Sep 22
Not surprisingly, marketers are making customer acquisition and retention top priorities for 2010. According to a survey released by Unisfair, six out of 10 marketers said acquiring new customers would be critical in 2010, while 48 percent will focus on retaining current customers—a particularly important effort in the recession and a topic we recently explored in a very informative webinar.
Of the marketing channels available to them, social media was the top marketing tactic with 75 percent of respondents planning to increase use of the emerging channel as a way to acquire and retain customers. Search (51 percent) and email (48 percent) were right behind, while only 3 percent planned to increase spending on print advertising.
While search and email have proven to be excellent channels for driving customer acquisition and retention, it is still too early to understand what kind of impact social media will have on a marketer’s bottom line. With close to 300 million users on Facebook alone, there is no questioning the reach social media offers marketers, but will it deliver meaningful results? Like email, if done right, I believe social media will be effective. There are many parallels between social media and the email channel when it first became popular. The main thing to understand is that they are not exactly exclusive. Yes, consumers are communicating in social media, but that does not mean they have given up on email, and neither should marketers. Datran Media’s Nicholas Einstein penned a great article on this topic almost a year ago that I believe is still a relevant read today.
Sep 17
There seems to finally be a glimmer of hope that the economy will be heading out of the recession in the next few months. This is great news for consumers and marketers alike. In the meantime, we are all still facing many challenges and trying to come out of this unscathed. Unfortunately, for some long-established marketing mediums, it may be too late.
The digital revolution coupled with the recession has left traditional mediums like print and radio in dire straits. While times are tough for older media channels, not every channel is bleeding. Earlier this year Zenith Optimedia predicted the Internet would be the only channel to see growth. As we head towards the end of the year, their forecast seems to be spot on. According to a survey by Round2, a majority of respondents said they would up their investments in email marketing, search and interactive.
As reported in eMarketer, they survey found that email marketing was the channel most likely to see an increase in spending in 2009, and print was the biggest loser. Again, it is no surprise that more cost-effective channels like email are leveraged more often when budgets are tight. But when we finally come out of this, will advertisers flee these digital channels? Not likely.
Sep 14
According to the results of a new study, marketers are leveraging performance pricing models – paying only when a customer takes a specific action – more frequently than paying for impressions. Of all the types of pay for performance models, Cost-per-Lead (CPL) advertising has gained significant traction across several verticals. Paying for proven actions such as a lead versus hoping someone clicks on your ad helps marketers cost-effectively build their audience without worrying about wasted media spend. What’s more, CPL is helping direct response marketers build email newsletter lists and direct mail lists to generate revenue from future marketing campaigns.
Performance-based marketing is quickly emerging as the ideal method of conducting business. Marketers have realized the benefits of performance-based marketing techniques at a time when more and more companies demand proven, quantitative results. Paying for performance has proved to be an effective way of maximizing return on investment for both broad reach and niche marketers. However, simply opting for a performance-based campaign doesn’t guarantee success. Datran Media has been employing successful performance marketing campaigns for years. Contact us if you’d like to start a performance campaign of your own.
Sep 08
With Labor Day behind us, the countdown to the holiday season has officially begun; and it’s just not marketers thinking about holiday promotions and sales. Consumers are already planning their holiday shopping budgets. According to new research from Information Resources, Inc. consumers will take a more strategic approach to holiday shopping this year and are heading into stores with shopping lists and a budget in mind. The good news for marketers is the average holiday wish list will be less affected by economic factors than last year. The report states “… last year’s dismal holiday retail results are being left behind as consumers are slightly more optimistic about the economy and are much more savvy about how they attack their holiday gift and meal list.”
Despite this encouraging news, marketers need to be extremely strategic in their holiday promotions. Understanding how an audience shops and making sure to appeal to a shopper’s budgetary concerns needs to be a top priority. One of the best ways to successfully leverage this approach is to simply look at your past customers. You’ve already done business with them and know a little about them. This is the perfect opportunity to reengage the conversation and highlight holiday sales. There will be a terrific webinar about employing customer win back strategies next week. Be sure to check it out if you want to escalate your sales this holiday season.
Sep 02
Chances are you’ve recently updated your status on Facebook or checked out some photos that your friend posted on their social media page. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. With 250 million Facebook users and about 125 million MySpace members, social networking has gone from a small online community to a global digital society. And advertisers have decided to join the ranks of the social ecosphere. According to a new study by comScore, one out of every five Internet display ads in the United States is viewed on a social networking Web site. During the month of July, social media sites represented 21.1 percent of U.S. Internet display ads for the month.
Despite debate over whether or not social media can be monetized, advertisers are making a strong argument that they can indeed be valuable destinations for ad inventory. Forrester Research estimates that $716 million will be spent on social media advertising this year, growing to $3.1 billion in 2014. At that point, social media is expected to be a bigger marketing channel than both email and mobile, but still just a fraction of the size of search or display advertising ($31.6B and $16.9B, respectively).
However, like any channel, putting all your eggs in one basket is not recommended. Advertisers need to explore social media as part of an overall integrated multi-channel marketing strategy that reaches consumers with relevant messages where they are. As far as social media being bigger than email, that is hard to say. What I can say for sure is that email is not going anywhere. Far from it. If anything, the rise of social media is making email more intelligent. To read more about this topic, take a look at what Datran Media’s director of strategic services had to say.
Sep 01
A new study finds that size does not matter at least when it comes to digital advertising. There’s no question online advertising units like banners and rich media ads can be effective at eliciting response from consumers as more of us go online. However, simply inserting large banners such as leaderboards and skyscrapers does not necessarily make any difference. In fact, research released by Dynamic Logic reveals that ads integrated into the content of the page are the most effective in driving online ad awareness and purchase intent.
The research firm measured 2,390 online display campaigns over the course of three years and determined that half banners and rectangles were more effective than larger ads that wrapped the page. That’s because these units were integrated into the content of the page and had more meaning to those already engaged with the Web site content where the ad appeared. Advertisers need to realize the content where the ad is being served is just as important as the ad itself.
The research also revealed that ad campaigns using Rich Media with Video created the strongest brand impact (across most branding goals, including aided brand awareness, online ad awareness, brand favorability, and purchase intent) compared to campaigns using Simple Flash and Rich Media without Video formats. The worst performer was Simple Flash, the format used most often by agencies and advertisers, according to the study and reported by The Center for Media Research.
