The Pubcon digital marketing conference is the one event that I make sure I attend every year. It is consistently filled with a variety of expert speakers and valuable information. It’s convenient, because I can sharpen my digital marketing skills in one place. This year’s event was virtual, which meant not only did I not have to travel, but I was able to take in every presentation from my home office.

My top takeaways were about the latest changes in Google searches, Google My Business tips, and email marketing best practices.

Google Searches

Google is now prioritizing search results based upon whether a business has included its COVID-19 hygiene protocols on its web site. In other words, Google considers your site to be more relevant if it has a page dedicated to COVID-19 practices. If Google deems your site to be more relevant to a search phrase, it will display (rank) your site higher on the search results page.

This is easy to implement. Potential visitors to your business want to be assured that you are adhering to CDC recommendations, so why not announce them on your web site? Here are some of the items you could include on your page:

• Describe increased cleaning practices
• Whether masks are required
• Whether cleaning wipes or hand sanitizer are available
• Alternate service options, such as curbside pickup

You get the idea. Remember, you can also promote these on your social media channels and link back to the COVID page you just created.

Google My Business

If you’ve read any of my blog posts you know that Google My Business is one of my favorite digital marketing tools. Just as Google wants your web site to stay up-to-date with COVID-19 protocols, it also allows space in your Google My Business listing to do the same. If potential customers can get the information they need from your GMB listing, that saves them a step from having to search your web site.

• If you are operating under special or alternate hours due to COVID-19, add them to your GMB listing.
• Another way to optimize your GMB listing is by using the posts and photos sections. There’s even a space for the team, so post a photo of your group!
• Advanced users: add or update links to your GMB listing with UTM tags that will show in Google Analytics. Ask me how.

Email Marketing

I’ve been doing email marketing for more than a decade, and the platforms get more advanced each year. This year, however, I attended a back-to-basics email session that provided these email marketing best practices:

• Your ideal subject line should be 30-40 characters or 4-7 words. This is because most of us view email on our mobile device. An iPhone user sees 30 characters of your email subject line; Android users see 40 characters.
• Emails get opened based upon several factors (which is why email marketing can be frustrating!) but the subject line accounts for 30% of why your email may or may not be opened. Other factors include whether the recipient recognizes you (the sender’s name or your company name) and the timing of your email during the day or week. Think about it. You typically delete emails from people you don’t know or companies that you don’t do business with. And, if an email arrives mid-day when you’re busy, you might delete it rather than opening it. So keep that in mind when scheduling your emails. Your email marketing platform should be able to show you the open rate for each email you send. Play around with the timing until you find the send time that yields the highest open rate by your subscribers.
• Another tip is to remember is that even if you can get people to open your email, they will still probably just scan it. So keep your emails short and memorable – 20 lines of text at most.

Conclusion

That’s it for my Pubcon recap. There’s a lot to know (and love) about digital marketing, but it’s best to leave it to the experts. Have questions? Let’s talk!