Search News: Marketers Love Data Too
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Written By Noah Mallin | May 4, 2009 | Share This
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One of the big selling points of search marketing and increasingly, social media, is the rich data available from tracking relatively precise measurements such as the number of people who visit a website after it’s been optimized and how they get there, or the clickthrough rate on a paid search ad.
The frustrating part for search marketers is that sometimes clients are loathe to share their own internal data - information that can sometimes hold the potential for more effective and creative search and social media campaigns. This can range from bedrock data such as website traffic to information such as a regional breakdown of top selling products or the age and gender mix of certain customers.
Why is this sometimes so difficult to get from some clients? There are a few reasons:
1. It can create more work for someone. Often that someone has nothing to do directly with online advertising or marketing and resents the imposition. In very large organizations operational data can be controlled by a multitude of different units, all of whom have to be convinced to lift the lid on the box.
2. Publicly traded companies are wary of too many eyeballs having too much too look at. It’s a reasonable worry. In an atmosphere in which unfounded rumors can profoundly affect stock prices giving outsiders access to valuable data can be heartburn inducing despite the presence of an NDA.
3. Suspicious minds. Some partners come into a relationship expecting the worst, it’s rare but it does happen. The thinking is that if the marketer is able to benchmark and see results progress with the client’s data, they will use these numbers to build a better case for their own effectiveness. While ultimately this is what anyone would do, access to data allows marketers to actually see what works and what doesn’t much more quickly.
4. Territory. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of relevant data in the hands of departments or business units that prefer not to cede any more information than necessary to others inside or outside their hierarchy.
Most of our clients do understand how more data about their businesses can be helpful to how we design and refine their search and social media campaigns. Sometimes they don’t see the direct connection between data like seasonal sales fluctuations or local billboard placements right away but invariably once we demonstrate how this can be incorporated into campaign strategy the door gets opened wider and more figures and facts come marching through.
So just as our clients are frequently delighted by the myriad of information we are able to generate from their campaigns, we are like fat kids in a candy store when it comes to detailed reports on seeming esoterica like what color hairdryers customers tend to purchase most offline and in what regions of the country, or which manufacturing facility is the most profitable.
Simply put, the more we understand our client’s businesses from the inside, the better we’re able to help them achieve their goals and identify new opportunities.
Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them here or check out Reprise Media folks on Twitter.
Topics: Advertising: Offline, Advertising: Online, SEM: Paid Search, SEO, Search: How-To, Search: News, Social Media, Web Analytics |