Uncovering The Right Models For Campaign Attribution

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Since the advent of online commerce, marketers are seeking solution to one unresolved question. How do you evaluate performance of online campaigns? Particularly, at a time when global organisations are increasingly relying on online advertising to improve visibility. It is true that measuring offline campaigns can be equally tricky, but online measurement is titillating. Simply because, there are enough mechanisms to employ a tangible measurement tool and marketers dwell with an increased expectation of being able to track and measure online campaigns.

Also, without effective measurement, it is a little challenging to convince senior management, those particularly averse to the new world of digital media. Lack of a good attribution model skews marketing contributions either by over-inflating or by under reporting the performance of a particular campaign.

Typically, an average conversion will have multiple touch points. For illustrative purposes, I have tried to capture five common online channels, which assists the conversion path. In the below example, I have taken paid search as the user’s first touch point, before he/she visits other channels such as display/display retargeting, affiliates, organic search, social media and finally converts by visiting the website directly. Now we are clearly aware that a user interacted with 5 different channels before converting, but what we don’t know is how much of an influence all these channels have on the user’s buying behaviour.

Old school attribution logic says that since the user visits the website to convert, this particular event should be fully attributed with the conversion, which clearly is the last click model. But does that mean that there is little need or necessity to run campaigns on different channels? This is where it begins to get clouded.

Marketers have experimented with different attribution models to identify the significance of a particular campaign. For example, from the above instance where a user travels through five different touch points starting from paid search before converting, we could attribute campaigns the in the following ways.

  • First click: Where Paid Search as the first touch point claims full credit for the conversion
  • Last Click: Since the user comes directly to the website, this model completely ignores the initial touch points and attributes the conversion to the direct visit.
  • Distributed: This is one of the simplest of attribution models where each channel is equally attributed.
  • Linear: This particular model attributes the value to a conversion based on recency of the user interaction in an ascending order, with the last touch point receiving the highest attribution.
  • Weighted: Weighted attribution model focuses on weighing the campaigns based on their significance.We have seen the different attribution models that can be applied to campaigns. But does that explain which model we should be using? Yes, I personally feel that weighted attribution is the way to go. However, one must realise that there are some subjective considerations while using this model.

In the above example, I have indicatively weighed Paid Search and Direct Visit with the highest attribution, while sharing a smaller percentage between the other touch points. This is a completely subjective option. Instead of weighing Paid Search higher, you may feel that for your particular campaigns, a display ad which has an online promotion initiates the traffic push. In such an instance, you may want to weigh a higher attribution to the display ad. Or you may feel that the one of your high converting keywords gains significant keyword positions on search engines, resulting in higher traffic, for which you may consider weighing Organic search with a higher attribution. You may even want to award a higher attribution to the recency of the interaction.

Weighted attribution certainly allows you to attribute the conversions effectively, but is it ‘the’ model for attribution? Well, it is debatable. However, one must understand that to fully comprehend the impact of different channels, it is imminent that we have to delve deeper. What the weighted attribution model offers is an improvement over other attribution models.

An Essential Guide to Successful Blogger Outreach

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Blogger OutreachWith social media rapidly consuming the internet space, it is increasingly becoming a part of our media landscape. In the recent days, more and more online news sites have embraced the pay wall model, resulting in social media, particularly blogs becoming an important source of news, opinions and products. Blogs represent an affordable opportunity to promote products & brands.

SO, WHAT IS BLOGGER OUTREACH?
In simple words, it is a process where businesses reach out to bloggers who are influential within a particular area of interest to the brand, product or service and have an interested audience (or target customers) where they can facilitate a conversation.

Businesses encourage this conversation, by offering something valuable which could be of interest to the blogger as well as his/her audience, which will then ensure acquisition of the bloggers audience, who could potentially be repeat customers to the business.

HOW DOES BLOGGER OUTREACH WORK?
Bloggers have an audience and have the ability to open a window of opportunity for the business to reach out to their reader-base, some of who could already be customers and many who are completely new. These readers help the brand websites by not just being a source of traffic, but also by being advocates of these brands to their own communities as well as search engines, which effectively would help in increasing conversions online as well as offline.

