Chris Boggs
06-29-2005, 01:52 PM
Sign-in table: familiar smiling faces of the "Jupiter crew," including the seemingly always working Karen. Very smooth process with everything ready to go.
Breakfast: Good coffee, juices and croissants.
Room: Large ballroom with ample space for tables and previously mentioned breakfast table. SEMPO booth on one side and the standard Jupiter Media collection of banners that we know and love behind the stage.
Panel Discussion
SEW's Editor, Elisabeth Osmeloski welcomed everyone to the inaugural SEW Live Atlanta. The room was fairly full, with some attendees arriving slightly late. Elisabeth apologized about the absence of Sebastian, who has unfortunately gone home sick the night before. However two excellent speakers were still on the panel: David Williams, the Chief Strategist and Co-Founder of 360i.com (and also a SEMPO Board Member) and Stacy Williams of Prominentplacement.com, also an SES "regular" presenter. (Yes they are married, but not to each-other :p )
The point of this panel was to keep everything on a more "macro" level, and that was accomplished.
David introduced himself and his topic: "The Top Ten leading Search Trends."
He subtitled it along the lines of "What do SEM's need to do to stay in the 'lead pack."
Number 1 leading trend (I do not believe these were in any particular order):
The "Search Arms Race." Currently the big two are obviously Google and Yahoo, but "don't count MSN out." He mentioned that MSN was currently introducing a paid product in France and Singapore.
-Search now represent 40% of online advertising, versus other methods such as display ads and sponsorships.
2. Rapid growth in Vertical search. Mentioned the increasing prevalence and relevance of listings found at Orbitz and other travel search portals. Also spoke about the increased competition in shopping search engines such as shopping.com, Froogle, Shopzilla, and others.
3. Increased PPC competitiveness. More people are finding that the ROI delivered by PPC campaigns cannot be ignored. Becoming more important to professionally manage these campaigns in order to get more bang from your buck (paraphrased).
4. Increased volume of keyword searches and Size of keyword PPC Campaigns. Mentioned that more people are actually typing in URL's into search boxes to find out more about companies. Also discussed that many PPC campaigns are increasing in size, with some clients using as many as 250,000 words in a campaign (my opinion: yech!). Discusses that with the press surrounding the IPO and the "buzz" about Google, it has now become the "portal to the web" for many Internet surfers. It has helped to make users search on a more frequent basis.
5. Emerging Ad Models (and PPC Strategies)
-AOL's Click-to-call
-Pay-to-call (David mentions that these work well in a mobile environment)
-Local (cannot be ignored...local search is here to stay and becoming more effective way to target specific audiences)
-"Day Parting" (Timing PPC bids during particular high-conversion times of day. Also possibly to coincide with other Media placements such as TV ads.)
-Mobile technology
-Demographic Search (need for more research sophistication-see 6 and 10)
-RSS (will RSS eventually allow for more ad placement?)
6. Increased sophistication of Data Analytics and Bid Optimization systems
More use of:
-A/B testing
-Campaign "sweet spots" analysis
-Multi-variable Optimization (adding Branding to the value versus just revenue targeting)
-TURNING DATA INTO ACTIONS (Marketing 101 here IMO-we all tend to forget that research is only the key to effective marketing if it is actually acted upon)
7. Search Integration vs Search Silos (I got a little side tracked here on my notes but that was the gist of the Title I believe)
-Comprehensive approach versus search expertise "silos."
--Some companies used to rely only on SEO or Paid Search, but larger and faster-growing ones are doing both and more.
-SEM firms that practice "search integration" are more likely to succeed on their own and for their clients. (Agreed whole-heartedly)
8. Budgets for branding through search
-More companies will be able to perceive the branding value of search and therefore dedicate other parts of the budget towards this effort.
9. Search Outside of Search Engines
-Contextual
-Behavioral
-E-mail
-Mobile
10. Sophisticated Search Marketing to create "Search Dominance."
-"Sophisticated SEM's" that are aware of all these trends and practice many of these techniques can be called practitioners of a "search domination strategy."
-Helps to establish leadership position within a niche
-Literally moves client competitors down in rankings
-Has a multiplier effect on campaign performance (for example Kellogg’s multiple brands on the shelf)
-Effectively minimizes consumer choice
-Diversifies SEM risk (by splitting budgets between SEO and PPC, other)
-Is a proven strategy for well known brands.
