Enjoy our photos with Santa, and create some of your own.

What do AM New York employees and search marketers have in common?

The business of handing out free newspapers is a high stakes, high pressure game that depends on location, weather, cleverness, looks, dress code, the economy, and knowing your target audience.

Okay, so maybe it’s not that dramatic.   But after spending months commuting to work, it’s hard to ignore the persistent cry of each AM New York employee.  Location, cadence, rhythm, attitude, message and tone can be the difference between being stuck with a large stack of papers, or walking home empty handed.  The same can be said in search marketing, where leveraging the right search management tools can be the difference between a great ROAS or money wasted. So, what makes a great pitch?  What makes for a good search campaign?  What gets us to convert?  Let’s examine the strategy of both these practices in tandem.

Below are three recordings of AM New York employees delivering their pitch.

1)  “The Stunner” – Unique and persistent, her pitch is less about the message and more about delivering consistency with great tone and attitude.  She obviously has found her ‘evergreen copy’ and rarely deviates.  You can find her on 32^nd and 7^th, right at the door step of MSG.

2) “Information-giver” – She is more concerned with delivering a pitch about what her product offers – coupons at Macy’s – and updates on localized current events.  Her message is long and drawn out, but not as effective.   You can find her by the subway entrance on 35^th and Broadway.

3)”The Mixed Bag” – She’ll let you know about the contents inside, but also repeat her core pitch every so often.  Her pitch occurs too infrequently, and seems drawn out, but her technique is better than only giving information.  You can find her at 34^th and 7^th, at the north entrance of the LIRR.

I’m not an expert in newspaper delivery, nor have I done any research, but I’m willing to wager “The Stunner” is walking home empty handed more often than her counterparts. With a limited amount of time to capture her audience, she has chosen to emphasize cadence and attitude over message to design a pitch perfectly catered to the medium.  This philosophy should sound familiar to search marketers.

Message & Cadence:  What are you saying in your search ads and how are you saying it?  How is the rhythm of your copy?  Does it read well? This can be the difference maker.

Tone & Attitude:  What is your brand’s voice?  Does it come across in your search ad?  Can you create a brand voice through search?

Location & Timing:  In search, geo-targeting and timing can be the difference between converting and not. Geo-targeting,  seasonality, time of day, and day of the week each inform how we spend our budget and manage our campaigns.

Examine all the parts that it takes to manage a good search campaign, study your competitors, and be data driven and be bold!

For fun, here is my own rendition of an AM New York pitch.  Feel free to post your own!

Our First Facebook DR Success

This chart could be the electrocardiogram of a nascent DR channel. It’s the results of the first convincingly successful Facebook DR campaign managed by Razorfish Search.

Since our second success was even more profitable, we thought it time to let the world know: It might not be long before moving money from Google Content to Facebook becomes a routine task for search managers with DR goals.

You need a savvy DR team and a state-of-the-art toolset to drive positive ROI with Facebook ads. (Razorfish uses Marin Search Marketer, which accesses Facebook’s API and tracks through our proprietary integration with Atlas Media Console). The publisher was helpful but can’t provide much guidance. This is all brand new, and Facebook’s stated focus is on brand advertising. It’s clearly in the up-and-comer’s interest to downplay the threat it represents to Google’s bread-and-butter. But for those of us on the buy side, the results speak for themselves.

Email us if you want to hear more.

Check out this tribute: Razorfish employees share their stories

It’s been almost six years when I first sifted through business school website after website. This comic, recently bestowed upon me, is pretty representative of my experience:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/university_website.png

I’m sure you can relate, whether it be shopping on Amazon.com for an over-the-shoulder purse (made of black leather, with good lining, a sturdy zipper…pretty much the only kind my mother likes), or finding the cheapest airplane ticket to multiple graduations, four months in advance. (The latter, taken care of by a beloved family member, resulted in me traveling to seven cities in two days. I’ll eat the extra $200 from now on.)

We all want everything to be easy, and we get frustrated when we don’t think companies are listening. By golly, all we want is a little digital empathy!

I’m not sure about you, but I tend to gravitate toward easy, intriguing and/or fun experiences. One of my aunts, who absolutely loves shopping, dragged me into her favorite store of the moment about one or two years ago. It was the Beverly Hills location of Madewell, a new concept by J. Crew. After returning to the East Coast, which lacked its gorgeous presence, I clicked on Madewell’s website, which popped up in natural search listings. It took a search or two since another company owned the domain (at the time it was www.madewell1937.com). To my disappointment, it wasn’t an e-commerce site! ‘They’re working on it,’ I thought wistfully.

And they were! Madewell.com finally debuted earlier this year, and it’s an experience. You may not find it to be as revolutionary as I do, but in my unfashionable, frumpy opinion, they did it right. I’m greeted by clean, clear images, and informative captions. I’m not overwhelmed by inventory or underwhelmed by it either. Shopping online here is relaxing and fun, and I think it’s all because of empathy.

Madewell is only one of many enjoyable experiences online, whose success is fueled by subtle partnerships, clever PR, and most important of all, good products. What other experiences do you find engaging and admirable? Are there websites out there providing stressful experiences but worthwhile purchases?

Disclosure:  J. Crew is a Razorfish Search client; Razorfish did not design or build the Madewell site.