The one that really sticks out

for us here is that in 2014 the demographic change will be that 13 to 15 year old kids today will be our 18 – 20 year old market then.

So looking at that – I know my own kids have NEVER picked up a paper to look for toys, bands, movie times or anything else. In fact my 6 year old just spent an hour last night online going over all the toy sites such as Target.com.au to do his xmas list to santa. He did this all on his own and only request for help was ” Is Indiana Jones  with a space in it?” (must be some cool Indiana Jones lego stuff out there)

I don’t think this is a case of “when they get older they will discover the newspaper or print material”.

It is a complete shift away from the traditional print media or tangible media as Steve mentions to the online arena. Make of it what you will …. I know that if I wanted to ensure the effectiveness of my advertising dollar I would be working out now how I keep my 6, 9 and 14 year old happy  in 2014.

What we can say for sure is that online marketing trends keep changing a new technology develops and matures and rather than rehash some of the older methodologies used, we though we would explore some of the latest things we have been getting our hands dirty with.

You may or may not have heard about to the term “Buzz Measurement” or “Buzz Tracking”. In this post we would like to take a closer look at why it is important to know who is saying what about your brand on twitter, facey or any other social network.

So now that you’re finally using all of the social marketing tools to get your brand out there, how do you know that the message you’re sending or the message that is being perceived is actually being heard?

This social marketing thing we all do creates lots of chatter and in doing this opens up the doors for all past, present and future customers to comment (not to mention competitors). So with this in mind it may be a good idea to start looking at the measurement tools needed to track and monitor the masses as they rave about your company or beat you down.

Let me give you an example – we were looking into helping an airline carrier monitor some of the social aspects to a new service they were considering. In this evaluation we were able to track and monitor in real time posts and comments to outlets such as twitter re their services. One situation was when the air steward announced that there was no smoking in the terminal or on the tarmac and that it was a disgusting habit. Now I’m not a smoker, but you can bet the people on board that are smokers took offence at being labelled with the words “disgusting”.

So much so that one of these people actually blasted the airline on their twitter account the minute they had net access via their phone – this person had over 5,000 people following them and as a result this was re tweeted and so on ….

Obviously this was just the stewards opinion and not something the airline writes into it’s hand book – however when you upset a large demographic like this – all context can go out the window and damage is suffered.

Our advice to the airline when we saw this erupt live was a recommendation that there should be a memo that goes out immediately to all staff that they will need to be careful not to single out any one group providing this instance as a sample.

Now remember – it’s not all about looking at the negative.  It can also be useful when evaluating the marketplace for your existing or new competition, or even to capitlaise on positive posts. Try creating  your own blog page around these positive posts that will be picked up in the search engines easily or other social bookmarking utility.

So – what tools do we like to recommend …

http://tweetvolume.com/

http://hootsuite.com/

http://www.socialmention.com/

http://www.google.com/alerts

There are many  others out there on the market, some free, some not – and others that will need more time to learn the way they work – however if you are serious about promoting your brand (who isn’t) and can afford to spend a few extra hours a week to monitoring the chatter – then buzz monitoring is essential.

In short what this means in the online advertising world is that it is OK to embark on a strategy that just looks at promoting your business brand. Actually, it’s more than ok, it is a must.

You see the habits of off-line purchase decision making and online purchase decision making are very similar in many ways. I think we need to get out of our heads that off-line and online advertising are at 2 different ends of the spectrum. We also need to stop thinking about online advertising as clicks on ads.

A recent study performed by ComScore (adage N.Y) studied 139 online ad campaigns by marrying data from its panel of U.S. internet users with shopper data, found online ads, even when they didn’t result in a click, increased a consumer’s likelihood of making a purchase at an advertiser’s retail store by 17% and increased visits to a marketer’s website by an average of 40%.

What they are saying here is that your awareness of brands you spot as you travel the web stay with you long after you leave the computer and go about your daily life. What you want is for your clients to have brand recall of your products and services over that of your competitors. They can’t do this if they are not seeing you online.

