Besides the always amusing chat lines… there was some other rather valuable chat we happened upon during our week at Search Engine Strategies New York last week. Never wanting to deprive anyone of our opinions & observations, here’s the gist:
Agencies are doing it all! – Or are they? One difference we came across from last year’s conference, was the shift in the strategies of most “Big Dog” agencies from mainly doing SEO, PPC, and some Social to now including Web Analytics, Email Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Link Bait, Corporate Blogging, Brand Awareness, Landing Page Design, Bid Management and more. Two Nic n Cher observations: the first is there really seems to be a gap in the market developing for the “wee pups” concentrating on a niche. And, are these agencies actually ‘doin’ it all’? Or is there an opportunity here for the niche companies to pick up some outsourced work as well.
New Video Optimization Software. Is it the answer we’ve been waiting for? – The Blinkx booth was buzzing with news of a new video optimization technology they have developed. In short, the software transcribes the audio of a video into text, allowing it to be searchable and at the same time taking a shot at tag spam. I guess depending on your online ‘goals’, this an be a good thing or a bad thing… Regardless, I was sold!
Internet marketing in the finance industry still a struggle – Nic and I were interested to hear how others who are marketing online in the finance industry have weathered the ‘Credit Crunch‘ storm. There were a lot of casualties on our side of the pond, but things look as though they are starting to bounce back. Feedback was certainly not hard to find! A hot topic still on the lips of many, the responses were mixed.
Having ridden out the worst, we have now found ourselves benefiting from lower costs per click and better conversions. The volumes are also on the rise as the housing market, albeit questionable a few months ago is showing signs of stabilizing once again. Unfortunately, the US market sounds as though it still has a way to go. With the housing & lending markets still lingering below the average. This of course is still being reflected in the exchange rate… $1,000,000 = £2 (one of those super new jokes).
Affiliate programs where were you? – Yep, we realise there are better events out there for affiliate sites and networks, however, we’ve always enjoyed conversing with a few at SES as well. Of course our old favorite www.888.com was not there, but we spent some time again at the MarketHealth (previously JoeBucks) booth. There was a serious lack of some of the other staples including Adbrite & AzoogleAds who have been at past events. To be honest, we were looking for something a bit different (shocker) but it turned out we ended up not finding anything at all!
High Fives for the Pro-Activity of MSN AdCenter Representatives! – Unfortunately I haven’t had many good things to say regarding my experience using the AdCenter since it’s inception a few years ago. Oh how the tables have turned today! I spoke to two reps who were out on the town! You heard me, not at the booth and not even in the Hilton, but out at some of the parties! Not only that, I was approached and flat out asked for my feedback on the program. Uh, she probably didn’t expect the mini, but constructive rant she got in return… “Sorry, I’m passionate about my PPC”. Anyway, after our conversation, I’ve come back with an open mind towards the AdCenter and have every intension of giving it another shot. Well Done MSN!
Reading back it sounds as though we’re suckers for the sales pitch, a walking target on the expo floor, if you will. Hmm, not really the look we were going for but it gave us some new things to think about, not to mention some free stuff, namely a banana every morning from a booth who promised they could increase our conversion rate, until we divulged our conversion rate, at which time the pitch was replaced with “Well Done“! Am easily pleased.
Cher
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