According to recent comScore data, Microsoft’s adCenter currently holds approximately 30% of the search marketplace.  This fact alone should grab the attention of all online marketers.  Couple that with recent improvements in ROI and campaign efficiency and it is clear that we all need to start paying more attention to adCenter.  But where to start?

Microsoft has made great strides in recent months to bring parity between their platform and Google Adwords.  If you are comfortable navigating your way around Google, the switch over to adCenter should be relatively painless.  However, there remain some important differences between the two platforms that all search marketers need to be aware of.  All too often I have seen marketers simply port over their Adwords structure and strategy into adCenter and then forget about it.  This is a strategy that is doomed to fail.  The two platforms are still distinct and need to be managed accordingly.

I have worked closely with the adCenter platform over the past few years and have become well versed in the common complaints that exist.  A quick internet search reveals numerous articles and blog posts detailing the shortcomings and outlining why Google Adwords is so much better.  Today, I would like to take a different route and call out an area where Microsoft is actually outperforming Google by providing greater control and flexibility.

In adCenter, you have the option to separate search traffic between Owned and Operated sites and the Bing and Yahoo Search Partners into separate campaigns.  In addition, Microsoft gives you the flexibility to exclude individual partner sites that are either not performing or are of low quality.  Both of these features are not available on Adwords and represent an opportunity for marketers to exercise greater control over their campaigns.

One of the first and most basic things I do when taking on a new adCenter account is to separate Owned and Operated traffic from the Search Partners into separate campaigns.  We do this by creating an exact replica of the existing campaign and naming the new campaign with the convention “Campaign Name_Partner”.  You can then control the settings under the Ad Group Settings>Advanced Settings>Ad Distribution field.  The existing campaign should be set to ‘Bing and Yahoo! search (owned and operated) only’ and the “_Partner” campaigns should be set to ‘Bing and Yahoo! syndicated search partners only’.

This set up allows you to manage the two traffic paths separately.  The major advantages here are around bidding and budget.  Often times, the bid required to hit a certain position or revenue target will be lower on the partner network than on Yahoo and Bing Traffic.  If you are using an Automated Bid Tool, such as the one that we use here at Webtrends, this allows the system to have that extra level of granularity in hitting your revenue targets.  If you are not using an automated tool, these changes can still be made manually.  In addition, this set up will allow you to shift budget and focus to the channels that are bringing in the best return.

The next step in this process is to monitor the performance of the Publisher Network and exclude any sites that are not performing.  This is where using the adCenter conversion script comes in handy.  In the Reports Tab, pull a ‘Publisher Performance’ Report for the past 30 days.  Export the data into a Bulk Sheet and pull out any URLs that are not hitting your conversion targets.  Add those Domains to the Exclusions section of each campaign.  Screenshots below.  I would recommend adding this to your routine account maintenance procedures and pulling no less than once per month.

For many Online Marketers, adCenter represents an untapped stream of traffic and revenue.  The potential exists for up to 30% of your overall return on Search Marketing to come from this platform.  While adCenter is very similar to Adwords, they are not the same product and should be managed accordingly.  Understanding the various features and nuances is imperative in your quest to unlock these opportunities.

For more comparison info, see article on Search Engine Roundtable, 5/14/12.

For more information about how Wetbrends can help, contact our team at chase.wells@webtrends.com or visit Webtrends.com.

I was first intrigued by Facebook Offers when I suddenly saw a handful of friends on my news feed redeem deals from various local businesses. I remember seeing similar Offers from large brands like Kate Spade and Macy’s last month, but this was the first time I saw local ones. Below is an example of an Offer that I saw a Facebook friend redeem which caught my attention.

A local body boot camp to try out for $1 for one week? That costs less than one Starbucks Frappuccino AND this deal could help whip me into shape. The interesting part of this deal is that I’ve seen similar coupons for local boot camps come through in my email, weekly. I’m signed up to more than a handful of daily deal email services including Groupon and Living Social. However, because I only read the subject lines each morning from each daily deal service, I often delete the emails without opening because the deals displayed in the subject line do not apply to me.  Although I signed up for deals that apply to my interests and hobbies – there’s just not many new nail salons, Zumba classes, and florist shops that I’m interested in trying out, even if they do give me 50% off.

