OBSESSED WITH RESULTS

Isn’t it great you don’t have to rely solely on TV or print to advertise anymore?!  After watching Don throw his client out of the door on Madmen’s premiere episode of season 4, I thought, poor Jantzen for not having other advertising options.   If you didn’t see the episode, Don presented a provocative swimwear layout to Jantzen.  A black bar covers the model’s top. “So well built, we can’t show you the second floor,” was the slogan.   Jantzen, a family oriented and conservative company didn’t like the risqué idea, thus making Don so mad he threw them out.   Can you imagine throwing your client out if they don’t like your idea?

Today, there are more opportunities than ever to advertise, anywhere really.  It made me thankful that I work at Ionic Media, in the advertising industry today, because we can be more creative than ever.  There are so many ways to reach the consumer…  iPhones, iPads, Blackberrys, portable TVs, Facebook, Wi-Fi everywhere (even on airplanes now!)!  How much you want to spend or who you want to reach is a good way to start.  You could advertise on TV or why not put the commercials on the web?   Utilize paid search or optimize your current website?  The key is to not depend solely on one element, which will in turn be more efficient and effective.   The trick will be to coordinate all elements to send a consistent message.

Wow, what a relief to advertise today where you truly can run with your imagination.

Well its been 18 months since Google started its Caffeine project and about 2 months since its been widely talked about.  I bet you are wondering “What now?”.   There are so many changes in the digital media and advertising industry that its hard to keep up with.  So, our team at Ionic Media would like to give you a quick update on what it all means in 5 quick points:

1. From months to seconds

September 11, 2001 marked a crucial turning point in Google history.  Because many news sites had a problem keeping up with demand and their sites were going down, Google’s team found that when they could cache the site, they could actually take some of the demand off of those sites and meet the needs of the spikes on the internet for real-time information.  This led to the creation of “Google News”.  This is where Google’s path began to change and they became aware that 30 days was not enough for larger sites and its standard of 4 months prior to that was even worse.   With the advent of social media (Twitter updates every half a second and Facebook about every minute), then Google really had no choice but to update its systems to accommodate these new “influential” sources of media.

2. Analysis in small pieces 24/7

Caffeine lets Google analyze the web in small portions and then updates their search index on a continuous basis (i.e. 24/7).  The goal is so that you (and your customers) “can find fresher information than ever before – matter where it was published”.  Google says that if “Caffeine” was a pile of paper, “it would grow three miles taller every second”!

3. Google Caffeine’s Effects on SEO

Page Load Time – Make sure your page loads fast.  If its too heavy, Caffeine will more likely index it faster if your pages are simple, fast and constantly updated (think Twitter)

Keywords and Phrases – The relevancy and quality of keywords is more important than its has been in the past.  Google is connecting the relevancy of pages based on the content more than it has in the past.  This update is about one thing – INFORMATION QUALITY AND RELEVANCY.  This means stop relying on any spammy links.

Ads – Caffeine puts more emphasis on organic search results rather than paid advertisements.  This means that your PPC Quality Scores are being affected for AdWords.

4. The response to Bing

Google Caffeine is also partially a response to Bing which is focusing on 4 areas: 1) Speed, 2) Relevancy, 3) Accuracy and 4) Index Volume.  To see more about some early testing of these 4 items regarding Google Caffeine, see http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-caffeine.

5. What Bruce Clay and Matt Cuts Say

We all internally talk here at Ionic about “blogger experts”.  But these thoughts from Bruce Clay and Matt Cutts do summarize my experience of Caffeine and Mayday (Google’s previous release) since January 2009.  Here are the highlights:

1) Caffeine Infrastructure:

• Get fresh
• Be engaging
• Lower your bounce rates
• Be relevant
• Spread your content around (think YouTube, Google Buzz, Feedburner, Google News, Google Blogger)
• Update your site maps
• Make sure your site’s speed is up to par

2) Mayday and the Long Tail Keyword

From Matt Cutts of Google, “We’re trying to find the best sites that match up to long-tailed queries.  It’s an algorithmic change that changes how we assess which sites are the best match for long-tail queries”.  Here are the suggestions that Bruce Clay makes which I agree with:

• Pick one: Select one page to act as a landing page for terms and long-tail qualifiers.
• Get focused: Concentrate link popularity on category landing pages. This will help maximize category relevance from the top down.
• Be first to publish: The first to publish will garner the maximum inbound links.
• Don’t forget the old school: Archive old content within the silo as category support.
• Share it up: Make content easily shareable among major link equity sites (links will point to the top silo page.) First to publish is moot if no one knows about it.
• Be social: There are strong indications that Google is reviewing a wide host of sites to observe users’ behavior and interaction with the brand. Domain reputation relies on more than site age and whois information.

