Long tail search marketing has history in old forms

Long tail search on the web has existed in traditional print for years. Well, sort of. Small niche vertical publications have existed
For years. These niche publications were created to reach specific consumer or B2B audiences and to allow marketers targeted, efficient advertising opportunities. It's a crude version of the long tail search concept online today. The difference is that the current online approach offers much more data andeasuremt of return on marketing investment.

How to Maximize Competitive Intelligence

There is a simple thing you can do as a marketer to generate greater return on investment from your market research and competitive intellegence efforts. Marketers spend countless hours optimizing research methodologies, survey questions and analytics (rightfully so, too.) Competitive intelligence can come from many sources, extending beyond formal research to include press tracking, and even simple hearsay from the sales force. So what's the single most powerful thing you can do to improve return? Create an organized central clearinghouse to capture the information. Great insight results from crossing data points from multiple sources. Market analysis indicates Competitor X may be boosting short term sales, HR hears that a key executive from Competitor X may interviewing in the market, and your Regional Sales Manager say the CFO of Competitor X golfing with the President of Competitor Y. Acquisition or merger? You'll need to learn more, but clearly there is a situation to be explored, and only by crossing these points of information are you able to gain the insight. So...create a central repository of competitive information (paper or digital) and review it often.

Good competitive intelligence reads: Society for Competitive Intelligence, Primary Intelligence

Tale of 2 Books - Marketing Metrics

I read two books this month, both focused on metric marketing issues. The first was "Return on Marketing Investment" by Guy Powell. The second book was "Measure What Matters" by Laura Patterson of Vision Edge Marketing. While both authors share a common goal of guiding CEOs and CMOs to measure marketing more effectively to achieve desired outcomes, the two authors approach the topic in decidedly different manners. Powell argues that marketing investment should be evaluated like any other business investment - calculate the expected return on various marketing investments and compare the returns against defined hurdle rates. Apply high hurdle rates for more risky investments such as advertising versus more known marketing tactics such as direct marketing. While Powell's approach is logical and the quantitative model mathematically correct, he fails to fully address an effective way to set hurdle rates or how to effectivey define expected returns on new marketing efforts, other than to say that the hurdle should be higher for higher risk or less known programs.

In comparison, Patterson breaks the role of marketing into three core performance areas that link to business objectives: acquisition, retention, and monetization. She then proceeds to offer specific marketing metrics for each area that can be measured to determine how marketing programs contribute to these fundamental objectives. I particularly like her reference to those metrics that measure business output versus those that measure marketing activity. See my earlier comments about process v. results marketing metrics.

Both share the goal of linking marketing to business results. Patterson's book is an easier read and will be more palatable to most marketers. Powell's book is more academic and by it's very nature feels more like your Finance 101 text, yet offers relevant thinking. Read both and see what you think. Both believe in my favorite line, "Facts Find Funding"(sm).