How Google Lens is Getting Your Products Found Online

How Google Lens is Getting Your Products Found Online

Dec 18, 2020 | Online Marketing

Google is constantly innovating and testing new features, and augmented reality (AR) is a hot topic right now.

You might think of AR as a way to make digital images appear in your living room. But Google’s visual search technology for Android, Google Lens, does a lot more than that.

It enables you to bring your physical environment into the digital world.

What Is Google Lens?

Google Lens is an image recognition technology that allows users to interact with real-world objects using their phone’s camera.

Using AI, Google’s technology interprets the objects on your phone camera and provides additional information. It can scan and translate text, see furniture in your house, and help you explore local landmarks.

Google Lens is integrated directly into the camera on some phone models. If it doesn’t come pre-loaded on your device, there’s also an app you can download from the Google Play store to try it out.

Uses of Google Lens

Have you ever been traveling and wished you could read that train ticket in a foreign language? With Google Lens, just hover your phone camera over it, and it will translate the text for you.

You can also use Google Lens to learn about your environment in other ways. If you point your camera at a nearby landmark, you’ll see historical facts and information about opening hours. If you use it on an animal or plant, it can identify the type of flower or the breed of dog.

When eating out at a restaurant, you see which items on the menu are most popular (this information is pulled from Google Maps). Students can even use it to help them with their homework: if they hover over an equation, they’ll get a step-by-step guide to solve the problem.

But one of Google Lens’ most exciting applications for marketers, and the one I’m going to talk about today, has to do with online shopping.

Say a user is browsing on their phone and sees a sweater they like.

Rather than typing a long query into Google (“brown sweater, zig-zag pattern…”), the user can tap and hold the image, and Google Lens will find the same item (or a similar one), so they can buy it.

The app also provides style tips and ideas about what items to pair with the sweater. The recommendations are based on AI’s understanding of how people in fashion photos typically wear similar clothing.

Before the shopping feature came out, users could already search for clothing by taking a screenshot and opening it in Google Photos, or by pointing their camera at a physical item in a store. Long clicking on an online image for an instant search just makes the whole process easier.

In the future, Google plans to make AR showrooms available, so shoppers may soon be able to try on clothes at home virtually.

How Can E-commerce Businesses Optimize for Google Lens?

Once SEOs experiments with the long click search, we’ll gain some more insights into what works and what doesn’t with that specific feature.

But we know a fair bit since Google Lens and image search have been around for a few years.

Here’s what you do if you want to optimize for Google Lens:

Get Your Products to Appear on Google Lens

Before we get into specifics about image optimization, you’ll want to make sure your product listings show up on Google. So how do you do that? With product listings.

Product listings on Google are free. You can also run a paid campaign on Google Shopping if you want, although Shopping now offers free listings as well.

If you take advantage of Google’s free product listings, your products will show up in Google Search, Google Images, Google Shopping, and Google Lens searches. However, they need to follow Google’s policies, and you’ll need to do one of the following two things:

  1. Open a Google Merchant Center account and create a feed to upload your product data
  2. Integrate structured data markup onto your website

Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center lets Google know more about your products, so they can list them in search.

Here’s how to sign up for Google Merchant Center:

Go to Google’s Merchant Center homepage and sign in to your Google account.

Click “Sign in to Merchant Center” in the dropdown menu.

Then, enter your business’ name and information.

Scroll down, and fill in more information about your checkout process, tools you use, and whether you’d like to receive emails.

When you’re finished, agree to the Terms of Service and click “Create Account.”

Once you’ve created your account, don’t forget to add your products.

You can do this by creating a product feed. On the home screen of your new account, click “Add product data”:

You can then choose to add individual or multiple products.

Structured Data Markup

If you don’t want to use Google Merchant Center, you can still get your products to show up on Google Lens and elsewhere. However, you’ll need to add some structured data markup to your website. (In fact, I recommend doing this even if you do use Google Merchant Center.)

Structured data markup is code snippets added to your HTML that help Google better understand information on your website. Schema.org annotations are the most commonly used markups for SEO.

For example, Schema can tell Google that a specific page is a recipe, an article, about a local business, or an event.

To implement Schema.org markup, you’ll need access to edit the HTML on your site.

Google provides a helpful support guide on setting up structured data so that your site is compatible with their Merchant Center.

If you use WordPress, there are also several Schema markup plugins.

Once you’ve added the code, use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to make sure Google understands your markups.

