i hope you like this post on Daily Search Forum Recap: September 26, 2017
Author: nickisosnowski
radio sam svuda
Why going global is essential to your business
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As the world becomes increasingly connected, it’s becoming more vital than ever for virtually all businesses, regardless of size, to have a global online presence. As Search Engine Land columnist Brendan McGonigle rightly notes, if you only advertise in the United States, you’re missing out on billions of potential customers. But taking a one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it.
For example, while Google has a considerable presence in Russia, you won’t want to overlook the SEO and SEM options offered by market leader Yandex. And if you want to venture into China, it’s critical to know the ins and outs of the dominant search platform that serves the country, Baidu.
The Rise Of Robots Won’t Mean The End Of Professions
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The Royal Society of Arts survey last week warned that increasing automation and artificial intelligence (AI) could see 4 million UK private sector jobs replaced within a generation. They are not the only ones to make pessimistic estimates on the ‘rise of the robots’.
Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, made global headlines at the start of December when he warned we’re “in the midst of a technological revolution that is once again changing the nature of work”. A Deloitte and University of Oxford study also warned that 95% of finance professionals were at risk of losing their jobs over the next 20 years.
Whilst some elements of manufacturing and services have faced continual disruption from technological advancement, the advent of AI and smart robotics threatens professional level jobs as never before. Yet driverless cars or Amazon’s experiments with drone deliveries may be just the beginning of what computing power might replace. Many technologists and policy-makers have dubbed this period ‘IR4’ or ‘Industry 4.0′ – the Fourth Industrial Revolution.’
When ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) conducted the global ‘Generation Next’ survey of 19,000 students and qualified accountants under the age of 36 – the generation most vulnerable to the impacts of innovation – 84% welcomed the advent of new technologies. This was not because today’s aspiring accountants underestimate the threat posed to their career paths: two thirds expected automation to replace a large number of entry-level jobs in the near future.
What those surveyed did recognise, however, was that the technology offered opportunities for new, more productive forms of work. Young professionals in shared services in particular see technology as an unprecedented opportunity to focus on much higher value-added activity (90% of respondents in the UK compared to 84% of respondents globally).
What they and other finance professionals are able to recognise (perhaps more acutely than others outside the profession) is that straightforward number-crunching has always played a low-level role in the professional accountant’s skill-set.
While automation of this basic data analysis is almost inevitable even at current levels of technology, there is no obvious reason to believe that the digital revolution will be able to substitute for the strategic vision and forward-thinking counsel that accountants can bring to a business.
Even as computers and the internet have transformed the workplace in recent decades, accountants have grown increasingly important to the effective running of organisations. One reason for this is that businesses are navigating a globalised landscape where technology can destroy traditional industries and build entirely new ones in the space of only a few years, just as digital photography disrupted the growth of famous brands like Kodak and Polaroid.
In this ever-changing world, businesses appreciate the value of highly skilled accountants capable of thinking ahead and providing insightful guidance on investment, innovation and strategy, enabling firms to grow, adapt and build resilience. This is why qualified professional accountants are highly sought after for CFO positions and increasingly taking the step up to CEO. And that in turn is why so many younger accountants look towards the new machine age with ambition and optimism.
Yet the growing role of ‘smart’ tech means that all of us will face ever greater challenges to stay smarter than the robots. As part of ACCA’s ongoing research into the future of the profession, we predict that developing digital skills will play an essential role in the future relevance of finance professionals: there is a lively discussion already underway about whether or not today’s accountants should be learning to code.
Crucially, and perhaps unsurprisingly, given that business is, after all, about people, is that the professional accountant of tomorrow will need to work just as hard at honing their interpersonal skills.
These range from the emotional intelligence to manage teams and communicate better with clients, through to developing the creativity and vision needed to exploit new commercial opportunities as they arise.
While we may muse on the day when robots become indistinguishable from humans, in reality robotics is a still some distance from being able to replicate processes which require complex and independent judgements. There is little purpose in competing with computers and AI when it comes to the speed of calculations or ability to process vast quantities of information.
