http://ilovemarketing.com/episode-053the-one-with-perry-marshall-and-tom-meloche/

A large number of conversions happen over the phone. This can be very problematic for many companies as they have no idea how many calls they received, or they do not know what traffic source or keyword caused the phone to ring.

Call tracking is the answer to this problem. It has been around for several years on the web, but it has not seen the adoption rates one would expect from a technology that can help close the offline sales loop.

Much of this problem stems from companies either not knowing it exists, or not understanding all of its uses.

The next episode of Marketing Nirvana is dedicated to call tracking.

• What is is
• How can it benefit you
• The different types of call tracking and accuracy
• Best practices for choosing vendors
• And a lot more

I have a special guest for this episode, David Szetela.

Many of you might remember David from his days with Clix Marketing and PPC Rockstars. He’s been around for a long time in the PPC industry and has quite a bit of insights to share.

These days, David is semi-retired from the PPC world and has moved into the call tracking space having taken the position of Chief marketing officer for Bionic Click.

Like me, David is an educator first and a sales person second. Therefore, while he does work for a call tracking company that we do discuss in a little bit of detail, the show is geared to educate you how call tracking can help and what to look for in a vendor or technology.

The show will air at 9am PST / 12pm CST Monday the 6th at WebmasterRadio.fm.

Later on, the show will be available for download from our Marketing Nirvana page or on iTunes.

I hope you enjoy the show.

Learn How to Track Phone Calls with David Szetela is a post from: Certified Knowledge

A: I posted this question on my Facebook wall. Look at the powerful response I got:

My Answer: You NEVER let Google touch the campaigns you have painstakingly built by hand with your blood, sweat and tears. EVER.

If I only had a dollar for every person who lost $20,000+ because they committed this grave error.

You can let them build a side campaign for you and put it on pause if you want… and cautiously turn it on… and watch it like a hawk. But 90% of the time they do a disastrous job. I’m dead serious. I’ve seen this over and over again. I cannot specifically recall a single instance that turned out well.

Moral of the story:

Never put a German Shepherd in charge of the ham sandwiches.

–>10MIL IN LESS THAN 2 YEARS: Mr. S has grown his company from $1 million to $10 million in 21 months. Just had his first million dollar month this fall. He’s got bugs in his teeth and every kind of growing pain you can think of. Fortunately he takes the mercenary approach to problems, and the guy never looks back.

Challenges:

*The opportunity he’s exploiting is huge but will evaporate in 5 years. He’ll either be in the driver’s seat then, or in a different business. Either he builds the platform that everyone standardizes on, or somebody else does.

*He’s doing business in dozens of countries and each has its own regulations. He’s got all sorts of fun with lawyers, foreign bank accounts, taxes etc. Good problems to have.

*Everyone wants what he’s building. If he plays his cards right, he’ll grow this thing to $100 million and sell to a much larger company.

–>SAFE ENTRY ON A SHOESTRING: Mr. T and his wife sell natural products and their #1 channel is good ol’ fashioned snail mail catalog. They’re about to jump into the Cosmetics market.

Not an easy decision. Because you either have ALL the colors people want, ALL the ingredients of a beautiful face, or none. There’s no doing this halfway. Major investment in containers, labels and product launch, just to get the first sale.

The group brainstormed a new way of getting critical data from a small group of test users without biting off the whole investment. Now they can do this in stages.

–>TAIL WAGS DOG: Mr. B is a specialized lender who gets referrals from major players in his business. 1/3 of his business comes from guys ‘throwing him a bone.’ He grew his biz 31% last year and his marketing is solid.

His next move is to maneuver himself in the tollgate position where he’s the one giving out the referrals and them waiting for him to throw the bone. A total reversal of what’s normal. He’s doing it by exploiting every ounce of authority he’s got. He’s got the perfect demeanor for it and I think he’s gonna pull this off.

–>RE-INVENTING LEAD GEN: Mr. E has been buying leads the old fashioned way. He’s very good at it but I showed him a completely new way to do it, which gets him not leads but qualified buyers, at lower cost per acquisition than he’d ever get from a lead.

