This ppc Management Tip everyone managing ppc campaigns should know about:

If you need someone to implement this tip for you, give us a call at (800) 920-1985. You’ll be glad you did. Here’s the tip;

All the search engines produce a steady stream of PR about new “innovations” but real professional campaign managers in the trenches know that when you actually use these things they don’t always work as intended.

Nevertheless, one innovation that received almost no fanfare is the automation settings now rolling out as a beta in most Google accounts.

They allow ppc campaign managers to automatically make adjustments if a certain event happens, like if the ads drop in position during a certain time of the day, automatically bid more to keep them in that position. Some of these changes used to be only available with really expensive ($10,000 and up per month ) software bidding platforms, but now an average small advertiser can take advantage of this same automation right within their Adwords account.

One other innovation that is really worth mentioning is the new Retargeting feature that Adwords implemented. This allows you to show new ads to people that have previously visited your site. You can even define custom audiences such as people that visited but didn’t sign up before, or people that visited one key page of your site.

Really good stuff, and very effective.

If you need someone to implement this for you, give us a call at (800) 920-1985

You’ll be glad you did.

Technorati Tags: advertiser, Audiences, Automation, beta, Campaign Managers, campaigns, Fanfare, Good Stuff, Google, Innovation, Management Tip, New Innovations, Platforms, Ppc Management, Professional Campaign, Retargeting, Search Engines, Steady Stream, Time Of The Day, Trenches

Like many  companies we got to a point where we started looking to technology to help with efficiencies. When you start managing campaigns with 20,000 keywords or more, its not enough to use Adwords editor and keep on top of all the changes you need to be doing, even though Adwords editor and Adcenter desktop are indeed great tools to have.

I went down the rabbit hole and talked to almost every bid manager out there. One thing for sure is, if the vendor can’t even list the price on their site you know its going to be darned expensive. Are they worth it? There is some debate about this. Is the cost of the tool really justified in improved efficiencies? These are questions you will have to answer yourself of course, and with most agencies charging 10 percent of the ad spend and many tools charging up to 6 percent of the ad spend, its not a small decision if you are going to hand over so much of your gross income, just to use a tool.

One word of advice, everything is negotiable in this world so if you are on the fence, you might be able to get a concession in base cost, and almost all the bid manager companies will give you a discount if you sign with them for a year or more.

Ok, here’s all the tools I’ve looked at and what I think:

Clicksweeper

Clicksweeper is the first that comes to mind because it has the lowest barrier to entry. Its not a true agency tool in that the reporting is really crappy, and it has no analytics of its own, but if you use conversion tracking at Google or Bing, it will use the conversion data in making its bidding decisions. The interface is really bare bones and I would never share it with a client. You also can’t create your own bidding strategies which is something that the more robust bid managers can do. However, the 4 or 5 basic bidding strategies are well thought out and let you be able to do a lot, and they have a nice way of reviewing the performance of the ads which is based on profit and not CTR, and it can automatically pause the worst performing ads for you based on a number of criteria. Basically as a bidding engine behind the scenes with a great band for the buck in terms of cost. For most agencies my guess is it will run you around 1-1 1/2 percent of your adspend, although the price by the number of keywords, not adspend. So you can keep the cost really in line if you don’t use a zillion long tail keywords in your campaigns.

Clickable

Clickable is going crazy and hiring a lot of people from India right now, has a lot of features, including facebook ads, really nice reporting, and automated suggestions. They don’t have true bidding algorithms though. (This is in process) They also include a call tracking solution that will track phone calls to the keyword level for not too much extra, and they have an analytics that you can install at no extra charge. Its pricey though for an agency, and you can’t white label it. Its basically 5 percent of the ad spend under $30,000 per month and then a graduated scale up from that, so you are going to have to spend around $100,000 before you can get the cost down to a reasonable level. For an agency to use it and not have access to really good bidding algorithms and the ability to create your own, plus no white labeling its a no go, but for individual advertisers it can be pretty good, particularly if they don’t have a lot of experience running their campaigns. They have automated suggestions which the real pros sometimes know to ignore, but the suggestions are overall not bad. They private labeled their software for american express at searchmanager.com which is worth checking out for individual advertisers doing it in house.

