These days there are several different PPC options available that reach out to millions of people around the world.  Thankfully one of the largest networks in the world allows you to display your image ads on their site to all 400 million of their active users. Below are the top 5 reasons why Facebook Ads could benefit you:

1) Ad Destinations
Facebook Ads allow you to drive traffic to any destination on your fan page for an increased amount of “likes” and Facebook interaction.  You can also choose to send your traffic directly to any page on your website.  No matter what your marketing strategy is, Facebook ads are easily customizable for increased opportunity and advertising control.

2) Targeting Your Customers
Facebook allows you to target your ads to users based on their gender, age, location, birthday, relationship status, education, workplace, language, interests and more.  The more targeted your ads are, the higher your CTR will be.  You will also see a large decrease in the unprofitable clicks that you may receive in less targeted PPC campaigns.

3) Character & Image Flexibility
Facebook ads allow almost double the character limit of Google AdWords for greater ad descriptions.  They also give you the option to choose whichever thumbnail picture you would like to display above your ad copy.  These customizable options give your ads increased visual value to the consumer and allow you to say what you want to say.

4) Pricing Options
Once you’ve created your Facebook Ads you can choose to pay for impressions (CPM) or clicks (CPC).  You have total control of your daily budget and bids.  Your ads will discontinue once your budget has been met for the day. Historical data has shown that the average CPC for Facebook is dramatically lower than that of Google AdWords.

5) Reporting
Facebook has much different reporting tools than any other PPC interface we have ever seen.  They have multiple dynamic statistics that allow you to see standard PPC metrics alongside Facebook statistics such as amount of “likes”, social impressions, social CTR and more.  Another report that Facebook can generate is an Ad Demographic report that allows you to see the age, gender and location of the users that are clicking on your ads.  Lastly you can choose a Profile report that shows certain profile metrics of your clicks such as interests, favorite movies and books etc.

Here at Sage Island we have used Facebook Ads for our clients such as Warehouse Skateboards and have seen an increase of over 21,000 “likes” in 2 months.  If you have any questions about Facebook Advertising or you would like to increase your brand exposure on Facebook, please contact Sage Island to begin your social media marketing success.

Google AdWords is deemed one of the fastest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to advertise your product/service online. According to the Google Help Center, Google’s Network reaches 80% of the 170 million people that use the Internet in the U.S., and it doesn’t stop there. You can advertise in approximately 250 countries in 38 different languages. Below are the top 5 reasons why Google AdWords could benefit you:

1. Cost & Flexibility
AdWords allows you to choose between two different pricing models: Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or Cost-Per-Impression (CPM). This allows you to have an increased level of control with your advertising campaigns. You can also set a maximum daily budget and maximum CPC or CPM bids to completely manage your advertising costs.

2. Targeting & Scheduling Capabilities
Within your Google AdWords account you can specifically target ads to a city, region, state, metro area or any specific location you define for yourself. You can also target any of the provided 38 languages. Ad Scheduling can be extremely important to the performance of your advertising campaigns. With AdWords you can customize which days of the week and hours of the day you would like for your ads to run.

3. Ad Extensions
AdWords provide 4 different ad extensions in Google Search: Location Extension, Phone Extension, Ad Sitelinks and Product Extensions. Ad Extensions expand your standard text ad with additional information such as a product listing or image, address and phone number, click-to-call phone number, or additional links to your site. These extensions help users more easily find out about your business, product or service.

4. Conversion Optimizer
By using your conversion tracking data, AdWords features two ways to get you more conversions at a lower cost. The Conversion Optimizer keyword bidding option optimizes your ad placement in each ad auction for increased likelihood of conversion and avoidance of unprofitable clicks. You can set your maximum cost-per-acquisition (the most you’re willing to pay per conversion) and this feature will automatically choose the optimal CPC for each ad auction. The second feature is the “Optimize for conversions” ad rotation option. This feature shows the ads that are expected to provide more conversions more often.

5. The Google Network
Google is split into 2 networks; the Search Network, which includes Google and other search sites and the Display Network, which includes Gmail, YouTube and sites like the New York Times. The Search Network uses keywords to target text ads on search results pages. The Display Network reaches prospects at different points of the buying cycle through contextual targeting. Here you can run text/rich media ads, image or video ads depending on the site. Display ads serve as an effective media choice for both branding and direct response goals.

If you have any questions about Google AdWords, or if you think PPC advertising could be the marketing choice for you, please contact Sage Island to begin your marketing success.

