A Response to Seth Godin's Blog, "The Erosion in the Paid Media Pyramid"

This blog post is in response to Seth Godin's recent post, which can be found here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/12/the-erosion-in-the-paid-media-pyramid.html


Let me first say, I love Seth Godin's work. I think he revolutionized the way people share ideas and thoughts online and changed the game when it comes to branding and marketing strategies.


And now is where you think I'm going to say, "...but..."


Well, I'm not going to say that. Seth's recent blog post concerning paid media and the degradation of the paid model is spot-on. Having worked in an advertising agency under the "media" umbrella, it's clear that the landscape is in a state of transition. 


As Seth states, real, high-production value content is easier than ever to create and distribute given technological advances.


Does this mean that the glossy television commercial is dead? Or the 60-second radio spot is a goner? No. 

The Road to Media Success is paved with planning,
collaboration and innovation.

What is means (to me at least) is that content marketing strategy is more important than ever. 


Since it is so easy for everyone and anyone to make great, interesting content to share online, the walls between big-spenders and little-guys have crumbled. Where large companies used to be able to simply outspend everyone else to get the results they wanted, that option is no longer available (or at least not as effective). 


So, who has the advantage now?


Answer - the one who plans the best. 


Strategic media planning has to consider all aspects of media, from the top of Seth's pyramid to the very bottom; from the "bespoke" to the "free". All too often media is bought in isolation. Television buying is done with demographics in mind, but does it consider how that corresponds to the online audience? How does the radio spot coordinate with the free content that is being shared? How can all of these things help each other?

The New Media Plan

Media planning is more important than ever because it needs to consider all aspects and placements of the message. Media, creative and interactive need to work together to build a comprehensive road-map for success, taking into consideration the big, glossy ads as well as the nimble social content. This way, the "mass" and "free" content work to support the high-investment content - and vice-versa.


Before you dictate which specific media to launch in the coming months, first take a step back and consider the whole media picture. Put a smart, comprehensive strategy in place, and you are guaranteed to succeed with your media plan.




In recognition of bringing these practices together, I present to you the music video of the day:

Do you have any thoughts to share regarding the new media planning model? Comment below!

Paid Search in 2012: How to Plan and Grow Your Paid Search Advertising Program in The New Year (Part 1)

Relevant music video of the day (#1): Because nothing says New Year like depressing songs!

By now you're probably deep into planning for your 2012 paid search accounts. Budgets, strategies, new directions and campaigns are just a few of the considerations looking into the new year.

Avoid paid search autopilot
in 2012

The difficulty with paid search, however, is that it is oftentimes easy to get into "autopilot" mode. And why not? You've made optimizations throughout the course of the program and it's working like a finely tuned engine, driving low-cost conversions and capitalizing on the active seekers that your clients need. Why change what isn't broken?

Well, for one thing, because it isn't good enough. Paid search advertising is constantly changing and evolving, with new features rolled out and new trends emerging all the time. The New Year is the time to take a step back, outside of the confines of keyword bid adjustments and quality scores. This is the time to understand the holistic direction of the program, including how to make it work even harder without sacrificing efficiency.

There are a number of paths to go down when planning for 2012. Here are the 10 most important things to think about:

Search Engine Growth
The easiest way to grow an effective paid search program is to expand to new search engines. Surprisingly, many paid search advertisers (especially those that do it "in-house") focus their advertising efforts on Google Adwords only. The problem is Google only represents 70% of the total search market share!

Expanding to Yahoo and Bing (collectively managed under the Adcenter umbrella) is easy enough and immediately provides a 30% increase in your audience pool. Despite minor differences, the searching audience tends to be similarly qualified, given the same keyword list.

Setting up an Adcenter campaign is relatively simple, especially if you are versed in the management of Adwords. Again, there will be differences that you will need to navigate through, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Just copy your well-oiled Adwords campaign to Adcenter using the Adcenter Desktop editing software and you're on your way.

If your daily budget is more than $50 per day, consider expanding to Adcenter, giving it the allotted 30% of budget, and watch your results grow with it!


Keyword Trends

Be trendy with your
keywords in 2012

It's easy to become "Keyword-myopic" when planning or optimizing paid search campaigns, but the truth is searching habits are changing all of the time, driven by a number of variables; external trends and news, user behavior, and technology are just some of the factors which can drive shifts in searching.

Take a step back and think about where there may be new pockets of keywords to target and test. Look at what's been working so far and think about related keywords, brands, services or products in addition to your current keyword lists. Review search query reports for all of your ad groups. Use Google's Insights for Search tool to find keyword trends over time. Look at the news using Google's news search feed. Analyze social conversation related to your products and services and look for opportunities there.

Even if your keyword list is humming along efficiently and effectively, one of your goals should always be to grow your conversion universe. Now is the time to take the time to research and plan for any new opportunities.


Budget Opportunities
Another "low-hanging fruit" opportunity to grow your campaign is to take a look at your budget situation. Are you meeting budget daily? If so, you are required to (not really, but you really should) either expand your budget or refine your targeting/keywords. Assuming again that you and your client are happy with the efficiency of your paid search program, the smart option is to grow your budget where it makes the most sense. If you are not meeting budget every day, turn your ad serving on to "accelerated" and review your average position and keyword bids to ensure a decent position in search results.

