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Paid search programs, or
pay-per-click, have come under scrutiny (what hasn’t?)
during the past 18 months as marketing budgets were
squeezed. We all know from personal experience and see the
data in web analytics reports that organic rankings generate
a higher portion of click traffic – and quality. One study
at an industry conference indicated 88% of Google clicks
come from organic listings, with paid receiving 12%. But
that doesn’t mean paid search has no role, or that its
performance can’t be improved. One technique used by
Goldstein Group involves positioning ads not on the #1 spot,
but on the #3. We’ve seen all the studies showing that the
#1 spot gets all the attention, but we don’t really believe
it. Our theory: there’s so much focus spent on bidding for
the #1 paid search position, that there’s often a large cost
gap between the top and #3 slot – with no loss in
visibility, we feel. And the experience of one GGC client
bears that out. In April, its paid program generated about
1300 clicks for $4400. By lowering its bids to the #3
position on the page, its cost the next month was 25%, or
$3200 – and they generated the same 1300 clicks. Bidding
for #3 is one of our five Paid Search Strategies deployed by
Goldstein Group to boost performance. Contact us to learn
more. |
Data Driven Insights
Marketing is all about
nuances. The gap between a message that resonates with a customer and
one that falls flat can be difficult to close, but is at the core of
marketing success. When Avtron came to us with an idea for a new
brochure for its Metals market segment, it was clear even to their
marketing executives that the message was undefined. Do we focus on the
core offering, motors and drives? Or do we have enough credibility to
position the company as a broader system integrator? Because the
question went to the heart of customer perception, Goldstein Group went
to the source – Avtron customers – with a detailed customer interview
process to measure perceptions, competitive strengths and probe for
successful positioning platforms. The system integrator theme won out –
but only after research analytics showed the market perception would
support that position going forward.
Search Tools and PR Drive Furniture Site Traffic
It’s a beautiful desk, built of fine
hardwoods and a contemporary design that makes it a perfect fit for a
den, home office or workplace. But even more compelling, its
sophisticated design hides ugly tangles of wires and cables caused by
all the wireless routers, monitors and workstations that crowd a typical
workspace. So Goldstein Group was hired by
Caretta to create a new
brand for the young furniture manufacturer as it moved from development
to full-scale production. With new messaging, literature, a series of
PR announcements and a re-imagined web presence, Caretta traffic doubled
every month during the first four months following the company’s brand
launch. Strong PR announcements and aggressive search engine marketing
drove ever-higher web visits with metrics that showed visitors remained
on the site for remarkably long periods.
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Web Navigation Design Driven
By Customer Research When is a quote button invisible on a web page? The answer to that question came as part of a Goldstein Group web navigation study conducted at the start of a web re-design project for L. J. Star, a process control manufacturer. Because everyone has an opinion about what constitutes good web design, and because it  really only
matters what customers think, Goldstein Group launched a web
navigation study to guide the structure of the new site’s
design. By testing the customers’ ability to complete a
series of 10 common tasks, searches and downloads, based on
the most desired marketing “outcomes” of a web visit, the
agency discovered a far more intuitive and logical
navigation scheme to present to customers on the new site.
The online interviews were recorded and captured for client
review. Some surprises? The Request-a-Quote button’s
position in the previous site design was overlooked by many,
because of the Quote button’s location on the page. Another
test to find a particular data sheet could only be completed
62% of the time. |
PR and
Social Media Campaign Doubles Traffic in Three Months
When Abanaki developed its “Fuzzy” oil skimming material several years ago, it never dreamed it would prove so effective in what would become the biggest environmental disaster of our lifetimes – the Gulf Oil spill. But getting the message out about its Fuzzy material was important not only to capture attention of those coordinating Gulf cleanup, but for its traditional base of industrial customers that will buy oil skimmers long after the Gulf spill is out of the news. So a PR, video and Twitter campaign launched with Goldstein Group sought to generate not just coverage, but to drive traffic to the company’s site. During the campaign, Abanaki content almost took over relevant Google searches; a search on “gulf oil skimmer,” for instance, yielded Abanaki content, news releases and even a Twitter post that consumed 6 of the 10 page 1 Google listings. As a result, Abanaki drove its web traffic up 120% from April to June. And it wasn’t all casual surfers; during the same time, lead generation conversions (quote requests, lead forms, etc.) jumped 14%. The company’s Twitter followers more than doubled as well during the campaign.
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