Paramore|Redd Blog

Be More Like Perez Hilton

rwaldeck@paramoreredd.com (Rachael Waldeck) — 2009-11-20T17:42:02-06:00

Keep reading, I promise there is justification to that statement.

The answer is easy… relevancy. Being relevant online is what makes people respond. It’s what gets them talking about you and with you.

Recently, I’ve been doing a “fall-cleaning” of my Twitter account. There are several celebs amongst my list of friends and colleagues like Perez Hilton and Speidi. (Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag… for the non-Hills fans.) Speidi is a perfect example of being irrelevant. At one point in time I thought their whirlwind romance was intriguing. Now, I’m just disgusted at their need for fame and the unimportance of what they have to say. My response: Un-follow.

On the other hand, @PerezHilton, although I may not always agree with what he has to say, has positioned himself, in my mind, as the person to go to for all things celeb gossip. Which makes him relevant and me knowledgeable. Shallow as it may be, celeb gossip is a regular topic of conversation around the P|R kitchen counter. So, when the latest @britneyspears scandal comes up, I am in the know.

Disclaimer: relevancy is subjective. For celeb gossip, some people (like Kate Gallagher) prefer @TMZgossip as their go-to source of all things celeb gossip. She has her reasons for thinking that’s the best, and that’s why it’s subjective. No matter what, it’s important to listen to your audience and give them what they want.

The same goes for your website. Your content needs to be what your audience wants to know and entice them to come back for more. PerezHilton.com is one of the 1,000 most visited sites in the world. Why? Because he’s talking about what tons of people want to know everyday… and he’s getting many to his site via @PerezHilton effectively.

The moral of the story:

Be the @PerezHilton of your industry.

• Have a conversation. Don’t be like a Speidi and talk only to yourself.
• Talk like you want to be talked to. Don’t talk at your audience; talk with them.
• Be the person that you’d want to follow
• Be the website that you’d want to visit

Casting A Wider Net

mstack@paramoreredd.com (Meredith Stack) — 2009-08-10T20:25:48-06:00

When formulating your Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing strategy, I suggest “casting the net wider.“ Some may be confused by this notion. With online marketing, you can take advantage of any kind of targeting your heart desires, why wouldn’t you?

Here is my response: Proven results.

Like a CPL reduced by $40 and conversion rates as high as 8%. These are some of the improvements we have seen with three recent campaigns. The campaigns, which are running on Google, drive traffic to landing pages where visitors are encouraged to sign up for email with incentives ranging from whitepapers to free consultations. With these campaigns the “wider net” comes in two different manifestations - the Google content network and an expanded geo target.

Take Advantage of the Content Network

In March we ran a campaign promoting a healthcare facility. We placed text ads on Google’s search network and on their content network. With the search network, the ads are only shown when a person types one of the campaign keywords into a search engine; whereas on the content network, the ads are shown on websites that have relevant editorial content. This is a scary proposition in that people aren’t searching when your ads are served. The venture into the content network is made scarier when you see click rates that are more in line with display advertising than with SEM. (The click rate of the content network ads were 32 times lower than the search network ads.) BUT, you have to remember you aren’t paying for the impression, you pay for the click. And taking advantage of the content network has proven successful time after time.

Having a presence on the content network expands the campaign’s reach to potential customers even if they aren’t currently hand-raisers.
Over the course of the campaign, 48% of the total clicks were generated from the content network. So had we not included the content network, we would have limited our potential lead base by half. But that isn’t even the best part. The cost per lead on the content network was 21% lower than the cost per lead on the search network. Extending your reach while simultaneously reducing your cost per lead is a great combination.

Campaign Responses

In April, we launched a campaign on Google to promote a Nashville based business. We targeted Metropolitan Nashville as we wanted to reach the highest concentration of potential patients, and we weren’t sure if people would be motivated to travel from outside of the middle Tennessee area. The campaign did well - we saw strong click and conversion rates but the traffic was lacking. We were generating leads but the volume was low. We kept waiting for the campaign to gain traction but we never saw the spike in traffic, clicks and conversions that we expected.

During the same time, we were running a campaign promoting a similar Nashville based company. This campaign also began with a Metropolitan Nashville target. After the first couple of weeks, we decided to expand the geographic target to cities in the surrounding region. This decision was made without hesitation, as this company was more well known and attracted visitors from all over the Southeast. We immediately saw results. Conversions increased from 1 the week prior to the change, to 16 the following week and 24 the week after that.

