SMB Digital 2012: Google Execs Discuss Local Progress, Products

Google’s role in the SMB Digital Marketing community is huge, and at SMB Digital Marketing in Chicago today, two Google execs described some of the company’s activities that have impacted SMB marketing.

Speaking on reseller side as an exec in the newly renamed “Channel Sales” division, Ben Wood noted that mobile and social have really been driving a lot of the new activity. Google research shows that one in three mobile searches are now local oriented he said, compared to one in five desktop searches. Channel sales , which is manned with 100 people around the world, has 350 partners and is in 44 countries.

New products include zip code targeting and congressional district targeting, in time for the 2012 U.S. elections. “It is much better targeting” for SMBs, he said. “They are the most requested (products) we’ve had for a few years.

Wood also noted that Google has done a lot to make its products more social, starting with the conversion of Google Places to Google +. “Google+ can really turbo charge marketing,” he said. “It can increase click thru rates by 5-10 percent.”

Results have generally been strong for partners, which have given it a 93 percent satisfaction level., up from 32 percent just a couple of years ago. “If you are not making money, why on Earth would you want to sell our products?” he said.

Google YouTube analyst Valentine Matrat addressed YouTube’s relatively new effort to court SMBs for advertising. She provided advice on what SMBs should do to boost traffic and engagement. “You want to really show people why its great to show up in your store,” she said. “Video has been around for 71 years. It can really be at the center of your ecosystem.”
New YouTube products include a video creation marketplace, which matches advertisers with videos, and Google Hangout, which sets up online engagement with customers, even doing two way taping that can later be used for testimonials.