building a successful holistic search strategy | lou cohen – svp head of search, affiliate...

BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL HOLISTIC SEARCH

STRATEGYLou Cohen

SVP – Digital MarketingHead of Search, Affiliate Marketing & Lead GenerationProfessor – Digital Marketing – Baruch College & NYU

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GETTING A CLEAR VIEW

• Hindsight• Exploration• Transformation• Inspiration• And then…

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HINDSIGHT: A YEAR AGO…We were looking for the path through the mountains…

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• Global but Local• Domain strategy• Evangelism Influence• Attribution• Prioritization

THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES…

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• “Secure search” made SEO harder, so we needed a new plan

• With the help of Razorfish & Conductor… we set out a new course

• The plan:– Map all of the content on our websites– Assign keywords against pages based upon traffic & index rankings– Assess gaps of top potential keywords vs. mapped keywords– Develop new content that addresses the gaps– Update existing content to further optimize

EXPLORATIONIt’s not just about Keywords anymore!

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• Yes… we’re going to be aggressive in Paid Search• Yes… we’re going to be proactive in Organic Search• Yes… we’re going to find new ways to activate our

customers via the many opportunities the SERP presents consumers with…– Google+ (Local + Social & more)– Google Compare (+in beta with Yahoo)– Affiliate arbitrage– Keyword level relationship between SEM, SEO, Compare, etc.

TRANSFORMATIONThere’s more than SEM & SEO at play!

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• Build quality, unique, and useful content– Fill in areas of opportunity to help reach more potential customers

• Ensure collaboration between media channels– Optimize investments to ensure optimal ROI & increase volume

• Be the best you can & stay true to who you are– Understand the brand & who our customers are– Focus on the areas of strength & minimize weaker areas

INSPIRATIONPlay to win, and do it the right way…

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ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM!There’s always next year… but you have to start building right away!

LOU COHEN@ProfCohenFacebook.com/ProfCohenLouis.Cohen@Citi.com