Microsoft has enhanced the results page on its Bing search engine to intertwine social and search listings in a way that brings to life how these two channels work together. It highlights the synergy that exists between social media and SEM.  The goal, according to Microsoft, is to “take search from finding to doing,” and as their Corporate VP of Search Program Management Derrick Connell stated at the Bing Search Summit where the announcement was made, to “surface people, not web pages.”  What we see, however, is a compelling advancement in the potential for social search and a subtle opportunity for advertisers to now exist in this network that didn’t before. 

In the biggest overhaul of the SERP since the launch of the engine three years ago, Bing’s search results page is the first of its kind where it shows paid search, organic search and social activity simultaneously – yet separate. While this seems to be somewhat of an oxymoron, Bing’s delineation of content is a statement of what’s relevant, but at the same time, the “all inclusive” content presence speaks to what’s important, especially as it relates to the decision making process. When packaged together, Bing has the potential to deliver a stronger social search experience than elsewhere in the industry – including within Google.

Bing’s New SERP

The page is separated into three parts:

1. Core web results (What the web knows) – Left column, organic and paid results, well-organized for a better experience.

2. Snapshot (What Bing knows) – Center column, structured data, helpful information and services related to the search query like reviews, hotels, restaurants, etc. Includes content from Yelp, OpenTable and other Bing partnerships.

3. Social side bar (What your friends know) – Right column, social content shared by friends and experts that is related to the search query. Users can sync the sidebar with multiple social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Foursquare and more.

The new delivery appears to be an efficient way of serving blended results that are relevant to what is being searched. It also elevates the Microsoft and Facebook relationship, among others, putting visible effort toward delivering the influence of friends from a user’s social graph when searching.  Bing users now have the opportunity to engage with a brand on several levels, creating the chance to satisfy the entire conversion process with one search query.  There are three key benefits we’d expect to see going forward:

1. An increase in conversion rate
2. A decrease in the time it takes for a user to convert
3. The opportunity for brands to shape a more integrated social and search strategy, and capture data to further understand its impact

How does Bing fare with Google? 

Both engines present users with a variation of results that gel together holistically, yet are delivered in different ways.  In comparison, some may see Google’s results as a more hodge-podge approach versus Bing’s structured approach. Part of Bing’s foundation is a scientific approach to deliver an experience that compliments psychological behaviors and tendencies in human nature, which could play strongly in their favor here. But what truly gives Bing an edge now in the social search war is that this puts them in a position to be an agent of change. Because of the impact this new delivery of results could have on how users interact with the results and the actions they choose,  the sum of Bing’s results is greater than its three parts; thus increasing the value of existing in that space.

Could this be a game changer for Bing’s adCenter? If this new format positively impacts conversion rates and shortens the path to conversion, then increases in ad spend on Bing is likely. We should expect to see an evolution in brand opportunities and ad formats, similar to changes we’ve seen recently with Google’s social focus.  At present, Microsoft hasn’t committed to what this means for the ad inventory on Bing, however as stated at the Bing Search Summit, new ad formats and models will be explored that factor in the features now present on the three-column SERP. Continued changes in this direction could reshape the entire search space by creating a new, competitive environment that we rarely see anymore, one that puts new pressure on Google.

With Bing, Microsoft has made a smart move by creating an environment where search results aren’t just bits and pieces of information to guide you down a path to action.  Bing’s search results are now about engagement, discovery and decision making.  They have taken their motto of being the “decision engine” to new heights and upped the ante on the value of ad dollars spent in their network. Bing’s new social search environment shows a level of innovation and competitive movement that the digital space needs, and hopefully is a sign of momentum for both publishers and brands.

Links to what’s being said in the press:

Mashable:         Bing Reinvents Social Search and Discovery

Adweek:            Microsoft Revamps Bing With Social Sidebar

“Many internet users are turning…to social networks that offer a more focused experience than Facebook, even as that site positions itself as the social destination for sharing, curation and consumption of content,” said eMarketer’s Kimberly Maul, author of the new report, “Beyond Facebook and Twitter: Visually Focused Social Sites See Growing Interest.”

