Putting Social Media on the Map

March 10th, 2010

Evidently, frequent updates of what other users are merely doing at all times no longer enough, so social media outlets are integrating mapping software to allow users to attach their locations to their posts as well. All of the biggest players are unveiling new geolocation features and some businesses are incorporating this into their customer service strategies as well.

Twitter’s geolocation feature went live through its application programming interface (API) last November, yet there wasn’t been any sign of integration into the main twitter.com site until now. The screenshot (above) from TechCrunch shows that tweets with the location tag will have a placemarker next to the source. When the user hovers over the icon it turns blue, and clicking on it brings up a miniature Google map showing the location the tweet was sent from. The user can view these maps as overlays both on other user’s Twitter pages and on tweets in the main stream.

Next, according to several people briefed on the project, Facebook plans to unveil their new location-based feature in late April at the company’s yearly developer conference, f8. These sources were not authorized to discuss unannounced services, so they spoke only under the condition of anonymity.

Last November, Facebook updated its privacy policy in preparation for this new feature. Now, the policy states: “When you share your location with others or add a location to something you post, we treat that like any other content you post.”  Essentially, like all other Facebook user content, when a user posts a location they should consider the fact that this is now fairly public information.

Finally, Foursquare is a service that allows users to share their location with a group of friends as they check in to a restaurant, business or any other supporting venue upon arrival. Foursquare encourages the businesses to recognize users’ loyalty in some fashion, such as rewarding the most frequent customers with complimentary items.

With this tool, businesses will be able to see a range of real-time data about Foursquare usage, including who has “checked in” to their clients’ business locations, what time they arrived, the male-to-female customer ratio and which times of day are more active for certain customers. This research will allow business owners to offer instant promotions to engage new customers and retain current ones, similar to the loyalty cards that many retailers typically offer.

“If a restaurant can see one of its loyal customers has dropped off the map and is no longer checking in, the owner could offer them incentives to come back,” said Tristan Walker, director of business development at Foursquare.

Posted in Online Marketing, Social Media by Alex W. | | 0 Comments

Facebook Officially Graduates to Marketing Channel Status

March 3rd, 2010

On Wednesday March 3^rd, Facebook and Omniture announced a new platform for businesses utilizing Facebook as a promotional medium.  By joining forces, the two companies can provide marketers using the increasingly prevalent advertising and social medium with the ability to analyze its impact. The two companies will begin by automating the media buying process and then allow companies to better analyze their viewership with a handful metrics. Ultimately, Omniture will help companies utilizing Facebook to reach specific users based on segments.

By utilizing Omniture tools such as SearchCenter Plus, interested companies can buy ads similar to those found in a more traditional SEM function.  Also, other tools in the Facebook/Omniture arsenal will allow marketers to identify and reward their loyal customers from a comprehensive dashboard.

The prominence of Facebook as a marketing channel shouldn’t be surprising since it is now the second most utilized online service below Google with 133 million users.  By achieving the number two spot, advertisers are typically confident of the ROI they can expect by investing money into Facebook as a marketing channel.  Now, with the improved analytics, it might be easier to extract incremental marketing dollars from the C-Suite by flashing some strong preliminary numbers.

Posted in Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media by Alex W. | | 0 Comments

AffiliateBenchmarks Report Released

December 7th, 2009

Last month, NETexponent’s research division announced the general availability of its second annual report.  The report is based on the results of the most comprehensive survey of the affiliate industry to date.  Not only did Affiliatebenchmarks (with the help of key partners such as Commission Junction, Google Affiliate Network, Shareasale, Linkshare, MediaTrust and more) secure over 3500 survey respondents, they also grouped respondents into categories based on affiliate advertising income and experience in the space.  This strategy allowed for deep analysis into different profile segments and the unique opportunities and challenges for each.

The 2009 AffiliateBenchmarks report is also the only one of its kind to collect data for the benefit of affiliates rather than strictly for advertisers.  The digital advertising industry is evolving and changing by the moment.  Because many affiliates are getting into the space on a part-time or hobby basis, it’s important they have an up to date resource of information to turn to for maximum return on their time and resources in the channel.  That’s not to say, however, that advertisers can not also benefit from the report.  In fact, the insights into the preferences and practices of affiliates today are invaluable for advertisers looking to forge the most lucrative relationships.

One thing that is clearly evidence by the report is that the affiliate industry is growing at an incredible pace.  In fact, nearly half of all survey respondents joined the industry in the past two years alone.  The growth and momentum in this industry further speaks to the importance of research and education as a foundation for new affiliates to come quickly up to speed on the best practices and leading techniques that are driving success for more established affiliates.  This report contains data on which merchant categories will likely produce the greatest revenue for affiliates and the best of all the tried-and-true methods of driving traffic to your site.

