Promoted Tweets: And Now A Word From Your Sponsor

April 14th, 2010

In an effort to “optimize value before profit,” co-founder Biz Stone has explained, Twitter has intentionally kept the traditional web advertising model at arm’s length. But yesterday the micro blog FINALLY announced its new ad platform: Promoted Tweets. As we await the release of additional details scheduled for later this week, we do know that user searches will trigger these ads to appear at the top of that users timeline as a traditional Tweet. Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, and Virgin America will be among the first to launch campaigns.

Interestingly, the lives of these Sponsored Tweets are reliant on user engagement in a whole new way. “If users don’t respond …by re-tweeting, favoriting, or replying… [the ads] will be pulled from the search results,” PC World reports, adding that “only one promoted tweet will be displayed per search results page.” This almost puts one in the mind of how Google rewards PPC and organic search results with PageRank and Quality Score based on relevancy and activity. Biz Stone insists that these Promoted Tweets should be useful to users, not burdensome and disruptive and some have noted that the limited screen real estate could make for very expensive ads.

Comparisons to Twitters new platform have been to that of radio ads: you’re “listening” to the conversations of your friends (and pundits you may follow) and BOOM! Virgin America chimes in with their two cents. Then more chatter from friends and pundits, seemingly uninterrupted. The difference here is that, unlike radio ads, Twitter ads are more present (read, persistent) and will contain links – way more effective than radio ads. It’s true that these ads will be easy to ignore but in considering Twitters unprecedented engagement and interactivity users will end up reading them because they are so ingrained in the experience. Promoted Tweets may even be confused with “regular” tweets as “not a single ‘ad’ in our Promoted Tweets platform isn’t already an organic part of Twitter,” says Stone. “This is distinct from both traditional search advertising and more recent social advertising.” Promoted Tweets will also appear organically in the timelines of those who already follow a particular brand. See below for our first look at a Promoted Tweet!

Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media by Lindsey E. | | 0 Comments

Top Takeaways from SES NY

March 26th, 2010

Here are my top discoveries from SES NY ordered from “Hey! Good idea that’s interesting” to “Boom! What was that?! That was my mind being blown!”

No two advertisers have the same attribution model. Use attribution to see what media mix gives the highest ROI for your product.

Don’t just measure a video’s success on CTR – do an engagement analysis. How many people started the video? How many people hit the :30 mark, 1 minute? How many people rewound, fast forwarded, paused?

When it comes to link building it’s more important what others say about you than what you say about yourself. This is true in real life too by the way

Successful link building comes from finding the authority on your keywords, seeing who links to them, and then getting those sites to link back to you.

CTR increased 94% if the user was exposed to social media before searching.

SEO results are moving closer and closer to the fold. Search for ‘lamp table’ and expand all the product boxes, you’ll see what I mean.

YouTube is the #2 search engine.

4% of internet users never search. Don’t ask me what they’re doing. I guess they have a URL directory in their brain which updates in real time.

And….a glimpse into a crystal ball……There’s an app for everything why would anyone open a browser?!

Posted in Events, Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media, Video Ads by Erin M. | | 0 Comments

Facebook Officially Graduates to Marketing Channel Status

March 3rd, 2010

On Wednesday March 3^rd, Facebook and Omniture announced a new platform for businesses utilizing Facebook as a promotional medium. By joining forces, the two companies can provide marketers using the increasingly prevalent advertising and social medium with the ability to analyze its impact. The two companies will begin by automating the media buying process and then allow companies to better analyze their viewership with a handful metrics. Ultimately, Omniture will help companies utilizing Facebook to reach specific users based on segments.

By utilizing Omniture tools such as SearchCenter Plus, interested companies can buy ads similar to those found in a more traditional SEM function. Also, other tools in the Facebook/Omniture arsenal will allow marketers to identify and reward their loyal customers from a comprehensive dashboard.

The prominence of Facebook as a marketing channel shouldn’t be surprising since it is now the second most utilized online service below Google with 133 million users. By achieving the number two spot, advertisers are typically confident of the ROI they can expect by investing money into Facebook as a marketing channel. Now, with the improved analytics, it might be easier to extract incremental marketing dollars from the C-Suite by flashing some strong preliminary numbers.

Posted in Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media by Peter Figueredo | | 0 Comments

Retail Rebounds- Fourth Quarter SEM Spend Recap

February 9th, 2010

Performance marketing agency Efficient Frontier released a research report outlining the overall performance of the search marketing space in the fourth quarter of 2009. These results have specific implications in terms of the strength of the economic rebound and the health of industries that favor certain engines over others.

The indicator of fourth quarter performance is always retail, due to holiday shopping. In 2009, retail search marketing spend grew 17% year over year and 46% quarter over quarter. Cost per click gains were strong sequentially (quarter over quarter), however year over year they remained down about 9%. This suppressed potential growth in spend for the quarter. Year over year click-through rates have dropped over 40%, but many surmise this is due to Google and other engines simplifying the comparative shopping process within the search engine results page. Conversions per click year over year remained flat.

