Search Engines: Your Global Virtual Sales Force US Department of Commerce May 11, 2011
2 15 year track record in a 15 year old industry Who is this guy?
3 The Company We Keep
4 The Search Engines are the new OS What are we going to talk about?
How many computers are there? And how many webpages? Top three? 5
6 The Web from a marketing standpoint: Performance
Search result #2,123,298 A website on the bottom of search results 7
The Online Marketing Pyramid Traditional mktg: lower ROI 8
Most important activity online (#1email?) "Part of having a say is letting people find what you say Google alone: 37 billion queries per month Search is the #2 application (?) on the web; #3 is research. SM? 20-25% of searches: local. 50+% of visitors: International! Only 30-50% of results are relevant : An opportunity! 9 Source: Google / Yahoo Research, Pew Internet & American Life. comscore Media Metrix
Your customer has changed SEs: the operating systems of the web Dramatic consequences of a global behavioral change: a fast searchbox Web sites / content that is not visible for the SEs are rendered invisible for potential customers. Chrome. Your #1Interface: SERPs Your SERPs will act as your most cost effective marketing channel: spiders will drive targeted customers as they search for your products /services Both B2B&B2C: how to stand out? 10
11 That s where your customers are: the SERPs Why are we talking about SEO/SEM/SOM?
Leapfrogging competitors There is a window of opportunity (Politico) As this inequality will balance sooner or later, media spending on online advertising will increase dramatically 12 Source: TNS Media Intelligence
Advertising Spending Growth 2002 2010: a clear break between targeted and mass media. Small biz can afford National / Global reach! Anywhere Economy Targeted media grows 3 20 times faster than generic. 87% of marketers have plans to increase their online presence in 2011 Force accelerator Inertia vs. Supercharged 13 Source: Deutsche Bank / Mediapost & Merrill Lynch
Presentation Agenda Search engines as your virtual global sales force Context we live in: SEO - best marketing action (after a face to face meeting*) The Basics: What is a Search Engine? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Social Media Optimization (SOM) Sensitive issue nowadays. Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC, SEM, CPC, sponsored links, search engine advertising) Social Media Optimization (SMO or SOM, sponsored links, search engine advertising) Global Web usage trends Interconnect A brief case study 14 Source: Omniture White Paper
SE-s: the answer to sensory overload Tsunami: Digital data is quadrupling daily 15 Source: SAS Institute
Evolution: Garbage production? Killer Aps: Standing out! GYM vs. GAF 1) AOL email 15 years: 277 Mn users. Fast, Relevant, requires attention 2) Google-SEs 10 years: 350 Mn users first Social Media! my question, must be true 3) Facebook-Social 5 years: 500 Mn users (now 6) real time, effortless, always on 16
Marketers are ceding control to Customers Consumer-initiated marketing" on the consumers' timeline, not the advertisers' The corporate Web site is less relevant than it used to be / member-created content / SOM Brands are built as a dialogue: Consumers create a brand, not ad agencies. Web presence is a dialogue Reverse Broadcasting: marketing is on defense Personalization. Post-advertising. Attention erosion. Fragmentation. Decisions are made about you and your products before the Web site is even visited More people on SM than emailing! 17 Source: Omniture White Paper
