Recently we’ve had a number of clients who’ve come to us wanting to evaluate their current web analytics package to see if it’s still the right package for them.  Sometimes they’ve done a bit of research on their own and have a basic understanding of a few options and the capabilities of each.  In other [...]

If you are in marketing, you might be a little stressed right now.  The pressure is on to show ROI.  You are constantly trying to accomplish more with less.  Technology and digital channels are evolving at a rapid fire pace and you had better keep up if you’re going to survive.  And job security?  Not [...]

Times are tough.  To say that the economy is bad is an understatement.  So, in absence of actually trying to do a good job,  here are seven ways to create job security for you and your marketing team in 2009 using the tried and true method of smoke and mirrors.
1.  Traditional media is dead.   Says [...]

Well, maybe not a day, maybe 8 years.
When I was home for Thanksgiving this past week, I had a chance to enjoy one of my guilty pleasures.
Be Warned: The next few lines may contain the nerdiest thing you have read in a long while.
I’ve saved most all of my old issues of [...]

Can searches on Google for flu-related keywords predict increases and decreases in the number of flu cases?  That is a question the folks over at Google wanted to find out. 
After compiling the search-related data, they worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to compare the data to actual flu outbreaks around the country.  What [...]

Last week, I attended the eMetrics conference in Alexandria, VA. Yes, for once a local conference…meaning no flying time. This one was a little bit different for me, as it was totally focused on Analytics and Metrics, rather than search, but was still very worthwhile.
Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule here, I was only able [...]

Part II – Marketers – Where is Your Bailout Plan?
In working with many companies over the years, it seems that marketers fall in to one of three categories:
Marketing Guru – You know your KPIs, your ROI and manage your campaigns to maximize ROI.  Your boss loves you.  Your budget is not in jeopardy.  In fact, [...]

Last week for Toastmasters, I gave an interpretive reading of a section of Neil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book.”  As I was preparing for this, I started thinking about how this applies to the work that we do at Serengeti Communications.  I came to the realization that this is exactly what our Analytics team does on [...]

Part I of II – The Problem with the ‘Numbers Game’
Coming Next Tuesday – Part II – Your Found Money
In case you’ve somehow missed the news, on October 3 the ‘bailout bill’ was signed into law, creating a $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program to purchase failing bank assets.  Essentially, what the plan provided was [...]

Over the past few years working with many clients to understand how effective their pay-per-click campaigns are (and often figure out how to get them to perform better), I have compiled my top 10 list of ways that many marketers blow their budgets on PPC.
1. Ignoring Match Type Options – When you just purchase key [...]