Norton hits a three-pointer with college basketball tournament campaign on Yahoo! Mobile
According to sports pundits, “defense wins championships.” This maxim is often true for the annual championship tournament of college basketball, commonly known as “March Madness.” The security software leader Symantec plays a different type of defense, but one that is no less vital to its legions of fans and customers. Over the years, the company’s Norton products have built a legacy similar to those of college basketball powerhouses like UCLA and North Carolina.
During the 2009 tournament, Norton promoted a free trial of its new product, Norton Internet Security 2009, targeting Yahoo!’s highly engaged mobile audience. The goal of the campaign was to generate awareness of Norton’s performance improvements, and to capture email addresses to build its opt-in database. Like a Final Four “Cinderella” team, Norton’s mobile campaign far exceeded expectations, and provided important learnings for future promotions.
HP Personal Systems Group uses Yahoo!’s Rich Ads in Search to enhance branding and super-charge click-through rates
Search ads are a proven winner, but how can a company inject them with more life, color, and sound to improve user experience and click-through rates? Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group found the solution to that challenge-and remarkable increases in ad performance-in Yahoo!’s Rich Ads in Search feature.
The Challenge: HP sought to increase reach, and brand and product awareness, through enhanced online consumer interactions and ad placement in prominent page locations.
As a strategic digital partner to HP, Performics evaluated a number of cost-effective, innovative methods that would help increase consumer engagement via paid search ads. Yahoo! was identified as the partner-of-choice to help implement solutions that would effectively build on HP PSG’s search program.
The Solution: Yahoo! began testing a new product, Rich Ads in Search (RAIS), in late 2008. RAIS enables advertisers to add video, images, and custom search boxes to their Sponsored Search ads, resulting in ads that combine the relevance of search with the impact of rich media.
HP, Performics, and Yahoo! formulated a strategy for a one-month beta test of RAIS. The test would build off of the proven paid search model, and add the ability to integrate HP videos, commercials, and other media to the actual text ads. HP was excited about the opportunity to bring a display advertising experience into a traditional, text-based search ad.
After determining the benefits of the test program, the Performics team and HP began a four-step process to take advantage of the RAIS opportunity:
Identify HP’s high-volume laptop, computer, and TouchSmart keywords that would benefit the most from rich media.
Tailor ad copy and customizable deep links, enabling consumers to select the most relevant link and provide insight into search behavior.
Customize an HP logo within the search ad to provide multimedia brand messaging.
Select product-specific videos that would stimulate visual and audio interest, while keeping the consumer on the Yahoo! search results page to engage further with the ad.
The Results: Via their test of RAIS, HP became one of the first national brands to present consumers with a rich media search experience. The guaranteed top/center positioning strengthened page ownership for HP’s brand, and provided greater control of its brand messaging. “Rich Ads in Search are a very effective way for us to increase our brand recognition in Yahoo!’s Sponsored Search results,” says Barbara Camozzi, Director of Web Marketing at Hewlett-Packard.
HP realized these documented results during the one-month test:
A 774% total increase in click-through rates over traditional Search ads.
A 19%-42% increase in CTR per keyword, exceeding Yahoo!’s benchmark expectations of 15%.
662 HP video plays viewed by searchers.
46 second average video play duration.
Given the success of the RAIS test, additional HP business units are now expanding their Sponsored Search programs to include Yahoo! RAIS. “We love the integration between Search and Display, as well as the innovative implementation. We are definitely planning to renew our RAIS program, because it was so effective for us,” says Camozzi.
About Hewlett-Packard: Hewlett-Packard is the world’s largest multi-channel technology solutions provider. Within HP, the Personal Systems Group (PSG) strives to create personalized technology experiences that connect customers to their world simply and effectively.
About Performics: Performics provides search and performance marketing solutions to more than 200 of the world’s top brands. The company uses search marketing to create future-forward media opportunities that are designed to acquire and convert consumers.
