PPC Blog | Paid Search Marketing | Sem Geek - Making Sense of Paid Search Marketing

PPC Ads in Movie Theatres? It Might Actually Happen Pretty Soon!

Has anyone been to the movie theater recently? Noticed that the movie is starting later and later, while more and more Advertising is filling the screen as we devour our popcorn and milk duds for the movie? Now, we are seeing TV shows and Cable channels being advertised on the movie screen and that got me thinking about WHAT IF?....

Geo-Targeting and Demographic targeting based on the location and movie genre that was playing could actually become a media outlet for Google, or anyone else for that matter, to start selling Ad space on the big screen. Plus to reinforce this idea, I always go back to my marketing roots with the "old but true" marketing phrase of "Fish where the fish are". Let's discuss......

Let's face it, when you are in a movie theater, your eyes are glued to the screen. We are used to seeing advertisements for the local restaurant as well as the previews of upcoming movies. However, over the past years, we have seen more and more previews and now even advertisements for television shows. Why? Because the networks are trying to "fish where the fish are".

Movie Genre + Geo + Time Targeting = Extreme Targeting
The demographic of someone seeing a cartoon or Disney film is pretty well targeted. The theater will have a wide audience, but you will have parents and/or grandparents with their kids and/or grand kids, and everyday people who enjoy Disney movies or animation. Furthermore, if we were to also add in movie time, an advertiser could run DAY-PARTING to advertise their restaurant if the movie ended around dinner time.

How would we calculate Volume?
Now lets consider the volume potential. Many movie theaters have multiple screens available playing different movies at the same time. For example, a movie theater near me has over 10 individual theaters in the complex. So basically the more movies that are being played at any given time in a given location, the better the scenario for the advertiser, as well as the Search Engine company.

How would we monetize this?
Obviously there cannot be a CPC (Cost per click), unless you throw a beer can at the screen which has touch screen capabilities. This would obviously have to be a flat CPM model based or other flat rate based on movie screen impressions. CPM rates could vary depending new premiers, summer blockbusters, types of audiences, etc...

How would we track conversions?
Well, that's a difficult one to predict. I cannot think of any mechanisms while watching a movie screen that a search engine service would provide. For now, it would have to be left to the advertiser to figure that out. However, if I were an advertiser, I would at the very least create the following tactics in my Ad (based on movie genre, location or time.)

1. Virtual Directory: www.restaurant.com/AMC
2. SMS TEXT your Reservation while the previews are showing
3. Telephone Vanity Number in Ad (for easy retention) 1-800-APPLEBEES

How would the Targeting work?
Well, the best thing to do is to look at what is currently available online now. We could take attributes from both Google Site Placement Targeting and Facebook's Demographic Targeting and just tailor them to the movie theaters' variables. For example, it could provide the following targeting information:

• Geo-Targeting: Zip code, Region, State, Mile Radius, etc...
• Movie Theater Type: Multi-screen, General, Imax, Drive-in, etc...
• Movie Theater Brand: Regal Cinemas, AMC, United Artists, Imax, etc....
• Movie Genres: Horror, kids, action, romance, sci-fi, etc....
• Movie Times: Matinee, midnight, dinner time, etc....

Movie Theaters Are Becoming A Marketers Dream;
In a recent article published by the New York Times, entitled "Lights, Camera, Action for Concession Coupons - Sprint Says Take Your Cellphone to the Movies, author Stephanie Clifford states "FILM producers spend millions every year to draw audiences to their movies. Now, advertisers are beginning to benefit from that, using not only movie screens for their commercials, but the lobbies of cinemas as well."

To reinforce the topic seeing PPC Ads at the movies, the article goes on to say that "Companies have been expanding their cinema advertising recently, realizing that theaters are good places to reach audiences that don’t have too many distractions." This SemGeek thinks that this is a significant trend that will eventually make it's way to Google.

In conclusion:
In a world of instant news, Crack-berries, iPhones and iPods, our attention span is all over the place and Advertising surrounds our eyes, ears and nose ($20 for a bucket of Popcorn). The tradition of going out to the movies will never go away, even in this sluggish economy. However, the big difference between TV, Radio and Print, is that when you are in a movie theater, you are looking at (1) one screen, waiting through all the ads, previews, etc... to get to the movie.

