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Similar to SMX East Presentation - Finding & Succeeding with a Search Agency - Lijo Joseph @GoBCM
Similar to SMX East Presentation - Finding & Succeeding with a Search Agency - Lijo Joseph @GoBCM (20)
SMX East Presentation - Finding & Succeeding with a Search Agency - Lijo Joseph @GoBCM
- 1. Capture Demand Marriott Site Audience Retargeting Using Criteo Finding & Succeeding With A Search Agency Product Feed Updated Monthly 1
- 2. About me • Award winning search & performance media marketer • Over 7+ years search experience working with B2B & B2C clients • Client portfolio includes travel, retail, fashion, industrial, healthcare etc @josephlijo @GoBCM
- 3. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 3
- 4. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 4
- 5. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? Build/Rebuild Ground Up Move it Over
- 6. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 6
- 7. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? “Don’t be fooled by the tools that they use” – Anonymous Search Diva
- 8. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 8
- 9. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? • Launch Initial • Launch 2-3 keyword Set based keyword phrases on keyword • Monitor Search research queries & add • Expand to Queries Exact Modified exact negatives from MB Broad Match Match • Limited use of Phrase/ • Effective use of phrase & broad Negative negatives with Broad match types to match types force exposure from exact match group (vs. what Google might choose to show)
- 10. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 10
- 11. How do you track & optimize your campaigns? Hybrid LTV Impressions ROI Online Clicks ROAS/ROI Incremental CTR CPA CPC
- 12. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 12
- 13. Who will be working on my search campaigns? Brand A Brand B VS. Brand C
- 14. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 14
- 15. Do you have a global footprint?
- 16. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 16
- 17. What is your experience with cross channel integration? Phone Calls TV/Radio Direct Mail Search Email Display Ads
- 18. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 18
- 19. Which search engines have you worked with? Primary Search Engines Vertical Search Engines Travel Retail Local
- 20. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 20
- 21. How can you help us beyond search? Performance Display Mobile/Local Social
- 22. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. What not to ask your prospective search agency partner? 22
- 23. Don’t ask for references, find them yourself online ”Great Coworkers, Poor Senior Management, and Cheap Hires” Current Employee in Chicago, IL – Reviewed Jul 20, 2011 ”Disappointing but Entertaining” Former Search Marketing Specialist in Chicago, IL – Reviewed Aug 23, 2011
- 24. What you will takeaway from listening to me? Top 9 questions to ask your prospective search agency partner… 1. What is your approach to onboarding/transitioning accounts? 2. Which tool(s) do you use to manage search? 3. What is your philosophy on campaign structure? 4. How do you track and optimize your search campaigns? 5. Who will be working on my campaigns? 6. Do you have a Global footprint? 7. What is your experience with Cross Channel Integration? 8. Which search engines have you worked with? 9. How can you help us beyond search? …and 1 question not to bother with. Don’t ask for References find them yourself online 24
- 25. Need more questions ? @josephlijo @GoBCM
Editor's Notes
- Twitter HandleBCM: started in 2005 by 3 industry veterans from the original Modem Media and Digitas. Founder of Modem Media SEM practice (Stuart Meyler). Head creative for Modem Media (Tom Beeby). Focused on innovation in media – from measurement to new concepts in creating media experience. Award winning, etc. Focused on digital mid to large size clients
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:Is the onboarding a new account or transitioning an existing account?Did your search agency explain when and why they would do one vs the other?If you had an old account and the agency is setting up a new account, Issues to consider - QS , History, other weird things like no coverage.Always make sure you own the account and can transition it back if need be. Your agency should discuss this with you. If they are not raising these issues without being prompted or are unclear, be wary. There are important decisions, and implications, to choosing one approach over another.Focus on pros & cons of one approach vs. other
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:Which tool/platforms do you use to manage our campaign? Which tools have you used in the past and why did you switch?Experience with SEO and PPC tools overall. Is the agency using a custom built tool? Being a software development company and an agency at the same time is challenging to say the least. In our experience it is difficult to be both a really good software company and a really good agency. The R&D and investment required to support a market leading SEM or SEO platform is beyond the scope of most agencies. It is telling that many of the top agencies have abandoned earlier efforts to use their own tools in favor or market place solutions. You should be aware that there is a lot of changes happening on the market place, call tracking mobile social etc. It is important to constantly revisit the tool set and evaluate whether or not there is something better or more appropriate for your client.
