Pay Per Click StrategiesBetter Search Engine Marketing / Pay-Per-Click Results Start Here – We Guarantee It!

Last month PPC Summit presented the B2B Search Strategy Summit and brought together the top minds in B2B Search Marketing from Microsoft, Google, Business.com, Marketo.com, YouSendit, Enquiro, SEO-PR, TopRankMarketing.com and HubSpot during a full day of search marketing and social media strategy sharing sessions. If you missed it, you can check out the upcoming search engine marketing and social media two-day event presented by PPC Summit…Search Marketing & Social Media Success scheduled for Sept. 21-22, 2010 in Los Angeles. View press release in full here.

Nearly 150 marketers attended the B2B Search Strategy Summit to hear from search engine marketing (SEM) and social media’s elite practicioners who spent the day sharing closely guarded secrets to online marketing success. 

The strategy sessions kicked off with an opening keynote from Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro CEO, who shared findings from the comprehensive business-to-business marketing research study — the BuyerSphere Project. Later Hotchkiss, Patricia Neuray of Business.com, Frederick Vallaeys of Google and Valerie Bolduc of Microsoft answered top-of-mind B2B Search Marketing questions during the Expert Hot Seat panel discussion moderated by Bill Barnes of Enquiro. Jay Middleton, Adobe’s Senior Worldwide Search Marketing Manager, led the afternoon keynote on “The Future of B2B Search Marketing”.  

B2B Search Strategy Summit (San Francisco June 23, 2010) - Search Marketing & Social Media Elite Joined Together for a Full Day of Strategy Sharing Sessions.

The day was full of instructive panel discussions, expert Q&A and case study lessons delving into search marketing and social media topics from keyword research, landing page optimization, paid search, search engine optimization, press release optimization and much more. 

Essential B2B Search and Social Marketing Conference Takeaways: 

• Utilize Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Landing Pages and Press Release Optimization to boost Search Marketing ROI
• Get to know your audience and stay close to your customers
• Make sure sales and marketing teams are tightly integrated to ensure the sale
• Understand buyer behaviors and customer search habits to help optimize search campaigns
• Integrate Marketing and Social Media channels to further support lead generation and foster branding
• Diversify Paid Search campaigns to boost search engine marketing results
• Incorporate targeted keywords into all Marketing/Sales/Social Media communications
• Pay attention to analytics and focus on cost-per-customer rather than cost-per-lead

When most business stick their toes in the search engine marketing waters, one of the first things they hear about is search engine optimization (SEO), as it relates to content. Not a lot of talk revolves around images; but it should for, everything on your site (eg, videos, photos, etc.) can help it rank well in search engines. And, this is what search engine marketing is all about.

The first thing you should know is that search engine bots (ie, spiders) can only read (search) text. And this is why things like Flash should be kept to a minimum, or not used at all unless it’s really, really necessary to your industry (eg, you’re a web developer, animator, movie maker, etc.).

Following is a mini tutorial on how to name your site’s images so that it ranks higher in search results.

Name Images Using Keywords: For example, instead of naming a photo photo.jpg1, name it pay-per-marketing-tips.jpg (if PPC marketing is what your firm specializes in).

Use the “ALT” Tag in Your Coding: Piggybacking on the last point, add the ALT tag when you name images. This tag explains what an image file is. A completed coded image with this tag may look like this:
<img src=”images/pay-per-click-services.jpg”width=”250″ height=”135″
ALT=”ABC Firm pay per click marketing services”>

Text Surrounding Images: The text that immediately surrounds your site’s images is valuable real estate from an SEO standpoint. Hence, you should do things like put captions on all of them and use keyworded text (ie, SEO content) in this space.

If you do these three things, your images (just like your site’s content) will increase the effectiveness of your search engine marketing efforts.

While starting a pay per click (PPC) campaign can be as easy as logging in to AdWords (or similar services from Yahoo! or Microsoft), doing it right and maximizing your ROI requires you to pay more careful attention to the choices you make when launching a PPC campaign.  This article will take a look at several settings you’ll want to carefully choose when setting up your PPC campaigns.

