Posts Tagged ‘advertising’
2010 looks brighter for digital media
The digital media industry should look toward this year with cautious optimism, according to comScore.
As part of its 2009 US Digital Year in Review, comScore highlighted a number of likely digital media trends for 2010. Although many companies sought opportunities in new markets during 2009, sustained increases in consumer demand will be necessary to drive continued growth in digital advertising.
Top Digital Media Trends for 2010
- Despite a significant drop-off in growth rates, e-commerce remains a relative bright spot for retailers. New buyers continue to enter the channel, and as average spending per buyer rebounds off its 2009 lows the ecommerce channel should return to healthy growth rates. The online media channel also continues to be an important driver of offline purchase behavior, so marketers in all industries need to retain a clear focus on having an online presence, where their consumers frequently begin the purchase process.
- Social networking and social media continue to drive much of the innovation occurring around the internet today. A critical challenge remains the ability to effectively harness the marketing intelligence inherent in the way people communicate and interact with one another through the digital medium and make it actionable. Even as new capabilities emerge that leverage the “social” value of the medium, this channel already delivers substantial reach for ad campaigns and despite low click-through rates, there is measurable view-through value from these ads.
- The U.S. search market saw significant innovation from the core engines in 2009, with Bing’s growth promising to make the market more competitive. The trends to watch in 2010 include increased integration of real-time (i.e., Twitter) and vertical-specific search results as the engines seek to both improve the user experience and move the consumer more efficiently down the decision funnel.
- Online video continues to capitalize on the continued increase in media fragmentation, consumer-generated content, and a rising generation of consumers very comfortable using their computers as primary or secondary entertainment devices. As this market has emerged, higher quality video and more seamless integration of video ads are emerging and adding value to the digital advertising market, to the benefit of both advertisers and publishers.
- The digital display advertising market is innovating on several fronts right now, including the emergence of new ad units that promote higher engagement, cutting edge ad targeting techniques, the development of niche audience ad networks, and the increasing popularity of online ad exchanges to buy and sell inventory. Each of these developments is contributing to the improved allocation and effectiveness of digital ad campaigns. Marketers must maintain a critical eye on the performance of their campaigns, in relation to how both digital media and traditional media components are performing.
- With so many new smartphone models reaching the market in 2009, this year promises a rapid increase in market penetration of these devices, which likely means a corresponding uptick in mobile web usage. As more consumers turn to their mobile devices for consuming content and managing their digital lives, there is significant opportunity for innovators to deliver new value to consumers in how they use these devices. The development of mobile applications across new platforms also presents new business opportunity and monetization potential for publishers and developers alike.
Marketers going after moms on social networks such as Facebook know by now that users rarely embrace ads in environments where they are focused on socializing with friends.
Data from lucid marketing and Lisa Finn shows that most mom Facebook users feel neutral about ads on the social network, compared with about 36% who actively disliked them. Only a tiny percentage of respondents reported liking ads on Facebook.
Attitudes of US mothers towards Facebook advertising
Moms were much more receptive to marketing in general, however—at least when done on their terms. Though most moms used Facebook primarily to keep in touch with friends and family, and only 10.4% said they focused on checking out companies or products, three-quarters were fans of at least one company or brand.
Reasons US mothers use Facebook
Further, some 16% of mom Facebook users followed more than 10 companies’ fan pages. Respondents named parenting-specific pages as their favorites, along with restaurant, grocery and entertainment pages—especially kid-oriented ones.
The survey found mothers on Facebook savvy about marketing and skeptical of offers that seemed to good to be true. They expected companies to be straightforward and respectful of their time, and indicated a great interest in special offers and deals exclusive to Facebook, such as coupons they could send to their friends on the site.
“Facebook is fertile ground for marketers to engage mothers and drive sales, but it needs to be done on their terms,” said Kevin Burke, president of lucid marketing, in a statement. “They have no time for brands that don’t ‘get it,’ but they do embrace brands that play by their rules.”
Yellow Pages Directory
Though 2009 was a tough year for some Yellow Pages directory publishers, the industry is entering 2010 with “fresh optimism,” according to Neg Norton, president of the Yellow Pages Association (YPA), who noted that small businesses are beginning to show signs of recovery and growth. At the same time, publishers are diversifying their business models to incorporate more online offerings and more interactive capabilities.
In a blog post on Search Engine Land, Norton recently shared his top-four market trend predictions that will likely affect small businesses looking to harness local search.
