aimClear® Search Marketing Blog

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at #SMX East, on a panel that focused entirely on SEO KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). As search engine optimization has become inexorably intertwined with social media and universal SERPs, so too has the spectrum of goals diverged from keyword-traffic-only-measurements marketers looked to in days of old. In the true spirit of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid), we set out to reduce classic and potential KPI data points to a streamlined chart, expressing a matrix of analytic possibilities.

At aimClear we use this chart to spawn creative thinking as we construct new SEO metrics that reflect evolving SEO realities. From the most basic traffic KPIs to multi-level social/SEO mashups, brainstorming on this grid of analytic options is of benefit to our team. A look at how to construct KPIs follows. Read the rest of this entry »

With such huge modifications rolling out in the Facebook UI, little or no attention is being paid to quiet changes taking place in Facebook Ads. Thanks to our friend Julie Gallaher for bringing us notice of the apparent loss baffling change to Facebook Ads Birthday targeting.

Birthday targeting allowed marketers to push psychological buttons with users specifically on their birthdays, a technique that was colorful and worked in some situations.  Now Birthday targeting has been stripped of of it’s true strength and stashed in Broad targeting, as a subcategory of Events. The focus has been neutered because Birthday targeting can no longer be matriculated with Precise Interests. Bummer! I liked the old way because it was an effective lever to grab users’ attention. Any edge helps, right? In 365 days you could cover everybody on their special day and speak directly to users’ interests. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the coolest marketing blog measurements on earth has been degraded in our opinion. The AdAge Power 150 has been reworked in response to the loss of PostRank as a key component. Recently purchased by Google, PostRank shut down their API service. Collective Intellect, another key API used in the Power 150 formula, shuttered their API as well.  These sophisticated social signal aggregation and analysis API tools have been replaced in the AdAge Power 150 algorithm by a raw mashup of Facebook and Twitter which can be gamed. Yahoo Link data, and something called “Todd Score”  have been there from the beginning. Alexa is also part of the scoring system, a service which some suggest is inaccurate. Read the rest of this entry »

Obama for America’s team, or some troublemaker, is buying YouTube InStream pre-roll ads on a video featuring nude pictures of Scarlett Johansson. The President’s paid “follow-me” pitch introduces soft-porn.  This is a classic example of what can happen when demographic targeting is not carefully conceived and channels properly vetted.

Revenue from YouTube InStream ads is shared with the video’s publisher, so a percentage of every dollar Mr. Obama spends functionally subsidizes celebrity hacker-porn. Google, owner of YouTube, is the middleman. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome do Day 3 of aimClear’s coverage of #SMX East! Retargeting a.k.a. remarketing, a relatively new (and seemingly popular) online advertising technique, requires marketers to get inside the minds of users to define search intent, follow said users around across various websites, and serve tightly focused search & display ads that remind them, oh-so-subtly, that you’re still there, waiting, and ready to turn you into a conversion.

In other words, retargeting requires you to be a bit of a cyber-starlking geek-creep. Right? *Shrug* Maybe so. But the spoils of retargeting, namely a more close-knit relationship with your customer/potential customer, are pretty sweet, and if you do it well, you can side-step that creep-factor altogether!

Moderator Pamela Parker, Q&A moderator Marty Weintraub, and speakers Dax Hamman, William Leake, Bibi Mukherjee, & Alan Osetek took the stage on the final morning of #SMX East 2011 to share insight on this new breed of advertising, as well as tips, tactics and top-notch best practices for creating campaigns that get real results. Many of them encouraged attendees to embrace our inner-stalker and to have fun doing it.

aimClear live-tweeted this session via @beebow. Read on for the full effect. Read the rest of this entry »