Search Engine Marketing at WestJet

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Search Engine Marketing at WestJet

• Online Revealed - Toronto
• The 2nd Annual Canadian Online Travel Conference

Seema Khosla Coordinator, Web Retail
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3-step to Search Engine Marketing Maturity

• Do it Ourselves
• No thrust
• Limited control
• Do it with Affiliates
• Thrust
• No air traffic control
• Do it with an Automated Search Marketing Service
• Thrust
• Control

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We did it ourselves

• Picked a few hundred search terms
• Bid on them
• Tracked them
• Tuned them
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again
• Tuned them again

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What did we learn?
Cheap Flights to Las Vegas
Cost per Click
Take me away to Lost Wages Nevada this weekend
for cheep cheep cheep
Easy phrases that everybody buys
Unusual phrases that no one buys
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Doing Search Engine Marketing with Affiliates

• Affiliate An entity you trust to go and market
  for you on the web ? CJ.com
• Pay for performance advertising
• Banner ads / Online malls
• Search Engine Marketing
• Pros
• Only pay if the action we define (a booking) is
  achieved
• Works well
• Cons
• Lose control

Affiliates Referral
WestJet.com

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Doing Search Marketing with an Automated Search
Marketing Service 24/7 Real Media, Decide DNA

• Decide DNA optimizes
• Adds precision to our marketing initiatives
• Drive substantial increases to the bottom-line
• Reducing our CPA

• Automated Campaign
• Based on business objectives
• Survival of the fittest
• Multiple search engines
• Keyword Harvesting
• 1000s 100,000s of keywords

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Other Automated Search Marketing Services

• 24/7RealMedia, Decide DNA
• DoubleClick DART Search
• Atlas
• Ressac Media
• Didit.com
• Omniture Search Center
• ??

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Conclusion

• On our own
• High of 8 (no purchases) to 450
• Low of cents!
• Average 40 across campaign
• With Affiliates
• 2 CPA
• Branding challenges
• With 24/7 Real Media and Decide DNA
• Way, way below our average CPA!
• Way more control

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Thanks for your time!

• Seema Khosla
• skhosla_at_westjet.com