Facebook's chat suite a standalone entity--marked a move toward diversifying Facebook's communications portfolio. That's important because Facebook's prior umbrella approach, in the all-encompassing "Home" application, has largely been deemed a failure (though lessons learned from its development are guiding the company's Android efforts). A new app, announced and launched last week, will diversify Facebook's
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Along for the Ride: Local Search & Google Carousel
Please welcome this guest post from Kendall Eitreim, a Gruen Agency summer intern. Google is a beast that in many ways cannot be tamed. Constantly undergoing algorithm updates and tweaks, Google seeks to fulfill its mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google places high priority on tailoring search results to best suit each customer. Thus without further adieu, introducing Google Carousel. Looking for a café that boasts the highest
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