Semple Ideas

Hurricane StrIKEs, Conversion Rate SpIKEs

Audra Jackson / September 24, 2008 at 3:06 pm
In PPC Comments Off

Just over a week ago, Hurricane Ike decided to make landfall and inflict destruction on the Texas Gulf Coast. For most of us, things are getting back to normal, and we are once again enjoying life’s little luxuries: electricity, running water, fresh food, etc.

Despite all the mayhem of the last couple weeks, one benefit of living in Houston is having clients located within the Houston/Galveston area. While Ike may have hurt some of them (many restaurants and retail businesses have not yet reopened and may not for weeks), he has been quite kind to others, particularly those in construction-related businesses.

One client, Houston Siding, has seen been happy to see such an increase in traffic over the last couple of weeks. As I checked my work email from home over the hurricane weekend, I noticed the client had begun receiving more leads through its web site than usual. As more and more residents began to regain electricity and internet access, the number of leads went up even further. So, as a keen marketing specialist looking to capitalize on the current conditions, I began writing ads for my client targeting customers whose homes have suffered damage from Ike.

I then analyzed the affects of those new ads on our PPC campaigns. The results? Natural disasters are undeniably good for business!

Houston Siding has seen its click-through rate triple and conversion rate quadruple:

Pre-Ike:

CTR: 2.45%
Conversion Rate: 6.33%

Post-Ike (w/ old ads):

CTR: 1.67%
Conversion Rate: 13.33%

Post-Ike (w/ new Ike-related ads):

CTR: 6.67%
Conversion Rate: 25.00%

The example below shows a comparison of the original ad I was testing and the new Ike-related ad for one ad group Houston Siding’s campaign. Clearly, the Ike ad has so far been a bigger draw for customers as its click-through rate is almost double that of the original ad, and the conversion rate is up to an impressive 50% in just a few days.

Houston Siding - Roofing Statistics

In conjunction with the PPC changes, we have also updated our home page calls to action to reflect the ads in the hope that the changes will further increase our conversion rates. Time will tell how successful our changes will be, but so far the stats bode well for Houston Siding’s post-Ike success.

Houston Siding - Hurricane IKE CTA

Obviously, we could have predicted an upward swing in traffic and conversions based on the increase in demand for these services after the storm. However, our decision to create compelling ads and include relevant imagery and copy on our site has helped ensure greater exposure of our client. Through our efforts, we have shown prospective customers that Houston Siding is not only aware of their problems and can offer services to help, but we give visitors a visual and emotional reassurance that our client understands their issues and how seriously they have been affected.

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Blogging For Business at HTC

Pop Labs / August 3, 2008 at 10:33 am
In Social Media 0 Comments

Last week, I had the chance to participate in the latest installment of the Houston Technology Center’s educational seminar series - Blogging for Business. The seminar’s focus was the use of social media in a business environment. The panel consisted of myself, Steve Latham and Katie Laird and Kelsey Ruger. Sounds like overall we got good feedback. I included a link to my presentation hosted on Slideshare.net. (This is the updated version that I presented at the PKF University this week).

View SlideShare presentation (tags: houston technology center htc pkf texas pkftexas)

In true social media fashion if you have any feedback, you can comment here, Join me on facebook or LinkedIn and of course follow me(Kelsey), Steve and Katie on Twitter.

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SEO Rapping for Biz Kid$

clewis / August 1, 2008 at 11:02 am
In Community, Education, Social Media 0 Comments

The SEO Rapper at Biz Kid$ Teaching children to be entrepreneurial is a task that should be taken more seriously. I have 3 children and I’ve always pushed them to try and educate themselves on other things that they may be interested in. I try to make them believers of saving money and being economical. It wasn’t until I met one of the producers from the Biz Kid$ show that I realized I should also be encouraging them to think of new ways or improve older ways of making money.

Biz Kid$ is a show dedicated to the entrepreneurial kid. They feature successful kids and teenagers who are business owners or done something worthwhile that was lucrative. They also teach proper methods of starting and running a business. Some of things they have done are remarkable. This is more than your front yard lemonade stand. Working on their next season of episodes, they decided to include the internet as a medium of making money and starting a business. How can you present proper website building, search engine marketing and social media consulting in an entertaining way? Duh…you find the SEO Rapper!

The producer contacted me and shared her vision about what they wanted to accomplish. How could I resist? I love kids, rapping and the internet. They are based in Seattle Washington and she offered to fly me there for a few days if I was willing to compose a Biz Kid$ focused instructional rap about using the internet to start a business. Interesting task. I was glad to do it. I contacted Dre Dubb Entertainment, one of my favorite music production teams (also produced Design Coding) for a track to the rap I was writing. I received the track, completed the rap and went to the studio to record it. A few weeks later I was on a flight to Seattle. I finally met some others from Biz Kid$ who showed me a great time. The video shoot was awesome. It went a little longer than expected but I had a blast doing it. Touring Seattle was great. I had a chance to walk around and take lots of pictures and next time I’ll remember that if you walk down a hill and you parked at the top of the hill, you have to walk back up the hill. The Biz Kid$ episode is supposed to air on PBS sometime in January. Stay tuned…

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Set-It and Forget It: Why Ronco’s Showtime Rotisserie Can’t Run Your Marketing Campaign

Jillian Fortin / July 17, 2008 at 8:20 am
In PPC, Marketing 0 Comments

Hello, my name is Jillian.

