I read an article by Steve Smith for MinOnline this week titled, “Vanity Fair Gets Social With Oscar Race iPhone App.”  This article discussed how Vanity Fair was going to capitalize on the Oscar buzz with its Vanity Fair Hollywood Oscar Race iPhone App and how L’Oreal will be the sole sponsor.

This is an excellent approach to application marketing—tagging into major events that naturally get a lot of buzz by providing relevant content and weaving in one sponsor.   This approach gives that sponsor more prominence since there is less advertising clutter. 

The W3i Application Network can be viewed this way as well.  Consumer application marketers with demand for their content sponsor consumer applications during the installation process.  This allows advertiser prominence when the consumer is already installing an application.

The article also discussed another problem with consumer application marketing, namely getting consumers to actually use the app once installed.  Vanity Fair tries to solve this problem using several messaging features:  pop-up instructions when the application is installed to orient the consumer with the app’s functionality and a headline crawl on the bottom of the app to showcase additional content.  Vanity Fair also built in the important “sharing” feature to ignite viral distribution by creating voting pools with groups.  These are excellent consumer application marketing tactics.

To excel at consumer application marketing not only does the app need to get installed, but it must also engage the user.  Providing timely content, ways to discover content and navigation tips are essential for an application’s success.  

Deborah Manthei, Director of Marketing Communications, W3i, evangelizing the use of consumer application marketing to engage brands’ essential users.

Many of the online marketers I speak with have been using AdWords for years.  They love the ROI they see from the program but a common gripe has to do with the fact that many of them are having difficulty increasing reach and growing their customer acquisition efforts.

When I hear this my immediate question is always, “Are you advertising on the content network?”  The typical response is usually a variation of, “We’ve tried it in the past, but the quality of the traffic was always extremely poor.”

At W3i we’ve found Google’s Content Network, as well as similar offerings from other publishers, to be a great source of ad inventory to increase reach and grow user acquisitions for the W3i Download Network.  Whether it’s audio, video, games or utility software there are a plethora of relevant sites to advertise on in Google’s vast network.  After all, where do you think the users you’re bidding on in search end up when they don’t click a paid ad?  That’s right, probably a site that is displaying AdSense ad units.  Google’s robust algorithms do most of the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on what you do best.  To help jumpstart your AdWords account using Google’s Content Network I’ve put together a list of tips to keep in mind.

