EngineWorks was privileged to have had members of our executive team moderate several of the panel sessions at this year’s conference.  In addition, we were pleased to be the exclusive sponsor of the SearchFest Happy Hour which provided a wonderful socializing and networking venue for all attendees.

Congratulations to SEMpdx (and all it’s volunteers!) for, once again, delivering an outstanding, industry-renowned event!

I am still moderating the panel session titled Display & Placement, Super-Charging Results Through the Power of Two at 2:30pm at this all-day conference.  However, due to schedule changes, this panel now features expert insight from the following veteran online search executives: Jane Hong, Display Account Executive at Google Inc., and Michael Cottam, CTO & co-founder of TheBigDay.com.

The other panel sessions being moderated by EngineWorks executives include Twitter, The World is Changing . . . 140 Characters at a Time, and Reputation Management, and First Page Results Have Become Even More Important. Both of these session will be moderated by our Chief Strategy Officer, Kent Schnepp.  In addition, Mike Rosenberg, our Vice President of Client Acquisition, will be moderating the panel session titled Tools & Competitive Intelligence, Learn More About Your Competitors.

Once again, as a founding board member of SEMpdx, we highly encourage you to attend this prominent industry event.

I have the privilege of  moderating an anticipated lively panel session titled Display & Placement, Super-Charging Results Through the Power of Two, which will feature expert advice from veteran online search executives, including Rachael Sordo, AdWords Relationship Manager at Google, Inc., Michelle Campbell, Account Manager – Agency Services at Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Keri Andrews, Senior Search Account Manager at Microsoft’s Bing Search.

Our Chief Strategy Officer, Kent Schnepp, will also be the moderator for two sessions titled Twitter, The World is Changing . . . 140 Characters at a Time, and Reputation Management, First Page Results Have Become Even More Important. Finally, Mike Rosenberg, Vice President of Client Acquisition here at EngineWorks will be moderating the panel session titled Tools & Competitive Intelligence, Learn More About Your Competitors.

This year, for the first time, the annual SEMpdx SearchFest conference is being held at the historic Governor Hotel in beautiful downtown Portland, Oregon.  Simply access the SEMpdx Web site for information on registering and attending this incredibly valuable industry event.

As a founding board member of Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland (SEMpdx), we encourage all individuals in the online search industry – and, anyone interested in learning more about the compelling advantages of professional SEM services – to join us for an exciting day of education and networking at SearchFest 2010!

The press release, titled ‘Yarn Marketer and Chiropractor Present Alongside Bing, Yahoo!, Google and Intel at SearchFest 2010’, also provides a link to the full agenda of this exciting online search industry event.

In addition to developing and refine processes and strategies surrounding EngineWorks SEO and Social Media Marketing services, Kent spearhead business development and client acquisition efforts at our company. He, and all of our search experts, look forward to networking with you at SearchFest 2010.

Drop us a post to this blog if you would like to schedule a get-together with Kent and our team. We look forward to seeing you there!

In his position as Google’s Green Energy Czar, Bill spearheads the world’s largest search engine’s efforts in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Being an experienced technologist, entrepreneur, and committed environmentalist with deep and broad experience in computer science, he is obviously extremely well qualified to steward these respectable pursuits.  In fact, under his guidance, Google has invested more than $45 million during the past three years towards efficient energy programs.

You can learn more about his impressive efforts in the January 7, 2010 interview with Bill Weihl in The New York Times.

In addition to an informative evening of insight into Google’s green initiatives, including the Google Power Meter and coolant-free data centers (in Belgium!), SAO delivered a wonderful formal networking event, complete with sit-down dinner and signature cocktails.

As the largest professional software association in the Pacific Northwest, SAO is dedicated to bringing together some of the brightest minds in the software industry, and is comprised of more than 350 companies in Oregon and SW Washington that are involved or affiliated with the software and technology industries.

Well done, SAO!