6 Metrics You Might Think are Important But Really Aren’t (And What to Track Instead)
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You know all of those metrics you track?
They’re probably worthless.
I’m not saying they have absolutely no value, of course. I’m just saying they’re doing nothing for your bottom line most of the time.
These are the things that you think matter, but don’t.
In other words, you can track them, but don’t rely on them for real dollar value.
The trick is knowing which ones are valuable and which aren’t.
Here’s why some of those “important” metrics don’t really matter. Along with a few actionable ones you should worry about instead.
1. Clicks + Pageviews
We’ve heard it all before. The questions, the egos, the bragging.
How do I drive 100,000 visitors in a month? I need traffic fast!
Here’s how I drove 4,000 visitors a day, you can too with these simple tricks!
*sigh*
It sounds too good to be true, because it is.
Unless you’re getting paid for the pageview, and you want people to bounce instantly and never return, then go for it. Spam your link on Pinterest, forums and Reddit.
But, if you want to be realistic with yourself, clicks on your ads and page views on your content mean nothing if people aren’t either:
- Sticking around and reading more on your site
- Converting / buying a product or service / signing up for something
- Fulfilling the goal you have set on that page for visitors
So, if your clicks went through the roof yesterday like this:
But, your conversions were like this:
And your pageviews were like this:
But your goal completions were like this:
Then what.is.the.point?
Clicks and pageviews are worthless if they don’t lead to conversions.
2. CTR
CTR. The glorified metric that drives everyone from PPC to SERP “growth hackers” crazy.
Look at me, I’ve got a 66% CTR!
Oh cool, how many conversions did that get you? Two out of 4,000 clicks? Make it rain baby!
Ok, on a more serious note, here’s why CTR don’t mean $#!* in the real world:
Take a look at that AdWords table.
The highest converting, highest traffic keyword/ad group has the lowest CTR (by far).
YET… also the highest conversions (by far).
Paying a low bid on the keyword and spending less money = lower positions = more competition = lower CTR.
But, conversions are still sky-high.
The whole account has an average total CTR of 3.49%. That’s “not good.”
Except, the average Cost per Conversion is 5x lower than the average sale revenue.
I’ll take that deal any day of the week.
CTR ain’t the gold standard. I don’t care what your CTR is if it doesn’t bring in conversions.
3. Impressions
Let’s say you own a brick and mortar store. You sell shoes.
It’s launch day and you get 40,000 people to walk in and out of your store that day.
Those ads must be working!
You’re checking ‘the books’ and you see the following sales numbers: $500. Total.
Now do you get it?
Impressions are cool and all.
“Hey, (insertbossesname), our product was seen by 100,000 people today!”
But at the end of the day, they don’t matter if (can you guess what’s next?) they don’t lead to sales, conversions, or goal completions.
4. Total Backlinks
Backlinks are good. They help with ranking metrics and credibility.
But total backlink quantity is over-emphasized.
Constantly we see people worrying about how many links they can get, however they can.
*Queue Oprah Gif: You get a link! You get a link! And you get a link!
If your backlink profile is spammy:
… then those links don’t mean anything.
URL’s with low DA’s that are known for spamming or giving links like it’s candy on Halloween aren’t going to get you to the top of Google (anymore).
Ideally, you want a nice backlink profile from relevant, editorially-based sources that don’t just hand over easy links willy nilly.
5. Rankings
Rankings can be awesome. Who doesn’t love being #1 on Google?
We’ve all seen this graph before:
Image Source
Sounds peachy, doesn’t it?
We simply grind our content to the top ten positions and get the lion’s share of clicks.
But, it’s BS. Just ask Wil Reynolds.
Google is constantly changing. Personalizing their methods, learning about real people, and real human interaction with their service.
SEO rankings are more related to user search history now.
There’s more importance being placed on things like first impressions and brand loyalty in today’s world than there is on keywords and content.
So doing all those little SEO tricks to get you to the #1 spot isn’t going to be as helpful as you think.
AND, #1 on the SERPs doesn’t translate into conversions.