Eventually, as in all media, testing different market segments to see what works, what doesn't or to even see what the potential is, is not a bad thing. The only bad things that could happen are: (1) Popcorn is stale. (2) Soda is flat. (3) Milk Duds are melted (4) The person next to you have a flatulation problem.

Search Marketing Becoming Ultimate Bartering Goldmine During Tough Economy

Hey, we all know things are tough out there and everyone is looking for work to make ends meet. However, the once crazy idea (of course back in the day) where people were paid with Livestock instead of cold-hard cash is not so crazy these days. Now, let's be clear. I have not been asked nor received a "Fainting Goat" or a "Martha Stewart Type Chicken" as payment for a PPC Strategy. However, I have seen more and more prospects and clients feeling more comfortable paying for Search Marketing services with their own products or services instead of a check because it's easier for them to started.

In this article, I will discuss some of the reasons why this payment option can make sense for some clients as well as the PPC Guru. I am not saying all clients should be bartered, however choosing one or two them is not a bad idea. Let's discuss.....

Not all Clients are the same:
As on obvious statement to make, many clients and prospects have had a bad experience with Search Marketing. Depending on the client's industry and their different profit margins levels, PPC can be a very sensitive advertising vehicle to meet and exceed their goals/objectives. With that said, here are some possibilities of why they are nervous to commit:

• Already been burned by someone or some agency who promised them #1 position and inflated CPC Costs with no Quality Score elements.
• They tried to do it themselves and just pissed about their money
• Trusted Google to optimize the campaign for them and it literally cleaned them out (Ouch! Sorry Google, but have seen this happen to frequently)
• Have poor "Usability" issues on their website and cannot convert properly no matter what they do to drive qualified traffic.
• I can think of many more, but you get the picture

What Services Could Be Bartered?
Well first of all, many of the smaller clients probably do not have a marketing plan that consists of both online and offline, and especially not one which has them both working together. A good strategy would be to provide a free analysis of the client's website, review their products/service offerings, and have a simple discussion about past failures and/or successes.

Moreover, one of the most important questions you could ask a client is "What makes you different than all of your competitors? Is there anything that you provide that no one else does?" Asking these questions enable the PPC Marketer to identify the QUICK WINS first, because you will want to establish credibility and a sense of comfort with the client. A client may just need some on-going advice to help them do-it-themselves, or full implementation and monitoring. It's really up to the client and the PPC Guru to negotiate what is best.

Is It Bad Business To Barter?
In my opinion, absolutely not. If you are starting your own company or consulting firm, you need clients to be happy and provide testimonials, so you can build credibility and create "word of mouth" which is much better than any PPC Campaign and/or fancy, dynamic website. A good Search Marketer needs to fully understand the client's products or services to effectively market them to the masses. Of course, not every client you would want to barter with. For me, I'd rather barter with an Wine Dealer or Aviation Art Dealer, than say a Toilet Manufacturer. But in the end, the client is happy, you have another great reference and you were able to get that very rare bottle of wine "Dom. Romane Conti 1997" or for the Geek side of SemGeek, a Limited Edition Star Wars Photo autographed by the Star Wars Cast. Either way, it's not a bad option. Plus, depending on what is being bartered, you may actually make out better with a barter than actual cash payment.

In Conclusion:

Bartering for services can sometimes be looked at as poor business decision because it's not affecting the bottomline. However, when you are starting a new business, trying to make a name for yourself, or to put food on the table, there are other ways to achieve success. I tend to look at bartering as more of an investment for continued growth as well as put a little fun into the work that you do.

Here's a little suggestion: Find a company/business where you like their products and/or services. Reach out to them and tell them you are a search marketing professional and would like to help them improve their online sales and all they have to do is barter some of their products/services for your expertise. You never know, it may just get you your first client and lead to many more "paying" clients.

Why Aviation Art Is "Missing The Target" in All Aspects of PPC Marketing

As a fan of Aviation Art since I was about 5 years old, I have always wondered why this unique and very specialized Industry has always seemed to be a few years behind the times in terms of technology and promotion. You can say that many of the Aircraft depicted in painting, photographs and illustrations are from the past, but the tactics of trying to sell them to the consumer should NOT be. Is it because of the traditional "older" demographic? Not in 2009, I do not think so.