Hope this helps!  As you know, we are always here for you if you get lost!

Marie Smith
Manager, SEO and Social Media

So, you have an advertising budget for your product and have done all the research to figure out where to run your advertisements, how to disburse between Search, Display, etc.  Now how do you make these ads convert?

The Advertisement:

1. Text and Tone:  Create a strong CALL TO ACTION (this is the #1 most important detail).
   1. Use strong call to action phrases and words.  Examples include:
      1. i.      Free “ex. Get your free copy by clicking here…”
      2. ii.      __% off  “ex. Get 25% off your online purchase…”
      3. iii.      Make the offer time sensitive…”for a limited time only…”
      4. iv.      List cost – example – only $19.99 in bolded text and eye catching color.
      5. v.      New, Premium, etc.
      6. Graphics:
         1. Use graphics that catch the users eye.  Keep in mind that your advertisement is competing for the user’s eye.  If it is text heavy and not appealing to the eye it will be overlooked.
         2. Make sure ads load quickly.
         3. Keep the ad simple to read (i.e. average sized text), no shaky banners (most sites will not accept these and you may not want to be responsible for an epileptic seizure…seriously they become annoying more than anything else and don’t convert into a true sale.)
         4. Adding the touch of human faces to an advertisement also helps the user ‘connect’ with the offer on a personal level.  Remember – many people out there on the web are visual and the competition is fierce to capture their attention and lead them into action.

The Sales Process:

1. You have a click…now what?
   1. The same practice should be applied to your landing page and purchase process as it is to your advertisement.  The key points to focus on are:
      1. i.      Reiterating your offer.  The landing page content/offer should match the advertisement.  If it doesn’t, your messaging will not be clear and the user may think he/she  has landed on the wrong site or that the offer was bogus.
      2. ii.      Strong CALL TO ACTION! Keep that call to action in every step.  What does the user need to do?  Keep it simple, snappy and easy to do.
      3. iii.      Keep the collection of data fields above the fold of each page.  This reduces drop-off rates.  The easier you can make a process for a user the more likely they are to complete the process and not drop off.
      4. iv.      Short transaction process (shorten the amount of pages a user needs to go through in order to hit that oh so important ‘submit‘ button.
      5. v.      Provide a safe transaction zone for the consumer. (i.e. secured shopping).  If you intend to use any  user information for future promotions you need to be up front and let them opt in to this.  Transparency gains trust and hopefully this consumer will not be a one-time shopper but become a loyal customer, fan on Facebook, etc.

Andrea Cravitz
Client Account Manager
Ionic Media

June 17th, 2010 by admin

PPC Search marketing is a huge, and still growing, area, which grew by almost a third between 2006 and 2008, according to IAB estimates. Almost 60% of all online ad spend is spent in PPC search – with the vast majority paying for smoothies and massage chairs at Google HQ.

While PPC search remains one of the most cost-effective ways to gain conversions, the landscape is changing as the discipline begins to mature. Historically, any PPC search campaign – even one which was poorly organised – would still be likely to work well.

These days, due to increased competition, costs per click (CPC) prices are getting higher and higher, and PPC campaigns need to be a lot more competitive to succeed, particularly with non-branded keywords.

The integrated approach

Advertisers need to think more broadly to ensure that their online campaigns are up to scratch. As well as considering many more online advertising arenas, they must also leverage their interconnectedness.

While PPC marketing will aid a company’s ability to acquire new business and may generate a reasonable ROI on its own, its potential can be increased by using the best performing keywords as anchor text links when carrying out link building exercises. If search terms perform well in a paid search campaign, you would be well advised to improve your natural search listings for the same terms where possible.

Similarly, competitor and customer analysis can inform all areas of your thinking by giving an idea of where you stand in the wider market, and potentially gaining first person feedback from the very people you are targeting with your online marketing strategies.

A more connected online marketplace…

Here is a brief explanation of some of the areas businesses need to invest in to compete in today’s more connected online marketplace, and the reasons why they mustn’t be neglected. It’s important to remember that whilst each of the below is certainly a specialism unto itself – the real value is from a cohesive blend of them all seamlessly working together with common cause.

Social

In August 2008, Facebook reached the auspicious landmark of 100,000,000 users. Social spaces are booming, and anyone marketing their site needs to get on board. Social bookmarking sites such as Digg and Reddit, social networking such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, social tagging such as StumbleUpon or Flickr, blogs & online discussion forums that target your audience, all of these are important portals which, used correctly, can improve your presence online.

