July 2nd, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
Last week’s webcast covered how online retailers can prepare for the end-of-year holiday selling season. What should you be doing six months out (i.e., now) to get your site - and your online business - ready for the holiday rush?
Eli Goodman of comScore shared data on consumer shopping behavior in this economy, including a breakdown of how different product categories are doing. Matt Miller of Performics walked us through a hypothetical retailer, Stanley’s Sweaters, to demonstrate how retailers can prepare for the busiest shopping season.
Included in the presentation was this timeline -
Online Holiday Retailer
June - Plan: Gather Consumer and Industry Research and set company goals
July - Increase Visibility: On-site content optimization and SEO, Offsite Distribution (Blog, YouTube, Twitter)
August - Maximize Conversion Rates: Landing Page Optimization, User Experience
September- Organize PPC Campaign: Campaign Structure, Keyword Development, Click Attribution, Holiday Promotions
October - Create Relevant Offers: Competitive Analysis, Paid Search Copy Management
November - Last Minute Tips: Holiday Checklist, Last Minute tips, Setting up Bids & Budgets for the Holiday Rush
December - Holiday Rush: Prepare for Post-Holiday Sales
January - Measure: Analyze Results
Missed this SMN webcast? View it on-demand now.
Thanks to Performics for sponsoring this webcast.
June 30th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
We’ve just posted some new webcasts for our July schedule at Search Marketing Now. Registration is open for each of these upcoming events:
How Large Offline Marketers Drive Superior Search Marketing Results
Speaker: Chris Sherman, Search Engine Land
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sponsored by iProspect
Trademarks, Brand Terms and PPC Advertising: Updates You Must Know
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Speaker: Brad Geddes, bgTheory
Sponsored by Marin Software
Attribution Management Buyer’s Guide:
10 Features of a Good Advertising Analytics Solution
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Speaker: Adam Goldberg, ClearSaleing
Sponsored by ClearSaleing
All webcasts begin at 1:00 PM Eastern (10:00 AM Pacfiic) and last approximately 45-50 minutes.
June 19th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
Smart marketers know that truly successful marketing campaigns involve integrating offline and online efforts.
Consider these statistics:
*two thirds of all online searches were prompted by offline marketing — and nearly 40% of those searchers ultimately buy a product or service as a result
*more than 80% of consumers who buy offline have done some online research before buying.
With retail sales forecasts for 2009 ranging from $133 to $156 billion, there’s lots to be gained by getting the online-offline marketing mix right.
On July 21 at 1 PM EDT, Chris Sherman will present “How Large Offline Marketers Drive Superior Search Marketing Results.”
He’ll cover
* Best practices for integrating offline and online marketing efforts
* How to blend online-offline efforts across organizational divisions
* The challenges of mixing traditional offline efforts with online search marketing
Chris Sherman is the Executive Editor of Search Engine Land.
Register now - it’s free!
June 19th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
If you missed yesterday’s webcast with David Rodnitzky, here are the basics. To get the complete picture, view the webcast, “Choosing a PPC Campaign Management Tool: 20 Questions You’ll Need to Ask,” now available on demand.
First, questions to ask yourself:
1. Am I qualified to evaluate campaign management software?
2. What do I want to do internally, what do I want my campaign management company to handle?
3. Can I absorb the additional cost of campaign management and still meet my business objectives?
4. Do I have engineering resources available to integrate the software?
5. How will I define success?
6. Will I be able to benchmark success?
7. Do I need a Pinto or a Ferrari?
Questions to Ask Potential Vendors:
8. How difficult is integration and disintegration?
9 What do you offer beyond bid management?
10. With what search engines do you work?
11. Do you offer a free trial?
12. Are there additional fees (consulting, add-0n features, API quotas)?
13. Who pays if your system/team makes an error?
14. How do you handle returns/offline transactions/other special needs?
15. Who will be my day-to-day contact?
16. Does your system support my specific business objective?
17. Can you get a short contract or short out-clause?
18. Are you up-to-date on new vendors?
19. Were you wowed by a PowerPoint?
20. How reliable are vendor references?
Check out the complete webcast in our “On Demand” section.
June 12th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
If you’ve listened to webcasts and online seminars more than a few times, you may have run into some kind of technical glitch — either on your end or on the part of the producer.
It can be as simple as a pop-up blocker preventing a poll question on a viewer’s machine, to loss of internet connection on the speaker/presenter side of the webcast.
Things happen. Not often, but nonetheless we like to be prepared.
At Search Marketing Now, we prep our speakers for all sorts of scenarios — from losing internet access (always have a hard copy of the presentation available just in case) to inadvertently hanging up the phone (instant message the moderator, who will take over until you dial in again.)
But what about you — the audience member — running into technical difficulties? We have a dedicated person on every call to answer your questions, but the real solution is to ‘test your system’ before the webcast. You can do this at any time.
It doesn’t take long, and it’s a way to make sure you’ll see the whole webcast.
In fact, here’s the link — go ahead, test your system.
