Online B2B Marketing to Grow 12% Annually

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Steve Smith

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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

Use these tips to prepare for the coming smartphone search revolution. By Allen Moon   |   January 20, 2010

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According to a recent study by comScore, the number of people in the U.S. using multipurpose smartphones such as iPhones, Blackberries, and Droids more than doubled last year. Of those who used mobile devices to access news and information on the Internet, 22.5 million--or 35 percent of the total--did so on a daily basis.

And this year, that number is expected to skyrocket even further as more companies--T-mobile, AT&T, Spring, Garmin, and even Google--gear up to release their own Android-supported mobile devices. In fact, experts predict that mobile Web usage will overtake PC usage in five years.

The online tools people are using to find and share information with their mobile devices are changing, too. The comScore study shows that the number of people who used smartphones to access a social networking site or blog increased by 427 percent last year, more than any other category. So what does this mean for you?

If you want to put your business in front of this exploding online population, then you need to know how they use their mobile devices to access and share information online. You need to know the community sites where they hang out, and understand how they communicate with one another if you want to engage them and build lasting relationships.

Smartphone users are looking for genuine, trustworthy information--recommendations, reviews, rated answers to questions--and they're already geniuses when it comes to filtering out and ignoring inauthentic voices.
 
Here are five important things you need to do to ensure your business is primed to take advantage of the mobile media storm:

1. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly
Mobile users are impatient people. They want information and they want it now. You have to make sure your website delivers that information in a way that's useful for them. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to create a quick mobile version of your website. If you use WordPress, there are plugins like this one that can help you create a mobile-friendly edition. Or you can use a paid converter such as MoFuse and MOBIFY to do the job.

2. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile search
Did you know that both Google and Bing have separate indexes for mobile content? And right now, they return far fewer--and far more localized--results than regular search. So the sooner you get your site optimized to rank well in the search results, the sooner you can put your site in front of the hundreds of millions of mobile device users.

3. Start a Facebook Fan page
Because so many mobile device users are active on Facebook, the world's top social networking site, it only makes sense to have a presence there. Encourage your customers and visitors to sign up as Facebook fans so you can use the networking site to keep in touch with them and share information about your business.

4. Become involved in Twitter
The same logic applies here--Twitter is one of the fastest-growing properties on the Web because it's so easy for people with smartphones to use for accessing and sharing information. If you start building relationships with your visitors and customers via Twitter now, you will be light years ahead of the competition when the smartphone explosion really hits its stride.

5. Make sure you're listed on Google Maps
A huge and growing number of mobile users go to Google Maps first when searching for a local business. You can make sure your site conforms to Google's quality guidelines here.

6. Encourage customers to review your business on Yelp or FourSquare
Yelp is a business review site that has active users in cities all over the world. More than 26 million people a month use Yelp to find information about more than twenty different categories of businesses. FourSquare is somewhat similar in nature. Its members use FourSquare to keep one another informed of their whereabouts. You can also write reviews and recommend places to fellow FourSquare members.
 
You may think you're not at the right place to start thinking about mobile marketing yet. But no matter where you are in your business building efforts, the time to start laying the foundation for an effective mobile marketing strategy is now. The mobile revolution is happening right now, and if online marketing has taught us anything, it's that the way to be successful is to put your business where the customers are. And that means reaching them on their smartphones.

Allen Moon is Director of Marketing for the Internet Marketing Center. He leads a team of internet business experts who stay on top of the changing online landscape--testing the latest approaches on real commercial websites, then passing on their knowledge in easy-to-use information products, software, and personal training services.

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Having a great day!

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Content 'still king' as search market consolidates

   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

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

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By Michael Ferree

January 06, 2010

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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?

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); } } SHARE TOOLS PRINT COMMENT SUBSCRIBE RSS RELATED ARTICLES 1. MTV And Crisp Wireless Team On Mobile Ads 2. Google Runs Multimillion-Dollar Ad For Nexus One 3. Smartphone Purchasing Behaviors Differ by Device 4. How A Billion Dollar Mobile Investment Could Support Search And Display Online Advertising 5. Open Mobile TV Tested In 1Q TAGS:  Mobile MOST READ 1. At The CES: Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop 2. Roberts: Comcast Won't Turn NBC Into Cable Channel 3. SEO Is Killing The Internet 4. Google Runs Multimillion-Dollar Ad For Nexus One 5. How A Billion Dollar Mobile Investment Could Support Search And Display Online Advertising 6. MTV And Crisp Wireless Team On Mobile Ads 7. The Top 100 Social Media Brands -- Or, Sex Doesn't Just Sell, It Socializes 8. Based On Perception, Toyota Leads The Pack 9. Does the Google Phone Need a $100 Million Push? 10. Majority of Comcast Set-Top Boxes EBIF-Enabled, CEO Says

Among the ways Google aims to defy conventional wisdom with the Nexus One -- besides selling the unlocked device directly online--is not to promote it with a splashy cross-media ad blitz. Don't expect a $100 million campaign with a series of high-impact TV commercials like that which accompanied the roll out of the Droid.

That's partly because there's no carrier, like Verizon Wireless, to foot the bill for a high-priced traditional campaign. TV ads also just aren't part of Google's DNA-it sets a bad example when the biggest Web company is spending a ton of money on 3o-second TV spots. Instead, Google has said it plans to focus promotional efforts for the Nexus One primarily online.

"Because the Nexus One is exclusively sold online, our marketing plan will heavily focus on online marketing to educate users on the benefits of the phone and the new way of buying it," the company explained in response to a TechCrunch enquiry Tuesday. The post noted Google has already slapped a prominent link to the Nexus One official YouTube channel and is running a bunch of related keywords like "smartphone" and "Android" for the phone.

It's now also promoting it directly on the Google homepage below the search box with a small phone icon and an invitation to "Experience Nexus One" with a link to its new Web phone store.

While Google hasn't detailed its full plans for advertising the phone online, TechCrunch expects the company to put a lot of marketing muscle behind it. Even so, it points out analysts have already questioned whether average consumers will even notice the device without a big push. Does it need a $100 million boost?

A recent comScore study credited Verizon's ambitious Droid campaign with helping to increase awareness of Android phones generally. And Apple's signature TV ads for the iPhone (lampooned in the Droid ads) obviously haven't hurt sales of the device Google is going head-to-head with. But spending $100 million to plaster ads everywhere doesn't necessarily deliver results. (See: Yahoo.)

Still, most consumers may not only be unaware of the Nexus One but also that Google has set up a new online store to sell it and other Android devices and related products as its direct-to-consumer channel expands. When people think of Google, they think "search engine" not "online retailer." And unlike other products Google has quietly rolled out previously, the Nexus One at $529 without a contract, is far from free. It won't go viral.

So making a marketing push beyond its own properties in this case at least would make sense if Google wants its flagship phone to be more than a Droid, let alone, iPhone wannabe. It's not like it doesn't have the cash. 

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Great Methods to Ensure a Great Internet Business

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

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

Follow us on Twitter: @catchfriday

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

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

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

    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

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.

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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.

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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

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

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.

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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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