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Online B2B Marketing to Grow 12% Annually

2010-02-02T06:52:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Steve Smith

After a tough 2009 for b2b marketing, investment in online efforts will grow 8% this year and 14% in 2012, says AMR International in a report it will release later this week. AMR CEO Denzil Rankine says that market cycles and the shift of media dollars away from print will be the bulwarks of growth in coming years. He predicts that compound annual growth for onloine b2b marketing will be 12% through 2013. Only 7% of all b2b marketing spend went online in 2008, but that share should reach 12% by 2013. "Overall B2B marketing spending is likely to grow at 4% to 2013," Rankine tells minonline. "Although magazines will continue their structural decline, online, direct mail and events are all likely to grow – albeit at varying rates.”

While an 8% surge in 2010 is hearty, AMR is calling for an even better 14% expansion of digital spend 2012. New digital channels, more media outlets and experimentation with new forms of marketing are attracting more money online, but publishers still need to figure out how best to capture those moving dollars. AMR expects that b2b advertising into social media will grow at an average annual rate of 21% into 2013, while lead generation will grow 17% annually. The good news for print and events is that two-thirds of b2b marketers surveyed for this report believe that online efforts must be complemented by traditional marketing.

Even more to the point for marketers, “new channels and products are still poorly understood or inadequately measured.” AMR is critical of current b2b publisher approaches and warns that their products online are still not innovative enough and do not offer the necessary back end metrics for accountability. AMR finds that only half of b2b marketers currently analyze metrics in an sytematic way to determine ROI on their investments, but those that do measure results formally consider online marketing more effective.

AMR International’s report on b2b marketing will be released this week at the DeSilva + Phillips Dealmakers Summit. Look for more detail on its findings in next week’s issue of min’s b2b.

If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com

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6 Mobile Musts for Your Online Business

2010-01-21T09:40:00.001-08:00

Use these tips to prepare for the coming smartphone search revolution.

By Allen Moon | January 20, 2010

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Having a great day!

2010-01-13T10:35:00.001-08:00

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Content 'still king' as search market consolidates

2010-01-12T06:50:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, 12 Jan 2010 09:43

Online marketing professionals concerned about the impact of the Microsoft-Yahoo! search deal on their web operations should be aware that content will still be important, according to one expert.

Writing for Search Engine Land, Mike Dobbs of agency 360i said that website content will still be king even after the search market consolidates into two major players rather than the current three.

Both Google and Bing look at a wide range of website content, meaning that businesses should be prepared to consider web pages, documents, mash-ups, videos and images in their search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign, he explained.

"These are just a few avenues marketers can leverage to more proactively communicate with search engines to increase visibility, relevance and search display," Mr Dobbs remarked.

Other factors to look at this year when it comes to SEO include making use of Google and Bing's webmaster tools and investing in analytics to track the success of online marketing campaigns, he added.

Businesses should also consider mobile marketing in 2010, according to eMarketer, which has predicted big things for the medium over the next 12 months.

Interested in having a DirectNews news feed on your website?

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Free Guide: Website Marketing Budget - The Real Costs of Going Online

2010-01-11T06:59:00.001-08:00

Posted by Rene LeMerle @ 1:57 am

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Whether you’re just starting out, or re-evaluating your website strategy, it’s important for you to get your plan and budget right.

The rule “Build it and they will come” rarely works in the online space. For you to be successful with your website marketing strategy – you need to have a proper plan and be realistic about the real costs of doing it properly.

Too many business owners spend $1000’s on getting a fancy website developed, only to find they have no money left to promote it.

One of our sales guys uses this analogy

“It’s like building a shopping mall in the desert. Without the budget to promote it – who’s going to find it?”

So to help you get your website design and marketing budget right – here’s a quick guide to what you need and the approximate costs to do it properly.

1. The website: Development/Design & Maintenance

The development of a website has many variables. Accordingly the costs can vary significantly depending factors such as whether its static or dynamic, whether includes a shopping cart, is the design bespoke or templated etc etc etc.

The reality is that websites can vary from $1000 – $50,000. And 90% of the time, you get what you pay for.

If it’s really cheap – it’s likely that there won’t be much functionality and it’ll use a template. The flip side of that is that if it’s too expensive – ask yourself whether you “really” need all the bells and whistles.

And most importantly – shop around. Get your requirements tight and then check with a few website designers/developers to get the best price.

Also - don’t forget to budget for hosting and maintenance. Websites often need to be tweaked in terms of content and system updates, and without hosting - you wont appear anywhere.

2. SEO – Search Engine Optimization

The majority of website traffic comes from search engines and directories. Many of our clients see upwards of 60% of traffic coming from search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing. While the organic search engine traffic is free (no click costs), you do need to invest in an SEO to ensure you’re maximizing this free search engine traffic.

SEO campaigns again vary significantly. To hire a industry leading SEO consultant can cost as much as $1000 per hour.

Here’s a guide on SEO pricing that Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz posted 2 years ago. As you can imagine – prices have grown since then…but it serves as a guide for the premium end of the scale:

Service	Low End	Mid Range	High End
Site Review + Consulting	$500	$2,500	$10,000
Hands-On Editing of Pages/Code	$2,000	$10,000	$50,000
Manual Link Building Campaign	$500	$5,000	$20,000
Keyword Research Package	$100	$500	$2,000
Monthly Retainer for Ongoing SEO	$2,500	$7,500	$20,000+

Proper SEO is an investment. If you’re in business for the long haul – you’d be crazy not to allocate a decent proportion of your early online budget on SEO – (or if your budget is tight, then study hard and invest the many hours needed to do it yourself).

To get started with an SEO campaign (fully managed by an experienced SEO professional) that’s going to generate serious results – you should be looking to pay at least $500 per month.

3. PPC – Google AdWords and Other Search Advertising

As with all things, you’re probably looking for some quick wins in terms of traffic and results from your website. This is where PPC (pay per click) Search Engine Advertising (e.g. Google AdWords) helps.

With a well setup Google AdWords campaign, you can have highly targeted visitors delivered to your website almost instantly. It’s a great way to ensure you’re still getting a return on your website investment while your SEO and other strategies take effect.

Professional PPC campaigns, depending on your industry and how much traffic you need, can cost as little as $200 per month. But be aware that with cheaper campaigns, you’ll find most of your investment is going into the setup and management – rather than the media (click costs) – which makes it hard to generate decent ROI.

A serious PPC campaign for a small business should start at approx $500…and depending on your goals – go up from there.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a is very cost effective way of generating traffic for your website. With most affiliate networks offering CPA models (cost per acquisition) – it allows you to generate traffic that for your website and only pay when that traffic converts (makes a purchase, signs up for a newsletter, submits a query).

The challenge with affiliate networks is that they take time to be effective and the best networks are often very selective as to who they promote.

Most decent networks will charge a small set up fee ($100 upwards) and then take a commission on every sales or acquisition. Some of the larger ones will also charge a monthly management fee to help you optimize your campaigns.

Most publishers will be looking for between 10% - 30% commission on sales, or a decent bonus for lead/enquiry based programs.

5. Social media, Email marketing & Ad Networks

There’s a range of other website promotion opportunities such as Social Media, Email marketing and Ad Networks.

With Social Media, it’s definitely an area that small businesses should be getting involved with, but remember; it’s not a fit for every business and Social media is like SEO - it’s an investment and normally takes a while to generate good results.

Email marketing is a very cost effective form of website marketing. It’s CPA rates are often as low as search engine marketing, but the biggest challenge is finding and building lists. So it often comes into its own after a business is up and running for a while, and you’ve had a chance to build a decent subscriber base.

There are also a range of ad networks to promote your website. Most work on a fixed monthly fee or CPM (cost per 1000 impressions basis). As neither of these models offers any guarantee on traffic to your website, they have fallen out of favour with the emergence of PPC models such as Google AdWords. That said – if you find the right network – they can still provide great exposure and traffic.

There are plenty of other ways to drive more traffic to your site, but in reality – the areas mentioned above will be your key traffic sources.

So with that in mind – you can now get a much clearer and more realistic picture of what it costs to get serious results online. Even if we use the lower end version of these costs as a guide, small business owners should be looking at

	Cost Guide
Website Development	$1000+
Hosting & Maintenance	$120+
SEO - 6mth program	$3000
Search Advertising (PPC) - 6mths	$1200
Affiliate Marketing	Depends on Program
Others	Depends on Tactics
TOTAL	$5320+

Now that’s only a starting guide, and as I’ve mentioned previously - the cheapest options aren’t always the best in terms of results and generating good ROI.

So if you’re starting a new website project - you can see there’s more to consider than just the website design costs. If you want your new website in 2010 to be a success - be realistic when doing your planning and budgeting!

Tags: Affiliate Marketing, free website marketing guide, google adwords, guide to budgeting, how much should i pay, online marketing budget, online marketing plan, SEO, Social Media Marketing, website marketing budget, website marketing plan

Rene is the marketing manager of ineedhits.com - a global search engine marketing company. He also leads the marketing for Gooruze.com - a web 2.0 style community for online and digital marketers. Rene has been in the industry since 1997 with much of that time spent helping businesses embrace the best of the internet and digital world.

View Rene LeMerle's profile

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How marketers are blowing lead management

2010-01-08T06:58:00.001-08:00

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By Michael Ferree

January 06, 2010

Article Highlights:

The first challenge for lead buyers is a lack of urgency around contacting leads
Another issue plaguing marketers and their clients is finding the ideal call frequency
The marriage of quality leads and a solid lead management process will enable advertisers to reach marketing nirvana

Online marketing has always been moving toward performance-driven models. A clear example of this evolution is Google's recent adoption of a cost per lead (CPL) model with the introduction of comparison ads. This transition has been in the making for almost two years, and at the same time, more and more advertisers are demanding this same pricing model. The reason for the shift is clear: The CPL model mitigates the risk between the advertisers/brands and marketers working on their behalf. It also ensures that both sides are invested in campaign success. However, success isn't gauged on lead volume. It's based on conversions.

Regardless of engagement structure, industry, or lead type, lead management is a critical and overlooked component of marketing. A study performed by lead management software company Leads360 exposed a number of important facts about performance-marketing and lead management. One important statistic shows that converting a lead is 57 percent lead quality and 43 percent an efficient sales process. This is noteworthy because it proves that success does not come from cultivating the highest quality leads. Success comes from lead management and lead quality. One without the other is not the answer.

Stay informed. To hear more about the latest in online brand marketing strategies, attend the iMedia Brand Summit, Feb. 7-10. Learn more about the iMedia Brand Summit.

I've had the pleasure of implementing performance-marketing campaigns for a very diverse range of industries, from life insurance to for-profit education companies, from cellular carriers to pharmaceutical companies. This experience has exposed two distinct problems in lead management programs that are troubling companies -- regardless of their industry.

Speed to contact
The first issue for lead buyers is a lack of urgency around contacting leads. To fully realize the importance of this point you first have to understand one very basic fact: Your prospective clients are shopping to find the best deal. In many cases, consumers are undecided on which company best addresses their needs, and they need help deciding. It's a widely accepted fact that consumers complete 2-3 forms before ending their searches. Contact speed is the single most important factor in lead management. Consumers need to be addressed when their interest is high. A minute later, they may lose interest or, even worse, give their business to a competitor.

A study performed by MIT, and recently confirmed by LeadQual, showed that the odds of converting a lead are five times greater when the lead is contacted within five minutes of form completion versus waiting 10 minutes. Waiting 30 minutes after receiving a lead means the odds of making contact are 100 times less than if a call was placed within five minutes. The goal is to contact leads while they're still online before they request information from a competitor.

A worse scenario is when leads are not called at all. The same survey notes that of a 423 lead sample, 37 percent were never contacted. Advertisers should use a lead management system to guarantee timely lead delivery. The rules of lead management are simple: Call your leads, and call them within five minutes. Doing so will greatly affect your bottom line, guaranteed.

Call frequency
Another issue plaguing marketers and their clients is finding the ideal call frequency. There is wide range of best practices, but I would like to narrow the field of choices.

A recent study released by Leads360 put solid data behind the answer to this question. Its study proved that there is an optimal number of contact attempts. I'm not talking about cold calling or prospecting, just about following up with contacts who have requested information or expressed interest in hearing from your company. Calling a lead at a higher frequency than recommended will not improve your chances of contacting said lead. In fact, the opposite is true. The study looked at 15 million leads and concluded that six attempts should be made to contact a lead. A more detailed explanation of this study can be found in a comment on a lead generation industry blog. The comment clearly details the likelihood of connecting with a lead with up to the 20 calls. One other thing to note is that marketers have an 87 percent higher chance of contacting the lead on call No. 2 versus call No. 1.

My suggestion is to call a lead at different times of the day for each succeeding call until the best time to call is determined with successful contact. Calling your leads at the same time every day will decrease your chances of reaching them. Your goal should be to spread your net across the largest, most diverse time range. It is also important to note that the optimal call volume may vary slightly from vertical to vertical, so a closer look at your company's specific situation should be taken into consideration.

Conclusion
Generating leads for your company or client is only half the battle, literally. The marriage of quality leads and a solid lead management process will enable both the marketer and advertiser to reach marketing nirvana. The biggest mistake companies can make when launching a lead generation campaign is only focusing on how leads are generated, not how they will be managed. The first goal is to create leads, and it's not until they filter in that advertisers realize their lead management process needs work. If you're a lead generator or marketing executive, it's your responsibility to process leads effectively. Lead management should be a top priority. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for failure.

Michael Ferree is an account director at Geary Interactive.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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Does the Google Phone Need a $100 Million Push?

2010-01-07T09:53:00.001-08:00

by Mark Walsh, Yesterday, 3:29 PM

http://twitter.com/home/?status=MediaPost%3A%20Does%20the%20Google%20Phone%20Need%20a%20%24100%20Million%20Push%3F%20' + xmlHttp.responseText + '%20%23mediapost'; //document.getElementById("tellme").innerHTML = sharelink; sharewin(sharelink); } } function facebook() { if (xmlHttp.readyState==4 || xmlHttp.readyState=="complete") { //http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=#shortLink#&t=#facebookStatus# sharelink = 'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=' + xmlHttp.responseText + '&t=MediaPost%3A%20Does%20the%20Google%20Phone%20Need%20a%20%24100%20Million%20Push%3F'; //document.getElementById("tellme").innerHTML = sharelink; sharewin(sharelink); } }

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TAGS: Mobile

Great Methods to Ensure a Great Internet Business

2010-01-05T20:42:00.001-08:00

January 05, 2010 by

Ryan Kelly

Communications via the Internet has dramatically changed the landscape of marketing. Industries and opportunities of acquiring customers have been developed and at the same time providing other marketing channels established ineffective.

Internet Marketing is constantly evolving with new technologies and methods to take advantage of them to earn money that are every day. It is the ability of evolving Internet and online marketing says the company is an important option.

For business owners who are willing to educate you on the occasion of Internet Marketing Earning money is exceptional. There are a number of people who have actually started businesses and livelihoods using the unique ability of online communications.

The Internet is very different from the established channels of advertising because of its flexibility. Unlike television ads or newspaper require a type and can handle marketing of various digital marketing methods and profits are limited only by the imagination of the person developing the marketing strategy.

For people who own their own business or looking to open a line of communication has better prospects than ever before. There are a number of different useful channels for the sale of services and systems for the production of income. Here is information on some popular systems for a lifeline.

Market research is a major concern for many large businesses and Web has changed a lot of methods to lead their organizations Market. A growing number of discussion groups online and run through participation are possible to obtain payment. To be a part you must subscribe to a research company market then organize discussion groups. Being a member of a research group may be worth perhaps a few hundred dollars for each survey.

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Maximizing Twitter Use For Your Business

2010-01-05T07:30:00.001-08:00

Your virtual assistant can help you maximize the use of your Twitter account

Published on January 03, 2010

by Lawrence Perry

(NewsPR.us and OfficialWire)

LONDON, ENGLAND

Twitter is 2009’s biggest online social network. There is so much hype surrounding the service that it has grown to become a top social media in the past year. The service also gets so much positive press with people talking about the service, writing about it and recommending it to friends, relatives, business colleagues and other contacts. People and media started to take notice, pushing the service even higher. With the validation that the online messaging service has received from various sides, more people just wanted to get on Twitter so that they can see what the buzz is all about. There are already some people that have proclaimed that Twitter is the next big thing in marketing. The secret of course is in getting a move on early and really working hard on online marketing to gain true success in using Twitter and other social media for marketing.

If you want to really maximize the use of Twitter, you need one thing- a dedicated person to manage your social media accounts. Large corporations realized this early on and have assigned individuals or teams to manage their online accounts so that they can actively participate in the online discussions for the company.

Small and large companies who do are uncertain about hiring a team and really committing to social media have the option to hire a virtual assistant to serve as their social media representative. The virtual assistant provides flexibility to companies because it’s possible to hire a virtual assistant without getting into any long-term commitments. You can hire a virtual assistant to manage your social accounts for a few months just to see how the VA will fare in terms of managing your accounts. When you see that the virtual assistant is competent in creating contents for your social media as well as in following people, starting conversations, monitoring online discussions and the other tasks related to your social media account then you can hire the virtual assistant to work full-time for you as a social media manager. When you hire a virtual assistant to manage your Twitter account, you can really take full advantage of the service for your business.

Visit our virtual personal assistant sponsor: www.catchfriday.com

Contact

CatchFriday.com
Lawrence Perry
lawrence.perry@catchfriday.com
Tel: 020 8432 6450

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Mad scientists top poll of online marketing campaigns

2010-01-03T09:09:00.001-08:00

By Enjoli Liston

Online videos of two self-proclaimed mad scientists conducting explosive ‘Mentos experiments with Diet Coke’ have topped a poll of the most significant online marketing campaigns of last decade.

1099 online voters from across the globe chose their internet favourites from a shortlist of 40, compiled by the viral marketing agency GoViral.

Dove’s 2006 ‘Evolution’ campaign earned second place, for its ability to earn the trust of consumers by showing one woman’s transformation from girl next door to made-up model. And third place went to Blendtec founder Tom Dickinson for his range of videos to illustrate the power of his blender, which earned the slogan ‘Will it blend?’ a firm place in the pages of internet history.

There was also recognition for President Barack Obama, whose “great use of online advertising, social media and mobile” during his race for the presidency allowed him to “connect with millions of young, influential voters in a way that will act as a blueprint for all future political campaigns,” according to GoViral.

The videos that beat the American President to the top slot were made by juggler and lawyer duo Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, also known as Eepybird, who began filming their infamous Mentos and Diet Coke geysers in their backyards in 2006.

Mentos announced a 20 per cent increase in sales for 2007 alone, and estimate that the resultant craze for the experiments, which Eepybird encourage viewers to try for themselves at home, is worth $10 million in free advertising every year. Since first airing, it’s estimated that the videos have attracted over 60 million viewers worldwide.

GoViral have proclaimed these viral videos ‘game changers’ because of the profound effect they have had on the world of online marketing.

The agency’s Chairman, Jimmy Maymann, who nominated several of the short-listed entries said what made the Eepybird experiments so significant was the fact that Mentos and Diet Coke didn’t know the videos existed when they were first aired online. “It proved conclusively that in the internet age, when it’s so easy for people to create content and broadcast it, brands no longer have full control over their marketing,” said Maymann, in a statement. “It also proved that brands who embrace what’s happening around them in social media can go on to achieve incredible results.”

The Top Ten Online Marketing Campaigns: 2000 - 2009

1. 2006: Eepybird.com - Mentos and Diet Coke experiments

http://www.eepybird.com/dcm1.html

2. 2006: Dove – Evolution:

3. 2006: Blendtec – Will it blend

http://www.blendtec.com/willitblend/

4. 2007: Diesel – Heidis 15mb of fame

http://www.farfar.se/awards/cannes2007/heidies/

5. 2004: Burger King - Subserviant Chicken

http://www.bk.com/en/us/campaigns/subservient-chicken.html

6. 2008: Obama’s online campaign

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/ofasplashpresident/

7. 2000: John West – Bear

8. 2009: Tourism Queensland - Best Job in the World

9. 2008: Burger King - Whopper sacrifice

10. 2008: Cadbury’s - Gorilla

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Internet Marketing 101: Email trends for 2010

2009-12-31T07:50:00.001-08:00

With 2010 mere days away, most marketers are frantically putting the finishing touches on marketing plans. Before focusing too hard on video or social ad formats, however, marketers should plan a bit more in email. Email is old, you say? Email is proven, say the experts.

by Kristina Knight

Blaine Mathieu, chief marketing officer with email hub Lyris, insists that email will continue to be a strong force in marketing through the New Year. Here are Mathieu's top five trends for 2010.

1) "Email will continue to be an anchor for multimedia and online marketing," said Mathieu. "All indications are that email will continue to grow into 2010. Email is recognized as the highest ROI form of online marketing and it's measurable. Even though email is the 'grandfather', it really is the cornerstone and will remain.

2) Mathieu also expects to see more integration between email and social ad platforms. "As part of the social mix, online marketers will continue to integrate social media with email marketing to ensure that brands, projects and products are cross-marketed and connecting with consumers.

3) More than just social integration, though, Mathieu expects to see integration of most other online ad formats and email through 2010. "It's always the promise on the horizon," said Mathieu. "But in 2010 you're going to see more progress toward truly achieving integrated marketing. Any marketer not using integrated tool sets is doing a disservice to the brand. Entire organizations will be working with social applications to connect with the consumer base."

4) And forget about online analytics. In 2010 the trend will be to move away from when or where consumers are clicking ads and move toward optimizing programs to keep consumers engaged for longer periods of time. "[Marketers] will begin to know marketing analytics and not just web/online analytics. They will know what happens after the click, how the consumer becomes engaged/disengaged and how they interact with the website as a whole."

5) "Finally, mobile will be a big trend," said Mathieu. "It's been 'the year of mobile' for several years but in 2009 we finally saw a mindshift begin. That shift in mindset that mobile was the away-from-office computer will help marketers connect with consumers in a new and different way. [This will] drive mobile campaigns and push mobile-accessible websites."

Overall, Mathieu expects 2010 to be slightly simpler for marketers as integrated tool suites launch and become more familiar. These suites will make it simpler for a singular campaign message to be heard from email through social and into video and mobile. As for what Mathieu is looking forward to?

"As I said, you have mobile driven by newer devices and you've got the tools ready to be used. You have social marketing coming into its own and the analytics tools that are simpler to understand," he said. "So I'm looking forward to taking advantage of the convergence of all these trends in 2010."

Tags: 2010 forecast, email forecast, email marketing, email trends, Lyris

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Google Assists Businesses Locate AdWords Professionals In Beta

2009-12-29T07:38:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, 29 December 2009 11:58 Deepti Dhava

Mountain View, California -- Companies that are looking for some assistance with their AdWords campaign may now rejoice to receive some thanks to Google. Google has launched a beta search platform that allows people to search for AdWords Professionals those certified by the company who can help manage their campaigns based on location and budget.

On the new Google Professionals Search homepage, people can search by location and budget they wish to allocate on a weekly basis, and allows you to find people who are approved by the Google Adwords Professional certification.

