What are the most effective ways of driving traffic and site conversions without increasing ad spend

[View the story "All about driving leads, engaging conversations and generating sales" on Storify]

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/06/view-the-story-all-about-driving-leads-engaging-conversations-and-generating-sales/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=view-the-story-all-about-driving-leads-engaging-conversations-and-generating-sales

Will Mr Corbyn delay Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain?

Jeremy Corbyn hints he could delay Donald Trump’s contentious state visit to Britain https://t.co/S4glqzh1B6 — Will Corry (@slievemore) May 31, 2017

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/will-mr-corbyn-delay-donald-trump%e2%80%99s-state-visit-to-britain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=will-mr-corbyn-delay-donald-trump%25e2%2580%2599s-state-visit-to-britain

American Eagle’s underwear line, Aerie, stopped retouching photos of their models

About a year ago, clothing brand American Eagle’s underwear line, Aerie, stopped retouching photos of their models. As their CEO Jennifer Foyle said in a statement, “There is no need to retouch beauty.” The results were beautiful And profitable. After putting the nix on retouching, quarterly comparable sales for Aerie were up 9%. 9% for [more…]

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/american-eagles-underwear-line-aerie-stopped-retouching-photos-of-their-models/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=american-eagles-underwear-line-aerie-stopped-retouching-photos-of-their-models

YouTube SEO: How to Optimize Videos for YouTube Search

When I was just a wee lass and HubSpot was first starting to make a name for itself, inbound marketing was a brand new idea. Marketers were learning that they couldn't just publish a high volume of content -- it also had to be high-quality and optimized in ways that made it as discoverable as possible through search engines.

And once upon a time, that content was largely limited to the written word. Eleven years later, that's no longer the case -- a comprehensive content strategy includes written work like blogs and ebooks, as well as media like podcasts, visual assets, and videos.

That last part -- video -- continues to be on the rise. According to the 2017 State of Inbound, marketers named video as a huge disruptor. "I mostly write content right now," one respondent said, "but I'm afraid it may begin to diminish more and more with video."

And with the rise of other content formats comes the need to optimize them for search. One increasingly important place to do that is on YouTube, which is a video distribution website used by the masses (HubSpot included).

But how does that work? What are the steps you need to take to optimize your YouTube channel for search? We've outlined some major tips below. And if you're short on time, no problem -- check out the video summary here.

7 YouTube Search Optimization Tips

1) Title

When we search for videos, one of the first things that our eyes are drawn to is the title. That's often what determines whether or not the viewer will click to watch your video, so the title should not only be compelling, but also, clear and concise.

It also helps if the title closely matches what the viewer is searching for. Research conducted by Backlinko found that videos with an exact keyword match in the title have a slight advantage over those that don’t. Here's a linear representation of those findings:

Source: Backlinko

So while "using your target keyword in your title may help you rank for that term," report author Brian Dean explains, "the relationship between keyword-rich video titles and rankings is" weak, at best.

Finally, make sure to keep your title fairly short -- HubSpot Content Strategist Alicia Collins recommends limiting it to 60 characters to help keep it from getting cut off in results pages.

2) Description

First things first: According to Google, the official character limit for YouTube video descriptions is 1,000 characters. And while it's okay to use all of that space, remember that your viewer most likely came here to watch a video, not to read a story.

If you do choose to write a longer description, keep in mind that YouTube only displays the first two or three lines of text -- that amounts to about 100 characters. After that point, viewers have to click “show more” to see the full description. That's why we suggest front-loading the description with the most important information, like CTAs or crucial links.

As for optimizing the video itself, it doesn't hurt to add a transcript of the video, especially for those who have to watch it without volume. That said, Backlinko's research also found no correlation between descriptions that were optimized for a certain keyword and the rankings for that term.

Source: Backlinko

Dean is careful not to discourage including a transcript. "An optimized description helps you show up in the suggested videos sidebar," he writes, "which is a significant source of views for most channels."

3) Tags

YouTube's official Creator Academy suggests using tags to let viewers know what your video is about. But you're not just informing your viewers -- you're also informing YouTube itself. Dean explains that the platform uses tags "to understand the content and context of your video."

That way, YouTube figures out how to associate your video with similar videos, which can broaden your content's reach. But choose your tags widely. Don't use an irrelevant tag because you think it'll get you more views -- in fact, Google might penalize you for that. And similar to your description, lead with the most important keywords, including a good mix of those that are common and more long-tail (as in, those that answer a question like "how do I?").

4) Category

Once you upload a video, you can categorize it under “Advanced settings.” Choosing a category is another way to group your video with similar content on YouTube.

It might not be as simple as it looks. In fact, YouTube's Creator Academy suggests that marketers go through a comprehensive process to determine which category each video belongs in. It's helpful, the guide writes, "to think about what is working well for each category" you're considering by answering questions like:

• Who are the top creators within the category? What are they known for, and what do they do well?
• Are there any patterns between the audiences of similar channels within a given category?
• Do the videos within a similar category have share qualities like production value, length, or format?

5) Thumbnail

Your video thumbnail is the main image viewers see when scrolling through a list of video results. Along with the video's title, that thumbnail sends a signal to the viewer about the video's content, so it can impact the number of clicks and views your video receives.

While you can always pick one of the thumbnail options auto-generated by YouTube, we highly recommend uploading a custom thumbnail. The Creator Academy reports that “90% of the best performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails,” recommending the use of images that are 1280x720 pixels -- representing a 16:9 ratio -- that are saved as 2MB or smaller .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .png files. If you follow those parameters, it can help to ensure that your thumbnail appears with equally high quality across multiple viewing platforms.

It's important to note that your YouTube account has to be verified in order to upload a custom thumbnail image. To do that, visit youtube.com/verify and follow the instructions listed there.

6) SRT Files (Subtitles & Closed Captions)

Like much of the other text we've discussed here, subtitles and closed captions can boost YouTube search optimization by highlighting important keywords.

In order to add subtitles or closed captions to your video, you'll have to upload a supported text transcript or timed subtitles file. For the former, you can also directly enter transcript text for a video so that it auto-syncs with the video.

Adding subtitles follows a similar process, however, you can limit the amount of text you want displayed. For either, head to your video manager then click on “Videos" under “Video Manager.” Find the video you want to add subtitles or closed captioning to, and click the drop-down arrow next to the edit button. Then, choose “Subtitles/CC.” You can then select how you’d like to add subtitles or closed captioning.

Google has provided great instructions on how to do that here, as well as in the video below.

7) Cards and End Screens

Cards

When you're watching a video, have you ever seen a small white, circular icon with an "i" in the center appear in the corner, or a translucent bar of text asking you to subscribe? Those are Cards, which Creator Academy describes as "preformatted notifications that appear on desktop and mobile which you can set up to promote your brand and other videos on your channel."

