Benefits of Semantic Search

Search is blowing up headlines across major industry-leading media outlets. Mediapost recently reported that “analysis from the Adobe Report suggests that U.S. marketers will continue to allocate more of their budgets to search for the remainder of 2012.” The potential for search marketing continues to rise, but the key to success lies in understanding the nuances of search technology and how it impacts ad-matching capabilities.

An understanding of how semantic search can benefit your business will place you ahead of the curve.  There is a tremendous upside to embracing semantic search evolution and the ad innovation that comes along with it, in your paid search and overall digital marketing efforts.

Here are 5 key benefits to you:

1. Relevancy – Semantic search has the ability to understand both content and context, which means your paid search efforts will place you alongside content or in search queries where consumers are actively engaged and consuming content.



2. Multiple Faceted Messaging Approach - The benefits of this are twofold; 1) Allows you to reach different members of your target audience based on their passions instead of casting a general message; 2) Allows you to test multiple messages (at a low cost) to help determine which is most effective. This can then be integrated into more costly marketing efforts.



3. Optimization – Low-cost and routine optimization will allow your business to quickly modify ads based on performance data, so that you are sure to reach your target audience by the most efficient and effective means.



4. Access to Qualified Consumers – Semantic search and ad matching ensures that you appear only to consumers whose interest is related to your business offerings.  Therefore, the clicks you receive are from consumers that already have a deeper interest in your offering as opposed to clicks you get from standard search efforts.



5. Awareness – Leveraging semantic paid search can help you cast a wide net across the web during the initial launch.   This will ensure exposure on sites that relate to your brand.  Over time, you can hone in on the properties that give you the biggest bang for your buck and adapt targeting accordingly.


 

Before going full steam ahead you need to consider which vendors will give you the biggest bang for you buck. While Google announced it is enhancing its search with semantic technology, the reality is they are playing catch up in what NTENT and a few other leading paid search providers are already masters of.  The point is that with semantic search you get access to technology that can help you fine tune your paid search efforts with precision.  The data gathered from semantic search can provide you with valuable insights for your overall marketing approach.

5 Marketing Methods To Drive Business Success

The rate at which the digital landscape is changing is keeping business owners on their toes. Gone are the days when marketers could rely solely on traditional advertising outlets: on-air, radio, mailers and standard display ads. Today, the digital advertising universe provides a plethora of outlets to reach consumers but it requires that marketers take time to think about which efforts make the most sense for their business. Successful advertisers have adapted their strategies to be smarter and more focused in the digital space, with efforts like social media, advanced targeting, and mobile marketing.

5 Marketing Tools to Positively Impact Your Business:

Instagram: This image-based social platform is what everyone is buzzing about and for good reason. It is one of the fastest growing social platforms since Facebook. In less than one year Instagram has over 10 million users. It presents new and interesting ways to connect to your consumers. A few tips: post interesting and artistic product photos !important; get creative with it – create a theme for the week so you can draw users in by touching upon passion points. Most importantly engage with the community: comment and repost. All these will help create brand affinity over time.

Paid Search: Many advertisers are already using paid search to advertise their products and services, but with the recent advances in technology it is time to consider upgrading your paid search marketing efforts. Standard paid search efforts won’t cut it if you want to move consumers down the consumer purchasing funnel. In order to reach consumers you need to employ a paid search program that utilizes cutting edge technology, like NTENT, which has the ability to target consumers where it matters most. You can maximize your potential by leveraging a paid search program that uses semantic ad matching technology which will ensure that your product is shown at the right time to the right eyes. Don’t wait to optimize your paid search efforts !important; utilize a best of breed paid search platform to get the biggest bang for your buck!

Facebook & Twitter: These social gorillas are still a driving force that advertisers cannot afford to ignore, and it is essential to understand how best to use these to grow your business. Facebook can be a great tool for building a community and getting consumers through the front door, but if you want to keep them coming, you can’t stop there. This is where Twitter can complement your efforts. Twitter is an excellent communication vehicle that should be leveraged to build an ongoing dialogue with your consumers to build loyalty over time. Remember not to hit consumers over the head with overt product messaging on these platforms. Rather, seek to provide them with interesting tips and tricks to generate interest and build trust.

