Fresh Online Marketing Ideas

Fresh Ideas... in Search Engine Marketing

I have great pleasure in presenting to you the 2012 edition of our Fresh Ideas Workbook. The first Fresh Ideas workbook was published in June 2009. Since then we have published 2 more annual workbooks (2010 and 2011) and 12 white papers under our Fresh Ideas series. The 2012 edition is a compilation of ten ideas that were rated “very useful” by online retailers (the workbooks have been read by over 5000 retailers in US, UK and Germany).

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) has evolved over the last 3 years. Searcher sophistication has increased (longer queries) and the post-recession shopper’s search to purchase path has become longer. Social media plays a bigger role in influencing buyer choices today (than in 2009) and mobile search has garnered sizeable share of all searches. However, the ideas presented in this workbook are still as applicable today as they were in 2009.

We hope you are able to apply these ideas to boost your search advertising results.

Happy Selling!

UDAYAN BOSE Founder & CEO

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Successful keyword search advertising is “75% execution” and “25% strategy”.

We have tested the concepts presented here for more than 200 retailer campaigns.

Though this is not an exhaustive list, it is adequate for getting you off to a good start.

The beauty of the concepts presented lies in the fact that they can be used on an “as is” basis.

The ability to conduct “smart, objective focused tests” is key for optimal search advertising.

Some control sheets presented here need to be filled by you on a weekly basis. You can therefore capture essential trends.

We place a lot of emphasis on regular data analysis and extracting usable insights. This workbook will serve that purpose for you.

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Why do you need a Practical Workbook?

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The model was first introduced by us in our 2010 Fresh Ideas Workbook (June 2010).

NetElixir’s GOST- (Goals/Objectives – Strategic Initiatives – Tactics) model

is a simple yet powerful model for effective paid search advertising that connects the strategic and operational

aspects of search advertising.

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Create an integrated, multi-channel online customer acquisition strategy for the holidays

•  $10,000,000 revenue from 

new online customers 

•  ROAS = 400% 

•  PPC Share of Voice > 80% 

Business Goals/ Objec9ves 

Promote STAR  and ASPIRANT 

categories through PPC, CSE and SMM 

Out‐flank compe9tors in 

categories X,Y and Z through strategic 

promo9ons   

5‐10% PPC SOV gain for categories 

X,Y,Z 

Strategic Ini9a9ves 

•  Category level channel efficiency 

analysis and budget 

re‐alloca9on 

•  Use Compe9tor 

Offering, Promo9on 

and Messaging Grid 

to iden9fy 

opportunity gaps 

•  Track PPC SOV on a monthly basis at 

category level  

Tac9cs 

Create an integrated, multi-channel online customer acquisition strategy for the holidays

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The concept was recommended by us in our 2011 Fresh Online Marketing Ideas Workbook (June 2011).

NetElixir recommends a holistic approach towards search advertising. Our LXRRetailTM dashboard enables us to

compare and manage SEO and SEM keywords side-by-side from a unified dashboard.

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Using the dual power of SEO+SEM to drive resultsUsing the dual power of SEO+SEM to drive results 

Idea Checklist  Why is it important?  Example 

Create a list of keywords for which you want to op9mize 

search adver9sing (SEO+SEM) 

ROAS (Total Search Revenue/

Total SEM Spend). Track the 

ROAS for different combina9ons of search lis9ng posi9ons. 

 

Improved SEM spend efficiency. It is possible to gain an idea of 

op9mal organic and PPC lis9ng 

posi9ons. 

6 

SEO+SEM ROAS 

SEM Spend

Optimal Listing position for organic and paid ads

SEO/SEM Dashboard 

Using the dual power of SEO+SEM to drive results 

Idea Checklist  Why is it important?  Example 

Create a list of keywords for which you want to op9mize 

search adver9sing (SEO+SEM) 

ROAS (Total Search Revenue/

Total SEM Spend). Track the 

ROAS for different combina9ons of search lis9ng posi9ons. 

 

Improved SEM spend efficiency. It is possible to gain an idea of 

op9mal organic and PPC lis9ng 

posi9ons. 

6 

SEO+SEM ROAS 

SEM Spend

Optimal Listing position for organic and paid ads

SEO/SEM Dashboard 

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We first presented this concept in June 2009 at IRCE Boston.

Should you be promoting all your products through paid search? We asked this question to IRCE 2009 attendees during our

workshop in Boston. Many retailers said that this grid (Margin x Velocity = ROI) helped them run more focused

and profitable search advertising programs.

