DMA SEMC News & Updates

Here's some upcoming activities for the DMA SEMC and related membership segment groups:

July 15, 2008 -- Your Digital Company, Today and in 2013:  How to Leverage Email and Online Trust for Success -- 11:00 AM PDT / 2:00 PM EDT (on-demand July 16th) Register now for this complimentary, 60 minute webinar. One lucky attendee on July 15th will be drawn to win a $300.00 gift certificate from Amazon, Circuit City, Starbucks or Zappos; winner's choice!

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July 24, 2008 -- Cut Through the Clutter with Contextual Marketing -- 2:00-3:00 PM EDT Register now for this virtual session - FREE to SEMC members.

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October 14, 2008 -- SEMC Breakfast Roundtables at DMA08 -- 8:15-9:00 AM PDT

Table 1:  Learn how to Crawl, Walk and Run into Search Campaigns

Learn about the different types of search campaigns including pay per click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), paid inclusion, content match, and site targeting. Ask experts about which types of campaigns are best for companies just starting out. If you already have a search campaign running, learn how best to integrate both paid search and organic search campaigns to maximize your ROI. Get tips, advice and suggestions.  The panelists will provide a list of the top 10 SEM resources.  Led by:

John McCarthy, Director, Director of Search Engine Optimization, WebMetro

Marty Shaw, Sales and Business Development, Global-Z

Table 2:  Extreme Search Marketing

Are you already a sure-footed search marketer? Learn to traverse more treacherous paths with extreme search marketing. Get cross-training in advanced strategies such as time/day parting, demo targeting, local map listings, post-click optimization and more. Discussion is lead by a top executive and winner of last year’s ECHO Award for Search Marketing Excellence.  Led by:

Alex Porter, Vice President, Location3 Media

DMA08 Conference & Exhibition, Oct. 11-16, 2008 in Las Vegas, will provide nine leading-edge educational tracks to help marketers strategize and become masters of their craft. Two of those nine tracks

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Take a look at the DMA Search Engine Marketing Segment Web Page!   Post an article on the SEMC Blog, be a SEM sponsor, host an open phone call, participate in a work group, be a player in this multi-channel space.  Feedback is welcome.

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Thank you for the many session ideas submitted!  I will be in contact with many of you shortly to discuss content and scheduling.  Please note that it’s not too late to submit an idea for a call or session. 

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COMMITMENT TO CONSUMER CHOICE COMPLIANCE

The Commitment to Consumer Choice provides consumers with more choices when it comes to the volume and types of mail they wish to receive. It also provides an effective self regulatory response to potentially harmful Do Not Mail legislation. We will cover all aspects of the CCC – with special emphasis on the requirement to notify consumers of the opportunity to eliminate or modify mailings. Guidance will be provided on how the consumer notification can be crafted in a context that is not only suitable for your organization, but also allows operational flexibility.

Successful completion of the CCC test is a requirement for all DMA members who market to consumers using the mail. The CCC video and test can be viewed at www.DMACCC.org. As an e-seminar participant, you will be able to take this test online during the seminar. Once successfully completed, you will receive details on how to download and utilize DMA’s new Trusted Marketer Seal on your publications as a sign to consumers that your organization values their privacy and mailing preferences.

To register, please email Kristina Riordan at kriordan@the-dma.org with the date you wish to participate, and the names and email addresses of those attending from your organization. Confirmation and e-seminar details will be emailed to each participant shortly thereafter.

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Seeking International business? There’s an exciting Networking Reception, to be held at DMA08 on Monday, October 13 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.  It's a great opportunity to network and enjoy an evening of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with leading International Direct Marketing executives. To enhance your company's exposure to this International network, why not be a sponsor for this event? Contact Susan at szuniga@the-dma.org or call 212-768-7277 Ext. 1568 for more information.

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DMA’s “Recycle Please” campaign is a nationwide public education campaign that asks members of the direct marketing community to display the “Recycle Please” logo in their catalogs and direct mail pieces to encourage consumers to recycle them after reading them.  Through this campaign, DMA intends to overcome the lack of public awareness that catalogs and mixed paper can be recycled, and consequently, improve the overall recycling/recovery rate of used catalogs and direct mail in the US.  In order to participate, you must (a) be a DMA member (or affiliate), (b) notify DMA of your intention to participate, and (c) supply DMA with sample copies of how you used or intend to use the logo.  To participate, please email environment@the-dma.org.