 Advertising Networks – Google Search, Search Partners, and Content

Performance across Google’s various advertiser networks can vary dramatically.  Currently, you can choose to have your ads shown on Google’s search network, Google’s search partners (3^rd party sites that use Google to power their results), content pages across Google’s entire AdSense network, or content pages that you specifically choose.  (Note: Google is in the process of rebranding its Content network as Google Display Network).

Choosing your networks

Ad Performance Can Vary by Network

Costs and performance can vary widely across the different networks (example below).  Bids and thus cost per click (CPC) tend to be lower on the content network, as that network generates a far higher number of impressions and lower click through rates than the search networks.  However, looking at the example below, you can see that rates can vary dramatically even within the search networks (Google vs. search partners) and within the content network (if you’re choosing your own placements).

Example of Campaign Performance by Network

Choosing Advertising Networks

So how do you choose which networks to run your ads on?  There isn’t a simple answer – it depends on your goals, spend available, and the topic or keywords of the campaign you’re running.  If you’re unsure of how your campaign will perform, a possible strategy is to setup two campaigns with the same keywords and ads, with one running on the search networks and one on content.  Separating them this way will make it easier to compare data using AdWord’s reporting tools.  Once the campaigns have been running for a while, you can tweak them, adjust the networks they’re running on, or cancel them if need be.

B2B search marketing has changed how businesses interact with their customers. For example, instead of calling or sending handwritten thank you notes (still good ideas by the way), a firm may send an e-gift card or an email.
But, there is one thing that rules when it comes to customer service – making it personal. Following are two ideas on how to use video to do that in this high-tech, B2B search engine marketing world.

B2B Search Marketing: If You’re Not On YouTube, You’re Missing Out

YouTube is just five years old, but earlier this year it surpassed the 2 billion video views per day mark. Two billion!
Use this to your advantage to personalize – and broadcast– your message to your customers. For example, you can do a “Weekly Specials” broadcast; a “Daily Tips” broadcast, or a “Monthly Deals” broadcast. Instead of sending out a staid old email, send a video cast. It gets your voice in front of your customers.

As any B2B search marketing expert will tell you, customers who come to know, like and trust you buy more from you. Personalizing your messages in this manner completes this cycle that much sooner.

B2B Search Engine Marketing Made Easy: Create a Tutorial

Another way to use video effectively is to create tutorials and/or videos that offer more in-depth information about your product or service.

The vast majority of consumers – as high as 88% depending on the niche and/or product/service they’re interested in buying – conduct online research before making a purchase. The more info you give them, the better chance you have of making a sale.

What better way to do this than via video – which is one of the easiest B2B search engine marketing strategies you can use to get more traffic and sales.

Want to get the inside scoop on B2B Search and Social Media Marketing? Join the b2b Search Strategy Summit  fast approaching on June 23 in San Francisco, CA.

Many online businesses spend a lot of time and money on getting more traffic. But, B2B search engine marketing is not about traffic. Traffic is just a means to an end. What the focus should be on is conversions.

Conversions should be every online marketer’s obsession. For, it’s conversions that put money in your pocket; it’s conversions that can lower your marketing costs; and it’s conversions that can leave your competitors in the dust.

How to Forget about Traffic and Focus on Conversions

Getting more website traffic is a mindset that can cloud your vision when it comes to the most important B2B Search marketing statistic (conversions).

For example, you may not use negative qualifiers when devising your pay per click campaign. As negative qualifiers are phrases which filter out prospects (which means less traffic), you could be getting more website traffic, but fewer actual conversions. Don’t fall prey to this.

To construct a B2B search marketing campaign that is conversion driven, as opposed to traffic driven, do the following:

Define Conversions: Conversions can be an actual sale, a newsletter signup, a request for more info, etc. Whatever it is, make sure it is clearly defined so you can . . .

Mine Data: Analytics allow you do dig into your B2B search marketing campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not. By using the data you find via your website’s analytics, you can . . .

Do Split Testing: By running split-test campaigns, you can actually see which methods work best to get the desired conversion you want.

