These items relate to different aspects of building a campaign and should be associated with a campaign if deemed necessary.

Affiliates
Understanding affiliate marketing for the purpose of building a strategy around branding and awareness is important to highlight here.

Affiliate marketing is an online medium that has been used for many years. Defined as a network of reciprocal links, an affiliate network traditionally placed links on similar-subject websites to increase relevant exposure of products and services in return for a percentage of any generated sale.

With the advent of paid for placement search engines the affiliate networks started to utilize this medium as a platform for increasing the relevant links for the company they were placing links for, and so dawned the age of affiliate marketing via the search engines.

In early 2005, Google AdWordsTM, the major affiliate search mechanism, announced that only one listing could be presented for a single domain (i.e. company address); for this reason companies now have to face the realization that affiliates may take the only spot available.

With this being said the following issues exist with affiliate marketing and should be controlled at all costs.

• Unnecessary bidding against affiliates – work with the affiliate and create a bidding precedent for the bid prices paid by all parties.

 This problem persists mainly on branded terms but if controlled carefully each party can successfully maintain a presence for the advertising website.

 With Google only listing the company with the highest CTR and best bid price, it is important to ensure that a fraught bidding war hasn’t been created between the advertising company and affiliate to gain that one escalate the cost of a keyword or series of keywords, which should be at the lowest rate.

• Keywords disabled due to affiliate bidding – additional to the points raised above, creatives (Titles and Descriptions) must be designed so that the searcher can identify the advertising company and the affiliates.

• Affiliate creative is poor – talk with the affiliate network advertising and ensure that a branding standard is maintained. If it is not, prevent the affiliate from advertising until the standard is met.

Above all, be conscious of engaging with an affiliate network. In a branding and awareness strategy the affiliate network may not be interested in engaging on a traffic basis, as the traditional model is to take a percentage of sales or CPL.

Contextual advertising
Content match has been a much maligned mechanism for driving traffic to a website from some of the major (and minor) PFP engines.

As a vehicle for driving traffic it is exceptionally good; however, as soon as ROI metrics are placed against it many suffer poor returns.

In a branding and awareness strategy, content match or content targeting is a very strong vehicle and should be used if financially viable. The following should be observed.

• Research when researching the keywords on some the engines, content matching can be added to the analysis parameters to determine what additional success will be gained from using this measurement.

Some engines are more capable of providing these data so use judgment when selecting keywords.

• Measurement – for this measurement use traffic and CPC. A content program will give exceptional coverage on relevant topics, articles and sites; however, as there is a distinct cost associated, which can increase dramatically, measure traffic against costs and budget.

Buying brand name keywords
This is defined as buying keywords that are, or variations of, company names or brand names.

If the website has any form of organic optimization, the chances are the number 1 to number 3 spot will most likely be filled with a listing for said company.

The debate then rages as to whether a further PFP listing should also be bought, with the question raised `Why Should I if my website is already number 1?’

The answer to this question isn’t clearly defined and must be tested using controlled scenarios.

A clear-cut way to determine this is to utilize a log file based tracking tool and record the total traffic from search engines with a paid listing and without (provided a prominent organic listing exists) but to aid in the decision to warrant this activity the following table lists the pros and cons of buying brand terms:

Table 1.
Pros and cons of buying brand terms

Pros of Buying Brand Terms Cons of Buying Brand Terms
Guaranteed number 1 (budget pending) on terms related to a  brand or company name The costs of buying brand terms all can be considerable.

For popular brands these terms could account for more than 50 per cent of a monthly search budget

100 per cent control of the creative, allowing for more dynamic messages to be broadcast as well as testing to be conducted to improve CTR Ability to ‘double up’ on the number of search listings (without affiliates) legitimately thus capturing those who click on organic listings AND those who click on paid listings

Ability to ensure competitor(s) do not buy the brand terms related to the company advertising and steal screen real estate and SOV

With most brands and company names the purchased brand terms should always have the highest CTR and Conversion Rate (see Chapter 7) and lowest CPC The superior performance of brand terms can mask an otherwise poorly performing search campaign.

