Yahoo offers advertisers more than just search engine advertising. In fact, they are the leader (as of 2006) for advertisers interested in branding.
Advertisers can run ad buys targeting specific users within contextually relevant articles and "centers" on Yahoo's ad network. For instance, you can execute campaigs by placing graphic ads within the Yahoo Finance Center, Yahoo Autos Center, or, in the Yahoo Email login screen (some of their best performing ads based on experience are within Yahoo's email login and viewing screens).
There are, though, competitors to Yahoo (e.g. TACODA, Quigo Technologies) coming into the scene that have enough traffic on their networks to consider testing campaigns on them. The key, though, is pricing, and payment terms. If you can't pay based on clicks or acquisitions -- meaning you only can pay based on impressions - it's very easy to lose money on these types of campaigs when evaluating if your $1 in marketing spend generates at least a $1 in ROI. Therefore, the metrics of success here should not be ROI based, rather it should be brand (or brand message) recall based. To measure your success here, you need to develop surveys, as well as other tactics, to measure if your campaign was successful or not.
Bottom line: don't rule out ad buys on ad networks, but know your metrics of success before doing them.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
StumbleUpon - Search Engine 2.0
Marketers and product managers need to keep this Search Engine 2.0 on their radar: www.StumbleUpon.com . Wiki's new search engine works similarly to Stumble's, where users offer feedback to help refine the search results to be more relevant.
At the end of 2006, StumbleUpon.com has near 1.5 million users. Is this enough to run campaigns profitably? Or should you focus internal resources and efforts making money on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft? Test a campaign and see if it works! If not, wait and try again after more people are using the Search Engines 2.0.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
At the end of 2006, StumbleUpon.com has near 1.5 million users. Is this enough to run campaigns profitably? Or should you focus internal resources and efforts making money on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft? Test a campaign and see if it works! If not, wait and try again after more people are using the Search Engines 2.0.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Wikiasari - Search Engine of The Future?
There is a new search engine in the creation called Wikasari. It's creator is the founder of Wikipedia, and is different than Google and Yahoo because it invites real users like you and me to evaluate, and re-arrange, the search results as we see how they should be arranged.
It uses the re-rankings to evaluate the best search results for various terms based around the collective feedback of users.
As marketers, we need to be aware of this new search engine, but it is not yet at a stage where marketers and product managers should make it a high priority. It's still too early to make it a high priority in your marketing initiatives.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
It uses the re-rankings to evaluate the best search results for various terms based around the collective feedback of users.
As marketers, we need to be aware of this new search engine, but it is not yet at a stage where marketers and product managers should make it a high priority. It's still too early to make it a high priority in your marketing initiatives.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Thursday, December 21, 2006
eRetail Stores Web Traffic Sources
Biggest referral gainer in 2006 is myspace, accounting for 2% of traffic. Here's more detail:
- Social networking sites account for 6% of traffic
- Search engines are the main source, accounting for 26% of a retail stores' online traffic. Google (16%) is the main driver, with Yahoo (5%) in second place, and MSN (2%) in third.
- Email drives 9% of the traffic.
- Web directories, including shopping comparison sites, account for 5.5% of a retail sites traffic.
Lesson for executives and marketers: if you need to grow your traffic, look for the various online means above to fuel your growth if your ratios aren't there today.
Random Musings: according to Hitwise, retail categores benefiting the most from search engine traffic are groceries and alcohol, victoria secret like clothing and accessories, and house and garden products.
Information Sources: article from OnlineMedia, written on 12/7/06, titled "Social Networking Sites Fuel E-Commerce Traffic"
SEO 2007 Fundamentals
Keep your web architecture simple, and don't game the system! Here is a summary moving into 2007 for SEO (a.k.a. FREE search):
- Keep the duplicate content on your site to a minimum. Write original copy.
- Simplify your URL's -- minimize the number of variables in them.
- Don't play the linking "farm" game for both inlinks and outlinks.
- Don't expect buried pages on your site to get picked up by the search engines.
- Add meta descriptions to the pages you want picked up.
- Make sure your title tags and page titles are relevant to each page.
- Add alt tags to all your graphics (descriptions that appear when you scroll over graphics).
Good luck!
j. Bruce / www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Web Transforms Art Sales
If you sell art online, this is a must read article for you... j. Bruce/ www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
By Ross Fadner, December 21, 2006
Web Transforms Art Sales ReutersFor art dealers, the Internet is becoming just another way to sell their clients' works. Renowned collector Charles Saatchi is launching a Web site specifically to house the works of art students.
As art prices soar, collectors say they have less time to travel to galleries and shows to see new works. Similarly, painters and sculptors are having a hard time being seen in a fragmented and growing environment. So the Web is the best place for many artists to get their works seen. Many also participate in social networks like MySpace, but Saatchi is hoping to attract student art through his new site, called STUART (for student art).
