The mainstream adoption of the internet and the heavy usage of it via multiple devices have blurred the lines between the virtual and real world. As the way consumers process information and make buying decisions changes, so does the marketing approach to effectively reaching those consumers. This new reality has by some marketers been coined “The Zero Moment of Truth” and is on the agenda at the upcoming International Search Summit in London, where Nick Garner from Unibet will address the ZMOT principle from a global branding perspective. In the following, Nick is answering a couple of questions in advance of his session to introduce the topic.
You look after global search for Unibet, what are the biggest challenges you’re facing in 2012 when it comes to international search?
Google constantly changing the goalposts along with Multilanguage and the number of different teams I neeed to work with in order to get coverage across all of our 25 international territories
At ISS you’re speaking on ZMOT – Zero Moment of Truth, why do you think that is so important?
Because in SEO we’re obsessed with the direct marketing paradigm, i.e. 100% tracking. With Google slowly cutting off the supply of usable data via https search > ‘not provided’, SEOs need to look at other ‘soft’ spots. ZMOT is such a place. The idea is simple. Users look for ‘social proof’ from others in the form of reviews and informed commentary to help make a buying decision. They go to on average 10 different information sources online before making a buying decision about you. If you have presence in these places and the touch points are positive and helpful, then you will get more business – it’s simple!
How can organisations implement a ZMOT strategy globally? How can they measure success?
If you do a brand search for ‘brand x’ and if the brand results are good and positive, then by accident or design they are doing something to help ‘social proof’ around their brand. Success can be measured around KPI’s similar to social ones, i.e. correlatory KPI’s like surveys where users are asked about their view on Brand X after their search results have been cleaned up. Customers can also be tracked using tools like double click where you can get an idea of where the ‘hot’ touch points are with purchasing customers.
If you could give one tip to marketers working on multilingual campaigns, what would it be?
Centralise expertise around the ‘algo’ side of SEO and have tight workflow processes so you can hire part timers locally to do outreach etc for you, therefore allowing you to have a more natural interaction locally, whilst scoring on all the ‘rocket science’ stuff.
Finally, why attend the International Search Summit?
International Search is still a mystery to a lot of brands because of the scope, scale and problems around multi language. Here you will learn that it’s a case of a structured approach to tap into some of the most lucrative search territory there is.
Gemma Houghton
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