Like it or not, Google is shaping your brand. It’s influencing your positioning, core messaging, and communications. It’s influencing how you speak to your customers.
You can’t fight this phenomom. We use Google everyday. It’s ubiquitous in how we find information and navigate the Internet.
Our constant interactions with Google have conditioned us to think and search in phrases. We type in statements or categories to find products and services.
For example, if you’re looking for an accountant in your area you may search “accountant + [your city].” You may narrow the search further by typing “small business accountant + [your city].”
Notice how factual these phrases are. They do not have a benefit statement nor a value proposition. They are simple, categorical statements.
This is Google’s influence, and this is the essence of good brand messaging today. Can you make your brand fit into a nice, simple, Googleable phrase?
Just The Facts
I’ve never watched an episode of Dragnet (a TV show from the fifties), but Joe Friday’s catch phrase is stuck in my head.
“Just the facts ma’am. Just the facts.”
That’s what Google is all about — the facts. Instead of developing a creative elevator pitch, break up your brand into building blocks:
- Category: What is your industry or business?
- Specialization: Does your business specialize in a niche or vertical market?
- Location: Where is your company based? Do you serve customers in specific regions?
- Customers: Who does your company serve?
- Trigger Events: What issues or situations propel your customers to seek out your products and services?
You may not use all the building blocks listed above. Choose the ones that are most relevant for your customers.
Look to Google for Insights
You don’t have to assume or guess what phrases your customers are looking for. You’ve got Google.
Tools like SEMRush, Google AdWords Keyword Planner, or BuzzSumo all provide insights into the words and phrases people are using.
You can examine the phrases most used on your competitors’ websites. You can look at common search phrases and where they lead. You can analyze keywords coming into your site, and how they may be linked to the building blocks of your brand.
These phrases are very important, because they are the language of your customers. Pay attention to what phrases people are searching for, and how you can adopt those statements into your brand marketing.