IAMAI-Pinstorm Search Marketing Seminar: The Buyer Speaks

The buyers are what this seminar was really about, and whom the report is targeting – how much do they spend? How successful are their marketing efforts? How do they optimize search marketing? How important is search marketing to them?

Prasanna Singh, CEO Agencyfaqs, moderating the session spoke about what it took to convert a print guy to advertising online – a cheque from Google Adsense. The ones whom search engines really need to net (literally) are the businesses without great websites and with little experience online; There is a need to improve their marketing experience. Then the marketers took center stage:

The Buyers

Geetu Ahuja of Info Edge spoke about how she herself was skeptical initially about search marketing. Now, almost 50 percent of Info Edge’s online marketing is search. They do an end-to-end analysis of ROI, and so far, even though search marketing is the most expensive, it gives them the best ROI. She gave mantras for search marketing:
– Experiment: be the first mover. They were among the first to attempt regional content, as well as advertise on Yahoo! They’re also going to experiment with advertising on Raftaar.
– Scale vertically before scaling horizontally
– A mix of organic and paid search. They complement each other.
– Use a variety of creatives
– Connect throughout the cycle: different landing pages for different content for improving relevance.
– Targeted advertising: don’t advertise on “real estate in India” if you’re selling real estate in Mumbai
Gayatri Buddha, AVP Marketing at Makemytrip.com said that they spend 40 percent of their marketing budget on search. They’ve observed that people search for travel options when at work, so they time their campaigns accordingly. They’ve got a dedicated resource for search marketing, and they’re on most sites without much of an expense – at least, not as much as it seems. If you’re spending more that Rs.5 lakhs, she said, then invest in an analytics tool to track conversions. She also felt that one needs to find the right balance between SEM and SEO. One also needs to be observant. They found that traffic on their US site began dropping, and the marketing needed to be tweaked. She added that one needs to evaluate search marketing options independently, and not do what everyone else is doing. Search engines, however, provide a level playing field.
Ashok Lalla, Director of Internet Marketing at Taj Hotels played the devils advocate and questioned the reasons for search marketing – is it an attention game? A selling game? Why isn’t it a brand building exercise, and why can’t it get them customer loyalty? Can the tables be turned with premium searches where brands get listed free, and searchers pay for searching? He said that there’s a need for separating the brand from the bazaar, and for success for being measured by relevance, not numbers.

While I agree with what Lalla said about defining priorities, I wonder how search marketing can be used for brand building. That would come at the second stage – once you’ve drawn a potential customer to your site. Another thing – if search is what works best for Info Edge, then why did Naukri.com have a problem with an job search engine like Bixee?

Also at the Search Marketing seminar:
The Report And The Basics
The Future Of Search

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