How many times do you talk to your search marketing company?

[dscarry]

Not including emailed reports - how many times did you talk with your search marketing vendor last month?

 

[sweece]

Not including emailed reports - how many times did you talk with your search marketing vendor last month?

Well now that you've posted this I have to ask -- What is your standard client communication process during the month?

PS -- Love your site's WP theme. Definitely one of the cleaner vendor sites I've seen in a while

 

[dscarry]

Well now that you've posted this I have to ask -- What is your standard client communication process during the month?

We communicate with each client, regardless of spend, each week and host an online meeting to review details once per month. This is in addition to weekly emailed reports and online reporting.

Check out our 1Q customer satisfaction survey. I customers report that they communicated with us 3.1 times per month - plus gave us a 9.6 out of 10 overall.

First Quarter Customer Satisfaction Survey | Haystak Digital Marketing

 

[Paradox]

I'd also expect an explanation of what their goal for that month was, what major tasks were done (either once or on an ongoing basis depending on the task of course,) and a justification as to how they are positively effecting my business.

Too often do I see dealer's being used like the water fountain at the park and there is just no accountability with this kind of stuff. Yeah it was hard to track and even harder to show a ROI from day one, but it's 2012 and with all of the analytic data available to us I refuse to believe anyone saying they simply can't provide any data showing their positive gains in various areas.This isn't pointed at you guys personally, but it takes a lot more than becoming a HomeNet reseller and marking up their Oodle package by 500% and calling it "SEM." LOL

 

[dscarry]

I'd also expect an explanation of what their goal for that month was, what major tasks were done (either once or on an ongoing basis depending on the task of course,) and a justification as to how they are positively effecting my business.

Too often do I see dealer's being used like the water fountain at the park and there is just no accountability with this kind of stuff. Yeah it was hard to track and even harder to show a ROI from day one, but it's 2012 and with all of the analytic data available to us I refuse to believe anyone saying they simply can't provide any data showing their positive gains in various areas.This isn't pointed at you guys personally, but it takes a lot more than becoming a HomeNet reseller and marking up their Oodle package by 500% and calling it "SEM." LOL

Picking the right search provider from the beginning can prevent a lot of this.

Return on investment is pretty easy to track for the top providers these days - for all the big guys we have pretty sophisticated technology that dynamically replaces phone numbers, captures lead form submissions, takes into account key buying actions and provides a true cost per opportunity.

According to Google, one of the requirements to be a Google Premier SMB Partner (what most people still refer to as a reseller) is that you have a "fully equipped technology platform." You can't operate in the UI - you have to have far more technology than that. And, you can't resell another company's technology - you have to support what you sell.

You're right - there are a lot of search companies out there that are a) selling search where they can't prove the ROI or have no experience or technology. All it takes to call yourself a search marketing company is a credit card and an email address.

There are also a lot of companies that are reselling the search from a top-tier provider.

One way to be sure you're going right to the source is to go with a Google Premier SMB Partner and a Microsoft Authorized Reseller. The search engines themselves have inspected and verified the technology, ensured that the company isn't simply reselling another's products and that they fall in line with the best practices in the industry.

That's why those partnerships are so exclusive - according to Google, there are over 55,000 Certified Partners - but there are only 15 Google Premier SMB Partners in all of North America. That's a very select few. When you look at the automotive specific Premier SMB Partners - there's only 3.

Using Google's and Microsoft's verification systems is one way you can be sure to avoid the issues you described.

 

[mgroves]

I speak to your team multiple times per week! Great company.

 

[dscarry]

I speak to your team multiple times per week! Great company.

Thanks Michael - our team loves clients who are involved. It makes great digital marketing much easier.