What this report provides affiliates is a one-stop shop resource and a wealth of insight on how to grow their businesses and become more successful in their techniques and practices.  Affiliates will learn what networks are getting high marks from their peers, what advertising channels are returning high profits, what types of programs (and how many) successful affiliates belong to and why- and much more!  More established affiliates can turn to the report as a watermark to learn how their practices compare to those of their competitors.

Response from the overall affiliate and advertising industry has been extremely positive, and we are already looking forward to expanding on the report in the next year.  To download the full AffiliateBenchmarks 2009 report, visit: http://affiliatebenchmarks.com/products-page/.

Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Online Marketing, Research by Alex W. | | 0 Comments

Nick Jr. Boost Affiliate Program Launch!

December 1st, 2009

We’re happy to announce the launch of the Nick Jr. Boost Affiliate Program in the LinkShare Network!

About Nick Jr. Boost

Nick Jr. Boost is an online educational service designed for preschoolers through first graders. Nick Jr. Boost helps children learn through exciting, adventure-based games based on core curriculum subjects like literacy, math, art, and Spanish. Kids will have the opportunity to team up and learn with their favorite Nick Jr. characters, including Blue, Diego, and Dora, in a totally personalized environment.

Product Offerings and Commissions:

• Nick Jr. Boost Subscription Product

- Features:

• Includes a 7 Day Free Trial

• Free Gift with a paid subscription

• Kids earn virtual rewards that they can exchange for digital prizes

• Nick Jr. Boost is a safe, secure, advertising-free environment

- 2 subscription pricing models to choose from:

• $5.95 per month / 12-month commitment

• $9.95 per month monthly

- Commission: $7.00 / subscription

• Action Referral Period: 30 Days

Everyone here at NETexponent is delighted about this launch. If you are interested in promoting Nick Jr. Boost via LinkShare, you can apply here.  Or, in the Search Advertiser Box in the LinkShare interface, type “Nick Jr. Boost” or “MTV Networks Inc.”

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Posted in Affiliate Marketing, NETexponent Clients, Online Marketing by Erica M. | | 0 Comments

What is podcast advertising?

November 6th, 2009

At this month’s NETexponent town hall meeting we were fortunate enough to receive a lesson in podcast advertising from our in-office expert Syed Mohammed of online media agency Performance Bridge.  Syed has been a pioneer in podcast advertising, managing podcast campaigns for nearly three years.  He manages hundreds of placements in leading podcasts each month for a variety of advertisers.

In his presentation, Syed opened by splitting audio content into three categories-1. Podcasts 2. Internet radio and 3. Live-streaming digital radio. For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll address only the relevant podcast advertising portion of his presentation.

Working with podcasts affords advertisers more flexibility compared to the other types of online audio content.  For one thing, podcast advertising uses customized advertising execution where advertisers can have product shout-outs (product name mentions) during the show or have hosts personally endorse the product and product placement. This kind of advertising gives the podcaster and advertisers the ability to place the product in the most appropriate area of the show.

As far as entertainment content, podcasts and podcast advertisements can accommodate talk radio style banter and quizzes or competitions.  For the convenience of listeners that want to continue on to the sponsors’ websites, podcasters can post accompanying text links in the show notes or banners. For comparison, live streaming audio is similar in advertisement opportunities, as it offers advertisers the chance to recruit host endorsements, product placement and pre-roll, post-roll and interstitial advertisements.

The advantage of podcast advertising

There is one serious pro of podcast advertising; because of the requirements placed on the audience to download and play the podcast (versus simply stumbling upon a radio broadcast), listeners are conspicuously more loyal to the podcaster and receptive of his or her messages.  As a result, the podcaster can engage the audience better.

How to track podcast advertising

Advertisers can track the success of the promotions through some of the typical avenues; they can utilize third party tracking systems or provide a custom URL at the end of the podcast instead of generic URLs.  This should be made convenient for the listener, however.  For example, instead of adding on to an existing domain, a shorter more memorable domain should be utilized- something like NETexponent.com/podcast.  You can also track all click activity and conversion activity from that URL via an Ad-server tag.  Finally, by offering a simple unique coupon code during a podcast, advertisers can track which podcasts are driving sales as well.

This is just a brief run-through of the knowledge Syed bestowed upon us, and we were all very grateful for the lesson.

Posted in Online Marketing by Alex W. | | 0 Comments

Amazon Kindle 2 - First Impressions

February 25th, 2009

What does the Amazon Kindle 2 have to do with search and affiliate marketing you might ask? Well I will tell you…

A. NETexponent manages paid search and affiliate marketing programs for leading companies in the audio book and ebook markets. Kindle is an ebook reader and can play audio books. I strongly believe that we cannot effectively market our clients products and services unless we fully understand their market. Kindle has small market share but plenty of buzz and opportunity for fast growth.

