WebProNews

The Search Engine Strategies conference series is back in full swing this week, providing insight from some of the more forward thinkers in the search industry. Emanating from London, this SES conference promises to be one of the most robust we’ve seen.

WebProNews guest correspondent Debbie Harrison provides with coverage of the first day’s session, kicked off by Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner at Beyond Ink, who emphasized strategies to manage pay-per-click services.

In 2006, Western Europe spent in excess of $7.5 billion in advertising. The UK alone has increased advertising spending this year by twenty percent and that figure is expected to increase by seventy five percent within the next three years.

Also by 2010, the UK has the top projected cost per Internet user at £114, followed by France with £72. So more media than ever at the user’s disposal, better targeting and quality scoring, there are more decisions than ever at the fingertips of SEM Managers.

Anne asserted that paid search solutions saw 36.8% of visitors transition from lead to order, a lower margin than organic search, showing results by yielding higher conversion, broad terms and better position.

To end her talk, she touched on some key elements to be aware of when working to implement campaign management methodology:
 
• Know your customer
• Know your media
• Tune your message
• Measure
• Make strategic decisions

Karin McLean from Big Mouth Media was the next to speak. She touted a campaign that integrates both organic and paid advertising.

She outlines three key aspects to SEM project planning:

Agency:
• Brainstorming
• Project Planning
• Marketplace Analysis
• Research
• Analysis
• Strategic planning
• Search updates
• Innovations

SEM agencies should make recommendations for the purpose of client performance – keeping their specific goals and targets in mind. How will it affect their bottom line? How much will it cost them internally to implement? How can it fit into another advertising and marketing efforts?

Support – both internal and external (i.e. teams at providers) – frees up valuable time that can be more efficiently spent on analyzing campaign performance.

Agencies should be aware of the educational level of their clients. Are they even familiar with search? Have they worked with another agency? Have they conducted any research on their own?

Client:
• Marketing Plans
• Resource Planning
• Market knowledge
• Budget
• Prioritization
• Implementation
• Education
• Knowledge sharing
• Vertical Expertise

It is the client’s responsibility to provide the agency with as much relevant information as possible, such as the current state of their particular market, changes to current legislation, marketplace climate, and new developments in order to give SEMs all the tools they need to implement the best techniques for optimization.

Clients also should allow agencies access to internal resources – development schedules, technical changes, code freezes, brand changes – and anything else to do with the website in order to make the process as smooth as possible.

Search Team (Integrating the SEM Agency and Client):
• Briefing
• Goals/Targets
• Communication
• Requirements
• Communication
• Measurement
• Education
• Review
• Adaptation
• Integration

Karen concluded with the aspect of the search team, reminding everyone that the needs of every client are unique.

Developing clear objectives, determining the level of agency involvement, and a sharing of search and marketplace knowledge between SEM firms and clients is the best method of developing a comprehensive strategy to meet a company’s particular search marketing needs.

Stay tuned to WebProNews for continued coverage of SES London.

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