SEM: Paid Search
SEM and Social Media: Message to Non-Profit Google Grant Recipients – We’re Ready to Help You Pro Bono
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 23, 2008 | Share This
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I have a lot of friends who work for non-profit organizations, and I don’t just mean the local Starbucks. When their organization receives a big grant it’s a huge cause for celebration, especially if the grant can be used to seed other potential donation points.
As part of Google’s avoidance-of-evildoing philosophy (see number 6) they have a program called Google Grants which they describe as “…a unique in-kind advertising program. It harnesses the power of our flagship advertising product, Google AdWords, to non-profits seeking to inform and engage their constituents online.”
Cool stuff and a great way to connect with potential donors and other interest groups, but what often happens at even the biggest non-profit organization is that because of a lack of resources or expertise or both, they find themselves unable to maximize the effectiveness of their Google Grants. Sometimes this means only being able to spend a portion of their available grant each month, other times it means bidding on keywords that aren’t getting the kind of return that they might be hoping for.
SEM: Searching to Spend — Getting Online Can Get it Done Offline for Retailers
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 22, 2008 | Share This
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The popular conception of search marketing from a sales objective is a customer on a search result page clicking your link (paid or organic) and following it to an online point of purchase. There ain’t nothing wrong with that, as Amazon.com and eBay can attest. Brick and mortar stores have also used this model to grow an online component to their offline biz as well (Barnes and Noble is an example of this). An interesting post today from Nielsen Online’s Analyst Blog (which relates to another post from a few weeks ago) suggests that for offline retailers this is only part of the story.
Search, Social Media and Brands: Don’t Mess With the Brand Rep – Your Online Rep is Written on Your Superwall
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 21, 2008 | Share This
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Recently MediaPost’s Online Media Daily published a guide written by Reprise Media’s Managing Partner Peter Hershberg on how best to manage your online brand reputation, inspired by taking part in a recent Business Wire panel discussion on social media. Some brand marketers continue to think that online brand management is secondary to their overall reputation management campaigns.
Search News: Google Lets Users Customize Search – Can You Digg It?
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 17, 2008 | Share This
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Just like Google, we here at SearchViews understand the value of seeing someone else’s good idea and running with it. Techcrunch had such an interesting post today on how Google is aping Digg that I felt compelled to blog on the same subject.
In a nutshell, Digg has been very successful at serving up content with a social media model – users post third-party news articles and blog postings and then the Digg community gets a chance to all be Emperor Nero and vote the content up or down. More Diggs leads to more story views in a natural democratic fashion. Users can also comment, share and even “bury” a story.
Paid Search: Quality Score Optimization – Don’t Put On the Short Term Campaign Red Light
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 14, 2008 | Share This
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Once again, Reprise Media’s SVP of Business Development Dan Kashman comes through with a great article on a Monday morning. This time its AdAge’s Abbey Klaassen earning accolades around our office for her insightful take on the impact of quality score and its effect on Hollywood. She argues that because each film they market is a discrete short-term campaign and usually revolves around high volume keywords like “Angelina Jolie” or “Jack Black,” the cost for those keywords is often prohibitive.
Weekly Search Roundup: This Week’s Search News Crushed in a Glass with a Splish-Splash of Vermouth
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 11, 2008 | Share This
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What are all us search marketers going to be discussing this weekend at our garden parties, club luaus, and intimate yacht rides? Probably Hellboy 2 but here are a few of the other topics that will be touched upon between canapés and badminton.
Scrabble Scrambles to Squash Scrabulous – Still Needs a “u” to Spell Squash
Hasbro, the makers of Scrabble, have been making an unhappy sound since earlier in the year over top Facebook app Scrabulous. Some bright corporate bulbs realized that merely squashing the Scrabble-aping app would lead to some unhappy Facebookers and that perhaps they ought to have the official Scrabble ® app ready to roll. Pretty sneaky sis. In related news, I’m working on my own Facebook app called Connect 5-bulous. You know where to find me, Milton Bradley.
Search Marketing: Google Does it While Learning
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 7, 2008 | Share This
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Back in the late 90s the only thing we worried about in the White House was a certain dry cleaning bill and a gentleman’s proper cigar etiquette. Yes, times were different. Back then Microsoft was perceived by some as the next great monopoly, with Bill Gates as Cornelius Vanderbilt ready to dominate the desktops of every man, woman, child, and wildebeest. Now in the aught-ies the focus of the Justice department and armchair alarmists alike is Google and Bill Gates has retired to live the life of a full-time philanthropist.
Search Marketing: Dear Steve Harty, Chairman of Bartle Bogle Hegarty
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Written By Noah Mallin | July 1, 2008 | Share This
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Does Bartle Bogle Hegarty really not believe in search? Do you, Steve Harty, Chairman of BBH, really think that your clients and prospects don’t Google? Yesterday there was a lot of talk around our office about your quote in a recent AdWeek article by Andrew McMains (we attributed it to Brian Morrissey due to an error in their content management system). For those who didn’t see the quote, you said:
We’re not convinced that the people we are marketing to are using that as a channel…We have a more targeted strategy than, ‘We’re open for business.’ Search is kind of indiscriminate in a way.”
Ad Agency Callout: Reprise Media to Bartle Bogle Hegarty Honcho Steve Harty -You’re Wrong About Search Marketing
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Written By Joshua Stylman | June 30, 2008 | Share This
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AdWeek today has an interesting article by Brian Morrissey examining how big agencies use or don’t use Search Marketing to market themselves. The thrust was that few of them do - which seems to me like a real wasted opportunity. I was almost done with the piece when I got to this quote from Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) Chairman Steve Harty:
“We’re not convinced that the people we are marketing to are using that as a channel…We have a more targeted strategy than, ‘We’re open for business.’ Search is kind of indiscriminate in a way.”
The inference is that search is only useful as a broad entry point for lead generation. End of story. How wrong you are, Steve.
Search Marketing: The Knot.com Ties Online and Offline Strategies Together, but Can They Make This Marriage Last?
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Written By Noah Mallin | June 26, 2008 | Share This
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Search is a sacred place where online and offline, consumer and brand, meet and join together in holy matrimony. Can I get an “Amen?” Except when it’s more like The Lockhorns and your online and offline messages end up tripping over each other instead of amplifying your brand story. The New York Times ran a story today about plastic surgeons who offer discounts to their customers in exchange for making a video about how great their elective surgery was and posting it on YouTube. So testimonials good, right? No, paid testimonials for Dr. Giggles bad – me no trust. What probably sounded like great online-offline synergy (and yes, I did taste a little three-hour old breakfast when I typed that word) actually has led to bad press, negative blog postings, and hurt the reputation of the doctors involved.