Acquisio

Acquisio is a more full featured bid manager that is basically a minimum of 1000 bucks a month to use. Like many other bid managers its 5 percent of adspend at lower levels below 30,000 ad spend per month and then the percentage goes less the more you spend. Acquisio has their own analytics pixel you can use free, and has very robust bidding features, and allows you to make your own custom strategies. You can also white label acquisio so it looks like your own bid manager for your agency, and it has really nice reporting with really cute pie charts and all kinds of reports you can make. On the minus side almost every extra module you would want with it costs a setup fee and an additional 350 per month, so if you want to use google analytics in your bidding strategies ( i.e. pausing keywords with high bounce rates ) or pulling in all your call tracking data from Marchex thats another 700 bucks added to the base cost, so for practical purposes its 2-3 grand a month minimum to use for most agencies. At least acquisio is honest about its pricing and actually has it listed on their website, which is more than I can say for most other companies out there. If you are considering Acquisio, keep in mind the modules because there are a couple other companies where you get the equivelant of those modules for free even though they have a higher base cost per month

Lyris HQ

Lyris HQ is a bit of a sleeper in the field but they have a nice dashboard that combines email marketing, analytics, SEM stats and a little bit of social media starting at $500 per month for 3 seats. They purchased the web analytics company Click Tracks which is pretty robust, and recently purchased $30 percent of the company Site Wit, which they plan to integrate with their software in 2011. Its got good reporting, and we just have to wait to see if the integration with Site Wit goes smoothly. For smaller agencies there is a good bang for the buck here, but it really isn’t to be compared with the bigger badder bid managers out there.

Soon on my list, is Omniture, recently purchased by adobe, searchforce.com and I am also thinking out of the box a little bit by looking at maybe using just clicksweeper for the bid management functions, and affiliatereporting.com or mashablemetrics.com to pull in all the stats and make reports.

So far, its been a real pain because it takes at least an hour to go through the sales spiel with all these guys, and its a lot of money some of these platforms cost. Right now I am losing a lot of productive time looking at all the platforms, and then if I choose one I then have to learn the platform myself, plus many of them require you to change all the destination urls to use analytics within their system, which means for every single client there is a big migration process.

Next week I look at more. I’ll keep you posted.

Technorati Tags: adcenter, analytics, Bid Manager, Bidding Strategies, Bones, campaigns, Concession, Conversion Data, Decisions, Efficiencies, Fence, Google, Great Tools, Gross Income, interface, ppc, Rabbit, Rabbit Hole, Tool, Word Of Advice

Social Media is Here to Stay, Make the Most out of it with … Release-news.com (press release) About Strangelogicmarketing.com StrangeLogicMarketing specializes in delivering social media marketing, SEO and ppc management services. The company has a proven track record of ranking websites in the top pages of Google and boosting online sales. … and more »

Technorati Tags: Google, Media Marketing, News Media, News Press, Ppc Management Services, Press Release, Proven Track Record, Raquo, Release News, seo, Social Marketing

SEO Services Company Techmagnate Becomes Google Adwords Certified Partner SBWire (press release) Commenting on this achievement, Mr. Sarvesh Bagla, CEO, Techmagnate says, “This certification is prestigious for any ppc management company, because we know …

Technorati Tags: Bagla, Ceo, Google, Management Company, Partner, Ppc Management, Press Release, Sarvesh, Seo Company, Seo Services

The Hindu

Google's Outlook Is Bright, Says Eric Schmidt Impact Media (blog) He reassured users of pay per click services that the company will continue to progress, while the move will place co-founder Larry Page as CEO. … Schmidt to step down as Google CEOCNNMoney all 1,850 news articles »

Technorati Tags: blog, Ceo, Co Founder, Eric Schmidt, Google, Hindu, Impact Media, Larry Page, News Articles, Outlook, Pay Per Click Services, pay-per-click

Creative Boom

Ajax Union SEO NY Boosts Search Engine Rankings, Visits and Conversions PR Urgent In addition to the OnPage Factor and AnewB SEO plans, Ajax Union also offers ppc Feeder, a Google AdWords management service; EmailSpark, for targeted email … Ajax Union SEO Company Amps Up Small Business Marketing with Weekly and Daily …PR.com (press release) all 15 news articles »

Technorati Tags: Ajax, Amps, Boom, Creative, Engine Conversions, feeder, Google, Google Adwords, Management Service, Marketing Pr, News Articles, ppc, Press Release, Search Engine Rankings, Search Rankings, Seo Company, Small Business Marketing, Targeted Email

What's Up with Google and Apple? I-Newswire.com (press release) Keyword Search Pros is a Los Angeles based ppc management company founded and directed by Peter Dulay. It has provided business with a solution to the …

Technorati Tags: Apple Press, Business Solution, Google, I Newswire, Keyword Search, Management Company, Ppc Management, Press Release

THAT! Company Named State of Florida Entrepreneurial Company of the Year PR Newswire (press release) … number one ranked SEO Company in Google, Yahoo! and Bing; the nation's leading ppc Management firm; and digital applications and measurable analytics. … and more »

Technorati Tags: analytics, Digital Applications, Entrepreneurial Company, Google, Google Yahoo, Management Firm, Pr Newswire, Press Release, Raquo, Seo Company, State Florida, State Of Florida, yahoo

Bob Gilbreath visits Google’s San Francisco office to present his book “The Next Evolution of Marketing: Connect with Your Customers by Marketing with Meaning”. This event took place on December 8, 2009, as part of the Authors@Google series.

