Digital Marketing Midterm

Clicks

(+) Instantaneous feedback on individual ads *Click-Through Rate (CTR) = the number of times a link was clicked divided by the number of times it was seen (CTR=Clicks/Impressions) (-) Correlation between CTR and ad effectiveness is debatable

Broad Match Modifier

(combined with phrase match after feb2021) -contains modified terms but not synonyms -if you want to use broad match modifier, add (+) before each selected word -restricts Google's expanded match capabilities

ABCs of Google Analytics

-A for Acquisition: *What brought visitors to your site? *How did visitors find your site? -B for Behavior: *What did visitors do once they got there? *This not only includes what pages they visited but specifies of how they interacted with your pages and site -C for Conversion: *Did they do what you wanted them to do? *Here is where you see all your goal conversions, like downloading material, form submissions, etc.

Real-Time bidding (RTB) through ad exchange

-A platform running an auction to determine which advertiser buys an individual impression in real time (~100 milliseconds) **Remnant space **Non-guaranteed **Spot market

Landing Page Optimization - A/B testing

-A/B testing (split testing) is important tool for identifying the optimal creative ** 2 ideas are shown to various consumers and you track feedback and activity

Real-Time Buying (RTB)

-Ad exchanges run auctions to determine which advertisers buys an individual impression in real time (<0.1 seconds) -Real Time Bidders bid on individual impressions in real time as they arise using computer algorithms ("programmatic buying")

Native Ads

-Advertisers face a trade-off between ad clicks and brand recognition -Publishers need to strike a balance between ad clicks and the platforms trustworthiness -For policy makers, concerns that native advertising confuses customers prompted the US Federal Trade Commission to issue guidelines for disclosing native ads -Become less skippable - they force consumers to look

Quality Score

-Affects eligibility to compete in auction, likelihood of winning auction, and the actual amount paid per click -Score: 1 is lowest, 10 is highest. if score is low you wont be on search page. 3 main dimensions to improve: 1. Click through rate: -Identify keywords with low Quality Score and may be worthwhile pausing or deleting them -Low scores bring down overall ad group quality -Can be affected by Ad groups (when you have multiple ads under same keywords) 2. Ad Relevancy: -Make keyword matches more restrictive -Build negative keyword list to filter irrelevant search queries 3. Landing Page: -page users enter your site from

Search Engine Optimization

-Aiming to rank high in organic results -Earn an organic spot without paying the search engine -Long-term effort. If you want to improve ranking it's not immediate

Problems with Second-Price Auctions

-Anyone can take any spot high as long as they bid enough: *Ex. hedge fund company places bid on Game Stop keywords to show up when people google game stop stocks *because of the problems, Google created another dimension called Quality Score

Why generalized second price auctions weighted by quality?

-Auctions are efficient in that they extract more revenue from higher value words **They allow price discrimination without the auctioneer (Google) needing to determine willingness to pay **The auction means that (roughly) advertisers pay the value of the word to the next highest bidder -Auctions are stable, across words and time: **If a word suddenly becomes valuable, the auction can pick that up

Paid Search Advertising (PPC - paid per click)

-Bidding for placement in the paid listings -Earn an ad spot by paying the search engine -More viable option for immediate rank improvements.

Direct buying from publishers

-Bulk ad purchase that specifies the price and quantity, as well as the time frame and targeting criteria **Premium Space (big brand companies) **Guaranteed Contract **Future Market

Step 2 of Consumer Buying Decision - Active Evaluation

-Collecting information/doing research before making a decision -Search done in offline world: **calls/visits/friends. problems with this because its hard to find information (friends might not be available, etc.) **Asymmetric information and high search cost. -Internet/digital facilitates internet search **Low search cost by SE **Coupons can be found more easily

Why go digital?

-Consumers are online, more than ever before! -Firm productivity can be improved by digital technology and data analytics *Better promotion effectiveness via SEO and online advertising *Better engagement between firms and customer via social media

Targeting via sophisticated matching

-Contextual targeting: ads displayed based on content of web site. Historical behavior is not used -Behavioral Targeting: Delivering relevant messages to audiences based on interests defined by recency and frequency of site navigation behaviors. Called "interest-based" targeting on Google -Retargeting / Remarketing: Online ad is shown for user who searched for (Or saw) a particular kind of content. Based on past sites a user has visited.

