Integrated Branding Blog | Movéo

Don't Get Blogged Down

With the web continuing to be a necessary marketing tool, more and more companies and businesses are jumping on the blog bandwagon to share information and expertise. Being semi-new to the blog practice, I can only speak on what I know so far about what works and what doesn’t.

Here are a few tips I’ve picked up in my short time in the blogosphere.

1.    Keep things short. Most people crave useful information, but dislike reading. Make your point, and make it quickly.

2.    Watch your grammar. Your blog entry can be laid back and casual, but don’t leave it riddled with misspellings and awkward sentence construction. Your reader could get confused –– or worse, annoyed  –– and lose interest.

3.    Get a little spunky. A fun blog post is one that people will want to read. Add in wit that’s appropriate for your audience and you’re sure to please the reader.

4.    Know your audience. The Movéo blog caters to readers from the advertising and marketing worlds, which includes many of our clients. With extensive experience in the industries, Movéo knows what our clients want and what makes them tick. Keeping that in mind, we aim to keep our blogs relevant to the needs of our readers.

These aren’t hard and fast rules, but they’re a good start. I’ve learned them through writing my own and also reading entries from various other writers. In the end, it’s really just about finding your voice and putting it out there in a format that others will want to read. Good luck.

Vicki Treptow, Copywriter

Using Tag lines as AdWords Headlines

Traditional thinking of how to construct an AdWords typically falls into two schools of thought. The first school, championed by Perry Marshall and other Guru’s, is to use dynamic keyword insertion to ensure your headline matches the search query of the user. The second school, promoted by many experts such as David Bullock, is to instead to very finely group keywords so you can write a headline that will always be very specific to what the user searched for. I have always agreed with David. However, I never shy away from split-testing something new. There are several new styles of headlines I have split-tested that have proven effective. 

1. Tag Lines as Headlines. Ex. For NES Rentals we used “Get it in Gear” 

2. Brand Centric. Ex. For Alloyd Products we used “Alloyd Brands” 

3. Event Based. Ex. For Thermosafe we used “See Us at PackExpo” 

By giving each of these different approaches a chance Movéo’s clients' ads stood out from the competition, who were set in one of the two typical schools of thought. In B2B and Healthcare copywriting for Paid Search Marketing one cannot be afraid to try something new. Metrics are so easy to track and analyze that finding the best conversion sources is often just one creative test away. Headlines do not all need to be the same style.

How much Data is Best for Split-Testing Ad Copy

When trying to decide what ad copy is most effective in moving a viewer to a click, to a conversion each step of the equation offers it’s unique input into what drives a viewer of an ad to convert.

Step 1: Impression to Click

The almighty click through rate, CTR, has been regarded by pay per click marketers across the industry as the primary focus of PPC performance. Since this metric supposedly weighs heavy in the computation of the AdWords quality score it seems many marketers have no problem driving up high click through traffic even if it does not convert.
Impression to click is really the least important factor in determining the success of the bottom line of the purpose of the campaign, to convert visitors to clients. CTR is most useful when determining the strength of headlines, but becomes less useful when testing description text and display url’s.

Step 2: Click to Conversion

Conversion rate is a metric many pay per click marketers just felt they didn’t need to pay attention to. When I first began researching and managing PPC accounts I was contracting for an agency in Boulder, CO and was told not to worry about conversions, that was the job of the Web team. The idea was that it was my job to get the people there and their job to make them convert. What happened is a lot of traffic that was generated was not even qualified, much less actually going to convert. Disconnected data led to bad results.
By taking an integrated approach to Interactive design, Creative content, and Search marketing an environment is created in which departments consult with each other about the data collected and collaborate on implementing the best solution.

First, the importance of setting a baseline for when there is enough data to do the analysis is necessary. I draw the line at a thousand search network impressions. It is important to draw this line in the sand and stick to it. By knowing I have adequate quality data to analyze I can be confident that the conclusions I draw will provide the optimizations needed to continue to improve performance.

If you're creative, does it matter which hand holds the pencil?

Most people would agree that creative, pie-in-the-sky types are
right-brained individuals, while left-brainers make fantastic
number-crunchers. I've always been on board with that, too. In a somewhat
pensive state I put two and two together and realized that a person with a
dominant right brain is actually left-handed. I had never questioned my
right-handed status until now. For all practical purposes I should be using
my left hand...after all, I'm a CREATIVE Director, not an accountant.

The right brain is intuitive, holistic, subjective, random (a person capable
of dreaming up some really outlandish stuff). "My side" is logical,
sequential, rational and probably spends a great deal of time over analyzing
things (guilty). In thinking it over, I've settled on this; the right brain
doesn't work alone to generate creative.

After looking into some scientific studies, it turns out that I've actually
been putting the right side of my brain through strength training for a
number of years. The creative process itself (holding attention span,
visualizing spaces, exploring color, etc) is like high-impact aerobics for
the brain's right hemisphere. So I get the best of both worlds--my whole
brain.