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Work Groups:  SEMC volunteers give back and make great new contacts

NEW SEGMENT GROUPS starting:  Mobile Marketing and Social Marketing

As with all our sessions, if you have a case study in the use of these channels, please let us know. 

Lisa Merizio Smith, Director, Segment Services, DMA

Guide to Optimizing and Marketing with Blogs

Post by Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing

One of the hottest topics amongst direct marketers is how to use blogs as tools for marketing online and specifically, for search engine marketing. Below is an excerpt of an up coming advanced training module from the DMA Search Engine Marketing Certification program covering "Blogs as Search Marketing Tools".

Why blog? - There are 122 million blogs tracked by Technorati, yet only 2600 of them have over 1000 inbound links. Link building savvy search engine optimization professionals have opportunity to leverage their sills at linking along with content optimization to realize blogging's full marketing potential.

Types of blogs - Depending how you categorize them, there are many, many different types of blogs. Some people segment them by format or media type, such as Vlogs, Moblogs and Linkblogs. It's also pretty common to distinguish blogs by subject matter: music, politics, cooking, reviews, etc. Yet another way to understand the different types of blogs is through their purpose: persona, corporate, branding, sales or content monetization.

Blogging basics - There five general rules we typically give: Set Goals, Know the Audience, Content is King, Socialize and Measure. To be sure, we could drill down deep on each one of these but the main idea is to have an objective and then let that goal along with analytics guide your content decisions.

Blogging tools - WordPress, Blogger, Feedburner, Google Analytics, the list goes on and on when it comes to blogging tools and helper applications.

Learn Search Marketing at DMA07

From Lee Odden of Online Marketing Blog:

The DMA07 conference will soon be upon us (Oct 13-18) and this year there's more search marketing programming to pick from than ever.

DMA07 programs in SEM include:

• Current Trends in Paid Search -
• Finding Gold in Paid Search Campaigns -
• Mobile Search Marketing: Separating Fact From Fiction -
• Optimizing ROI by Integrating Online Marketing Applications -
• Pre Conference - Search Marketing Certification Primer -
  Part I: Introduction to Search Engine Marketing.
  Part II: Search Engine Basics.
  Part III: Site Indexing Challenges and How to Fix Them.
  Part IV: Search Engine and Directory Submission/Inclusion Tactics.
  
• Search, Seize, and Sell: The Power of Search Engine Marketing -
• Strategic Search Marketing. Support the Entire Customer Buying Cycle -
• Surfing the Search Marketing Wave: What's Hot, What to Watch and What's So Over -
• What Google, Yahoo and MSN Don't Tell You, How To Save Money and Win at Search -
• Free Clicks and Top Search Positions: Advanced SEO Copywriting Strategies -
• Search Engine Marketing Experience -
• Having a Web Site Isn't Enough: The Why's, Wherefores, and In’s and Out’s of Web Analytics, SEO, and SEM that Drive Clicks, Hits, and Conversions: Internet Marketing in 6 Easy Steps
• Desperately Seeking Links: Baiting, Buying and Socializing for Links -

 

Search Engine Marketing and Email Experience Councils Joint Networking Reception

Proving that SEMC can practice what it preaches in multichannel strategy, the council is teaming with DMA’s new Email Experience Council for a night of networking on Saturday, October 13, from 5 to 6 p.m.  The event costs $65.

Meet the Search Engine Marketing Council OpCom

Have you met the members of the DMA Search Engine Marketing Council's operating committee?  If not, we can provide the next best thing, which is a set of short video interviews with some of the opcom members taken at the DM Days conference this week.

The full set of interviews is here, you can see them individually on Google Video.

Heather Lloyd Martin
Mike Moran
Jeanette Kocsis
Detlev Johnson

DM Days New York

By Lee Odden

Day one of DM Days 2007 has kicked off with a decidedly social media and online marketing flavor. The keynote session "Next Gen Interactive: How Marketers are Optimizing the Power of Social Media to Connect and Deliver Results" with DMA President John Greco and representatives from BusinesOnLine, IBM, Vmix and Crayon presented both the challenges and opportunities for direct marketers in the social media space.

A lot of effort is being put into helping direct marketers understand the nature of social media, where it might fit into their marketing future and how they might go about testing now. 

