The Big Wave Blog

Got Mobile Advertising? The opportunity is calling you.
All the stars and planets are aligning for the Mobile Advertising battle that will ensue in the coming years. Mobile phone manufacturers continue to improve their products’ multimedia performance and web browsing interfaces. The cellular networks are not far behind in improving network speeds, and are constantly improving download speeds.

Staying ahead of the curve is always a good idea if you want to keep a competitive edge. As in any battle, victory will belong to those who are well-prepared: in this case, equipped with a strategy to take a bite out of the $14 billion dollar (it’s not a typo) mobile advertising market.

Here are some points about Mobile Phone Advertising that should get you thinking…

• It is the most personal form of advertising out there.
• Advertising in this medium will be successful as long as the user feels in control.
• The advertising window is tremendous. (How many hours a day do you have your mobile phone switched on in the same room as you? I’m sure it surpasses the number of hours you browse online or read print media.)
• Small Screen + Mobility = Less time to make a sale, but also tremendous opportunity for geo-targeted ads. Case in point: You are walking home from work and browsing for stock news, when a banner for a dinner discount at the restaurant across the street appears on your phone.
• Japan and the UK already have an edge with their superfast phones and networks, but the US market is catching up. Not surprisingly, BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are among the fastest-growing mobile markets ripe for some targeted mobile advertising.

Q: Who is taking big leaps in this field?
A: Sir Richard Branson (a man living years ahead of his time).
Virgin Mobile created the first “pull” based Mobile Marketing program called Sugar Mama. It’s simple: users earn one minute for every minute they spend rating ads, surveys, or image content. For a lack of a better word, this is Bloody Brilliant Marketing!

What are you doing to get a piece of the Mobile pie?

At Evision, we have a certain affinity for hotel clients. Collectively, we have a lot of experience with hotel management, revenue management, PPC and SEO. So we can run an online hotel marketing campaign like no one you’ve ever seen. This we know for sure. And the money we pull in for our hotel clients bears this out.

But lately, I’ve become a bit disillusioned with the hotel sector. In other industries—like retail, education, real estate—clients want only two things from us: a dedicated team they like and trust, and results that excite them. They are able to appreciate ROI. If we bring in $5k more in monthly revenue compared with a previous vendor, we are well worth an extra $500 in monthly fees. Hotels, by contrast, don’t seem to connect the dots between monthly marketing fees and monthly bookings. They are devoted to keeping “costs” down with no regard for returns. This seems unthinkable to those of us who truly appreciate the wonderfully trackable nature of PPC. Yet, there it is.

Size isn’t everything. Search marketing is young. It’s an industry that only becomes more powerful and effective as new, passionate agencies enter the scene. I’m not going to say that more established companies with larger payrolls don’t have quality work to offer. And I’m not saying go with the guy that incorporated 6 weeks ago in his basement. I am just saying that smaller, nimbler groups are often the ones trying new strategies, working day by day to fine-tune client campaigns. We are not automating bids or letting campaigns run on auto-pilot. We like the trenches and we are getting the best results. And in our case, out of sheer love of the game, we are giving spectacular customer service because the more we talk to our clients, the better we can refine their campaigns.

Basically, I think that Evision and its counterparts in the industry have a lot to offer. Is it a leap of faith for some clients to hire companies with less than 100 employees? Yes, apparently so. But I say it is well worth the risk.

Landing Pages and Multivariate Testing

The most important element of optimizing any landing page is understanding the client’s goals and intentions. Every page on every website needs a goal, and landing pages are no different. In fact, it is probably more important to clearly define your objective or goal for a landing page, because the goal of each landing page is to attract -> engage -> convert -> retain.

Many different types of landing pages are commonly used today, including:

• Static landing pages - coded in HTML
• Dynamic landing pages - coded in .js application
• Application landing pages: allow the user to refine their intentions without leaving the page

What Needs to Be Tested/Optimized:

• Headlines - emotional vs. direct
• Calls to action
• Buttons vs. links
• Hero image - photo vs. illustration
• Copy - emotional or direct
• Bulleted list vs. copy
• Tables, charts
• Lead generation forms

Remember to test only one thing at a time. In addition, the landing page must be kept consistent through all Ad Groups to ensure that it is the landing page, not the keyword set, that is resulting in higher or lower conversion.

