March 14, 2008

A unique view into the marketing world:

Search and display, once considered two different species, are now best used augmenting one another. If you have a new concept, phrase or positioning you'd like to establish display help communicate that before people search - particularly if the words or phrases are memorable. "Get your degree in pjs" or "law is not just for lawyers" are two recent examples. . If your positioning campaign is successful, people will remember you for a much longer time than the in-market flight dates. Thus, search should continue well past the campaign dates.
Paid search (SEM) must have relevant content as the pay off and organic search (SEO) must have relevance to begin with. As noted in a recent iMedia article "unpaid natural results satisfy user intent on a personal, non-advertorial level" while paid campaigns are advertisements and often tweak the landing page for best performance. This distinction often manifests itself in different metrics. In the end the two aspects of search are simply tools to achieve the business objectives. Don't let metrics cause a split in the objective.
The big-three issues this year are: local, multi-channel and engagement. A review of articles and posts consistently raises these points. While local often refers to search and multi-channel is discussed in terms of attribution and engagement is the buzz of interactive marketers - they point to the real objective of marketing: align solutions and needs to everyone's mutual benefit.
Beware the 'accidental influentials' and the tipping point. Duncan Watts of 'big seed marketing' and now of Yahoo! argues in a fastcompany article that ideas don't spread out from one or two key people and the idea of engineering a breakout is a waste of money. His research suggests that the average Joe is more likely to start a chain reaction than a super-connected.
Lead generation landing pages should be treated as a manufacturing problem -- with thousands of variations of the process what are the most critical to improving performance? The 'design of experiments' (DOE) approach developed in factories and used for decades by psychologists and market researchers belongs in the arsenal of every lead generation program. MarketingSherpa often reports case studies with strong results: the use of trial software increased conversions 85% and a search/landing page program increased conversions 280%.
A simple concept needs to be converted into at least four executions online. How an idea is expressed on the landing page, on web page titles, in PPC ads, and in email subject lines must balance the three legged stool of intent, usage, and expectations. It isn't always easy writing the copy for different channels to get the best performance and still maintain the central theme of the campaign. Email is about self-interest and curiosity, pages are more informational and news while PPC needs to cut through with both news/facts and raising interest.
Retailing doesn't mean having a store: A recent DMA report suggests that over 40% of retailers don't actually have a store. And 50% of catalog orders are done online.
The Traveler IQ Challenge sponsored by Travelpod is good example of a widget that supports the brand. Great contest for the office or the bar.