The DMA Search Engine Marketing Council has quite a bit going on between sessions on search marketing, informational events and there will be presentations on the DMA search marketing certification program as well by the coordinator of that program, Dr. Amanda Whatlington. There’s also a one day seminar here in NYC after the DM Days event, “Search Engine Marketing - The Basics” on June 27th from 9-3:30.

The biggest challenge the DMA’s Search Engine Marketing Council faces in this regard is how to best provide insight and actionable information in a context direct marketers can relate to. The good news, is that we have several long time search marketers on hand to help with panels such as “Popularity Online: Winning Search and the Social Media Contest“ which ran yesterday morning. The session included included Heather Lloyd Martin, Detlev Johnson, Mike Moran, Jeanette Kocsis and Lee Odden.

Today, there will be several site clinics where attendees can have their web sites reviewed by panels of search engine optimization experts as well as live training for the Search Engine Marketing Certification program.

Search Engine Marketing - Wave of the Future!

Get ahead and learn the most actionable search marketing items now! Attending this seminar, "Search Engine Marketing - The Basics", will provide you with a concrete understanding of how SEO, Link Building, PPC and Online Branding can benefit you.

This daytime seminar is conveniently broken down into four sessions. Take this opportunity to grasp the fundamentals of search engine marketing and walk away with comprehensive skills you can apply immediately!

Session 1: SEO & Writing for the Web
Learn how to create content that yield tremendous results by optimizing them to rank in search engines and creating copy that entices clicks on your listing in search results.

Session 2: Increase Traffic & Sales by Building Popularity
Receive specific examples on what you can do today to build your popularity and maximize your sales and ROI. Learn how popularity plays a primary role in success online.

Session 3: Pay Per Click Advertising
Learn the PPC techniques of the experts. You will be given a crash course on competitive PPC techniques including writing ads that win, optimizing your bids and position, designing landing pages that convert and receive high quality scores, geo targeting and day parting.

Session 4: Increase Your Brand Equity
Mike Moran of IBM will discuss findings with respect to brand and where IBM may be enjoying additional clicks from a positive effect on the brand within search listings.

The attendee will benefit from a better understanding of Search Engine Marketing. Light breakfast and afternoon refreshments will be served. Attendees will be given an hour to take lunch.

Location:
DMA Seminar Center
1120 Avenue of the Americas
Between 43 & 44 Streets, 14th Floor
New York City

Registration Rates:
DMA SEM Council Member: $99
DMA Member: $299* (*Includes one year membership to SEM Council)
CLICK HERE to learn more about this SPECIAL OFFER!
Non-Member:$399

To register or for more information, please visit our WEB SITE
or contact DMA Customer Service at 212.790.1500.

Site Clinics at ACCM 2007 Boston

There were three successful Search Engine Optimization Site Clinics at The DMA's ACCM Boston 2007.  The attendees were treated to tips from our experts Heather Lloyd-Martin of SuccessWorks, Matt Bailey of Site Logic, Amanda Watlington of Searching For Profit and myself, Detlev Johnson of PositionTech.  Stephan Spencer of NetConcepts managed an appearance for a time at the end of the last panel, where the loyal attendees showed appreciation and interest all the way to the end.

Issues that we were able to cover included the importance of writing great titles - not just for search engines, but for all the other places HTML titles are used; by the operating system and the browser software.  Tips for keywords, descriptions and keyword research were given throughout the panels.  Other tips included writing style for engaging your search audience to improving conversions by finding common barriers and offering our tips for overcoming common objections that lead to more sales.

Attendees asked engaging questions and showed their considerable bravery bringing their Web sites to us for feedback.  People always come back for more valuable interaction.  Some of the sites suffered techincal problems for indexing, and we worked through the questions in a very useful way with the site owners.  For example, there was a moment of emphasis on guided navigation which can be really cool if it is done without sacrificing your search engine visibility.  Learn how to shorten those URLs!

One thing we explored with one or two of the sites was feedback about how multiple domain ownership can lead to problems with search engines and how you can still protect your domain branding space while not causing problems with search engine guidelines.  Got microsites?  You may want to make sure you aren't violating search engine guidelines with them.

If you get the chance to visit a Search Engine Site Clinic at the next event you attend, be prepared to enjoy the session learning not just about your own site if you allow us to review it, but also from other site reviews since much of the advice works for common problems many face.  You might share an issue with another attendee and the perspective from search engine experts can lead you to think again about how your site is set up.