Review your spending over the past 90 days for a good sample size - if the graph of the "cost" metric is flat over time, that's usually a pretty good indication that your spend is hitting budget regularly (i.e. if you don't see major fluctuations in spend on a daily basis, you are probably hitting daily budget).

You can also review the lost impression share of your paid search campaigns by adding the three "lost impression share" columns to your user interface table on the campaign level. This information will let you know how many possible impressions your campaigns are missing with their current content and targeting in place (note: disregard the "rank" vs. "budget" differences. Add those two numbers together to get the full % of lost impressions, unless you are getting a #1 average position at all times.) The total lost impression share will give you an idea of how much opportunity is being missed, which you can then translate into additional budget needed to meet the searching needs of your audiences.


Mobile, Mobile, Mobile

How are you going to reach this guy
with your paid search ads?

If mobile isn't a part of your paid search strategy in 2012, you are missing a major opportunity for account and results growth. We already know about the recent growth in mobile searching, but what are you doing about it?

The number one thing to think about is your website or landing page. Is it mobile friendly? Is it optimized to generate leads from mobile devices? You should consider building a concerted mobile program including paid search and website to maximize results.

Assuming your website is at least able to be viewed on modern mobile devices, your next strategy should not just be turning on "mobile devices" in the paid search target settings; it should be to build a unique campaign targeting only mobile devices (while making sure your other campaigns target only desktops/laptops). This is done so that you can measure results separately, build an independent budget, develop mobile-specific creative and messaging, and drive to mobile-friendly landing pages.

The biggest challenge here will be putting yourself in the mobile audience's shoes. For example, what are mobile users looking for compared to other users? What information or conversions will be of greater interest to a mobile audience? What conversions can be completed on mobile devices? Is the targeting any different?

Let's face it, at some point everyone will be searching/buying/browsing on their mobile devices most of the time. Get a jump on this trend in 2012 and open up a whole new world of opportunity.


2012 Events, Messaging, and Promotions
If you haven't done this in the past with your paid search advertising programs, taking advantage of special business events, promotions and messaging is a great chance to reach new users with targeted keywords and messaging.

Think about, review and then list the full schedule of known 2012 opportunities, and make sure to build this into your budget and work schedule. For example, is there an event in March that is targeted specifically to your audience? Build this into your event schedule and plan to launch with keywords around this event 6 weeks ahead of time. Do your sales pick up in the summer months? Make sure to build in a budget increase during those months and think about summer-specific messaging and keywords starting in May. Or, is there a big promotion happening in September 2012? List this and all similar promotions and request a separate or incremental budget to support this effort with new keywords, targeting, ads and a landing page.

By thinking about and scheduling these unique opportunities now, you can ensure the funding is available while also setting the schedule to be "ahead of the curve" in 2012.


BREAK TIME!
This is the end of part 1 of the 2012 paid search strategic planning guidelines. I've asked 1983 Bono to sing us out. Check out that sweet mullet!

Why User Path Analysis is Important: Google Analytics' New Flow Visualization

Google Analytics Flow Visualiztion: The Next Frontier in free web analytics

Well, this is a pleasant web analytics development.


Google Analytics recently introduced new features allowing users to view a more complete picture when it comes to website user experience.


Why is user path analysis important? 

Google is coloring in the picture of user experience

For one thing, it makes my job more interesting and less tedious, which is always fun. 


On a grander scale, Google is conceding that it is becoming more and more important to understand the entire user experience. As web analytics mature, so do its analysts. We are starting to dig deeper into each user's path once they reach the site. 


It is, put simply, no longer good enough to see what the best converting traffic source is, or which individual page leads to the most sales. We know there were other sources which led them to convert, or other pages that encouraged that next step forward. It is now about understanding all of the predominant paths that users follow when completing certain actions. Understanding these paths helps to color in the picture of each visiting segment, making it easier to bucket, target and optimize towards specific audience segments on the website.

We all win in the race to achieve full user experience modeling

So, first there was the announcement of the Google Multi-Channel Funnel, which aims to measure visitor sources beyond just the last-click, down to the original interaction that drove to that click and conversion.


(Side note: Multi-channel attribution modeling has been a hot-topic in analytics and online marketing for quite a while, and there are some solutions out there right now, but they are often expensive and require serious tagging mechanisms to work. Obviously, this does not lend itself to small and midsize businesses, who may not have the resources or buy-in to make such a drastic decision.)


Now comes user path flow visualization with Visitor Flow, which, "...provides a graphical representation of visitors’ flow through the site by traffic source (or any other dimensions) so you can see their journey, as well as where they dropped off" and Goal Flow which, "...provides a graphical representation for how visitors flow through your goal steps and where they dropped off."


Google Analytics, as it has always done, brings the new technology to the masses at minimal price of entry. 


This is important, because it opens new doors to analysis. It is important because it paints a clearer picture of your audience. It is important because it is a step forward in seeing the whole experience of each user.


By accomplishing all of these things, Google Analytics Flow Visualization will help your bottom line.


(...as long as you use it the right way. More on that later.)



Phil Decoteau is the Founder and President of Deco Dig, an Inbound Marketing Services Company based in Connecticut. Learn more at www.deco-dig.com. 

