August 07, 2009

Recongnized for "Most Effective Use of Web Analytics" for PR Newswire and "best Integration of Search with Other Media" for Embarq

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz - iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency, today announced that it has been named a finalist for two Search Engine Watch (SEW) Awards, including “Most Effective Use of Web Analytics” for its work with PR Newswire and “Best Integration of Search with Other Media” for its work with Embarq.

Judged by a panel of industry experts and the SEW editorial staff, the SEW Awards honor 14 outstanding search marketers, search engines and technology providers who inspire innovation and encourage new ideas. In partnership with Search Engine Strategies (SES), the leading international conference series, SEW and SES have been the leading source for webmasters, digital agencies, online marketers and corporate decision makers for more than 10 years.

iCrossing was named a finalist for “Most Effective Use of Web Analytics” for its work with PR Newswire on Visibility Reports, a new interactive data dashboard that helps companies measure the full impact and audience engagement of press releases issued via PR Newswire. Within the first three-week period of the dashboard launch, more than 800 corporate and agency clients began using the system to improve the future effectiveness of their news releases. Today, thousands of PR Newswire's clients rely on the system to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

"We measure a variety of metrics for each press release, ranging from search engine referrals and search terms used to interaction with the news on public and media sites,” said Sarah Skerik, Vice President, Products - Customer Experience PR Newswire. “The Visibility Reports dashboard consolidates these data points for the tens of thousands of press releases we issue, enabling each client to gain a clear view of the results their publicity efforts generated."

iCrossing was also named a finalist for “Best Integration of Search with Other Media” for its work with Embarq. iCrossing launched a branded YouTube channel and corresponding “48 Seconds” video submission contest for Embarq. To support the contest, iCrossing created anintegrated marketing campaign, including word-of-mouth, geo-targeted display advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), paid search and pay-per-click. The project was an innovative approach to applying search, research, creative and display to drive connections with consumers via social media channels. 

"Embarq was thrilled to partner with iCrossing on our YouTube channel launch,” said Kevin Cobb, Interactive Brand Manager, Embarq. “We were looking for a way to ramp up our digital marketing efforts. iCrossing's expertise and commitment to deliver an effective, integrated strategy helped us exceed our objectives." 

The winners will be announced during Search Engine Strategies (SES) San Jose, August 10-14. iCrossing will be exhibiting in booth 614 during the event. In addition, Rachel Pasqua, iCrossing’s mobile practice lead, will present on the “Follow the Carrot: Cool Mobile Apps” panel on August 13. She will discuss strategies to help brands extend their presence on the mobile Web and explore future mobile applications.