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Autoresponder course : The Automated Marketing Tool
Autoresponders, also known as mailbots, automatic email and email on demand were derived from the very popular fax on demand and designed to automatically respond to any email message it receives with an automatic response. Autoresponder programs...
Chill Out With A Summer Time Marketing Plan
Is your business experiencing a summer time slump? Traditionally only industries related to travel enjoy a boost in business during the warmer months. The rest of us tend to take vacations, clean up our desk and while away the time playing...
Marketing, Lead Generation, and Research: A 3-in-1 Solution
I Hate Cold Calls Long before I started my business, I realized that I wasn't good at telephone sales and that I would need to generate leads in another way. I developed a sure-fire way to generate those leads, interest in me, and my business,...
Read This, Sell More: Direct Mail Marketing Is About Benefits, Not Features
Your customer wants a cleaner kitchen, not a kitchen cleaner.
Your customers are interested in benefits, not features. So sell benefits in your sales letters.
The difference between a feature and a benefit comes down to this: A feature is what...
Using Marketing Consultants to Add Value
In today’s ever changing markets it is unacceptable for marketing consultants to simply suggest an answer, it is necessary to provide a fuller service that involves rolling the sleeves up! In order to decide if you need consultants on a given...
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The Sirens Call for Search Engine Marketing
"I want to be at the top on Google!" Ah...the business owner's
mantra that echoes throughout the halls of offices around the
world.
It's difficult to dispute the rational behind the rant since
Google continues to outpace its rivals in popularity with an 89%
"strongly positive experience" rating from an opinion poll of
U.S. Adult Internet Users conducted by eMarketer in early 2005.
Google certainly achieves mass exposure and logically it's fair
to attribute a first position ranking to gaining access to the
masses.
However, your success in search engine marketing should not be
reliant on a single source of visitors. Although the convenience
of focusing on Google is comforting in the whirlwind of new
search and Internet technology, the outcome from it could be
disastrous to the growth of your business.
An effective search engine marketing strategy leverages the
advantages of all of the major search engines and their
advertising channels including natural and paid.
Why?
Here are three essential reasons why you should expand your
search engine marketing strategy beyond just Google, paid search
or any other singular search engine marketing strategy to
encompass the broader opportunities available for your business.
(1) Paid versus Natural Search: Relevancy and Conversion
A common strategy of search engine marketing companies and
Internet marketers is to bid for the top paid search listing in
Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) or Google Adwords as
a way to acquire the perceived "bread and butter" position in
the search results page. The concept is that a search result
appearing at the top of the list is the most relevant to the
search users' keyword query and therefore will receive the most
click-throughs and conversions.
However, research from Enquiro as well as many other research
firms, found a "significant amount of confusion over sponsored
links." In the research conducted, over 77% of participants when
performing a product research search choose a natural listing
over a paid listing. Even during an actual purchase scenario,
67% of participants still choose a natural listing over a paid
one.
And what about Google specifically? The Enquiro study showed
that 85% of Google users choose a natural listing while 14%
clicked on a paid "sponsored" link. The study stated that,
"Google users also had the lowest level of confusion about what
was a sponsored link on the search results page." Compare these
numbers to 42% of search users on non-Google search engines like
Yahoo and MSN choose a sponsored link over a natural listing.
Also, the conversion rate whether sales or leads may be affected
by the source of a website visitor's click-through. A study
conducted by MarketingSherpa called "Search Marketing Metrics
Survey" in July 2004, showed that "conversions from (natural)
search engine results are 25%+ higher than paid search ad
conversions." Relevancy from search result listing to website is
critical however you also need to consider the relevancy
associated with the ad type - paid versus natural.
So you know the insight - what's the solution?
Easy - don't get caught up in an "either/or" decision, as a
search engine marketer you must focus on both natural search
through search engine optimization and paid search.
As the Enquiro study stated, "Unless a company is willing to
forfeit either 70% (in the case of natural) or 30% (in the case
of paid) of their potential market to the competition they have
to seriously consider both search channels."
(2) Cross-Search Engine Builds Brand Credibility
Tempting as it may be to put all of your eggs in one basket for
convenience sake, Google is not the only major source of quality
website visitors. In the most recent search engine rankings
issued by Nielsen/NetRatings in March 2005, Google was first
with 47% of searches (among work and home users in U.S.); Yahoo
second with 20.9% and MSN third with 13.6%. If you only focus on
Google, you are missing access to over 53% of the marketplace.
In addition, another separate study conducted by
Nielsen/NetRatings determined that "the majority of Internet
searchers use mutliple search engines." As a ClickZ article
written by Rob McGann on February 28, 2005 stated, "The
(Nielsen/NetRatings) study found that 58% of Google searchers
also visited at least one of the
other top two search engines,
Yahoo and MSN Search."
So what happens when a potential customer finds your search
listing on Google yet you are no where to be found on MSN or
Yahoo? What if they only see a sponsor listing on Google which
they immediately view as less than relevant? How about a major
slam against your credibility?
Yes - that's right. Because of the wide-spread utility of the
internet for research and consideration during a buying cycle,
if you are not found across search engines for a particular
keyword search, you don't exist in the eye of the searcher as a
potential option to fulfill their needs. On the other hand, if
you are found across multiple search engines, you instantly
receive a relevancy and credibility boost.
