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7 years ago |
Case Studies, Google, Seasonality |
Michael Griffin |
0
MasterCard Advisors recently released a report on U.S. retail sales in 12 categories. The sales data for one of these categories—apparel—nicely illustrates the concept of micro-seasonality that I mentioned in an earlier post. Certain months and even specific days can have significantly different levels of traffic for a particular subset of products. Online sales of …
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7 years ago |
Analytics, Conversion Rate |
Michael Griffin |
0
At the heart of every paid search management platform is an algorithm—a set of mathematical equations that uses a variety of inputs to compute the optimal cost per click (CPC) to achieve your goals for revenue and return on ad spend (ROAS). Most search platform vendors take a one-size-fits-all approach to developing their algorithms. This …
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7 years ago |
Analytics |
Michael Griffin |
0
One of the keys to success with search engine marketing is being able to react to data quickly. This requires that you have access to the right data in the first place. While Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter provide sufficient data for most online advertisers to optimize their campaigns, their capabilities fall short for retailers. …
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7 years ago |
Google |
Michael Griffin |
0
Several bloggers have recently written about the connection between Google +1 and PPC (see below for some examples). All of these articles mention Google’s stated policy that the number of +1’s given to ads will not directly affect Quality Score (QS) calculations. As you know, however, click-through rate (CTR) affects QS. We believe that seeing …
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7 years ago |
Analytics, Google |
Michael Griffin |
0
Google AdWords can now segment performance based on whether your ad was shown in a top position or a side (right-hand) position on a search results page. This provides SEM managers insight into the value of ads being at a certain position and can help you determine if there’s an opportunity to improve placement. This …
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7 years ago |
Lifetime Value (LTV) |
Michael Griffin |
0
A mentor once told me, “The best CEOs are the ones who can predict the future and act on it today.” This is the essence of what lifetime value (LTV) is about: predicting the future value of a customer and making the appropriate investments now to secure that value. LTV is key to retailer success. …
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7 years ago |
Lifetime Value (LTV), New Customer Acquisition |
Michael Griffin |
0
From all our work with retailers over the years, I’ve come to believe that the two most important metrics retailers should focus on are customer acquisition and lifetime value (LTV). Getting these two metrics right drives a sustainable business. 90 percent of the online retailers surveyed in the State of Retailing Online (SORO) 2011 study …
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7 years ago |
Keywords, New Customer Acquisition |
Michael Griffin |
0
Most retailers don’t manage their brand-related (i.e., trademarked) keywords and non-brand (product-specific) keywords independently. This is a mistake, and a missed opportunity. Goals for Brand and Non-Brand Terms Non-brand terms are best for new customer acquisition, while brand terms assist in closing a sale but typically only by a customer who is already acquainted with …
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7 years ago |
Conversion Rate, Lookback, Seasonality |
Michael Griffin |
1
Seasonality is one of the most important factors that affect PPC conversion rates in online retail. In fact, the impact of seasonal factors alone is often higher than all the other factors I’ve written about thus far combined. ‘Tis the Season “Seasonality” is another way to state what most retailers already know: the demand for …
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7 years ago |
Conversion Rate, Marketplaces |
Michael Griffin |
0
Managing PPC campaigns for retailers with online marketplaces is a unique challenge. Adlucent has learned quite a bit on this front by managing the paid search campaigns of some of the world’s largest marketplaces. I’m defining a “marketplace” as a retail website where multiple merchants sell products and so may the marketplace owner. Amazon.com is …
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7 years ago |
Lookback, Predictive SEM |
Michael Griffin |
2
The goal of paid search management is to predict the future. To do that, PPC tools need to look at the past. The question is, How far back should they look? Let’s first review what the systems are looking at. In most bid management systems, the formula for calculating the actual (not maximum) cost per …
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