(Stacy to follow)
Breakfast: Good coffee, juices and croissants.
Room: Large ballroom with ample space for tables and previously mentioned breakfast table. SEMPO booth on one side and the standard Jupiter Media collection of banners that we know and love behind the stage.
Panel Discussion
SEW's Editor, Elisabeth Osmeloski welcomed everyone to the inaugural SEW Live Atlanta. The room was fairly full, with some attendees arriving slightly late. Elisabeth apologized about the absence of Sebastian, who has unfortunately gone home sick the night before. However two excellent speakers were still on the panel: David Williams, the Chief Strategist and Co-Founder of 360i.com (and also a SEMPO Board Member) and Stacy Williams of Prominentplacement.com, also an SES "regular" presenter. (Yes they are married, but not to each-other :p )
The point of this panel was to keep everything on a more "macro" level, and that was accomplished.
David introduced himself and his topic: "The Top Ten leading Search Trends."
He subtitled it along the lines of "What do SEM's need to do to stay in the 'lead pack."
Number 1 leading trend (I do not believe these were in any particular order):
The "Search Arms Race." Currently the big two are obviously Google and Yahoo, but "don't count MSN out." He mentioned that MSN was currently introducing a paid product in France and Singapore.
-Search now represent 40% of online advertising, versus other methods such as display ads and sponsorships.
2. Rapid growth in Vertical search. Mentioned the increasing prevalence and relevance of listings found at Orbitz and other travel search portals. Also spoke about the increased competition in shopping search engines such as shopping.com, Froogle, Shopzilla, and others.
3. Increased PPC competitiveness. More people are finding that the ROI delivered by PPC campaigns cannot be ignored. Becoming more important to professionally manage these campaigns in order to get more bang from your buck (paraphrased).
4. Increased volume of keyword searches and Size of keyword PPC Campaigns. Mentioned that more people are actually typing in URL's into search boxes to find out more about companies. Also discussed that many PPC campaigns are increasing in size, with some clients using as many as 250,000 words in a campaign (my opinion: yech!). Discusses that with the press surrounding the IPO and the "buzz" about Google, it has now become the "portal to the web" for many Internet surfers. It has helped to make users search on a more frequent basis.
5. Emerging Ad Models (and PPC Strategies)
-AOL's Click-to-call
-Pay-to-call (David mentions that these work well in a mobile environment)
-Local (cannot be ignored...local search is here to stay and becoming more effective way to target specific audiences)
-"Day Parting" (Timing PPC bids during particular high-conversion times of day. Also possibly to coincide with other Media placements such as TV ads.)
-Mobile technology
-Demographic Search (need for more research sophistication-see 6 and 10)
-RSS (will RSS eventually allow for more ad placement?)
6. Increased sophistication of Data Analytics and Bid Optimization systems
More use of:
-A/B testing
-Campaign "sweet spots" analysis
-Multi-variable Optimization (adding Branding to the value versus just revenue targeting)
-TURNING DATA INTO ACTIONS (Marketing 101 here IMO-we all tend to forget that research is only the key to effective marketing if it is actually acted upon)
7. Search Integration vs Search Silos (I got a little side tracked here on my notes but that was the gist of the Title I believe)
-Comprehensive approach versus search expertise "silos."
--Some companies used to rely only on SEO or Paid Search, but larger and faster-growing ones are doing both and more.
-SEM firms that practice "search integration" are more likely to succeed on their own and for their clients. (Agreed whole-heartedly)
8. Budgets for branding through search
-More companies will be able to perceive the branding value of search and therefore dedicate other parts of the budget towards this effort.
9. Search Outside of Search Engines
-Contextual
-Behavioral
-Mobile
10. Sophisticated Search Marketing to create "Search Dominance."
-"Sophisticated SEM's" that are aware of all these trends and practice many of these techniques can be called practitioners of a "search domination strategy."
-Helps to establish leadership position within a niche
-Literally moves client competitors down in rankings
-Has a multiplier effect on campaign performance (for example Kellogg’s multiple brands on the shelf)
-Effectively minimizes consumer choice
-Diversifies SEM risk (by splitting budgets between SEO and PPC, other)
-Is a proven strategy for well known brands.
(Stacy to follow)