Kerstin Baker-Ash

You're All Wrong About Twitter

Ok. Enough already. Seriously. You're all wrong about Twitter. And you're all right.

I'm really bored of people trying to define Twitter. You follow too many people. You follow too few people. You don't RT enough. You don't engage in conversation enough. You RT too often. Your stream is full of @replies. Come on - putting a sticker of definition on most things web related is going to stir some controversy at least, and hey - we all do it for extra followers, right?

So stop for just a second. Why do you use Twitter? Where do you find the value? If you're going on about how varied your TweetDeck is or how engaged you are with your followers, you've got it wrong. You use it because you see value in it. Period. Full stop. Fin. Trying to foist your opinion upon how others use it verges on the insanely egotistical (yes, I get the irony here).

Why I use Twitter (and why you should ignore why I use Twitter):

• It's entertaining - where else can you read random thoughts from Ando and Matt Parkman (Heroes)?
• I don't follow people so that they'll follow me back. Seriously. I don't care if you follow me back. I'm listening to you because I like/respect/admire/love you and am interested in what you have to say. Nothing more. 
• I don't follow back people just because they follow me. You want me to follow you back? Great! You've bought me a drink at the bar, now start the conversation.
• If you auto-DM me, I will unfollow you. No, I don't want to read your beginners guide to Twitter - I've been using it for a while kthxbai. 
• I see value in following what people are up to, but find it slightly creepy that I have to introduce myself by my Twitter name when I meet you IRL. I'm still struggling with the concept of online informing real life and vice versa (since about 1995). I'll get there. 
• I enjoy it. I don't see the point of doing anything unless you truly get enjoyment out of it. Life is rather boring otherwise. 

In the end, it's a jumble, unflowing and disconnected - pretty much how I experience (and rather enjoy) Twitter. It's pretty much the Latin equivalent of sum quod sum, or Twitter quod Twitter. Define it for yourself, and don't try to dictate how other people interact. It is what it is, and it is what you believe it is.

ParnasaFest London

Economic doom and gloom has hit hard across the world. This isn't new news, and it's affecting more people across the board; mass redundancies being announced on a daily basis and stories of people losing their homes as a result is enough to make anyone want to help where they can.

Dave Weinberg (@weinberg81), Susanne Goldstone Rosenhouse (@susqhb) and Dani Klein (@yeahthatskosher) were deeply moved by the staggering amount of layoffs announced on February 9th. Friends and family members who worked in the Jewish not-for-profit sector suddenly found themselves jobless, and the three set up ParnasaFest in New York City in response. Fast forward three short weeks later, and ParnasaFest has expanded to events in Washington DC, Jerusalem and even my hometown of Toronto. 

What is ParnasaFest? Parnasa is the Hebrew word for livelihood, and since so many people are struggling to make a living after being made redundant, this networking event comes at a critical time. The event is for people across all sectors of employment, from all walks of life, from all levels of observance and it doesn't cost anything to attend. It's an informal networking evening, and all you need to bring is your business card, a few leads or just your sense of humor and willingness to help the community.

As we all know, job losses are not just taking place Stateside. The good news is ParnasaFest is coming to London! We're knocking around a couple of dates (most likely mid- to late-March) and looking for venues and sponsors. Mainly, this is about helping people out, networking and getting the word around. If you want to help out, sponsor the event or suggest venues which are convenient for the community in London, please contact me (via e-mail or @bakerash on Twitter) or any of the organizers. 

Spread the word, and hopefully we'll see you in March for ParnasaFest London!

SES London Overview

Okay - the title is a bit misleading. My overview can be summarized in a half of a sentence; a high calibre event with incredible opportunities to learn from the community on both sides of the pond. I spoke on a panel and a clinic, and a big thank you to Ian Harris, Frank Watson and Ben Jesson for their great insights; it was a pleasure meeting all of you and a privilege to share a panel with some very talented people in the industry.

