It has come to my attention that when selecting a PPC provider, a good amount of marketers have what I would refer to as a “blind bias”. The blind bias refers to comments such as “we like Agency X because they seem to be an industry-leader” or “we want to work with Agency Y because we are familiar with them” or “we really like Company Z because they really dominate the PPC space.” I have to wonder, what do these comments even mean? While there might be something to be said for the idea of familiarity as it invokes a certain amount of trust, there isn’t much to be said for allowing basic hearsay to drive crucial SEM decisions. I call this type of bias blind because that’s what it is. There are no numbers or authentic experience attached to these claims, yet they seem to drive the PPC selection process for many advertisers. Read the rest of this entry »
Biases as a Barrier to Good Business Decisions
February 18, 2010
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SEM, eSearchVision General, search engine marketing | Tagged: agency, PPC, RFP, sales, SEM | 
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Posted by rnathan
Paid Search and the RFP Process
July 8, 2009The formal RFP is a preferred method for many companies desiring an exhaustive and standardized evaluation of multiple vendors. If you are thinking about issuing an interactive agency RFP that includes SEM, there are some unique characteristics that set paid search, and thus their RFPs, apart from other marketing channels. As regular RFP participants, we’ve learned a lot about how to get the most out of this process. The following are some recommendations for the SEM portion of your RFP.
- Keep the SEM section focused on SEM. The word Marketing in SEM can be misleading as paid search success is fundamentally an analytics exercise and the channel is remarkably complex. Although it is important to understand how paid search will interact with other channels and how an agency will help accomplish overall marketing goals, keeping the RFP SEM section focused on SEM will trigger the specific and detailed answers you need to pick the right vendor.
- Find out who your account team really is. Paid search workloads crop up in bunches and it’s important to have a scalable account team. Who is supporting your day-to-day account team from a technical, analytics and ad-hoc reporting/project perspective? Yes, the bios of your day-to-day contacts are important, but knowing how your account will be supported from a holistic perspective is also key. more tips here!
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Posted by esearchvision
