Archives for 2011

Capture Email Addresses With Google AdWords

I’m a huge fan of Google AdWords ad extensions. What are ad extensions? They are new ways of customizing your AdWords ads to greatly improve your overall CTR and interaction with searchers. Basically, Google is challenging the traditional paid search ad format with new, special extensions that make your ads more interesting and interactive than ever before. Different ad extensions make sense in different verticals. Some of my favorite examples from the finance vertical include Call Extensions and Sitelinks. In the retail vertical, you may quite familiar with seller review extensions.

Recently, I noticed another cool ad extension that’s still in beta testing, email lead capture extensions (check out the screenshot below). For many verticals, the money truly is in the email list. This is never more true than in the “daily deals” vertical. When I search for “sf deals”, I found a neat ad by Pinchit that allows me to sign up for their email deals without ever leaving Google AdWords! If you make a lot of money from your email list, I highly recommend asking your AdWords rep about this extension. If you’re in a vertical that is not as reliant on your email list, I highly recommend testing the other extensions, you will not be disappointed. Great work Google, please keep the cool ad extensions coming.

Online Marketing Holiday Gifts Rule

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 24 6

I’m a huge fan of the corporate online marketing career path. You get to manage huge budgets, face exciting challenges every single day, experience rapid career growth (if you work hard and deliver results), and receive amazing holiday gifts. Each year, search engines, vendors, and partners send truly great gifts. Today, I’m thrilled to share pictures of a few of my online marketing gifts from this holiday season.

QuinStreet Patagonia Jacket

Before getting into the gifts, however, I wanted to to first say Happy holidays, happy new year, and thank you to all PPC Ian fans. It my readers (you) that truly make my blog. Thank you so much for your emails, comments, support, and friendship in 2011. I couldn’t have done it without you. Lately, I have been blogging more than ever before and I’m going to continue to ramp up PPC Ian in 2012. A bit more on that later (in my 2012 goals post), but stay tuned, it’s going to be awesome.

So, back to the gifts… I’m a huge fan of holiday gifts and cards. I enjoy giving gifts to search engines, partners, and vendors as much as I enjoy receiving them. Gifts and cards are a way to reflect on the past year and let your valued partners know just how important they are to you. Relationships are everything and a simple card and gift can really make all the difference. Take time to give thanks to your valued business partners, it’s the thought that counts.

This year, I received an awesome Patagonia sweater jacket from QuinStreet, a leader in vertical marketing and media. You can see a picture of my new sweater jacket above. I used to work at QuinStreet so I have a ton of QuinStreet apparel. This year’s sweater jacket is my absolute favorite, however, because of its fit, warmth, and overall comfort. It’s the perfect sweater jacket you can wear to work with a long sleeve dress shirt.

Marin Software Tower

Also this year I received an amazing tower of chocolates from Marin Software, one of the leading online marketing platforms around. Check out the image of the colorful tower to the right. All of the chocolates and candies are in boxes that get smaller and smaller as you go up the tower. I really like this gift because you never know what’s in each box, you’re always surprised. We had a ton of fun sharing this gift around the office.

The largest gift I received this year came from Five Mill, a great San Francisco SEM agency. Five Mill sent us a massive gift basket. The picture in this post below does not fully do it justice. I honestly had some difficulty picking this gift basket up because it’s so big. Five Mill sent the same gift basket last year and it took some serious time to get through all of the goodies. My absolute favorite in the gift basket are the Godiva chocolates.

I wanted to close out today with my gift from Google. Instead of sending a traditional gift, Google Donated $40 Million To Charity this holiday season. I’m all about receiving cards and gifts, but I’m also a bigger believer in charity. This year, my wife and I donated a record amount to our favorite charities. Next year, we plan to go even bigger (stay tuned for my 2012 goals). I commend Google for giving back all year and especially during the season of giving. It’s up to the business community to help those truly in need.

Five Mill Gift Basket

Last, but not least, I wanted to say thank you to everyone else who sent over gifts, cards, and wishes. I just wanted to highlight a few of my gifts today. If your gift didn’t make the list, that doesn’t mean I don’t love it. I actually enjoy cards as much as gifts, especially those that contain personal messages. I received so many amazing cards this year and spent a solid 8 hours writing/sending out cards as well. Thank you to everyone and happy holidays!

Images In This Post © PPCIan.com

Acquisio Acquires ClickEquations

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 21 5

As of late, there’s been a tremendous amount of growth and M&A activity in our industry. Just a few weeks ago, Adobe acquired Efficient Frontier for $400 million. Personally, I feel like $400 million is a really solid, strong price for Efficient Frontier and sets the tone for more big liquidity events in the coming months/years. It’s really great news for our industry.