B. Kindle has Wispernet, Amazons 3G wireless network that allows Kindle users to connect to Amazon anywhere they go. This technology is a new way for users to shop and the fact that Amazon provides it for free is very interesting. Could this be used for email? web browsing? general e-commerce?

C. Kindle users can read books, blogs, newspapers, and listen to audio books. Ads are stripped out of blogs and newspapers but they could come back and i wanted to see what the experience was like.

D. Finally, I just plain love gadgets and new tech

So…Here are my first impressions

Pre-Kindle 2

I did not own a Kindle 1 so I am not sure how Amazon handled the launch of that product. The first thing Amazon did really well was send an email to me a few days before my Kindle shipped welcoming me to the Kindle family and telling me to get ready for my new Kindle’s arrival by building my library at Amazon.com. It was a nice email, not salesy.

Arrival

My Kindle 2 shipped early and arrived via 2-day shipping when I only ordered via regular 5-day. All in all I got my Kindle 8 days early! Great management of expectations here. Amazon clearly under promised and over delivered. (this is a trick well known to Dell and Zappos customers)

My First Time

The Kindle came pre-charged so I didnt need to wait a while to charge it. (nothing worse than getting a new toy and having to wait to use it) There is NO set-up necessary. Amazon pre-programmed my Kindle with the email and one click account settings associated with the account I used to make the purchase originally. Brilliant! The Wispernet (wireless 3G) service was already enabled and connected out of the box. Pre-loaded on the Kindle was instructions (no need to waste paper on these) and a nice welcome note from belly laughing Bezos

The screen resolution is very clear and it reminded me of an old black and white palm pilot. Nothing sexy about the resolution but it is easy on the eyes so reading long hours would not be an issue. The Kindle itself is really small…it is actually THINNER THAN MY IPHONE. The dimensions are about 1.75 IPhones long and 1.2 IPhones wide.

I quickly figured out how to download a book and bought an issue of The Financial Times, another great NETexponent client. (we love supporting our clients) The purchase only took a few seconds and the download only a few more. I had my first Kindle purchase all set in less than a minute. This speaks volumes about the Wispernet speed. (which I could easily see being used for reading text email)

Speaking volumes is a great transition to another functionality the text to speech option on Kindle, where the device will convert any text into spoken word. You can listen via the internal speaker or through headphones. Our audio book client team was especially interested in this function. I was surprised how good it sounded. It sounded no worse than any GPS device on the market and certainly way better than the Speak-And-Spell voice I imagined.

I was disappointed because I could not find any way to download audio books and play them on the Kindle. I know it is possible but I could not figure out how to do it on my first attempts. If anyone knows how to do this please tell me via comments.

Posted in NETexponent Clients, Online Marketing, Research by Peter Figueredo | | 0 Comments

What Role Will Display Advertising Play In Your 2009 Marketing Plan?

November 24th, 2008

Many companies are slashing their marketing budgets and evaluating how marketing dollars are spent due to the tough economic times. Slashing budgets is a clear sign that “Lean and Mean” is the current theme for many businesses. On average most research suggests that (while growing) online advertising still only represents less than 10% of where marketing dollars are spent. Yet even online advertising budgets are getting scrutinized.

For advertisers who wish to get the best ROI (Return On Investment) for their online marketing dollar the focus tends to shift to display advertising and whether or not they should keep spending in that category. We all know that display advertising (eg banner ads on websites bought on CPM or cost per thousand impressions) is typically the hardest online advertising initiative to measure. Comparatively, CPA (cost per acquisition) campaigns can be directly tied to ROI.

Therefore, when under pressure to justify every marketing dollar spent the inclination is to slash display advertising budgets and increase more accountable marketing channels such as affiliate marketing. At the surface this seems to make sense. However, if you take a holistic approach to looking at this situation you may find that display advertising plays an important role.

At NETexponent we have seen how display advertising can boost other online marketing efforts such as paid search and affiliate programs. We evaluate all marketing channels in order to get a holistic view of our clients’ online marketing effort. This outlook has shown us time and time again that spikes and dips in performance driven marketing channels such as search and affiliate can sometimes be directly related to display advertising efforts. When significant display advertising campaigns are running for clients we usually see a boost in traffic and conversions in other online marketing channels. Therefore, display advertising can play an important role even in ROI focused advertising efforts.

Measuring the impact of display advertising on other media channels and choosing the right allocation of marketing dollars is where the tricky part comes in to play. I am not advocating that all advertisers go out and boost display ad spending because it may not have the impact they want. It is true that even boosts in performance related to display could come at a price that is too high for advertisers. My main point is that companies should evaluate the impact display advertising has on other online campaigns and use that data to determine exactly how much spend to allocate to this channel in order to maximize online marketing ROI.

