Traditional Media is "Not Dead Yet"

Predictions of the death of traditional media by evangelists of new media remind me of the famous statement from Mark Twain "I am afraid that the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." The media of print, TV, radio, mail, and many others will be with us for long time but they do need to learn to play well with the new kids. The truth is that businesses need to balance their marketing strategy based on how each media-type works with their specific target.

I was recently invited to be part of a Marketing Experts Panel by Softec, a local technology trade association. The event drew about 45 people for dinner and a discussion on marketing their business and there were some great conversations. The organization is largely technology-based businesses, but the subject of the evening was marketing and you could tell that it was a challenge to many.

The panel consisted of Dave Cox, CEO, Barnett Cox & Associates, Lynne Biddinger, CEO, 20/20 Creative Group, Starr Hall, CEO, 2 Point Media and myself. As I reflected on the discussion it struck me that within the marketing field we really have brand leaders and brand followers. Dave and Lynne fall into the category of a brand leader and our business is very successful being a brand follower.

While the brand leader might be more glamorous, the marketing team needs good brand followers within their niche specializations. This is clearly where Google Adwords belongs in the marketing team. We need to bring data back to the brand leadership in a form that they can use to make good decisions. Adwords is a direct and measured channel and the brand managers need to understand what that data says. We have to transform the mounds of data in to actionable information. We also need to tune the AdWords system to support the overall brand strategy because if our tuning is "off-message" the results are not pretty.

We have business relationships with both Lynne and Dave, although both are indirect. I never got a chance to make a point at the event, so I am doing it now. In Dave's case we are running a Google Adwords campaign for a client that he managed the branding of for many years. That organization enjoys a great search engine position largely because of the overall marketing plan he designed. This site now gets great paid traffic because the brand is clear and well managed making it very easy to extract highly targeted traffic. Without the traditional media support and comprehensive marketing plan this site would not consistently be at the top of Google with expanded placement for their highest volume keyword.

Lynne is the brand manager for another client and that client has the best performing landing page in our entire business. As of this morning this page converts at an amazing 36%! The results are actually even greater than that because the primary response design is for phone and we only measure the back-up response by email form. The reason this converts so well is because the landing page and Adwords model are exactly on message. 20/20 did the branding and landing page design for the client; we just got the right people to the page.

The brand leader can be internal or external but their job is to be the brand cop. They need to up hold and communicate the brand standards and the core messaging. The brand follower on the other hand needs to excel at their specialty and work within the brand. When structured properly with everyone knowing their respective roles this process works great. Lack of brand leadership is a problem but so is excessive leadership.

As I look at the clients that have enjoyed the most success there is clearly a relationship between their brand leadership, clarity of message, and the success in their Google Adwords campaigns. When your message is clear it is much easier to get highly targeted traffic.

Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?

Ideally when you are proactively marketing a business, a product, or a concept you want to see measurable growth in money, fame, or popularity day after day. The reality of the situation is that every market has some sort of cycle to it and it is natural to have good days and bad days that average each other out. When watching the trends within your own business and within your Adwords account, sometimes you have to step back and look at things from a higher level.

A free and simple to use tool that we use fairly often to get a general feel for the popularity of a search term is called Google Trends (www.google.com/trends). It allows you to enter a search term (note: this works mainly just with broad keywords) and see the search volume history on Google.

To illustrate ways this can be used, and reiterate my assertion that Google is the new phone book, I took a Google Trends screen cap for "Google Adwords" and one for "Yellow Pages."




You can see that Google Adwords has been climbing steadily in popularity since2005, but it does see a dip every year around Christmas. The Yellow Pages on the other hand has been steadily declining in popularity since 2004.

Google Trends can also be used to anticipate when you may need to start ramping up your marketing if you are tied to a seasonal event like Christmas Shopping. You know how everybody jokes that Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier each year... according to Google it is! You can see that each year that the query "Christmas Shopping" starts to get traffic earlier and earlier each progressive year.



Or if you ever wondered why your CPC shoots up certain times of year a trip to Google trends can help you understand when and why it happens. For example if you are selling Flat Screen TV's summer is going to be slow but the traffic will probably be cheaper, but if you want to play from Thanksgiving to New Years you better get out your check book.



Now remember Google Trends isn't gospel, but it is a very useful tool for web marketers. Plus it's free! So the next time you're in a slump or your Adwords account seems to be acting a little weird, check out the current trends and see if it's the entire industry or if it's just you!

Ask SMS Your Questions at the Softec Marketing Experts Panel

Softec, the Central Coast's Technology consortium, has invited me along with 3 other local marketing experts to speak on a panel about the challenges of marketing and how to develop more business. Bring your questions with you because this is set up as a Q and A panel!

The event is at Pelican Point Restaurant in Pismo Beach on Wednesday, January 23rd 2008 from 6:00 to 8:30PM. Cost is $30 for those that pre-register and $35 after the pre-registration deadline or at the door.

For more information on Softec and the presenters go to softec.org. You can also sign up for the Softec newsletter if you want to keep up to date with the group.

EVC Business Webinar...

Not to be outdone, Rob is the man behind the scenes of the upcoming San Luis Obispo Economic Vitality Corporation Webinar titled "Starting or Buying a Business - Practical & Legal Considerations" and it will be presented by June McIvor of SJLM.

The webinar is scheduled for January 17th from 6:00 to 7:30 and is provided for free.

Register for the EVC Webinar!

Join SMS's CEO in the Santa Ynez Valley!

As we've mentioned before on the blog we keep active in the community and do a fair amount of public speaking on topics like Internet Marketing and Google Adwords. Last month Rob and I spoke to a marketing class at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, and this month I will be speaking in Santa Ynez.

The Santa Ynez Valley Visitors Association has invited me to talk about Google Adwords and how they can positively impact your business. The meeting is next Wednesday, January 9th at 8:30 a.m. at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriot Hotel (555 McMurray Road, Buellton). The SYVVA is a nonprofit group focused on the promotion of the entire Santa Ynez valley as a year round tourist destination. Admission to this event is free and open to the public, so I encourage you to come out and join us if you are in the area.

For more information, you can see the full press release at syv-online.com