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•  Scrub your keyword list regularly •  Time Bound promo8ons to boost   

   sales 

•  Experiment with ad copies and  

   landing pages 

•  Focus on efficiency and growth •  Controlled Keyword list expansion 

•  Iden8fy new sources for keywords  

Is Keyword Search Adver1sing 

right for you? 

•  What’s your average order value?    

   What is the order margin? 

•  Number of inventory turns? 

Velocity

Margin

Keyword Strategy and “Return on Investment” Keyword Strategy and “Return on Investment”

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We proposed the Competitor Surveillance Grid in our 2009 Fresh Ideas workbook.

Competitor paid search surveillance helps in gainingvaluable insights into competitor strategies, focus areas

and even product promotions. Very few advertisers conduct this process diligently.

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Know thy CompetitorsKnow thy Compe9tors Why is this important?  

You are not adver9sing in  vacuum . The  searcher  always likes to compare before  making a purchase. 

You  Compe?tor 1  Compe?tor 2 

Product 

Price 

Promo9ons 

Brand Strength 

Es9mated SEM Spend 

Number of keywords 

Unique Selling Point  (ad copy and landing page) 

Average Ad Lis9ng Posi9on 

Specific SEM Tac9cs employed (ex. day‐par9ng) 

Why is this important?You are not advertising in “vacuum”. The “searcher” always likes to compare before making a purchase.

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NetElixir highlighted the importance of multi-channel marketing through a table that captured the impact of search and social media during various stages of consumer buying

cycle. This was published in our white paper, 8 Questions Every Search Marketer Should Ask (March 2010).

The importance of multi-channel marketing can not beover-emphasized. Click path analysis helps us derive

valuable insights into use engagement patterns.

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Is your paid search adver?sing program in sync with other online customer acquisi?on campaigns? 

NetElixir Suggests: •  A Paid search adver9sing campaign delivers superior returns when coupled with other  

channels like social media. •  Search is a cri9cal element within the  Shopper Engagement Cycle . However, it is  

not the only element.  As the table below shows, it is important to understand the role that search plays in the consumer buying process. 

Stage in Consumer 

Buying Process 

Influence of Search  Influence of Social Media 

Problem Recogni9on  Low  High 

Informa9on Search  High  High 

Evalua9on of Alterna9ves  High  Moderate 

Purchase Decision  High  High 

Purchase  High  Low 

Post Purchase Evalua9on  Low to Moderate  Low 

Note: Very ooen, the role played by search in post purchase evalua9on gets neglected. NetElixir has been able to conduct successful tests that supports the importance of search 

during the post purchase evalua9on process.  You can read more on this here: h)p://www.internetretailer.com/ar9cle.asp?id=33005 

 

Is your paid search advertising program in sync with other online customer acquisition campaigns?

NetElixir Suggests: • A paid search advertising campaign delivers superior returns when coupled with other

channels like social media. • Search is a critical element within the “Shopper Engagement Cycle”, however, it is not the only

element. As the table below shows, it is important to understand the role that search plays in the consumer buying process.

Note: Very often, the role played by search in post purchase evaluation gets neglected. NetElixir has been able to conduct successful tests that supports the importance of search during the post purchase evaluation process. You can read more on this here: http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=33005

5 tips on strategic bidding best practices were presented in our2009 Fresh Ideas workbook (June 2009).

Strategic keyword bidding practices can have big impact on paid search campaign profitability,especially during the hyper-competitive holidays.

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Why is this important?During the holiday season, the average cost per keyword click (CPC) jumps by 50-80% for categories like flowers and gifts, apparel and consumer electronics.

Strategic Keyword Bidding During Holidays

5 Essential Things to Remember in Keyword Bidding • Bidding strategy should be product category-specific

(know the categories “Not” to aggressively bid on) • Day-parting tactics help in better utilization of advertising budget • Days of “vanity bidding” (get the top listing position at any cost) are over • Value per click is the ultimate measure of bidding efficiency • A conversion is an outcome of multiple clicks on (often) multiple keywords

(it is too simplistic to attribute a conversion to the last keyword click).

Note: • Since bidding is a real-time process, manual bid management is not adequately efficient especially for campaigns with 5000+ keywords.

Bid Optimization technologies like LXRRetailTM use complex algorithms to execute this process optimally. • Bidding strategy is influenced by both short term as well as long SEM objectives. The strategy adopted during Holiday Season may not

apply during other months.