You need a funnel. Not a ranking.
6. A/B Test Results
Most A/B tests fail to provide meaningful insights.
Why?
Because you’re testing your own opinions and assumptions, allowing that pesky biases to ravage your results.
That’s not the only problem, though.
Peep Laja from CXL tested tons of data and experiments and found that A/B testing is worthless if you have less than 1000 conversions. Per month. Minimum.
Welp, that’s disheartening. Unless you’re getting over 1k (minimum) conversions per month, forget A/B testing and the results you got.
They don’t mean anything.
They might look nice at first. But most likely, they’ll regress back to the mean eventually.
Here’s what you should be tracking, instead
Don’t drown in all this negativity just yet. There’s good news, too.
Here are a few metrics to focus on to help make the cash register ring.
1. Funnel Report Data
We just talked about how A/B testing was a waste of time unless you have 1,000 minimum conversions per month.
BUT, you can figure out your conversion trouble spots much faster using funnel report data (courtesy of Kissmetrics).
Funnel reports show you how users actually move through your website.
You can see who performed certain actions, who didn’t perform a desired action, and who skipped certain steps in your funnel (for good or for ill).
You can also track certain steps in your funnel:
So if someone visited, then signed up for a newsletter, then viewed a video, you’d know.
You can then use this data to do things like:
- Identify conversion bottlenecks preventing people from joining, signing up, opting-in, or signing on the dotted line
- Segment your audience into cohorts to further analyze your funnel
- Zoom in on your acquisition funnel to see exactly where and when customers activate
Basically, you can determine how to increase conversions. Reliably. Consistently. Without running a single A/B test.
2. Backlink Quality
High quality backlinks can be hard to get.
You can’t fake ‘em.
They’re a leading indicator, sure. But the best kind.
It’s a measure of performance, telling you (1) how efficient those promotional activities are and (2) if you can expect to see increased traffic in the near future as a result.
For example, here’s what a good backlink profile should look like:
#humblebrag
It’s diverse.
We aren’t getting hundreds of links from the same site over and over, as the link quality wouldn’t be as strong or meaningful.
And there are links from other high-quality sites in our industry. Relevance for the win!
But building high-quality backlinks takes an investment.
One survey by Moz found that roughly 37% of business owners spend between $10,000 and $50,000 per month on external link building.
That’s a lot.
We’re not saying you have to invest that much. There is a lot you can do to get better backlinks without dropping that kind of dough.
The point isn’t to just build links. That poor-house mindset is how you end up with the junk.
The point is to look at how you’re getting those links. The campaigns and activities and efforts bringing them in.
Change the strategy, change the end result.
3. ROI
Good old ROI. The gold standard metric.
That no one ever talks about online.
You see all the other stuff here. You might see revenue numbers and customer counts.
However, rarely do you see blog posts diving into the bottom-line numbers that actually count.
Let’s say you get four impressions and one click (and one pageview), with a 0.25%CTR and 0.25% conversion rate.
BUT, you only spend $5 and the buyer converts for 10x your cost per acquisition.
See what I mean? Who gives a crap about any other metric in the end besides ROI.
Now, I’m not saying you should completely ignore optimizing for conversions. Definitely not. Those are extremely important.
Just keep in mind that data lies. High conversion rates aren’t always as promising as they look.
Look at historical data, pinpoint trends, figure out what ROI means for you.
Ask: How does this specific measurement help our company’s growth?
And by growth, we don’t mean impressions, rankings, etc.
Knowing the number of leads each ad campaign is driving is fine. But it’s not good. You can’t stop until you see how much revenue each attributes.
Conclusion
Some metrics matter more than others.
Traffic, clicks, page views, CTR, and… don’t matter as much in the long run. Vanity metrics like these sound amazing on press releases and blog posts and webinars and Growth Hackers and weekly stand-up meetings.
But they don’t help so much when it comes time to run the annual numbers.
You want to think big picture.
Look at your overall funnel. Where are people coming in? What are they doing? Where are they going?