Outside of the retail sector, the consumer base is still leery about the economic recovery and how freely they should be spending their money. Spend on travel has dropped 20% year over year and 25% compared to Q3. Also, the impact of Cash for Clunkers wasn’t lasting, but did raise CPC 7% year over year encouraging a 2% raise in spend by the auto industry.

In Q4, Google’s share of clicks rose to 74.4% while Yahoo! lost 3.4% dropping their share to 21% and Bing held steady at 4.6%. In terms of spend, Google’s share rose to 74.5%, Yahoo! lost .5% (a strengthening CPC at Yahoo! offset the loss of clicks) and Bing dropped slightly .2% to 5.1%. For the retail segment alone, Google was the overwhelming favorite with 82.7% of spend; however, in the finance segment, Google only claimed a 60.1% share due to Yahoo!’s market leading finance software.

In the upcoming year, Efficient Frontier predicts 30% growth for Bing, which would give the engine 6-7% share of clicks. The performance marketing firm also predicts 15-20% growth in SEM spend for 2010. This growth is to be driven by further economic recovery in addition to incremental increases in online marketing budgets.

Posted in Search Marketing by Peter Figueredo | | 0 Comments

Catch the NETexponent team at SMX in Santa Clara, California March 2nd- 4th

January 29th, 2010

Before forming a client relationship with the Search Marketing Expo, we at NETexponent had been attendees of the leading search conference for years. This convention, produced by Third Door Media, always attracts highly distinguished speakers, and SMX West-Santa Clara will not disappoint. This year’s keynote speaker, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, will bring his jovial personality and exceptional brand of technology leadership to set the stage for a highly educational and network-enriching three day experience.

In addition to Mr. Ballmer, team members from Google, Yahoo!, and Youtube (amongst others) will speak on behalf of the most knowledgeable leaders in the industry. Fear not, however, sessions are clearly labeled and expertly tailored to fit any experience level so that all visitors leave feeling educated and inspired, not bored or overwhelmed.

The NETexponent team has always found that SMX offers sessions to match any interest and an exhibition hall to generate quality leads- not just visitors looking for free stuff (although you won’t leave empty handed). Meet us at the preshow meet-and-greet or during one of the more structured networking events.

All in all, we would love to catch up with you there, so take advantage of the early bird pricing to save up to $350. To get more conference details and information about signing up for an attendance pass, visit http://tiny.cc/Meet_NETex_at_SMX.

And if you are as passionate about SMX as we are, click here to join the affiliate program.

See you in Santa Clara!

Posted in Meet Us, NETexponent Clients, Search Marketing by Peter Figueredo | | 0 Comments

Top PPC Price Recorded In The U.S.

October 26th, 2009

Last week I read that the highest CPC (cost-per-click) price in the U.S. last month was recorded at $99.44. According to AdGooroo’s Search Engine Advertising Update: Q309, “mesothelioma” sold for $99.44 on Google and $60.68 on Yahoo for the number one ranking. The number one word on MSN was of a different persuasion altogether: “auto insurance comparison” for $55.20 per click.

First of all, if you’re like me you didn’t know what mesothelioma was. The –oma reminded me of melanoma so I knew it was probably bad, but meso- just brought to mind the Mesozoic period and dinosaurs, and I was willing to bet it didn’t mean dinosaur attack. It is, in fact, a deadly lung cancer caused largely by asbestos exposure. Law firms have been bidding on the term because of the increased number of law suits surrounding the issue.

As interesting as that is, $99.44 per click? Is it worth it, even for law firms? What kind of a return would you see on such high CPCs?

You could argue that the possible millions of dollars a law firm could take in successfully representing a mesothelioma sufferer should offset the cost to bring those new defendants to the firm, but there are a lot of variable factors: the size of the firm, exactly how they make their revenue, their budget on these keywords, and how well they convert, for example. Though instinct might tell you a $99.44 CPC is way too high to ever be profitable, AdGooroo predicts the average overall CPC to stay constant through 2010, while keywords drift in and out of the highest price list. “Mesothelioma” may not continue to go for top dollar, but if it and other keywords sell for such high CPCs I would guess that advertisers are seeing sustainable results at the time they are willing to bid at that price.

To make a comparison, let’s say your average CPC is between 60 cents and $2, and your average revenue from a single conversion ranges from $50 to close to $1,000. For argument’s sake, assuming a 2% conversion rate and 1,000 clicks and using the midpoints of the two ranges mentioned, 1,000 clicks cost you $1,300. 20 of those 1,000 clicks will convert, bringing in $10,500 in revenue. Your ROAS is almost 708%. All else being equal except the CPC and the average revenue per conversion, a $100 CPC would require revenue per conversion to average $40,400 to maintain the same ROAS.

Looking at it that way, it seems it could be reasonable to pay such a high CPC. Not every conversion will bring millions of dollars into the law firm, but you know how attorney’s fees add up! It doesn’t seem like such a stretch to rack up $40,000 from a new client.

AdGooroo suggests that the paid search industry is maturing: a lot of consolidation has occurred over the years among engines and even in ad space on each page of search results. As the changes in the PPC industry slow, advertisers have had time to catch up and become secure in their strategies. Most of these advertisers are spending more money on fewer search engines than they did in the past, so if they’ve figured out that a $100 CPC is working why not go for it? Let’s just hope the CPC on this particular keyword drops over time—the fewer people with mesothelioma the better. My prediction for the next keyword to top the list? “Dinosaur attacks.”