Source: Google

You can add up to five cards to a single video, and there are six types:

1. Channel cards that direct viewers to another channel.
2. Donation cards to encourage fundraising on behalf of U.S. nonprofit organizations.
3. Fan funding to ask your viewers to help support the creation of your video content.
4. Link cards, which direct viewers to an external site, approved crowdfunding platform, or an approved merchandise selling platform.
5. Poll cards, which pose a question to viewers and allow them to vote for a response.
6. Video or playlist cards, which link to other YouTube content of this kind.

For detailed steps on adding a card to your video, follow these official steps from Google, or check out the video below.

End Screens

End screens display similar information as cards, but as you may have guessed, they don't display until a video is over, and are a bit more visually detailed in nature. A good example is the overlay with a book image and a visual link to view more on the video below:

Source: Jamie Oliver on YouTube

There are a number of detailed instructions for adding end screens depending on what kind of platform you want to design them for, as well as different types of content allowed for them by YouTube. Google outlines the details for how to optimize for all of those considerations here.

It's important to note that YouTube is always testing end screens to try to optimize the viewer experience, so there are times when "your end screen, as designated by you, may not appear." Take these factors into account as you decide between using either cards or end screens.

It's Worth It to Optimize

These factors may seem a bit complicated and time-consuming, but remember: The time people spend watching YouTube on their TV has more than doubled year over year. There's an audience to be discovered there, and when you optimize for YouTube, your chances of being discovered increase.

Of course, it all begins with good content, so make sure your viewers have something high-quality and relevant to watch when they find you.

How have you optimized for YouTube search? Let us know in the comments.

from HubSpot Marketing Blog https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4826/seo-for-youtube-how-to-search-optimize-video-for-b2b-marketing.aspx

What Makes Content Go Viral? 3 Experts Weigh In

When was the last time you created something online that went viral?

Whether you're new to content marketing or are a viral content maven, you probably know that it can be nearly impossible to predict which tweet or video or meme might go viral. Often, it feels like virality is just completely random.

We asked three content marketing experts to weigh in on what they think makes some content super-popular while other content goes straight to the internet graveyard.

Drawing from their own knowledge and experience, they share their perspectives below. Learn what they think sets viral content apart.

What Makes Content Go Viral?

We all have opinions on what types of content go viral: a soundless social video, a data-backed explainer, a perfectly timed newsjack. But no matter the format, it ultimately comes down to emotion. Does the story make you feel enraged, inspired, understood? With everything you create you have to ask: If this scrolled by on my newsfeed, would I care? If the answer is no, it’s not worth it. Your online content habits are your own best judge.

-- Megan Conley, Content Marketing Strategist at HubSpot

When creating new content, seriously ask yourself two questions: "Why would anyone share this?" and "Will this help someone better express themselves?" If you can't answer either of these questions, that content has no chance at going viral. People share content that strikes an emotional chord with them. Your job is to identify and articulate that emotion-driving element.

-- Nadya Khoja, Director of Marketing at Venngage

There are two interdependent sides to the notion of viral content. On the human side, when a piece of content excites its audience, triggering an emotional response, to the point that they can't help but to share it. In other words, it's "remarkable" content. From the engineering side, social technologies measure engagement, map it over time down to the millisecond, and then surface content deemed high quality to get more impressions and even more engagement. The interplay between those two mechanisms is what makes content go viral.

-- Eric Peters, Growth Marketer at HubSpot Academy

Get more expert insights about creating viral content in our upcoming live video master class, 12 Principles of Viral Content. 

from HubSpot Marketing Blog https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-makes-content-go-viral

Events : Want to learn how to be a world class CRO practitioner? – Conversion Elite

Want to learn how to be a world class CRO practitioner? – Conversion Elite on @elite_cro https://t.co/T5U9W3F1Ak pic.twitter.com/1ANGl90Rk0 — Will Corry (@slievemore) May 31, 2017

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/events-want-to-learn-how-to-be-a-world-class-cro-practitioner-conversion-elite/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=events-want-to-learn-how-to-be-a-world-class-cro-practitioner-conversion-elite

May Social Media News: The Fight Over the Disappearing Message Continues

In life, there are a few certainties: death, taxes, and Facebook.

This month, we've seen the competition continue to heat up between Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat over how to create the most engaging and marketable disappearing message.

Instagram and Snapchat continue to innovate -- and copy each other -- to win when it comes to user base and engagement. Instagram Stories have millions more users than Snapchat, but Snapchat has the advantage of entrenchment with millennials. In fact, 35% and 46% of Snapchat users can't be reached on Facebook or Instagram, respectively.

Snapchat versus Instagram isn't all that's new in the social media world this month. The list isn’t exhaustive, but you can expect to learn the major highlights -- what was launched, what changed, and what these stories could mean for marketers.

13 of the Biggest Social Media News Stories This Month

Snapchat News

1) Snapchat launched new features.

Snapchat launched a ton of brand-new features this month to innovate in the face of heightened competition from Instagram and Facebook. Here's a rundown of what's new in the app:

Sponsored world lenses: Last month, Snapchat launched World Lenses, which let users add augmented reality (AR) elements to their Snaps. Now, brands can get in on the action by buying AR ads users can get creative with. Adweek notes Warner Brothers, Dunkin' Donuts, and Netflix are the first brands to purchase these elements, so keep an eye out for them in your app.

Magic Eraser: (No, not the cleaning sponge.) Snapchat's new Magic Eraser lets users erase elements from Snaps with the click of a button. Here are before-and-after shots of the same Snap -- one of which I used the Magic Eraser on. It's not perfect, but it does the trick for a quick edit on the go:

Custom Stories: Users can now create Snapchat Stories that are viewable only for a certain group of friends. Custom Stories can also be further customized with Geofences, which limit Story viewing to a specific location. Here's the demo video from Snapchat:

Now that Snapchat is part of a company in fierce competition with much larger social media apps, it's doing all it can to be at the cutting-edge of innovation to keep users engaged on the app. There's no telling when, but we can be almost completely assured a version of these new capabilities will be rolled out on Instagram soon.

2) Snapchat launched Instagram-inspired features.

This isn't to say Snapchat is completely innocent: It's also launched a couple features that might look familiar to fans of Instagram Stories. Here are the features that were "inspired" by Instagram and Instagram Stories:

Looping videos: Inspired by Instagram's Boomerang, Snapchat now lets users create looping videos that play infinitely -- instead of expiring and needing to be replayed after the maximum length of 10 seconds. The sender has to make this option available when editing a Snap, and if it's enabled, the viewer doesn't send a notification they've replayed a Snap.

Self-serve ads manager: This isn't strictly Instagram-inspired, but the rollout of a self-serve Snapchat ads manager is a nod to its desire to maintain and grow its user base among smaller brands, too. This will make it easier for brands without the budget of Coca-Cola or Walmart to advertise on Snapchat -- and without having to go through a sales team to do it.

3) Snap Inc. hosted its first earnings call as a public company.

Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, hosted its first earnings call for investors since its initial public offering (IPO) back in March. Here are a few of the highlights we gleaned with the help of The Motley Fool:

Snap Inc. raised $3.4 billion last quarter. That's the largest social media IPO since Twitter's back in November 2013.

Snap Inc. experienced slowed daily active user (DAU) growth. DAUs are growing 36% year over year, but Snapchat added only 8 million more DAUs in its first quarter as a public company -- missing analysts' target growth of 9-10 million users. User growth is highly concentrated in North America and Europe, which will make it tough to grow at the pace needed to keep up with the competition.

Snap Inc. invested heavily in research and development, and increased its engineer headcount by 260%. This further reinforces our previous notes about the competition heating up -- facing increased pressure from Instagram and Facebook, Snapchat is trying to innovate and create new things as quickly as possible.

Revenue decreased and losses increased -- making its path to profitability even longer. Snap Inc. is spending so much on R&D, and the ads business is in still in such a nascent stage, that analysts don't predict Snap's profitability anytime soon.

TL;DR: Snap Inc. is growing slower than anticipated. It's responding to increased competition by hiring like crazy to innovate and roll out new, differentiating features, but it will need to expand worldwide to keep growing its user base.

Instagram News

4) Instagram launched a new feature.

Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) launched a new feature for Instagram Stories, its own Snapchat-inspired answer to the ephemeral messaging craze. Here's what's brand-new with Instagram this month:

Archive option: Users are starting to archive Instagram posts -- instead of deleting altogether. For whatever reason, if you want to hide a post from view, you can now archive it, where you can view it privately or restore it to your feed if you change your mind. This change hasn't been rolled out to my app yet, so it's safe to say it's still in a testing phase, but stay tuned.

5) Instagram launched Snapchat-inspired features.

Like Snapchat, Instagram lifted a few features from the playbook of its biggest competitor. Here are a few of Snapchat's greatest hits, now living within Instagram Stories:

Face filters: In a move that's possibly the biggest Snapchat ripoff (er, we mean, "inspiration") yet, Instagram unveiled face filters for the front-facing camera. Like Snapchat Lenses, users can add augmented reality filters and masks to their selfies to make them silly and fun. Here's what a few of them look like in action:

Source: Instagram

Location and Hashtag Stories: In a nod to Snapchat's Story Search, Location and Hashtag Stories let users search to see what other users are posting about. You can now search content across cities and hashtags used -- the one differentiator between Snapchat's search feature launched earlier this year. Here's what it looks like in action:

Source: Instagram

With these two changes in place, there isn't much left that's proprietarily different about Snapchat over Instagram, so it might start coming down to user preference. Instagram has been advertising on the platform longer than Snapchat -- plus, verified brands can add links to posts on Instagram Stories -- which might continue the wave of brands and publishers that are choosing Instagram for their ephemeral messaging needs.

Facebook News

6) Facebook updated the News Feed algorithm.

Facebook has made more adjustment to its News Feed algorithm this month. Here are the biggest changes to how Facebook adjusts what you see when you log in every day:

Facebook will further downgrade publishers that publish clickbait headlines. The algorithm will now start downgrading posts based on individual instances of clickbait and based on a Page's past history of being clickbaity (if that's a word yet). Additionally, posts will be downgraded in the News Feed if the headline overexaggerates the content in the link itself -- a nuance that signals a deepened commitment to its position as a news site.

Facebook will downgrade links to sites that provide a low-quality experience or are inundated with disruptive ads. This means pages that post links to sites that offer "little substantive content" or disruptive, "malicious" ads will be downgraded in the News Feed and may be ineligible to be promoted on Facebook.

TL;DR: Don't publish clickbait and don't link to low-quality sites when you post for your brand on Facebook for maximum reach and exposure in the News Feed.

7) Facebook is testing joint notifications across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.

Facebook wants to make it easier than ever for its users to stay within its apps by launching joint notifications for Messenger and Instagram within Facebook notifications. In a statement to CNET, Facebook said it was running a "very small test" of this feature -- here's what it will look like if it's rolled out everywhere:

Source: CNET

8) Facebook Live launches -- now with friends.

Facebook Live launched something new, too. Now, users can go live with another Facebook friend in a shared screen. This could make interviews easier conduct via Facebook Live, a highly engaging content format on the platform, or it could be a fun way to connect with friends. Either way, it looks like Google Hangouts and FaceTime on the News Feed:

9) Facebook inked a deal with Major League Baseball to livestream games.

Facebook made a deal with Major League Baseball (MLB) to livestream 20 free games this summer -- roughly one per week. This is a clear nod to Twitter's dominance in livestreaming -- the app broadcasts pro football, hockey, baseball, and basketball games, as well as live news coverage that attracts millions of viewers. You can watch the live stream of the first MLB game on Facebook here.

We'll see if viewers gravitate toward Facebook and away from Twitter to watch baseball for free this summer -- we'll keep you posted. (And I'd be remiss if I didn't encourage you to root for the Boston Red Sox.)

10) Facebook announced it will hire 3,000 Facebook Live monitors.

In response to growing backlash against the lack of oversight over Facebook Live videos depicting violent crimes, Facebook announced it would start the process of hiring 3,000 people specifically to monitor live video content. In a Facebook post, CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said monitors will serve to get people help if they need it and remove offensive content from the platform.

It's unclear how effective these monitors will be -- and Facebook certainly can't prevent violence in the first place -- but Zuckerberg cited the fast prevention of a suicide mentioned on a live broadcast, so we're cautiously optimistic this will decrease violent incidents on the platform.

Twitter News

11) #NuggsforCarter set a new record for the most retweets ever.

It started as an innocent question -- Carter Wilkerson wanted to know how many retweets would be a high enough achievement to earn a lifetime supply of free chicken nuggets from Wendy's.

HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3

— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017

When the Wendy's social media team gave him a number, Wilkerson made it his mission. And although he hasn't hit 18 million retweets yet, he hit another milestone: This month, his tweet dethroned comedian Ellen Degeneres' infamous Oscar selfie to become the most retweeted ever on Twitter.

If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014

12) Co-founder Biz Stone returned to Twitter.

After selling visual search engine Jelly to Pinterest earlier this year, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone announced in a Medium post that he was returning to Twitter to focus on company culture, team morale, and people operations. Twitter has experienced a lot of executive turnover in recent years -- in addition to intense scrutiny over abuse and dissemination of fake news on the platform -- so a morale boost is coming at a good time for Twitter.

13) Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o inked a movie deal -- based on a tweet.

This news might be the best of all, depending on your music and film tastes: Hollywood might see its first film that originated thanks to a simple tweet.

Actress Lupita Nyong'o and musician Rihanna were spotted sitting together at a Paris Fashion Week runway, and someone tweeted a photo of them that spawned into a discussion -- looping in director Ava Duvernay -- of creating a heist movie together.

