During the first week in December, a hundred-or-so digital ad industry leaders climbed their way to Park City, Utah for MediaPost’s Search Insider Summit to discuss strategies and tactics for search engine marketing and optimization, and the future in store for search. Upon arrival, it was hard to tell if attendees needed to acclimate to the inflow of information, the cocktail receptions, or the altitude -- probably a little of each.

Intent-based Search

Adchemy’s Thi Thumasathit participated on a panel discussing interest- and intent-based search. The subject matter seemed to be an enigma to many present, but the key take-away (at least from Adchemy’s perspective) was not lost on the audience: focusing on intent beyond keywords – for the search industry as a whole – will lead to growth. Fellow panelist Lori Weiman from The Search Monitor pointed out a Hitwise study that 50% of queries aren’t monetized – a huge opportunity for campaign expansion.

We even got kudos for our demo! Check out the streaming video of the panel and some highlights from the Twitter feed regarding the panel below:

Link to video: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19010249

Some of the conference attendees chimed in via Twitter:

The panel had challenges and questions from the crowd, and the panel itself even recognized the challenge: shifting focus away from keywords to “intent” is both an enormous opportunity and major paradigm shift for almost any SEM.

Anything But Search?

Taking the whole conference into account – from panel to panel, and discussion to discussion – it became clear that discussions wouldn’t, couldn’t and shouldn’t be limited to SEM and SEO. The playing field is shifting and considerations like mobile, social, and “apps” are changing how we look at search. As retargeting has blurred the performance rift between search and display, cross-channel attribution will lead to a blurring of lines between job descriptions: today’s SEMs might become more broadly-focused “performance marketers” in the future.

These conversations weren’t a diversion from search, but following the evolution of the industry itself. Aaron Goldman’s “buzz list” on MediaPost is a very accurate portrayal of the focus of discussions, down to the inclusion of whiskey (Bourye).

Among my personal highlights (besides rocking out to an 80′s cover band’s version of Devo’s “Uncontrollable Urge”):

• Marty Weintraub’s keynote “Mining Jewels Hidden Deep In Social Media and Search History” was drinking from the fire hose in terms of information per second. There were many, many tactical gems on how to use available search and social data to inform your advertising campaigns and even community management.
• Aaron Goldman’s panel on “The Perfect Search Engine” really got into the minds of the conference attendees, showing what they want from search engines – both as consumers, and as advertising campaign managers and optimizers.
• As the fill-in host of the “New Search Ad Formats and Technology: Voice Search, Video, Mobile” roundtable, I learned from advertisers like Travelocity and others how to view mobile (it’s a device containing many channels all its own: mobile banners, mobile search, mobile social, etc.).
• Google’s session on mobile was particularly enlightening:
  • “Building 4-screen strategies is the future”
  • 10% of black friday sales we’re driven by mobile searches
  • 34% of people are spending more time on tablets than on TV
  • Finally, the panel on how social media data can influence search results relayed news that has rippled through the industry all week: Google+ activity will influence search rankings.

As search evolves – for consumers, advertisers, and publishers – the conversations at conferences like Search Insider Summit will evolve too. The exciting thing to think is that the ongoing dialogue isn’t separate from the evolution, but part of it!

The ballots have been cast and the results are in: SES Chicago 2011 was the best ever! The conference boasted record-high attendance and the Twittersphere and blogs were active and very positive. No longer an event focused solely on search, SES conferences offer attendees valuable strategies and tactics for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and SEO.

Of course, paid search was not left out! Among many other sessions, Adchemy’s own Dan Morrison fought through sickness (think chicken soup, solitary confinement and bed rest, antibiotics, and Emergen-C) to present at the “Tools of the Trade for Paid Search” session on Thursday, November 17^th:

The Tools of the Trade for Paid Search
The competition is fierce in paid search! From small in-house accounts to ones with millions of keywords, it’s the NEW advances in SEM technology that might just make the difference between success and failure. Are there tools you could be using right now to help double your conversions, lower your costs, or save your team hours of time every week? At this panel, top paid search tool vendors will showcase their latest features in bid management, campaign workflow efficiencies, and reveal what the future holds for the industry.

Attendees of the session walked away with an arsenal of tools – both free and premium – that can be used to improve the research, planning, management, and analysis of paid search campaigns. Morrison also took a few moments to speak about the future of search: a focus on consumer intent beyond keywords.

SES Chicago: The Future of Search is Intent

Dan Morrison wasn’t the only person to mention “intent” as the key to SEM at SES Chicago. During the “Future of Search” keynote panel on Thursday morning, ample time was spent on identifying consumer intent, and how advertisers will need to focus on intent, not keywords, as technology, devices and consumer behavior evolves.

Dana Todd, VP of Performance Innovation at Performics, spoke the most about intent, saying that Siri is the most notable – but not only – way in which search is moving away from keywords towards intent: applications like bar code scanners, and social/mobile sites apps like Yelp and Shazam signal consumer intent, and online advertisers will have to evolve to serve relevant ads to these types of search.

Now that 2011 is almost over, it’s never too early to start thinking about your SEM campaigns for 2012. How can be sure to achieve your growth goals?  Is it possible to squeeze even more ROI out of your campaigns? And what can you do to maximize the effectiveness of your SEM team?

Adchemy is sponsoring a live webcast on Thursday, December 1 at 1 PM ET (10 AM PT) that will explore strategies for growing your SEM campaign in 2012.  Joseph Kerschbaum, Vice President at Clix Marketing, a PPC agency, will be delivering the webcast.

Register Now