SES: Global Search For B2B Search Engine Marketing
Global Search For B2B Search Engine Marketing
Localization was again the main theme of this session. You need to not only localize your content but also consider the search engines, local market needs ( keyword research) and metrics. All those factors need to be considered when conducting a global search engine marketing plan.
The session panel was comprised of the following;
Moderator:
• Jeffrey Rohrs, Vice President, Marketing, ExactTarget
Speakers:
• Patricia Hursh, President, SmartSearch Marketing
• Kevin Lee, Executive Chairman & Co-founder, Didit
• Jeffrey Pruitt, President, SEMPO and Vice president, corporate sponsorships, iCrossing
Patricia Hursh started the session on how to get started in global B2B search.
• Which search engines to focus on
o In China Baidu dominates
o In Japan Yahoo is the leader (based on an earlier session,n Google is gaining ground)
o Don’t rely on charts as each search engine has different users
• How important is translation?
o Search engine requirements
Target audience (demographics)
o Local dialect, cultural tendencies, current events, etc.
o Work with native speaker (use a local voice)
• Regional search trends
o Google Mexico SERPS show 80% ads in Spanish, and only 20% in English
o Yahoo Mexico SERPS, 100% of the ads are in Spanish
• Ease of PPC campaign set-up
o Yahoo
- Need to setup by each country campaign
- Can only use local currency
- Minimum bids are different
o Google
- A single interface
- Can charge in local or US currency
o Deposits and bids may vary
Kevin Lee is next up and he talks about some of the challenges in dealing with the global B2B market.
Challenges
- Hedge for currency fluctuation
- No single decision maker
- Budget by country or region
- Long lead time
- B2B keywords are different
- ROI calculations different by market
- Lead time is longer
- Metrics are different
Metrics
- Lead forms or whitepaper request
- Contact page
- Phone calls
- Orders
- Site stickiness
Segmentation
- Day of week
- Demographics
- Click source
- IP address and ISP
Jeffrey Pruitt is next to speak and talk about B2B trends. He just returned from China and realizes the importance of communications and finding the right partners.
- B2B spending is at $3.5 billion and is predicted to reach $8 billion in 4 years
- 84% of mobile search want a mobile site
- Social marketing is becoming more important to the B2B sector
- Offline (TV, radio, print) drives search
- Understanding global business goals and localize where applicable
- Focus on success of engagement (downloads, signups, etc.)
- Understand the market (Google in US)
o Baidu in China
o Naver in Korea
o Yandex in Russia
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