SFIMA Pubcon Keynote: The Key to Amazon's Empire

Last Thursday was the SFIMA / Pubcon Annual Summit at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center. With 18 sessions, 2 keynotes and over 30 of Digital Marketing's best internet gurus it comes to no surprise there was only a 1% no-show rate for the 200 marketers that registered for the event. 

The morning keynote was presented by Jeffrey Eisenberg, Co-founder of FutureNow Inc. and author of 'Call-to-Action' and 'Waiting for your cat to bark?', about the '4 Pillars of Amazon's Success'. His one hour keynote was extremely informative, given Amazon is very secretive about their business strategies. 

The 4 Pillars of Success are as followed:

1. Customer Centricity
2. Continuous Optimization 
3. Culture of Innovation 
4. Corporate Agility

First is Customer Centricity. "80% of Company's believe they are customer centric; 8% of their customers would agree".  Amazon has focused their company on giving the consumer exactly what they want - better customer centric service with lower priced items. 

Amazon offer Continuous Optimization. They focus on 4 key points for their optimization objectives:

• Selection
• Price
• Availablility
• Experience

This continuous effort from Amazon has shown that 2/3 of their web purchases are returning visitors; and not only are they returning, but they visit Amazon 3x more and spend (on average) 3x-5x more than new customers. 

Apple is not the only business to be successful in the Culture of Innovation. When analyzing the data of Amazon's reports they look at the data not as a "here it is" but rather a "here is what it could be". Amazon has also created the next generation CEO with the title of the "Customer Experience Officer". With making the head of the company's focus on the customer experience, Amazon is taking customer service to a whole new level. 

Corporate Agility is the ability for a business to adapt rapidly and cost efficiently in the corporate world. Amazon has uses different software to help with their agility opportunities. One software that is used is for Amazon's pay-per-click marketing campaign is DataPop. DataPop has allowed Amazon to create high-performing, customized, relevant ads that have in-turn doubled Amazon's PPC conversion rate and lower their cost per lead. Through DataPop's dynamic keyword ad strategies, Amazon is able to provide more relevant and targeted ads that result in a better customer experience and more sales. 

BloomReach is a software used to help Amazon's Organic ratings on all search engines. BloomReach's data driven technology has allowed Amazon to deliver relevant content that has optimized the customer's experience across multiple channels. Neiman Marcus released statistics after using BloomReach for SEO purposes and confirmed a 31% increase in organic reach! 

The SFIMA / Pubcon Summit was a great one day conference that targeted all areas of digital marketing. If you were not able to attend the conference, Pubcon Las Vegas is from October 6 - 9, 2014 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. If you are interested in attending please contact Joe Laratro for an exclusive coupon code. We hope to see you there! 

Step Inside AdWords Recap

The 'pumped up' Inside AdWords livestream was earlier today. Jerry Dischler, Vice President of Product Management, lead the livestream through the next wave of advertising efforts from Google and the new betas advertisers should be eager to get their hands on.

The livestream was broken down into 3 major points:

• Innovated Ads
• Insightful Reporting
• Intelligent Tools

Innovated Ads was focused mostly on the importance of applications and how to successful engage your audience to lead towards app-based conversions. "Apps are a solution to the users initial problem", said Dischler. 

The friction within the problem and solution is that 60% of apps that are developed have never been installed. Google's recommendations were to use app-keyword suggestions and use PPC ads to help with the awareness of the app and its purpose that will lead to the download, engagement, and ultimately conversion. 

Insightful Reporting concentrated on the Estimated Total Conversion launch last year and the tools that are still betas being developed by Google. The Estimated Total Conversions allow you to estimate total conversions across multiple channels: Desktop, Mobile and Phone. 

But the main topic touched on was the exclusive betas being tested to select companies that give the ability to  integrate online marketing efforts with offline results. Two companies exposed to the beta were Shutterfly and Express Clothing. Google's three main focuses in the development of this multi-channel conversion integrator are:

1. Consumer Value
2. Maintaining the Consumer's Privacy
3. Actual Measurable Results

This beta has a lot of potential to show a more accurate ROI if Google can fulfill those three focuses. Most people believe that a beta test serves only the purpose of ensure the quality of the product before launching; however that is not the case. Although Google want to ensure there are no 'bugs' in launching this new tool, they are using this opportunity to significantly improve the marketing of this product and to look ahead to future tools/betas. I can only imagine how eager marketers are to get their hands on this beta upon being available to the public. 

The final topic was Intelligent Tools. AdWords has really been pushing new tools for measuring our data accurately (which will make my job easier!) and two of these tools recently launched are the Bulk Actions and the Automatic Bidding Option. When making mass changes for large clients, most advanced marketers would use AdWords Editor (again, to just make our lives a little simpler); Google has now given the Bulk Actions option on the AdWords interface to allow for larger changes across the account. This allows you to make location changes and other large scale changes on the interface opposed to using Editor. 

