Amanda Watlington Interview for SES London 2009

Amanda Watlington

Owner
Searching for Profit

Bio

Amanda Watlington is owner of Searching for Profit, a search marketing consultancy focusing on the interaction of the consumer with businesses, using search engines, RSS, blogs, podcasting, or other new media to deliver their messages. An industry thought leader and an internationally-recognized speaker, Amanda has led sessions on search marketing, web strategy, and social media at Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster World, AdTech, and DMA.
She shares her views of where search marketing is headed on her own blog, Blogs and Feeds, and as a blogger for Search Engine Watch.

Interview with Amanda  Watlington

> 1) With the recession firmly biting at the heart of many businesses both large and small, what would you consider to be the most vital action to take to try to win and retain new business?

The recession is really causing companies to make very deep cuts into their operating expenses in response to decreased sales. This familiar recessionary spiral creates opportunities and challenges for marketers. We are currently in the “demolition phase” of the recession. Sales figures are still crashing. Every day there is more gloomy news. That being said just as when there is a building demolition, right afterwards there is a sharp need for those who can haul away the wreckage and rebuild. Smart marketers will be looking for what they can do that will prepare them to be part of the rebuilding efforts.

During the demolition phase marketers have to think differently. First, they must protect the business’ very health. This may mean scaling back or even rethinking what they are doing. They also need to position themselves for a new business dynamic that will exist during the recession. They have to consider that their clients and prospects too are going to be focused on how not to become part of the wreckage. As a business owner and marketing consultant who essentially sells to other marketers, it is essential for me to understand the shifts that are occurring within client or prospects’ marketing departments. Sales cycles are much longer because decision making is more constrained and once the decision is made success must be instant. Every remaining dollar in the marketing budget is reluctantly spent. The key is to look for marketing efforts that will yield quick success hits.

Since most marketing executives during this phase are working with shrinking or smaller staffs than in the past, marketing agencies will want to provide services that are easy-to-manage and more turnkey for the marketing executive. To win and retain new business, we have to understand the client and walk a mile in their boots.

> 2) As an online marketing company we often have companies approach us with a limited or reduced budget for the coming year, what advice would you give any business marketing on a budget?

As with any marketing effort, expectation setting plays a huge role. Any business using a reduced marketing budget has to have realistically reduced expectations. It is logical. Either the results will be limited or the previous marketing budget was filled with waste. Waste is exposed during the recession since there is no rising tide of prosperity to mask poor results. Tasked with marketing on a limited budget, the marketer should spend the time to really take a beady-eyed look at what marketing efforts have delivered results in the past, retain the programs that are working and scale expectations realistically. Just as we eliminate the frills in our own budgets during hard times, so too must the marketer. Given that no one knows how long this recession is going to last, businesses should look for ways to bring in the projected sales with long term smaller budgets. As a search marketer, I have seen a surge in interest in organic search because of the long-lasting impact and the success of such programs. Smart marketers started their efforts a year or more ago as they foresaw the downturn in the economy.

> 3) Web 2.0 is no longer an emerging concern but is now firmly established as a specific marketing strategy, with this in mind where do you see the path of Web 2.0 leading?

Historically marketers have moved to proven strategies and tactics during recessions. Web 2.0 marketing has been the victim of intense hype, creating perhaps, unrealistic expectations based on anecdotal successes. There is not yet a large enough track record for Web 2.0 marketing strategies to ensure that marketers will write them into their constrained budgets. Those that fail to include them will lose the potential benefits. Regrettably, I am concerned that in the retrenchment caused by this recession, a lot of Web 2.0 marketing initiatives will either have unrealistic expectations laid on them (thereby they will be set up for failure) or will simply not be funded. Additionally, a lot of Web 2.0 tactics are social in nature, and it takes people to engage with people. With reduced marketing departments, there are fewer people to manage or participate in the marketing conversation. In this framework, the trajectory for Web 2.0 marketing is still to be determined.

> 4) When planning a marketing strategy many companies prefer to have a year on year budget for marketing and promotion, would this be the best approach over a monthly flexible marketing strategy and what would be your preferred strategy?

I have never been a fan of year-on-year budgeting for marketing. This leads to a line item type approach and does not focus on the results. For example, I encountered a marketer who complained about how few leads were coming from the company’s PPC program. I asked two critical questions: What is your average cost per lead for all marketing efforts? The second question was what is the cost per lead from the PPC program? In a matter of moments the PPC program went from loser to winner since it was delivering leads at far lower cost than any other marketing effort. The PPC program was not trimmed in the budgeting process.

> 5) There are many businesses fail to survive their first trading year and in a recession this is likely to be even higher, based on this assumption, what key areas do you consider a must for any start-up business to have covered in their marketing strategies?

This is a difficult question since every business has a different marketing dynamic. The most important things for new businesses are first, to have their marketing message clearly reflect the business’ value proposition and secondarily to have a vehicle to present the message to prospects. Many new businesses during their first year are still massaging the business offering and their strategic direction. I contend that this should not be visible to the customer or prospect. A business should come out of the starting gate with a clear, well delivered offering and then add on it over time.

Today, any business must have a website. It does not have to be a vast and expensive effort. The pages should be clearly written articulating the value proposition of the business. Focus should be on what we do (or will do) for the client, not on who we, the business owners, are and what we did before. No one really cares that you are a new business. It is the offering that really matters. The business owners should then focus on making sure that there business is found online. Search engine marketing is the essential marketing discipline for making sites found. I am a believer that the site should be clean and functional in design, not necessarily expensive. Spare no expense in making sure that the site is findable, for therein rests the business’ success.

> 6) There are no quick and easy fixes for reduced sales and underperforming web sites but there are companies that relish the chance to prosper where others fail in these difficult times, what is your stand point on being more ruthless to stamp your business presence over that of your competitors?

I personally adhere to the belief that for every door that closes, another opens. Recessions close doors. Jobs dry up and businesses fail, but for every failure there is an opportunity. The trick is to be poised to recognize and seize the opportunities. For example, every indicator shows that retail stores are taking a beating during this recession. Most are reducing staff and closing locations. With the operational savings accrued by these efforts, they should redirect their efforts toward their online business. Operational efficiencies that will allow them to run a lean e-commerce business should in their planning forefront if they want to come out of the recession a winner. Clear wins against the competition will result from being more nimble in making business adjustments and frugal in marketing.

Don’t miss out on Amanda’s sessions at SES London 17 – 20 February 2009

Video & Podcast SEO

New products make it easier to locate video content from across the web or to find “podcast” programs, on-demand radio-like shows people can listen to on MP3 players or their computers. This session will provide a look at various services and how to get your content visible and audible within them.

Amanda Watlington

Tags: amanda watlington, interview, SEO, SES London