Tag Archives: SEM

PM Digital’s Holiday 2009 Rewind Study Released

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Glenn Lalich

This year’s report on paid search performance underscores dramatic improvements for retailers in Holiday 2009 compared to 2008.

PM Digital’s 4Q & Holiday 2009 Rewind report has been released with a look at paid search performance for retailers during the 2009 holiday season.  And as the study quickly points out, what a difference a year makes.  With 12 months’ distance from the bleakness of late 2008—a season in which e-commerce holiday sales actually dropped—online shoppers in 2009 seemed ready to buy with a renewed commitment to enjoy the holidays.

While research firm comScore cited 5% growth for online retailers, PM Digital’s clients saw paid search demand grow 19% on average.  Clicks, conversion and average order value were all up.

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Guide to Online Marketing Conferences and Trade Shows, Part 2

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Suzy Sandberg

Below is the second installment of our trade show roundup with thoughts and recommendations for some of the key conferences for online marketers.

Internet Retailer – Internet Retailer currently hosts two key shows each year – the Web Design & Usability Conference which was just held last week in Orlando, and the larger Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in June.  This year’s main conference will be in Chicago from June 8-11.   If you are actively involved in web design, the February show would be valuable to attend.  For more general retail info, I am a big fan of the June show.  It draws a huge crowd (great for networking and exhibiting), and there is a ton of great content.  Our clients also rate this show highly for value and time well invested. 

Shop.org – Shop.org hosts several conferences throughout the year.  The best known and largest of all the online retail shows is the Shop.org Annual Summit in the fall.  This show has frequently been held in Las Vegas , but it’s moving to Dallas for 2010.  The change is unfortunate as I predict they are going to take a hit on attendance.  The Mandalay Bay venue in Las Vegas was much loved and Dallas pales by comparison.  The Shop.org shows have the reputation of being extremely retailer-focused, as opposed to eTail which is more vendor-focused.  Shop.org has retailer-only days and retailer-only events.  But despite their somewhat heavy-handed non-vendor stance, there are many sponsorships available to vendors, although some (like the vendor-hosted tables on retailer-only day) come with a pretty hefty price tag.

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Guide to Online Marketing Conferences and Trade Shows, Part 1

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Suzy Sandberg

I am frequently asked which of the industry trade shows are worth attending.  While PM Digital can’t attend every event, we do have better visibility to these shows than most, so below is the first of two installments that cover our thoughts and recommendations on the ever-expanding online marketing conference landscape.

Because PM Digital has a heavy penetration of retail clients, we attend many conferences in the retail category as will be evident in this roundup.  The list below takes into account that there are generally three reasons to attend trade shows:  1) networking, 2) keeping current, and 3) investigating new technologies.

eTail - eTail hosts two big shows each year.  eTail West (which starts today) is the larger and runs from February 22-24 in Palm Desert; eTail East will be held in Baltimore from August 9-12.   I personally love the timing of the February eTail show since it’s the first big event after the holiday season.  People have had a few weeks to relax and breathe, but they also recognize that now is the time to launch new initiatives in order to maximize the next year-end holiday.  Attendees are definitely looking and researching at this conference.

A common criticism of the eTail shows is that it seems partial to vendors rather than retailers, and this manifests itself in sessions that occasionally sound like paid commercials.  Many of the session panels include vendors, and there are some big keynote slots given to vendors (and as a vendor, we are aware that there is a cost to speak at this show as well as some of the other events).   I once left a multivariate testing session and found one of the companies represented on the panel was also the manning the exits with one-sheeters.  I haven’t seen anything that blatant happen in a while but it’s a good example of how eTail developed its vendor-first reputation.  The August eTail conference is very convenient if you are on the East Coast, and I’ve found it attracts a high-level retail attendee.  It is much smaller than the West Coast show.

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Last Minute Thoughts on Holiday Online Retail

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

The major snowstorm on the East Coast on Saturday and Sunday lifted online sales for 67% of PM Digital’s retail clients an estimated 10% vs. what they would have seen for the weekend without the storm.  For the apparel category, specifically, this lift affected 71% of PM Digital clients.

The strong weekend results for online sales is icing on the cake to a strong overall holiday season for ecommerce.  As has been reported by comScore and others, online sales are up year over year in 2009 vs. 2008, so there is a lot to celebrate.

Some of the key drivers in lifting sales this year in particular were 1) promotions; 2) gift cards; 3) egift cards) 4) accurate forecasting (running budgets high on the best days and scaling back on lower-converting days), and 5) taking advantage of best practices in search strategies.

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Paid Search and ROI: A Sure Thing for Marketers this Holiday Season

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

Invest in search now to put you a step ahead in 2010.

Depending on your definition of ‘investment’ and ‘return’, search this Holiday is being asked to be as solid as investing in dollars in 2005.  And, for most, it will deliver. But search’s ability as an investment vehicle today is struggling, better yet, starving for capital.

