5 Tips for Successfully Navigating the Content Network
Long term success in marketing is an ongoing, evolving process. Channels and techniques that work today may not work tomorrow. Top marketers are always evolving and trying new things. Search engine marketing is no different. Traditionally, search marketing has been an excellent use of marketing budget because it is measurable and delivers a high ROI. Businesses consistently find it to be an effective and cost-efficient method to acquire new customers.
Search marketing is great at putting businesses in front of qualified customers. However, research shows that just 5% of all internet activity is spent on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing. The other 95% of internet activity is spent on other static websites. How can business put themselves in front of these potential customers?
As a parallel activity to search marketing, businesses can efficiently reach the other 95% of internet activity by advertising on a content network. It is a marketing channel where many top marketers are finding success.
The content network is similar to search engines except ads show up on content web pages instead of search engines. You may have seen content network ads on sites such as CNN, weather.com, or Amazon.com. The content networks use a highly developed algorithm that matches ads with relevant content pages on the web. It then places the ads on the page, creating a relevant and highly targeted advertising experience. This allows business to advertise on large, well-known sites, and also reach extremely-focused niche sites. Both Google and Yahoo offer content network ads in addition to their traditional search ads.
A content network can reach such a wide variety of people because of their partnership model. They partner with websites and are given “ad space” on the site. In return, the content networks share the revenue advertisers pay for each click. Many advertisers have seen huge success advertising on the content networks. However, the content network is like fire. If you know how to use it properly, you can cook a meal. If you don’t, you can and will get burned.
360Partners has developed 5 best practice techniques that help businesses successfully advertise on a content network and not get burned.
- Separate content and search campaigns. A content network campaign behaves very differently than a search campaign. 360Partners recommends separating search and content campaigns. Doing this will give you greater control and ability to manage the content network. Also, there is potential for higher quality scores which will mean more conversions at a lower cost.
- Create catchy and unique ad copy. Compared to a search campaign, the consumer mindset is very different for a content campaign. In search, consumers are seeking an answer to a specific question. In a content network, they are reading about a related topic relative to your business, but not necessarily thinking about buying your product at that moment. In order to entice a potential customer to click on your ad, your ad copy has to stand out and attract attention.
- Bid lower. Content campaigns will attract potential customers who may not be in an immediate buying mode. This creates the possibility to receive clicks that do not generate sales. It is important to implement both a bidding strategy and a strict budget that recognizes this variable. 360Partners recommends initially setting your bids at 70% of your search marketing campaigns.
- Create tight ad groups. In 360Partners' experience, content campaigns should have ad groups of 15-30 tightly knit keywords based around a defined theme. If an adgroup contains keywords of varying themes, Google and Yahoo have a difficult time determining what pages are appropriate for the ads. The effect downstream can be disastrous.
- Block unrelated sites. The nature of the content network has incentivized some websites to only focus on clicks and not actual content. These “spam” sites can cost you lots of money and show very little return. 360Partners recommends that you be very proactive in monitoring a content campaign. To see the best results, regularly run the placement report in Google or look at your website analytics. Identify these “spam sites” and other sites which have a low return on investment and block them.
The impact and power of utilizing these outlined strategies is best shown through a case study. One 360Partners client is in the sales lead gen business in a very competitive industry. Inside of the search engines, it is a daily battle for impressions, clicks, and conversions. Some campaigns average upwards of $10 per click. In order to get their cost per click and cost per lead down, they asked 360Partners for help.
360Partners implemented the best practices listed above and created a successful content campaign. After three months of execution, the content network became their largest source of leads, driving 40% of all their leads for the company. Also, their average cost per lead and cost per click in the content network was 64% lower than their search campaigns. The content campaign has become an extremely successful use of time and resource for this client.
360Partners firmly believes in the potential of content networks. When properly managed, they are a strong asset for any marketing initiative. If you feel like your business could benefit from a well structured content campaign, please reach out and let us know. 360Partners is here to help your business grow. sales@360partners.com.