Be careful which metric you use to determine which page is most successful. Some landing pages bring in a greater number of leads, but fewer sales. Be sure to track each customer from beginning to end.

There is a host of good products out that allow for multiple landing page testing. One of the best is Google’s free landing page optimizer: www.google.com/WebsiteOptimizer. It allows marketers to perform split A/B testing and multivariate testing on landing pages.

SEO & Social Media Marketing

I was not very impressed with this session. There was very little unique knowledge. Randy Fishkin gave a history of social media and the major social media sites. Neil Patel provided some case studies from his work with social media marketing for major brands. Barbara Boser provided some tips for getting started in social media marketing, and how to be come a top StumbleUpon user.

Top Social Media Tips:

• Use the same profile for each social media site you use. This allows users who use many different social media sites to easily remember you.
• Don’t continually Digg or Stumble your own site. This will easily get your buried, and will have a major negative affect.
• In order to be a great at social media, you have to interact with the community.
• Don’t just target the top users. They will notice this and bury your stories.

Michael Gray presented on Twitter. Major brands are using Twitter as an update for specials and packages on their products or services. It can also be a valuable reputation management tool.

Branding and Search

This was an informative session highlighting important aspects about Branding and Search and how they interact. A marketing program in which they work together has a very positive outcome on brand-building and ROI.

Here are some highlights:

1. Sheer Volume of Searches

• 60% of all in-store shoppers are researching the product online.
• 86% of online shoppers are researching the product online.

2. Brand Advocates

• Learn to embrace them. They talk about your brand without you having to pay them to do so. 50% of this group writes about their purchases online. They have major influence on others buying similar products and services.
• Search can be used to reach this group and harvest their marketing power.

4. Passionistas

• This was an interesting term for people who really love 1. Themselves and 2. Love the product that loves them back.
• Reaching Passionistas through search can result in building tremendous buzz and getting the marketing message across.

3. Awareness – Consideration – Purchase

It was pointed out that search marketers are heavily focused on the last stage of the cycle by going after people ready to buy. One explanation I can give on behalf of the search marketer is that short-term ROI is top priority for a lot of clients.

It is our job to convince our clients that they should be focusing on building the brand in conjunction with ROI.

Ok, the holiday season has passed. With February quickly approaching, it’s time to reevaluate your PPC marketing campaign. So, stop bidding for top placement, and stop adding every phrase from the Google Keyword tool! It is time to get back to the basics, and build a solid paid search campaign strategy for 2008.

Follow these 5 easy steps in 2008 to better optimize your pay-per-click campaign.

1. Audit your inventory. Before analyzing your paid search account, you need to know which items/services need increased sales or need the most attention. This will help target your keyword list and ad copy, as well as create a stronger bidding strategy.

2. Analyze your 2007 paid search campaigns, paying extra close attention to your cost per acquisition for each item and keyword. Note which products/services have the lowest cost per acquisition, and which ones have the highest. This information will help you determine which landing pages need more optimization, or which keywords need to be cut.

3. Test, Test, and Retest Ad Copy. When was the last time you changed your ad copy? You should make monthly changes to ad copy, highlighting new promotions and testing different calls to action.

4. Optimize your campaign for Quality Score. Make sure your keywords are properly grouped and have correct match types, write strong ad copy, and land users on relevant pages. This will boost click-thru-rate, increase return visitors, and improve quality scores. Hence, you will get better placement on the SERPs at a lower CPC.

5. Reorganize your campaign. Group long-tail, targeted keywords and high-conversion keywords into their own accounts with their own monthly budgets. Make a 2nd account targeting broader keywords, focused on creating buzz and building brand awareness. Typically, these keywords will have a high cost per acquisition, but they are equally important for building brand recognition within your industry.

Also, if your PPC is outsourced to an internet marketing agency, then make it a monthly or semi-monthly habit of speaking with your Paid Search Analyst. Keep them up to date on the latest promotions, offline marketing efforts, and any email marketing campaigns that might be coming in the near future. This communication will help them estimate possible traffic spikes and properly place you within the market.