Yes this means get your site optimised and increase traffic to it – but it also means think laterally. Where can you brand appear online. This can be in the form of banners, rich media advertising, contributing to social sites or the standard Google Ads. What works for one company may not work for another.  Test analyse and re test – there is no secret here.

Just on a side note to those that say banner advertising is dead ….. yeah to a degree I think that the popup ads and misplaced “in your face” style has no place online. What I do love is a well thought out ad on a relevant site.

To give you an example – I drive a 1976 Kombi – I love this car and it is completely restored.

I visit the Kombi Forums often to chat and find new and better ways to keep her hummin along. It’s a very Niche site with a VERY niche market. On this site I found a well placed banner ad that wanted me to look at some amazing kombi parts on sale. …….. so I do  …….. and I find a small site that just does that, and very well I might add.

So I keep going back, and again to purchase online and have stuff sent to me within a day or 2. This business is now full-time for the guy that started and growing.

I get stopped everyday by other kombi drivers and just people wanting to buy one and everytime I tell them about the Bus Stop …… so whats my point!  – Advertise, get out there and test, analyse and build your business. No different to how it has always been.

Well it’s here again, but this time Papa’s got a brand new bag. It’s social marketing and media and there’s so much of the same that’s happening that you’re heads going to turn.

There is a term in marketing called social validation – explained by Wikipedia as “a phenomenon in which people are more willing to take a recommended step if they see evidence that many others, especially similar others, are taking it“. In other words, do what your competitors do or what the social cowboys tell you to do.

So lets firstly clarify one of the big reason to adopt a social marketing strategy

Why do you want to build a relationship with your customers?

Here’s my thoughts on it – The primary aim of social marketing is “social good”, while in commercial marketing the aim is mainly “financial”.

So if you’re thinking that you feel it’s important to build a relationship with potential customers in which you provide insights and offer your opinion without the expectation of getting something in return, then this is a great start. Naturally what happens here is, you build a better relationship with your potential customers and as a result, they are more likely to consider you if you provide a solution to their needs. While you’re building this relationship you’re also building your brand – in a positive way.

What should your goals be?
There are loads to consider, however for the purpose of simplicity lets outline 2

Goal a: Acquire new followers
Goal b: Increase Loyalty.

How do you do that?

a) Add some simple social media connections to your website and email.

The immediate:  For your website look at Add This.  It’s a very simple process for your web guy to handle.

When you’re ready to create your twitter, facebook, linked and any other social media account – finding the simple solution to adding these to your site in place of the simple addthis system is daunting. We found a few tools helped us.

• WordPress has some great social plugins – the one we use right now is Share & Follow
• DandyID – Simply put, DandyID allows you to store your various online social identities in one place. They have over 300 social networks you can add to your profile. Obviously this is an overkill, however what they want to do ids offer the right choice depending on your needs.
• For email signature we really like Wise Stamp. Using Thunderbird it was a snap to set up, and their tips and articles pages have loads of additional resources for setting up alternate options. Hotmail was not available at the time of writing this, however one of our clients has word from them that it is in the pipeline.

We will touch base and review more options here shortly (feel free to follow us on twitter and we will update when we post a new blog)

OK so to address Goal B – increase loyalty, I feel as though you have to give and help out others while using social media. So feel free to write about the things that you’re passionate about and things of interest to you as a business. This is basics 101. The second part to this is listen to what your followers and potential new customers are saying. To do this you can use a host of different platforms.

You can just log into Twitter itself or try using a platform such as the ones below. Some of the advantages of these platforms include the ability to manage both personal and business accounts as well as Linked In, Four Square

Tools For Managing & Listening

Hootsuite - huge interface with an iphone / ipad app as well as web and desktop versions. The ability to manage multiple accounts and a real nice statistic tool that brings in your Google Analytic account to help cross reference tweet traffic. Lots of power in this puppy and takes a bit of time behind the wheel to get the most from it, but well worth it.

Tweetdeck – very similar to Hootsuite, however it has some other subtle differences in usability. One of the tools I like here is the simple way you can view new followers to your twitter account and interact directly with them with a nice “howdy” back.

