Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Doing Internet Marketing? Start with a business question.

Okay, you've decided you want to do some pay per click advertising, or you have some pay per click marketing agency doing a campaign for you. If you're doing it yourself, here's a quick rule of thumb:

Have business goals!

If you don't have some pretty hardened business goals for a campaign you're going to run, then don't waste the money. Advertising to advertise is not a good use of money. If the agency you're working for doesn't work with yout to identify some goals, before you cut them a check, make sure you call some other companies. Otherwise, you'd be better off just sending me a check for whatever you're going to spend, and at least you'll get some positive word of mouth from yours truly.

So, what are some examples of appropriate business goals? Without ducking the question, let me first say it differs wildly from one organization to the next, but here's some rough examples:
  • Increase web leads by 25%
  • Double sales for targeted categories
  • Drive 2,000 goal page impressions each month
  • Achieve x% ROI for product targeted ad groups
THESE are goals. Initiatives that begin by someone saying, "We should look into promoting ourselves on search engines" that don't evolve any further are akin to Cliff Clavin's Buffalo Theory, which you may remember from Cheers:

  • “Well, you see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it’s the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

    In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

    And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”
Cliff's theory, while funny, doesn't really stand up to scientific scrutiny. So, unless you want your attempt to use paid search to go down in the annals of company history as a joke, make sure you define some tangible business goals first, or your campaign will last as long as the slowest, weakest buffalo.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Paid Search Marketing...the high level value

First and foremost, I just want to state that I am a professional. This does not mean that I carry a weapon, it just means that I do online marketing for a living.

*cue dramatic theme music*

The real value in paid search marketing is its accountability, and its ability to target people at deeper stages of the purchase funnel. New to this? Let me explain:

When you setup a Google Adwords account, you should also setup a Google Analytics account. By doing so, you can track how much you're spending per click, and what kind of results you're getting from those clicks. Say you have a website that sells toy trucks. With Google Analytics, you can track which keywords are leading to sales, what your exact return on ad spend is for each keyword and ad group. You simply can't do that with traditional marketing. This also allows you to fluidly adjust your campaigns. After a week you might find that "red toy trucks" has converted 20% of its clicks into sales, while "blue toy trucks" has converted only 3%. You can either make adjustments (send them to a different page, change the ad text, change the price on the blue trucks), or stop spending money there altogether. The fluidity of paid search marketing is something that really can't be replicated by traditional marketing channels either.

The other point here is that pay per click can truly target people further down the buying cycle. By targeting terms like "buy a toy truck" or "get toy trucks" you can reach customers who want your products now. It's like a heat seeking missile for marketing. Not using paid search yet? Find a paid search management firm, or get educated and start one up on your own. The time is now!