The student-only site has already attracted more than 2,000 art students, and is only accessible as a link from his main gallery address: www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk. The proprietor has promised not to buy any art from the site for a year because he wants it to become independent. For some students, the site is already working. Many report selling work quickly. Collectors and museum curators said the Web is helpful for doing research, though not necessarily for buying online
By Ross Fadner, December 21, 2006
Web Transforms Art Sales ReutersFor art dealers, the Internet is becoming just another way to sell their clients' works. Renowned collector Charles Saatchi is launching a Web site specifically to house the works of art students.
As art prices soar, collectors say they have less time to travel to galleries and shows to see new works. Similarly, painters and sculptors are having a hard time being seen in a fragmented and growing environment. So the Web is the best place for many artists to get their works seen. Many also participate in social networks like MySpace, but Saatchi is hoping to attract student art through his new site, called STUART (for student art).
The student-only site has already attracted more than 2,000 art students, and is only accessible as a link from his main gallery address: www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk. The proprietor has promised not to buy any art from the site for a year because he wants it to become independent. For some students, the site is already working. Many report selling work quickly. Collectors and museum curators said the Web is helpful for doing research, though not necessarily for buying online
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Email Manager & Social Networking Site for Experts. Any Good?
Two sites worth checking out:
www.illumio.com
Illumio allows you to: 1) establish yourself as an expert in your field so that people can find you with related questions, and 2) lets you quickly find an expert to answer a question you have.
The key is how many people sign up and use it. Without critical mass, I'm not sure if the site will work.
www.BoxBe.com
Allows you to check all your email -- from different email boxes -- in ONE in box, and says it prevents unwanted email from reaching this inbox.
Props to my friend Andy in Silicon Valley for bringing these two sites to my attention!
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
www.illumio.com
Illumio allows you to: 1) establish yourself as an expert in your field so that people can find you with related questions, and 2) lets you quickly find an expert to answer a question you have.
The key is how many people sign up and use it. Without critical mass, I'm not sure if the site will work.
www.BoxBe.com
Allows you to check all your email -- from different email boxes -- in ONE in box, and says it prevents unwanted email from reaching this inbox.
Props to my friend Andy in Silicon Valley for bringing these two sites to my attention!
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Before Spending Money On Advertising
I see this over and over and over again. Small to mid-size companies, sometimes regional players, that spend a lot of money on offline and online advertising, do not know how to evaluate their advertising expenditures.
Companies must know if their ad campaigns are branding based, or direct response oriented. Sales driven marketing is all about spending marketing dollars only if it breaks even, or generates a profit.
There are basic lead to sale conversion numbers that companies can use to model out if an ad campaign will be effective. If you're advertising on billboards, TV, radio, newspapers, or phone books, make sure you use unique 1-800 number so you can back into exactly how many leads that ad spend gives you, ultimately allowing you to know how many sales that ad provides you. You'll know, or should know, how many people (leads) your sales team needs to talk to in order to meet your monthly sales goals.
The same philosophy applies to online sales. How many visitors does your website need to generate the number of leads (or sales) your sales team requires to meet your monthly sales goals? These are questions that need thought about in order to spend your hard earned marketing dollars wisely. If you sell a high-end, big-ticket item, the website is better used for lead generation activities. People sell better than websites, but people want to research and find you online. Let them, but then give them a reason to get a customized response from a professional sales person.
Any ad agency that doesn't coach you to evaluate your marketing spend this way, is an agency after your buck without being accountable for their performance to you.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Companies must know if their ad campaigns are branding based, or direct response oriented. Sales driven marketing is all about spending marketing dollars only if it breaks even, or generates a profit.
There are basic lead to sale conversion numbers that companies can use to model out if an ad campaign will be effective. If you're advertising on billboards, TV, radio, newspapers, or phone books, make sure you use unique 1-800 number so you can back into exactly how many leads that ad spend gives you, ultimately allowing you to know how many sales that ad provides you. You'll know, or should know, how many people (leads) your sales team needs to talk to in order to meet your monthly sales goals.
The same philosophy applies to online sales. How many visitors does your website need to generate the number of leads (or sales) your sales team requires to meet your monthly sales goals? These are questions that need thought about in order to spend your hard earned marketing dollars wisely. If you sell a high-end, big-ticket item, the website is better used for lead generation activities. People sell better than websites, but people want to research and find you online. Let them, but then give them a reason to get a customized response from a professional sales person.
Any ad agency that doesn't coach you to evaluate your marketing spend this way, is an agency after your buck without being accountable for their performance to you.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Website Lead Conversion. Keep it Simple!
I met with a local business and they, like 99% of the companies out there, share the same frustrations and concerns to web marketing.
Here's advice I share a lot with businesses wanting to generate leads from their website. In this case, it is a car dealership. But it could be a builder selling homes, a jeweler selling diamonds, an insurance agent selling insurance, etc. etc.
