A Pinch of Social Media Makes a Helluva Broth
Guest post by Scott Severson (@scottseverson), President of ARAnet, Inc. in Minneapolis. He is widely published on the subject of digital marketing, and has been a driving force in the development of Adfusion, an article-based advertising solution that utilizes a two-click model to drive qualified and motivated consumers to its clients’ Web destinations. Do you […]
Let’s Stop Swooning Over Social Media
Are you overdoing it on social media? Just a little? I’m a proponent of social media. In fact, I’m a proponent that gets paid to convince others that social media is valuable. But, like in the early days of Web design, SEO, PPC, email, and banners before it, there’s too much swooning and not enough […]
Think Bottom Line, Not Top Line, on Social Media ROI
There’s been a lot of conversation lately about social media ROI but the hand-wringing about it is totally misplaced. True ROI (return on investment) calculations are possible in cause/effect marketing scenarios where you can isolate tactics and variables to determine incremental revenue generated. Today, the only marketing programs that can semi-reliably generate “real” ROI calculations are SEO, […]
NHL Misses Net in New Campaign – Where’s Social Media?
The National Hockey League has rolled out a series of compelling TV spots featuring some of the game’s biggest stars. And while the new commercials – with a theme of “Is This The Year?” will run nationally on Canadian broadcast and U.S. cable television, like so many campaigns, it’s being forced to go it alone. How […]
5 Reasons Why Digital Marketing Will Thrive in the Recession
From Dot Bomb to Dot Boom Let’s face it. The economy is taking on the distinctive, sickly pallor of a post Mardi Gras Keith Richards. Generally, recessions hit the advertising business with the ferocity of a rabid wolverine, and the last one trimmed overall ad spending by 9% according to market researchers Veronis Suhler Stevenson. […]
The Alarming Truth About Digital Marketing’s Imperfections
A One Legged Stool There’s no question the Internet has been good to me. The last two jobs I had before getting involved in Internet marketing in 1994 were spokesman for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (prison tours), and marketing director for Waste Management (landfill tours). I prefer this gig as it is smell […]
Internet Advertising to Grow 20% in 2008
A new report from Bernstein Research says online advertising in the U.S. will grow by 20% in 2008, despite weakness in travel, auto, and financials. Top categories for online advertising spend include: Finance, insurance, real estate – 29.6% of overall spend Media and entertainment – 25.2% Retail – 13.8% Other – 12.9% Auto – 8.6% […]
3 New Features for Google’s Ad Planner
Google announced on Friday via one of their blogs that they have added 3 new features to Ad Planner. (note: for more about Ad Planner, and Google’s long-term plan to totally change the ad agency business, read this post from Convince & Convert’s greatest hits) Impressive that Google has made pretty significant upgrades to Ad […]
Automakers Increase Internet Ads – Why It Will Work
AdAge reports that GM has moved approximately 25% of its total media budget online over the past three years. That’s 25% of a $2 billion+ annual media spend. A current focus for GM’s online initiatives is the new Used Car Ambush program, a microsite and online campaign intended to convince used car shoppers to purchase […]
3 Reasons Why Social Networks Are Bad Ad Buys
A recent article by Michael Estrin in iMediaConnection asks whether social media has lost its luster from an advertising standpoint. Traffic and usage of the major social networks continues to soar, with traffic to Facebook and Linked In up considerably in the past 30 days. In fact, LinkedIn which is considered to be the least […]
Is Digital Marketing Killing Magazine Ads?
A report last week by the Publishers Information Bureau found that advertising pages in the nation’s magazines declined by 7.4% compared to the first half of 2007. With the stock market down by about 20%, and house prices down at least that much in some parts of the country, a 7% dip in magazine ads […]
Media Buyers Say Internet Advertising Will Grow in Next 6 Months
Market Research firm Advertising Perceptions released a new survey of 1,811 media buyers showing that a whopping 72% of them believe Internet advertising spend will increase in the second half of 2008. This is a shocking finding, considering that no other medium (other than mobile) was expected to grow by more than 28% of the […]
What’s Your Word Worth? Measuring Word of Mouth Online
Fascinating article in BrandWeek today about putting a value on word of mouth marketing. BzzAgent, a word of mouth marketing agency (how’s that for a good gig if you can get it), says they figure an online conversation about a brand is worth 50 cents. It’s admirable that somebody is trying to put a value […]
Head of Giant Media Agency Totally Misses the Point of the Web
Media Daily News reporting from the Advertising Research Foundation conference in NYC says that Lee Doyle, CEO of Mediaedge:cia (who bill themselves as the world’s first global media planners) believes “low-interest” advertisers aren’t embracing the Web. Why? Lee says it’s because consumers don’t use the Web to research paper towels or household goods…. Wow. So […]
Are you spending enough on digital marketing?
GroupM (the holding company for all of the WPP media agencies), issued a new report saying that share of spend on digital and interactive media has increased from 8% in 2005 to 14% this year. They project the total to increase to 16% next year as new digital marketing tactics like mobile and behavioral targeting […]
The Death of the Deal: Google aims to transform old school media buying
Rerouting inefficient markets is what the Internet does best. Wherever lack of information transparency requires regular folks to use specialists to make a transaction, the Internet will discredit and then cripple that industry. The former travel agents and stockbrokers serving your Bloomin’ Onion at Outback can attest to the Net’s unique ability to eliminate the […]