Rihanna looks like she scams rich white men and lupita is the computer smart best friend that helps plan the scans https://t.co/PhWs1xd3nj

— kateria 🌸 (@1800SADGAL) April 18, 2017

I'm down if you are @rihanna https://t.co/vwHBWeCbFZ

— Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) April 21, 2017

I'm in Pit'z https://t.co/Kz0o3lBEmL

— Rihanna (@rihanna) April 23, 2017

@MikelleStreet @rihanna Lights set. Camera's up. Ready to call action for these #queens. 👑 pic.twitter.com/NVgqpFeTnu

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 24, 2017

No word yet on when this inevitable blockbuster is coming out, but Netflix bought the rights to it -- making it what might possibly be the most 2017 movie of all time.

Did we miss any big social media stories? Share with us in the comments below.

from HubSpot Marketing Blog https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/may-social-media-news

Movers & Groovers: LiveRamp UK Expands Team as High Demand for Data Onboarding Continues

LiveRamp, an Acxiom® company (NASDAQ: ACXM) and leading provider of data onboarding services and omnichannel identity resolution, has made two senior appointments to its UK Sales team following dramatic growth in demand for its platform. Graham Tricker joins as Sales Director, following 12 years in the mobile marketing industry. Tricker’s primary focus will be promoting [more…]

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/movers-groovers-liveramp-uk-expands-team-as-high-demand-for-data-onboarding-continues/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=movers-groovers-liveramp-uk-expands-team-as-high-demand-for-data-onboarding-continues

Irish Laughter Spot : “I tink I will ‘ave to go home, I’ve come all over giddy and feel sick”

Paddy is doing some roofing work for Murphy. He nears the top of the ladder and starts shaking and going dizzy. He calls down to Murphy and says “I tink I will ‘ave to go home, I’ve come all over giddy and feel sick.” Murphy asks “Ave yer got vertigo?” Paddy replies “No I only [more…]

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/irish-laughter-spot-i-tink-i-will-ave-to-go-home-ive-come-all-over-giddy-and-feel-sick/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=irish-laughter-spot-i-tink-i-will-ave-to-go-home-ive-come-all-over-giddy-and-feel-sick

NewVoiceMedia’s ContactWorld named best contact centre solution in Top 10 Technology Awards

NewVoiceMedia, a leading global provider of cloud contact centre and inside sales technology that enables businesses to have more successful conversations, has won the 2017 Call Centre Helper Top 10 Contact Centre Technology Awards for its ContactWorld solution. The awards were founded to recognise the best products on the market and help contact centre managers [more…]

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/newvoicemedia%e2%80%99s-contactworld-named-best-contact-centre-solution-in-top-10-technology-awards/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=newvoicemedia%25e2%2580%2599s-contactworld-named-best-contact-centre-solution-in-top-10-technology-awards

Conversion Elite : Ever spent a whole day with the best of the best? Think how much you could learn?

Ever spent a whole day with the best of the best? Think how much you could learn? Early Bird ends soon @CROelite17 @tramperyoldst pic.twitter.com/QivJyqIkJp — Craig Redfern Rayner (@CraigRRayner) May 23, 2017

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/conversion-elite-ever-spent-a-whole-day-with-the-best-of-the-best-think-how-much-you-could-learn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=conversion-elite-ever-spent-a-whole-day-with-the-best-of-the-best-think-how-much-you-could-learn

Amaze One’s Sarah Hooper appointed to BIMA council

Amaze One, the CRM agency born from a fusion of digital creative experts, today announces that Sarah Hooper, CRM Divisional Director, has been appointed as a member of the BIMA council. BIMA council members set the agenda for the digital community across the UK, and Hooper has been selected specifically for her expertise and insight [more…]

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2017/05/amaze-one%e2%80%99s-sarah-hooper-appointed-to-bima-council/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=amaze-one%25e2%2580%2599s-sarah-hooper-appointed-to-bima-council

How to Communicate Effectively at Work With Your Boss

Do you feel like you and your boss are on the same page most days of the week?

If you nodded "yes" emphatically, that's fantastic. But many readers might have a different opinion. In fact, a recent HubSpot survey revealed that while 70% of executives might reflect positively on their team's marketing strategy, only 50% of individual contributors agree.

As a marketer, it's imperative to communicate effectively with your boss to avoid this executive divide. I wanted to create communication rules that all marketers can follow, so I went straight to the source for some answers and talked to my own boss.

I interviewed Rick Kranz about effective communication with his marketing team. He has more than 30 years of business management experience and was more than willing to share his opinions with us. Read on for his thoughts and key takeaways about communication strategies between managers and employees.

8 Rules for Communicating With Your Boss

1) Start with the bottom line.

I asked Kranz what he thinks is the most effective way for your marketing team to talk to you.

Start with the bottom line. When you speak in hyperbole you end up telling a story that eventually gets to the bottom line. Start with, 'we are getting 50 more leads and here is why...' and avoid, 'So I ran an email campaign and a PPC campaign and had HUGE success. We are now getting 50 more leads.' When you start with the bottom line, I am in a position to then ask appropriate questions like, 'How did that happen?'”

What does this mean?

Don’t beat around the bush. Your boss is a busy person and you need to respect that. Give her the point of your discussion first, then go backward if questions are proposed. This will keep your communication streamlined and focused.

2) Speak in numbers.

I asked Kranz if he prefers the bottom line to be in numerical or qualitative data, and if he prefers to hear about the bottom line or have a document or graph to guide the information.

I prefer numbers over words. A lot of CEOs are numbers-driven. Visual data is much quicker to digest, so if information can be visual, please make it so. If you give us a spreadsheet, we're happy, but if you give us a paragraph to read, it can be left open to interpretation."

What does this mean?

Numbers are powerful because they can communicate success (or problems) at a glance. Use them to your advantage when communicating with your boss -- numerical data speaks for itself.

3) Schedule when you communicate with your boss.

Next, I asked Kranz if he prefers discussions with his marketing team to be scheduled in advance.

It's best to schedule a meeting with me. That way, I can plan for our discussion and focus. You don’t want my mind to be elsewhere, and if our discussion isn't scheduled, then you're most likely going to end up interrupting my workload, which is inefficient for both of us."

What does this mean?

We all can attest to the fact that writing back and forth via email can get messy, so try not to fill your boss’s inbox with email after email from you.

Instead, schedule meetings with your boss to avoid messy lines of email communication and walk-in office interruptions. This will help streamline your communications and save valuable time.

4) Establish the that you have certain "rights" to communication.

I asked Kranz if he limits the number of employees that he communicates with directly.

Right now, I speak directly with everyone at our agency because there is only a handful of us, and that's how our business model works. At companies I have been a part of in the past, with more than 50 employees, I would scale down my communications to about seven people. There isn’t a rule for it, it was just more effective that way."

What does this mean?

Do you have the right to speak with your boss? Of course -- we all have that right. But that doesn’t always make for effective communication.

If you have concerns you want to address with your boss, but you're not the main point of contact with her, you should bring your concerns to your direct supervisor. This person will address your concerns with you, or take it up the food chain to your boss.