Good auto websites. Good defined as a site knowing how to convert its traffic into a lead.
http://www.automart.com
http://www.newcarinsider.com/
http://www.whypaysticker.com/
http://www.cars.com/
Notice they get consumers to fill in their information right AWAY. They persuade visitors to fill out the form by saying "buy in 6 easy steps...fill in the form bla bla bla", or "request a quote by filling in the 30-second form". They give reasons to fill in the form.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. Online success is based on:
1. It's monthly traffic, and
2. How well the site converts its traffic.
EVERYTHING on the site should be geared towards generating a lead. Period. Just like a retail store wants to get all the store's foot traffic to the cash register, your site wants to get everyone to the lead form. The sites above do a good job.
My advice, don't benchmark other dealer's websites. And DON'T benchmark the OEM's!!!! Benchmark the sites above. They know how to convert their traffic.
Also, measure your online success by:
1. Knowing your visit to lead ratio. How many people visit the site a month, and what percent convert into leads.
This is your compass. It tells you if a web change generates more or less leads as a percentage of traffic the site gets. Encourage employees to offer up ideas. Test them. If one works, do more of it. If not, cut it. But there's no one way to do it. It's all about testing, evaluating, then repeating.
2. Know what your lead to close rate is per referral source. There's always a trade-off between quantity of leads and quality. Know the source of the lead and it's corresponding lead to close rate. This should then dictate how much you're willing to pay for each kind of lead (e.g. lead from site, lead from 3rd party website aggregator, Internet phone lead).
Cost per lead, and cost per sold unit is what it's all about.
NOTE: Higher quality leads may not generate the most revenue, because they could cost too much. On the flip side, the cheapest leads may not have a high enough conversion ratio. It's a never ending quest to find the sweet spot between optimal mix of lead quality and lead quantity. Learn by doing, keeping track, and doing more of what is working, and cutting what's not.
It's a never ending persuit.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Here's advice I share a lot with businesses wanting to generate leads from their website. In this case, it is a car dealership. But it could be a builder selling homes, a jeweler selling diamonds, an insurance agent selling insurance, etc. etc.
Good auto websites. Good defined as a site knowing how to convert its traffic into a lead.
http://www.automart.com
http://www.newcarinsider.com/
http://www.whypaysticker.com/
http://www.cars.com/
Notice they get consumers to fill in their information right AWAY. They persuade visitors to fill out the form by saying "buy in 6 easy steps...fill in the form bla bla bla", or "request a quote by filling in the 30-second form". They give reasons to fill in the form.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. Online success is based on:
1. It's monthly traffic, and
2. How well the site converts its traffic.
EVERYTHING on the site should be geared towards generating a lead. Period. Just like a retail store wants to get all the store's foot traffic to the cash register, your site wants to get everyone to the lead form. The sites above do a good job.
My advice, don't benchmark other dealer's websites. And DON'T benchmark the OEM's!!!! Benchmark the sites above. They know how to convert their traffic.
Also, measure your online success by:
1. Knowing your visit to lead ratio. How many people visit the site a month, and what percent convert into leads.
This is your compass. It tells you if a web change generates more or less leads as a percentage of traffic the site gets. Encourage employees to offer up ideas. Test them. If one works, do more of it. If not, cut it. But there's no one way to do it. It's all about testing, evaluating, then repeating.
2. Know what your lead to close rate is per referral source. There's always a trade-off between quantity of leads and quality. Know the source of the lead and it's corresponding lead to close rate. This should then dictate how much you're willing to pay for each kind of lead (e.g. lead from site, lead from 3rd party website aggregator, Internet phone lead).
Cost per lead, and cost per sold unit is what it's all about.
NOTE: Higher quality leads may not generate the most revenue, because they could cost too much. On the flip side, the cheapest leads may not have a high enough conversion ratio. It's a never ending quest to find the sweet spot between optimal mix of lead quality and lead quantity. Learn by doing, keeping track, and doing more of what is working, and cutting what's not.
It's a never ending persuit.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Blog To Engage Customers
You gotta be in touch. Either with your employees, team, clients or customers. If you're not, your products and or leadership with get dated. It's survival of the fittest! Whether you want to believe this or not.
Because there are only 24 hours in the day, how do you remain "in touch", and yet still get your job responsibilities done? Hire an Intern to surf the web, compile a summary, and give it to you on a daily, weekly basis? Assign this task to your R and D Department? No. Information flow here is too slow, ultimately making it worthless.
So what do you do? Each employee needs to be in touch. You can lean on the technology that's out there. Your children, nephews or nieces are using it to keep in touch, gain touch, or influence their social networks. They use blogs, IM's and social networking sites. You, your team and company can too!
Why? To deliver a superior, differentiated product, you need to know what your customers, clients and employees are saying. Understant the market by surfing the blogs and discussion boards that are out there. Spend 5 minutes a day. This is FREE market research. Otherwise, you can spend thousands of dollars to get the same insight with survey and focus groups.
Blogs, Vlogs and discussion boars offer us issues or positives people are saying about you. If it's a potential PR nightmare, hopefully you catch it early and influence it the way you want it before it spirals out of control. Contribute to the blogs when needed. Engage! Learn. Create the dialogue. Think of the alternative - people not caring to spend time talking about your company.
