Attempting to improve the performance of the paid search ads, Google will now begin showing the domain of the landing page in the headline of the ad.  The enhancement will only affect top placement ads — those appearing at the top of the page. According to Google’s Inside AdWords blog, a vertical bar will separate the headline from the domain.  The resulting change looks like the following:

Old Format

_

PPC Agency

Let LeapFrog Interactive help you with your SEM campaigns.

www.leapfroginteractive.com/ppc

New Format

_

PPC Agency | leapfroginteractive.com

Let LeapFrog Interactive help you with your SEM campaigns.

www.leapfroginteractive.com/ppc

With the new format, the space used for the brand name in the description can now be used for selling copy. Google feels this will provide more relevant factors for end users, thus leading to higher CTRs.

It's a proud day in the LeapFrog Interactive offices as Google alerts discovered LFI was mentioned in a Forbes.com article, "For Marketers, Every Day Is Mother's Day."

In Fall 2010, LFI partnered with the American Marketing Association and Pontiflex to present a Webinar outlining what every marketer should know about using social media to engage with women. Over the last year, marketing to women, specifically moms, has been an exploding trend that LFI has followed closely. Many of the brands we represent have had great success with the Mom market, as a result of our work.

In fact, our Q4 issue of "Logic+Magic" was dedicated to highlighting that wonderful relationship between brand and Mom; what she wants, what she needs, how she thinks, and what resonates most with her.

As thought leaders in our industry, we strive to continually build our knowledge base and share that expertise with our clients and colleagues. Being recognized in Forbes is a testament to our perpetual reach toward marketing excellence. And be assured, this is just the beginning and we're not done yet!

The Search Team at Google, the leader in the search industry, has launched a search blog: Inside Search. Most of the search announcements in the past have come from the Official Google Blog or the Webmaster Central Blog, so it will be nice to get all of the Google search news in one place.

As the introductory blog post states, Google has more engineers working on search than any other product. I think it is safe to assume, since Google has made this move to give search a home, that the company is allowing more time and space to devote to new products.

I am also a fan of their second blog post on social search. The blog is definitely going to provide insight into what is a priority in the search think tank.

Several years ago I was told that if I wasn’t working in a digital agency in the next couple of years, then I faced the very real possibility of being left behind. My response to this was, “Pshhh … traditional will be around forever. TV shoots are awesome. You’re talking crazy.” Or something along those lines.

Fast-forward a few years and here I am at my second digital agency, still not quite willing to admit I was wrong. I know full well that the future is in digital, and that traditional as I knew it is pretty much dead. But, I will say that coming from a traditional background has given me a unique advantage over most people who’ve either started in digital or have spent the majority of their careers there. Digital changes every day with new technology, social media outlets, etc. But, the skillset I learned writing TV spots, billboards, print ads and radio spots served as valuable experience in the form of campaigns and big ideas. Having that ability has not only helped me on the digital side, but when those projects like web videos or the occasional print ad do come up, it’s nice being the guy who knows how to do those things.

With the social scene in the forefront of every clients’ consciousness, it’s becoming more important than ever to know how to think bigger than just one execution or website. To be able to think across multiple channels and platforms and have them all work together and deliver a strong, consistent message is the key. This is similar to the thinking that is used to develop an ad campaign. Sometimes I find myself wondering if the ability to think of how an idea can translate across all mediums is lost in digital agencies that built their reputations on strong design, development and execution — or if those digital agencies just aren’t there yet. The same way most mass agencies like to fancy themselves as digital shops, digital agencies have to start thinking more like traditional shops.

So, with the ever-increasing dominance of digital advertising and the growth of the digital agency over the last decade, it has occurred to me that we may soon be facing a time when many young creatives will be at a major disadvantage. They will be working in environments where they haven’t had the opportunity to develop their conceptual thinking the same way they would in a traditional advertising agency. The ability to write a short, succinct headline or bit of body copy is replaced with the ability to write strong SEO and long-form copy. Writing headlines 100 times on a piece of paper until it’s right is replaced by typing it a few different ways into a Word document. The art of writing a big idea in seven words or less could be lost forever. But let’s hope not.

Maybe, like the rest of the industry’s change, there will come a change for the creatives that helps them think bigger than just one execution or one web page. Maybe it starts with their teachers in college or portfolio schools. Or maybe it starts with someone like me, who still remembers the good old days of writing newspaper ads.