E-Commerce Sales 2010 Metrics 18 Source: comscore; IAB;eMarketer
19 Trends & Market Size You are already global How to maximize search dominance?
Go International! 750Mn+ people 95% of the web: 61 billion searches / month* 20 Source: Comscore
Use it for what it was invented for: Reach people throughout the world Google currently supports more than 40 languages in nearly 200 countries for keyword targeted campaigns. English Chinese (simplified) Chinese (traditional) Danish Dutch Finnish French German Italian Japanese Korean Norwegian Spanish Swedish Arabic Bulgarian Catalan Croatian Czech Danish Estonian Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Latvian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Tagalog Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese 21
The big rush to get online Million Internet users by region, 2008 385 248 139 51 42 20 Asia Europe North America Latin America / Carribean Africa Middle East 578 Oceania / Australia 22 Source: Internet World Stats www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Most of 1.5 Bn i-users are in Asia % of all Internet users by region, 2008 23 Source: Internet World Stats www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
World Internet penetration % of population with Internet access 60% of 100 MN Twitter users are overseas Facebook: 100MN US, 500MN overseas 24 Source: Internet World Stats www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Google s Reach #1 Content Network as well: 80% reach Total Unique Visitors Europe: 91% Asia Pacific: 88% Google (search) 567M Latin America: 92% Yahoo (search) 239M BING (MSN) (search) 178M Ask network 128M 25 Source: comscore Custom Analysis
26 Your #1 Marketing Channel Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Search Engine Marketing (SEM) & Social Media Optimization (SMO)
What is a SE? a database Brain Function of the web The history of Google: a copy of the Net Crawler (Spider, bot) Visits visible webpages Follows links Determines relevance of pages as it copies them Index Hierarchy of results, based on relevance Algorithm The dynamic engine of results This is how SEs compete 27
How 70-87% of clicks are delivered Natural, organic, editorial and commercial- advertising links 60% of the users are unaware of the distinction. Search accounts for 49% of online purchases. FREEMIUM Advertisements Organic, natural results 28 Source: Mediapost / Jupiter Research; ROI Research
Search Engine Optimization The most powerful marketing tool: editorial Third party validation -Your Goal Increase your Revenues, utilizing the web as your most targeted sales channel. Lower Customer Acquisition Costs. Increase Highly-Targeted Site Traffic. Increase Purchase/Conversion Ratios. Increase Web Visibility and Online Brand Recognition. 29
What is Search Engine Optimization? Organic links Status quo baseline report sets the groundwork for the campaign. It allows a reference point for results reporting. Extensive keyword analysis via a suite of keyword analytical tools mission critical. Page Level Optimization involves creating unique, keyword rich html tags and titles designed to increase keyword relevance. Designed for optimal results while minimizing the risk of violating major search engine rules. It is done by techies sitting in dark rooms: marketers speak a different language. It is an opportunity to dominate! Link Popularity Building. The rules of engagement are dictated by the search engines. Don t break those rules: the penalty is huge. BMW.de! 30
Typical optimization experience Your keyword space is ripe for you to dominate Migration of hundreds of keywords to top 30 positions on the web s major search engines. 10x, or greater, increase in Search Engine derived traffic. Increased purchase / conversion ratios. ROI Focused Efforts = Increased Revenues. Recession-resistant marketing A gift that keeps on giving. 31
Dominant trend: Search Related Ads Commercially available results next to the natural ones 1 out of 6 referrals comes from ads Advertisements 32
PPC Marketing: 95% Google, 60% Yahoo Buying and managing advertising links Crossroads of Brand Communication and Direct Marketing. Second best ROI (industry specific). Advantage: it is immediate. Bidding process can be much less expensive when done with experience (Dutch auctions, game theory to maximize returns). Testing is important: Dynamic titles, multiple creatives. 33
Compare SEO to PPC Dynamic balance should be our goal SEO Free, unpredictable, unbiased, difficult to achieve. PROS Low costs (although front loaded). Results are more visible and more relevant. Trusted, independently verified, unbiased by an objective third-party. Provides a steady stream of traffic over time. One time costs are frontloaded; once pages are optimized for organic search, low ongoing maintenance fees make it cost-efficient. 34
Compare SEO to PPC Dynamic balance should be our goal CONS It is difficult to do. Engine requirements can be at odds with site design and architecture. Organic results can be unfocused. No control over specifics (which terms, how well they get ranked). Relatively low control over your listing copy. Longer time horizon. 35
Compare SEO to PPC (Continued) The most misunderstood channel - PPC PPC Controlled, planned, every click costs money. PROS Easy to do if you are willing to bid high. Allows planning traffic = sales forecast using appropriate metrics. Opportunity for short term sales campaigns, promotional fares etc. Can boost traffic significantly on a short notice. Completely customized creative to meet the needs of users. No risk. Safe all the way. 36
Compare SEO to PPC (Continued) Pay for every click and quadruple sales CONS It can be expensive (varies from moderate to high costs). Certain segments of online audience are not excited about commercial messages. Click fraud (1 to 30%). Issue or non-issue? Trojan programs imitating legitimate Google ads on sites. 37
SOM: Control the Noise / Buzz Your clients shoppers club Extension of your Customer Service Communication and Direct Marketing. Cross-fertilizing platforms spread user generated content (Geo- and industry specific: YouTube / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn). Same rules, chaotic environment: Social sucks up resources quickly because it is addictive. Sentiment Analysis / Actionable data / KA (!) Most intimate engagement / complaints vs. appreciation ratio 38
39 A Case study Magical Cuzco Tours
Their website on top of the SE results 40
The Results: a vibrant presence Gradually entering different markets magicalcuzco.com (0 300 top) Pay Per Click - success Social Media Presence Two new product lines (Culinary + Spiritual) 41 Source: ActiveMedia Reports,
The Strength of Networks As the number of the nodes increases, the full strength of the network increases more rapidly. 42
Disruptive Technology Explosive results Online Reputation Management: Control your digital footprint Define your personal brand 43
Thank you for your attention Contact Information Laszlo Horvath laszlo@activemedia.com Skype: Calllaszlo +1.703.757.9195 44