media2know

A click here, a click there

2008-12-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

Click here to watch Shuman Ghosemajumder, Business Product Manager for Trust & Safety at Google, offer some interesting insight into the world of Click Fraud.

Lesson 9—our final lesson in Emerging Media & The Market—focused on the fact that most search engines bank money through paid placement and paid inclusion. As a result of this lesson, I found myself wanting to learn more about click fraud. Does it still persist today?According to WebProNews, even as we approach the end of 2008, click fraud is still something that needs to be dealt with in the search engine advertising industry. Google, however, says that their company takes a number of precautions to keep this sketchy practice under control (Crum).

This isn't really news, but Google's AdWords Help Center details a number of these things that the company does. For one, they employ detection and filtering techniques."Google looks at numerous data points for each click, including the IP address, the time of the click, any duplicate clicks, and various other click patterns. Our system then analyzes these factors to try to isolate and filter out potentially invalid clicks before they ever reach your account reports," says the Help Center (Crum).

Real-time systems filter out activity fitting a profile of invalid behavior (such as excessively repetitive clicks), and Clicks and impressions from known sources of invalid activity are automatically discarded.They have advanced monitoring techniques. "Various unique and innovative methods are applied at each stage of the filtering process, thereby maximizing proactive detection of invalid activity. Our engineers are also constantly improving our monitoring technology, enhancing filters, and examining a growing set of signals," the Help Center notes (Crum).

Google also talks a little bit about how their team uses specialized tools and techniques to ensure it is difficult and unrewarding for people to commit click fraud. They refer to a detailed report from an "independent expert" who examines Google's methods (Crum).

But, despite the fact that Google and other search engines deny that a great amount of click fraud takes place on their sites, advertisers are still leery. For advertisers wanting to take proactive measures to prevent click fraud, Ghosemajumder advises keeping the return on investment (ROI) as the central focus. As he explains in the video, companies should research and gather as much data as possible, test everything, and track all results. If you apply these actions and your ROI drops for no reason, you have a good reason to suspect undetected click fraud and should file a claim.

References:

Crum, Chris. “How Google Detects Click Fraud.” 18 Dec 2008. WebProNews. View the entire article here

Delete it!

2008-12-22T16:47:00.001-05:00

Lesson 8 concentrated on the importance of effective Web design. According to Gerry McGovern, founder and CEO of Customer Carewords and New Thinking e-mail newsletter, deleting unnecessary and outdated content from your Web site is very important to customer satisfaction.

Why?

“Most customers come to your Web site to complete top tasks. The more irrelevant and out-of-date pages of content you have, the greater the chances they will arrive on these pages,” he explained. “There is simply nothing worse than presenting a customer with useless content. It infuriates them, wastes their time, and drives them away from your Web site like a plague.”

“Every time I hear the word "redesign" I shiver a little,” McGovern continued. “The Web site has grown more and more useless because of badly managed and out-of-date content. Management should have mandated the boring, politically difficult and thankless work of regularly removing poor quality content.”

McGovern said that, instead, many Web managers—particularly the newly appointed ones—want to do a redesign, but that a redesign is certainly not always the solution to a more effective Web site.

References:

McGovern, Gerry. “Want to improve your Web site? Delete your content.” Ragan Communications. 22 Dec 2008. View the entire article

No discrimination = One great ad

2008-12-22T16:38:00.001-05:00

Lesson 7 discussed the importance of multi-cultural marketing. I wanted to share one of my favorite ads with you. The ad comes from Verizon Communications during Black History Month. Rather than highlighting Black History Month icons, such as several companies do, Verizon stepped outside of the comfort zone and created a hip television ad the acknowledged those who are creating a change and impacting lives. Click on the video above to take a look for yourself.

Get her a diamond...JCPenney said so

2008-12-22T16:14:00.003-05:00

JCPenney has come out with a nervy viral marketing campaign to promote diamond jewelry this Christmas. “Beware of the Doghouse” is the company’s new site; its centerpiece is a four minute video, which can be seen above.

This is the first viral marketing effort of this type JC Penney has done. Quinton Crenshaw, company spokesman said, “A lot of us men have been in the doghouse at some point, and much of it is around this concept of gift-giving. So we saw this as a funny way to engage consumers (Bates).”

JCPenney promoted the video on facebook and other interactive sites and, although Crenshaw would not specify how many of hits it’s gotten, he said it has “exceeded expectations (Bates).”

