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Controlling the conversation around your brand is critical to upholding and improving reputation and converting more customers. Here's how to make sure you monopolize all the available paid and organic brand real estate on the first page of Google.
Advanced/ Digest...
Paid Search While it seems obvious to buy your brand terms in paid search to acquire more real estate, many additional tactics exist to maximize this space. The following are ad extensions available in Google that increase the depth of your brand listing: - Location extensions
- Call extensions
- Offer extensions
- Sitelinks extensions
- Product extensions
- Social extensions
- Dynamic search ad extensions
- App extensions
Google+ Brands that have verified Google+ accounts can capture side rail real estate for brand terms by utilizing rel="publisher". This works similarly to authorship but is tied to Google+ pages as opposed to individual accounts. The result is a rather large piece of real estate that includes your follower count and a link with image to your latest post. Google Images Optimizing key images on your site such as your logos is another great way to take up potential search engine results page (SERP) real estate. Image search has the potential to drive more incremental visits than you might expect. YouTube & Other Video In an effort for Google to continually promote their own properties, videos from YouTube are becoming more prevalent for a variety of different search queries, including brand terms. Having branded YouTube videos is a great way to own your brand terms. In order to take advantage you need to have at least one video hosted on YouTube. Google+ Local Local presents another great opportunity to occupy additional brand real estate. Make sure you have a verified business listing and your feed is optimized. ___________________________________ ► Receive a FREE daily summary of The Marketing Technology Alert directly to your inbox. To subscribe, please go to http://ineomarketing.com/About_The_MAR_Sub.html (your privacy is protected).
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In the battle for marketing dollars, many businesses are torn between search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
Basic/ Excerpt...
As businesses plan their 2014 marketing budgets, many are wondering if these death knells mean they should move completely away from SEO. But businesses shouldn’t move so quickly. Google’s changes were designed to stop those who were trying to work the system. For honest businesses, keywords and backlinks can still improve search results, especially when those tools flow naturally throughout a business’s well-crafted, informative copy. Meanwhile, PPC seems to be just as popular as ever with marketers. In its report, The 2013 State of Paid Search, 72 percent of businesses surveyed reported they plan to spend more on PPC in 2014, up from 70 percent who increased spending in 2013. Google AdWords was by far the area where businesses planned to spend the most money on paid search, followed by Bing Ads, display networks, and Facebook. __________________________________ ► NEW: iNeoMarketing makes content marketing easy with the new Q8 Content. Q8 fills your content pipeline daily with relevant articles that your audience wants to read. Learn more and sign up for the beta program: http://www.Q8content.com. ► Receive a FREE daily summary of The Marketing Technology Alert directly to your inbox. To subscribe, please go to http://ineomarketing.com/About_The_MAR_Sub.html (your privacy is protected).
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__________________________________ ► NEW: iNeoMarketing makes content marketing easy with the new Q8 Content. Q8 fills your content pipeline daily with relevant articles that your audience wants to read. Learn more and sign up for the beta program: http://www.Q8content.com. ► Receive a FREE daily summary of The Marketing Technology Alert directly to your inbox. To subscribe, please go to http://ineomarketing.com/About_The_MAR_Sub.html (your privacy is protected).
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Excerpt...
A lot could go wrong with dynamic insertion. If you’re not careful about DKI, you can get some really odd and even detrimental advertisements popping up and linking to your website. Dynamic keyword insertion and ad targeting is a tool to offer personalized customer experiences, but it’s not a good fit for broad match keywords. Be specific, and keep it simple. You don’t want to leave your dynamic insertion so open that every search shows up within your copy. If the search keywords are irrelevant or strange, then you don’t want to waste clicks on them. Dynamic insertion calls for a unique type of copy that will allow for the dynamic insertion of searchers’ keywords. You need to have ad copy that is simple enough that a broad range of keywords can fit into it, but specific enough to be relevant to the search. You want customers to have a personalized and customized shopping experience. And you definitely don’t want customers distracted by strange or offensive wording in your copy. ___________________________________ -Receive a FREE daily summary of The Marketing Technology Alert directly to your inbox. To subscribe, please go to http://ineomarketing.com/About_The_MAR_Sub.html (your privacy is protected). -If you like this scoop from The Marketing Technology Alert (brought to you by iNeoMarketing), PLEASE share by using the links below.