A promotional statement on the page suggests that would-be users “Find a Google certified professional or company to help you manage your AdWords campaign.”

The service is currently in beta and only available for US based customers.

Advertising Professionals are those engaged in online marketing , similar agencies, and other individuals such as search engine marketers (SEM s), search engine optimizers (SEO s), and marketing experts, who have been certified and authorized by Google to manage AdWords accounts.

This roster of professionals may have many individuals and agencies scurrying to get certified and listed and paying the $50 per week. They can assist publishers with different aspects of managing and creating an AdWords accounts. Advertisers who do not wish to invest the time and resources required to master AdWords often hire Advertising Professionals.

After an initial search is conducted, searchers can further prune the results even more by specifying additional services offered by these agencies in Google's database.

Additional Services encompasses areas such as online display advertising, search engine optimization , traditional advertising (print, TV), web designing, website analytics, affiliate programs, new media (mobile & social networks), creative and design services, call recording and tracking, auto-optimization tools and marketing consultancy.

Then there are other areas linked with locations, budgets, and the type of assistance that is needed. Google releases dozens or hundreds of suggestions when everything is said and done.

While it is praiseworthy to note that Google has introduced this program -- but the fact is that it costs money to get listed and requires taking a Google generated test only to pass seems a bit unfair. And with so many search marketing companies out there, it can be pretty backbreaking to try and find the right company for you. Research will always pay off and this simple tool by Google is sure to help.

The search only lists companies that have been certified by Google to manage AdWords accounts including ebrandz.

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30 top online-shopping trends

2009-12-28T12:43:00.001-08:00

Dec 28, 2009 (http://www.couponsherpa.com/ - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- As access to the Internet grows, so grows online shopping. Despite the recession, the e-commerce market is enjoying double-digit growth, fueled even further by holiday shopping. In anticipation of this growth, online merchants launched marketing programs earlier than ever this year, with a strong emphasis on price discounts and free shipping.

Such enticements fuel a fair amount of this growth, but online shoppers also increasingly appreciate the convenience and improved data security they find at e-commerce Web sites. Studies also show content-rich Web sites with networking opportunities are drawing the bulk of online consumers.

Coupon Sherpa did some homework and found the top 30 trends that will help you better understand the online-shopping experience. All statistics refer to online shopping in the U.S., unless otherwise noted.

WHO IS BUYING ONLINE 1. Mothers are the fastest growing online shopping demographic.

2. 63 percent of people who shop online are women.

3. Shoppers under age 45 are spending more online, while purchases by older consumers have declined.

4. More than half of Internet users _ totaling $875 million Americans _ make at least one online purchase per month.

5. Online shopping is forecast to reach $329 billion by 2010 _ increasing to 13 percent of all retail sales and encompassing almost half of all households.

6. Americans spent more than $115 billion online in 2008, representing roughly 10 percent of the total domestic market.

GEOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN 7. Over 85 percent of the world's online-population has used the Internet to make a purchase.

8. The world's most avid Internet shoppers are South Koreans, with 99 percent of Internet users in that country having shopped online.

9. German, UK and Japanese consumers come in a close second, with U.S. consumers trailing in eighth place.

10. China's shoppers don't appear to feel the impact of the international recession, having more than doubled online purchases in the last year.

11. In 2006, only 10 percent of the world's online population (627 million) had made a purchase over the Internet.

12. The developing markets of Kenya, Philippines and India are currently driving developments for micro-credits and micro-payments (very small loans and payments) WHAT WE ARE BUYING 13. Books are the most popular online purchase, followed by clothing/accessories/shoes, videos/DVDs/games, airline tickets and electronic equipment.

14. One in four online shoppers now purchase airline tickets via the Internet.

15. Sales of cosmetics/nutrition supplies and groceries have jumped nine and eight percentage points respectively in just one year.

16. Consumers are willing to pay between 20 to 99 percent more for a 5-star rated product than for a 4-star rated product.

WHERE WE SHOP 17. Amazon.com is rapidly becoming consumers' default option when planning an online purchase. Consumers start at Amazon because they anticipate a positive experience at a good price.

18. Amazon has swiftly nudged out eBay as the most popular shopping site, with eBay sales falling 1 percent and Amazon's sales increasing 31 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

19. Invitation-only sites have moved sales of luxury goods online to easier serve those with disposable incomes.

20. The security of a site influences where we shop more than rewards and discounts. Roughly 75 percent of online consumers fear fraud and/or identity theft.

21. Consumer "must haves" for a shopping Web site include ease of use, limited personal-information requirements, some free content, and secure transactions.

22. More than half of the top Web sites post videos to help sell products or services, or to enrich the user's experience.

23. The most successful sites allow users to interact with each other by offering gift registries, "send to a friend" options and product reviews. These features encourage shoppers to linger longer on a merchant's site.

HOW WE SHOP ONLINE 24. People frequently re-visit Web sites with quality products and transparency in dealings.

25. 60 percent of online shoppers mostly buy from a single site, showing a unique loyalty.

26. 60 percent of online consumers prefer to pay with credit cards, with one in four choosing PayPal.

27. One-third of online shoppers use a search engine to find what they're looking for and about one-fourth find web sites by word of mouth.

28. 58 percent of online consumers own a Web-enabled cell phone and one in 10 purchase products and/or services with the device.

29. Over 65 percent of people use the Internet to research products before buying them from a local store.

30. Customers prefer to contact sales or customer service via online chats, as opposed to phone contact.

SOURCES: 2008 Nielsen Global Online Survey; PriceGrabber.com Consumer Behavior Report; comScore.com Benchmark Study 2009; Jupiter Research Survey 2008; Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group Survey 2008; iQuantum Pty Ltd; Research and Markets 2008-2009 studies; comScore/Kelsey, October 2008 ___ (Coupon Sherpa is the penny pinching, coupon clipping, deal digging, Himalayan haggling, he-man of bargains. Visit http://www.couponsherpa.com/ for more shopping advice, insider tips, and coupons.) ___ (c) 2009, http://www.couponsherpa.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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Social media marketing: 5 must-read books

2009-12-28T07:13:00.001-08:00

By Todd R. Weiss

December 28, 2009 06:00 AM ET

Computerworld - When the Internet arrived for mass public consumption in the mid-'90s, a whole new world of advertising to and communicating with customers and potential customers cracked open its gates. Companies of all sizes began creating Web sites and putting their products online; some companies, such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com, existed only on the Web.

More recently, we saw blogs, wikis, virtual worlds and other online communities turn customer communications into a two-way street. But perhaps the most disruptive changes have come in the last couple years as social media marketing began in earnest, with companies directly communicating back and forth with their customers online through social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

So what does it all mean? If your company isn't yet participating, how do you evaluate it all and decide if you should join in? Where do you begin?

Start right here with this guide to five "must-read" books on social media marketing to help answer your queries, plan your strategy and get you on the road to better communications with your customers.

SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate by Joel Postman
(New Riders, Dec. 2008, $30)

Talk about getting right to the point -- this well-laid-out book is filled with great references and "why didn't I think of that?" ideas for getting your company into the right frame of mind to begin a social media marketing project. Want to know who else is diving into the social media pool? Check out the detailed case studies with companies like U-Haul, Electronic Arts and the American Red Cross.

There are sections on social media ethics, corporate risks, government regulations and more. One key section describes techniques for reaching the right audiences, from creating relationships with popular bloggers to creating social media newsrooms to get your news out to viewers.

Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook
by Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo
(No Starch Press, Nov. 2009, $25)

An easy-to-use A-to-Z guide with some very helpful extras, including a "Damage Control In the Digital Age" chapter on how social media tools can help your company when things go wrong. Remember, at some point things will probably go wrong, and these tips will be nice to have in the back of your mind.

What's also very valuable is that the authors present detailed "how-to" basics for every popular social media platform, from Facebook and MySpace to Twitter and even video-sharing sites like YouTube, to help your corporate communications gain their best audiences. Hints on how to measure your audiences, how to respond to comments left by site visitors and how to find just the right tone for your customer-facing communications are also very useful.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, Second Edition by David Meerman Scott
(Wiley Books, Jan. 2010, $20)

To me, a great "how-to" book is one in which I do a lot of yellow highlighting to accentuate important information. In this book, some of the pages are teeming with my yellow ink. Scott presents great can-do ideas with passion and plenty of examples and advice.

His key message: Make your social media marketing efforts shine by transforming your company into an information source for users who are hungry for resources to help them make product buying decisions. Let your readers establish your company as the expert in your market, then reap the benefits by watching them come to you when they are ready to buy.

(Note: This second edition is an extensive revision of Scott's 2008 bestseller, updated for the latest social media trends. Not yet available, it's due to ship in January 2010.)

The Social Factor: Innovate, Ignite, and Win through Mass Collaboration and Social Networking by Maria Azua
(IBM Press, Aug. 2009, $27)

This book has one simple goal -- to help companies clearly see how social media tools can bring together customers, employees, partners and others in communities that will make them stronger and more competitive.

If you're looking for a how-to guide on actually using social media tools, this book isn't it. But if you want a clear and ultra-detailed look at how social media marketing ties in with human thinking and behavior, collaborative communications, our mobile society and IT innovations from cloud computing to open source software, then The Social Factor adds some fascinating analyses to the puzzle.

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web
by Tamar Weinberg
(O'Reilly, July 2009, $25)

Know what you want to get out of your social media marketing strategy and keep those goals in mind every step of the way. That's the key message in this detailed and authoritative book, which shares loads of examples and great case study anecdotes about companies that have seen their relationships with customers change and improve by communicating back and forth with them online.

Among the valuable tips included are how to determine your resources for the project in dollars and staff time, and how to select just the right mix of blogs, social media sites and other outlets for your company's messages.

Todd R. Weiss is an award-winning technology journalist who wrote for Computerworld.com from 2000 through 2008. He's now a freelance writer, covering technology news, cool tech gear, open source and more. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TechManTalking.

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Five Search Marketing Predictions For 2010

2009-12-23T12:52:00.001-08:00

Dec 23, 2009 at 2:56pm ET by Matt Lawson

Staring into a crystal ball is a dangerous undertaking, especially when you’re attempting to predict the future of a market as dynamic as paid search. Leading analysts continue to project that paid search marketing spend in the U.S. will grow from $13 billion in 2009 to $26 billion by the year 2014. But how this growth will happen remains unclear. One thing is certain, as more dollars flow into paid search, the number of tactics, targeting options and channels available for search marketers will need to grow to ensure that search campaigns can deliver ever-increasing ROI. Here are five predictions for macro-trends that will fuel the next phase of paid search growth.

High keyword prices will drive marketers to try new strategies to boost ROI

While the growth in the number of searches occurring each month may be beginning to slow, the pace of advertiser dollars pouring into paid search won’t. The result: rising keyword prices are here to stay. According to Forrester Research, two-thirds of marketers report that high keyword prices are their biggest challenge in paid search. More importantly, this is a problem that can’t be solved with just a better bidding solution. Smart marketers will be forced to focus on driving increased ROI from their campaign tactics, through a combination of intelligent keyword management, testing, and targeting.

Optimizing for Quality Score will top the list, as an easy way to drive costs down and conversions up through effective keyword selection, match type refinement and use of negatives. Options such as geographic and demographic targeting will also see increased adoption. Expect geotargeting tactics to move beyond the realm of traditional local and financial services players and be used by more traditional national advertisers and retailers. Marketers that invest in testing and applying these tactics will reap not only increased ROI and revenues, but strategic advantage in an increasingly competitive market.

Paid search will become more integrated with the enterprise

With search representing over half of digital marketing budgets, it was only a matter of time before C-level executives took notice. For large advertisers, search now represents tens of millions of dollars in marketing spend annually—and this surge in spending happened almost overnight. As a result, paid search marketing programs are still managed separately from traditional marketing and business units.

Going forward, however, expect organizations to integrate paid search budgeting, reporting and controls more tightly into business units, rather than continuing to allow search to operate as a purely standalone unit. The result of this tighter integration will be a rethinking for search marketers in terms of how reporting and KPI’s are organized and more importantly how this information is communicated upward in the organization through the use of dashboards and proposals for investment. For search marketers who can adjust to this changing landscape, the reward will be more executive buy-in and larger budgets.

Paid search will go multi-channel

Multi-channel marketers have always been at a disadvantage in the search marketing game. According to research by Yahoo and comScore, over half of online shoppers research on the web before purchasing in another channel, such as in a store. That means that search marketers are missing out on credit for half of the revenues their campaigns are driving. In recent years, however, the tools and techniques for measuring across channels have become increasingly accessible—whether it’s tying dynamic phone numbers to keywords, or taking in store surveys to measure search referral traffic.

As marketers perfect these techniques, expect multi-channel merchants to get smarter about how much and where they are spending their search dollars to drive both online and offline conversions. By identifying the whitespace where offline buyers are researching and servicing their needs, multi-channel merchants can find new, low cost keyword inventory to drive profitable expansion of paid-search programs.

More money will flow to the content network

The Google content network already reaches 80% of internet users and accounts for a large and growing percentage of overall PPC spend. But changes by Google in the past year have made targeting on the content network more powerful than ever. With the ability to target not only based on keywords, but also on placements, marketers can now narrow in on audiences exhibiting very specific behaviors.

For example, if you are selling sports equipment you can target your ads to people reading the sports section of their local newspaper and adjust the content of your ad based on keywords that are in the article such as “tennis” or “golf.” Being able to refine and control where ads are shown not only gives marketers the comfort of knowing their brand is safe, but also allows them to acquire higher value clicks and ultimately a higher return on their ad dollars. With a new set of software tools emerging that help marketers manage and optimize placements at a granular level, expect more paid search dollars and attention to flow towards the content network.

Facebook and Twitter will emerge as serious challengers to Google

Search engines today serve over 25 billion queries a month in North America alone, with the lion’s share of those queries serviced by Google. But it’s never too early to watch out for the new kid on the block. Facebook today handles over a billion queries a month, and that number is growing. With such a large audience, it’s hard to believe they will allow those searches to go un-monetized for long. Expect Facebook to extend their own search technology to allow users to query the stream of user-generated content in their news feeds. When they do, users will find it much easier to get recommendations from friends on where to go for the best pizza, whether or not they should buy an iPhone, or which movie they should see this weekend. Once this happens, expect lots of advertising dollars, particularly for keyword placements, to follow quickly.

Search marketers will have to adjust to a different, more social, keyword set and tailor their messaging to the needs of social networkers. In doing so, however, they will be able to catch consumers earlier in the consideration cycle than they can on traditional search engines like Google and Yahoo! Since people looking for recommendations from friends are still in the research phase of buying a product—and they place great trust in recommendations that come from their social networks—the value of these clicks could potentially be high.

While you can’t chase all of these trends, smart marketers will apply the right ones for their business. Whether it is improving measurement, campaign quality, audience targeting or simply finding new channels, marketers who can capitalize on some of these trends first will likely have a leg up on the competition. If you see other trends in the marketplace, I’d love to hear your predictions in the comments section below.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

Matt Lawson is director of marketing for Marin Software, bringing a breadth of online marketing, web analytics and search experience to the company.

See more articles by Matt Lawson >

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Why you can't ignore the email newsletter as an online publishing model

2009-12-23T07:06:00.001-08:00

I spent several days recently researching a story about the business of email newsletters. Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Blue Sky Factory, an email marketing agency in Baltimore, gave me some great insight. I asked Greg (pictured left) about the business model approaches of email newsletters vs. Websites, from an advertising and monetization perspective.

He said, in a nutshell: "The difference between Website and email advertising is the targeted nature of the [email] list of people. If that list demographic fits the target of the advertiser, they're going to get a good response rate."

Greg pointed to successes like Daily Candy and Thrillist as successful email newsletter companies, and talked about two of the local ones his company provides email newsletter services to: CityBizList in Baltimore and ExecutiveBiz in Washington D.C.

One of the big advances in recent years in email newsletter technology, Greg said, are the features involving sharing with a social network.

Companies disseminating email newsletters can embed them with options that allows the user to share the information on Twitter and Facebook, thus helping them grow their email subscriber base organically and through word of mouth. Pretty cool stuff.

Hit the jump to check out my full story on the topic.

Newsletters: An idea so old it's new
Niche e-mail publications thrive in age of social media, newsfeeds
By Gus G. Sentementes

Will Davis may prefer to get his news and information through slick new methods, such as online social networking sites and news feeds, but he still keeps one old-tech method coming to his inbox: the e-mail newsletter.

"I know if the information becomes one of 40 [news] feeds, it's less likely to cut through the clutter to me," said Davis, a 33-year-old Baltimore marketing professional who subscribes to two industry newsletters based in the Mid-Atlantic. "Because [newsletter] e-mails are a digest, you get all that information in one place."

Several electronic industry newsletters with a journalistic bent have taken root from Baltimore to Washington over the past decade. They have hung on through the recession and at least some appear to be growing steadily.

Meanwhile, other kinds of news outlets - from print to television to some online news outlets - have had to retrench, cutting employees and content as the advertising market has shrunk. Digital media experts think that e-mail newsletters, which typically target niche audiences with news about their professions or interests, will remain a strong and viable business in the coming years, partly because a steady e-mail subscriber is generally regarded as more valuable to many advertisers than a less-predictable Web page visitor.

Industry observers point to the sale of Daily Candy, a popular fashion, food and events newsletter, to Comcast last year for $125 million as a sign of the potential strength of newsletters.

"I think it's one of the best solutions going into 2010," said Amy Webb, who runs Webbmedia Group, a Baltimore-based digital media consulting firm that works with Fortune 500 companies. "The newsletter, I would say, is making a comeback," Webb said.

"The people having success with it are not the ones buying large distribution lists. ... The ones doing a good job are growing organically and producing superior content that fits a niche, which is what newspapers used to do until they became very generalized."

Even as online sources of news proliferate, from social networking sites to blogs to syndicated news feeds, the e-mail inbox remains a coveted spot for content producers and marketers.

Lori Connolly, director of research and analytics for Merkle Inc., an online database marketing company, called e-mail a "linchpin" for users' ever-evolving online habits. In a recent study, Connolly found that 42 percent of people who use online social networks also check their primary e-mail accounts more than four times a day. "E-mail is a vital part of everyday life," Connolly said.

Many of these industry newsletters employ editors and a few staff or freelance writers. In most cases, these editors are aggregating content from news sites and blogs from across the Web, and sometimes producing their own original content.

In Baltimore, CityBizList offers a free general business newsletter and another focused on commercial real estate, targeting top-level executives and professionals. It was started in 2005 by Edwin Warfield, former owner of The Daily Record, a Baltimore business and legal newspaper. Its Baltimore publications have a combined subscriber base of 31,000, while offering similar newsletters in nine other U.S. cities.

The company has a couple of editors and freelancers, and outsources some of its digital production to a firm in India, according to Jay Rickey, editor and publisher of the commercial real estate newsletter.

The company has a Web site, but its meat and potatoes - where the advertisers want to be - are in its newsletters, according to Rickey. "We're really targeting a specific market with hyper-local business news, and the e-mail product is what sets us apart from others out there," Rickey said. "It's a vital part of our business."

In Washington, SmartBrief has been producing industry-specific newsletters for 10 years. The company, which has about 100 employees, has been profitable since at least 2002, when publisher Merritt Colaizzi said she joined.

SmartBrief has 150 e-mail newsletters that go out to niche industry groups on a regular basis, and which are assembled by a staff of independent editors. The total number of subscribers to all its e-newsletters is three million, Colaizzi said.

"It has accelerated very rapidly," Colaizzi said. "When I came here, we had 200,000 readers."

SmartBrief editors will flag the essential stories of the day, summarize them, and offer links to the original content elsewhere on the Web. Colaizzi sees SmartBrief as providing an essential, yet free, service to busy professionals and leaders who need to keep abreast of the latest news in their industries. "The need for what we do is only getting more and more serious," said Colaizzi. "As more sources proliferate and people have less and less time, our mission is to save people time and keep them smart. People have to do more with less. They don't have executive assistants to hunt down news stories for them."

Another Washington-based company, FierceMarkets Inc., pumps out 29 e-mail newsletters and has 950,000 subscribers. The newsletters focus on specific industries, such as wireless or biotechnology. It has 40 employees, with 10 staffers who work on content production, which includes a mix of briefing and linking to outside news stories and some original reporting.

"We recognize that we're not the only source of news that we cover," said M. Sean Griffey, FierceMarkets president.

The company, which launched in 2001, has been profitable "since day one," he said.

Davis, the Baltimore marketing executive, subscribes to a SmartBrief newsletter and another one in the region, Potomac TechWire, to keep abreast in developments in advertising, marketing and technology trends in his industry and the region.

He uses an application called Google Reader to scan news feeds from more than 40 Web sites and blogs. But sometimes, he's grateful to get worthwhile information passively delivered to his e-mail inbox so he can quickly scan it.

"It is a timesaver," Davis said

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: *NEWS*, East Coast, Entrepreneurs & Risk Takers, Media, Online Advertising, Social Media
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Internet Marketing - Why 2010 Will Be A White Knuckle Ride For Web Marketersv

2009-12-21T07:27:00.001-08:00

Next year 2010 will be one of the most challenging times for web marketers, mainly because of new FTC Guidelines & "ALL" the recent changes within Google.

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by Titus Hoskins
December 21, 2009

Titus Hoskins

Titus Hoskins owns and runs numerous sites on the web. To receive more useful marketing tips and to discover the latest Marketing tools which will help promote your own website visit his main site: http://www.bizwaremagic.com

Titus Hoskins has written 37 articles for PromotionWorld.

View all articles by Titus Hoskins...

Next year may just prove to be one of the most challenging times for pursuing online or Internet marketing on the web. It may just be a watershed moment for many marketers struggling to keep abreast of all the different factors which have come into play in recent months.

Most of these changes will stem from two main sources for potential upheaval: the first being the New FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Guidelines regarding Testimonials and Endorsements and the second being "ALL" the recent changes within Google.

Actually, we already have the new FTC Guidelines which came into effect on Dec. 1st of 2009, but how these new rules are enforced will play out in the coming year as test-cases are brought to court.

Basically, these new rules call for absolute disclosure and full transparency regarding Testimonials and Endorsements when a product or service is being offered for sale. Any business (monetary) relationship between the endorser and the company must be made known to the potential buyer. Obviously for those in online or affiliate marketing this could have a great impact if these new rules are strictly enforced.

Just imagine all the website owners and bloggers who slap a few banners or affiliate links on their sites to cover hosting or operating costs... will they now have to disclose all these business arrangements? For professional affiliate marketers and the companies/products they're promoting, these new guidelines could cause potential headaches and/or legal ramifications since a general blanket disclaimer on their sites will no longer be suffice. To help solve this problem, many of the major companies are now placing an "affiliate" tag on all their banners and making it obvious a business relationship exists with its affiliates.

In addition, many online marketers are placing additional disclaimers, affiliate seals and in other ways making it known certain links are indeed affiliate links and a relationship does exist with the product and/or services being promoted. With these new guidelines, another big issue is email marketing, one of the major marketing techniques of most online marketers. Will a full disclosure be necessary for every email sales pitch?

