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Event Registration (EVENT: 115323)

This event will be live on August 13, 2008 at 1:00PM EDT.

In this webinar, marketers will learn how to increase their spend on SEM to dramatically boost sales and branding, while maintaining - or even increasing - overall ROI. Wister Walcott, VP of products at Marin Software, will outline five simple and practical strategies to help you “spend more and spend better” on your paid search marketing campaigns.He’ll explain why SEM consistently delivers the highest bang for your buck - some studies show that SEM converts at twice the rate of email and banners - and show marketers how to obtain the highest ROI on paid search, even while increasing spend. In these unpredictable economic times, it pays to invest in the marketing methods that deliver the best sales results. So sign up now for this informative and insightful webcast, and learn how to get more out of your search marketing spend today.

I am logged into one web application all day long no matter what and that is Performancing Metrics. It is the easiest to use and most powerful analytics system for blogging that I have ever used. It is not a full blown analytics system, but it is everything I need for tracking my weblogs traffic. From its live spy feature that tracks users while they are on the site to detail IP data about users and an interface that accommodates multiple weblogs, it is well worth what I pay for a subscription. The beautiful thing about it though is that they have a free version so you can give it a run first without paying a dime. Go try it. You will be very glad you did.

Update: One really cool feature is the ability to assign a name or any moniker to an IP address. Certain companies visit my FaxChronicle.com website that are in that industry and I like to know how often they do. Again, this is a great product. I cannot recommend it enough. Try it out now.

Link to User home | Performancing Metrics

Technorati tags: tracking, analytics, sem, performancing, google, spy, visitor tracking, IP logging, log tracking, behavioral tracking

Very interesting data about local market usage levels. Hate to sound crass, but some of the places would normally be associated with places that are boring or cold. I said some, before you come after us.  Other locations are more interesting and may speak to the population having more idle time such as Mobile-Pensacola. Still though, these are also good ways to think about what you offer and how. If you were to target these markets or other segments that are longer browsers on the net, then you may be able to promote yourself via lengthier and more identity establishing methods like videos, chats, and other interactions like presentations and case studies.

Of course as I always say, you then have to test and track the value of the lead or customer. Make sure it all ties together.

The unique visitors data was more “traditional” or “predictable in its results.

Local markets aren’t created equally. Nielsen//NetRatings tracks the top 10 markets by time spent online and unique visitors for the month of April.

The data are part of the MegaView local set. Nielsen//NetRatings uses a random-digit-dial panel and metering technology to report audience measurement and advanced tracking.

Source: Top 10 Local Markets online, April 2007

I am all hot and bothered over video “advertising”, but not so much advertising. I want real world customers and users testifying as to the value of a customer’s services, products, and overall value. Yesterday I met with a major retailer about their online SEM and other marketing needs and I believe very strongly that that firm could get a lot of value by adding customer testimonials as well as real life case studies. I also am pushing clients into community and content with video as well to drive lower cost search engine marketing (SEM) by utilizing indirect terms to content rather “buy this” terms. I call it “Indirect SEM” “Indirect Search Engine Marketing (Maybe I should trademark it).

Great content alone doesn’t cut it. Marketers need to put their online video content to work across a number of different channels. With promotional campaigns, high-quality destination sites and custom channel branding, marketers can increase user interaction and participation while communicating their message to a wider and more engaged audience than ever before.

The real challenge of online video is about what (as in what makes good video content, if you don’t have good content then you’re toast anyways) and it’s about where: figuring out how and where to use online video, while still maintaining the integrity of brand. If done right, there are a variety of ways for companies to distribute and display online video to grab an audience and retain their attention.

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A great example of a recent successful promotional contest is the collaboration JVC developed with VMIX. VMIX provided a platform and a JVC custom channel for the “Create Our Commercial Contest,” which asked individuals to submit self-produced ads that they filmed with their new JVC Everio camera to the VMIX JVC channel.

The online video contest produced more than 80 quality entries for JVC, garnered national print and web publicity for JVC and the winner, and ultimately provided a major grassroots marketing campaign for JVC, targeting lifestyle, college, retail and events. The winner of the online promotional contest received $2,500 and saw his commercial aired on Spike TV.

Source: iMedia Connection: Veni, Video, Vici: Conquer Online Video

This is an excellent way for both to increase revenues. Whether the tools they provide will make it easy enough to manage is another story. In the end many small businesses need help with the strategy required to implement and the free $50 credit will be worthless if they do not know what they are doing from a targeting, landing page, and testing perspective.

Salesforce.com will become the first on-demand reseller of Google’s AdWord platform under a strategic alliance to help both companies win small- to mid-size ad accounts.

The alliance, first reported in the Wall Street Journal last month, will allow Salesforce.com to be a distribution channel for AdWords in 43 countries, the companies said in a statement released today. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

“This deal changes the competitive landscape,” said Jeff Kaplan, an analyst at Think Strategies. “It gives additional firepower for both companies to expand and target smaller customers who didn’t have access to these kinds of services before.” It also puts pressure on Microsoft in the ad business, he added. “Salesforce’s entire set of business applications is fair game, and this is a powerful attraction to small companies who find their way onto the platform via AdWords.”

Salesforce Group Edition featuring Google AdWords is available today in a five-user edition for a 30-day promotional price of $600 a year, including a $50 AdWords credit. The $50 AdWords promotional credit is available to new AdWords advertisers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico only. (The list price is $1,200 per year.)

Source: Salesforce.com, Google in AdWords Alliance

Advertising age has a good piece on packaged goods manufacturers figuring out that Adwords exists and that it can have value for them. Great examples around the pet food recall category.

When panicked pet owners typed “pet food recall” into search engines during the recent contamination crisis, the paid results included affected and unaffected brands hoping to reassure consumers, plus lawyers, news outlets and even politicians trawling for plaintiffs, readers and votes.

Bounce is among the package-goods brands that are beginning to buy into search advertising.

But there was one even odder interloper — Procter & Gamble Co.’s Bounce dryer sheets. Bounce wasn’t trying to capitalize on the misfortune of sibling brands Iams and Eukanuba. It was simply running a previously scheduled ad around the word “pet” to drive pet owners to BounceEverywhere.com to show how to use dryer sheets to get hair off clothes.

Here’s the money quote though for this industry and in fact everyone marketing online that wants to do search. Its a difficult thing to manage and if you throw the IT department at it as some might suggest, it will fail. You need a strategic mind.

One problem companies have is figuring out who owns search, Mr. Blackshaw said. Agencies aren’t necessarily equipped or required to create search ads, he said, and it’s often unclear internally whether marketing or information-technology staff is best-equipped to manage search.

Source: Advertising Age - Digital - Package-Goods Marketers Finally Find Value in Search

Technorati tags: advertising, sem, search advertising, google, adwords, yahoo, msn, ask.com