Remember Reading is Good For The Brain! Drake Morton

Optimization Beyond The Landing Page

by Phil Leggiere , Wednesday, September 3, 2008
IN THE ERA OF THE long-tail marketers, content providers and, of course, merchandisers, have come to the realization that deep catalogs are critical to consumer engagement, and with it, winning share of time, share of wallet and share of mind. Customizing and optimizing all that deep content, however, requires building new bridges between IT and marketing, as Mark Wachen, Optimost managing director at Interwoven, explains next. (more…)

You need to Understand This: Drake Morton

Thoughts On Demographic Search Engines

by Rob Garner , Wednesday, August 27, 2008

ON FRIDAY, FELLOW SEARCH Insider columnist Janel Landis started a discussion around the viability of demographic based search engines. This is in the wake of recent publicity around IAC’s  RushmoreDrive, which themes its algorithm as a “search engine for the black community,” and is based on  Ask.com search history,   geographic research (also referred to as “geo-biasing”) and focus group research.  After a few days of reviewing the results, it appears to me that demographically targeted engines may have a strong shot at developing a user base, and that IAC may have a shot at regaining some lost credibility as a top-tier search provider.
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Need to Read: Drake Morton

Are You Maximizing Your Search Efforts With Email?

by Loren McDonald , Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I WAS ASTOUNDED TO SEE the results of a recent Email Experience Council survey  in which marketers ranked search marketing near the bottom of seven marketing channels for its synergy with email.

No great surprise about the top-ranked channel: 38% of respondents rated direct mail and catalogs as being email’s ideal marketing mate.
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Must Know: Drake Morton

Trust-Based Targeting

by Steve Smith , Wednesday, July 2, 2008

One frontier of cutting-edge behavioral targeting is the push toward analyzing anonymous cookie data to predict probable consumer responses with ever greater control for the marketer. In the conversation below, Ariel McNichol and Julia Johnston, co-founders of mEgo, outline a radically different approach, allowing consumers to choose the kinds of messaging and targeting behaviors that fit their own needs and interests.

Behavioral Insider: In approaching the challenge of monetizing social media, what have you learned from the targeting attempts and strategies of some of the large social networks?
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Good Read: Drake Morton

The Semantics Of ‘SEM Strategy’

by Rob Garner , Thursday, June 19, 2008

LATELY, IT SEEMS THAT PHRASES like “search engine marketing” and “search strategy” are being used so liberally in conversations, news and blogs that it has become increasingly difficult to discern a point-of-view without first qualifying the person or writer’s bias.

Media planners, business marketers, marketing strategists, social media marketers and SEOs commonly apply “SEM” and “search strategy” to their own point, while often meaning something more specific within the search or marketing landscape. As a result, I’m spending more time trying figure out where they are coming from, rather than focusing on the merits of the discussion or idea. (more…)