This is where Facebook Offers comes in – and can correct the issue I described above. Offers helps “declutter” all the daily deals junk I see in my email every morning. Via Facebook, I can view Offers redeemed by my trusted friends and learn more about those businesses –  potentially leading me to claim the same Offer. I can also find Offers through Pages I’ve Liked, and get deals directly from businesses that I’m already familiar with and interested in.

I wanted to experience the Portland Fit Body Bootcamp Offers deal by first going to their Page and seeing if anyone left comments about it. I redeemed the Offer and  a notification popped up saying that they’re sending me the Offer through the email associated with my Facebook account. I checked my email and my Offer showed up. When I go to the Bootcamp, I’m able to show my redeemed coupon via email, in print or on my phone:

Well, that was easy! I found the Offer, skimmed through their Page, and then redeemed it.  I also liked how I didn’t have to include my credit card information like I have to do with Groupon or Living Social.

Facebook also makes it easy for local businesses that have a Facebook Page to create and distribute an Offer by just following a few simple steps – through which Facebook guides you with a  tour. The business is able to add a headline, thumbnail photo, and fine print before publishing it on their Timeline to share with their fans.  This video explains all about Facebook Offers, as well as how to set up Offers if you’re a Page Admin.

Offers will help bring more foot traffic to local brick and mortar businesses, increasing their visibility and revenue. But what about ecommerce sites and online businesses? Facebook certainly didn’t forget about them. Facebook is currently testing a new version of Offers where coupons can be redeemed through online stores. According to TechCrunch, sources from Facebook have confirmed that users will see Offers in News Feed, Facebook ads, and Sponsored Stories that have a promo code or link that users can click to redeem the discount.

Facebook is currently testing  Ecommerce Offers with only a few select clients. However, if  successful, Ecommerce Offers could roll out to the self-serve interface, like the local business Offers did in early May.   Ecommerce Offers would be ideal for businesses that have both a physical location AND an online store. One example is from designer brand Kate Spade, which provided 25% off in their physical shops, outlets, and online store with a special promo code. The company tested out Ecommerce Offers last month by emailing  a promo code. This Kate Spade screen shot was taken from Inside Facebook’s Brittany Darwell and it was one of the first times I had ever seen this deal online.

I came across this brand when I saw my Facebook friend redeem it in her Timeline news feed. Since there’s a Kate Spade store in Portland, I could use that coupon at the store, or, enter the code online.

Another example of an Ecommerce Offer is from Sears, which paid to have their Offer appear in Sponsored Stories to reach friends of Facebook users who claimed the Offer. Here is a screenshot from the Sears Offer in Sponsored Stories:

I am particularly interested in Facebook Ecommerce Offers because I will be more likely to Like pages from brands that may have various offers I can redeem later. Currently with Groupon, for example, I feel only once in a while there will be a deal that applies perfectly to me. Then I have to pay for the coupon up front and once I use the coupon, I have to wait until I find a similar deal through Groupon again or through another competitor. With Facebook, if I Like a brand’s Page, I will more likely receive consistent offers from that company and do not have to keep waiting for an offer to appear in my email. I see a great deal of opportunities here overall: an increase in brand pages and valuable fan acquisition, more personalized Offers viewed through News Feed and Sponsored Stories, and no need to pay up front for a coupon you’re not sure you’ll use before the expiration date.

Small and local businesses and big brands alike have been buying Facebook ads to increase fan acquisition and drive traffic to their websites. Adding the element of Facebook Ecommerce Offers can define ROI more clearly when tying it into Facebook Ads and Sponsored Stories. Businesses can pay for ads to attract more fans while displaying their Offers, and the fans will spend to redeem those Offers.

If Ecommerce Offers rolls out to all brands and online businesses – how do you think this will impact existing daily deals offers received via email such as Groupon and Living Social? Will you be more likely to Like business Pages if you see Offers come through your news feed?