While the fact that Social Media Marketing is enabling brands to have direct interaction with target audiences has been touted via our EngineWorks blog for quite some time now, this Mashable article unveils the level of commitment that major destination resorts are placing upon this new marketing channel.  As stated in this article, the world-renowned mountain resort company, Vail Resorts, has dedicated a full 80% of their total 2010 marketing budget to digital production and social media strategies.  EIGHTY PERCENT!

The tremendous ability of online search marketing and social media strategies to acutely target potential customers, and to fully measure a resort’s return on media investment, is driving this tectonic shift away from traditional marketing channels.  As punctuated in this article by Hannah Bowling, Communications Coordinator at Park City, Utah’s largest ski franchise, The Canyons, “A lot of the people here higher up don’t necessary understand social media. But when I did a big contest giveaway on Facebook and they saw how our number of fans grew so quickly, we started thinking of future social media strategies that include more contests, making sure our blog is updated with information our customers want to see.”

Let us know if you have implemented, or experienced, other amazing Social Media Marketing promotions worthy of merit within the destination resort industry.

As most readers of this blog are aware, Sponsor Links within Google have traditionally appeared to the right of the organic search results, having been triggered by relevant keywords from users’ search queries.  Now, however, sponsored listings can be found in LBC results throughout Google.  As shown in the example below from Danny Sullivan’s article, these paid search listings are designated by a yellow marker and the word “Sponsored”.

Here is Google’s response to Danny’s inquiry into this new development:

Enhanced listings are a new feature in the Local Business Center that enable business owners to let potential customers know what they think is most important or unique about their business. The feature enables LBC users to choose one of the following enhancements: photos, videos, website, coupons, directions, menu or reservations. We are currently running a limited trial of the feature in San Jose and Houston.

To be clear, enhanced listings have no impact on the ranking of LBC listings.

What I find intriguing about Google’s statement above is that it sounds very familiar to the other major search engine’s defense of the now-almost-defunct Paid Inclusion services offered over the past decade.  Google touted its supremacy in that it would never allow paid listings of any sort to be included in their Natural search algorithm.  To which Yahoo!, and the other Paid Inclusion engines, retorted with the fact that Paid Inclusion listings have no impact upon the rankings of Natural listings.

Let me know if you perceive that, with this development to allow paid listings into the Seven-Pack of Local Listings, the G-Men and Women from Mountain View have violated their golden rule.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that we chose to sponsor this community-building event due to the realization that the advancement of our industry is directly predicated upon technology and science-based services.  Along with our fellow OMSI sponsors, including Comcast, Nike, and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), we were pleased to promote the tremendous benefits that science and industry has bestowed upon our city and our world.

This lively event, titled SEMpdx Link Building Six Pack, is scheduled to deliver cutting-edge information from a panel of search marketing professionals pertaining to how to write and promote online content to attract inbound links from relevant external sources.  In addition, EngineWorks is proud to have Scott Fish, our Director of Search, contribute to this presentation as an expert panelist.

You can register to attend this valuable presentation by simply visiting the SEMpdx Web site.

If you are interested in gleaning insight into the latest techniques for securing inbound links so that your Web site can achieve prominent listings throughout the search engine landscape, we highly recommend that you attend this informative presentation.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Liftopia is the leading marketplace for discount ski lift tickets to the most popular alpine resorts across the country.  They provide an incredibly convenient site for snow skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts to research and find bargain prices on tickets and package deals at more than one-hundred (100) of the most desirable winter resorts in the United States.

Our advanced Paid Search Strategies ultimately resulted in a more than 110% increase in the total number of Conversions on Liftopia.com in December 2009 compared to the same month in 2008.  You can see the complete list of success metrics we were able to surpass through our EngineWorks SEO and Paid Search Marketing efforts in our EngineWorks press release.