Social is not a digital popularity contest measured by the number of ‘likes’ or ‘retweets’ As with any type of marketing, success in the social space is measured by quality rather than quantity. While there is no question that Facebook and Twitter offer excellent marketing opportunities, brands would be well-served not to restrict their social practices before performing the research needed to discover where their target audience is “hanging out” online and what other social sites have to offer.

Listed below are four social networks that, while not the most buzzed about sites, are rapidly gaining popularity among consumers and marketers.

Quora – Founded by two former Facebook employees in 2009, Quora is a Q&A site that relies on its users to ask and answer questions on a given topic. While brands cannot currently create their own profiles, many have used the platform to their advantage by letting their organization’s representatives create personal profiles on the platform to conduct market research, provide customer service, enhance online visibility and even generate leads.

One company making a splash on Quora is Mint.com. The web-based, personal financial management service has used the platform to step out from behind their logo and let individuals from the company ask and answer questions pertaining to their service and their industry.

Brands including eBay or Bank of America that have online-based businesses that require attentive customer service, or the ability to field complex industry questions, may find Quora to be a useful tool.

FoodSpotting – Foodspotting is a social network that allows users to share their favorite dishes with the social network’s community by “spotting” dishes at local restaurants and uploading a photo to their personal profile. The culinary guide’s location-based targeting capabilities have caught the attention of brands looking to reach people who are passionate, and social, about food.

Visit Philly, Philadelphia’s official visitor website, has a fully branded presence on the social network with the ‘With Love Philadelphia’ campaign, which was designed to promote the region’s vitality, through Foodspotting. Visit Philly awarded prizes to people who completed one of their Foodspotting guides to help others find and share food in locally.

Foodspotting is integrated with the foursquare API, which makes the network a perfect fit for restaurant chains with a number of locations. Restaurants such as The Olive Garden or McDonald’s could use the social site to get a better scope of how their regional locations are performing.

Instagram – Instagram lets mobile users snap a photo, apply a color correction layer and share it with friends directly on the platform or via other social networks. Due in part to its intuitive interface, cross-platform integration and intimate community, brands ranging from General Electric to Sharpie have begun telling their stories, 1,000 words at a time.

With Facebook’s recent $1 billion acquisition of Instagram, the potential for these brands to create a more visual and cohesive user experience has been heightened. According to a recent article by Ciaran Norris, director of emerging media for Mindshare Worldwide, marketers should be thinking about Instagram in two ways: how to capitalize on it now and what Facebook might do with it down the road.

Using Instagram’s geo-labeling functionality, luxury fashion brand Kate Spade has snapped pictures of products, store displays and New York sites. Kate Spade’s Instagram profile not only showcases the designer’s clothing and accessories, but exemplifies the lifestyle the brand represents – making it a go-to destination for fans.

What better time to snap and share photos than when on vacation? Travel brands such as Carnival Cruises could use Instagram as a platform to share guest photos, in turn creating more opportunities for social engagement and increasing brand exposure through encouraging user-generated content.

Tumblr – Tumblr is a microblogging social network that allows users to post multimedia and other content to their “tumblelog.” Launched in 2007, the platform has become one of the fastest growing consumer-oriented sites. With its audience surging from 4.2 million visitors in July 2010 to 13.4 million visitors in July 2011, it has emerged as a decorative addition to a brand’s content strategy.

Diaper company Huggies has created a highly original and visible presence on Tumblr in order to connect with millennial moms who use the blogging platform. Huggies uses baby bloggers, or baby personas, to integrate Huggies Little Movers messaging through their Tumblr Page –  highchaircritics.com. The page drew more than five times as many page views as Huggies’ Facebook page during the launch period.

With 50 percent of the site’s visitors under age 25, Tumblr’s demographic is heavily skewed toward younger generations. These numbers may be appealing to colleges or universities looking to connect online with future and current students to promote student life via multimedia content.

As shown in the examples above, brands are turning to these second-tier social sites to do something more targeted, or simply something different, from the options available on Facebook and Twitter. But, for a brand to make an impact on any social network – large or small, established or emerging – it must be part of a larger story and be reinforced, consistently, through other channels.

Marketers will continue to leverage Facebook and Twitter, but as the social media landscape continues to evolve, these sites can act as a supplement to a brand’s current social strategy.