Social Advertising has become ever more popular, especially with the sizable marketplaces that Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter  and others have to offer. While the high level concept of targeting your audience is similar for both PPC and social ads, there are differences in the ultimate results of using these two methods.

PPC is best known for its success within eCommerce and for lead generation. PPC’s success lies in the ability to attribute leads and/or revenue to a single keyword/match type combination. Not only is it an efficient way to advertise, but it is one of the quickest – campaigns can be launched in less than an hour! Advertisers have become expectant of PPC’s stable and reliable lead generation. Therefore, Social Advertising results can oftentimes lead advertisers scratching their heads – “if it works on pay-per-click, why do we not see the same results in social?”

There are several reasons. First, the marketplaces differ. Users go to Google, Bing or Yahoo in search of information. Users who go to Facebook or LinkedIn typically go to manage their social engagements, activities and to connect with others. Here is where they engage with others about products and services; where we learn that a “friend’s” opinion matters.

Second, Social Advertising gives brands the opportunity to engage their audience in a way that search does not. It gives advertisers the ability to connect with and query those who use the brand’s products/services.  It also gives the brand the ability to affirm its best attributes by pointing them out in status updates. Contests and promos can continue engaging users and intriguing those who have not used the brand before. This type of engagement is creating a new found consumer loyalty. Companies, performing artists, non-profit organizations, etc. can communicate directly with their fan base, creating a feeling of being closely connected and listened to.

Social Advertising’s specialty is engagement. Highly effective advertisers use the 3 R’s in their strategy. The IAB says the 3 R’s are Reach, Relationships and Relevance:

• Reach: Social media overtook email as the most popular online consumer activity back in 2009 and continues to reign, by far (combined with blogs), as the single most popular way consumers spend time on the Internet, according to a recent Nielsen study of digital consumers during Q3-Q4 2011.
• Relationships: Social media’s strength is in the personal connections it enables, the peer-to-peer contact, providing more reasons for consumers to visit regularly and for extended periods of time.
• Relevance: Consumers are extremely engaged with the content and connections that their friends are creating because of its personal relevance.

Both Pay-per-Click and Social Advertising are extremely beneficial means of advertising, and, used together, create holistic brand awareness.

“Advanced analytics, allow data to be compared and unified across all channels –web, mobile and social. This offers the senior marketer the best business case for justification of investment, a path for achieving marketing performance, and a competitive advantage in the marketplace,” says Justin Kistner, Director of Social Products, Webtrends.

As for choosing a measurement solution, Kistner goes on to say:

“The analytics solution that brands choose to track, test and target your Facebook advertising must be able to support passing campaign data, allowing you to track a Facebook campaign as is done on a standard website. And, to follow a Facebook visitor through to another property, such as a website, the analytics solution has to support cross-domain tracking.  With Webtrends, brands can:

• track conversions through iframe tabs, an HTML structure that allows an external page to be embedded on Facebook fan pages,

• maintain visit history even as visitors cross domains,

• collect Facebook-specific data such as fan status, gender, language, and more,

• measure and compare performance across all digital channel,

• enjoy open, flexible analysis for visual reporting.”

See “Facebook’s Best Kept Secret: Building Conversions and Revenue with Ads for Fans” whitepaper for a more details, or contact chase.wells@webtrends.com, or visit Webrends.com.

 Cindy Gallop, a tech entrepreneur, consultant and the founder and CEO of www.IfWeRanTheWorld.com was clearly the most dynamic speaker at Mashable Connect 2012, last week.  On day 2 of the event, Gallop’s  presentation “Digital Branding Secrets: Why Most Marketers & Startups Get It Wrong,” was an elixir of factoids and sizzle. She mesmerized the audience with her top-notch presentation skills, declaring that the equation for digital branding in today’s world must include art and science. Throughout her session, Cindy stressed the impact that data has on new world marketing, music to the ears of course of those of us here at Webtrends.  Simply stated: Digital Branding = Mad Men + Math Men.