One thing I very much wanted to address is the perceived lack of British speakers on panels and Clinics. Forgive me for inviting a bit of controversy here, but it simply wasn't the case. Yes, there were several members of the industry invited to speak from North America, but on the whole I found it to be balanced and representative of the expertise we're all seeking. To complain that Search Engine Strategies was full of American- and Canadian-based rockstars is similar to getting uppity about Aerosmith performing in your high school gym; what a great coup for the conference that these leaders in our industry thought the quality of SES London was good enough to fly over and participate. Also, a bunch of American accents (including my own Canadian-affected one) that attendees heard were actually based in the UK; we made very conscious decisions to have our presentations or clinics UK-centric. I'm surprised that grumblings were heard as much as they were, and it is perhaps (rightly or wrongly) borne of the assumption which sees UK-based practicioners feeling slighted at international conferences.

Rather than launch into a gushy Oscar-type speech (I'll save that for Kate Winslet tonight, perhaps?), I'd like to thank those people who shared their time, insider knowledge and company throughout the conference. I'll leave the session by session recaps to the very capable people on the Search Engine Watch blog, and just reiterate how grateful I am for the openess and spirit of sharing that existed at the conference. Li Evans from Search Marketing Gurus and KeyRelevance has posted her photos from the event, and you can see how the conference evolved (140 characters at a time) on the Twitter feed.

Thanks again for a stellar conference - looking forward to SES London 2010!

Content = Intent

One of the things I've been trying to drive home during my panels at SES London has been the concept of matching user intent to advertiser content. Simple things like following through on a promise you've made in your initial ad copy does wonders for your conversion rate, and I wanted to expand a bit on it from some of the fundamental elements of content matching intent.

You run a website that sells electronics. On an ad, you've highlighted the fact that you undersell your competitors by 10%. Eagerly, I've clicked on your ad, thinking that I'll surprise my cinephile husband with a new Blu-Ray player for his birthday. I look all over your landing page, and there's no information on the discount you've promised in your ad, nor is there any evidence that you've discounted the price. Dejected, I click the back button; you lose the conversion, I can buy elsewhere.

That entire transaction took place over 10 seconds or less. Ten seconds. That's the amount of time you have to fulfill the expectations of your potential customers, matching your content to their intent. My intent? To save 10% on a new Blu-Ray player. Your content? It didn't match. Hey - you may have the information somewhere on your site, fair enough. I didn't bother looking around your site because I immediately judged that the information you were promising to me wasn't there. If you take the 10% off at checkout, tell me on the page I initially land on. There's no point in waiting for customers to find the information out by themselves; they're impatient, and they like to have complete reassurance. Customers are giving you their money. Don't make them feel like they're the ones having to do the legwork to get something you've promised them anyway.

When you reassure your potential customers that you genuinely want to engage with them, you'll see a spike in conversion almost instantaneously. By appearing disingenuous and not following through on your promise to give them what they've specifically come to your site looking for, you not only lose that conversion at that moment - you possibly lose them for good. And you know what they say about negative user experience. They'll tell their friends, and you can potentially ruin a great customer base for the sake of a sentence of reassurance on your landing page.

Content, Intent. Content, Intent. Make sure your content matches the customers' intent, and you're golden.

SES London - Where I'll Be

Yeah, it's a tad stalkeriffic... I know. But hey, if you really want to come up and shoot the breeze, or talk about the best pubs in the area (I don't know, but I'm good at making London pub names up at the spur of the moment - Rooster and Bubbles, anyone?), this is my mostly-solid agenda for the next two days of SES.

Wednesday, February 18th

Session 1: The Orion Panel

Session 2: Listening to my colleague and fellow Torontonian, Judith Lewis (there's chocolate!)

Session 3: Searcher Behavior Research Update 

Session 4: I should probably plan on going to my own session - Search Advertising 101 

Session 5: Following on the Torontonian appreciation, Winning Strategies

Session 6: The Organic Listings Forum piques my interest - I don't want to keep it all PPC

 

Thursday, February 19th

 

Session 1: Again, should attend my own Ad Copy and Continuity Clinic

Session 2: Looking forward to the rockstars on the Social Media Optimisation Panel

Session 3: I got a lot out of the Advertising Clinic last year, looking forward to it again

Session 4: Beyond Linkbait looks fun, but all three sessions will be great quality

Session 5: I might go Beyond the Basics for the last session of a great SES London

 

If you're around, come up and have a chat.