The “doghouse” site also links to JCPenney’s offerings of diamond jewelry. But, as clever as it may seem, some are saying the ad is too sexist. An advertising blogger on MSNBC is unamused, all but calling the ad sexist. Underneath that post you can see some 200-plus comments debating its pros and cons. There is also a vigorous debate on youtube, where the ad has gotten over 300,000 hits (Bates).

What are your thoughts?

References:

Bates, Rob. JCPenney Tries To Make Diamond Advertising “Viral.” 10 Dec 2008. View the entire article here

Where are your employees getting their information?

2008-12-22T16:08:00.004-05:00

Check out this video clip about the importance of internal communications (Ragan Communicatons)

“Without effective internal communications, the crisis of confidence in businesses and corporate leadership could hurt sincere efforts to build a positive corporate culture and to enhance employee morale and productivity, and devastate the overall image of an organization.” ~David Brown, CEO of Sawchuk Brown Associates, an Albany public relations/public affairs firm~

The importance of an internal communications program can not be understated, especially amid periods of corporate upheavals, such as what the nation has witnessed within the past year.

There is never a good time to uniform of misinform employees, but internal communications are especially important now. As Brown explained, a good internal communications program not only affects organizational and operational success, but it has a considerable impact on external functions such as marketing, community and government relations, and investor relations.

References:

Brown, David. “Internal communications should be of vital importance to any business.” The Business Review. 16 Aug 2002. here

A subtle technique

2008-12-22T15:23:00.004-05:00

This week’s Lesson 6 introduced us to online marketing short films. I was intrigued by the creativity and effectiveness, as well as lack thereof, found in some of these short films. The vast selection and in-depth analysis of the short films selected by my classmates was also very impressive.

As classmate Amanda Bryd said, “The short film can take on many forms for a brand, and in some cases become very popular with audiences.”

Do you remember when Amazon used short films to subtly market products sold on their website?

Four years ago, in November 2004, Amazon debuted on short film per week for four weeks on its homepage. The films ere loosely based on a theme Amazon described as “karmic balance”—the idea that what goes around comes around and that, in the long term, those who do the right thing are rewarded (Sharma).

Items for sale on Amazon's site appeared subtly in the films and in the credits. The company offered users of Amazon Platinum Visa cards received a discount of 5 percent if they purchased products such as home furnishings, cosmetics and jewelry featured in any of the films (Sharma).
The short film series came right in time for the holiday shopping season that year. In my opinion, the campaign was a bold and innovative move for the company. Not only was the campaign unique, but it also directed consumers to Amazon’s Web site even if they had not intended to do any holiday shopping from the there. In addition, the campaign was memorable and fun.

References:

Sharma, Dinesh. “Short films star on Amazon.” CNET News. View the entire article
here

Be creative ... but, follow these rules?

2008-12-22T14:20:00.005-05:00

Creativity is a crucial element of any IMC function, but is creative success most expected when some organized approach is followed? While most advertising society reject and/or resist attempts to standardize creativity or develop rules or guidelines to follow, most creative people do follow some type of process when approaching the assignment of developing an advertisement.There are several models or approaches to the creative process, including that of English sociologist Graham Wallas whose famous model of thought contains four stages of creative thinking:

Preparation - an individual assesses his desire, creatively using appropriate tools from the appropriate field of study
Incubation - an individual disengages from the creative process; Wallas believed that detachment from the creative objective, "taking a break," stimulates thought
Illumination - the discovery of the idea; according to Wallas, illumination is characterized by the sudden realization of the idea—"Eureka!"
Verification - the successful application of the idea

Do you agree with the notion that creativity can or should follow a fefinitive process?
In one part of Lewis Carroll’s book, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” he says of Alice, “It sounded like an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged; the only difficulty was that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it.”

While I do think that Wallace’s plan could certainly be leveraged in a creative campaign, I cannot help but wonder if following a carefully aligned plan would ultimately create barriers to creative thinking. For example, if an individual (especially someone who is not particularly familiar with Wallas’ plan) is assigned to generate creative ideas do you think that they may be so concerned about adhering exactly to the plan that their ability to think of new and creative ideas is inhibited? They may be so concerned about following a step-by-step process that they do not freely allow their minds to roam.

And, like Lewis said, the plan sounds great, but if an individual obsesses about how to execute it, they will not get too far in the creative process.