Things move to fast. If you're not involved, you're HISTORY!
How does all this relate to driving sales? Engagement means you're intune with your market. That market can be your internal or external customers, or maybe your "market" is your employee base.
To know what you need to do to offer a needed, compelling product, you need to be ENGAGED!
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Because there are only 24 hours in the day, how do you remain "in touch", and yet still get your job responsibilities done? Hire an Intern to surf the web, compile a summary, and give it to you on a daily, weekly basis? Assign this task to your R and D Department? No. Information flow here is too slow, ultimately making it worthless.
So what do you do? Each employee needs to be in touch. You can lean on the technology that's out there. Your children, nephews or nieces are using it to keep in touch, gain touch, or influence their social networks. They use blogs, IM's and social networking sites. You, your team and company can too!
Why? To deliver a superior, differentiated product, you need to know what your customers, clients and employees are saying. Understant the market by surfing the blogs and discussion boards that are out there. Spend 5 minutes a day. This is FREE market research. Otherwise, you can spend thousands of dollars to get the same insight with survey and focus groups.
Blogs, Vlogs and discussion boars offer us issues or positives people are saying about you. If it's a potential PR nightmare, hopefully you catch it early and influence it the way you want it before it spirals out of control. Contribute to the blogs when needed. Engage! Learn. Create the dialogue. Think of the alternative - people not caring to spend time talking about your company.
Things move to fast. If you're not involved, you're HISTORY!
How does all this relate to driving sales? Engagement means you're intune with your market. That market can be your internal or external customers, or maybe your "market" is your employee base.
To know what you need to do to offer a needed, compelling product, you need to be ENGAGED!
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Friday, December 08, 2006
Are Marketers Important?
Hell YES marketers are important! There's a new form of company shaping up in the U.S. - at least the ones that will survive and grow in the 21st Century.
This new company is called the Platform Company. A platform company's core involves three core aspects: 1) Design, 2) Production, and 3) MARKETING!
Many manufacturing based companies are having to outsource the "production" piece of the puzzle to emerging markets (India and China) in order to compete, but guess where these new best of breed companies are differentiating themselves? In design and MARKETING.
Bottom Line: Marketers are important. You think Coke, a U.S. company, that generates 80% of its revenues outside the U.S.A. cares about Marketing? Hell yes. Without its intangible brand equity, there's no Coke as we know it.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
This new company is called the Platform Company. A platform company's core involves three core aspects: 1) Design, 2) Production, and 3) MARKETING!
Many manufacturing based companies are having to outsource the "production" piece of the puzzle to emerging markets (India and China) in order to compete, but guess where these new best of breed companies are differentiating themselves? In design and MARKETING.
Bottom Line: Marketers are important. You think Coke, a U.S. company, that generates 80% of its revenues outside the U.S.A. cares about Marketing? Hell yes. Without its intangible brand equity, there's no Coke as we know it.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Thursday, December 07, 2006
25% Ad Spend Will Be Online Within Decade
An analyst on CNBC today said that the growth curve of online ad spend percentages (within company's overall advertising budgets) will reflect the growth curve allocated to TV media spend percentages. I agree.
When TV 1st came out, there was a lot of hoop'la and fear that all media money would stop flowing to traditional media at the time (radio and print), and all go to TV.
There are many parallels between the growth of advertising online to the growth of TV. Despite what all the experts said at the time of TV's beginnings, just 25% of most balanced media budgets are allocated to TV.
10 years from now we'll look back and notice most companys' media budgets allocate just 25% to online media. Offline media will be thriving, including print, TV and radio.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
When TV 1st came out, there was a lot of hoop'la and fear that all media money would stop flowing to traditional media at the time (radio and print), and all go to TV.
There are many parallels between the growth of advertising online to the growth of TV. Despite what all the experts said at the time of TV's beginnings, just 25% of most balanced media budgets are allocated to TV.
10 years from now we'll look back and notice most companys' media budgets allocate just 25% to online media. Offline media will be thriving, including print, TV and radio.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Monday, December 04, 2006
Top Websites for Marketers In 2006
SpyFu: http://www.spyfu.com
Benchmarking website.
Keyword Cloud: http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-cloud/
Keyword density tool.
EzineCheck: http://www.ezinecheck.com/check.html
Checks email for spam filter red flags.
Marketing NPV ROI Marketing Tools:
http://www.marketingnpv.com/tools.asp?type=download
Many tools to evaluate marketing ROI.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Gives cost per click and ad positions for keywords.
David Garfinkel's World Copywriting Blog:
http://world-copywriting-institute.typepad.com/world_copywriting_blog/
Good copywriting blog.
Technorati: http://www.technorati.com
Blog search and measures popularity.
KeywordDiscovery: http://www.keyworddiscovery.com
Keyword discovery tool.
