News from around the marketing & technology world this week that USA digital advertising spend will officially surpass print advertising in 2012. Here's is a link to one such story from Mashable. This moment will most certainly pass without much fanfare. A few news stories, maybe a even a network TV mention, but likely not much more. But just pause for a moment and let the scope of this change sink-in, and you will realize it is quite an event. Television advertising still holds the lion share of investment - but the change in the #2 position is a big deal.
Over 300 years ago a Boston area newspaper carried an ad soliciting a buyer for an estate on Long Island. This is largely recognized as the first newspaper ad. But communicating to potential customers on paper has been around much much longer. In fact, printed advertising predates paper. Eqyptians were creating sales messages on papyrus thousands of years ago. It seems that not long after a stone tablet and chisel were replaced with something more practical and portable - print advertising was born and would remain the primary vehicle for marketing for thousands of years.
Internet advertising can now set its sights on television, but with TV still at a 40% share, and the rapid congruence of internet with television - I believe the rules will change before we ever get a chance to hail a new king - or should I say Pharaoh.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Image of the Day 1.21.2012
Found this image at http://www.seo-houstonwebs.blogspot.com/.
Powerful message here about the impact that the internet has on decision making.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Image of the Day 1.15.2011
Found today's image at brokendamage.com (which I must confess is perplexing blog due to the exteme variety of topics) - but I like the portrayal of digital marketing as a tree.
What speaks to me most is the sturdy size of the tree trunk, which represents your web site. The tree depicted has a great balance between the "conventional web site" and all the extensions (limbs) of your digital marketing strategy. If you are wondering how social media, blogging or other limbs on this tree can work for you, but you don't have a great website, you need to fix that problem first.
The next tree is my personal favorite tree on the planet, and is located not far from my former home in Charleston, SC. The tree is known as "Angel Oak" and is around 1,500 years old. The limbs of this live oak tree are so massive that many of them are now artificially supported by cables and props. It is an amazing tree, but if your spending all your time and resources building great Facebook pages, Twitter feeds or e-mail campaigns without having a dynamic website, you are missing the foundation of your digital marketing tree.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Does Your Digital Marketing Have a Virus?
Not so long ago, the word "viral" conjured negative images of disease and pestilence. However, in the second half of the 90's, "viral" started to become a homonym when the phrase "viral marketing" was first uttered.
Today, viral marketing is potentially the most effective product advertising available, yet, there is no Viral Marketing for Dummies book at your local bookstore. You won't find Viral Marketing 101 on your college syllabus and you can't just call a meeting to decide what your next viral marketing project will be.
Marketing messages that "go viral" are elusive, and often come as a surprise. Consider Blendtec's wildly popular Will It Blend campaign. These video's of Blendtec blenders chewing up just about everything you can imagine receive millions of hits. My favorite is the iPhone4s, with Siri telling the blender "You are making a terrible error." (see below) This campaign is brilliant in its' creativity and simplicity. I'm positive that Blendtec didn't have a "How to Make a Viral Product Video" guide when they made the very first video. So how did they do it? Why did it work?
Blendtec understood that you have to connect with consumers in a memorable way, and this connection should enforce your product values, but not overtly SELL your product. When consumers feel like they are being "sold to" they frequently tune out. But when you can entertain or educate your audience while building brand affinity - then you have the chance to go viral.
Today, viral marketing is potentially the most effective product advertising available, yet, there is no Viral Marketing for Dummies book at your local bookstore. You won't find Viral Marketing 101 on your college syllabus and you can't just call a meeting to decide what your next viral marketing project will be.
Marketing messages that "go viral" are elusive, and often come as a surprise. Consider Blendtec's wildly popular Will It Blend campaign. These video's of Blendtec blenders chewing up just about everything you can imagine receive millions of hits. My favorite is the iPhone4s, with Siri telling the blender "You are making a terrible error." (see below) This campaign is brilliant in its' creativity and simplicity. I'm positive that Blendtec didn't have a "How to Make a Viral Product Video" guide when they made the very first video. So how did they do it? Why did it work?
Blendtec understood that you have to connect with consumers in a memorable way, and this connection should enforce your product values, but not overtly SELL your product. When consumers feel like they are being "sold to" they frequently tune out. But when you can entertain or educate your audience while building brand affinity - then you have the chance to go viral.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Bully on the Block
As I've mentioned previously Google almost single handed defined the rules of search marketing, and created an entire industry (and jobs) built around figuring out their algorithms. In 2012, there's no doubt we will see Google continue to create "rules" that we all must adapt to.
The introduction of "not provided" in organic search results will likely far exceed the predicted 10% of all visits and we can expect Google to make Google+ a significant factor is search rankings.
Look at the image below. This is a search result for "running shoes" as it was displayed on my 22" screen today. Does anyone see that the TOP ORGANIC result is not above the fold? All of your selection choices in this image are Paid Ads or result from a Google Places listing. From marketer's perspective, this reduces the hard earned value of the top organic spot.
Organic clicks have always been 80% of all activity but 2012 might be the year where we see this number start to fall. The bully on our block will keep us guessing this year - and be assured the changes will be to his benefit.
The introduction of "not provided" in organic search results will likely far exceed the predicted 10% of all visits and we can expect Google to make Google+ a significant factor is search rankings.
Look at the image below. This is a search result for "running shoes" as it was displayed on my 22" screen today. Does anyone see that the TOP ORGANIC result is not above the fold? All of your selection choices in this image are Paid Ads or result from a Google Places listing. From marketer's perspective, this reduces the hard earned value of the top organic spot.