Savvy web marketers know the key to increased sales is in the "follow-up" and the "cookie-ing" of potential buyers; how will the new Guidelines affect this very effective marketing practice? How all these new rules or guidelines play out will make next year a very interesting one for marketing on the web.

Despite this, perhaps the greatest cause for upheaval in the coming year will be Google. There are countless reasons why Google will be a major game changer in 2010 for online marketing. Ever since Bing and more recently the potential Bing/Yahoo competition, Google has gone into complete overdrive, implementing new changes and debuting new programs like there was no tomorrow.

First, we have Google Caffeine which Google is introducing (full force) early in the new year. Google Caffeine, which is a major overhaul of its search engine, will no doubt cause many a marketer some sleepless nights as the total fall-out becomes evident. Other Google updates in the past (Florida Update comes readily to mind) have wrecked havoc on many top ranking sites, but this time Google is doing things a little different and have even given webmasters a beta version of the new search engine. Still, rightly or wrongly, many online marketers are bracing themselves for the full impact of Caffeine, will it mean smooth sailing or a stomach sickening roller-coaster ride for marketers and webmasters?

Second, we have the introduction of "Real Time" search which will be featured in Google's SERPs. This will make the social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace... much more important. Again, the implications for online marketers could be enormous since many can now reach the first page through a different route. Will it also mean more "Real Time" spam? But more importantly, will it mean a greater marketing opportunity for the online marketer who exploits it?

Third, we are seeing Google moving more and more towards "Visual Search" with the introduction of Google Goggles for mobile phones. Just take a picture and you get the Google results instantly - no typing, just point and click. Just envision countless clueless teenagers or more importantly helpless shoppers suddenly being empowered with knowledge and wisdom. Could do more for education since the invention of the printed word and the info-commercial combined. Talk about scary! But will the implications for web marketing be just as revolutionary and enlightening?

Fourth, Google has made it known through its spokesperson Matt Cutts, that site-loading times will be a ranking factor in the new improved Google. Also, proper and correct page coding will also be more important if you want your site to be at full advantage. Broken links will be a big "No-No", while linking out to important related sites a big plus. All this is only logical, Google's main product is and has always been its search results, anything which improves those results and provides a more pleasing experience for the Google user should be front and center. Obviously, one way for Google to stay on top, is to provide the best search results to its users.

Fifth, in order to please the end-user, Google is also moving more towards "Personalized Search" which will make SEO and ranking in the top spot for your chosen keywords a total nightmare for many professional SEOs and online marketers. If everyone can choose their own top results, isn't SEO more or less, a lame duck? Again, the ramifications of personalized search will further play out in 2010, but will professional marketers like what they see?

Finally, while no one would argue Google is King of the Hill when it comes to online search, will all these new changes strengthen or weaken Google's grip? Will the combined Bing/Yahoo be able to give this giant some much needed competition? Or will Google's main competition come from an unlikely source, such as big name multi-national corporations who are moving their operations online. Can these big-name keyworded domains start directly pulling in the majority of the web's traffic, making all search engines secondary?

As people become more web savvy, will they go directly to what they're looking for on the web, bypassing the search engines altogether - including the mighty Google? Such a scenario could have greater consequences for the affiliate marketer since a direct line to a company's site or product will obviously mean less sales for the online marketer, who really works in coordination with the search engines, either through organic search or PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in these same search engines.

Overall, the new FTC Guidelines and recent changes to Google, will make next year one of the most interesting times to be pitching anything online. Throw into this the full effect what a combined Bing/Yahoo might bring to the table, and you have the recipe for a tumultuous white knuckle ride, until the dust finally settles and marketers make adjustments like they always do. So hold on, because things will probably get a little hectic for many web marketers before we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

Time to Scrap the White Pages?

2009-12-20T21:50:00.001-08:00

By LEORA BROYDO VESTEL

It appears that the white pages – the section of the telephone book that lists residential numbers – may be going the way of the phone booth and rotary dial phone. A growing cadre of consumers and elected officials see the automatic delivery of white pages as unnecessary and wasteful given the availability of free online directories.

White Pages Inc.

The country’s largest independent online directory provider, White Pages Inc., has been a leading advocate for limiting these deliveries. The company has gathered more than 20,000 signatures for its “Ban the Phone Book”
campaign, which seeks the creation of “opt-in” programs for white pages phone books so they are delivered only to people who request them. The concept has attracted 5,000 fans on Facebook.

The Web site for the campaign declares that “up to 5 million trees are cut down each year to create the white pages phone book” and adds that “taxpayers are spending $17 million each year to have these books recycled.”

Phone book companies counter that White Pages is merely talking up its own business interests. They emphasize that no trees are harvested to make directories, which they say they are made from a combination of recycled paper and byproducts left over from the lumber milling process, like sawdust.

“We don’t kill trees for our product,” said Michele Meisch, marketing manager for the Valley Yellow Pages, which distributes 7.7 million directories in California. “We’re not this evil entity.”

Liz Powell, a spokesperson for White Pages, concedes the company could stand to gain if people no longer get white pages delivered to their homes – and search for numbers online instead. But she said it’s the environment, rather than the company’s bottom line, that serves as a motivation: “That’s our concern, first and foremost.”

Legislation aimed at limiting the distribution of white pages directories only to people who request them –- or at least providing customers with a way to opt-out –- has already been introduced in several states, including Alaska and New York.

Leland Yee, a California state senator representing San Francisco, has
promised to introduce a bill to the Legislature in January that would prohibit telephone companies from delivering white pages unless customers specifically ask to receive them.

Under California law, all telephone companies are required to deliver free white pages to customers. The regulation -– which is similar to those in other states -– was put into place by the California Public Utilities Commission 14 years ago to minimize calls to directory assistance and promote distribution of yellow page advertising.

Adam Keigwin, Mr. Yee’s chief of staff, says the initiative fits in well with the senator’s overall agenda to limit waste. For the vast majority of people who don’t use printed directories, “it just seems wasteful,” Mr. Keigwin said.

AT&T seems to agree with this sentiment. The company is testing its own white pages opt-in scheme, the Residential White Pages Consumer Choice Program, in about 10 United States cities including Austin, Tex., Cleveland, Oklahoma City and Milwaukee. The cities were chosen based on internal research and surveys that showed customers in those markets were receptive to the idea, said Fletcher Cook, a spokesman at AT&T.

“It’s all about choice,” Mr. Cook said. “We want to act with an environmental conscience but also respect our customers’ preferences.”

Also to the point of customer choice, trade groups representing most phone book publishers in the United States recently created a Web site where users can type in their ZIP code, get a list of local publishers and notify them if they want delivery stopped.

But despite the advent of the digital age, it would seem many customers still prefer to thumb through a phone book the old-fashioned way. In July, when AT&T began its opt-in program in Ohio, the company’s call center was overwhelmed with calls from customers who wanted to place an order for a printed copy.

And some worry that in the rush to leave the old ways behind, certain people may be left out.

“Many Californians still rely on landline phone service to connect with family, friends and community, as well as local businesses, which are less likely to advertise online,” said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for the Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy group in San Francisco. “So online directories are a poor substitute and not everyone has access to the Internet. We don’t want to see those folks be even more cut off.”

As for the Yellow Pages, their fate is more secure because they are still seen as important for generating business.

“People reference the yellow pages 3.3 billion times a year,” Mr. Cook said. “There’s still a high volume of usage.”

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

Google Bids for Yelp's Online Local Ad Communities

2009-12-20T08:45:00.001-08:00

The Internet search leader wants a bigger slice of local online advertising, a market Google has failed to crack. But Yelp has much more than ads

By Douglas MacMillan

Technology

Story Tools

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Google's low-cost online ads have singlehandedly revolutionized the way big brands spread marketing messages across the Web. But the company has had a harder time luring ad dollars from local businesses and mom-and-pop shops.

The search giant is in talks to pay more than $500 million to buy Yelp, an online community for local business reviews, a person familiar with the matter said on Dec. 18. Google's (GOOG) interest in the five-year-old startup underscores the value of local advertising online, a multibillion-dollar business it has so far struggled to enter. Analysts say acquiring Yelp could step up growth in Google's core search advertising business, which has slowed in recent years, as well as in such other areas as mobile services. Representatives of Google and Yelp declined to comment on the talks.

While they were slow to move ad spending online, local advertisers have stormed the Web in recent years. As a whole, the market for local online advertising is expected to surge to $14.2 billion this year, from $2.1 billion in 2004, according to research firm Borrell Associates. Increasingly, local shops are shifting spending from big phone books such as the Yellow Pages and other print media to the Web sites of local newspapers and such directory sites as Yelp and InterActiveCorp (IACI)-owned CitySearch, says local media analyst Gordon Borrell. With consumers so attuned to the convenience of the Internet, "Why do you need the phone book any more?" he asks.

Google has flirted with local advertisers before. The company works with online directories such as the AT&T (T)-owned YellowPages.com, whose sales people pitch businesses on buying sponsored links in search results. In September, Google invited merchants to add details about their businesses to Google Maps, a tool used by millions each day.

at Yelp, 8 million local reviews

But the Mountain View, Calif., Web pioneer has lacked a direct line of contact with smaller sellers sprinkled throughout the country. "Reaching those small advertisers is very difficult and expensive," says Matt Booth, senior vice-president at the Kelsey Group. "Local could be a big part of their business, but it's not a huge part of their overall business today."

Yelp, on the other hand, is all about local. Started in 2004 with a $1 million investment from PayPal (EBAY) co-founder Max Levchin, the site says that each month it attracts more than 26 million people who collectively have contributed more than 8 million one- to five-star reviews on attractions in their neighborhoods. San Francisco-based Yelp has a sales force of 200 people who sign up local merchants for sponsored listings throughout the site. Ad revenue totaled about $45 million this year, according to analysts' estimates, and Yelp has been expecting to become profitable in 2010.

Google has increased its pace of acquisitions in recent months to beef up its advertising business and to snap up assets devalued amid the recession. Yelp would help Google get smarter about local advertising, says Sandeep Aggarwal, analyst at Collins Stewart. "Yelp has more intelligent information," he says. Instead of just addresses, phone numbers, and other basic data on small businesses, Yelp also boasts extensive knowledge of people's tastes and price preferences. "Often when someone is looking for something, they also want this kind of information," Aggarwal says.

"Yelpers:" local, tight-knit groups

That data would likely prove valuable to Google's mobile efforts, too. This year, a free app preinstalled in the Motorola (MOT) Droid and other phones using Google's Android software let users receive turn-by-turn navigation to their destination. With Yelp's data, the app could suggest restaurants and other services along the way.

Yelp also gives Google entrée to a loyal social community—something it has had difficulty building on its own in the past. Users of Yelp, often calling themselves "Yelpers," have been known to form tight-knit groups that meet at favorite bars and hang-outs. "This is distinct from what Google is about," says Greg Sterling, principle of Sterling Market Intelligence. Yelp's is a fandom that lures a lot of interested advertisers.

Sterling says a Yelp deal might be about more than just ads. "[Google] has ambitions that are broader than simply selling advertising. There's a whole range of stuff they can offer" small businesses, he says. By cozying up to more mom and pops, the company may hope to get the word out about its Google Docs and other online apps. The vast majority of small businesses buy competing software from Microsoft.

Google's negotiations with Yelp are unlikely to conclude before yearend, says the person familiar with the matter. Technology blog TechCrunch first reported on the talks.

Clinching a deal might give Google a leg up on rivals Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO), which analysts say were also potential buyers. The talks are most likely to rankle AT&T and other companies that partner with Google to "resell" search ads to local businesses signing up for the Yellow pages. (AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) Says Borrell: "Those relationships have gotten tenuous because they believe Google is competing with them by providing all this great stuff."

Douglas MacMillan is a staff writer for BusinessWeek in New York.

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What Google’s “Real-Time” Search Means to SEO

2009-12-18T09:58:00.001-08:00

Leading New York search engine optimization and Internet marketing firm says that Google’s new “real-time” search can boost traffic for those that take advantage of social media marketing.

Online PR News – 18-December-2009 – Leading New York search engine optimization and Internet marketing firm says that Google’s new "real-time" search can boost traffic for those that take advantage of social media marketing.

According to Peter Crisafi, Vice President of dzine it, Inc., a reputable Manhattan search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing firm with an array of clients worldwide, Google’s new "real-time" search bridges the gap between social networking and search marketing.

"Google’s new real time search is about as direct as it gets when it comes to social networking and search marketing," says Crisafi. "With this new search parameter, Google offers users real-time search results from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other social networking sites."

“real-time”

With the advent of Google’s real-time search engine features, Crisafi says that now is the time for website owners to take advantage of social networking sites to drive traffic, if they have not done so already. He adds that while "real-time" searches are suddenly all the rage among search engine optimization experts, the concept has been in the works for quite some time.

"Google has been working toward the roll-out of real-time search for years," says Crisafi. "Following a poor search engine performance from its own service, Google Finance, experts set out to create what it called a QDF algorithm, which determines which queries will be augmented with the most recent content available, in addition to the content with the highest page rank."

In other words, Crisafi says, businesses that take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites have the opportunity to really drive traffic these days.

Of course, Google’s new real-time search also has the potential for abuse, Crisafi notes, among spammers and black hat search engine marketers.

"In order for a company to ensure that they are using Google’s real-time search properly and above board," says Crisafi, "businesses should only hire a search engine optimization firm that not only has experience in social network marketing, but also adheres to organic, white hat search engine optimization practices."

Established in 2003, dzine it, inc. is a leader in Custom web development, programming and design solutions for small and large business, agencies. The company offers a wide range of business-centered visual communication solutions, including web-based content management, web design, graphic design, custom web software applications, ethical white hat search engine optimization (Organic SEO), Video Encoding, and print media solutions. For more information, call 718.336.2660 or visit www.dzineit.net.

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Is SEO Dead? 1997 Prediction, Meet 2009 Reality

2009-12-17T06:49:00.003-08:00

Dec 16, 2009 at 5:11pm ET by Danny Sullivan

I shouldn’t take the bait — Robert Scoble’s latest missive that SEO isn’t important. But sometimes I can’t help myself for wanting to provide some perspective. I’ve covered the space going on 14 years now. I’ve heard the SEO is dead spiel over and over and over again. I feel like a revisit to the first major prediction of this back in 1997 is in order. Somehow, it has survived since then.

In that year, the Online Advertising Discussion List was one of the primary ways that internet marketers communicated with each other about trends and tactics. We didn’t have forums. We didn’t have Twitter. We didn’t have AdWords. And we walked eight miles through the snow to even use a search engine.

Richard Hoy posted this to the list in November 1997. I’ll bold the key part, as well as key parts in other quotes further below:

I’m beginning to believe that search engines are a dead-end technology and fretting over where your site comes up is a big waste of time. I’m now advising clients that we create good META tags, submit the site and then forget it.
I base this newfound philosophy on a couple of things. First, I’ve noticed on the sites we manage that the percent of traffic from search engines drops as the investment in other types promotion increase.
For example, The Year 2000 Information Center ( http://www.year2000.com/ ), a site we own and promote heavily through PR and co-promotional arrangements, had 6% of its traffic come from search engines last month. 94% came from sources such as online articles, co-promotion, and people using a bookmark.
I see the exact opposite situation in the traffic reports of sites that we do little promotion for. The bulk of their traffic comes from search engines. And that makes perfect sense because without promotion search engines are the only way people can find these sites…
How can such an unstable system survive? Moreover, how can you ever hope to be on top of it for long?
So in closing, I submit that search engines are dying. In fact, I would say they are dead already and just don’t know it yet – gone the way of the reciprocal link exchange and the “you have a cool page” award as an effective promotional tool. A victim of their own success.

Now compare that to what Robert Scoble wrote today in his “2010: the year SEO isn’t important anymore?” post:

I came away from this conversations thinking that SEO is getting dramatically less important and that SEM should be renamed to “OM” for “Online Marketing” since small businesses need to take a much more holistic approach to marketing than just worrying about search results.

So just over 12 years ago, we had someone saying pretty much the same thing that Scoble wrote today. You shouldn’t worrying about search, or that you should certainly be doing more than search.

Well, duh. I don’t know any search marketer worth their salt who suggests that anyone should fixate only on search marketing alone. As I responded to Scoble in my comment:

SEO, for the record, is the activity of ensuring you are well listed in any search results that are offered to a user for free. So small businesses don’t need to worry about SEO? Hey, the top box on Google is often taken up by a map with a “4 pack” or “10 pack” of listings.
Those listings are something that small businesses can claim. And if you claim them, adjusting things like your address (if not correct) or your business title (such as ensuring you are descriptive for important terms) can have dramatic effect on whether you get listed. And that, my friend, is also SEO….
As for renaming search marketing to online marketing. What on earth are you talking about? I mean seriously, where have you been since the internet broke out?
There’s always been online marketing, which is the umbrella term of marketing — well — online. It includes things like social media marketing, link building, email marketing, virtual worlds marketing and yes, search marketing. Some online marketers can do all these things. Many specialize, just as in the real world, someone might do outdoors advertising versus television ads.
The biggest issue for small businesses is one that we probably both agree on — that online can simply be overwhelming for them.

And if I go back to how I responded to Hoy in 1997:

People need to understand that they may not stay on top for a particular phrase, especially if its popular, for a long time. They certainly shouldn’t build all a site’s traffic around it. But they may still do very well for a variety of more obscure terms and topics. If they have meta tags and page titles relevant to the topic of their pages, this well help them capture this basically free traffic. But again, moderation, rather obsession, should be the rule.
They should have never been what people depending on for 100% of their traffic. But to invest a little time to pick up 10% or more of traffic? I’d hardly say they are dying. They certainly aren’t in the perspective of those who use them to find things. But those people who used to cruise along on traffic from search engines — and search engines only — certainly need to realize those happy days are over. They have to be part of a comprehensive publicity program.

You can read what others had to say back then here. But I think if SEO hasn’t died in the 12 years since it was first predicted, it isn’t going away any time soon.

SEO is more than ranking web pages.

SEO is not about tricking search engines.

SEO is not a complete online marketing plan, but…

SEO — and search marketing in general — isn’t something a smart marketer should ignore or just leave to chance.

If you’re a small business and don’t think search is worthwhile, I’d suggest reading Searching For Small Businesses, Coming Up Frustrated, a post from me about trying to find businesses like you and having huge problems. Simple changes could solve that and bring you more business. You do want more business, right? Also check out Lisa Barone’s response to Scoble, Ignore the Silly Man, SEO Still Matters For SMBs.

For those of you who assume SEO is all about trickery, Thoughts On Web Developers, SEO & Reputation Problems is a recent post from me that looks at that issue.

And for anyone who cares, I just remain puzzled after all these years how anyone could think the answer is only think about search or don’t think about search at all. Why these extremes? Why an either/or?

Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series, maintains a personal blog called Daggle and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan.

See more articles by Danny Sullivan >

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eMarketer: Social to lead online marketing efforts

2009-12-17T06:49:00.001-08:00

While it is no surprise that the online advertising marketplace continues to be down it may surprise some of you to know that search and display ad formats continue to be strong, and that the 2010 forecast is likely to be much brighter.

by Kristina Knight

According to a recent eMarketer report search and display are now two of the leading online ad formats while classified advertising, which has been a perennial top performer, continues to drop. Overall the online ad spend (US) is expected to decrease by more than 4% in 2009; this is down from a 10% growth rate in 2008. This is where the bad news ends, however.

eMarketer is now predicting steady, albeit slow, growth in online advertising through 2014 with 2010 and 2011 seeing at least 5% growth. The prediction becomes even brighter in 2012 when the ad spend is expected to grow by 12%. 2013 (9.5% growth) and 2014 (9.7% growth) are also expected to be good years.

What is changing to give online advertising a steady growth rate when advertising in television, radio and newspapers continues to droop? Primarily social networking. Social networks saw a boom in 2009 and marketers are now becoming more comfortable utilizing the social marketplace to start branded conversations, obtain consumer reviews and simply connect with their customer base on a new level.

A recent Marketing Sherpa study found that social sharing of emails can boost interaction by as much as 25%. Social sharing occurs when a consumer uses brand information - an email message, a status update/Tweet or blog post - in their own blog, Twitter forum or Facebook status update page.

Although this study was specifically about email and social, correlations can be made to other integrated efforts. Using a branded social page to push consumers to a customized landing page or video stream. It is also an indicator of how much social is changing the face of the Internet, and how marketers need to change with the times as well.

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How To Save Money On Social Media

2009-12-16T07:16:00.003-08:00

Social media can help your business save money on marketing and PR

Published on December 14, 2009

by Lawrence Perry

(NewsPR.us and OfficialWire)

LONDON, ENGLAND

Whether or not the economy is tough, it really makes sense for businesses to make the most out of their budgets. Social media are sites that allow companies to practice good marketing and public relations without spending too much money. Social media are online networks that allow people to share information with one another.

Social media can be used to communicate with the public for various purposes from customer service to marketing. The major investment required for using social media is time. Even if managing social media accounts requires time and dedication, you can still use social media to your advantage without spending too much money. What companies can do is to hire virtual assistants who can really help companies take advantage of social media for less.

Both the virtual assistant and social media deliver cost-savings to your business because of the return on investment that you get from utilizing them. Now you can engage in effective PR and marketing for a fraction of the cost of using traditional media for marketing and PR.

Even with multiple accounts, because social networks offer their services for free, you can still reach a wider audience for cheaper.

A very good online marketing campaign can really deliver the same results as an expensive ad in the newspapers.

You can also use social media to complement your offline efforts. This way you can reach more people and achieve more in terms of marketing for much quicker. With an integrated offline and online marketing approach, you can reach so many more people with your marketing and PR message for a great cost.

With a virtual assistant to work on your online marketing, you can really get more from social media without sacrificing your own time. This way, not only are you maximizing your virtual assistant’s time as well as the use of social media but the use of your own time. When there is a dedicated worker that will focus just on the social media tasks then you can use your own time on tasks that need your time and attention.

