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McCain and Republicans Turn To Paid Search To Influence Voters

In a heightened state of Political Polarization amongst McCain vs. Obama, Republicans vs. Democrats, Liberals vs. Conservatives and even Limbaugh vs. Olberman, The political process is getting more and more negative and campaigns are migrating to Paid search to help deliver their attack messages and reputation management strategies to the "American People" (aka. Savvy Web Surfers). In a quick analysis, SemGeek has seen more efforts by the McCain Campaign to use the power of Paid Search to influence voters than his Democrat opponent Obama. Let's dig a little deeper shall we.

(PLEASE NOTE: SemGeek is Bi-Partisan in that he supports both Yahoo and Google)

McCain More Aggressive and Effective on Paid Search:
You would think the Democrats would be jumping on paid search and "invigorating change" on the tactics of paid search. But that is not the case, it's the McCain campaign and their participating Republican Party who are making the most of Google and either defending themselves and their records and/or attacking Obama and Biden with Ad messaging that is directed to what has been said in other media (blogs, tv, etc...)

Obama vs. McCain in PPC:
When you do a Google search on McCain, all you get is a McCain Ad from the McCain campaign. Obama Canpaign is not counteracting with attack ads or anything like that.

Biden vs. Palin:
Based on the "bashing" of Sarah Palin in the media about having no experience, or somewhat questionable interviews on TV, the McCain camp is much more effective with their efforts to counteract Palin's experience with:

• Supportive Ads describing "True Facts" about her
• Attacking Joe Biden and his experience.

On the Obama Side, you see ads attacking Palin but they are WEAK:

Questioning her "Maverick" attributes and and telling visitors to watch his ad and donate. (Not very effective nor persuasive)

Here is an Example of McCain Defending Sarah Palin's Experience and Obama with a lightly-hearted attempt at questioning Palin:

Here is an Example of McCain Attacking Joe Biden:

How It Has Effected Local Congressional Races:
Regardless of who wins or loses, Google and the Paid Search Industry has gotten the vote of the McCain and Obama Campaign, and smaller yet very important local races are following the trend. For example, Local Congressional Races have shown an increased participation in paid search such as

• Congressman Jim Gerlach Republican,  Pennsylvania
• Congressman Phil English Republican, Pennsylvania
• Congressman Thaddeus McCotter Republican, Michigan

In Conclusion:
It is safe to say that if a political campaign is noticing a shift in the Populous Vote, they need to counteract that with negative advertising and do it quickly. Paid Search is probably the #1 tactic that can be done to counteract negative Ads on the internet. Also, it's quite obvious that the Media, blogs and conversation are acting as the Barometer behind the daily and weekly changing Paid Search strategy of the McCain campaign.

There's a lot of negative feedback on the Palin experience and ideologies and the McCain Campaign know this. They have effectively used PPC to counteract those who are "in the middle" with whom to vote for.

Google Grants Management - Are You Really Taking Advantage Of It?

To get the most out the generous Google Grants, it's a good idea to make sure you have an experienced PPC Marketer working on it everyday and making sure you are getting the clicks you desperately deserve. Forget about the limitations such as the $1 CPC and can only advertise on Google.com, because even though it handcuffs you a little, you gotta put on your Entrepreneurial Hat.

Let's discuss some strategies (PLANS) to take advantage of this FREE money

Step 1: (Goldmines are right in front of your eyes)
Review your entire website. This includes Navigation, Categories, Content, Events, Chapters, Sponsors, Donors, pretty much everything you can think of.

Step 2: (Quality score is needed here)
Create a "Quality Score" friendly Campaign and Adgroup structure to compliment your finding.

Step 3: (Write, write, write...)
Write targeted and keyword rich ads about each of those findings.

Step 4: (Content Rich, SEO Friendly)
Make sure the landing page of your specific findings is content rich and has strong SEO value on the page (SEO JUICE)

Step 5 TOTG - (Think Outside the GRANT)

1. Don't Be afraid to try new things
2. Create as many campaigns and Adgroups as you can
3. Buy Sponsor's names and see what happens
4. Get your Sponsors involved
5. Create adgroups for each event in advance
6. If you have TV, Print or Radio Spots, buy keywords on those
7. Create some "indirect" keywords
8. Add more misspellings
9. Look at Google's Impression Share Reports to see if your covering enough.
10. Use DKI's in your Ads
11. Add 3rd party Analytics tracking for more reports
12. Understand your Seasonality and prepare for it.

In Conclusion:
Just have fun with this generous Gift from Google. Use it as a learning tool to become a very effective PPC Guru. Be gutsy with it. Try new things. Document your findings. Make it a Case Study. If it works well, Google will most likely give you even more money to play with.

JUST DON'T SIT THERE AND WATCH IT!

Official SemGeek Apology For Lack of Posts

Hello all who periodically read my blog. I just want to let you know that I am still alive. I am just trying to survive a very, very busy online political season among other things. I am very excited to announce that in the coming weeks and months, I will have more Exclusive Interviews with some extraordinary people, some in the Political Industry as well as a series of posts on Ad Testing ideas and keyword research.

I recently spoke at the SearchCamp Philly Conference and it was a blast. I met alot of great and interesting people and if interested, I have listed all of my presentations below:

• SEM for NonProfits (.ppt)
• PPC 101 (.ppt)
• Search Marketing Keyword Research (.ppt)

I also would like to mention that I am working on a Book about the Google Certification, how to take the test, tips, tricks and what to look out for. I also provide best practices, suggestions and tips on Ad/Creative Testing, Keyword Research and much more.

So please, keep checking back in the next week or so for new content from SemGeek.