Most bloggers tend to write about subjects they are passionate about and on most times, the write-up is owned by the bloggers. The blog and the subject matter are therefore, extremely personal endeavours to bloggers. Choosing an influential blog /blogger in areas not just specific to the blogger, but also for us to promote our brand sentiments is the first step towards formalising a blogger outreach strategy.

Once we choose the blog/blogger and our niches, there are many ways to work with them (see box).

Bloggers Interest

WHY BLOGS?
The great thing about blogs is that they work in conjunction with the existing marketing efforts. For example, an online press release could generate sufficient buzz to result in a blog review. This blog review can then be promoted across a multitude of social media sites such as Facebook & Twitter, be bookmarked through social bookmarking tools such as delicious & digg and even communicated through our email marketing efforts. This results in creating that social influence which is fast evolving as one of the key metrics in the buying decision making.

Benefits of Blogger OutreachAbove all, blogger outreach of course, substantiates SEO efforts and helps in ranking higher on search engines, thereby ensuring higher visibility and traffic. The SEO benefits mainly come from the social interaction within the blogging community, where information and opinion is shared with individuals across many domains. Considering all these factors, Blogger Outreach remains one of the favoured strategies for online marketing. However, it has it’s own risks associated with it, which we will leave for another day.

Credits: 4 Imprint Blue Papers – Blogger Outreach.

The Fountain of Youth

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I was reading an article the other day on Business week which quoted a recent report by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. According to FCO’s British Behaviour Abroad report, around 600 Britons are rescued from drowning in Australia every year. Citing various other countries where Britons get arrested while traveling, the report also claims that most of the freak accidents are either alcohol or drugs induced. That reminds me of a Mandrake’s vintage comic strip which I had read a while ago. Tourists go abroad to get away from their regular mundane lives. Holidays are usually associated with letting yourself go and having a good time. This leads to over indulgent habits. Everyone is out to seek the fountain of (hic) of youth…only if they took enough care to ensure that they don’t wreak havoc in the host country!!!

iPad finally arrives….

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Nearly a month after placing the order, my iPad 3G+Wi-Fi finally shipped today. I was frantically hooked to the Macrumors forums following an extended thread which had details about other fanboy’s experiences, but mine took way too longer than everyone else’s. At one point, I had given up on the hope as no money had been debited from my bank accounts as well. I was desperate and after three calls to Apple Customer Service, finally was able to track it. Turns out, Apple only blocks the payment on the card until the products are ready to be shipped. Also, the Apple cases and the docks along with the Camera connector kit was delaying the shipping of an iPad.

It finally did arrive, except for the Camera Connector Kit. First impressions are…it’s incredible. One of the best gadgets I have ever had!!!!

iWant…iPad…

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I wasn’t expecting iPad to be unavailable for such extended periods of time. I assumed that I could land one home by visiting the flagship store on Regent Street. Now, given that I was away in Munich for the Bank Holiday weekend since the launch, I should have ordered the pad online. Now, it’s neither available instore, nor available online, which is kind of frustrating. I have ordered one anyway, which has an expected ship date of 15 June. Hope it’s earlier than that. My next post on this blog will be via my shiny new iPad 3G + Wireless.

Until then!!!

Social Media & The Brand – How businesses fumble in the Media Space?

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So much has already been written about social media. In fact, many businesses have already ingrained social media into their business and marketing strategies. So, it comes as a huge surprise to see a few which are complete laggards. While businesses of all sizes and shapes have an established social presence, a number of them are still behind and beyond the social media realm. This is purely due to of the lack of a defined structure and strategy.

After nearly three years in online marketing, which includes a whole lot of social media activity, I must agree on one thing. Small businesses are certainly more receptive to the ever changing technology and the media that constantly evolves with it. They are also more likely to benefit as early adopters to these initiatives. They leverage the small amount publicity they get in the initial years and by the time other big businesses catch up, they have estbalished strategies which sets the ground work for big businesses to build on.

In the last few years, working for a small business, I have experimented with every new online marketing initiative that has been thrown at us by tech-savvy entrepreneurs. Some of them stuck by, and some of them, well, got stuck. From the early days of Delicious & Digg to WordPress & Livejournal, as well as the recent phenomenon named Twitter & Facebook, I have tried everything new that came out of the box for my old company. Today, it is fairly well known in the Social Media and Online Marketing world. If I look back on the proudest moments of my employment, two instances stand out among many others:

When our online marketing initiatives were used as a Case Study for a Text Book for Master’s Degree and when a renowned Search Engine Marketing service provider patted our back in front of 200 other online marketing professionals. While these two instances are much cherished moments of my life, I also wonder what made the online marketing so successful in a small business such as the one I worked for.

