Andrew Goodman On Toronto SES

By Li Evans

Have you registered for SES Toronto yet?  Well if you haven't you might want to take a few moments and read what Andrew Goodman, the chair of SES Toronto has in store for the audience this year.  I got the opportunity to ask Andrew a few question about the event, and this is what he had to say.

Q:  What does this year's SES Toronto show offer that is different than previous years?
Andrew:  As usual, we try to offer hot new topics alongside the fundamentals that so many marketers need to do their jobs well. We'll have expert input into the difficulties Web 2.0 sites may pose for search ranking, analytics, and even quality scores? (OK maybe you can ask me about that last one, off thread.) We'll be spotlighting a wide range of new case studies. And as usual, quite a healthy list of local speakers will be getting a chance at their SES circuit debut.

This includes well-respected experts like Mike McDerment of Freshbooks, speaking on B2B campaigns for a small business clientele, Candice Faktor discussing local search, and new speakers from the search engines. In terms of keynotes, we zagged this year, away from famous author celebrities (although both are celebrities and authors, too, of course) towards longtime core members of the search marketing community. Anyone who hasn't seen Fredrick Marckini or Bryan Eisenberg speak is in for a treat.

Q:  Will Frederick's keynote be any different than at SES London?
Andrew: Unless the Toronto audience was all over at SES London, I don't know why it should be! But Fredrick knows a thing or two about Canada and Toronto. His family tree has roots here.

Q:  Have you seen much growth in the Canadian market in terms of search and online advertising?
Andrew: The growth is steady and ahead of the US of late, but that's starting from a low base, playing catchup. The "hockey stick" seems ever poised to happen -- it has to begin with retailers in particular going from nearly no serious online presence, to a full-scale assault. The scale is there -- 15-20% of the US market is not too small to go after in many verticals -- and that's the real question. As companies discover that the scale here is worth it, they'll take a risk and invest more in e-commerce. When that happens, customers will develop more confidence in the available domestic selection.

Beware, slow-footed Canadian retailers: because the scale *is* there, it isn't just Amazon setting up shop with a .ca presence here. Companies like Zappos and yes, American Apparel, have killer Canadian e-commerce presences now. Canadian firms that fail to get their brands established soon are going to be in trouble. There are a couple dozen big success stories now - I hope we can point to several hundred in two years' time.

Q:  What exactly will Bryan Eisenberg be highlighting in his keynote?
Andrew: I can tell you two things about Bryan: (1) he's set to release yet another book about testing and conversion improvement, this time one about Google Website Optimizer; (2) every time I sit and listen to Bryan, I learn something new. In fact, I blush at how many times I've just cited his wisdom in my revised chapter on Improving Conversion Rates (in my 2nd ed. of Winning Results with Google AdWords). Other than that I am not giving any sneak previews!

Q:  What are some of the key things you believe attendees will take away from this conference?
Andrew: The tracks are organized so that relative newcomers will overcome myths about how search engine rankings work, and so they'll understand some of the best low-hanging fruit strategies for building awareness and visibility, and also (key) working with the search engines. The practical track will help proactive folks do a better job of putting together campaigns. Universal and Blended Search is changing everything, it really is, as are things like search personalization.

As we move away from the ol' 10 Blue Links paradigm, marketers need to understand what search engine product managers are thinking. The advanced track will also deal with the real tough details and interesting cases in sub-areas of the business, such as trademarks and ad testing in paid search, right down to whether Twitter is a big waste of time or a viable promotional avenue. I take SES to be a conference about gaining the right kinds of visibility online, in as narrow or broad sense as your company wishes to take it in any given year. We maintain a big tent atmosphere, if you don't mind me saying so.

We don't mind you saying so at all Andrew!  Thanks for taking the time for our questions and see you in Toronto!