Offsetting Google dependency, an upsetting thought?

Having just listened to the podcast interview by Daniel Rowles (Target Internet) of Dr Dave Chaffey, I was intrigued by the concept of avoiding reliance on Google for your business.  Is it possible or desirable to avoid Google for your business?  What Dave and Daniel were promoting was reducing the reliance on Google search.  Specifically, the idea is not to be dependent on being “found” via Google search requests.

Living in isolation

To my mind, however, everything is related (and relative, of course).  For example, one’s strength in social media will help garner better first page scores in search.  Good work in search engine optimization (SEO) will be relevant for good search engine marketing (i.e. Google’s Quality Score).  An email campaign should be socially enhanced to gain maximum impact.  So, is it possible to speak of separate “e-eco-systems”?  How many of the channels are truly working in isolation?  I have written in the past of the convergence of social, mobile, social and browser and the implications for brand marketing.

The different digital marketing channels

First, what are some of the different channels and levers via the internet?

• search
• browser
• mobile
• email
• video
• social networks
• forums
• blogs
• FTP (computer to computer for big files)
• cloud services

The googleplex for marketing

To what extent can one diminish reliance on Google?  Of course, Google is one’s go-to Search engine with some 81% global desktop market share according to Netmarketshare (cf 67% for Google Sites in the US according to ComScore).  But, my point is that Google also happens to be my go-to email service (gmail), owner of my preferred video service (YouTube), not to mention owner of a good blogging service (blogger).  And speaking of social, the much maligned Google+ now has 150 million users.  Moreover, in terms of mobile, the Android OS is doing quite well, with 61% share of the smartphone market in 2012 (BGR Source).

Digital marketing: strategy first

To Dave and Daniel’s point, one does not want to be a slave to Google search to drive one’s business.  However, the truth would seem to be that each internet channel is important AND intertwined.  The key for brand marketing is to stick to a strategy with measurable objectives and then to deploy.  The more that strategy includes personality and engaged employees, I would argue that the chances of success increase.

As always, appreciate any thoughts and reactions!