Visit our virtual personal assistant sponsor: www.catchfriday.com

Contact

CatchFriday.com
Lawrence Perry
lawrence.perry@catchfriday.com
Tel: 020 8432 6450

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Bingham Johnson Consulting releases the secrets of Online Marketing

2009-12-16T07:16:00.001-08:00

Get a Marketing Coach and learn how you can market your business yourself online.
December 14, 2009

KNOXVILLE, TN: (WiredPRNews.com) — Bingham Johnson Consulting has decided Christmas is coming early for you this year. Not only are we lowering prices of the marketing membership plans for the holiday season, we are letting everyone in on the big secret. Over the last few years marketing agencies have been selling everyone on the idea that marketing your company online is a huge hassle and only the experts can do it.
Well, we want you to know that is just not true: Online marketing is simple and cost effective for any business - any size, any location, any time of the year.
Bingham Johnson Consulting, with their personal marketing coaching plans, wants to help put the marketing back in the hands of the client. Adam, founder of Bingham Johnson Consulting, has said from the beginning that “No one can market your business like you can” and we at Bingham Johnson stand behind him with our simple and easy marketing plans. Our goal is to teach you everything that we know about fast, efficient, and cost effective marketing so that after completing one of our programs you will never need another marketing agency again.
There are many effective ways to market your company online. One of the most recent ways that is gaining a lot of popularity is social marketing. This is where you can get your fans from Facebook to Tweet your Mixx and it all gets launched on your LinkedIn so everyone Diggs it. (If you have no idea what language that last sentence was in, do not worry, we have a plan for you so by the end of the program you will be laughing like the guy next to you is). Social media may be one of the most cost effective marketing options available - and by that I mean cheap because once you have everything established it turns into word of mouth advertising. The only downside is it does take time, effort, and constant monitoring in the beginning to get this ball rolling, but once it does, strap on your seat belt and grab your racing goggles - you are off!
Next to social media, the most cost effective option is Organic search - also known as Search Engine Optimization. Some of you may be wondering what in the world is SEO? As you read this, go to Google and enter in the search box your favorite hobby in your city and state: for example, “Badminton, Knoxville, Tennessee”. Ever wonder how Google determines who comes first in those results? It has absolutely nothing to do with how much they paid for the website and everything to do with the quality of their keywords. I am sure that there are some fancy badminton websites with flash, music, things that sparkle and that give you loading options, but you will have a hard to impossible time finding them in the results from any standard search engine if you do not know their website address. The best way to get your fancy website to work for you is to have high quality SEO, and to get that you must have high quality keywords. Now, do not panic if your website does not - nine times out of ten you will not need to purchase a new website, you will just need to tweak your old one. Bingham Johnson can teach you how to do that and manage it so before long you will be the number one search result!
As a business owner there are key factors you need to know and utilize to get noticed on the web, with social media, SEO, and keywords being just a few that we’ve talked about. Bingham Johnson is here to teach you or your team everything you need to - whether it is just the basics of internet marketing or the how-to’s of launching synchronized social and Ad Word campaigns. We have the tools and knowledge you need to run a successful advertising campaign.
Still have no idea what in the world we are talking about? Do not worry or give up on getting your advertising and marketing needs up and running. We have basic coaching memberships that just teach you all the ways the internet can work for you. We are determined to take the time needed to make sure you can market yourself and manage your campaign for years to come. Just think of us as your personal coach, because that is what we want to be for you. With our easy and affordable membership plans you can pick & choose options based on your needs, and we will personally coach you along your road to internet marketing success!

About Bingham Johnson:

Bingham Johnson (www.binghamjohnson.com) is an innovative consulting firm located in Knoxville. We provide Marketing and Sales consulting to businesses around the country. Our firm specializes in: Internet marketing, SEO, (search engine optimization) Social Media Marketing, Web Video, Business Start ups, and Sales Training. All Consulting by Bingham Johnson is design to help you find Customers, Clients and oh yes, help you make Money!
Adam Johnson is the Co-Founder of Bingham Johnson. He is an award winning designer, search engine marketing professional, sales guru, and Public Speaker. After his Career in the U.S. Army, he found himself the owner of a successful Design Agency. Now after moving to Knoxville, through his Consulting and Training Seminars at Bingham Johnson Internet Marketing Consultants, he teaches others the simple strategies and techniques they need to achieve their business goals.

Contact:
Adam Johnson
Principle Marketing Coach, Bingham Johnson
ajohnson@binghamjohnson.com
(865) 236-1401

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Tech Review: Online Marketing the Easy Way

2009-12-15T09:31:00.001-08:00

December 15, 2009 by Maya Smart

Like many small business owners, I’ve had an online presence for years — featuring my products, services and biography on brochure sites. Visitors can read promotional copy and click through my portfolio. But with 2010 almost upon us, I decided that it was long past time for me to embrace the 21st century and make my sites more informative and interactive.

I knew I was missing an opportunity to reach a wider audience online and convert them into paying customers, but I balked at the amount of time and energy it would take to top search engine results pages, get linked to from blogs and create buzz on social networking sites. I couldn’t afford to spend hours a day marketing my business online or to pay someone else to do it. So I’m experimenting with HubSpot, an inbound marketing system, on one of my websites, WritingCoach.com.

HubSpot delivers the most value to search engine optimization beginners. Tech savvy readers will observe that one could cobble together a bunch of apps and programs to approximate most of HubSpot’s offerings for free or close to it. But the beauty of HubSpot for online marketing newbies is that it offers a system that puts it all together for you and makes implementation foolproof.

So far I’ve found that it takes the guesswork out of search engine optimization and makes it easy to start building a stronger online brand in just an hour a day. My investment so far includes $500 for HubSpot’s mandatory quick-start program, a $250 monthly fee and $10/page for migration from WordPress to HubSpot’s content management system.

HubSpot’s medium and large business products, which allow you to stay on your existing content management platform, cost $9,000 and $12,000 a year, respectively. And all of its programs are easy to cancel. There are no long-term contracts, and HubSpot even provides a video to show you how to migrate off of the system.

For the money, it gives small businesses a stable content management system, blog integration, search engine optimization tools and trackers, blog and social media tools, lead tracking, a social media dashboard, marketing analytics and more. It also provides loads of instructions, technical support, webinars and inbound marketing coaching so even technophobes can have the confidence to implement the strategies it advocates.

Its step-by-step, jargon-free advice for creating, optimizing and promoting site content; converting site visitors into customers; and analyzing site data to refine your strategy is worth the price of admission in my estimate. But the company goes further and gives you two things that will seal the deal for many business owners: HubFeed and an inbound marketing consultant.

HubFeed, the first page you see when you log into your account, offers up a customized list of tasks to tackle each day. My HubFeed suggests specific articles in the blogosphere and on social media sites that I should comment on to raise my profile among key audiences. It alerts me to new leads and inbound links to my site, tells me when my keyword, website and blog traffic rankings rise or fall, and recommends site pages that I should optimize to attract more visitors.

My HubSpot inbound marketing consultant gives the robust technology a human touch. In weekly, 30-minute sessions, she reviews the work I’ve done, offers suggestions for getting more out of the technology, critiques landing pages and blog posts and answers my questions. These consultations are offered as a part of HubSpot’s mandatory quick-start program. After the initial eight sessions, users may opt to purchase more for $50/hour.

Moreover, pretty much every related service you might need to implement your HubSpot strategy can be purchased through the site. HubSpot experts and partners can provide graphic design and video production and even market for you for a price.

Maya Smart is a Richmond-based freelance writer.

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‘Branding' yourself could be boon to career

2009-12-13T09:03:00.001-08:00

By Jason Foster - jfoster@heraldonline.com

Do you have a brand? When people meet you or hear your name, what message do they take away?

If this isn't something you think about, you might want to start. Because having the right image associated with your name could be a boon for your career.

No longer is a strong resume all you need to get noticed. Thanks to an economy that's created widespread unemployment, competition in today's job market is fierce. That means you've got to stand out. But more importantly, experts say, you've got to know how to stand out.

And that's going to take some effort on your part.

“You have to realize that you're constantly being assessed,” said Georgia Doran, director of career education for the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. “It's everything you do, everything you wear, everything you say.”

That means there can't be any inconsistancies between what you say about yourself — in person, on paper and online — and what others say about you, including on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

More than 90 percent of companies research a candidate's “electronic presence” during the recruitment process, Doran said, so the message must be uniform.

“It's extremely important that there's no disconnect there,” she said.

Just to be on the safe side, Doran said, it's best to set your Facebook account to private. Also, Google yourself to make sure there's nothing on the Internet that could hurt the brand you're trying to present.

Show off your work

Another way to build your brand is to tout your accomplishments, not just spout off a list of job duties or skills. While a results-oriented resume will help, building a professional profile on LinkedIn — complete with references — or having your own Web site to show examples of your work and your influence will help convince a company of your value, Doran said.

“The company wants somebody who can bring something to the table,” she said. “Companies are selfish. They want as much value as they can get for the least amount of money possible.”

Marketing experts say some aspects of personal branding are the same today as they've always been, with or without Web 2.0. For example, being a jerk in any capacity probably isn't going to get you anywhere.

But the explosion of online communication tools only offers another avenue to build your reputation. You've just got to do it right. So put serious thought into what you're throwing out there, experts advise.

Ross Kimbarovsky, co-founder of crowdSPRING, a Chicago-based marketing firm, advises that people find a niche that's interesting to them and find a way to provide value to someone else interested in the same topic. Be engaging and share useful information.

“Over time, people start to listen to you,” he said.

You can help yourself by being active in discussions on blogs and social networking sites to build relationships.

“As you develop those kinds of online friendships, you do begin to develop a reputation,” Kimbarovsky said. “People start recognizing you as adding some value.”

Pick one name

Another tip: Don't dilute your brand by having lots of different user names on the various networks. Pick one, and stick with it, Kimbarovsky said.

“It's very hard to build a single brand if people call you by 10 different names,” he said.

Winthrop University senior Ryan Drumwright, 22, is trying to build his brand through social networking to position himself as a recognized voice on digital marketing and strategy. Over the summer, he worked at Sony Online Entertainment in San Diego and helped create the company's first social media strategy. He's now interning as a strategist at Social Rocket, a social media marketing firm.

“These days, you are what you Google,” said Drumwright, an integrated marketing communications major. “In order to compete in our current environment, we have to set ourselves apart, stay connected and establish a presence online. I decided to do this through social networking. … People I have never met in real life might not know what I look like, but they know my Twitter avatar and handle.”

It's important to be seen on multiple social networking sites, Drumwright said.

“This lets all different types of people be exposed to your brand,” he said. “My friends on Facebook might not be on Twitter, so to make sure they are exposed to ‘Ryan Drumwright,' I need to make sure I maintain a steady presence on both Facebook and Twitter.

“Multiple times, I have been in random situations where someone who appears to be a complete stranger comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, you're @Ryan_Drumwright on Twitter. I follow you.' It is a thrill for me to meet these people and connect with them in real life.”

Personal branding has become so important that USC will require business majors to take a class on the topic before graduating starting in 2011, Doran said. The school offers the class as an elective now, and students are often surprised to learn of all that goes into selling oneself to an employer, she said.

“You can be like a human computer,” Doran said, “but if you cannot present yourself properly … you're not going to get the job.”

Herald Business Editor Jason Foster's “Biz Buzz” column explores how business issues and trends are playing out locally. Contact him at 803-329-4066 or jfoster@heraldonline.com. You can follow his business coverage at Twitter.com/HeraldBizBuzz or on his blog at heraldonline.com/blogs/bizbuzz.

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Digital shines in 2010 forecasts

2009-12-12T23:37:00.001-08:00

Mary Elizabeth Hurn

December 11, 2009

Global advertising spending forecasts indicate that the industry can take a small breath of relief looking to 2010, because data indicates the market is stabilizing. A number of direct and digital marketing experts told DMNews in light of those forecasts they're expecting spending growth of at least 10% next year.

According to Interpublic Group's Magna, global ad spending will jump 6% next year to about $380 billion from $358 billion this year. Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia and WPP's GroupM predict global ad spending growth of 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively, with both projecting global totals of about $448 billion

For North America specifically, GroupM predicted that spending will decrease from $155.8 billion to $149.6 billion, while ZenithOptimedia said North American spending will fall from $157 billion to $153 billion. Magna predicted a North America increase from 2009's $140.5 billion to 2010's $141.7 billion.

While television still takes the lion's share of ad dollars when spending is broken down by medium, the Internet is the only medium that will see its share grow significantly in 2010, according to ZenithOptimedia. The share of Web advertising will rise from 12.4% to 13.7%, and its global spending total is on pace to reach $60.3 billion from $54.1 billion this year. TV advertising is also predicted to grow its overall share from 39.2% to 39.7%.

“Just like in the old days, direct marketing used to be the safe haven because it provides quick, measurable results. Online has assumed that safe haven role now,” said Adam Smith, futures director at GroupM.

According to Magna, global media suppliers' total online ad revenues are expected to see a compounded annual growth rate of 10.5% between 2010 and 2015.

In terms of how these numbers apply to direct mailers, many are still recovering from an extremely difficult 2009. Ed Mallin, president of the services group at InfoGroup, said 2009 was “the most challenging year that a marketer could ever expect.” He elaborated that quarters one and two of this year made marketers feel like a “deer in headlights.”

“We saw an average of 20% to 30% to 35% in cutbacks in terms of circulation and volume of direct mail pieces,” Mallin said.

Though it's normal for there to be an uptick in the second half of the year due to holiday marketing, Mallin added, he thinks there will be an increase in 2010 budgets and that “most marketers would be happy and hopeful to see a 10% increase.”

Sarah Baehr, VP and national media lead at digital agency Razorfish, said that the Magna, ZenithOptimedia and GroupM predictions are conservative because they include all media. She expects Razorfish clients to increase their spend by “10% on the low end” and “20% on the high end,” depending on industry and vertical.

“Consistently our clients are asking us to do more with less, but with digital, we can really take advantage of online environments and tap into audiences directly,” she explained.

Stormy Simon, SVP of marketing and customer care for Overstock.com, agrees that many marketers are seeing Internet advertising as a better way to reach customers than rival media.

“Our online spend is judged by performance, so as an online retailer, we just spend as much as folks will respond to because it's so trackable,” she said.

She said Overstock doesn't break out its marketing spend by channel publicly. However, Simon said she expects Overstock's spend to remain about the same in 2010 as it was in 2009.

Bryan Wiener, CEO of digital agency 360i, said that his agency is “seeing from our clients, which are a broad cross-section of big brands, double-digit growth in search, video and social media.”

“We're expecting 10% to 15% growth in search,” he continued. “Video and social will have much higher percentage growth, but they're starting at a lower basis.”

Simon added that while the e-commerce giant does use some direct mail, digital marketing is more reliable.

“If we send a direct mailer, it's an absolute impression, but is it as trackable? Will the consumer, for example, type Overstock.com/directmailer? It's fuzzy. Some people do and others don't,” she explained. “But I do know that when I spend on online marketing, I'm able to say ‘I spent a penny and I got a penny [back].'”

Andrew Bast, SVP and GM of agency Purple@Epsilon, said that while his firm has seen decreased budgets this year, a large number of clients are pouring more of their budget into CRM rather than traditional marketing. CRM has eclipsed the more general awareness marketing, and we expect that to continue into 2010,” he said.

“In 2009, clients became very risk-averse,” Mallin agreed. He explained that clients may have, in the past, been more daring, trying many different strategies, yet today they're only betting on a few campaigns or channels.

Another thing to consider for agencies and marketers alike, he said, is that budgets, for the most part, are no longer planned on a yearly basis.

“We're seeing people look at their budgets month to month and quarter to quarter,” he said. “It used to be much more predictive, but today they're being micromanaged. We'll continue to see that in 2010 but not to the extent in 2009.”

For 2010, Bast predicted that overall marketing budgets would begin to increase. “We think we'll see budget increases easily north of 10%,” he said.

From the December 14, 2009 Issue of DMNews

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Auto Dealer Online Spending Soars 45%

2009-12-11T11:00:00.001-08:00

Auto dealerships dropped their overall ad budgets 27%, but increased internet ad spends 45% in the first three quarters of 2009, compared to the same time period in 2008, according to new data from Nielsen.

The data points to an ongoing trend of the auto industry’s continuing shift from traditional to online advertising.

Borrell Associates predicts that U.S. auto manufacturers will increase their online local ad spending 14% in 2010, while new- and used-car dealers will increase their online ad spend by 8.6%.

“The internet already attracts 93% of today’s auto shoppers. The consumer’s reliance on social networking sites to provide information sourced from ‘trusted friends’ vs. an auto dealer or their automotive advertising agency has already been established,” says Philip Zelinger, president of Ad Agency Online. “What is new is the ability for consumers to bypass an auto dealer’s website or online marketing message when purchasing a new or used vehicle in favor of a trusted third party social networking community where likeminded auto shoppers are able to share their shopping experience before, during and after their sale / purchase.” (via Automotive Digital Marketing)

Zelinger instructed his affiliated automotive advertising agencies to shift their focus from conventional automotive advertising media to social networking based marketing channels last month.

Online auto ad companies have been steadily growing their tool sets in response to the increasing demand, writes MarketingVOX. Autobytel, for example, expanded its New Car Leads Program to include inventory-based leads using Vast.com, an automotive search and advertising platform. The system enables dealers’ inventory to be automatically listed across the Vast.com network, which includes automotive sites such as AOL Autos, Overstock Cars, and AutoMedia.

Because the VIN number is included in each inventory-based consumer lead transmitted to Autobytel dealers, the system provides specific information about which individual vehicles consumers are considering. The program is pay-for-performance, and dealers will only pay for the leads that they get.

At the end of September, Autobytel also relaunched its Email Manager program, which features real-time “Dealer Alerts” sent as soon as a consumer clicks on any of the links in an email. Another company that is targeting this industry with email marketing solution is CityTwist, a geo-targeted email marketing company, which recently partnered with Aspen Marketing Services, to provide geo-targeted email advertising campaigns for its automotive clients. CityTwist allows businesses to advertise directly to subscribers within a specific geographic market through email while receiving real-time tracking on open and click-through rates.

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Online marketing services 'should target Facebook users'

2009-12-10T07:17:00.001-08:00

Those in the online PR industry may benefit from targeting Facebook members as the social networking site has announced that it now has more than 350 million users on its books.

Co-founder of the Social Media Portal Tim Gibbon observed that this may be down to the fact that the site attracts "a more generic audience", which may help internet marketing services professionals wishing to appeal to several demographics.

He went on to observe that as there is so much information on Facebook, "the obvious route of profiling and research is possible", which might prove beneficial to marketers.

However, Mr Gibbon did say that this could prove "risky" to those firms "that debate and champion privacy issues".

According to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the company is in the process of reorienting their network structure so that pages can be viewed by friends, friends of friends or everyone on the site.

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Search Engine Marketing For Confused Business Owners – Troy, Michigan

2009-12-10T07:04:00.001-08:00

Free Lecture Series Helps Metro Detroit Businesses Get Back On Their Feet

Troy, Michigan 12/09/2009 06:47 AM GMT (TransWorldNews)

Business owners are now looking for a way to get the message out can rejoice in a whole new resource. Master marketer, Ted Cantu is showcasing a new lecture series to help Michigan based businesses to get the word out about their companies. This comes at a critical time as Michigan area newspapers such as the Ann Arbor News closes its doors.

The recent down turn of events have had a detrimental effect on the economy. Businesses of all sizes are feeling the negative effects of the recession. Now a local SEO, (search engine optimization) firm has opened its doors and has created a new flood of opportunity for businesses. The innovative Michigan based Internet Marketing company, Customer Connect, is planning on offering a free workshop in the field of online marketing.

“This is going to be part of a series. We want to show Michigan based businesses, entrepreneurs and start ups the ins and outs of marketing your web sites online. We feel that this is a much needed resource in the S.E. Michigan area. These free workshops are part of a much larger vision.” Explains Ted Cantu.

The big picture is a large scale intellectual offering for the public. The online seminar is part of a much larger series that includes marketing basics, sales copy writing, and sales and promotion of products, goods and services.

Ted Cantu can be reached at 248-631-9211

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Investing in Potential: The Real Danger of Social Media Marketing?

2009-12-09T07:21:00.001-08:00

2009 December, 8th

Kristen Nicole

Social media marketing. Those are three buzz words that seem irresistible to businesses small and large. the promise the Internet’s social networks have introduced lures business owners in at a quickening rate, especially after success stories from large corporate entities like Dell have emerged in the past year. But are these success stories too good to be true?

An article from Businessweek warns about the hype of social media marketing snake oil, alerting businesses to the dangers of self-proclaimed experts that may not be able to deliver what they advertise. It’s an interesting effect, seeing as these social media marketing experts are able to build enough hype around their brand to land the gigs that initiate their demise.

Given our current economic strife, the Internet has provided what appears to be a safe haven for those looking to be their own bosses. Corporate America’s job market is relatively unstable and that fosters a great deal of doubt for those seeking employment. The other half of this equation is the fact that our current economic strife has also encouraged marketers to seek out less expensive ways in which to push their message across to a large number of people. Alas, social media marketing.

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are growing in popularity, and are beginning to be accepted by their users as platforms through which they can interact with friends and businesses alike. In some ways this joint approval of social networking validates the networks themselves. The question is, do these social networks meet marketing expectations?

It’s a difficult thing to put into numbers, and at this point there is more promise in the potential of social media marketing than in the statistical results themselves. The corporate success stories we hear about most frequently have also spent a great amount of money on their social media marketing campaigns, which also contributes to the false hope other businesses give into when bringing on a self-proclaimed marketing expert. As with anything, each business needs to evaluate their needs and bring in the person that best fits their needs.

Businessweek goes on to address four of the major pitfalls a business can fall into when considering a social media marketing expert, noting the buzz words and jargon they may use in order to gain your business. The transparency effect for businesses to better interact with their consumers tops the list, though Businessweek notes that such transparency isn’t always a good thing when it comes to a business’ strategy.

The ability to listen in on customers’ conversations through public forum exchanges is another buzz phrase, with Businessweek warning that bringing on staff to manage these conversations can be pricy with little immediate return. The freemium model may be one tactic that has gained traction in recent years, but Businessweek notes the possible loss of revenue. Closing out the list is the encouragement for employees to embrace social networking, which Businessweek says could backfire when those employees begin wasting hours of their work day playing around on Facebook.

I’m not here to dispute the points Businessweek has brought up, but I would like to extend some personal thoughts and experiences based on the four pitfalls mentioned in the Businessweek article. Social media marketing has yet to be proven as a fully viable option for businesses or the self-sustained entrepreneur. Both aspects of this social media marketing equation have invested their time and money in its potential, as the ability to witness a return on such investments are beginning to show promise.

Instilling a corporate culture towards embracing social media can also become a healthy aspect of a company’s social media strategy. There’s little point in worrying about an employee releasing trade secrets on the web, as this could happen with or without the presence of social networks. Finding a way to leverage those employees to improve branding relationships across the social web can benefit businesses towards their online marketing goals. Best Buy has done a good job with this in the way it’s using Twitter to provide a direct channel between advice-seeking customers and Best Buy employees.

Instead of shying away from social media, companies should just find a good way in which to integrate it into their existing corporate culture. Companies should invest as they see fit, based on the current returns and the knowledge that they are investing in social media’s potential as well.

image credit: ttoes

2009/11/28 -- The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web (Review)
2009/04/22 -- Social Media Marketing As An Effective PR Tool

About the Author

Kristen was the lead writer and Field Editor of Mashable, a popular publication that covers social media and tech. She has contributed to a number of other publications including CenterNetworks, VentureBeat, Bubblicious and The Industry Standard. Her work has been syndicated across a number of main stream media outlets, including Reuters, The New York Times, and NBC. Her latest accomplishment has been co-authoring The Twitter Survival Guide, which you can purchase here. She is also completing her second book, Twitter for Women.

See All Posts by This Author

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Potential 111 Million Online Donors This Holiday Season

2009-12-08T08:47:00.001-08:00

by Michele Donohue

It might be time to check if your online donation page is working because a potential more than 111 million people plan to use the Web to give to nonprofits this holiday season. And, Austin, Texas-based online marketing firm Convio estimates this year more than $4 billion in donations will be made online.