These encouraging results prompted us to move forward with the expanded geo-target for the other Nashville targeted campaign.After implementing the change, the conversion rate climbed from 5% to 8%. We saw the average cost per conversion decrease nearly $40. We also saw the position of the ads increase.

Interestingly, the increased volume of leads are not just coming from outside of Nashville, where the widened net was cast. By increasing the overall visibility of the campaign we improved the productivity of the campaign as a whole.

So, I encourage you to loosen the reigns and release the net to see what you can catch.

Writing Social Media Content for People Over 30

schandler@paramoreredd.com (Steve Chandler) — 2009-07-28T14:49:52-06:00

Just remember WWBRD.

What would Bonnie Raitt do? Give people something to talk about. That’s it. Media has always been social when the message is compelling.

If the message is not relevant or interesting, then no one cares. Some things never change.

If you’re under 30, you may not know who Bonnie Raitt is. When I threw this idea around my younger peers, they looked at me like I had horns on my head.

Any ideas for a younger, more hip way to remember this rule? I’m sticking with WWBRD.

Be Nice or Leave

jrichardson@paramoreredd.com (Jeanne Richardson) — 2009-07-15T18:09:41-06:00

In a culture of Monday morning quarterbacks and the ever-pervasive “It’s not my problem, just take care of me” or “That’s not my job” attitude, being nice seems almost impossible.

Well, it’s not. Hence, “Be nice or leave.”

It’s one of the signs on our walls here at Paramore | Redd and one of the most amazing things about being a part of this company. The sign is no joke. In fact, it’s one of the core values of our company. Whether we’re dealing with a client or with each other, authentic respect and “niceness” abound within these walls. Hannah Paramore is the poster child for nice.

A couple years ago, I read a book that validated this idea. So, I was inspired to take a few minutes to share it with you. It’s called The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval.

The book advocates six principles of nice:

#1: Positive impressions are like seeds.

I call this the “pay it forward” principle. Every time you smile at a stranger, thank someone, treat another with respect, laugh, etc., you’re planting a seed of positive energy, not only for yourself but for that person as well. That creates what the book calls a “multiplier effect.” The graciousness shown to those you know and those you don’t know is passed along. Long term, those positive seeds grow a garden of good will that is fruitful.

#2: You never know.

While performing in a songwriter round at a sports bar in Nashville a few years ago, there was one person in the audience who was actually engaged in the music instead of loud conversation and TVs. After the round, I sought him out and thanked him for paying attention. It meant a lot to have a complete stranger enjoying our songs at a venue that was less than optimal for listening to music. A week or so later, I ran into him at another show. We were both in the audience and ended up sitting at the same table. And so was the beginning of our friendship. Long story short, he is now a long-time friend of my husband and mine. Making that connection has also lead us to meet more friends, which in turn has lead to major studio and touring work for my husband and some amazing session work for me.

The moral of the story: It truly is a small world. It’s all about connecting the dots. Next time you meet a stranger or have an opportunity to help someone or show appreciation for even the smallest of tasks, think about those dots. You never know where they might lead you.

#3: People change.

You have no idea who is going to be important to you in five, 10, 20 years, or even six months from now. The pizza delivery driver might be the owner of a national pizza franchise someday (can you say Papa John’s?). Being nice means choosing to be sincerely interested, patient and respectful to everyone you encounter, even when someone isn’t being nice to you. The long-term results are so worth it.

#4: Nice must be automatic.

Translation: Nice must be authentic, sincere and without agenda.

If you are only nice to the people you think you need to be nice to (like your boss, a VP or “someone important”), you’re not being nice.

This is the toughest thing to do but it is non-negotiable. If you’re going to choose to be nice, it has to be something you do without thinking about it. There cannot be an ulterior motive, and you cannot be selective. You have to mean it.

#5: Negative impressions are like germs.

In the short term, yelling at someone to get what you want might work. But in the long run, people remember that and steer clear. Who wants to be around or associated with someone who is being a jerk? As the book says, “Just as positive actions are like seeds, rude gestures and remarks are like germs – you may not see the impact they have on you for a while, but they are there, silently infecting you and everyone around you.”

#6: YOU will know.

This is a biggie. Even if no one sees or knows about the not-nice things you do, think and say… YOU will know. It will affect the way you feel about yourself and your confidence.

Whether you’re dealing with a client, a friend or a complete stranger, being nice not only gets you farther in the long run, but it feels better, too.