The tremendous effort put forth by our team of search marketing specialist prompted Ron Schneidermann, Co-Founder of Liftopia, to exclaim, “The hard work and dedication from the EngineWorks team has enabled our company to deliver the best deals in the ski industry to a much larger audience, much more efficiently. We could not be more pleased with the results.”

Drop us a post to this blog if you would like more information on how we can dramatically improve your conversion performance in the same manner that we do for Liftopia.

Scott is scheduled to be on the panel of professional search marketers from our area who will be putting forth information on writing and promoting content to attract inbound links from relevant online sources.  Armed with this knowledge, audience members will be able to implement the latest techniques for improving their Natural search listings across the entire online search landscape.

Please join Scott, and our EngineWorks crew, next Tuesday for an evening of education and discussion pertaining to this critically important component of Search Engine Marketing.  You can visit SEMpdx.org to conveniently register for this event online.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Highlights of the evening, which included in-person presentations by NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut Michael Barratt, M.D., and Lt. Colonel Dick Rutan USAF (Ret.) who established the world distance record by flying the Voyager aircraft non-stop and un-refueled around the globe, can been seen in pictures through the following link:

OMSI 2010 Space Gala Photos

As a full-service Search Engine Marketing company, we fully acknowledge that the advancement of our industry and our services is directly predicated upon cutting-edge science-based technologies.  For this reason, we chose to align ourselves along-side other renowned sponsors such as Nike, Comcast, and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to help promote the tremendous benefits of science and industry upon our community and our world.

That is the message delivered by David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian, in a re-affirming article today from eMarketer titled ‘Consumers Demand Engagement’.  His resounding point is that even though more and more marketers are shifting dollars away from traditional advertising channels to interactive marketing, it is crucial that today’s new media (i.e., digital community marketing and social media networking) be  incorporated into an integrated communication strategy, rather than executed as a stand-alone channel.

“The age of sending out silo campaigns is long gone,” this eMarketer report added. “The only communications tolerated by consumers are those that are appropriate, timely, and relevant—regardless of channel.”

This fact is validated through the following eMarketer graph that reveals that the majority of marketing professionals around the world is expending at least “a fair amount” of effort on integrating community networking and audience engagement strategies, such as Social Media Marketing, into their overall media mix (i.e., moving away from a campaign-centric direct marketing model, to multi-channel customer engagements across all online and off-line platforms).

In today’s hyper-competitive marketing world, just building an impressive Web site, or creating a polished ad campaign, is no longer enough.  Savvy marketers are realizing that they need to reach-out to – and stay connected with – their target audience and online community influencers in order to entice customers to their brands, and generate long-term goodwill.

Having recently attended the 2009 PhoCusWright Conference in Orlando, Florida with Angela Yost, our Director of Client Acquisition, Mike expects to reconnect with marketing executives from the travel and tourism industry at this exciting conference in Canada.  In addition, he will be gleaning insight into the latest developments and advancements in interactive travel strategies, including social media marketing and online analytics, at the Canada-e-Connect Conference.

If you would like to meet-up with Mike at this conference to discuss how EngineWorks can benefit your online promotional efforts, simple post a request to this blog, or contact him at mike@engineworks.com.

This very encouraging report validates once again, that more and more consumers are choosing to research and purchase products online rather than contend with crowded malls and out-of-stock situations.  As we conveyed in a previous blog post, forty-five percent (45%) consumers perceive that they find better bargains online, compared to only thirty-four percent (34%) who claimed to find better deals at brick and mortar locations.  We are confident that this fact contributed to the positive holiday selling season this year.

As depicted in the eMarketer graph below, a full forty-five percent (45%) of respondents in this survey stated that in November 2009 they found better bargains at e-commerce Web sites, compared to only thirty-four percent (34%) who claimed to have found better deals at brick and mortar locations.

The top three enticements to convince consumers to purchase online are free shipping, free returns, and discounted specials promoted on the home page of an e-commerce Web site, as reported in this same survey.