It's a little surprising for me, (as SEM Geek) to see such a lack of attention to detail in the overall PPC strategy (ie... Ad Copy, Landing Page and Keyword Selection) especially when the Artist or Retailer for Artist is selling the consumer on the exquisite detail, and "life-like" portrait or scenes of Aircraft around the world. In this blog post, I will focus on the missed opportunities that I have seen, as well as provide some generic PPC Marketing suggestions in the hopes that someone reading this post could implement them. Let's discuss....

PPC Advertisers Missing the "Aircraft Carrier" on Relevancy and Long Tail Searches.

As someone who has his favorite WWII aircraft already picked out, when I do a Google search on say "P40 warhawk art" or "Stealth Fighter Artwork" not ONE (1) Ad shows up with the keyword in the Ad. They are all generic. Furthermore, as there are many ways to spell these aircraft names, there are very few (if any) advertisers bidding on misspellings or other versions of the aircraft name. Now that we identified flaws in the Longtail, lets look at the Head Term. Again, another "illegal fly-by" by Maverick (Top Gun) again, as advertisers are missing opportunities to capture the obvious searched and own the "Google Real Estate" for these terms.

Too many Bullet Holes in the Text Ad Copy:

One of the biggest and most identifiable problems with all PPC Advertisers with regard to Aviation Art is the unattractive Text Ad copy which does not relate to the keyword being searched on. Few, if any, actually carry the keyword term in the ad to help the consumer make an impulse decision to click on the Ad. A simple fix can lead to better opportunities for conversions.

Very "Rough" Landing Pages:

When it comes to Landing Pages, this is where I see the biggest problem. Frankly, in all candor, many (but not all) of these Websites and/or Landing Pages look like thet did in the late 1990's and it's almost as if they haven't changed the website in over 10 years. Many of these advertisers need to understand that they are making it very difficult for a consumer to make a purchase. It's kinda like MS FrontPage from Hell.

Why Ebay could be a reason for the Lackluster PPC Efforts:

Everyone loves Ebay right? It's the #1 place for anyone to buy and sell pretty much anything. I also believe that it has also played a role in why many Aviation Art retailers are not utilizing Paid Search effectively. In fact, Ebay, in essence, has made it an easier and more affordable solution for the Non-PPC Guru to start their own business with advertising built right in. However, an interesting trend is happening with Ebay's traffic as there appears to be a trend of "YOY declining" traffic. According to the article Data Shows eBay's Traffic YOY Continues to Slide by Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes, Ebay had a 5.2 percent drop in Uniques in March 2009. With that said, it just reinforces the important of having PPC as a viable option to promote these products. This is quite evident in what I have seen in Aviation Art and I am sure in other industries.

Some Simple PPC Strategies: (The Obvious Holistic Best Practice)

• Create Individual Adgroups for every Aircraft Make and Model. This also means creating Text Ads with the name of the aircraft in the Ad. There should not be too many Trademark related issues, so take advantage of it.
• Use the Longtail Keyword. Some searchers will search for "P40", others will search for "P40 Oil Panting". The longtail is especially effective here because of the following
  • Minimal competition
  • More cost effective
  • Better ROAS/ROI Potential
• Have a product specific Landing Page be about the "P40  Oil Painting" and other "P40" artwork ONLY. Have a CTA (Call to Action), Add to Cart, Description, Price, Shipping Information, Payment Information etc.... Basically give the user everything they would need to know on that one page.

In Conclusion:

I chose this topic because I enjoy Aviation Art and when I see these amazing artists not taking advantage of what is available to them, it motivates me to put on my PPC Geek Hat and talk about it. It my opinion and experience with attending Airshows leads me to believe that older demographics of this industry are a good reason for the lack on online focus. However, that is quickly changing because the generations are merging. The "Baby Boomer" who lived or parents lived through Vietnam and WWII are now being influenced by their children who are classified as the Echo Boomer and X/Y Generation. This Generation Gap continues to shrink as more and more consumers use the Internet. Aviation Art, as well as ALL ART on the Internet should not make the artist look like a "starving artist". 

I would also like to personally thank Aviation Photographer Larry McManus for his permission to letting me use one of his fabulous High Quality Photographic Prints for this blog post. To read more about Larry or to view his entire collection of Aviation Prints, please visit LarryMcManus.com and tell him SemGeek sent you.

