This week, we have the pleasure of sharing an interview with Lisa Raehsler, Founder and SEM Strategy Consultant at Big Click Co.  Lisa will be joining us at Hero Conf 2012 to speak about PPC for Ecommerce and Retargeting.

There are a couple great offers still available that will save you money on Hero Conf registration.  If you purchase two registrations, you will receive an instant $100 discount on the second registration!  Our referral program is another great deal.  Once you are registered for Hero Conf, you will receive a special coupon code in your confirmation email to pass along to friends.  If they register with your code, they’ll receive an automatic $50 discount and you will receive a $50 Visa Card (sent after Hero Conf).  Refer enough friends, and you could have a free conference! (maximum gift card amount not to exceed registration amount).

Interview

PPC Hero: To begin with, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

Lisa: I’ve been working in online marketing for over 15 years, both client side and with agencies on nationally recognized brands. Now I work exclusively on paid search and have managed dozens of ppc, display, retargeting, and social ad campaigns.

PPC Hero: Why did you decide to enter the paid search industry?

Lisa: It’s challenging, performance driven, and it really works for advertisers. I love that results are totally measurable and I get great results for my clients.

PPC Hero: Tell us your thoughts on the display network.  How can campaigns be successful without spending too much budget?

Lisa: This depends on how you define success. For branding you can get great exposure and reach audiences with a variety of targeting tactics.  This is important even if you’re transaction focused because sometimes it takes multiple touches before a searcher converts.

PPC Hero: What are your biggest recommendations in regards to behavioral targeting strategies?

Lisa: Banner ads, prepared in every size so advertisers can maximize their reach and best leverage their prospect list.

PPC Hero: How do you reconcile behavioral targeting strategies with privacy issues?

Lisa: These types of advertising programs offer preference options for consumers. I would urge anyone who does not prefer advertising to explore their options to opt out.

PPC Hero: What would you suggest to someone trying to manage an ecommerce PPC account without available conversion tracking?

Lisa: Interesting question. I would define goals anyway because each action on your website has value. I would set up goals in google analytical to measure this, for example, view of a key page or products.  If we are talking about simply not being able to technically link PPC to the shopping cart and pass through data, one could use average conversion rates and average order value to estimate sales.

PPC Hero: What are the most important things for ecommerce clients to include in their accounts and campaigns?

Lisa: Every component is going to be important to advertisers selling online. They should ensure all account strategies are aimed at ecommerce, for example, transactional keywords and generous use of CTAs. When I work with ecommerce companies, their PPC gets an audit and makeover for ecommerce best practices and opportunities.

PPC Hero: Outside of paid search and the Internet, what are your favorite ways to pass the time?

Lisa: Are you suggesting there’s life outside of the Internet?! Seriously, my favorite thing to do this past winter was watching horrible reality tv shows. I call it my “pop culture studies”. Can I have my rose now?

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Lisa Raehsler is more than just passionate about search. Lisa has led strategy on dozens of PPC accounts and puts her experience into practice every day as a thought leader in integrating clients’ search campaigns with ecommerce websites, behavioral targeting strategies, and web analytics.

In addition to agency work, she has led successful online marketing programs at Thomson Reuters in search marketing, merchandising, and ecommerce strategies at the enterprise level.

Lisa frequently lends her expertise to the search industry through organizational involvement, speaking, and writing. She recently founded MnSEM and served on the programming committee for the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA). Lisa’s recent speaking engagements on search engine marketing include SES, OMS, MIMA, and SMX conferences, as well as numerous private and public training engagements. As a columnist for ClickZ, she writes on the topic of paid search. She holds a BA in Economics from Valparaiso University and is a Google Adwords Certified Partner. Follow her on Twitter @LisaRocksSEM.

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