SnapShirt: http://www.snapshirts.com
Cool site for winning over clients w/ a unique gift.
Enjoy,
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Benchmarking website.
Keyword Cloud: http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-cloud/
Keyword density tool.
EzineCheck: http://www.ezinecheck.com/check.html
Checks email for spam filter red flags.
Marketing NPV ROI Marketing Tools:
http://www.marketingnpv.com/tools.asp?type=download
Many tools to evaluate marketing ROI.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Gives cost per click and ad positions for keywords.
David Garfinkel's World Copywriting Blog:
http://world-copywriting-institute.typepad.com/world_copywriting_blog/
Good copywriting blog.
Technorati: http://www.technorati.com
Blog search and measures popularity.
KeywordDiscovery: http://www.keyworddiscovery.com
Keyword discovery tool.
SnapShirt: http://www.snapshirts.com
Cool site for winning over clients w/ a unique gift.
Enjoy,
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Top Social Media Sites 4Q 2006
Top Social Media Sites all marketers need to know about are:
- MySpace (biggest user base by far)
- YouTube (owned by Google)
- Flickr - photo sharing site (owned by Yahoo)
- Xbox - video gaming community (owned by Microsoft)
- Mashable - blogging community)
- Sneakerplay - footwear community (owned by Nike)
- CarnivalConnections - branded company community (owned by cruise line)
- Communispace -- private invite only online community space
Will these online assets become search engines in the future? Time will tell.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Top Blog Search Engines. Why Important?
Important because every company with a brand needs to stay in touch with how consumers perceive their company. And a quick way to do this is search for your company's name in the following top blogs and blog search engines:
- Technorati
- Blogpulse
- IceRocket
- Blogger
- Google Blog Search
Search these blogs for dirt on your company, competitors or industry. Look here for marketing and product ideas. And if you don't find what you WANT to find, then it's time to engage in a little "blogging relations".
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Search Marketing's Key in Future
The key is integration w/ print (newspapers), TV and radio ad campaigns.
You see it observing Google and Yahoo forming relationships w/ various newspapers across the country. And, indirectly, this allows mass by targeting many local markets w/ a well planned and executed campaign.
It's not there yet, but will be once Google and Yahoo provides the tools to advertisers.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
You see it observing Google and Yahoo forming relationships w/ various newspapers across the country. And, indirectly, this allows mass by targeting many local markets w/ a well planned and executed campaign.
It's not there yet, but will be once Google and Yahoo provides the tools to advertisers.
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Don't Podcast Till 2008+
Nomatter the size of your company -- small mom & pop shop or Fortune 500 company -- focus your time, money and resources on search engine marketing (both SEO and Paid Search) before even considering to play w/ podcasting, RSS feeds or the alike.
To support my tip mentioned above, please read an article written by BusinessWeek November, 2006: http://www.salesdrivenmarketing.com/salesdrivenuniversity/dontpodcastuntil2008.html
Enjoy,
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
To support my tip mentioned above, please read an article written by BusinessWeek November, 2006: http://www.salesdrivenmarketing.com/salesdrivenuniversity/dontpodcastuntil2008.html
Enjoy,
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Making Local Search Work
Few tips when structuring local campaigns:
- Put ads on both regular paid search and mobile search networks,
- Not only target keywords to cities, states and zip codes, but also specific neighborhood names, area codes, counties, airport codes and various metropolitan areas.
- And don't forget including keywords with product/sku names, SKU's, governmental terms and industry/slang terms.
For more detail, check out this article on webpronews.com : http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20061115PubConLocalandMobileSearchMarketing.html
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Media Agency's Future DNA
Great article below talking about the makeup of a future Media/Marketing company. Do you agree?
j. Bruce.
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
--------------------------
RBC's Rohan: Search Marketers Should Embrace Newspaper, TV Ads
by Erik Sass, Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 6:00 AM ET, MediaPost Publications
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.--GOOGLE'S ENTRY INTO print ad and radio ad sales will pressure search marketers to also experiment with ads in traditional media. That's according to Jordan Rohan, managing director of RBC Capital Markets.
"The coordination of traditional and online is going to be one of the main themes in the coming year," Rohan said, speaking Monday at MediaPost's Search Insider Summit. "For marketers and service providers, this is the opportunity of a lifetime," he added.
In fact, Rohan predicted that search marketers--currently considered technical specialists--could become powerful players in media planning, if they could figure out how to implement search marketing principles in radio, print and other traditional media.
Rohan's basic advice: "Learn how to create, measure, plan and sell radio and television inventory, even better than the traditional agencies."
He said that search agencies that embrace old media advertising will be able to take advantage of new efficiencies made possible by Google. "There's a massive opportunity to sell advertising in a newspaper differently than it's done today. There are a lot of advertisers who would pay to insert ads in 500-1,000 newspapers if the process were easier." He added that among the main requirements was an electronic interface similar to that used to purchase search ads.
Google last week announced that it intended to start selling ads in 50 major newspapers by the end of the year.