Why The "WHAT" Is More Important Than The "HOW" In PPC Marketing

Whether you are a PPC Pro, Novice or someone who just wants to learn more about Paid Search Marketing, you are most likely reading the same old blog posts about how to game the Google Adwords machine with NEW tricks of the trade by all the PPC experts. However, in this blog post I am not focusing on tricks, but rather questioning the "real" importance of understanding the bigger picture of the key objective, which would eventually make some of the really "kewl" tactics useless if it's the wrong audience you may be targeting. Let's discuss.....

Most likely you are very familiar with PPC related blog posts which talk about specific tricks and tactics about how to organize keyword groups, which keyword matching types are better than others, how to effectively write a text ad, etc.... Now, that is all great stuff, right! Of course, it makes you a better, well-rounded PPC Geek. However, it is this SemGeek's opinion to shed light on a different area of PPC that requires some "outside the box" thinking that provides a different perspective on the everyday "in the weeds" life of search marketing.

Why the "HOW" is Overrated:
Anyone who talks about PPC probably already knows about quality score and the buzz word "relevance". I am even going out on a limb by saying that anyone can do a decent job in PPC if they read a few blog posts or attended a conference knows about quality score. It's not that hard, right! C'mon, there are only soo many tricks of the trade that can be done to maximize a Campaign, Adgroup and Keyword.

Did you ever once ask yourself the following questions?

1. I have done everything possible and just barely returning a profitable ROAS or ROI?
2. I cannot waste any more time on this adgroup and should I cut back or just pause the adgroup entirely?
3. The client wants to keep this adgroup, but it's poorly performing and hurting my performance contract?
4. These Text Ads are just horrible, but the client refuses to change them or even test new ones.
5. The client refuses to increase the Ad Spend that is needed to try new things.

These are common questions that every PPC Marketer has or will have to deal with eventually. Now, the point I am trying to make is that no matter how smart you are with Quality Score or how Savvy you are with a client, what matter most is PERFORMANCE. It is this reason, which leads me to why the "WHAT" is more important that "HOW". Let me explain.

Why the "WHAT" is more important:
Ok, we already discussed that pretty much anyone can do the "HOW". How-ever (hee hee), what really matter is a complete understanding the client's business both online and offline. There are many ways to communicate to existing clients and new prospects, and picking the right one's from the start is what truly makes a "PPC Rockstar". It's not the tactics, but what you apply those tactics to. You can have the utter most best quality score campaign ever created, but if it's for a product the client does not sell, It DOESN'T MATTER. If you find a great keyword that drives a ton of cheap traffic, but does not convert, it DOESN'T MATTER

Why A PPC Strategy is About the "WHAT"

The PPC Marketer needs to think about the Strategy on different levels and phases. For example, the best thing you can do is get a good understanding of the client's business before you map out the plan. Also keep in mind that a strategy is about "what" to promote, not "how" you are going to promote it. The more "angles" and audiences you can identify, the better you can understand how they will respond.

• Seasonal calendar
• Historical Top Products/Services
• Competitive advantages (if any)
  • Warranty
  • Price
  • Discounts
  • Shipping Rate
  • Models (older models)
  • Live Tech Help
• Industry Slang/buzz words used by users/clients, etc...
• Participating Manufacturer names
• Past trademarks names that customers are familiar with.

In Conclusion:
PPC is becoming a highly competitive and saturated advertising vehicle that anyone, even a kid in the basement, can participate in. Furthermore, It is this uniqueness which make it a different monster as compared to all the other "offline" advertising outlets. With that said, finding ways to make a reasonable ROI or ROAS% continues to get more and more difficult to achieve and that is why it really comes down to what you are advertising more than how you are doing it. Of course, the 'HOW" of PPC is obviously important. But wasting time "tweaking" something that will never reach an acceptable success is just a waste of time.

“WWW? Nice toy, but what a waste of time.” - Bill Gates

Enfamil vs. Similac - Which One Has A Better Formula For Their PPC Strategy?

As a recently became a Dad, I often wonder how these "wonder products" are marketed online. In similar article I wrote the past year, entitled "Pampers vs. Huggies - 40+ Year Old Branding War Hits Search Marketing" I discussed the Branding War between Huggies and Pampers. So, now I have moved over to another product segment that is a must for all babies and that is Baby Formulas. The two biggest formulas that I will compare at a Paid Search Marketing and Branding level are Similac and Enfamil. In this post I hope to identify which strategies are being used by both companies, as well as identifying other PPC opportunities that could benefit not only the customer, but also the VP of Marketing for either of the companies. Let's Discuss......

