June 17, 2008
Measuring marketing engagement is not an exact science as Simon van Wyk finds out.
It all used to be so easy. In the early days of web analytics everything was focused on impressions, click-throughs, and conversion rates.
However, with an increased marketing spend online comes increased expectations of measurement and tracking. Marketers are looking for different ways to measure the success of their digital marketing spend.
Of course any campaign, whether on or offline should be measured by whether it meets its objectives. And those objectives are trending towards engagement.
After all, when people are truly engaged with your brand, it's highly likely they will be loyal customers too. And to get them highly engaged, you need to create valuable content and tools that your customers need or want to interact with, when they want to interact with it, 24x7. Of course this means channelling marketing budgets into valuable content development and not short media bursts of activity.
Continue reading the story.
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Technorati Tags: marketing | engagement | measurement |
November 19, 2007
Have you got something to say to your customers? Simon van Wyk writes about podcasting.
One of the most attractive things about online marketing is that, although you can spend a fortune on your online activities, you can also achieve a lot by spending very little.
Podcasting is a great example of this. A podcast is essentially a radio show that can be downloaded onto a customer's computer or MP3 device so that they can listen to it at their leisure. It's that simple. You can buy the necessary equipment for less than $200, download free software and do it yourself (though many companies hire a studio to get perfect sound levels).
You don't hear a lot about podcasting because it's not as sexy as TV advertising, but it is turning out to be the quiet achiever of Internet marketing.
Read the full story at the HotHouse website
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Technorati Tags: podcasting,online+marketing |
October 10, 2007
It's commonly held wisdom that once you choose a bank, you stick with it. Your bank moves with you through life's stages - offering you everything from student loans, credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, investment loans - the whole kit and caboodle.
Banks and financial services institutions are fully aware that the lifetime value of a penniless student can be substantial, and naturally there's fierce competition.
Of course the financial services industry has been highly sophisticated in targeting this customer segment developing a range of products and services to suit their needs.
But marketing to these students is a whole new ball game. They don't use the media we've always used, they don't want to be interrupted and they are turned off by advertising.
Today's students have grown up with technology, and have a preference for blogs, podcasts, wikis and Instant Messaging. They are extremely high users of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
They depend on referrals from credible sources like friends and family or even trusted brands and blogs.
Continue reading
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September 17, 2007
As the notion of Web first becomes akin to an involuntary impulse, it's no surprise to find that e-commerce sites are heavy users of search engine marketing. Indeed a comScore report published earlier this year revealed that e-commerce sites are the most frequent users of search engine marketing, with each of the top ten search engine marketers being either retail or comparison shopping sites.
Search is playing such a key role in driving traffic to online retailers and e-commerce sites, but the site still has to live up to expectations when the customer gets there.
An interesting insight reported on internetnews.com regarding the online retail customer experience cited ForeSee Results, the US based online satisfaction measurement and management company. The report, published in June this year, found that the users' satisfaction with their site experience was the most important criteria for consumers rather than the lowest price. The story quoted Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results: "Meeting customers' needs, setting expectations and living up to them [produces] the kind of satisfaction that drives decisions and customer loyalty more than anything else."
With the user experience rather than price potentially a key driver of online retail's success, it's critical to get the online experience right.
Read the full story: Web 2.0 delivering new online retail experience
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August 8, 2007
The Wall St Journal's 'Reply All' section is featuring an interesting discussion on the future for online TV and whether web video should be considered as a new art form. Given the rise of video-sharing sites like Revver, traditional broadcasting companies have been prompted to seek ways in which they can incorporate social media into their online offerings. This discussion features Sab Kanaujia, vice president for digital product strategy at NBC Universal, and Steven Starr, co-founder and chairman of Revver.
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July 23, 2007
This month's podcast features Simon in conversation with independent software architect, Phil Haynes, who highlights the key benefits for businesses operating in the Web 2.0 environment and the change in mindset required. Phil argues that the biggest challenge of Web 2.0 development is "to put your entire website in your users' hands."
You can listen to the full conversation by downloading the HotHouse podcast on Web 2.0 development.
Posted By Victoria Kerr @ 11:04 AM Permalink / Comments (0) / Trackbacks (0)
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July 23, 2007
According to a survey conducted at this year's Internet World conference in London, 60% of businesses (at least the ones who attend Internet conferences) are actively using Web 2.0 technologies in their business.