(Contributed by Nathan Dye, Senior Writer)

“The ratings of America’s Got Talent would be twice what they are if they’d used ‘The Sac’ to replace ‘The Hoff’ .” – Tom Balsac  

Episode 8: She’s in a Boston State of Mind    

Episode 8 of stalkTALK launched this week on blip.tv as the company continues to encourage and promote original web content and content creators. Exploring new avenues of video sites, given the increase in online video consumption, was a game-changer that moved this campaign forward. Understanding and evaluating many video sites grew as the campaign moved along. Strategic digital marketing involves planning and adaptation for success. With the ever-changing digital world, a well-planned strategy is good, but accounting for unexpected changes — or the potential for new strategy, new technology, or new social media outlets — makes a strategy excellent. Understanding the overall goals and target of any digital media plan is as critical to its success as being adaptable and willing to change to meet the needs of the client and the target audience.

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. At a marketing agency, customer service is provided to clients regularly through the account manager. So the question is, how should your account manager really handle your marketing projects? There are hundreds of approaches one can take, but four easy steps are all you will need for each project. At LeapFrog, we like to call this the L.E.A.P. process. Appropriate, don’t you think?

Your account manager should be a listener first. He or she should be actively hearing your thoughts about your industry, your project, and even what is going on in your life. Everything affects how your marketing should look and feel, so it is important for an account manager to soak it all in, ask questions and be comfortable with all aspects of your business and marketing projects.

The next step is engagement. This is not a ring on a finger but more of an action that follows listening. Your account manager should be thinking strategically on how your interactive marketing project should function while asking the most important question: why is this product or service important to the consumer?

The third step is action. During this step, it is up to the account manager to take what he/she has learned from you about your marketing project and apply the agreed upon strategy. This will lead to a more cohesive interactive marketing campaign with a purpose.

The final step is production. During this step, you will see the true value of the planning efforts realized. Your brilliant interactive marketing campaign is now ready to be received by the appropriate target audience. You can rest easy and know that together, you and your account manager have made your digital marketing project the best it can be.

(Contributed by Kyle Fertig, account manager)

Christy Belden, the vice president of Media + Marketing at LeapFrog Interactive, will present Diversification of Digital on Thursday, May 26 as part of the Business First of Louisville’s Power of Digital Series. The presentation will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center, 221 South 4th St. in Louisville, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

“People see digital media every day and, if it’s implemented well, the target audience shouldn’t think about the ad – it should make them interact with it,” said Belden. “In this presentation, I will cover best practices for creative design and what should be considered when planning and buying digital media.”  

Belden will also explore the history of digital media banner ads from their static beginnings through the current functional, innovative and measureable assets.  

Registration is $25 per person, with discounts for Young Professionals Association of Louisville and Young Advertising Professionals of Louisville members. To register, go to http://www2.bizjournals.com/louisville/event/46721.

Could This Be the (New) Spot?

Christy Belden, VP of Media + Marketing, visited a second potential site for the digital out-of-home installation in downtown Cincinnati on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. This new location could be a significant contender. The vacant space appeared to be clear of any direct sunlight problems in the afternoon and has great windows. The window size is approximately 9’ wide and 11’ tall with one solid pane. With significant space behind the window for set-up, the location looked like a winner among the LFI team.

Could this be the spot for the DOOH experience? We should know soon!

“I’m telling you, staging a fake assassination is a brilliant idea.” – Bobby Fitzgerald

Episode 7: Run Freedom, Run

Strategic social media marketing continues for stalkTALK, LFI’s strategic partner. Episode 7 was released on Wednesday on blip.tv. Blip.tv supports original content creators and the possibility exists for stalkTALK to be a promoted video on blip.tv. These two items will not only help promote the funny web series, but give the Media + Marketing team at LeapFrog Interactive the opportunity to engage with new fans and a different digital media site. Understanding and working with multiple social media and digital media websites allows the Media + Marketing team to gain a deeper knowledge of the various media outlets that exist and to develop strategic marketing plans for other LFI clients as well.

In addition, Emily Van Winkle continues her outreach to the entertainment industry, specifically those involved in celebrity news and comedy. Due to the LFI’s SEO work for stalkTALK, a search for “stalktalk” reveals that many of the top spots are dedicated to the episodes and various stalkTALK video channels. A search for “web comedy series video” results in four first page results of various stalkTALK episodes and channels. Creating a high-level, consistent SEO campaign for stalkTALK has had proven success.

In other related stalkTALK news, the screening at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival was met with good reviews and lots of laughs.

Take a look at your company’s digital communication resources. This may seem like a silly question to ask, but is your company sending the same message loud and clear? Or are they sending mixed signals? As an interactive ad agency it’s our job to ensure that our clients’ communications align with their brand and speak the same language, but do our own? 

