Category — Blog

By Peter Wood, posted on The Wall 14 November, 2011

Blogger outreach is an interesting concept that in theory should work but often doesn’t. The idea is that brands approach bloggers and ask them to write about their products, services or initiatives. In an ideal world, this should be un-incentivised. The reality might be different, but the idea is that the opinion of a blogger, a web promoted authority on a subject, will be worth more than the opinion of a journalist or a glitzy write up on the company website.

[Read more →]

By Peter Wood, The Wall, November 4th, 2011

LinkedIn have been bevering away over the past few months making subtle improvements to their channel. The two stand out innovations are the ‘Ads by LinkedIn Members’ and the company status update.

One of the most pressing conundrums in B2B social marketing is working out ways to seed the content you’re creating into places where people are genuinely interested and grateful to receive it. Creating the content with the right company isn’t a problem; trying to share it in an organic way without spamming however, is time consuming and very manual.

[Read more →]

By Gareth Owen, Search Engine Watch,  October 26th, 2011

I am not usually one for a conspiracy theory, unless it’s contained within a decent yarn like the Da Vinci code… but over the last year in particular, I am becoming increasingly convinced that Google wants rid of natural search results – to the point where I would really like them to make a statement of some kind and put people out of their misery.

[Read more →]

By Peter Wood, The Wall, 2 November, 2011

Manchester United have struck a deal with Sapient Nitro to become their global digital agency and as part of that deal, word has it they’re going to create a social media platform that will allow the club to engage directly with their online fan base of nearly 660million.

[Read more →]

By Peter Wood

Facebook has always been about driving engagement, the problem they’ve had over the past few years is that their mechanism for engagement hasn’t gone much further than the inflexible ‘Like’ button, a share, or, if you’re lucky, a comment or two. This was great while it lasted, but it did open brands pages up for social media black hat techniques. We’ve seen a well-known socially irrelevant brand up their likes by 5,000 in the space of a week and take unprecedented engagement from people, that if you investigate, either work for their PR agency, or are praising the price of a product they’re ineligible to purchase. 

All very naughty and not in the spirit of organic brand growth.

[Read more →]

Really pleased that our Christmas paid search Campaign for Debenhams has been shortlisted in the UK Search Awards!

More info here…

Well done everyone!

Steak’s Social Media guru Peter Wood delves into the world of premiership footballers to examine how effectively players and clubs are harnessing the power of social media to engage with their loyal fans, and who could be doing more.

Peter’s findings, published in this week’s The Drum, explore the growing online communities passionately commenting and blogging about football.  As Arsenal’s Head of Marketing Charles Allen put it, ‘We recognise we can’t accommodate all our Arsenal fans inside Emirates Stadium, but via social media we can give them a taste of Arsenal wherever they are in the world.’

You can read the full article here.

Hussein Ebied, SEO Manager, Steak

Web analytics can be a bastion of data, the answers to every digital marketer’s little (and big) problems. But to others, it’s data overload: TMI from the tech geek world; more info than some site owners know what to do with. How can you find the needle in the haystack, that juicy nugget to set your data free?

Meet Hussein Ebied – one of Steak’s venerable SEO managers with five analytics-crushing years of digital marketing experience. Hussein joins us from Steak’s sunny New York offices to explain analytics options, best practices, and how to use your analytics tool to  not just run web reporting, but develop eye-popping analysis and insights

Before we delve into strategy, let’s review basics.

Google Analytics is a free tool offered by Google that reports key statistics about visitors to a website, used primarily by marketers. One study notes that Google Analytics is used by 81.6% of all the websites, whose use of traffic analysis tools is known. This sample is 52.4% of all websites. (See market share of all analytics tools.) GA can track visitors from search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, e-mail marketing and side materials such as links within PDFs.

The difference between Google Analytics (GA) and other analytics tools lies in cost, usability and expanded features. There are many free and paid analytics tools that allow you to track site traffic, keyword success and KPIs. Tracking these results allow you to shift your campaigns according to detailed metrics.

Other paid analytics tools have similar or more robust features, discussed below.  But tracking your website and keyword rankings does not tell a marketer about missed opportunities. We’ll discuss how to create web reports that provide analysis your clients will love.