Despite recent criticism that Web 2.0 is all marketing spin, the survey by NetBenefit found there is real substance to the new technologies being deployed such as blogs, Ajax and mash-ups, with 69% of companies disagreeing that Web 2.0 is just hype.
The results also revealed that Web 2.0 is seen as a natural progression in the usage of Internet technology with 83% agreeing that it is an online 'evolution' rather than a radical change in the way we use the World Wide Web.
Read more on business stepping up to the Web 2.0 challenge.
Posted By Victoria Kerr @ 10:10 AM Permalink / Comments (0) / Trackbacks (0)
Technorati Tags: web+2.0 |
May 16, 2007
Simon recently hooked up with Advertising Age's Bob Garfield for a lively and entertaining conversation about Chaos 2.0 - his controversial thesis about the post-advertising age. This discussion serves as quite an appetiser for the forthcoming ADMA Forum in Sydney on 27th June at which Bob Garfield will give the keynote address.
The conversation is available as two podcast sessions:
Download Bob Garfield Chaos 2.0 conversation part 1
Download Bob Garfield Chaos 2.0 conversation part 2
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May 9, 2007
In tune with Bob Garfield's Chaos 2.0, AdWeek reports that Bill Gates is talking up the tremendous upheaval wrought by technology on traditional media.
Speaking at the opening of Microsoft's Strategic Account Summit in Seattle, the Microsoft Chairman said he believes "newspapers would be all online in just five years" noting their "inexorable decline" and offline directories "face a similar challenge when competing with the richness of Web search engines for local information".
And in line with our ipTV story and podcast, he believes "TV will finally mesh with the Internet to form a new experience that combines the traditional richness of video with the interactivity of the Web".
Posted By Victoria Kerr @ 2:05 PM Permalink / Comments (0) / Trackbacks (0)
Technorati Tags: ipTV | Chaos+2.0 |
March 30, 2007
Art imitating art? The latest TVC from Kit Kat exploits the Second Life craze, helping shape the brand for its Generation Y consumers.
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Technorati Tags: Second+Life |
March 15, 2007
ADMA is hosting a half-day practical seminar for marketers in April and Simon van Wyk is delighted to be participating in the event.
Come and hear Simon discuss ways of encouraging consumers to participate in your brand - whether by way of providing opportunities for consumers to write reviews and comments about your products and services, or having them create consumer generated advertising. The big question for marketers this year is how to harness this consumer generated content to drive your brand?
This insightful half-day seminar which features Simon and other web marketing experts will explore the Web 2.0 revolution, with a focus on providing practical tips and ideas
Melbourne: Monday 2 April, 1.30pm - 5.00pm
Sydney: Tuesday 3 April, 8.30am - 12.00pm
Cost: ADMA Members: $255 per person
Non-members: $320 per person
To make a booking visit the ADMA website.
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Technorati Tags: web+2, | marketing, | event |
March 14, 2007
Without doubt, Web 2.0 has not only changed what's on the Web, but how it works. Web 2.0 technologies have transformed the Internet from a publishing platform with simple repositories of information into a network of rich, active, inter-connected spaces.
As Ross Dawson stated in his keynote address at the HotHouse "Diverse Media Future" event last year "The turning point was when simple, free blogging platforms emerged around 2000, enabling people to ignore domain registrations, HTML, and website design, and in minutes post their words and pictures on the Internet for all to see."
Read the full article.
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Technorati Tags: participation, | web+2.0 |
September 25, 2006
Whilst the US Office of National Drug Control Policy should be applauded for including YouTube as a communications channel to reach young people, there's no surprises that its films which were created for the safe televison environment haven't exactly been taking off with YouTube users.
Interestingly though, Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project predicts that switched on critics of U.S. drug policies will quickly create spoofs and parodies of these films, distribute them on YouTube and watch them really take off.
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Technorati Tags: youtube |
September 8, 2006
Watch out for a brand new online entertainment channel in the YouTube genre, where people can upload the usual consumer generated media type stuff and be endlessly entertained. Anheuser-Busch which brews Budweiser, has reportedly invested something like US$30 million in its Bud.TV project, which will launch in February next year and aims to connect with the world's growing online community.