Sure, I think that creative and analytical thinking successfully does and can work hand-in-hand at times, but I don’t agree that it is always the case. Sometimes analytical thinkers are so concerned with what happened in the past or what the statistics state that they have a hard time allowing themselves to take a risk. And, they may not expect surprises in step four like a creative thinker would. This all ties back to what I mentioned above … Would an analytical thinker be so adamant about sticking to the plan that he or she loses sight of their goal to create new, exciting, and creative ideas?

Creative ideas can come to us at anytime, anywhere. So while I do think that there are some plans out there, including Wallace’s, that can compliment the creative thinking process for some individuals or groups, I do not think that they are always necessary.

Can we share ideas?

2008-12-22T14:15:00.002-05:00

“Considering marketing and public relations as the same function, in my view, is in the best interests of the corporation. ... Marketing and public relations can and should be compatible. ... in gaining understanding of influential third parties--such as legislators, government agencies, political parties, labor unions, public interest groups, and churches. In the future, public relations will play a greater role in shaping marketing strategies responsible to consumer concerns. In the classic sense, PR will influence not only what companies say but what they do.” ~Thomas Harris, The Marketer's Guide to Public Relations (Turney)~

PR professionals are often assigned to other duties in collaboration with their company’s marketing and advertising departments in order to achieve the organization’s goal. If PR is integrated with the other departments, not only will it save the company time and money, but it will also help to protect the image of the promoted product or service.

PR is used to raise awareness, inform, and influence the audience’s behavior. The audience expects a certain level of trust from a company. At times, PR messages can be very political, jeopardizing that level of trust the company was hoping to establish amongst their consumers. By working with the other functions of communication, such as marketing and advertising, a stronger foundation of trust can be built because the message will be consistent across all lines of communication.

In addition, there are usually strict guidelines that must be followed when making claims in an advertisement—this fact will also help increase the consumer’s level of credibility and trust.Mark Weiner, author of Unleashing the Power of PR: A Contrarian's Guide to Marketing and Communication, said that “the belief in the benefits of IMC is as great as ever, even if the overwhelming majority of marketing organizations can't live up to its promise.”

“The technology is even more advanced than what had been conceived even just five years ago. And marketing is under even greater pressure to do more with less and for less.”

I couldn’t agree with Weiner more when he explained the reasoning behind why some companies are still haven’t grasped a real understanding for IMC. He explained that executives now know that truly integrated marketing can only be derived from a truly integrated organization.

“A truly integrated organization understands that IT and engineering are as much a part of marketing as marketing is related to accounting or manufacturing because each is rooted in the customer experience. Genuinely aligning an organization extends beyond most marketers' sphere of influence and oversight. The unwillingness of the organization to become more fully integrated in its thoughts and actions can be an insurmountable obstacle (Weiner).”

He explained that even those organizations claiming to deliver IMC are most commonly delivering integrated tactical outputs rather than an infrastructure aligned to deliver a positive, aligned customer experience.With that said, it is important for organizations not to ask their marketing, internal communications, advertising, and PR departs to work separately—with no involvement or sharing of responsibilities with one another. And, especially, the departments need not compete against one another. For the highest level of customer satisfaction will be obtained after an integrated message is delivered.

References:

Turnery, Michael. “On the Way to Integrated Marketing Communication.” Northern Kentucky University. 2001. View the entire article here

Weiner, Mark. “What’s Become of Integrated Marketing Communication?” Bulldog Reporter. 6 March 2008 Retrieved 30 April 2008 here

2008-12-22T14:05:00.004-05:00

Lesson 5 focused on mobile marketing—a marketing technique that is becoming more mainstream as a result of the more than 200 million cell phone users in the U.S. (55 million of them under the age of 20).

Think back 50, 30, and even ten years ago…Did you ever imagine the now President-elect, Barack Obama, would announce his VP pick via a text message?

In my opinion, the Barack Obama campaign was one of the most clever campaigns I have ever witnessed.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Obama campaign’s text message announcing Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee’s running mate reached 2.9 million U.S. mobile subscribers, making it “on of the most important text messages” ever and “one of the most successful” branding efforts using mobile devices, said Nic Covey, director of insights for research firm Nielsen Mobile (Puzzanghera).