What are the advantages of using Google Analytics (GA)?

Hussein Ebied: Google Analytics’ strengths are clearly its usability, accuracy, zero-cost and advanced features. Companies without a large budget for analytics, or advertisers who are new to the digital ad space would like GA for its quick elevation of key metrics and easy integration into any website.

GA also has a lot of features that come automated right out of the box, such as segmentation of paid and organic traffic and even tracking, which you might have to manually configure on other analytics tools.

What are the advantages to using paid analytics tools?

HE: Paid tools like Webtrends and Omniture’s Adobe SiteCatalyst could provide an advertiser with greater insights and segmentation features.  Until recently, multi-channel conversion tracking was not available on GA (currently in beta) but other paid tools have been doing it. Paid tools have a more robust integration with social media channels. Some tools have exclusive partnerships with large social properties that allow them to pull in unique data sets. Some paid tools are starting to combine analytics and campaign management under one platform.

What are the drawbacks of paid tools?

HE: Some analytics tools can come at a hefty price (in the thousands), which vary by packages and levels of customer service. If a web team does not budget for a higher level of service and does not know the tool, they could be in for a surprise. For example, Omniture, which powers Adobe SiteCatalyst, offers different types of platforms and service levels.  Implementation is also an issue.  While these tools are very powerful, it takes a serious commitment and resource level to ensure they are implemented correctly.  You’re definitely going to have to earn that increased level of insight.

What are the drawbacks of Google Analytics?

HE: Perhaps accuracy, but with any type of analytics solution your numbers will never match reality, even when compared to the accuracy of paid products. Also, you’re giving the people that create the keyword pricing direct insight into what those keywords are worth to you.  While Google has clearly stated that they don’t share data between AdWords and GA, it’s something to be aware of when making a decision on providers.

A Google Analytics Dashboard

What do marketing managers typically report with analytics?

HE: At the most basic level, marketers typically report KPIs (key performance indicators). Obvious KPIs like site visits and click-through-rates are compared on a month-over-month or year-over-year basis. Some agencies use this data to create custom reports showing easy-to-read metrics.  These reports, though, may not provide actionable learnings or recommendations.

Typical reporting also includes user actions or conversions. It’s important to not only look at the number of conversions, but also your conversion rate, which is the number of conversions over the number of visits to your site.

OK, we got the basics out of the way.  Let’s let’s get into the Steak, err, the meaty stuff.

So what’s the difference between web analysis and web reporting?

HE: The difference is that web reporting alone can be death-by-data – pages of info with no clear conclusions – while web analytics provides insight, actions and impact on the company.  (For more, read what the godfather of search and analytics, Avinash Kaushik, outlines in his colorful blog on real web analysis.)

Say you launched an SEO campaign for your website that sells the best, albeit most expensive, winter coats in the world.  When measuring on a year-over-year basis to account for seasonality, you might notice the following winter that your website saw an increase in traffic, but a dip in year-over-year sales. What went wrong? Now analysis becomes vital to the survival of your online business. A comprehensive web analysis should uncover several possible causes for this dip in traffic.

Step 1: Market Analysis

Your web analysis should question whether the previous winter was a special time for your business.  Was it the first time your coats entered the market? New product launches are susceptible to media buzz and word-of-mouth advertising. Monitoring your brand online is a great way to account for these trends.  Also, consider whether competitors’ discounts or economic factors have led customers to choose a more affordable product.

Step 2: Site Usability

If your traffic numbers are up year-over-year but your conversions (sales) and conversion rate went down, the problem could be usability and the conversion path users must follow on your website. Web analysis should help you pinpoint the sections of your site that experience the greatest bounce rate. Remedying design flaws on your website could increase the likelihood users will convert upon visiting.

Step 3: Search Trends / User Behavior

What if traffic did not increase, but your conversion rate improved year-over-year? A seasoned analyst might look at the actual keywords that drove traffic to your site but generated a lesser volume of traffic than the previous year. Using search engine tools, you may find there has been a general decline in search volume for those terms.

People may be less interested in searching for coats overall online.  Users may still be purchasing coats online, but rather than conducting generic, brand-neutral searches for “coats” on search engines, a great percentage of them now prefer to visit niche department stores or shopping aggregator sites, such as Amazon, that sell all types of brands including yours.