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:The agency’s approach to structuring your campaign should be something you inquire about and discuss. Key questions include:Do you separate keywords into ad groups by match type or do you mix match types within adgroups (hint: the former is typically better)?How many negatives do you use? what is your process for find new negatives? Is this something that is part of the on-going process? How do they structure your campaign to ensure the most relevant connection between kwd and adcopy thereby improving QS CTR and lowering your CPC?We have seen it all. Transitioned large accounts from top SEM agencies with less than 50 negatives, all 3 types of match types in one ad group, copy that was seldom/if ever updated, etc. Make sure you have access to the account and can review change history, structure, etc.
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:We still see a lot account or agencies managing search campaign performances on Impressions, Clicks, CTR, CPC. That would have been ok in the previous decade but it won’t serve you today.At the very least you should be starting out by managing on an average CPA, anything less isn’t acceptable for a performance based search campaign.Search is becoming increasingly competitive and crowded. How do you survive in this landscape? If you see someone outbidding you constantly for top position either they are stupid or they are very clever.In our case:For a travel client we are looking at incremental revenue driven by search using actual predictive displacement, fulfillment etc on booked travel. Would they have booked anyway through organic or is this truly incremental? Would they have cancelled? How much ancillary revenue could we expect and did the rate type book displace a higher rate?For a ticketing and retailer client we are optimizing based on real time profit as opposed to cost of acquisition which could be misleading. Real time profit changes as shows sell out, allowing us to naturally increase our bids. For a other clients with offline activity from call centers we are integrating the offline revenue to calculate ROI.For more advanced client running paid search over several yrs. we are optimizing based on lifetime value of the customer.End result if you are not doing all of the above over long term you will be outbid by your competition (or people like us)
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:What is my team structure?How many other accounts/clients will the person(s) working on my account manage?Do you get to meet everyone on the team in person?If the resource isn’t exclusive, what percentage of their time will be allocated on your accountOne happy smart guy with few accounts with more time to focus on account strategy and optimizations. oran analyst with many accounts pulling his/her hair apart and focused mainly on reporting with no long term focus on strategy or optimizations.
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:Animate through the 3 imagesShow 1st image with global map: What does mean to have global presence?Show 2nd & 3rd animations: In most cases outside of United States, it is merely a desk in London, Dubai, Banglore and Hongkong. You may not need a “global” agency depending on where/how you are running international search. We run campaigns across multiple markets and countries (30+) from the US. For certain markets, however, local knowledge and experience is essential. Be wary of North American SEM companies claiming deep benches globally. Very few people have boots on the ground in all key markets. If you really need serious, dialed in regional support you would be better off with hiring a local agency and having them partner with your N. American agency.
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:Does the search agency have any experience integrating search with Direct mail, TV, Phone calls etc?Why is this important? Over 50% of search queries resulted in an offline transaction or are influenced by offline marketing.Search is a demand/intent capture channel. The more you integrate with offline channels the more effectively you can manage or run or search campaigns and make sure you understand the total return of your investment in all channels.We have seen DM campaigns that “didn’t work” actually drive great results when DM-driven search conversions were included (compared customer records of those mailed with people eventually converting via search versus control group not mailed)
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:If you are buying Google & Bing/Yahoo great. What about vertical search engines? For most industries, there are many vertical search engines (GlobalSpec for Engineering) that are good. If you are a travel client, does your search agency have expertise in working with travel search engines like Kayak, Tripadvisor, Expedia?If you are a retail client does your search agency have experience with amazon , Google shopping, and other comparison shopping engines, optimizing feedsDo you have any experience in local search engines like superpages, yelp, FSQ, Google local.For B2B, LinkedIN, GlobalSpec, etc.
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Slide Notes:Search is generally a demand capture mechanism. How can your agency help you create demand?Can you expand my search efforts with retargeting which is tapping into intent by your consumers?How about optimizing my site and app for mobile traffic and downloads?What about hyper local mobile campaigns (i.e. location based)?Have you helped clients optimize and integrate social into search? Managing Google+, Yelp etc. to optimize search presence
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?
- Glass door, inmail Linkedin references, media bistro, and asking around industry events. Look up former or current employees and ask them about their experience.Review the LinkedIN profiles of your assigned team. Do competitive analysis on current clients vs market competitors. How do their other clients campaigns look (hint play with negatives)?Current clients and former clients. Especially former clients – why did they leave? Ask to speak to former clients if you do seek references.
- Slide Notes:Everyone does top 10 lists I decided to do top 9 list of questions to ask while looking for a search agency?And one question not to ask your potential agency partner?