Today’s marketing landscape requires brands to have a mathematical understanding of human interaction. Through data analysis, brands must understand how and where users are talking about them. From there, brands must create content and a strategy that maps back to business goals and considers the context in which the content will reach, and be received by, the online community.  Here’s a few of Gallop’s ideas for brands, broken down:

• Gallop said she recommends that brands develop their own metrics, because at the end of the day, “you are what you measure.”
  To take on this approach, a brand must understand the value of the data they’re collecting and make an informed decision about what metrics are valuable to them and why – because there is no standard measurement system that works for all companies across today’s digital channels. Gallop believes that engagement is the metric of value for content, but each individual brand will need to figure out the context of that engagement. This again only further emphasizes the need to wrap context around data.

• Gallop also stated that the new creativity is metric-informed which ties back to the idea that ‘mad men’ must work with ‘math men’ in the digital arena. When creating content, brands and companies of all sizes need to create content based on what was learned through the measurement process. The creation of content needs to be based on metrics and a deep understanding of the context in which it will be received.

Throughout her session, and throughout the conference at large, Gallop and the other speakers shared their vision of the new world order and how it will affect marketers.  Here at Webtrends we love discussing this as we are in the business of helping brands shoot directly to the top in the digital marketing acumen. We have rich data and advanced tools that brands are able to use to create their own system – a part of Gallop’s plan. But beyond that, we have analysts and services to help companies analyze and strategize. Webtrends help brands wrap context around core data delivering a perfect blend of Mad Men + Math Men.

 For more on Gallop’s presentation, see Mashable article: Why Marketing is Broken and How to Fix It.

Periodic table created by Emily Miethner.

In addition to the standard digital themes surrounding mobile and social, one of the key messages from last week’s event was “the user knows best.” The brands and personalities represented by speakers were quite different from one another – from TED to American Express to Bit.ly. However, several of them touched on the same factoid –  that users in the online community are powerful  and are clearly driving business decisions.

Leslie Berland, SVP of Partnerships and Development for American Express, discussed the company’s approach to Twitter and detailed its Twitter Sync program. One of its goals was, to secure online influencers talking about American Express in the ideal way, yet as one of the precursors to initiating the program she said that their team realized “we can’t train people to talk about American Express on Twitter.” Instead, they checked to determine if folks were talking about American Express on Twitter at all. Simply, AmEx wanted to determine that there was a need to engage with their customers through Twitter and then they could analyze those conversations to wrap context around that need. This is an approach that quite a few brands consider when discussing what social media platforms to pursue; it was refreshing to hear that users were at the core of American Express’ decision.

June Cohen, Executive Producer of TED Media, talked about a similar concept in detaling how TED events grew, even though TED’s goals were vastly different from those of a corporation such as American Express. Cohen said that TED events went viral throughout the world because of social media users wishing to share ideas. They had people asking if they could translate the TED videos into Polish, Hebrew and a myriad of other languages. They had people asking if they could host their own TED Talk or TED event so that the quality ideas at the core of TED events could spread. Additionally, TED built mobile apps in many languages so more people could gain access. These people ended up building TED into something much grander than originally envisioned. The TED organization watched this happen and decided to respond to tech influencers and social media users who had become evangelists of the brand by opening up their API. Cohen called TED’s philosophy, “Radical Openness,” but what enabled them to be wide open was the behavior and requests of their online community.

Both speakers from American Express and TED Media stressed the need to base decisions on users. By listening, watching and learning from an authentic online community, brands are able to find the customer needs they can satisfy and the places they need to directly engage. As Berland said, “we can’t train people to talk about [us] on Twitter.”

 For more on Leslie Berland’s talk at Mashable Connect – see Mashable’s article and recap of her presentation. 

• Linda Boff, Executive Director – Global Digital Marketing, GE
• Perry Hewitt, Chief Digital Officer, Harvard University
• Katrina Klier, Senior Director – Worldwide Digital Marketing, Microsoft.

