Blog

Does paid search, otherwise referred to as SEM (search engine marketing) and PPC (pay-per-click), work for businesses selling to other businesses (B2B)? Should a B2B company invest in PPC and if so, what are the critical elements for PPC to generate an acceptable ROI? This post provides some indisputable evidence that the answers to those questions are a resounding “YES”.

One of the most effective ways to advertise your products is through Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs). Since Google switched from a free comparison shopping model to the current paid model, PLAs has increased the effectiveness, visibility, and quality of advertised products every quarter.

I’m often asked how Google and Facebook compare to one another as advertising platforms. The answer comes down to who your audience is, and how and when you need to reach them.

By default, Google Analytics provides us with nearly 70 standard reports. Add in dashboards, intelligence alerts, and real time reporting and that number jumps closer to 80. 80! That's 80 different ways to slice and dice your website's data. But wait, there's more! Most reports will visualize your data multiple ways, including as a pie chart, word cloud, comparison chart, pivot table, and map overlay.

In my previous article I showed several ways to measure the effectiveness of your site using web analytics. Now we want to apply those same lessons to our online marketing campaigns.

“How much money should I spend on paid search?” As someone who runs a lot of paid search campaigns, I hear this question a lot. The answer isn’t the same for everyone, and finding it can take a little work.

Pay-per-click marketing is synonymous to Sponsored Link marketing and we'll refer to it for now on as PPC. You know - those search results at the top of the page and along the right side of the page. Each time you click on one of those links, it costs the company advertising the link some money - hence "pay-per-click".

Studies have shown that those who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. Maybe it's because something written down will nag at you more - keeping it top of mind. But also likely is how establishing a goal - or end objective - gives what you do a sense of purpose. Having something clearly defined and written out holds you accountable. "Are we achieving this?" Yes or No. "If we're not achieving this yet, are we doing something to get us closer to achieving it?" Yes or No. Answering "No" twice means we're failing. Failing to achieve and failing to do better.

Online marketing is our area of focus and when given a limited marketing budget, online is where we'd choose to spend it. But that's not to say offline/traditional advertising campaigns are obsolete or don't produce a return. How much of a return isn't always clear, but with the ability to measure online engagement, we can start to get an idea. That is to say in 2010, most offline brand and promotional campaigns will have a great impact online. By using the proper methods and techniques, we can measure these online impacts, developing an understanding for how effective our offline campaigns really are.

As a fan and user of Apple products, I closely followed the introduction and launch of the iPhone 4 as well as all the problems that ensued. These problems, which I'll get to in a second, became a PR mess for Apple. When Apple came around to respond, they made an argument based almost exclusively on data. Their approach to responding fit well into our philosophy of a company about being data-driven in as many decisions as possible. Likewise, the opposing argument made against Apple was representative of a much different approach. One based more on emotion and sensationalism than actual fact.