Case Study: GoToPuertoRico.com combines Sponsored Search and display ads to help double its site traffic
You’d think it would be easy to convince people to come to a Caribbean island with breathtaking beaches and luxury resorts—especially one that doesn’t require a passport or currency exchange. But with fierce competition from neighboring islands, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company is in a constant battle to gain the attention and reservations of mainland Americans.
Company overview GoToPuertoRico.com is operated by The Puerto Rico Tourism Company, and aims to promote the island’s tourism offerings to potential travelers in the U.S. and other countries. It also works with Puerto Rico hotels, tour providers and other businesses to book travel directly on the site. Puerto Rico competes with islands such as Aruba, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Bermuda for the same eyeballs and travel dollars.
The company had long relied upon television and print advertising, then began online advertising in July 2007 with banner ads on various websites. In early 2008, it was determined that expanding the company’s online advertising could help reach a computer-using, tech-savvy clientele. The company asked its agency, LIH Group, for ideas on how to increase traffic to the U.S. territory’s official travel site, GoToPuertoRico.com.
LIH turned to the one-two punch of Yahoo! Sponsored Search and display advertising. With help from Yahoo!’s expert sales team, this “P.R. campaign” shocked its media planners by immediately contributing to a doubling of site traffic, and a significant increase in hotel bookings.
Search comes first
“We had read studies that people are watching less TV and subscribing less to print publications,” says Carlos Rom, Media Buyer at LIH Group. “We needed new solutions for promoting the site, so we looked into different options for getting online. We determined that keyword-based search advertising would be the easiest and cheapest way to do this, and would give us a chance to cater to a bigger crowd. Yahoo! was one of the companies that had the best solutions for search advertising and other types of online advertising, so we opened our account with them.”
A Yahoo! account representative worked with Rom to create an expanded set of relevant keywords and separate campaigns for promotional angles, like “destination weddings” and “beach resorts.” The account was optimized to the keywords with the highest click-through rate, and monitored to make sure placement and traffic goals were being met.
Doubling up with display
The team soon saw that keywords like “tropical destinations,” “caribbean vacations,” “puerto rico beaches” and “san juan” were driving the bulk of the traffic. It was fairly easy to adapt these to a new set of graphical display ads—or “banner” ads—that would appear across the Yahoo! network to targeted users via Yahoo!’s My Display Ads. This product enables advertisers to easily create banner ads by adding text, logos, colors and images. The campaigns can be targeted, set to a monthly budget, and run across the Yahoo! network, a specific Yahoo! property, or the Right Media Exchange.
“Our Yahoo! rep talked to me about moving some budget to display ads, to increase impressions and campaign exposure,” says Rom. “In our case, the ads flashed photos of Puerto Rico scenery and activities, and promoted a $200 hotel discount that was only available by booking on our site.” The click-through rate on these ads was excellent, and drove substantial traffic in a short amount of time.
While all parties agreed the display ads were a great complement to the search ads, they found that some that drove the most traffic were the opposite of what was working with search. “One of our best-performing display ads promoted destination weddings,” says Rom. “But that was one of the lower-performing keywords in the search campaign—people just didn’t think to search for that.”
Powerful results
GoToPuertoRico.com’s search campaign launched April 11, 2008, with display ads launching shortly thereafter. Immediately, the company experienced a huge increase in traffic to the site. “We went from an average of 5,000 unique visits per day to an average of 5,500 in April and 6,500 in May and June,” remembers Celmarie Aviles, Interactive Marketing Officer at the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. “We even had a huge spike one day in June, with 8,670 unique visits.”
The company also measures success with the number of hotel bookings completed on the site, and here again, traffic from Yahoo! made a significant impact. “The combination of search and display ads on Yahoo! really satisfied our need to achieve an increase in website visits and bookings,” says Aviles. “The campaigns have been very successful in branding Puerto Rico on the Internet.”
Selling paradise
The Yahoo! Search Marketing and display ad combo turned out to be a package as pleasurable as those sold on the GoToPuertoRico.com site. “For the first time, we are truly competing on the Internet,” says Aviles.
