OUTRIDER BROADENS SEARCH MARKETING OFFERING WITH ADDITION OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PRACTICE

New practice to focus on making GroupM Search clients a part of the social conversation

ST LOUIS (June 23, 2008)

Outrider, a leading global, integrated search marketing agency, introduced today a new Social Media Marketing (SMM) practice, expanding its search marketing product offering to include a practice group dedicated to guiding B-to-C and B-to-B companies into becoming an active part of online conversation through social search. Outrider is a division of GroupM Search, the world's largest search marketing specialist and the global search marketing resource for Maxus, MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia, and MindShare. Outrider serves as the incubation brand for the development of emerging trends and new practices within GroupM Search in order to develop best practices in a dedicated search marketing environment that can be executed across all GroupM agencies.

The Social Media Marketing practice, comprised of a team of social media and search experts with established reputations in the social space, will focus on bringing Social Media Marketing and Social Media Optimization (SMO) together for clients to create an effective social media strategy that influences their search marketing results and presence in social communities. Social Media Marketing is participatory internet marketing which seeks to achieve various internal and external marketing goals such as building site traffic, conversions and sales, increased brand awareness and brand association, talent development, business development through networking and more. It requires marketers to participate in the communities they want to influence. Social Media Optimization has a direct relationship with search engine optimization (SEO). It is the process of optimizing content for social media and search. This can include the optimization of images, video, blogs, news, public relations and podcasts.

"We see the emergence of social media as a natural evolution in the consumer-driven phenomenon started within the search channel. Whereas people have moved from the push media of TV to the pull media of search, we now have the conversational media of social networks," said Chris Copeland, CEO of GroupM Search - The Americas. "What doesn't change between search and social is that consumers are expressing intent and looking for content. Our role in the value chain is to help our clients understand where conversations are taking place and how best to think about entering into those conversations."

Outrider's Social Media Marketing experts play a valuable role in helping marketers understand the social landscape and develop a social media strategy. This includes identifying opportunities and communities to leverage their business, developing engagement strategies, auditing visibility, and evaluating consumer and competitor conversation. The team also provides Social Media Marketing training for clients to increase fluency of the trends and dynamics of the social space.

"We are not in the business of starting the conversation or making things go viral, but rather to help our client base understand how and where they can maximize their brands and be a part of the conversation to impact perception and awareness," said Copeland.

Social Media Marketing and the Opportunity For Search

Consumer-driven media has brought a new reality to the worlds of business and marketing-brands now live online, 24-hours a day, with conversation less controlled by marketers and more driven by consumers. Research shows the significant adoption and power of social media. According to eMarketer, two out of every three online users visit social media sites. Additionally, social networking is an activity that 37 percent of U.S. adult internet users and 70 percent of online teens engage in every month. This number is projected to grow to 50 percent of online adult users and 84 percent of online teens by 2011. (eMarketer, 2007). Social Media also plays a powerful role in advocating or influencing perception and preference. A Yahoo!/comScore study ("Engaging Advocates Through Search and Social Media") revealed that brand advocates have emerged from social interactions as primary influencers and are 50 percent more likely to convert friends or family.

And therein lies the opportunity for social marketing to become an integral part of search marketing strategy, especially as a pull medium where searchers are raising their hands, seeking information. Search engines have recognized the authenticity and authority of social media channels in search results. Additionally, more and more consumers are looking for content in niche, non-engine forums. In order to fully leverage search and maximize the potential impact of social media, advertisers have to take their marketing messages beyond their web pages.

"Social media marketing is about being where conversations are taking place," said Outrider's U.S. Managing Director, Patrick Garrett. "One benefit of SMM is that it can be utilized to support organic and paid search marketing by increasing universal search results and creating a new destination for relevant interaction. But the bigger picture of SMM is about being engaged and found in relevant communities and forums where consumers spend valuable time, away from the search engines."

Both B-to-C and B-to-B marketers can find value in Social Media Marketing. Currently, Outrider manages social media programs for multiple clients including companies in the biochemical/organic chemical, telecommunications, health and pharmaceutical categories. While objectives for a Social Media Marketing strategy frequently mirror marketing challenges often addressed with traditional media plans, the nature of the channel fosters innovative solutions for very targeted needs. For example, the creative use of social media for one Outrider client addresses talent development needs by creating the opportunity to connect with students and young professionals at an early stage to generate interest in pursuing academia and careers in the company's industry.

"Many people think of social media, in short, as Facebook and MySpace. But consumer perceptions are shared and shaped in forums all over the web," said Garrett. "Social media marketing gives our clients the opportunity to have a stronger, authentic presence while being a part of the conversation in the channels where their audience lives."

About Outrider

Outrider, a division of GroupM Search and winner of the Yahoo! Searchlight Award, is a leading global search marketing agency, specializing in holistic, advanced search marketing strategies that are integrated with advertisers' cross-channel media planning. Outrider brings clients the leading proprietary technology solution Decide DNA®, supporting Paid Search, SEO, Paid Inclusion and Shopping Feeds in one platform, and rated #1 twice by JupiterResearch. Regarded for thought leadership and recognized by Forrester Research as a leader in search strategy, management and client service strengths, Outrider has provided integrated search marketing and consumer-driven media strategies at the global, national and local-market level to category-leading clients including: AT&T, Dell, AstraZeneca, Showtime, Microsoft, Chevron, Diageo and more. Services include organic search, paid search, advanced search strategies (social media marketing, mobile search, local search, video search and more), analytics, conversion services (website optimization), creative services and consulting.

Outrider is a WPP company and a division of GroupM, WPP's media buying and planning arm responsible for 30% of the world's media buying. With North American headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., Outrider has offices in New York, Chicago, Seattle, Sunnyvale, Boston, Toronto, and throughout the EMEA and APAC regions, creating a network of 40 global offices serving more than 40 countries. www.outrider.com.

[Back to Press Releases]