Our discussion traversed B2B, B2C, and non-profit models, and provided actionable insights and imperatives to inspire CMOs to enhance their commitment to digital marketing. Here are my key takeaways:

GE is one of the most valuable brands in the world and digital plays a key role in building brand reputation—it makes the company more approachable. GE’s social and digital content, programs, and team are renowned as best-in-class, and have recently received awards for their work on Instagram and Pinterest. GE takes a “stock and flow” (reference to Noah Brier work) approach to marketing via social media. “Stock” is traditional content marketing fodder, such as white papers and videos that have long shelf lives. “Flow” is content that is “lighter” and more perishable. GE deploys a combination of these two content types to engage its audiences.

 Harvard University’s approach to digital marketing is centered on showcasing the breadth and depth of activities at the university. Award-winning Harvard.edu is a strong example of the “aggregate + syndicate = amplify” formula that the team follows. Harvard’s digital strategy emphasizes multimedia as a primary and not ancillary communications approach—the focus is on developing a content strategy that’s platform-agnostic and connects with audiences where they are. The institution is adopting an approach that’s not only “mobile first,” but that also leverages location and alerts to take advantage of the channel’s unique capabilities.

Microsoft takes a quantitative approach to digital marketing, and the company recently undertook a digital impact research report on how individuals use technology to make purchase decisions. Partly as a result of this research, Microsoft’s OEM division places emphasis on search engine marketing (SEO). An important aspect of their strategy is content for partner co-marketing programs, and the OEM division is keenly aware of the interplay of content and context. Microsoft aims to reach buyers (partner firms and end-users of products that feature Microsoft technology) through a complete mix of channels—from search, to email, to community and social.

Eight Digital Imperatives for CMOs

Despite the diversity of their enterprises, our panelists advocated common approaches to digital that can be summed up in the below eight imperatives:

1. Adopt an agile marketing strategy. Have a strategy, execute swiftly, run experiments, measure, learn, and refine your approach.
2. Aspire to deep relevancy. Exploit the power of digital to listen to customers, advance your story-telling, target small segments, and “bring to life” your firm and its impact.
3. Focus on engaging content. Develop a range of content, be mindful of the context in which the consumer consumes it, and the shelf-live of the asset.
4. Deploy content across a mix of platforms. Customers move across platforms and screens—from social to mobile to web, your strategy should reflect your customers’ behavior.
5. Double down on mobile. Data on the adoption of mobile devices across every demographic means leveraging mobile is essential for reaching customers.
6. Emphasize transparency. Your customers already know, or can instantly ascertain, everything about your firm—honesty regarding your values, products and services is non-negotiable.
7. Understand the technology. Be active on the tools and platforms you are deploying (no excuses!) and hire a team that can look under the hood.
8. Build a culture of digital fluency. Digital transcends the marketing team—communicate this view internally, measure and share the impact of your initiatives, and digital can be a firm-wide change agent and source of innovation.

By appointing the senior digital leaders that participated on our panel, GE, Harvard, and Microsoft are demonstrating their commitment to digital as the way forward for their brands—digital is delivering for them now.

Question: What imperatives or advice would you add to the list? What commitments are you and your firm making to digital this year?

 Guest Post by Margaret Molloy, CMO, Velocidi. Follow her on Twitter: @margaretmolloy

For additional coverage of Velocidi’s Delivering with Digital panel, visit thecmoclub.com

For on demand VIDEO recording of the panel, click here. 

(reposted from eCircle.com Best Practice Article)

The deadline is looming.  May 26th ,  2012 will mark the one-year anniversary of the “cookie law” coming into effect. Non-compliant businesses will soon run the risk of facing penalties from the ICO if they don’t meet the regulations.

The cookie law has become one of the most talked about topics in the industry and was a main keynote presentation at eCircle’s  ConnectEurope2012, with so many questions being fired from all angles we didn’t have time to answer them all!  

In this ‘Ask the Experts’ article, eCircle has teamed up with Conrad Bennett from Webtrends, a leading web analytics partner, who led this packed presentation at the event to get these questions answered. Here Conrad explains what the law means for your business and identifies the top 5 myths around this topic.

Currently most businesses seem to be playing a waiting game, at least in public, as no-one wants to be the one to ‘jump first’ and make changes to their website in order to be compliant with the legislation. With the deadline a little over 3 weeks away, this waiting game will become more interesting as the vast majority of sites need to do something to become compliant.

