Tag Archive for 'internet'

The Evolution of Keyword Length in Search Marketing

Published by
Matthias
at May 28, 2009 in Paid Search. 0 Comments

The evolution of keywords has progressed as users have become more specific in their requirements.

Our societies are rapidly being broken down into small areas of experts. People work in more specialised groups and more specific fields than ever before. The web supports this development, streamlining workflows and establishing world-wide connections to very specific information or niche areas of interest.

This trend can easily be applied to the commercial sector. If you view the web as a global marketplace, niche products also dispose of relevant sales potentials. Best practice example: Amazon. It achieves the majority of its profits through rare, long search term combinations. In the beginning of Search Engine Marketing (SEM), competition was relatively small. Today thousands of vendors offer essentially the same books, shoes or laptops and companies struggle to position themselves in terms of cost and creativity.

Expanded ranges make refined searches necessary in order to find the desired product. Additionally, internet users have become more skilled in using search engines and use more accurate terms to arrive at their destination faster. This development could even be partially owed to the relatively low precision of search engines. If “eBay Smartphone” does not bring the desired result, a search for “iphone 3g eBay app download” could do the trick.

Statistics not only show that the length of search terms is increasing (see bottom graph) but also that the percentage of searches with only one or two words decreases in relation to the total amount of searches. Searches consisting of 7 or 8 words are constantly increasing.

Interestingly, the number of total searches rises faster than the number of displayed paid ads, which means that the ad coverage on user’s searches is becoming a lot scarcer. Easy money if you manage to cover those complex search terms with your campaign.

From the first search for basic information to a more concrete purchase intention, search engine users may switch back and forth between generic expressions and long tail search terms. If you lose them on their course, you cannot influence their buying decision any longer. And if they use long tail keywords, they generally already have a more specific idea of the product they are looking to buy.

Bidding on long tail terms therefore offers two decisive advantages: on one hand, conversions are more likely due to the fact that the potential customer has already thrown a glance at a unique product. On the other hand, they are much easier and cheaper to rank for than general terms because the competition on that particular expression is a lot less: a better conversion rate for a lower cost.

However, these numerous keyword variants do not only need to be generated, but also managed, and their cost-effectiveness has to be proven. At Traffic Brand, for example, we use a custom-made system to identify and efficiently manage promising keywords to create additional value for our clients. We are prepared for this new trend and very curious to see how search engine usage will continue to change.

Is Google becoming an Agency?

Published by
Jan
at March 12, 2008 in Paid Search. 0 Comments

Yesterday, Google finalised their acquisition deal of DoubleClick, a company that offers an awesome range of online marketing products to advertisers, publishers and agencies.

One immediate question comes to mind:
What does it mean for all other agencies and Adwords advertisers?

In my opinion, it sure looks like Google is trying to position themselves as an agency. Just look at features on Adwords like the Conversion Optimizer, Budget Optimizer, etc. Now that they have a full blown campaign management system at their disposal, I think it might become increasingly difficult to sell bid and campaign management tools, etc as Google releases them for free on Adwords. This means that agencies will have to make greater effort to position themselves as marketing specialists and not just service providers with great tools. More companies will most likely do or try to do their marketing campaigns in-house.

If you take a step back and look at the internet and how it has become more user friendly over the past couple of years, especially with the immersion of web 2.0, one can start to see a trend. A few years ago, companies had to pay fortunes to get websites done for them and pay even more to have a content management system behind it. These days, with hundreds of web development tools, content management systems and blogs freely available, it has become much easier and cheaper to get your company online. I believe the same is happening with the marketing of these sites. It’s fast becoming much easier to effectively manage your own campaigns, etc. with the launch of every new product. The difference is that when you want an exceptional website or an exceptional marketing campaign, you still and will always need a specialist with passion for what he or she does, in order to make the project stand out from the rest.

In the long run I believe there will always be a need for specialist online marketing agencies as online marketing is not a science, but rather an art form, which needs a passionate artist to make it a big success.

Does the South African Market understand Online Marketing?

Published by
Mandy
at February 21, 2008 in Paid Search. 2 Comments

Of course there are several companies who have finally caught on to the worldwide trend of transferring a large percentage of marketing dollars to online channels. But as a whole I would say that there is still a severe lack of comprehensive understanding of the opportunities that online marketing and specifically PPC can offer South African companies.

I was pretty shocked yesterday when I spoke to the marketing director of one of the biggest car rental companies in South Africa when she said that she already has “an online strategy because she has a web designer”. EEK! Dangerous territory for a travel related company. Especially when the web is the preferred channel for 50% of UK users searching for financial and travel items. [Source: Equi-Media, February 2006] and that an industry study revealed that nearly 75% of travel buyers used search engines before making a purchase. [DoubleClick / Performics / comScore, “Search Before the Purchase”, March 2005].

Whether your travel company is an online operator or not it stands to reason that an effective online marketing strategy is vital to your survival.

I also spoke with someone who has an inside interest in one of the major food and beverage retailers in South Africa who was also at his wits end trying to convince the big marketing honchos of the need for and the effectiveness of search marketing.

It is amazing to me that anyone in marketing has no interest or understanding of online marketing channels. Even if they are over 50 and have to get their children to set-up their online banking profiles…one would think that on a professional level they would hire a young online marketing professional who could source and manage relevant agencies to establish their brand’s online profile.

These two incidents revealed to me just how much revenue and indeed national and international exposure big corporates in SA are missing out on.

It is my opinion that the South African companies who are already operating in the online space or who are considering including it in their marketing mix in the next year are going to have a massive advantage over their competitors who are too intimidated by online marketing to even consider its worth. These ostriches who bury their heads do not realise that online advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry already in the US and that every day they shy away from the leap to online is lost revenue and lost branding opportunities.

There has never been a more targeted channel that provides such massive opportunity for feedback on consumer preferences and purchasing habits. Wakey wakey Marketing head honchos!