Google Content Network Ads Pay Off for Murad (Case Study)

Read this post at MarketingInProgress.com (Brett’s new blog).

Get the full details of the Murad case study of the Google Content Network at MarketingInProgress.com, the best marketing blog for entrepreneurs.

Often the red-headed stepchild of pay-per-click advertising, AdWord placement in Google’s content network is often frowned upon and shied away from. Not so for skincare distributor Murad. This article from Internet Retailer details how Murad was able to increase sales by 15% via ads on Google’s content network.

The campaign’s success had lead Murad to restructure its approach to paid search, according to Katherine LaFranchise, senior director of online marketing for Murad. “”We used to think that content advertising was only useful for increasing search conversions, but we found you can achieve direct return on investment from content campaigns,” she says.

It’s interesting that only one site from the network is mentioned as being the prime generator of traffic.

What’s the smallest niche you can think of for your company? What website(s) do those people visit? Is there any way you can get involved?

Google News Not So Newsworthy?

I just googled ‘news,’ expecting Google News to be the first link on the page. It wasn’t. CNN.com takes the cake.

What does that tell ya about Google? Mixed reaction?

Why Businesses Have to Leverage Web 2.0

I stumbled upon this great post at Decker Marketing.

Sam moderated a Web 2.0 panel recently and was kind enough to pass along his notes. Every one of them deserves your attention, but here are the quotes that really stick out to me:

1. 25% of Google search results is user generated content. If googling your company is one of the first steps a prospect before making a decision about you, how important is this stat?
2. Use any negative comments to your advantage. There is an opportunity in all negative comments. When people reject the idea of a corporate blog, they usually reject it for this reason. No one wants to unveil their dirty laundry (or facilitate a medium where even the clean laundry can get dirty). But that’s really not an accurate way to think about it. The way you deal with customer issues are much bigger opportunities than getting 5-star ratings from every visitor.
3. Have our PR firm find the A list or almost A list bloggers in our category.  Interview them for your blog.  They’ll likely reciprocate with links like “I was interviewed here”. This makes excellent sense. It leverages celebrity endorsement opportunities, it introduces you to the big dogs in your market, and it usually leads to them scratching your back in return. All you have to do is ask.

I’ve said it before, as have many others: Web 2.0 is opening up the entire business world to small business. However big you want your small business to be, you now have almost all the tools and almost all the opportunities that the big companies do. How are you using them? What if you just incorporated one “act of social media” – how would that affect your business?

AOL Keyword?

I found myself shocked today as I looked on the back of a book and noticed a call to action for an AOL Keyword.

AOL Keywords used to be pretty dang important. But is it even relevant now? In a world where Google dominates and Yahoo, Ask.com, AOL and many others continue to nip at their heels, what makes your keyword so special?

Click here for an interactive version of the AOL Page View graph below at Alexa.com

I’m not dogging AOL – they pretty much invented the web culture in the very beginning, and their marketing tactics of free minutes and CDs in the mail was extremely successful. But there time has come and gone, and I really don’t see how they could ever make a significant comeback.

Do you think the same thing will ever happen to Google? Do you see a time in the next 25 years where there’s a bigger player than Google?