Every day, digital buyers participate in millions and millions of online auctions. Sometimes they do it manually, but oftentimes technology is an enabling part of the process that allows the willing allocation of marketing spend into the ecosystem. While auction types and the specifics of what are actually bought vary dramatically, there is a finite outcome to every single auction. There is a winner and there are losers. Sometimes it’s difficult to determine which is which. Sometimes winners overpay for the right to be present at that moment of consumer opportunity, while losers win by being spared the cost associated with that opportunity that may have never held the real value originally perceived.

In studying a wide array of auctions, what also becomes apparent is that there is a glut of would-be buyers who are simply not operating with a sound business strategy. Whether because of business size and lack of data, or emotional influence that dictates a buying strategy that supersedes sound business investment, there are too many companies guessing what the real worth of the auction should be. In each of these cases, what you ultimately find are buyers setting bids with uncertainty and, even worse, inconsistency.

In no place is this better represented than in social where even the most savvy brands are largely still trying to figure out what a fan, “like,” or retweet (to name a few) is worth. When you struggle to value the worth of something, you cannot help but struggle to determine what the precise bid should be when you enter an auction.

Take this hypothetical example that happens every single day, time and time again. Company A wants to be found online. They go to Google or Facebook (you pick the destination). They are uncertain of the worth of the activity, but a click would be great because they want sales and, in their mind, those come with higher position. Or (lucky for them) the site has projection models built in to tell them what they need to spend to achieve the kind of site position they think will deliver their desired return. So, they set a price and little happens. They don’t win a single auction. They win, however, but winning actually means a lower position and, therefore, they don’t get any clicks.

Then the real problems kick in. They start to alter their buying, moving up and down without rhyme or reason to test. They are “on tilt.” Brands are making investment bets without a plan created with rigor and, instead, are chasing a fleeting and changing notion of what might work. The problem with this for that company is they are subjecting themselves to an uncertainty that will only prove costly. They have now changed the dynamic for everyone else in the market. These dynamic changes can lead to increased costs for other companies, making the problem incrementally worse.

If you are a brand entering or establishing presence in a newer auction marketplace, it’s essential that you stand for something. Even if that something proves, with more data, to be wrong, it’s mandatory that you take a stand and stick with it as your buying progresses. Evolution is a must, but when thinking about your investment make sure you allow for the right time and volume to test your position. Take steps, not leaps, to alter your approach and, most of all, collect data at every turn. They say there is no substitute for experience. Data represents a financially earned experience that brands must value accordingly.

This article was written by Chris Copeland, Chief Executive Officer of GroupM Next, and published on ClickZ, April 23, 2012. Follow Chris on Twitter @C2Next

The automotive vertical is almost analogous to a chameleon.  It has the tendency to change based on its environment.  Over the last several years, we’ve seen shifts in consumer search behavior stemming from changes in the economy, environmental concerns, and even celebrity endorsements (yes, Cameron Diaz made the Prius famous and Kevin Hart is breathing new life into the Ford Explorer).  In taking a look at more recent trends, we can still see how the auto vertical’s search volume growth decline or stability is tied to how consumers react to external factors. Highlights from our GroupM Next Q1 2012 Automotive Vertical Report give a deeper dive into trends that automotive manufacturers should keep an eye on, especially as it relates to search marketing strategies.

                                                                      Automotive Trends to Watch

Fuel efficiency is probably the biggest driving force that is influencing consumer purchasing decisions. As gas prices average almost $4/gallon in the U.S., there is an established need and desire for smaller and more fuel efficient cars.

Based on our research and data from Google, GroupM Next determined that there was a true correlation between search volume for fuel efficient brands and change in gas prices; “when gas prices go up, the query volume for fuel efficient brands rises.” Conversely, when gas prices go down, the query volume for fuel efficient vehicles declines.  Monitoring gas price changes and implementing a more aggressive bidding strategy for ‘fuel efficient’-based terms is an idea to get your brand in front of the consumer at the right time.  This ensures that brand exposure matches increased click opportunities.

Keyword selection strategy is challenging for auto makers, but is vital because it drives paid and organic search strategies.  The vertical report points out that, in the online ad space, competition includes dealers and third-party sites such as carmax.com and autotrader.com. This creates a tug-of-war for branded make and model terms. 

