Die Hards Stay On for the Paid Search and Your Brand Roundtable
I was pleasantly surprised at the number of attendees staying on for the last session. Hard to believe these polite, attentive (if a bit tired) people were the same riotous crowd from last night’s Blue Lithium party. In some way, it feels good to be part of a group that might turn on you in a second. Keeps you on your toes.
Barbara Coll, President of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization) moderated a panel including Kevin Ryan of Wahlstrom Interactive, Kevin Lee of Did-It.com, David Karnstedt of Overture, and Fredrick Marckini of iProspect.
Despite the fact that the table was rectangular rather than round, the session jumped right in to the question of whether it is really important to be number one in search. Kevin Lee’s comments reflected the general consensus - it depends. The overall marketing strategy, current position in natural search, and the level of control desired over your messaging influences the importance of being number one.
Of course, it can be quite expensive to appear prominently for broad categories. Is it worth it? David Karnstedt of Overture pointed out that in the context of price paid for offline mindshare, top prices online are still quite reasonable.
Often times, companies miss out by neglecting to emphasize their own name as a targeted search phrase. Fredrick Marckini identified that a Google search for Overture does not find Overture.com in the top ten natural search results. And, sure enough, he’s right. They do appear in the sponsored AdWords listings. The first result is for the old GoTo.com domain, which Overture no longer owns. If you search for Google on Yahoo, Google is the first result. This in itself would make for an interesting case study on brand awareness online.
Kevin Lee confronted the fact that search volume is often a limiting factor for online brand building campaigns. There are only so many people looking for your product segment online. How do you go beyond those numbers? Lee illustrated a potential solution with an example: Why couldn’t Coke create a website entirely focused on American Idol singer Clay Aiken, brought to you by Coca-Cola? Traffic potential is enormous because it is in the entertainment vertical.
I’m sure there would be a number of contractual issues to work out with this kind of strategy, but it seems like a great idea. Right now, there are only three bidders on AdWords for ”Clay Aiken” - Amazon, a ticket reseller, and Ebay.
The conversation concluded with a discussion of affiliates and search. Should brand names rely on channel partners and affiliates to compete for them in paid search? Panelists encouraged a careful examination of the opportunity costs associated with abandonment of direct consumer contact. But, as Kevin Lee noted, ultimately online search is an auction marketplace where the superior business model and execution will win out.