Register for these upcoming SMN Webcasts:
June 18 - Choosing a PPC Campaign Management Application: 20 Questions You’ll Need to Ask
June 25 - Online Holiday Retail 2009: Tips, Tactics & Timelines for Success
July 21 - How Large Offline Marketers Drive Superior Search Marketing Results
July 28 - Attribution Management Buyers Guide - 10 Features of a Good Advertising Analytics Solution
May 28th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
One of the questions we get on nearly every webcast is “Can you recommend a tool for that?”
At Search Marketing Now, we don’t endorse particular tools or applications — whether it’s for keyword research, campaign management, or analytics — because everyone’s needs are different. We can’t possibly know what’s right for you.
But what we can do is give you the tools you need (pun intended) to evaluate and decide what’s right for your business. What do you need to know in order to make the right decision for your company or your client?
On June 18, we’ll focus on paid search campaign management:
Choosing a PPC Campaign Management Application: 20 Questions You’ll Need to Ask
Speaker: David Rodnitzky
June 18 - 1 PM EDT
This webcast will cover questions you’ll need to ask in order to make the right decision in adopting PPC campaign management software for a large or complex SEM campaign.
PPC expert David Rodnitzky will walk you through 20 key questions to get you through the process. He’ll include a look at what campaign management tools can — and can’t do — to improve your PPC campaign and your business. You’ll learn how to evaluate the various tools out there by asking objective, incisive questions.
Register now - it’s free!
May 22nd, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
Summer may be just around the corner, but it’s not too early to start thinking about how to optimize your website for the holiday selling season. Seriously. Successful online retailers know that getting ready for holiday selling season can be a six-month process. Landing page optimization, SEO, testing - and overall planning can make all the difference in the end.
That’s why we’ve scheduled a webcast June 25 that will help online retailers prepare for the end of year holidays:
Online Holiday Retail 2009: Tips, Tactics and Timelines for Success
Speakers: Eli Goodman, Search Evangelist, comScore
Matt Miller, Director of Vertical Solutions, Performics
Thursday, June 25 – 1 PM EDT
Find out what forecasters are predicting for online retailers this year’s holiday shopping season – and what you can do to get ready
Register now – it’s free!
Also in June:
Choosing a PPC Campaign Management Application: 20 Questions You’ll Need to Ask
Thursday, June 18 – 1 PM EDT
Speaker: David Rodnitzky, PPC Associates
Register now – it’s free!
To all our SMN viewers - Enjoy the long weekend — see you Thursday for Paid Search Testing & Experimentation with Chris Sherman.
May 15th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
On May 28th, Chris Sherman returns with another SMN Webcast, “Paid Search Testing & Experimentation,” sponsored by iProspect.
It’s been said that all you need to get started with paid search is five minutes and a credit card.
While that’s essentially true, to avoid wasting money and to achieve optimal results from your paid search campaigns, you need to test, experiment, and test again. Your approach to testing and optimizing paid search campaigns should be systematic and carefully planned.
Find out why, what, when and how to test…plus:
* What you should test and how much is too much?
* A/B vs. multivariate testing - which is right for you?
* The importance of audience segmentation and how to target different user needs
* Beyond ads: optimizing the “landing experience”
* Why automated tools are key to this process
Paid Search Testing & Experimentation
Thursday, May 28 - 1 PM EDT
Register now - it’s free!
May 12th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
Thursday’s webcast sponsor, WebVisible, is extending a special offer to registrants of the May 14 webcast: “Search Marketing for Small Business: Basics for Online Success,” featuring Disa Johnson. The “Stay Strong in Business Sale” campaign offers first-time advertisers a free business marketing consultation. And, for businesses that can benefit from online advertising, $150 of their setup fees (approximately 50%) will be applied to advertising media buys, providing more marketing power in the first month of their campaign.
Search Marketing for Small Business: Basics for Online Success
Speaker: Disa Johnson, President SearchReturn and Coordinator Paid Search Boot Camp, SMX East
Thursday, May 14 - 1 PM EDT
Who should attend: Small business owners, marketers at small and medium-sized companies, and anyone looking to better understand the process of search marketing.
Register now - it’s free!
May 8th, 2009 by Claire Schoen :: permalink
On Wednesday May 20, Matt Booth, SVP and Program Director, Interactive Local Media at the Kelsey Group will discuss the current landscape of local search, and how businesses can keep up with local business listings.
Ten years ago, local listings were relatively easy - businesses could target Yellow Pages and local classifieds. Today, businesses can claim their local territory online through a wide range of free online listings — including local search engines, lnternet Yellow Pages, city guides, local social networks, and more.
But how do companies keep up with the various listings? Whether you’re a mom-and-pop business, or a national corporation with local presence, keeping track of everything online can be daunting.
This webcast will provide an overview of local search (including recent industry research), plus the role of free local business listings and how companies can identify, update, and maintain these listings.
Following Matt Booth’s presentation, Bryan Simkins of FedEx will present an illustrative case study on managing local business listings. Thanks to TMP Directional Marketing for sponsoring this webcast.
Local Search Marketing: Local Business Listings GONE WILD!
Wednesday, May 20 - 1 PM EDT
Register now - it’s free!
