I recently created a vertical marketing campaign for a client and was very impressed with the options Google offers to manage this type of strategy.  It doesn’t seem like too long ago that a proposal of this size would have constituted multiple media buys across many networks and websites and the management of the program would have been a major task.  Just keeping up with all of the different invoices from each media buy was a full time job, not to mention that each network or site had its own way of reporting results!  With Google’s Placement Targeting program you can create a robust, wide reaching vertical marketing campaign and manage the program all in one place!

The advantages from both a management perspective and the ability to reach your precise audience with Google’s Placement Targeting program are substantial.  I was able to create a campaign targeting over 50 specific vertical sites for my client and manage the program all within one interface.  I didn’t have to spend time going to each website to negotiate 50 different media buys and I was able to get consistent reporting for the entire campaign.  My client was impressed by the extensive list of sites available to them within the Google Content Network and particularly liked the idea of one invoice to cover the costs of the entire campaign.  Within the Google Content Network, depending on the publisher’s site, you can place targeted text ads, banner ads, or even video.  We were able to leverage these different types of ad formats, testing regular text ads, banner ads, and videos across many of the sites we utilized during the campaign.

The final results are still pending, but it is certain to be a campaign we will look to build upon in the future.  With the flexibility and options available within the Google Placement Targeting program, I was able to offer my client an easily managed vertical marketing campaign.  The next time you consider a vertical marketing campaign think of all the advantages a “one stop shop” solution can save you in time and effort.

As the presidential inauguration approaches and the economy starts to rebuild itself, most people I know are reading top news stories on a daily basis. It comes as no surprise that in recent studies, it appears news readers are dropping print media and relying more on digital forms of gathering news.  The Internet has now surpassed all media except television as a news source, according to consumers surveyed in December 2008 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.  Last month, 40% of survey respondents said they rely on the Internet as their main news source, which is up 16% from 2007.

As you can see from the chart above, television is still the main source for national and international news.  If the rest of the world is anything like me, I expect the Internet to surpass television in the near future as the leading news source.  When you compare the delivery of the two, television sources feed you the news that they want you to hear.  Internet allows you the choice of reading the headlines and viewpoints that are most important to you.

So how does this relate to you and your internet marketing campaigns?  Don’t forget to include contextual advertising in your 2009 online marketing plan.  Whether you plan to incorporate text, images, or video- online news sources are a excellent avenues to reach your audience. The Google content network is a great place to test some of these ad types on select news sites such as NY Times, Washington Journal, US News, Forbes, etc. If you would like to learn more about Google’s content network, please read Sonya Wood’s most recent blog post.

We have all heard this saying or perhaps have said it ourselves in the past couple of months, in this economy. Advertisers are looking for ways to keep their name out there without the expense of advertising.

One such option for advertisers to take advantage of is the Google content network from Google Adwords. Google’s content network is a large network of Google properties, including gmail, websites, news pages, and blogs. Sites such as About.com, TheNewYorkTimes.com, Lycos.com, FoodNetwork.com, just to name a very few, are all part of the network.

Google’s content network reaches 642 million or 75% of worldwide Internet users per month; more than any other property or network. The content network is a great way to expand the reach of your message or brand.

Unlike the search network, where specific keywords and search terms are designated to ads, content network ads are targeted based on user themes.  Getting started is easy. New campaigns are automatically opted into the content network so when creating campaigns, you do not need to do anything to begin advertising there. You can even target your potential customers by actually selecting websites with the most relevant content to your products or services. By running a placement report you can determine which websites are getting the best results and then optimize your campaigns by removing underperforming sites. Google also has the option to bid more for specific sites that perform better by using the placements feature. Other ad formats are accepted, such as image and video ads. The content network also allows for more creativity when it comes to ad copy. Remember that your audience is not actively seeking you, so you need to grab their attention and generate interest and excitement about your products or services.

If branding or attaining maximum traffic is one of your advertising goals, create a content campaign and test it.  With over 700 billion impressions every month, you will see that your reach is dramatically increased. Most advertisers would agree that while Google’s content network has its benefits, it is best to compliment content campaigns with search campaigns.