Acquisio eb cross_channel_marketing_feb_2012

Cross Channel Marketing:
A Primer for Search Agencies

A Search Marketing Now E-Book

Cross Channel Marketing: A Primer for Search Agencies

Introduction
Today’s marketers and agencies have their work cut out for them, with more ways than ever to reach their
prospects and customers. Contemporary media messages, delivered across an ever-growing number of channels,
surround consumers throughout the day. The internet has made a colossal impact on the way consumers interact
with brands, empowering them to review and share experiences with other users across the globe.

With so many channels available, consumers often move from one channel to another during the researching
and purchasing process. Consumers live their media experiences holistically, but many agencies still cling to a
misplaced and outdated silo approach to advertising. Each part of the campaign runs independently and only
rarely are some elements integrated such as email and direct mail or follow up direct mail on display advertising.

Search can provide greater insight into consumer attitudes and may reveal that a channel has even more
influence than imagined, but only if a cross channel marketing strategy is implemented by a brand and its
agencies.

This E-Book discusses the concept of cross channel marketing, the challenges facing the space, and the solutions
in place to aid agencies in adapting this new strategy. Acquisio and Search Marketing Now would like to thank
the following Search Engine Land contributors for their assistance in developing this report: Ross Barnes, Director
of Digital at mCHI; Andy Komack, VP and Conductor of Marketing at BlueTrain Mobile; Benny Blum, Director,
Strategy & Analytics at eSearchVision; Manu Mathew, CEO, Visual IQ, Inc.; Dax Hamman, Chief Revenue Officer at
Chango; and Diana Gordon, Account Director at iProspect. Thanks also to Nathania Johnson for researching and
preparing this E-Book. n

2 © 2012 Third Door Media, Inc. http://searchmarketingnow.com • Email: whitepapers@searchmarketingnow.com • (203) 664-1350


What is cross channel marketing?
Cross channel marketing is leveraging one marketing channel to support another marketing channel. A display ad
created as part of a branding support campaign can be utilized to influence search behavior, benefiting paid search
and search engine optimization efforts.

Essentially, cross channel marketing is an acknowledgement of events that occur along the entire marketing funnel.
The key to success is integration of the right channels while making the consumer’s experience appear seamless.

Though cross channel marketing involves multiple channels, it should not be confused for multi-channel marketing.

Multi-channel vs. cross channel marketing
In today’s connected world, consumers search online, test products in retail environments, conduct price
comparison on mobile devices, and complete purchases through any of these channels. Brands are increasingly
adept at incorporating new digital channels as they arise, such as social media and mobile.

Participating in multiple channels is multi-channel marketing. Many
brands already incorporate multi-channel marketing by utilizing search
marketing, email, social media, and mobile marketing strategies.
If a website visitor entered
However, simple participation in each channel does not leverage the through a search engine
maximum potential of each channel.
after viewing a display ad,
Agencies that focus only on clicks and conversions are not necessarily
getting an accurate picture of the success of a keyword or campaign. a cross channel strategy
Marketing to multiple channels may be spread across various individuals
or teams working in silos. For example, media planners may not
enables all parties to
incorporate keyword research conducted by search marketing teams,
who are often left out of the loop on new product development and
receive appropriate
branding campaigns. attribution as well as the
Cross channel marketing allows brands to reach consumers at various insight required to improve
touchpoints along the same campaign. If a website visitor entered
through a search engine after viewing a display ad, a cross channel upon current and future
strategy enables all parties to receive appropriate attribution as well as
the insight required to improve upon current and future campaigns.
campaigns.

Why embrace a cross channel marketing strategy?
The benefits for agencies adopting a cross channel strategy are several. Incorporating holistic marketing is
comparable to diversifying an investment portfolio. Much like a portfolio should not be weighted too heavily in
one asset class, agencies do well to avoid depending too much on a single strategy or channel, such as search
marketing on Google only.

By understanding the discovery cycle, agencies know who, when and how customers are searching. They then
have the chance reach them at several points during the purchase process. By increasing exposure to potential new
customers, a brand’s awareness grows and increases recall during the research phase.