The key to not letting the competition overshadow your brand will depend on how well brands are able to create synergy between paid and organic search strategies.  According to the vertical report, research shows that a disparity exists in paid and organic consumer post-click behavior.  Appropriately mixing and matching branded and non-branded terms, and deciding which channel gets the priority, will help sustain control and authority over a brand’s presence.

Leveraging other media outlets effectively is an excellent way to elevate your search performance.  Utilizing media outlets such as mobile and social networks to supplement and coordinate with other more traditional media will by default enhance your search performance.  It’s about generating buzz and piquing consumers’ interests in order to increase and expand engagement.  Buick is an example of a brand that leveraged a live-streaming app for March Madness and reaped the benefits of increased buzz about the brand on Facebook. The buzz is evident in Facebook’s ‘Talking About This’ metric, which is the meter stick for brand engagement within the Facebook ecosystem.

Stay tuned for our next vertical highlighting Pharma.

As children we are taught that in order to win you must understand the rules of the game and play by them. As a parent, you quickly realize that kids excel more at changing the rules than following the original ones. In fact, an oft-spoken phrase from adults to complaining children is “If you don’t like the rules, don’t play the game.” By contrast, in the adult world the phrase gets flipped and you start to frequently hear the cavalier line “If you don’t like the rules, change the game.”

No company better exemplifies this mantra than Google. The entire basis of the company was built on changing the way information was organized using its own PageRank algorithm. The approach has never stopped. No shift is too great (opaque auction models) or too small (IPO via Dutch auction) for Google to not want to test the bounds of change. You could argue that no company does disruption and game-changing as routinely and well as Google.

You could also argue that no company has more levers to pull to enable those changes than any other business today. And that is why the fourth-quarter earning miss from Google was so jarring. Even more surprisingly it missed at its core, inside search with an 8% cost-per-click decline. Now, on the eve of its first-quarter numbers, Google is preparing to move a beta initiative to the mainstream which creates market asymmetry to their benefit. (Note: Here’s Google’s announcement on its AdWords blog.)

The beta, Near Match, is designed to “enable you to safely extend the reach of your Exact and Phrase Match keywords to cover plural, misspelling, close rewrite, abbreviation and acronym variants only.” In previewing the beta for advertisers, Google has suggested a 6.5% increase in click volume and a 9.8% increase in impression volume. Appealing for marketers, but at what cost? We know that digital auctions and publisher revenue thrive, in part, due to a lack of data to inform smarter bidding.

One needs only to look back at the fouth-quarter cost-per-clicks, where Google saw that decline, and Bing, with less historical data at the disposal of advertisers, saw a 6%-plus increase in cost per clicks. Even more pronounced was the retail category where, according to year-over-year data from Marin Software, industrywide search costs per click dropped 10.4% between the fourth quarter of 2010 and the fourth quarter of 2011, inclusive of Bing where overall costs per click. grew. It is possible that retailers valued clicks less in 2011 than 2010 or had less budget, but all economic indicators suggest the opposite to be true. With that the case, one cannot help but wonder if advertisers are finally getting smarter about their bid strategies.

If knowledge is power then the introduction of a new unknown once again changes the rules of the game. In early testing of the new Near Match type for select Group M clients, an increase in impressions was found — but costs per click also increased 13%. This is likely because advertisers were suddenly having bids, established by knowledge-based decisions against a specific keyword, assigned to variations of those terms that had an unknown value.

From a user standpoint the game doesn’t change. Google continues to deliver relevant results and ads that match what they likely meant. For advertisers, the data set has changed and the intelligence has to be rebuilt, In the meantime, there’s a price to be paid with Google’s new change and unlike kids who can decide not to play the game, brands won’t have that option.

Update: Upon introducing the enhancements to evolve ads appearing for exact match and phrase match, Google announced that when the roll out is complete in mid-May, advertisers will have the option to opt out under “Advanced Settings” in AdWords.

This article was written by Chris Copeland, Chief Executive Officer of GroupM Next, and published on AdAge, April 11, 2012.

