Category Archives: SEM

Top Halloween Costume Search Trends for 2011

Posted on October 26, 2011 by PM Digital Research

As Halloween creeps nearer, costume search data provides an informative (and fun) way to take the temperature on what is hot vs. what has cooled off a bit since last All Hallows’ Eve. And the verdict for 2011? It appears there will be fewer plunging necklines, hair bumps and spray tans this Halloween – but there may be a growing flock of twisted or irate birds.

Per Google Insights for Search, costume searches related to Rovio’s popular game Angry Birds are among Google’s “Rising Searches” this season. Other hot searches, per Google’s index, are tied to the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan and Mattel’s popular Monster High franchise.

By contrast, interest in one of Google’s top rising searches last year, “snooki costume”, appears to have sagged a bit. In 2010, Snooki (from MTV’s Jersey Shore reality television series) beat out not only the nascent Angry Birds, but also other long-running costume favorites like “catwoman”. It’s worth noting that “snooki costume” searches rose dramatically in the days leading up to Halloween 2010, so there may still be time for Snooki to reclaim her throne in 2011.

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Rewind Paid Search Performance Index: September 2011

Posted on October 14, 2011 by PM Digital Research

September was marked by acceleration in several paid search growth trends observed in recent months for online retailers. PM Digital’s September 2011 Rewind Index, which measures monthly U.S. paid search performance for online retail clients, found 26% year-over-year growth in clicks and even stronger 46% growth in revenue—the largest monthly increases in both metrics since last December. Both are great indicators heading into Holiday 2011. What’s more, average order increased 10% year-over-year—the biggest increase tracked this year. PM Digital clients also increased total spend by an average 27%, while CPCs held steady.

Labor Day was far and away the clear winner in terms of single-day online retail sales from paid search campaigns in September. Labor Day also did very well on a year-over-year basis, with 53% revenue growth on that day outpacing the monthly average. Taking a broader view, sales for September overall were more concentrated in the latter half of the month, especially from Sun 9/18 to Wed 9/21. Paid search conversion rates continued to improve in September.

YoY Performance Metrics for September 2011

YoY Performance Metrics for Labor Day 2011

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Non-Branded Paid Search: How to Attain Steady Growth Through Attribution, Part 1

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Suzy Sandberg

For most retailers, the art of search engine marketing consists of the ability to grow sales from non-brand campaigns. Depending on how a retailer attributes their sales, for some this growth is getting harder.  In fact, the inability to see meaningful growth from non-brand paid search is the number one area of angst right now for marketers of paid search campaigns.  As an agency, we have so many discussions on this with prospective clients, current clients, industry analysts and others that I thought I’d sort out some of the issues and hot topics in a two-part post. This one illustrates the state of the state and Part 2 will cover attribution as it pertains to growth of sales from non-brand.

Paid search has an 80/20 rule in which 80% of an advertiser’s paid search spend goes toward non-brand keywords while generating only 20% of the revenue.  For some advertisers it’s a little more, and others a little less, but 80/20 is on average.

Advertisers have long abhorred paying the search engines for their trademark terms but since anyone can bid on any company’s trademark, a competitor or affiliate can siphon off sales meant for the advertiser if the advertiser is not present on the trademark keyword.  This is especially so given that the paid search trademark ad is shaded and quite enticing at the top of the page, in that it contains four deep links to desirable promotions and parts of the site that the organic listing doesn’t.  Because of these factors, most agree that letting the natural search result be the gateway to sales from all searches from  trademark terms is too risky.

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A Final Holiday Prediction for Online Retail

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Chris Paradysz

Significant marketing opportunities remain during the final shopping days of 2009.

Using this year’s performance data, including clicks, conversions and sales, combined with the current demand run rate versus forecasts, I anticipate a rapidly accelerating online growth curve beginning on December 16th and 17th and growing through that weekend. And, the last-minute burst on the 21st to beat the shipping cutoff is going to be unprecedented. There’s a big opportunity to get ahead of this with promotions, search copy and even bid management so retailers can capture the demand and take a little pressure off the order influx.

There have been significant buying pattern shifts all Holiday season, particularly during the Black Friday to Cyber Monday run-up. Consumers who have been waiting it out for better promotions will be rewarded as they have been now for the past two seasons. We believe we’re going to see progressive growth starting this weekend, and that this year’s high-water mark could surpass CyberMonday.

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Outranking the Competition

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

No matter the demographic, one of the most effective ways to reach consumers and drive business is through search engine strategies. Brands today are in a battle to keep their businesses growing and find ways to outshine and outrank their competition as hundreds of thousands of companies vie for top placement within search engines.Over the years, we’ve spoken to many marketers who aren’t sure how to navigate the complexities of search engine marketing campaigns. They want to reach new audiences and drive sales but don’t know how to work their programs to gain favorable results.

Below are solutions to five questions that can help you create efficiencies, improve spend and gain the upper hand with your SEM efforts.

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