I'm a right-handed Creative Director! I'm time-conscious, budget-conscious
and rarely unconscious because my left-brain positive emotions dominate. I
over-analyze to be sure that a good idea truly is a good idea and because
I'm so rational, I can usually determine the most efficient ways to get
things done. And because I've worked the right side hard, it rewards me time
to time with some wild ideas.

Angela Costanzi, Director Creative Services

Dynamic Keyword Insertion is Lackluster

Whenever I hear someone who is new to writing AdWords ad copy they inevitably mention great “tricks” they learned from whatever “guru’s” course they took. The first one to always come up is dynamic keyword insertion.

Here is what dynamic keyword insertion is physically: {keyword:alternate text}

So you search for “local laundry service”

And see the ad:

Buy local laundry service
Best deals on local laundry service
Limited quantities. Buy Today.
www.store.com/local_laundry_service

I went little overboard, but it illustrates the point. You have seen ads like these, where they use the insertion only once, and you have laughed because it was so irrelevant to what you had searched for. I had heard they were so effective from so many sources that I agreed to do it for one client who had been suggesting it for months, to my resistance. Upon testing we discovered a higher CTR, corresponding to an increased bounce rate, lower conversion rate, and higher cost per conversion.

I have not used dynamic keyword insertion since. I find that it is much easier to properly structure an AdWords account so that each ad group is so finely focused that filling in the 25 character headline at least 2/3 of those characters will be the keyword that every phrase in the ad group has in common. Dynamic keyword really is an effective trick, a trick by the platforms on advertisers who just run for the click, no matter who is doing the clicking.

The Thrill and Fear of the Creative Process

Getting a new creative assignment can be really exciting. Any idea can be considered and you begin to see the potential of the project. And brainstorming is my favorite part of the job. Sharing ideas and developing something great as a team is why I love being in the creative group. But there is also, at least on my part, a bit of nerves that come with presenting my ideas to others in a meeting.

I always have a small fear that while I’m sitting at my desk, brainstorming alone before the meeting starts, that what I’m coming up won’t have that “wow factor.” And if that’s true, how can I make a case for something that’s just mediocre? What if my idea is totally shot down? What if everyone points and laughs?

But, as always, once the meeting begins, and the brainstorm starts rolling, and conversation starts flowing, fear can transform into excitement and anticipation. I think that any creative person hopes (at least a little) that their idea will be chosen and that it will become an award-winning masterpiece. And whether it does or not, if the ad or campaign is a success for the client, there’s nothing to worry about. Until next time.
Vicki Treptow, Copywriter

Need to think? Step away from the computer.

While the Mac is probably a designer's most important tool, facing the
computer screen is the last place you want to be if you need to dream up
some big ideas. The best thinking still comes about the old fashioned
way–with paper, pencil and "thoughtful discussion" (a polite way of saying
passionate, heated debates).

When it comes to how and where creatives think best it differs for everyone.
For me, ideas flow most naturally when I'm physically doing something
else...driving, walking, showering, etc. Once the information is digested
and allowed to settle the most obvious ideas are quickly discarded and more
complex ones begin to take shape. The exciting part is how quickly they rise
to the surface. This remains the most unpredictable, yet incredibly
critical part of the creative process.

The greatest fun lies in bringing fresh ideas to life (I've coined the
phrase "giving birth to the brand") in ways that make them unique and truly
ownable. Only after careful thought has been given to copy, color, graphic
elements, typography, imagery, etc., should the computer be used. Even
though Adobe's Creative Suite makes it easier and faster than ever to make
someone's vision a reality, you still have to tell it what to do.

Angela Costanzi, Director Creative Services 

GRAMMAR IS GOOD FOR YOU –– AND YOUR BUSINESS

I have a confession: I love grammar. As far as most people are concerned, this marks me –– at best –– as very odd. But I have good reason to feel this way. As a writer, communication is at the heart of my craft, and good grammar is at the heart of communication.

In my opinion, too many people have an irrational fear of grammar. Believe it or not, it’s designed to help us –– by clarifying meaning. Take, for example, the title of Lynn Truss’ most recent book, “Eats, Shoots and Leaves.” As the cover (which depicts a panda holding a gun) illustrates, nuances of meaning are contained in the way we structure and punctuate our sentences. In this case, the mere presence of a comma can alter the meaning of the title. Without it, the title describes panda behavior. But with the comma, it MUST be read as a series of actions –– eating, shooting and leaving.

That brings me to my point. In business communications, clarity is particularly important –– not only for those creating the messages, but also for those receiving them. By following the rules of grammar, our communications have the best chance of being understood by the widest audience.  So ask yourself: Are your communications as clear they could be? For a quick brushup, check out http://www.world-english.org/grammar.htm.

Irene Wescott, Associate Creative Director