How to Measure the Value of Your Article Marketing Campaign – Writing-Articles
How to Measure the Value of Your Article Marketing Campaign
It's not enough to scatter your articles across the internet - you've got to measure what you're doing so you can be sure that you're getting value from your effort.Here are some of my preliminary thoughts on what's measurable in regards to article marketing, (and what you measure should depend on your predefined article marketing goals, but you knew that already):Number of new of links to your siteThis is a big one of course, and just about the easiest to measure with a simple "link:" search in the major engines.Since I submitted "Build Links and Your Brand: Article Marketing Delivers" to 8 directories on January 26th Google has logged 24 instances of my article (I did have a little help from search engine expert Andy Beal's mention in his blog), MSN search shows 59 instances and Yahoo has me down for 10.Now, all those mentions aren't links... just instances of my article title.Google currently shows no links to my main blog site. Yahoo and MSN both show 14 to http://articlemarketing.blogspot.com.I'm also currently ranked 3rd in Yahoo for the term article marketing - woo hoo! Not bad for only 3 days. We'll see how long I stay there - things may change dramatically after an update. I'm currently nowhere to be found in MSN. Ditto for Google, except the post from Andy's blog about my article marketing blog that puts me at 4th for "article marketing."To give some idea of scale, here are the number of millions of results for article marketing per engine: 12 million in Yahoo; 17 million in MSN; 27 million in Google. I don't think Article Marketing is a phrase that currently generates much competition.Article submission sites like EzineArticles get the freshbot treatment because of their regularly updated content and I think that speeds indexing.Article submitted 1-26-05, searches conducted 1-29-05.Number of readers/impressionsTo borrow a bit from the world of online advertising you can measure impressions, that is, the estimated number of readers/site visitors who had the opportunity to at least read your article title and, let's hope, associate it with your business name.To get an idea of how many impressions your article may have gotten talk with those who republish your article. If you submit to EzineArticles you can see how many writers and editors have viewed your article's page.It's great to have your impressions high, but it's better to have them targeted to your audience (and by audience I mean customers... here are my thoughts on client as audience). The more care you give your content creation process the more your content will appeal to your target audience.Which brings us to...Placement in previously identified key industry mediaIf at the beginning of your article marketing campaign you identify key industry publications you'd like to be published in... and you get published or don't get published, that's something you can measure.This is more of a branding initiative than a linking initiative, though it can certainly generate at least one solid link. And once your article's been published and your editor says "go" you can submit it to your article submission directories of choice. And then measure links.Lead generation through reader inquiriesThis is a fun one. There are specific industries and products that are likely to sell well through article marketing... namely information products. If your primary goal for article marketing is sales though you should construct your article campaign in a particular way. Many of the same rules still apply, but the strategy needs to be a little different. Let me know if you have questions about creating sales generating articles. And you still have to follow responsible article writing guidelines.Email addresses gathered for newsletter signup/downloads/free serviceYeah you're being published in someone else's email newsletter but that doesn't mean you can't try to drive signups to your own newsletter! We had this happen when I worked at WebProNews, where we published all free content. One author's article marketing strategy focused on driving subscribers to her newsletter. I think, but I'm not sure, that it was Dianna Huff, who specializes in B2B article marketing. As an aside, be sure to check out her site.Pageviews to info pages on your siteIf you link out of your article to more info pages on your site you can measure for an increase in traffic on those pages. Have some kind of call to action on these pages though. Don't just boost page views for the sake of having higher page views. Get them to do something on that page, such as give you an email address or visit your products or services page.Requests from editors for articlesIf it's your goal to have more involvement with your target market then be sure to accept all requests from editors for new articles. In fact, cultivate any relationship with an editor you can. This is one fantastic way of staying in front of your target audience and getting new ideas for articles.How can you increase this likelihood? Contact editors from publications within your target market. In addition, include a mention in your author bio that you'd like to work with editors to help them have happier, more engaged readers.Audience involvement/questionsThis is another fun one, and something I tried to promote during my time at WPN. The level of reader feedback I received led to my creation of the "Ask the Expert" section of WPN (now untended) as well as my proposal for the WebProWorld forums, now with over 50,000 members. (To be fair iEntry had rolled out forums before - they were just scattered across all our publications rather than targetted on the flagship. WebProWorld was definitely a home run.)So if you'd like to establish more of a relationship with the online audience in your publications contact their editor and see if you can field audience questions.What else is measurable?
