The Marketing Manager’s Guide to the Galaxy (of Online) | PART 3

In the final instalment of our nod to Douglas Adams’ classic radio plays and books, it’s the turn of ‘measurement, analysis and refinement’ and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) including Pay-Per-Click (PPC), to receive the “Don’t Panic!” treatment. See Part 1 and Part 2 here.

1. Measurement, Analysis and Refinement

• OVERVIEW: A marketing strategy implemented but not monitored and measured is a little like a sports team that both wins and loses games, but never watches replays, discusses how or why, or finds ways to improve tactics for the next game. Measurement, analysis and refinement is an essential part of a comprehensive, closed-loop marketing strategy, allowing you to gauge the effectiveness of your efforts, understand any strengths and weaknesses, and make changes. It’s also an essential part of determining your marketing ROI.

• PRACTICALITY: There are many tools within the spectrum of online marketing that provide measurement. Google Analytics is almost an industry standard for website analytics such as visitors and bounce rates, but also useful information such as traffic sources and demographics, and content analysis. Search query information is provided by Google Webmaster Tools. For email marketing, the free newsletter platform MailChimp provides in-depth measurements of your send-outs, such as open and click rates, but also who exactly clicked on what items. For social media measurement, Facebook has its own Insights suite for measuring the reach of your posts, and if you’re engaged in SEM, AdWords and other PPC ad platforms have extensive reporting features. Once you’ve explored and familiarised yourself with all your measurement options, analysing the results and knowing where to make changes is relatively simple.

• WHAT’S NEW: HubSpot has released version 3 of its comprehensive marketing platform. It’s one of the few truly closed-loop systems, incorporating content, social media, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), lead capture, lead nurture and email marketing, along with measurement and analysis tools, and the ability to refine all processes. We would be happy to give you a demonstration of the HubSpot 3, just get in touch with us here.

2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) 

• OVERVIEW: There are many forms of SEM and PPC, but the ones you’ll see every day are those that sit at the top and to the right of search engine results pages (SERPs). On Google, the paid or sponsored results appear at the top within a pale yellow box. As a marketing manager, you’ll be familiar with the concept of paying for clicks – depending on your bid, you’ll pay a different amount per click or 1,000 ad views (impressions). 

• PRACTICALITY: Debate rages as to their effectiveness, but there are signs that PPC ads are once again driving traffic and justifying the money spent on them. Practically, for Google, AdWords is the platform you’ll need to familiarise yourself with. For every ad you create, you’ll have to bid an amount you’re will to pay – either Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per Mille impressions (CPM). The higher you bid, the more likely it is you’ll appear at the top of results pages. 

• WHAT’S NEW: Google is particularly keen to keep PPC alive, and is constantly innovating. There’s a new AdWords extension out almost every week – the most recent is a function which will soon allow advertisers to include a testimonial and a free link to a reviewer’s website. There’s also AdWords for Video (YouTube), and the more visual Product Listing Ads (PLAs) are proving very effective for drawing in consumers looking to purchase items online.

We hope you enjoyed our Marketing Manager’s Guide series, which will soon be available as an ebook. Stay tuned via Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn and Google+, or subscribe via email (top-right). You can also read a lot more about measurement, PPC and all the practicalities of internet marketing in our Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Internet Marketing (2nd edition).