Despite the fact that false text messages appeared before the actual message was sent and news sources broke the news in advance, forcing actual text to be sent approximately five hours earlier than planned and in early morning hours when most supporters were probably sound asleep, Obama still came across as tech-savvy and empathetic to his young supporters.

"The value of the message goes far beyond the 26 words and 2.9 million recipients," Covey said in a news release. "Here, Obama branded himself as cutting edge, inflated the already enormous press attention paid to his VP pick and further established a list of supporters’ most coveted form of contact: their cellphone numbers (Puzzanghera."

References:

Puzzanghera, Jim. “Obama’s VP text message reached 2.9 million people, Nielsen reports; No data on how many were awake when it arrived.” 26 Aug 2008. View the entire article here

Somewhere in be"tween"

2008-12-22T12:37:00.009-05:00

Watch this CBS News clip to learn more about the power of tweens.

Kids today have strong opinions and spending power, and they take an active role in decorating their own space, picking out their own clothes, and even buying their own toys and electronic gadgets.

According to the CBS News story compiled by CBS national correspondant Tracy Smith, “Marketing To "Tweens" Going Too Far?,” they “can't drive or vote, and most can't even go to the mall by themselves. Yet 25 million kids, between the age of 8 and 13, form the most powerful consumer group since the baby boom.” This influential and powerful group is known as “tweens.”

Tween girls are especially prized, Smith points out, because they spend more money, and love to talk. One method used by marketers involves slumber parties. For example at one Los Angeles party with several tween girls attending, a box packed with goodies — accessories, games and new stuff designed to create a frenzy among them — sat in a spot strategically selected by marketing firm GIA, short for Girls Intelligence Agency (http://www.girlgames.com/).

It's part of is a multi-million dollar business strategy that relies on 8-year-old Danielle Koenig, the party's hostess. But more importantly, she is the alpha, or peer influencer, in her group (Smith).

"We have chosen these influencers across the country," says GIA CEO Laura Groppe, "and we have 40 to 50,000 of these girls registered." The GIA carefully cultivates girls like Danielle, Smith observes, and designates them "secret agents."

The most important thing in a secret agent, says Groppe, is "that her peers trust her opinion. … We have to approve them. You know, important strategic business decisions are being made off of this 8-year-old and her friends, so we have to make sure she's the right one." It's viral marketing. If the alpha girl likes a product, she tells two friends, and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and it spreads like a virus.

I wonder though…is this too sneaky? Is it ethical?

"People have been selling to kids since the beginning of time," counters Groppe. "Marketers are obviously going to try to push the boundaries as much as possible. “A $300 billion market? You'd better be taking them seriously," Groppe remarks. Danielle is profiled for technology, Smith says, but there are other secret agents profiled as fashionistas, and others for movies. It's getting very scientific.

Too scientific? I can’t help but to think so.

Reference:

Smith, Tracy. “Marketing To "Tweens" Going Too Far?” CBS News. 14 May 2007. View the entire article here

I'll have the truth...please

2008-12-22T09:52:00.007-05:00

I read an interesting article on aboutpublicrelations.com by Dr. Steven R. Van Hook titled
"Ethical Public Relations: Not an Oxymoron."

Van Hook summarized the importance of a public relations employee in his opening paragraph, explaining that “the public relations department is frequently the ethical heart of an organization.”

“Internal and external PR communications control of the flow of good and bad news to the staff and community. The PR team copes with company crises. PR pros sit at the elbows of top officers drafting a company's mission statements, its strategies, its vision,” Van Hook continued.

PR people are often put on the spot, criticized for “covering up” for the company. With that said, that is why nearly every code of conduct—especially ones targeted towards public relations officials—emphasizes the great importance of honesty. Arguments may become heated and stories may spin out of control, but honesty is something that should be held highly regarded through it all.

Van Hook mentioned a quote from business writer John Ellis: "The truth matters. Loyalty matters. Lies matter. Values matter. You know a Dilbert company the minute you walk into it. Dilbert-company employees know the exact calibration of corporate dishonesty (Van Hook)."

Public relations officials should strive to be conveyors of the truth and only the truth. With that said, don't lie. As Van Hook mentioned, “the uncovered cover-up frequently incurs more wrath than the original offense.”

For example, recall the Pat Tillman crisis. Tillman was the Arizona Cardinals defensive back who famously volunteered for the Army in the spring after 9/11, giving up a $3.6 million N.F.L. contract extension. Sadly, Tillman was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004.

