» Online Advertising

I’m really liking the new LinkedIn DirectAds Beta program.  The cost-per-click is reasonable compared to Google Adwords and the targeting is great.  I launched a campaign yesterday and already received a couple leads within a matter of minutes.  I’m still trying to figure out if there is any specific keyword targeting and have yet to test some different ad variations.  I’ll report back next week after I’ve been able to see the analytics in further detail.

Share it - loose it

I’ve always been a fan of tech videos on the web.  I remember the good old days of Tech TV, previously ZDTV, now defunct.  The newest of them, Techfluff.tv just recently launched its 3rd episode on Europe’s number one Web-Tech conference in Paris, Le Web ‘08.  TechCrunch just recently covered the show explaining that “every week TechFluff delves into the world of web-celebrities and tech startups, particularly the London scene”.

I think online video has always presented monetizing challenges even more so through its syndication channels.  This past summer at TechCrunch 50, I heard Ashton Kutcher talk about his theory on this topic and how he was using product placement on his show, Blah Girls.  I can understand how that might work for an animation of sort but its difficult to execute product placement opportunities when it comes to on-site interviews.

Take Kevin Rose’s Revision 3 for instance, I know that he has sponsorship opportunities on every show and he executes them well but do you think online advertisers expect more?  I think so, I think online advertising is much more about direct response (call to action) type of advertising then branding or sponsorships.  Take a look at the evolution of banner advertising and how far that has gone.

I don’t think showing a sponsor on a show has enough stickyness to it but if they can figure out a really clever way of incoporating the sponsor into the content that would be cool but then again does that break the editorial code of conduct?

HELP US!

Since the start of my career, I have had a never ending feud with Google about their double ad serving policy.  For starters, Google’s customer service team is setup in such a way that they help first time search rookies the same way they help Google certified companies.  There should be some benefit to being a Google Adwords certified company other than just being able to showoff their logo.  I personally believe that these folks should be escalated up the ladder a bit; why else did we spend the time to take your certification.  It’s annoying that every time, I ask a question, I start at the bottom with the same canned answers.  Not to mention, that we spend in excess of a million dollars a year with Google. (more…)

I have so many prospects that spend so much money on search marketing but haven’t taken the time to consider that good design and content will get them more actions.  We measure return on investment (ROI) based on conversions or how frequently a visitor reaches a goal on your website.  Generally that goal is to get the visitor to a thank you page for filling out a lead or an order form.

The first step to increasing your ROI is to define your goals.  It could be multiple goals.  For example, the BOALT website has two goals: a contact inquiry and request for proposal form.  If you don’t have goals on your website – that’s a problem. You might want to consider adding a form or two.

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Search Marketing has increasingly become more competitive over the past couple of years which has significantly raised cost-per-click’s which in turn raises businesses cost-per-acquisition’s.  So what does this mean mean? Businesses are forced to raise their the costs of goods or services.

Your probably saying, “tell me something I don’t know!”  O.K., I signed into my Google Adwords account today and Google asked me to raise my bid from $9.98 to over $98.00 in order to be on the first page.  I’ve verified this with Google and it’s no error.  They claim that some CPC’s for certain industries have already exceeded $100.

So who ultimately suffers? The consumers.  Businesses will just continue to raise their prices to offset the CPA.  Can you really blame them?

Retargeted Advertising is probably the most effective form of online advertising and only a handful know about it.  It’s mainly been used by the big guys; Fortune 500 companies were the only ones who could afford it up until now.

My first experience with retargeted advertising was through a media spend I placed for one of my clients through Advertising.com.  I was skeptical at first because the minimum buy-in was roughly 30k a month but the results were so impressive they yielded a $10 ROI.  Ok, so how does it work and what is it.

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