1. Implement Conversion Tracking.
   Perhaps this goes without saying, but the one thing needed prior to diving into any network is a method for tracking return on investment (ROI) at a granular level.  Google’s Conversion Tracking option provides the simplest tool for measuring key performance indicators (KPI’s) on the Google network. Of course there are non-Google tracking options as well.  Establishing conversion tracking up front will provide the needed clarity for decision making down the road.  After all, you can’t grow what you can’t measure!
2. Segment your search campaigns from your content campaigns.
   Be sure to separate your search campaigns from content campaigns.  For those who are fairly new to Adwords you may think “no brainer”, however, there was a time that co-mingling search and content was thought to be the way to go.  We know better now.  Separating search from content allows ads to be written with the context of the user interaction in mind.  Another benefit of segmenting campaigns is the creation of keyword lists specific to content placements.  Best practices call for smaller groups of keywords (10-20 keywords) and the use of broad matching. The bottom line is users behave differently on search than they do on content, and segmenting the two allows for optimization by network.
3. Remember to set a campaign budget!
   The fastest way to get noticed by your management is to not set a campaign budget! We don’t suggest this. Google’s content network is huge and can burn through thousands of dollars in a matter of hours, so make sure you’re setting reasonable caps, especially as you dip your toes into the water.
4. Utilize Cost Per Click (CPC) bidding on the content network.
   CPC bidding greatly simplifies the online marketing process. Review search network campaigns to determine a starting range for content campaigns. Google typically recommends starting content bids at about half of the rate of your search bids.
5. Keeping the budget tip above in mind – BE AGGRESSIVE!
   If you don’t get aggressive, you will never get the opportunity to show Google’s algorithms how well your ads perform.  We typically start with bids well above our estimated allowable CPC knowing we will lower them to meet our ROI goal once we begin to see some performance data rolling in.
6. Focus on clicks initially.
   Use the AdWords auto ad-optimization feature to make sure you’re going to auction with your highest click-through rate (CTR) ads.  You can always test different ad copy once you’ve scaled your campaigns, but focus initially on getting high effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM) ads into the network.  Regardless of the way you are paying Google (CPM or CPC), your bids are always translated into eCPM so they can be compared to other ads in the auction and Google can maximize its revenue.  For example, if you are bidding .25 CPC and Google estimates your CTR will be 1%, Google will go to auction with an eCPM bid of $2.50.
7. Try using Frequency Capping.
   Frequency Capping is a relatively new feature which was introduced as part of the Doubleclick acquisition.  It allows you to limit the maximum number of times during any given time period your ad can be shown to each user.  This is commonly used when buying banner ads on a CPM basis because of the following logic.  Typically, each consecutive ad impression a user sees (depending on the length of time in between) will yield a lower CTR than the prior.  The logic behind this is basically that if a user is interested in an advertisement he or she will engage it the first (or first few) time(s) he or she sees it.  Using this knowledge you can frequency cap your ads so that each impression has the highest chance of yielding a click, thereby aligning your interests with Google’s (Google only gets paid when there is a click).
8. Research!
   Research the sites that rank high organically on keywords in your search campaigns. There is a high probability these are the same types of sites that your ads will be shown on in the content network.  Pay careful attention to the context of this type of site, and use this information when choosing content keyword themes and writing ad copy.  You can also use this information to target sites that you know rank well organically for your top performing keywords.
9. Use the Placement Performance Report.
   Using the Placement Performance Report will allow you to see your historical performance on every site in the content network, including conversion rate.  From there you can take two actions: exclude low performing placements and target high performing placements in their own campaign.
10. Bid to performance.
    Using the ad scheduling feature to adjust your bids by hour and day of week will allow you to increase your bids during the times you convert the best and reduce bids (or pause bids) when you’re performing poorly.  You’ll be surprised how much your conversion rate varies by day of week and time of day.  Look at the data and see for yourself!

Maximizing our ad spend is a crucial element for the success of W3i.  If you are looking for more revenue, distribution, or engagement for your Windows applications, contact W3i.  W3i has spent nine years perfecting a Windows installation technology, Install IQ, which provides a lot of marketing opportunities for companies with consumer demand for their Windows applications.

Peter Novotny, Manager of Marketing, W3i, LLC
Peter Novotny uses his years of experience in Media Buying and Search Engine Marketing to lead the B2C user acquisition efforts for W3i’s web properties.

For those who provide access to content within applications or sites, content relevance is a key that unlocks user engagement.  It’s a simple concept; however, getting the right content to the right user at the right time is easier said than done, and is something that is always being tweaked and perfected.  Just look at Netflix, who awards the Netflix Prize to anyone who can improve upon their algorithm to provide more relevant content.   W3i can help put you on a path to stronger user engagement through content relevance by utilizing item-based similarities, implicit user behavioral data, and explicit user data.  Let me explain the basic concepts behind each of these components.

Item-based similarity is the simplest form of content relevance.  If a user views a piece of content in a particular category, other content relevant to that category should be displayed.   An intuitive categorization structure should be utilized so that users can discover content that is meaningful to them.

Implicit user behavioral data is based on numerous data points collected from how users are interacting with content.  These data points work in collaboration to provide a relevant offering to the user.  This involves no thinking on the user’s part; conversion rates, open rates, view rates, etc. can be used to build neighborhoods that are catalyzed by the idea that people can be grouped based on like actions. 

Explicit user data involves asking the user their content preferences.  This involves a cognitive aspect, so not all users may input this information.  This data is usually more accurate than implicit data.  By elegantly asking a user what content they prefer when they begin to use an application, during a survey or during a registration process, this data can be utilized to present the user exactly what they want to see.

For users to find value in your application or service, they must be presented with relevant content.  This is a problem that is conceptually straightforward, but in execution, becomes increasingly complex.   I’ve explained the basic concepts of item-based similarity, implicit user data, and explicit user data to improve content relevance.  Contact W3i to work with us and gain further insight into how to increase user engagement in your applications or on your sites.

Eric Montag, Product Manager, W3i Holdings, LLC
Eric uses his experience in graphic design, mobile, and internet marketing to lead the charge in product research, planning, and execution, from both a consumer and business standpoint.