THE NEW LAW OF MARKETING

The Next Evolution of Marketing is a true beacon for all brand builders. Many books claim that, Bobs book delivers.
Jim Stengel, former Global Marketing Officer, Procter & Gamble

Some timeless truths restored for modern marketing—and many new ones added. An inspiring reminder of the value of brand behavior and how to make it happen.
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP

Persuasion has given way to sharing, and marketing will never be the same.
John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer, Young & Rubicam, and coauthor of The Brand Bubble

This book provides a framework and compelling examples for creating the next generation of cultureleading brands.
Mark Greatrex, Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications and Insights, The Coca-Cola Company

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The old interruptive model of marketing doesnt work. Customers are tuning out. They no longer listen to in-your-face messages. Instead, they demand meaning in the brands they buy and the marketing that reaches them.

Marketing strategist Bob Gilbreaths hot new concept, Marketing with Meaning, represents the next evolutionary step in a progression following direct marketing and permission marketing. This groundbreaking methodology engages customers and wins their business by adding value to their lives. Rather than pushing a product or service, Marketing with Meaning woos customers by offering them something of value independent of purchase.

In The Next Evolution of Marketing, Gilbreath unveils a revolutionary new approach to business that fills the gaping voids left in bottom lines when people started tuning out. Gilbreath describes the marketing revolution now underway and the powerful forces driving it. Inside, he provides Marketing with Meaning success stories, including:
Samsungs laptop and cell phone charging stations, which are now found in more than 50 airports throughout the United States
Doves Campaign for Real Beauty and its viral video Evolution, which has been viewed more than 100 million times
Burger Kings Xbox advergames, which helped boost the companys profits by 40 percent in one year

This first-ever comprehensive model for creating and managing a meaningful marketing campaign uses in-depth case studies of successful campaigns and explains how to develop and execute a solid strategy for meeting customers needs. It also arms you with an original set of metrics for precisely measuring the effectiveness of your initiatives.

You simply cannot afford to get left behind in advertisings golden age of interrupt, tell, and sell marketing. Marketing with Meaning is how your customers demand business be done today and tomorrow. The Next Evolution of Marketing is your guide to surviving and thriving in this marketing revolution.

Duration : 0:49:44

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Technorati Tags: atgoogle, Authors@Google, bob, by, Connect, customers, Evolution, Gilbreath, Google, marketing, Meaning, next, of, the, with, your

http://www.SERoundtable.com/ – This week the big news was that Bing updated their user interface a bit and also added Foursquare checkins to Bing Maps. Google is testing a domain instead of IP address for cache access. Google’s English or /NCR interface is not working for Chinese users, it is a bug. Another Google Bug was thought to be a Chinese hack. AdWords launched “Search Funnels” that helps tracks keywords that assisted in conversions. Google may stop partners from changing user settings. Google won big in the EU courts over trademark search ad law. Google Maps allows business owners to specify service areas. Google Maps tests special ads with hotel pricing. Some SEOs use search operators for link building and some don’t. We covered about 40 sessions at SES NY this week. Google had a Doodle for Akira Kurosawa and Israeli Educational TV. Finally, should I test setting these videos as rentals? Just kidding. That was this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Bing:
Bing Updates UI, Improves Search Results & Adds Foursquare to Maps : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021933.html

Google Search:
Google Cache URLs To Be webcache.googleusercontent.com? : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021929.html
Google To Fix Google China Bug With /NCR URL : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021936.html
Google Language Detection Bug Confused As Chinese Hack : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021930.html

Google AdWords:
Check Keywords That Assist Conversions With Google AdWords Search Funnels : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021924.html
Speculation: Google To Disallow Search Partners From Changing User’s Default Settings : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021934.html
Google Win In EU Court Over Louis Vuitton Trademark Case : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021915.html

Google Maps:
Google Maps Expands Businesses Reach With Services Areas & Locations : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021927.html
Google Maps Testing Ads With Hotel Prices : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021926.html

Link Building & SEO:
Some SEOs Use Search Operators For Link Building & Some Don’t : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021912.html

SEM Industry:
SES NY 2010 Live Blogging Schedule : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021841.html

Logos:
Google UK Doodle For Akira Kurosawa & Google Israel Logo For Israeli Educational Television : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021920.html

YouTube:
A Publisher Testing YouTube Rentals : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021911.html

Duration : 0:12:40

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Technorati Tags: AdWords, bing, China, Google, googlemaps, http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021929.html, linkbuilding, seo, ses, sesny, youtube