Understanding that success is defined by conversion -- not matter where the conversion occurred - is key to the



overall success of any campaign. This calls for agencies to start integrating
marketing efforts and analysis across all channels.
Agencies must arm
themselves with
Challenges in cross channel marketing knowledge of the
While embracing a cross channel marketing is a wise strategic move,
there are challenges in adoption and incorporation. Agencies must arm
impediments they will
themselves with knowledge of the impediments they will face in integrating
channels in order to creatively solve problems and assemble the proper
face in integrating
solutions. channels in order
to creatively solve
Channel proliferation and evolution problems and assemble
The sheer number of channels available to any given campaign presents as the proper solutions.
a rather large obstacle in the implementation of cross channel marketing.
Not only must brands participate in multiple channels, which are constantly
innovating and proliferating, but a cross channel strategy requires that campaigns be integrated and optimized
across those channels This can become difficult in large organizations, where personalities and politics across
divisions may interfere with the process.

Agencies also must evolve with the manner in which existing marketing strategies mature within the innovations of
cross channel marketing. When marketers hear the term “retargeting,” many typically assume “site retargeting” to
reach visitors to a brand’s website. However, the term “retargeting” is expanding to include ad retargeting in order
to reach consumers who have previously viewed a brand’s digital advertising.

Communication may become a delicate issue for agencies who are accustomed to working solely within their
channel. When a brand hires one agency for display advertising, another for search marketing and utilizes in-house
employees for email marketing, navigating the new waters of cross channel communication may be murky during
the early stages.

Reporting, measurement and attribution
Compounding the difficulties of assimilating multiple channels is the task of measuring and analyzing large sets
of data created by each channel. Each publisher and network within each channel possesses its own tracking and
reporting. Even when an agency begins pursuing a cross channel strategy, simply gathering the data together
presents a sizable challenge.

Each network is unaware of the existence of the others and each claims the conversion as their own. This can lead to
multi-channel reporting of a conversion. In fact, only one event generated the last click and the others formed earlier
events in this conversion path.

Once the data is assembled, the issue of attribution must be tackled. Although there are many ways to attribute
revenue, most analytics systems stick with the traditional last entry. If revenue is attributed across multiple terms
leading to a conversion, more keywords associated may be associated with revenue, but not with meeting cross
channel goals.

Figure 1 illustrates how marketers can measure attribution across different paths to conversion.



Fig. 1 - Attribution Paths to Conversion

Not only must a marketer learn which publisher is producing the best return on investment (ROI) or most revenue,
but also which creative within that publisher performs best. Performance factors include the offer, size, placement,
day, time and frequency - taking into account all the influences that exist between campaigns and channels.

Strategic solutions and automated technologies
While the challenges are many, solutions are emerging for the cross channel agency. Since the skills of the search
marketer are easily transferable to the tasks required for cross channel success, agencies will find themselves ahead
of the curve in their ability to adapt to new strategies and technologies.

Strategies for integration and optimization
In order to incorporate a cross channel strategy, click streams must be viewed holistically, considering all costs
of upper and lower funnel events and total revenue in order to understand the true performance of a campaign.
Attribution does this by analyzing all touchpoints that were experienced by its target audience: those on which a
conversion took place and those earlier in the funnel where a conversion did not take place.

Specifically, search marketers will want to pay attention to the funnel of clicks leading to an event as there are
generic, upper funnel terms driving clicks on more product specific and branded terms which lead to sales. Paid
search campaigns can utilize keywords from offline advertising such as newspaper and television as well as
interactive media such as display ads to reflect an integrated call to action.

For example, an increase in searches after television advertising is launched can be realistically measured, as can
the subsequent rise in campaign specific word searches after an email is issued. This way search actually provides
greater insight into consumer attitudes and may reveal that a channel has even more influence than imagined.

The most basic findings that attribution uncovers within search marketing results are the keywords, ad creatives,



and landing pages that serve as the best introducers, influencers and closers within conversion funnels. For
example, one type of insight the attribution process uncovers is the lack of credit given to non-branded keywords
searched early in the conversion funnel.

Conversely, if marketers discover that their best performing keywords and campaigns within the search channel are
nowhere to be found within their other channels, low-hanging fruit is waiting to be harvested.

One of the entry points to cross channel marketing for search marketers is display retargeting. With a cross channel
strategy, search marketers will rediscover display advertising’s value in branding and contextual targeting as well.

When channels work together, marketers can then test new campaigns on less expensive channels. This maximizes
the overall marketing budget while optimizing creative and strategy. While the results will not be precisely replicated
when launched in a different vertical, most marketers will enjoy having at least some insight into a new campaign
early in the creative process.