It immediately strikes to me that it was neither my enthusiasm for new media, nor the technology that was on offer which made these social media initiatives sucessful. Without outstanding business leadership, you neither get the enthusiasm, nor are aware of technology. I clearly remember when I was offered the role, I was told that apart from my regular responsibilities, I have two hours to read and keep abreast of the development of online marketing, which probably made what I am today. Something like a Google philosophy: 20% time

Now it pains me to see injudicious timing, ill-advised social media approaches, particularly when the media space is completely convoluted.  I feel that given the current adoption by businesses, you really need to rise up and stand tall to make your mark. Companies with inward looking social media approaches are sure to hit the wall as soon as they open their doors. Facebook & Twitter offer two of the most exciting platforms for businesses to take off. Both these platforms certainly deserve a clarity of thought and a well defined strategy, otherwise they are sure to be also rans.

YouTube & The Indian Premier League – A Sporting Marriage

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Today, from the adopted land of cricket, comes the greatest annual sporting extravaganza, the Indian Premier League. With more than a 100 associated brands, the tournament is not just a sporting spectacle, but a commercial event masquerading as cricket.

Today, also marks one of the biggest days in internet broadcasting. The organisers of the Indian Premier League have signed a ground breaking deal with Google, to broadcast all the matches live on Youtube. This path breaking deal, a World first, will be closely watched by many quarters, particularly those in the broadcasting business as this could potentially shift the television industry. The service, which will be fully monetised by advertising revenue which is to be shared by Youtube & IPL, is an untested business model.

Rumours are rife that Youtube has acquired a number of advertisers across many geographies, including the UK where Lebara Mobile and Brylcreem are expected to be the first on the board. If this new revenue generating broadcast model works, then Google’s nifty acquisition of Youtube from three former PayPal employees in November 2006 will prove to be a grand success for the company as this means that many other sporting events in the world would soon be available live on YouTube, diminishing the dominating might of paid sports channels.

The Internet surpasses television’s global reach and if an event like the Indian Premier League, which is keenly followed only in a handful of countries, can be offered free to the viewer, it is imminent that it will encourage hundreds of thousands of new followers to log on to the site, who, otherwise would have skipped the tournament rather than paying hefty subscription fees to satelite or cable broadcasters. Now, imagine all the big ticket sporting events such as the English Premier League, Champions League, NBA, NFL etc playing live on YouTube!!!

With the financial power of Google, it seems a distinct possibility that this may be a vision of what lies ahead.

Let’s play!!!

Travelogue: Journey into Jordan – the Magic of the Middle East

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Guest Editor – Karin Hennessey – Karin had recently traveled to Jordan on a holiday and gives you a chance to discover the mystical land of Jordan, it’s spectacular natural beauty, ancient architecture and well preserved cultural heritage.

The Middle East is fast becoming a popular winter sun destination given its relatively close proximity to Europe (approximately 5 hours flying time from London), wonderful warm year round climate and rich cultural and historical interest.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small country with few natural resources, and unusually for this region, no oil, but it has played a pivotal role in the struggle for power in the Middle East. Jordan’s significance results partly from its strategic location at the crossroads of what most Christians, Jews and Muslims call the Holy Land. It is one of two Arab nations to have made peace with Israel and is a key ally of the U.S.

In November 2009, we chose Jordan with a view to balancing our time between relaxation at a five star deluxe hotel (that are plentiful in the Middle East), and making day trips to the spectacular Rose City of Petra, the lunar landscape of Wadi Rum in the desert, and the mystical Dead Sea.

By far the best and most economic way to get there is with the long established Voyages Jules Verne (tour operator). VJV offer scheduled flights direct to Aqaba which no other airlines do, (the others make a stop-over in Amman, the capital city), and are currently offering a heavily discounted price at the newly opened Five star Movenpick Hotel at Tala Bay. They are promoting a week’s stay with flights and accommodation for approximately £579.00. An independently booked return flight costs almost double this price without accommodation so go now before it’s too late! If you are lucky enough, you will be greeted by the lovely ‘Laurent’ (VJV representative), who will entertain you en route over the microphone on the coach to your hotel destination with his ‘allo, allo’ French accent and ‘listen carefully, I will repeat this only once’ sense of humour!