“The Puerto Rico Tourism Company is very, very happy with the results,” says Rom. “Yahoo!’s sales team really takes ownership of the account, and it feels like they are working for us. No matter what clients I work with in the future, I will definitely use Yahoo!’s ad products for our marketing needs.”
Lessons Learned
Display ads can catch people when they’re not necessarily thinking about a certain product or service (in this case, traveling to Puerto Rico), but viewing one enables the user to come back later via search and find consistent messaging. Repetition drives the message home.
Promotional offers can be very powerful: GoToPuertoRico.com mentioned a $200 hotel booking discount in both its search and display ads, with excellent results.
Display ads’ ability to present visual images is especially effective for companies selling an experience or a travel destination.
Relevant keywords, separate campaigns to promote different promotions, and optimization is essential in a search marketing campaign.
Outrider and Showtime experience reign of success with Yahoo! Sponsored Search campaign
Who: Search Marketing agency, Outrider and its client,
Showtime Networks. Objective: To drive awareness, viewership and network subscriptions, and create engagement around the launch of The Tudors, a series about the young and powerful Henry VIII. Product Used: Sponsored Search. Results: The campaign experienced a Yahoo! click-through rate 250% higher than previous series launch campaigns.
Company background
Outrider, a leading global search marketing consultancy, helps clients experience marketing relevance with search campaigns that are integrated with advertisers’ cross-channel media planning. Understanding the dynamic effect search and consumer-driven media can have on a business, Outrider helps clients engage in dialogue with consumers, offering them meaningful content and delivering relevant experiences that build valuable relationships.
Showtime Networks Inc., a subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates premium television networks such as Showtime, The Movie Channel and Flix.
A search campaign fit for a king In the increasingly fragmented and competitive media landscape, Showtime Networks faced a challenge in building the audience for The Tudors. Outrider’s strategy was to develop a campaign that created multiple engagement opportunities and reached consumers at the right time and the right place. This included a campaign that built on the hype around The Tudors star, Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, as well as the topics relevant to the show’s general subject matter and setting—such as the Tudors, English history, the royal family, and more.
In addition to aligning with Showtime’s other advertising and marketing programs, Outrider decided to coordinate its search marketing with publicity efforts. For example, when Meyers was scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show, Outrider adjusted its keyword list to ensure that The Tudors and Meyers were ranked at the top of Yahoo! Search results immediately after his appearance. With help from Yahoo! Sponsored Search, Outrider built a list of more than 2,000 keywords and executed an innovative search marketing strategy.
Royal results reviewed In the first two months, the comprehensive search marketing campaign for the new series launch generated almost 25 million impressions—an increase of 126% to 825% over other launch campaigns. The aggressive, integrated search strategy, along with series-related and cast-specific keywords, resulted in improved campaign performance on Yahoo!, delivering a click-through rate increase up to 250%. Lead generation and subscriptions were also up, surpassing those generated for each of the three previous new series launches.
Yahoo! helps LendingTree test the benefits of combining paid and organic search
Who: LendingTree, LLC, an online lending exchange that connects consumers with multiple lenders who compete for their business. Objective: Yahoo! and LendingTree wanted to quantify how using sponsored search ads and paid inclusion listings together increases traffic. Products Used: Sponsored Search and Search Submit Pro Results: During the study, combining the two products drove a 61% lift in online visitation.
The Challenge
LendingTree assumed that adding Search Submit Pro, which lets businesses create natural search listings, to its Sponsored Search campaigns would drive extra traffic, but it was just that: an assumption. But now they wanted to better quantify the assumed benefit of a combined Sponsored Search and Search Submit Pro campaign. Yahoo! commissioned comScore, a research firm that analyzes consumer Internet behavior, to conduct a study that would find out how much Search Submit Pro helps increase traffic, consumer engagement and conversions.
“We had an assumption of the benefits of using Search Submit Pro and Sponsored Search on the same page but we didn’t have a way to value the impact,” says Robert Pettee, Director of Search Marketing at the Online Lending Exchange.