Follow Google Image Optimization Best Practices With Google Lens

Google Lens technology is similar to Google’s reverse image search, but with a more sophisticated use of AI. A lot of the same principles that apply to regular image optimization for SEO also apply when you’re optimizing for Google Lens.

Image Size

Large images that load slowly (or not at all) can hurt your SEO (as well as making your website less user-friendly).

Since e-commerce websites tend to have many images (as they should!), loading times are particularly important.

Use a compression tool like Compress JPEG or Compress PNG to shrink your images.

Label Images and Add Keywords

Make sure to use keywords and descriptive language wherever you can, for example in image titles, ALT text, filenames, and EXIF data.

Add image titles and ALT text via the HTML of your website, or using your content management system (like WordPress or Squarespace).

EXIF data can be edited locally on your computer. This data adds more in-depth information to your photo, such as the time and date it was taken and what camera was used.

Although machine learning tools like Google Lens rely more on image recognition than text when executing a search, adding clear and relevant information to your image can improve SEO and user experience.

Use High Photo Quality and Visuals For Google Lens

Another way to optimize for Google Lens is by providing crystal clear product images.

If someone long clicks on a brown sweater in a photo, and that sweater is a product you sell in your e-commerce store, you want your product to come up as part of their search. To do that, Google needs to understand the brown sweater you’re selling is the item the searcher is looking for.

Look through your website and replace any images that are blurry, cropped oddly, or don’t fully show items.

Ideally, you’ll want to use high-resolution images taken on a professional camera while balancing quality with file load time. Opt for a high-quality file format like .PNG or .JPG.

Google Lens vs. Pinterest Lens

Google Lens isn’t the only game in town. Pinterest offers a similar feature, called Pinterest Lens.

Just like Google Lens, Pinterest Lens allows users to shop for products from third-party retailers. Users can take a photo, upload one, or hover over a physical item with their camera to use the feature.

So what’s the difference between Google Lens and Pinterest Lens?

On Pinterest, there’s a lot of action going on inside the Pinterest app. Unlike the all-pervasive Google, Pinterest is a specific ecosystem with its own Verified Merchant Program and internal search engine.

If you want to optimize your brand for Pinterest Lens, make sure you have a Pinterest business account, get your products onto Pinterest using Catalogs, and join the Verified Merchant Program.

Otherwise, many of the same rules apply as with Google Lens. To get found in Pinterest Lens, optimize your images by adding keywords in the filename, title, and ALT text, and ensure photos load fast and are high quality.

What Does Google Lens Mean for Marketers?

Advances in Google Lens search aren’t just changing the nature of SEO. They also represent a significant shift in the way people look for products.

Nowadays, if you want to shop online, you might go to an online store and type in a specific search term. When you’ve found what you’re looking for, you’ll check out and go back to whatever you were doing before.

But with Google Lens, every minute you spend online becomes a potential shopping experience. While you’re busy looking through social media posts, reading blog articles, or messaging friends, you might spot an item you like and start casually browsing through products.

Tech journalists have viewed Google’s focus on improving the Shopping and Lens experiences as part of a broader strategy to compete with Amazon… and they’re probably right.

Google wants people to spend more time in Google search and less time browsing e-commerce websites.

If you’re a marketer working in e-commerce, this is big news. It means in the future, fewer people might be visiting your website directly by typing it into the address bar. Instead, they may arrive directly via channels like Google Lens or Pinterest Lens.

In the future, we may see brands investing more heavily in strategies like product placement as part of their marketing. If tons of pictures of a famous person using your product are floating around the web, people could then easily seek that product out directly with a Lens search.

Conclusion

Google is always innovating and creating new and different ways to search. Google Lens is the most recent example of the search giants’ constant growth.

For e-commerce retailers, this new technology should not be ignored as it could very well be the future of image search.

As marketers, we’re expected to pivot rapidly as technology changes, and Google Lens is no exception.

Have you heard about Google Lens or Pinterest Lens? What are your thoughts about this way of searching?

What Is a Micro Niche … and Do You Need One?

What Is a Micro Niche … and Do You Need One?

Dec 10, 2020 | Online Marketing

A micro niche is a business offering that’s highly specific. You may also encounter the term sub-niche to describe these laser-focused products or services. Micro niches drill down from niches, which are already segmented out from a larger market.

Here are a few quick examples to clarify the difference between a market, a niche, and a micro niche:

  • Market, outdoor gear; Niche, camping supplies; Micro Niche, high-end mountaineering tents
  • Market, tech; Niche, social media platforms; Micro Niche, social platforms targeted to specific interests, such as Ravelry for knitters
  • Market, beauty supplies; Niche, cosmetics; Micro Niche, organic vegan cosmetics

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Micro niches generally have more adjectives attached (not just ‘food truck,’ but ‘artisan grilled cheese truck featuring locally sourced cheese and bread’) and have a highly specific audience in mind (people who love grilled cheese with fancy additions).

