Strategies and best practices for planning, executing and optimizing online advertising campaigns
Online Advertising
In recent weeks I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to OMS audiences in Washington DC, Atlanta, Austin and Houston on one of my favorite topics: measuring results from online marketing! While I’ve been speaking about measuring impact and quantifying ROI for years, there is clearly an increasing focus on measuring results these days. When I asked attendees what they were hoping to gain from the session, one DC marketer said only half-jokingly “to justify my existence”. I remembered it because it was funny, but also because it’s true. Marketing budgets are still very tight, and every dollar that is spent has to be justified. Consequently, there is an increasing focus on measuring results and demonstrating an acceptable ROI. This not only requires knowledge and tools, but also the ability to translate online metrics into business results that are understood by the c-level.
My presentation (embedded below) addresses these issues in today’s context, where results matter. The contents include:
- How “above the line” and “below the line” are merging – digital goes through the line
- Challenges faced by marketers today
- How to translate online metrics into business results
- Roadmap for Measurement Success
- Online Surveys
- Attribution Analysis
- ROI Methodology
- Case Studies to demonstrate each concept
As always, comments are welcome. And feel free to share!
Steve Latham
@stevelatham
For more on Spur Interactive:
Online Media Funnel
Last week I spoke at the Online Marketing Summit’s tour stop in Houston on Demand Generation. I was scheduled to speak in Dallas and Austin as well, but an unexpected foot injury / surgery sidelined me from travel.
At OMS I unveiled a new presentation that addresses the #1 objective of most marketers: generating leads, sales and other measurable results from online media. The presentation “Online Demand Generation: Strategy and Metrics” is embedded below for your viewing pleasure; you can also find it on slideshare. I started by defining “demand generation” (broader and more upscale than “lead gen”), the components of a demand generation program and various roles of online media. I also introduced engagement paths and the importance of defining the right metrics for success.
Also included is a practical methodology for measuring ROI and indexing performance against the market. As a bonus, I also included my view of the 10 worst and best practices for managing campaigns (would really like your feedback on these!)
Demand Generation Online Marketing Steve Latham 2009
View more Microsoft Word documents from Steve Latham.
I hope you’ll take this information and use the insights to take your business or agency to the next level. And as always, comments are welcome!
Steve Latham
http://twitter.com/stevelatham
Let’s get ready to rumble!!! 
There’s a big debate raging in the interactive world about whether advertisers should purchase online ads from Premium Content Providers or their customers / competitors, the Ad Networks. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Premium Content Sites (aka Publishers) include CNN.com, WSJ.com, CBSnews.com, ESPN.com, SI.com, and countless others who have literally spent billions to provide great content. The premium content, combined with the rigid advertising guidelines offers highly valued placement and brand-enhancing context for advertisers to reach and engage audiences. But the premium content sites are relatively expensive and the reach beyond the site or small group of sites is limited.
Ad networks, which include advertising.com, google, valueclick, tremor media, specific media, audience science and 24/7 real media, to name a few, aggregate media across thousands of sites and apply targeting techniques to reach your audiences. Through an ad network you can serve ads to the same person (or group of persons) across multiple sites. The ability to target and re-serve ads is very valuable, especially now that we know that impressions create awareness which improves online conversion rates. Because ad networks buy remnant inventory from premium content sites for a fraction of what advertisers pay, they generally offer much lower cpm rates, allowing advertisers to get more reach for their limited dollars.
Both ad networks and premium content sites have strong arguments as to why you should buy their media over others. In recent days, a flurry of articles and points of view have emerged. Here’s a summary:
The case for ad networks is made in “A Pricing Revolution Looms in Online Advertising” (Businessweek.com): “Demographic profiling and behavioral targeting by such companies as Google, Quantcast, and ValueClick is slashing ad costs and threatening Web publishers” To read the article visit http://tinyurl.com/con2lv
The case for premium content sites is made in today’s rebuttal “A Pricing Revolution May Loom, But Context And Content Still Rule” (MediaPost). “Lower-costs seem appealing in the post-recession world, but short-term savings are short-sighted. For advertisers who care about brands”. The article then lists several considerations that must be addressed when you get in bed with the devil (aka ad networks).
So which is right for your brand or your client? Like most things in life… it depends. My take is that the “right” medium depends on your brand, audience, objectives and budget. Each medium has its pros and cons. While context and content are very important, so is cost and the ability to target. If brand protection is paramount, go with the content sites. If you are seeking to maximize lead generation at the lowest possible cost per lead, start with the ad networks (in conjunction with paid search, of course). Over time, their offerings will look more and more alike.