Look at your backlinks to see which drive signups. Links, by themselves, are fine. But the important part is to first identify the ones driving real business actions. And then reverse-engineer which activities are driving the ‘winners’ vs. the ‘losers.’
Can Robots Do A Better Job Of Building Peace?
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Every day it seems I read an article about the march of robots into our jobs and our lives. They can drive cars, milk cows and make burgers, apparently. And often, enthusiasts claim, they will do these jobs better than us flawed human beings. Logically then, let’s turn to robots to solve our most intractable problems. Human beings seem unable to kick the habit of fighting and killing one another. Enter the peacebot.
In our increasingly uncertain world, more than one in five people’s lives are affected by the rising conflicts, over 40 wars are being fought and we face the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. Those who believe in division and foster hatred have grabbed the microphone and are dominating the airwaves. It is time that all those who work quietly for peace raise their voices more loudly too if we are to be heard over the cacophony of hatred. So to celebrate UN International Day of Peace on 21 September, at International Alert we will be creating and letting loose a flock of peacebots who have been programmed to tweet away their messages of compassion supporting #peaceday.
It’s a fun action, and one that reminds us how our everyday actions can contribute to peace. As Martin Luther King said: ‘We can very well set a mood for peace out of which a system for peace can be built’.
Both the mood and the system for peace are badly needed urgently, with recent figures showing the amounts invested in proactive measures to prevent violent conflict, to bring people together and to rebuild after war are absolutely dwarfed by the towering expenditure on the military. The Global Peace Index estimates total expenditure on peacebuilding at around $10billion in 2016, just over half a percent of the $1.72trillion global military expenditure. It would be a joke except it isn’t very funny.
That is why we are calling on global leaders to at least double the current amount spent on building peace. We know that money will be well-invested. In a report published on International Peace Day, we have surveyed the literature and case-studies to see if there is evidence that peacebuilding does work. And the evidence is there.
Of course, peacebuilding is no recipe for immediate success. There are countless examples of when governments and communities turn their backs on dialogue, preferring die-hard habits, to pick up their trusty AK47s or to send in the troops. That is why some conflicts such as in the Philippines, have dragged on for over half a century.
But there is also extensive research and a myriad of evidence-based examples showing how peacebuilding has tangibly contributed to reducing violence and helping communities and nations rebuild and reconcile once the guns have fallen silent. From training provided to Muslim and Christian community leaders in the Central African Republic, improved political collaboration across sectarian lines in Lebanon, through to mediating land conflicts in the Philippines and community-friendly policing in Afghanistan, examples abound of initiatives that have demonstrably contributed to reconciliation or resilience. At a macro level, our report shows how a range of initiatives contributed to a critical mass of energy for peace in Northern Ireland, Nepal and South Africa.
Obviously that is good news for people. But it also makes hard economic sense. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, every $1 invested in peacebuilding, reduces the costs of conflict by $16. Clearly, conflict costs, and peace pays.
At the UN and many member states, the rhetoric on peacebuilding is good, sometimes very good. But it just isn’t yet backed-up by the hard cash and serious policy follow-through that would deliver results. New polling by Conciliation Resources and the Alliance for Peacebuilding shows that this would be popular. In the UK over seven out of ten respondents believe that peacebuilding plays a vital role in ending violent conflicts, and six out of ten state that the UK should be investing more in peacebuilding. The responses were even higher in Germany. And in the US, 74% agreed that peacebuilding plays a vital role in ending conflicts and supported greater investment in it – a significant finding in light of threatened cuts to peacebuilding budgets.
So we will be knocking on the doors of governments around the world, showing the evidence that peacebuilding works, is popular and even cost-effective. And meanwhile, we will also be getting on supporting all those communities who undertake every day peace actions: from the brave people gathering in the park in Yangoon to call for peace in Myanmar, to the refugee teachers giving traumatised children a chance to play again. These everyday actions deserve our support. Now more than ever. Let’s hope the peace bots do a great job at creating that mood for peace and that our humanity catches up.
