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Yesterday I caught up with Jeff Ferguson, Director of Online Marketing at Napster and got his insight on his upcoming session at SES London: “Pay-for-Performance: Winning Strategies for Advertisers and Agencies.” Check out our conversation below.
[Manoj]: Why do you think there is such a difference in terms of the compensation model between Paid and Organic Strategies?
[Jeff Ferguson]: The difference is due to the type of work needed to make them happen and how the results are measured.
With Paid Search, it’s easier because you’re managing an ad campaign and there (usually) isn’t a lot of heavy lifting that doesn’t look like anything else besides running an ad campaign.
With Organic Search, there are so many more activities involved that look nothing like the activities that Paid Search even touches. Sure, there is plenty of keyword research and campaign monitoring, but SEO usually has a whole other layer of efforts that looks more like programming than media planning. Plus, even during the stewardship phase of an SEO campaign, you’re still very much in a “pray for placement” situation that does not allow for an entirely direct correlation to the efforts the SEO team has put into the campaign.
[Manoj]: What do you think the ideal compensation model should be for agencies and consultants focused on Organic Strategies?
[Jeff Ferguson]: From an agency standpoint, I think Organic agencies are really looking to get their initial work covered and then move into something that is more akin to a running maintenance tab rather than a true pay for performance situation. As a client, you always lean towards pay for performance, but even then, we’re always a little suspicious that we’re being charged for traffic we would have received anyway.
Ultimately, I would think that a contract that involved a setup charge, a low, maintenance retainer, and a performance bonus based on mutually agreed upon baselines and increases would satisfy the concerns of all involved.
[Manoj]: How important is it for agencies to leverage both organic and paid strategies together in order to achieve success for their clients?
[Jeff Ferguson]: You really can’t do one without the other and anyone who tells you different doesn’t know their gig – it’s that simple. Even if you have one agency, two agencies, or doing one part outside and another in-house, it is paramount for the teams to work together on planning and sharing of data, or you’re wasting money on the entire effort.
[Manoj]: Can you discuss the importance of a strong web analytics framework in order to truly measure the performance of all mediums?
[Jeff Ferguson]: You simply can’t live without it in this business and anyone who says they can is fooling themselves. I’ve spoken to plenty of new businesses that are enjoying the benefit of a popular product and stomp about stating that they have no need for the level of detail provided by a good analytics package because business is “just fine.” If they’re doing “just fine” without one, then they should know that they could be “great” with one in place.
I can’t stress enough the “performance of all mediums” part of that question because I know there are so many companies out there that either have no clue at all where their traffic is coming from or are so fixated on pixel fires that they don’t do the math and figure out that they are double or triple counting the activities.
[Manoj]: Do you find that there are any big differences between SES in London vs. SES in New York or San Jose?
[Jeff Ferguson]: This will be my first SES London, so I’m looking forward to seeing what besides the scenery could be different at the two shows.
