I had the chance to interview Randy Peterson of P&G for his upcoming participation in Search Engine Strategies 2008: San Jose where he will be speaking on the Keynote Roundtable: “Why Does Search Get the Credit for Everything?” panel.

What is your background and what do you do for P&G?

I have worked for the last 8 years on various Interactive Marketing Roles at P&G, not only in the US but also in Japan and other Asian locations. My current role is Search Innovations Manager which means it’s my job to bring new search technology and services inside P&G. My scope is broad and includes 100+ P&G brands and the 90+ countries in which we operate.
I have always loved to invent and innovate, so I am lucky to be able to do that on my job.

You are participating in a keynote roundtable this year at the SES 2008 show in San Jose about attributing sales to Search – How much credit does an SEM program deserve in an overall marketing mix?

Search deserves to get credit for the value it delivers, which is really in 2 areas: branding and direct response. Sometimes it’s the only marketing vehicle creating the value. In other cases, search’s value is really an “assist” and value is primarily driven by another kind of marketing such as display, TV or Print.

How do you determine the success of a Search campaign? What are some benchmarks for success?

Ultimately the success of a search campaign is measured by delivering highly relevant content to meet the needs of the consumer. Search is one of the most inherently measureable media out there. And searchers are really telling us what their needs are. So if we measure how well we meet the needs of searchers, our marketing choices will be driven by consumer need. For paid search, execution at a certain cost per click (visitor) is a basic measure of success. For organic, one needs to look at the cost of SEO, then the incremental visitors driven by your SEO work and then the value of those visitors. With a direct response type campaign, we need to go beyond the click and measure the ROI on those clicks. If you set criteria up front about what revenue/value each click drives then you have benchmarks for your campaign. So the 2 most important benchmarks are meeting the needs of the consumer and executing at a cost / click that meets your business goals.

What are some examples (generic or specific) of companies doing search right or wrong?

I recently heard a quote that 40% of marketers do not measure ROI on their search campaigns. That shows a definite opportunity. You get what you measure. If you don’t even measure, your ability to show success is limited to somewhat meaningless data like CTR.

Too see your real campaign success, all the components in a search interaction need to be measured in order to attribute value correctly. It’s possible the companies that may get it right are the ones that spend the majority of their ad dollars online. Because they are betting all their marketing on display and search, then search generally gets the focus it needs to be successful.

What is the latest “flash in the pan” meme in search marketing?

Domain names seem to be in the news lately, especially the new .me and .pro names. The realization that your personal information is being released online by others, means it’s time to get a personal web site to proactively manage your image. That means a SEO friendly site and domain name to match your image so people find you before they find any potential detractor(s).

What are next generation search marketers thinking about?

Mobile is a fast growing opportunity and with the Iphone user searching 50 times as frequently as other phones, that is an amazing change in behavior.

Blended search is still hot and there is lots of room for opportunity. This is only going to get bigger with more search categories besides what is there now like books and video. It’s a big tactical opportunity with the right keywords.

What does P&G look for in the search space and in alternative search engines?

Since most of our brands are really mass brands, we have little interaction with alternative search engines. But mobile is one area we need to keep an eye on. Once it reaches a reasonable scale, consumers will expect us to be present for certain searches.

What is one area you would like to see people spend more time on when looking at SEM analytics?

For those 40% of brands without defined conversion events, they need to start there. Once you can measure if a website visit is successful, you need to ensure quality execution, then optimize against your goals.

What is your blog or a place where people can get in contact with you?

My blog is internal to P&G. I find it more valuable to be able to address our internal community. One can find me on LinkedIn.

A big thanks to Randy for taking the time for this interview. For continued coverage of SES 2008 checkout other interviews and articles at Marketing.fm.