–>CHANGING THE WORLD: Mr. N has two businesses and both are doing great. He’s now turned his attention to a burning passion, which is reforming a very specific segment of the education market. This could conceivably be worth millions but that’s not why he’s doing it. The money is not his focus.

Rather, it’s a CAUSE because he knows he can transform the world. (At least for a few hundred thousand kids.) The group gave him input on how to keep some huge company from patenting his ideas and taking them off the market.

–>EVIL LAWYERS: Speaking of patents, Mr. J has been embattled for years with a bogus patent lawsuit perpetrated by bloodthirsty attorneys exploiting the legal system. We explored his situation and concluded: There’s no way to call the dogs off.

In his session, based on advice from an attorney in the group from Italy, we discussed how to move his assets to the European Union and take advantage of the differences in patent law. Hey, sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire.

–>THE POWER AND THE GLORY: I can tell you this guy’s name. Roundtable Member Benji Rabhan of Morris Media Works, age 26, made the Empact100 List, a roster of top young entrepreneurs in the US. In November he attended a special reception at the White House, honored by President Obama for his achievements.

I’m extremely proud of my Roundtable members. If you’d like to apply for the Roundtable waiting list, visit www.perrymarshall.com/roundtable/

Perry Marshall

Coupons are experiencing an explosion in popularity—among consumers and marketers alike. For the former, the attraction is clear: coupons are a quick and simple way to save money; if they are available, there is no reason not to put them to use. For the latter, it can be a little more complicated. Coupons offer a juicy incentive for new customers, but coupon-based promotion campaigns can be risky business. Here are some of the elements to take into consideration in order to decide if this sort of strategy is the right choice for your website:

Finding a Target Audience and a Product to Promote

1. Online coupons should be tailored for new, potential buyers: Generally, the objective of any marketing campaign based on coupons is to attract new customers. In the case of online marketing, the idea is to up the website’s conversion rate—in other words, to turn visitors into actual buyers. Therefore, promotions should be put in place where casual viewers will readily find them. On the other hand, too many people making use of coupons can seriously dent profits.
2. The established customer base should not be using online coupons: From a marketing standpoint, it’s a bad thing if proven buyers are finding and using the coupons meant to bring in new patrons. These are the people who would likely buy a given item even without that 50% discount. So—somewhat paradoxically—online coupons work best when they are advertised in such a way that only new buyers find them. There are a few ways to avoid a loss scenario and insure that a couponing campaign reaches the right people:
   • Offer a discount on a very specific, niche product—this way, the buyers using the coupons will be customers with a legitimate interest in the item, not just all-consuming bargain hunters.
   • Use coupons to get rid of excess inventory—items that are beginning to serve only as a drain on resources are always great candidates for discounts

Methods of Distribution

Once you know what you’re discounting and who you want using the coupons, you can figure out a strategy for distributing them:

1. Major players: Vendors like LivingSocial, Google Offers, and Groupon are devoted to the circulation of coupons. However, relying on these third-party players can be risky—once you’ve made a coupon available to a vendor, you lose control of how many customers ultimately end up discovering and redeeming it.
2. Video couponing: Video ads are safer than third-party vendors because they allow you the freedom to disable sent-out coupons after reaching a goal without having to take down the ad and lose the associated boost in visibility.
3. Social media: The brand new Facebook Deals presents yet another avenue for a couponing campaign. The benefits of advertising through Facebook are already well-known to marketers: a massive base of potential customers who are already categorized by their likes and interests is something of an advertisement dream come true. Only time will reveal the true effectiveness of Facebook Deals as a coupon distributor, but for now it looks very promising.

Coupons can seriously boost business for a small company, but it’s important to remember that a poorly thought-out campaign can end in disaster. If you decide that coupons are the way to go for your own business, always plan your marketing strategy very carefully. Make sure you have a complete understanding of your current model, where your profits are coming from, etc. Avoid distributing coupons for proven sellers; focus on new products or less popular items. And give it some thought: is promoting your company and gaining new patrons worth the potential loss in profits? Plan ahead, maintain control, and you’ll be on the road to success. Good luck!

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Certified Knowledge. If you would like to write for Certified Knowledge, please let us know.

