L&S Unscripted

Search engines (primarily Google and Yahoo) consistently refer 30-60% of our clients’ web traffic. People are searching for your product or service – the only question is: can they find you? Have you often wondered how to gain that highly sought-after position in the search engine results pages when people type a key phrase that’s applicable to your line of business? The path to success is search engine marketing and I’ll begin by defining the two sides of the equation:

• SEO: search engine optimization; work performed behind the scenes to best optimize your web site for top search engine positions (ranking). Example: the top organic (non-paid) positions on Google or Yahoo for a particular search term.
• PPC: pay-per-click marketing; paid text ads placed in the “sponsored listings” area on search engines. Normally the top 2-3 listings on the search results page and the right column of listings.

We hear the question all the time – if we’re working to optimize our web site for search engines (SEO), why do we need to invest in a pay-per-click marketing campaign? In most cases, we recommend both and our clients who aggressively pursue the online marketing landscape use both. I once heard an analogy that it’s similar to advertising in the yellow pages. There’s a huge advantage to acquiring both positions. Considerations:

Time:

• Short-term solution: PPC, the fastest way to drive traffic to your web site. You build the campaign, take it live and within an hour, you could be appearing at the top of the paid listings on Google, Yahoo or MSN for your selected keywords. PPC is also a great avenue to test keywords, ad copy response and landing page effectiveness.
• Long-term solution: SEO is a process, not a project. The time spent optimizing your web site copy, image tags and META data will have a positive long term result, but you have to be patient and often, even the best SEO work takes a couple months to show a true increase in rankings.

Cost:

• PPC is a great online advertising medium because you only pay for clicks that actually land on your web page. Therefore, if your web site is well built and guides the user to the desired conversion (sale, information request or particular web activity), it is a very effective way to gain new traffic to your web site. The best part is that PPC is entirely measurable – an exact ROI can be produced for every dollar spent.
• SEO is often referred to as “free” as once you gain a ranking, you don’t pay for clicks on the search engine listings. However, SEO as a process is not free. It requires constant effort, diligently keeping up with new tactics and modifying the web site code accordingly.

Bottom line:

Search engine marketing is a highly effective, efficient online marketing tactic and it consistently produces the lowest cost-per-lead for our clients when compared to other online marketing campaign components. Once you launch your search engine marketing campaign, you’ll want to assess both types of traffic, organic and paid, to identify the quality of both sources of web traffic and adjust your campaign accordingly.

Get in the game,

Robin

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Green Conference hosted by Ad Age in NYC. It was a treat to hear CMOs from majors including McDonald’s, Conservation International, Burt’s Bees and Patagonia share their perspective on environmental marketing. A few snippits:

- Don’t wait until you are doing all you could to share about your organization’s successes in green; Celebrate and communicate your small successes.

- Perfection is not the goal; it’s more about encouraging progress and improvement; Simple changes make a difference.

- “Responsible consumption” is a term or idea consumers seem to grasp and are not intimidated by;  Encourage quality vs. quantity, refills, upgrades, etc.

- Keep to your own brand’s style and personality when tackling environmental innovation and communication. i.e. McDonald’s ties in movies like Saigon Panda in their Happy Meals and web applications designed to show kids and families the importance of preservation and enviro-responsibility because they are about kids and families.

- “Green fatigue” is real these days- consumers have seen enough of the expected babies, earth and flower images; instead communicate primary benefits. i.e. Yes, the Toyota Prius is better for the earth, but the primary benefit is that it’s a quiet ride and provides fuel economy.

I have a thousand more notes and hope to share more at an upcoming Food for Thought lunch presentation. Hope to see you there.  Until then, Ad Age did a nice series on Green Marketing recently available here so check it out if you’re into it.  http://adage.com/greenmarketing08/

Dear Jane Sample came up with the Brand Timeline Portrait, but many bloggers are jumping on the bandwagon because it’s a cool idea. It’s basically a visual representation of the brands that you use, that you have a connection with and feel loyal about. This timeline can be helpful to Planners as it gives a snapshot of their target in a new way and it could have media implications.

As I looked at the various timelines posted by bloggers, I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s definitely a work in progress because even as I write I this I see brands that I forgot. For instance, as I look around my desk, there’s Kleenex, Papermate, Scotch etc. It starts to hurt my head. Luckily, there’s Tylenol in my drawer.

Watch this video.

RU LOL?

I luv 2 txt.  4 those of u not well-versed in txtspk, I’ll use a combination of appropriately spelled words and SMS language in this pst.  Wait, I’ll b/u. SMS is short for Short Message Service.

y does txt or SMS matter?  According to CTIA-The Wireless Association®, 363 billion SMS messages were sent in 2007. Additionally, the Mobile Marketing Association reports that in the next few years, a majority of brands will use txt and multimedia messaging to reach their audiences.

Does this mean txt will rule the world?  No, but in 2day’s fast-paced market, we need to understand the evolution of an ever-changing communication system so that we can compete 2mro.  Just as e-mail mktng is not the only way to advertise or to reach every audience; SMS is just another tool we can use to deliver a message as prt of the marketing mix.

Here are just a few things to consider when engaging in mobile marketing:

• SMS has a lmt of 160 characters of txt.  It’s concise.  That’s its beauty. Use txt 2 gt straight to the point. No photos, logos, sound, just txt.  SMPL.
• Mobile devices r our BFFs.  I doubt that any of us will be giving up our bbs or cell phones anytime soon.  It’s always w/ me n I nvr lv hm w/o it.  
• Consumers r asking 4 it. Typically, as a paying wireless consumer, I’m opting in to receive txt msgs from my personally preferred vendors.  Asking permission makes it easy for u 2 knw ur rching a consumer who wants to hear from u. As a consumer, it’s a convenience for me to get up2dt info about products or services I use.

As you dv hd frst into mobile marketing, ask urslf, is my msg promotional, informational or just marketing?  In any case, it’s probably a good fit for a txt tst drv.

CU L8r

BJW