Sorry for the long delay in posting, I have been literally swamped trying to get the Atlas system down. I am finally feeling some level of aptitude in understanding the Media Console and hope to be able to post more frequently. I don’t want to talk about the Media Console yet but I will say that it is a powerful tool just as advertised.
The focus of this post is training I just took in Redmond on the Microsoft campus. It was three days of rapid deployment on Microsoft APS. In case you did not know, Microsoft purchased aQuantive last year and within that acquisition was Atlas Solutions, my new employer. Needless to say, I enjoyed most of the presentations and have a much better understanding of the organization and how we operate. It’s nice to be part of something this big and know that Microsoft is fully behind making it work!
Most of the trainings were high level introductions to online advertising and the APS product suite with the exception of the “services and standards” session led by Ken Weyel. I have to say this session gave me so much food for thought that I am still thinking about it. Ken had a nice presentation style and delivered so many insights it was tough to keep my brain focused.
At the heart of his presentation were the four brand promises we deliver as Microsofties and how we can better serve our clients. At one point in the session he asked us to break out into groups and rank the promises from most important to least important.
This exercise had obvious answers on the surface but when you put your mind behind it you could really blow a circuit. We finally settled on our rankings but I am still not sure if I am comfortable with them. And as we discussed the findings with the larger group I only confirmed my assumptions that to really rank them would compromise the integrity.
The four qualities to make up the APS experience could be debated forever to know real conclusion as to their importance. But one thing is certain to me, all four must be working for a great experience and that is what I want to promise. So thanks to Ken and all my Redmond colleagues for a great couple of days and wish me luck in my quest to deliver on the “big four.”
Keyword research can be a daunting task. Relationships between consumers and brands can be like the difference between Japanese and English. Finding an appropriate starting point for setting up your first search campaign can be the biggest roadblock. After determining what product or products to build your campaign around putting together a great set of keywords is the next step.
Keywords form the spine of the your search campaign; getting these relationships right is important to your success. Where do you begin? Corporate websites, brochures and other marketing materials can be a good starting point for relevant terms being used to discuss your brand but they sometimes lack closeness to the consumer. Don’t be alarmed though because consumers have left a virtual digital treasure chest of keywords waiting be discovered in blogs, message boards and forums.
Here is my 5 step process to begin to gain insight in the blogosphere to what is being said and using it for keyword research:
- Compile a list of blogs that talk about your brand - Perhaps the most important step is to explore the blogosphere and see who is talking about you. Del.icio.us, Google Blog Search and Technorati are a great place to search your brand and see who is talking about you. Then put together a list of the ones you find to be have the most scope and activity. Look for plenty of comments and large readership. Check for hints including RSS subscribers and comments counts.
- Read and look for patterns of conversation - Pay particularly close attention to the comments and specific language being used to talk about your features, models and brands in them. Do they use model numbers or branded terms* to discuss products? Comments are insights straight from consumers about the language that is being developed around you. Tag clouds also hold interesting patterns.
- Make a list of terms - Compile a list of terms that you see in multiple places. Segment the list and make sure you don’t forget the long tail.
- Rank terms on list - Once you have a master list of all your consumer-driven keywords# put them in order of importance. Focus on consumer talk and how they might search for you not how you would search for your product.
- Decide how much to bid on terms - Should you bid more on terms that are from consumers or same? Should they be contextually driven or keyword? For instance, Chevy is used more in conversation than Chevrolet according to BlogPulse. Does this chart mean you should invest much more into contextual advertising for the term “chevy”? One thing is certain you would get more placement due to its increased term use.
These 5-steps are starting points for introducing consumer-driven keywords into your paid search campaign. You can not only increase your paid clicks but gain valuable CRM insights into your brand by adding them into your web strategy. The only question left is. When do we start?
* I remember when I worked at a satellite radio manufacturer we had one radio that was called: XTR1, Jimi and Stream | Jockey. Combing through forums, blogs and message boards would have yielded consumer preference for its name.
# Keywords that originate from consumers of a brand and are not necessarily brand driven.
I have been a loyal Wachovia customer for 14 years now but lately I have been contemplating defecting to a new bank. Why? My defection has many reasons but mostly it has to do with my personal feelings toward their treatment of me. Personal banking should fulfill three needs for me at this point: convenience, low-fees and professionalism.
Let me explain how my dilemma evolved, I recently noticed that some online company has gotten my debit card number and fraudulently charged. I have complained to Wachovia numerous times and had the loss department open a case each time. They recommended a few fixes (which have all failed) including: ordering a new debit, contact said company (I could not find a listing to contact) and close my account and open a brand new one. I am currently on fix #4 and I am not hopeful that it will work.
Wachovia has failed me consistently on three of my personal needs over the last few months. Lets look at them separately:
Convenience – I am currently averaging about 16.00 a month in ATM withdrawals from other banks. The fact that Wachovia has not strategically placed their branches in Manhattan is the number one factor. Many of the branches seem to be located on the east side. In fact, on one stretch of Third Ave. you can find three Wachovia’s within a few blocks. But if you are on the West side you have to go for many blocks before you find one. Hence the high monthly fees in ATM withdrawals.
Low Fees – The free banking is nice but I have to compromise my convenience to enjoy it fully. They charge me infrequently for all sorts of things including charges I cannot normally explain. (Wachovia – I would love to know why I am randomly charged. Can you not just give me an itemization of the charges on my monthly balance?) It is deceptive practice to just throw some arbitrary number on my statement (arbitrary because It makes no sense to me).
Professionalism – I cannot complain about the local branch by my work. They do a tremendous job of helping me and trying to fix any errors. But the phone people are absolutely abhorrent. They are usually very unhelpful and place you on hold numerous times before asking you questions about your account that you have answered three times already. I am from Georgia but the accents on some of these phone people are scary and remind me of Deliverance. Can we get them some training on sounding like a bank?
Despite all this I continue to use Wachovia and have expanded my accounts to include the “way-to-save” account. Why? I have yet to find a bank that can satisfy my three personal needs. I guess we have to attempt to get as close to those as possible until some bank comes along and totally rewrites the rules. I am waiting.
Interesting data from an Emarketer email on Friday, states that 9 out of 10 online buyers read reviews before making an online purchase decision. The data was compiled by Power Reviews and the e-tailing group who surveyed over one thousand buyers. The survey members also said that they read between 4-7 reviews while deciding what to purchase.
What does this mean to web managers, marketers and businesses alike?
That consumer are becoming more powerful every year. They are increasingly looking to the internet for answers and other digital citizens reviews are the currency they value. Opinions are everywhere on the internet; blogs, boards and search results are being seen by average consumers who trust this content. And as this content level rises, reputation will become the driving differentiator to whether consumers buy product a or product b.
By starting a dialogue between you and your customers the lines of transparency are opened up. You will reap the benefits of an empowered consumer. That value is two-sided and you will learn as much from the comments as the people making a purchase decision who stumble upon them. Additionally, the CRM benefits are tremendous as you continuously refine your service or product these comments.
If you are building, redesigning or planning a new e-commerce site user reviews and community will become important aspects to any plan and these numbers only reinforce the growing importance.
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