Posted in Display Advertising, Meet Us, NETexponent Clients, Online Marketing, Research by Peter Figueredo | | 3 Comments

Search-Based Keyword Tool Is Cool

November 20th, 2008

Right away, I’ll tell you that you should add the new Google Search-Based Keyword Tool to your go-to armory of keyword research solutions.

In a sort of Copernican way, the new Google keyword tool looks at what already exists on your site and pulls out relevant searchable keywords, which sets it apart from your average run-of-the-mill keyword list building tools.

What’s really cool about the search-based keyword tool is that it lets you sign into your AdWords account. Once you do this and enter a website into the word-box, it queries your current keyword mix and populates an extensive list of keywords that are not currently existent in your account. This is a great thing for marketers who have spent countless hours thinking, “Okay, I’m buying thousands of keywords, but what else am I missing?”

There’s also a small competitive advantage to the search based keyword tool, since it lets you enter any website. Even though it only returns 100 results if you are not signed into AdWords, that’s still 100 more competitive insights than you had before using it.

Posted in Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Testing/Optimization by admin | | 0 Comments

7 Minutes in SEM Heaven

November 19th, 2008

For those of you who are not search marketing experts yet, I’d like to share with you a few tips and some quick fixes that will improve your account and can be figured out in 7 minutes or less. Please note that these are more beginner tips. In addition, this applies directly to Google, but can also be used to help with other search engines like Yahoo and MSN. When you are done, you will feel like you’ve accomplished a lot and are in a nice happy place.

Let’s focus on three key areas:

1. Campaign settings
2. Keyword match types
3. Keyword bid optimization

1. Campaign Settings

Check your campaign settings and ask yourself the following questions:

• Are my geo-targeting settings correct? If you are selling a product that only ships within the United States, don’t target “All Countries and Locations.” I know it sounds simple, but I can’t tell you how many accounts I’ve seen that have wasted dollars on such a careless mistake.
• Are my networks and bidding settings correct? Keep search and content separate…always. If one is checked, then other should not be. It’s a major money waster to not separate search and content campaigns. Refer to a more in-depth explanation in this blog post about Google Content Network Best Practices.
• Is my daily budget big enough? Review the daily budgets of all your campaigns. It’s possible you might need to shift things around a bit. Your campaigns with the best conversion-driving keywords should get the most budget dollars allocated to them. You don’t want these campaigns turning off prematurely, because it could mean a huge loss in revenue.

2. Keyword Match Types

Ask yourself:

• Which match types am I currently using? Which should I be using?

Think about your search terms. If you are only buying broad match keywords, you need to change this strategy right away. Ideally, you should do some keyword research and buy long-tail terms in both exact and phrase match. As a quick fix, however, you can copy and paste your entire keyword inventory into other match types in AdWords Editor. Buying multiple match types is a way of making your keyword mix more efficient, but be careful setting up the different bid amounts. If your broad match keyword bid is higher than your exact and phrase keywords, then it will be triggered and most likely have a higher average CPC. Also, if you are not using negative match keywords to block off irrelevant traffic, you are making a pretty big booboo as well. Learn more about match types.

3. Keyword Bid Optimization

Run a keyword report covering the last few months. Download the report into Excel, and look for 2 big things that might stand out:

• High cost keywords - Sort keywords by cost and pick out any keywords that have not had conversions in the last few months but have spent a lot of money. For example, a keyword with $2,568 in spend and zero sales is a pretty good clue that it should be paused. If they have had a conversion or two but the cost per conversion is still pretty high, you might considering lowering the bid.
• Low cost conversions - Look at the keywords with the most conversions and lowest cost. Are they in a high enough position? Can they be even higher? If the cost per conversion is really low, you might want to raise bids on these keywords for higher positions and see if it increases volume.

Posted in Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Testing/Optimization by admin | | 0 Comments

Sponsored Videos on YouTube

November 13th, 2008

The day has come! Advertisers are now able to post sponsored videos on YouTube and it holds many of the same attributes as Google Ads.

• Operates on a CPC bidding model.
• Video is triggered by designated keywords.
• Promotion text has the same character limits as Google ads (25, 35, 35).

Here’s a great video demonstrating how to create ads and also how they are displayed.

Google search ads have a tendency to be used heavily (or solely) by direct marketers and are not really applicable for aspiring artists and the like. However, YouTube ads provide the starving artist an outlet for greater visibility and comfort in knowing their video will be seen. The trick is, they need to be able to afford it. Will the garage band down the street use YouTube ads? Will YouTube ads become viral or will the community view them as sellouts (no pun intended)? My guess is the garage band sticks to their MySpace page, and YouTube ads stay that way, as ads.

Posted in Online Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media, Video Ads by Erin M. | | 1 Comments