Initial reports after his death said Tillman, 27, was shot and killed by Taliban forces during an ambush on April 22, 2004. An investigation later found that fellow soldiers shot Tillman, thinking he was part of an enemy force firing at them (CNN).

As New York Times reporter Frank Rich wrote in the November 6, 2005, edition, "It would be a compelling story, if only it were true. Five weeks after Tillman's death, the Army acknowledged abruptly, without providing details, that he had 'probably' died from friendly fire (Rich)."

Tillman's family demanded to know why his uniform and body armor were burned a day after he was killed and why they were not immediately told he might have been killed by fellow soldiers (CNN).

On March 4th, 2006, the Pentagon's Inspector General announced that after review, further investigation of Pat Tillman's death would be necessary to decide whether members in Tillman's unit should be charged with negligent homicide.

A 2005 report from Brig. Gen. Gary Jones contained sworn statements from soldiers involved in the incident who said they burned the items because they had taken pictures of the scene and knew how Tillman had been killed (CNN).

Initially, Tillman's blood-covered uniform and armor were said to have been destroyed because they were considered a biohazard (CNN).

These lies caused much pain for the nation and, most importantly, for Tillman’s family. And to think that the truth would have avoided it all is simply unbelievable.

References:

"AP: Pentagon to cite 9 officers in ex-NFL star's death,", CNN, March 23, 2007. Accessed 14 May 2008. View the entire article here

Frank Rich, "The Mysterious Death of Pat Tillman." “New York Times (information Clearing House).” 6 Nov 2005. Accessed 14 May 2008. View the entire article here

Van Hook, Steven R., PhD. “Ethical Public Relations: Not an Oxymoron.” Accessed 14 May 2008. View the entire article here

This one drives well Mom

2008-12-20T11:46:00.015-05:00

Young children are increasingly the target of advertising and marketing because of the amount of money they spend themselves, the influence they have on their parents spending (the nag factor) and because of the money they will spend when they grow up. While this child-targeted marketing used to concentrate on sweets and toys, it now includes a range of adult-like products (Beder).

In the US there are over 57 million school age children and teenagers who spend about $100 billion each year of their own and their family's money on sweets, food, drinks, video and electronic products, toys, games, movies, sports, clothes and shoes. Additionally children 12 and under spend more than $11 billion of their own money and influence family spending decisions worth another $165 billion on food, household items like furniture, electrical appliances and computers, vacations, the family car and other spending (Beder).

The what? I followed up until “the family car.” Excuse me. Is the child driving the car through different terrains? Is the child filling up the gas tank and paying for maintenance and repairs? I think not.

One study estimated that children influenced $9 billion worth of car sales in 1994. That was in 1994—before cars had dvd players and other child friendly options. One car dealer even
explained: "Sometimes, the child literally is our customer. I have watched the child pick out the car (Beder).”

This means that car manufacturers cannot afford to ignore the children in their marketing. Companies such as Nissan sponsor the American Youth Soccer Organisation and a travelling geography exhibit in order to get exposure for their brand name and logo in child-friendly settings. Chrysler distributes 100s of thousands of glossy cardboard pop-up promotional books by direct mail that will appeal to children who love pop-up books. And Chevrolet has used advertisements featuring children. Some car dealers have added children's play areas and arcade games to their facilities (Beder).

Wow.

Well, I guess if the child is happy in the backseat, mom and dad are happy in the front, right?

Reference:

Beder, Sharon. “Marketing to Children.” View the entire article here

Hey marketers...are you on Facebook?

2008-12-20T10:37:00.011-05:00

How did you hear about that? Facebook. Where did you see that? Facebook.

Marketers should most certainly embrace the virtual lives of millions and millions of people worldwide. In fact, did you know that Facebook published the Facebook Insider's Guide to Viral Marketing?

According to the document, businesses now have the ability to expand their revenue base and acquire new customers through free Facebook Pages. Pages enable customers to interact, learn, purchase, and spread the word about your business to their friends. The key is Facebook’s stable and trusted platform, which gives companies the ability to connect with consumers and participate in the conservations they’re already having with their friends about their favorite local spots, artists, films and brands.

Every day, most of Facebook’s 70 million active users log on to Facebook to learn about their friends and share information about their interests and activities. This regular interaction gives businesses the opportunity to connect with existing and new customers as effectively as a face-to-face meeting.

