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24 PrecisionMarketing February 22 2008
With ever greater levels ofDigital Marketing Repor complexity and functionality to database sot: Search Marketingftware upgrades,
do marketers really need such high-end applications to analyse their records?
With ever greater levels of complexity and functionality to database software upgrades.
12
1 Nick Jones
The days of selling search
against display are long gone
– nobody does that anymore
Headline to
2 Mike James
Display is as bouyant as ever.
go in here
There has also been a lot of
consolidation in the market
increase brand recall and so boost offline and phone channels.” the medium as part of integrated campaigns,” says Peter Wilton,
This is one of the critical issues now emerging from within managing director at TDA.
online advertising. The assumption has always been that consumer He argues that search is a blunt instrument for companies which
traffic is one way – they see an ad elsewhere and then search for it. are looking to develop long-term relationships with consumers. It
But experience is beginning to show that the process may be much lacks the control of other media. “What the industry needs is a bet-
more complex. ter understanding of brand and relationship management in the
Consumers may search for a brand or product, then make an direct-to-digital age. We need to explore how online PR and adver-
enquiry or purchase via offline channels. Equally, they may seek tising can work together to promote core messages on brand and
out advertising and information to support what they have learned on target,” he says.
from search. The matrix of influence is extensive, complicated and This is a winning argument in the current economic climate and
inter-related. especially given the maturing of ecommerce. As companies see an
To add to this complexity, the range of options for online adver- ever greater share of their business coming from online, they want
tisers continues to expand. “There’s affiliate marketing for starters to deploy retention strategies, rather than assuming online means
– all very accountable and, if managed effectively, very, very prof- acquisition.
itable,” says Matt Roberts, strategy and planning director at This is what will cap the growth of search. There are a finite
Digivate. number of consumers to be marketed to. Keeping those who have
Alongside the big players of search and email marketing, a whole already bought and getting them to repurchase and upgrade is a
raft of digital opportunities is presenting itself. This can make the much bigger game.
environment appear challenging and difficult to buy. But the
critical dimension of all of these options is that they are equally
measurable.
“Online advertising campaigns that get us most excited are the
ones that are based on ROI. We create online ads for our clients all
the time. We just give the creative to super affiliates that use these
‘‘
While the growth in online spend might be
slowing, we are beginning to see more
‘‘
assets to drive traffic and sales,” says Roberts.
“So if online advertising is to compete with media like PPC, tra- sophisticated and intelligent use of the
ditional media owners should learn from the affiliate industry and
be prepared to promote brands online with their ROI coming from medium as part of integrated campaigns
sales goals achieved,” he notes.
Advertisers are not locked in to a limited number of sites, unlike
most offline media, so if a media owner is not converting the traf- It is also one that does not stimuate marketers in the same way
fic that is delivered, they can simply move on. Online advertisers as new media. Being a pioneer is close to the heart of many practi-
who are achieving the best results have very sophisticated pro- tioners. For that reason, expect to see social network marketing
grammes of A/B splits and multivariate testing to finetune their emerge as this year’s search marketing, even though nobody really
propositions and placements. has a clue how to harness it to actual buying behaviour.
“It doesn’t need many clicks for a media owner to work out which As with email marketing, technology and skills issues are
campaigns are going to give them their ROI,” says Roberts. “Even- behind some of the problems – and poor decisions – being made by
tually, you’ll get a natural balance reached where brands’ and marketers.
media owners’ needs are in closer alignment and everyone wins. Most practitioners have to learn on the job and around half
Something Google realised a long time ago.” of companies still carry out their paid-for search marketing
Digital marketers might not like to admit it, but test and learn is themselves.
a core direct marketing discipline. At least some of the current shift That is not a formula for successful and integrated online adver-
in media planning online is the result of this knowledge being tising. “There are definitely technical barriers in terms of lining
applied, rather than just following the latest ‘exciting’ development. up the timing and content across media and understanding how
Pure brand building work is very powerful online. But so too is they fit together,” says I Spy Search’s Jones.
response and sales generation. It is in this area where the more Even bringing together all of the reports generated by separate
technical, focused and analytical activity is taking place. ad networks, let alone different types of online marketing, into a
“Testing, learning and modification are the essence of direct single dashboard is far from easy. Only when that sort of single-
marketing and, while the growth in online spend might be slowing, point visibility is achieved will the real winners and losers in the
we are beginning to see more sophisticated and intelligent use of online media space be identified.
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