It is evident that the convenience and perceived savings achieved through making purchases online is spearheading the road to our economic recovery in our great nation.

This study found that the most common strategy used by marketers on Facebook is an attempt to direct online visitors to branded materials through status updates, and through ‘friending’ tactics.  However, the most effective social media strategy implemented by consumer-based companies is to create a Facebook application pertaining to their brand(s).

The following chart from eMarketer summarizes the findings from this MarketingProfs study, and reveals the fact that the strategy perceived to be most successful (as reported by almost 42% of respondents) is Creating a Facebook Application Around a Brand.

If you would like to learn more about how EngineWorks can help you implement a Facebook application, or any other cutting-edge Social Media Marketing strategy, please drop a post on this blog, or reach-out to Mike Rosenberg (mike@engineworks.com) or Angela Yost (angela@engineworks.com).

We can assist you in your efforts to directly connect with more customers and interested communities.

In 2010, eMarketer projects that domestic advertising expenditures within social media networks will increase approximately seven percent (+7%) to more than $1.3 billion.  This forecast equates to an impressive 5.5% of all projected online ad spending in the coming year.  Of this $1.3 billion anticipated to be spent in 2010, Facebook will capture almost 25%, compared approximately 20% in 2009.

It is important to acknowledge however, that companies gain the greatest value through Social Media Marketing by having genuine engagements with their target audience on social networking platforms, and not by flooding them with banner ads.  As eMarketer states, “Marketers will continue to make social networks a priority for 2010, but a significant portion of their spending will go toward building and maintaining a social network presence.  Paid social network advertising will remain somewhat of an afterthought.”

As we have realized here at EngineWorks, Social Media Marketing is most effective when it is earned through authentic two-way communication that builds personal relationships and trust between our clients’ brands and their target audience.  Thus, our outlook for this exciting, new channel in the coming year (and beyond), is an ever-increasing push for companies to have online social activities and connections ‘baked-in’ to every form of digital content, including their Web sites, search engines, shopping engines, entertainment portals, and even traditional media channels.

This view is punctuated by the following eMarketer statement, “2010 will be a year in which social network advertising will intersect with other kinds of advertising. Concepts such as earned media (the additional unpaid exposure a brand gets when consumers share about the brand online), local social advertising, social search and social ad networks will be key themes next year.”

We look forward to continuing to development new avenues of marketing success for our clients through our creative social media strategies and promotions in 2010.

Here is his number one prediction as presented in this eMarketer article:

1. During 2010, as US ad budgets crack open just a little, look for an accelerated migration of ad dollars from traditional to digital media. According to Forrester Research, 59% of US marketers plan to increase their budgets for digital by pulling funds from traditional outlets.

Since the inception of our company, we have touted that more and more companies and organizations will continue to shift more and more of their marketing dollars from traditional advertising channels, including print, outdoor, and television, to highly measurable interactive solutions such as professional Search Engine Marketing.

The following eMarketer graph depicts this expected shift in marketing budgets during next twelve (12) months:

The ability to significantly effect, and track, the ROI performance of search marketing campaigns will drive this trend well into next year, and for many years to come.

In addition to this top prediction made by Geoff, the article provides insight into six other compelling dynamics within our vibrant industry.  I highly recommend that you take a moment to read this valuable article.

SEMpdx will present this professional seminar at the following time and location:

6:00pm PST
Tuesday
01.12.10
Hotel deLuxe
729 S.W. 15th Avenue
Portland, Oregon

As a founding board member of SEMpdx, we at EngineWorks highly encourage any business or organization interested in improving the performance of your Paid Search Marketing campaigns to attend this lively evening in beautiful downtown Portland.  Advanced topics scheduled to be addressed include effective keyword research and analysis, ad copy creation, A/B testing, multi-variate testing, spend cap management, and a whole lot more.

For information on registering and attending the SEMpdx Paid Search Seminar in January, simply visit the SEMpdx Web site.

We look forward to seeing you there!