Would your business benefit from a micro niche?

Among the greatest benefits of micro niches is that they pre-qualify customers and clients early in the marketing funnel. People who are looking for outdoor gear may be looking for anything from hiking boots to fly-fishing rods to harnesses for mountain climbing. But people searching specifically for camping supplies can have very different ‘wants’ as well. They may prioritize:

  • Affordability
  • Ease of use
  • Eco-friendly production
  • Aesthetics
  • Better, best glamping quality
  • Mountain-ready ruggedness

Often there will be an overlap of preferred qualities. But if your niche is producing and selling high-quality mountaineering tents, you won’t have to worry about capturing the attention of frugal families or people who want a luxurious camping experience.

The other benefits of a micro niche branch off from there. They include:

  • A passionate customer community. People interested in high-quality tents are often interested in clear topic areas related to your offering. This makes it easier to create a content strategy for organic traffic; there’s less guessing what will appeal to your customers. People who want exceptional quality tents for hiking are knowledgeable already. They would likely be interested in a blog or podcast offering specific, expert, or off-the-beaten path advice and recommendations.
  • Less competition. In broad markets and even niches, gaining visibility and brand awareness can be a challenge. In a micro niche, it’s easier to earn attention and differentiate yourself because you have fewer competitors. You still have to specify your unique value in the space and clarify that among your discerning audience.
  • Brand loyalty. While this isn’t a given and requires meeting the demands of your audience, a sub-niche can foster long-term interest. That’s because micro niches are built on expertise, passion, and customization. It’s more challenging to bring a personal touch to broad markets

Companies can start up with a single micro niche. For example, Bite offers sustainable toothpaste tablets called ‘bits,’ mouthwash bits, floss, and toothbrushes through a subscription plan. Their focus is zero-waste, plastic-free, vegan, and cruelty-free production.

Drybar is another micro niche company that carved a customer base from the hair salon industry. The ‘want’ they leveraged was people interested in a ‘just-from-the-salon’ look between full haircuts and coloring.

Alternatively, companies can add a micro niche after establishing their brand in a larger niche market. The mattress company, Casper, added dog beds to their niche offering. Mattresses, for most of us, are large and infrequent purchases. Although dog beds have a far smaller price point, dog owners are likely to replace them more often. Offering dog beds is also a way to introduce a new audience to the overall Casper brand and the quality of its craftsmanship.

How to discover the best micro niche(s) for your business

1. Identify your strengths.

To discover a micro niche worth developing, start by looking at your strengths — either as an individual, a team, or a company. You’re more likely to find sustainable success in areas that excite you and your team.

Consider a business offering employee recruitment support to companies. Perhaps their team excels when recruiting executives or helping mid-career changers climb the ladder? This could spark a micro niche B2B offering, such as mid-level leadership development services or executive compensation consulting.

2. Focus on the problem.

What issues need solving in your industry or your life? Think about the times you’ve thought “If only we had _____ ” to help with a common problem in day-to-day life, at work, or with a recreational activity. Fill in that blank for a promising micro-niche business idea. Problems you face are likely issues for others as well. Brainstorm different problems and creative solutions, and see which one gets you and trusted peers the most excited.

3. Do your micro-niche market research.

You want to make sure your micro niche has a customer base. Here are some areas on which to focus your research:

  • Informal and formal market research. Talk with friends and family about consumer ideas, or reach out to industry peers about business services needs. If you have the budget, send out email or social media surveys about the topic to gauge interest.
  • Google Trends. This tool can help you discover micro niches within larger niches, and the overall interest in your micro niche. Search various terms related to your sub-niche and then explore the related topics and queries. You can also find out regional variations in interest.
  • Social media and industry organizations. Explore hashtags on social media related to your sub-niche or industry. Also check out associations, professional groups, and organizations within your target industry. What are they discussing or excited about? Do you notice an emerging area of expertise? Do you notice a missing link in the discussions that might be an opportunity?

For example, a search for ‘mountain tent’ reveals strong (and unsurprising) regional interest in Colorado and Idaho. It also shares that ‘hyperlite mountain gear’ is a related topic, which can guide your product development and future marketing content.