See more at: http://clickbankways.com/?p=6617

Posted by MANAuthor on 18 June, 2010

As an internet marketer you know that your website is your bread and butter. It is where you convince site visitors to become buyers. It’s a complete no-brainer that a good website, that converts well, is absolutely necessary in online business. But having a great website is only one part of the internet marketing game. You also have to get people to visit your website if you want to make the sale. If you don’t have any traffic, then there won’t be any sales, ever.

Don’t underestimate the power of a good press release. Distributing press releases is so easy, the web is filled with sites for that purpose. Most distribution sites are free to use, but the better ones offer premium services for a fee. If your press release is well written, and the products you are offering are top notch, your press releases could get picked up by media outlets like Google News. If you’re lucky enough to have that happen, your site’s traffic could jump several levels in a day. So imagine what would happen to your sales?

One fast way to create traffic is by buying PPC traffic. Have a look at this Halloween Super Affiliate website

Start out with a small budget so you don’t spend too much. PPC campaigns can bring you lots of traffic if you set them up with the right key words and write good ads.

See more at: http://nightlights.biz/?p=7837

By Richard Geasey

by Stoney deGeyter

Warning: This is a very complicated and math heavy post. It is best read slowly in small doses to ensure you can fully digest it all. I will also point out that I’m not a math or analytics expert so what you get here is my way of doing things which is probably far removed from the official Geek’s Guide to Web Analtyics and PPC Tracking.

In Part 1 of this 2-part series I guided you through some basic calculations that help you figure how to ensure that your PPC campaign is profitable by knowing your cost per conversion ceiling. The calculations I went through were very basic and provides a good starting place for any new or inexperienced PPC campaign manager. In this post I’m going to take you a bit deeper into some much more complex calculations in an attempt to get more accurate cost per conversion data.

The cost per conversion ceiling found when doing the calculations in Part 1 will actually be much lower than the final calculations we’ll produce here. Using the figures from the beginners post will leave you less room to maneuver on campaigns where costs are high and profiting is seemingly more difficult. We’ll fine tune things quite a bit here in order to give you more wiggle room while ensuring your PPC efforts remain profitable in the long run.

Every customer has a value beyond the first sale

Every sale you make is worth more than the cost of the products or services charged in that one transaction. You’ve heard it said it costs more to find a customer than to keep a customer. PPC and SEO is all about finding new customers. But if you run the business right, you should be going out of your way to keep the customers coming back time and time again.

The question is, from now until death, how many customers come back for repeat orders? How often and how much do they spend? Every industry is different. Where Amazon likely has customers come back monthly, weekly, and some even daily; car dealership only gets customers back every few years if at all.

If your average customer comes back five times over the course of their life and spends an equal amount of money, then each customer has a lifetime value of five. Technically, that means that if the cost of acquiring a customer (the PPC’s cost per conversion) is four times the profit you make on a single sale, you’ll still make a profit on that fifth sale.

That’s putting it simplistically. Different products may make different impacts on the visitor. Higher-end stuff may bring customers back less because there is no immediate need to replace it, but also brings back loyal customers that are apt to make more purchases. Lower-end stuff may need to be replaced more frequently, but also prone to disappoint your customers, making it less likely to produce repeat sales.

See more at: http://practicallocalsearch.com/how-to-optimize-your-ppc-campaign-to-profit-from-every-click-advanced/

BP ‘manipulating search results’ on Google following oil spill - so said The Times today.

The piece quoted Maureen Mackey, a writer on the Fiscal Times as saying: “What it effectively does is that it bumps down other legitimate news and opinion pieces that are addressing the spill… and [BP are] paying big money for that.”

Er, not quite.

First, BP are buying PPC ads – so they are hardly bumping natural search results anywhere. Second, there is an assumption that BP must be paying “big money” for these PPC ads.

Let’s take the phrase “oil spill”. Sure enough, plug it into Google and BP’s ad is there at the top – in fact, it is the only PPC ad on the page (at least when I did it).

So how much would BP have to pay for this? Using Google’s free Traffic Estimator tool, it would seem they would pay a maximum of $1.38 per click. And Google estimates the number of click throughs that BP would get as between 29 and 45 per day. In other words, a cost of around $70 per day – maximum.

See more at: http://blog.escherman.com/2010/06/08/how-much-is-bp-really-paying-for-those-“oil-spill”-ppc-ads/