Your Landing Page is Part of the Message - Now Start Acting Like It

- Let's talk landing pages.
- Okay, but first, why have you no face?

The conversation may go something like this:

Marketing Manager: "I want a paid search advertising campaign to drive pogo stick sales in 2012. What can you do for me?"


Marketer: "Great! I'd love to help out with a custom paid search advertising program. First thing's first, what are your website's objectives? How do you measure success? Most importantly, where do you want paid search traffic to go when they click on an ad?"


Marketing Manager: "Our objectives are sales. I don't really know how we measure that, but I like it when my sales charts swing upwards. Where do we send the clicks? I don't know - can't we just send them to the website?"


Marketer: "...you mean the page with no calls to action, no clear button to purchase, no brand connection, and muddled messaging...?"


Marketing Manager: "Absolutely! It shouldn't matter, your paid search ads should drive sales no matter what the landing page is. Plus we just built a new website, so we don't need to do anything else and we don't have any more money."

And...scene.

The above conversation is a dramatized version of an issue that seems to come up again and again when it comes to inbound marketing.

Um, somebody ate half of the online marketing pie.

Too many companies launch online marketing campaigns without understanding that the launch of their digital campaign is only half the battle. 

The other 50%? Well, that's the landing page, and that's what we're going to talk about today.

Here's the issue: when a marketing manager gets his/her budget and tries to divvy it up amongst the most effective marketing mix based on the target audience, products, and campaign objectives, the landing page often becomes an afterthought. After all, the company already has a big website that they spent millions of dollars on and it's not really part of advertising and whose budget does the website fall under anyways?

Landing Page Nazi means business

And just like that, no online marketing landing page for you!

What marketers often fail to realize is the intimate relationship between online marketing success and the landing page. Let's put it this way: If they both went on match.com, they would find each other and fall in love instantly, immediately improving each others' lives (how's that for a terrible analogy?)

Why are landing pages so important?

1. They continue the "user scent". Landing pages, especially from paid search, are important factors in helping users determine, usually pretty quickly, whether or not they've come to the right place. If your landing page doesn't convey that message, the user may very well decide to leave before converting, even if your product is exactly what they are looking for.
2. They carry the brand message. Oftentimes a big company website loses or dilutes the brand, simply because of its "big-ness", dynamic content, depth of content, too many hands in the cookie jar, and so forth.
3. They can be succinct. The landing page doesn't have to do the heavy lifting that a website might have to do with cross navigation and reams of content. All the landing page has to do is give your audience what they are looking for. That's it. Because of this fact, landing pages can be simple and clear.
4. Landing pages can be easily tested. It is much easier to create a new page outside of the giant corporate website and test its effectiveness than to try and shoehorn your testing into an existing CMS or content that already exists. 

With all of that in mind, the main reason why a landing page is important is that it helps drive a higher conversion rate - and that's the whole point of online marketing, right?

As always, there are exceptions to the landing page rule. Amazon, for example, doesn't need unique landing pages because they should be sending searchers directly into the product pages (plus, they've done plenty of testing to ensure highest conversion from visits on those pages).

In most cases, however, if you are considering online marketing you must consider the landing page as an important piece of the strategy from the very beginning; not an afterthought, not something to be pushed aside, and certainly not something that is "already done" because of an existing website.

Ask these question first: "Where are we sending clicks? What is the strategy to optimize conversions once they get there?"

Ask these questions first and provide the resources to ensure that the landing page is part of the strategic planning, and you're finally marketing online, baby!

Don't Sacrifice the Brand Just for the Buck or, How to Marry Brand and Direct in Paid Search

Working in a full-service ad agency for a number of years, I had the privilege of observing the full spectrum of an advertising campaign from conception to inception, idea to execution, brainstorm to television spot to brand lift. 

Paid search is clearly a different animal from most advertising.

Test, measure, analyze, optimize, rinse, repeat. Best converting keyword/ad/landing page wins, brand-be-damned.

The problem with this approach is that it is easy to get lost in the data, thereby possibly sacrificing the brand message in the process. Heck, if you're good at it, you may even convince the corporate brand manager that it doesn't matter - it's all about the conversion, baby!

But, what about the long term effects of this approach? How might the brand be regarded if the message is constantly direct-marketing focused?

It's easy to see how that may ultimately degrade the brand persona; just look at the stats:

In a 2008 study, Google found "...significant lifts in both unaided awareness and purchase intent [from paid search impressions]..." (source)


A Yahoo study had similar conclusions.

So, paid search reportedly has an effect on brand awareness, but could a search impression actually negatively impact brand favorability?

This guy knows what I'm talking about.

The answer has to be, "of course!" Think about those annoying infomercials that are constantly hitting you over the head with their "buy now!" messaging. Sure, you may remember them, but only because they are constantly interrupting your TV viewing experience with loud, obnoxious messaging. And sure, that might work for some viewers, but it is doubtful that any non-buyer will look back on the brand with positive feelings.

If your brand is about more than just direct sales (this doesn't really count if you are Amazon, for example), and you want to build positive impressions while driving business, your paid search ads should strike that difficult balance between direct marketing and brand advertising (under 70 characters, of course.) Here are some tips to do just that:

1. Discuss the brand message with your client, or, if you are the marketing manager, think about what the brand message is/should be. Oftentimes, the brand promise is about much more than "Hey! Let me sell you something!" It should be about what you want the audience to associate your company with. What is the feeling you want to invoke when someone thinks about your brand? That feeling should permeate all of your marketing efforts, including paid search.