5) Communicate the anticipated results and next steps of your plans to your boss.

Next, we chatted about how Kranz wants to discuss future plans and goals with employees.

Always be able to tell me where we are, where we're going, and how we're going to get there. If we're at point B and you want to get us to point A, then tell me how you plan to do that, and what will happen once that step occurs. Communicate the results of your plan and what the next steps are that I can help you with."

What does this mean?

Communicate your plans effectively by addressing what the plan is, what the results will be and what the next steps are. If you bring these talking points to the table, you'll be organized, and your plan will be well spoken for.

6) Bring problems to your boss’s attention right away.

If a problem emerges, Kranz wants his team to bring it to him right away.

Come find me in person, because the problem needs to be addressed right away. Sending an email can delay my response time and doesn’t put us in a good position for a problem-solving discussion. Additionally, it's smart to always bring at least one solution to the table. Never give me a problem without a solution, because then you're just passing the buck."

What does this mean?

Don’t skulk away when a problem pops up or a mistake occurs. Respond to it proactively, and don’t keep your boss in the dark. Communicate your own proposed solutions when you present the problem so you and your boss have a basis to start a problem-solving conversation.

7) There's a right time and place to promote your achievements.

I asked Kranz how he prefers achievements and success be brought to his attention by direct reports.

In a successful business, things are going well on a regular basis. If someone were to tell you every time something good happened, you would have someone running into your office all the time, because good news makes your business run. In my opinion, a monthly review of results would be best. It's easier to digest these results as a report, too. During the review of results, your achievements should be highlighted. Weekly meetings are another good place for everyone to discuss their recent achievements."

What does this mean?

We all love to brag about what we do well, but there's a time and place to do it. Your work will speak for itself if you're bringing in the type of results your boss is looking for. Then, you can get on your podium and share your achievements when you present reports to your boss or allocate time for success stories at the end of a meeting.

8) All business-related topics are noteworthy.

Kranz doesn't believe there are any topics that would hinder effective communication between an employee and his or her boss.

There's nothing my team shouldn't come to me with. We want to hear about how the team is working together and how your work environment is, so anything is open for discussion."

What does this mean:

Speak to your boss about business topics that concern you, or any particular success-related stories. Communicating feedback on what is going on in your business environment is an effective way for your boss to see a full picture of the company from someone else’s perspective, so don't hold back.

Communication Is a Two-Way Street

Effective communication with your boss starts with you. You need to approach it a certain way for the conversation to be as productive as possible, so you can minimize the divide between executive and individual contributor perceptions across companies. To learn more about the global state of marketing and sales industries, download the 2017 State of Inbound report today.

What are your strategies for communication effectively with your boss at work? Share with us in the comments below.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in June 2014 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

from HubSpot Marketing Blog https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/communicating-effectively-with-your-boss

7 Leadership Resources for Any Stage of Your Career

Learning some things in life is relatively straightforward. Take knitting, for example -- that's typically as simple as procuring some yarn and needles and searching for a how-to video on getting started. Sure, your work might look a little haphazard at first, but the steps are fairly intuitive.

Learning to lead others, on the other hand, isn't so linear.

There's always the option to pick up a leadership book or turn to articles on the topic to get started, but a start is all it will be. You've got to read, listen, ask questions, put things into practice, make mistakes, and course-correct -- only then, you might be at a "good enough" level. 

But everyone has to start somewhere, and if you're looking to embark on a leadership development path, you might also be looking for some of the best materials to help you along the journey. We've got you covered -- below are some of our favorite podcasts, tools, tips, and resources to become a better leader.

7 Leadership Resources for Marketers

1) Podcasts

Source: NPR

Depending on the day, one method of consuming information might be better than another. If you take the train into work and the ride is quieter than usual one morning, for example, it might be a great day to catch up on a leadership book. But if you drive, and traffic is particularly bad, it's probably better (not to mention, safer) to listen to a podcast episode about leadership than to read a book about it.

That's one of the reasons why we consistently keep a few leadership podcasts downloaded and ready to listen to. Here are three of our favorites:

TED Radio Hour

Around here, we love a good TED talk. But trying to pick just one out of volumes of valuable presentations is as tricky as trying to pick one thing to watch on Netflix, am I right? That's what makes the TED Radio Hour podcast so valuable. It takes some of the most intriguing TED talk topics -- like big data, making our work more meaningful, or even forgiveness -- and builds episodes based on them.

The Growth Show

Hosted by HubSpot’s VP of Marketing Meghan Keaney Anderson and CMO Kipp Bodnar, The Growth Show is an exploration of all things relating to business growth. Anderson and Bodnar take turns at the helm, welcoming guests to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of growth. From stories of epic failure to the even better recovery that followed it, Anderson and Bodnar interview guests who share some of the most intriguing organizational, cultural, conceptual, and team insights.

StartUp

As the name suggests, this product is a self-described "podcast about what it’s really like to get a business off the ground." And no matter where you are in your career, there are still leadership lessons to be learned from entrepreneurs or beginners, especially if you need a back-to-basics reminder of how to get started. Plus, the topics -- like balancing business and family life, or stories about inventors -- are just plain interesting and provide solid fodder to get your wheels turning in the morning.

2) Public Speaking Help

Public speaking isn't exactly a requirement for being a strong leader, but as you progress in your career, it might become part of your job (think: presenting at large team meetings or to a board), and it's a skill that can help set you apart from the pack.

But if public speaking sounds like a worse experience than undergoing a root canal, then there's a chance you've wished for a formula to make it as simple as possible. That's why we love speaking.io -- it's a near one-stop-shop for public speaking tips. Upon arriving at the site, it appears to be an unconventional resource collection for the five major steps of presenting:

1. Plan out your talk.
2. Design and build your slides.
3. Prep for the big day.
4. Deliver and do your thing.
5. React and reflect on what just happened.

Plus, if you want newer, more detailed tips and information, the site also contains a blog with advice on things like using images, sharing presentations online, and dealing with nervousness.

3) Books (On the Stuff They Don't Teach You in Business School)

Source: brenebrown.com

Sometimes, it feels like we have to master everything to be a leader. We have to learn how to manage projects, delegate tasks, and analyze outcomes. But then, there are the leadership lessons that don't always get the biggest headlines, like learning to be empathetic, accountable, and how to embrace vulnerability.

That last one, while a scary word, is something that we've found some of the most exceptional leaders do. That's why we love Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown. "When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability," she writes, "we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives."

This book, in particular, dives into years of research on why vulnerability can be an asset to leaders. After all, taking risks requires some degree of becoming vulnerable, and strong leaders know when to take calculated risks. But that doesn't just apply to work -- Brown's work also explores how that vulnerability can be an advantage in other areas of life.

4) The Radical Candor Framework

Think about the hardest piece of feedback you've ever gotten. Chances are, it was tough to hear, but you were ultimately better off because of it.

