Datalicious Blog - Data Driven Marketing

Trada marketplace: Outsource your SEM and have multiple search experts compete for your $$$

I just had a chat with the guys from Trada and wanted to share some of my insights with you as I think this could be a very interesting way of managing search for advertisers and even some agencies.

Trada is basically a marketplace that allows search experts from around the world to compete against each other on search campaigns. Instead of one or two search experts optimising a campaign in the standard agency model you now have multiple resources optimising an account all trying to outdo each other. More brains is always good and I think it's definitely a cool idea but there's pros and cons.

The model itself is quite attractive as it allows you to set a target CPC or CPA and the search experts only get paid if they can do better than that target, i.e. they can keep the difference between the real cost and the target you set them so there's a clear incentive. You can brief and communicate with the search experts that have decided to work on your account and change the target CPC or CPA daily if you want, but you have to commit to a minium monthly spend of USD 3,000 and an optimisation period of 3 months which is only fair I think.

Now here comes the catch, you cannot import existing accounts into Trada but have to create new ones for Google, Bing and Yahoo through the Trada platform which means you will use your quality score for existing campaigns. This might be a big deal for some people and less for others, I think it's not the end of the world but definitely has to be considered. Also, the search experts don't compete per keyword but on an ad group level which has potential for overlap and I'm not entirely sure what happens if one of the guys decides to stop working on an ad group or entire account. Finally, the way the model is set-up it leads to an initial burst of optimisation and set-up of ad groups similar to a normal agency relationship which peters off after a while when the search experts are looking to cash in on their initial time investment. That's not a bad thing, it's just normal and means even if you decide to give Trada a go you will have to keep in mind that you are working with humans that have to be managed and motivated, how you do that is up to you.

All in all, I think the Trada platform is pretty cool and I can only recommend to look into it and decide for yourself if it might help you business or agency, watching the below video might be a good start. I definitely see potential for small to medium size businesses to get access to some top international search optimisation talent and for agencies to basically grow their capacity over night.

Big blow for web analytics: Google search is going secure and along the way hiding all referrer data

Google search is currently in the process of beta testing a secure search, check it out yourself at https://www.google.com.
 
Even though this might be commendable from a privacy perspective, the move could potentially have devastating effects for all search marketers and online analysts. Turning the normal Google search results into secure pages will essentially hide all usage information including the referrer string which contains data on the used search term. So if you would like to know what keywords are driving your business, you're out of luck. For all secure searches, standard analytics software packages will no longer be able to see the what domain referred the visitor (i.e. search engine) and what search term was used (see screen shots below).
 
It's rumoured that China may be part of the motivation for the switch as this will prevent filtering of certain keyword searches as well as the ability to packet sniff the usage of Google. The switch hasn't rolled out in Hong Kong yet, but you can safely assume it won't be too far away!
 
For more information check out the following Google and Wired articles.

Google is testing new search results page layout making vertical and local options more prominent

Using Firefox, Safari and Chrome at the same time I sometimes come across some interesting a/b tests and this time it's Google. Looks like the search giant is experimenting with a new search results page design making the local and vertical search customisation options more prominent than before, i.e. the left hand pane is open by default rather than hidden and a location auto-detect function has been added.

New Google AdWords report called Search Funnels showing paid search path to conversion

Similar to Omniture's Campaign Stacking plugin Google has finally launched a new AdWords report called 'Search Funnels'. Unfortunately, it only seems to consider paid search interactions leading up to a conversion whereas Omniture can path all search activity, organic and paid. Email us at insights@datalicious.com if you would like to find out more or read our earlier post on how to actually do multi channel media attribution.
Currently, conversions in AdWords are attributed to the last ad someone clicks before making a conversion, masking the fact that many customers perform multiple searches before finally converting. AdWords Search Funnels help you see the full picture by giving you insight into the ads your customers interact with during their shopping process.
AdWords Search Funnels are a set of reports describing the ad click and impression behavior on Google.com that leads up to a conversion. In addition to a Top Conversions report, Search Funnels consist of 7 reports including Assisted Conversions, First and Last Click Analysis, Time Lag, and Path Length. For an overview of these new reports, check out this video:

Read the official article here

Eyeblaster research: Share of display and search conversions by vertical

The debate around whether display influences search behaviour or not has been going on for a while but I don't think anyone really doubts the impact on search anymore, the question is how much. So it's nice to see some research on how this differs by vertical. The below Eyeblaster graph shows the share of search and display conversions by vertical. 