Keys to Using Facebook:

Make business personal
People primarily use Facebook to share personal information with friends. The more you showcase the human element of your business, your products, and your people, the stronger of an effect it will have on everyone who views it.

Update your Facebook Page frequently
Facebook is geared to highlight new information and recent changes. The more often you add new content, the more often people will come back to your Facebook Page. You can also send Updates to your fans to announce in-store events, special promotions, new products, concerts, screenings, or other news.

Harness the power of News Feed
The News Feed on users’ home pages tells them what their friends are doing. When users become your fan, News Feed tells their friends and invites them to become fans as well. In turn, this can lead to the friends of their friends finding out about your business through their News Feeds, and so on in a virtuous cycle. News Feed is the key to spreading your message virally on Facebook.

Choose the applications that are best for your business
Facebook and its outside developers have built thousands of free applications for businesses, bands, and every other type of organization. Your Page comes with the basics pre-installed, but you can easily add whichever other applications are right for your business. For instance, a restaurant may choose to add an application for online ordering or reservations, while a film may add a cinema-locator so the user can find the nearest screening without ever leaving Facebook. You can even build your own applications. The more useful your applications are to your customers, the faster your fan base will grow.

Promote your Page through Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads allow you to reach exactly the audience you want and bring them to your Page. You can choose your audience based on age, gender, geography, educational status, relationship status, and precise interests or keywords. Your ads can be socialized so that users’ interactions are reflected in the ads their friends see, increasingly the virality of your Page. You can run ads both in traditional “banner” locations and in the News Feed. As with your Page itself, the key to success with Facebook Ads is to experiment and iterate on your work.

Check out the document here to learn more about Facebook’s personal recommendations on how to successful market your business, products, and services, as well as learn more about your target audience.

Listen...your consumers are talking

2008-12-20T10:02:00.014-05:00

In a prior blog, I raved about official corporate blogs. This week, our discussion focused on the existence of unofficial corporate blogs.

Check out the unofficial blogs we viewed and discussed this week:

All Facebook
WalMartWatch
Unofficial Disney
Google Analytics ROI
The Notre Dame Nation
House of Chanel
Starbuck's Gossip
Google Maps
XBOX 360 Fanboy
Crocs
Blackberry
Positive Fanatics: The Unofficial Ikea Web Journal
Author Natalia Rose
The Apple Blog
Coca-Cola Conversations

So, what do these unofficial blogs mean for the companies they represent?

Classmate Julianne Davis said the unofficial Disney blog is a great way for Disney to recognize and understand the some of the safety concerns parents have when taking their children to visit a theme park such as Disney World. And, classmate April Trent pointed out the relevance of the unofficial Apple blog's polling feature. For example, one poll asked the question, "Will you be purchasing one of the new MacBook/MacBook Pros?" As April explained, the site lists how many users said "yep", how many users said "nope", how many users were unsure, and the total amount of votes. “This information,” she said, “could be used to gather an idea of how effective their marketing and/or product is within the market and help the company to figure out what steps need to be taken in the future.”

In my opinion, yes, unofficial blogs can certainly play a role in everything from the success of a newly launched product to the reputation of the company. In fact, market research conducted by JupiterResearch (a Forrester research company who conducted the survey of more than 2,000 online consumers in the US) has found that blog readers are strongly influenced by blog content when it comes to purchase decisions across a number of categories, and that blogs play a key role in ushering readers to the point of an actual purchase (Jarboe).

The company's August 2008 Harnessing the Power of Blogs survey found that blog readership has grown 300% over the past four years. The results also suggest that consumers who read blogs more than once per month -- or frequent blog readers -- use blogs as the top online navigation tool to discover other blog content, ranking higher than general Web search or blog search (Jarboe).

Looking more closely at how blogs factor into consumer purchase decisions and the nature of blog influence on buying behavior, the survey found:

Blogs influence purchases: 50% of blog readers say they find blogs useful for purchase information.
Blogs sway more purchases among readers than social networks: More frequent blog readers say they trust relevant blog content for purchase decisions than content from social networking sites.
Niche focus ups influence factor: For those who have found blog content useful for product decisions, 56% said blogs with a niche focus and topical expertise were key sources.• Blogs go beyond tech: Outside of technology-related purchases, for which 31% of readers say blogs are useful, other key categories include: media and entertainment (15%); games/toys and/or sporting goods (14%); travel (12%); automotive (11%); and health (10%).