2. Work the brand message/promise into your paid search ads. It may be difficult, but even changing the direct marketing tone of your ads can accomplish this. Think to yourself, "is this something my brand would say, is this how it would be said, if it could talk?" If it doesn't sound like your brand, then revise it so it does, otherwise your messaging will be giving off the wrong vibes, possibly driving your audience away. And, let's be honest, you don't want your brand to be the smelly kid in class.

3. Try to list out all direct marketing calls to action as well as all of your "softer" or "brandier" messages, and make sure each is being represented in your ads. Test different combinations.

4. Make sure to look at any other advertising that the company is doing, just to be sure that the messaging/tone is in line, and to get ideas for new creative.

5. Don't neglect the landing page. In fact, the landing page should be even more "brandy" than your paid search ads. Landing pages should always carry over at least something from the brand design/message, if only to confirm to your audience that they are in the right place. (testing landing pages is no excuse to abandon the brand!)

Just because paid search is mostly used to drive sales, doesn't mean you can forget about the brand impact. Working in brand messaging with your paid search efforts will not only help drive sales, but will build positive awareness, which can help improve business results across the board.

Paid Search Visitors Not Converting? Why it's Not as Bad as You Think.

What I'm about to say is blasphemy for search marketers: 

Earmuffs!

It's not always about the immediate conversion from paid search.

Unfortunately, in the land of highest-conversion-rates-win, there is often little room for wasteful clicks that don't prove themselves as results generators - but how well do you know the path to conversion for your paid search visitors from start to finish?

Case in point: if conversion rates always had the last say wouldn't we really only care about branded keywords since they are (usually) the ones with highest conversion rates?

Of course, we know that paid search campaigns must target more than just brand keywords, but you get the point. The inherent uncertainty in a paid search program is understanding the value for all those keywords that don't immediately convert. If we revisit the idea of audience segmentation, we ascertain that different audiences search and act differently because they have different needs.

Despite all of the talk there is still a lack of long-term attribution modeling for search, meaning it is nearly impossible to measure which keywords are "initiators" vs. "closers" without spending thousands of dollars on a tool or product (such as Clearsaleing).

However, there are ways to measure key indicators for keywords which may shed some light on their hidden value. Let's take a look at the "low-value" searching audiences that are considering your product and how you might be able to leverage them throughout the buying process.

Potential "Low-Value" Keywords...and How to Leverage Them:

Initiators

Initiators - On your marks!

Audience type: The Initiators use keywords that introduce the searcher to your product or service, way at the beginning of their consideration cycle. In fact, they might not even want the product at this time. Perhaps their friend mentioned it over dinner the other night, and they just want to check it out quickly. Or maybe it's something that they know they will want down the road, but not now.

Keyword characteristics: Normally head terms, broad in nature, often in the form of a question (e.g. "what is [product]?").

Audience value: To use a cliche, "first impressions are important". Though these keywords are unlikely to convert they are important as the first impression for a potential customer who doesn't know about the product or service you provide. Targeting these keywords can help position your brand as a thought leader, and also increases the sheer number of brand impressions throughout their buying process.

Measuring success: Success for the initiators can't often be measured via website sales or hard leads. Rather, this audience must be led in the right direction and must feel comfortable that you have given them the background information they are looking for.

1. Direct these searchers to general information about your product or service and measure engagement.
2. Drive users to your blog (...you do have a blog, right?) where they can browse the information for what they need. Measure engagement here, including where they spend the most time. You can use this information later to build a new page or downloadable content specifically for this audience.
3. Videos, informational downloads (brochures, guides, etc.) can also be effective ways to disseminate this type of information. Measure activity with these materials (e.g. video plays, pdf downloads).

Information Seekers

Audience type: Information seekers are the next step down from Initiators. They have the background information, but require more details to keep moving.

Keyword characteristics: Keywords used by this audience are similar to Initiators in that they are often broad in nature, using head terms, but they are also more specific regarding what they are looking to answer. As such, they head terms may often be qualified or specified. For example, let's say someone is looking to purchase a new bike. An initiator may search for "good bikes", while an Information Seeker may search for "good road bikes". The small distinction is clearly that the Information Seeker has done his homework and decided that he wants a road bike, not a mountain bike. Because of this, keywords for this audience may lean towards phrase match, may be slightly longer, and will again often come in the form of a question. Remember, Information Seekers have still not decided to buy, but they are well on their way.

Audience value: Again, it is unlikely that these searchers are going to buy immediately following a click. However, they are certainly more interested than the Initiators and thus should be regarded as serious prospects. This time is crucial in the process because it is often when a user makes the (possibly subliminal) decision on which brands "make the cut". Users may narrow their choices down to a select few here, so it is important to wedge your brand in there with strong, official language, awards, distinctions and credibility-builders.

Measuring success: Since these users normally have some background information, but are not in the buying mindset yet, it is important to provide the required details while also helping to move them towards a conversion.