Organic clicks have always been 80% of all activity but 2012 might be the year where we see this number start to fall. The bully on our block will keep us guessing this year - and be assured the changes will be to his benefit.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Image of the Day 1.10.2012
Ok, so I'm cheating a little with today's image - which is actually actually a video, but if you've never seen this, it is a must watch! In 1958 McGraw-Hill ran a magazine ad that became iconic in the marketing world. Of course, information was conveyed very differently 50 years ago so, the video below was shown in 2009 at the Business Marketing Association conference. The message remains as powerful as ever - and in today's fast paced, digitally-addicted, information-now world - if your company doesn't have effective "digital marketing real-estate" you might find yourself facing the man in the chair.
Monday, January 9, 2012
The Serengeti Principle
Last year, US Representative from Florida, Steve Southerland used the phrase "Serengeti Principle" to draw a comparison between working in a "real" private sector job and a career in politics. The gazelle knows each morning that he must outrun the lion to survive (or at least not be the slowest gazelle) and the lion knows that he must be faster than the slowest gazelle to survive.
About now you may be pondering "what does this have to do with digital marketing to individuals?" Is there a Serengeti Principle for digital marketing? I contend that the answer is an obvious YES.
The pace of today's information consumption is different than it was just 5 or 10 years ago, and remarkably different than it was 25 years ago. As a digital marketer, you must be fast if you want to stay alive, or to eat. Fast in adapting to change and and fast in the delivery of your value proposition.
If you are not creating content specifically for the web, utilizing Social Media, blogging or developing videos, then you are a limping gazelle in danger of being dinner. If you are a digital marketer who's not keeping one ear to the ground for what's next, then you are just another gazelle in the middle of the herd. You may be safe for now, but if the herd makes a sudden change in direction, you might get exposed to the fast pursuing lion.
Likewise, if your digital presence is boring, slow to develop and not easily engaged, then you are also like a gazelle lining up to be a hot meal. The attention span of consumers continues to shorten. Check out this report from MarketingWeek that details the adjustments marketers are making to capture attention - and how short the window is becoming. Your digital marketing needs to get its claws into the consumer almost immediately - or they will be gone. Just like the slow limping gazelle at the back of the herd.
About now you may be pondering "what does this have to do with digital marketing to individuals?" Is there a Serengeti Principle for digital marketing? I contend that the answer is an obvious YES.
The pace of today's information consumption is different than it was just 5 or 10 years ago, and remarkably different than it was 25 years ago. As a digital marketer, you must be fast if you want to stay alive, or to eat. Fast in adapting to change and and fast in the delivery of your value proposition.
If you are not creating content specifically for the web, utilizing Social Media, blogging or developing videos, then you are a limping gazelle in danger of being dinner. If you are a digital marketer who's not keeping one ear to the ground for what's next, then you are just another gazelle in the middle of the herd. You may be safe for now, but if the herd makes a sudden change in direction, you might get exposed to the fast pursuing lion.
Likewise, if your digital presence is boring, slow to develop and not easily engaged, then you are also like a gazelle lining up to be a hot meal. The attention span of consumers continues to shorten. Check out this report from MarketingWeek that details the adjustments marketers are making to capture attention - and how short the window is becoming. Your digital marketing needs to get its claws into the consumer almost immediately - or they will be gone. Just like the slow limping gazelle at the back of the herd.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Image of the Day 1.4.2012
Today's image courtesy of http://www.straightnorth.com
Obviously, given the name of my blog (b2i), I don't think B2B and B2C marketing is apples & oranges. While the purchasing processes may vary, the choice to buy always comes down to an individual. B2B marketers who fail to reach that person on a level that connects with their needs won't be successful. Buyers and decision makers no longer clock into "work" at 8am and clock out at 5pm. Building affinity for your brand is a 24 hour investment these days, and the minds of the individuals making the decisions are fair game during all 24 of those hours. Social media and mobile information access have blurred, and maybe even removed any boundaries between work and home. Making sure you own enough digital real estate, and using that real estate effectively, can help influence your customer even when they are "off the clock."
Google Self Penalizes
Interesting news from Google, about self imposed penalties for their own browser, Chrome. It's good to see them walking the talk in this instance (https://plus.google.com/109412257237874861202/posts/NAWunDzJSHC) - but their decision in October to block keyword visibility in analytics (if the user was logged in to any Google account) still stinks of HYPOCRISY.
If privacy was the real intent of the policy change, then both PPC and Organic keywords would be blocked...however, paying homage to the almighty dollar, Google has not rescinded the decision to apply these privacy rules when profit is at stake. PPC keywords are still visible in analytics. Is it possible that Google plans to use this "privacy feature" as a marketing play to encourage more subscriber-ship to G+ ??? We will have to wait and see.
Digital marketers should realize that we have been living in a largely unregulated world when it comes to online privacy, and we must prepare for tighter rules in the future. Google has created more jobs on non-Google payrolls (like mine) than it has on its own payroll. The "science" of search engine marketing is largely a Google construct. Let's hope they find a way to strike a balance between privacy and smart marketing...and do so without profit blinders on.
If privacy was the real intent of the policy change, then both PPC and Organic keywords would be blocked...however, paying homage to the almighty dollar, Google has not rescinded the decision to apply these privacy rules when profit is at stake. PPC keywords are still visible in analytics. Is it possible that Google plans to use this "privacy feature" as a marketing play to encourage more subscriber-ship to G+ ??? We will have to wait and see.
Digital marketers should realize that we have been living in a largely unregulated world when it comes to online privacy, and we must prepare for tighter rules in the future. Google has created more jobs on non-Google payrolls (like mine) than it has on its own payroll. The "science" of search engine marketing is largely a Google construct. Let's hope they find a way to strike a balance between privacy and smart marketing...and do so without profit blinders on.
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