Web reporting - not analysis - despite the pretty colors.

How do some marketers provide reporting vs. analysis?

HE: Many agencies and in-house marketers overlook the importance of marrying the data in analysis to specific learnings and action items that could impact the overall goals of the business. A major part of any successful online marketing campaign is to ensure that your objectives are in line with the client’s business goals.

Some marketers don’t highlight causality.  Normal analytics tools don’t always reflect offline factors, environmental issues or shifts in consumer demand.  These tools can do the heavy lifting, but the operator must deliver the insights.

What factors should good web analysis include?

HE: You can’t just show that traffic has gone up or down. You have to uncover factors of why this increase or decrease occurred. If you examine offline factors, the possibilities are endless: facility changes, PR/ad campaigns, walk-ins, phone campaigns, public sentiment, etc.

Let’s say that one of your KPIs is conversion rate.  If the CR (conversion rate) has gone down, what are some of the related factors you should look at? Have impressions increased?  Has click through rates decreased?  What about the external factors?  Was there a price change on your site or on a competitor’s?  Did you get a mention in the press?

With online factors, however, you need to check what keywords drove traffic: Have they been changing over time? Are there major changes to the site? What changes have competitors implemented that could affect your company’s visibility?

Tailor KPIs to your clients

On what level, or for whom, should you write reports?

HE: A web analysis should address the needs and concerns of all stakeholders across different departments, levels and understandings.  Reports should be tailored across different levels of management: Your contact may be concerned with traffic and conversions, while top management is concerned with revenue. It’s impossible to create a report for everyone, but pay attention to who your stakeholders are and who your audience is.

Also, make sure you speak in a language everyone understands. The hotel industry, for example, may track REVPAR (reservation per available room) while the retail industry may want to see same store sale volumes.

What should marketers avoid?

HE: They should be careful about data overflow, because the amount of information they can pull from analytics could yield endless spreadsheets of data.  But great metrics are useless if not analyzed.  You also want to start with an open mind.  Many analysts want to prove a hypothesis that they already have.  Instead, I urge people to look at the data and let it guide your thinking.  Otherwise you’re just creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What reporting do marketers often mistake for analysis?

HE: Rather than have a report full of graphs and numbers representing your conversions over time, you should supplement the report with a brief description of what the graphs means, how it affects the business, or how you can further improve your KPIs.

Web Analysis Fundamentals Diagram by analytics guru Avinash Kaushik

What else should web analysis explain?

HE: Find reasons behind your metrics; connect the dots.  Marketers know how to present numbers, but not all marketers provide analysis.  Your analytics will tell you traffic has increased by 30 percent. What it won’t tell you is what online/offline factors contributed to this increase. These answers are always in the data; it’s just knowing where to look.

In summary, what key points should marketers use to ensure better analysis and less data-drenched reporting?

1. Determine the best analytics tools for your needs and resources.
2. Make sure your marketing objectives are in line with the client’s business goals.
3. Uncover factors that lead to increases and decreases in your performance metrics.
4. Tailor your reports across different levels of management.
5. Ensure that analysis includes insights, actions and impact on the company.

Leon Wong, Paid Search Strategist, Steak

We know what you’re thinking: How can I spend more time on social networks?  Surely that question was buzzing around the Googleplex this year, as the internet monolith prepped for its fourth foray into social networking. The result was something – regardless of Google+ success – that will forever up the bar in social networking tools (a la Circles, Hangouts and Sparks) – and more importantly, monetize social data.

With more than 10 million users in its first two weeks, and  more than 20 million in its first three, Google+ may accumulate over 3 percent of Facebook’s 750 million users in its first month by the end of July. Sure, one month is a blip when testing massive roll outs like a social network, but it’s a sign that – after many tries – Google may finally have its star in social.

As search marketers, we often need to figure out consumer’s intentions (don’t ask us about the guy on the corner though).  Now we’re taking our lens to Google’s to determine its intentions with its social arm, its implications on the public – and of course, on search.

Here to shed light on Google+ is Steak’s paid search strategist Leon Wong. With three years of search marketing experience with Fortune 500 clients, Wong shares his thoughts after touring what could reinvent online sharing, if not social networking altogether.