More than 63 percent of online consumers said they would donate via the Web during the holiday, compared to 51 percent in 2008, according to an omnibus survey conducted by Forrester Research for Convio. The results are developed from a nationally-projectable, weighted sample of people with Internet access.

Of the respondents, 37 percent said they did not plan to give online, from last year. There is not statistic regarding overall giving, simply online donations.

Tad Druart, director of marketing and communications at Convio, explained that nonprofits should pay attention to how much time and energy they put into the online sphere. “Consumers are going there. You have to integrate offline and online campaigns because there are a lot of numbers and dollars in play,” he said.

Nearly 57 percent of respondents said they plan to donate the same amount or more this year, down from 67 percent of respondents in 2008. Another 23 percent said they would give less this year and 20 percent are still undecided about how much they will give.

According to the survey results, 44 percent of respondents who said they planned to give claimed that a nonprofit’s Web site is the most useful resource in choosing which organization to give to, followed closely by “word of mouth” at 40 percent.

“No matter how they give the gift, they are going to go online to make sure the organization is doing what they say they’re doing and are compelling,” said Druart.

Those surveyed who said they planned to give said emails or enewsletters (27 percent) and direct mail (28 percent) also influenced the decisions, the first time the two channels have been almost equal. Peer-to-peer fundraising is still making its mark – 23 percent said an email from a friend or family member encouraged them to support a fundraising efforts.

Druart said some nonprofits want to restrict what is said about their organization and brand, but most people are talking about their experiences both online and off. Word of mouth, peer solicitations and information found on social networks (9 percent) show that a large amount of influence isn’t coming from the nonprofits. “The more that starts moving online, I think we’ll see friends and family play a really important role in how people give and who to give to,” he said.

Consumers are also showing more engagement online, with 39 percent reportedly making an online donation after clicking through a nonprofit’s site and more than half decided to engage in another way, such as giving their email (36 percent) or registering for a newsletter (23 percent).

Less popular actions after visiting nonprofits’ Web sites included using content from the site on personal social network pages, such as Facebook and Myspace (5 percent), signing up for an event and using organizations’ site to solicit donations (6 percent), and listening to a podcast or audio (6 percent).

Nonprofits should also further evaluate their multi-channel donation strategy. As a result of visiting nonprofits’ Web pages, 25 percent said they shared personal information, such as their name and mailing address.

Online consumers are not simply stuck in front of the computer – 61 percent said they mail a check; most do so only after checking a nonprofit’s Web site.

Respondents also gave at events (38 percent), used the Internet to sponsor a friend or family member in a run, walk or ride (17 percent), and responded to a telefundraising call (16 percent), in addition to online giving.

“What the online consumer is saying is, ‘I’ll engage with you in a variety of ways, but it has to be easy.’ We live in a multi-channel world, and nonprofits have to accept that and make sure that all their channels are working together as efficiently and effectively as possible,” said Druart. “If your Web site isn’t consistent with the other things you are doing, [donors] are going to question whether this is an organization that has it together.”

Nonprofit Web design probably still needs a little work, according to survey results. When asked if nonprofit Web sites make it easy to get information that donors needed when deciding to give, only 46 percent either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed. Only a slight majority (56 percent) responded that they strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that nonprofit Web sites make it easy to actually make a donation.

Druart recommended nonprofits explore whether they can integrate ecommerce into sites and holiday asks. He said that within focus groups, separate from the survey respondents, people don’t want to make the tough choice between a present and a donation.

An ecommerce ask makes the donation tangible to donors. Druart said nonprofits should also try to equate donation amounts to tangible actions, such as how many animals will be saved for $20, because “consumers want to know their dollars are actually helping.”

The top five categories respondents plan to give are human and social service organizations (37 percent), disease and health organizations (36 percent), faith-based organizations (36 percent), animal welfare organizations (26 percent), and disaster and international relief organizations (15 percent).

The survey asked more than 5,000 respondents about their giving plans this holiday season. When asked how often respondents access the Internet, 74 percent said several times a day, 17 percent said once a day, 7 percent said several times a week, 1 percent said once a week and 1 percent said several times a month. Other answer options for amount of online time, including logging on once a month, less than once a month and not going online at all, did not receive any responses.

Of the respondents, 66 percent of Younger Boomers, categorized as ages 44 to 53, said they would donate online this holiday season, followed by 65 percent of Generation X respondents, ages 30 to 43; 64 percent of Generation Y, ages 18 to 29; 60 percent of Seniors, ages 65 and older; and, 59 percent of Older Boomers, ages 54 to 64.

***

This article is from NPT Instant Fundraising, a publication of The NonProfit Times.

Subscribe to The NPT Instant Fundraising eNewsletter or any of our other enewsletters and get the latest news and ideas related to fundraising delivered to your inbox.

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Google Promotes Place Pages in Shop Windows

2009-12-07T18:47:00.001-08:00

Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service

Google is introducing a mobile marketing campaign for Place Pages, a service for businesses that faced some early criticism when it launched in September.

Place Pages are Web sites that Google creates for businesses that appear on Google Maps. The pages include basic information like an address, maps and nearby transit options, as well as customer reviews posted to sites like Tripadvisor and Urbanspoon.

Google planned to announce Monday that it has begun sending out decals -- basically stickers -- that businesses with Place Pages can post in their shop windows. The decals display a type of bar code, called a QR code, that mobile phones can "scan" to find related information online.

People with iPhones, Android phones and BlackBerry devices will be able to use an application on the phone to take a photograph of the QR code in the window. The application will recognize the QR code in the photograph and launch the business' Place Page in the phone's browser.

IPhone users will be able to use the QuickMark application, which usually costs US$0.99 but will be free to the first 40,000 people who download it starting on Monday, Google said. On Android devices, consumers can use the free Barcode Scanner application.

Businesses can update and correct information on their own Place Pages. Google said it is sending the decals to the 100,000 most-searched-for businesses that have updated their Place Pages through Google's Local Business Center.

More than a million businesses have already "claimed" a Places Page, said Michaela Prescott, head of geomarketing for Google. It chose the most popular of those businesses by checking how many people are searching for them on Google or looking for driving directions to the business, she said.

Google plans to take the decal program international, and expects to hand out more decals to popular businesses early next year, she said.

Google introduced Place Pages in late September. When it launched, industry observers noticed that Place Pages were being ranked in Google results, leading to concern that Google was driving traffic to its own pages -- which feature advertising -- rather than to the source of information online. Google said it had taken steps to prevent the Place Pages from appearing in its search results, although some continue to appear.

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How to Avoid Online Marketing Failure by Your Back Office and Yourself

2009-12-07T14:52:00.001-08:00

By Mike Parker Print Article

RISMEDIA, December 8, 2009—If you were a broker who received over 360 leads from your website, all with real names, phone numbers, email addresses and most with specific comments and requests for specific information, would you be tickled pink? More importantly, how many of those leads do you think you could sell?

If you were an agent who received 33 of the same kind of quality leads from your personal website, all with real names, phone numbers, email addresses and most with specific comments and requests for specific information in just a few months, would you be tickled pink? More importantly, how many of those leads do you think you could sell?

Now, consider this: The broker has yet to sell one of those leads; the agent has yet to sell one of her leads. Yet, another broker client also received about 300 leads and has made 80 sales, and dozens of agents who receive 30+ leads make 5 or more sales to those leads.

How can this be? How can results vary so widely when different parties are presented with the same material with which to prosper? These are not bogus leads, they are real requests from real people who have visited the site, seen something they want more information about, and who have included full contact information.

Where most brokers go wrong at handling Internet leads

Often a broker will set up a policy for handling Internet leads and assume that all is well and that all these leads are getting the tender loving attention that the broker knows they need. After all, no less an authority than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has documented that leads left unanswered for more than an hour degrade faster than road kill on a hot summer day. Here’s how one broker was handling his company’s leads:

• First, the team assigned different agents to the task of intake: when every lead was received, chances were good that no one person consistently took it in. Thus, every individual handled these new leads in what they thought was the best way, but they lacked any training in how to handle them. There was no set procedure.

• The team was spending more time inputting leads into their “lead management system” than they spent calling the leads.

• Worse, they weren’t even assigning the leads to a contact person until they were entered in the lead management system—often days after they were received.

• Even if they managed to respond in a non-embarrassing time frame, they had no plan how to engage the client when they did call.

• Because the leads took so long to be assigned to an agent, by the time that agent got the lead, they believed it was already stale, and it pretty much was; so the agent rarely called them, either.

What about the hapless agent? She came to my attention when she posted on an online forum that she was very unhappy with the service she had subscribed to from us. I researched her account and found that 1) she had been found on the first pages of search engines 1,058 times; 2) She had received 33 of that same quality of lead as recited above within a few months. She had not sold a single one of them. She was right to be unhappy, but was it right for her to blame anyone but herself?

Perplexed, I then reviewed her customer log and practically fainted dead away when I saw her comment as follows: “I don’t want leads, I want appointments!” She wasn’t calling these people because she wanted them to set an appointment with her!

Both our broker and our agent had one thing in common: they didn’t call people back in 5 to 30 minutes.

What happens when you botch an Internet lead

Internet shoppers are conditioned to expect instant gratification. After all, what happens when they “click here?” What happens is they “go there,” instantly.

Thus, when they go to your site and give you their name and contact information, they are parting with their greatest treasure—their personal information. When you don’t respond with alacrity (alac·ri·ty: promptness in response : cheerful readiness, ‘accepted the invitation with alacrity’), they find it insulting on a personal level. They expect that you—as a person marketing online—are familiar with proper online protocol towards inquiries. If you act like the 50% of agents who never call Internet leads (according to NAR’s statistics), they go online the next day and go to a site where someone gets back to them immediately. You have lost them forever, at that point, because they have already seen for themselves that your definition of “service” is vastly different than what they expect. Your competition gets the business—not you.

Helping agents who ignore the lead resource

I was so upset that the broker was not making conversions to sales from these good leads that it bothered me all day. That evening, over pre-dinner conversation, I posed the question—more rhetorically than if expecting a factual answer. “Well, what do you expect?” I was told. “Has anyone ever explained how to best follow up Internet leads?”

It was an excellent point. Without delay, we contacted the broker the very next day and set up a training session for the staff people who were the keepers and distributors of the leads to the agents. About a week later, the brokerage has implemented an entirely new and effective method of dealing with these leads.

• They now have someone assigned to initial lead follow-up at all times (it is extremely important that you do not use auto responders with email leads: that is NOT contact. Phone calls are the way, then emails.)

• The initial responder is trained on “intelligent response” and how to properly respond to the inquiry. They call the lead immediately, verify what the lead would like information about and then they hand them off to a sales agent on a round-robin basis.

• After that initial contact, the lead is inputted to the “lead management system.”

• The broker can then monitor the progress of the lead with the assigned agent.

Additionally, we have scheduled each agent’s attendance at the free customer-only webinar we offer weekly on “How to follow up Internet leads.” Thus, the entire organization is going to receive the same training on how to handle these valuable leads—not only the agents, but the administrative staff.

Real leads versus junk leads

Any purported “lead” without a name or a way to get hold of them is junk. Do you ever get one with a fake phone number? Junk it. Do you ever get one from “Gianni Versace” or some other gag name (like I did this morning)? Junk it. Do you get another corporate lead that is older than dirt and more stale than last week’s biscuits? Junk it. It’s too late! While old leads are an excellent source of prospects, new leads not responded to are precisely the reverse: a poor use of your time and effort. You’ve got to get these things while they are fresh and the people remember signing on.

What is a real lead? A real lead is one that was generated by a real person viewing materials about what you sell who desires more information about something they saw on your website. A real lead leaves their true name and contact information (phone, email address or both) because they really do want to speak with you or to gain more information about something you sell.

Clearly, to succeed at online marketing it is necessary to obtain real leads. Most agents would love to have the problem the broker in this article has of what to do with all those leads, but most agents never see over 300 real leads on their website in their lifetimes—their websites are like billboards on the Moon; sure, they’re up there, but no one ever sees them and no real leads are ever generated by them.

What agents and brokers must do to succeed in their online marketing

Obtaining real leads is not rocket science. It is a process that can be mastered by most agents, technical or not. There are four basic steps to attracting Internet buyers to your business:

• Maintain a good marketing platform with information available to the consumer upon request; get them to tell you what they want and give it to them;

• Make certain that people searching the web for homes can find your site;

• Build traffic and convert 5-15% of visitors to your site into registrations;

• Learn the proper way to follow up these leads; the timing, the methods and the follow-up techniques.

What about that agent with the 33 leads who wants appointments?

Nothing can help someone who won’t call a real lead. Take this simple test to see if you can sell houses to Internet buyers. Ask yourself this: if you received an inquiry from a real person, with their phone number and email and the comment: “looking for 2-3 bedroom condo 350,000 max” would you (a) call them or (b) would you wait for an appointment?

If you answered (a), you can succeed at selling homes to Internet buyers. If you answered (b), good luck, because you have forgotten what being a Realtor is all about: it’s about service. No one hands anyone anything on a silver platter anymore. This isn’t 2005, when you could be a bumbler and succeed. Today, you actually must act like a professional, and when an agent doesn’t want to contact leads, in my opinion, it is time for them to leave the business, because not contacting leads is sure to lead to complete failure in selling, not just online marketing.

Mike Parker (www.theblackwatercg.com) advises thousands of agents and brokers on the subject of online marketing services for realtors. If you’d like to investigate having professional help with online marketing or to find out if your website is set up to deliver buyers to you, click here and fill out the form. We’ll tell you confidentially and for free. (C) 2009 Mike Parker

RISMedia welcomes your comments and questions. Email realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

For more top headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
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The Data That Turns Browsing to Buying

2009-12-05T20:55:00.001-08:00

By STEVE LOHR

Published: December 5, 2009

NEXT JUMP may well be the most intriguing Internet business that you’ve never heard of — though that’s likely to change as the company seeks a wider audience.

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Enlarge This Image

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Charlie Kim, center, founder of the marketing engine Next Jump, with Meghan Messenger, head of merchant services, and Tom Fuller, the chief engineer.

In September, Next Jump rolled its Corporate Perks Web site.

Enlarge This Image

The Yahoo Deals shopping area now bears a logo with the words “Powered by Next Jump.”

The handful of industry analysts who were invited into the company’s New York offices recently have come away impressed. Next Jump, they say, represents the future of online commerce and could emerge as a counterweight to Amazon, the giant Web merchant. And this patiently gestated start-up, they add, shows one path to the still-elusive promise of Internet advertising: using data to greatly improve the efficiency of marketing.

“Next Jump is a bellwether for the next generation of e-commerce, driven by better data,” says Tim O’Reilly, a blogger and the chief executive of the technology publisher O’Reilly Media.

Maybe, maybe not. But whether it succeeds or eventually stumbles, Next Jump certainly seems like a company to watch, and to consider.

Next Jump’s origins go back to 1994, when Charlie Kim, the founder, was a student at Tufts University. There he started a business that inserted coupons from local merchants into guide books that universities issued to students.

A year later, Mr. Kim went to work for Morgan Stanley. But he kept the side business and soon expanded to working on corporate perk programs that offered employees discounts on merchandise. He left Morgan Stanley in 1997 and took the business online. Today, 60 percent of the Fortune 500 companies use Next Jump’s technology for their employee discount programs.

Next Jump also handles the rewards programs that offer deals to loyal customers of companies like Dell, Borders and Hilton Hotels, and similar programs for membership organizations like AARP and the American Federation of Teachers. More than 100 million Americans have access to Next Jump’s e-commerce marketplace, and 10 million a year are customers.

As it has quietly expanded, Next Jump has been gathering data, and not only from companies and customers. It also gets credit-card transaction data from American Express and MasterCard. This vast trove — accumulated over years — is the company’s most precious asset, analysts say.

Next Jump analyzes that data to draw inferences about what a person would be likely to buy, and at what price. Its network also includes 28,000 retailers who can specify the characteristics of customers — age, location, income, for example — that they are most interested in luring with certain products.

Next Jump’s software then tailors offerings to small segments of potential customers, down to individuals, often reaching them with e-mail alerts. “It’s true microtargeting,” Mr. Kim said.

Most striking is the efficiency of Next Jump’s sizable network. Its click-through rate — the percentage of Web surfers who see an ad or offer and click on it — is 60 percent, the company says. At most e-commerce sites, a 5 percent click-through rate is considered excellent, analysts say.

But the endgame of Internet marketing is converting browsers to buyers. Next Jump says that for every 11 people who see one of its ads, one person makes a purchase. In Web commerce generally, 1,000 to 1 is deemed a good performance. Until recently, the Next Jump e-commerce engine was entirely unbranded, working unseen underneath corporate intranets or retailer’s rewards Web sites. “We were all white label,” Mr. Kim said. “Nobody knew who we were.”

But that is starting to change. The Yahoo Deals shopping area now has a Personal Offers site, whose logo says “Powered by Next Jump” — co-branding similar to the Intel Inside campaign of the big chip maker.

In September, Next Jump rolled out a Web site, Corporate Perks, that lets small businesses and consumers tap into its marketplace. Similarly, it has recently developed BlackBerry, Android and iPhone applications for another of its sites, Overwhelming Offers, that offers deep discounts on merchandise in sales that typically last an hour or two. Last month, the company struck a deal with MasterCard to offer Next Jump’s e-commerce marketplace to its cardholders.

By broadening its reach, Next Jump promises to become a more strategic partner for consumer-goods retailers. Many of them, analysts say, are leery of Amazon’s growing clout as the dominant online marketplace.

Unlike Amazon, Next Jump is not a retail competitor, merely a technology engine for sales. “Next Jump can potentially become a really viable alternative to Amazon for retailers,” said Leslie Hand, research director for IDC Retail Insights.

NEXT JUMP’S status as a trusted middleman has enabled it to collect fees both from companies who use its software and from retailers on goods sold. Mr. Kim declines to disclose financial details, other than to say Next Jump is profitable, has no debt and is growing rapidly. Its backing so far has come from angel investors, who have put in $45 million, including Kevin Parker, chief executive of Deutsche Bank’s asset management division, and Ram Shriram, a former Amazon executive, who was one of Google’s first investors.

Next Jump is heading for a public offering someday, but Mr. Kim says that is not imminent. For now, it is focused on growth. One goal is to assemble one of the largest Internet engineering teams on the East Coast, he said. Its payroll of 225 includes 150 engineers, and it plans to hire 100 more in the next year.

Gautam Arora joined the company in June, after receiving his master’s degree in computer science from Georgia Tech. He chose Next Jump over Microsoft and a few Silicon Valley companies.

“I had my doubts at first,” Mr. Arora said. “From the outside, it looks like just a shopping portal for employee perks. But look more closely, and you see a company that has morphed into a personalized advertising platform, and a company that could influence how advertising and marketing are done on the Internet.”

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Firms 'choose social media over mobile marketing'

2009-12-04T06:56:00.001-08:00

Friday, 04 Dec 2009 10:48

Social media is preferred to mobile marketing by many companies as a method of engaging with customers, new research shows.

A study by internet marketing and e-commerce information group Econsultancy, conducted in association with digital agency cScape, says that social networking websites like Facebook are proving popular web marketing tools for businesses.

Dubbed the fourth Annual Online Customer Engagement Report, the survey indicates that firms' presence on social networks has almost doubled from 23 to 44 per cent year-on-year.

Furthermore, usage of microblogging portal Twitter has gone up from seven to 35 per cent over the last 12-month period. Meanwhile, 11 per cent of businesses said they plan to invest significantly in the mobile channel.

A statement from Econsultancy suggests this lower interest in mobile marketing comes "despite increased use of smartphones and the mobile internet".

Earlier this week, bigmouthmedia's 2010 Travel Report revealed that online marketing will make up more than 50 per cent of travel companies' overall advertising spend next year.

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Social media the pre-eminent new B2B marketing tool, study says

2009-12-03T14:26:00.001-08:00

2009-12-02

http://www.komarketingassociates.com/industry-news/social-media-the-pre-eminent-new-b2b-marketing-tool-study-says$333.htm';

Marketing researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth have released the results of a survey, showing that U.S. companies overwhelmingly use at least one social media tool in their marketing efforts.

The report highlights several findings. First, 62 percent of executives surveyed reported being familiar with Twitter, and that over half of Inc. 500 companies were already using the popular microblogging service as a part of their online marketing campaigns. Social media networks were used by 80 percent of the companies surveyed in the report.

The survey also found that different social media technologies carried different adoption curves for enterprise users, from the rapid ascent of Twitter to the gradual decline in the use of online message boards. Respondents said overwhelmingly that they believed the social media tools that they used for marketing were effective.

Social media use has exploded among many sections of the U.S. population, not just marketers. People outside of the traditionally youthful online demographics have taken to Facebook and MySpace in large numbers.

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Internet Marketing 101: Why light leads are better than simple clicks

2009-11-30T20:27:00.001-08:00

In the online marketing world it is all about the lead, but because so many marketers are concentrating on clicks, leads sometimes fall by the wayside. Why is this? Because clicks are relatively easy to measure, leads and engagement levels are harder to determine, but can be much more lucrative to the savvy marketer.

by Kristina Knight

This is the theory which runs Reply.com. The company engages a platform using light leads rather than simple clicks to help marketers engage consumers, convert sales and increase revenue. CEO and found Payam Zamani explains light leads this way, "Consumers who are interested in buying a car go to a jump page and are asked where and what they want to buy. Since [Reply.com] knows that piece of information, we can categorize auto-buyers and get that information to the advertiser. The advertiser buys that traffic on a Cost Per Lead (CPL) or Cost Per Enhanced Click (CpEH) basis."

Over the past ten years, performance based marketing has increased from $77 million (1998) to just over $13 billion (2008). This is a 67% increase as marketers figure out how to manage paid search and other online campaigns.

How important are these light leads in the performance marketing space? Considering the majority of consumers, 84% according to a Brand Reputation survey, research purchases online prior to buying, these light leads can be incredibly important especially to hyper local businesses. Auto dealers, local restaurants, local merchants and brands can take enhanced clicks and the information compiled by Reply.com to engage local consumers and convert sales - both online and offline.

To date, Reply.com has seen revenues in some ad categories increase by up to 80% versus using other advertising platforms.

What can a light lead do for the marketer?
• Gives marketers targeted traffic without heavy keyword buys
• Offers geographically targeted traffic
• Offers segmented traffic based on geographic location and purchase intent

"Enhanced clicks direct consumers to an advertiser's customized landing page. The advertiser gets the consumer location and intent-to-purchase without managing keywords or text campaigns," said Mr. Zamani. "Leads are distributed through an auction interface, giving the marketer price, quality and volume control. The moment a consumer clarifies their intent and location, the click is enhanced. Because it includes user-submitted information the advertiser knows what the consumer wants and where the consumer is which gives them a better conversion rate."