This is B2B search marketing that works! For more on what works and what doesn’t in B2B Search and Social Media, join the B2B Search Strategy Summit coming up June 23 in San Francisco, CA.

PPC Summit is gearing up for the b2b Search Strategy Summit  – an all-star lineup of B2B Marketing’s best to lead the intensive, full day of strategy sessions set for San Francisco on June 23, 2010. Top B2B Marketing Strategists will share best practices and proven lead generating techniques in the forefront of B2B marketing including; Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Online PR, Social Media and Blogging strategies. Senior level B2B Marketers are invited to join this exclusive one day Summit to learn the necessary steps to take their Search Marketing, Online PR, Social Media and Blog strategies to the next level. Attendees will have exclusive access to insider B2B industry trends including buying behavior habits that will cut the lengthy B2B sales cycles.

“It’s crucial for B2B Marketers to understand buyer behaviours and how online marketing is influencing buying decisions,” said Gord Hotchkiss, CEO of Enquiro. “Attendees will hear first hand our latest B2B market study results on buying practices from the BuyerSphere project, and they will learn the most important takeaways on how B2B marketers should be leveraging online assets.”

b2b Search Strategy Summit All-Star Session Line-up

Morning Keynote: Welcome to the BuyerSphere
by Gord Hotchkiss, CEO, Enquiro
Hotchkiss will share insights on B2B buyers and their buying practices garnered from the “BuyersSphere” project. Attendees will learn amazing B2B lessons that they can adapt and apply to their business immediately.

Afternoon Keynote: Future of B2B Search Marketing
by Jay Middleton, Senior Manager Worldwide Search Marketing, Adobe
Middleton will address B2B Search Marketing campaign metrics and measurement, examples of mapping keywords to lead scoring and how sales can utilize search and keyword insights for lead qualification improvements.

Case Study Session: Hear From B2B Peers, Learn Their Secretes to Success
Attendees will hear from the expert panel as they explore B2B client case studies that achieved top results, exceeded client goals and increased ROI– incredibly effective in benchmarking against competitors.

Expert Hot Seat Most Pressing B2B Search Questions Answered:
Uncover the biggest marketing challenges b2b marketers face — converting leads to sales, measuring and justifying SEM and Social Media budgets, integrating Online PR and Social Media and more.

Seating is limited to 150 senior marketing professionals. Regsiter now and save $300 at
b2b Search Strategy Summit.

We want to be the first to tell you about the brand new b2b Search Strategy Summit coming to San Francisco on June 23, 2010 where 150 senior level B2B Marketers will gather to network, share best practices and sharpen their search marketing skills.

Presented by PPC Summit, Business.com and Enquiro, the Summit brings together the best minds in B2B search engine marketing during 1 full day of leading-edge knowledge and experience sharing on how to increase B2B Search Marketing ROI. Registration is by invitation only, visit http://www.B2BSearchStrategy.com to get your discounted invitation.

The Summit is designed to help senior B2B marketers increase sales and shorten the B2B sales cycle using effective search marketing, social media and online pr processes. Attendees will have an exclusive opportunity to speak directly with B2B Search Marketing leaders during an interactive format that allows ample time to network, discuss, debate and collaborate to improve search marketing efforts. 

Topics and Sessions Include (view complete agenda):
> Boosting ROI through lead generation
> Making Social Media work to increase branding and generate leads
> Blending Online PR, Social Media and Search to drive more B2B profits
> Effective Landing Page optimization specifically for B2B sites
> The top 10 Paid Search strategies to improve ROI
> Best Practice B2B case studies and proven solutions

Interested in boosting your B2B Search Marketing ROI? You are invited to join this full day of intensive strategy sessions on June 23, 2010 at the InterContinental San Francisco, CA. Get your discounted invitiation at http://www.b2bsearchstrategy.com/?blog1.

If you’re an internet marketer, you’ve heard the phrase “content is king” – probably ad nauseam. While true, many don’t get the full benefit of it because they’re using it all wrong. Why/how?