It is for this reason that the suggested process of keyword categorization is performed

The question as to whether buying branded terms or not makes sense for any particular brand or company can only be answered by testing.

Branding and awareness is becoming a strong metric for judging the performance of a campaign and a viable objective to achieve via SEM.

Branding within the search engine requires serious budgetary investment as well as strict measurement techniques to ensure that the invested budget is being well spent.

Unlike eCommerce strategies where a distinct clear metric is calculated from each click, a branding and awareness strategy looks to increase the awareness of corporate website within the engines.

This being said the measurements taken must ensure that a return on investment is being seen, be it from placement within the engines, share of voice (SOV) or traffic to the site.

• Paid for Placement (PFP) engines and organic search are the two most likely types of search engine mechanism to use for a branding and awareness campaign.

• The major PFP engines and a selection of tier 2 are recommended, as these will give the maximum coverage within the search engine network. These will be complemented, especially on brand terms, by the organic listings.

• It is recommended that generic and branded keywords are used for a branding and awareness campaign; specific terms will not drive enough volume or be searched upon enough times to warrant usage.

• Similarly generic and branded creatives are also recommended to ensure the maximum exposure for corporate messaging is obtained.

• Control should be obtained by measuring success against the following (but not specific to any one): traffic, share of voice, impressions or rankings.

• Management is deemed necessary in maintaining position of these phrases at the maximum amount possible within budget.

• Affiliate marketing must be controlled to ensure that any activity performed on branded terms (as well as generic terms) is done so at the lowest possible CPC.

• Contextual advertising is an option, but must be done with strict control measures on traffic and cost to ensure fiscal responsibility.

• Buying brand names is recommended for this strategy; however, it is understandable that should an organic listing be present this might not be as necessary. It is, however, worth noting that branded terms must be used in one form or another.

Keywords: branding, awareness, branding campaign, awareness campaign, affiliate marketing, branded terms, keywords, brand name, brand terms,

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Managing a campaign of this kind relates to the paid search engines, such as Overture or Google AdWordsTM. There are two distinct variables that must be taken into consideration:

• Presence – a company’s website has the maximum presence within the search listing for important keywords.

• Pricing – managing the aforementioned presence in relation to a budget requires fiscal responsibility and as such a firm understanding of the objectives and budgetary allocation is necessary before, during and after any campaign has been run.

With both of these variables of equal importance the answer to managing an awareness strategy is twofold, the first being with human input and the second (and preferred option) via the use of a technology.

Technology ‘bid management’
The key to managing a campaign that maintains the strongest presence while keeping in mind price is the use of a bid management technology.

Depending upon the type of system selected the technology must use informed variables such as maximum CPC, daily budget limits and selected position ranges. The following process must be used to determine these criteria:

• Step 1: Research – a selection of keywords must be researched for relevance (user defined), velocity (searches provided by engines) and price per position (provided by the engines).

Once this information is gathered an understanding of what costs are involved and average CPC will be acceptable for top positions.

• Step 2: Selecting keywords – the research performed above will give both the estimated coverage (in terms of searches) and the representative costs per click.

The next phase is to select the keywords based upon budget. Some words are going to be very expensive.

If the budget won’t cover the entire list, the keywords must be selected in turn and tested against the goals of the strategy.

• Step 3: Implement – the plan using a bid management technology. Set the variables determined in Steps 1 and 2 and use these as the parameters for daily/hourly bid management.

Some bid management tools are more advanced than others and, for the simplest management of all letting a tool determine the best time of day or position to get the maximum presence from a predetermined budget is the way to go.

The screen shot shown in demonstrates where an ‘optimization rule’ can be set and then allow the system to do the rest.

The advantages of utilizing an advanced bid management system such as this are that a great deal of resource can be saved.

