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Search Marketing Insights
Our folks have opinions. And they have passion. And we often can't control either. So, in this space, we gave them a forum to talk to you. In this format, we'll share new ways to use Search. We will explore, along with you, all the possibilities related to what can be done with this incredibly-effective marketing discipline. Listen in...
Paid Search Marketing: Can It Learn From Database Marketing
By: Pat Stroh, VP Analysis and Decision Support, IMPAQT
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) regularly and steadily generates copious amounts of data and reports. Some commentators highlight the abilities of database marketers and analysts to synthesize, sift and understand data, and then produce actionable recommendations. In addition, those database marketing abilities translate directly over to the data rich environment of Paid Search Marketing. Thus, it is important to ask: What are the similarities between Database Marketing (DM) and paid SEM? What are the key differences and key pitfalls? And what are the opportunities for “cross learning” from DM and SEM?
Paid Search Strategies to Grow Both Your Customer Base and Brand
By: Bryce Walat, Content Development Specialist
While all marketers face the balancing act of allocating resources toward Search-based brand-building strategies vs. direct response tactics, financial service providers face unique challenges in Paid Search. For example, the ongoing spate of mergers and acquisitions results in new identities, slogans, etc. and consumer apathy consequential to the numerous competing institutions all touting the same marketing messages. Also, the current recessionary environment and pace of change means adapting on the fly to changing market conditions and driving harder to get more results while budgets stay frozen or shrink.
Video Search: How is it different and will it stay that way?
By: Jamie Keaney, Senior Search Strategist Jamie Keaney
The number of video search engines has grown exponentially over the past 3 years. For example, when I attended SES San Jose this year, I attended a panel whereby two of the four speakers had run their own video search engines. How people are using video was a common discussion at SES...and an interesting one.
According to one panelist, most video searchers only refine their search about 1/3 of the time, opting instead to browse “related” videos that appear on the search results page. For example, a search for “Pepsi and Mentos” may bring up 25 videos, and if the user doesn’t find the video they’re searching for, they may get distracted by another video on the page and play that one instead. The tendency of search and browse rather than search and refine is separate from what we see occurring on Google, Yahoo and MSN.
It’s literally changing the ad model associated with video search, making it more efficient to use pre-rolls or interlays.
Writing for Readers, Not Just Buyers or Cynics
By: Bryce Walat, Content Development Specialist
In the SEO Book.com article Writing for Buyers vs. Writing for Cynics, one of the comments stated that:
“It’s easy to say that you should write about what you love or you’ll get bored, but the big money is always in things that no one loves, like mortgages and loans, etc…”
What do you do when you have to write about something you don’t love, or don’t know that much about, and have to write it for SEO?
Reframing SEO Writing
At its most basic, search is about questions and answers, and problems and solutions. When searchers search, they’re ultimately looking for answers to questions or solutions to problems. They’re looking for a way to compare mortgages and pick the best option, or get help with payment problems, for example.
With that in mind, SEO writing is more about answering a question or solving a problem than writing content to promote a product or service. Therefore, when writing for SEO, it’s a good idea to reframe the task from writing to promote a product or service to writing to answer a question or solve a problem.
Current Considerations for Future Tracking
By: Pat Stroh, VP Analysis and Decision Support Pat Stroh
While there is a widespread recognition that online tracking is important for the operation of optimized marketing campaigns, I believe there is a widespread lack of understanding about how online tracking impacts actual campaign analysis and management. First and foremost, it is important to recognize if and how conversions are tracked BACK to actual clicks (from search ads, etc.). The reason why this is so important is that it is very difficult to understand the impact of bid changes, ad copy tests, etc. if the conversions are not attributed to the actual management activities. Imagine a situation where conversions occur days after the initial click (e.g., loan applications). If you don’t synchronize that conversion with the click management tactics, you will often be mislead about the success or failure of your campaigns. So, as a foundation of an online search campaign, it is very important to establish the link between the conversion and the click-date. This can be complicated, because the tracking codes must be “sticky” throughout the conversion process. And there are other complications, such as cookie length, “conversion attribution to which click?” questions (e.g., the first click or the last click?), and whether “intermediate conversions” such as the online application itself can actually predict a lagged conversion days later. Without a firm understanding of that process, however, it is very difficult to make informed decisions regarding your online campaigns.
Behavioral Targeting: Going beyond Rich Media, Display and Search
By: Matt Naeger, Executive VP, Operations
Although it's surrounded by consumer privacy concerns and lackluster technology and expertise to back up the concept, behavioral targeting still remains to be a hot topic among marketers.
The combination of Search and display can be a tactic to find and leverage targeted audiences by yielding an influx of searchers looking for a particular brand or a visible brand driving an increase in searchers. We learned in 2008 that Google might have already ventured into the behavioral targeting arena (re: Behavioural targeting: Not necessarily a bad idea). Although unconfirmed, this could be the push that the industry needs in order to develop an effective behavioral targeting system that delivers more directed advertising to consumers, increasing conversion rates, while gathering relevant consumer information in a transparent manner.
Rich media is starting to evolve as a way to harness behavioral targeting. For example, applets that allow user interaction and special effects can be effective in branding because of its user engagement opportunities.