4. Check out the competition.

It’s possible you’ll have a eureka moment and land on an untapped idea. But, more often, you’ll find your skills and interests lead you to micro niches with existing businesses. Now, you’ll have to toggle back to research and brainstorming mode. Here’s what you’ll need to figure out:

  • Is the market big enough for the two, four, or 15 of you?
  • How can you differentiate yourself from the competition? With white-glove service? With a lower or higher price point?
  • Where are they falling short?
  • How can you do better?

5. Test the waters.

You don’t have to dive into the deep end immediately. It’s smart to test the waters first with a single product offering. The apparel company Bombas launched in 2013 with a single product: comfortable performance socks. It has expanded to other items of clothing, but socks remain at the center of the brand.

Another way to test your idea is with a landing page, which is a simple process with drag-and-drop tools like HubSpot’s Landing Page Builder. Once you have a personalized landing page, begin advertising your product or service with paid search and social media ads. Your proof-of-concept is in the pudding — if the pudding were steady traffic, completed email forms, inbound sales calls, and product pre-orders.

On the landing page, and in your ads, use keywords that clearly define your offering. This way you draw people with authentic interest or buying intent in your micro niche.

6. Trust your instincts.

If you dream up a product or service idea that hasn’t been done before, or hasn’t been done particularly well, in your opinion, consider trusting your gut.

  • The company Untuckit was built on the simple premise that men wanted button-front shirts that looked neat untucked, and they were hard to find.
  • The e-commerce store Lefty’s sells common kitchen, gardening, school, and work tools designed specifically for people who are left handed.
  • Olive & June is a nail polish company that sells kits that make home manicures easy and fun. Their kits come with a holder for your phone, so you can watch a video while your polish dries.

These micro-niche companies often have one thing in common: When they hit the market, people often wonder how the products or services weren’t available before. Find your micro niche, and follow these steps to bring your business to life.

Marketing Plan Template

The Evolution of Content Marketing: How It’s Changed and Where It’s Going in the Next Decade

The Evolution of Content Marketing: How It’s Changed and Where It’s Going in the Next Decade

Dec 10, 2020 | Online Marketing

A sound content marketing strategy is one of the better ways a business can help shape its brand identity, garner interest from prospects, and retain an engaged audience. It lets you establish authority in your space, project legitimacy, and build trust between you and who you’re trying to reach.

Plan your content for every persona and stage of the buying cycle. [Free Content Mapping Template]

As you can assume, it’s well worth understanding. But that’s easier said than done. Content marketing isn’t static. The landscape of the practice is constantly changing. It doesn’t look the same now as it did ten years ago, and in ten years it won’t look the same as it does now.

It’s a difficult topic to pin down — one with a fascinating past and an exciting future. Out of both genuine interest and forward-thinking practicality, it’s important to understand both where it’s been and where it’s going.

Here, we’ll get some perspective on both. We’re going to take a look at how content marketing has evolved in the past decade, and how it’s going to evolve in the next one.

How Content Marketing Evolved in the Past Decade

Google changed the game.

In 2011, Google conducted its landmark Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) study. It found that 88% of shoppers use what’s known as a Zero Moment of Truth — a discovery and awareness stage in a buying cycle where a consumer researches a product before buying it. Google’s research also indicated that word of mouth was a definitive factor in swaying that moment.

The study provides a unique point of reference in the context of content marketing’s evolution. It captures the essence of how and why businesses needed to focus on content marketing at the beginning of the 2010s.

It was tacit evidence that companies’ stories were being told online — well beyond the control of their marketing departments — and it was in their best interest to help shape those conversations.

The ZMOT study highlighted the need for sound Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Ranking for relevant keywords on search engines became all but essential to bolstering a company’s online presence and holding up during consumers’ Zero Moments of Truth.

But that study wasn’t the only bombshell Google dropped in the early 2010s. Around the time the study came out, Google’s search ranking algorithm changed to discourage “keyword stuffing” — the practice of repetitively loading a webpage with specific keywords to try to sway search engine rankings.

The change represented what is still a continuous effort by Google to provide users with positive, helpful online experiences. And it did just that. The shift that set the stage for businesses to focus on producing more high-quality, meaningful content.

Social media rose.

But content marketing’s evolution wasn’t exclusively linked to search engines. Social media’s meteoric rise to prominence — one of the most disruptive trends in human history — also had a profound impact on the practice. As these platforms developed into mainstays of everyday life, they presented new challenges for content marketers.

As social media evolved, it popularized a different kind of content consumption than search engines. The difference boiled down to a matter of “pointed versus passive.”