At the Internet Retailing Show in London (in 2009) our CEO, Udayan Bose presented ten tips for boosting ad copy performance.

A well written ad copy can boost Click-through-rate as well as conversion rate. At NetElixir, we have conducted extensive research

on each and every character (quite literally) of an ad copy.

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Creating ad copies that work: Practical Tips

1. Geo targeted ad copies always have higher CTR that national ad Copies

2. Free shipping always boosts CTR

3. Mentioning Official site (in display URL or ad copy) increases CTR

4. Mentioning keyword in display URL increases CTR

5. Free S/H + official site + call to action = BEST ad

6. Brand name + retailer name = better than just retailer name

7. High CTR ad copy need not be best converting

8. Mentioning the brand name in ad copy improves CTR and also conversion

9. Final Clearance or Clearance Sale ads have high CTR but may not have high conversion rate

10. Adding an exclamation mark post a call to purchase ad copy line increases CTR

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This concept was presented in 2010 Fresh Ideas workbook. Till date this idea has received maximum questions from retailers.

Search Never Sleeps, why should your SEM Manager?We have always been big proponent of 24/7/365

campaign management. A smart search marketer always finds out a way to maximize any opportunity.

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Severe snowstorm – East Coast will prevent 

Shoppers from stepping out of their homes Be Prepared for u?lizing sudden  

situa?onal opportuni?es through SEM 

12.19.2009 9 am EDT

Short Term Search

Advertising Campaign

Be prepared for utilizing sudden situational opportunities through SEM

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We introduced these 3 KPI’s in our 2010 Fresh Ideas workbook (June 2010).

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) help us measure progress and also take necessary actions. We believe every business should build a custom set of KPIs. Having worked exclusively in the retail industry

since 2005, we have had an opportunity to test various KPIs especially for measuring customer acquisition.

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3 Online Customer Acquisition KPI’s Every Retail Marketer Should MasterOnline Customer Acquisi9on KPI s Every Retail 

Marketer Should Master 

KPI  How to Calculate  Significance 

New Customer Contribu9on 

(Sales Revenue from New Customers)/Total 

Website Sales Revenue 

Effec9veness of your acquisi9on program 

Return on Adver9sing Spend (at the category 

and channel levels) 

Revenue Generated/ Channel Adver9sing 

Spend (category‐level) 

Category‐level, channel specific adver9sing 

efficiency 

Average Order Value  (New Customer) vis‐a‐vis 

Average Order Value for all customers 

AOV (new Customer)/ AOV (Overall Website) 

Rela9ve New Customer Value 

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We introduced the Channel Efficiency Dashboard in our 2011 Fresh Ideas workbook (June 2011).

We built the Channel Efficiency Dashboard for one ofour very large retail clients. It was extremely effective

in helping us assess multi-channel advertising efficiency.

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The Channel Efficiency DashboardThe Channel Efficiency Dashboard 

22 

Channels  Unique 

visitors 

Orders  Revenue  Cost  Revenue/Cost 

(ROAS) 

Revenue/ 

Orders 

(AOV) 

Orders/ 

Unique 

Visitors 

(Conversion 

Rate) 

% Revenue 

(new 

visitors)/ 

Total 

Revenue 

SEM 

SEO 

CSE 

SMM 

Affiliate 

EMail 

Key Metrics  Key Performance Indicators 

How to Use the channel efficiency dashboard? •  Set baseline numbers for KPI s and key metrics 

•  Daily Performance Alerts: 

    ‐ 10%+ baseline: Star (Green) 

    ‐ (‐10%) – (9.99%) baseline: Aspirant (Yellow) 

    ‐ greater than ‐10% devia9on from baseline: Laggard (Red) 

How to use the channel efficiency dashboard? • Set baseline numbers for KPI’s and key metrics • Daily Performance Alerts: - 10%+ baseline: Star (Green) - (-10%) – (9.99%) baseline: Aspirant (Yellow) - greater than -10% deviation from baseline: Laggard (Red)

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NetElixir, Inc., is a Princeton, NJ, based online customer acquisition management firm with offices in New York, London, India, Germany, and Denmark.

The company advises clients worldwide on online customer acquisition strategies and, using its proprietary technology - the LXR core platform, helps them achieve online advertising performance maximization.

About NetElixir NetElixir Global OfficesGlobal Headquarters 475 Wall StreetPrinceton, NJ 08540USAPhone: 609.356.5112

Europe Offices NetElixir LimitedCentral House1 Ballards LaneLondon, EnglandN3 1LQPhone: 020 8349 040

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