Methodology In the span of three months, Search Submit Pro listings were turned on or off every Thursday, while Sponsored Search ads were always active on the first page of results during the campaign period. Test panelists were placed in two groups: one group was exposed to LendingTree Sponsored Search ads only; the other group was exposed to a combination of LendingTree Sponsored Search and Search Submit Pro listings.
Results They found that the two products were greater than the sum of their parts—in other words, combining Sponsored Search and Search Submit Pro on the same page can potentially build more traffic than using each product separately.
Yahoo! Search Submit Pro advertising drove a 61% net lift in online visitation among exposed searches.
Exposure to Search Submit Pro listings drove a 135% lift in natural listings clicks and a 21% net lift in sponsored ad clicks.
Branching Out LendingTree is now looking at landing page options that can take greater advantage of the increased traffic garnered by Search Submit Pro participation.
“We now have a better understanding of the whole picture and are now less apt to change our paid search budget,” says Pettee.
Case Study: How Internet marketing company Wave Direct helped its client increase leads by 50%
It took more than a 90-minute presentation to convince a new client to step out of its marketing comfort zone. But for Internet marketing firm Wave Direct, it was a matter of persuading its customer, an internationally known five-star hotel chain, that an aggressive Sponsored Search campaign could help generate more timeshare purchases. Given the chance to show what can be accomplished with the right keywords and exciting ad copy—and with the assistance of a talented team of Yahoo! Search Marketing account managers—Wave Direct rolled up some tremendous results.
Company Overview
Established in 2004, Wave Direct is a direct marketing company specializing in customized e-marketing solutions including targeted email, display banners and search engine marketing. With seasoned direct marketer Rob Cheyne at the helm, Wave Direct has established itself as a leader in the rapidly evolving e-marketing arena. In 2007, the firm began managing the online marketing efforts of a widely recognized hospitality chain which operates several all-villa resorts in some of the world’s most desirable destinations. Wave Direct’s marketing efforts have focused on driving high-quality leads to the client’s website so prospects can learn more about the advantages of timeshare ownership.
Starting from Scratch
Prior to hiring Wave Direct, their five-star client managed internally-supported search marketing campaigns which yielded mixed results. After jumping on board, Wave Direct’s team recognized that the optimal demographic target was a much better fit with the users of Yahoo!, so they began working with the Yahoo! team to open an account and get its search ads up and running. A month of ads appearing in Yahoo! Sponsored Search results established baseline metrics, and then the team went to work on fine-tuning the campaign, including adding and deleting keywords, and spicing up the ad creative.
Five-Star Results
Adding more specific, targeted keywords—and ditching the “plain vanilla” ads for more exciting copy with attention-getting words like “luxury” and “opulent”—was the passkey to the penthouse for their efforts as Wave Direct enjoyed some very obvious performance improvements just 24 hours after renovating the campaigns. The firm was able to substantially cut the client’s cost-per-conversions, while increasing the overall number of leads by an impressive 50%. Wave Direct continues to generate great results for their customer, taking advantage of Sponsored Search’s ability to “dial up” bids and budgets on particular keywords during down seasons.
Doubly Good
With their client now sold on the importance and value of search marketing, Wave Direct continually works with its Yahoo! account managers to make any adjustments that will build on the already-impressive marks. The team has added a number of “long-tail” keywords, which are low-volume search terms that are targeted and can convert well. Wave Direct reports that the firm uses the impressive results to help sell other clients on the value of search marketing. Most telling, though, is that in 2008 Wave Direct plans to double its business with Yahoo!.
Lessons Learned
Think “out of the box” when looking to add keywords, including using “long-tail” terms that are low-cost but can have a high impact.
Avoid “plain vanilla” copy in your ads; use exciting adjectives that will catch the attention of searchers.
Use a combination of email, display advertising and search ads to drive the greatest return-on-investment.
Use common sense in evaluating your campaigns: Take advantage of available reports to see what’s working and what’s not.