Link Building - How to get more inbound links?

-Create link worthy content -Content variety -Web PR -Competitor analysis

Generalized Second-Price Auction with Quality score

-Currently used by Google and Bing -Position determined by: ad rank = bids x quality score -CPC=the next guys ad / own quality score + a bid increment

Broad Match

-Default match type -If you don't modify your keywords, Google will assume you want broad match -Display ads if searcher's query matches the key word exactly, on variations like singular and plural, stemming, misspellings, as well as related keywords. anything remotely related will show up -ex. custom made shoes can trigger ads on search queries like: **Custom made shoes **Shoes custom-made **remove shoes for customs? **Origami horseshoe crab pattern

Display vs Paid Search ads

-Display ads: users/consumers are passive and near top of funnel -Paid search ads: users/consumers are proactive and near bottom of the funnel

Step 3 of Online Visitor Purchase Funnel

-During the Visit (Clickthrough or bounce) *Impressions: number of times a content was seen *Clickthrough: the number of times a link was clicked by a visitor *Clickthrough rate (CTR): number of times a link was clicked / impressions *Sessions: total number of times users visit the website (session can include multiple pageviews (PV))

Step 4 of Online Visitor Purchase Funnel

-Exit or Convert *Bounces (or single page view visits): views consisting of a single page view *Bounce rate: % of visits consisting of a single page view *Conversion: Complete a purchase or generate a lead *Conversion Rate (CR): # of conversions/number of visitors

Developing keyword list

-Figure our how potential customers are searching for your product -Use Google's auto-complete feature

Targeting based on simple rules

-Geo-Targeting (Country, state, city, IP Address) -OS / Browser / Devices -Day and Time

Paid search ads are often sold by aution:

-Google runs an auction for every search on real time -Advertisers only pay when user CLICKS (not for display ads!) -Paid search auctions are based on a "Generalized Second Price" auction

Backlinks (off-site SEO)

-Inbound links (backlinks): links that point back to your site from an external site **based on a citation concept; considered 'online currency' **a 'silent vote of confidence from the site linking to you -When Google began, this was the most important factor to determine ranking/relevance. How? **Number of backlink sites **Quality of backlink sites **Share of links on backlink site

How can manufacturers and retailers fight against price competition? (part of step 2: Active Evaluation)

-Increase product differentiation, even just perceived -Increase switching cost (ex. loyalty program)

Profiles of non-adopters

-Internet adoption propensity falls with age -Internet adoption propensity increases with income -Internet adoption propensity increases with education

Evaluate alternatives in consideration set (part of step 2: Active Evaluation)

-Is the product performing as claimed? - Are there any unobservable attributes? -Does this product match my preference? -User Generated Content (UGC)

Google display network offer two options for contextual targeting

-Keyword targeting: Choose words or phrases related to your product/service so Google can automatically target your ads to relevant websites on the Google Display Network that your customers visit -Topic targeting: Target your ad to multiple pages about specific topics at once. Topic targeting lets you reach a broad range of pages on the Display Network

Step 2 of Online Visitor Purchase Funnel

-Landing page *The page that identifies the beginning of a visit

**Issues with Ad networks

-Many ad networks with competing business models -Lack of transparency - site reporting often masked -Fixed CPM - all impressions cost the same regardless of value -Need efficiency

How do firms benefit from an attribution model?

-Measure the value of your efforts in terms of ROI -Make informed decisions on budget allocation

Phrase Match

-More narrow that BMM -Ads will only be triggered by the phrase you specify (order matters!!) -Can apply to single-word or multi-word keywords by enclosing it in quotes

Implication of reduced search cost to firm (part of step 2: Active Evaluation)

-More price competition -Less loyalty -Less commitment

How is digital marketing different?

-More targeting and context relevant -More use of personal devices rather than mass media -Use of social aspect and viral marketing -More measurability -Less impactful? More annoying and invasive?

What is PageRank?