Posted in Search Marketing by Leslie V. | | 0 Comments

Search Engine Strategies NYC Features NETexponent

February 23rd, 2009

I am happy to announce that NETexponent CEO, Peter Figueredo, has just been asked to join an SES panel at the upcoming NYC show.

So if you are attending SES NYC feel free to stop by and enjoy his panel (described below) on Wednesday March 25th 4 – 5pm

Dealing With Affiliates: A Roadmap to Success
Join this panel for a no-holds-barred discussion where performance marketing’s top contenders square off. As SEM evolves, marketers find themselves competing head-on with affiliates. Marketers want more leads/sales, increased affiliate-generated leads/sales, and less cannibalization of search campaigns. How can this be achieved in a world filled with increasingly hostile rhetoric on both sides? Join a panel of experts as they break silence on taboo issues and work through the finer points. You’ll walk away with fresh, new perspective and the ability to collaborate profitably.

Moderator:
Jeffrey Rohrs, VP, Marketing, ExactTarget

Speakers:
Kristopher Jones, President & CEO, Pepperjam
Jeff Ferguson, Director of Online Marketing, Napster
Lori Weiman, CEO, The Search Monitor
Peter Figueredo, CEO, NETexponent

Posted in Events, Meet Us, Search Marketing by Peter Figueredo | | 1 Comments

Search-Based Keyword Tool Is Cool

November 20th, 2008

Right away, I’ll tell you that you should add the new Google Search-Based Keyword Tool to your go-to armory of keyword research solutions.

In a sort of Copernican way, the new Google keyword tool looks at what already exists on your site and pulls out relevant searchable keywords, which sets it apart from your average run-of-the-mill keyword list building tools.

What’s really cool about the search-based keyword tool is that it lets you sign into your AdWords account. Once you do this and enter a website into the word-box, it queries your current keyword mix and populates an extensive list of keywords that are not currently existent in your account. This is a great thing for marketers who have spent countless hours thinking, “Okay, I’m buying thousands of keywords, but what else am I missing?”

There’s also a small competitive advantage to the search based keyword tool, since it lets you enter any website. Even though it only returns 100 results if you are not signed into AdWords, that’s still 100 more competitive insights than you had before using it.

Posted in Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Testing/Optimization by Peter Figueredo | | 0 Comments

7 Minutes in SEM Heaven

November 19th, 2008

For those of you who are not search marketing experts yet, I’d like to share with you a few tips and some quick fixes that will improve your account and can be figured out in 7 minutes or less. Please note that these are more beginner tips. In addition, this applies directly to Google, but can also be used to help with other search engines like Yahoo and MSN. When you are done, you will feel like you’ve accomplished a lot and are in a nice happy place.

Heaven

Let’s focus on three key areas:

Campaign settings
Keyword match types
Keyword bid optimization

1. Campaign Settings

Check your campaign settings and ask yourself the following questions:

Are my geo-targeting settings correct? If you are selling a product that only ships within the United States, don’t target “All Countries and Locations.” I know it sounds simple, but I can’t tell you how many accounts I’ve seen that have wasted dollars on such a careless mistake.
Are my networks and bidding settings correct? Keep search and content separate…always. If one is checked, then other should not be. It’s a major money waster to not separate search and content campaigns. Refer to a more in-depth explanation in this blog post about Google Content Network Best Practices.
Is my daily budget big enough? Review the daily budgets of all your campaigns. It’s possible you might need to shift things around a bit. Your campaigns with the best conversion-driving keywords should get the most budget dollars allocated to them. You don’t want these campaigns turning off prematurely, because it could mean a huge loss in revenue.

2. Keyword Match Types

Ask yourself:

Which match types am I currently using? Which should I be using?

Think about your search terms. If you are only buying broad match keywords, you need to change this strategy right away. Ideally, you should do some keyword research and buy long-tail terms in both exact and phrase match. As a quick fix, however, you can copy and paste your entire keyword inventory into other match types in AdWords Editor. Buying multiple match types is a way of making your keyword mix more efficient, but be careful setting up the different bid amounts. If your broad match keyword bid is higher than your exact and phrase keywords, then it will be triggered and most likely have a higher average CPC. Also, if you are not using negative match keywords to block off irrelevant traffic, you are making a pretty big booboo as well. Learn more about match types.

3. Keyword Bid Optimization

Run a keyword report covering the last few months. Download the report into Excel, and look for 2 big things that might stand out:

High cost keywords – Sort keywords by cost and pick out any keywords that have not had conversions in the last few months but have spent a lot of money. For example, a keyword with $2,568 in spend and zero sales is a pretty good clue that it should be paused. If they have had a conversion or two but the cost per conversion is still pretty high, you might considering lowering the bid.
Low cost conversions – Look at the keywords with the most conversions and lowest cost. Are they in a high enough position? Can they be even higher? If the cost per conversion is really low, you might want to raise bids on these keywords for higher positions and see if it increases volume.