Inbound Marketing and Marketing Automation are relatively new fields representing a new way to market. Some people call the whole approach Marketing 2.0; we call it Inbound Marketing Automation or IMA.

As opposed to the old techniques of Outbound Marketing, Inbound relies on having your website get found on the web. Today, more than 90% of B2B buyers begin their search for a solution to their need online. To make this statistic even more significant, consider that 85% of people don’t progress beyond the 1st page of Google’s results to their search query. Essentially, if you’re not on page one, you’re not there!

If you’re thinking that this kind of thing is a little too much like the next silver bullet, and perhaps as ineffective as the last one, allow me to set your mind at rest: Inbound Marketing Automation really does work:

1. Most people more than double their website traffic using it
2. Conversion rate increases of more than 250% are frequent
3. The average cost to acquire a lead is 60% less compared to Outbound Approaches.

With that as your incentive, then, lets start by clarifying an important point: Inbound Marketing Automation is best thought of as a process. Yes, it consists of a set of tools, and yes, you do use them via specific techniques. But to gain maximum benefit its best to consider the Process as a way to tie them all together and thus ensure that the whole system is greater than the sum of its parts.

Formal Process Descriptions should be based on the Continuous Process Improvements mantra of Think, Plan, Do, Measure and Repeat. This link provides a good example of such a process description, this one dealing with How to run a B2B Twitter Campaign.

Three points to consider while you design the Process:

1. Holistic Websites are the only way to fly…

As a regular reader of Pete’s blog, you will know that he promotes the concept of a Holistic Website – a website which is carefully designed upfront to accommodate the results of your SEO effort, is easily extended to include a Blog and the other forms of Social Media marketing, has its copy and content properly designed around its keyword phrases, and, of course, is ready for your IMA system to plug into when you switch it on.

2. Design your Marketing Strategy

But before you start designing this Holistic Website (or renovating your existing one), the very first thing to think about is your Marketing Strategy. If you have already articulated a comprehensive strategy including its online components, you will obviously omit this step. But if your strategy is out of date (or – gasp – doesn’t exist!), or doesn’t cover the online aspects of the new marketing approach, then proceeding on without it is a bad idea. You are, after all, going to base your whole website (all the copy, graphics, structure and content) on the keywords and core competencies you define in the strategy. If you get the strategy wrong, your entire effort which follows this step is a waste of precious resources.

3. Key performance indicators and metrics
Armed with your strategy, you can now turn your attention to defining some key goals for adding Inbound Marketing to your website. As the famous slogan so succinctly puts it, the goals are usually, More Sales Leads of higher quality at lower cost. Once you have your objectives stated clearly, think of the metrics you will use to both measure the current values now and decide how best to portray these metrics as a trend thereby making it easy to monitor your progress towards your goal.

Okay, now for the overview.

The major thrust behind Inbound Marketing’s success, is that done right, your ideal prospects come knocking on your door and give you permission to sell them something. It’s a lot like the Field of Dreams: If you build a great website, the buyers will come.

And because the buyers may number in their thousands (perhaps even hundreds of thousands), you will need the aforementioned process involving software tools and techniques to manage it all. But please note: This is an all or nothing approach. Automating a part of the whole process is akin to speeding up the flow of water in the middle of a river. It makes that part rush for sure, but the overall throughput doesn’t change.

With that in mind, a good example system is shown below.

Components of Inbound Marketing Automation

1) Your Content. A subject unto itself, but the whole process depends on having content that makes your site the destination of choice for people interested in your field. Tools here help create it, display it, disseminate, promote and catalogue it. Our blog offers some ideas on how to create such content (website details at the end).

2) SEO and PPC Tools. Search Engine Marketing includes tools for Organic Search (SEO) and those for Pay-Per-Click (PPC). There are tools to help you devise the right Keyword strategy; others to assist in developing your advertising campaigns; yet more tools score your website, analyze its traffic share, determine your SERP (Search Engine Results Page) ranking, assess incoming and outgoing links, and on and on.

3) Social Media Marketing tools help you run your SMM Campaigns. Reputation Analytics monitor the social networks to determine the “buzz” around your products/services and company. These tools also help you to find the most authoritative or influential blogs and websites for your area. There are tools to help with Twitter, Blogging, LinkedIn and all of the may social media platforms and because this is a hot topic, there are many articles on how and what and when – again our blog covers the subject well.