Are Vodafone Targeting Cannabis Users?

A bit of an interesting target market there.

I haven't used personalized search on Safari, so it's highly unlikely that this is one of those odd combinations. Perhaps Vodafone should rethink their keyword inventory, or employ some negative match optimization to their keywords? Just a thought...

My New Job

The worst snowstorm in recent history separated the time between my departure from I Spy and starting out on a new path at i-level. I've been very pleased with my decision these past three days; meeting a bunch of new people and ramping up in my new role. Not even the commuter chaos has been able to wipe the grin off my face, which I take as a good sign.

As I'm getting stuck in to my new role, I wanted to manage expectations by letting people know I don't envisage a lot of blog updates during the month of February. I hope to be liveblogging a little bit (when I'm not speaking) at SES London, and posting a photo or two over at Flickr. The people in the office have been more than friendly, and the free toast, cereal, coffee and milk bits have been extra perks (especially for a non-morning person like myself!).

The way my induction has been structured means that I'll be learning lots about various aspects of the business in my first month. My immediate team members have been incredibly helpful, and I really feel like I've plotted a course to what I want to do in terms of getting my hands dirty and stuck in. The fact that there's a lovely Canadian on the team means I can say things like double double without people thinking I've gone nuts and started my own jibberish.

Three-day verdict? I'm ecstatic, enjoying it immensely. More (hopefully) soon!

The Sound of PPC

Congratulations! You've taken the internet marketing plunge, and you're now interested in really promoting the heck out of your product online. Before getting scared by all the options, regulations, tips, and tools out there - take a step back and start from the beginning. As a favorite movie of mine once told me, it's a very good place to start.

When you read you begin with A-B-C

When you market, you begin with P-P-C

P-P-C, P-P-C

The first big step just happens to be

P-P-C, P-P-C

P-P-C, S-E-O, S-M-O...

Let's see if we can make it a bit easier...

Keyword, a phrase or product name

Ad, the way to get new clients

Clicks, the way I get to your

Landing Page, where clients need to be

CPC, the cost you'll have to pay

CTR, a measure of good copy

Conversions, the result you need to get

And that will bring us back to:

Keyword

Cliché alert: keywords are the essential backbone of your campaign. 

Where do you start to generate these keywords? First, think about what you might type in to get to your product in a search engine. Has your company developed its own lingo for naming the product? Fine - ask some friends, family or even check how your grandmother describes what you do or what you sell (correct her gently if she's wrong). Once you've got your framework, use any number of online tools to take a look at what keywords might be related to your product. 

Are there synonyms for your product? If you sell running shoes, use runners as well. If you're setting up a multi-market account and want to attract British customers for your snazzy new kicks, use trainers. You know that book you've been using to balance your coffee table? Dig it out, dust it off, and use a thesaurus. There are several glossy and glitzy free and not so free online tools at your disposal - this is just a brief list:

• Google Insights for Search - get an idea of how well your keyword plays compared with other synonyms that you've come up with. Are there seasonality factors? Once you get the hang of your account, there's even a nifty little regional tool that will tell you that pop does better than soda in Minnesota.
• Google Keyword Tool - want to know what your competitors terms are? This little tool not only helps you generate keywords from your own site, but allows you to look at suggestions from your competitors' sites as well.  
• Quintura has a nifty little tag cloud that will help you build out your keywords. Taking the shoe example and running with it (sorry, couldn't resist), use operators like women's shoes, discount shoes, buy shoes and maybe the brand name of some of the products you sell. 
• HitTail markets itself as the tool for your long-tail AdWords strategy, and it's worth a try (and they also have a 60-day free trial option). 

Ad Copy

You're a good writer. You know it, your company knows it, and now you have to think up some creative ways of getting your product's name out there and onto your clients' radar. Start by writing a list of your USPs. Do you have a free delivery option? Are you priced well in the market compared with your competition? Do you have a recognizable slogan that you can use? Then, try to squeeze that into your Google/Yahoo/MSN keyword limit. Not so easy.