Testimonial “Yahoo!’s account interface is by far the fastest of the three main players. Yahoo! is the most user-friendly company to work with among the Big Three. If I could get the same amount of responsiveness, service and friendliness that I get from Yahoo! from all my other vendors, I would be in a wonderful position.” — Don Eaker, National Sales Director, Wave Direct
Case study: CourseAdvisor teaches how to master the creative side of search
CourseAdvisor, an online education research directory that connects prospective students with more than 500 colleges and universities, had mastered the numbers of search marketing but hadn’t leveraged the creative side of search. With help from Yahoo!, CourseAdvisor wrote new ads and restructured its account—and saw its clicks go up 44% during a five-month period.
As a technology-focused company, CourseAdvisor constantly monitored its site traffic and conversion rates. The company was consumed with the technical side of the business, but other elements of its search campaigns suffered. CourseAdvisor needed help balancing the creative and technical sides of search.
“We were taking advantage of the data-driven side of search, but felt we still had great potential on the creative side,” said Addie Conner, Director of Search Marketing at CourseAdvisor. For instance, they typically had just one creative per ad group, which contained large numbers of keywords. CourseAdvisor communicated its needs to Yahoo!, which quickly took action.
About CourseAdvisor CourseAdvisor matches students’ skills and education needs to degree and certificate programs, serving over 5 million unique visitors per month. Founded in 2004 by a group of MIT and UMass/Amherst college alumni and entrepreneurs, CourseAdvisor applies modern database marketing practices to the academic enrollment cycle. Its primary marketing objective is lead generation; 95% of CourseAdvisor’s business is driven by search marketing.
Creative Counseling In order to fully optimize creative, CourseAdvisor first needed to restructure its account. A Yahoo! account team member worked directly with CourseAdvisor to help reorganize its huge list of keywords; CourseAdvisor has hundreds of thousands of keywords in its account. The keywords were reorganized into topical ad groups that allowed creatives to be more relevant; that should help improve the account over time by garnering high quality scores.
Then the team turned its attention to the ad creative, beginning with adding alternative ad titles. They looked at the way keyword phrases were worded in alt text, for example, changing “Degree nursing online” to “Online Nursing Degree.” This change in wording is more readable for the user and a better representation of the brand.
Through daily follow-up phone calls, the Yahoo! Search Marketing team was highly engaged with CourseAdvisor’s search campaign.
“You get a real sense of caring from the Yahoo! team, who go above and beyond to help us out. They have a willingness to learn and grow with our business. We’re reaching a high-quality audience with a high conversion rate,” Conner said.
Results
• CourseAdvisor enjoyed a 44% increase in clicks during a five-month period.
• Due to high quality traffic on Yahoo!, the company’s Yahoo! Search Marketing campaign achieved a higher conversion rate than its campaigns with other search engines.
• CourseAdvisor was able to organize its high volume of keywords into tight, efficient ad groups.
• With better creatives, CourseAdvisor is more likely to show the right ad message to the right customer.
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According to sports pundits, “defense wins championships.” This maxim is often true for the annual championship tournament of college basketball, commonly known as “March Madness.” The security software leader Symantec plays a different type of defense, but one that is no less vital to its legions of fans and customers. Over the years, the company’s 
HP Personal Systems Group uses Yahoo!’s Rich Ads in Search to enhance branding and super-charge click-through rates
Search ads are a proven winner, but how can a company inject them with more life, color, and sound to improve user experience and click-through rates? Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group found the solution to that challenge-and remarkable increases in ad performance-in Yahoo!’s Rich Ads in Search feature.
You’d think it would be easy to convince people to come to a Caribbean island with breathtaking beaches and luxury resorts—especially one that doesn’t require a passport or currency exchange. But with fierce competition from neighboring islands, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company is in a constant battle to gain the attention and reservations of mainland Americans.
Outrider and Showtime experience reign of success with Yahoo! Sponsored Search campaign
Who: LendingTree, LLC, an online lending exchange that connects consumers with multiple lenders who compete for their business.
It took more than a 90-minute presentation to convince a new client to step out of its marketing comfort zone. But for Internet marketing firm 