4) Demand Generator packages capture, score and grade visitors on their profiles and digital footprints, and then nurture them from cold leads to hot prospects via drip-email campaigns run via Automation Rules.

5) The hot prospects (those who achieve a sufficiently high score) are fed into your CRM system enabling your sales people to place very effective sales calls.

Prospecting Heaven would look like this…

Imagine visitors arrive on your site, attracted by your excellent keyword and SEO strategy, and all that amazing Social Media Marketing you’re doing daily. They find, when they get there, that your site is a perfect match to the keyword phrase they keyed in (because you created your marketing strategy and keyword phrases well, and then used the holistic approach to build the website and write its copy). So they don’t bounce off and they do begin exploring…

They find your thought-provoking content and register to get it. They read it and hustle back for more. Because they are now an official Prospect (i.e. they have given you their name and email address), they are inserted into the first of your drip-email nurturing campaigns and from here on, they are managed automatically. Nurtured and cared for, according to your best sales and marketing practices which are encoded in your Inbound Marketing system’s Business or Automation Rules. Your prospects are cared for flawlessly, repeatably and 24/7. And with each automated drip-email element of every campaign, provided with just the right response to nudge them to the next step in their buying cycle.

Your marketing people are freed from the drudgery of managing leads and responding to routine inquiries allowing them to create brilliant new campaigns, and your sales people no longer spend time on people who are “just looking”, but instead concentrate their efforts on the hot prospects who are ready to buy now. This is how Inbound Marketing Automation increases your revenues while lowering your costs and thus boosts profit significantly.

Many of you have already developed a PPC from scratch, but for those of you who are new to search, it can sometimes be daunting to know where to start. With that in mind, today’s column will focus on the seven key steps to building a PPC campaign.

Step “zero” – which you should have already done if you’ve decided to develop a PPC campaign – is to do your research. My last column talked about the various intelligence tools you can use to understand the search marketplace and competitive environment. All of this should feed into your overarching search strategy.

However, even more important than understanding the landscape is to have an in-depth knowledge of your company’s or clients’ products and services and their Web site content. And naturally, that’s where the PPC campaign creation process starts!

1. Content/Category ReviewYou will want to review the content of the Web site you’ll be marketing to carefully, to understand the subject matter and offerings. You may want to “scrape” the site for keywords as you go through this process, noting any terms that you deem relevant to the campaign.If you are developing a campaign for a new site launch, you can use the content map or Information Architecture (IA) wireframes and copy decks to help understand how content will be organized and what types of themes will be present.

   In addition, if the category or offering is completely new to you, it may be helpful to do additional research on the topic to broaden your general knowledge based on the topic. These efforts should leave you with my next point.

2. Account Structure DevelopmentOnce you have a good sense of what the category, site, and product/service offerings are all about, you can begin to group your initial content/keyword findings into high level themes or content blocks. These can be used as the basis for your campaign’s structure and will help guide your keyword research.For example, if you are working with a Web site for a home renovation company, you may find the following key content areas/themes:
   

   • Home renovation – general
   • Home improvement contractors
   • Kitchen renovations
   • Bathroom renovations
   • Finishing a basement
   • Home renovation guide/how-to

   Based on the relative importance of the topics in this list, you may decide to assign a budget proportionately to each of these areas.

3. Keyword GenerationNow that you have your high level structure in place, you can begin comprehensive keyword generation. This involves employing various keyword research tools to take your initial list of tens or hundreds and turn it into thousands.Your goal is to discover as many related terms, keyword variations, synonyms, related terms, and misspellings as you can. With paid search, you start with a big list of keywords for testing purposes and then whittle down your list as you find what is working and what’s not.

   It might make sense to tackle each key content theme/topic individually and capture the output of that research on individual tabs in a spreadsheet. This will come in handy when we move to the next step.

4. Keyword GroupingWith your keyword generation exercise complete, you should now be sitting with long lists of keywords under each high level content area. Your job now is to divide these lists into very narrow groupings of similar keywords called “ad groups.” So, for example, under your “bathroom renovations” group, you might create the following ad groups:
   

   • Modern bathroom renovation
   • Redoing your bathroom
   • Bathroom upgrade
   • Retiling shower
   • Replacing bathroom cabinets
   • Bathroom sink installation

   Within each of these ad groups would be highly focused keywords in close relation to each other. There is no set number of recommended ad groups or keywords within each ad group, but the smaller and tighter each ad group is, the better.