1. Again, drive users to information, but this time the most important goal is to ensure that the content you drive them to is specific to their query. Whereas the Initiators simply required any and all background on the product or service, Information Seekers need content that is directly related to their search (e.g. send the "road bikes" searcher to your road bikes page...duh).
2. Not to get repetitive, but downloadable information can be powerful for these users as it both helps to disseminate information and keeps your brand in the position of the thought-leader. Any information here should be more specific to the search (again with the road bikes), and it may be prudent at this juncture to ask for email or other information from the user, as they will be more willing to provide it, which brings us to the next measure of success...
3. Build a relationship with these users by offering ways to follow up or keep in touch. Ensure that they have the option to sign up for emails (and, for god's sake, tell them what information they'll be getting! Sorry, pet peeve), promote your Facebook and Twitter accounts. The key here is to make them comfortable with your relationship as the expert, not the salesperson.
4. While a hard lead or sale may not be the right path for this audience, now may be the time to offer up the option to request more information, which is nearly as valuable as a lead itself. If your product has a longer or detailed buying process, having this option, whether it be a form or just an email address, opens the door to direct contact. At that point, it's up to your sales team to close the deal. (Bonus tip: If you can find a way to measure from click to sale via your CRM, you've just hit gold! Though this isn't easy, it could pay huge dividends by tying some loose strings back to paid search. Try using a tagged follow up email conversion page or specific contact phone number to measure this.)

Shoppers

How do you turn a Shopper
into a Buyer?

Audience type: Shoppers have made the decision to purchase, they just don't know what brand to purchase yet. Hopefully you have positioned yourself in the first couple of steps of the process and they have included you as a "Finalist", now you just have to convince them to buy!

Keyword characteristics: Searches conducted by this audience are normally qualified by a few specific keywords, including "reviews/ratings" and "prices/rates/cost/quote". Other keywords will be specific to product types (including your competitors' brands, which is your call) and may be better suited for phrase and exact match.

Audience value: Clearly, Shoppers are a step away from buying so the value is apparent. While you will likely get a decent number of conversions from them, it is can also be a deceptive group due to the number of keywords that feel like they should be converting, but aren't. So what are they looking for? Often, shoppers are just looking to narrow the contestant pool down to a winner, but may not be willing to buy right then and there. Maybe they need to think it over, run it by someone, or wait for a paycheck. Regardless, your paid search program's job here is to make the choice easy.

Measurements of success: Shoppers that don't buy are still shoppers (that is, until they buy). Aside from a purchase or direct lead, success is determined by whether or not you are able to convince them to buy from you.

1. Case studies, reviews and awards are important persuasive tools for the shopping audience. If they are looking for content that helps them decide who is "best", make sure that content is readily available on your site. User-generated content is a plus, as are reputable awards and distinctions. Measure pageviews and downloads for this particular content and make sure to ask for information in order to follow up.
2. If your product or service is a bigger purchase, requesting a quote is a great method of closing the gap between Shopper and buyer.
3. Sales, deals and special pricing can help move Shoppers to buyers as well. Make sure pricing is clear and any special pricing is highlighted. For a success measurement, sort your content to make relative sales and prices grouped together, this way you can measure the clicks to those pages. Downloadable coupons, sale information, or pricing should be measured as well.

Not all keywords are created equal. Even though there are many keywords that won't convert out of the gate, it doesn't mean they aren't valuable to your program. Taking the myopic approach of "those that convert most are the only ones that matter" can be damaging as you are likely missing searchers at the beginning of the buying cycle. 

From the outset of your paid search program, the most important thing is to understand the entire process that your customers will take from consideration to purchase, and to respond to each step along the way with targeted keywords and objectives.

Phil Decoteau is the Founder and President of Deco Dig, an Inbound Marketing Services Company based in Connecticut. Learn more at www.deco-dig.com. 

"Don't Be Evil" - Google+ and the Monopolization of Your Online Persona

"Don't be evil"

That's been Google's credo since the beginning. And why not? After all, Google is just the little Silicon Valley start up that gives people what they want in search results? They're only here to help, right?

All it means is that Google single-handedly controls 70% of all information distribution online.

...they also pioneered one of the most profitable advertising models in history (creating a whole new industry and along with it, jobs, including mine - Thanks Google!)....

...and they're making a run at all computing activities....

...the failed attempt to reinvent the way we communicate online...

...plus there's the phone system...

...and the digitalization of all possible information...

...and don't forget about the smart phone hardware and operating systems.

Which brings us to Google+, the much-discussed project that flooded our online eardrums just days ago with speculation, opinion and excitement.

"What's that? A Facebook challenger? Finally!", or as this comic so aptly puts it visually, just something else.

But Google? What makes Google a suitable replacement? Why are we so quick to accept yet another Google takeover of our online activities? Why should we allow Google to control yet another aspect of our second-life which is coming oh-so-closer to supplanting real life?

Let's not be naive about this - Google, like any good business, is looking for more ways to make money. What they've been after for some time now is the one thing they can't have - our online personas. They can't have them because someone else does (*ahem* Facebook).

But that may be changing. There is opportunity where there once was none. There is a backlash akin to a run on banks. Facebook users are concerned about privacy (and with good reason), or just plain old sick of Facebook updates running their public lives. Google isn't stupid, this opportunity means more money.

How, you ask?

The obvious answer is information. Google's holy grail is understanding every single person, not as a name or identification number or anything like that, but as an online being - a target audience of one.