Consumers use search engines to find content more pointedly. Generally speaking, when you use a search engine, you’re looking for a specific answer or a specific subject. Social media allowed users to consume content more passively on their preferred platforms. The content you see on your Facebook feed is finding its way to you — not the other way around.

That trend incentivized the creation of more shareable, attention-grabbing content that could easily be spread across social media channels.

How Content Marketing Evolved in the Past Decade social media

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Video made a push.

Video also emerged as one of the prevailing content marketing mediums as the decade progressed, particularly among younger consumers. By 2017, over 50% of consumers wanted to see videos from brands they supported — more than any other kind of content.

How Content Marketing Evolved in the Past Decade video

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Video is inherently engaging. Generally speaking, it’s easier to follow than blog posts, email newsletters, or ebooks. Gradually, audiences took to it more and more as the decade progressed. By the end of the 2010s, platforms like YouTube were central to the landscape of content marketing.

Obviously, content marketing underwent several shifts in the 2010s, but as I said at the beginning of this article, the practice isn’t — and will never be — static. There are still plenty of changes to come.

How Content Marketing Will Evolve in the Next Decade

Video content will continue to rule.

As I just mentioned, video was emerging as one of the most — if not the most — important mediums for content marketing at the end of this past decade. There’s no indication that that trend is stopping anytime soon.

As of 2020, 85% of businesses use video as a marketing tool — up 24% from 2016. And 92% of marketers who use it consider it an important part of their marketing strategy. It’s already a staple in several companies’ content marketing operations, and research indicates that base is going to expand.

According to a survey by Wyzowl, 59% of marketers who weren’t using video in 2019 expected to be using it throughout 2020.

How Content Marketing Will Evolve in the Next Decade video

 

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All told, it looks like the exploration and expansion of video as the preeminent medium for content marketing is going to continue. The priority for marketers is going to be a matter of standing out.

That could mean emphasizing the quality of the content you produce — ensuring it’s enriching, well-crafted, and relevant to viewers. You could also try looking to emerging platforms like TikTok.

No matter how individual producers and companies manage to innovate when it comes to video marketing, the medium is going to be a mainstay in the evolution of content marketing going forward.

Adjusting for mobile will be essential and present new opportunities.

According to Statista, global mobile data traffic in 2022 will be seven times larger than it was in 2017. Mobile device usage is increasing astronomically, and it’s in every content marketer’s best interest to keep pace with that trend.

In 2019, 61% of Google searches took place on a mobile device, and that trend is showing no signs of slowing down. Having a website optimized for mobile devices will be central to successful SEO efforts. And a lot of the content you create will need to fit that bill as well.

Blogs should be easily navigable on smartphones. Readily accessible video content that your audience can watch on mobile devices will be a big help as well. Prospects and customers will need to be able to get as much out of your mobile resources as your desktop ones.

This shift towards mobile will also present new opportunities through emerging kinds of media. More novel mobile technology — like virtual and augmented reality — will have a very real place in the future of content marketing.

As people continue to rely more on their mobile devices, content marketers will have to as well.

Successful content will be more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first.

Google’s ranking algorithm aims to prioritize the content that will mean the most to searchers. Ideally, by Google’s standards, the first ranking search result for any keyword is the one that best addresses whatever users are searching for. And in all likelihood, they’ll keep tinkering with their process in pursuit of that interest.

While there’s no telling exactly how the algorithm might change going forward, one fact remains — marketers need to focus on high-quality content that will register with consumers. That means understanding your audience and putting considerable effort into how to reach them best.

As HubSpot Senior Content Strategist Amanda Zantal-Wiener puts it, “Where I’m starting to see content turning a corner is in the area of empathy. In the years to come, marketers are going to start creating more content that’s truly created in the mindset of putting themselves in the shoes of others — be it their customers, prospects, partners, or someone else within their audiences. They’ll ask questions like, ‘What does my audience need from me right now? What can I create that’s truly going to help them?’ That’s going to become a requirement for marketers when they begin brainstorming content.”

Research, outreach, and community engagement will become even more important in the context of content creation. Content marketing is trending towards audience enrichment as opposed to product promotion. If this shifting tide holds true, content marketing will continue to become more targeted, purposeful, and customer-centric as the practice evolves.

If there’s anything to take away from understanding the previous and upcoming evolutions of content marketing it’s this — don’t get too comfortable. New trends and challenges are always emerging, and it will always be in your best interest to stay abreast of them.

And above all else, focus on consistently creating high-quality content that your audience will always be able to get something out of.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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