We are excited to be heading out to Denver, CO tomorrow morning to attend this year’s SIA Snow Show.  We are excited to be a part of this great event, which for more than five decades, the SIA Snow Show has been bringing the entire snow sports market together in one place.  Making this show the most important trade event for the entire industry. Showcasing the latest trends, innovations, product lines and styles, the SIA Snow Show represents the only global event where 800+ brands are presented in an authentic environment both on and off the snow; all powered by the passion and culture of snow sports. Since its inception, the Snow Show has been listed in the top 200 U.S. trade shows by Tradeshow Week and is currently ranked 59th.

Sage Island is excited to be photographing the Snow Show as well as the On-Snow Demo & Ski-Ride Fest events and working with SIA to help make this another great show.  We have worked extensively with SIA over the years, developing their association and trade show websites, as well as various consumer initiative websites.  We are also excited to help market their online properties through various SEO and PPC tactics.

We are excited for another great SIA Snow Show.  See you there!

Sage Island is happy to share several recent projects we have been working on with a new company – HarvesterGear.  We began working with HarvesterGear in June and have developed their logo, business cards, a marketing brochure, tradeshow pieces and most recently their website.

The new website showcases the different products and services offered by HarvesterGear.  It is built in DNN to allow for easy updates to the site and future expansion of product lines as the company grows.  The site features a produce tracking tool that allows consumers to enter a code found on their produce containers to look up information on where the food was grown.  This tracking feature is something that will be required by law in next few years and HarvesterGear is on the cutting edge of offering produce tracking technology.

Sage Island is happy to announce the recent launches of both the ActionSportsNow website and blog.  ASN is a new, quickly growing business headquartered in Wilmington, NC.  ASN is an online database of shops, retailers, camps, resorts and independent contractors who serve the action sports industry.  Sage Island worked with ASN to develop their new website in DNN; the site features a search for action sport retails by industry segment and location.  The custom programmed search was developed based on the unique features offered by ASN.

The newly launched ActionSportsNow WordPress blog offers an online platform for ASN to stay connected with their customers and provide up-to-date industry and sports related news.  The site feeds news into the website, by sport, to offer the latest news to ASN users, no matter what source they are visiting.

I am happy to announce that we launched the South End Surf Shop website yesterday (just in time for hurricane Earl’s swell)!  This site is built in DNN and features a feed from the client’s live, HD surf cam.  He also has a custom tool that allows him to post surf reports and archive daily surf photos.  There are other great tools on the site including a weather report and information from SwellInfo.com.  The client loves the overall site design and the flexibility that DNN offers.

We’re looking for a motivated, creative and analytic thinker with excellent communication and leadership skills to join the Traffic and Search Strategy team in our Wilmington, North Carolina office.

As a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Specialist, your responsibilities will be to design, develop and implement PPC campaigns on major search engines including Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.

The SEM Specialist will also work with Account Executives, Graphic Designers, Programmers, and other team members to drive paid search engine traffic success and will be charged with establishing best practices on optimization of a variety of different PPC campaigns for a variety of unique customers. Additionally, you will be responsible for developing and implementing keyword strategies, including working with business owners to understand their specific PPC needs and developing strategies, plans, and campaigns accordingly.

The SEM Specialist will also work with developers to evolve in-house SEM tracking and reporting tools and keep current on SEM developments within the industry.

Responsibilities
* Create, manage and optimize PPC campaigns in support of business goals for Sage Island customers.
* Continuously review and optimize PPC campaigns, including thorough analysis of profitability of campaigns, keyword lists, landing page quality, downstream feedback of lead and traffic quality, etc.
* Serve as internal search expert to ensure best practices are shared and leveraged by all groups.
* Continuously improve tracking, reporting and profitability of the SEM efforts.
* Analyze and translate quantitative and qualitative data from web analytics tool into actionable SEM plans
* Research and develop best practices to identify new market opportunities and maximize program profits with improved paid campaign performance and organic rankings

Skills
* Knowledge and experience with the creation, management, and optimization of PPC campaigns
* Experience with PPC campaign management and optimization tools
* A quantitative approach to traffic measurement and experience with collecting and interpreting site visitor statistics
* Experience using Microsoft Office programs (Excel, Word, etc.)
* Must be detail-oriented with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
* Strong written and verbal communication skills a must
* Ability to work individually on a project or in a team environment
* Self-starter approach to work, with an eagerness to consistently meet and exceed objectives and take on more responsibility.

Qualifications/Requirements
* 1 – 3 years experience in marketing
* Bachelors degree, preferred Marketing, Journalism, English, Communications

Full-time with benefits package. Send us a cover letter and resume. Specify Marketing Specialist in subject line to jobs@sageisland.com.