Search Behind the Curtain: Diving Deeper into Multi-Channel and Post-Web Analytics / Events

1. Search Behind the Curtain:Diving Deeper into Multi-Channel and Post-Web Analytics / Events presented by Apogee Search William Leake, CEO leake@apogee-search.com Tel: (512) 583-4200 x 701

2. Why we *might* know something (aka shameless plug slide) • Apogee Search is the largest “pure-play” online marketing firm in the Southwest, and one of the 20 largest nationwide • 150+ clients, including Keller Williams, Golfsmith, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Olive Garden, PerkinElmer, Interstate Batteries, Gannett Digital, Olive Garden + numerous VC-backed technology firms • Paid Search, Organic Search, Online Media, Website Effectiveness • Our management team built *the first* company to ever sell a million dollars of product on the internet • Our management team has been doing search engine optimization since 1995, and paid search since early 1998 (within 1 week of its start) • Founder’s background includes McKinsey & Co., Dell, and executive roles at successful, private-equity-backed firms • All programs are results-focused and metrics-based

3. Why I *might* actually be an idiot … • Tuesday I forsook Austin and SXSW for Minneapolis, Minnesota versus 77｡F 31｡F

4. Agenda • Beyond the Basics: Some things don’t change • Best Practices Trends in Tracking Search beyond the Curtain • Q&A

5. It’s a Google World United States | July 2007 Source: Net Applications, July 2007

6. It’s More than Clicks & Traffic Internet Searchers (Advertisement Impressions) Website Visitors (Advertisement Clicks) Website Transactions (Sales or Leads)

7. Search Analytics Basics • Understand your business goals • Do PPC (AdWords) as market research against a • Transactional Website / Landing page(s) / email form(s) with a • Web Analytics / Tracking System(s) installed that • Tracks conversions by keyword, by category, by campaign, to • Establish a baseline conversion rate

8. Transactional Websites • Site Should be More than Brochureware • Lead Generation or E-Commerce • Even Branding Sites can be Transactional • Lead Baiting • Give something in return for contact info • Numbered lists work well • F.U.D. can be effective

9. General Fundamentals • Online (and search) just a piece of overall Marketing (Avoid online industry myopia) • Integrated usually works best • Both PPC and SEO together • Search plus other online • Online plus offline • WOMMA is always the best • Measure twice, cut once

10. Online Metrics Development

11. Agenda • Beyond the Basics: Some things don’t change • Best Practices Trends in Tracking Search beyond the Curtain • Q&A

12. B2C - move beyond sale to lifetime value of customer (eCRM) • B2B - ensure that you are integrated with the Sales Automation / CRM system • BOTH: change your optimization focus to “post click” and “post web” events Track Further Down the Funnel

13. Spending $110 k per month in PPC, with well understood CPL (cost per lead) metrics • Started doing PPC optimization based on human-scrubbed lead data (not web forms) • RESULT: 40% shift in PPC spend allocation, 20% uplift in software sales Case Study #1 - B2B Software Firm

14. Largest retailer of golf products in the country, with a successful and diversified online operation • Started measuring online traffic value according to data from the eCRM system (e.g. after the first sale) • RESULT: significant decrease in affiliate payouts, increase in PPC and SEO Case Study #2 - B2C Internet Retailer

15. Cross-Channel Conversion Tracking • Requires more sophisticated use of Analytics tools • Looking for conversions that resulted from multiple sources • Banner + Search • Search Query #1 + Search Query #2 • Search + Affiliate Some questions to ask: Which source came first? Is banner advertising driving additional search volume? Are broad search terms instrumental in subsequent narrow term conversions?

16. Cross Channel Tracking Value: Find other marketing channels that help drive additional search volume Properly attribute conversion value across all contributing search queries

17. Exploiting Search Traffic with Post-web Follow-on Marketing Search + Email is a powerful combination Assign mailing list signup with a conversion value and factor into overall ROAS Confirmation email immediately after lead capture Lead nurturing with tools like Eloqua, Unica, Vtrenz, others Additional follow-on with direct mail or other integrated campaigns

18. TIP: Event-Driven Search Marketing How much do you spend on events per year? Planning to exhibit at an important conference for your industry. . . Start running PPC search ads on the conference name to reach your target audience Consider having a “virtual trade show” both pre-and post- your physical show, and also for shows you don’t attend

19. Alternate Conversion Types(important) Conversion doesn’t have to occur on your website Tracking phone calls from search Integrating chat to drive conversions Printing coupons for in-store purchase tracking

20. Using Online to Inform Offline • Contrary to Conventional Wisdom • Email  Direct Mail • Rich Media  Broadcast • Banners/Sponsorships  Print Ads • Paid Search  All

21. What’s New and Next • More and more a Googleverse • Local Search • Universal Search • Personalized Search • Mobile Search • Social Media

22. Q&A (aka additional resources) • Apogee Search Blog (www.apogee-search.com/Blog/) • Apogee Glossary (www.apogee-search.com/Resources/Glossary/) • Digital Point Forums (forums.digitalpoint.com) • Google Webmaster Central (www.google.com/webmasters/) • John Battelle’s Searchblog (battellemedia.com) • Daily SearchCast (dailysearchcast.com) • Sphinn (sphinn.com) • MarketingSherpa (marketingsherpa.com) • ClickZ (clickz.com)

23. Heffalumps & Woozles,BEWARE … Alas, 95 percent of our industry falls into one of these categories: • Pirates & Snake Oil (Ahoy, Opportunity to loot) • Graphic Artists (How hard can it be?) • “Full-Service”Agencies (Oh yes, we do that) • Technogeeks (What keywords, boss?)