The company also is readying a major push into radio ad sales. Rohan Monday forecast that Google will secure a big chunk of radio inventory, possibly from Clear Channel or CBS Radio, within the next 30 days. "They will pre-pay for radio inventory to the tune of $1 billion," Rohan predicted.
Rohan also predicted that Google would probably buy Web-based ad agency SpotRunner within the next six months, because "it fits so well with dMarc" and the general expansion into traditional media.
j. Bruce.
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
--------------------------
RBC's Rohan: Search Marketers Should Embrace Newspaper, TV Ads
by Erik Sass, Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 6:00 AM ET, MediaPost Publications
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.--GOOGLE'S ENTRY INTO print ad and radio ad sales will pressure search marketers to also experiment with ads in traditional media. That's according to Jordan Rohan, managing director of RBC Capital Markets.
"The coordination of traditional and online is going to be one of the main themes in the coming year," Rohan said, speaking Monday at MediaPost's Search Insider Summit. "For marketers and service providers, this is the opportunity of a lifetime," he added.
In fact, Rohan predicted that search marketers--currently considered technical specialists--could become powerful players in media planning, if they could figure out how to implement search marketing principles in radio, print and other traditional media.
Rohan's basic advice: "Learn how to create, measure, plan and sell radio and television inventory, even better than the traditional agencies."
He said that search agencies that embrace old media advertising will be able to take advantage of new efficiencies made possible by Google. "There's a massive opportunity to sell advertising in a newspaper differently than it's done today. There are a lot of advertisers who would pay to insert ads in 500-1,000 newspapers if the process were easier." He added that among the main requirements was an electronic interface similar to that used to purchase search ads.
Google last week announced that it intended to start selling ads in 50 major newspapers by the end of the year.
The company also is readying a major push into radio ad sales. Rohan Monday forecast that Google will secure a big chunk of radio inventory, possibly from Clear Channel or CBS Radio, within the next 30 days. "They will pre-pay for radio inventory to the tune of $1 billion," Rohan predicted.
Rohan also predicted that Google would probably buy Web-based ad agency SpotRunner within the next six months, because "it fits so well with dMarc" and the general expansion into traditional media.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Does Paid Search Work?
Can paid search marketing work for small and mid-size businesses? I guess you have to define work? Here, I mean generate an ROI. If you spend $100 in paid search advertising, will you at least make $100?
The way I see the trend, the answer is no. When the average cost per click was closer to $0.10, you could. Now, however, with the average cost per click over $0.50, and depending on what industry you're in, over $1.00, it is very difficult to generate an ROI, especially when calculating not only media costs (money used to pay for each click), but also payment for a person's/company's time to manage the campaign, the ROI can be very difficult to achieve.
The above is my view. What is your view?
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
The way I see the trend, the answer is no. When the average cost per click was closer to $0.10, you could. Now, however, with the average cost per click over $0.50, and depending on what industry you're in, over $1.00, it is very difficult to generate an ROI, especially when calculating not only media costs (money used to pay for each click), but also payment for a person's/company's time to manage the campaign, the ROI can be very difficult to achieve.
The above is my view. What is your view?
j. Bruce
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Friday, October 20, 2006
Ad Placement For Paid Search Workings
Here is a good article talking about a shift in search, from a truly auction based setup to a an opaque, algorithm based system for determining ad rank in paid search campaigns on Google, Microsoft and soon to be Yahoo.
The article is from MediaPost’s SearchInsider, The Inside Line On Search Marketing daily email.
Opaque Vs. Open
by David White, Friday, October 20, 2006
WHEN IT COMES TO PAID search advertising in the U.S. market, Google is the clear-cut leader. In Europe, it has nearly cornered the market, with a range of 66% to 85% of the search marketplace for each European country, according to MarketingSherpa's 2007 Search Marketing Benchmark Guide.
As with any business or industry, the leader becomes the standard for all to shoot for. In the case of paid search advertising, that standard is Google's opaque ad platform. And, as we all know, competitors are following suit with their own versions. MSN has already moved to the opaque model with adCenter, and Yahoo Panama is in the final stages of developing its own opaque advertising platform.
Because of Google's dominance abroad, European advertisers have become accustomed to competing in an opaque market. We on the other side of the pond are still adjusting, having first cut our teeth in open marketplaces. That door is closing and will soon be shut and locked with the key thrown away.
What's the difference?
The original paid search marketplaces were open and can still be seen on today's Yahoo paid search platform. In an open marketplace, ads are ranked solely on the basis of the advertisers' bids. Equally important, the bids of all advertisers are placed publicly for all to see. It is therefore easy to understand the relationship between the bid and the resulting ad position. If you want to place your ad at a given position, simply bid 1 cent more than the incumbent, and the position is yours.
Opaque marketplaces, as seen today on Google and Microsoft's adCenter, stand in sharp contrast. They are defined by two key characteristics:
1. Ads are ranked based on both the bid price and the click-through rate (CTR). Google's quality score extends this concept even further by including the quality of an advertiser's landing pages and ad copy when calculating an ad's rank.