New Google iOS App Has Related Content Bar
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Google announced Tuesday they launched a new update to their iOS search app that has a new content bar. The content bar appears as the user scrolls up on the content, revealing related content and webpages related to the content they are reading.
Google said “suggestions for related content when you pull up the bottom of the page,” there is “no need to type anything into the search box,” Google added.
test post for updates
Google’s Ranking Algorithms Dynamically Change Based On Query & Context
The other day I reported how Google said there is no such thing as the top three ranking signals despite what may have been said before. I said it is likely because some queries weight some signals more important than others… Google Search Ranking Update Chatter Continues
First update will come under here 22nd Sept
As you know, we reported Google algorithm search ranking shifts this past Monday based on weekend chatter. That died down for a bit but overnight it spiked back up… Google Tests Indoor Maps In The Local Knowledge Panel
There will be stories posted over the next two days but all those stories were written earlier and scheduled to go live tomorrow and the day after.
I don’t anticipate Google releasing any new algorithms over the next few days but who knows, maybe they will surprise me. If they do, I obviously will not cover it until Monday, when I return.
2nd update will come under here with image 23rd
For all you Jews out there, have a happy, healthy, successful and sweet new year!
last update will come under here 24th
Hope I didn’t cause too many issues out there for the folks who read here and I do hope this site is useful to all.
But what about having different signals with more weigh based on the industry or topic of the query? John Mueller of Google said “I think it makes total sense” to have algorithms that weigh different signals dynamically based on various of factors. He said there is no one-size fits all approach to ranking signals. He said Google “probably” does value links less in some industries that are more susceptible to link spam but he qualified that saying that was from his “limited point of view.”
3 behavioral stats for retailers to supercharge your holiday strategy
See details of post 3 behavioral stats for retailers to supercharge your holiday strategy below
What’s different about the holidays this year? If you’re a marketer, you need to know how your target consumers have changed their needs, wants and shopping habits before you can truly craft your best seasonal strategy. You also had better keep an eye on what your competitors are doing differently.
At the company I work for, Salsify, we analyze aggregate retail search activity, and we’ve discovered it grows more widely distributed during the shopping period leading up to the holidays. We’ve recently conducted research (registration required) on the keywords that shoppers use around the holidays and we’ve identified important opportunities for brands to expand their keyword lists. Leading brands are also dramatically boosting the pace of their product content updates to capitalize on the opportunity throughout the season to win market share.
Let’s run through the top three takeaways from our study:
1. The 2016 holiday season drove a 30 percent increase in the number of top retail search terms — those in the 90th percentile or above in terms of search frequency.
Consumers aren’t just searching more during the holiday season; they are also searching across a much wider variety of terms. An analysis of all retail searches run across several of our company’s retail partners between January and December 2016 showed that the universe of “popular search queries” expands considerably in November and December.
What this means for brands is pretty evident: You need to be responsive to this change in behavior. Just to be found, let alone bought by your target customers, your product content on Amazon, Walmart and other channels needs to reflect relevant, holiday-oriented terms as the season gets under way.
If your product fits the description of a “stocking stuffer” or a “great gift for kids,” for example, it’s vital that you add in language during the month of October or early November — just as consumers are switching into gift-buying mode.
2. Seventy-six percent more product detail page content updates were pushed during an average holiday month versus an average non-holiday month.
Brands are indeed taking a substantially more active role in their product content leading into the holiday season.
We examined six full months of product content pushes and updates across more than 50 large retailers in the apparel, toys, home and garden and associated industries (all of them were our company’s customers). Collectively, the brands included in this sample oversee the management of more than 10 million SKUs.
Can Robots Do A Better Job Of Building Peace?
check out this post on Can Robots Do A Better Job Of Building Peace?
Every day it seems I read an article about the march of robots into our jobs and our lives. They can drive cars, milk cows and make burgers, apparently. And often, enthusiasts claim, they will do these jobs better than us flawed human beings. Logically then, let’s turn to robots to solve our most intractable problems. Human beings seem unable to kick the habit of fighting and killing one another. Enter the peacebot.