5. Match TypingArmed with highly focused keyword groups, you can now go through each group or keyword and assign the match type. (Match types help define the rules around which queries your ads will be shown for.) Many people will simply default to “broad match” – meaning your ad will be shown on any and all queries that contain your keyword – and that’s fine. However, you may want to assign a more narrow match type such as “phrase match” or “exact match” if you want to restrict when your ad is shown, limit your spend, or if you want to test out various match types.In addition to regular match types, you can also assign negative matches to each of your ad groups. “Negative” keywords are essentially terms that you don’t want your ad showing for. So, for example, if you put all your keywords on broad match, anytime the word “home renovation” is part of a keyword phrase, your ad would show up. Which means it could also show for undesirable queries such as “horrible home renovation” or “home reno companies to avoid.” To avoid your brand being associated with these terms, you can added such keywords as “negative” terms to your account, which restricts your ad from showing in those instances.
6. Ad Copy CreationWith your ad groups and keywords well defined, it’s time to create ad copies for each group. Ideally, you will run more than one ad per ad group at any one time for testing various messaging. The rule of thumb is to run at least three ad copies at a time. There are many approaches to developing A/B testing methodologies for search ads, but that’s a whole other discussion.What’s most important is that you make sure your ad copy is as relevant to the keywords as possible. So, for example, in your “modern bathroom reno group,” you might explicitly state in an ad that your company “specializes in creating stylish bathrooms with a modern aesthetic.” In your “retiling shower” group, you might ask, “Thinking about retiling your shower? Learn how a professional contractor can help.”
7. Landing Page SelectionThe final step in the process is landing page designation. As part of your ad copy development, you will need to select “display” and “destination” URLs for each of your ads to drive to. The display URL is what will actually show in your ad copy (usually the domain), whereas the destination URL is where the ad will actually drive (usually a sub-page).For each ad group, your goal is to find the page on the site that is most relevant to the group’s keywords. In some instances you may choose to promote a specific “call-to-action” in your ads and therefore drive directly to an action page. You might also want to create campaign landing pages to up your chances of conversion. You can also test drive the same ad to various landing pages to see which generates a more engaged visitor.

February 25, 2010, 03:15 PM by Rick DeJarnette | 0 Comments

http://seohardtruth.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-not-use-bothpay-per-click-and-seo.html

I was talking to a client the other day about improving their Organic Search Results. They were having problems with under performing keywords. I mentioned to them to start a few Pay Per Click ads form their favorite search engines and look at the conversion rates and ROI, unfortunately no luck. They would rather spend more money on catalogs, newspaper ads and commercials. While Traditional Marketing is still successful, I could not understand there thinking. They have the budget and a very marketable product for the web. 
I continued to explain and provide them with examples on the impact of using PPC and SEO in union, but were still not convinced that it was the way for them to go. The end result was they wanted me to bring in another SEO consultant to work with their SEO specialist. Something that could have cost them between $500 – $1,000 per month ended up costing them over $40,000. 

Using PPC and SEO, Hand in Hand!

PPC can be a very important part of a sites marketing strategy. It’s easy to work with, reliable and predictable. Using PPC can help you test keywords that you are thinking about using for your SEO campaign. Want to see if a keyword is important to optimize for? Get a 100 or so clicks through PPC and check you conversion rates and ROI. You can also use your or your competitors PPC ads to check keyword combination’s, which will give you ideas for the arrangement of your keywords in your SEO efforts. 

The same goes for using SEO in your PPC Campaigns. If you want to expand your PPC keyword list, look into what words people are searching for to find you organically. Then turn around and use those keywords for your PPC campaigns. 

Pay Per Click (PPC)

If you are new to PPC you may lose a bit of money at first, you need to learn the system. If you have the budget, I would suggest hiring a professional at first or a consulting company. There a several companies around that will work with marketing teams to get them up to speed on PPC services. 

If you are going to take the project on yourself, you will need to these major players. 

Google Adwords - largest network across Google, Ask, AOL, Earthlink and many others. 

Yahoo! Search Marketing - networks include; Yahoo!, AltaVista, AllTheWeb, and others. 