The best place to stay on the coast, in order to swim and dive/snorkel in the Red Sea, is Aqaba. Aqaba is a major port and home to the Jordanian royal family. It is also a duty free town, although apart from a plethora of jewellery and pottery shops, there is not much to tempt you to part with your Jordanian dinars. You won’t need to worry about being hassled to make a purchase or haggle over prices because the Jordanians are forbidden by law to browbeat tourists into buying!

Although downtown Aqaba doesn’t offer much in the way of tourist attractions or nightlife, much investment is being ploughed into developing the area of Tala Bay as a holiday destination. Hotels, restaurants and man-made harbours are being constructed all along the coastline.

The Movenpick hotel certainly lives up to its Swiss attention to detail and standard of hygiene. The staff were extremely attentive and anxious to please. Facilities included five different style restaurants, an inter-connecting lagoon-like swimming pool, an infinity pool that was 75 metres wide, umpteen Jacuzzis and swim-up bars.

It was incredible to realise that from our hotel balcony overlooking the Red Sea we could see Egypt and Israel. In fact, we were divided by a strip of water that would take no more than fifteen minutes to float on a lilo to the other side (but don’t forget your passport!).

The Jordanian people are very proud of their heritage and adore their royal family. With a population of only 6.3 million they are a closely knit country and many have had a personal meeting with the King at some stage in their lives. Within every establishment you will find a photograph of the late King Hussein who died in 1999 after 46 years on the throne, struggling for peace and democracy.

We learnt a lot at the lost city of Petra which was carved from pink sandstone cliffs by the Nabateans two millennia ago and left undiscovered until 1812. The Bedouin tribes who lived in the caves were keen to give us a guided tour of their old homes, before they were moved into urban communities by the government. Petra is a fascinating insight into the lives of the old silk route traders who travelled by camel caravan, down through the siq (narrow crevice between the rocks) and out into the open and resplendent Treasury where the merchants trading took place. This was also the setting for the Raiders of the Lost Ark. At Wadi Rum, where Lawrence of Arabia came, you can travel by camel through the terracotta sand and desert landscape reminiscent of the Grand Canyon and spend a night under the stars camping with the Bedouins and eating a traditional feast of Mansaf (a dish of rice and lamb) served with generous hospitality and accompanied by singing and playing of the rebab (their equivalent of a small guitar).

Our final excursion to the Dead Sea was very educational. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world’s first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets. It lies 422 metres below sea level and is a salt lake bordering Israel and the West Bank and Jordan to the East. The salinity and harsh environment has ensured that no animals can live here. We were advised not to shave two days before entering the water because it would burn, and to avoid any water getting into our eyes. On entering the water your natural inclination is to swim and then you quickly realise you will be turned upside down if you do so! Be aware that at this time of year, it is dark by 4pm which means you need to make the most of the daylight hours.

I highly recommend Jordan, and it’s wonderfully genteel and generous people, it will be an unforgettable experience which will make you yearn to experience more of the Middle East.

Thanks for the post, Karin!!

10 Simple Tips To Renew Your Indian Passport

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Faceless AVGuest Editor – AV - I have had a harrowing experience while renewing my passport in India early last year, which I have detailed in my post – The Great Indian Passport Saga. In fact, I have had pretty bad experiences every time I have been to the Passport Office in India, or Indian Embassies abroad. True, being an Indian, it’s a pity that I have no good words to write about the services. Last week, when my good friend, who for some reason doesn’t want to be named for the post found that he was running out on time on his Passport, I was devilishly pleased (in a nice way), for I had someone who was treading the thorny path to where I had already been. For the purposes of this post, let’s call this good friend AV. Here’s his account of the Passport Renewal Saga and some seriously simple tips to help in renewing the passport easily and quickly.