That's exactly what happened to Kim Scott. After an important presentation, Scott's boss, Sheryl Sandberg -- yes, the one who wrote Lean In -- had some feedback. Harsh feedback. The kind of feedback that stings. But because Scott knew that Sandberg was coming from a compassionate place when giving the feedback, Scott accepted it, moved on, and became better.

Scott took this pivotal interaction and used it to develop a framework for giving better feedback at work -- the kind that embraces brutal honesty delivered with profound empathy. It's worthy advice for leaders at any point in their respective careers.

Fun fact: We once had the pleasure of hosting Kim Scott on The Growth Show. If you're interested in hearing more about her perspective on leadership, check out her episode below.

5) Real-time Feedback

Speaking of feedback, did that last resource make you crave receiving some yourself? After all, authentic, constructive criticism is an excellent supplement to the advice doled out by books, blogs, podcasts, and frameworks. Enter CareerLark: a Slack bot that helps you seek out on-the-fly "micro-feedback" on the skills you want to improve.

Here's how it works. In the example provided by CareerLark's product explanation, an employee wants to get feedback on his weekly analytics updates. Using the Slack bot, he can ping his boss to get real-time feedback on how he's doing. She'll then receive a message like this one:

From there, Monica can either answer using one of the emojis provided, or send a more detailed response, as per below:

Micro-feedback in real-time? Great for your skill development -- and, it can provide your boss with good practice in providing concise commentary.

6) Advice From Real People

Sometimes, using a Slack bot to get advice just doesn't cut it. We all need feedback from a real human being, and on occasion, it can be the most enlightening to get it from someone outside your company or industry.

So when you're looking to step outside your "bubble" for input, here are a few apps that can help.

Real Talk

By The Learning Partnership, a Canadian advocacy organization for public education, the Real Talk App (available on iOS and Android) provides "unfiltered" advice from a broad range of professionals at various career stages -- everyone from sound designers to freelance creatives. These individuals answer questions that many of us have as we begin to explore different work options, like whether or not advanced education is worth the money, or how you can make a career change.

Officehours

Sometimes, it can be tough to figure out who to turn to for advice. That's what makes apps like Officehours so valuable -- this one, in particular, helps you find an expert (or "advisor") for 10 minutes of free one-on-one advice.

The advisors appear to hold a broad range of expertise, from design to entrepreneurship, data science and more. Check out the video below to learn more:

Mara Mentor

If you're a budding entrepreneur struggling to find a mentor in your industry, check out this tool -- it was designed to provide an "exchange of ideas, guidance, learning and connecting with like-minded people."

Not only does Mara Mentor (available for iOS and Android) offer a platform for connecting professionals and entrepreneurs with mentors, but also, it provides industry news and a digital networking platform that connects you with other entrepreneurs to share knowledge and experiences. Plus, it's global -- so no matter where you are, you can connect with others for professional support.

7) Online Courses

We'll admit that many of the sources on this list largely pertain to management, communication, and finding a mentor. But that's not that only way to advance or make changes in your career. Sometimes, it's about becoming really, really good at a certain thing that your job requires -- or something that the job you want requires. And for that to happen, you just need to hunker down and learn it.

An online course can be a great way to do that. Finding the right class depends on the skill you want to develop, but here are a few places we recommend for getting started, especially when it comes to marketing-related skills.

HubSpot Academy

If you want a deep dive into some of the most important aspects of marketing today, check out the HubSpot Academy. One of the most popular resources available there is our free Inbound Certification.

Designlab

Want to improve or sharpen your design skills? Check out Designlab. You'll be given real assignments to build your knowledge -- and a mentor to help you through each one.

Codeacademy

More free stuff? You bet. In fact, you can learn to code for free with Codecademy, which is a particularly helpful resource if you learn best by doing -- lessons are taught by way of both instruction and hands-on experience.

Lynda

Okay, so this one isn't free -- subscriptions start at $19.99/month -- but if there's a professional skill you want to advance, chances are, Lynda has a course for it. Created by LinkedIn, it offers classes in everything from Excel, to audio production, to software development.

What's Next?

So, let's say you've taken full advantage of the resources above. You've learned a lot and even gained some introspection. But if you're still stuck, fear not -- we've all been there.

If you're at a loss for what kinds of skills you want to develop, or if you've realized that you're not sure you even want to be a leader in your particular field, then there's a chance you just might not be sure what to do next. That's why we created The Next Five: a free assessment that can help you identify the next step in your career.

And because many of us dread the question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" -- or simply can't answer it -- this resource comes with even more processes to come up with a response on your own time. Because the only thing better than general, yet valuable leadership resources, are those tailored to your specific situation.

What are some of the most helpful leadership resources you've found? Let us know in the comments.

from HubSpot Marketing Blog https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/leadership-resources

How to Turn Your Marketing Team Into Your Agency's Best R&D Department

Every time I try a new recipe for a dish at a party, I try a little sample before I serve it to my guests -- and not just because I'm always hungry (which I am). I do it because I would never want to serve something new to my guests that I can't be sure actually tastes good.

How can I confidently stand there and say to my friends and family, "Go ahead and try it! You'll love it!" when I have no idea what it's really like?

I bet you probably do this with new recipes, too. But if your agency doesn't use a similar process when it introduces new products or services to clients, you could be leaving them with a bad taste in their mouths.

If you're going to sell your clients on something new, you've got to have a solid understanding of how it works, how well you can deliver it, and what the impact on the clients will be. You can't confidently recommend a product or service to your clients if you don't know what it's like. And what's the best way to find out?

You've got to give it a try.

How to Turn Marketing Into R&D

Most agencies don't have the luxury of devoting an entire department purely to research and development. My agency sure doesn't. What we do have is a marketing team that's equipped to test potential new services internally before we make the decision to release them to clients.

A perfect example of this in action is Influence & Co.'s first venture into creating full-length books. One of our core services is helping turn leaders into consistent content creators, and over time, we started noticing a trend of clients asking if we could help them take the next step and write and publish their own books.

Without trying it first, we couldn't answer that question truthfully. So we decided to test a process for writing a book on my co-founder, John Hall. The end result, "Top of Mind," was published by McGraw-Hill and released in April.

By asking ourselves some important questions and detailing a plan in our documented content marketing strategy, we were able to transform our marketing team into a one-of-a-kind R&D department -- and it's already changed how we market and introduce new services to clients.

To turn marketing into a testing machine and create your agency's own R&D team, start by asking yourself the following questions:

1) What exactly are we testing? 

This first step seems intuitive, but you might be surprised by how easy it is to jump into an exciting idea before nailing down exactly what your goals are. Are you testing a potential process for a brand-new service offering? Maybe you're testing your team's capacity?

When we set out to write our first book, our test was to determine whether our current content marketing teams had the skill sets required to produce it. The main goal was to learn whether we had the ability to create a book efficiently enough to make a profit and to explore how that process actually works.