And, being nice doesn’t mean you can’t be honest with someone or that you are a weak person. It just means that no matter what, you maintain respect for other people’s point of view whether you agree with them or not, and you treat others how you expect to be treated.

Sounds simple enough, right?!

Heh. It’s not. But, it is so worth it.

Now, go out and BE the nice person you want to see in others.

Display Ads Boost Sales and Searches

mstack@paramoreredd.com (Meredith Stack) — 2009-07-09T20:21:21-06:00

The Online Publishers Association (OPA) is on a mission to demonstrate the value of online advertising and encourage advertisers to look beyond the click as the primary metric of success. I applaud their efforts, as I am guilty of falling back on the click rate to measure success despite the fact that I know that the click rate is only one piece of the puzzle and can vary greatly based on the creative and the message.

In association with comScore, OPA released a study showing that display advertising is effective in driving engagement and online spending. They monitored 80 branding campaigns across 200 of the most trafficked websites.

They tracked users who saw the branding ads for one month and measured three things:

Searches conducted for the related brands
Visits to the brand’s website
E-commerce transactions

Here is what they found (and this is just measured online behavior):

One in five conducted searches
One in three visited the website
When they visited the website, they spent 50% more time on the site and consumed more pages
They spent 10% more money when they made e-commerce purchases

These are very encouraging statistics that help combat the befuddlement advertisers feel when one of every 1,000 people who saw their ads clicked on them. But to all the advertisers that were not part of the study, the learnings are just a case study, a distant statistic. With more accountable forms of media available, we need to make these learnings more personal if we don’t want display advertising to be abandoned. It falls on the media planners’ and agencies’ shoulders to show their clients measurable results.

At the on-set of every campaign, metrics of success must be discussed. Clients and agencies need to put their heads together to pinpoint what actions can be tracked. We need to take the time on the front end to implement more sophisticated tracking so we can adequately convey the impact of campaigns.

On a final and whiney note, may I close by saying, “Life isn’t fair!“ Why aren’t traditional media buys held to the same standards of measurement? If only I had to report on the fact that the media I purchased ran, my life would be much simpler - but not nearly as analytical!

Increase Your Display Response Rates by Over 250%

kgallagher@paramoreredd.com (Kate Gallagher) — 2009-06-30T20:54:28-06:00

The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development (TDTD) is our biggest media client - and one of our most fun clients too. We are running a large display campaign for their 2008-2009 fiscal year that includes display ads on almost 50 different websites.

The goal is to increase tourism to and within the state of Tennessee. All of our campaigns are geo-targeted to the 250-mile driving radius of the state, where most of the Tennessee tourists reside.

One of the sites we’ve had excellent results from is Great American Country (GAC). The click-thru rates on our roadblocks have been in the 0.20% range or higher. That may seem low, but industry average for travel/tourism is 0.08%.

These great results are the combination of a great website with great advertising placements and great creative. All of the creative we are running is consistent with the look and feel of the TDTD website, tnvacation.com.

Because GAC is a music-focused site, we used music-themed creative that directed traffic to a music-themed landing page, where visitors are able to sign up for a free Tennessee Vacation Guide. The creative featured images of Tennessee musicians and tourists looking at the Ryman Auditorium – a capture from the on-air TV spot.

Take a look at what this creative looked like on the homepage of GACtv.com:

After reading an inspiring article on iMedia Connection, we wondered if having custom creative for each of the 50 sites within our campaign would garner a better response rate. And, if the response rate did improve, would the improvement be significant enough to merit doing custom creative for each site (taking into account the additional production time and client dollars it would take to accomplish this)?

We decided to implement a test on the GAC display placements. Here is the new custom creative:

Click-Thru Rate

Before: 0.26%
After: 0.71%

Conversion Rate from Impression to Guide Request

Before: 0.003%
After: 0.008%

With 220,000 impressions per week, that translates to 11 additional vacation guides a week (6.7 compared to 17.7) and an additional 528 guides a year! Those results are worth shouting about!

Fish Where the Fish Are

schandler@paramoreredd.com (Steve Chandler) — 2009-06-24T18:08:35-06:00

I went fishing last weekend for six hours in the middle of the day. I caught nothing. My 5-year-old son joined us late in the day (dinner time) and he immediately caught his first fish (and two others moments later). Lesson learned? Sure, go ahead. I am not a good fisherman. What else? I later learned that fish are not biting in the middle of the day in rocky water, which was where I was fishing. Fish where the fish are. Sounds like an age-old marketing lesson to me.