Resource in this instance is defined as people time. A simpler way to look at this is to analyze the variables involved. In an awareness strategy the desired outcome is presence at the right price.

If the search engines allow for hourly updates of keywords, terms that you set at number 1 to number 5 at l pm could be in position 10 by 2pm or the cost per click price of the market could have evaluated over an hour long period beyond a desired CPC range.

For this reason it is important to do some mathematics to determine whether bid management is necessary.

500 Keywords
(in an awareness strategy these are likely to be high traffic volatile terms)
MULTIPLIED BY
3 PEP Engines
(e.g. Overture, Google AdWordTM and FindWhat/MIVA)
MULTIPLIED BY
24 Changes Per Day
(Changing bids on an hourly basis)
MULTIPLIED BY
5 Seconds Per Update
(Allowing for the time to find, change and refresh the engine bid page)
EQUALS
180000 Seconds Per Day (or 50 Hours!)

From this mathematical example it would require, taking an 8-hour day, over six full-time employees working around the clock to manage a simple portfolio of 500 keywords.

This example may take this point to the extreme; however, in an awareness strategy where keyword position is important and bidding is furious it is key to have a type of technology or, at least, mechanism, working towards an overall goal.

Manual management
Manual management is defined as the control of a campaign using limited additional technology.

The focus is to find work around mechanisms on the words and phrases being used to ensure that a campaign’s performance is maintained at all times.

Without a bid management technology this is a very difficult and challenging task, however, it is not impossible.

The way to master this is to focus on the tools and mechanisms provided within the industry that are freely available for all to use. In this instance these are the bidding vehicles provided by the PFP engines themselves.

The effectiveness of these mechanisms is in actuality determined by the amount of resource allocated.

The question becomes one of frequency and of updating techniques. Many companies choose to use different ways to overcome resource issues.

One of the worst ways to ensure a top spot is to purchase the number 1 phrase, using auto bidding, and place a very high maximum bid. Other more successful methods are as follows:

• Manage keywords sorted by importance: if the keywords are sorted by importance and relevance to a company’s products, services or branding exercises, more emphasis could be placed upon these words only and the remaining terms updated less often.

• Manage keywords sorted by cost: for the more fiscally challenged campaigns the management of keywords by price is critical.

 In relation to sorting the keywords on the basis of those that have a high likelihood of running away with a campaign, these should be managed more carefully and more often than those that don’t carry as high a probability.

 Note: this rationale is particularly important for the management of Google AdWordsTM and in reference to organizing campaigns to get the most from each keyword based upon a budget.

Keywords: branding, awareness, CTR, keywords, bid management tools,

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The power of search engine marketing, and the advertising medium of search, in driving branding and awareness; and The IAB reported in a survey an increase of 27 per cent in brand awareness from search’.

Further research performed by Comscore suggests that, for some retail sectors, some 92 per cent of purchasers willing to buy researched the purchase online and subsequently bought offline.

This indicates that search marketing is one of the largest influencing mediums for researching products and services that are researched online.

With this information available the construct of a search-marketing plan around the objective of driving brand and corporate awareness is of high importance.

This article will revise the components necessary in the construction of a search-marketing plan around this topic.

Submission type
This strategy requires prominent placement on terms that are commonly used. When constructing a portfolio the focus will be on generic words and phrases as well as the branded terms specific to the company and website in question. For this reason the following mix is recommended.

Paid For Placement = Yes
Paid For Inclusion = No (Optional)
Organic Search = Yes

Paid For Placement (PFP) has been selected due to its ability to rank terms at the highest and most prominent placement within the search landscape.

This includes both generic terms that have the highest search volume and also the branded terms related to the firm or organization.

Organic Search has been selected as it has one of the best opportunities for branded search.

Additionally, if the site is well optimized it can be used for generic phrases, but above all else the ability for an organic listing to appear in the most prominent placement in the organic listings can account for up to two thirds of all click throughs from search engine.

Paid For Inclusion (PFI) has not been selected as it lends itself well to an ROI or commerce related strategy and not one of branding.