According to the study, blogs factor in to critical stages of the purchase process, weighing most heavily at the actual moment of a purchase decision. When it comes to respondents who said they have trusted blog content for purchase decisions in the past, over half (52 percent) say blogs playeda role in the critical moment they decided to move forward with a purchase.

Blog readers were also surveyed about the influence of blogs as it relates to the following steps of the purchase process:

21% decide on a product or service,19% refine choices,
19% get support and answers,
17% discover products and services,
14% assure,
13% inspire a purchase
7% execute a purchase.

For frequent blog readers, ads on blogs are on par with sponsored search results. However, trust of blog advertising exceeds that of social networking site advertising. A quarter of these readers say they trust ads on a blog they read; paid search links also accounted for 25% of the responses, while 19% say they trust ads on social networking sites.

The study also suggests that ads on blogs spur a number of activities: 40% of blog readers have taken action as a result of viewing an ad on a blog; 50% of frequent blog readers say this is the case.

The top activities include:

17% read product reviews online,
16% sought out more info on a product or service,
16% visited a manufacturer or retailer website.

Furthermore, one in five consumers who have read a blog in the past 12 months -- or general blog readers -- use blog links to discover new blogs. And, the study suggests blogs are not consumed in isolation -- 49% of blog readers and 71% of frequent readers read more than one blog per session.

Other key findings include:

Links more powerful than search: For frequent readers, links beat search as a navigation tool: 38 percent said blog links were the top tool for discovering new blog content as compared to 34 percent who voted for Web search.
Links signal trust: For frequent readers, blog links appear to have similar impact as a trusted recommendation from a person (a response from 39 percent of survey participants).
Blog search not yet mainstream: Blog search engines received the lowest ranking from respondents: 6 percent of general readers and 11 percent of frequent readers say they use these tools to discover new blogs.

This is pretty impressive information for marketers to consider. From unofficial blogs, marketers and other company officials can better determine consumers’ likes and dislikes about everything from customer service to the features of a new product. As Jarboe mentioned, blogs are nothing new, but rather, a communication medium that has matured and moved from early adopter phase to the mainstream.

Reference:

Jarboe, Greg. “Blog Content Influences Consumer Buying Behavior.” Search Engine Watch. View entire article here

Are you holding an endagered species?

2008-12-20T08:44:00.002-05:00

In Lesson 2, we discussed which traditional marketing elements may become obsolete within the next 50 years. I suggested print yellow pages. Others suggested traditional print newspapers and print forms of direct marketing…print, print, print everything.

According to a majority of our discussion postings this week, most forms of traditional marketing elements will someday be obsolete. Really? In 50 years, will younger generations really be making fun of us for once reading a print newspaper and receiving a catalog offer in the mail? This is a scary thought…or is it? On the upside, we will be living much more green…on the downside, wouldn’t you miss picking up a good old-fashioned newspaper at times? I certainly would.

For decades, editors have looked to the future and wondered if newspapers have a place in it. “Are you now holding an endangered species in your hands?” asked David Shaw, the late media reporter for the Los Angeles Times (Leubsdore).

Shaw asked this question in a 1976 article about the newspaper industry. Impressive foresight at the time, right?

The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), said that the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) noted in its most recent annual report that the state of the newspaper industry is getting worse (Leubsdore).

Citing problems from the lack of readership among younger readers to shrinking profit margins, it suggested that high debt and declining print advertising revenue might soon force some papers to seek “a more radical solution” – even “pulling the plug on print.”

But editors from large and small newspapers across the country contacted for the article said they did not expect print to perish any time soon (Leubsdore).

Still, all agreed that print editions must change and adapt to a new business environment as media companies move toward providing information to readers across a variety of platforms, from newspapers to Web sites to news feeds.

“Absolutely, I think the print newspaper is going to survive,” said Hollis Towns, executive editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer.

“It may look different. I think it may take a different form. I think it may be more of a niche publication — appealing to older readers, baby boomers, maybe — but newspapers have been around a long time” and have overcome past challenges, he said, explaining why newspapers will survive.

Most of the editors interviewed said the physical shrinking of print editions is likely to continue as a result of falling advertising revenue. Print ad money was down 7 percent across the industry in 2007, according to the PEJ report (Leubsdore).

