Strategy

Naturally, the SEM agency Starz is partnered with covered paid campaigns on all of the major search engines – developing a precise and targeted keyword list to provide maximum exposure and limit irrelevant traffic. Standard content campaigns were also created for the Crash promotion. However, due to the broad nature of the campaign, the search agency quickly realized that Google site placements would be a much more successful tactic.

The SEM agency focused on sites that they hoped would produce relevant traffic and subscribers, concentrating on four distinct themes: 1. film and television sites (such as www.tvguide.com and www.comingsoon.net); 2. celebrity information sites (www.celebuzz.com); 3. entertainment blogs; and 4. reviewer/critic sites (www.rottentomatoes.com).

The agency used historical data to select popular entertainment sites. Additionally, they analyzed data provided by proprietary tracking and reporting technology to point out sites that were also being visited by Starz’s audience. Because these searchers were movie and television buffs—information gleaned from their site visitation habits—they were more likely to be interested in Starz and Crash. Based on this same conclusion, the text ads displayed on these entertainment sites were particularly appealing to the audience as well.

The creative aspects for placement targeting centered on leveraging the well-known title of the series. The agency took no qualms name dropping at every chance. Crash was used liberally in the title and ad copy for both placement and sponsored listings. Additionally, to further grab attention and prequalify searchers, they include Crash in the display URL.

In addition to targeted site placement through Google, the SEM agency also comprehensively searched and closely monitored several social media networks for any activity related to Starz and the Crash launch. Using this data, the firm was able to develop and provide a plan for inspiring new conversations, increasing visibility and creating interactive communities for fans.

The agency used several advanced tools and programs, such as Techrigy, TweetScan, Google Alerts and others, to scrape the web and social networks for comments about Starz and Crash. They noted popular domains that discussed the show, related topics on Yahoo! Answers, Twitter posts along with sentiment and reputable blogs that mentioned the show, services and competition. The agency also discovered demographics and geographic location about the individuals posting those comments.

The agency aggregated this information, along with a list of Starz’s online assets (e.g., YouTube videos, photographs, images and widgets), on a monthly basis for many weeks before and immediately following the show’s launch. These thorough reports allowed Starz to understand the online groundswell surrounding their company, competition and the new series, and discover user sentiment.

Information gathered from social media allowed Starz to create interactive experiences for the more active users. Bloggers, Tweeters and other social media fanatics found to have a particular interest in the Crash series—those that frequently commented and provided content—were given special privileges. These Starz and Crash enthusiasts received links to special edition features—cast interviews, “Making of” shorts, “Behind the Scenes” narratives and more—providing a foundation for the development of Starz’s social media community.