In B2B search engine marketing, many will commission a piece of search engine optimization (SEO) content, publish it on their blog or website, and then move on to the next piece. And while there’s nothing wrong with this it’s, for lack of a better word . . . wasteful.

B2B Search Marketing Tip: One Way to Get More Mileage Out of Every Piece of Content

So much more mileage can be gotten out of one piece of SEO content than just posting it to your blog or website. For example, one of the most effective things you can do is repurpose an existing article or blog post and distribute it to free article directories.

B2B search marketing is very competitive. With an estimate 30,000 to 100,000 websites going live every day, it’s getting harder and harder to get found online. Distributing content via free article directories helps you to get the word out to hundreds, and quite possibly a few thousand, new readers.

Because on- and offline publishers sign up to receive this content, when they publish it on their blog, website, newsletter, etc., your company gets exposed to their readers.

Talk about getting a leg up on the competition!

The next time you invest in a piece of SEO content, remember the name of the game is not only getting it written, but getting it distributed as well. If you make content distribution part of your B2B search engine marketing efforts, you can start seeing increased website traffic and sales in no time.

What is your biggest SEO content challenge? Submit your questions, thoughts and/or  ideas and the b2b Search Strategy Summit experts will also provide their insight here.

When you advertise, you don’t do so in a vacuum. Smart B2B search engine marketing reflects what’s going on in the economy at large. If it doesn’t, the retailer runs the risk of being out of step with their customer. This can be a death knell for any business owner.

With this in mind, following are three ways to ensure that your B2B search marketing efforts not only survive a recession – but thrive during it.

I. Use Keywords That Reflect Savings

During an economic downturn, consumers focus on saving money. Are your online campaigns doing the same? If not, they should. Many internet marketers use a “set it and forget it” mentality when they run pay per click campaigns, for example.

When was the last time you reviewed yours? In a recession, your customers are likely using slightly different keywords to shop online. They may be pairing main keyword phrases with words like “discount,” “free,” and “coupons.”

So go back and change the headlines in your PPC ads and tweak the landing pages to make sure this lingo is reflected.

II. Update Product Offerings

Piggybacking on the last point, can you package several products/services together and offer savings? Can you offer a “two for one” deal? A “frequency savings” card where you get a free latte on your third visit?

III. Reach Out More Often

When the economy is in the dumps, it’s a problem. And like any problem, it requires more communication – not less. So reach out to your customers more. You can do this by starting a blog, distributing a newsletter, doing “savings tip of the day” emails, etc.

Smart B2B search marketing is mercurial. It changes with the wants, needs and desires of the customer. And that’s how you not only survive a recession; it’s how you thrive during it.

Tell us how you are surviving the tough times. What search marketing methods are working for you?

One of the leading mistakes many online marketers make is having sparse sites with little or no useful information. And, while from a design standpoint this can be aesthetically pleasing, it does little for the web surfer.

Following is why many B2B search engine marketing experts say sites need more content.

B2B Search Marketing Advice: The Way Web Surfers Search

When web surfers log onto the web, most of them are looking for information. This is particularly true of those who are looking to buy. Information helps them to make informed buying decisions, so when it’s down to Company A’s product or Company B’s product, the more information a consumer has at hand, the easier it is for them to click the “Buy Now” button.

More Content Leads to Better Search Engine Rankings

More content is also good from a ranking perspective in that search engines use content to help discern what a product/service is all about. And, if this content is written with SEO in mind, it will not only be informative, it will be keyword rich – which will drive it up in organic listings. This makes it easier for web surfers to find. The easier a site is to find, the more visitors it has. The more visitors it has, the more sales it is likely to make.

A Top B2B Search Engine Marketing Tip: Content Creates Authority

One of the easiest ways to get more online sales is to create an authority site in a tightly defined niche. Search engine optimized content – lots of it – does this. If your site has a well-developed bank of informative content on a specific topic, the more search engines are to view it as an authority site.

And that, say B2B search marketing experts, is like money in the bank.

We’d like to hear from you! Feel free to add your comments and feedback.