There were even tips for a site that used to enjoy a number one listing which has slipped a bit and the owner wants to get back on top.  You always get great advice about Search Engine Optimization which includes specifics about how to write excellent HTML titles, descriptions and keywords.  When you've got an expert in the room, you can even ask highly complex problems and chances are we've seen it and fixed it for others.  Bring your notes back to the office and increase those rankings.

See you at the next one!

Best,
-detlev

Search Engine Copywriting ACCM 2007

Heather Lloyd-Martin gave her stunning presentation at ACCM yesterday.  For those of you who don't know, Heather is not only the chair for The DMA Search Engine Marketing Council, she also is the search engine expert who should be credited with single handedly ushering in high quality SEO Copywriting as a discipline and practice for SEO back before 1999.

What's notable about her current presentation is one particular area she covers that is certainly unique to her.  I have seen gads of presentations, and many that cover the value of search engine writing.  Heather's secret Google hint is always awesome - and there's nothing like it out there.  On a few occasions, I've been lucky enough to actually give her presentation (when Heather was unavailable).  She lets me go in her stead because I was lucky enough to watch her invent the Google hint in person, and I understand it haing seen it in action.

So, from the insider's point of view, let me tell you what the greatest part is all about.  If you get a chance, get to DM Days, bring your notes and ask questions about how Heather includes benefits and call to action writing purposefully around keywords inside Web page content.  It is a sure fire way to get clicks in Google where the engine (MSN and Yahoo! too by the way) uses "snippets" for descriptions in your search listings.

You get to control the otherwise uncontrolable description snippet!  When done correctly, the effect is your listings look better compared with others that lack the search engine writing style.  Don't miss Heather where she appears again at DM Days in New York.  Be sure to see her present this aspect of what she does for search engines and all the rest of the great tips she provides.  It can be so satisfying seeing the result in your search results with popular search engines.  It helps you with the existential question, "what good is a search engine listing if no one clicks?"

See you at DM Days!

Best,
-detlev

DM Days New York

By Lee Odden

The DM Days conference in New York is coming up June 19-21 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center with the theme of, "What's Next? Uncover Tomorrow's Opportunities".

The big buzz phrase in online marketing right now is "social media" and the DMA is making big efforts to satisfy the interests of marketers exploring whether social media marketing is a fit for their marketing mix or not. The social media bonanza starts with the keynote, "Next-Gen Interactive: How Marketers Are Optimizing the Power of Social Media to Connect and Deliver Results".

The Search Engine Marketing Council will also provide practical insight into social media with a session, "Popularity Online: Winning Search and the Social Media Contest" with SEMC President Heather Lloyd Martin of Success Works, Jeanette Kocsis of Harte Hanks, Lee Odden from TopRank Online Marketing,  Mike Moran from IBM and Detlev Johnson from Position Tech.

Be sure to register soon so you don't miss out on these sessions as well as the search marketing special sessions, labs and special workshops.

Should We Still Worry About Click Fraud?

by Mike Moran

I find that most search marketers don't know what to make of click fraud. They've heard the stories, but they have no idea whether it's happening to them. It's human nature to put risks out of our minds when we don't know how to respond to them. Is that a safe way to deal with click fraud?

If you're one of those with your head in the sand, start by understanding what you're missing. Click fraud probably occurs more than you think—some estimates have placed click fraud at 20% of all paid search clicks. Click fraud is being contested in court. And click fraud has been the subject of scary insider stories that would give any search marketer pause.

I started thinking about click fraud again, when Forensics found a 14% click fraud rate in a recent study. But as that Search Engine Land article correctly points out, that 14% rate is the total fraud rate—not the amount that a search marketer pays. Search engines aggressively identify occurrences of click fraud and do not charge search marketers for those suspicious clicks. In fact, some reports say that click fraud's cost to search marketers is around 2%.

So what does this all mean to search marketers?

I recommend thinking of click fraud as a cost of doing business, much like shrinkage in a retail store. Few retailers go out of business because of shoplifting, and click fraud is unlikely to doom your paid search campaigns. Focus on your return on investment, such as Lifetime Value calculations. If your campaigns are providing a sufficient return on investment, then don't worry about whether a small part of your investment was actually wasted on click fraud.

It's rare, but sometime ignoring a problem really can be OK.

Mike Moran is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Product Manager for IBM's OmniFind search product, and author of the best-selling book, Search Engine Marketing, Inc. This post is reprinted from Mike's Biznology blog, which is available at mikemoran.com.