Brief History of Baby Formula
According to EzineArticle.com's article entitled "The History of Baby Formula", the author Susan Warner states that "The first commercial baby food was originally invented by Justus von Leibig in 1869. It was a powdered formula. The product was widely sold in Europe. A version of the formula was sold in the US as Soluble Infant Food cost $1 a bottle in 1869." However, that invention was enhanced by another, more well-known entrepreneur named Henri Nestlé who decided to create his own formula treating malnourished babies. By 1870 Nestle's Infant Food was selling in the US for $.50 a bottle. This made it the first complete formula. Nestle was a good marketer and was able to successfully distribute his product worldwide.

Which Baby Formula Is Searched More?
Well, to get a very rough "Guesstimate" the Google Traffic Estimator Tool ranks Enfamil as being a more lucrative keyword to bid on as it's CPC is more than 2x that of Similac, even though the traffic volumes appear to be very similar. This is very, very ballpark. (see screenshot below)

 

What Does The Baby Formula PPC Landscape Look Like?
Well, one of the most interesting things I noticed in my "unscientific" research, was the lack of "Misspellings" and use of prominent "head terms" by both companies. Similac is more proactive with the misspellings as compared to Enfamil which is just not capitalizing on it all. When I see neither Similar or Enfamil bidding on search terms such as "infant formula" and "baby formula" it tells me that they rather have their affiliates and/or resellers pay for that PPC real estate. Moreover, there are some inconsistencies between the two company's PPC strategies. For example:

• Similac is bidding on enfamil, but enfamil is not bidding on similac
• Similac taking advantage of misspellings, while Enfamil is not.
• Simliac is bidding on "LIPIL" Branded name by Enfamil
• Similac enforces their Google Trademark, while Enfamil does not.
• Enfamil's Lipil and KinderKal products are not being used in PPC by either company

My Key Observations:
When I put on my PPC Hat, I have to say that Similac is more effective with their PPC Strategy. It is far from perfect, but much more effective than their rival Enfamil. Enfamil is lacking on overall coverage of their product lines, where Similac is spending PPC Ad dollars. However, measuring success for this product segment can be confusing, as many buyers are concerned with getting the best prices and only look to the manufacturers sites to get additional coupons or advice.

An Interesting Analytics Find
I noticed that the Enfamil website did not have any Web Analytics tracking code on the site, while Similac does and is using Google Analytics. So, my question to Mead Johnson Nutrition (Enfamil) is "Do you know what your visitors are doing? Do you know which keywords and/or ads are working best?

This Baby Formula vertical appears to be controlled by the many Affiliates and/or resellers, which makes the Paid Search Budgets for the manufacturer a little on the expensive side. It is quote possible that both companies are faced with the affiliate-competitor issue where real estate and positioning is at a premium. Certain "sub-brands" of each company are not as competitive as the main brand. However, there are ways to effectively negotiate with the resellers for everyone's advantage.

In Conclusion:
The debate of whether how good or bad the PPC strategy maybe for each company, the important things to note is that both of them have a search engine marketing presence. Both of them not only have loyal resellers are affiliates, but they have a strong blog following which is more influential to the customer than any PPC text ad. Where the two companies lack is "depth" of a PPC Strategy, where there are missed opportunities to counteract any user feedback claims, recent news or even new products coming to market. So it's safe to say that many customers have many different opinions on what formula is better for their baby. For the search marketer, the best formula is the one that continues to improve and evolve as the company evolves.

Netflix Enforces Brand Protection, But Lacks In Paid Search Strategy

The Online DVD Rental Empire Netflix.com has shown it's muscles by blocking anyone from bidding on their brand name. As you know, Google can only restrict the trademark in the Ad, but not the bidding on the keyword, but that has not stopped Netflix from enforcing this on their own. When you do a Google search on the keywords "net flix" or "Netflix" or any long-tail keyword phrase with the Netflix keyword in it, as well as misspellings of netflicks and I am sure it's not by accident.

