It all started with Pay-Pass at the gas pump and convenience stores. Remember the commercial of the guy running in the marathon and he buys a drink while he is running the race using a card he swipes? Well Google has partnered with Sprint, First Data, Citi, and MasterCard to test Google Wallet, a similar type of digital contactless payment option that allows Wallet-enabled Smartphones (right now only the Samsung Nexus S from Sprint) to tap to pay. The application works for both online and offline in-store purchases.

Contactless payments are processed by a special terminal. Only terminals with the universal contactless symbol will work with Google Wallet for in-store purchases. The terminal must be an ISO 14443 or 18092 standard. Merchants interested in getting a contactless terminal can contact First Data at 888-265-8147. To take advantage of Google Wallet, merchants must sign up to become a Google SingleTap Merchant. An additional benefit to you is the free listing you get on Google’s Where it works map. Because the program is still in beta, Google is taking inquiries at wallet-b2b@google.com.

From customer loyalty programs to special promotions, there are lots of opportunities to develop custom marketing programs around Google Wallet to drive traffic to your brick-and-mortar store or to get targeted buyers to take advantage of the convenience it offers them for online purchases. I suggest you also look into another Google program in beta called Google Offers, where Google markets participating businesses’ offers to its registered Offers members (just like Groupon does). If you want more information, about Google Offers, submit an online inquiry here.

Google Wallet is more than just a digital credit card. It is designed to replace the kinds of purchasing items a person may carry in their wallet, such as credit cards, coupons, advertisements, and so forth. The application allows consumers to save offers and apply them when they are ready to make an in-store or online purchase. It saves them the hassle of looking for the right coupon, counting their cash, or even retrieving a credit card. Bottom line for shoppers is Google Wallet is faster and more convenient. So ultimately it offers you a great way to reach out to mobile users and convince them to buy from you. For example, consumers searching for products or services in your area can save your offers in Google Wallet and then redeem them in-store, which allows you to analyze ‘online marketing to in-store purchases.’ It’s a powerful way to ensure you market effectively online to reach your targeted mobile audiences so you can generate sales both online and offline.

To get started with contactless terminal transactions, please contact First Data at 888-265-8147 or visit their site. Send inquiries about Google Wallet to wallet-b2b@google.com.

Although Yahoo and Microsoft experienced small gains of just under a quarter of a percent, Google appears to be the horse too far out in front to catch. Performing well in each of the top three search engines’ sites is definitely your all round best approach. Depending on your specific target audience groups and where you find they are conducting their searches – Google, Yahoo or Bing – you may find that one engine performs better for you than the others.

Market research is the only way to determine which engine provides you with the greatest returns. This is an important consideration particularly if you are investing in pay per click search engine marketing. These campaigns can quickly eat up your budget if they are not reaching the right people and getting them to respond. If you elect to run a single campaign in a single engine, your best bet is probably Google, considering its market share of 11.6 billion searches. But you may find that the initial investment to conduct the market research so you know for sure where your greatest opportunities lie saves you money in the long run.

Search engine use is still a big part of the user experience. Optimizing for effectiveness in both organic search and paid search engine marketing programs ensures you manage your investment properly as you set the stage for achieving your branding, lead generating, or sales goals. Even if your target audience represents less than 0.01% of the total 18 billion monthly searches, you still have the opportunity to get the attention and response from a healthy portion of those potential 180 million targets. The challenge is to do your homework and optimize so the numbers work in your favor. Follow the example of the search market leader. Google continues to do its homework and month over month it comes out way ahead of the competition.

DeFoy stated to Canada’s Globe and Mail, “Don’t do one general campaign in English, all over the world. It’s easy, but the bidding and the keywords are very different from one country to the other.”

The advice to global marketers is to pick the right platform – the one familiar to and in popular use by the residents of the country and market you are targeting. For example, Friendster is popular in the Philippines; Yandex is popular in Russia; OnYoMo.com is second to Google in India but still very big; and Baidu controls the search market in China above Google!

DeFoy advises to separate your campaigns by countries. This allows you to select the right platform, target your audience by using the language they use to search for what you offer (remember that comprehensive keyword research and development I am always talking about in posts!), target according to cultural customs, which are often very different from that of the US, and finally to track results by country and campaign. DeFoy pointed out the French-Canadian French does not play well in Paris, for example. If you expect to see good results, ads and keyword lists have to be targeted for the customs and language, including dialects, of the country or foreign region you are targeting. That will take some testing, modifying, and good old fashioned trial and error along the way.

Once DeFoy was able to support the different languages he was targeting, he established landing pages and full websites using a domain within the targeted country. For example, use www.yourcompany.uk, if you are targeting customers in Great Britain. The strongest approach, if you have the foreign speaking staff to support it, is to present a landing page and/or website in the native language of each of your targeted groups. If you cannot, DeFoy suggests you keep the English very simple, with the understanding that you are addressing respondents for whom English is a second language.

The goals for search advertising are always the same, regardless of which foreign or domestic regions you target:

• Satisfy the expectations of your targeted respondents
• Satisfy the needs of the search platform by generating response from which they make money so you rank well
• Convert respondents and generate revenue

Get to know the behaviors and needs of your target foreign audience and reach out to them in a way that builds trust and gives them the feeling that you are nearby and able to take care of them.