Way To Go, Acquisio and ClickEquations!

Today, I was absolutely floored when Acquisio announced their acquisition of ClickEquations. If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you probably know that I’m a huge fan of Acquisio, the leading performance marketing platform for agencies. I have covered some of their amazing whitepapers, interviewed their CMO Marc Poirier, and recently did a guest post on Acquisio’s awesome blog.

What you may not know is I’m also a huge fan of ClickEquations. As you can see in my SMX 2011 Recap, I had the great opportunity to connect with Craig Danuloff, CEO of ClickEquations. Craig literally wrote the book on quality score and is a true leader in our industry. The ClickEquations team is truly top-notch and they built an outstanding platform. Integrate ClickEquations into Acquisio’s platform and it’s going to be a true home run for the online marketing community.

Prediction: SEM Platform(s) Will Go Public In 2012-2013

So, what’s next after all of this recent M&A activity? First and foremost, it means better tools for end users like you and me! More M&A means more activity, growth, and competition. It’s a race at this point to build the biggest and best online marketing platforms around.

Second, I think the recent activity sets the stage for some even bigger deals in the future. Looking at companies like Acquisio, Kenshoo, and Marin Software, I would not be surprised if one or more of them went public in 2012-2013. One thing is for sure: If you manage large online advertising campaigns, I highly encourage you to audit the platforms out there, you will not be disappointed!

Image in this post © Acquisio

Yahoo! Rich Ads Are Back

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 20 1

If you were a big advertiser on Yahoo! back in the Panama days (before the Yahoo!/Microsoft Search Alliance), you may remember rich ads in search. What are rich ads? They are basically an awesome way to make your brand/trademark ads stand out. I’m talking about adding an image (or even video) to your brand keywords. I’m talking about including sitelinks in your ad. I’m talking about adding a zip code box to your ad so your users can start filling out your form right from the ad itself! When it comes to rich ads, it’s all about customization.

Rich Ads Are Now Powered By adCenter

When the Yahoo!/Microsoft Search Alliance came around, Yahoo! rich ads disappeared. It made sense. adCenter became the platform of choice and adCenter did not support rich ads at the time. Yahoo! Panama was the only platform in our industry offering this capability. However, both Yahoo! and Microsoft promised that rich ads would be back, and they now are!

Capitalize On Your Brand Name Traffic

Check out the screenshot below. You can see Rosetta Stone’s rich ad (screenshot taken today). In this particular rich ad, Rosetta Stone is leveraging an image and also sitelinks. There’s no doubt that they are enjoying a higher click through rate and increased brand awareness. Also, they are preventing other advertisers from showing up in the top yellow bar. Rich ads take up a lot of space so when rich ads deliver they will occupy the entire top bar.

Enjoy Rich Ads On Both Yahoo! and Bing

I’m super excited about rich ads (more so than ever before) because they now display on both Yahoo! and Bing thanks to the Search Alliance. Moreover, the process for uploading rich ads (and the overall bidding framework) is more simplistic and scalable than ever before. If you’re a large advertiser on adCenter, you just have to reach out to your Yahoo! reps about rich ads. You won’t be disappointed and it could turn out to be one of your big successes of 2012!

Want to learn more about the Yahoo!/Microsoft Search Alliance and my perspective on the transition from Panama? You’ll want to check out my Search Alliance Case Study which is now live on Yahoo!’s advertising portal.

Fun Times At The Pharcyde Concert

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 17 4

Last night, Nicole and I enjoyed seeing The Pharcyde perform at Yoshi’s San Francisco. The Pharcyde is perhaps my favorite rap group of all time, with their album Bizarre Ride II being perhaps my favorite rap album of all time. Kanye West has also named Bizare Ride II as his favorite. If you’re interested in listening to Pharcyde tracks such as Drop, you’ve just got to check out their YouTube Channel.

DJ Equipment

If you’re been reading PPC Ian for a long time, you may also know that Rap Music Drives My Online Marketing. Pay per click search engine marketing is a lot like computer programming. When you’re managing large campaigns and making money online, you need to get in the zone. How do I get in the zone? I like to put on my headphones and listen to hip hop music. I like hip hop more than any other music genre for a few reasons. First, I can’t get enough of the beats and lyrics. I’m a walking encyclopedia of hip hop lyrics and facts. Second, I grew up listening to this stuff. Third, on a philosophical level I can relate to the relentless pursuit of money that comes across in many tracks.