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Search Engine Marketing - Paid search visits have a 35% higher conversion rate for e-commerce websites compared with visits from organic search, according to a recent report by MarketLive.
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Paid search visits have a 35% higher conversion rate for e-commerce websites compared with visits from organic search, according to a recent report by MarketLive. The report, which was based on data from more than 200 e-commerce websites with over $1.5 billion in combined annual sales, found that visitors arriving from paid search links had a 2.6% average conversion rate in the first six months of 2013, compared with a 1.9% conversion rate for organic search visits.
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Key excerpt...
Google yesterday released a new paid and organic report in AdWords to 'help you better understand how people searching on Google are connecting with your business. According to the Big G, the new report is 'the first to let you see and compare your performance for a query when you have an ad, an organic listing, or both appearing on the search results page. Google’s blog article highlights three areas the new report can help. - Discover additional paid search terms – identify keywords you are ranking for organically but not bidding on.
- Optimise presence on high value queries - monitor your high value queries for organic results.
- Measure changes - website improvements or AdWords changes are more easily monitored across paid, organic, and combined traffic.
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Introduction...
The ways that consumers find websites, products, or answers have expanded from traditional search engines to include myriad social networks, content sites, and applications, among others. And the traditional search function is due to be even further disrupted by smart devices, machine learning, and context-aware content. Are you ready? Most search marketers aren't. Forrester's search marketing playbook exists to help marketing leaders understand the changes in store for search marketing while also maximizing the performance of current efforts. Our research will help you understand the evolution of search marketing, craft a plan for how to leverage and operationalize new opportunities, and continually refine efforts.
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Learn how B2B market characteristics can influence and inform your PPC campaigns in this PPC guide for business-to-business companies.
Key excerpt...
Additional ad copy tips: - Specificity is key – for example, you don’t just sell hydraulic cylinders, you sell hydraulic tie-rod cylinders.
- Use your ad copy to prequalify customers. Mention price points so you can avoid the people who are looking for cheap tools. For example, “Starting at $500 per month…” will quickly disqualify the people who can’t afford your product or service.
- Buyers are looking for suppliers for possible long-term relationships. You need to make sure your copy speaks to the buyer’s pain points in a clear, compelling way. You feel their pain, you have the solution, and you can walk them through all phases of the purchase funnel.
- Use social proof – show off your Google plus-ones in your sitelinks. If you don’t have that set up, get started on it.
- Use credibility examples whenever you have them – phrases like “top-rated,” “award-winning,” and “voted best-in-class.”
- Show prospects how easy it is to do business with your company. Do this in your ads by calling out GSA (government) pricing if you offer it, the fact you accept POs (purchase orders) if you do, or that you offer financing terms, if that’s the case.
- Be the trusted source for information – use your sitelinks to share white papers, e-books, case studies, downloadable forms, financing calculators, and anything else someone might need in the research phase.
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Paid search now accounts for around a quarter (24%) of the average business' total marketing budget, according to a new report from Econsultancy and NetBooster.
Excerpt...
Paid search is apportioned the largest average budget by companies (24%), followed by SEO (18%). Social media and display had equal average share of budget (both 11%).
This figure could potentially increase further by 2014, as more than half of respondents (55%) said they expect their PPC budgets to increase over the next 12 months.
In comparison SEO and social spending were both predicted to increase by 51% of respondents, while 42% said they expect to spend more on display advertising.
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LinkedIn Ads is far from perfect, but the potential for B2B advertisers to lock on to potential customers with laser-focused targeting is a big deal.
Key excerpt...
Like any online advertising channel, segmentation is still important for LinkedIn Ads. But LinkedIn is certainly unique in this regard. - For LinkedIn Ads campaigns, keep in mind that the budgets, bids, and ads are set at the campaign level. So, if you create a flat campaign structure (lumping all options together in one campaign) you will have very little control over performance and could limit the number of available LinkedIn members (estimated target audience). Layering targeting options will zero in on individuals who meet all of those criteria.