The Automatic Bidding option is a very convenient tool that allows the marketer use a programmed goal strategy (opposed to manual CPC) marketing and let's Google AdWords do the heavy lifting. By telling Google your campaigns main focus is: 1) ROA, 2) CPA, or 3) Clicks , Google can use your performance history to create a marketing strategy focused on your objective. 

The final two tools are tools that are still being developed but that I personally am very excited about. Tool one is the Enhanced Reporting and tool two is Drafts & Experiments. As a NeuroMarketer there is nothing I love more than the ability to test my campaigns. When I first entered the field of marketing, one of my professors told me that "a tester's work is never done". 

When you believe that you have optimized your campaigns structure as much as humanly possible, you haven't! You can always run A/B test on ads and landing pages. Although Google isn't THAT advanced (yet!) they are working on a tool that will let you test different bidding strategies and other options within the AdWords interface that will compare your previous performance with your new metrics... Pretty Cool!

Overall, Jerry Dischler did a great job presenting the statistics that Google generated from advertisers and the new betas marketers have to look forward to. As always, Tandem keeps up with the latest Google updates in PPC, SEO, and Neuromarketing :) Until next time! 

The SEO Mosh Pit - Pubcon NOLA 2014

Brett Tabke put a last minute panel together called the SEO mosh pit. It was filled with the senior (in terms of age and duration in the industry) search engine optimizers at the conference. One of Bruce Clay's writers, Virginia Nussey, did a very good job blogging the sessions. You can read her capturing of the details here: http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/pubcon-liveblog-seo-moshpit-qa-with-the-seo-old-school/

Be Careful Not to Double Count Call Conversions in Adwords

Adwords Phone Call Conversion Tracking is Trickier than You Think

Our Google Team came out to Tandem Interactive's office in February to spend some time reviewing performance, forecasting for Q2, and reviewing the latest and greatest features of Adwords. We always cover pain points. I was ready for this because I have has issues with the phone call tracking as conversions since it launched back in October of 2013. The numbers do not match. Why not? They really did not know either, so we spent an hour together digging in until we found it.

What is the answer? It is simple. Right now, only “mobile click to call” calls count in the conversion column if they meet the conversion requirements (we set it for calls longer than 60 seconds). If you want to see the “manually dialed calls”, then you have to turn on the column in the campaign view for phone call conversions.

This does not sound like a big deal, but it is really confusing why mobile devices show in the conversion report as “calls from ads”. That report does not count manual dials, even though they are also “call from ads”. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that the conversion report only displays "many per click" conversions. The regular campaign reports (and normal counting) reflect "1 per click" conversions.

These are the settings for the conversion tracking. We are using one for mobile tracking and another for non-mobile.

So what is the proper way to count conversions at the moment?

Option 1: Just add the phone call conversions to regular conversions column and that will count mobile and manually dialed together.

Option 2: Segment "mobile click to call" conversions from the conversions column. Subtract them from the conversions and add to phone conversions total. This can be done by looking at the conversion report mentioned above, or by adding "segment by device" to the campaign reporting and do it manually.

Option 3: Remove the conversion tracking and just keep the call tracking separate. This is a double edge sword if you are using conversion optimizer. We have a specific account where counting the mobile click to calls is causing a problem, but we do not want that call conversion data being kept from Google's conversion optimizer formula either.

In the most simple of reports, be careful not to double count call conversions in Adwords. Since the regular conversions can count the mobile click to calls, if you just add all calls to that number as conversions, you will be double counting the mobile click to calls!

This reporting / conversion counting has to get better from Google. The current division of the phone call conversions is not intuitive.

Ways YOU Can Help Build Your Online Links

Here at Tandem Interactive, we strive to get quality mentions throughout the internet pointed back at your site. But some content can get shared extensively on its own as it attracts users to share with their networks, who share with their networks, and so on. The potential to get your company's website out into the world is enormous. So what kind of content gets shares (i.e. links!) and can help your site grow?

Contests. This is not surprising. Contests, giveaways,  and sweepstakes, are huge in user interaction and in shares. Bonus if users get additional entries for sharing on their social networks, driving more and more people to like you and to visit your page. Contests results in links from a variety of places--not limited to blogs, social media, and news organizations.

Scholarship funding. Even a small stipend awarded to students can get you links on .edu sites (which are highly revered) and can also get you a high level of shares as people encourage others to apply for funding. Plus, you get the feel-good vibes from helping a student achieve academic success.