Just take a look at what Google+ does. It groups people into little audiences with similar interests - heck it doesn't even hide the fact that it is most concerned about your interests and those of your friends!

Now, look at the whole picture.

Who controls your online persona?

Google sees those interests via Google+, and then connects those interests with your online activity which is collected through Google Chrome, your search tendencies via Google.com, your mobile activity via android, email content via gmail, and all of the other information they collect, all of which is tied together using your Google+ profile. This information is available to Google so they can better understand you and target you with ads. Better ads mean better results, which means higher budgets and - you get the point.

Not that online targeting is a bad thing.

There is little or no evidence pointing to the idea that Google has any nefarious intentions in mind, in fact I would venture to say Google has been pretty transparent since day one. But the question has to be asked, and the point has to be made. Perhaps we should give someone else a chance to run just this one aspect of our online existence? A little balance of power, anyone?

Google has always been on the side of the consumer.

"Don't be evil."

If Google+ catches on, how much longer can that last?

Phil Decoteau is the Founder and President of Deco Dig, an Inbound Marketing Services Company based in Connecticut. Learn more at www.deco-dig.com. 

Google Display Network on Steroids: Five Tips to Boost Your Paid Search GDN Campaigns

The following post discusses the Google Display Network in relation to TEXT ADS ONLY. Obviously, display ads require different strategies.

Jose Canseco thinks your
Google Display Network
campaigns could use a
little "help"

The Google Display Network is a funny beast. 

Does it drive results? Is it just there for brand impressions? Does it even help with brand awareness? Is it just there for Google to make money?

Sometimes I think long and hard about the last question there. That's not to say that the GDN falls flat all the time, but, for a while there, it was consistently performing worse than just about every other campaign I had running (for conversions, mind you). Sure, it provides additional click and impression volume - but at what cost?

So, we began tinkering with the GDN formula, thinking "there has to be a way that this puppy can work".

And there is...sometimes.

The value of Google Display Network

The first question you may ask - "why should I even care about the GDN?"

The answer is because it CAN work for you, depending on your campaign.

First off, it really does accumulate a significant number of "impressions". Notice the quotation marks, which are there because, really, how much is a GDN impression really worth? Let's be honest, a paid search ad is not great at grabbing your attention, especially when you are doing other things online. Despite this fact, the sheer number of impressions have to be worth something - plus, (this is my favorite line) "you only pay when somebody actually clicks on your ad". 'nuff said.

From a branding standpoint, there are cases that indicate a correlation between brand awareness and paid search, but the key idea is saturation. The Google Display Network is a great tool for saturating the online market, especially when talking about branding campaigns that correspond with other forms of media (television, radio, print, etc.)

For conversions, on the other hand, the Display Network may be hit or miss. It all depends on how you approach it.

Tips for using Google Display Network

She just saw your Google Ad and clicked through
to see your interesting content! Look how happy
she is!

1. Use GDN to drive positive brand impressions via interesting and engaging content on your site. I know many of you paid search advertisers out there are striving just for the online sale directly from a click. If that's you, go ahead to number two. For everyone else, the GDN is a great tool if you have interesting content to drive to. This includes videos (especially videos!), infographics, blogs, downloadable content, heck, anything that is interesting. The great thing about these "conversions" is that they provide brand impact outside of just the concrete sales funnel. Although it is harder to connect the dots from engagement to sale or lead, I think we would all agree that a positive brand impact from engaging content will lead to a higher probability of conversion, especially if it's you vs. your competitor. 

Where do you start then? The content, of course! If you have something interesting to say and share on your site, leverage that. Also, make sure your ads are primarily about that content (as opposed to, say, you business' mission statement or some soft brand-y message). Drive interest in the content item first, and the business will follow.

2. Structure ad groups around targeting tactics...and use them all. I still don't understand it when I see a paid search account doing one of the following things: (a) opting in to both search and display networks with one campaign, and (b) using the same keyword lists for display networks as with search. If you do either of these things you are missing out on a lot of valuable audience impressions, and likely hindering your own ad serving capabilities.

Ad group structure should reflect the targeting tactic, so it should specifically use keyword, placement, topic or retargeting tactics (but no more than one per ad group). This will help you control the ad serving, the messaging, and the results.

For example, a keyword targeted campaign to bike riders may look something like this:

Campaign: Display Network 

Ad Group: Keyword Targeted - Bike Riders - Road Biking

Ad Group: Placement Targeted - Biking Websites

...and so forth.

3. Keep keyword targeted lists small. Google does not take just one keyword in your ad group into consideration when deciding where to show your ad, they look at the entire list. Because of this, your keyword targeted lists should be succinct and closely grouped (limit to no more than 10 keywords, and even that is probably too high). If you target the right keyword category, you'll show up where you want.

Campaign: Display Network 

Ad Group: Keyword Targeted - Bike Riders - Road Biking

Keywords: road bikes, road biking, bike racing, road bike trails, road bike maps

4. Target audiences, not just specific keywords or websites that are close to your product. Too often advertisers think that a GDN targeted campaign has to be as relevant as a search targeted campaign. Unfortunately, they are missing the fact that the Google Display Network is about targeting audiences. Sure, you can use keywords to target, but those keywords should still be focused on your audience.