This understanding of what you're testing and why brings your marketing and leadership teams together and keeps them focused on your goals. With that foundation, marketing can begin transitioning into R&D to answer those driving questions.

2) How will we measure the success of our test? 

Just like you shouldn't begin a content marketing program without matching your key metrics to goals, you shouldn't start a test without understanding how you'll measure its success.

For my agency, because our goal was to test whether we could efficiently and profitably create a book with our current team, we measured success by tracking how many hours each team member spent on the project. We also recorded details of the exact process we used so we'd understand how much it cost and what might need to change to make it work better for a client.

Success was measured by whether we could create and publish an awesome book and do so within a timeline and budget we thought clients would agree to.

3) What will expanding this test to clients look like? 

Imagine that your new R&D team tested this service, measured its results, and found that it achieved the goals set out from the beginning. Congratulations! Your next step, then, would be to go ahead and roll out this service offering to all clients, right?

Not yet.

When you test a new service internally, your team should constantly ask itself, "What would make this different for a client?" "How would a client respond differently than we do as the internal client?" and "What works better or worse for an external client?"

These kinds of questions will help your team avoid a stalling phase in which your test worked internally but you're unsure what to do next. Instead, you'll be able to expand this test to its next phase: select client testing.

This is critical because your R&D team will behave differently from your normal clients. Once you're confident in your test and in your decision to move forward, consider rolling it out at a major discount to one client as a beta tester. This will help your team understand how actual clients interact with your new service and processes before you spend resources introducing it to every one of them.

Setting Up Your R&D and Client Services Teams for Success

Your marketing-team-turned-R&D-department will get into a groove after it's got a test or two under its belt, and specific processes will evolve with each one. Still, there are a couple of best practices you should follow each time to set up your teams for continued success:

Track your time carefully. 

Regardless of your specific test goals, you need to know how much time you're spending and what you're investing in this research for two big reasons: to understand how much it costs your agency to test new services and to get an idea of what to charge your clients.

Be transparent with clients. 

When we signed on our first client to expand the book test, we told him directly that we've successfully completed one so far but that he'd only be the second project. We set up a system for collecting feedback and offered him a discount. Disguising your test as a totally normal full-fledged service won't help your agency or your clients. Everyone needs to be clear that this is still a test so that expectations are realistic.

Introducing new services to your clients and trying out a new recipe aren’t exactly the same. But by giving your marketing team the resources and support to transform into your own R&D team, you might discover that the ideas and approaches that make testing successful aren’t all that different. So before you encourage clients to try your latest service, give it a try yourself.

from HubSpot Marketing Blog https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/agency-rd-marketing-team

No, Paid Search Audiences Won’t Replace Keywords

Posted by PPCKirk

I have been chewing on a keyword vs. audience targeting post for roughly two years now. In that time we have seen audience targeting grow in popularity (as expected) and depth.

“Popularity” is somewhat of an understatement here. I would go so far as to say that I've heard it lauded in messianic-like “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” reverential awe by some paid search marketers. as if paid search were lacking a heartbeat before the life-giving audience targeting had arrived and 1-2-3-clear’ed it into relevance.

However, I would argue that despite audience targeting’s popularity (and understandable success), we have also seen the revelation of some weaknesses as well. It turns out it’s not quite the heroic, rescue-the-captives targeting method paid searchers had hoped it would be.

The purpose of this post is to argue against the notion that audience targeting can replace the keyword in paid search.

Now, before we get into the throes of keyword philosophy, I’d like to reduce the number of angry comments this post receives by acknowledging a crucial point.

It is not my intention in any way to set up a false dichotomy. Yes, I believe the keyword is still the most valuable form of targeting for a paid search marketer, but I also believe that audience targeting can play a valuable complementary role in search bidding.

In fact, as I think about it, I would argue that I am writing this post in response to what I have heard become a false dichotomy. That is, that audience targeting is better than keyword targeting and will eventually replace it.

I disagree with this idea vehemently, as I will demonstrate in the rest of this article.

One seasoned (age, not steak) traditional marketer’s point of view

The best illustration I've heard on the core weakness of audience targeting was from an older traditional marketer who has probably never accessed the Keyword Planner in his life.

“I have two teenage daughters.” He revealed, with no small amount of pride.

“They are within 18 months of each other, so in age demographic targeting they are the same person.”

“They are both young women, so in gender demographic targeting they are the same person.”

“They are both my daughters in my care, so in income demographic targeting they are the same person.”

“They are both living in my house, so in geographical targeting they are the same person.”

“They share the same friends, so in social targeting they are the same person.”

“However, in terms of personality, they couldn’t be more different. One is artistic and enjoys heels and dresses and makeup. The other loves the outdoors and sports, and spends her time in blue jeans and sneakers.”

If an audience-targeting marketer selling spring dresses saw them in his marketing list, he would (1) see two older high school girls with the same income in the same geographical area, (2) assume they are both interested in what he has to sell, and (3) only make one sale.

The problem isn’t with his targeting, the problem is that not all those forced into an audience persona box will fit.

In September of 2015, Aaron Levy (a brilliant marketing mind; go follow him) wrote a fabulously under-shared post revealing these weaknesses in another way: What You Think You Know About Your Customers’ Persona is Wrong

In this article, Aaron first bravely broaches the subject of audience targeting by describing how it is far from the exact science we all have hoped it to be. He noted a few ways that audience targeting can be erroneous, and even *gasp* used data to formulate his conclusions.

It’s OK to question audience targeting — really!

Let me be clear: I believe audience targeting is popular because there genuinely is value in it (it's amazing data to have… when it's accurate!). The insights we can get about personas, which we can then use to power our ads, are quite amazing and powerful.

So, why the heck am I droning on about audience targeting weaknesses? Well, I’m trying to set you up for something. I’m trying to get us to admit that audience targeting itself has some weaknesses, and isn’t the savior of all digital marketing that some make it out to be, and that there is a tried-and-true solution that fits well with demographic targeting, but is not replaced by it. It is a targeting that we paid searchers have used joyfully and successfully for years now.

It is the keyword.

Whereas audience targeting chafes under the law of averages (i.e., “at some point, someone in my demographic targeted list has to actually be interested in what I am selling”), keyword targeting shines in individual-revealing user intent.

Keyword targeting does something an audience can never, ever, ever do...

Keywords: Personal intent powerhouses

A keyword is still my favorite form of targeting in paid search because it reveals individual, personal, and temporal intent. Those aren’t just three buzzwords I pulled out of the air because I needed to stretch this already obesely-long post out further. They are intentional, and worth exploring.

Individual

A keyword is such a powerful targeting method because it is written (or spoken!) by a single person. I mean, let’s be honest, it’s rare to have more than one person huddled around the computer shouting at it. Keywords are generally from the mind of one individual, and because of that they have frightening potential.

Remember, audience targeting is based off of assumptions. That is, you're taking a group of people who “probably” think the same way in a certain area, but does that mean they cannot have unique tastes? For instance, one person preferring to buy sneakers with another preferring to buy heels?