-Numeric value measure the importance of a page on the web. Named after Larry Page **Link analysis algorithm assigns numerical weight to each element (webpage) in the entire set (web) to measure the importance of the page **SUM OF THE PAGERANK OF ALL PAGES IN A SYSTEM IS SET TO 1

Internet Use Over Time

-Offline population has declined substantially since 2000 -Reasons for not using internet: *No interest or did not think the internet was relevant (34%) *Too difficult to use or "too old to learn" (32%) *The expense of internet service or owning a computer (19%)

Negative Phrase-Matched Keywords

-Prevent ads from appearing when multiple words appear in a specific order in a searchers query

**Ad Networks

-Purchase remnant inventory across many publishers and resell to advertisers at a premium -An essential vehicle for monetizing the Long Tail of the Internet. Provide small and mid-sized online publishers with more advertising revenues

Content Tactics for On-page SEO

-Quality content!!! **content needs to be keyword rich - but not too rich (2-4% of content) **regular, helpful content targeted to audience **freshness or signs your site is alive and growing.

Attribution Model

-Rule, or set of rules that determines how credit for sales and conversions is assigned to touch points in conversion paths (ex. a customer makes a purchase after first seeing an email sent to her, then a display ad, and finally a paid search ad) -Consumers are contacted by companies through multiple touch points (email, display ad, organic and paid search, etc.)

Why is search important?

-Search engines are the doorway to the internet (80% of sites are found through search engines) -Different key phrases can be used to target consumers at every phase of the purchase funnel

How is digital marketing the same?

-Should convey the message to the right audience -Should be engaging and effective -Can be used for both brand building and direct response

Step 1 of Online Visitor Purchase Funnel

-Source/Medium *Organic search *Display advertising/search advertising *Referral (URL that originally generated the request for the current visit) *Direct (not referral)

Exact Match

-Targets narrowest audience -[ ] around your keywords -Triggered by exact keywords, but typos will still show up

Showrooming (part of step 3: purchase decision)

-The practice of examining products in a store and then buying online for a lower price

Webrooming (part of step 3: purchase decision)

-The process of researching products online and then visiting a store to make a purchase -More common than showrooming -Millennials prefer webrooming

How to pick an attribution model?

-There is a spectrum. Last click is considered more conservative, while first click is growth-oriented. -A perfect attribution model would assign to each channel a value equal to the loss of revenue that would occur if the given channel was removed (i.e. incremental lift) **Also uses both purchase and no purchase data

Negative Keywords

-Traffic a firm wants to avoid -Operate as filters, and prevent ads from triggering on search queries that contain negative keywords -Negative keyword is a single word or phrase prefaced by a (-) symbol -Doesn't filter out close variants

Step 4 of Consumer Buying Decision - Post-purchase Behavior

-What does internet and digital media add? **WOM Generation ***positive ones can be used as promotional content ***negative ones can be used as useful feedback **Behavior-based recommendations: customer purchase history becomes a piece of "Big Data"

SEO - The White and Black Hat

-White Hat SEO (Legitimate): **Conforms to the search engines' guidelines and involves no deception **Create content for users and search engines -Black Hat SEO (illegitimate): **Going overboard with SEOs **Trying to deceive search engine to increase ranking **Use reputable SEO company & beware guarantees "#1 site on Google."

Personas: The foundation of content marketing

-a method of market segmentation wherein we collect a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to build archetypes of the members of our target audience -2 components **Segment Elements (demographics, needs, objectives) **Humanizing elements (photo, name, personal details)

How Search Engines Work

1. Crawl the web -via spiders aka web crawlers -Goes from page to page, following links and recording what it finds 2. Index the Web pages they find -Index is what the spider creates. "Library" of pages on the internet -SE only speaks HTML, so some sites might be crawlable but not communicable 3. Process User Queries -Users input a search query by typing a keyword or phrase into the search bar. SE then checks index and ranks pages according to relevance. 4. Returned ranked results from the index in the SERP (search engine results page) -Difficult step and most SE's don't disclose how they rank

Display ads are mainly sold in one of two ways:

1. Direct buying from publishers 2. Real-time bidding (RTB) through ad exchange

"off the shelf" methods to almost immediately check process

1. HubSpot Website Grader -Can evaluate any website you enter into their query -Assess the health of website architecture 2. Google Analytics -Need to have administrative access to the website as webmaster -Obtain insights from website traffic

Content Marketing rests of 3 things

1. Know your planning 2. Content creation 3. Content diffusion

Popular attribution rules:

1. Last interaction: assigns credit to last one consumer sees 2. First interaction: assigns credit to the first one consumer sees 3. Linear: splits credit evenly among interactions

