As a Client Strategist, I am often the person that my clients go to for advice about their CPC campaigns and reaching their target audience. Recently, I have had several of my US based clients interested in targeting the Canadian market. Their interest stems from the struggling US economy and a desire to broaden their targeting parameters.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past several months, you are aware that the US dollar is extremely weak right now. I am sure that many of you are experiencing the hole in your wallet while filling up your SUV and/or taking a trip to the grocery store. It seems that the cost of everything is increasing dramatically, while the US dollar decreases in value. Several businesses are feeling the effects of the weakened dollar and are desperate to market their product/service outside of the struggling US economy.

According to a recent article I read, the United States Department of Commerce released 2007 tourism figures that demonstrated how the weak US dollar is bringing more people from overseas to the United States, especially people from Europe. At the end of February, the Euro was trading above 1.5 dollars- which was an all time record. It seems that people who are coming from overseas are taking advantage of the weak US Dollar by buying property within the United States, going on shopping excursions, and traveling to different areas of the United States that they may not have traveled to before. I cannot blame them! The value of the Euro surpasses the Dollar, therefore resulting in more “Bang For Their Buck”, or in this instance their Euro.

Therefore, if you consider setting your target parameters to areas outside of the United States, Canada might seem like the next logical place due to the common language, but don’t forget about Europe. With the value of the Euro at a record high, it might be beneficial to reach this target audience, especially if you are a real estate or travel company. Some of the concerns one might face, could be: how a company from overseas will react to a US based company/product, how a US based company will handle the language barrier, and the ignorance about an international market in general. Although those are valid concerns, I think it is worth the effort to investigate the situation and evaluate expanding the target parameters. There are several people interested in coming over to the US right now for plenty of different reasons, such as the ones mentioned above. Capitalize on their interest and increase your sales revenue by testing and targeting different markets. You never know how it could work, until you try it!

I’m sure everyone heard the news a few weeks ago that Microsoft made an offer to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion. Here’s a quick recap. Soon after the announcement, Yahoo’s stock went up, then Yahoo declined Microsoft’s offer, saying that they would like to hold out for better suitors. Is Yahoo holding out for more money, or do they just not want to sell to Microsoft? Yahoo said they would decide by March 14, but time is ticking.

Other suitors have expressed interest during Yahoo’s delay, including Time Warner Inc.’s AOL and News Corp.’s MySpace.com. Yahoo claims that they are not delaying the Microsoft deal in hopes they will come to a deal with either AOL or MySpace, but that they are trying to elect board members to the Yahoo committee to decide on the impending deal. They could also be waiting for a better offer from Microsoft, which some analysts say will probably happen.

Another issue has arisen since the delay in the deal, the U.S. economy. There are concerns about how well the online advertising market will fare in this lackluster economy. The economic worries have contributed to a twenty-one percent decline in Internet search and advertising leader Google Inc.’s stock price since Microsoft pounced on Yahoo. An alliance with MySpace.com looked like Yahoo’s most likely escape route a couple weeks ago, but talks with AOL have recently heated up. Hopefully a conclusion to this deal will happen soon, but it does look probable to me that Microsoft will purchase Yahoo.

When it comes to Search Engine Marketing it is critical to ensure you are utilizing the most effective and targeted keywords to get the best return on your investment. Your keywords are the foundation to any cost per click campaign and should be chosen wisely. They should be updated and tweaked often and ultimately be paired with compelling ad copy and the most relevant destination URL.

So how do you know if your keywords are “up to par”? It is sometimes difficult to choose the best keywords when you are so close to the subject. In other words, you may think you know what searchers are typing into the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc) to find your site, however you might be surprised to find that what you may think is being searched upon is not at all the case. This is where an analytics tool comes into the mix. It is imperative to have a tool which affords you the ability to determine the specific keywords that are driving your sales, conversions or the desired action item (such as a whitepaper download, catalog request, online form, etc.) to occur. Your keywords should never be chosen by intuition, but rather, you should rely on your analytics program to guide you to the most educated choices.

One word phrases tend to be costly and generic; research shows that the savvier the searcher, the longer the keyword phrase or tail will be. In fact, a recent article stated that the average searcher is now utilizing 4 words to run a query. This approach not only keeps keyword cost down, but also provides for a more targeted and qualified visitor. For example, someone searching for the one word phrase dentist is a lot less qualified that someone searching for Dentist in Santa Monica.

Improving the keywords in your campaigns will boost your traffic quality and as a result your sales and ROI.