Content Marketing is all the rage, and I'm a believer too. But lets be honest, SEO's need to promote content and also build links and social signals these days. So I gave my team $10,000 to "play with" and this presentation shares what we learned about paying to promote content across networks & across social sites like nRelate, Taboola, Zemanta, Twitter, LinkedIn.

1. Google Approved
Paid Links
Wil Reynolds
Associate
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6551534889/

2. $10,000 Dollars in “Play” Money
@wilreynolds

3. $10,000 Dollars in “Play” Money
@wilreynolds

4. $10,000 in Play Money
@wilreynolds

5. Go Forth and
Use $$ to Get Links
@wilreynolds
5

6. Eyeballs
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bayat/

7. Impressions
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bayat/

8. Attention
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theenmoy

9. Prayed, HARD
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theenmoy

10. 3 Outcomes
@wilreynolds

11. Win
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theenmoy/

12. Lose
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theenmoy/

13. Wait
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theenmoy

14. The Players
@wilreynolds
14

15. Losses
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eole

16. “Not Impressed”
@wilreynolds

17. Zemanta
@wilreynolds

18. Zemanta
@wilreynolds

19. HOW DO THEY GET PAID?
Impressions, CPM
@wilreynolds
19

20. HOW DO PUBLISHERS GET PAID?
Content is “suggested”
to bloggers
@wilreynolds
20

21. IMPACT
•
•
•
•
2-3 Clicks Avg
No “follow on” links
8 Clients
$500/mo
@wilreynolds
21

22. 3 CHARACTERISTICS
• Sites you would rarely visit
• Low social signals
• Lots of ads
@wilreynolds
22

23. Network: nRelate
@wilreynolds

24. Asset: Infographic
@wilreynolds

25. Asset:
Infographic
(looked like
this)
@wilreynolds

26. “Not Impressed”
@wilreynolds

27. Previous Successes
@wilreynolds

28. I was VERY
SKEPTICAL
@wilreynolds

29. SPEND: $700
DAYS: 3
CPC: .30
CAPS: $50
@wilreynolds
29

30. IMPRESSIONS: 8,883,291
CLICKS: 2,335
CTR: .0277%
LINKS: 1
SOCIAL SHARES: 1*
@wilreynolds

31. PAGES PER VISIT: 1.07
DURATION: 15 seconds
BOUNCE RATE: 95.16
@wilreynolds

32. Lessons:
@wilreynolds

33. No “Mad Scientist” Time
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johncarleton

34. Aggregate Traffic to Landing Page
3000
Traffic
2500
2000
+112 total visits
after referral
traffic ended
1500
1000
500
0
Before
1
2
3
During
4
5
6
7
8
Time
@wilreynolds
9
After
10
11
12
13
14
15
** 6 weeks before test & 6 weeks after (June 28th –
September 30th)
34

35. COST = $700
SETUP/WATCH TIME = $300
--------------------------$1,000
@wilreynolds

36. $1,000 per link - Not Impressed
@wilreynolds

37. Network: Twitter
@wilreynolds

38. Asset:
Fantasy
Football
Name
Generator
@wilreynolds

39. Previous Successes
@wilreynolds

40. SPEND: $177 (Budget: $500)
DAYS: 4
CPC: .49
CAPS: $100/Day
@wilreynolds
40

41. Outcome
CAMPAIGN
IMPRESSIONS
CLICKS
RETWEETS
REPLIES
FOLLOWS
ENGAGEMENT
#FantasyFootball
3,876
185
6
0
1
4.95%
ESPN & Yahoo FF
6,149
161
1
1
0
2.65%
@wilreynolds

42. LESSONS:
• Low impression volume
+ 1 tweet = death
• More than 1 tweet to promote
• Offbrand = no new followers
• $$ = Have a value of a
follower in mind
• Who RT’ed it / Influencer?
@wilreynolds

43. @HarrisNeifield
+
@AndrewMeyer8
@wilreynolds
43

44. $177 / follower - Not Impressed
@wilreynolds

45. Wins
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johncarleton

46. Network: nRelate
@wilreynolds

47. Asset: Infographic
@wilreynolds

48. Previous Successes
@wilreynolds

49. Previous Successes
@wilreynolds

50. SPEND: $700
DAYS: 3
CPC: .30
CAPS: None
@wilreynolds
50

51. IMPRESSIONS: 8,459,796
CLICKS: 2,343
CTR: .0277%
LINKS: 7
SOCIAL SHARES: 1*
@wilreynolds

52. LESSONS:
•
•
•
•
•
No time to test
Big Share Buttons at Top
A/B test asset title
Tech Gaming = Good nRelate
Get GA in order
@wilreynolds