Let me be brutally honest with you, getting a new passport is going to be tough – especially, if it means making a trip to the Indian High Commission in London! Passport re-issue, as it’s called, is what one has to apply for when one has no clue where the last ten years went. That was exactly what happened to me earlier this month when I realised that this book, that I had initially bought as an essential tool to write SAT, TOEFL, GMAT, CAT, BRAT (note: this one is fictitious), GRE etc., has a validity of ten years and was due to expire soon. The good news is I have now got my new passport; the bad news is, it wasn’t easy. Getting to the point – here are some pointers and crucial insights into how you can get your new passport without getting (too) stressed out.

TOP TEN – I’ve narrowed it down to ten. Its an easy number.

  1. Make enough copies. This isn’t an exam – copying is allowed, especially if it’s photocopying. You need copies of the front page, back page and your ‘current UK residential status’ page of your passport. One copy should do. If you’re one of those you-can-never-be-too-careful sorts, make two. I made three.
  2. Recent photograph means recent photograph. You need four recent passport sized photographs and if you’re in the passport office, they are just called photographs. Remember the number is FOUR. Ensure you don’t have to use those dodgy do-it-yourself photo machines in the consulate as they don’t work. Again, I tried to beat the system by submitting ‘slightly’ old photos but the lady behind the counter (fresh from her recent visit to the cinema to watch Sherlock Holmes) noticed that my last three Schengen visas, which were well over two years old, had the same photos. I then had to battle that machine and ended printing three sets of pictures, one of them mine. The first two, of people I’ve never seen before.
  3. Always Ask. If you’re in this room (picture below) and not sure where the queue starts or stops, ask. Go to the counter and ask. Any counter. The word is re-issue and not renewal as the latter is what you do when your passport is valid for five years or if your passport is expired, lost or stolen. If you speak Malayalam, even better, I’m not joking.

Indian High Commission London

  1. Enough food, water, books. Always ensure you have enough food and water with you and books (technology freaks can use those i-things). There is no restriction on carrying phones but there is a catch – no network coverage in the basement where you will be waiting. It’s not called INDIAN High Commission for nothing.
  2. A couple of hours aren’t going to do it. If you’re planning on queuing up at around 8:00am and hoping to be back at work at 11:00am, you can forget about it. The lucky ones do, but the majority of us will have to wait longer, and, this is just to submit the passport. Again, this can take from two hours to six hours so be prepared with that text to the boss saying you are not going to be in the office until 2:00 pm. Collecting it is less stressful – between one and two hours, in the afternoons a few days later. (BTW collection is usually between 3:30pm and 4:30pm)
  3. Get aggressive. If you have picked up any English mannerisms, such as holding the door open, being courteous, queuing up obediently, I suggest you leave it outside the consulate as it will not help you secure your objective. Even some British nationals who were waiting for their visas soon realised their Blighty way of life wasn’t working and I saw one middle aged woman step on a sardar’s foot to take that one last seat in the room. If your number hasn’t been called or you’re not sure of what’s going on, make sure you ask someone. Information on the website is not comprehensive.
  4. CASH. Keep loads of it. You may be asked to fill up additional forms if your signatures are different, if your spouse has threatened you to change your surname, if they just want you to fill up additional ones etc. you will have to cough up some extra cash. Seriously, keep enough change and remember – no credit/debit cards!
  5. Ensure you’ve taken the token. That’s it with this point.
  6. Checklist. There are not a lot of things to remember but here is a summary of what I’ve been going on about. 4 photographs. One filled in form. One passport. One copy of the passport. Food. Cash. Now the chronology of events – queue outside to collect your token. Once collected, enter the building and wait for your number to be called and have everything ready. Submit it (this bit is important). Collect your receipt which will tell you the time and date to collect your passport. Go back and collect it (this is also important).
  7. Enjoy. If you haven’t been to India in a while, this will be your mini India experience. Don’t stress yourself. Enjoy it. Imagine people from your home town’s RTO office or electricity board or even members of your local post office in India have been told to re-locate to the UK and hand out passports to NRIs who are doing the NR bit, yes go on imagine it – close your eyes…..aaahhh now THAT will be your passport experience in the UK.

Thanks dude for the post! Finally to add, the Indian High Commission in London is at

Indian High Commission
India House
Aldwych
London
WC2B 4NA
Phone: 020 7836 8484
Web: http://hcilondon.in/

Other consulates in the UK are at Birmingham, Belfast & Edinburgh. Check the website for details. Also, for Passport Renewal, make sure you download a passport renewal form and fill it as required before you head to the embassy.