Microsoft adCenter – Still going to be around for a bit, but will soon do all business through Yahoo! Search Marketing

For more information on Pay Per Click check out these websites and blogs: Pay Per Click Universe, SEOBook, SEMGeek, Search Engine Guide, and PPC Hero 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

If you are new to SEO you will need to hire a professional to work with your web developer. The results for SEO are not over night it takes time, it may take 3-6 months before you will start seeing significant results. This is a long term investment, but you can not attach a value to how important SEO is. 

For more information on SEO check out these websites and blogs: 
SEOBook, Search Engine Watch, Pandia,HighRankings.com,and Top 25 SEO Blogs.

Use both!!!

Don’t think that Organic SEO is the only way to go, or you have to spend tons of money on PPC campaigns. If you have the budget and clicks are not too expensive for your business model. Why not use both? By utilizing both, SEO and PPC you will quickly be able to maximize your ROI.

Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by The Wizard in Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click advertisers only pay when an advertisement they placed on a Search Engine, Web Site or Blog is clicked to access the advertised content.

PPC is effective when properly managed. However, there are pitfalls which must be considered before initiating any Pay Per Click programs. These include:

• If not properly managed Pay Per Click can be expensive
• It’s possible to get involved in a bidding war drastically increasing PPC costs
• Advertisements placed on inappropriate web sites or content networks deliver un-targeted traffic, increase cost and lower campaign ROI
• As traffic increases so does the cost

Effective Pay Per Click Strategies

Prepare PPC Budget

It is imperative at the outset of your PPC campaign to prepare a budget for the advertising campaign based on profit driven campaign goals such as; increased sales, leads for the sales department or other objectives identified through business Strategic Planning.

Decide on PPC Providers

There are many Pay Per Click providers available with the leaders being Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Although there are other PPC providers I prefer to work with the “Big 3″ as I have personally experienced “Click Fraud” and poorly targeted traffic when using other PPC providers. However, even when using the primary Pay Per Click providers, you must pay attention to where you ads will be displayed. The use of Google’s content network does have the potential to deliver poorly targeted traffic which is unlikely to convert into your company’s identified goals.

Keyword Selection

The selection of keywords is critical to the success of your PPC campaign. The keywords are used to develop your ad title, ad content and landing page content, and therefore must capture your target audience’s attention immediately.

Investigating potential keywords is essential to obtain a reasonable ROI from your PPC investment. Cost per click varies depending on how popular the keywords are, and how much traffic they are likely to generate.

Paying for the #1 position is not always necessary, often the best strategy is to pay for positions 3 or 4 which are still highly visible and less expensive.

To learn more about the keyword selection process visit Keyword Research. Two very good services for keyword suggestion tools are Wordtracker and Trillium’s Keyword Discovery, both use different processes providing varying results. Another tool which should not be overlooked is Google’s Keyword Tool.

Ad Creation

The key to effective Ad creation is writing ad title and copy that uses the keyword / keyword phrase in an attention grabbing manner using very few characters. You only have seconds to grab your target audience’s attention, thus the importance of writing attention grabbing ad copy.

The use of action verbs, limited time offers, specials and identifying the benefits of your service or product are important factors in developing your PPC advertisements to encourage the “click”.

Landing Page Development

For each ad campaign you can greatly improve your conversion rates by developing landing pages specific to the ad content.

There are two types of landing pages: Reference pages and Action pages.

Reference pages provide the visitor with detailed information about the ad offers and should be relevant and include the keywords and phrases used in the advertisement. Action pages should include motivation to encourage your visitor to complete the transaction or conversion identified in the Pay Per Click planning process.

Key items in a Landing Page Include:

• Headline – Relevant call to action
• Prices, bonuses and special offers appropriate to advertisement
• Page Body Copy – Easy to scan copy detailing product or service benefits
• Sub Headers and Tag lines – action orientated, problem solving
• Buttons and Links – Easily accessible and identifiable to encourage conversion

Testing

It is important to test the effectiveness of your ad and your landing pages. Typically A –B testing is the most informative, enabling you to compare results from advertisements and landing pages which are similar but different while targeting the same keywords and keyword phrases. However, it must be remembered that without significant traffic volumes A-B testing results can provide inaccurate results.

It is now time to try out your Pay Per Click strategies, one final comment is; Start your bids low and build, that is one key factor to keeping within your Pay Per Click budget and obtaining maximum ROI.

Analytics, PPC & SEO: So Happy Together

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