Digital Execution
CHAPTER 2
Web Assessment
Search Engine Optimization
Search and Display Marketing
Email Marketing
A/B Testing
Landing Pages
Having a website isn’t enough. It needs the right content and presentation to be effective. Your website is one of the most effective channels for attracting and retaining customers. But do you have the right tools to engage website visitors in personalized conversations?
For a more in depth look at how to build an effective website, take a look at this Web Marketing Basics guide from Marketing Velocity Learning.
1. Trying using heatmaps for your website! Heatmaps are used to show user behavior on specific webpages. You can use heatmaps to determine what areas may need improvement or concentrate on what's already working.
2. Website personalization is important for optimizing conversions, accelerating nurture streams and deploying account-based marketing for target accounts. Consider incorporating personalization with a login system or with gated content. By measuring web page visits, you can determine which pages are generating more traffic and then determine where you can personalize content further.
SEO is a marketing discipline focused on growing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results. It encompasses the technical and creative elements required to improve ranking, drive traffic and increase awareness in search engines. There are many aspects to SEO, from the words on your page to the way other sites link to you. Sometimes it's a matter of making sure your site is structured in a way that search engines understand.
Most SEO optimization strategies come from Google rankings, which base optimization primarily on a calculation of incoming hyperlinks and brand visibility.
Keywords are a large part of a solid on-page SEO strategy: They make the content your audience already wants appear equally enticing to search algorithms. Nailing down a precise, targeted list of keywords is the first step to conquering SEO. You can manually pull keywords from your existing content, or you can buy a list of keywords or even generate a list from marketing automation software. Consider which keywords your competitors are using, and be sure to narrow down popular search terms.
With pay-per-click (PPC) search ads, your ad is placed as a “sponsored result” on the top or side of your search engine results and you pay for each received click. They are contextual, meaning ads will appear when a person is searching for a particular keyword or term.
Establish a PPC Strategy:
Developing a well thought-out PPC strategy prior to launching is crucial to the success of your campaign. Many times companies waste thousands of dollars while experimenting with PPC using an uneducated pray-and-spray approach. This results in little to no ROI and immense frustration that can tarnish their view of PPC as an effective form of digital advertising.
Start With Research: In order to accurately estimate your average cost-per-click and to determine what keywords and key phrases you can afford to be competitive with, it’s important to do preliminary research. Using the Google Keyword Planner tool, advertisers can research groups of keywords to see their average cost, search density (how often people are searching for a particular keyword) and level of competition (how many advertisers are bidding on a particular keyword). Using these metrics and some basic industry advertising statistics, we can estimate what the average cost per conversion would be for a particular keyword. This helps determine a recommended budget and also helps you to put together a comprehensive list of keywords and key phrases for your campaign.
Develop a Budget: Setting a budget for your campaign is a critical step in your PPC strategy. Determine how much you’re comfortable allocating daily or monthly to your search marketing campaigns. Using the information from your research, this will allow you to estimate how many conversions you can expect based on amount of total spend and what keywords and key phrases are worth going after based on cost, frequency of searches and conversion rates.
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Company A didn’t do their homework and chooses to target the broad, high-frequency keyword “conference call“. The average CPC bid to appear at the top of page one in Google for this keyword is $45. Based on their budget, they can expect to get 66 ad clicks. Assuming the industry average 2.7% conversion rate, Company A can expect to see 1-2 conversions before depleting their monthly budget.
Company B determines that there are a number of more specific keywords available at a lower cost-per-click, that can also help identify customers further into their buying journey. They choose to target the key phrase “best conference calling software” which has a high search density, but a lower competition level than others. The average CPC bid to appear at the top of page one in Google for this key phrase is $7.50. Based on their budget, they can expect to get 400 ad clicks. Assuming the industry average 2.7% conversion rate, Company B can expect to see 10-11 conversions before depleting their monthly budget.
Once your campaign strategy is planned out, it’s time to create your ads. Consider the following optimization tips and best practices when creating your search and display ads.
Research Your Competitors – Use tools or manual search to see what your competitors ads look like and how they rank in the results. Broad/Phrase/Exact Match – Google’s PPC platform provides three options for matching your keywords to search results. A good keyword strategy will utilize a blend of all three options.
