The strategic decision as to whether or not to accept a blended average conversion rate and/or influence/micro-conversions across the mixed stream of clicks as your basis for bids will often have to do with the elasticity of the marketplace.

For example, let’s assume that your CMO has asked you to manage campaigns based on conversion rates and ROI with a combination of attribution and last click. Assume you’ve calculated that tablet clicks are worth 80% of desktop/laptop clicks (after having optimized your site for tablets including Flash removal). Also assume that 20% of clicks come in from tablets when you are bidding the same cost-per-click (CPC) under Enhanced Campaigns.

So, one would expect that the calculated reserve price on your blended clicks would drop by approximately 4% (20% of 20%). Keep in mind that if that 4% bid reduction results in an average positional change, then the loss in volume of clicks may not be worth the tradeoff. If your competition responds by lowering bids as well, one could expect a positional status quo (complicated slightly by differences in Quality Score).

In the end you’ll have to make your own ROI-to-volume analysis and judge the elasticity of the marketplace for your keywords. Many advertisers will simply “suck it up” and take a hit on measurable ROI in order to maintain click volume. As you move campaigns over to the Enhanced Campaign structure you’ll be able to run tests to determine the best strategy.
2. Geographic Mix

While you may have remembered to opt out of surrounding countries or geographies when setting up your campaign, perhaps you’ve forgotten, or perhaps you’ve inherited your campaign from someone else. Getting the geographic mix right goes beyond, for example, removing Canada from the default campaign setup for a North American Google campaign.

One of the positive outcomes from Enhanced Campaigns in Google (not live yet as of this writing, but announced) is the ability to do negative geographic bid modifiers. My team and I have spent hundreds of hours and filled terabytes of data warehouse space to crunch client data alongside IRS, Census and third-party data sources on geography and demographics. One can adopt quite a sophisticated positive or negative geographic bidding strategy even if mobile isn’t a big deal for you yet.

Don’t pay for clicks from the wrong audience and make sure you bid aggressively for your perfect audience.
3. Google Grants

Ever see a non-profit in the SERP near your ads? Well those ads might be paid for by a Google Grant of in-kind advertising funds. It’s great that Google supports non-profits, but those bids escalate your bid prices and potentially even knock you down a position.

This is quite an interesting side effect of Google’s grant program that may almost pay for the program due to increased bids all the way up the chain in the SERP. Medical and pharmaceutical advertisers are in an industry category more likely to see competitive bidding from a non-profit running a Google Grant.
4. Session-Based Broad Match

In order to adequately cover all eventualities, even the tightest Google AdWords campaign requires some use of broad match. Unfortunately a byproduct of broad match is session-based broad match clicks. You used to be able to see them listed separately when running a keyword detail report, but a recent test shows session-based clicks simply labeled as “broad match.”
5. Affiliates, Competitors or Brand Bidders Flying Under the Radar

Just because you can’t see an ad in the SERP doesn’t mean it’s not running. Affiliates, competitors, and channel partners that you have explicitly requested or contractually prohibited from brand bidding often use elements of day-parting and geo-targeting to jump in when you are unlikely to see them bidding.

Some of the above click inflation issues can be mitigated within Google. But don’t forget Bing adCenter. The Bing/Yahoo partnership and other syndication partners are big enough that you should start paying attention to campaign performance there as well.

Twitter Vine – the Next Killer App

The Social Media landscape has changed again with the advent of a new app called Twitter Vine.

Twitter vine is the latest mobile app to gain momentum and can be compared to the video version of the incredibly popular Instagram app. With the Twitter Vine app you take a short 6 second video clip then attach it to your tweets to add extra value to your message.

Why is this Important

Video is massive and we’re just getting started! The technology to create and distribute video is inexpensive and getting easier to use. We are living in the age of rich media communication – and video is the king. With Twitter Vine, it’s incredibly easy to create a 6 second video clip then publish it to millions of people in less that 10 seconds. Now that’s powerful!

Quick Start Setup

Take Your First Video

Now it’s time to have fun! From the Home tab press the camera button, tap and hold the screen as you record your video. Once complete, add a few comments and post to your choice of social media platforms (Twitter Vine, Facebook, and Twitter).

Attending a social media workshop with Marie Hui vine.co/v/bHrOnbq5ZJ7

— Brad Bates (@Brad_Bates) March 5, 2013

How Can Twitter Vine Be Used For Business

Now this is where the rubber meets the road! How can twitter Vine be used for business. For this I turned to the Social Media Examiner website and discovered a good blog post by Kristi Hines! See article below!

16 Ways Businesses are Using Twitter Vine

By Kristi Hines Published March 4, 2013

#7: Take People Inside Your Office

Businesses and brands have the ability to humanize themselves on social media, and what better way to do that than by taking people inside your office?

HubSpot does this in a Vine video. It doesn’t just show how much fun the employees have on their downtime—it shows that employees are happy to be a part of the team. It also makes for a great recruitment video.

Here’s their tweet:

New community / food / play area in @HubSpot office (aka “Benioff” room). http://vine.co/v/brqehHIu3EQ

Read the full story at www.socialmediaexaminer.com