In our increasingly uncertain world, more than one in five people’s lives are affected by the rising conflicts, over 40 wars are being fought and we face the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. Those who believe in division and foster hatred have grabbed the microphone and are dominating the airwaves. It is time that all those who work quietly for peace raise their voices more loudly too if we are to be heard over the cacophony of hatred. So to celebrate UN International Day of Peace on 21 September, at International Alert we will be creating and letting loose a flock of peacebots who have been programmed to tweet away their messages of compassion supporting #peaceday.
It’s a fun action, and one that reminds us how our everyday actions can contribute to peace. As Martin Luther King said: ‘We can very well set a mood for peace out of which a system for peace can be built’.
Both the mood and the system for peace are badly needed urgently, with recent figures showing the amounts invested in proactive measures to prevent violent conflict, to bring people together and to rebuild after war are absolutely dwarfed by the towering expenditure on the military. The Global Peace Index estimates total expenditure on peacebuilding at around $10billion in 2016, just over half a percent of the $1.72trillion global military expenditure. It would be a joke except it isn’t very funny.
That is why we are calling on global leaders to at least double the current amount spent on building peace. We know that money will be well-invested. In a report published on International Peace Day, we have surveyed the literature and case-studies to see if there is evidence that peacebuilding does work. And the evidence is there.
Of course, peacebuilding is no recipe for immediate success. There are countless examples of when governments and communities turn their backs on dialogue, preferring die-hard habits, to pick up their trusty AK47s or to send in the troops. That is why some conflicts such as in the Philippines, have dragged on for over half a century.
But there is also extensive research and a myriad of evidence-based examples showing how peacebuilding has tangibly contributed to reducing violence and helping communities and nations rebuild and reconcile once the guns have fallen silent. From training provided to Muslim and Christian community leaders in the Central African Republic, improved political collaboration across sectarian lines in Lebanon, through to mediating land conflicts in the Philippines and community-friendly policing in Afghanistan, examples abound of initiatives that have demonstrably contributed to reconciliation or resilience. At a macro level, our report shows how a range of initiatives contributed to a critical mass of energy for peace in Northern Ireland, Nepal and South Africa.
Obviously that is good news for people. But it also makes hard economic sense. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, every $1 invested in peacebuilding, reduces the costs of conflict by $16. Clearly, conflict costs, and peace pays.
At the UN and many member states, the rhetoric on peacebuilding is good, sometimes very good. But it just isn’t yet backed-up by the hard cash and serious policy follow-through that would deliver results. New polling by Conciliation Resources and the Alliance for Peacebuilding shows that this would be popular. In the UK over seven out of ten respondents believe that peacebuilding plays a vital role in ending violent conflicts, and six out of ten state that the UK should be investing more in peacebuilding. The responses were even higher in Germany. And in the US, 74% agreed that peacebuilding plays a vital role in ending conflicts and supported greater investment in it – a significant finding in light of threatened cuts to peacebuilding budgets.
So we will be knocking on the doors of governments around the world, showing the evidence that peacebuilding works, is popular and even cost-effective. And meanwhile, we will also be getting on supporting all those communities who undertake every day peace actions: from the brave people gathering in the park in Yangoon to call for peace in Myanmar, to the refugee teachers giving traumatised children a chance to play again. These everyday actions deserve our support. Now more than ever. Let’s hope the peace bots do a great job at creating that mood for peace and that our humanity catches up.
Podcasts: Your Next Great Marketing Channel, Or Just a Fad?
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When it comes to reaching engaged, relevant audiences, which marketing channels truly shine? Social media? Email? Webinars?
How about podcasts?
“Podcasts?” I can hear you thinking, “You mean those radio shows that were popular in the early 2000s?” Sure, podcasts may have hit critical mass thanks to Apple iTunes and the iPod back in 2004, but new research is showing that small businesses and brands alike are taking another look at the podcast as a formidable marketing tool.