Coupons as an Online Marketing Strategy is a post from: Certified Knowledge

Read about their Ad Writing Contest and then submit your best entry as a comment to their blog post.

From their post:
"The trouble with a content strategy is that it is very difficult to create content, and very difficult to predict what content will resonate with your customers.

You could spend a lot of time creating high-quality content only to find out later that another approach would have been more profitable.

To help provide clarity to their content strategy, we are going to run some PPC ads to 'take the temperature,' in a sense, of the people who are searching..."

The results of this experiment will guide their content strategy, but I'm sure we'll end up testing a few of the winners in the rest of their paid search campaigns as well.

The winner will be announced during their next web clinic on February 1st, 2012: Online Advertising Forensics: We investigate how and why a text-based PPC ad produced 47% more conversions. Click the link to sign up for this free clinic!

If you live in the region and want a solid day of training – this is perfect. If you’re going to be at SMX San Jose; come a single day earlier and leave with a lot more knowledge about the intricacies of Google AdWords.

The event will take place on February 27th, 2012. Here’s all the details:

Even with all of the new marketing channels that have opened up over the years, AdWords is still the core of many companies interactive campaigns. If your PPC campaigns are not running efficiently, it can have a drastic impact on your bottom line.

Join Brad Geddes for a full day of AdWords education and discussion that will teach you not only the best practices, but also advanced concepts and strategies that are based upon a decade of research and testing.

What Will I Learn?

Comprehensive Keyword Research: The absolute center of every PPC campaign is keywords. Learn the effective methods to discover and research keywords. While keywords are the lifeblood of PPC, perfecting your match types usage while controlling your negative keywords can drastically increase your overall revenue.

Writing Compelling Ad Copy: You will learn how to sync your ad copy with both your keywords and buying cycle stages.

Ad Copy Testing: Testing ad copy is essential to any AdWords account’s success. You will takeaway several ideas for ads to test by the time you leave the session.

Demystifying Quality Score: Quality Score has a larger effect on your account’s visibility than any other setting inside of AdWords. Quality Score can be a challenge to increase. Receive step-by-step instructions in how to prioritize Quality Score improvement, and what actions to take to increase your Quality Scores.

Increase your Reach Through the Google Display Network: Consumers spend about 5% of their time with the search network. The rest of their time is spent on content sites. Learn how to effectively reach users beyond search with contextual ads, placements, and enhanced campaigns.

Control Your Ad Display with Location Targeting: Do you think that geographic targeting isn’t relevant to a national business? Think again! Whether you are a brick and mortar local business, or a global e-commerce site, learn how geographically targeted campaigns can create additional connections with searchers.

Increase Your Landing Page Conversions: The first impression to a potential customer is the landing page. With only a few seconds to engage the buyer this may be more important in your conversion funnel than anything else. This section of the course will not only go into best practices and usability, but how to test landing pages in a simple and effective method.

Networking Opportunities: Conferences are fantastic places to network and meet fellow practitioners of online marketing. Lunch will be provided so you can spend time getting to know your fellow attendees.

Who is Brad Geddes?

Brad Geddes is the Founder of Certified Knowledge, a company dedicated to consulting, educating, and training marketers on Internet marketing theory and best practices. Not one to hold secrets, Brad is a prominent educator in the PPC industry.

• Google Certified AdWords Trainer
• Author of “Advanced Google AdWords”
• Host of Marketing Nirvana on Webmaster Radio
• Internationally recognized speaker
• Trained more than 10,000 businesses on AdWords
• Columnist for Search Engine Land
• Founder of Certified Knowledge
• Worked with companies with budget ranges from $17 month to millions each month
• Has worked with Red Lobster, Encyclopedia Britannica, Yahoo, Google, Amazon, YellowPages.com

Past Training Video Testimonials

How to Register

If you would like to attend the Advanced AdWords Training @ SMX West you will need one of two passes for SMX:

• Workshop only pass
• All Access Pass + Workshop

More Information:

• Learn about SMX West
• Register for Advanced AdWords Training
• Learn more about the workshops

Please Note: This is a one day event that is a partnership with SMX. This is not the same as the AdWords Seminar for Success. This is one day event that is jammed pack full of information in a short amount of time. Please come ready to learn.