Easy points to remember:

• If you have Free Delivery, say it. It only takes up 13 characters of 35 - so put a more compelling call to action in. Try Free Delivery Today Only! (25 characters) or Free Delivery on Blue Shoes! (28 characters) or even cut it close with Free Delivery When You Spend $50! (33 characters, you're living on the edge!).
• Always keep in mind your character limit. Use free tools on the internet like Character Counter, or open Excel and use a quick formula to write multiple creatives (that's what your ad copy is called) on the same sheet. I usually write ad copy in Excel, and find it easy to copy and paste different lines of text to different creatives to see what looks better. The formula in Excel (if you're wondering) is =LEN(A1) where A1 is the cell you've put one line of your creative in. This can be changed to B9, K12 or wherever you've stuck your ad copy.
• Differentiate from your competitors. There's absolutely NO POINT using price-led creatives if you can't beat your competitors. Take a look at this result; why would I click on the ad with 10% off if a competitor offers 20% off?

CPC

The CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you're willing to pay for your ad to be clicked on. More rookies than you'd think have entered the market at $20.00 CPCs only to find out their credit card has been maxed out in your first hour of online trading. Don't make that mistake. Use Google's free Traffic Estimator to get a general feel of what CPCs you'd have to pay to get to the top of the pops, or what position you'd be willing to live with according to your budget. It's far from the perfect tool, but it will give you some steer on how much you're realistically going to have to budget for.

CTR

The CTR (Click Through Rate) measures how many people click on your ad vs how many people the ad has originally been "served" or displayed to. You've got your keyword, you've got your ad, but your CTR isn't wonderful. Why? There are hundreds of possibilities, but think back to when you originally created your keyword list and creatives. Are you pricing yourself out of the market? Are you bidding on generic terms without any keyword negatives? Take this example - you only sell Kerstin's brand of shoes. You're not selling John's shoes, but you are appearing for their searches anyway. Not only is it giving you a horrible click through rate, but John is annoyed that you're bidding on his terms and pushing both his and your costs up.

This is where you lather, rinse, repeat. Go back to your original keyword list. Make a negative list as well of the places or brand names you don't want to see your ads appearing on. Do you only sell your shoes in Mississauga? Make a list of place names that you don't sell your shoes, put a minus sign in front of it and you're in business. You're not going to appear on searches for Kerstin's Shoes in Brampton because you've added the word -Brampton to your keyword negative list. You don't sell John's shoes? Easy. Do the same thing you did for -Halton and -Toronto and add -John, -John's and -Johnny to the list.

Conversions

The place you need to get to with any online marketing campaign. It doesn't matter if you measure conversions by the number of people you signed up to your shoe newsletter or how many people bought Kerstin's shoes; you still need to measure this. Using tools like Google Analytics, you'll be able to see how effective your individual keywords are in your campaign, and how better to target your audience with funky little maps which show you where your customers are coming from. This isn't the be-all and end-all; far from it. But there's a basic understanding here that you can learn a lot about your client base from just a little bit of information (where they come from, what they searched for). Let's leave it there, and tackle the complicated stuff in another post.

Landing Page

Again, a bit more complicated than just a quick fix, but it's worth determining whether or not you're going to shove people onto your home page, or create a special product page just for an individual product. Does Kerstin make different types of shoes? Is Kerstin your only supplier? Experiment with different landing pages to see if your customers prefer landing on Kerstin's Stilettos page or your home page. A good, quick and simple rule of thumb is this: is your brand well known? If not, landing customers on your homepage (which has to be well structured and designed, again another post) is your best bet. Why? Customers haven't engaged with your brand before. They want to know what your company is all about before giving you their hard earned cash. Give them some help. Put an "About" section on your homepage. Have your contact details clearly displayed. You trust companies which are more transparent, so what makes you think your customers don't? Make it clear that you not only want their business, but are going to be available for them however small their purchase is. Customer service matters, even online.

CPC, CTR and keywords are only the tools we use to build and understand a basic online marketing strategy. Once you have these "notes" in your heads, you can build a million different PPC campaigns by mixing them up.

