Lyris Intros BidHero Campaign Management Tool

By Kevin Newcomb, Search Engine Watch, Nov 21, 2007

Integrating a search campaign with other kinds of online marketing campaigns is becoming increasingly important. Search doesn't live in a vacuum, as John Tawadros has written here several times.

A new offering from Lyris, formerly J.L. Halsey, has thrown its hat into the campaign management ring with the launch of the Lyris HQ suite. Lyris HQ brings together tools from several of the companies that Lyris has acquired recently, including ClickTracks (Web analytics), EmailLabs (e-mail marketing), Hot Banana (content management), and other online marketing brands.

Lyris HQ gives clients the ability to schedule and manage e-mail campaigns, coordinate Web content management, and review analytics results to optimize campaigns. Of particular interest to search marketers is Lyris' launch of a new pay-per-click (PPC) management application, BidHero, which incorporates keyword research and competitive intelligence tools from Trellian.

BidHero adds Trellian's KeywordDiscovery and Competitive Intelligence tools directly into the marketer's workflow. When a user creates a new campaign, for example, the option to research new and related keywords using KeywordDiscovery will be presented. There will also be an easy way to click on a button and get a text box to research a keyword, and then buy it and add it to the campaign with a single click.

Trellian's Competitive Intelligence tool uses Trellian's database to identify keywords that competitors are using, with campaign timeframe and rankings of those keywords.

Bid management has become more complicated with the introduction of "quality scores" by major PPC ad platforms, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. BidHero addresses the changes through its integration with Lyris' ClickTracks Web Analytics product.

At launch, BidHero can manage campaigns on Google and Yahoo, and plans are in place to have Microsoft campaigns added in the coming weeks. Lyris is also in discussions with other second-tier networks to integrate their platforms into BidCenter.

There are several areas within the application that focus on ad quality, with advice to improve scores that are lacking. An important element of BidHero is the "problem campaign report," which presents issues that should be addressed in a dashboard-style interface, so that they can be addressed as soon as possible, according to Dan Robbins, director of marketing for Lyris' ClickTracks products. The report will show when a campaign has bid prices set too low, has a low-quality keyword, or even has campaigns that have not yet been approved, he said.

"All of these things are accessible within the AdWords interface, but they can be hard to find," Robbins said. By putting the data all in one place, using the search engines' own APIs, BidHero can bring existing and potential problems to the forefront.

BidHero also presents inline help for users, with "tips and tricks" that offer best practices advice for improving a PPC campaign, Robbins said. "It's like having a seasoned search engine marketer next to you to guide you through."

Users pay a per-seat price for access to a certain level of usage of Lyris HQ, with additional usage-based fees after that level is reached.

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