Many players have narrowed paid search’s scope and potential because of the need to deliver month-over-month revenue and profit consistency, despite the fact that year over year, search has proven it can be a consistent, star performer. And in better economies, it was used to prod the market because of its unique ability to instantly gauge and measure interest in products, services, messaging, brand positioning, promotions and more.

As we sit here on Cyber Monday during a time of year when experimentation can be disproportionately higher (to capitalize on naturally higher yields), do we run the risk of compromising next year’s opportunities for this year’s demand and profits?  The answer is yes. But let’s be sure that we understand the expense implications for next year when aggressive growth will be back in vogue and required by management and shareholders.  There will be zero tolerance and jobs will be on the line – talk about pressure.

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Black Friday Search Trends, Past and Present

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Glenn Lalich

“Black Friday” search data from Hitwise underscores how consumers are increasingly plugged-in to online retail research and deal hunting.

I sat in on a good session from Hitwise Research Director Heather Doughtery this week that looked back at Black Friday 2008 and offered some preliminary stats for Black Friday 2009. The findings are fairly predictable and mirror what we know from our own data:  consumers are researching earlier and looking for deals.  The bigger question for this season is to what degree the economy and unemployment will accelerate the thrifty, marketing-savvy behaviors already in play.  Below are a few takeaways:

Black Friday searches start earlier each year. Per Hitwise, early “Black Friday” searches in 2006 started the week ending 9/30; for 2009 those same searches started the week ending 8/8.  At this rate, “Christmas in July” may lose its oxymoron status by next year.  Of course we’re talking searches, not purchases.  But unless a retailer is sitting on headline-grabbing price reductions for late in the season, capturing mindshare early is crucial.  Consumers need to know where the good deals are coming from, and a retailer may have to expend more effort now if they haven’t laid the groundwork already.

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Brand Direct Marketing: Liberation!

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Chris Paradysz

Don’t be held captive to short-term ROI.  Free your brand.

Powerful Brands

Late last week, I was fortunate enough to be in the lobbies of each of these four institutions:  Harvard Business Review, The Salvation Army, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Liberty Medical.  Each is a stalwart business and their missions smack you in the face when you walk in the door.  In their lobbies, I could feel the energy.  Better said, lobbies are where the brand meets the customer, real and prospective.  These four are amongst the most successful brand direct marketers in their categories because they intuitively and actively drive growth through discipline and iteration.  But, more, they believe that brand direct marketing is the ‘Engine that Could’ (and does): it drives and shapes perception based on how people respond and buy.  Offers, creative, pricing, terms, messaging evolve as performance reveals.  Brand awareness and a brand’s performance are directly connected.

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Advanced Paid Search Metrics for Retailers

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

Ever wonder how competitors are able to achieve top rankings on otherwise unprofitable keywords?  It’s all in the metrics.

Paid Search Metrics

Consistent with Google’s 3rd Quarter Earnings and their outlook for 2010, paid search will receive ample 2010 budget dollars within the retail media mix.  Because of the efficiency and control paid search gives retailers in yielding sales at an acceptable ROI, most marketers will try to shift as many dollars as possible to paid search and away from less efficient sources.  In fact, if asked, most will say they would like paid search to be an even larger part of the mix, if only they could get more scale from the program.

The inability to get more scale out of paid search is sometimes confounding. Within merchandise categories, we frequently see certain retailers owning top spots for a wide swath of keywords which competitors can’t make work.  For example, the scale that Merchandiser B wants so badly is going to Merchandiser A, despite the fact that Merchandiser B is a category leader.  How does this happen?

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Yahoo to Discontinue Paid Inclusion, Search Submit Pro (SSP)

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

The end of Yahoo’s Paid Inclusion is not surprising, but the timing presents challenges for retailers who relied on the program.  Below is PM Digital’s quick take and initial recommendations.

Yahoo-LogoLast week Yahoo announced that they are discontinuing their Paid Inclusion program (Search Submit Pro) at the end of this year.  The last date Paid Inclusion will be live is December 31, 2009.  The discontinuation of the program will include the top level, category level and product level feeds — basically everything.

Yahoo is leaving the program live through the end of the year so that they don’t leave any retailers in the lurch for the holiday season.  That said, most Yahoo SSP customers are retailers whose fiscal year ends in January – not December.  So Yahoo will in fact be impacting retailers’ full year demand given the loss of revenue for an entire month.

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A Marketer’s Quick Guide to Universal Search and Vertical Search

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

Universal search and vertical search appeal to different types of searchers and searches.  But does either appeal to marketers?

We continue to receive a good number of questions about universal search (how can we retain our ranking?) and vertical search engines (should we be using them?)  For guidance, below is some topline marketing perspective on the relative strengths and opportunities for each.

Vertical Search

With search having become a mainstream necessity for consumers and a lucrative media channel for the search engines, vertical search engines will proliferate over the next few years.  Examples include TheFind (consumer goods), Kayak (travel) and MyRide.com (automotive).  As far as marketers’ acceptance and use of these as a media channel goes, it will depend on several factors.

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