As AdAge reported in the 4/20/09 digital issue, “large publishers are looking more like ad networks” and ad networks are starting to look more like publishers by picking up premium content inventory and focusing on targeting and brand safety. Over time I expect we’ll see these frenemies become more and more alike. And who’s to say an ad network won’t become an attractive extension for a traditional publishing company seeking to expand its digital footprint (e.g. would Valueclick make sense as a subsidiary of News Corp?).
Media will continue to evolve and the mix of players will continue to shift. But that’s what makes this such a fun industry and an exciting time to be in the digital marketing arena… even in this crummy recessionary market.
Comments are welcome!!!
p.s. – my apologies to those ad networks and content sites I omitted in this update. I just wrote what came to mind.. if you were excluded you may want to invest in some online advertising. I know a great boutique interactive shop that would love to help 
With everyone professing the virtues of Search, I’d like to take a different view (as is my nature) and go on record stating that now is a GREAT time for cpm-based Display advertising. Why am I going against the grain on this one? Since you asked, I’ll tell you. But before I make my case, let me state that as an agency we have no bias towards any one type of media. We always recommend paid search before display advertising. But if you are suffering from a contraction in daily searches for your brand or products (as we are seeing across the board since 10/08), you probably need more reach, engagement, leads or sales. So here’s something to think about.
First, this recession has forced advertisers to scale back on all forms of advertising and it’s widely reported that display advertising (banners, rich media) has been hit much harder than search, leaving a lot of unsold inventory.
Second, while Cost Per Action (CPA) deals are still competitive (maybe even more so today given the increasing focus on accountability) there is a lot of unsold inventory that is price on Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM). Consequently, it has created a big opportunity to buy cpm media at much lower rates than in the past. This has also been documented in recent months by many sources. The price of display media is faling faster than the bubble teams in the NCAA.
Third, the drop in demand for display ads allows those who are advertising to have a much larger share of voice, and receive much more attention than in the past. I don’t have any stats to back this up, but it stands to reason. If you are the ONLY bank or car maker advertising, you have a pretty good chance of delivering your message now that there is much less competition and clutter.
Fourth, display media is cheaper and you now get greater visibility with your ads, you should see better performance. It may not translate into immediate leads or sales (remember we’re still in a dark and scary place) but those who are in the market today and tomorrow are more likely to be influenced by your ads. And that is the reason you advertise.
So if you are maximizing ROI from search and need more reach to make your numbers, look at display advertising. P.S. – if you add display on top of search you’ll see a 20-30% improvement in conversion rates from Search. So make sure you account for that when you are doing your display media planning.
Comments…. Questions….? To quote the beloved Kramer (Seinfeld, not Mad Money) “Am I crazy or am I so sane that I just blew your mind?”
Ad Week today reported new findings from Kelsey Group that local advertising is expected to contract over the next 5 years. Worth noting though is that local online marketing is expected to grow 18% annually.
“Combined spending across mobile, local search, online classifieds, voice search, e-mail marketing, online Yellow Pages and other interactive efforts by traditional media companies is expected to grow from $14 billion in 2008 to $32 billion-plus in 2013, a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent. Traditional media — including newspapers, direct, broadcast, Yellow Pages, out of home, cable TV and magazines — are forecast to decrease from $141.3 billion in 2008 to $112.4 billion in 2013″
This relates directly to some of my earlier blog posts on Yellow Pages vs. Search.
Search vs. Yellow Pages Part 1
Search vs. Yellow Pages Part 2
… it seems the numbers are proving out. To read the Ad Week article click here.
Comments are welcome!!!
Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at the Online Marketing Summit’s annual conference in San Diego. In my presentation Online S&M (Strategy and Metrics) I focused on 3 things:
1. The need for an integrated, strategic plan (one-off efforts often fail)
2. A foundational approach to Interactive in troubling times (focus on tactics with highest ROI including site usability, analytics, search and email)
3. How to measure and assess performance (results, ROI). This includes a new approach to measuring your results against the Google index for your search terms (must read!).
While there were no standing O’s and cell phone waving, I received some great feedback and was quoted in B to B magazine. If you couldn’t make OMS, or if you missed my presentation you can find it on Slideshare.
Feel free to share with others. And please comment below!