Nicole took me to Yoshi’s San Francisco for my birthday earlier this year. We saw another one of my favorite rap groups, De La Soul. (Side Note: You’ve got to check out The Bizness Remix on YouTube, a true hidden gem.) Since then, we have kept a close eye on the Yoshi’s calendar for great hip hop and jazz artists (we also enjoy jazz music quite a bit). The food at Yoshi’s San Francisco is always top notch, and I must say The Pharcyde and De La Soul concerts were both amazing! I went away from both thoroughly inspired to see some of my personal heroes perform their best tracks. It’s always a great crowd and great time at Yoshi’s, I highly recommend it.

How do you get in the zone when you’re working on online marketing? Any other fans of rap music out there, especially 90s artists such as The Pharcyde and De La Soul?

Image of DJ Equipment © iStockPhoto – Roob

Check Out My Guest Post On Acquisio’s Blog

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 14 5

I’m a huge fan of online marketing automation, with platforms like Acquisio at the top of my list. Have you heard of Acquisio? They offer the leading performance marketing platform for agencies.

Today, I wrote a guest post on Acquisio’s blog: 5 Ways To Get The Most Out of Your New Online Marketing Platform. I’m so excited and honored. Acquisio has a really amazing online marketing blog and I highly recommend checking it out. Since the entire online marketing world is in the process of moving from manual campaign management to leveraged campaign management via platforms such as Acquisio, I thought this would be the perfect topic.

After reading my guest post, I highly recommend checking out Acquisio’s whitepapers as well (they are really amazing). I have covered several of them here on PPC Ian including:

Want to learn even more about Acquisio? I had the honor of interviewing Acquisio’s CMO Marc Poirier right here on PPC Ian. Thanks for all your support and I hope you enjoy my guest post!

I Worked All Weekend

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 11 3

When you’re in corporate online marketing, you have to work from home on the weekend from time to time. The projects line up and you just have to work form home to meet deadlines. (Side note: Always meet your deadlines, no matter what you need to do to get there.) It just so happens that I had an important deadline for my job. So, I worked from home all weekend this weekend. I’m really excited that I finished my project and feel quite energized for the upcoming week. If you’re in corporate online marketing, I’m certain you face this same situation from time to time! Following are a few of my favorite tips when it comes to working weekends.

Tip 1: Take It A Little Easier The Next Week

To Do List

First and foremost, we must recognize that the weekend exists for a reason. No matter how much you love online marketing (believe me, I can’t get enough of this stuff), you need to remember that balance is everything. It’s not about how many hours you put in, but how much you accomplish. After working the weekend, you need to take it a little easier the next week. I’m talking about getting to the office on time (versus early). I’m talking about leaving at the end of the day (as opposed to getting wrapped up in a project and staying late). It’s important to force the balance because career longevity is everything in online marketing.

Tip 2: Make Sure To Exercise

I tend to exercise quite a bit on weekends. When I work at home on weekends, I never compromise my workouts. It’s the balance of exercising and working that keeps my head clear. If you’re in a high power career like online marketing, I always recommend exercising. When the work piles up, always keep up the workouts. It’s amazing how they will help you generate new ideas and excel even more at work.

Tip 3: Don’t Work Every Weekend

I’m the number one proponent of corporate online marketing. When I’m not doing online marketing for my job, I’m blogging about it. It’s an addictive field. That said, it’s all about balance and longevity. Make sure to take time off to spend with your significant other and family. It will keep you balanced and in the game for the long term. While I worked all weekend this weekend, I’m going to strive to take the entire next one off.

Tip 4: Make Your Hard Work Known

In most high powered corporate careers, it’s expected that you work from home (nights and weekends) from time to time. Everyone does it. However, let’s say you go above and beyond. You’re putting in some serious hours on weekends and driving amazing numbers as a result. Let your manager know. You don’t want to go overboard, but subtly make your hard work known. This is something that will likely help you in your next performance review. Want to learn more SEM career tips? I recommend downloading my free eBook highlighting my Top 5 Online Marketing Career Tips.

Favicons Are Important For Online Marketing

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 7 3

I just got a brand new favicon for PPC Ian and I’m quite excited about it. Check out the URL bar above. You can see that there’s a little 16×16 image with the mouse pointer clicking the target. My favicon also displays in the browser tab window and the toolbar bookmarks (check out the first screenshot below and you can see what I’m talking about). In short, favicons are a really cool graphical addition to any site and can add a lot of brand value.

Here’s where it gets really cool. Check out the second screenshot below, the Yahoo! paid search results for the brand name “Progressive”. As you can see, Progressive’s favicon shows up right in their paid ad. This is something Yahoo! has been doing for a while, and I really like it! If you’re running PPC campaigns on Yahoo! (via adCenter) and your brand name drives a lot of traffic, you definitely need a favicon. Right now, favicons only display on Yahoo! for brand searches, but they can really help your CTR if your brand name drives a lot of traffic.