2. Advertisers cannot see the CTR, bid or quality score for competitors.
These characteristics add complexity and present new challenges when compared to an open marketplace.
Challenges of an opaque marketplace
Traditional paid search bid management strategies rely on the information that's available in an open marketplace. Rules that bid to positions, bid jam and bid gap surf rely on data about competitors' bids--but you can't bid a penny over your competitor if you can't see the competitor's bid, as with an opaque market! Without this information, the bidding process can be a guessing game: you place a bid before knowing what position your ad will achieve.
Even traditional return on investment (ROI) or return on ad spend (ROAS) strategies can be less effective in opaque marketplaces.
Conversion rates vary according to the position of an ad, and executing ROI or ROAS strategies effectively requires a detailed understanding of the relationship between the bid, position, actual cost-per-click (which is usually discounted from the bid), the level of traffic, and the conversion rate. Traditional keyword bid management systems that rely on the transparence of information in open marketplaces are at a distinct disadvantage. But there are techniques for using the opacity to your advantage.
Managing in an opaque marketplace
In an opaque marketplace, advertisers must predict the relationship among the bid, position and actual CPC before placing a bid. Accurately estimating this requires the intelligent use of historical data together with mathematical predictive modeling techniques. To bid effectively, the advertiser must estimate the entire bid landscape--but because one cannot expect to have data available for every position on every keyword, statistical modeling techniques must be used to cluster sparse data and predict the results available for positions where the advertiser has no data.
This modeling can be made more effective by supplementing it with specific insights about paid search. For example:
· Premium placements at the top of the search results will receive a higher CTR than ads along the righthand side.
· Bidding an ad into the top positions can qualify it for broader distribution across a search engine's syndication partners, which results in additional impressions and clicks.
These specific examples are meant only to illustrate the rich structure and numerous variables in paid search marketplaces. Models that include factors like these in addition to purely mathematical techniques can be even more effective in managing search within opaque marketplaces.
What now?
As marketers worldwide await the inevitable disappearance of the remaining open paid search advertising marketplaces, advertisers must stay ahead of the curve by putting in place the data-driven analytics systems required to succeed in opaque marketplaces. The traditional "pay for the highest position" approach of open marketplaces will not fly in the opaque model. Lack of data on keyword bids and positions will cripple those advertisers who do not embrace the statistical and predictive approach needed for succeeding in the opaque paid search world.
This is already happening in the Google-dominated European search industry, with resounding success. Advertisers in the U.S. will need to get onboard to achieve the same level of success.
The article is from MediaPost’s SearchInsider, The Inside Line On Search Marketing daily email.
Opaque Vs. Open
by David White, Friday, October 20, 2006
WHEN IT COMES TO PAID search advertising in the U.S. market, Google is the clear-cut leader. In Europe, it has nearly cornered the market, with a range of 66% to 85% of the search marketplace for each European country, according to MarketingSherpa's 2007 Search Marketing Benchmark Guide.
As with any business or industry, the leader becomes the standard for all to shoot for. In the case of paid search advertising, that standard is Google's opaque ad platform. And, as we all know, competitors are following suit with their own versions. MSN has already moved to the opaque model with adCenter, and Yahoo Panama is in the final stages of developing its own opaque advertising platform.
Because of Google's dominance abroad, European advertisers have become accustomed to competing in an opaque market. We on the other side of the pond are still adjusting, having first cut our teeth in open marketplaces. That door is closing and will soon be shut and locked with the key thrown away.
What's the difference?
The original paid search marketplaces were open and can still be seen on today's Yahoo paid search platform. In an open marketplace, ads are ranked solely on the basis of the advertisers' bids. Equally important, the bids of all advertisers are placed publicly for all to see. It is therefore easy to understand the relationship between the bid and the resulting ad position. If you want to place your ad at a given position, simply bid 1 cent more than the incumbent, and the position is yours.
Opaque marketplaces, as seen today on Google and Microsoft's adCenter, stand in sharp contrast. They are defined by two key characteristics:
1. Ads are ranked based on both the bid price and the click-through rate (CTR). Google's quality score extends this concept even further by including the quality of an advertiser's landing pages and ad copy when calculating an ad's rank.
2. Advertisers cannot see the CTR, bid or quality score for competitors.
These characteristics add complexity and present new challenges when compared to an open marketplace.
Challenges of an opaque marketplace
Traditional paid search bid management strategies rely on the information that's available in an open marketplace. Rules that bid to positions, bid jam and bid gap surf rely on data about competitors' bids--but you can't bid a penny over your competitor if you can't see the competitor's bid, as with an opaque market! Without this information, the bidding process can be a guessing game: you place a bid before knowing what position your ad will achieve.
Even traditional return on investment (ROI) or return on ad spend (ROAS) strategies can be less effective in opaque marketplaces.