So, with few leads forthcoming from major brands, what actually needs to be done by the deadline?
In simple terms, websites need to tell visitors what cookies they are using, how they are used, and gain visitors’ consent to set those cookies. The pertinent point here is that the consent needs to be explicit – but more on that later.

Although the top-line is relatively simple, a number of myths still persist around the legislation.

Myth #1 – It isn’t law yet

As referenced earlier – the cookie law is a legally binding regulation already. It’s not coming. It’s not on the horizon. It’s here. The one year deadline given by the ICO was put into place to give businesses the time to implement the necessary changes without the threat of penalties. The ICO recognised that it was going to take time for businesses to adapt, and while there is no doubt that many businesses are in the process of finalising their cookie compliance, the fact remains that all websites must be updated by the 26th May, or at the very least be seen to be making a conscious effort to change. If this doesn’t happen, any business which is not compliant will be leaving itself open to some stiff penalties from the ICO.

Myth #2 – It doesn’t apply if your site is hosted elsewhere

One dangerous myth circulating is that if a site is hosted outside the country where the legislation applies, then the law doesn’t need to be adhered to. This is far from the case – if a site has visitors from the countries where the law is in place, it has to comply with the legislation. Strictly speaking, this potentially affects business based anywhere in the world, although quite how that would be enforced is another matter.

While currently in Europe half of the countries have complied (the UK was one of the first to show concrete action), many still need to show definite activity – perhaps surprisingly, countries such as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have yet to enact legislation.

Myth #3 – I don’t need to do anything – my suppliers have this under control

Site owners are liable for all the cookies on their site. While suppliers and third parties are taking actions to comply, the onus ultimately is on the site owners themselves. It’s also not necessarily in the site owners best interest to rely solely on their suppliers activity – suppliers have their own priorities for compliance, which may not match your own objectives for your site or brand. It will be more beneficial (and result in less drop-out and customer frustration) if there’s a universal cookie opt-in which visitors complete once to give them full access to the site.

Myth #4 – There’s an easy technical solution

There is no simple technical fix for businesses. One option for brands is to not use any cookies – but this isn’t going to be feasible for 99.9% of businesses. Waiting for the browser manufacturers to come up with a solution sounds like an easy way out, however while browser developers are undoubtedly working on making compliant browsers, these won’t be released ahead of the deadline. Additionally, the browsers will be compliant from the point of view of the manufacturers, and not necessarily for the brands’ websites themselves. Brands need to keep in mind that whatever technical solutions others are developing, the best way for them to be prepared and compliant is to take matters into their own hands and ensure their own sites are compliant.

Myth #5 – The legislation means I can’t collect any data

The legislation doesn’t cover general data collection and subject to the normal data protection legislation, there is no problem with collecting data per se. The legislation is designed to provide visitors with the mechanisms to make informed decisions about how their data is collected and used. With the relevant consent in place, analytics can still take place.

The original legislation came out of existing telecoms laws designed to prevent Spam etc. and was enhanced to cover activities like behavioural advertising. Although analytics has been caught up in this because of the blanket approach to the technology used (i.e. cookies), the legislation was never intended to target analytics, or to prevent site owners from being able to measure and improve their sites. The ICO has issued guidance on this, stating that first-party analytics cookies are likely to be considered low priority when it comes to enforcement.

What’s next?

Businesses need to do a ‘cookie audit’ and look at the cookies they are currently using and why. These are a good thing to do as regular practice, but should certainly be done now as businesses will be reviewing their cookie activity in line with the legislation.

