Every client I talk to who’s using Pay Per Click (PPC) as part of their online marketing mix voices some level of concern about cost and ROI, and for good reason.  With PPC, there seems to be a thousand different ways to spend too much money for not enough return.  Have you ever experienced any of these headaches?

Setting the wrong daily budget, only to have it spent within a few short hours Having all your clicks come from the…

...continue to read "How To Optimize Pay Per Click Advertising & Control Costs"

One of the things I’m looking forward to in 2010 is more and more people getting involved in optimizing their online marketing efforts.  This past year was really exciting in terms of Optimization gaining momentum (and budget) among many, many online marketing organizations.  It is, after all, the business that FutureNow has been in for over ten years.

As we all evolve our optimization approaches, one of the things to watch out for, especially for those who are just getting…

...continue to read "Don’t Optimize First and Ask Questions Later"

Last week, I posted Part 1 of my book review of Steven Wood’s Digital Body Language book.  It covered how the landscape of B2B, complex sales, and marketing has changed because of rapid developments in the Online world, and what the Digital Body Language (DBL) concept is.

In this post, I’ll wrap up by covering some of the benefits you can get if you learn to observe and leverage DBL, as well as some of the author’s ideas about the future of…

...continue to read "B2B Marketing Book Review and Commentary, Part 2"

I recently finished up a darn good book on B2B marketing called Digital Body Language: Deciphering Customer Intentions in an Online World. It was written by Steven Woods, who co-founded the ‘marketing automation platform’ vendor, Eloqua, in 1999.

I’m going to attempt to summarize, review, and add some commentary as it pertains to how we at FutureNow use this concept of ‘digital body language’ to increase the marketing effectiveness of lead generation sites.

First off, I would say that the title of…

...continue to read "B2B Marketing Book Review and Commentary, Part 1"

Human nature hasn’t changed and neither have the priorities required for successfully conveying your message.

Contrary to common opinion, David Ogilvy didn’t have a preference for long copy.

What he had was an overwhelming bias towards anything that had been proven to work (which included long copy).  Ogilvy’s real, professed preferences were for consumer testing, research-driven techniques, and performance-based advertising in the truest sense of the term.

Based on those things, the conclusion he came to was that messaging and relevance had…

...continue to read "Tests Indicate Ogilvy’s Old-School Layout Still a Winner"

Most companies measure keyword performance – and especially PPC keyword performance – based on one factor: did that word or phrase bring converting visitors to the site on the visit in which they converted.

So the natural thing to do is trim non-performing words and phrases in order to increase the efficiency of your PPC spend.  And that’s exactly what one client did, except rather than increasing his efficiency, he dropped his sales by 30%.

Why?

Because, depending on what you…

...continue to read "Are Your Analytics Causing You to Lose 30% of Your Sales?"

We’re now 6 months into 2009, and if you’ve embarked on a program of Website/ Marketing optimization, you’re probably looking for some clear, common-sense benchmarks to measure your progress.  Here’s what you should be looking at:

Cost Per Visitor (CPV) – How many advertising, marketing, SEO, etc. dollars do you need to spend to bring in each Website visitor you’re getting.   Don’t look at conversion just yet – it’s your website’s job to convert the visitors; marketing’s job…

...continue to read "Have You Given Your Website a Mid-Year Check-up?"

Since OnTarget debuted, we’ve been learning a lot about why certain clients succeed with optimization, and why others succeed “less.”  To use the exercise regimen metaphor we often refer to, many people start exercise programs with goals of losing weight or a better physique, but not everyone sticks with it and achieves their goals.

We thought we’d share some insights so that if you’re thinking about an optimization program, you can avoid the pitfalls and reap the rewards.

There are many, nuances…

...continue to read "Four Steps To Optimization Success"

One of the things that makes being a Persuasion Analyst at FutureNow fun is watching clients –> partners –> friends grow as an organization.  Many start off skeptical about the process of site optimization, or unrealistic about what can be gained in a given time frame.  But after working through some of the challenges, it’s great to see them thinking about their sites and their businesses in completely different (read: better) ways, and subscribing to a culture of continuous…

...continue to read "The Development of an Optimization Culture"

So apparently the Internet Advertising Bureau is dissatisfied with search-based Internet ads.  Seems they want to “overcome perceptions of ‘creative shabbiness’ in online media, and to help prevent the slide toward a ‘performance-based’ Internet advertising economy.”  Ouch.

While I can’t help but shake my head at the elevated nose and depressed intelligence of a dying attitude that associates “performance-based advertising” with creative shabbiness, that’s not what really bothered me about this piece.

What bothered me was two-fold:

1)  …

...continue to read "Let’s Get Rid of Performance Based Marketing, Huh?"