As we are indulged in a financial recession right now, where companies are going out of business and a majority of  stocks and personal portfolios have lost their value, there is one stock that has actually risen, and that stock in Netflix. Why is this important in Paid Search? Well, for starters it acts as a barometer of our online and offline behaviors. For example, as the online DVD rental business appears to be very lucrative right now as more and more people appear to be ordering their movies online, instead of driving and renting them in the stores. Ironically, Blockbuster which also protects their trademark online, is being pummeled in the market right now as their stock price currently is 0.17 cents. To reinforce this debate, here is great article from CNBC entitled "What Do Blockbuster's Troubles Mean For Netflix?"

Stock Chart for NetFlix

 

Dissecting the DVD rental Industry Paid Search Strategy:
Considering the fact that I am just doing different types of searches on Google, Netflix has shown the most volume in terms of overall coverage, (which is a bad thing in general considering it's not impressive at all). However there are easily identifiable holes in their PPC strategy. On the one hand, they are earning their Google Fridge by bidding on the keyword DVD, (which is a very vague and has many different intents). On the other hand, they are missing an entire audience who search for ''movies" because they are nowhere to be seen. If you reverse the search term to "online movies", Netflix's Ad does show. I am also noticing that they are not bidding of specific movie titles, actors, or anything else TV/Movie entertainment related. Again, another opportunity to reach multiple generations of customers.

The point I am trying to make is that I would of expected a lot more from either the search agency in charge of the Paid Search for Netflix, or Netflix themselves for not taking advantage of this. Remember, this is an Online Business which is flourishing right now when everyone else is closing shop. They need to be exposing themselves more effectively in Google and the other engines.

In Conclusion:
So, it is safe to say that the online DVD rental market is taking full advantage of the Google Trademark policy on the Ads and is enforcing the bidding of their names "in-house". You also have a shift in the market where the long time king of Movie rentals Blockbuster is now on the verge of disappearing off the face of the earth and Netflix, which does not even have a "brick and morter" retail store is emerging as one of the rarest "diamonds in the rough". From a Paid Search marketers perspective, this is the best time for an emerging competitor to "piggyback" off the Netflix name to drive traffic with relatively high conversion rate potential, but as you can see, no one is daring enough to act on it. Perhaps, Blockbuster should be the first, if they can afford it now.

PPC Case Studies: Have They Really Lost Their Mojo?

When a prospect wants to research a search marketing firm, usually they would visit the website and take a look at their case studies of current or existing clients. However, even though the "art of the case study" has seemed to lose MoJo and/or purpose, All PPC gurus must ask themselves the following: Do they have the "influence power" as they once did in the recent past? Is word of mouth from colleagues more powerful? Or has the bad economy and increased competition become so great, that the final decision is made over the phone or a visit to their offices with PowerPoint presentation guaranteeing a projected (Oxy-moronic)  ROI or ROAS. Oh yeah, can't forget the Free buffet lunch.

Let's discuss....

Why PPC Case Studies Are Losing Their MoJo:

Now, as this is solely my opinion on the matter, I feel that building a reputation through a case study has become less of a persuasive tactic while "cold hard over-selling" of agencies, consultants and PPC wanna-be's who can promise 10000% ROI's and profitability above and beyond their wildest dreams.

However, I find this very ironic considering the enormous "Turn Over" rate where even in my own experience, have seen companies every few years switch from agency to agency in order to try and find the best service for the lowest price.

Many companies are faced with the following PPC Pricing Matrices:

• Percentage of spend (almost guaranteed to be "NON-Quality Score" Friendly.
• Percentage of Revenue (very popular, but complex and "super-accurate" web analytics must be fully tested.
• Percentage of Leads (popular, but again complex, needs web analytics and agreements on what is considered a qualified lead.
  
• Flat monthly Fee, regardless of monthly spend.

The Art of a PPC Case Study:
Even though there is a debate going on whether Paid Search is an Art or a Science, the PPC case study, even though results may be from science tactics, is 100% Art when it comes to the finished product. Why? it acts as your very own creative license on the following:

• How you view what is important
• How you want your company to be viewed
• How you want you clients or prospects to be represented.

What's Important in a PPC Case Study:

There are many versions of Case studies out there on the web, but making it as simple to read, understand and interpret is the key to a good PPC Case Study. Even if the Case Study does not make an impact on the prospects decision to hire the agency, it at the very least is attractive marketing material. The only problem with case studies is that they sometimes do not have a "long shelf life" and a case study from last year may be seen as obsolete in today's standards.

