Times are tough. Search shouldn't be.

Despite the bad economy, computers are still popular and Google is still in business. Imagine that…any way, here are some tips to make the most of your search campaigns no matter the current economic condition. These tips are not inclusive nor are they groundbreaking, but hell, our clients aren’t complaining.

Monitor your accounts…every day

Again, probably a no brainer, but with all the automation that Google offers it can be easy to ‘set it and forget it.’ For instance, Google offers an ‘optimize’ ad serving option that automatically shows your ‘best performing’ ads. Google determines performance by CTR. So what if your campaign needs to back to a certain CPA, but some of your highest converting ads have low CTRs? They won’t show. You can’t ignore the human element.

Keep your ad copy fresh and keywords relevant

This suggestion isn’t to say that you need to be changing your ad copy constantly. Let your campaign gain some traction then analyze which ads are not delivering according to your performance metrics. It’s surprising what a few minor changes can do. For example, for one of our clients, I just changed the headline in the ad and left the body the same. It is now the best performing ad in terms of conversions for the month. As for keywords, make sure they are backing out to your goals (clicks? conversions? cpc?). Those goals will determine how you go about optimizing your keywords. General keywords have a tendency to negatively skew metrics, make sure your keywords are relevant to your audience.

Adjust your bids

The search landscape is constantly changing, it’s important to keep a close eye on your keyword bids as competitors are always making moves to secure that prime real estate. So with your performance metrics in mind make the necessary adjustments to remain competitive, but efficient. Another area where Google provides automation, but again, if you’re in your accounts everyday there’s no need.

Ongoing Research

Google offers a variety of helpful research tools when it comes to mining for new keywords. So use them! It may spark new ideas for your campaign. Think about what themes you may be missing from your target market. It’s rare to see a campaign go from start to finish without needing an infusion of ad groups and keywords. You never know, it could save your campaign.

Search Engine Strategies New York (#SESNY)

What an incredible first day at SES – and for none of the reasons I expected. The day started off with Guy Kawasaki telling us how he spams everyone, yet people love him. The woman 2 seats over from me fell asleep in her chair and was snoring loud enough for 4 rows over to hear. 30 minutes later I found out that she was the lead speaker in the next session I sat in on! Then the first three session breakouts I attended talked about Twitter twice as much as they did search strategy (I proposed a name change to TES over lunch – but the conference went on as SES). I watched a panel on Universal search that included Ask, Yahoo, Live Search and more – but Google was no where to be found. The final session I sat in was incredible – and it was led by CMO’s discussing do’s and dont’s of search…

If you aren’t following me on twitter, you can do so at http://twitter.com/mediatwo and I’ll be live tweeting Day 2 as well. But here’s a few more details on first and last sessions I sat in on:

SES NY Key Note: Guy Kawasaki
Guy kicked off the day with the keynote speech. As he was speaking I was twittering and noticed that he was too… Only he wasn’t near his computer??? As he spoke deeper, he revealed that he spams people, he uses ghost writers, he doesn’t pay attention to anyone that follows him unless they D or @ him. He also revealed his ultra scientific way of coming up with his “non-automated” post-topics: randomly grab links that sound interesting from a couple sites (one being Alltop.com – his own). With all of this information in the palm of my hand – I still choose to follow him on twitter (as do 90,000+ others). I know – it sounds crazy – but you know what – he’s a very likable guy. That, and he revealed some very useful tools that I re-tweeted earlier in the day including:
• www.Twibs.com helps you monitor companies
• www.Retweetist.com Good gauge of how many people are RT you.
• www.epenis.nl. Check out that site! It's your twitter penis size!
• www.adjix.com it shows stats for your links
• www.Twirl.com allows you to monitor multiple twitter accounts in the same window.
• www.cotweet.com is for multiple tweeting companies.
• www.Tynt.com quotes the original source when copied.
• www.Twitterhawk.com "the ultimate spamming tool". Looks for keywords and auto tweets content.
• www.twitterfeed.com allows you to post to others twitter - huge opportunity to build affiliates. It is a custom feature "beg Mario"

Dozen most common search engine mistakes that CMO's make
I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this panel. My objective from this conference was to get a pulse on what CMO’s thought of search and interactive. As immersed as I am personally in interactive strategy, I sometimes find myself talking over clients – and in particular, C-Level types. I went to this session because the panel consisted of top-level marketers from brands such as Ameriprise, World Travel Holdings, Constant Contact, and more – and I felt like this would be a great representation to CMO’s everywhere. Well – if it is – then congratulations CMO’s – you get interactive! The reality is, this was a group of seasoned veterans that understood their marketing mix, and there is a lot that can be learned from them. Below are the 12 mistakes that they pointed out during their session:
1. Failing to set measurable goals.
2. Failing to assign monetary values to each action
3. Assessing the SEM success Solely on a direct marketing model
4. Treating SEO as a project rather than a process
5. Making a #1 ranking your most important objective
6. Focusing on big keywords and forgetting the long-tail
7. Engaging in paid or natural but not both
8. Using your language and not that of your customers
9. Optimizing your web site but not other digital assets
10. Integrate SEM with your other marketing initiatives - don't silo it
11. Failing to bid on terms for which your site already organically ranks high
12. Bidding solely on branded terms

