With the ongoing downturn in the economy, consumers have been looking for values and bargains in the purchasing process. Online coupons have become extremely important in marketing almost any product. A dollar amount, percentage off sale or other offers have proved to be attention getters. As you can see in the graph below, many consumers reported new brand awareness, saving money, etc., when finding the coupons or online offers; driving new traffic to these existing markets.

I see online coupons increasing in popularity as consumers remain thrifty even after the economy has started becoming stronger. Online research is now viewed as an extremely important tool in the purchasing process.

Online coupon blogs and websites are becoming popular as well. These sites are usually set up by the establishment’s name, and what the coupon is trying to sell or promote. You either print out the page, or click on a link where you will be sent to the coupon available for you to print. Another popular set up for the blogs is to include the days of the week that the specials are running.

Establishments should keep their websites up-to-date, with the increasing demand for online searching. Your website is the first impression of your business viewed by consumers, so make the experience user friendly. 

For any person using Facebook for contextual advertising, it has been a major source of frustration that it did not have conversion tracking or a means to determine if visitors were completing any actions on their site. Not having the option to track conversions limits the amount of analysis and optimization an advertiser can do to improve the performance of their ads. Using an analytics platform was one way to track certain goals that were completed; however, not every advertiser uses analytics.

Conversion coding enables advertisers to track certain goals as well as make strategic decisions on performance of ads. Testing different ad copy or targeting is beneficial for marketers so they can actually measure what is performing the best. On the flip side, they can also see what isn’t performing and make decisions to optimize the campaign. Larger search engines including Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask and Business.com all offer conversion coding.

Facebook recently released a very limited beta program for conversion tracking. Not much is known about this beta, but it clearly shows that Facebook is looking to be a contender as a major advertising platform. By giving advertisers this tool, Facebook is making it easier to show how well ads can perform.

No longer is Facebook a valuable market for just for building brand awareness, it is moving toward becoming a portal in which advertisers can expect to see conversion driven success.

Advertisers who participate in search engine marketing efforts are always trying to figure out how to set their text ad apart from the competition.  While creative and captivating ad copy is definitely an important element, there are other ways to make ads more attractive to searchers.

Google AdWords advertisers who also have Google Checkout on their site are now permitted to have the Google Checkout Badge displayed within their sponsored ads.  Google Checkout is a merchant account that creates a one stop location for customers to purchase and track orders across multiple sites.  Not only does this tool make shopping more convenient for the consumer, but it also protects them from fraudulent transactions.  The premium security and outstanding reputation associated with the Google Checkout product makes consumers feel more comfortable and confident about their purchase. 

If you already have a Google Checkout account, implementing this feature is very easy; all you need to do is access the Campaign Settings tab within Google Adwords.  In the Campaign Settings area, click Edit under Networks, Devices, and Extensions.  Check the box next to Connect to my Google Merchant Center Account, enter your account number and you’re done.

Once this process about has been completed, your ads will look similar to the one below.

So what are you waiting for?  Link your Google Checkout account to your Google AdWords campaign and associate your brand with this highly regarded Google product.  If you don’t already have a Google Checkout account, why not create one today?  With a limited amount of participating advertisers, now is the perfect time to take advantage of this feature; best of all, it’s free!