MediaPost profiles a Performics search-marketing campaign for US Southeast Toyota Distributors. It’s an integrated national and local campaign that appears to be pretty sophisticated (or heading in that direction):
As budgets grow for local campaigns, Performics hopes to take Southeast Toyota Distributors’ program and expand it past search and into display . . . [T]oday, budgets at local dealerships are small — between $1,200 and $2,000.
Search engine marketing not only helps Toyota dealers reach more qualified prospects, it also helps capture interest generated through other marketing channels. Performics’ integrated search marketing services aim to help Southeast Toyota and its dealers capitalize on this search demand.
Two things are interesting here — the combined national-local approach and the consciousness of the impact of other media on search and corresponding keyword strategy:
Performics aligns bids for keywords that it believes will drive more demand in other media. “If we think Tundra is being pushed aggressively in the southwest through radio, print and TV, we know there will be more search demand for keywords,” [Performics CEO Nick Beil] says.
Traditional media often drives search behavior. Anyway, it’s good to see people executing on localized campaigns with the bigger picture in mind.
Performics has traditionally also used IYPs as part of its geotargeting strategies. Now they just need to get mobile into the mix. If you go to VW.com on the iPhone’s Safari browser you see what a great job VW has done optimizing the site for that handset.
May 14, 2009 at 4:03 pm |
To me this sounds like an attempt for them to sound more sophisticated than they actually are.
“If we think Tundra is being pushed aggressively in the southwest through radio, print and TV, we know there will be more search demand for keywords,”
Who doesn’t “know” that? It’s common sense. The problem is that it implies, without saying so, that they do something with that knowledge.
The dirty little secret is that most of what you would do with that knowledge is already built into AdWords. Your ad is displayed when the keyword is searched. If that keyword is searched more, your ad is displayed more.
The only thing they have additional control over is ensuring that there is enough money set into the “Tundra” campaign to keep the ad running …but I don’t know any reputable search engine marketers who don’t account for that as well.
Everyone I know does this, so I think this is a simply a case of Performics having very good spin doctors.
May 14, 2009 at 4:41 pm |
Perhaps. But one thing that traditional media can do is “create demand” for keywords by using specific copy or catch phrases in ads that other companies don’t bid on or don’t know to bid on.
An early example was a chase loyalty program promotion called “love the double.” It aired on traditional media and Avenue A (I believe) bought that phrase, among others. There was no competition and so they created highly qualified, low priced “inventory” on Google and Yahoo.
Smart competitors can pick up on this and coopt these types of strategies. But you may be right about Performics spin.
May 14, 2009 at 7:02 pm |
Re: creating demand for new keywords – how wonderfully devious! A sure sign of a maturing market – increasing sophistication in the manipulation of it.