Google...plus you.

What’s in a Name?

As confusing as Google Plus sounds, the idea is quite simple. The search giant’s latest effort to integrate social media with search may be the next big thing – or perhaps, a revisit. Google Buzz, the predecessor of Google Plus, launched in February only to halt over complaints of security concerns and information leaks.  Since then, the buzz around Google’s social media was crickets – until now.

The new and improved social media integration will attempt to dazzle you with a bunch of features, such as the Circles, Instant Upload, Hangout, Huddle and Sparks.  At launch date, this buzz made me want to play in the sandbox with the rest of the exclusive invitees. Now, that elusive “invite” is more common than Lindsay Lohan mug shots.  Google+ is stretching its legs.

Let’s face it: Google has hundreds of millions of users, the vast majority of whom trust the company. Some may believe if they can’t find something on Google, it probably doesn’t exist.  It’s a wonder, though, how the search king with over $30 billion in annual revenue and 28,000 employees worldwide found itself chasing the coattails of Facebook.

But here we are. Google knows that it must fill the void of marrying people with data: something that if they don’t fill, someone else will — and win the Web, admitted Google insiders.

People love Gmail; they love YouTube; they love search. And now with Circles, Google has fixed something that Facebook unwittingly failed to do. Instead of mashing all your contacts into a single feed, you can now organize your contacts into a hierarchy.  It allows you to “follow” people, not necessarily request them (like Twitter meets the anti-Facebook), so anyone can be in your circles — family, friends, coworkers, hobby groups, even celebrities. You can create a circle of those you don’t know, but want to follow.

The buzz is there, the ‘wow’ factor is there. But the next big question is why now?

Google Plus Features: Circles, Hangouts, Instant Upload, Sparks, Huddle

Data=Dollars

Up till now Google has been an algorithmic company. But they have come to realize – after many failures – that consumer behavior is inherently irrational and can not be anticipated through pure metrics.  At its core this is a data play in that Google wants to understand consumers’ behavior in the here and now, but it also may answer how to monetize social.

If Google can marry its massive search data with its equally massive display data alongside topics that you and your friends like – nicely self-organized by interest – Google can learn your interests based on what your friends have (or want to have), and start presenting hyper- targeted ads against that.

For example, Google knows that I have searched for fly fishing equipment, have viewed fly fishing videos on YouTube, and clicked on display ads related to fly fishing.  That’s the old Google.

The new Google now knows that I have a group of friends that I “circled” as Fly Fishing Buddies.  They saw a “spark” related to fly fishing, and they can now mine my posts about fly fishing.  They can now serve me relevant ads across the web (through their display network and beyond) that are related to fly fishing, providing me specific brands that my friends already purchased, or specific locations where I’ve expressed a desire to fish, etc.

Google has the advertising inventory that Facebook doesn’t have.  Google also has years’ worth of prior search and display data that the recent Facebook-Microsoft Bing alliance doesn’t have.  If Google can convince people that aggregating all this data is not a privacy problem, it could deliver something special.  This is search targeting + contextual targeting + audience targeting + social network targeting.  Viola, instant monetization of social!

Show Them the (Ad) Money

Google+ Sparks, a personal-interest stream feature

Well, I’m sure all the advertisers are curious as to how Google+ will impact search, particularly paid search. While taking the tour, I couldn’t help but notice the Sparks feature. Initially, I thought it was a place for people to meet. However after a few clicks through, I soon realized that it’s actually a search bar, which allows you to look up items of your interest. Google’s algorithm will automatically sort and group articles that it predicts your likes into a drop down menu, and allow you to bookmark your interests.

Having the ability to create a personal space where you could indulge at leisure is very attractive. The bottom line is if there is a place to implement sponsored ads, I will not be surprised to see a few banner or text ads around that area.

The ad value is amplified when you start sharing your articles and bookmarked searches with a specific person, circle, group of circles or the general public that you might find the articles intriguing as well.  Though I can hear the news organizations grumbling already…

More Toys

What about Hangouts, Instant Upload or Huddle?  If these features look familiar, they should: they’re derived from other platforms or social media sites like Facebook. Hangouts will let you virtually hangout with up to 10 contacts via Skype-like video chat, while Instant Upload allows you to upload pictures from your mobile phone “instantly” (duh!). Huddle is just simply a group chat with your friends (well, hello again, AOL chat rooms!).