The top local search predictions for 2010:
1. Mobile will drive local search growth: Last year, BIA/Kelsey predicted that mobile local search ad revenues will grow to $130 million by 2013, and that mobile local searches will increase to 35% of all searches by 2013. Amid this growth, the Yellow Pages industry is seeing significant innovation on the mobile front, from new Yellow Pages iPhone apps to mapping technologies that deliver relevant local information to users on the go.
Norton added that in 2010, advertisers will be faced with a growing set of options, and many will have limited knowledge of how to break through. The providers that will do well will be the ones who can make sense of this quickly changing platform and deliver programs that offer quality sales leads to advertisers.
2. Local search providers will vie for social: Though no one yet “owns” social local search, all of the major players in the space have their eye on this prize. This is because, according to Nielsen, ad spending at top social media sites increased 119% over the last year, and the share of social media ad spending to total online spending doubled to 15% in 2009.
Because of the significant trust that exists within online social communities and the fact that social networks have become a crucial way in which consumers relate to one another, players in the local search industry will seek to find ways to tap into those networks to serve local business information to consumers in search of it.
3. Local print advertising will decline but won’t disappear: Though many industry watchers have been predicting the death of print media for a long time, Norton doesn’t think it will disappear anytime soon. Instead, he points to the fact that usage is changing. Media fragmentation is causing a gradual decline in the quantity of print Yellow Pages references, for example, although the quality of those references is still very high. Norton added that the “perception of usage decline in the printed Yellow Pages far exceeds the reality of what is actually happening.”
“For advertisers, this shift in usage means taking a close look at advertising spending and evaluating investment in print,” Norton said. “Those who are too quick to abandon it may see a reduction in qualified sales leads, while those who aren’t open newer platforms might be missing opportunity.”
4. A hybrid marketing approach will win: A good deal of Yellow Pages industry discussion this year has focused on the hybrid model that has been deployed in many sales teams. Yellow Pages sales representatives, for example, are now armed with portfolios of options ranging from owned products to partner products. In this way, the reps are positioned as advertising consultants to small businesses.
To take advantage of such resources, advertisers need to devote some time to thinking through their options and devising a strategy that spans the appropriate media for the business. “It’s more important than ever to consider a hybrid approach because today’s consumers get information for a multitude of places before making a purchasing decision,” Norton said, adding that this fragmentation will only continue to grow in 2010 and beyond.
Trends in Retailing for 2010
Companies seeking to reach out to consumers this year need to prove they are good corporate citizens and also need to tailor their products, services and messaging to an audience that is constantly online, according to consumer insights firm trendwatching.com.
Trendwatching.com’s top 10 consumer trends for 2010:
1. Business as unusual: Companies must move “with the culture,” meaning they need to be transparent and honest about their efforts to conduct environmentally sustainable business practices and genuinely collaborate with their customers rather than try to dictate to them. Trendwatching.com cites Google, Amazon, Zappos and Virgin as four companies that are successfully conducting “business as unusual.”
2. Urbany: As of 2008, more than half of the world’s population resides in cities. This means increasingly sophisticated consumers want daring goods, services, experiences, campaigns and conversations.
3. Real-time Reviews: Consumers are constantly online with immediate access to reviews of products and services by fellow consumers. Companies must either offer products and services which are so good they are beyond criticism or involve customers in product design from day one to minimize the chance of a bad reaction.
4. (F)luxury: Consumers want luxury, but there is no longer a clear definition of “luxury.” To create a sense of luxury, companies should produce products and services that are scarce or radically different from what is on the marketplace.
5. Mass Mingling: Consumers who interact online through social networks increasingly are taking those virtual relationships into the “real world.” Companies should help facilitate real-world meetups from social networks in a way that promotes their brand.
6. Eco-Easy: Time-strapped consumers want to be ecologically conscious but don’t want to expend time or effort in doing so, creating a market for products and services that make it easy to be “green.”
7. Tracking & Alerting: Using online technology, consumers want to instantly track and be alerted of events and information they find interesting or important.
8. Embedded Generosity: Consumers will continue to respond well to products and services which have a charitable component, such as apparel items which have a portion of their profits donated to a worthy cause.
9. Profile Myning: Consumers are increasingly protective of their online privacy and are receptive to products and services which offer security for online social networking activities.