So you know the insight - what's the solution?
Focus on generating search result listings for at least the top
three search engines - Google, Yahoo and MSN. Because these
three feed a number of other search engines like AOL and
AskJeeves (for paid listings) you will gain cross-search engine
exposure. In the worse case, work on generating natural search
listings in Google and perform paid search in Yahoo and MSN
using Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) to achieve the
broad search exposure.
If search users are adopting multiple search engines to conduct
their keyword searches then build your credibility with them by
appearing across the major search engines especially for your
top brand-oriented keywords. (3) Search Engine User Demographics
Depending on the type of product or service you are selling,
focusing on just Google or any other single search engine
marketing strategy may be placing you in the entirely wrong
marketplace. Although absolute demographic figures are difficult
to gather, a 2004 Enquiro study titled, "Search Engine Usage in
North America" provided some interesting demographic
characteristics for the top three search engines:
* Males are more likely to remain loyal with one search engines
(primarily Google) while females are more likely to use more
than one search engine (Google, MSN and Yahoo).
* Males prefer Google while females had a strong preference for
MSN.
* For both males and females, a trusted site that offers
unbiased information with the natural search results was the
strongest preference.
* As educational levels increased, an affinity towards Google
increased as well. This may imply that Google uses are more
sophisticated.
* Google users were more Internet savvy than non Google users
therefore, for technology-related products Google may be a
better source of qualified visitors while MSN and Yahoo may be
better for non technology-related products.
So you know the insight - what's the solution?
Visitor behaviors are dynamic - they have a tendency to change
as frequently as the weather. Therefore, do not assume that your
potential customers are sophisticated and therefore reside in
the Google pool. Instead, use paid search engines to test all
three major search engines to generate a sense of where your
potential customers hang-out. Once you find a populated pool of
qualified visitors work on building your natural search listings
to support and ultimately replace your paid search engine
strategy.
Although it is easy to want to simplify search engine marketing
by focusing all of your efforts on the biggest and most popular
search engine, Google - it is business smart to avoid the
temptation. Yahoo and MSN are prominent players in the search
engine market and may possess hidden gems that could explode
your business growth. Even more so, moving beyond the top three
search engines is also important to extend your brand exposure
on an international level.
By focusing your efforts across the top three search engines
whether using natural or paid listings, you are placing yourself
in the best position to build credibility, relevance and
conversion - the main variables that lead to significant search
engine marketing success for your business.
About the author:
Kevin Gold is CEO of Enhanced Concepts, specializing in turning
website visitors into leads or sales, co-editor of
WebSalesability.com and published writer. Get a free report, "12
Sure-fire Ways to Increase Your Website Sales" and an exclusive
5-day website conversion email course by visiting
www.enhancedconcepts.com.
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KnowThis: For Marketing, Market Research, Internet Marketing ... |
KnowThis.com offers a wealth of information, forums, and resources for professionals, academics and students in traditional and internet marketing, ... |
www.knowthis.com |
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Marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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en.wikipedia.org |
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Marketing - Marketing Strategy - Marketing Plan - Marketing ... |
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marketing.about.com |
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Marketing.org - Home of the Business Marketing Association |
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Welcome - American Marketing Association - www.marketingpower.com |
Dedicated to serving the educational and professional needs of marketing executives. |
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Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR News - Brand Republic |
Find the latest Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR news from Brand Republic, the online resource for up to the minute advertising and marketing news and ... |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic |
Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic. |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing (Canada) |
Offers a Canadian source of news and articles on marketing, advertising and media. |
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BidVertiser - Pay Per Click Advertising On Sites Of Your Choice. |
Pay per click advertising - online advertising directly on sites of your choice, internet marketing solution for online advertisers. |
www.bidvertiser.com |
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Online Behavioral Contextual Advertising and Marketing. |
Promote your business with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV. |
www.clicksor.com |
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Sales Jobs / Marketing Jobs / Advertising Jobs - MarketingJobs.com |
Employment site for marketing and sales professionals. |
www.marketingjobs.com |
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The Chartered Institute of Marketing |
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world's largest international marketing professional body and helps with career support and information ... |
www.cim.co.uk |
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Marketing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
See all blog posts tagged with marketing on Technorati. |
www.technorati.com |
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Marketing Profs - Marketing Concepts and Strategies: Expert ... |
Marketing knowhow from professionals. Newsletter, articles and how-to's. |
www.marketingprofs.com |
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Guerrilla Marketing Online - The Official Site |
Guerrilla Marketing Online is anonline magazine for small business, entrepreneurs, sales people and marketers of all kinds. |
www.gmarketing.com |
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Business Marketing - Small Business Marketing |
Business marketing - Read everything your need to know about small business marketing. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
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All About Marketing |
Adapted from Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation ... Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out: ... |
www.managementhelp.org |
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Pages tagged with "marketing" on del.icio.us |
USA Network Announces a NASHVILLE STAR Marketing Partnership With ... - Yahoo! ... Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing ... |
del.icio.us |
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ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers |
Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing. |
www.clickz.com |
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Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing |
Trade association for users and suppliers in the direct, database and interactive marketing fields, offering seminars and resources, and lobbying for ... |
www.the-dma.org |
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