Resession Time Means Marketers Move More Dollars Online…

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Internet Marketing, Local Search, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments

Not surprisingly, the budgets of more than 54% of marketers worldwide have been negatively affected by the recession, according to data gathered from an eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit.  Most would guess that advertisers are spending less – way less in the case of newspapers, local radio and television.  Got that, but then where are they spending their precious ad dollars?  If you guessed “online”  you guessed correctly.

It’s a fact during tough times, more marketers are adopting search engine marketing techniques.   Over 90% of marketers polled by eMetrics said they would increase or maintain their spend on e-mail advertising, and more than 83% said the same about paid search. Advertisers also want to know what they are getting for their search engine marketing investment.  In fact, over 87% of those surveyed plan either increasing or at least maintaining their spending on web analytics. This all adds up to one thing…accountability.  In the advertising world it is all about return-on-investment, measurability and the ability to target – hallmarks of search engine marketing.

Lastly, it looks like this trend will continue.  A recent report by eMarketer.com states that search engine marketing (specifically paid search, contextual advertising, paid inclusion and search engine optimization) “will experience increased spending through 2013. By then total US search marketing outlays will reach nearly $23.4 billion, and marketers will be spending more on SEO than on contextual advertising.”

Isn’t it time that your moved more of your marketing dollars online?

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Do You Know What Your Mom Is Doing Online?

Monday, May 18th, 2009 | Internet Marketing, Internet News, Search Engine Marketing | No Comments

So what are American Moms doing online – checking their email, checking their checking account balance, the weather or what’s on sale?  How about all of the above?  Not surprisingly all of these are among the top ten online activities  for moms according to a study  by Marketing Moms Coalition. What is surprising is that the same study reports that American Moms with children under the age of eighteen spend an average of three hours a day on line, one hour more than the two hours their school age children are spending online.

This is great news for merchants who are selling their products online or utilizing the internet to influence the purchase of their product or service off line.  Families/Mothers with children under the age of eighteen consistently ranks among the most sought after demographics by advertisers.  In many cases these ladies carry the keys to their household’s treasure chest of disposable  income.  In short, American Moms are making or influencing most of their family’s purchases.  Knowing where one can find these moms (online) and understanding what they are doing there, allows marketers to more effectively target them.

Makes sense, but specifically where online can you find them and what tactics can a marketer utilize to reach them?  The most obvious is an email marketing campaign.  85% of American Moms are checking/sending email.  Gathering emails from and then re-marketing to moms with a professional, well designed and topical email marketing campaign should  be at the top of a marketer’s list.  One of our customers now ties in most of the discounts that they offer to “email club members”.   Within a several months they have built their email to well over a 1,000.

The next best place to find these American Moms are the search engines.  I submit that most of the remaining top ten activities involve a search on Google, Yahoo or MSN.  So a page one presence (91% of consumers never search past the first page)  on these search engines, in either the organic or sponsored links section, is paramount.  Display ads on sites which are targeting this demographic is another opportunity that should be considered.

So now that you know where you can find the typical American Mom,  isn’t it  time to reach out and tell her all the reasons why she should be spending money with you?

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SEM Summer Reading List

Friday, May 8th, 2009 | Search Engine Optimization | No Comments

Don’t Make Me Think
By Steve Krug. An awesome book on website usability. It will give you an expert’s ability to judge Web design.

The Big Red Fez
By Seth Godin. Solid and practical advice for anyone with a website.

Purple Cow – Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
Another winner by marketing guru, Seth Godin.

Web Design for ROI
By Lance Loveday & Sandra Niehaus.  Increase conversion rates and turn browsers into buyers and prospects into leads.

The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines
By Jill Whalen. A how to guide for writing keyword-rich marketing copy.

Happy Reading!

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Tags: Search Engine Marketing