Businesses also need to consider what method they are going to use in order to gain consent. Based on the ICO guidance regarding analytics cookies, a number of sources have suggested that explicit consent is not required. This is going to have to be a decision for each business to make for themselves – ultimately there is a trade-off to be made between full compliance and what might be considered enough to avoid enforcement issues from the ICO. Should site owners decide that explicit consent is required, there are a number of options available, each potentially having a different impact on customer opt-in.
The types of consent available include:

• Modal dialogue –an option on the first page to opt-in, outlining the types of cookie, duration of opt-in and a link to further details, privacy policy etc. This can also be used for universal consent (“if you agree, you agree to all cookies on the site”)

• Status bar – giving visitors the option to tick and accept cookies. This will usually overlay the page content itself, and may be seen on every page if they don’t opt-in. By their very nature, these are (and need to be) intrusive to get a response, otherwise visitors will ignore them

• Warning bar – a notification that if visitors enter the site, some cookies will be set. Clicking on a link to go anywhere else on the site is considered to be consent

The first option is likely to be the most preferable for the majority of brands. The key with cookie consent is to remember that the ultimate aim is to get visitors to accept cookies and maximise opt-in, which needs to be done in the most painless way possible. Most people either don’t care about or understand cookies (or both), and as such businesses need to educate visitors about what the cookies will be used for and encourage them to opt-in. There is nothing to be gained by making the consent option unobtrusive, as most visitors will ignore it (as happened to the ICO’s own website).

Many businesses will find that they face a challenge as they look to ensure their sites are compliant while ensuring that visitors opt-in for cookies. It is imperative that brands take action today to be ready – procrastination is no longer an option.

This article is a summary of eCircle’s newsletter “Inside Digital Marketing”. If you wish to receive further news from the email and social media marketing sector please subscribe here

AdWords recently updated their advanced location targeting settings to provide more control over location targeting. It no longer gives you the option to target based on “search intent” but instead gives you the option to target “people searching for or viewing pages” about your targeted location. Here is a screenshot of the settings before the change:

And here is a screenshot of the settings today:

Before, if you wanted to set up a geo-targeted campaign that only reached people in a specific area, you would have chosen “target using physical location.” This setting however had some limitations. It wouldn’t show your ad to people in your target area if their search query included something related to a different location outside your target. For example, before this change if you had a campaign targeting Portland, and someone in Portland searched one of your phrase match keywords with “san francisco” appended to it, your ad wouldn’t be shown. But now if you choose to target “People in my targeted location,” your ads will be shown without exception.

Google provided a great example on their blog of how an airline using AdWords could benefit from these new settings. They explained how an airline trying to reach customers in Atlanta could use these settings to now show ads for the search query “flights to Hawaii” and provide extremely targeted ad copy with a headline such as “Fly Atlanta to Hawaii” or other geo-specific text.

A similar change was made to the AdWords exclusion method. We’ve learned that this new setting allows us to act quickly if an opportunity for a geo-targeted campaign arises. We can create a new campaign using the same keywords in an existing campaign and simply add the new geo-targeted location as an excluded location to the original campaign. Before the change, search queries including your excluded location would still impress your ad. Now it will exclude people searching in your excluded location and those outside of it using the location name in the query. One other tip is to add the location name as a negative keyword to your original campaign.

With these new settings now in place, it’s a good idea to review your current inventory of keywords to see if you have any location terms that could impact your account. You may even discover an opportunity for a new geo-targeted campaign.

For more information about how we can help, contact our team at chase.wells@webtrends.com or visit Webtrends.com.

Heatmaps are tightly integrated into the latest release of the Analytics 10 platform, and provide easy dashboard-access to intuitive mobile site and website visualization overlays – real time and in color!  Designed for scale, Heatmaps can crunch click data for brands of ANY size, without limitations on the number of domains or pages. And, Heatmaps are flexible enough to be deployed wherever they’re needed across sites and pages.

What’s the biggest benefit?  Heatmaps provide you with an intuitive understanding of your site visitor activity within minutes, instead of hours or days.

Through crisp, detailed data visualizations, Heatmaps provides Analytics 10 users with rapid insights into visitor activity that allow you to:

• Test the effectiveness of your buttons, links, menus, widget positions and site layouts
• Identify and monitor conversion effectiveness
• Improve content availability and accessibility
• Analyze your users’ behavior to improve usability and information architecture
• Present site activity trends to non-technical audiences (management!)

We’re excited about Heatmaps! For more information visit webtrends.com/heatmaps/or call 1.877.932.8736.