Russia: Advertising on Yandex

In Russia over 46 million people used the Internet in 2010 comprising 33% of the total population according to Euromonitor which defines internet users as those using the internet from any device (including mobile phones) in the past 12 months and generally covers users between the age of 15-74. The Internet is a powerful channel in Russia for advertising goods and services while promoting your brand or reaching your end buyer via contextual advertising. Yandex, a Russian search engine (also operating in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan) has a average search market share for 2010 of 64%. Yandex offers advertisers a sophisticated service for placing text ads on both its search result pages and millions of pages on its advertising network, in total showing ads to over 30 million people daily. The Yandex.Direct Advertising Network covers various business spheres, from construction to banking, and diverse areas of interest. Yandex.Direct allows for targeting by location (down to city level) and by timing for ad exposure, along with thematic and behavioral targeting on partner sites. Yandex also offers display ad placement on the pages of its most popular services, such as Mail, News, Weather, Traffic, Market etc, as well as on the Home Page - a single placement that will bring you 13 million unique views daily! Yandex has English-speaking professionals who can advise you on the most effective campaign strategy for your business and help you set-up the process that brings potential customers to your site. An English-language log-in system is available that lets you monitor the campaign in real time. It enables you to track visitors, expenditure and set up goals. Online campaigns with Yandex are perfect for a sales-push to a specific audience or for company branding. If you are looking to make boost your sales and company recognition in Russia, Yandex is the answer!

Automated rules now available to all advertisers

Back in December, Google Adwords announced the limited release of AdWords automated rules, a new feature that lets you save time by scheduling automatic changes to your account based on criteria that you specify. Today we’re happy to announce that this feature is available in all accounts.

If you regularly log in to your account to pause or enable ads, adjust your bids, or perform other manual tasks, automated rules may be just the tool you need to manage your account more efficiently. For a step-by-step guide to creating an automated rule and best practices to get you started, visit the AdWords Help Center.

Keep in mind that when scheduling automatic rules, it’s important to check your work periodically to make sure your rules are having the desired impact on your account performance.

Once you’ve given automated rules a try, we want to hear about it! Share your feedback and ideas for improving automated rules by filling out this survey.

Is Search Engine Marketing cost effective enough to increase profits for B2B marketers?

Is Search Engine Marketing cost effective enough to increase profits for B2B marketers? You bet, and here’s why. It’s always been conventional wisdom that the fastest and most efficient way to research products and pricing is on the Web. Now Enquiro has documented survey research on the role of search engines in B2B transactions.

As you know, B2B transactions differ from most consumer transactions because these decisions require coordination between a number of different personnel before the final transaction is made. Therefore, the process requires a period of time between researching the product and placing the order. It’s an ongoing rather than snap decision.

“The Role of Search in Business to Business Buying Decisions” is a well-designed study of approximately 1500 participants responding to a 40-question survey that was validated with pre-testing before implementation. You can download the entire report for free, and here are a few highlights:

* When participants were asked to indicate how they would go about making a B2B purchase, 93.2 percent said they would research the purchase online.

* When asked if they would use a search engine at some point in this task, 95.5 percent of participants indicated that they would.

* When asked where they would start their search for information, 63.9 percent of participants chose a search engine over consumer review sites, e-commerce sites, manufacturer’s sites, and industry portals.

* When taking budget into consideration, manufacturer’s sites and industry portals were the chosen starting place as budgets increased. However, 86.9 percent of participants said they would visit a search engine after visiting those sites.

The study is rich with too many details to cover in this article, but following are some important conclusions:

*Search engines play a dominant role in B2B purchases.

*Search engines are used in the early or mid research phase in the buying cycle.

*Google is favored over other search engines.

*Search engine research takes place at least one to two months before the buying decision.

*Good balance between organic and paid search is necessary. Organic SEO gets over 70 percent of the clicks.

*Position is a factor, with over 60 percent clicking on the top 3 listings.

*Most users decide which listing to click on in seconds upon scanning the page.

With all this qualified traffic originating from search engines, it is more important than ever for B2B marketers, wholesalers, and B2B exchanges to ensure their Web sites are correctly optimized for good positioning in search results. There is also great value in SEO/SEM as a user-friendly marketing tool.

The Uniqueness of Search Engine Marketing

Search engine traffic is highly targeted. That's because potential buyers who find your B2B offerings through search engines are looking for your products and services on their own, so they are predisposed to hear your marketing message. You can’t find a more qualified prospect than that. Here’s what distinguishes search engine marketing from other types of advertising:

1. Non-Intrusive: Search marketing is a non-intrusive marketing tool. Most advertising, both online and offline, interrupts consumer behavior. If a user goes to a web site for info, up pops an intrusive ad. Reading a newspaper? Ads dominate and force articles to be continued on another page. With search engine marketing, the user is actively seeking your products, services, and information. They are delighted to be driven to your site.

2. Voluntary: Search marketing is the result of user-originated behavior. Your visitors from search engines and directories have voluntarily clicked on your listing rather than any competitors, thus they are motivated to explore your offerings.

How good is the ROI? How effective is search engine marketing and optimization for B2B? What are the key-points to consider regarding a B2B search engine optimization and marketing plan? Please join me next month for Part 2 when we examine the answers to these questions.