10. Maturalism: Short for “mature materialism,” this trend revolves around consumers’ increasing receptiveness to products, services and advertising campaigns which are edgy, controversial and push social boundaries.
A recent study on the social networking habits of US women by social media platform SheSpeaks supports trendwatcher’s predictions for the domination of the consumer marketplace by online social networks. The study found that 86% of US women now have a profile on at least one social networking site, with 50% of female social media users saying they have purchased products because of information on social networking sites, and 40% reporting they have used coupon codes found on social networks.
Generation-Y women discover new brands and get most of their style inspiration and product recommendations from blogs and social media, according to a recent research report from PopSugar Media and Radar Research.
The “Why Y Women” report (pdf), which examined both the sphere of influence and generational differences between Gen X and Y women also revealed that two-thirds (67%) of Generation X women say that Generation Y women make up the most influential age group when it comes to defining trends in popular culture.
Y Women ‘Major’ Force
According to PopSugar Media, study results suggest that Generation Y women are a major force in determining cultural trends and setting the pace for style. An overwhelming 92% of Gen Y women consider their generation to be the trend leader.
Gen Y women are also influential brand advocates, the research found. When they discover a brand they love, 61% say they “share it with as many friends as possible,” and they are likely to share it across a spectrum of platforms, including email, social networks, online reviews, blog comments, SMS/MMS, phone, and face-to-face. They are twice as likely to use online social networking sites to share their recommendations than Gen X women (28% vs. 15%).Survey results also suggest that Gen Y women are more brand loyal than many may assume. The research found that Gen Y and Gen X on virtually on par in this area (79% vs. 84%), though the level of brand loyalty varies by category.
Gen Y women trust on line reviews and blogs
Peer Group Redefined
How Gen-Y women define their peer group also is a significant change from previous generations. The study found that it not only includes their “real-life’ friends but also online friends, blog writers, anonymous reviewers, Twitter followers, and other participants in online communities – many whom they may have never met. As a result, this generation has a wider network of connections than Gen X women.
Blogs and Social Media as Cultural Influencers
Blogs and social media, rather than traditional media, have emerged as key trusted and inspirational sources for Gen Y to discover brands and products, the research found. Nearly twice as many Gen-Y women than Gen-X women say they rely on blogs to influence their decisions to buy a product (28% vs. 16%). Twice as many Gen Y women than Gen X women report they discovered a new brand or product from a friend’s status update on a social networking site (42% vs. 22%).
Consumption of new media, such as blogs, reinforce Gen Y women’s perception of themselves as more individualistic than earlier generations. This generation of women cites blogs as being more accessible, more likely to be honest, on the cutting edge, and more likely to know about trends first. They also believe the “commentor community” on blogs is very important. Gen-Y women say they often find new ideas about websites and products from other readers’ comments on blogs.
Context is Vital
Not surprisingly, Gen-Y women are very media savvy and conscious of attempts to market to them and are not easily swayed to action by advertising, either offline or online. While they aren’t likely to click on an online ad, they are influenced by advertising messages and are highly aware of brand messages online, such as in online magazines, search engines, blogs, social networking sites, and even ads. When asked if they’ve ever discovered a new product via an online ad they saw but didn’t click on, almost two in five (38%) reported they did.
The study’s findings, according to PopSugar, demonstrate that context is vital when it comes to brand perception and advertising and largely determines trust in a brand.
“The results of this study underscore how much marketers must think and act differently when addressing this generation of women online. It shows they want to be addressed as individuals, they can be skeptical of marketing messages, and they are inundated by media and advertising,” said Brian Sugar, founder and CEO of Sugar, Inc. “As this study and our experience proves, it’s crucial for brands to create a trusted relationship and earn their loyalty through honest dialogue about their brand. Once they have a personal connection to a brand, Gen Y women will be passionate advocates and ambassadors. Our goal has been to work closely with brands to help facilitate that relationship.”
Sugar added that context matters a great deal to Gen Y women, and recommended that marketers be very selective about the sites they advertise on and avoid mass-reach network buys they cannot control.
Moreover, because Gen-Y women rarely click on online adds, using click-through as a metric of campaign success is not effective. Instead, Sugar suggests using multiple digital touch points that are interactive but non-intrusive, to offer opportunities to engage with brands. These might be contests, games, custom integrated content, and discounts and incentives for attention.