Of course there is always the thought that some baby boomers and the older generations will always be avid readers of print newspapers. But, what is going to happen when Generation Y is the older generation? Generation Y is quite accustomed to reading both local and national news coverage online. And generations following Generation Y are growing up with technology…will they know anything other than online newspapers?

No more print newspapers? I sure hope not.

Reference:

Leubsdore, Ben. “Can Print Newspapers Survive?” 15 Apr 2008. American Society of Newspaper Editors. View the entire article here

If it's slow, they leave

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Websites! How could I forget websites and how could I list both podcasts and blogs ahead of this crucial communication tool? Without websites, a company could not post any of the emerging media that we discussed during Lesson 1.

As classmate Justin Coen said, “web sites can easily be integrated in various forms of marketing/advertising, enticing visitors to the site for myriad purposes. They aren't limited, essentially, except to what the imagination, programming skill, and the wallet can provide for.”

Very true.

But will just any Web site do? No, not for today’s impatient and unforgiving consumers. When consumers visit a Web site, many want to simply reach the site quickly, complete the task and move on. Many organizations’ Web sites are out-of-sync with their customers (McGovern).

The emergence of the impatient, unforgiving customer has been gathering pace for many years. Back in 2006 a study by Akami found that 75 percent of people would not go back to a Web site that took more than four seconds to load. It used to be that people would wait for eight seconds (McGovern).

In 2008, how many seconds will they wait? Not many. In 2009, this number will be even less.

As many as 50 percent of people bail out after a quick glance of a Web page, another 2006 report stated. Back then you had four seconds to convince people that you had something useful to offer. They might read about 15 words before making that decision. In fact, over 40 percent of click on the first search result. Over 60 percent click within the first three results, and people over 90 percent click within the first 10 results (McGovern).

Fast fact: More people have been on top of Mount Everest than have been to the 1,000th search result.

Reference:

McGovern, Gerry. “Web users: Impatient and unforgiving.” Ragan Communications. 18 Sept. 2008. View the entire article here.

They said what?!

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The first week of class consisted of a variety of discussions around which new form of emerging media (web sites, video ads, widgets, RSS feeds, podcasting, banner ads, short films, blogs & vlogs, chat rooms, blue tooth, in-game advertising, social networking) we found to be the most effective and the least effective.

I selected podcasts as the most effective and emerging for several reasons, including but not limited to the following benefits:

1.) Reach
2.) Accessibility
3.) Learning
4.) Utilization
5.) Employee Engagement
6.) Leverage
7.) Cost Efficient

In addition to podcasts, I am an advocate for blogs—both internally for employees and externally for consumers.

A lot of companies worry that a blog will create negative PR, but according to the Ragan Communications article, “Can Negative Blog Comments Be Good PR?” even the angriest consumer can be an asset to the company.

If people are going to take issue with you—and some are—they’re going to do it whether or not you have a social media site (Sebastian).

“You’ve got to acknowledge that there are people who will post negative comments and take issue with what you’ve done—that’s the conversation,” explained social media consultant Shel Holtz. “Nobody in the world is so naïve to think that 100 percent are happy about your company 100 percent of the time.” With that said, a blog lets dissatisfied consumers complain on the company’s own turf and allows communicators to engage in the conversation.

Monitoring negative comments on your own Web site is good. Shel Holtz tells us why:

You’re finding out exactly what people think about your company or client.
You’re able to aggregate what everyone is thinking and respond to it on your own terms in your own house.

Corporate blogs are not as intimidating as they can appear to the CEO. Personally, I think it is an honest and open way for companies to gather feedback on both what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. It shows their willingness to listen to their consumers and their dedication to proactively addressing issues as they arise. Kudos to companies, such as Southwest Airlines, for embracing and welcoming this new medium of social media.

Reference:

Sebastian, Michael. “Can Negative Blog Comments Be Good PR?” Ragan Communications. 14 July 2008. View the entire article here.

Welcome!

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Hello and welcome to my blog!

I am currently a graduate student in West Virginia University's Integrated Marketing Communications program. This blog is part of the final assignment for my Emerging Media & The Market course...and my first attempt as a blogger!

Please visit this blog weekly as I learn and share more information about new and exciting emerging media, such as podcasts, Webcasts, social marketing, banner ads, blogs, pop-ups, pop-unders, email, and short films, as well as emerging media issues such as creativity, ethics, and targeting youth and multicultural groups.

Please take a look at my classmates' blogs listed under "Blogs I follow."