Those are a few of my thoughts for article marketing measurables. Did I miss any? Let me know your measurable ideas and if I use them in an upcoming article I'll throw you a link with your link text of choice.Want to build links to your site and enhance your brand? Send article marketing questions to GFrench@gmail.com for free article marketing brainstorm, including article topic suggestions and key industry media identification. Garrett French is a search engine marketing copy writer for Websourced and conducts branding and link building research on his article marketing blog. If you wish to publish this article, please retain all links.
Starting an Ad Campaign – Internet-Marketing
Starting an Ad Campaign
Developing an ad Campaign for the Startup E-businessOnline advertising has changed over the years. Some believe the internet came premature and advertisers did not know how to react at first. Methods went from blind and deceptive links, to targeted pay-per-click search engine advertising. Along the way, very few people developed effective advertising campaigns. Some now believe a good conversion ratio requires numerous visitors, while others believe concise and targeted ad delivery is effective. When it comes to the startup E-business, I favor targeting strategies and affordability, from start to finish.Start with an Advertising GuidelineIf you think online advertising is easy, most people find it's not. Few companies develop a successful model. Recent research from the GartnerGroup showed, "75% of all E-business start-ups fail". Becoming one of the 25% requires a planned, targeted, and efficient advertising campaign. Starting a campaign with a strict guideline can help increase the chances of a successful campaign.An easy way to create a guideline is by addressing a simple question. What do I want to accomplish? Put a lot of depth into the answer. Who will be your customers? How much money should be spent overall, or each month? What are the key values or conveniences that are going to be promoted? In combination, make this the advertising guideline. Place considerable thought towards it with every aspect of the campaigns development.Focusing your Advertising EffortsIt's no secret, people shop online. A recent poll conducted by the National Consumer League showed 55 percent of consumers with Internet access, either at home or work, shopped online. This shows a 10 percent increase, from surveys conducted five years prior. 56 percent reported, "They shop online for the convenience".This information provides some key factors that are important to starting an ad campaign. First, the internet maintains a large market share of shoppers. Also, it tells why most people like shopping online. With this in mind, considerable effort should be directed to online advertising. On the other hand, don't rule out conventional advertising. There is still a portion of the market share shopping elsewhere. Also, advertisements that are online should focus on the convenience of the Website, products, or services being promoted.Advertise in the Right PlacesTo find places to advertise, it may be best to consider navigation of the internet. In a research report published by Michael Day and Traugott Koch of UKOLN Metadata Group, they found the internet works best using Classification mapping, for finding and retrieving information. Their research concluded, "Classification schemes vary in scope and methodology, but can be divided into universal, national, general, subject specific, and home-grown schemes".Based on their findings your website, product, or service, may fall somewhere within one or more Classification Schemes. On a grand scale, classification may start with directories such as the ODP or Yahoo! Directory. Consumers browse these directories, and some believe search engines use them to classify the relevancy of Web pages. On a smaller scale, Websites you are placing an advertisement may have their own, "Home-grown," scheme. Try to identify the classification at work before advertising. For example, advertising Home Decor on the Automotive section of a website, may not be as effective to advertising in a Home Improvement section.Targeted Advertising to Stay CompetitiveTargeting is the art of minimizing your advertisements to the people who are most likely to become a customer. If done effectively, it will produce results with minimal advertising expense. These savings will enable you to offer products or services at a competitive rate while maintain a profit margin.Identifying a target audience may be the key factor between profit and loss. In a report published by Jose Luis Moraga-Gonzalez (Assistant professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, and research fellow of the Tindergen Institue), focusing on Internet advertising, he found, "firms that were unable to target their ads to different consumer segments found a Zero-profit equilibrium exists". On the other hand, his research revealed, "If firms employ targeted advertising, they can obtain positive profits".Some general targeting segments are: Age Groups, Homeowners, Renters, Single Men or Women, Couples, Couples with Children, Regions, Type of Employment, and Income Grouping. Depending on the offering, it may be a good idea to initially target one of these groups, until your business becomes established.Starting your ad campaignAfter placing some thought into the factors mentioned above, you should be ready to launch an effective and affordable advertising campaign. If finances are tight, start small. Look for affordable solutions such as link exchanges, free search engine submission, directories, and online classifieds. Once a campaign is active, monitor the results of advertisements carefully. This will help ensure awareness of good places to advertise your products or services in the future. By using thought, planning, and consistency ad campaigns will become more effective over time.About The AuthorMichael Medeiros is the owner of Mjmls.com. Mjmls offers free advertising solutions for business, products, services, and property in the United States.admin@mjmls.com