I am a shop-at-home-a-holic.

My first at-home purchase was made when I was in high school: Debbie Siebers’ “Slim in 6″ training program. I saw the infomercial, picked up the phone and after six to eight weeks of sheer anticipation, there it was – the solution to all my problems. The key to ultimate fitness. The program that would jumpstart my new life as a size two in “no time at all!” Debbie Siebers’ DVD sealed my fate. From that point forward, I was addicted to shopping at home.

Two Joy Mangano products and a tub of Oxi-Clean later, my eyes fell upon Ron Popeil’s Showtime Rotisserie. This thing was a beaut. I likened it to the fireplace at Christmastime- you leave it alone and the next thing you know, you’ve got a present waiting for you. I knew I was destined to have this appliance. It had to have been engineered with me in mind. There was absolutely no question about it.

I had meat on those spits the second I freed my Rotisserie from its plastic wrap straitjacket. I poked my chicken a bit with the handy dandy solid flavor injector, made sure the non-stick drip pan was firmly in place, and carefully slid everything back into the appliance. Then, in a moment of fanfare and coronation, I set my Showtime Rotisserie and smiled with satisfaction as I saw the happy, heated, rotating magic take place before my eyes.

Then… I forgot it, like I thought I was supposed to.

I had expected the roast I placed in my Showtime Rotisserie to emerge juicy, succulent and tender. Instead, the Rotisserie spat out a dry, charred mass of nothing, topped with a whole lot of gross and a side of yuck. I had done everything I was supposed to—I set it up just as I was told, taking extra care in the actual marinating and seasoning process. If it had been fashioned to succeed, why oh why did I end up eating Lean Cuisine that night?!

Like all horrible memories, I quickly pushed that experience to the dusty part of my brain and forgot all about my Showtime Rotisserie (pun totally intended). It wasn’t until I switched careers from amateur, shortcut cook to project coordinator at an online marketing firm that Ron Popeil entered my life once more.

A lot of my clients come to me after running their own pay-per-click campaigns for x amount of years. They had fastidiously built out the keyphrases in their ad groups, down to types of matches and relevant geographic terms. They had conscientiously set their daily ad budgets, remembering to set day parting and turn off their campaigns on the weekend. And, after all was said and done (and might I add — very, very typical of this behavior), they sought the assistance of an online marketing firm, because, as so many argue, “they don’t know why they weren’t getting results!”

The answer is simple. Many search engine marketing specialists can give it, and so can Ron Popeil.

“It’s because you SET IT and FORGET IT.”

As business owners, it’s easy to set up a pay-per-click campaign and subsequently forget it. Many traditional forms of marketing follow this model. You set up a direct mail campaign… then you forget it. You film a television commercial… then you forget it. You’re supposed to forget it, just like you’re supposed to forget about a pot roast in the Showtime Rotisserie. But that’s what sets online marketing apart from traditional forms of marketing… and that’s also why it works better.

Anyone will tell you that the more attention you give any item you cook is proportional to how savory your dish is. It doesn’t matter what new, fangle-dangled appliance you use; it’s still a good rule of thumb to follow. Search engine marketing is the same way. Pay-per-click campaigns are a new notion compared to radio ads, television spots or the Yellow Pages, but just because you’ve heard one or two testimonials about how effective they are doesn’t mean you can “set it and forget it.”

It is absolutely essential to keep an eye on what you’ve got churnin’ and burnin’ if you want to get your desired end result. Watch your pay-per-click campaigns. If you’re losing a lot of juice, make sure you’re basting. If it’s losing flavor, make sure you’re seasoning. If it’s charring the sides, turn down the heat. Do what it takes to make sure you get what you want. At the end of the day, we all want an appetizing pay-off. We can have one if we want one—only when we realize that it takes more than setting it and forgetting it.

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Pop Labs Launches Site for IS ‘08

Jillian Fortin / July 10, 2008 at 1:48 pm
In Conference, Community 0 Comments

We recently launched a website for our good friends at the Houston Interactive Marketing Association (HiMA), promoting the Second Annual Interactive Strategies Conference.

IS ‘08: Secrets Exposed will be held on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at the Angelika Film Center of Houston, TX. Attendees of this conference can expect to be enlightened as key players in this industry unveil the secrets to success in digital media.

Big ups to Melissa Garcia on the web design and Sal Baldovinos on the production!

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Hurricane StrIKEs, Conversion Rate SpIKEs

Blogging For Business at HTC

SEO Rapping for Biz Kid$

Set-It and Forget It: Why Ronco’s Showtime Rotisserie Can’t Run Your Marketing Campaign

Pop Labs Launches Site for IS ‘08

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