Here are a couple of tips:

(a) Use Google's Ad Planner tool to find where your audiences might be going online. Then, target those particular sites.

(b) Chances are your business or client knows their audience pretty well, especially if they are doing any offline targeting. Use the demographic information and/or market research that may be available to determine what kind of things they are interested in, and then target those categories using placements, topics, and keywords. For example, we may find out that Bike Riders generally are also interested in traveling, so we may decide to target travel-related keywords and websites with our text ads. (Remember, you only pay when someone clicks!)

(c) Look at your site analytics for top referring sites. Are there any inbound links that can be used as a new targeting opportunity?

(d) Add another layer of detail by targeting demos and interests together. Bikers that are 18 are certainly going to be different than bikers that are 55. Do your homework, find out which you want to target, and make sure the messaging, keywords, and placements speak to that audience only. (You can also use demo targeting in Google Display to accomplish some of this).

5. Use retargeting. Seriously. The best way to drive results from the Display Network is by hitting people that have already demonstrated interest. There's no better way to do this than by using the retargeting capabilities that Google offers (and it's definitely not creepy). It's easy to set up - just place a snippet of code on your site, set up an audience and ad group, and you're off! Staying in front of the users that came to your site and did not convert means that you are able to usher them down the funnel, all the while reminding them of your brand and products along the way.

Use the tips above to juice up your Google Display Network campaigns and take your results to the next level.

If you have any additional tips, please share below!

Are you looking for help with your paid search campaigns? Let us know! We're more than happy to help improve your paid search campaigns. Contact Deco Dig today.

Hey You! Stop Complaining about Online Behavioral Tracking!

I have to get this out.

There has been a lot said about online tracking and behavioral targeting lately.

"What's that you say? Evil marketers are tracking
my every move with secret spyware that
will one day hunt me down and kill me?!"

People generally seem to be a little creeped out when they hear about how marketers track their behavior online. They seem to think that [evil] marketers sit in their lairs, plotting ways to gain users' personal information so they can one day use it to steal their money or identity, infect their computers with viruses, or watch them while they sleep.

Let me preface the rest of this post by saying that I am all for standardizing behavioral targeting for online marketers. What makes me agitated are the people that want to completely abolish the practice altogether because they think it's "creepy" or unsafe.

The simple truth is that online marketers are just trying to do a better job by targeting audiences more effectively.  


Here's the big, bad secret from within the belly of the marketing beast: 99% of online marketers are simply tracking what you do online, without your personal information, so that they can serve you ads that you want to see!


Of course, there will always be mal-intents that use nefarious techniques to hack or steal information to take advantage of the system - but isn't this the case in every line of work? We have bad apple doctors that take advantage of the system, corrupt police officers that do the same, and don't get me started on politicians.

Let's leave the evil planning
to the professionals, okay?

But not once have I sat in an online display strategic planning session and heard someone say "Let's gather all of Jane Doe's personal information we can, eat some popcorn and watch while she goes to eBay! Then we can use the information to go on a shopping spree!" and never have I uttered "You know what? Let's track this audience behavior online and then show them ads of things that are completely unrelated to what they're looking at!"

Unfortunately, people like to get scared about these things and they love to crusade against any perceived threat, even without knowing all of the details.

Here are a few facts about online tracking and marketing:

1. Real, reputable online marketers and online behavioral advertising entities do not and can not gather your personal information. This is against the rules. Online marketers do not know your name, address, or phone number, especially if you don't willingly give it to them. Your browsing information is collected as anonymous "cookie" data. *Update* Check out this link, which shows how Google cookies you and places you into audience buckets. You can also opt-out from here (must have gmail account): http: http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/view
2. This cookie data is only stored for a limited amount of time, usually up to 30 days before you are cleared from the targeting system. 
3. You can see who is collecting your data by either looking at the code on the site, by using a viewing tool, or by simply looking at the privacy policy. Usually the companies that are collecting your data will have specific codes placed at the top or bottom of the website you are looking at (in the website code).
4. You can clear your cookie data whenever you want! If you're sick of seeing a particular ad, clear your cache using your browser's settings.
5. Marketers can only get your email address and/or personal information if you opt-in or signup somewhere on the website. In this case you have most likely read and agreed to the privacy language.
6. Most of the time, you are being remarketed to or targeted automatically as a bigger audience segment based on results and statistics. This means that an automated system puts you into a bucket based on your online activity and serves you ads because of that. The only information that comes through in the end is whether or not that bucket or ad (likely a combination of both) converted to a lead or sale.
7. The internet is free, in part, because of online marketing. It's a tough pill to swallow for some, but let's be honest here, the less money that is spent by advertisers online, the greater the chance that you will be paying for good online content. To add to that, online behavior tracking makes those marketing programs work better, which means advertisers spend more money, and you get more free content! Amazing, isn't it?

The bottom line is, YES, online marketers are trying to sell you things. However, let's say you are a 55 year old woman - would you rather see a banner ad for men's sports equipment, or an ad about women's shoes that are similar to the ones you just looked at on zappos.com? (obviously I'm making some generalizations here). 

Instead of crusading against all behavioral targeting online, I think we can all agree that in some forms, online targeting is helpful and effective for both the advertisers and the users themselves. With the right standards in place, everyone gets what they want.