A traditional marketing lesson learned once again

There are so many bloggers, white papers, analysts, ad agencies and consultants all telling us how to better understand the emerging online marketing world. Each one has a secret for how to balance traditional advertising and the new digital media. Maybe the most fundamental rule of marketing has never changed – fish where the fish are. Today, over 66.2% of all US consumers are online and 1 out of 3 is on Facebook. Over 56% of all leisure travelers are now making reservations online. If you are in the travel industry, your website is more than a brochure of amenities; it’s now your visitor center!

So the basic rule of marketing is alive and well. Fish where the fish are. Don’t be afraid to go there or worry if it’s a trend or not. There once was a time the fish were only watching three TV channels. Tomorrow the fish may be on the moon. If so, we will all be exploring ways to market there too. I’ll settle for the online world today.

Are Constant Interruptions Ruining Your Focus?

jsteidl@paramoreredd.com (Joel Steidl) — 2009-06-17T19:55:29-06:00

One of the things I love most about the Paramore|Redd office are the sweet views of downtown Nashville and the Gulch.

This morning started off with a distraction, a huge t-storm rolling through downtown. It got me thinking about how many interruptions happen during the course of the day and how I try to stay focused in spite of them.

First off, I’m a huge checklist person, so if you aren’t… you can probably stop here.

For the past six months I’ve been consistently using Netvibes, mainly their incredible “to do list widget.“ I’ve gotten into a habit where I use the checklists for pretty much everything. One checklist is named “Hot List” and another appropriately named “Not as Hot List.“ When people drop by my office or send me a request via email, I add it to one of the two lists and order it (it has sweet drag-and-drop reordering) based on the priority it needs. As tasks are completed, they are checked off and moved to the bottom.

On busy days when the interruptions are abundant, rather than shutting down, my organized life on Netvibes allows me to stay calm, cool and remained focused on my “Hot List.“

How do you stay focused?

FYI, I heard about Netvibes from a February 2008 blog post from Cameron Moll titled GTD with Netvibes.

Two New Projects Launched!

jrichardson@paramoreredd.com (Jeanne Richardson) — 2009-06-15T20:14:05-06:00

What could two companies like Quorum Health Resources (QHR) and HND Realty possibly have in common?

Give up?

They both have brand spankin’ new websites built by Paramore|Redd (of course):

And, while the core products of these two companies are nowhere near the same, they share three common online goals:

Helping their customers find solutions
Creating a competitive, easy-to-find, easy-to-use website presence
Generating online leads

So, how’d we do that?

With HNDRealty.com, we consolidated six sites into one, giving potential homebuyers one place to see all that HND has to offer while also providing direct access to the HND sales agents. With that, HND also has complete control over the content on their site. They can add/remove properties without losing the search equity in their site.

The new QHR.com is designed to reach a broad hospital audience. By allowing visitors the ability to self-select the method to find their solution, customers and potential customers are able to get to the right resource within the QHR team quickly and effectively. And, with QHR’s constantly evolving solutions and resources, the website was built to keep QHR in the driver’s seat for adding and updating the plethora of solutions available on QHR.com.

Ultimately, both HND and QHR wanted websites that are: easy-to-find, easy-to-use and that help deliver solutions to potential and existing customers.

*she wipes hands*

And… everybody wins!

*wink*

Does My Email Sign-Up Work?

kgallagher@paramoreredd.com (Kate Gallagher) — 2009-06-08T15:04:36-06:00

Our new website launched in January and what do I notice? The email sign up is below the fold! Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a groovy sign-up including an awesome comment box. And yes, there is a
call-out above the fold in a prominent place that drops the user down to the sign-up box. But since email is my personal favorite, I was concerned that this setup wouldn’t produce the number of sign-ups we were hoping for.

Battling for Perfection

Like all good creative companies, we had to battle this one out a bit before finally settling on an A/B test using a modal window for half the traffic, while keeping the original set-up for the other half.

You might ask what a modal window is? I did. And it’s best explained with a picture so here ‘tis…

We ran the test for 2 weeks and the results were surprising:

The Original Sign-Up Box: 24% conversion rate (number of people who clicked on the Sign Up For eNews divided by the actual number of people who finished the sign-up process)
The Modal Window: 7% conversion rate

What Happened Next?

You guessed it, we ditched the modal window option. We’re smart like that… and we’re glad we tested it too.

What have you tested lately on your enewsletter sign-up? Share it with us so we can all learn a little something.