The second search marketing intensive session at ACCM 2008 was all about how to maximize your PPC search engine marketing efforts. The speakers were Ryan Gibson of the Rimm-Kaufman Group and Glenn Edelman, VP of marketing at The Wine Enthusiast.

Much of the initial advice covered the basics of keyword research and calculating ROI, but there was also a wealth of detail in the presentation that you don't usually hear in a typical PPC presentation. For instance, many people know that you have to track ad performance to determine the ROI sweet spot, but how far do you usually go with it? Do you track seasonality? Do you know the differences in ad performance according to day of the week? It's this kind of analysis that can lead you to greater ad refinement and thus a better ROI.

A lot of people treat keyword research as an event, but it's really a process, which the presenters instilled in the audience by showing that the search volume for a keyword plus the word review has gone up dramatically over time; people are increasingly using Google for product research. Keywords and search engine user trends evolve rapidly with time, so you have to keep an eye on search trends and regularly re-evaluate not only your keywords, but also your ad performance.

The session offered other excellent advanced details such as how to budget your advertising spend after you've determined your most valuable keywords -- "As much as is profitable!" That sounds like obvious advice until you put it into the context of a typical, strictly limited business budget. If you're doing more conversions and making more money for every dollar you put into your PPC campaign, why wouldn't you keep plowing money into it until you reach a point where it drops off? I think a lot of marketers overlook that simple truth.

First off, I must apologize for the radio silence for a number of weeks. Over half the month is gone already and I hadn't blogged once! Very naughty! I had a good excuse though -- I was super-busy with my move from New Zealand back home to the States. (Yes, that's right, back in beautiful Madison Wisconsin, in time to enjoy a second summer this year!) Now that the move's done, and all my conference hopping -- SMX, Internet Retailer, SES Toronto, and various AMA speaking engagements (last one is this Friday, btw) -- is nearly at an end (at least for a few weeks), I can take a breath and get back into blogging. Back to the point of this post...

Last month I had the pleasure of interviewing Marylynne Tosyali, who is the Director of Online Marketing at Direct Marketing Services Inc., the company behind Wards.com, HomeVisions.com, and several other online stores. We talked about their foray into blogging, about GravityStream (Disclosure: yes, they happen to be a client of ours), about paid search successes, and a bunch of other search related issues. It was a great interview, and I'm pleased to share with you the 45 minute audio recording...

Download / Listen to the interview (MP3, 44 minutes, 10 megs)

This is the latest in a series of podcasts for the American Marketing Association's "Hot Topic: Search Engine Marketing" conference in Chicago.

Marylynne will be speaking at the conference this Friday (June 22nd). I'll be speaking there too, btw! :-)

There's still time to register. It's going to be a great turnout. Hope to see you there!

In this hour-long podcast, my conversation with Alan Rimm-Kaufman of paid search agency Rimm-Kaufman Group covers topics of paid search, natural search, books, economics and incentives. We dig deep into paid search, and Alan shares some real gems -- from quality score gotchas to daily caps to metrics. It was a fascinating discussion.

This is the latest in a series of podcasts for the American Marketing Association's "Hot Topic: Search Engine Marketing" conference. Both Alan and I will be speaking for the AMA this Friday in NYC and next month (June 22nd) in Chicago. (There's still time to register for either one, btw.)

Download / Listen to the interview (MP3, 55 minutes, 13 megs)

I just had a very enjoyable dinner with my colleague Alan Rimm-Kaufman, founder of paid search firm, Rimm-Kaufman Group. We always have such thought-provoking conversations whenever we meet up. This evening was no exception.

At one point our conversation turned to Microsoft. What can they do about Google and Yahoo eating their lunch? Microsoft has become an "also ran" in the paid search space. They are so far behind in paid search (organic search, too, for that matter), that it's going to take a miracle for them to pull out from behind. Or not? Could they perhaps launch a devastating nuclear attack against Google, wiping out the entire paid search industry in the process? Believe it or not, the answer is "yes," and the approach would be surprisingly simple and inexpensive for Microsoft to implement...

Alan described Paul Bryant's "doomsday" scenario to me as follows (hat tip to Alan, btw)... Microsoft simply introduces a Google ad blocker to Windows (which works in IE and Firefox) and pushes it out through a Windows Update. And here's the kicker -- Microsoft turns it ON by default! Of course they will also have to block their own ads, so they don't get nailed under anti-trust laws.

Scary.

This Thursday I am presenting a webinar, "Search Marketing Essentials for Online Retailers," along with George Michie of Rimm-Kaufman Group, for MarketingProfs.com. It starts at noon Eastern.

It is free for MarketingProfs Premium Plus members and $99 for others (although it is a better deal if you just sign up for Premium Plus membership for $299 then you can gain access to a whole library of past virtual seminars and can attend upcoming ones for a year).

We will be talking about...

• strategies for optimizing for your head terms,
• strategies for optimizing for the Long Tail,
• strategies for competing with larger better funded competitors,
• ...and much more.

Sign up now or become a Premium Plus member.

Last week I conducted a fascinating interview with SEM expert Alan Rimm-Kaufman. You can find the output of it here. Alan made many great points; this one, regarding common mistakes in Paid Search, really stood out:

Typical mistakes made by newcomers to paid search include using an insufficiently large term list, not understanding the strengths and limitations of their tracking systems, not customizing copy to match the search phrase, not having a firm grasp of their online acquisition economics, and not bidding wisely.

Typical mistakes made by more experienced search marketers include not separating their brand from their non-brand results in reporting and bidding; not understanding the (non)incremental value of their affiliate programs; mishandling dayparting; and overbidding on broad generic terms.

I encourage you to read the full interview.

BTW, Alan isn't the only large brain over at the Rimm-Kaufman Group. George Michie justed posted some excellent tips on giving your PPC campaigns a check-up, which should prove helpful in exposing your own PPC mistakes.

Got some nice holiday paid search optimization tips in an email campaign from LookSmart. They started out stating the obvious, that the holidays are a crucial time. But here's a good stat to drive the point home: according to a WebTrends study, one out of five retailers surveyed by WebTrends said that the holiday season (October 1-December 31) accounts for 50% or more of their annual revenue.

Here are the tips they sent:

Add holiday keywords: Mix seasonal messaging with your brand to capitalize on how people search (e.g. holiday lawn decorations and Christmas sweaters).

Update copy: Make your regular copy compelling to holiday shoppers. According to Shopzilla's 2004 Online Holiday Scoop Study, half of online shoppers reported that "free shipping" was extremely or very important in selecting an online retailer when making a gift purchase. Once Christmas has come and gone, your work isn't through. Reach out to sale-shoppers to take advantage the post-holiday spike, see Hitwise data below.

Adjust keyword bids: Competitors bid aggressively during the holidays. Make sure you're getting the placement you want, but don't let the cost-per-click increase affect your ability to get real return on your ad spend. We suggest you track results down to a keyword-level.

Control spend: Use campaign tools to help predict and control spend.

Chart of weekly all sites market share in 'All Categories', based on visits.
Generated on 9/24/05. Copyright 2005 (c) 'Hitwise Pty Ltd.'

"In 2004, the trend in visits to the top 10 apparel sites increased substantially leading up to Christmas, experiencing a pre-holiday peak during the the week ending December 11. Additionally, there was a post-holiday peak during the week after Christmas, as shoppers went online to redeem holiday gift cards, spend gift money or take advantage of post-holiday sales. This shows that the holiday season online ends not the week before Christmas, as would be expected, but the first week in January."
--LeeAnn Prescott, Senior Research Analyst, Hitwise