Containing and Curing the Low Quality Score Plague: How to Attack the Low Quality Score Source

Warning: The Low Quality Score Plague can have

devastating effects on your paid search campaign

Has your paid search campaign been infected by the Low Quality Score Plague? If so, get on your body suit; here are the top strategies for improving low quality score keywords by finding and attacking the source.

Outbreak Stage 1: The Bite

Symptoms include itchy rash, fever, increased CPC, degrading average position, possible lowering of CTR. Advanced cases may experience lack of keyword serving and inability to achieve clicks for targeted keywords.

To diagnose, include the quality score column within your Adwords reporting or user interface for a recent time period. Low quality score is generally considered to be anything below a 5.

Outbreak Stage 2: Find the Source

Once you have discovered and identified the low quality score keywords in the account, your first question should be "why?", as in, "why are these keywords so poor?" and "why should I care?" After all, you may have done everything right, taken all of the proper precautions including developing a highly relevant landing page and keyword-rich ads.

Unfortunately, sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to a low quality score outbreak. All you can do is grit your teeth and trudge forth with the proper tools and strategies to reverse your fortunes.

Your first step in this situation is to collect all low quality score keywords and understand what their similarities are. Oftentimes, the outbreak will occur within a relatively close vicinity; which ad groups have been impacted most by the outbreak? Find the epicenter and attack from the inside-out. Your ad groups should already be categorized into highly related categories, which should make it easy to find the problem-category. If this isn't the case, you may want to consider restructuring your campaign to reflect closely knit themes, or doing some good old excel detective work to find the common theme with infected keywords.

Outbreak Stage 3: Identify the Potential Causes

We've already established that sometimes outbreaks can occur despite your best preparations. However, if you have noticed a recent and/or dramatic drop in keyword quality scores, there is likely a primary cause or a notable event that led to the issue at hand. Things to consider when looking for a cause:

• Dropping CTR - This is the number one cause of low quality score outbreaks. A low click through rate will drive down quality scores pretty quickly, so if your CTR has seen a dip recently, you may have found your source.
• Recent PPC change history - Have you recently made revisions to ads, CPCs, keyword content, destination URLs, or other account materials?
• Website Revisions - This one is pretty straightforward, but double-check to make sure no recent landing page changes have taken place.
• Google policy changes - This is tougher to pin down, but Google is constantly making changes to their indexing algorithms, which may impact the relevancy score for your website. Sometimes, it's the only explanation (...darn black box!)

Taking this first step may make it easier to isolate the elements that need testing or optimization.

Outbreak Stage 4: Attack the Source

So far, you've been able to identify and quarantine the infected keywords, and you may have even found potential sources for the outbreak. Now, it's time to get on the path to recovery.

• The number one way to cure a low quality score outbreak is to improve your CTR for infected keywords. This should be the first offensive tactic employed, as it will have the most immediate and drastic impact on low quality scores. Since you've identified the epicenter of the outbreak, start there by employing new ad creative, calls to action, and other tactics that will result in a higher CTR. If you haven't already, pause or optimize the lowest CTR ads.
• A great way to improve low quality scores for infected keywords is to split them out into separate ad groups and try new ad tactics from there, instead of tinkering with and potentially harming the high quality keywords in existing ad groups. Move the LQS keywords to new ad groups (i.e. Ad Group 1 - LQS) and experiment away!
• If the source of the LQS outbreak was concentrated in one ad group or category of keywords, you should consider the keywords themselves and their relevancy or effectiveness. Why are these particular keywords most infected? Examine search query reports for highly irrelevant user searches that could lead to low CTR; look for new negative keyword opportunities; consider easily mistaken keywords (i.e. windows [home] or Windows [operating system]?); consider more defined match types, especially for broad match keywords; or think about pausing these keywords altogether, as long as they aren't key conversion drivers.
• According to an unnamed Google representative, quality scores are highly affected by account history (not campaign, not ad group, but account) which means an account with bad CTR history may be doomed from the start. In extreme cases, you may want to consider creating a new account, and starting strong by rolling out high CTR keywords first with aggressive bids to build strong overall account quality before expanding keywords to lower CTR categories. If you don't currently do this, I highly recommend targeting and bidding on brand keywords, if only for the residual high CTR and quality you'll receive.
• Activate Google Ad Extensions. This one is sort of a "what came first?" scenario, since you require high quality scores to show ad extensions in the first place. However, as long as you are bidding on brand keywords, this should not be a problem, at least for a portion of your targets. Implementing Ad Extensions will drive a higher CTR overall, which will lead to better account quality and higher quality scores overall.
• Look at bounce rate and on-site engagement statistics. Google won't openly admit it, but bound rate and other engagement statistics surely have an impact on quality score. Although the "keyword relevancy" of a landing page is vastly overstated, one cannot emphasize the importance of landing page "trust signals" enough. Instead of stuffing more keywords onto your landing pages, please consider conversion and content optimization, and make sure your landing page always pays off the promise.

Containing the low quality score outbreak is about more than just cost per click bids and landing page relevancy. The most important factor in curing this plague is by ensuring that you are targeting the right keywords with the right ads and the right landing pages. Only then will you be completely immune to low quality scores. The tactics above will help show you the way.

...but just to be safe, I'm putting on my clean suit.

Why is this guy juggling in a clean suit?

The world may never know.