53. COST = $700
SETUP/WATCH TIME = $300
--------------------------$1,000
@wilreynolds

54. $124 per link - Not Bad
@wilreynolds

55. Network: nRelate
@wilreynolds

56. Asset:
3 articles
w/
Infographic
@wilreynolds

57. SPEND: $502.65
DAYS: 13
CPC: .15
CAPS: $50/Day
@wilreynolds
57

58. IMPRESSIONS: 4,192,887
CLICKS: 3,351
CTR: .0799%
LINKS: 11
SOCIAL SHARES: 1,000*
@wilreynolds

59. 3 Articles
ARTICLE
CLICKS
LINKS
SOCIAL*
PC Gaming vs Console Gaming
304
1
--
Memes
352
1
--
DIY
1871
9
--
@wilreynolds

60. COST = $502
SETUP/WATCH TIME = $300
--------------------------$802
@wilreynolds

61. $72.91 per link – Let’s Drink!
@wilreynolds

62. Network: Taboola
@wilreynolds

63. Asset:
5 Articles,
Recognized
Food Brand
@wilreynolds

64. Previous Successes
@wilreynolds

65. SPEND: $1700
DAYS: 26
CPC: .15
CAPS: $75/Day
@wilreynolds
65

66. IMPRESSIONS: 20,050,570
CLICKS: 11,006
CTR: .0549%
LINKS: 82
SOCIAL SHARES: 1,000*
@wilreynolds

67. 5 Articles
ARTICLE
CLICKS
LINKS
SOCIAL*
Beer Trend 2013
7372
10
77
“10 Best” Wine/Travel
1240
17
131
Sangria
658
9
129
Unusual Wines
472
15
166
100 Best Wine Restaurants
215
32
218
@wilreynolds

68. Audience knows your brand
Network: Taboola
@wilreynolds
68

69. Little impact
Network: Taboola
@wilreynolds
69

70. Audience knows you,
it doesn’t matter
Network: Taboola
@wilreynolds
70

71. Highest Bounce
Lowest PPVs
Lowest Duration
Network: Taboola
@wilreynolds
71

72. Should have paused it
Network: Taboola
@wilreynolds
72

73. Next Time:
Create a Micro-conversion
Network: Taboola
@wilreynolds
73

74. MICRO CONVERSIONS:
• Clicks on Share buttons by
Campaign (not social plugin)
• Scroll to a certain point
• Sign up for newsletter
• Read Next Article
@wilreynolds

75. Make a BUSINESS Case
@wilreynolds

76. SocialCrawlytics
@wilreynolds

77. A/B Asset Testing
RESULTS
FRUITY OR FIZZY?
9 SIMPLE STEPS
Impressions
1,255,492
918,096
Clicks
658
494
CTR
0.0524%
0.0538%
Spend
$98.70
$74.10
@wilreynolds

78. Referring Sites
RESULTS
OUTCOMES
USA Today
67.21% Bounce
Bloomberg
1.76 PPV vs 1.2 Site Average
MyFox(city)
98% Bounce
Buzzfeed
97% Bounce
@wilreynolds

79. Aggregate Traffic to Landing Page
100000
90000
Traffic
80000
70000
+15,540 total
visits after referral
traffic ended
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
Before
1
2
3
4
During
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
After
12
13
14
15
16
17
Time
@wilreynolds
** 6 weeks before test & 6 weeks after (June 27th – October 15th)
79

80. LESSONS:
•
•
•
•
Get more like SEM
Next Buttons At Bottom
Additional Engagement
Clicks != Links (more research
coming)
@wilreynolds

81. COST = $1700
SETUP/WATCH TIME = $300
--------------------------$2,000
@wilreynolds

82. $24.39 per link – Let’s Get Wasted!
@wilreynolds

83. Network: outbrain
@wilreynolds

84. Education
Infographic
@wilreynolds

85. Previous Successes
@wilreynolds

86. Previous Successes
@wilreynolds

87. SPEND: $194
DAYS: 2
CPC: .30 - .23
CAPS: $150/day
@wilreynolds
87

88. IMPRESSIONS: 480,103
CLICKS: 647
CTR: .13%
LINKS: TBD
SOCIAL SHARES: ??
@wilreynolds

89. 5 headlines
ARTICLE
How do employers view online degrees
.21
What is the difference between an online and traditional degree
.11
Are online degrees equal to traditional degrees
.05
Are you employable with an online degree
.04
What is the value of an online degree
@wilreynolds
CTR
.04

90. @wilreynolds
90

91. Testing 1,2,3
• Test Headlines before naming the
asset?
• How do headlines impact
outcomes?
@wilreynolds

92. You guys are ****** GOOD!
@wilreynolds

93. To pull this off you need
@wilreynolds
93

94. @wilreynolds
Well
rounded
Data + SEO
+ SEM +
Social +
Analytics +
Negotiator

95. Hire someone for
$40,000 a year to “get
links”
@wilreynolds
95

96. “Minions”
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-shtoopid

97. Tunnel Vision
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jugbo

98. Need:
Data Junkies
Growth Hacker
@wilreynolds

99. Where Next?
LinkedIn
Newsletters
Banner Ads?
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tripwolf

100. “Kill
Minions”
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-shtoopid

101. Share, or I’m asking him to
find your stuff
@wilreynolds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-shtoopid

102. About me.
Wil Reynolds
Founder
@wilreynolds
facebook.com/wilreynolds
wilr@seerinteractive.com