Sprout Social – my new favorite social tool. I love the simplicity of this one and also the power to mange my daily tweets. Like the first 2 you have the ability to schedule tweets and promotions, however the ease in which you can monitor competitors is very attractive. I also like the discovery tool which allows you to use a set of keywords to then be presented with tweets similar in nature – it’s a great way to research. They have mentioned to us that there is an app in the making for mobile devices as well – can’t wait to see that.

Don’t forget why you’re doing this while you emerge yourself in all of this technology – you’re here to give. One of the best ways to show your appreciation now you have a following is to reward the people that advocate your business and engage/applaud your followers. Offer solution and help, provide information to them that makes their life better, easier, faster, smarter. After all  – recognition is a great thing to be able to offer someone and something we all enjoy receiving.

To be honest with you this post has grown far larger than I indented and there are so many social tools I would like to discuss, so perhaps I will begin again with a who’s what of social media and marketing in the next article.

While this is compiled – if you find a great resource for social measurement, please feel free to leave a comment and I will check it out.

Was reading a lead from one of our Twitter Followers about the issues facing the US newspaper industry.

I won’t go into detail, however it is an interesting read that outlines the following (quoted from The Boston.com site).

“Newspapers have been hit hard by the loss of readers and advertisers to the Internet, while the national economic slowdown has intensified the advertising slump. In recent months, the Rocky Mountain News has closed, the Seattle Post Intelligencer has significantly reduced staffing and moved entirely onto the Web, and several major newspaper companies have filed for bankruptcy protection.

The New York Times Co. threatened earlier this month to shut down The Boston Globe unless its labor unions agree to $20 million in cost concessions, including pay and benefit cuts. The Globe is on track to lose $85 million this year, executives told labor representatives.”

Personally  I like to read a newspaper from time to time, however I can’t really get the global coverage in all the areas that interest me in one paper – I guess it’s for this reason that I love being able to read online news stories from tech to business in all parts of the world. Also in another article discussed earlier here – we spoke about the new emerging market … the kids of today. They just don’t read the paper at all – that blog post here

Here is the first ad shown from Nissan – their new electric car featured

2 things fascinated me with this article.

The first was the thought that with advancements in wireless technology and the ability to weave this into everyday life such as clothes, opens a massive door to future marketers. Already they are saying that consumers are struggling to adopt the technology that marketers are building campaigns around.

So what about the ability to have a T-shirt that you decide which logo to wear for that day, or even to choose to show a series of logos transmitted at intervals in which you receive money from the advertiser similar to that of adwords in the content network – that’s trippy.

The second thing that I found incredible was in this statement from the article;

“Within 20 years, computers will match human intelligence and pass the “Turing test,” in which they will be indistinguishable from human intelligence. But this will not be an alien invasion of intelligent machines to compete with us and displace us.

We will use these machines as we have always used our tools — to extend our own reach. We will put these machines inside our bodies to keep us healthier, and in our brains to make us smarter. We will send these computers, which will be the size of blood cells, into our brains noninvasively through the capillaries.

If it sounds futuristic to put computers in our brains, I would point out that Parkinson’s patients do this already, and the latest generation of this FDA-approved neural implant allows new software to be downloaded into the computer in the patient’s brain from outside the body.

That’s today, and in the future we will all be doing this with millions of such computers in a noninvasive fashion. So we will need to merge with our technology in order to keep up with it.”

Love this idea or hate it – the reality is that we are not going regress and that evolution is a part of life. What I struggle with sometimes is that I am living in a time where evolution is happening in front of us. Rather than read about evolution in text books like we did in school – we are now in present time with it, and I will get to witness or even take part in the fact that a small blood cell size computer may be placed into my body to make me smarter, stronger, faster …

Wasn’t there a guy called Steve Austin that  had all of this about 30 years ago?

Here’s my example. I surf (as much as I can) and have for 30 years. So I know a bit about board design and functionality and the last thing you want to do is buy a board that just doesn’t work for you.

Normally you can walk into a shop – pick it up under your arm and just “know” it is the right board. This comes from years and years of testing mind you.