- A strong starting point is to create campaigns that contain the higher level targeting options (company, industry, job title, skills) layered with more detailed targets (location, age, gender, school).
- As you see performance statistics build, you can decide where you want to either "zoom in" or "zoom out" with regards to targeting specificity. Test different combinations of targeting layers and even break out individual targets (e.g., by specific companies or job titles) to see what converts best.
- Another consideration is that the LinkedIn Ads management interface is clunky and tedious. There is not a desktop tool for managing campaigns (à la AdWords Editor or Facebook Power Editor). So, if you go crazy with hyper-targeting, just be aware that your time investment in management will grow.
- Create ads that are relevant to your targets, but still adhere to ad writing best practices: be engaging with copy and image (these ads are much like display ads, they must distract from all of the other information on LinkedIn). Describe the benefits of your services. Include a call-to-action. Keep it all in 100 characters or less - 25 headline, 75 body.
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Landing pages are an integral part of paid search. Effective pages mean you convert more visitors to the outcomes you need and in quality-score based search engines they make your ad more competitive.
Summarized...
I'm referring to PPC landing pages here, as some of these tips are taken from our PPC Best Practice Guide, but many of these factors apply equally to email and other landing pages... 1. Deliver relevance 2. Integrate with referral source(s) 3. Provide sufficient detail to support the response decision 4. Start the user on their journey 5: Use the right page length 6: Use meaningful graphics 7: Remove menu options? 8: Remember the non-responders 9: Consider landing page longevity 10: Reinforcing credibility 11: Make it mobile-friendly 12: Try It! Measure It! Tweak It! 13: Page load speed
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Two case studies suggest that FBX news feed campaigns sometimes outperform name brands' AdWords programs.
Condensed...
Advertisers who use pay-per-click models to drive traffic back to their websites should investigate potential lead generation and conversion opportunities through Facebook Exchange (FBX). According to a new report from Triggit, an FBX partner, companies can see impressive results through social media marketing via Facebook. In some instances, results rival or outperform campaigns on Google AdX. [The] international retailer and large apparel site saw CTRs 16 to 24x higher than alternative FBX options, which rival averages from AdWords. The international retailer’s campaign is 38x higher than its Google AdX efforts. Perhaps more important for businesses is FBX news feed campaigns’ cost effectiveness. Triggit reported that its two clients saw much lower cost per acquisition (CPA) rates than right-side FBX ads and Google AdX campaigns.
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Google announced brands will be able to enhance paid search ads with images, a change that improves user experience and promotion performance.
Excerpt...
Brands using paid search campaigns will be able to make their ads more visually appealing to internet users with the new Google AdWords image extension feature. Although its still in beta launch, the search engine aims to roll out photo-rich ad impressions to improve brands’ promotional success via search marketing. This is evidence that Google thinks images are important for user experience and SEO – marketers must keep this in mind as they develop new content marketing strategies.
Brafton previously reported that four in 10 people prefer to read text that’s displayed with visuals, such as video content and infographics. Perhaps more importantly for a promotional campaign’s success, internet users are 80 percent more willing to read content when it’s paired with pictures.
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Introduction...
Since there are thousands of ways that people can begin searching for content or a type of product or service online, creating your own extensive and useful list can be quite the chore. No worries, though, because there are plenty of great keyword research tools on the Web that you can use RIGHT NOW that won’t cost a cent.
That’s right – all of the online keyword research tools in the big list that follows are totally free. See www.websitemagazine.com for the complete list.
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Which Google AdWords ad extensions are right for you? Learn which ad extensions to enable with this cheat sheet.
Extensions reviewed...
- Sitelink Extensions
- Call Extensions
- Location Extensions
- Offer Extensions
- App Extensions
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LinkedIn advertising has left a lot of digital marketers scratching their heads.