Here are some important elements of a PPC Case Study

• Making sure your client's KPIs are clearly stated
• Understanding of what the client does (Industry, services...)
• Use of percentages and not specific numbers are displayed.
• Clear Goals/Objectives of the PPC efforts
• Precise date ranges that reflect the results
• Accurately represented tactics and strategies which enabled the successes
• An honest testimonial from the client (this should be prominent on Case Study)
• Any other customization or successes based on client.

In Conclusion:
Case Studies are still very important and a viable marketing technique. They represent all of the hard work PPC gurus have done to make their clients successful. However, the economic climate along with a saturated industry filled with "so-called" experts who are selling themselves as "too good to be true" make the value of the Case Study not as significant as it once was. (Even though I can see the opposite happening with "too much crap out there, where a real, truthful testimonial is more reliable". 

Perhaps, Case Studies will re-invent itself as a more of a successful time line of change and how the PPC agency/Guru has evolved with the industry. What can be more impressive than an PPC Professional who has many success stories under many different economic climates and technological advancements. So maybe the MoJo is not entirely lost, it just needs to re-invent itself.

Paid Search and What To Expect In The Next Political Cycle

Since our eyes and ears have gotten a well needed vacation from the Presidential Elections back in November, for some in the industry, it's time to start thinking about the new political races and how to best leverage what was learned with regard to Paid Search Marketing in particular. This topic is not only important to talk about for those who are involved in the political world, but also millions of others who are simply fascinated by what President Barack Obama's campaign did last cycle. Let's discuss shall we.....

In a previous post on SemGeek entitled "McCain and Republicans Turn To Paid Search To Influence Voters", I spoke about the power PPC has as a main "influencer" to raise money, volunteer or just to continue the conversation. One of the biggest "shining moments" of paid search marketing, came when the campaigns quickly and effectively used Google as a platform to counteract and/or react to the rest of the media.

For example, here are just some of the strategies where paid search made a difference.

• Defense against negative campaign attacks
• Defense about leaks within each of the campaigns.
• Became a online behavioral barometer of the public on specific issues.
• Constantly identified what was popular in the online community (search volumes)
• Used as a tool to advocate certain issues that were raised in campaign and media.
• Used as a AD testing tool to determine which language is best associated with public.

Paid Search and Politics: It's all about timing:
Probably the most effective part of paid search is the ability for a quick turnaround. In the spirit of Journalism and news agencies, timing is everything, and when a candidate is in the news or attacked on the campaign trail, people are going to search about it online, the more people start seeing an PPC Ad directing them to go to the website for more information or a statement from the candidate, the better it is for everyone, especially the campaign.

Since the Internet has become the source of the continued conversation from other media such as TV and Radio, support from paid search, from a online strategy perspective is a no brainer. Now, even though we have identified that timing is key to an PPC strategy, there is one major concern and that is messaging the correct message.

Paid Search and Politics: Get the Messaging Right
It's very easy to throw a campaign on Google and make a splash right out of the gate. However, in Political campaigns, it's very easy to get the messages crossed where an opinion or statement can be taken out of context or is just not aligned with other statements from other staff members. In paid search, this lack of communication and/or discipline can be devastating.

Since the Internet has become a breeding ground for information gathering, it allows opponents or their campaigns to obtain any misconceptions or simply "misleading" statements to their advtange. Even though the majority of the campaign's media spends is still being use for TV, Radio and Print, the Internet has become the "SUPER POWER" for more real-time influence and the ability to persuade and continue the conversation.

In conclusion:
No matter what political party you may belong to, Obama and some others set a new standard for Politics on the Internet. Whether is was clever Social Media Tactics, Text/SMS Messaging, Blogs, Emails, Donation Platforms and Paid search, the "Online Political Benchmark" has been raised and if campaigns want to compete, what we have learned this last political cycle needs to be a part of the overall strategy.

Do Economic Recessions Result in "Dirtier Than Normal" PPC Strategies?

