Friday, March 10, 2017

Making This One Simple Request to Your Search Agency Will Produce Major Results



Many search agencies still run search campaigns on their agency account without sharing direct access to client. They instead send a weekly or monthly report on the clicks, impressions, and ad expense. For small businesses, the clients often do not have enough understanding about search marketing to review a campaign’s setup, or are too busy to look into the campaigns. And sometimes, the client may not know they can request that direct access. For bigger clients, this way of reporting is accepted because it is similar to the way traditional marketing has been working in TV and print: You measure campaign success by the viewership and interactions.

However, as businesses are spending thousands of dollars to millions of dollars for advertising, the lack of transparency in campaign management can cause major loss and ineffectiveness.

First, it is hard for the client to detect data inaccuracy.


Without direct campaign access, the client has to rely on the agency report to evaluate campaign performance. If there is a tracking error by mistake, it will be hard for the client to detect it. And inaccurate data can lead to wrong insights and wrong decision making. We have seen clients receiving incorrect traffic and sales reports for years.


Many clients set up their own tracking system to evaluate the campaign reports from their agency. This helps reduce the issue, however it adds unnecessary costs and technical complexities to the campaign. Furthermore, if the campaign data doesn’t match between the two systems, it could lead to lengthy arguments between the client and the agency. If the client has direct access to ad accounts, this is less likely to be a major problem.

Second, it is hard for the client to control the campaign quality.


While the client receives the report on the number of impressions and clicks, and the cost-per-view or cost-per-click that is “better than industry average,” there is almost no way the client can track and see whether the views or the visits are relevant to the business or not. The agency may choose to buy ad impressions from low quality inventory for lower cost. The clicks, especially from mobile, may be results of users’ tapping mistakes.

If the client has direct access to the campaigns, he or she can see in detail the audience targeting and website placements and quickly spot any issues that could be improved.

Third, the client cannot detect the campaign errors.


In the course of managing campaigns, sometimes agencies can make mistakes that may affect campaign performance. This is something that can happen with even great agencies, and it is understandable as long as the problem is detected and fixed early on.

However, in many situations, the agency may not discover the issues and therefore let them happen for a while, especially when they are understaffed or lack campaign management. The real problem is that if the client cannot see the real campaign data, they have no way to know and will have to accept whatever the results are that they are presented on the report.

Once the client has direct access to the campaign, they can spot any unusual performance and ask questions. This pressure will also keep the agency in check and ready to quickly act if anything happens.

Lastly, the client cannot get the best possible campaign performance.


Many search marketing agencies run campaigns as “set it and forget it.” Once they setup and tweak campaigns to an acceptable level, they keep it running and do little maintenance. This misses out on any chance to restructure campaigns and make fundamental changes that can remarkably improve the results. But if the client does not see the campaign, they have no idea if the campaign is setup properly, or if the landing page could be better.

Thus, if the client can access campaign data and continues to ask the simple question of “how can we get better results?”, this will create a healthy pressure, motivating the agency to continue improving its performance. This pressure alone can help deliver positive outcomes.

In our years of doing search marketing, we have seen many clients receive sub-par results without even knowing it. The common situation is that they do not have direct access to the campaigns, and therefore have no way to know if the results are good or not, are unable to detect problems, and, most importantly, can’t find ways to make it better. Making the simple request of your agency to share direct access to the campaigns will help create much better outcomes.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Guest Post: Learn To Log Cabin Quilt - Best Books For Quilting



Making Log cabin quilts is a unique art form. Embroidery quilting is decorating fabric with different colors and various designs to create a wide variety of styles to fit into all occasions and decors. Quilting actually means combining fabric pieces with a soft interlining using wool or cotton thread. The log cabin quilt top is traditionally sewn into an attractive arrangement. The love of quilting has been around for a very long time and has now combined with the love of embroidery for the modern craft person. It is not uncommon to see decorative stitching used to make the quilt look more attractive. Embroidery can either be done by machine or by hand. Though one can create a quilt the old fashioned way by hand stitching, machine embroidery quilting designs offer the quilter a wonderful option that is very attractive and much quicker in this busy day and age.

Let's have a look at some of the main reasons for combining fabric and embroidery designs instead of just fabric alone when making quilts:

To enhance the beauty of the quilt- Embroidering and designing around coordinating fabrics can enhance the beauty of plain colored fabrics and textures, making the finished project more interesting.

For every occasion - By using seasonal embroidery patterns and fabrics, the quilter can create projects that fit the occasion they are made for. The embroidery quilting designs add fun and festive appeal to the creation.

To ensure variation- By using different embroidery quilting designs and fabrics, the quilter can use similar log cabin quilt block shapes as they have on another quilt and the new quilt takes on a completely different personality.

What type of designs to look for?

Decorative Machine Embroidery Quilting Designs - There are many different types of designs that work well when making quilts. Filled stitch, redwork, colorwork, and appliqué are a few types to try. Whether the quilter is making a baby quilt, patchwork quilt, elegant, vintage or special holiday quilt, the desired results will be achieved by carefully choosing the right designs and fabrics and combining them into an attractive arrangement.

Feather Quilting Designs - The traditional method of hand quilting can be long and tedious. Or to get it professionally quilted with a long arm machine can be very expensive. An alternative is to use quilting designs made for the home embroidery machine. The double stitched designs have no jump stitches and come in a variety of patterns. With the continuous hoop available for some machines, a quilt can quickly and easily be quilted on the embroidery machine, though larger quilts are more difficult using this method because of the bulk.

The quality and the appearance of the log cabin quilt is determined by the fabric's thread count, which quilting patterns are used and the embroidery quilting designs chosen to decorate it. When the fabric thread count is high, the texture is better and more durable than a lower thread count. This is why it is important to choose good quality fabrics, rather than lower quality 'economy' fabrics when making quilts. The quilter will spend a substantial amount of time and money creating the quilt and the very best materials should be used. There are ample resources available on the internet where the quilter can shop for supplies, which is especially helpful for those who live in areas without a quality quilt fabric shop.

One such virtual marketplace that the serious quilter will surely enjoy, is EmbroideryQuilter.com, which specializes in embroidery quilting designs, patterns, fabrics and supplies for all your embroidery and quilting needs.
With a huge collection of Machine Embroidery Quilting Designs, Embroidery Quilter is now the perfect destination for all sorts of Embroidery Quilting designs. Embroidery Quilter has wonderful designs and amazing variety of Embroidery Quilt design that will make your embroidery experience the best ever.