Interview with Lucie Follett of search marketing agency Maven Metrics
Tuesday July 08, 2008 / Categories: Websites, Online Marketing, E-Commerce, Online PR, Interviews
Self styled commercially focused search engine marketing agency Maven Metrics was set up last year by Lucie Follet.
I caught up with Lucie to get her thoughts on the search marketing industry, why she has set up automotive parts websites and her plans for new bottled water company Sip’s online marketing campaign.
Maven Metrics is described as being commercially focused. How do you think this approach makes Maven Metrics different to other search marketing agencies?
The main difference with us is that we have worked in other, highly commercial and competitive environments – specifically non-marketing, ‘non meedja’ industries. In my own case, I worked in Investment Banking as a Japan equity sales/analyst until 2002 and also operate my own niche websites which I use as a test bed for hands-on work for any tips or advice I find in blogs and forums.
This combination of being commercial and hands-on is unusual and not always found in larger agencies. It’s not uncommon to find individuals working in SEO and especially web analytics who are so hung up on terms such as ‘conversion rate’ or ‘measuring engagement’ or the anthropological nature of blog networks that they have forgotten the commercial purpose to the website and how this relates to the bottom line – it has become totally abstract and a mere blip on an excel sheet.
I personally find this quite alarming.
Many search marketing agencies are becoming full service, or becoming part of media agencies. Do you think there will be demand for specialist search agencies? Where are you taking Maven Metrics?
Arguably, it could well be said that such large behemoths pose a very real threat to smaller, specialist search agencies as they have the name and client base to pull them through, regardless of the quality of their work and leave smaller agencies to mop up what little there is left.
For example, I am always suspicious when I hear of large, well known pr agencies launching ‘digital marketing arms’ yet when you cast an objective eye over their own websites, you often find all manner of things which make you wonder whether they can actually ‘walk the walk’, (absent or duplicate meta tags, non-search engine friendly flash etc.) There’s no doubt that they perceive online to be nothing more than a convenient money-spinner and they benefit from their clients’ ignorance in all things online.
Realistically, we can’t change that and have to work double-hard to get the business. We get most of our business through word of mouth referrals and, perhaps surprisingly, we do receive unsolicited approaches from companies who have found their experience with larger agencies to be unsatisfying, both in terms of lack of personal attention but also on value for money.
It has to be said, though, most companies are not this enlightened or have too many layers of internal politics to be able to make such a choice and will plump for what they consider to be the ‘safe’ option – which is not always the case.
Tell me more about your niche automotive websites.
I import car parts from Germany and operate several niche automotive sites including one for Volkswagen and Audi water pumps. This one in particular was set up as an arbitrage site to take advantage of perceived flaws in Original Equipment (OE) parts which are, on the whole, manufactured in China.
The obvious benefit to me in doing this – aside from an additional income stream – is to keep my hand well and truly on the commercial pulse. For example, at present, my North American sales have dropped considerably on a YOY basis on account of the unfavourable exchange rate and as I am not importing huge quantities and cannot forward fix my rate, I am having to raise my prices. So I am more than sympathetic to those retailers who are trying to sell into the
US – it’s not easy in such price-sensitive times – and it means that you have to work extra hard to build up online coverage.
You’re doing the online marketing for Sip water. What are the advantages of marketing an up and coming brand online?
Sip is a great company to be involved with, mainly for the fact that the founders are both incredibly open to the idea of using SEO and web analytics and are always hungry to learn more.
Not only is this attitude extremely refreshing, but it means that it is entirely possible to work in sync with the sip PR dept so that at all times, we can monitor just exactly how useful, say, a particular article in a particular magazine or event sponsorship has been in terms of visits to the site. This approach is ideal and is one I would highly recommend to others.
What is the online marketing focus for Sip? Is it driving brand conversation across the web or driving traffic to Sip’s website?
At present, the sip site is not selling online – yet.
This means that our task at this point is twofold – a/increasing awareness amongst potential distributors both UK and ex-UK and pushing them to the optimised, multilingual pages on the sip site and b/using the optimised blog to highlight offline press coverage we have achieved to get people to find out more about the brand. It is working – since the site’s launch in February, unique visitors to both the site and blog have increased on a month on month basis.
What exciting projects are on the horizon for Maven Metrics?
In addition to working with new clients, we are also building up our preparation to launch a new site which will act as a go-between for PR firms representing brands and consumers.
Our experience of working with PR firms, especially in the health, beauty and lifestyle sectors, has shown us that there is still very little knowledge and appetite within PR co’s for proactively targeting consumers online, other than to send out the, hopeful press release and sample to a relatively short list of ‘themed’ blogs. Given the current economic outlook, this will become increasingly more important.
--