As a helpful addendum, check out Skype and Google Voice for local calling numbers for the regions you are targeting. If you are new to Global Advertising Online you may wish to get your feet wet using the Google Global Advertiser. Also check out the Google Global Market Finder.

Chances are you are not the only company out there that sells the types of products and services you offer. And you may not be the only company that sells products from a specific manufacturer. Or you may be competing with companies who sell comparable products and solutions from other manufacturers. In short, you have competitors. And the only collateral you have to convince your targeted online audience groups to choose you and your solution over your competitors is your online web content, particularly that which appears on your website.

So the first step is to add content development to your website design/re-design budget. How much you need to add to your budget depends on a few factors:

• Do you have existing content that can be cost effectively re-worked? I say ‘cost-effectively’ because sometimes existing content is so poor that it would be faster to start from scratch than to try to fix badly written copy or digital images and document attachments of poor quality.
• Are you completely lacking in content and in need of everything including compelling, search engine optimized sales and marketing copy, case studies or white papers, digital images, and/or digital attachments?
• Does our branding need to be updated to a 21^st century look and feel?
• How much research will be required to develop your content? Is it easy for you to assemble the source materials and present them in a usable format to your content development team? Can the content writer get what she needs from you during a conference call with you and your team?
• Do you need to purchase digital images or have digital images taken by a professional photographer?
• Would you benefit from video development? Or do you have videos that require editing or accompanying text?
• Are you willing to invest in the long term benefits of search engine optimization? Content that is easily and accurately indexed and delivered in organic search results by the search engines, particularly Google, opens up all kinds of opportunities for business development like expanding your brand reach and recognition, lead generation, and sales.

There is a lot to consider because web content includes:

• Copy (sales and marketing text, all informational text, strategic calls to action, online forms)
• Images (photos, illustrations, graphical designs, CAD drawings, etc.)
• Branding (logos, graphical design)
• Document Attachments (case studies, white papers, downloadable brochures, sell sheets, pricing, MSDS, etc.)
• Videos
• Audio
• Hyperlinks (clickable links that provide access to your web content)

The important thing to remember is that your targeted site visitors are there to interact with your web content because they have an expectation to fulfill: to find and generally acquire what they are looking for. The relevance and quality of your web content impacts what they will do next – click away or engage further. If you fear or loath the thought of web content development speak with a professional – not your shrink but a web content development specialist!

I invite you to read a great blog post by Ron Jones for ClickZ on Web Content Development 101 for some ideas to get you thinking accurately about your web content.

If you’re ready to speak with a professional, give Industrial Web Solutions a call at (800) 399-9859.

Although 14 manufacturing industries reported growth in February, including Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Transportation Equipment; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Machinery; Chemical Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Textile Mills; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Paper Products; Wood Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing, the continued weak dollar is being blamed for the high cost of components and raw materials, particularly those obtained overseas. Representatives from Transportation Equipment stated “It is going to force us to increase our selling prices to our customers.” A similar statement was made by representatives from Chemical Products: “We continue to see significant inflation across nearly every type of chemical raw material we purchase.”  Nonmetallic Mineral Products, which is one of the 4 industries to experience contraction last month, along with Plastics & Rubber Products; Primary Metals; and Furniture & Related Products, stated, “Prices continue to rise, while business limps along at last year’s pace.” Plastics and Rubber reported, “Overall demand is off 10 percent.”

While the weak dollar has adversely affected the purchase of components and raw materials overseas it has had a positive impact on exports, which experienced a growth percentage point change of +0.5% with a PMI of 62.5%. Right alongside that of the overall economy, exports have experienced continued month-over-month growth at a faster rate of change for the past twenty months. Both Production and New Orders are up as well. Production experienced an increase of 2.8 percentage points from the January reading of 63.5%, registering a Production Index of 66.3% and continued growth for the 21^st consecutive month. Demonstrating a 20 month growth trend at a faster rate of change, New Orders were up 0.2 percentage points from January.  Thirteen industries reported growth in New Orders, including Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Wood Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Machinery; Transportation Equipment; Chemical Products; Paper Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Computer & Electronic Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing, while Primary Metals; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Furniture & Related Products; and Plastics & Rubber Products reported decreases.

Despite a +0.5 percentage point rise in Prices, and increases for the past 20 months at a faster rate of change, manufacturing and the overall economy continue to expand. And that is good news. Companies are challenged to find cost saving ways to attract new business to offset any decreases in orders from existing customers that may occur as a result of rising Prices. To manage marketing budgets set aside for new business development, industrial marketers must consider the changing landscape of search, social media, and lead/sales generation that occurs online and offline. Content presented on blogs, websites, text ads, emails, industrial directories, map sites, search engines, relevant 3^rd party sites, Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites, as well as all direct mail letters and brochures, must be current and highly focused on the specific interests of your target audience groups. Market research may need to be done to understand those interests and to uncover the specific language used by your target audiences to search for what you offer. Through careful research, planning, and implementation budgets can be intelligently and carefully managed to nurture leads, sales, and overall business growth, particularly as you strategize to offset the impact of increased prices.

For help with your marketing research, planning, creation and implementation speak with an Industrial Web Solutions marketing expert. Call (800) 399-9859.