• by Staff Writers , September 6, 2007

Selecting the right keywords is key to success with paid search ads.

* WINNER *
CARAT
Reebok (RBK Custom)

Nidhi Modi, Group Director of SEM; Renee Robertson, Senior Associate, SEM

Carat's objective was to drive traffic to Rbkcustom.com, where consumers could use the sneaker customization tools. The agency aimed at young, urban, "sneakerheads," who were willing to pay for the higher priced custom sneakers, purchasing keywords that resonated with that demographic. As a result of the search efforts, RBK Custom saw a 200 percent increase in sales within the first two days and a 300 percent increase in site traffic within the first 20 days. The keyword "custom" alone generated more than 180 user registrations.

SLINGSHOT, LLC
Greyhound

Deepi Ghoman, Art Director; Matt O'Malley, Art Director; Rex McCubbin, Copywriter; Kevin Jorgensen, Creative Director; Tessa Church, Flash Programmer; Cord Mitchell, Flash Programmer; Jennifer Jablon, Media Supervisor; Jacqueline Thompson, Media Coordinator; Kellee Bascher, Senior Account Executive; Melinda Jobe, Account Director; David Young, Vice President, Group Account Director

For greyhound's student travel division, Slingshot developed a search/display campaign that aimed to reach college students - a demographic often reluctant to use the company's services. The campaign tailored the text and banner messages to student vacations (winter, summer, spring "breaks") and served ads across various social and ad networks.

Slingshot's search/display campaign netted over 138 million impressions and over 67,000 total clicks - helping Greyhound surpass its goal of $1.8 million in revenue from student sales by 50 percent (total sales came in at $2.7 million).

STEAK MEDIA
Swiftcover.com

Duncan Parfitt, Head of Paid Search; Alastair Boyle, Account Director

Steak Media's main objective was to target and convert auto insurance consumers online - but Swiftcover.com also sought to use search advertising to reinforce brand awareness and help them make better off-line advertising decisions.

Steak Media tailored the search copy to promote continuity between the out-of-home, TV, and radio ads that Swiftcover was running. The agency also helped test which phrases and slogans would perform best in future off-line ads, tracking search copy performance both by clickthroughs. Ultimately, Swiftcover's monthly sales volume increased by 350 percent from April 2006 to March 2007.