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As 2009 rolls to a close, everyone is considering the changes in the world of search during the year. So, we have gathered together the views from some of our experts in the Clickthrough Marketing office of what we may see in 2010 as a result of those changes.
Adam Symes, Head of Paid Advertising:
2009 has been a year of great change in social media. MySpace and Bebo have seen huge decline and yet back in 2006 they were the top two searched for terms on Google. Conversely, the Global Language Monitor has named ‘Twitter’ the word of the year. The last 12 months have seen a huge increase in the use of Twitter and although this may plateau in 2010 it will still remain a huge force as Google continues to integrate tweets into real-time search results.
Another trend that has experienced significant shifts is the use of retargeting, a form of intelligent behavioural targeting where an ad / banner is displayed on a site (sometimes unrelated) a user visits after the user visits the advertisers site.
Adrian Epstein, Paid Search Account Manager:
Google continued to develop AdWords opportunities this year. It is now allowing Google advertisers to place additional site links into ad creative when bidding on performing campaigns. These additional site links take users directly to the other categories within your site from within the ad; this is great for additional shelf space. Advertisers can now opt in to ad extensions taking products from the Google Merchant centre, this then provides selected products that are relevant to your ad, increasing conversion opportunities.
Finally, rumour has it Google is taking into consideration the page load times as a factor for ranking. That pushes the focus back on hosting companies and more importantly developers who can decrease these page load times. Whether or not Google make page load times a factor in rankings, it is one that should be a focus.
Bryn Firkins, Director of Paid Advertising:
The iPhone has now shifted around 33 million units worldwide, by default bought by affluent consumers. For many, mobile marketing has been about banners and search. Now, iPhone apps have given marketers a powerful way to get their brand message in the hands of people who have proven they are happy to spend. The iPhone App store has gone from holding around 10,000 apps at the start of 2009 to just over 100,000 now.
Advertiser spend in developing these apps can sometimes sit outside usual online media budgets as they can be a powerful source of direct revenue in their own right. With Google Android now gaining some traction, and the relative portability of iPhone apps to Android, expect apps to continue to grow in importance in 2010.
Rob Stoubos, SEO Account Manager:
Brand building and online awareness through online PR and Social Media is becoming increasingly important. Online PR and Social Media are being factored into Google’s natural search algorithm increasingly, and Google wants to use ‘public opinion’ when it comes to deciding which sites to promote in natural search. Companies who don’t establish themselves in these areas and as a result increase their traffic referrals from these areas may begin to fall in rankings when Google’s new Caffeine algorithm comes into play in 2010.
What do you feel may figure highly in the world of search in 2010? Do you agree with our experts? Where will you be committing your online marketing budget next year, and where do you expect the big wins/losses to occur?
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Times are hard, budgets are tight, customers are finicky, so think out the box to grab their attention and email addresses.
What will make you stand out from your competitors? What are customers looking for that will give you the edge? We have previously talked about respecting your customers and understanding who they are and what they seek…Now is the time to get on top of that and reach out to your potential customers.
You could try giving away an MP3 loaded with your brochure, white papers, product manuals, articles, product reviews and comparisons, links to helpful resources, even some cheery recession busting music if you feel the need! It should be valuable, unique content related to the search which led them to you.
By not forcing people to subscribe for content that may tip their decision to spend with you, but actually giving it away for free when times are hard, PLUS giving them something useful – an MP3 player – which they can use as they wish, you could be making all the difference in their minds when it comes to purchase decision time.
If your budget is really tight, and your product prices are low, reduce the cost of this marketing activity by making it digital. Offer the chance to download your white papers etc in return for their email address. And then follow up on all those who have downloaded it. Not weeks later, but hours or even minutes later. Personalise your response. Give them a customer care number to ring if they have questions, offer a once a day or once a week online chat when they can ask questions, use Twitter to offer further advice or incentives to buy from you.
Converse with your customers. Talk to them, listen to them, help them out, offer what they need, and develop relationships. It may seem to be time-consuming but it is this type of one to one business that will help sell products and services.
It is always interesting to look at some of the major niches and see how their players use the search engines, and what internet marketing strategies they are deploying. After all, they are in highly competitive businesses, with big brands competing for top slot, and need to be good at what they do to win.
This quarter, we have been looking at how the gambling sector uses search engines, the terms they are bidding on, what percentage of the PPC and search landscape each is taking, and the CPCs and clickthroughs of the big boys.
There is a free report on the Q1 gambling sector search marketing results from our investigations and a free webinar to attend on 24th April 2009.
Yahoo Search Marketing have archived previous webinars which offer help not just on the use of the Yahoo PPC system, but also on topics such as choosing keywords, writing effective ads, geo-targeting and more.
The webinars open in a new window and are easy to navigate, giving you a chance to take in the information at your own speed. A useful resource.
