Transforming Pixels to Gold

I'm just illustration the point with this title on the potential of using the right long-tail keyword even on paid search. I go on about this long-tail stuff all the time because it really is the untapped market that is available to us right now online.

In fact, niche markets as well as keywords will always be here. If you think about how people will always be doing or searching for something new - new and unique terms will always come into play. I guess those who find them first can capitalise on an early advantage... 

But before I get too esoteric, let me get to the point.

The 4 EASY steps, paid-search formula

1. First focus on just a few good performing long-tail (niche) keywords. In the example below I'm using: "read novels online" (read this to find out how to determine strong long-tail keywords).
2. Write a Google ad that solves a problem - i.e. the potential customer is usually searching on Google for a solution - bug them with irrelevance and they won't click on your ad!
3. With a good ad, you'll need to be getting over at least 1.2% click through rate (CTR) for Google to start lowering the cost for each clicks your ad gets (cost per click - CPC). If it's under that change the ad copy or try a different keyword (unless you want to pay Google more than you have to).
4. Google tells you the adverage daily cost per click - all you need to do is match this by manually capping your CPC everyday. Eventually you can get your keyword down to about 4 - 6 cents (if you're using good long-tail keywords).

So say you had a monthly budget of $1000 - at 6 cents a click if you do this right you'd expect 16,000 targeted visits to your website. This also means that on a small budget, say $15 - expect to get about 200 clicks!

Here's some proof

The above was a launch campaign for Photos to GO stock photo site. I had a 3k montly budget for a limited time and was using a whole host of keywords - some long-tail others very competitive like "stock photography". On the 2nd month running I had a few competitive keywords dropped to focus on the long-tail words while lowing the cost per click for each. You can see the results - close to 3 times the amount.

The campaign above was done with 1 keyword only - "read books online". The last I checked that was a hot keyword (a lot of searches and low Google cost). I managed reduce the cost from about 30 cents to 2-3 cents a click with a couple of hundred impressions a day (average over period total was 7 cents). Quite nice when you think I was using a $20 free Google voucher!

That's a grand claim and I bet you think it's not achievable. Don't people pay search companies big $$$ to do this sort of thing and isn't it supposed to take a hell ot a lot longer? Well yes and yes but I'll explain all that later. First take a look at the the proof and marvel over how the internet still allows us to do such things, all FREE of charge.

The proof's in the pudding

The trick is in finding the right longtail keywords that produce results. Check Google trends to see if your keyword/s are climbers or a falling out of style searches (the below example: "most professional stock photo sites" was the former case).

You'll notice the 17 minutes marked by Google (under result 1) and the amount of web sites Google finds for this very phrase: over 30 MILLION! You'll also see the site is actually a social video site, namely MY SPACE - so what's the deal there?

Well that's the power of social media marketing....

Nice, but is this stuff really legal?

It's legal alright, but this technique isn't as good as it used to be. Basically its all part of Google's new search formula that values novel content from sites with a high page rank (Google's website scorecard). Combined with the priority video get on search engines, we have a powerful SEO tool, if used in the right way. It isn't as good as it used to be because up until recently, ranks like this stuck a lot longer.

The good news is that quality content distributed over various avenues, like social media channels will have the net benefit of increasing your search presence in a short amount of time - but it's all about consistency, good content (we'll it helps) and distribution.

OK, but if its so good why don't I do for my own site?

Below's the pudding and that's one of the long-tail keywords mentioned in my last post - this one also brought up 78.8 Million sites for this search (not really as long-tail as I'd like)

So how can I do the same?

You'll need to sign up to a number of social video sites such as Viddler, YouTube, BlipTV, Revver, MySpace etc. Get your video ready, make sure you title the video using the longtail keyword you wish to target, add a link to your website in the description and hit upload. Grab a coffee, wait, enjoy your coffee, wait some more - then query Google...

If your not getting first page number 1, make sure you read the previous post: How to get 1000 hits per day with niche keywords. Try another longtail keyword.

One of the greatest feats of modern advertising is the ability to seep into every facet of our modern lives, no longer limited to traditional media like television and print, new media is the next frontier, with campaigns reaching deep into the latest tools we use to communicate. Email marketing floods the inbox, Facebook spits out targeted banners and clever viral apps, Twitter is bombarded by promotional "tweets" and soon just walking near a Starbucks will alert us to the free cookie we'll get with every coffee - the delights of GPS and new mobiles phones!

The point is advertising needs to continually re-invent itself to deal with its own self-made enemy: saturation. Futurelab recently presented this succinctly, saying:

People who live near train lines adjust to the noise. They do the same with advertising.Futurelab - Change Marketing

So even the most viral of ads, even the savviest of ad placements have the converse effect of educating us - meaning we get increasingly discerning and harder to convince.

The upside of this downside is we're going to see a lot less of those full-blown "cinematic" production ads - the slick sports car in surreal landscapes, cornering at torque speed; shiny happy people overcoming all obstacles in record time with the help of the gleaming new product.

Why? Because the formula is predictable and fails to convince as it once did - so backed into the corner, good marketing practice becomes more about finding and presenting what's authentic in a brand.

Take for example "content marketing" advocated by marketing expert David Meerman Scott, he throws out the ROI obsessions and aims to build genuine consumer trust. There's no real sales pitch either, it's about educating prospects with relevant, valuable and engaging content.

You've got to think in terms of spreading ideas, not generating leads. A World Wide Rave gets the word out to thousands or even millions of potential customers. But only if you make your content easy to find and consume David Meerman Scott - World Wide Rave

A good example is the recent Razorfish 2009 outlook document - because of its insightful content on digital marketing, it's hit my inbox a few times and if looking to refresh my digital strategies, Razorfish has positioned itself nicely as an authority and without any direct sales pitch (also spreading their message even further right here).

The catch-22 is that today's cynical consumers judge this type of marketing as authentic only when there's no underlying monetary agenda - but isn't ROI and actual sales why we market in the first place? Yes, but more importantly, if our marketing matches our product, there's not need for the marketing veneer - it already is authentic.

Great. But my product isn't cool - What can I do??? - Well, Frankly you're screwed.Futurelab - What's Next In Marketing & Advertising

So, what makes a product cool? If we take Seth Godin's approach - anything that creates meaning, a sense of identity and a connection to others builds a following (a tribe). If the tribe likes it - its cool. The communal spirit of the iPod garbed masses packed into subways and lining our streets is a classic example of how a product became not only cool, but an global phenomenon.

There's a real religious inkling to Godin's ideas on tribes, especially as religion for a lot of people is the ultimate path of seeking connection, authenticity and meaning.

It begs the question: Do brands need to become cultural gods, in order to survive? And if so, are their devotes the ultimate consumers? What are your thoughts...

References

David Meerman ScottWorld Wide Ravehttp://www.worldwiderave.com

FuturelabChange Marketinghttp://www.slideshare.net/Futurelab/change-marketing-v01-1452235

Seth GodinSeth's Bloghttp://sethgodin.typepad.com

Razorfish2009 Digital Outlook Reporthttp://digitaloutlook.razorfish.com/publication/?i=13617

DOUGLAS B. HOLTWhy Do Brands Cause Trouble? A Dialectical Theory of Consumer Culture and Brandinghttp://www.lombard-media.lu/pdf/0308_brands.pdf

Images courtesy of Photolibrary - Get creative with stock photos, stock footage & production music from photolibrary.com