As someone new to the digital agency, I was impressed rather early on by the level of attention given to the LFI brand through our communication resources. Practicing what we preach demonstrates our belief in the processes and tools we leverage on a daily basis for our clients. I couldn’t be happier to see us utilize our own agency as a proving ground and successful case study. Let’s be clear, though: this definitely takes time and a concerted effort from our teams.

In any business it’s easy to let the needs of your clients overshadow the needs of your own company. The client comes first, right? I would argue this is true, but only to a point. In the digital space, the potential for communication gaps is compounded due to the increasing number of avenues available to communicate with the world. Staying on top of your communication strategy and ensuring it is consistently broadcasting your intended message, in the tone you want to send it, is essential to getting the return you desire.

For LFI, our website, blog, and Facebook and Twitter accounts — even our email communications — reflect our brand and stand to leave a lasting impression about who we are and what we do. Email, in particular, is often overlooked as a point of brand communication. In the digital space, all outgoing email correspondence to existing clients, potential new clients, vendors and industry colleagues has the potential to either bolster your brand or trash it quickly — and worse, leave a virtual paper trail of the communication misstep.

Every touch point your company makes is an opportunity to relay the tone of your business, from prospecting right down to the point of hire. In a whitepaper from Accolo, the importance of leaving a positive lasting impression on potential new hires is highlighted; this is true whether or not they get the job. As the saying goes, it’s a small world, so you want to ensure you’re capitalizing on every chance to make someone a fan of your organization. Poor follow-up or inconsistent communication is more likely to convert someone to a critic, rather than a fan.

Our social media presence and this blog are also key communication tools that must be maintained, tweaked and updated on a consistent basis to ensure we’re sending the right message about LFI. In an article posted on MAD Perspectives, Peggy Dau speaks to the value of consistent messaging efforts in the social space and reiterates how good social media and blog content, like a good creative campaign, can be time consuming to create, but worth the investment. It allows potential clients to get to know your company and your brand, often before you even know they're interested. At LFI, we understand the value behind consistent branding and communication with social media, and we dedicate time and resources to our clients’, as well as our own, social media properties every day.

So take a moment to review your communication strategy. Ask yourself if you are being consistent and clear with the message you want to send across all avenues of communication to represent your brand. If there are snags, gaps, or possibly gaping holes, take the time to align your resources, patch the holes, and ensure that your outgoing messaging is far from mixed. Or better yet, look to see if hiring a digital marketing agency makes sense to help align your marketing communications.

(Contributed by Tiffany Hoppe, senior account manager)

Google released an online magazine/book called Think Quarterly. According to Google, the goal of Think Quarterly is to provide a place for reflection and thought about all of the changes occurring on the Internet and their impact.

The book is chock-full of theory and execution. In a world where there is an enormous amount of content, but sometimes lacking in overall thinking, Think Quarterly rises above the rest. Digital marketing literature is typically devoid of insight, thoughtfulness and critical thinking — it is usually left up to the creative and brand strategist arenas. Think Quarterly has a chance to be the thought leader in the search marketing arena.

As a marketer at an interactive marketing firm, I am tuned in more than most of my friends and family with how digital advertising technologies work. In my personal life, I frequently have to explain how display advertising works with regard to targeting. I find myself using terms that the average Joe and Jane aren’t familiar with, and as their eyes glaze over, the only question they’re really concerned about is, “So, that’s an invasion of my privacy, right?”

Privacy concerns are a huge issue right now in the advertising industry, specifically in digital advertising. However, the process isn’t as intrusive as some people think it is. Also, the intent behind things like “cookies” and “ad networks” was actually quite helpful to Internet users.

I found a video on Wall Street Journal that describes what cookies are and how advertisers use them to serve you web ads for products they think you’ll like. The story behind the technology is interesting and a little education helps alleviate some fears of the true power of the dreaded “cookie-tracking.”

[Contributed by Emily Carroll]

“I think we know she wasn’t signed for her talent outside of the bedroom.” Drew Walker  

“Adaptable” is described by Merriam-Webster as “capable of being or becoming; to make fit often by modification.”  

This is a perfect word to describe the approach sometimes needed when working with a social media marketing campaign. The strategy created for a social media marketing campaign is individualized for each client through a brainstorming meeting and in-depth analysis of the client’s audience, products, service and campaign goals — and stalkTALK was no different.  