All of this translates into one goal: to gather social behavior data. By building an integrated platform for you to manage your friends and interactions, Google can now collect information about you and how people interact with you. This type of data can only be harvested from an integrated social media platform – thus Google Plus!

World Domination?

Google+ Circles, a group contact organizer

So the development of Google Plus is not just another one of Google’s plans to take over the world, but rather to own another piece of real estate in the social media space. Creating another channel to collect data and serve relevant ads to a particular group or individual is more logical and the right path for it start breathing down Facebook’s neck, especially considering the cozy partnership Facebook has with Bing. (See Steak’s opinion on the Facebook-Bing partnership, 5/17/11)

After all, paid search is still Google’s bread and butter. It helps the search giant make more than $33 billion dollars in revenue per year. Features such as Circles, Hangout, and Sparks are just few examples of how Google plans to garner user data in this space. Whether Google is trying to steal the social media crown or just simply create a new channel to collect information, I know my Steak comrades and I will be dissecting its every move.  I sure am glad I found that dang invite.

By Duncan Parry, Search Engine Watch,  July 20, 2011

Friends. Followers. Contacts. Circles. Social networks can be fun and productive for work or pleasure.

But social networks are also time consuming – more than most of us probably care to admit. With the average person reported to have 130 friends and growing on Facebook alone, the continuous flow of updates from individuals and organizations is overwhelming. From that page you liked on Facebook, to that industry pundit you follow on Twitter, and many others in between, everybody is updating, tweeting, posting, liking, checking in, sharing, +1ing…

Here’s the thing. It’s too much. Admit it. You’re overwhelmed.

I’ve declared a few times on Facebook and Twitter my plans to carry out a cull. A few people or pages get dropped. But…what if that person notices? What if that ex-colleague goes to work somewhere interesting? What if I miss that industry announcement or insider tip? Better not be too harsh, better stay connected.

I’m now on five social networks – four public ones and one closed network for work (Yammer). This week I’ve faced the truth: it’s too much. Time for a cull. But where to start?

Facebook

I know instinctively that Facebook is my personal space – it’s where friends and family share photos and post personal updates. It’s where I go to get away from work – not to blend the personal and professional.

Step one: un-friend work-only contacts and pages. Step two: move them to LinkedIn or Twitter depending on their social media activity; do I want to only keep in contact with them (LinkedIn) or read what they have to say (Twitter)?

Twitter

I maintain several accounts for myself and work, and the work accounts have clear objectives and strategies. My own, I freely admit, doesn’t. It’s a collection of personal and work interests, and I’m a generous follower.

Time for a change. This is the worrying bit – do I follow my instinct, and cull anybody I don’t regularly find useful? Will I miss out? What will happen to my follower volume? Should I care?

I’ve decide to not rush in here – analyzing hundreds of followers and then making bulk changes, whether un-following or adding them to lists, isn’t particularly easy and I’ve yet to find a tool with all the functionality I want to speed this up. Instead, I’m removing accounts I don’t find useful when I see messages from them – cleaning up my Twitter stream as I go.

LinkedIn & Yammer

LinkedIn is the easiest to keep under control – I’m cautious of adding anybody who approaches me (especially recruiters). Yammer, as a B2B network, is even easier to keep relevant – I have 100 percent control over groups and who I follow (OK, so I’m an admin, which helps.)

Google Plus

Now that’s a blank canvas. So how will I avoid repeating the mistakes I’ve drifted into on Facebook and Twitter?

Circles. I’ve immediately setup three – Work, Family & Friends and Acquaintances. I know I’ll add a further one for “Hobbies & Sports” when businesses and organizations have official pages. I might split my work circle up in future – but I’m keeping them small, and have already started consciously ignoring some followers who I don’t want in my circles.

Social Media Relevancy

If I used to be your friend on Facebook, or I no longer mutually follow you on Twitter, sorry. Relevancy has been one of the underpinning characteristics of the biggest success story of digital – search – and the same applies to social media.

Life’s too short, too busy, and too rushed for the irrelevant. For that attitude, I won’t apologize.