All-in-all – I’m looking forward to day 2! I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m looking forward to it…

Me vs. Adwords

I thought tests were a thing of the past when I graduated college over 2 years ago. Seeing as how I have successfully eluded tests since that time I figured I was in the clear. I was wrong. This coming Tuesday I am scheduled to take the Google Adwords Certification Exam. A test I am told that was forged in the belly of a Pacific-Rim volcano by a breed of Googlers that can only be described as, well, EVIL. A test of might, will and the ability to click on the right radio button enough times to merit a passing percentage. Survivors have told me that if the test does not strip you of your soul it sure as hell will try.

So how have I prepared for my battle with the almighty of online you might ask? I’ve been studying. Totally lame I know, but repeatedly sticking oneself in the abdomen with a cattle prod apparently has no correlation to helping learn search, it just makes one badass. Instead, I’ve been perusing Google’s learning center each day in hopes that my brain can retain enough search data before Tuesday’s throw-down. Not to mention managing a bunch of campaigns. The learning center is a great resource and a good place for reference, but I’ve found the best cerebral saturation, like with most things, comes from hands on experience. Everything from setting up a sensible campaign structure to developing optimization tactics tailored to each of your campaign’s goals. I have really benefited from being exposed to multiple campaigns. I can use methods or tactics associated with one campaign, and either build off those or cultivate a new approach on another.

A general explanation I know, but there are so many ways to achieve your goals in SEM it’s hard to point out one part of the whole. My time is limited, IT nears. Come Tuesday I will awake a common man and hopefully go to bed as a Google Adwords certified man.

Media Two Interactive joins SEMPO

Media Two Interactive is now a Circle Member of SEMPO... In our never ending quest to stay on top of everything search and how it plays well together in the media mix, we have joined the leading professional Search Engine Marketers organization. Coupled with our IAB membership and search committee participation as well as our corporate certification with Google, Media Two is in the enviable position of being able to help define the search engine industry and how it affects the online and offline marketing universe.

Although this is starting to sound more like a press release than a blog post - I really just wanted to keep everyone in the loop of our continued drive to not only educate but to be educated. Too often people put search in a vacuum and assume nothing else matters - when the reality is, there are online and offline events that happen every day that shape the way people think, and ultimately search. Media Two published a case study about a year or so ago that talked about how display advertising can lift your search conversions by over 20% (go to http://www.mediatwo.net/mediatwo-casestudies.html#/Case%20Studies/ and read the one titled "Increase SEM Results"), and just recently, Microsoft Advertising's Atlas division posted a very similar case study for Alltel.

Search is being looked at in all new lights, and there are more and more opportunities for companies that continue to grow and learn - and I'm proud to say Media Two continues to strive to be a leader in the Interactive Media industry with it's dedication to Search Engine Marketing.

“Full Service” Search Marketing

For a couple years now, I have seen a pattern of business/site owners focusing solely on Google AdWords. There are even firms out there (who call themselves a “search engine marketing agency”) that only do Google PPC. If you only manage AdWords accounts, then you can’t really call yourself or your agency a Search Engine Marketing professional(s).

A true search engine marketer understands the value of making sure your business is visible across the major search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN) both organically and paid. Google AdWords is not the end all be all. Now, I do understand is it between 70-80% of the market; however that 20-30% that is made up of Yahoo and MSN still contains millions of searches per day…and quality searches at that…I’ll bash Ask, Looksmart and the other 2nd & 3rd tier engines regarding their click fraud in a later blog maybe ;-)

What marketer would ever say, “I don’t feel like being visible to everyone who actively looks for my products”? Well, if you only run AdWords, that is exactly what you’re saying…that the Yahoo and MSN consumers aren’t worth your time. Assuming you run campaigns across the engines, a benefit is that you could even pick and choose which campaigns you run on which engines. You may find that some product campaigns perform differently on one engine than another…you can then take that information and run search engine-specific campaigns…that is when you have true search engine marketing strategy running on all cylinders.

Also, I realize that along with Google being the leader in the industry, they also have tools for PPC managers that make researching, implementing and optimizing campaigns MUCH easier than their competitors. For that I highly recommend using Google as your sandbox for new campaigns or test initiatives; however don’t just stay inside Google’s world (no matter how bad they are trying to rule it)… once you have the campaign structure set up, move right on into launching on Yahoo and MSN as well. You won’t get the same amount of traffic you get from Google but you’ll ensure your market coverage. Never put all your eggs in one basket…with search engine marketing, you always want to diversify. We preach keyword diversification…so why not preach search engine diversification.