If you are reading this, you’re probably expecting to another pundit to start bashing display ads. Sorry to disappoint you but I’m actually going to defend the proverbial step-child of online media (while 3rd party email as the proverbial adopted child). If you are a step (as I am) or adopted (as my sister is) don’t take it personally. This is just a metaphor…
Now back to my rant… with the meltdown in the economy and paralysis that has gripped consumers, display ads are taking a beating due to their perceived lack of effectiveness. According to AdWeek, “Forrester Research expects display ads to come under the scrutiny of tight-fisted marketers uncertain of their effectiveness.” IMHO, the experts are taking a myopic view of the value of display.
I am not proposing that you invest heavily in display as your first buy. Your first online ad dollars should go to paid search; that’s where you’ll get the biggest bang for you buck. But if you are in a limited category or geographic area, Search alone may not help you make your revenue goals. There are only so many searches every day. And these days there are fewer than there used to be.
This is where Display ads can work very well. As we’ve seen firsthand, adding display to your mix, after optimizing paid search, is an effective way to increase awareness and create demand that eventually results in more site traffic, leads and sales. But unlike Search, you probably won’t see the direct link via click-thrus and conversions. Just as billboards (though we may hate them) create awareness, so do banner ads (when properly targeted. While Display ads may create awareness, they usually produce poor click-thru rates and even lousier conversion rates. Most often, the impact of a good display campaign will show up in the form of a lift in branded searches, SEM click-thru rates and direct visits. So you have to take a holistic view. Here is a chart (from a 1/09 client report) that demonstrates this concept:
For this campaign we quickly learned that search impressions were very limited. So to supplement search we started running display ads (4 weeks ago). While some ads had decent CTRs, most of the increase in traffic came from Direct navigation, branded search and paid search. As shown, the increase in impressions had a direct impact on site traffic. As long as conversion rates hold up, we’ll continue to invest in display. And given that Display Ad prices are falling faster than Wal-Mart closeout prices, this should become an even more attractive opportunity over time.
Caveat Emptor! While Display does have a place in the mix, you have to make smart buys. You need to target (demo, geo, behavioral, contextual, etc.), cap frequency and daily impressions, specify where they will (and will NOT) be served and have a good ad serving / web analytics system for reporting. If not planned and executed well, it can be a waste of time and money. But if done correctly, you can expand your category, increase awareness and preference, and extend ROI from your scarce marketing budget.
If you’d like to discuss or debate, comment below, contact me or look me up on Facebook or Twitter.
Peace!
This recession will shake things up for marketers. Now is the time to make changes that are long overdue.
Times are Changing!
Since 1997 we’ve benefited from a lengthy bull market characterized by ongoing growth in sales, profit and budgets. While most marketers are aware they have been under-investing in digital marketing, the impetus to change has been lacking. When things are good it’s easy to maintain the status quo and do what you’ve always done. That time has officially ended.
Experts tell us we are now well into a recession and it may be a long one. The impact on business has already been noticed. While most follow a knee-jerk reaction to cut costs across the board, others are using this downturn as an opportunity to retrench, retool and position themselves to address a shrinking pie by taking a bigger piece. These forward-thinking companies are taking a hard look at where they invest their marketing dollars and what they gain in return.
Results matter!
In this new era of marketing, there is only one true precept: results matter. Some sacred cows like print ads, TV commercials, yellow page promotions and radio spots no longer provider the ROI they used to. And if they don’t provide a sufficient ROI, they need to be cut.
Even within digital there are investment decisions that need to be re-evaluated. Shiny new objects like viral videos, games, and mobile may be cool and trendy, but you can’t take accolades to the bank.
The case for increasing the allocation of budget digital media is compelling. Here are 3 reasons you should increase your investment in online media for 2009:
1. Media consumption and customer behavior. As a close second to TV, the Web now accounts for more than 30% of daily media consumption, with Print and Radio battling for 3rd place in the 10% range. Customer behavior – there are very few product or service categories (B2C or B2B) where buying decisions are not influenced by the Web. As consumers we’ve come to rely on the Web to do product or vendor research, do comparison shopping, view ratings and reviews or otherwise become knowledgeable enough to make a good purchase decision. The web plays a critical role in most customer purchase decisions. This is as close as we can come to the holy grail of delivering the right message to the right customer at the right time
2, Inherent advantages of digital media. These include but are not limited to:
- Affordable: first, online media is much less costly than TV and it is available to companies of all sizes. Where else can small businesses position themselves next to big brands? This is an opportunity for the little guy, and a threat to the giants.
- Actionable: after 10 years of being programmed to “click here” we are not too different than Pavlov’s dogs. If we see something of interest, we click to learn more. This allows all online ads, even those intended to create brand awareness, to have a direct response component.
