Something to shake up traditional media agencies
Google Proposes New Metrics for Online Advertising
Google on Wednesday introduced a new way to measure online advertising effectiveness that is set to become industry standard.
Brand Activate, is designed to “reimagine online measurement for brand marketers,” according to a blog post from the company. The idea is that with better metrics, marketers will allocate more of their money to online advertising. “We believe that the industry’s significant investment in brand measurement efforts can substantially grow the online advertising pie, for all,” the post continues.
Google introduced the first components of Brand Activate: Active View and Active GRP.
The former is a bid to become the new standard for online impressions. The proposal, now being submitted to the Media Rating Council, will count a “viewed” impression as one that “is at least 50% viewable on the screen for at least one second.”
Active GRP, meanwhile, is the online equivalent of the Gross Rating Point, a metric used by the television industry to estimate how many people saw a given ad. Active GRP is a digital version that will calculate the reach and frequency of a campaign, but — unlike standard GRPs — lets advertisers react in real time.
Check out the explanation in the video below.
Where do good ideas come from
Author Steven Berlin Johnson offers a theory of where great ideas come from. Steven is the best-selling author of six books on the intersection of science, technology and personal experience.
Here is Steven talking about Slow Hunch at TED.
And here is his YouTube video that really spells it out.
Small Business Internet Marketing, Why Do I Need the Internet?
WHY DO I NEED THE INTERNET?
I'm sure I don't need to tell you how obsolete directories like the Yellow Pages have now become. When was the last time you looked for the phone number for anything in the yellow pages?
Even the online yellow pages and other local business directories don't get the same use and inquiry rate as Google, Bing or Yahoo, and if you are listed in these directories, your ad is exactly the same as all your competition.
Today's consumers realise that just because a business can afford a big colourful ad in a flashy directory, this doesn't always reflect the standard of service and local reputation of that business.
A listing on the first page of a search engine like Google has to earn its place, by providing the most relevant information and quality, based on the type of business it is.
This gives the searcher much greater confidence that the link they are about to click on, will take them to a site that will provide them with the most accurate and trustworthy information available.
WHAT THE STATS SHOW
Recent tests on web searchers habits show a pretty strong argument as to why you need to be listed not only on the first page of the search results, but in the top 2 or 3 places.
Statistics show that the business organically listed (un-sponsored ads) in the number 1 position in a search engine like Google, will get clicked 36.4% of the time, number 2 position gets 12.5%, while the number 10 spot will get less than 2.2%, and the other 7 positions between that, shares the remaining 48%.
Only a very small number of searchers even look past the first page of results!
If you're not listed on the first page of Google it's not hard to do the math to work out how many enquiries, specifically targeted to your business, that you are potentially letting go to your competition!
GETTING ACCESS TO THIS EXPOSURE RIGHT NOW!
If you want to get the most from your website or webpage, it's not enough to just set it up and hope it gets found.
There are several things you can do to make sure when someone is searching a term that is related to your business, that the search engines bring up your web address in the top of their search engine results pages (SERPS).
With a well structured website that utilises good on-page search engine optimization (SEO), and a good off page SEO campaign this can combine to create a powerful online marketing tool that will drive your sight to the top of the search results.
If you want a consistent flow of new targeted inquiries then this is right where you need to be.
Think of the potential if you could pick up one, two, three or more new clients every month without expensive advertising or marketing campaigns, all on auto pilot.
Let the people who already know they need your services, FIND YOU!
For more Local Small Business Marketing ideas, check out local entrepreneur for other Small Business Internet Marketing services and how it can boost your business.
Mobile Search Marketing – Get A Head Start On Your Competitors.
Mobile Search
The mobile search market is still in its infancy and many advertisers are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. This lack of competition in the mobile search space surely presents an opportunity for businesses to get a head start on their competitors.
While most advertisers are reluctant to commit, it is relatively straightforward to get positioned well in the natural search listings of the mobile search engines, and PPC programme click costs are still comparatively low. So, how do you start to market your business on the mobile web?
The good news is that a mobile search marketing campaign is relatively simple to set up. But before you can promote your website to the mobile search market you need to ensure that it is compatible with mobile screens, or you need a specifically designed site in a mobile ready format such as XHTML, WML, or iMode.
The reality is that most sites will be difficult to adapt to small mobile screens and will not have the simplified functionality that is required by mobile users, so a dedicated mobile site is preferable. Fortunately, mobile sites are relatively cheap and quick to build. You can also register a .mobi domain so that users (and search engines) will know that your site is fully mobile compatible.
Once you have your site established, accessing the mobile search market is now quick, easy and cost effective with both Google and Yahoo offering the ability to place PPC text ads on their mobile web search engines. There are also other 3rd party mobile ad network providers such as Admob (www.admob.com) that allow you to place contextual ads on selected content.
In addition, mobile websites can be optimised for high visibility in the natural search results of the mobile websites using conventional SEO tactics. You can even submit a Google Mobile Sitemap. As few business have mobile ready websites the competition for valuable screen real estate is surprisingly light and it is relatively easy to get well positioned on the mobile search engines.
While the majority of people may not yet be ready to book their holidays on a mobile handset, there is clearly a business for other travel and tourism related suppliers like hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs, golf courses, attractions, tour guides and other local services.
Very few businesses have mobile versions of their websites, so there is an opportunity to get ahead of your competitors through early exposure for your products and services on the mobile web.
iMedia Brand Summit – Monday Night Keynote
I’ve been using a great mind mapping app on the iPad to take notes called iThoughtsHD. Great tool to easily take notes at meetings or conferences. I’m up in the Hunter Valley at the iMedia summit for the next couple of days and thought I’d share some of my notes. So here are the notes from the first nights keynote session.
The exiting opportunity for brands to become creator, publisher and platform
Christie Poulos, Jumpshot
- If your content is crap the consumer will turn away
- Enter the editorial space
- Good content
- Tell a story
- Tap into emotion
- Entertaining, informative or useful
- Relevant
- Clear message or brand value
- Shareable
- Case study
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- Red bull: the producers
- Vbs.tv
- 2.5 million views
- 170,000 Facebook followers
- View the example
- STA Travel
- Move
- Shot in 6 weeks over 11 countries
- 8 m views in 2 weeks on vimeo
- 1 m views on YouTube
- Double digit growth in flight searches
- View the example
- Commitment
-
- Need to commit to your idea and follow it through
- Red bull : the art of flight
- Produced by red bull media house
- 4.5 million views of trailer
- 150,000 pre sold DVD
Everybody does it, nobody talks about it!
Earlier this year, car manufacturers particularly in the United States started to get a lot of negative publicity about recalls of their cars. Most went to ground and hoped it would blow over whilst a select few saw this as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with their consumers and built entire portals dedicated to recalls. One such company was Toyota with their website http://www.toyota.com/recall/
Toyota Australia also create an information portal for consumers, with a link on their home page to Toyota Recall Facts website http://www.toyotarecall.com.au/. This website allows Toyota Owners to see if there cars are affected by recalls and if so what to do about it.
Almost all Australian car manufacturers have had product recalls this year and it is a lot more common than you might think. A full list of car recalls can be seen here.
