SES, an opportunity to meet and greet an international marketing community.

One of the best things I find about international SES conferences is just how much you can learn about the cultural and political differences in attitude to marketing. As a formal marketing student you learn very quickly about performing an environmental scan. This is not specifically about whether your viewed as a “green” marketer but more about variables within the marketing environment you can control and those you can’t.

In the micro environment you have full control over your marketing efforts. But the macro environment has the variables that you need to monitor in order to be able to adapt your marketing campaign to specifics. These include cultural, political, economical, legal and, of course, environmental in the green sense, to name a few.

If you’re monitoring these variables and flexible enough to adapt your campaign to incorporate these differences you’re much more likely to succeed in your international marketing campaigns and product launches.

At Search Engine Watch today, guest contributor Bas van den Beld shares his notes from SES, Berlin in November of last year.

It’s interesting to note his references to Germany’s “love hate” relationship with Google. As well as his notes on the difference between SEO tactics at times and also Germany’s approach to social media.

I was at the show and gained a huge insight into the German search marketing space. Incidentally, leading German search marketer, Thomas Bindl of Refined Labs, who fronted the Berlin conference, has recently published a mini case study in conjunction with Google.

Amongst other things, “Using Long Tail Keywords For Efficient Conversions” shows that:

• 31% of all conversions require more than one click-through

• The conversion rate is closely linked to the chosen match type

• The longer and more specific the search terms (keywords)
the higher the click-through and conversion rates

The SES international community is huge. And certainly the networking opportunities at all SES conferences provide fabulous opportunities to become totally aware of the unique marketing environments in specific geographic territories.

For those in the US who want to know more about the UK marketplace, SES, London is just around the corner. And if you’ve already registered, as so many have, be sure to sign up for the networking meet and greet on 15 Feb.

For those outside of the US wanting to break into it, it’s not too long to wait for SES, New York – meet up details coming soon.

And for those of you who prefer a little California sunshine with your digital marketing learning, there’s OMS, San Diego complete with a full day two track SES forum. This special forum brings some of the industry’s leading practitioners together for a unique day of search engine marketing wisdom.