Use Negative Keywords – Negative keywords allow you to employ greater control over where your ads display. Add these keywords as needed to prevent your ads from showing in situations where you might not want them to. Call-to-action (CTA) strategy – Since visitors may not be familiar with your company, the CTA should not be a sales pitch. Instead, offer a piece of content that is applicable to their search query.
Ad extensions – Add relevant and useful information to your PPC ads with extensions for sitelinks, location, calls, apps, reviews and callouts. In addition to being helpful, these extensions also increase the physical presence of your ad making it stand out to searchers. Headlines – PPC headlines have to stand out and convey authority. Don’t be afraid to use strong language to create a sense of urgency. Google Quality Score – Google’s quality score is the estimate of how relevant your ads, keywords and landing pages are to the person seeing your ad. A high score means your ad and landing page are relevant, so you can rank higher for the same bid amount. It’s based on:
Email marketing is one of the best ways to connect with customers and reach out to prospects with information that will catch their interest. It allows you to build and increase awareness around your brand and product, conduct lead generation and begin or continue conversations with people who might be interested in your product.
Some commons types of email marketing campaigns include:
1. Drip emails -These emails are sent out, typically as part of a larger marketing campaign and often include content such as white papers, ebooks and case studies. If part of an evolving message campaign, the emails are generally sent out at two- to three-week intervals over a quarter. 2. Emails for online and offline events - These include save-the-dates, invitations, registration reminders and follow-ups for in-person events and things like webinars, webcasts, etc. 3. Newsletters - These emails typically recur on a monthly or a bi-monthly basis. They usually contain news, product updates or other features of interest to customers and prospects.
Regardless of the type of email you send, certain principles and best practices always apply: • Know your audience: Understanding your audience behavior allows you to effectively personalize your email messages with language, tone and the right content. • Create Compelling Content: Send valuable content with messaging that aligns with your recipients stage in the buyer's journey. • Include a Call to Action: All emails should contain a CTA — a next step your reader can take to follow up or engage with you. • Test, Measure and Optimize: Measuring the results of email marketing actions gives insight into what you did well and where you can improve.
Marketing Velocity Central includes pre-loaded emails and email templates that can help you create targeted messages and measure performance.
Click on the image to see an example of Cisco testing emails with different messaging and CTAs.
The goal of a landing page is to drive conversion by click-through, form submission or lead generation. Most landing pages have a form because they are designed for customers to reveal themselves. Once they are revealed, they can be added to an appropriate customer journey or distribution list.
You can also use A/B testing to try variations of layout, content and other elements to optimize conversions. Landing pages are important for two reasons. First, search engines care about relevancy, so a high-quality landing page gets a better ranking (and more clicks) for less money. Second, a relevant and optimized landing page has higher conversion rates, meaning you get more leads for your money.
Use simple HTML templates and readable URLS
Use bullet points
Focus on a single Call to Action
Include a logo and a hero image
Make graphics clickable
Keep content compelling and clear
Provide a bio
Use a form to collect as little info as needed
Include a page that confirms the form submitted
Thank the customer after they submit a form!
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For more best practices, check out Web Marketing & Landing Pages.
Your landing page should provide the most direct path to the conversion goal you want, whether that is page views, click-throughs, or form submissions. One common optimization tactic is the use of video, which has proven to increase conversion rates by 100% in some cases. Here are some of the basic components:
Headline – Because the headline is the first thing users see, it’s important to create relevant “main” headings—often called header tags or H1 headings. These headings are typically the largest text on the page (next to other subheading tags in HTML like H2, H3, etc.). The H1 headings should be related to the link from the email, ad, or search term.
Image – Often referred to as the hero image, this should depict what is being marketed. Make sure the hero image is relevant and sound.
Body text – This is your opportunity to convince prospects, in a clear and concise way, the reasons why they should engage.
Call to action – This is what you want the user to do, whether it’s “Download the brief,” “Submit,” “Join today,” or “Call now” (to name a few). These should be concise and no more than three words. This is frequently on a button graphic to encourage click-throughs, but you can also use hyperlinks.