I was able to get two favicons (for PPC Ian and IJL Productions) for $50, with multiple revisions. It was totally easy to outsource the project on Elance and get great quality work. Especially for your large websites, I recommend getting your own favicons today. Once they are ready, simply upload your favicon.ico file to your website’s root directory and you’re good to go.

Keeping Your PPC Accounts From Going Offline

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 3 2

If you’ve been in pay per click for a while, you’ve probably experienced it. I’m talking about that horrible, horrible time when one or more of your PPC accounts goes offline. It’s always bad. You end up losing valuable conversions, profit, account history, and your competitive edge. It can set you back in your PPC career. Sometimes, you can even go dark during a critical period such as holiday shopping. Today, I’m going to share a few tips so you avoid going offline, can sleep better at night, and look like an absolute PPC rock star!

Tip 1: Remember A Backup Credit Card

Offline

One of my favorite features within Google AdWords is the ability to enter a backup credit card. At one time or another, it’s likely your primary card is going to fail. If you have a backup card, you have a great chance of staying online while avoiding downtime. Just remember to make sure your backup card is a completely different card (and credit card company) from your primary one. For example, if my primary card is American Express, I’ll make sure to have a Visa or MasterCard backup.

Also, remember to have a high credit limit on both your primary and backup card. A backup card is no good if it has a low credit limit and cannot handle large charges that may have failed on your primary card. Make sure to have enough credit to last at least a week in case the issues on your primary card take some time to figure out.

When it comes to adCenter, you cannot have a backup card go into affect automatically like Google AdWords. However, you can have a backup card ready to go. If your primary card fails, just manually switch over to your backup card.

Tip 2: Consider Pre-Pay Billing

If you’re a credit card advertiser, you may wish to consider pre-pay versus post-pay billing. Pre-pay means your credit card is charged before you spend the money. If you always make sure to have a large, positive balance in your search engine account, you will always stay online. However, this can have an impact on your cash flow if you’re spending tons of money. For that reason, I personally prefer post-pay with a backup card in place. Sometimes, since you can’t automatically switch over to a backup card in adCenter, I’ll consider pre-pay on adCenter but have a post-pay on AdWords with a backup card in place.

Tip 3: Consider Transitioning Over To Invoicing

If you’re a credit card advertiser, you are more at risk of going offline. Credit cards fail and billing systems can have issues. If you move over to invoicing, you’ll lose your valuable credit card rewards, but will pick up peace of mind. It’s much harder for an invoiced account to go offline due to billing issues. Moreover, you have a full 30 days from the end of the invoiced month (typically net 30 terms) to pay your bills. The downside? This option only works if you’re a larger advertiser and are able to negotiate a strong credit limit with the search engines.

Tip 4: Leverage Automated and Manual Monitoring

Work with your IT department to get a system in place that pings Google, Yahoo!, and Bing to make sure your ads are showing up. If you are not showing up for some reason, generate an alert. The best alerts are not only via email but involve an escalation path (with phone numbers). It’s easy to miss an email in the middle of the night, but you’ll be able to respond right away if you get a call.

Moreover, have your entire team (both your internal team and your search engine reps) check your ads constantly. I try to check my ads once per hour, 24/7 (except when I’m sleeping). This is part of my Six Essential PPC Campaign Checks. If there’s an issue, make sure a clear escalation path is in place. Also, make sure you have the cell phone numbers for your entire team and your search engine reps. There are times when I’ve gotten calls in the middle of the night and I always appreciate it if it’s going to prevent a major disaster. Best of luck in having 0% unintended downtime for your PPC campaigns!

I’m Answering Online Marketing Questions on Quora

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 1 2

Have you heard of Quora? It’s a really cool continually improving collection of questions and answers. Founded by two former Facebook executives, Quora is one addictive site. I joined Quora a few weeks back and have already answered six questions about online marketing.

I’m really excited about Quora for two main reasons. First and foremost, it provides a great way to help others in the online marketing community. PPC Ian exists to educate and empower online marketing professionals. Quora gives me even more leverage in achieving this goal!

Second, Quora provides an amazing way to build my own career and network. It’s all about networking in the search marketing career path. You may wish to check out my post about Growing Your SEM Career With LinkedIn or my video about Landing Your PPC Dream Job. It’s all about knowing your stuff while also networking and marketing yourself. Quora now provides another way to achieve this goal.

Please make sure to check out my Quora Profile (where you can read all my answers). If you follow me, I will follow you back! I’m now regularly answering online marketing questions on Quora with many more answers to come.