Digital Strategy from the BEHIND THE SCENES eBook - Part 8 of 10

Dorothy: "The symbiotic relationship between DRTV and search, is one of the most important lessons we've learned over the years, and as a result, our strategy for every DRTV client is tocreate and track a search program that is in sync with the DRTV campaign." Cynthia: "We've been testing a number of emerging media platforms, and we're finding that DRTV has a similar impact. We like to say that 'DRTV lifts all boats' meaning that infomercials and short-forms positively impact other online advertising tactics."Dorothy Weaver, VP, Digital Marketing Services (L) & Cynthia Tully, VP, Account Director (R)

What tactics does the search department do prior to the launch of a DRTV campaign?

First we benchmark the existing SEM campaign, if any. We evaluate keywords, adgroups and copy to see what can be used going forward. A key part of the process is to build new or revised keyword lists based on the copy in the commercial. Today, over 70% of consumers use laptops and web-enabled SmartPhones while they watch TV, so we've learned that it's important to cover all keywords that a consumer might search, including company name, product name and non-brand words, etc.

The search copy also needs to mimic the TV offer and we make sure that the search program is running throughout the day, especially when the DRTV commercials are airing. We work with our media buyers to make sure our bases are covered. We even create keywords for our iFactz URLs, such as: GetProductNow.com.

How do we use the video footage that we've created online?

We take TV creative and run as pay-per-click video ads on YouTube, the Google Display Network and other sites that are capable of running video ads. We encourage clients to create YouTube Channels (ours is at: http://D3Q.acquirgy.net) and use social media techniques to drive consumers to those channels. But keep in mind that everything we do is based on the core strategy that is developed for the DRTV campaign – we carry through the message and offer in everything we do online.

What is "humanology" and why is it so important?

We actually came up with that term years ago, when we were trying to explain just how important it is to have the right balance between humans and technology. It's a true-ism that extends beyond search into all other online tactics. Basically, you've got to understand what tasks are best performed by machines – computers – and which are best performed by people. Our people, trained analysts and tacticians, need to be freed of grunt work that is ideally suited for technology, so that they can spend their days analyzing data and recommending strategies. Many companies that come to us have been victims of too much technology or too little. Once you find the right balance, it works real well.

How did we choose "Marin Search Marketer" as our SEM platform, and what special features do we use for our clients?

We evaluated a dozen platforms using about 20 different criteria, especially overall flexibility for our clients, who have different business models and metrics. Marin stood out above its' competitors and we're thrilled at that choice. Some of our favorite tools that we use constantly are:

· Best-practices approach for different business models: cost-per-action (CPA), performance and e-Commerce.

· Marin's day-of-click and day-of-conversion tracking.

· Calculates "smart bids" for high and low volume keywords, even with as little as one week of experience

· Their auto-bidding, which we combine with manual bidding, based on our overall strategy

· Marin's advanced reporting and optimization settings for copy testing allow the search marketer to remove Google's influence on clicks and truly determine the best performing ad for the specific business with confidence.

· Advanced Reporting- business insight beyond standard traffic and conversion columns is valuable to every marketer inside or outside of search. Whether receiving basic data quickly or advanced analytics to new depths, Marin's easy to use interface and hundreds of data selects allow search marketers to make valuable and impactful decisions quickly.

· Their easy to navigate interface, bulk change capabilities, and processing speed add hours back to a search marketer's day.

What other cutting-edge online tactics have you used?

We've done a lot of exciting things in the last few years. Each one is prudently tested based on our direct response heritage:

· We did a sponsored Tweet campaign for Warner Bros/HBO featuring Amazon Gold Box Special Deadwood DVD Release that increased traffic to the Gold Box Page and increased sales.

· We do remarketing campaigns for all of our accounts to extraordinary success -- saving hundreds of sales for our clients.

· We did an online campaign to generate coupon redemptions in stores for Just For Men. See the case at: http://D3R.acquirgy.net

· We've been able to crack the code on utilizing Facebook as a revenue driving vehicle for Canon.

You can download the entire eBook at any time at: http://BS123.acquirgy.net

Irv Brechner has written over 100 published direct marketing articles and 13 books on a variety of topics. He's been a pioneer in online customer acquisition since 1996 and offline for his 35-year career. He has developed Acquirgy.com's "Customer Acquisition Intel Center" (acquirgy.com/intel ) he evangelizes best-of-breed tactics to help companies acquire customers in the digital age. He can be reached at: irv@acquirgy.com .

Read all Irv's MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Customer Acquisition Intel.

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