The company's press release says that the company recognises that adults are spending more time online looking for entertainment to fit their lifestyles, and that this new online entertainment channel will help reach and engage with them.
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Technorati Tags: Budweiser | youtube |
September 7, 2006
The hot news in the music industry this week is that MySpace is planning to sell music - allowing bands both known and unknown, to sell their songs online, for whatever price they want. With the social networking site's reach (over 100 million registered users), the MySpace music store may well provide a serious challenger to Apple's iTunes.
Bands (about 3 million are signed up to MySpace) are already finding that MySpace is an effective way to promote their music and reach an ever extending audience. Those 100 million users are spending serious time connected on the site, and when the music store opens, it may well provide the hottest launching pad for the next big things.
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Technorati Tags: myspace | music | web-20 |
August 17, 2006
TIME has just published its list of the 50 coolest websites on the planet with no surprises that it looks like a Web 2.0 beauty parade.
The sites are built on the next-generation technologies and concepts that make the Internet a much better place to live and work and provide dynamic new ways to inform and entertain. All the ususual suspects are there like YouTube, Digg, MySpace and Zillow. But the list also includes serious field reporting like Kevin Sites in the War Zone which is a shining example of digital newsgathering techniques, to clever little gems like Dodgeball which lets your mobile device improve your social life.
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Technorati Tags: web-20 |
August 14, 2006
Everyone has been hypothesising about the huge changes in marcoms strategy, but now we're actually starting to see what that all means. Here are some examples of how digital marketing is enhancing marcoms strategies in Australia and around the globe:
Toyota Australia
Conducting what the Sydney Morning Herald's marketing editor called "the biggest overhaul in its marketing communications strategy for years". The car maker is aiming to reduce its advertising budget (estimated at $70 million a year) while at the same time increase its marketing clout - and it will be relying more and more on digital marketing to achieve those paradoxical aims.
Lynx
The brand has just won a swag of Lion Awards for its Lynx Jet campaign (and just missed out on scoring the top Grand Prix Gold Award). What may not be so well known is that digital was a key component in the campaign, which reportedly drove Lynx to the highest ever market share of male body spray (84%).
Lynx had nearly 600,000 unique visitors to the LynxJet website in two months, more than 10 times the original target. Overall, Lynx used 32 different media channels, which, according to Contagious magazine, "demonstrate(s) the power of integrated marketing in unprecedented ways."
The next Lynx brand, Click, seems to be going down the same road, with a visit to its website revealing that a clicker offer for the campaign is already oversubscribed.
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August 7, 2006
Another blow to traditional marketers as AdAge.com reports that a new study by McKinsey & Co. and delivered to its Fortune 500 clients has confirmed the news of the decline of TV advertising efficacy and that by 2010, "traditional TV advertising will be one-third as effective as it was in 1990."
This of course echos the findings about the growth of the online advertising medium at the expense of traditional media reported globally by PricewaterhouseCoopers last week in their "Entertainment & Media Outlook 2006-2010".
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August 4, 2006
In a move that is certain to become the trend, Foster's beer in the US has has decided to stop advertising on television entirely and move its US ad budget online. Although many brands are switching some of their advertising budgets away from TV and on to the Internet - moving the entire budget is certainly a sign of the times and reflects the changing media tastes of consumers.
Part of the budget has been assigned to a deal with Heavy.com to create an online dating game which is being used to launch a new positioning for Foster's in the US with the tagline: "Crack open a friendly". According to AdAge, the online campaign is due to launch mid August.
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August 2, 2006
Coca-Cola has moved into the user generated content arena with their new site that invites users to the "Coke Side of Life". The global site (though not in Australia yet) entices users to take a series of monthly challenges and create videos on a particular theme, view others and vote on them. The first challenge on the site, "The Essence of You," asks "If you could bottle the essence of you and share it with the world, what story would you tell?"
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Technorati Tags: UGC |
June 21, 2006
As social media becomes an ever potent force for marketers to understand and fully engage in, US based web-analytics firm Cymfony has formulated the "Influence 2.0" initiaitive and is writing the rules in a social media e-book.
And talk about practising what is preached - in true web 2.0 form, the book is being released as a "wiki", inviting industry thought leaders - and anyone else for that matter - to detail consumers' incredible new influence over the marketing process.
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