Google Bar Codes, Print Ads, and Google TV Ads

[Kevin Heisler]

Has anyone or your clients tried Google Print Ads? Does the Bar Code work? Have you seen the kind of success Blue Nile had?

Has a client produced a TV ad for Google TV ads?

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/080129-172604

[AussieWebmaster]

I can try some low end spends to see what is possible.....

[abbottsys]

Originally Posted by Kevin Heisler

....Have you seen the kind of success Blue Nile had? ...

I'm afraid I've never tried any of these formats. But, can you tell us more about Blue Nile? I know diamonds love print! Of course, Blue Nile is also a major player in text ads.

[Kevin Heisler]

I was surprised to see the Blue Nile testimonial, too. If you recall, the Blue Nile CEO blamed rising keyword prices for poor quarterly results. He indicated he'd reduce his paid search spending. Now they're raving about Google Print Ads.

Here's an excerpt:
Blue Nile turned to Google Print Ads to complement its Google AdWords initiative. "We're very focused on the ROI of our advertising campaigns, and we had seen great results with Google AdWords already," says Marketing Director Jon Sainsbury. "Google Print Ads allowed us to easily explore the arena of newspaper advertising – helping us build trust with a highly targeted readership."

Without the easy-to-use, familiar Google interface, it would have been difficult and time-consuming for Blue Nile's in- house marketing staff to efficiently make cost-effective print media buys.

Sales of engagement rings (average sale of $5,500) comprise most of the company's business, more than twice the national average. Blue Nile wanted to reach out to high-income, tech-savvy males, age 25-45, who were in the market for a major jewelry purchase. Using Google Print Ads, the company ran newspaper ads in six markets heavily populated with Blue Nile's target demographic. The ads included an exclusive offer that would take readers to a dedicated Blue Nile URL. This structure allowed Blue Nile to measure the response and facilitated ROI analysis.

[Kevin Heisler]

Blue Nile's results from the campaign (time frame not mentioned):


With Google Print Ads complementing AdWords, Blue Nile saw a 29 percent y/y revenue increase in the selected markets for the period after the print campaign, compared to a 5 percent revenue increase in AdWords-only control markets.

Five out of the six Print Ads markets experienced a greater increase in sales on days when the ads appeared. User engagement in the Print Ads markets was above the site average; time spent on the site increased 78 percent, and these visitors clicked through 80 percent more pages than a typical visitor.