Los Angeles website design
Buy Low, Sell High - 3 Strategies to Ramp Up Your Marketing Efficiency in a Bad Economy
Buy Low, Sell High
The old adage “buy low, sell high” isn’t just applicable in the stock market – it’s relevant for online marketing as well. With the economy in a downturn, many online advertisers are becoming more likely to offer media at reduced rates. According to Nielsen Online’s Advertising Breakdown by Industry, total impressions dropped from 296,395.70 in January 2008 to 277,438.40 in February 2008. Moreover, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) spend has the potential to be more efficient given the fact that many firms are spending less and/or pausing their SEM campaigns in part or in full. Even more compelling is that many interactive agencies are also feeling this crunch and are being much more aggressive in their pricing.
Search Engine Marketing Trends – Bullish on PPC Campaigns
Although there has been an upward trend in spend and cost over the past several years, the ailing economy has recently driven spend down. This downward trend has created a very attractive time to become more aggressive in SEM tactics. According to the Average CPC Search by Category data from SearchEngineWatch.com, 5 of the 8 categories measured in January and March of 2008 have decreased or remained the same in terms of average cost per click. Of the categories that experienced increases, two of the three were credit and auto finance. These categories have an upward average CPC trend that one might expect in a troubled economy. The only other category to increase was in travel which is most likely driven by seasonality. Even more notably, the retail category showed a decreased overall CPC average, going from $.43 in January to $.39 in March.
The reason these issues are not first and foremost in the minds of many firms in the past is due to the fact that in an upward economy, inefficiencies can be more easily hidden. The ad campaigns, creative, or even the products / services themselves may not be fully optimized, but they continue to drive acceptable results during better times. As the old saying goes, “The high tide makes all ships rise.” However, when times get tough, these inefficiencies and weaknesses become glaring.
Resources for
