Google TV poised to change your online chiropractic marketing strategy

Google announced back in May its future release of Google TV. Combining the awesomeness of your home entertainment system with the power of Google search, this technology is poised to change the way we watch TV forever. Opens up the door to watching anything you want at any time you want. From a marketing or small business perspective this further segments an already segmented marketplace.

If you are entrenched in outdated strategies towards marketing and have trouble getting your head wrapped around Twitter, wait until you see this. If you have some vision then you can see how getting your message affordably to the right market is becoming easier and easier.

Pundits may laugh at this technology, but savvy marketers will laugh too…all the way to the bank. Remember how they laugh (and still do at Twitter, now at 75 million users strong) because only 17 percent of the people who signed for accounts use twitter regularly. That’s 12 million plus users! What better way to reach a focused and targeted audience than using Google TV? I can’t think of a better way to market a small business. Can you?

Google is lowering the price for small business owners

Google is lowering the price point for small business owners to step into the arena of marketing on television, just like they lowered it with pay-per-click ads of Google Adwords. Now before you hit me with questions about how much it will cost and how I can know such things, I’m only predicting. The technology is too new (to be released Fall of 2010). Honestly, I’m still getting used to my Google Voice number and functionality. (Please don’t ask for an invite mine are all gone)

What’s the point?

“On the web you are what you publish” this quote courtesy of David Meerman Scott via James Duthie’s blog post “Letting go of outdated marketing tactics“. What you say, how you say it and how available you make it are factors to a successful business. Used to be in the 1990′s this only applied to online business.

Today with local Google searches occurring more and more, small businesses stand to gain or loose accordingly. Trying to withhold some key piece of information in hopes of enticing someone to do business with you is a thing of the past. Customers, clients and patients want to know who you are, what you do, what makes you unique to the other choices they have and how can you best meet their perceived needs. It’s the content you create and provide that bridges this gap of understanding. Is your business ready for that?

Content creation.

I see it as the single biggest weakness in small businesses today (especially chiropractic offices). Who has time to create compelling video’s, pictures, websites and blogs choked full of witty and insightful prose, all search engine optimized to reach a target audience? The simple answer is you don’t. You have have to make the time to find a way to make it work.

But, here are some things I have learned doing online marketing that may comfort you.

Consistency sells

Even if you don’t do everything right, even if you make mistakes the single best way to get a return on your online marketing investment is to be consistent. Think of it this way, “Consistency sells”. Just becuase you don’t see an immediate response by way of comments doesn’t mean people aren’t checking out your website.

Transparency is key.

Twitter has been having trouble meeting the bandwidth demands of users. Rather than try and hide behind a veil of secrecy they came right out and told people they made some mistakes and weren’t prepared enough for the amount of traffic they have had to accommodate with their servers. Twitter calls it a A perfect storm of whales.

Now, contrast this with the issues facing British Petroleum. BP is having transparency issues.

“We are committed to providing the American people with the information they need to understand the environmental impact from the spill and the response steps that have been taken,” said BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward.

Read the entire press release, sounds like insincere drivel contrived by some focus group of BP PR executives too bothered by cricket outings to deal with such issues.

Who do you want to emulate in business, Twitter or BP?

UPDATE: Tony Hayward BP CEO did make a formal apology on Youtube as of June 3, 2010. But, that was over a week after this insincere sounding press release. Take note, the timing of your responses plays a roll in how they are received.

Honestly, some of the best blogs I read do not have more than the occasional comment (worth any thought or mention). Plenty of “adaboy/girl” comments but rarely something of great merit. If you want a better way to measure your online success, pick a different metric for viewership such as Google Analytics stats.

More people are using the internet than ever before. And according to Nielson Ratings via Mashable.com:

Average Internet User Now Spends 68 Hours Per Month Online

Although significant it trails behind the number of hours people watch television, which averages around 140 hours per month. What happens when Google TV merges the two technologies? It creates a whole new user experience and a whole new marketing opportunity.

What are your thoughts on Google TV and how it will change your small business?