- Targeted – we can target specific audiences based on demographics, geography, behavior, context or interests. Whether you are buying search, display or email ads you can target to your heart’s content.
- Dynamic: we can change and test all types of creative elements including copy, images, CTAs and the post-click destination of the audience. We can quickly change and test creative in ways no other medium can offer.
- Measurable: by measuring click-through rates, quality of traffic and post-click conversion rates, we can determine what is driving awareness, engagement and transactions. The one element missing in most media overly abundant in digital media. The trick is knowing what to measure.
3. Relative performance – the increasing use of the Web, combined with its inherent advantages discussed above, allow most marketers to see superior results from digital media vs. traditional outlets. Every one of our clients find that the returns from online marketing significantly outperform other channels. If ROI is important to your organization, you can’t afford not to invest in online marketing.
The bottom line is that status quo marketing is no longer acceptable. If brands don’t evolve, they will not succeed. There are too many choices and many smart competitors. Smart marketers, both large and small, national and local, will use this opportunity to re-allocate budgets and position their companies to thrive, not just survive, in a down market.
I believe this recession will create great opportunities for companies that are able to respond accordingly. For those who have been waiting to make the leap from 20th century marketing, this is the time to take action. The difference from recent years is that ROI-based marketing is no longer a dream. It’s a requirement.
If you have thoughts I’d love to hear them!
Earlier this week I posted the first of two articles on the challenges of making sense of online campaign results. The first posting addressed the shortcomings of relying on cookie-based tracking to quantify results. This posting addresses the supporting role of display and email ads, and explains why Google gets more credit than it should for your online marketing success. I use an analogy we can all relate to… the proverbial Wingman.
The Wingman Effect
Another impediment to measurement is that most analytics platforms (including Google Analytics) were designed to attribute credit for an action to the last medium clicked. As noted above, user engagement typically entails multiple touch-points, both online and offline. Especially true with considered purchases, customers often make multiple visits, by way of multiple paths (e.g. display ad, search, direct nav), before taking action. Even if all of the visits are done on the same computer (and you COULD track using cookies), assigning credit for the lead or sale to the last click provides only part of the picture, and it generally rewards Search at the expense of Display, Email, Social and other media. 
Using a crude analogy, consider the proverbial Wingman. Picture two guys out at dinner and they see an attractive woman. You know the routine – one guy is the leader; the other is his Wingman. The job of the Wingman is to support his pal. He is often the one who initiates conversation and breaks the ice so his friend can move in for the kill. If the lead guy gets a phone number or email address, he knows he has the Wingman to thank for the assist.
In online marketing, Display is often the Wingman, the one who starts the conversation, while Search is the guy who gets most of the dates. But unlike the example above, Search gets all the credit and the Wingman’s contribution goes unnoticed. Moreover, because his contribution is not noticed, he may not be invited the next time they go out. Media planners often cut ad buys because they can’t see the supporting role they play in the engagement cycle. If they don’t drive directly actions, based on last-click analysis, conventional wisdom dictates you stop buying them. This ultimately works against you and will result in fewer conversations that lead to your desired results.
The takeaway for marketers is that you need to track interaction through the engagement cycle. Recently coined “Engagement Mapping” by Atlas (now part of Microsoft), savvy marketers are now tracking the first, middle and last clicks to determine how each media unit impacts results.
As we’ve seen firsthand on numerous campaigns, for every lead or sale you can directly attribute to an ad unit, there are 0.5 to 2.0 actions that are not traceable due to the reasons cited above.
While these are formidable challenges, do not despair – there are affordable, proven methods for overcoming both of them. Since this is how we make a living, I can’t share all the secrets with you. But I can provide some general recommendations.
First, you need to take a strategic approach to engagement mapping that will shed light on the various contributions (lead, supporting, etc.) your various online media units play in the engagement cycle. Once you understand which units create awareness, and which ones close the deal, you can produce smarter media plans.
Second, you should treat every campaign as a learning experience and make systematic media testing an ongoing program. By varying flight dates of various media, you can will gain better insights into the performance and contribution of your online media mix.
Lastly, you have to look at the overall lift in site traffic and activity, not just the visits that are directly attributable to specific ads. Don’t underestimate the tendency for people to take action on their 2nd, 3rd or 4th visits. Take a holistic view and you’ll see a much clearer picture.
As always, your comments are welcome, so make your voice heard. And if you think this is great – please share with your colleagues!