Conversion rates vary according to the position of an ad, and executing ROI or ROAS strategies effectively requires a detailed understanding of the relationship between the bid, position, actual cost-per-click (which is usually discounted from the bid), the level of traffic, and the conversion rate. Traditional keyword bid management systems that rely on the transparence of information in open marketplaces are at a distinct disadvantage. But there are techniques for using the opacity to your advantage.
Managing in an opaque marketplace
In an opaque marketplace, advertisers must predict the relationship among the bid, position and actual CPC before placing a bid. Accurately estimating this requires the intelligent use of historical data together with mathematical predictive modeling techniques. To bid effectively, the advertiser must estimate the entire bid landscape--but because one cannot expect to have data available for every position on every keyword, statistical modeling techniques must be used to cluster sparse data and predict the results available for positions where the advertiser has no data.
This modeling can be made more effective by supplementing it with specific insights about paid search. For example:
· Premium placements at the top of the search results will receive a higher CTR than ads along the righthand side.
· Bidding an ad into the top positions can qualify it for broader distribution across a search engine's syndication partners, which results in additional impressions and clicks.
These specific examples are meant only to illustrate the rich structure and numerous variables in paid search marketplaces. Models that include factors like these in addition to purely mathematical techniques can be even more effective in managing search within opaque marketplaces.
What now?
As marketers worldwide await the inevitable disappearance of the remaining open paid search advertising marketplaces, advertisers must stay ahead of the curve by putting in place the data-driven analytics systems required to succeed in opaque marketplaces. The traditional "pay for the highest position" approach of open marketplaces will not fly in the opaque model. Lack of data on keyword bids and positions will cripple those advertisers who do not embrace the statistical and predictive approach needed for succeeding in the opaque paid search world.
This is already happening in the Google-dominated European search industry, with resounding success. Advertisers in the U.S. will need to get onboard to achieve the same level of success.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Yahoo Search Is Getting Better!
Yahoo's PANAMA release IS COMING...HERE'S AN UPDATE!
It's looking like Yahoo's Panama is getting ready to go live - in a controlled roll out starting this month, and probably not reaching a "full" rollout until 1st or 2nd quarter of 2007.
The main benefits Panama basically puts Yahoo Paid Search in line with Google's Adsense and now Microsoft's AdCenter. Some of these enhancements include:
1. Geo Targeting. Quickly letting advertisers set up campaigns at a city, state and hopefully country level. Right now, Yahoo's Paid Seach for local campaigns is basically non-existent.
2. Campaign Setup. Before it was WAY TO DIFFICULT and TIMELY to set up multiple campaigns (e.g. for different products or divisions). It took 3-5 days for separate campaign set-up, and was hard to justify the time to manage multiple campaigns on Yahoo. Now, that's changing...woo hoo!!
3. Easier to run short term campaigns. Can automatically set up campaign start and end dates...great for limited time offer campaigns.
4. Dynamic Keyword Insertion. Hopefully easier to use, or more intuitive than Microsoft's platform, but now you can insert keywords into your ads. We all know if the keyword is located directly in the ad, then it should get a better click through rate.
5. Ad Testing. Oh wow, was this needed. In fact, because it was so difficult to do on Yahoo in the past, Sales Driven Marketing used Google to test which ads performed the best - using A/B Testing, then took the better performing ad to Yahoo's ad network. Panama now resolves this deficiency!!
Let us know if you have any questions!
j. Bruce Martin (Jeff)
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Contact the Internet Advertising Experts Today!
It's looking like Yahoo's Panama is getting ready to go live - in a controlled roll out starting this month, and probably not reaching a "full" rollout until 1st or 2nd quarter of 2007.
The main benefits Panama basically puts Yahoo Paid Search in line with Google's Adsense and now Microsoft's AdCenter. Some of these enhancements include:
1. Geo Targeting. Quickly letting advertisers set up campaigns at a city, state and hopefully country level. Right now, Yahoo's Paid Seach for local campaigns is basically non-existent.
2. Campaign Setup. Before it was WAY TO DIFFICULT and TIMELY to set up multiple campaigns (e.g. for different products or divisions). It took 3-5 days for separate campaign set-up, and was hard to justify the time to manage multiple campaigns on Yahoo. Now, that's changing...woo hoo!!
3. Easier to run short term campaigns. Can automatically set up campaign start and end dates...great for limited time offer campaigns.
4. Dynamic Keyword Insertion. Hopefully easier to use, or more intuitive than Microsoft's platform, but now you can insert keywords into your ads. We all know if the keyword is located directly in the ad, then it should get a better click through rate.
5. Ad Testing. Oh wow, was this needed. In fact, because it was so difficult to do on Yahoo in the past, Sales Driven Marketing used Google to test which ads performed the best - using A/B Testing, then took the better performing ad to Yahoo's ad network. Panama now resolves this deficiency!!
Let us know if you have any questions!
j. Bruce Martin (Jeff)
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com
Contact the Internet Advertising Experts Today!
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