If you are a retailer or business owner I thought you’d be interested in this interview and article from E-Markerter-
Denise Zimmerman, president and chief strategy officer of NetPlus Marketing Inc., has spent the past 18 years of her career focusing on the emerging digital landscape and best practice applications in marketing, advertising and communications. She talks to eMarketer about the different forms social commerce takes and how retailers can understand it.
eMarketer: Why do people like to follow a brand on its Facebook fan page?
Denise Zimmerman: That answer depends on the retailer you’re talking about and how they use the platform. This is an interesting challenge for retailers, too. Because of the kind of communications and messaging you’re talking about, social media demands a very intense, thoughtful plan and approach in terms of what we call brand.
And not all of them have been good at this. I think Best Buy kind of breaks the mold. Zappos certainly does. Target does. Some of your larger retailers understand and cultivate their brand, and they can tell you what their brand is. But there are a whole host of them whose marketing, for the most part, historically has reflected commodity-type marketing—price promotion and very DM-focused—which is why they initially really latched onto affiliate marketing, search marketing, pay-for-performance type stuff. But when you’re out there in terms of communicating on these sorts of platforms, you really have to consider what is your brand. Your brand could be about price.
eMarketer: How much social commerce actually takes place on Facebook?
“If you successfully connect and make shopping valuable to the community in a way that’s easy and accessible and meets their needs, it’s a no-brainer.”
Ms. Zimmerman: I know that just when I’m out there and I regularly check what’s going on, I connect to a lot of these folks myself. I think it’s a natural evolution. Maybe I’m biased, but I don’t think so. If you successfully connect and make shopping valuable to the community in a way that’s easy and accessible and meets their needs, it’s a no-brainer.
eMarketer: Retail Websites are offering more and more social shopping features such as Facebook Connect. Do such features pose a competitive threat to social shopping sites or do they complement each other?
Ms. Zimmerman: I think they sort of complement each other. When we develop what we call a socially enabled Website, we don’t even like to call it a Website. We call it a social hub, which is really an evolution of the Website experience. So it should be really an experiential extension of the brand or of the retailer. When somebody goes to your Website, what they experience there should be reflective of the brand and however that expresses itself in terms of functionality, design, features and all that sort of thing.
“The social aspect is really an evolution of the brand experience.”
I think the social aspect is really an evolution of the brand experience. The big question from a very, very tactical perspective is the level of investment in terms of the technology, in terms of how you want to really enable your site: What’s going to really enhance that experience and furthermore what’s going to ultimately drive the sale?
The priority of a retailer is to focus on enhancing that shopping experience in how it actually influences the purchase. And there might be some community aspects to that. This comes down to really understanding your customers, understanding their shopping behavior, understanding what they want, understanding how they’re currently interacting with your site, understanding where your sales are coming from.
Social Network Distribution
If you have ever wondered how intrusive social networking has become in our daily lives, or if it just seems that people around you are obsessed with their social media network, then you might just be right. In new research from the US, social media users say that social networking is now one of their most important activities on a daily basis, both on line and off line, and you thought it was just people like me who were obsessed with it didn’t you.
Only email was considered more important, with chatting and web browsing as daily activities ranking lower. When asked to compare online social networking with off line activities, social media site users only found going out with friends more important, that puts social networking ahead of real life activities such as playing games,watching TV and playing sport.
So what is the top activity on these internet social networks? 81% of site users said posting photos as their top activity with responding to others posts and posting about their own thoughts or daily activities, next in line.
Now the good news, and this is really very important news for companies who are using social media, is that over 40% of users said they linked in with a company, product or service on a social network, and 38% had actually clicked on paid advertisements.
Another very important consideration for business in this survey, is the trust factor, users of social networks place high trust in their social network, with more than 50% saying they considered information shared on their network when considering or researching products or services, and this trust factor was higher amongst the younger users, with over 65% of 18 to 24 year olds using referrals or advertising gained from their social network.
This finding is very very important for those in the business community, because the survey shows that Gen X&Y have integrated social media networks into their daily lives in such a way, that it has now become a trusted resource in their decision making process.
The inclusion of social media into your marketing plan is now vital, particularly when it comes to building brand loyalty for the future. Creating trust and having the right strategy in place for social networking is the key factor in building success with social networks, understanding how to network within in this space and becoming the trusted adviser are the key elements to a successful social media strategy.