The other benefit to using light leads is that the advertiser receives the consumer location; geographically targeted ads or, in this case, taking only leads from a specific geographic area, has been proven to give advertisers a higher return on investment for the overall campaign. This is becoming more and more important as advertisers try to squeeze as much as they can from each ad, auction buy and campaign.

"There is a need, especially in the last 12 months, to become more profitable," said Zamadi. "Services who can cut waste and not force advertisers to buy unwanted traffic or unmonetized traffic have done well. I see [marketers] wanting to broaden their reach but pay accordingly. For example, a woman of thirty may be the perfect demographic target but women between forty and fifty may also be strong leads. I, as a marketer, would pay a premium for the perfect target but would expect a lower cost for leads outside that perfect targeted base."

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Here are the 10 online marketing tips for small businesses:

2009-11-30T08:30:00.001-08:00

1. If you don’t have a website, get one. If you have one, invest more in making it better. Perhaps more startups would get online if they realise that a website does not need to be complex to serve its purpose.

2. Make sure people can find you. The web keeps growing. Creating a user-friendly, well-structured website will also help search engines like Google find and index it easily.

3. By being easily ‘found’ online, startups can win customers outside of their traditional markets. Once you have moved to where your customers are, get inside their heads.

4. Manage your return on investment (RoI). Advertisers can bid to appear only against specific user search queries, so they are sure to be targeting a relevant and interested audience.

5. “Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk,” says US-based marketing-guru Seth Godin. This phrase expresses very well the ability of online marketing to connect you with your customers at the right time.

6. Write ‘must-click’ ads. To attract the right kind of customers to your business, you need to be writing the right kind of ads—those that will compel them to click on your ad to learn more.

7. Work out your goals and market accordingly. You need to know your ultimate goal—be it increased traffic to your website, conversions, or brand awareness—so you can measure success.

8. Good marketers measure. Free tools like Google Analytics allow you to track visitor patterns so you can better understand your customers. You can make sure you are paying for results.

9. Online advertising is dynamic. You can pause, cancel or resume campaigns quickly. Use this to your advantage and continually review what you have set up, keeping in mind that there’s always room for improvement.

10. Embrace the nature of the web. It can be easy to bring an offline mindset to online marketing, and miss out on some of the greatest benefits it has to offer, like its truly global nature.

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Online marketing and advertising is no longer limited to the traditional PPC and SEO campaigns

2009-11-27T15:32:00.001-08:00

27.11.2009 20:01:55 In the words of Shefali Nagdev, “Delivering optimum results is an ongoing process, and so is adapting to the ever changing computing technology."

(live-PR.com) - We live in an age where the widespread penetration of the World Wide Web into our everyday lives cannot be debated. While the internet has been a great way for businesses to reach out to their customer base in the past, things are only getting better with the passing of time, and affordable social media services have given many businesses

Online marketing and advertising is no longer limited to the traditional PPC and SEO campaigns, and social media is the new buzzword. Popular websites such as Facebook, Digg, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, and many more are all part of the social networking platform; and the main reason that advertisers are looking at this platform is because of the large number of internet users that visit these sites, a number that only continues to grow.
If you are looking to increase awareness about your business, then using the social media platform to do so is definitely a good idea. However, since effectively putting into place an online marketing

strategy does call for some expertise, using the services of a social media expert is the safest way to go about it. This is where a social media expert such as Shefali Nagdev can be of help.
The services that are offered under her umbrella include creating and managing accounts on popular social networking sites

such as Facebook, Twitter, etc, as well as services such as video posting, forum posting, blog posting, review & comment submissions, directory submissions, article writing, etc.
The services of Shefali Nagdev have already helped a number of businesses in achieving their desired targets, but in the words of Shefali Nagdev, “Delivering optimum results is an ongoing process, and so is adapting to the ever changing computing technology.”

Based out of India, Shefali Nagdev has been associated with the social media network since its very inception and offers a range of affordable social media services. Also being of the opinion that “social media optimization and marketing is simply the merging of social marketing, search engine marketing, and traditional media forms”, you can be sure that all aspects of online marketing at looked at whilst your needs are addressed.

Press Information:
Shefali Nagdev

Maharashtra, India

Contact Person:
Shefali Nagdev

Phone: 09970762940
eMail: eMail

Web: http://shefalinagdev.com

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Tips for achieving your marketing goals in 2010

2009-11-25T07:08:00.003-08:00

Issued by: AlterSage

2009 is drawing to a close and in terms of marketing, businesses are reflecting on the year that has past and brainstorming new plans and strategies for 2010. Marketing is an essential ingredient for ensuring the success of any business.

When defined, marketing is described as the process of creating awareness for a product or service, influencing consumer purchasing behaviour and encouraging sales. Every marketing manager is constantly aiming to determine the best mix of marketing elements to further increase brand awareness, leads and sales.

Over the last few years the elements of the marketing mix have evolved to include not only traditional channels like print, radio and television, but also online channels like search engines, banner adverts and social media platforms.

In addition to being an effective marketing platform, it is important to note that the Internet also offers a new way of doing business and should not be considered as just another advertising channel. According to a Nielsen Online Ranking Report published earlier this year, local online readership figures grew by 25.2% from 4.8 million online readers in the first quarter of 2008 compared to over six million online readers in the first quarter of this year. The online landscape offers noteworthy opportunities, especially when tied in with traditional marketing channels to create a through-the-line strategy.

Online media offers a flexible structure and is far more cost-effective and measurable than traditional media. Depending on the goals and objectives of each business, different online marketing elements will be used. While online fundamentals like email marketing and banner placements are very effective when executed correctly, there are a few other elements to consider whilst planning your online strategy for next year.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO drives traffic to your website via search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. The purpose of SEO is to increase a website's ranking on search engine result pages for relevant search terms. This is achieved by optimising the website for key-phrases related to the business' products and services in order to provide searchers with relevant and high quality content.

Why should you include SEO in your marketing plan?

Even though SEO is a long-term commitment results from such a campaign are sustainable and provide proven ROI. When implementing a SEO campaign your online marketing agency will tweak existing content, create new web pages and possibly recommend usability changes. Better usability makes it easier for visitors to access your website and increases conversions or desired actions.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
PPC is a complementary marketing element to SEO. These are the adverts seen on the top and right-hand side of search engines' results pages. These adverts are paid for (also called sponsored links or adverts) and work on a bidding system. PPC campaigns should be conversion driven. As you are paying for visits to your website, you should aim to maximise certain actions based on your website goals. Successful completion of these actions is known as a conversion. For instance, if one of the goals is to increase leads and sales through the website the conversion action could involve a visitor filling in a contact form, enquiring about a product or downloading a product brochure.

Why should you include PPC in your marketing plan?

PPC is an excellent short-term solution to drive visitors to your website. Your online marketing agency will create targeted landing pages with the necessary calls to action elements in order to increase conversions. Another advantage of PPC is that it provides opportunity for increased brand awareness through its content network. A network whereby either text or banner advertising is displayed contextually on other relevant websites, and you still only pay per click. PPC is budget-based, completely measurable and provides ROI quicker than SEO.

Social Media Marketing
By correctly leveraging platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Zoopy social media can create brand awareness and build relationships with new and existing customers. Social media marketing has been likened to word-of-mouth, it's about conversations. These conversations occur amongst and between your customers and yourself. Social media marketing is not push-marketing - if you use social media platforms to broadcast overt commercial and marketing messages your social media campaign is guaranteed to fail.

An integrated strategy comprising a mix of the elements above plus traditional elements will ensure maximum return on your marketing investment. When creating an online strategy the AlterSage team considers the offline channels utilised by the client and aims to create a strategy that will amplify traditional elements. It is important that online not be included as an after-thought. If you want to achieve great results, involve your online agency from the conception phase as they will be able to advise which elements will work best to achieve the specific goals of the campaign.

Can you afford to ignore online marketing channels? Follow the consumers, venture online and see the possibilities.

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

This holiday, who's looking out for online shoppers?

2009-11-25T07:08:00.001-08:00

by Greg Sandoval

Web shoppers are in need of a digital-age Ralph Nader, the kind of firebrand consumer advocate who can focus public scorn on unscrupulous merchants.

Jeffery Boyd, Priceline's CEO, is among the merchants who "betrayed" customers, according to members of the Senate Commerce committee.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Commerce committee revealed that some of the Web's best-known retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Hotwire, Yahoo, Pizza Hut, Travelocity, Fandango, and Victoria's Secret, were part of a dubious marketing operation designed to mislead their own customers.

Serious questions about who's policing e-commerce were raised after the Commerce committee issued a report detailing how three marketing firms, Affinion, Webloyalty, and Vertrue, generated $1.4 billion with the help of the e-tailers--largely by deceiving consumers into paying up to $20 a month for loyalty-program memberships. (Note to reader: take a look at the Commerce committee's report (PDF), as it's well written and seems to catch the e-tailers cold).

The lure for millions of consumers typically starts this way: Marketers present ads to them late in the transaction process at a retail site. An often-unwitting consumer is offered cash-back rewards if he or she provides an e-mail address. Tucked into the fine print are the full terms of the deal. By providing an e-mail address, a consumer agrees typically to pay between $10 and $20 a month.

For this number of marquee merchants to be mixed up in such a questionable gimmick seems unprecedented in the brief history of online commerce. Going into a holiday season that is already supposed to see soft spending, the scandal could undermine confidence in Web shopping, which generated $60 billion in sales during the first half of this year, according to the Senate report.

In their report, Senate investigators learned that Webloyalty surveyed 308 past and current users. This was the result.

(Credit: U.S. Senate Commerce committee)

One of the most glaring side issues of this fiasco is that for nearly a decade, consumers complained about these practices but few people in authority seemed to care. What is apparent is that many people in positions to help shoppers didn't, or from the perspective of some consumers, may not have done enough. They include:

Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal
On paper at least, Connecticut appears to be a haven for controversial marketing companies. All three of the marketing firms under investigation by the Senate--Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty--are based in the state.

In 2006, Blumenthal settled a lawsuit with Trilegiant (PDF), the name Affinion was called then, for $14.5 million. But Affinion continues to operate, and Blumenthal hasn't won anything from the other two firms.

In April, Blumenthal launched an investigation into Webloyalty. That came one month before the Senate Commerce committee launched its probe. The feds have since held a public hearing and shared revealing information about all three marketing firms with the public. Blumenthal, who has been Connecticut's attorney general since 1990, promises more action.

"I will continue to vigorously and aggressively fight membership club scams," Blumenthal announced on the day the Senate Commerce committee held its hearing.

Blumenthal did not respond to multiple interview requests.

The retailers' directors and CEOs
For readers who question whether the CEOs and directors of such companies as Orbitz, Continental Airlines, US Airways, and 1-800-Flowers knew about what the marketing companies were up to on their behalf, this is what the government had to say:

"Committee staff has spoken to more than a dozen e-commerce partners of Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty and has reviewed thousands of pages of e-mail communications," according to the Senate report. "The interviews and the e-mail communications provide abundant evidence that the e-commerce partners are aware that their customers are being misled by the enrollment offers from Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty."

What would make a director or CEO take such risk with their company's reputation? In July, blogger Andrew Left, who specializes in shorting stocks, wrote that VistaPrint, an online printing company and a retail partner of Vertrue's, has generated as much as 44 percent of its quarterly net income by charging Vertrue access to its customers' credit cards.

But for even the most profit-at-all-cost investor, the questionable ploy could risk breaking customer trust and appears to have already battered stock prices.

Last week, the stock price of VistaPrint traded at nearly $56 the day before the Senate hearing on November 17, but it closed Tuesday at $50, a 10.7 percent drop. Shares of United Online, parent company of Classmates.com--which reportedly generated $70 million from the questionable marketing practices--fell from $8.40 before the November 17 hearing to $7.05 on Tuesday, a loss of about 16 percent.

When contacted, VistaPrint referred me to statements the company made earlier in the year in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a 10-K SEC filing, the company said it expected revenue from membership discount programs "will decrease in the future" to possibly zero.

The big question is whether VistaPrint made that disclosure thinking that its payday would end as a result of the Senate investigation or one of the several lawsuits filed against it and Vertrue.

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express
The biggest credit card companies might also want to explain how they continued to process transactions from Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue, when apparently they had received scores of complaints about these companies.

When consumers ask their credit card company to force a retailer to issue a refund, it is called a chargeback. A merchant that sees too many chargebacks is supposed to suffer some penalties. For instance, at Visa, chargeback-prone merchants are supposed to be fined and eventually booted off Visa's network. What happened here?

A Visa spokeswoman said she was unable to comment at this time. Representatives from Mastercard and American Express were not immediately available.

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Will Retailers or Consumers Come Out on Top on Black Friday?

2009-11-23T21:42:00.001-08:00

Sears, Kmart and Others Begin Holiday Sales Ahead of Time as Shoppers Start Early Search for Deals

By Jack Neff and Natalie Zmuda
Published: November 22, 2009

http://adage.com/article?article_id=140669

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Black Friday 2009 has become a massive game of chicken among retailers and consumers, as the closely watched post-Thanksgiving sales data will largely decide who succeeds at outsmarting the other.

Consumers are planning more and earlier to get the best deals this holiday season, starting their shopping and online price comparisons weeks ahead of last year. Retailers, meanwhile, have been more conservative with inventory even if they're offering what some observers see as the best Black Friday deals ever, hoping to avoid big late-season and post-season markdowns. Black Friday will go a long way toward deciding which side comes out on top.

Google data show the upswing in searches for "Black Friday deals" started about two weeks earlier this year than last, beginning in October. Search on that phrase actually hit a short-term peak Nov. 13 and declined through last week, though it may pick up again this week. Experian Hitwise is now seeing searches for Black Friday starting as early as August.

Thriftier consumers are making Black Friday more important, said Kohl's CMO Julie Gardner. "The environment has never been more difficult," she said. "The interest, from a consumer standpoint, on how to be the smartest shopper will be amplified."

Interest is intense enough that the traditional boundaries around Black Friday and Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) are breaking down fast. Amazon announced last week it will begin Black Friday deals starting Monday Nov. 23, essentially a week before online retail's traditional "Cyber Monday" shopping peak. Black Friday, however, already had become an online phenomenon, with ComScore reporting last year that traffic to online retailers was up 98% over the previous year's Black Friday.

Circular leaks
Meanwhile, early online leaks of retailers' offline Black Friday circular ads have become so pervasive that Walmart, which for years has threatened to sue the small websites that preview them, finally relented last week. It let BlackFriday.info publish a leaked version of its entire Thanksgiving Day circular, though it still declines to confirm or deny its veracity. That came a day after Walmart confirmed six of its Black Friday prices to CNN.

Realistically, Walmart may have had to cave rather than lose buzz to other retailers that let their leaks flow more freely. Price wars over what might have once been "Black Friday" deals, such as books and Xbox 360 gaming consoles, broke out weeks ahead of Black Friday among Walmart, Amazon, Target and Sears.

Sears, sibling Kmart and Kohl's were among retailers that started rolling early "Black Friday" themed holiday sales in early November. These early deals, combined with signs of unusually early shopping and planning by consumers and surprisingly strong October sales numbers for many retailers, raises the question of whether retailers have stolen some of the thunder from Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Sara Kleinberg, head of marketing for retail at Google, doesn't think so, pointing to survey research by Google and OTX showing 32% of consumers plan to do most of their shopping during Thanksgiving weekend. Another 40% plan to do so in early to mid December, according to the survey, based on data from the week of Nov. 2.

A poll by the International Council of Shopping Centers found 16% of shoppers plan to begin their holiday gift shopping on Black Friday, up from 10% last year.

By all appearances, the deals, including LCD HDTVs from Walmart and Target for $248 and $246, respectively, $3 small appliances at Target and a $59 Garmin GPS at Walmart, are better than ever, said Scott McCollum, managing director-shopper marketing at Ogilvy Action. But the question is how successful retailers will be at getting people they lure in with sweet deals to buy higher-margin items, and whether consumers will have anything left to spend by mid-December.

"We are definitely seeing more people shopping from lists," Mr. McCollum said, "and less impulse shopping." Adding to consumer discipline, he said, is that more people plan to buy holiday gifts with cash, not credit.

Layaway has accordingly gotten new life, particularly among retailers looking to differentiate themselves from Walmart, which did away with it more than two years ago. Sears, Kmart and Best Buy are among retailers that have added online layaway this year. Google actually shows a steady increase in searches for "layaway" plans the past five years, with an 8% increase this September-November period vs. a year ago and a 40% increase in searches for online layaway.

Seemingly Black Friday and the holiday season should be better for retailers this year, if only because last year's same-store sales were so dismal. Going into this holiday season, most retailers were reporting surprisingly strong sales momentum in October or the third quarter, with Walmart -- last year's standout -- being one of the few to see deceleration this year.

Dismal projections
But most projections for overall holiday sales are gloomy. The National Retail Federation forecasts a 1% decline. Nielsen's annual holiday retail survey fielded at the beginning of November found 42% of respondents plan to spend less than a year ago vs. only 4% who plan to spend more. NPD Group was slightly less gloomy, with a 30% to 11% split.

While it's clear people have done more research online in advance of the holiday season, it's far less clear they'll be buying more online as some may trade the convenience of online shopping for deals they hope to find on Black Friday in stores.

Research released last week by Digital Research and ThinkVine showed 39% of consumers plan to spend less online this holiday season, compared to 20% who said they'll spend more. That jibes with Nielsen's survey, which found the percentage of consumers who plan to do at least some holiday shopping online declined 10 points to 63%.

On the other hand, Forrester projects online retail sales will actually rise 8% this year, breaking out of a funk that saw third-quarter e-commerce sales down 2% according to ComScore. One factor in favor of the online retailers, according to Forrester, are those tight offline inventories retailers are using to avoid late markdowns, which could drive people online to find what they can't in stores.

Either way, freebies will be big drivers of online success, as Google reports strong double-digit increases in searches for free shipping and coupon codes.

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

Online Marketing Scams – From the Fortune 500

2009-11-23T13:11:00.001-08:00

Written by Jart Armin

11/23/2009 18 comments

Unwanted pop-up windows on behalf of third-party companies. Banners and hyperlinks begging to be clicked for confirmation. Interstitial pages that only disappear after ticking a box, or email addresses used as confirmation of enrollment in some travel club apparently required when buying an online airline ticket.

Sound familiar? Are these practices of cybercriminals? Well, not exactly, as these are the practices that some well-known and respected household-name companies have been legitimately using over recent years in a lucrative multibillion-dollar business.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation released a damning investigative report on "Aggressive Sales Tactics on the Internet and Their Impact on American Consumers."

This stunning report details the "clever ways" certain major corporations have been "manipulating consumers' buying habits so they can make a quick buck," according to committee chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV.

According to a press release on the report from the Democratic deputy communications director, the tactics of three companies in particular -- Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty -- were shown to "exploit consumers' expectations about online shopping to trick them into joining their membership clubs."

Some companies use methods similar to those employed by online scammers and cybercriminals, such as utilizing adware and injected pages to entice customers into clicking on confirmation buttons. The companies may use the confirmation button from adverts promising "cash back rewards" as a go-ahead to pass along personal data obtained from customers, i.e., email address and payment card details, to third-party membership clubs. In turn, those clubs promptly set up automatic monthly fee withdrawals directly from the newly "enrolled" members.

In the majority of cases examined by the committee, the first time a "member" became aware of their club status was upon discovering a mystery charge on their card statement. This was without any recollection of joining a scheme and mostly without recognizing the name of the company withdrawing the money from their account.

The sums of money earned in revenue from these tactics are mind-blowing; a staggering 35 million online memberships have been instigated since 1999, with 4 million alone since June 2009; over 450 e-commerce Websites and retailers have partnered with these companies, raising their revenue to over $1.4 billion; 88 companies have earned over $1 million with one company.

A group of well-known corporations use Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty -- e.g., Continental Airlines, US Air, VistaPrint, Orbitz, Priceline, and Pizza Hut, to name just a few.

Also last week, on the other side of the pond it was disclosed that U.K. service provider T-Mobile sold personal customer data for extra revenue without the permission of those involved.

The question surrounding personal data -- who should have access to it, and how it should be stored -- is an ongoing issue and not an easy one to solve. But revelations such as these are more than likely to be just the tip of the iceberg.

The Senate committee's report is welcome because it demonstrates that even though we rightly focus on cybercriminal activity as a priority, the online sales tactics and sales of personal data by well-known corporations and "ad networks" need to be scrutinized. If nothing else, the report may be the starting gun for a few class-action suits.

What we should find encouraging is that even though it has taken 10 years for the membership scam and illicit use of personal data to be even considered by the lawmakers, these issues are now being taken seriously -- at least in the U.S.

We have a hard enough job keeping cybercriminals at bay, without the added worry of not being able to trust Fortune 500 companies that we know and must interact with in our daily lives.

— Jart Armin, Editor of RBNexploit.com, a watch blog on the infamous RBN (Russian Business Network), and HostExploit.com

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Social is Only Going to Become More Important to Search

2009-11-21T22:45:00.001-08:00

By Chris Crum

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/08/13/social-is-only-going-to-become-more-important-to-search'; tweetmeme_source = 'webpronews';

Are you ready for the future of search marketing? It's going to creep up on you if you are not. In fact, it's already creeping. How long have you spent worrying about keywords? Is that all you worry about? Hopefully not, because there's a lot more to successful online marketing than that, even search marketing.

This is the basic plot of a keynote speech delivered by Charlene Li, co-author of the book Groundswell, and Founder of Altimeter Group, at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose.

The big picture is largely about social media and interaction. This is nothing new right? You've had social media marketing talk rammed down your throat for a while now, but that's separate from search engine marketing right? Well, yes and no. Social media may play a bigger role in search engine rankings that you realize, and that could even become truer in the future, and probably will.

Here's the thing. Searchers want relevant results. It's all about relevancy. That's all the search engines strive for, and that's what users want. As Li says, "There is a new type of relevance called engagement." People must be at the center of your search strategy. Not keywords.

There's a reason that real-time search is such a hot topic. Some think it's just a buzzword, but it's more than that. It's an ever-growing element into what people want to know.

Now we're not talking about real-time search taking over traditional search. Right now is not always more relevant than something from three years ago. In many cases, it is more relevant though. User intent might be considered the holy grail.

There's a reason Google is working toward updating its algorithm to incorporate a faster indexing speed. People want freshness. That's why Twitter has become such a hot source of buzz that seemingly all radio and television programs cling to these days. It's up to the minute info about what people are saying.

Facebook is doing it now too, and Li mentioned the importance of this in her keynote as well. One very important thing to keep in mind is that outside search engines aren't indexing the information that can be found in Facebook updates. Facebook is huge now, by the way - way bigger than Twitter. We're talking up there in Googleland in terms of users.

Social is an important element of search. We still have to look at it as a thing of the future though, because we are still so early in the evolution of the social web. The major search engines are still trying to make sense of it all. Li noted that the real time web presents many challenges to search engines, because how do you place value on things like retweets, @replies, short URLs, etc? There are a lot of new elements to consider.

Now think about search engine advertising. Li asked, "What if search engines augmented my search ads based on knowing who I am?" Think about data like influence, and number of friends. The number of influential friends could influence search results and search engine ad targeting.

