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I was at the Google European headquarters in Dublin a couple of weeks ago where I attended the “Google Advertiser half day programme” and I have great info to share with you.

The event was kindly organised by The SFA and the Google Learning & Development Team.

Very interesting morning with different presenters (Googlers):  Gail, Claire, Karen, Anne Marie, Marius and a special (semi-private) AdWords session with Aisling from the B2B AdWords team.

Here are some highlights and my comments for B2B and B2C marketers:

• “Search” is the barometer and the sign of the
  current times:  What are the latest search terms spotted by the guys at
  Google? Frozen food – new DVD releases – free delivery – cheap loans.
  Everybody is now a bargain shopper, ADAPT!!!

• “Web 3.0 is about conversations and engagement on the internet”. I thought Web 2.0 stood for that too.. Anyways: 25% of adults in Ireland are part of a social network as well as 64% of people under 24.

• Start using Google Insights for search
  now! Some purposes: Analise advertising messages, examine seasonality
  (especially towards SEO in my opinion), identify top brands, enter new
  markets.

• Get your act together with Google Analytics, and do it now! I mean it

• Define goals for your landing pages: generate leads, create brand awareness, build relationships or entice membership.  Track, measure and take action.

• Google Website Optimiser:
  Either start using it yourself and try; or get help from your
  webmaster/ agency to try (try really hard) on your behalf. The
  navigation experience means everything to your visitors.

• Give your website the value and time it deserves.
  Continuous improvement of your website in line with your online
  marketing is not a cost! It is an investment. The sooner you
  acknowledge it the better.

• Re-invent the online buying funnel as many times
  as necessary. Google’s success is based on trial and error too, but we
  only know about their popular products once they go mainstream.

• Keyword strategy: Depending on your industry, long tail keywords can be the core strategy. But according to the presenters, bigger brands like Mercedes believe
  in influencing the buying process from the beginning with broader terms
  (i.e. covering “luxurious car” and also “Mercedes Benz C-Class”). Of
  course you need budget for this. What I took in is to beware of
  marketers who are “religious” about long tail search.  Evaluate your
  own circumstances.

• Use the AdWords conversion optimiser and the Search Based Keyword Tool (recently released in Ireland).  It is not enough to just be out there advertising, refine, refine, refine.

• Contact Google if you are in trouble, they will respond (that’s what they said!)

Some figures for Ireland (better than the CSO?):

• 9 out of 10 people believe they can save money buying online.

• Broadband penetration in Ireland has reached circa 60% in 2008, the same as UK!

• There are 1.6 million Irish Internet users who on average generate 2.5 billion in online transactions.

• 1 out of 4 people say they will spend more online this year.

• Ireland is the second country in the world in terms of purchasing holidays online.

• 61% of Irish businesses do research in Google for their purchasing decisions

Ireland is still an emerging online market. Get out there and set the trend for your industry!

Best,

Facundo