Mike Andrew owns and operates an Internet Marketing Consultancy on the Gold Coast in Queensland
The number of marketing professionals world wide now using social media for business purposes has grown in the last 12 months. In a new survey released in August over 86% of marketing professionals from all industries had adopted social media as a marketing and branding tool. Most of the usage of social media is for marketing at 57% with internal communication the next highest at 39%. Using social media as a customer service and support medium has also grown, with 30% of businesses now using it to communicate with their customers.
The other interesting trend that is starting to appear is the placement of staff to handle social media full time within these businesses, with over 57% now committing full time staff to monitor update and service their social media sites.
The top marketing professionals are now either integrating social media within their existing web site or using stand alone sites to maximise the SEO result of a social media strategy. The one area that still lags behind all other forms of advertising is interestingly enough, ROI or return on investment, only 16% of companies had a monitoring and measurement system in place and 4 out of 10 executives did not even know if the tools they were using had an ROI capability.
If your company is looking to integrate a social media strategy into your marketing plans, please let us know, social media is more than a Facebook page and/or a Twitter profile, let us design and manage your social media strategy so that you get the best ROI on your investment.
Mike Andrew is the CEO of Social Media Strategy Company Mike Andrew Consulting.
I guess some of you may think I sit around all day researching social media trends, well if you do, you’re right. To really stay on top of all the changes that happen in social media, it really is important that we stay up to date on the ever moving landscape. So here is another little juicy gem for those marketing folks out there looking at using the social media networks as advertising mediums.
It’s important to understand the searching and viewing habits of the audience you’re trying to impact, and social media sites are changing the way we search on line, and as marketers, relying on this information and understanding where and how your audience views or searches for information on social media sites is vital.
So with that in mind, which are the best days to run your adds or banners, and which days generate the best click thru rates for advertisers? Some new research out today sheds some light on this and here are the results for you. Content posted on Facebook based brand pages has a higher than average click thru rate on a Tuesday, the average click thru rate on Tuesday is 9.89%, the highest of any day. Wednesday follows closely behind with click rates of 9.87%.
Friday and Saturday had the lowest click rates with a very measly 2.67% on Friday and 2.7% on Saturdays. If you take all the days into account, click thrus for Facebook brand pages average 6.76%. This average is lower than Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but still much higher than average CTRs for display advertising across social networks in general, including Facebook itself.
So really what this research means, is that certain days of the week are better for launching a product promotion, and by really understanding how consumers use social media sites, you and your company can start to target where you’ll get the best return on your investment.
In a nut shell, what this all means, is that you really need to have a well thought out communication strategy for updating your Facebook brand page and understand when to create promotions to get optimum response.
Response to your marketing on social media sites is better early in the week then dwindles and picks up again on Sundays.
In my next post, I’ll cover the results of the latest eye tracking study for you, that is a very interesting result.
About the data:The sample data reported is compiled from nearly 200 million fans impressions on Facebook pages over a five-month period (March – August 2009).
Social Media Madness
You put a lot of work in setting up your profiles on social media sites, making sure that you include all the relevant information, contact numbers, email address, great looking photo, update it regularly and then – Nothing!
It’s called Social Media, but sometimes the people who use social media are not social at all.
So get out there, meet and network these social media users, introduce yourself and create conversations. The more you network or meet people on the web, the more followers you will generate.
You have just entered the biggest conference or social event in the world and if you stand in the corner and do nothing, that is what you will get out of all of your efforts. I only update or post when I have something to say that is relevant to you, my readers.
Ahh, have I got your attention with that comment? You are not stalking other users, they are there to network just like you and get information from like minded people on all kinds of interests and passions.
Start conversations with them, invite them to connect with you and network. Good luck and please let me know your thoughts on this post and wether you found the information helpful.
One of the things that I notice when I talk to people, is they can talk passionately about the subject that is closest to them when they are face to face, but as soon as they get in front of a computer, they become totally different people. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs are all big social events and you need to get out and create traffic by inviting and following other users.
That’s because you need to introduce yourself & work the room. This way you will start to build a following and this in turn creates more followers, as like minded social media users will find you and your sites.
Update often, but make your updates relevant, don’t waste their time when they start to follow you, for instance, I made a decision when I started this blog, not to include gossip or to criticise other portals when I post, this blog has always been there to provide you with helpful and useful information on social media and internet marketing, and I’ve stuck to that theme.
Here’s a great social media video that will help you get to terms with how to work the room. This social media networking applies to all your on line activities, they way you write, structure your content etc, all impacts on the way your content will be viewed on social media sites.
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