[Through] trial and error I’ve been able to determine some best practices for Linkedin advertising. 1. Test, test, and retest 2. Hyper-Targeting Everyone wants to talk about hyper-targeting these days. It’s great for smaller businesses targeting their ideal customers, but it’ll result in low click volume and low performing ads that won’t be served. Remember, you’re not the only brand running ads targeting your ideal audience. Instead of being hyper-targeted, find a wider audience in the 50-500k range. This will result in your target audience actually being served regularly and it’ll also allow you to hit your goals. 3. Provide substance Don’t just serve an ad, provide value and substance. Make your ad copy compelling enough that people actually want to click on it. 4. Price for goals, not for suggested range Success on LinkedIn requires that the advertiser buy at the high end of a suggested range in order to gain visibility in competitive areas. Going in at the minimum results in seriously poor performance (much more than on other ad platforms). A higher spend combined with clicks will result in high frequency and will allow you to hit your goals. 5. Optimize your ads BONUS TIP: Landing pages
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Excerpt...
The growth in search advertising through mobile devices could open up a new opportunity for B2B marketers looking to reach audiences across multiple platforms. According to a study from KenShoo, smartphones and tablets receive nearly 20% of all search clicks yet marketing ad spend budgets are failing to stay on pace with this trend. An article from eMarketer highlighted the findings of the study, which revealed that although 8.7% of search clicks come from a mobile phone, marketers only allocate 5% of their ad spending to this medium.
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Your competitors are competing for your buyers' attention in search results. B2B Marketers should do these 3 things to stand out.
Summary...
The competition to capture your buyers' attention in search results is as fierce as ever, so B2B marketers need to do the following in order to stand out: 1. Know the keywords your buyers don't use. 2. Make your search listing scan-friendly. Your buyers scan, they don't read. 3. Deliver the most amount of information scent in the shortest amount of time.
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Social media ad revenues expected to grow to $11 billion dollars by the year 2017. Facebook alone is expected to make close to $1 billion from its mobile ad revenue in 2013.
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Excerpt...
As we move into social media, the additional targeting options available within LinkedIn and Facebook can provide benefits that search marketing alone can't deliver, but there are tradeoffs, including losing the comforting keyword list you've used for targeting within search. Social media targeting is based on the person, her profile, and internal behavior (within the social network). Display ad retargeting and use of display advertising against behavioral cookie pools is another great supplement to PPC search for the B2B advertiser.
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The latest report on paid search trends has been released, this one from Kenshoo. As with previous reports from RKG, The Search Agency, and IgnitionOne, the Kenshoo study notes that mobile devices are playing a strong role in the search advertising market. Separately, though, the report illustrates that on a global basis, paid search click volume (+21%) and click-through rates (+62%) each saw strong growth, with spending up 15%.
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The Search Agency has released an analysis of paid search trends in the US in Q1 2013 across devices and verticals. Looking at the B2B vertical, the study finds that impressions rose 27.2% year-over-year, while clicks stayed flat. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, impressions were up 35.5% and clicks up 15.6%. The data also reveals that while click-through rates grew by 16% year-over-year on average for all industries (to 3.15%), B2B companies saw a 21.6% drop (to 2.07%). And as click rates dropped, costs trended upwards, with average cost-per-click (CPC) for B2B advertisers up 43.4% (to $2.20), compared with a more moderate 8.6% rise among all advertisers (to $0.76).
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Our latest eBook, The Autoresponder eBook for B2B Marketers, is written for B2B marketers who want to learn how to best use one of online marketing’s neatest tools—the autoresponder.
We recently published the Marketing Automation Best Practices: 2013 Autoresponders Study, which uncovered some very interesting facts about autoresponder usage (or lack thereof) among 500 top B2B companies. In case you missed it, you can download the study here.
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![Facebook Exchange news feed campaigns as powerful as AdWords [data] - Brafton | The MarTech Digest | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/cI-q-kfktuOpX0HQyzMazaWwCjYPSNRaTxwW-1h4YRQ=)
![[Infographic] Google vs. Facebook Battle of Online Advertising - e-Intelligence | The MarTech Digest | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/-bPhJMgi2tr0bGRTfJO4qfL6dadsvGA8m9WNoVsbzkY=)
Think about it: with SEO so tenuous, grabbing as much real estate as possible on the first page of Google is available with paid. There are enough tools available today to make that happen.