Unfortunately, for most developers (unless they reach the coveted first page) the discovery process of an app on a search engine, or in an app store, is a remedial search experience and unlikely to deliver on the hope of consumer discovery and usage. In response to this reality, Apple acquired CHOMP to improve the organization and apply relevancy to the marketplace. This move by Apple underscores the importance for app developers to value SEO as any other web developer does and optimize their apps to rank in search. It is important for developers to understand what drives visibility for mobile apps within the app store search feature and normal search environments like Google, Yahoo and Bing, and then implement these tactics to achieve optimal first-page ranking.  Survey says … ”keywords and links!”

Like with the major search engines, the search feature in the app store is focused on keyword relevancy, but the popularity of an app is also a contributing factor to its ranking potential. Here, popularity is defined by reviews, number of downloads and backlinks. Backlinks are the most important of the three as the effectiveness of your linking strategy creates interdependency among the other two.

As an app developer aspiring to improve visibility and downloads for your application, the following areas should be used for optimization:

1. Optimize All Sites – Optimization efforts should be centered on both the app store page and developer’s website where application downloads are promoted.
2. Category Selection is Key – Be sure to submit apps to the categories that make the most sense based on functionality and keyword relevancy.
3. Research Keywords – Do homework to choose the most relevant terms that are appropriate for the target audience.
4. Name That App – Choose a name for the app that is intuitive, keyword-focused and eye-catching. Research titles that exist on the first page in the category and make new apps stand out in the crowd.
5. Describe Appropriately – Think about the most important and unique attributes of your app, use the most relevant keywords to convey that information and inject a creative call-to-action that almost guarantees a download.
6. Know the Limitations of Your App Store – Make sure the elements listed above are written according to their character limitations.  For example, the Apple app store’s keyword tag allows up to 100 characters, including spaces and the description tag will show only three lines up to 360 characters before you have to click the “more” link.
7. Make the Icon Count – A picture is worth 1,000 words. While cliché, it is true.  Selecting an image that is aesthetically pleasing than others is what will increase an app’s download potential.  A high rate of downloads is a factor in app store rankings.
8. Links – Explore different niche outlets such as Open Mobile Application and Appolicious that focus on promoting and discussing mobile apps.  Make sure that all owned websites or tertiary websites include links to apps to ensure widespread promotion (i.e., make sure you’re linking to that site from your app store page and vice versa).  Also, make good use of social assets by tweeting and posting about new apps with a link sending followers and fans directly to a download.

It’s important to understand that SEO has no boundaries when it comes to search. Whether it’s optimizing a site for visibility on the major search engines, an internal search engine on a website or, in this case, the search feature for Mobile App stores, conversion success is directly related to how visible your brand is in the results.

But, when it comes to Facebook marketing, local businesses have a distinct advantage over their national brand counterparts, as it is much easier to create and maintain a Facebook page for one location vs. several thousand.  So what are major national brands to do to utilize the huge consumer power that Facebook has over the local arena?

Read GMS Local’s latest blog post for key tips than can help national brands catch up with the local businesses on Facebook, while increasing local advocates, fans and sales.

To learn more about local digital advertising, keep in touch with the team from GMS Local on Twitter at @GMSLocal.

Too often, advertisers miss the opportunity to enhance and extend the life of their traditional marketing efforts, by failing to allocate the budget and time towards digital ads that will ‘insure’ their campaigns are maximized. Consumers now expect brands to create interactive and personalized relationships. The maturation of social media, digital properties and mobile devices means it is no longer a luxury to have a complementary digital component to your traditional media, but a requirement.

Just as there are not one-size-fits-all insurance plans, there is not a standard solution for creating an integrated marketing campaign. Each campaign should be customized to deliver the right message, to the right audience, through the right channels, and at the right time. Listed below are examples of two brands that, in different ways, integrated digital and traditional channels to create impactful advertising campaigns with a good amount of digital insurance coverage.

Doritos: Super Bowl Commercials Crash Viral Video Charts  

Doritos, a brand well-known for its Super Bowl presence, did not disappoint in 2012. Rather than simply creating a traditional 30-second spot, the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” contest asked consumers to create and submit their own Doritos commercials. The contest engaged consumers on the web first by calling for video entries and generating buzz through public online voting that culminated with the airing of the winning commercial submission on Super Bowl Sunday. Lastly, they posted the videos to the Doritos website for additional viewing opportunities.