Become a resource. The more information your site has, the more people will refer to it, share it, and link to it as something of value for others on a particular topic. Tips and facts are great impartial articles that a variety of companies can use and include on "Resources" sections of their site.

Partner Up! Partnering with companies of a similar industry means boosting each other's names and including links to each other on your site. This goes without saying, but make sure the companies you reach out to as partners are respected and have a good reputation.

Offer an internship, or even a job. Posting about internships or employment opportunities are easy to market and share as people like to help others find work, and job boards are always looking for items to add. Post an unpaid internship in an area of your company and you can share the posting (i.e. the link) all over the web!

Remember, your website should be constantly growing. The more you put into the content on your site, the more other sites will like you, link you, and share with their audience. Don't try to take the short cut to online marketing success--the best results come from a site that has quality content, not just quantity. Quality breeds quality!

Counter-intuitive Marketing: Disney Strikes Again!

If anyone knows how to market products and build a brand, its Disney. Disney World has been making 'Dreams Come True' since 1971; when the park first opened. The key to Disney's success is to keep the customer coming back. 

For those of you that don't remember the blog post I wrote in April of 2012 on 'Discover Disney: Decoy Marketing?' I compared how Disney was using a NeuroMarketing tactic known as decoy marketing to help push the release of their Discover Disney ticket for Florida Residents. As I have come to learn, this ticket becomes available a few days after the New Year, every year, just in time for my annual family Disney trip.

I followed the 'Discover Disney' ticket prices for 2012 and 2013 and was anxious to see how 2014's release compared; and Disney threw in another NeuroMarketing technique! See if you can spot the trend:

2012 Discover Disney Prices:

3-Day Pass: $99

4-Day Pass: $129

2013 Discover Disney Prices:

3-Day Pass: $119

4-Day Pass: $129

2014 Discover Disney Prices:

3-Day Pass: $129

4-Day Pass: $149

Most of you will say that Disney raised the price by $10 & $20 a ticket... Any other takers? The $129 price point. When they ran this 'special' in 2012 we learned that more people would purchase the $99 tickets than the $129 tickets because of the way consumers interpret the price. $99 doesn't sound as much as $129, it cost an extra $30 for another day...hmm... No, we will only purchase the $99. So they learned from this in 2012 and tested the results in 2013. They moved the price of the 3-Day ticket up (to $119) but kept the price of the 4-Day ticket the same ($129). Now the difference to stay an extra day is only $10.. "Okay, let's stay one extra day", is the response they are getting from the consumers. So this year, they used the same $129 price point that sold better in 2013 and used that as the base price for this years tickets then raised the price on the 4-Day. So rather than just raising the prices across the board, they used the same price we paid last year, and slightly raised the price on the 4-Day option. 

This technique is all about relativity; how the consumer see the product vs. the price. You paid the same amount as last year, you just got one day less. So they reel you in 3 years earlier at $99 then they keep you coming back by small increases in price so it doesn't jump from $99 to $149 then the consumer says 'ouch, no thanks'... But when you do small increments over a long period of time, the pain associated with the increased price doesn't hurt so much. So aside from great marketing and being the most MAGICAL place in world, they have really made an attempt to keep the Florida Residents coming back with their different and "cheap" ticket options. Just be careful to read into things before you just purchase them, you maybe being baited in by psychological marketing... or pixie dust :) 

My Favorite Marketing of 2013 – Taxi Video Advertising in Las Vegas

In October 2013 I took my yearly trip to Las Vegas for Pubcon. Just like a visit to Time Square in New York, I pay close attention when driving to soak up all of the advertising. This year, the official hotel was The Hard Rock Hotel. The suites were great. The restaurants were great. The center bar and the unofficial Pubcon parties there were great! We even had the Hard Rock Hotel’s social media manager, Eric Petersen spending time with us.

So what did I see this time in Vegas that really blew me away? What was so impressive that it makes my number 1 rating for best marketing of 2013? Show Media’s TaxiTV

Every time I took a cab from the HRH, the taxis were equipped with a ceiling mounted tablet. I could tell the programming was updated at least weekly. I could tell that the production of the advertorials was world class. I have some experience with professional grade video production from my training videos with University of San Francisco’s Online Marketing Certificate Program. The TaxiTV videos could be featured on HBO, the quality was that good. But that is now why I was impressed. Well, it was a good part of it. During each ride vignettes were featured about the Hard Rock’s restaurants. It was not a coincidence. The content was being served based on geography.

Think about the quality of the audience. I just left the Hard Rock. Now I am watching commercials for their restaurants and facilities. I am entertained and marketed to while riding to the conference center. When I get back later in the day, I am more aware of where I should be eating in my hotel.

The message was customized, targeted, professional, and engaging. It was the right message at the right time for me.

TaxiTV, keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing what you are doing this year when I am back.