The web has largely become a very social environment, and will continue to become even more so. This is why marketers should focus on people rather than keywords. If you want an example of how this plays directly into Google results already, Li mentioned how the YouTube video called " United Breaks Guitars " ranks number 4 in Google when you search for "united". United doesn't own that keyword anymore, because people have lifted this video up.

The synopsis of Li's book reads, "Right now, your customers are writing about you products on blogs and recutting you commercials on YouTube. They're defining you on Wikipedia and ganging up on you on social networking sites like Facebook. These are the elements of a social phenomenon."

Well, it's the truth. You've got to engage out there. There are watchers, sharers, commenters, content producers, and curators. Focus on the sharers and the watchers. Focus on people and relationships, and listen to customers.

Li says you should also get you back end data in order. By this, she means having a single place where people can sign in to your site, and integrate off-site behavior and data. Figure out the value of specific visitors. Integrating social into your site is a good way to do this.

"Prepare to tap into 'chain of intent,'" she says. "Google now combines chains of searches to determine intent." (Emphasis added.)

Know that customers can take their social networks anywhere with them at this point. Thanks to all kinds of tools from the networks themselves, as well as browser plug-ins, etc. people always have their social functions a click away. You're going to have to accept this and realize that you have less control over your brand than ever. That's why you need to deepen relationships and get engaged. It's even important than ever for search.

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

If You Care About Search, You Must Care About Social Media

2009-11-21T22:44:00.001-08:00

By Chris Crum

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/11/20/if-you-care-about-search-you-must-care-about-social-media'; tweetmeme_source = 'webpronews';

All of the search engines are rushing to incorporate more social media elements into their interfaces. Examples of this are evident in things like Google and Bing's deals with Twitter and Facebook. You can see it in Yahoo's new Twitter tab for news results. You can see it in Google's Social Search lab. Really you can see it in everyday search results.

Do you consider a social presence an important element to your search campaign? Discuss here.

A lot of Internet users spend a great deal of their time socializing or using social media sites in one way or another, whether that is to connect with others or simply to obtain information. Information is a key component of social media that often takes a backseat to communication in discussion of social media tools.

The fact of the matter is that more and more people are getting more and more of their information from social sites. That could be in the form of following a news publication on Twitter, following company updates on a blog or a Facebook page, or something as simple as a friend sharing a link.

Given that people are getting more info from social media sites, of course search engines want a piece of that, because their whole reason for existence is naturally to help users find what they are looking for on the web.

So, it stands to reason that if you want people to find information that you are producing, it can help a great deal to publish information and participate in conversations on social media sites. Never mind that users of those particular sites will have access to it. The general public will as well by way of search, regardless of whether or not they are a part of any particular community.

In an interview with WebProNews, Vanessa Fox, who used to work for Google, talked about reasons that businesses should be thinking about social media with regards to search. It's about visibility. If you are having discussions out there about relevant topics, they could appear in search results not only in real-time search, but further down the road as well.

In other words, if you have a conversation with a peer on Twitter about some topic related to your niche, there is a good chance the resulting tweets of that conversation could appear in search results for that topic on Google, even a year from now, if that tweet happens to be relevant enough. That's just an example (note: it's hard to say at this point, just how tweets will impact search once the Google-Twitter deal starts showing results).

There are a variety of ways in which a social campaign can contribute to your performance in search engines, regardless of what these recent deals might produce. Like Lee Odden of Top Rank Online Marketing recently discussed with WebProNews, you can optimize your social content.

The web went blog crazy a few years back. Marketers found out that blogs were great for achieving search engine visibility because of the content and links that can come from them. It's not that different with social media now. The web has largely moved into a social media-heavy phase, as I'm sure you've noticed. Search engines obviously know this and care about it.

As Fox says in her interview, it's getting to the point where more businesses are starting to realize that they need to be involved with social media. However, surveys still frequently suggest that many are reluctant, and even if they do engage to some extent, they are still holding back, and not reaching the potential they could be.

You know search is important to marketing on the web. Really, it's important to marketing, period. If you operate on the web or off, your customers are on still online, as Fox noted. Social media is growing increasingly important to search. And search is only one aspect of online marketing. There are many more benefits to social media than that.

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

Video: Email Experts Offer Tips On Online Marketing Campaigns

2009-11-20T09:02:00.001-08:00

By R. Gregg, Raleigh Telegram 20.NOV.09
RALEIGH - During a recent email marketing class organized by the Raleigh Telegram, three email marketing experts offered some crucial tips in executing online marketing campaigns. The group also offered some do's and don'ts for those starting out with email newsletters and offers.

Speaking at the event held last Thursday, November 12th were Chuck Hester from iContact in Durham, Julie Wade from Bronto in Durham, and Jeremy Smith of Twine Interactive in Raleigh.

Answering questions from the moderator, R.Gregg of the Telegram, and from members of the audience, the expert panel offered plenty of tips for businesses using email campaigns to reach current customers or for those hoping to acquire new ones.

Some of the tips included:

--Don't buy email lists to start your campaign. Often the lists include people who have not opted in to the list and also email providers often put special emails on such lists to see if they are used by spammers.

--Don't put too much information in an email. Try to keep it simple, with one message and one call to action per email.

--Keep it "above the fold". In other words, try not to make the message too longer and allow the recipient to read it entirely without having to scroll down.

--If you've got a video, be sure to put a "play" button on there. Including a play button in the email will dramatically increase click-through rates for videos as opposed to just including a picture or text link.

--Don't oversend emails. If you're sending out an email every day to your customers that's probably too much. Depending on your product, once a week may be the most you want to send a message to your customers.

--If you're trying to reach customers who haven't responded in a while, use an emotional appeal. Putting "We miss you" or "We miss talking with you" will get people to open up the email and it conveys a personal message that indeed, you do miss them both as a person and as a customer.

--Offers and giveaways don't hurt. It helps to have incentives for customers to open emails such as offers of prizes, discounts, specials, etc. Try to include something fun that will get their attention without going overboard.

SEE PHOTOS FROM THE CLASS:
click here

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Survey Says Online Marketing Is Key To Success

2009-11-19T09:22:00.001-08:00

Written by Resources for Entrepreneurs Staff
Published: 11/18/2009

SMBs plan to increase use of internet marketing in 2010.

It may not come as surprising news for small business owners that most entrepreneurs report internet marketing will dominate future sales campaigns. A new survey from Vertical Response reveals that 74.1 percent of SMB owners plan to increase their use of email marketing in 2010.

The low-cost social media and online marketing is proving its worth to small businesses in these economic times as 96.2 percent of respondents say they will be using internet marketing in 2010. SMBs will increasingly rely on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing next year as 86.2 percent will continue to use or implement search engine marketing.

Overall, 23.8 percent of small businesses reported that search engine marketing was the tool they felt their businesses most needed to succeed in the upcoming fiscal year.

As small businesses are getting more comfortable with social media, many are simultaneously phasing out other forms of advertising. The majority of SMB owners - 79.6 percent - will not be using any television advertising and 72.7 percent will not use radio.

The emphasis of online strategies may be a wise use of marketing energy; Clara Shih, author of The Facebook Era, told The New York Times that with "300 million people on Facebook, and still growing, that's increasingly where [small business'] audience is for a lot of products and services."

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Congress is cracking down on Internet marketing companies

2009-11-18T06:57:00.001-08:00

Legislation targets unethical, aggressive sales tactics that result in countless 'mystery charges' for consumers. A Senate probe focused on online marketing firms Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty.

By Joe Markman

November 18, 2009

Reporting from Washington - Linda Lindquist was in Atlanta, where she had taken her 19-year-old daughter for therapy after a skiing accident left her a quadriplegic, when she decided to treat the teenager to a movie.

After she ordered tickets online, a coupon offer appeared on her computer screen, urging her to click for $10 off her next purchase. That one mouse click, unbeknownst to Lindquist, sent her credit card information from a reputable Internet ticket retailer to another company, which began billing her card monthly, adding up to $320 in charges for a "membership club" before she noticed and canceled the payments 16 months later.

Stories like Lindquist's have enraged members of Congress, who are now considering legislation that would crack down on what they call the unethical, aggressive sales tactics of some Internet marketing companies.

Lindquist testified at a hearing Tuesday, where the Senate Commerce Committee unveiled the details of a six-month investigation into Internet advertising companies that Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said mislead and manipulate consumers into providing their credit card numbers, resulting in millions of dollars in profits for the companies and countless "mystery charges" for consumers.

"American consumers shouldn't have to worry that their favorite websites are ripping them off during the checkout process," Rockefeller said at the hearing. "It's not ethical, it's not right, and it's not the way business should be done."

The investigation, launched by Rockefeller in May, found that millions of Americans are unwittingly enrolled in membership clubs created by three online marketing companies: Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty. The companies and their partners have earned more than $1.4 billion by exploiting online shoppers through aggressive sales tactics, according to the investigation.

The tactics include inserting cash-back offers that never materialize into the checkout procedure of those partners.

The three companies under scrutiny said they have already responded to the investigation by making changes to their online practices, including requiring consumers to enter the last four digits of their credit or debit cards to authorize charges.

Prentiss Cox, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and a former assistant attorney general in charge of consumer enforcement in Minnesota, urged senators to consider outlawing the sale of someone's personal information from one company to another.

The committee sent letters this month requesting information from 16 of the most well-known companies that have partnered with Affinion, Vertrue or Webloyalty.

Among the businesses are Hotwire.com, Pizza Hut, MovieTickets.com and Continental Airlines.

"This is nothing short of theft," said Ray France, a former U.S. paratrooper who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. France testified that he'd been billed $19.99 a month without his permission after visiting a popular people-search website.

"My country promised to take care of me when I returned home," he said. "But without laws to govern these unethical practices, instead my country is allowing me to be taken advantage of."

joseph.markman@

latimes.com

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Online marketing set for further growth in 2010

2009-11-16T08:36:00.001-08:00

Monday, 16 Nov 2009 13:13

Some 94 per cent of marketers have predicted that online marketing spend will grow in 2010, according to the European Interactive Advertising Association Marketer's Internet Ad Barometer.

This comes after 83 per cent of firms increased web advertising spend this year.

Indeed, the next two years promise much more for the industry, with marketers predicting a 7.6 per cent year-on-year rise in internet advertising spend next year and a sharper increase of more than 15 per cent in 2011.

Mobile marketing is also becoming more popular, with the survey indicating that it is the category to watch over the coming months.

Some 33 per cent of organisations questioned for the research said they are already incorporating mobile into their overall advertising strategies, while 19 per cent claim that their use of mobile phone marketing is on the up.

Earlier this month, the Guardian reported comments from Mobile Marketing Association chairman Russell Buckley, who said that the growth of mobile advertising may be outpacing that of the online market.

Interested in having a DirectNews news feed on your website?

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Twitter And Facebook Turn Everyone Into An Affiliate Marketer

2009-11-16T07:11:00.001-08:00

Guest Author

TechCrunch.com
Sunday, November 15, 2009; 7:00 AM

This guest post was written by Steve Poland, a former TechCrunch writer working on his soon-to-launch start-up InSeconds that allows sites to easily customize each visitor's experience, resulting in optimized revenue for each visit.

Affiliate marketing is 15 years old this month?CyberErotica is said to have launched the first program in 1994. The adult industry has always been ahead of the curve, but I digress. Despite 15 years of existence, which is essentially an eternity in "online years", the performance based marketing method is still in its infancy. Sure, there are lots of affiliate programs that exist for many online etailers (and other sites that seek sales, leads and visitors) and $2.1b was paid out last year from affiliate programs, but affiliate marketing is still not as easy as it should be for website/blog Publishers to implement and get compensated for their referrals.

For those that don't know, affiliate marketing works like this?a company with a product or service for sale pays a referral fee to Publishers (marketing companies) that can drive sales, leads, or visitors to them. The Publisher is taking on the risk here?they might be outlaying their own cash on advertising to promote the product/service, or they are linking to that company's product/service in the content of their site's own webpages (when they could be linking to another company instead). The Publisher signs up for an account with the affiliate program and is then given "trackable links" to use in their content, which track referrals back to them. Most etailers have an affiliate marketing program in place?for example, Amazon.com's Associates program will pay 4%-15% referral fees to you when a visitor of your website clicks a link on your site and makes a purchase at Amazon.com.

Most recently, it's not just websites/blogs that are referring sales, but rather individuals themselves, who are using realtime sites like Twitter and Facebook to influence their friends and followers by recommending products to buy, music to listen to, and movies to watch. These realtime discussions are becoming important sources of referral sales and leads for websites?if someone is asking on Twitter what digital camera they should buy, you bet your ass that Amazon.com wants anyone on the Internet responding to that user's question to be linking to a camera for sale on Amazon.com (and not Walmart.com or BestBuy.com). Amazon.com wants to make sure that those influencers are compensated for referring people to buy from their website, which thus positively reinforces them to continue linking to Amazon.com product pages in the future.

Twitter & Facebook Turn Everyone Into An Affiliate Marketer

Everyone with access to the Internet today is a Publisher. They are a voice. This has always been the case, but not the way it is now with Microblogging. Individuals were Publishers on a smaller scale via email forwards, email replies, IM, or most recently blog posts. Blogging broadened individual's view points (influence) up to a global scale?no longer would they only influence just a few friends in a closed-circuit email, but they could influence the masses online. But blogging wasn't realtime discussions. Instant messaging and chat rooms were always realtime discussions?but primarily on a one-on-one or small-group basis. Twitter and Facebook status updates, aka microblogging, has mashed the realtime nature of instant messaging with the global scale and voice of blogging.

Amazon.com Pioneers Affiliate Marketing, Again

As an early pioneer of affiliate marketing for site/blog Publishers (holding the patent on all the components of an online affiliate marketing program), it only makes sense that Amazon.com would now become an early pioneer of affiliate marketing for individual publishers?those who simply tweet and comment on their friend's Facebook updates. Last week, Amazon.com announced they would start compensating individuals with referral fees for using Amazon.com links in their Twitter messages and in their Facebook status updates/comments. Although it will likely lead to more noise (and spam), I think we're going to see many companies follow Amazon.com's lead. I also think this has the potential of being a game changer, if some other pieces fall into place?more on this in a bit.

What has shocked me over the years is the number of links in webpages that aren't trackable links. Most links in content are just regular links out to other webpages, which means that they don't contain a tracking code that corresponds to them as the referring website?which means that when a sale is referred and occurs on a site that has an affiliate program in place, that affiliate program site doesn't know who to pay the referral fee to (even though they honestly would like to, because it encourages future linking to them by that referring Publisher). In a perfect world, all the links on all the webpages on the Internet that link to Amazon.com product pages would be trackable links which would earn those websites referral fees for whenever their visitors click over and purchase products from Amazon.com. Ditto for all the links that have affiliate programs in place.

Affiliate Marketing for Publishers Still Not Quick and Easy, Yet

I would go out on a limb and estimate that 99.99% of all links on the web are not trackable links. Why? Because it's been a bit of a pain in the ass, quite frankly. If you're a publisher and you're writing a content piece, you would need to go away from your writing, login to the affiliate program for the website you want to link to (i.e. Amazon.com Associates), and then generate the trackable link for the webpage you want to link to?ensuring that when your visitors click that link, that you'll earn referral fees from Amazon.com when purchases occur. Not to mention that you have to signup for all of these affiliate programs; some of these programs are handled by third-party companies and become discontinued (making your links dead). And then there's the money?if you don't get very many visitors each month to your site, you may only earn a few dollars a month from affiliate programs, which then discourages you from putting forth the time to place trackable links into your content in the first place.

The lack of ease that sites/blogs have had to endure to use affiliate marketing over the years is the same for Individuals now. Amazon.com has said they endorse trackable links by users in social media, but it's still not easy enough. Sure, you can go over to Amazon.com, login to your Associates account, and a button appears at the top of every product page saying "Share on Twitter", which then creates a tweet with your trackable link in it, but that's still one too many steps. People are lazy. More than half of Twitter users are using a Twitter application to do their tweeting. Until the affiliate programs are integrated into the social networking platforms (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, forums) or the applications used on these platforms (Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Tweetie, bit.ly), this affiliate marketing by individuals won't take off.

It's in the interest of the platform (Twitter) to make this easier because it will ultimately allow their users to earn money. It's in the interest of the users, because it earns them money and reinforces their usage of the platform (Twitter). It's in the interest of the affiliate program (Amazon.com), because it positively reinforces users to share links to their site. (On the flip side, Twitter might not want to encourage this for fear of making teh spam problem even worse than it is).

"Facebook Credits" could become de facto Virtual Currency with a Facebook integration of Amazon.com

But if you really think about it, Facebook should really be integrating these affiliate program partners into its platform first. Facebook has the most to gain by integrating. You may have heard of the virtual currency system that Facebook has been working on?Facebook Credits. It will allow users to purchase Facebook Credits with cash and then use them in third-party Facebook applications, such as leveling up your character in a game or buying a virtual rose for a friend. To get people using this system, Facebook will likely give away some initial credits to every user, to get them to see how simple they are to use, then get the user to pull out their credit card and refill.

What about a constant refill of Facebook Credits every month to help spur more in-app activity/purchases? That could happen. Even if users were merely earning $0.44 or $1.32 monthly from their link sharing habits, if these referral fees were automatically turned into Facebook Credits, Facebook could really jump-start this in-app currency of theirs (and if they operate anything like Apple, they'll nab 30% of all in-app money spent). This will work for Amazon.com and other affiliate program participants, as long as the user knows that the 1000 Facebook Credits they earned this month were from their sharing of Amazon.com links. Facebook would love it because these affiliate links would be an income generator for their users, encouraging their users to spend more time on Facebook, and of course there is revenue associated with users spending their credits. Finally, Facebook application developers would love it because they'll be seeing a steady stream of revenue as well. Meanwhile, app developers and Facebook can steer clear of Scamville-type offers. With affiliate links, you only get paid if someone actually clicks through and buys something. Good referrals get rewarded,while bad referrals get nothing.

Plus, imagine the publicity for a Facebook or Twitter. I can see the headlines now, "Facebook now 'employs' 300 million people" or "Facebook lets 300 million people to start earning money just by sharing links".

This is Now, Get Ready for the Effects

One effect of affiliate programs becoming integrated easily into these realtimeplatforms (and/or client apps) is that referral fees will go down. Amazon.com currently pays out 4%-15% on referral sales, but that's because they know only a small percentage of their sales occur now from referrals (because of the lack of ease?and because of the laziness of sites linking to Amazon.com). But with a vast usage of trackable links, then for example, if sales remained flat and 5% of all purchases were referrals previously and now that number becomes 25%, then Amazon.com can't be paying out 8% referral commissions (unless sales went up 5x too), so Amazon.com would reduce that to 1.6% referral commissions (8%/5).

Yes, this movement is going to turn up the volume of spam noise to us all via our use and searches on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere. Those people who you follow may get spammy, but their influence over you will go down (just like those people that send you too many nonsense email forwards). Everyone has a personal brand and if you spam your audience with tons of links, they won't be listening to you as much.

But what I'm talking about isn't the future?it's here now, with Amazon.com leading the way. Those companies that don't embrace affiliate marketing for Individual Publishers, will lose. If someone is tweeting about the new iPod, that someone is going to link to the webpages that will earn them money.

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media

Web 2.0 Evolving the Search Engines, Says Online Marketing Company

2009-11-13T13:51:00.001-08:00

Citrus heights, United States (IBwire.com - November 13, 2009) OMNI internet marketing company is poised to help small businesses and corporate clients of all backgrounds and budgets gain competitive advantage in the world of social networking, viral videos and micro-blogging. Web 2.0 is the latest evolution of search engine technology. Today it’s no longer good enough to have a professional-looking webpage and a blog. Successful companies are posting viral videos on Youtube, creating Facebook and Myspace pages, Twittering and applying cutting-edge technology to their core business principles. Now business owners big and small are looking to the services of an internet marketing company to help them catch up with this ever-evolving phenomenon.

According to a 2009 Deloitte survey, 94% of business executives plan on ramping up their social networking participation over the next 12 months. Additionally, nearly 40% of businesses are hiring full-time professionals at an online marketing company to manage their social networking strategies. Francois Gossieaux, a senior fellow with the Society of New Communications Research, says there are still “plenty of companies who do not realize the power of communities, and others who have not yet figured out the proper approach for leveraging communities as part of their business.” He adds, “Businesses are truly becoming social again, and companies should look to leverage the collective wisdom of their employees, customers and partners in order to innovate faster, reduce costs and bolster their bottom lines."

Adam J. Morien began his internet marketing company dealings in 2003 with the desire to offer effective, customized SEO, copywriting, design and marketing packages at affordable prices. He later merged with Gord Collins, who also had a successful online marketing company to offer a wider range of services and take on bigger workloads. Over the years, the team has helped small businesses move from virtual obscurity to top search engine positions, where they can generate quality leads and increase sales.

“Professional website designing is the first step towards your online success,” Morien explains. “Search engine lead generation and long-term business success begins with cutting-edge graphics, perfectly consistent architecture, coding and content that creates a call-to-action.” OMNI internet marketing company will customize solutions to compliment any marketing object and any marketing budget to achieve unsurpassed results. Take, for example, how OMNI online marketing company helped Kimberly Painting, a small independent contracting business from Atlanta, Georgia. Within the first week of their new Web 2.0 launch, their site experienced a 300% increase in traffic and leads!

This summer, Google released a new search engine index called “Google Caffeine,” which uses different algorithms to determine a website’s popularity based on the social networks one is a part of, his or her friends and noted interests. As Google strives for better personalization, businesses can struggle to keep up with every late-breaking trend on their own or, better yet, they can contact an experienced internet marketing company to lead the charge for them – freeing up more executive time to focus on sales!

About the Company: Adam J. Morien began his online marketing company in Denver, Colorado back in 2003 to offer small businesses professional-caliber web presence. In 2008, Morien linked up with author and SEO consultant Gord Collins to offer a better range of professional services. All the copywriters and web designers in the OMNI team possess four-year degrees and at least five years of professional writing and marketing experience. Today OMNI Marketing services real estate agents, small business owners and corporate clients, offering both long and short term packages that can meet any budget or need.

Contact:

OMNI Marketing

8721 Santa Monica Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90069-4507

1-877-678-4879

http://www.onlinemarketingseo.com

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Google’s Social Search and What it Means to Website Owners

2009-11-13T09:02:00.001-08:00

New York website development and SEO firm says that Google’s new social search is going to change the nature of online marketing, but website owners need to know how to utilize the social search parameters.

Web Design Company

Online PR News – 12-November-2009 – According to Peter Crisafi, Vice President of dzine it, Inc., a leading Manhattan website development, Internet marketing, and search engine optimization firm with clients throughout the world, Google has added "social search" to its growing list of "Google labs" experiments which is good news for businesses that rely heavily on Internet marketing.

"Social search is a relatively new concept as search engine optimization, once a very simple practice, has become more strategic," says Crisafi. "With social search, those who are serious about Internet marketing should come up with well planned strategy to be prepared for this new wave of search."