Dorito’s spots scored among the highest of all the ads that aired during the Super Bowl. In addition, for the second year in a row, Doritos had the most talked about ads on Twitter, generating 48,687 tweets.  By treating consumers as active producers and distributors of brand content, rather than passive recipients, Doritos was able to successfully generate buzz around their Super Bowl campaign before, during and after the big game.

eBay: Reaching Mobile Shoppers Outdoors and Online

Leading up to the 2011 holiday season, eBay introduced the advertising campaign, “When it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay” in an effort to capitalize on their mobile audience. The campaign included six 30-second TV commercials – including the memorable “Mom Jeans” spot, which aired across national cable networks. Additionally, to illustrate the sleek usability and instant gratification eBay provides through the brand’s mobile app, the online store placed outdoor display ads that included custom QR codes, that were accessible by using eBay’s RedLaser technology. To complement their offline branding efforts, eBay blended social media and online ads placed on sites including YouTube and Yahoo!, and banner placements on sites such as Mashable, InStyle and Pandora.

The truly integrated campaign triggered a noticeable effect on consumer perception. According to YouGov’s BrandIndex – which calculates consumers’ daily perceptions of brands, on Sept. 14, the day of the campaign’s launch, eBay’s Buzz score among smartphone owners was at two. By Sept. 22, it rose to 20, making it evident that the campaign’s message resonated with consumers.

According to eMarketer, it is still the TV screen that is acquiring the bulk of advertising spend, with $60.5 billion spent on commercial time in 2011. Given the impactful role TV plays on a brand’s advertising strategy, the ability to ‘insure’ the substantial investment is a must. With the right cross-department and digital collaboration, brands  such as Doritos and eBay can rest assured that the future of their advertising campaign is in good hands.

“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

One of the most iconic sports quotes is the statement above. Frequently attributed to Vince Lombardi, the famous Green Bay Packers football coach, there is ample documentation that suggests Lombardi didn’t utter the line first. It was his own success that made it stick to his legacy. Nonetheless, Lombardi has become the forbearer of a generation of competitors who believe every game has only two outcomes – victory or defeat. While Lombardi might be reluctant to see Charlie Sheen and his “winning” tiger blood as a direct descendant, we are more and more a society driven by triumph.

As a sports fanatic, I am the last person to cast judgment on the notion of winning. However, more and more in the marketing space, we seem confused about who our competitors are and for what we are competing. On a daily basis, you can open a trade email and see a competitive summary of spending moving from one channel to another. Digital types triumphantly proclaim the onslaught of media moving out of traditional channels and into their coffers for allocation. All the while, traditional media looks at the reach and impact of digital and wonders what, exactly, all the fuss is about. In this exchange, the investment allocation itself is the determinant of victory when, in fact, it should be the combination of media that delivers the greatest value that is declared winner.

But the problem isn’t just about the competition between channels. Now the competition is for distinguished positioning at events and in the media. Winners and losers are declared at events like CES and SXSW, events that were born out of the spirit of innovation and growth, where adoption by the mainstream of any technology is a win for all technologies. Mike Lazerow of Buddy Media summed it up well in a tweet in response to an Ad Age column following SXSW. He wondered why winners had to be declared, and proposed that the industry and all those who gathered and networked be considered beneficiaries of the experience.

As an industry, it is essential to keep in mind what is important for sustained success. We aspire to win the hearts and minds of consumers through authentic stories and relevant connections. We make conscientious decisions on a daily basis about where we can make that happen. In those decisions, we must choose the placements and pricing that are most beneficial to our mission. Those are the fights that really matter. Our business “wins,” when we integrate our thinking and elevate our approach, are what we will be judged on long after.

Our fight is a collective fight. One against poor decisions made through partial data sets and industry blind spots. If winning is the only successful outcome, then perhaps another Lombardi quote, this one with less contention around its originator, may be more appropriate for us. “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.”

This article was written by Chris Copeland, CEO, GroupM Next, and was  published in ClickZ, March 26, 2012.  Follow Chris on Twitter – @C2Next.