Even with the planning and individualized recommendations, there is always an adaptable aspect of social media marketing. This comes when a detail in the strategy needs to change. In stalkTALK’s case, when each episode would go live and be featured needed to change. The change could be necessary for a multitude of different reasons — audience reach or budget, among others. But that’s the GREAT thing about social media marketing. The details of the strategy can change slightly without affecting the overall goals and tactics of the campaign. stalkTALK’s campaign goals remain the same: to attract a following and viewership. Other changes in detail have also occurred, including concentrating more on centralized tweets from stalkTALKtv, as opposed to the tweeting concentration being from each individualized character. This is not to say each character is not tweeting, it just means the focus has changed somewhat.  

Luckily, social media marketing is an adaptable marketing medium and can be done quickly without affecting the target audience very much. In addition, changes are made to the marketing strategy details to make the campaign a greater success. After all, LFI’s overall goal for this project and partnership is for stalkTALK to be successful.

I have a confession. I have not used the new broad match modifier available in Google AdWords yet. Each time I think I am going to test, I hesitate because I don’t feel as if I understand it.

Search Engine Land walks through a broad match case study, which really helped explain the modifier.

Google has a great tutorial on implementing the broad match modifier.

If practice makes perfect, let’s run through an example using LFI:

Current campaign: “leapfrog interactive marketing”

Broad match: +leapfrog +interactive +marketing

Result: Increase clicks and impressions

Current campaign: digital agency

Broad match: +digital agency

Result: Improved ROI

Current campaign: PPC company

Broad match: +PPC company

Result: Improved ROI

Ah, weddings … a time of happiness, love, and digital marketing campaigns. This may not be true for all of us, but that is definitely the case for the Royal Wedding.

The Royal Wedding opened up new doors of digital event marketing, including consumer product commercials, digital billboards for the wedding and similar shows, and live streaming media (not only online via YouTube but also via digital billboards in Times Square). Reaching beyond typical display advertising, social media messaging and traditional marketing gave digital and traditional media outlets the opportunity to expand the viewer’s reach and develop a new presence within the consumer-space. I felt a bit bombarded by wedding coverage in the final weeks leading up to the Royal Wedding, and I noticed the increased use of hashtags — #rw2011 and #royalwedding specifically — creeping into my Twitter feed and in news casts and television promotions associated with the wedding. With all the buzz, approximately 30,000 tweets per day according to Webtrends, I decided to see what all the digital madness was about.

All major news networks, the people of England, and even the official British Monarchy Facebook and Twitter pages covered the big event before, during and after the couple said, “I do.” The Royal Wedding marked a new era in digital marketing for an event and how other marketing campaigns became focused on this event (i.e., T-Mobile and Kodak).

The official YouTube channel, The Royal Channel, provided visitors with the ability to view the digital wedding invitation and the procession route for Friday’s ceremony; users were also able to upload a personal message to send to the happy couple. Additionally, live streaming video of the arrival, ceremony and first kiss garnered a record number of “concurrent viewers on Livestream” with 300,000 views. With more than 4.6 million page views per minute, The Royal Wedding surpassed the total for Obama’s presidential election; the live stream was a great illustration of where I believe digital media will trend in the future.

With direct, live access online to news and information, I am not surprised by the success of the livestream of this event. As technology and digital media continue to progress, I expect there will be more live streaming event coverage available for computer, tablet and mobile users. The Royal Wedding is a great example of an event promoted across multiple channels at once with an end goal of creating a massive digital presence and a buzz so direct and indirect that you just can’t get away from it.

(Contributed by Brittany Burdoine-Lewis)

Upon learning of Osama Bin Laden’s death last night, my Twitter feed was alive with links to news. Facebook exploded with expressions of “God Bless America” and “Thanks to our troops.” I started thinking about how social media, specifically Twitter, has become an outlet for news. I was first amazed by the use of Twitter during the earthquake and tsunami almost two months ago in Japan and how quickly information and reactions were available to those around the world. I couldn’t believe the level of detail and information available via social media from witnesses and news sources. I was again amazed at not only the amount of tweets before, during and after the tornados in Alabama and Mississippi, but also at the use of Twitter to share where those tornados were headed, right down to the neighborhoods affected. I was included in that group using social media to check on family and friends in the affected areas.

Using social media to get the latest news is an interesting concept. It’s even more interesting to watch those social media properties ignite and bring together millions of people around the world to talk about a similar topic. It will be interesting to watch this trend for future news outbreaks and see what people are talking about. Do I think Twitter will replace traditional news outlets? No. But I do think Twitter and Facebook are quickly becoming a go-to outlet for the most up to date news and weather information not only from media outlets, but also from users’ friends and followers.

(Contributed by Brittany Burdoine-Lewis)