According to Crisafi, search engine optimization was once two dimensional, offering paid and organic search parameters. However, as the face of the Internet has changed, Crisafi says that multiple platforms have become crucial Internet marketing tools, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites.

“social search”

"YouTube is currently ranked as the number two search engine, which is surprising to some people," says Crisafi. "However, it makes perfect sense considering the diversity and the massive size of its content library. This is just one example of how the landscape of the Internet has changed and how website owners must pay attention to that landscape."

In addition, the recent announcement that Google and Bing will be indexing Tweets (Twitter posts) means that online business owners need to have a comprehensive Twitter plan in place as soon as possible.

Crisafi notes that it is imperative that companies not "wing it" when it comes to utilizing social mediums such as Twitter and Facebook, and that they hire professional search engine optimization experts that understand the value of social networking.

"If Google is indexing Tweets about a company, its products, and its services, that getting on the Twitter bandwagon should be at the top of every company’s "to do" list," says Crisafi. "Social networking is the new big thing in online marketing."

Established in 2003, dzine it, inc. is a leader in Custom website design, programming and design solutions for small and large business, agencies. The company offers a wide range of business-centered visual communication solutions, including web-based content management, web design, graphic design, custom web software applications, ethical white hat search engine optimization (Organic SEO), Video Encoding, and print media solutions. For more information, call 718.336.2660 or visit www.dzineit.net.

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Google aims to build SEM expertise in Hong Kong businesses

2009-11-12T18:20:00.001-08:00

by David Blecken 12-Nov-09, 10:52

HONG KONG - Google is to invest around $13 million to develop search engine marketing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses in Hong Kong as the local economy shows signs of recovery.

The ‘Google online marketing: exploring new business opportunities’ initiative will see Google work alongside up to 270,000 companies to help stimulate business growth through effective search marketing.

Google will assist firms in upgrading their websites, selecting search keywords, tracking web traffic and analysing consumer behaviour online. The company will also offer free AdWords trials to newly registered customers.

The programme will be extended over the coming 12 months.

In a statement, Google’s Greater China vice-president of sales, John Liu (pictured), said that with the city having emerged from the recession, Hong Kong’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) should “take advantage of this opportunity to look for innovative, cost-effective and flexible ways to market themselves and their product offerings”.

Liu described SMBs as “the backbone of the Hong Kong economy” and stated that Google was “fully committed to contributing in ways that will support the local SMBs to seize business opportunities and quickly expand into the global market until the recovery is firmly in place”.

Asia-Pacific accounts for close to 25 per cent of the global e-commerce market. Google’s investment in Hong Kong is part of a Greater China stimulus programme aiming to encourage Chinese businesses to use the internet to drive growth.

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Online Marketing in 2012: Future Trends in Online Marketing for Hotel, Resorts and Vacation Rentals

2009-11-12T10:34:00.001-08:00

Verticals

November 12, 2009 Hits: 174 0

Description
Take 67 minutes to learn where the Internet is going, and what you should start planning for now.

Trent Blizzard, President of Blizzard Internet, offers future predictions on hot topics such as: Pay-Per-Click Marketing, content, video, local search, e-mail marketing, mobile, news, reviews, social, and more.

Consumers are becoming savvier, researching in more places, and your online competition is only getting stronger.

Are you ready to take on the next five years? Here are some important questions we’ll be reviewing:

» What are you doing to increase your Click-Through-Rate (CTR)?
» Are you properly managing your online presence?
» Are you actively seeking good, qualified links?
» Are you updating your site regularly?
» What are you doing to deepen your relationship with your guests?
» Is your online marketing and advertising budget competitive enough?

"You Will Learn"
Learn what Google wants from you! Don’t miss out on an opportunity that may help put you ahead of your competitors

Webinar URL: Click Here

Sponsor Name: Blizzard Internet Marketing

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The Merger of Social Networking and Search

2009-11-10T09:03:00.001-08:00

By Gary Stein, ClickZ, Nov 10, 2009

Eric Schmidt is sometimes half-jokingly referred to as Google's official grown-up. I'm not sure that he likes that title, but it definitely fits. While it's abundantly clear that Google has a long-range vision (something along the lines of being the pivot point between you and every bit of information available), its short-term vision tends to be a bit murky. I suppose it doesn't matter, considering the fact that they have a money-printing machine in the backroom.

But, when it's time to talk about what the company may want to do with itself in the next few years, it's good to have Dr. Schmidt around. He may not necessarily inspire us with visions of ubiquitous computing or next-generation operating systems, but he offers some insight into what Google has on its priority list (and, therefore, what we should have on ours).

Recently, Schmidt was asked about what he expects to see from the Web in the next five years, and his comments bounced around the Internet for a few days. He made some interesting predictions (including that most of the content online will be in Chinese), but the thing that struck me was his statement that the "challenge of the age" was figuring out how to rank (and, assumedly, serve up) the real-time social content that is beginning to appear nearly everywhere online.

I don't know if I can speak to the technical challenge of doing this ranking and serving, but the world has been dying to have an immediate sense of the current thinking of the world about a particular topic. Every single one of us in marketing has always felt this. We want to know right now, if people like our ad, are interested in buying a minivan, think they want to try a new pasta sauce...everything.

Clearly, the rise of social media is tapping into our desire to announce our thoughts to the world. The trouble, of course, is that all of that information is disorganized and ephemeral. That is, even if your best friend tweets their opinion about the movie you're thinking about seeing tonight, if you're not online at the moment of the Tweet, you probably won't see it.

This disorganization of information is precisely the problem that Web search was invented to take on. And, now that there is a significant amount of content here, it seems like we are finally going to see the merging of social networking and search. This is really big news for those of you who have built at least part of your business on the traffic generated by search engine results.

The Shortest Route to Page One Goes Through my Friends

The big thing that Google did recently with search and social was to launch Social Search (clever name, huh?). You can find out more about it here, but the basic idea is that, if someone in your social circle has ever commented about the topic you are searching on, that content will appear on the first page of results.

This is remarkable because there is, of course, a humongous industry built around trying to work both content and networks in such a way as to push your page to the top of search engine results. To say that the ability to get there via someone's friend is disruptive is to say the least. It means that optimizing for search absolutely means engaging in social marketing. Social Search is in beta now, but not for long. When it rolls out, you will need to include a social marketing plan in your search plans.

Consider what you currently do, as a search engine marketer. You build a page that ensures that a crawler -- a piece of code -- comes to the conclusion that your page is absolutely, definitely about what you want it to be about. Then, you build relationships with other sites (and the people that run them) to make sure that, when they want to talk about what your page is about, they link to you. Of course, SEO is way more complex than that in practice. But that's the core idea.

Social search is something different. It's not about linking to pages, but rather about having people tell a particular kind of story. So, if you're marketing a movie, you want to make sure that as many people as possible, at some point, post that they like this movie. You may even be more specific and want to have people say it's a good date movie, or the first time they believed that Keanu Reeves was actually a human being.

That's a different task, because you're no longer dealing with content nearly as much as you're dealing with people. You need to pull together a plan that will give consumers experiences and then drive toward a very new and unique conversion: from someone who believes something to someone who talks about what they believe.

The New Conversion Metric: Knower to Advocate

We will see a new generation of online marketing focused on getting people to post something to their networks. We have this already, but it is in its absolute infancy. We have seen buttons that allow people to share content become ubiquitous as a part of page layout. But this is information architecture, not marketing. Sharing content seemed like a good way to increase page views and drive traffic. But now, it's more important. You need to get people to say positive things about your brand because that content will soon be the most valuable element returned from a search.

And search continues to be the major driver of online advertising. Now, though, search is social and social is search. And strategies need to be adjusted.

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Online marketing services 'need to adjust' for holidaysAdvertisers have been advised to consider their search engine strategies prior to the holiday season. According to Stephen DiMarco, in an article for MediaPost, search engine marketing "is a secret w

2009-11-10T08:56:00.001-08:00

Advertisers have been advised to consider their search engine strategies prior to the holiday season.

According to Stephen DiMarco, in an article for MediaPost, search engine marketing "is a secret weapon" and one that should be harnessed as it has a measurable impact in a short space of time.

He recommended that advertising professionals observe patterns well ahead of the holiday period to see how search terms change on different days so that websites can be optimised to include relevant content.

It was also suggested that gaining knowledge of keywords and phrases could be beneficial.

"Start by looking at trended historical search data and identifying which paid and organic referrals have driven highly engaged traffic to your site and to your competitors," Mr DiMarco said.

This opinion was recently corroborated by Helen Leggatt, who noted in Biz Report that focusing on trends in search terms on days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday is important as studies reveal people intend to do more shopping then.

News brought to you by ClickThrough - a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.

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Twitter 'good' for online marketing services

2009-11-09T09:41:00.001-08:00

by ClickThrough | 9 Nov 2009

Twitter has been highlighted as being useful for companies as surfers are receptive to promotions that appear on its pages.

This is according to the results of a new study, announced at Ad:Tech New York, which found that 48 per cent of those introduced to a product on Twitter went on to investigate the brand further, Econsultancy reports.

As the firm says: "If true, that's a big deal".

This statistic compares to 34 per cent of people who seek out more information on a brand if introduced to it on a social networking site.

However, the news source went on to warn those in the online PR industry to be cautious in their use of Twitter as "increasing brand presence will not necessarily increase these numbers".

It went on to note that as the microblogging service is flooded by sponsored messages, "the response rate will reflexively go down".

In related news, Econsultancy's Patricio Robles recently remarked that Twitter is being used more by advertisers as many are seeing that 140 characters is all that is necessary for turning a profit.

News brought to you by ClickThrough - experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services

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What's Really up With Online Study Scholarships?

2009-11-08T17:40:00.001-08:00

Kennedy, Joyce Lain - Careers Now

DEAR JOYCE: I must have landed on an Internet marketing list, because I receive so many e-mails pitching my chances to win a scholarship to an online college. Like: "Hey, mom, apply for a full-tuition scholarship, earn your degree and have a career!" Are these scholarships for real? -- B.R.

A few people will win these scholarships, but the advertised financial-aid awards are really hooks cast by companies in the lead-aggregation industry. They're marketing ploys.

Notice that virtually all the schools offering these scholarships are for-profit colleges. Higher-education experts tell me that on average, online for-profit colleges cost three times more than online nonprofit colleges.

Here' the inside story. Lead-generating marketers require scholarship seekers to provide their personal information on a scholarship application -- in reality, a "lead form." The marketers aggregate the forms and sell them to participating schools at a price of up to $100 per qualified lead. It's little wonder that you're receiving so many scholarship pitches.

The next step happens when scholarship hopefuls are contacted by sales reps under the guise of following up on a "scholarship application."

You know the rest: The marketers aren't matching students to free scholarships; they're collecting and selling leads for educational enrollments. This is the way almost all online college-directory companies work.

Upshot: Hundreds of thousands of people fill out so-called scholarship application forms, hoping to win. Most of them will be rewarded with telephone marketers attempting to enroll them as paying students.

OTHER ONLINE ED ISSUES. Interest is growing in renewed education as a tool to improve job security in a changing economy. That's why would-be learners should be aware of a related development -- the robust return of degree mills.

Degree mills are run by people who hawk worthless degrees and certificates -- such as, "Get a law degree from Harvard by return mail." Today's rash of phony educational documents are mostly being sold online. (Yes, employers usually discover the fakes later, if not immediately, and people do get fired for falsifying their educational backgrounds.) Anyone with the cash qualifies for a degree-mill award. Even pets qualify.

Chester is a cute little pug dog in Vermont. His owner, Vicky Phillips, one of the nation's leading experts on educational fraud, paid $499 on the pug's behalf to an online university. As a result, Chester was awarded an MBA (master's degree in business administration).

Chester's alma mater is one of many online universities operating from foreign post office boxes, advertising fast diplomas for a flat fee.

Accreditation? The pug's university says it is accredited by two agencies that, unfortunately for Chester's future outlook, are not recognized as an accrediting agency or association by either the U.S. Department of Education, or by the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

So what? For a number of reasons, proper accreditation is a very big deal in choosing where you'll study. Accreditation assures you that the institution meets at least minimum established standards of quality.

Proper accreditation isn't foolproof, but without it, you risk an outcome of gaining neither an education nor a usable credential. The issue is complex, but here's how to get it straight before sinking into shady educational offers: Visit the CHEA site, chea.org. On the left part of the screen, click on Degree Mills and Accreditation Mills. Although the reading's a bit dry, the information can save you a world of regret.

So, how did Chester do as a college student? His degree came with a grade point average of 3.19. Had Phillips paid the online university an additional $100, the pug could have graduated with honors.

Chester's educational whirl is detailed on GetEducated.com: "Pug Dog Gets Online MBA."

(E-mail career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com; use "Reader Question" for subject line. Or mail her at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007.)

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Social Media Gets the Green Light from the Fortune 100

2009-11-06T14:38:00.001-08:00

By Kris Grant

Is your business ready to take the plunge into social media? John Moore says don’t do it unless you are confident about your business, your product and services.
Moore, a social media expert, was the featured speaker at a daylong conference on social media held at the new Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center at San Diego State University. The conference was presented by the public relations firm Nuffer, Smith, Tucker in conjunction with the university.
Every business, said Moore, has a broken window, something that Malcolm Gladwell points out in his book, “The Tipping Point,” and in his essays for The New Yorker magazine.
A company with too many broken windows will soon have people talking about them when it opens itself up on such social media outlets as Facebook, Twitter and via blogging. So, while he definitely encourages the plunge into social media, maybe the best place to begin, Moore suggests, is by looking at the internal organization.
“I’m sitting in a dentist’s office chair and looking up and there’s a stain on the ceiling tile,” Moore said. “And I’m asking myself, can I trust this guy to fix my teeth? You can’t control conversations. You can only spark conversations.”
And that is why, explained Moore (whom many have dubbed the dean of Social Media), the most successful companies with an online fan base began the process of chatting with the outside world by going inside.
What social media is all about, in a nutshell, said Moore, is becoming a talkable brand. “The original social media has always been word-of-mouth. Clearly, what we’re trying to get at is making our brand more talked about.”
In order to do that with credibility, Moore said the most successful companies employing a host of online social media strategies begin by examining from “inside out” the culture of a company.
From 1994 to 2004, Moore designed and implemented marketing programs for Starbucks and Whole Foods, and then set up his own consultancy firm, Brand Autopsy Marketing Practice. He also is active in the trade industry group, WOMMA, an acronym for Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association, for which he calls himself the “chief evangelist.”
“Our job is to get customers talking, and talking in a fashion that is genuine and legally right,” he said of the collective group of marketing professionals, ranging from advertising and public relations executives to students.
“Whole Foods and Starbucks went inside out and these were brands that grew because of evangelical customers,” he said
Today word-of-mouth spreads faster because of Social Media, he said. “And today, in corporate America, you must have social media in a marketing plan to get a project green lighted.”
An industry report that Moore pointed to that came out this summer compared companies that are both deeply and widely engaged in social media and those that are not and found that those that are engaged in social media surpassed their peers in revenue and profit performance by a significant difference.
Moore said that 17 percent of the time that people now spend online is spent navigating through social media sites. Of the Fortune 100 companies, 54 percent are on Twitter; 32 percent maintain a blog and 29 percent are on Facebook.
And the 69 percent of businesses on Twitter tweet about four times a week. “A lot of businesses are there but not doing much,” said Moore.
Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, noted, “We were just named the No. 1 brand in a new social media engagement report. The key here is that we are connecting directly with our loyal customers who will be driving our future growth.”
Starbucks has 4.5 million fans, surpassing Coca Cola, on Facebook, Moore noted. Some of the social media strategies that Starbucks has employed, many of which are shown on Moore’s Website at brandautopsy.com, include asking Starbucks “partners” (employees) to make short videos about their day-to-day life at Starbucks. The company now shares them at MyStarbucksStory.com.
Starbucks recently announced a new pastry line of products and invited only their online customers to their local Starbucks to enjoy a free pastry. “They were able to measure the participation,” Moore said. “And while they were interacting with their customers, they’re also able to tell them, ‘Oh, did you know we open at 5 a.m.?’ So there’s a marketing message as well.”
“People don’t trust the advertising they see,” said Moore. “Seventy six percent of consumers believe companies are untruthful in their advertising.”
Can you blame them, Moore asked as he presented two screens showing ads for delicious burgers at Arby’s and Burger King, versus snapshots of actual products received at the two chains.
He cited a recent ad campaign for the drug Lipitor featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik. “The ad campaign presented him as a practicing doctor, but he’s more a researcher,” Moore said. “And then they show what he likes to do in his free time, like kayaking. And his friends said, ‘Uh, gee, I didn’t know Rob liked to do all that stuff.’ And it turned out it was a body double. People started talking about it in social media, and now a new campaign has replaced the Jarvik campaign.”
On the flip side, 78 percent of global consumers say they trust recommendations from other consumers — it’s a much more credible way to connect a business to consumers and consumers to consumers, Moore advised.
Moore said that studies show consumers are exposed to 5,000 marketing messages a day, which is why the most trusted messages become personal, what he terms the “Meg Ryan moments — ‘I’ll have what she’s having.’”
“The most important marketing message is from a friend,” said Moore. “This soda is delicious’ is a very believable message.”
The typical American takes part in 125 conversations per week that discuss products and services in everyday conversations, according to KellerFay Group, a marketing research firm. Of these conversations, 90 mention specific brand names. “We all want to be part of this topical conversation,” Moore said.
Of these “conversations,” 90 percent are offline, person-to-person, but 10 percent are happening online. Of the online conversations, 75 percent are person-to-person; 15 percent are texting and the remainder is social media. “This will increase,” Moore said. “It’s a growing field.”
To harness social media, Moore said there is a basic three-stage process: Listen, learn, respond.
Responding is where businesses have enormous opportunities, Moore said. “Whole Foods does this very very well. They have 1.5 million followers on Twitter and do occasionally give out promotional messages but nine out of ten tweets respond to questions.”
One of the smartest ways to use Twitter is to respond to what is being said about you, he advised. “And don’t be afraid of criticism. It’s great when someone has something negative to say. Because no matter how negative someone speaks about a business, at the heart of it is almost always a truth.”
“Buzz does not create evangelists, Moore said. “Evangelists create buzz.”
Many businesses ask the question, “Should we be online?” “Well, go online to find out if your customers are there,” he urged. “If a brand has any charisma, someone somewhere is going to be talking about it. Guaranteed. There’s a company named Fiskars. They make scissors. And, yes, people talk about it!”
Social media helps small companies look bigger and big companies look smaller, he says.
“Big businesses, small mom-and-pop shops are all using the same playing field,” he said, noting that both reap rewards. “Smaller businesses will look bigger and more professional and big businesses can get smaller and have direct conversations with customers – a better way to engage with ‘big brand.’ It’s a much better way to engage with the customer than when they call you on the telephone and are put on hold.”
That’s a whole other discussion. You can view that conversation at Moore’s Website, too, on a blog post titled “Your call is (not that) important to us.” z

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Orange Advertising Network Launches in the US and Latin America

2009-11-06T07:14:00.001-08:00

- Gathers top Hispanic premium websites reaching more than 21 million users

November 06, 2009: 12:01 AM ET

http://ads.cnn.com/html.ng/site=cnn_money&cnn_money_pagetype=article&cnn_money_position=220x200_ctr&cnn_money_rollup=markets_and_stocks&cnn_money_section=quigo&params.styles=fs","200","220");

NEW YORK, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Orange Advertising Network, a leading advertising sales house in Europe, launches today in the US and Latin America to provide a complete portfolio of online marketing solutions.

With more than 20 top Hispanic premium publishers, a US/Latam audience of 21 million unique monthly users and a global reach of 343 million unique monthly users, the Orange Advertising Network offers advertisers in the Americas the ability to target audiences through a wide variety of tools such as site specific placements, run of network, category affinities, customized branded entertainment, direct response, and international solutions.

In addition to offering widespread reach, the Orange Advertising Network operates a transparent network to ensure advertisers have control over the sites where their brand is present. Partnerships with premium publishers ensure well targeted and carefully segmented placement and Orange’s experience in portals, content creation and social media brings a creative approach.

"We are very excited to extend the Orange Advertising Network to the Americas," said Luc Tran Thang, VP Advertising, Orange. "Both the US Hispanic and Latin American markets represent tremendous potential in terms of online advertising growth. We believe the distinct elements of our offering will make us a preferred communications partner of most for the majority of online advertisers in the region."

"Our advertisers will know exactly where their campaigns will run," said Marta Martinez, CEO of starMedia. "We’ll be a ’transparent network,’ something that is not very common in most of the Ad Networks’ offerings these days. Our experience in account management, reporting, targeting capabilities and premium content will create a valuable and effective offer for advertisers deciding to take more of their marketing budgets online."

The heavily trafficked starMedia portal will be also part of the Orange Advertising Network offering.

Among its exclusive premium publishers, Orange Advertising Network will integrate leading properties such as Spil Games, the global leader in online gaming.

"Working with the Orange Advertising Network offers a great opportunity to reach out more to our Spanish-speaking audiences in the Americas with relevant and targeted advertising campaigns from premium advertisers," said Peter Driessen, CEO, Spil Games.

El Mundo online, one of the biggest newspapers in Spain, will be another exclusive partner of the Orange Advertising Network. With an audience of more than 4.5 million users in Latin America and its newly launched Americas version, El Mundo has already became one of the leading news sites in the region.

With today’s launch, Orange Advertising Network continues its international coverage expansion, with the ability to target online ads in 60 countries, reaching 343* million unique users. Orange is Europe’s second largest broadband internet provider and the Orange Advertising Network reaches 55%* of all European internet users.

For more information please visit: http://www.orangeadvertisingnetwork.com/americas

*Comscore, Sept. 2009

About Orange

Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With 126 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates. At the end of 2008, France Telecom had consolidated sales of 53.5 billion euros (38.1 billion euros for the first nine months of 2009) and at 30 September 2009, the Group had a customer base of almost 190 million customers in 32 countries. These include 128.8 million mobile customers and 13.4 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers worldwide. Orange is the number three mobile operator and the number two provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

The Group’s strategy, which is characterized by a strong focus on innovation, convergence and effective cost management, aims to establish Orange as an integrated operator and benchmark for new telecommunications services in Europe. Today the Group remains focused on its core activities as a network operator, while working to develop its position in new growth activities. To meet customer expectations, the Group strives to provide products and services that are simple and user-friendly, while maintaining a sustainable and responsible business model that can be adapted to the requirements of a fast-paced and changing eco-system.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more information: www.orange.com, www.francetelecom.com, www.orange-business.com

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom.

About starMedia

starMedia is part of Orange Spain, (www.orange.es), a subsidiary of the France Telecom Group (NYSE: FTE). starMedia.com is a free portal that connects millions Spanish speakers via the Internet, providing them with the most relevant and complete information and services, with channels like El Rincon del Vago and Latin Games, among others. starMedia has local operations in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Chile, and the US (Los Angeles, Miami, and New York). starMedia resells Orange Advertising Network solutions in the US and LATAM.

SOURCE Orange Advertising Network

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