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

A recent survey of pay-per-click advertising platform vendors by PPC Summit reveals significant shifts in paid search marketing strategies. Among them, bid management, which historically has been the cornerstone of paid search optimization, has become just one of many elements affecting the effectiveness pay-per-click (PPC) advertising programs. In line with the shift, vendors are expanding their product offerings and search marketers are altering their paid search strategies and practices.

“Historically, bid management has been focused on optimizing position and keyword costs but it has become clear that other factors affect overall ROI and competitiveness,” said Lisa Morgan, the report’s principal analyst and CEO of Strategic Rainmakers. “Although position and keyword costs remain important factors, search marketers also want to drive process and integrated marketing efficiencies.”

The 2010 PPC Management and Optimization report profiles 14 of the leading PPC management and optimization vendors that have traditionally been categorized as bid management vendors. The report also includes the results of in-depth interviews with the vendors and 27 of their agency and enterprise customers.

Only two of 14 vendors profiled in the report consider “bid management” an accurate characterization of their product offerings. The other 12 say bid management is only part of what they do because their products now provide considerably broader functionality. Although features varies from vendor to vendor, there are now three fundamental feature sets that include bid management, campaign management, and reporting.

The expanded features are typically integrated so the data collected for reporting purposes can be used to optimize bid, position, ROI, margin and other factors. The feature expansion is also affecting paid search function automation, and allows for more granular forms of conversion attribution. According to the report, the expanded functionality enables greater efficiencies at more levels that collectively improve bottom-line results.

Available now in two versions, both  profile vendors and their products, and include in-depth buyer’s guide.

- Professional Edition: for paid search practitioners, covers interviews and tool acquisition processes, outcomes, and tips for identifying and selecting paid search tools. (150+ pages for $399).

- Executive Edition: for executives and managers who oversee paid search programs,  a summarized version of the same information designed for fast readability and streamlined decision making. The Executive Version includes tips for more effectively approving and overseeing the purchase of paid search tools. (Available for $299)

To purchase the reports or to download a complimentary report preview, go to 2010 Pay Per Click (PPC) Management and Optimization report.

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One of the benefits of social media marketing for micropreneurs and small business owners is that they can level the playing field — big time — by investing in this medium. In fact, it’s a perfectly suited medium for the entrepreneur with no budget or a small budget to compete with the big boys. Why/how?

One advantage that small businesses have over larger companies is their ability to really know their customer. When you know, you can engage more readily and effectively. This is a powerful advantage that many forward-thinking entrepreneurs are leveraging.

By putting just a small amount of effort into using social media marketing, your firm can stand head-to-head with larger companies — at least in this realm. And, it works! Proof? According to a post on Emarketer.com, a noted research firm that reports on digital media and marketing:

“. . . a February–March 2010 survey from office services firm Regus, smaller companies see the most success [with social media marketing], with nearly half of small businesses around the world having acquired a customer through social networks. . . . Overall, 40% of businesses studied had acquired a customer through a social [media] site, 35% of US businesses said the same.”

So, not only is social media marketing effective for small business, it appears to be a MORE effective outlet for them.

Is your firm leveraging this powerful outlet? If not, why?

Did You Know? PPC Summit’s next conference will bring the top minds in Social Media and Search Engine Marketing together during two days, three tracks and 27 expert-led classes in Los Angeles (Sept. 21-22, 2010).  The educational sessions cover all aspects surrounding: search marketing, search engine optimization, and social media best practices and strategies. You can’t afford to miss it!

Ben & Jerry’s recently made what some would consider a ballsy move? They abandoned email marketing in favor of social media. While arguments can be made on both sides — ie, it was a good move or a stupid move – that’s not the point.

The lesson here is one every business can capitalize on. What is it?

Social media marketing is not a fad; it’s here to stay. And if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, you’d better bet your competition has, or plans to very soon. Proof?

50-75% of Businesses Worldwide Use Social Networks (eg, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

According to a July 2010 post on BizReport.com entitled, Survey: Small businesses find success with social networking” on BizReport.com:

Social networks are now actively used by between half and three quarters of companies worldwide for  various networking functions . . . [and] 40% of businesses globally have found new customers via social networks.

While some may argue that Ben & Jerry’s have gone a little far in their adoption of social media marketing, the argument could be made that pouring a company’s resources into a marketing method that works is just smart business.

Social Media Marketing: It’s Biggest Advantage

Social media marketing provides immediate feedback. While email can be pretty immediate, a newsletter, for example, may sit in a prospects mailbox for days or weeks before it’s read. With social media marketing (eg, Twitter), prospects are primed to respond to tweets immediately – and constantly.

Perhaps the brand manager for the giant ice cream change said it best, ie: “Developing friendship and a relationship is key for us and social media [marketing] is the best place for that.”

PPC Summit is dedicated to bringing you the latest strategies, insights, and techniques for Internet marketing.  Search marketing, search engine optimization, and social media practices are constantly evolving.  Stay up-to-date and learn about special offers with PPC Summit’s monthly email newsletter, and it’s free!

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.

B2B search engine marketing is all encompassing. It includes everything from pay per click (PPC) to search engine optimization (SEO). One of the fastest growing niches of B2B search marketing is social media. Sites like Twitter and Facebook sign up tens of thousands of new users per day and drive massive amounts of traffic to online businesses.

Hence, it’s essential to not only have a presence on a few of these sites, but to also pay attention to how your business is perceived via them.

Following is some insight into how to use social media sites – the right way – to brand your business.

B2B Search Marketing & Social Media: Don’t Sell, Inform
Have you ever known someone who talked about themselves incessantly? They never ask others, but are always divulging what they want, what they need, what they’re doing, who they met, etc.

Annoying, isn’t it?

People do the same thing in social media. For example, they always tweet their latest blog post or product/service offering, but never bother to retweet content from others.

While it’s perfectly fine to use social media to market your products and services, remember that most people look for information before purchasing. So share relevant information – pertinent to your niche — with them. This builds a relationship, which leads to sales.

Once you set up a social media account – whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. – stay active on a regular basis. Otherwise, you run the risk of making your business appear “flaky,” which is never a good thing in business.

Social media is an ideal B2B search marketing strategy to build a relationship with prospects. And when they’re ready to buy, your firm will be front and center.

To learn more valuable strategies on B2B search marketing and social media, join top B2B Marketers June 23 in San Francisco at the B2B Search Strategy Summit and “Discover the Top 7 Ways to Increase Your B2B Search Marketing Profits.” We look forward to see you there!