As more and more companies cut back their online advertising budgets, the traditional multi-faceted strategy filled with testing new untested verticals and the high volume, low ROAS% campaign which breaks even or at a loss just to own that search real estate, are being put on HOLD. However, no matter how big or small the campaign strategy, the Brand campaign will most likely be the most profitable and all or most online competitors should already know this and will increase their visibility in the "piggy-backing" game of bidding on brand names to get the most bang for the buck.

Here are two reasons why the Brand campaign is always KING!

1. All of the historically invested and hard earned "offline" and "online" advertising and branding over the years.
2. Those Thousands of dollars that were spent advertising your brand in Paid Search over the past years using "non-brand", high priced, competitive search terms, which did not result in a direct conversion, but somehow magically re-invested itself into your Brand campaign (Noticed your Bookmark/Type-ins and/or Brand Campaigns clicks increased steadily.)

Those are just a few reasons why the Brand Campaign is always KING and why more and more Advertisers would be "piggybacking" off the trademarked brand search terms and less on the generics. In this economy, I can only expect this strategy to get worse.

The Brand Campaign usually consists of the following KPIs:

• Highest CTR%
• Highest Conversion Rate
• Best ROAS% or ROI%
• Lowest CPC

The hard choices that need to be made:
Advertisers most likely have campaigns and adgroups that are either considered "Sacred Cows"; Realized Lifetime Value; others just hovering around the breaking even point or even at a loss are now being pushed to the forefront of the PPC "cut 'em loose" strategy.

What can advertisers do to protect themselves?
Well, even though Google allows for bidding on Trademark terms, Advertisers can protect their brand in the text Ads by applying for the Google Trademark Authorization Form (see previous article on SemGeek about Trademark Policy).Furthermore, if Advertisers feel their Trademark is being abused, they can file a Google Trademark Complaint Procedure Form.

The Bottom-line:
Protecting your Brand is more important than ever during these troubling economic times because more and more competitors cannot afford to continue to spend the same amount of PPC budget for mass testing and customer acquisition on generic audiences.

The Burger and Chardonnay Approach to Search Marketing

In our daily lives, there are people who simply do not follow "conventional wisdom" in whatever they do. In Search Marketing, that can also be associated with the way search marketers, both novice and experienced, create a strategy/plan, perform keyword research, write a text ad or even how they analyze a success event.

In effect, does it really matter how they go from Point A to Point B, just as long as Point B is a success and they can track the steps on how they got there? Just because someone suggests I have a Australian Shiraz with Fillet Mignon, doesn't mean I have to take their word for it. And since we are on the subject, remember that great quote from the 1995 movie TommyBoy "I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take a butcher's word for it." Let's discuss....

Now, there are many ways to do the basic tactics in Paid Search and here are some simple examples of the many different ways to think about Paid Search.

Keyword Research: (many ways to identify keywords)

• Look at your website content.
• Buy an expensive keyword research tool.
• Use content from old brochures, print advertising and/or any other print media.
• Look at your internal website search engine.
• Perform search query report (from analytics)
• Run an "organic search only" keyword report using analytics

The PPC Strategy/Plan (Play it safe, or take risks)
When creating the PPC plan...

• Does the search marketer decide to leave some additional $$$ in the budget to test different audiences or do they stick with the obvious and play it safe?
• Does the PPC Guru decide to switch up the agreed upon time line to take advantage of current events happening in the world which could have an impact on the client's ROAS or ROI or do they follow the plan?
• All of these questions are real life scenarios and what matters most is what is the end result.

Web Analytics/Analysis:
This area of paid search has the potential to be like Gavelta Fish and Warm Oval-tine. There are many ways one could "slice and dice" data to come to a conclusion worth talking about. Questions arise such as

• Does it really matter that Thursday generated 10 more clicks on the brand campaign than Wednesday?
• Or if they noticed a 25% jump in conversions due to the fact that the client changed the shopping cart without you knowing (how many times has this happened to you???)
• It's all in how you look at it.

In Conclusion:
I was inspired to write this post because I recently remembered a speech given by my best man at my wedding where he said and I quote "For anyone who does not know Greg, most people see a glass of water half full and other see the glass as half empty. And then there's Greg who sees nothing but Chocolate Milk" and then the crowd broke out laughing.

So I guess it's safe to say that I see the glass of Chardonnay as a Irish Car Bomb in a frosted beer mug with a little umbrella and 3 olives. Hey, if I think it tastes good, does it really matter? (Tip: That sounds disgusting!)