The specific nature of the searcher’s requests suggests a progression past an awareness stage and more towards one of interest/decision.

It has been left in as optional as arguably the more listings that a company has related to a product or service the higher the likelihood of awareness being generated. The decision to use this medium must come from a cost vs. benefit analysis.

Search engine selection
It is important to select the correct search engines to achieve this objective (see Table 1). The criteria necessary are good coverage across a large number of the search engine and portals the audience uses and to capture interest by allowing for prominent placement of listings within these engines.

In other words if a branding or awareness campaign is to be run, getting the search listings at the top of Yahoo!, MSN, Google, Ask Jeeves and AOL is critical to success.

PFP First tier – these are the engines/search providers that are going to get the strongest coverage for the marketer.

These engines alone cover 90 per cent plus of the search network and, as a result, will give maximum coverage for branding and awareness.

The Second tier PFP engines listed here are some of the stronger contenders for this type of strategy among many available.

Each of these listed here has a particular share of the market space and or demographic. MIVA, for example, has strong coverage across Europe. Kanoodle has strong coverage of many news or entertainment portals.

Organic listings are critical to a good branding exercise for many reasons. The first, and probably the most important, is that these listings will attract the largest percentage of clicks.

Two thirds of searchers click on the organic listings and trust them more than paid listings for providing the most accurate answer.

The second is that this listing should show in the highest placement against the brand name of a company.

As a result ensuring that this listing has the correct title and description (creative) is essential as many factors can contribute to poor performance. This can be measured, not by ranking position, but by CTR from listing to site.

Keywords: branding campaign, awareness campaign, search marketing, generic words, generic phrases, branded terms, Paid For Placement, Paid For Inclusion, Organic Search, search engines,

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By selecting the right keywords a strategy can work; similarly, selecting the wrong keywords can see the best-laid plans fall by the wayside.

Combining terms results in singular keyword selection but, as the Internet has evolved, keywords have developed into keyphrases to accommodate the advanced search query strings used by searchers.

A concept that has developed over the past few years is that certain keywords fulfill a certain role, and have different performance criteria.

In understanding these objectives and the abilities and limitations of keywords a search strategy will be either strong or poor.

The best way to tackle search is to develop a ‘portfolio’ approach to keyword generation and find a mix of words and phrases that will meet and achieve any search strategy objective (see following figure).

Examples of keywords and keyphrases

Singular Keywords Phrase (1 – 2 Keywords) Phrase (3 + Keywords)
Camera Digital Camera Sony DSCF717 Digital Camera

Branded terms: these represent the brand, products or services of a company. They are likely to be the strongest converting terms and will almost certainly have the largest CTR of most terms within a portfolio.

The better known the brand the more likely the increased amount of traffic, however, regardless of the popularity of the company the relevance of terms to the searcher’s desired goal is the reason for their attractiveness.

The only area where these terms may not be as attractive is if an affiliate program is also engaged.

This topic is covered in Chapters 6, 7 and 8 and determines the best control parameters for any situation regarding said affiliates.

Generic terms: these are the most popular in relation to both searcher volume (i.e. how many times used as a search variable) and the amount of money marketers will invest to gain prominent listings.

The search volume is therefore high; however, the cost is also high so careful attention needs to be placed upon these terms to ensure an acceptable ROI can be found.

These terms also cover a great number of searcher `wants’, i.e. the relevancy of these terms to a particular topic list may be lower.

For this reason the CTR may not be as high as for a branded term and a subsequent conversion rate (if applied) may also be lower.

Specific terms: these are some of the most relevant to a searcher’s requirements and any listing matching these types of search has a higher chance of converting.

The issue with specific terms is that the search volume is low, as the specific nature of the searcher term isn’t as frequently used and, as such, a successful campaign should have a large number of specific terms within the portfolio.

Keywords: Keyword, Keyphrase, terms, search query, Branded terms, Generic terms, Specific terms,

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