PPC Tips
Current economic times are difficult for everyone, but it's not a time to abandon your PPC strategies and campaigns! Instead, use this time to make them more efficient. This month and next month we'll be bringing you ways to increase the efficiency of your paid search endeavors.
- The first thing to do is set up Google Analytics and Google Conversions in your PPC account if you don't have them there already. Both of these tracking features will give you greater insight into:
- which keywords perform the best
- whether keywords are driving new users
- where the traffic is coming from
- what time of day your customers are shopping
- whether or not your PPC keywords match up with your organic keywords.
These features will give you a more holistic view of your PPC efforts and show you which areas could be improved.
- The first thing to do is set up Google Analytics and Google Conversions in your PPC account if you don't have them there already. Both of these tracking features will give you greater insight into:
- There are new social networks and social applications springing up all the time. Check them out, but don't feel that you need to be ready for the next
one — chances are that no matter how much you plan, you won't be. The "big boys" of social media, MySpace and FaceBook, are going to be around for a long time; learning how to
navigate them is your best first step.
- For those still interested in "push" ads (think PPC), Etology is now offering an opportunity to bid on tags rather then keywords — essential in the Web 2.0 world
of blogs and social networks. Users supply the tags, so they're much more likely to be relevant.
- Think mixed media. A recent study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research shows that internet "radio" listening is huge, and a tremendous percentage of
those who listen to online radio also have profiles on MySpace, FaceBook, and LinkedIn. Advertising on internet radio is beginning to catch on and can only expand as its audience does.
Find out what your target demographic is listening to by listening to them, and advertise accordingly.
- While virtual worlds may be difficult to use for push advertising, they are being used more and more for market research. A new deal between GDS&M and Metaversatality for Second Life research shows that we may very soon be able to learn more about marketing to avatars. Don't want to wait? Second Life has new communities springing up daily; your avatar, too, can see what it is that people there are buying.
As we learn more and more about how social networks function, we'll be able to better assess how they can become an integral part of our marketing campaigns. The caveat? Don't just look in from the outside: the only way to understand and use social networks is to get involved.