Smart Phones and Mobile Devices: It is no secret that mobile web traffic is on the rise, according to Search Engine Watch, 63 percent of all smartphone Internet access is done via the mobile network. More and more consumers are finding what they want through their mobile devices, therefore you cannot afford to forgo a mobile presence. A whole new world of advertising possibilities is opening up and changing the way that businesses connect with consumers on the go. How can you take advantage of this new platform? Ensure that your business has a mobile friendly site: avoid using flash, create a concise message for mobile search, make sure your business is listed in location-based search apps, and be sure to highlight special promotions that you are having.

Remember that it is essential to develop your core product/service attributes and your core marketing message before diving head first into any of these methods. To grow your consumer base you need to build your brand, extend your reach, and promote your business through a variety of digital marketing channels.

Expert Q & A: What are the advantages of having multiple digital advertising methods?

Multichannel digital marketing gives advertisers the advantage of reaching prospective consumers through multiple touch points. You not only cast a wider net in terms of maximizing your branding efforts but you also have the ability to appeal to consumers in the areas where they are most engaged. By leveraging different digital marketing methods you can increase marketing efficiencies, effectiveness, and costs by using the strengths of each channel appropriately for your business needs.

Expert Q & A: What is the best way that I can utilize social media to complement my paid search efforts?

Social and paid search are great stand alone marketing tools but when used together they can be very powerful. The trick is to ensure that efforts on each of the platforms complement each other. For example, you could use your existing paid search campaign to support a promotion you are having for your Facebook fans. This allows you to achieve a number of objectives: drive “Likes” to your Facebook page, advertises your promotion, exposes your brand, and creates a fan base. If you are having a special promotion that is only available on your site you can use all your channels to promote the same message that means you create one consistent message on Facebook, Twitter, and paid search. Each of these efforts should drive to the promotion to achieve maximum results. How you leverage paid search and social will depend on the unique marketing goals of your company.

How Semantic Search Impacts Ad Targeting

MediaPost- Paid-search marketers should see far better ad targeting once Google and Bing build out semantic technology in their respective search engines. Colin Jeavons, CEO of NTENT, said targeting falters today because of a phenomenon he calls the Big Band Theory.

 

“As more pages of content get created daily, it’s like the expanding universe,” Jeavons said. “The keyword search model becomes more difficult, especially when trying to serve up accurate results on queries. With semantic search you’re not striking the query off one keyword, you’re striking it off multiple — to the tune of millions in some cases, which means you can render a better match to a query with semantic search.”

 

 

Google’s algorithms run more on probability rather than working like a brain, which takes the content of multiple words to find meaning, Jeavons explains. From a technology perspective, there’s no question that “Google is very weak in many areas,” Jeavons said, refereeing Google Fellow Amit Singhal’s Google+ post last week explaining that the engine would increase a focus on semantic search — a technology Jeavons has been analyzing for years. The technology aims to improve search accuracy by understanding the intent and contextual meaning of searches on engines.

 

 

One of the major challenges for Google, Jeavons said, is that the engine serves many text links that aren’t really accurate. Searchers don’t typically click on one blue link, but rather five — so in some ways, he believes, Google’s inefficient technology generates more revenue for them. The question then becomes: will a more efficient search and ad platform create less revenue for the company?

 

 

But Google really doesn’t have a choice. It must change. Jeavons believes that today, Bing integrates more semantic technology than Google.

 

 

It wasn’t always that way. During the first revolution of search in 2000 and 2001, Google produced a far better product than any others, according to Jeavons. Yahoo, its main competitor in 2002, focused on becoming a portal and distribution model, losing its way in search so its nearest competitor didn’t have to improve the quality of its engine to dominate search worldwide — not until Microsoft released Bing. Jeavons believes the release of Bing woke up Google. Search one phrase on both Bing and Google and get two different query results.

 

 

Even Singhal admits it. He wrote in his Google+ post that Google’s ability to understand questions “is pretty darn limited.” Jeavons agrees. He said Google didn’t achieve “world domination” for its technology, but rather gained it because of the lack of competition. The actual challenge is not technology and quality, but distribution and brand.

 

 

“Is Coca-Cola a great brand, or simply something consumers want in developing countries and the manufacturer figured out a model to distribute the brand better?” he said.