Image from my office window of the Dec 2008 aftermath of the second blizzard of the year

As I scan the business park we are in, I don’t see many cars in the parking lots nearby. Even though we all know folks shop while at work (especially during the holidays), I would guess that there should be more folks online today checking the weather and doing last minute shopping.

It’s highly unlikely many folks are going to venture out to the stores and shopping malls today (at least here in the Midwest).  Hopefully there are some creative online marketing folks out there today trying to take advantage of the higher online activity to try and garner some of those precious last minute dollars folks are looking to spend.

Is it too late to send one more email blast and get some conversion today?

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes!

Kudos to Duluth Trading Company this year for being recognized by Consumer Reports as being one of the best places to shop for clothing online. We are glad to see our customers recognized for all the hard work they do to deliver quality products, excellent customer service, and have some fun while doing it.

Need some shopping suggestions?

If you have a mobile phone, iPod or just about any device (my neighbor even mounted his tablet PC) and would like to have it conveniently mounted in your car, check out ProClip’s best-of-breed car mounts: www.proclipusa.com

Looking for something for that hard working guy that likes clothes that are as rugged as they are? Check out the great stuff at Duluth Trading Company.

Looking for the perfect gift for your kids this holiday season and like to tinker and experiment? Check out the fun and educational toys at www.SteveSpanglerScience.com.

There is still time for some of those last minute gifts. Let’s go Shopping!

UPDATE:
It appears although I may not be far off on thinking the weather creates opportunity. A recent Internet Retailer daily news summary quoted:

(Online spending was) clearly substantially heavier than the corresponding weekend nearest Christmas last year

Marketing a website through search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN

1. Pay-Per-Click programs (programs must be funded, opposite of natural ranking)
2. Goal is to improve ranking and position a website at the top of search results
3. Attain top position through keyword selection, bids and budgets

SEM has become increasingly important to companies that want to differentiate themselves by generating quality traffic to their website.  Appearing at the beginning of search results leads to an increase in the number of visitors to a site and in turn leads to an increase in sales, clients, visitors, etc.  Without the use of SEM, it is more difficult to get significant ranking on search engines.

Benefits of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

1. Increases your website visibility and ranking
2. Gives your target audience the ability to easily find your website
3. Increase revenue by attracting qualified customers to your online storefront
4. Builds quality branding with increased marketing exposure
5. More cost effective compared to traditional advertising mediums such as print, television, radio, etc.
6. Better ability to track progress
7. Can make changes quickly and easily to ad copy and keywords to optimize your budget

SEM Process

In order for SEM to drive measurable results, it is recommended that you hire a specialist to manage the process on a consistent basis to insure that campaigns are generating the best qualified traffic.

The first steps in the process consist of determining which product or service groups (called campaigns) you would like to target, selecting keywords and writing the ad copy that will appear in the search results.

Once the campaigns are online, be sure to monitor performance and budget to make sure that your campaigns are consistently ranked highest among search engines. The goal of SEM is to find the right combination of keywords, ad copy and appropriate bids to maximize your marketing dollar. 

For more information on starting an effective SEM campaign, contact Amanda at avandeberg@acumium.com.