Interesting to see would be how the impact of display on search behaviour differs depending on the brand awareness in market for a particular brand. Datalicious client research indicates that the weaker the brand awareness in market for a particular brand, the stronger the impact of display advertising on search behaviour and conversions.

Request the full Eyeblaster report here

Conductor report: Fortune 500 companies fail at SEO

via mediapost.com

This is really quite sad to read, why throw money at Google if you could get the same for free? What's holding you back? Email Chris at cbartens@datalicious.com if you want to know how to accurately attribute sales back to paid and organic channels and firmly establish SEO as cost center for your company.

Fortune 500 companies fail at search engine optimization, and many still don't link paid-search keywords to SEO campaigns, although they collectively spend about $3.4 million daily on 97,559 keywords, according to a report.

The Conductor Research Q4/2009 Fortune 500 Report released Wednesday identifies that only 25% of those keywords rank in the top 50 natural search results on search engines such as Google, Microsoft Bing or Yahoo.

Download the full Conductor report here
http://www.conductor.com/resource-center/research/natural-search-trends-fortune-500-q4-2009

AdGooroo search advertising report: Bing fails to translate traffic to increased share of advertisers

The guys at AdGooroo have published another one of their search advertising reports which contains some really interesting data. 

Especially the share of advertisers by search engine and most expensive keywords reports are worth having a closer look. They show a constant decline in advertiser market share for Bing after an initial spike as well as significant differences in keywords by search engine hinting at different user segments.

Apart from the above the report also contains the following.
  • Monthly Change in First Page Advertisers
  • Avg # Ads/Keyword (US & International)
  • Avg # Ads/Keyword (US only)
  • 2009 Retailer Search Spending (Top 80 retailers, Google US)
  • Top 25 US Advertisers by Search Engine
Download the full report here.
http://succeed.adgooroo.com/Q409_Search_Advertising_Report.html


Case study: Making Vodafone datalicious using SiteCatalyst, Test&Target and SearchCenter

Challenge

Implement, maintain and manage an end-to-end analytics and online optimisation platform designed to increase media effectiveness and website conversion as well as overall user experience. 

Solution

Design, implementation and ongoing management of advanced Omniture analytics and online optimisation platform across all Vodafone website properties in general and the online store in particular. The final solution combined data from various different sources, measuring performance across multiple channels above and below the line as well as visitor behaviour down to an individual customer level, both online and through call centres. By combining data sets and technologies that were separate up until then, Datalicious was able to generate additional insights, eliminate inefficiencies and execute highly targeted campaigns which were previously impossible.

Results

Advanced analytics and multi-channel media attribution enabled us to deliver a 400% return on investment on paid search in the highly competitive Telco market and establish organic search as a profitable cost centre. Identification of existing customers allowed us to save 30% of the annual display-advertising budget dedicated to acquisition messaging, which was essentially being wasted on already existing customers and re-purpose it for brand and self-service messaging. The addition of targeting parameters and coordination of on and off page re-targeting campaigns increased response rates by 25% on average. The planning and execution of an online testing strategy increased the visit to sale conversion rate by 5%. All of the above measures combined delivered an approximate return on investment on advanced analytics of over 600%.

Testimonials

“I’ve been working with SiteCatalyst for over six years, 3 years as a customer and 3 years as an employee, consulting to some of our largest customers around the world. The current Vodafone implementation of SiteCatalyst is one of the most impressive I have seen and ranks in the top 10 [globally] from my perspective. It is an amazing foundation for taking action on the data and improving online return on investment.” Adam Greco, Team Lead Business Consulting at Omniture.

“The Datalicious guys are great to work along side and to have on your team. They have a 'no stone unturned' approach to finding solutions to challenges that come up and were at ease working with different providers. Their knowledge and passion for web analytics and best of breed web optimisation was second to none. The advise on best practice use of the Omniture suite and how to make it work for me personally and Vodafone as a whole made the learning and training of others easy. I would thoroughly recommend Datalicious to anyone and they will be my first point of call.” Steve Brown, Senior Business Analyst, Vodafone

http://www.vodafone.com.au/

(download)

Oye Modern: Effective search and optimisation strategy backed by powerful analytics

Background
 
Oye Modern is a specialist online retailer of unique jewellery, stocking a range of designer pieces from DJ turntable rings with real vinyl, to sterling silver necklaces styled as crisp pencil shavings. Traditionally the site generated the majority of it’s business via online word of mouth from blogs, social media, and other online communities recommending her products. There was also a limited paid search program that was failing to deliver cost effective conversions and needed some love.
 
