Entries from Category Advertising

If you search on Google for a famous person, you may see something that looks like this:

This box, located in the right hand corner of a search results page, is what Google calls a Knowledge Graph, and is an attempt to answer common questions without needing to leave the search results page.  In most cases, the Google Knowledge Graph trumps any ads from displaying on that page, making their search results a purely organic experience.

As a daily Google searcher, from almost its inception, I am so accustomed to seeing the old format that I am still surprised each time the Knowledge Graph pops up.  Even though it’s not a major change to the way search works, I’m left scratching my head pondering the question “is this bad, or just different?”

The design snob in me can appreciate the way that Google stays on brand with a consistently uniform results page across multiple platforms (mobile, desktop and tablet results are consistent across devices).

But aside from the aesthetics, what is really going on here? Why is there so much space left below the Knowledge Graph? As a digital marketer I’m wondering why Google is going about this going completely ad free for these results pages? Only time will tell.

While Google’s Knowledge Graph may not provide many answers for the time being, they are clearly making plenty of room for it in their design. They are also incorporating knowledge graph in an audible way on certain mobile device searches.

How will all of this affect Google’s main source of revenue (advertising)? Only time will tell, but I for one am looking forward to the day when Google creates a knowledge graph for me.

What have been your experiences with Knowledge graph? All positive or missing the mark? Let us know in the comments.

Should you bid on your brand keywords for paid search?

Surprisingly, many people unfamiliar with how paid search works are adamant that bidding on brand keywords is an unacceptable practice in search marketing.

The logic sounds simple enough: why would you pay Google for a click when they would just go to your website anyway?

This logic is dead wrong

The truth is that while many searchers will click on the top organic result (somewhere around 44%, more or less depending on your source), organic search results are likely only drawing in less than half of the clicks for a brand keyword. That leaves 56% of all searchers not finding a brand website – either going to a competitor or stopping their search altogether.

Search marketers shouldn’t be satisfied until they capture 100% of those brand searchers.

Continue Reading Why Brand Keywords Are a Search Marketers Best Friend →

When I first started working in the home improvement business as a sales representative, my sales manager began my training by saying:  “All the leads you will ever run while you work here suck.  Now that we’ve established that, we don’t have to talk about it ever again.”  The point he was trying to make was that, even though the leads “suck” —  if you handle them the right way, a sales representative can make a decent living selling to them.  The same thing can be said about internet leads and lead generation services.  Contractors that have used these services unsuccessfully, tend to paint “Internet leads” with a broad brush by saying they are poor quality — yet the most successful companies are able to generate a good ROI from them.  Why?

Continue Reading Why All Online Home Improvement Lead Generation Services Suck →

Is Facebook a viable advertising platform? Are Facebook Ads effective?

As search engine marketers, we find ourselves when talking about any new ad platform asking: will it be effective? Given the popularity and mass adoption of Facebook, it is logical that there are many conversations about the effectiveness of Facebook Ads. Here is how we’ve focused on this conversation.

Two Common Scenarios

When evaluating Facebook ads’ effectiveness, we consider two common scenarios for people or businesses considering Facebook as an advertising platform:

1. I have a Facebook Page and I want more fans.
2. I have a website and I want more traffic.

In regards to #1 the clear answer is: Yes, for driving your desired conversions (fans), Facebook will be the most effective advertising platform.

#2 has a slightly more complex answer. The effectiveness of Facebook ads depends on your target demographic. Facebook is no longer the home of teens, it’s the home of everyone! From teens to men and women in their later 50s, they are on Facebook. You can target on city, education, workplace, language and personal interests! It’s hard to imagine a demographic that couldn’t be effective.

Facebook ads can lead a visitor from one page on the site to your brand or organization’s Facebook page. Or an ad can lead them from a page to an external website. These internal and external ads are both effective and can bring about an effective return on your investment.

Two Questions for Facebook Ads

The greatest question with any advertising campaign is: what is your objective? This will greatly influence the direction your Facebook ad campaigns will take.

• Are you looking to build a community?
• Are you looking to build loyalty?
• Is there another objective in mind?

The next question is: who are you trying to reach?

As we mentioned before, Facebook allows for very specific ad targeting:

• Country
• State
• City
• Education
• Relationship status; dating, engaged, married
• Age
• Gender
• Workplace
• Personal interests: from hobbies to actors to competitors of your company.

Will My Facebook Ads Be Effective?

Once you have these questions truthfully answered and a campaign set up to match it, there’s nothing that should hold your Facebook ads from being effective. If your objectives match your targeting, we believe you can find success in Facebook advertising.

What’s your story in regards to Facebook ads and their effectiveness? Have you seen great results, or are still trying to figure out how to improve your ads? Leave us a comment, we would love to hear what others have to say about their experience with Facebook advertising!

Why should you spend advertise on the world’s most popular website?

Questions to Consider

• What is better, a person who purchases one item of yours once or a person who purchases an item every month?
• Which of those two people is more likely to tell their friends about your product or service?

The choice is obvious and the difference is loyalty. The second individual is loyal to your company and wants more.

• Do you trust your friend’s opinions and take them into account when considering purchases?

The person who recommends your product effectively becomes the best salesperson you could ever hire.

This close social interaction is the answer to why you should advertise on Facebook. A person who joins an active community created by a shared interest has their opinion enforced with every additional fan. That is the band wagon approach mixed in with a social layer. “Look at all these fans! They all love (your product here) just like I do!” These individuals have made a public statement that they have an affinity to your product, service or company. You have encouraged loyalty and repeat purchases and have given your fans ammunition to sell their friends to expand your fan base.

So what are you waiting for? Get moving with Facebook Advertising to help generate loyalty and buzz around your company!

It’s time of year again – a night of exciting football and advertising frivolity.  Sunday, February 7^th 2010 marks Super Bowl XLIV (that’s Super Bowl 44 for those that are Roman numerically challenged), an annual event where commercials command just as much attention as the game itself.  Raking in as much as $3.1 million per 30-second spot, it’s the priciest bit of commercial real estate in the advertising landscape.

Over the years, folks have tuned-in to watch Cindy Crawford sip Pepsi, witness Ali Landry pop Doritos and learn that the FedEx package Tom Hanks held so dearly in the movie Castaway, ironically, contained a survival kit.

But times have changed.

Continue Reading Super Bowl, Chips and the Internet →