Six Secrets of the On-Page Optimization

1. The most important piece of on-page optimization is the title of the page 2. Incorporate key words into your URL 3. The meta description does not influence ranking so much, but really impacts "clickability" of your results and it is what the SE picks up. 4. Headers: Visible in the source code, contribute towards Google's perception of the subject matter of the page. Make sure header has keyword 5. Page body: context and proximity in the text play a role - keywords should be close to the beginning of the body copy. 6. Alt tags: descriptions of images on your site. (help people who use screen readers to use your website; also allows Google to interpret images, index them, and support your ranking)

Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) enable advertisers to:

1. Use real-time bidding technology 2. Purchase inventory across multiple ad exchanges 3. Get analytics on campaign performance

Average time users spend watching digital video everyday

2 hours, 13 mins

Global Internet Penetration is only ____%.

46%

Engagement

A catch-all for user interactions with the ad beyond clicking including mouse-over, interacting with interactive ads, rollover, start or skip video

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

A form of internet marketing that involves the promotion of webpages by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERP)

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A set of quantifiable measures that a company or industry uses to gauge or compare performance in terms of meeting their strategic and operational goals. **Should be set before launching a campaign **What metrics you use for KPI depend on your strategic objectives **Should contain SMART objectives

_____ seem to be the oldest standard format in use for display advertising

Banners -On a web page, a graphic advertising display linked to the advertisers web page

Navigational Key Phrases in SE's

Brand Names (ex. "United Airlines," "Calvin Klein")

Advertising types: Branding vs. Direct Response

Branding objective is to drive brand/product awareness (ie brand awareness or brand favorability) Direct Response objective is to drive specific consumer action or "lead" (ex. volume of lead or cost per lead)

5 types of keyword matches

Broad match Broad match modifier Phrase match Exact match Negative match

Step 1 of Consumer Buying Decision - Initial Consideration

Can be initiated by: -consumer -by traditional media such as TV ads **limitations compared to digital media ad = most people will be watching the same thing. but with digital media you see different ads than your parents, friends, etc. **Digital media is targeted. -Opinion leaders: influencers on social media

Conversions

Catch all for user interactions with advertiser including sign-ups (newsletter, membership, etc.) downloads, shopping on-site, placing items in cart, purchasing. **Conversion Rate (CR) = Conversions/Clicks **Probability of purchase = CTR x CR, here purchase is broadly defined

Data Management Platforms (DMP):

Companies that track and profile users and resell bundles of users to advertisers

Retargeting is especially effective on:

E-commerce sites. You can segment based on how much a user has looked at your page. This might not work if you have small web traffic or users delete cookies often.

Informational Key Phrases in SE's

Generic search (ex. "high cholesterol," "school ranking")

Tracking Progress

Helps identify SWOT

Consumer Buying Decision

Initial Consideration -> Active Evaluation -> Purchase Decision -> Post-Purchase Behavior

Supply Side Platforms (SSP):

Inventory management for publishers that allow them to access multiple ad exchanges per auction

Challenges with Impressions:

Issue with viewability

Purchase Funnel of a Typical Online Visitor

Marketing Efforts (Source) -> Landing Page -> Clickthrough or Bounce -> Convert or Exit

Content Marketing

Process of creating high-quality, valuable content to attract, inform, and engage an audience, while also promoting the brand itself **Applies directly to SEO, display ads, social media campaigns, and can be more broadly applied

Step 3 of Consumer Buying Decision - Purchase Decision

Purchase at online store, offline store, or through mobile app. (omnichannel marketing)

Why content marketing?

Reputation, Search, Reach, and Social Media

Types of SEM:

SEO & PPC

Transactional Key Phrases in SE's

Specific information on products/services (ex. "Macbook Pro," "Cannon T5i")

(T/F): Online advertising surpasses traditional advertising

TRUE!!

What is digital marketing?

The use of internet connected devices and electronic media to engage a customer. -Search advertising -Display advertising -Social media marketing -Email

(T/F)P: Most large advertisers use a wide range of methods for ads: from direct to RTB

True. (waterfalling to header bidding)

How are display ads bought and sold?

User generates Impression Opportunity Publisher (sell ad on website to marketplace) Advertiser (buys ads targeted at users in marketplace)

Top platforms used among teens

YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. Facebook is no longer the dominant online platform.

What does max CPC mean?

Your bid

Paid search is ~___% of online ad spend

~40%