Of course the question is — why podcasts? And why has this technology suddenly re-ignited? Let’s take a closer look:
Podcasts’ Surge in Popularity
According to a recent report from Infinite Dial, 40% of respondents reported listening to a podcast at least once, with 24% doing so monthly, and 15% doing so weekly. Year over year, online radio and podcasts in particular, have shown a growth that simply can’t be ignored. What’s more, according to a separate study from Triton Digital and Edison Research, Americans tuning in to podcasts on a weekly basis has almost doubled since 2013:
Image Source
Listeners Are More Receptive to Products and Services
People are tuning in — and so are advertisers. There’s a lot for advertisers to like about podcasts, since almost two-thirds of listeners are more willing to consider products and services they learned about on a podcast. Over half of them believed that the hosts of the podcasts they listen to regularly are users of the products and services they mention on their respective shows. And those respondents reacted much more positively to products and services mentioned on the shows from the host themselves rather than a pre-recorded ad from a company or sponsor.
Just look at what actions listeners took after hearing about a product or service in a podcast:
Image Source
In addition to high levels of receptiveness, relevancy and engagement, the kinds of people listening to podcasts are the very users many advertisers want to reach: relatively young, high income and high education levels, according to a survey from Nielsen:
Image Source
Now the question becomes — how can brands and companies leverage this audience attraction?
Which Brands are Seeing Success with Podcasts?
One of the biggest points to keep in mind is that no one is going to tune in to a 20 minute commercial about your business. Take eBay, for example. Earlier this summer, Brooklyn-based audio company Gimlet Creative completed a branded podcast series for the auction company called Open for Business. It became the number one business podcast in iTunes when it released in June and talks to create a second season are already underway.
On the surface, it looks like Open for Business has very little in common with eBay itself. Topics include details on how to build a business from the ground up, including: how to hire, how an immigrant can start a business in the U.S., and so on.
Mentions of eBay itself are handled in a very light-touch manner. The podcast does, however, circle back by sharing the true story of a small business owner that found success on eBay. The last episode of the first series focused on the gig economy, which includes getting short term jobs and getting paid from gig-style platforms like Uber, Taskrabbit, Airbnb…and eBay.
The series was a hit — generating an average rating of 4.5 on iTunes and hitting 200% of its download goal.
And it’s not just how-to or curriculum-style podcasts that are getting noticed. GE leverages branded content by using its own sound technology in part of a sci-fi series known as The Message, where cryptographers attempt to decipher an alien message. GE itself isn’t mentioned anywhere in the podcast, but its technology is an integrated part of the storyline.
As part of their digital marketing, General Electric has started a podcast that works well with the audio format.
The Message currently has 5 million subscribers.
You can read more about General Electric’s foray into the digital marketing sphere in our post.
But before you get too excited about the potential of podcasts, it’s worth noting a few downsides.
Measuring Reach: Still In Its Infancy
Currently, the best way to measure how much reach a podcast has is the number of downloads and the number of subscribers to a given channel. Podcasts do not yet have the ability to tell you things like how long people listened or, for example, if someone played a podcast in their car with a group of friends.
What’s more, podcasts don’t correlate the number of downloads to the number of subscribers, so hosts don’t know what percentage of their listeners tune in on a weekly basis, or download an episode. How many people listen one time and then never listen again? No one knows.
Even Apple’s podcast app doesn’t provide statistics or analytics that show what kind of reach the podcast has. So, keep this in mind if you’re looking for measurable marketing gains with podcasts — the information you get is fairly shallow compared to the deep, insightful analytics you get with other marketing channels.
Podcasts Set a Higher Bar for Quality
If you’re looking at starting your own podcast, you can see from the examples above, as well as the top podcasts for your particular industry, that there’s a much higher bar set in terms of quality and consistency than with creating other types of content. Articles like this one may take just a few minutes to read, but with a podcast, you’re asking people to tune in for roughly 20 minutes or so per week – the approximate length and schedule for podcasts in general.
That means you have to commit to a standard of quality and a publishing schedule that’s both dedicated and deeply involved. It’s quite the challenge, to be sure, and many companies — even large ones — simply cannot afford that kind of time investment with so many other digital irons in the fire.