Keyword targeting is demographic-blind.

It doesn’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love me… err, I mean, it doesn’t care about your demographic, just about what you're individually interested in.

Personal

The next aspect of keywords powering their targeting awesomeness is that they reveal personal intent. Whereas the “individual” aspect of keyword targeting narrows our targeting from a group of people to a single person, the “personal” aspect of keyword targeting goes into the very mind of that individual.

Don’t you wish there was a way to market to people in which you could truly discern the intentions of their hearts? Wouldn’t that be a powerful method of targeting? Well, yes — and that is keyword targeting!

Think about it: a keyword is a form of communication. It is a person typing or telling you what is on their mind. For a split second, in their search, you and they are as connected through communication as Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson on the first phone call. That person is revealing to you what's on her mind, and that's a power which cannot be underestimated.

When a person tells Google they want to know “how does someone earn a black belt,” that is telling your client — the Jumping Judo Janes of Jordan — this person genuinely wants to learn more about their services and they can display an ad that matches that intent (Ready for that Black Belt? It’s Not Hard, Let Us Help!). Paid search keywords officiate the wedding of personal intent with advertising in a way that previous marketers could only dream of. We aren’t finding random people we think might be interested based upon where they live. We are responding to a person telling us they are interested.

Temporal

The final note of keyword targeting that cannot be underestimated, is the temporal aspect. Anyone worth their salt in marketing can tell you “timing is everything”. With keyword targeting, the timing is inseparable from the intent. When is this person interested in learning about your Judo classes? At the time they are searching, NOW!

You are not blasting your ads into your users lives, interrupting them as they go about their business or family time hoping to jumpstart their interest by distracting them from their activities. You are responding to their query, at the very time they are interested in learning more.

Timing. Is. Everything.

The situation settles into stickiness

Thus, to summarize: a “search” is done when an individual reveals his/her personal intent with communication (keywords/queries) at a specific time. Because of that, I maintain that keyword targeting trumps audience targeting in paid search.

Paid search is an evolving industry, but it is still “search,” which requires communication, which requires words (until that time when the emoji takes over the English language, but that’s okay because the rioting in the streets will have gotten us first).

Of course, we would be remiss in ignoring some legitimate questions which inevitably arise. As ideal as the outline I've laid out before you sounds, you're probably beginning to formulate something like the following four questions.

• What about low search volume keywords?
• What if the search engines kill keyword targeting?
• What if IoT monsters kill search engines?
• What about social ads?

We’ll close by discussing each of these four questions.

Low search volume terms (LSVs)

Low search volume keywords stink like poo (excuse the rather strong language there). I’m not sure if there is any data on this out there (if so, please share it below), but I have run into low search volume terms far more in the past year than when I first started managing PPC campaigns in 2010.

I don’t know all the reasons for this; perhaps it’s worth another blog post, but the reality is it’s getting harder to be creative and target high-value long-tail keywords when so many are getting shut off due to low search volume.

This seems like a fairly smooth way being paved for Google/Bing to eventually “take over” (i.e., “automate for our good”) keyword targeting, at the very least for SMBs (small-medium businesses) where LSVs can be a significant problem. In this instance, the keyword would still be around, it just wouldn’t be managed by us PPCers directly. Boo.

Search engine decrees

I’ve already addressed the power search engines have here, but I will be the first to admit that, as much as I like keyword targeting and as much as I have hopefully proven how valuable it is, it still would be a fairly easy thing for Google or Bing to kill off completely. Major boo.

Since paid search relies on keywords and queries and language to work, I imagine this would look more like an automated solution (think DSAs and shopping), in which they make keyword targeting into a dynamic system that works in conjunction with audience targeting.

While this was about a year and a half ago, it is worth noting that at Hero Conference in London, Bing Ads’ ebullient Tor Crockett did make the public statement that Bing at the time had no plans to sunset the keyword as a bidding option. We can only hope this sentiment remains, and transfers over to Google as well.

But Internet of Things (IoT) Frankenstein devices!

Finally, it could be that search engines won’t be around forever. Perhaps this will look like IoT devices such as Alexa that incorporate some level of search into them, but pull traffic away from using Google/Bing search bars. As an example of this in real life, you don’t need to ask Google where to find (queries, keywords, communication, search) the best price on laundry detergent if you can just push the Dash button, or your smart washing machine can just order you more without a search effort.

Image source

On the other hand, I still believe we're a long way off from this in the same way that the freak-out over mobile devices killing personal computers has slowed down. That is, we still utilize our computers for education & work (even if personal usage revolves around tablets and mobile devices and IoT freaks-of-nature… smart toasters anyone?) and our mobile devices for queries on the go. Computers are still a primary source of search in terms of work and education as well as more intensive personal activities (vacation planning, for instance), and thus computers still rely heavily on search. Mobile devices are still heavily query-centered for various tasks, especially as voice search (still query-centered!) kicks in harder.

The social effect

Social is its own animal in a way, and why I believe it is already and will continue to have an effect on search and keywords (though not in a terribly worrisome way). Social definitely pulls a level of traffic from search, specifically in product queries. “Who has used this dishwasher before, any other recommendations?” Social ads are exploding in popularity as well, and in large part because they are working. People are purchasing more than they ever have from social ads and marketers are rushing to be there for them.

The flip side of this: a social and paid search comparison is apples-to-oranges. There are different motivations and purposes for using search engines and querying your friends.

Audience targeting works great in a social setting since that social network has phenomenally accurate and specific targeting for individuals, but it is the rare individual curious about the ideal condom to purchase who queries his family and friends on Facebook. There will always be elements of social and search that are unique and valuable in their own way, and audience targeting for social and keyword targeting for search complement those unique elements of each.

Idealism incarnate

Thus, it is my belief that as long as we have search, we will still have keywords and keyword targeting will be the best way to target — as long as costs remain low enough to be realistic for budgets and the search engines don’t kill keyword bidding for an automated solution.

Don’t give up, the keyword is not dead. Stay focused, and carry on with your match types!

I want to close by re-acknowledging the crucial point I opened with.

It has not been my intention in any way to set up a false dichotomy. In fact, as I think about it, I would argue that I am writing this in response to what I have heard become a false dichotomy. That is, that audience targeting is better than keyword targeting and will eventually replace it…

I believe the keyword is still the most valuable form of targeting for a paid search marketer, but I also believe that audience demographics can play a valuable complementary role in bidding.

A prime example that we already use is remarketing lists for search ads, in which we can layer on remarketing audiences in both Google and Bing into our search queries. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could someday do this with massive amounts of audience data? I've said this before, but were Bing Ads to use its LinkedIn acquisition to allow us to layer on LinkedIn audiences into our current keyword framework, the B2B angels would surely rejoice over us (Bing has responded, by the way, that something is in the works!).

Either way, I hope I've demonstrated that far from being on its deathbed, the keyword is still the most essential tool in the paid search marketer’s toolbox.

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