When you know the keywords to bring, you can build most a-ny-thiiing!

Why I Unprotected My Twitter Stream

It's all well and good providing a walled garden for yourself. Venting, putting feelers out for a new job and interacting with friends all seems like a great idea to do behind a lock, but it gets in the way of making new connections.

I've protected my Twitter feed for several months now. The reasons were varied; I was conscientious that clients would get a peek at some of the conversations I was having (not that they were anything above G-rated), I wanted to focus more on getting traffic to my blog instead of my microblog, and I needed to be aware of any kickback (real or perceived) from some of my personal views was now out there. I felt that my Twitter account, as a microblog, could provide a bit more of a personal view - rather than here on this blog where I kept a lot held back.

The drawback to this is that any time I followed someone, they were immediately met with "This Person Protects Their Updates." Not great for personal branding or engaging in community. Sure, if you're a very well known person who has an established name for yourself, this isn't a problem. You can filter people out without feeling like you're losing out on the chance to engage with people in the industry. I have a big desire to build relationships with people in the SEM industry, and felt like I couldn't do that protecting my Twitter stream.

Then, there was the naïve belief that a bunch of people were really, really rude. I'd send @replies to people, and get nothing back, even when the tweet was helpful or interesting (in my opinion, obviously). I'm embarrassed to admit that I only recently realized that if people weren't following me, my @replies were stuck behind my walled garden; I apologize unreservedly to the people who I'd pegged to be rude, egotistical and pretty pleased with themselves. If it's any consolation, I stewed privately rather than tweet about it in my garden. That having been said, I think a lot of people would agree that good Twitter etiquette suggests that you reply to @replies (ok, unless you're @wilw or @barackobama or @stephenfry with gazillions of followers and no realistic expectation of a response), even if it's just @bakerash thanks. Margaret Mason has a very entertaining post about this on The Morning News.

So here we are today - why I finally decided to unprotect my Twitter stream. Broken record time - engagement, relationship, community. If it means exposing myself a bit more, then I'm cool about that. Let's talk.

Snow Day in London!

Snow Day in London and Hertfordshire from Kerstin Baker-Ash on Vimeo.

I haven't seen a proper snow day in years. Long gone are the days at university having to be dug out of a dorm, or making forts on snow days in my front yard - not that I'm complaining. I'm not a cold weather person, despite having grown up in one of the coldest countries on earth; snow, ice and wind chill factors have become very foreign now that I'm living in the UK. And, since I'm officially not working right now, I got to enjoy a bit of a snow day with my husband (who LOVES the snow).

Apparently, we got the biggest dump of snow in eighteen years. I'm always mildly amused by the lack of snow apparel that I so take for granted. Snow boots aren't anywhere to be found; here you put on your wellies. Snowsuits? Nah, just put on an old pair of warm-up pants (yeah, yeah, trousers) and you're good to go. The look achieved is a cross between a farmer, Madonna (during her living-in-England years) and a failed track star - amusing for any Canuck ex-pat.

The storm shut down the majority of the Southeast yesterday, and has had repercussions on travel even today. You know what, all you retractors and complainers? In a major snowstorm, cities who are used to snow do indeed suffer. Yes, it's inconvenient. Yes, the transportation network isn't well prepared. Think about it logically, though. London hasn't seen snow like this for eighteen years. Eighteen years! Is it worth spending oodles of public funds on improvements to a transportation network in the event of one snowstorm in two decades? I'd rather the money be spent on improving trains (it isn't, but that's another post altogether) than people on television criticizing the Mayor of London or the Minister for London for being unprepared for a freak of nature. Sure, Toronto gets more snow - but it's all relative. 3.5 inches isn't going to bring the city down when they have an abundance of salters and snow ploughs, but for London? Have you ever seen a snow plough in London?

Come on, folks. Throw a few snowballs, make a snowman, take some pictures, put on your wellies and get on with enjoying your day. In eighteen years, your kids are going to be too old to make snowmen with you, and you might be wary of going for a walk in the woods because it's slippery. Enjoy the snow. We certainly did.