So now I want to buy a board online. I can’t feel it and trust my instincts, so what I find on one particular site is the ability to watch a video of the board shaper explain the rails, concave and rocker to me, and what type of surfer this suits in which conditions. It then demonstrates the board working in a variety of conditions by several surfers. That’s it ….. I just needed that little push to convince me.

Now there were no smoke and mirrors here – it was a video from the person that made the board backing his creation and several capable surfers proving it. It was honest upfront and the next best thing from actually feeling it and taking it for a test.

So for your business …. how can this help?

Well if your selling online how can you add credibility to your own products and obviously brand by displaying a video? Is it possible?

Before you dismiss it – take a look at some stats on video from Adage here.

I did read an article about the increase in conversions based on this fact – but can’t locate at the moment – will repost when I get my mits on it.

And Yes – we are close …. I know we keep saying it but it is true.

This is just a quick note on the new generation and the impact of digital marketing. What is interesting to note is that we all acknowledge that the teenagers don’t have a credit card to shop online (unless of course they “borrow” your own), but an interesting study by Don Tapscott, who draws on the $4 million research project that inspired his new book, Grown Up Digital, outlines that these kids spend all of their time researching online before buying.

The comments that we need to alter the traditional method of the 4 P’s strategy is important for all business owners. The “Net Generation” are ad resistant and being raised in the digital marketing age can see a cheezy ad from miles away.

And in case your not convinced on the power of this market here are a few stats from the article

Taken from Business Week Article -Net Gen Transforms Marketing

“In the U.S., students earn almost $200 billion a year in part-time or full-time jobs, and in 2006, they purchased $190 billion worth of goods. What’s more, they influence their baby boomer parents. Net Geners age 21 and under influence 81% of their families’ apparel purchases and 52% of car choices. Even younger children have powerful sway, with those between 5 and 14 influencing 78% of total grocery purchases. And, as they age, their direct purchasing power will soar. In 2003, only 5% of cars were purchased by people born between 1980 and 1995; by 2020, this will climb to 40%. “

Lookout ….. their coming – better get ready.

We are very close. Each day we test we realise we can make the interface and ability to purchase ads easier to use.
The irony is here that the simpler we make it for the user – the more complex the back end and code needs to be. It’s all for a good cause though!

Just to recap – the one thing that has bugged us over the years is the ability to understand exactly what it is worth to advertise on any given website. Many of you will have found a great site that really targets your precise demographic, only to find that you can’t get a reply on the advertising prices, they don’t know what it is worth, don’t offer any advertising or just price themselves out of the markets (YES … $10,000 is too expensive for 10,000 impressions).

I love the saying that if something bugs you, spend 5 minutes on how to improve it. If you can come up with a way to improve it in that time then you could be onto a good thing. Well here t WSM we ahve spent 12 months on it, so you know it is going to be great.

The short of it is that we have developed a score for each website that want to participate in the ad network. Each website that want to show ads on their pages (relevant ads mind you – not the crappy bingo type * sorry bingo guys) will receive a score out of 100. This score is known as an AQR™ – advertising quality rank™.

So the higher the AQR™ the more it will cost to advertise, but at least you also know how many visitors, the stick time, page impressions ….. even a score for how well a site is designed.

These factors plus dozens more make up the AQR™ which in turn allow you to browse our network and effectively benchmark sites at a glance BEFORE throwing money at them. Obviously we will provide weekly reports on how many impressions and click throughs etc just to make sure you understand the ROI for each campaign.

You can book the ads direct through us and even organise the creation of your creatives (if you don’t have any). We would like to think that any company looking to increase their brand recognition, promote a new service or sell products can spend 15 minutes in our network and spend a percentage of their online ad budget without any guesswork.

Your right ….. this is not new – in fact the IAB has reported here that Internet advertising revenues reached $5.8 billion for the first quarter of 2008, showing that advertising online will become the norm for most businesses. What we are doing is trying to simplify things to make your adplacements as profitable and effective as possible for you organisation – transparency, that’s what we are going for here.

Stay tuned….. just a bit longer