Join Us at the AdWords Seminar Workshop at SMX San Jose is a post from: Certified Knowledge

1. Providing users with more intuitive functionality across Google properties (Search, Gmail, YouTube, etc.), and

2. Providing advertisers with more relevant targeting options across Google properties.

The key distinction here is "across Google properties."

While the most privacy-conscious users may be concerned with the changes, for advertisers there is nothing but upside. Google's updated privacy policy opens the door to more cost-effective targeting to your most responsive traffic across Google properties and devices.

Google will be able to provide advertisers with a richer picture of their users for advertisers to target with remarketing, interest category targeting, and demographic targeting.  (Users can see how Google defines their individual interest & demographic buckets in their Ads Preference Manager.)

As an example use-case, let's say someone visits your website on their mobile phone and adds something to their shopping cart. They abandon their cart and leave your site, but not before you add them to a remarketing list you're building within AdWords. Assuming the user is logged into their Google profile, you'd be able to target them with your remarketing ads when they're browsing the web at home from their iPad later that night. Furthermore, you may find that users interested in certain topics are more responsive to your remarketing ads. Google's new policy will enable them to boost the accuracy of the interest category inferences for their users.

Google's updated privacy policy may leave room for them to go further than just associating more data with users logged-in to their Google account... Google states that they may store "cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or your Google Account." This language opens up the possibility that Google could in the future use your Google profile data to deliver ads even if the user has since logged out of their Google account. The cookie would persist on the computer which ties it to a Google account. Currently, less than 10% of traffic from Google searches are from logged-in Google users. A cookie-based profile link would move this number up substantially.

Expect to see more Google advertiser tools rolled out over the next few quarters that make use of the cross-property and cross-device advertising functionality promised by this policy.

Using exact match negatives gives you the ability to exclude very general search terms while maintaining the high volume search traffic that comes with broad and phrase match.

Let's say an online travel supplier wants to target users searching for discounted travel arrangements, but finds that searchers looking for general terms such as "travel" or "cheap flights" aren't far enough into the buying cycle to make the clicks profitable. They can add exact match negatives like -[travel] and -[cheap flights] so their ads will still show for terms like "travel fares" or "cheap flights to Hawaii," but they won't match on the broadest queries.

Negative exact keywords can be added to your MSN just like any other keyword through the user interface, the desktop editor or through bulk sheet uploads. To add an exact match negative to a campaign or ad group, go to your campaign or ad group's settings, then click negative keywords. To add a negative exact keyword in the desktop editor, add it as a negative like you would normally but put brackets around it.

With the addition of exact match negatives, MSN has sunset the use of keyword level negatives. We recommend taking a look at your keyword list and moving any keyword level negatives to the ad group or campaign level.

The best way to discover which keywords to add as exact match negatives is by running a search query performance report found in the Reports tab. By analyzing the cost and conversion data by search query, you'll be able to identify specific queries that aren't converting yet are matching on broad keywords and add those queries as broad, phrase or exact match negatives.

In addition to the new match type, MSN has introduced a new feature in the newest version of the adCenter desktop editor. It will now inform you of any negative keyword conflicts. So if you have the keyword "free whitepaper download" and the negative keyword free, it will highlight that ads aren't showing for that keyword due to the negative keyword overlap.

Now is a great time to give some extra attention to your negative keywords in MSN to make sure you are reaching maximum traffic without wasting spend.

Almost all conversion activities end in some type of form:

• Ecommerce checkout
• Contact form
• Whitepaper download
• Newsletter subscription
• and many more

Yes, most forms are not well designed. The best traffic you can buy will not help you out if your form doesn’t work properly.

However, designing forms isn’t that difficult if you know the major problems to avoid. In this video you can learn some of the major pitfalls to avoid with your forms.

If you avoid the bad stuff, and increase the good stuff – then conversions will go up. And that’s what we all want – more conversions.

The video is recorded in HD. So feel free to increase the resolution to 720 and watch in full screen. If you are reading this in an RSS reader or email; you’ll probably have to click through to the site to see the video.

I hope you enjoy.

How to Design the Perfect Form is a post from: Certified Knowledge