Search agencies must also pay attention to trends within a given channel. Currently, mobile is a relatively
inexpensive channel to integrate. As the medium is adapted by more and more agencies, prices will rise. Early
adopters will be able to defend the inclusion of mobile into a marketing budget that is increasingly stretched thin.
Agencies would do best to experiment now while prices are low.

Automation of data and processes
The solution to the challenges in reporting, measurement and attribution lies in technology. Since cross channel
marketing requires many different skill sets, automation of data and processes is critical.

The primary objective of a cross channel measurement platform is its ability to track multiple channels. Such a
platform enables marketers to track and analyze campaign performance across all significant digital networks,
including display, social and paid search. With all data collected into a central platform, marketers can make
decisions about which campaigns and channels perform best based on sound evidence, instead of relying on
lopsided “last click” models.
Software solutions, such as Acquisio’s tracking and attribution technology, encode destination URLs for all
publishers and networks and utilize one cookie to enable tracking of all performance events for a single visitor.
When a single visitor creates multiple impressions for a display ad in addition to performing searches with a brand’s
relevant keywords, the cookie can attribute all events to that single user. When the final conversion occurs, each
publisher’s tracking tag on the conversion page sees its own respective cookie on the user’s machine and claims
credit for their role in the conversion.

Marketers will want to use an attribution model that makes homogeneous comparisons of campaign conversion
and revenue data possible. A single cross channel attribution model is necessary in order to determine which events
should be labeled as “introducer,” “influencer,” and “closer” within a given campaign.

Frequency caps address an oft-overlooked dimension to attribution: the number of display impressions in order
to produce a search conversion. Digital media planners and buyers are familiar with applying frequency caps to
their display assets based on a number of impressions above which the ads have historically failed to produce an
acceptable return. However, a frequency cap established using one-dimensional criteria might be limiting a positive
return ads generate via conversions driven within the search channel.

Once frequency data is revealed through attribution results, this number will differ from publisher to publisher. By
looking at the attribution results for display ad frequency across all keywords and engines, a number of instances
can be identified where significant media efficiencies and performance gains can be achieved by toggling up or
down impression frequency caps as needed.



One of the major advantages of a robust cross channel platform is the integration of reporting for various publishers
and networks. Instead of manually collecting the data into an Excel spreadsheet, software solutions collect and
provide visual representation of the data. With the added responsibilities acquired in implementing a cross channel
strategy, search marketers will welcome the time saving qualities of automated processes.

Conclusion
Cross channel marketing offers the power to maximize advertising and branding campaigns across several
integrated channels. Embracing this strategy begins with an acknowledgement of the various behaviors and events
consumers conduct along the marketing funnel.

While cross channel marketing provides many effective benefits, it is an iterative process. Thankfully, emerging
technologies exist to automate tasks including data collection, reporting, and attribution.

As channels continue to proliferate and evolve, the need to adopt a cross channel strategy becomes increasingly
important and urgent. Additionally, as adoption of new channels among agencies increases, the expense of
participating in the channel rises, leaving less room for experimentation. Therefore, the earlier agencies begin
incorporating a cross channel strategy the greater benefits they will experience for their clients. n



The leading performance media platform for agencies, Acquisio helps agency marketers buy, track, manage,
optimize, retarget, and report on media across all channels—including search, display, and social media.

Acquisio provides the industry-leading technology for agencies buying ads on any online channel, helping them
handle all tasks associated with performance advertising within an integrated platform. Unlike other solutions,
Acquisio hosts its own third-party ad server and employs single tracking functionality across channels, allowing
marketers unparalleled conversion and revenue attribution modeling and reporting.
Learn more at www.acquisio.com.

465 Victoria, Suite 300
Saint Lambert, QC
Canada
J4P 2J2
toll-free: +1.866.493.9070
direct: +1.450.465.2631
fax: +1.450.465.2841

Search Marketing Now webcasts and white papers provide authoritative and actionable education about search
engine marketing issues. Register today for one of our free webcasts covering topics about search engine
optimization, paid search advertising and search marketing in general.

Search Marketing Now is a division of Third Door Media, which publishes web sites, and produces in-person
events and webcasts. Each of the four brands - Search Engine Land, Search Marketing Expo, Search Marketing
Now, and Marketing Land - fosters continuing education, evolution and engagement for the community we
serve.


Acquisio eb cross_channel_marketing_feb_2012

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