 
Challenge
 
With a budget of $5,000, Oye Modern wanted to ramp up sales and visibility to capitalise on the pre-Christmas period. Datalicious was engaged to stretch this limited budget as far as possible, leading us to think outside the box and employing analytics to show return on investment.
 
Solution
 
With such a small budget, traditional media channels were ruled out quickly and Datalicious looked at how we can use proven tactics within low and zero cost environments such as organic search, social media and complimentary sites, together with tactics to optimise the website experience and messaging to achieve Oye Modern’s objectives.
 
Partner with website Daily Addict which has a small but affluent following in Sydney with a good social-demographic match to customers that had previously purchased. The partnership involved Daily Addict producing video editorial featuring jewellery tips from Oye Modern, and was distributed via social media and emails to followers.
 
Optimisations to the site for organic search by creating additional pages, improving internal linking and simple changes to site copy. Add several proven conversion optimisations to the website such as free shipping, a gift guide and improved messaging about delivery and returns.
 
A small paid search campaign in higher converting countries targeting product related keywords. This campaign was designed to generate learnings and continue to run as a profit centre after the Christmas campaign finished.
 
The Oye Modern team, together with our Datalicious planner Leila Hassan, executed all of the recommendations brilliantly and quickly within budget (excluding labour by their internal team) and put Oye Modern in the best possible position to capitalise on the Christmas gift giving frenzy.
 
Results
 
All marketing efforts combined produced a sales increase of over 400% from the normal baseline sales results of which at least 30% could be directly attributed to paid search managed by Datalicious. 
Organic search increased 100% with almost twice the volume of visitors compared to the pre-campaign baseline - with many top 3 rankings for product terms, particularly the top selling products and names of designers.
 
Searches for “oye modern” (branded searches) increased significantly, together with a much higher conversion rate - it was great to see how the other activity produced an uplift in branded search.
 
The Daily Addict editorial was well received, generating several YouTube honours for being one of the top viewed in it’s category during the campaign, together with positive anecdotal feedback via email and social media comments.
 
With this campaign behind us now, we look forward to looking at new and interesting ways to continue to increase sales for Oye Modern, and allow Jeni the founder to leave her day job and put all her focus towards selling this wonderful and original jewellery to the world.
 
Testimonials
 
"The SEM campaign that Datalicious put in place significantly increased our sales over the Christmas period and also introduced us to new markets we hadn't actively pursued before. The Datalicious team are smart, fun and an enjoyable bunch of people to work with." Jennie Oye, Director.

Useful filters to search faster

A little while back, Google discretely introduced a “Show Options” tab that lets you filter your results by media, time or in other interesting ways. Filters are not new, but combined with Google’s awesome search, have become quite useful to me.

Filtering by Visited Pages. Google is being used more and more as a navigational device towards content you already know. Google is good, but if you’re deep in research sometimes it’s hard to find that site again, and this is a brilliant tool for this purpose. 

This behaviour is not uncommon, and an interesting trend I don’t feel is getting enough attention. Search has become less and less about discovery, and more about meeting basic usability requirements about finding existing content... Something search marketers are adjusting for. How often do you already know exactly what content you are looking for before you search? What chance do the other sites have of capturing your click for that impression? if you’re a search marketer, how do you adjust your optimisation metrics to cater for navigational search and usability from something traditionally focused on acquisition?

Here is my search for Domain names. I searched for this last week and couldn’t remember the name of the site which I decided was the way to go. 

Another feature in the options is the wonder wheel – we haven’t seen a lot of people using this from our analytics data, and I am thinking it probably would be more useful for internal search where you have a more defined content set. There are some implications for search, and with adoption will come more users entering your site via more specific keywords and the reduction in broad search terms.

We’ll be interested to see adoption rates of these filters  and any considerations for search marketing – we’re monitoring our logs and see about 5% of visits contain at least 1 filter, and will be looking to use this data in the future to enrich insights around keywords and what users are looking for when they use them.