More and more marketing dollars are moving online and for good reason: it’s often the first place we go to look for information.  Whether it’s LivingSocial trying to drive more traffic or BP attempting to enhance its crisis comms plan, here’s an example of what the ‘big guys’ are spending:

Want more? See full article at AdvertisingAge.com

Via www.AdvertisingAge.com

Juro Osawa/The Wall Street Journal

Technology never ceases to amaze me.  And as a marketer, I love it when it can truly enhance our work by taking the guess work out.  Imagine running a print ad campaign and being able to truly track who’s reading your ad and how they are taking in the information.  Well, although you can’t track it in print, yet, you can with billboards and vending machines.  It’s already being done in Japan, which means you’ll see it here very soon.

Check it out via The Wall Street Journal.

I just read an article entitled “Why Executive HATE Social Media,” and it made some really great points. Just take a look at the statistics below. As an executive, it’s all about numbers and these are pretty powerful numbers.

Social Media Value #5: Supporting Statistics

Executives rely on market research to support and substantiate any designated course of action, and devour facts, stats, and data-points like shrimp at a wedding reception. Summarized below are a few statistics buttressing the explosion of this social media trend, and detailing how Corporate America is leveraging it to realize significant revenue and market share growth going forward.

• In the last 7 years, Internet usage has increased 70 percent a year. Spending for digital advertising this year will be more than $25 billion and surpass print advertising spending (forever)
• Lenovo has experienced a 20 percent reduction in activity to their call center since they launched their community website for customers
• Blendtec quintupled sales with its “Will it Blend” series on YouTube
• Only 18 percent of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
• Naked Pizza set a one-day sales record using social media: 68 percent of their sales and 85 percent of their new customers came via Twitter.
• Software company Genius.com reports 24 percent of social media leads convert to sales opportunities,
• Dell has already made over $7 million in sales via Twitter.
• Thirty-seven percent of Generation Y heard about the Ford Fiesta via social media before its launch in the US and currently 25 percent of Ford’s marketing budget is spent on digital/social media.
• Seventy-one percent of companies plan to increase investments in social media by an average of 40 percent.
• A recent Wetpaint/Altimeter Group study found companies that widely engage in social media surpass their peers in both revenue and profit.

(Sources for Statistics: meyersreport.com, lenovosocial.com, George Wright, Blendtec, Mashable.com, econsultancy.com, businessweek.com )

Read the rest of the article here.

According to a study by GfK MRI and reported by Advertising Age, “‘Green’ coverage, negative emotions and, surprisingly, celebrity scandals are more likely to hurt than help” magazine circulation. The research reviewed various topics on 11,161 magazine covers between May 2006 and April 2010. Advertising Age added that “The economy, beach bodies, and ‘best of’ treatments all help magazines draw bigger audiences than usual.” The surprise for me was the low interest in ‘green’ edit given that it seems” everyone” is going “green” these days.

The article also noted a story about Vanity Fair’s Editor in Chief Graydon Carter placing Paris Hilton on the cover in 2005 and a smart aleck accusing him of using the heiress like “newsstand crack.” My how times have changed… Who would have thought Paris Hilton would become a magazine cover “don’t.” Okay, well, I’ll reserve comment…

So, which public figures still “sell” covers?

• Jennifer Aniston
• George W. Bush
• Barack Obama

As previously noted, other topics that sell include:

• The economy
• Beach bodies (surprised?)
• “Best of” topics (I mean who does love the ‘best of’ anything?)

And for the betterment of society (that’s my commentary), what’s out is the aforementioned Ms. Hilton and former MTV reality star Lauren Conrad. It’s looks like there is hope for humanity and the future of magazines after all.

Find the full article at AdAge.com

Social media should without a doubt be a part of your overall marketing strategy.  Key word here is STRATEGY.  Time and time again, we see companies letting interns or “a young person with a facebook account” manage their brands online.  “Manage their brand…?” Fortune 500 companies pay good money to very talented marketing professionals to manage their brands, yet smaller companies who need to build their brands put their brands into the hands of someone with a myspace account.  Managing your brand in the social media space is just as important (if not more important) as managing it via a national or international public relations or multi-million dollar advertising campaign.

Yes, social media is free, but to incorporate it into your branding strategy successfully requires skilled human capital!

Online Marketing is Here to Stay, it’s Time to get in on the Action

Sacramento Business Journal – by Debi Hammond, Contributing writer, Marketing

Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Still, so many companies continue to market their businesses the same way — traditionally. That’s not to say traditional marketing is dead, though according to Joseph Jaffe, author of “Life After the 30-Second Spot” and “Join the Conversation,” marketers must adapt to the brave new world of the Internet, social media and social networking, consumer-generated content, blogs, videocasts and podcasts by joining in the meaningful conversations that are happening online.

The point is that you can no longer rely on traditional media alone to tell your story. Marketing has to be truly integrated. And quite frankly, marketing has changed. People no longer want to be sold to by companies; they want to be connected and compelled to buy in a more personal and meaningful way.

In “Join the Conversation,” Jaffe writes that today’s consumers are active participants in the advertising process. They are no longer simply silent targets and sitting ducks for one-way communication.

The advertising industry is changing rapidly, yet so many companies seem to have their heads in the sand — especially when it comes to incorporating social media into their marketing mix. They seem to think that if they stick their head in the sand, no one will notice them.

Well, my philosophy is that if you stick your head in the sand, everyone will notice you because you’re sharing your most undesirable end.

Not sure if your customers are really online? Let me share a few statistics with you. (more…)

According to a new study from Performics and analytics from ROI Research, 46 percent of social media users have recommended or talked about a product or brand on Facebook, and 44 percent have done the same on Twitter.

With more than 3,000 responses to an online survey of social network users, 30 percent said they have learned about a new product, service or brand from a social networking site, and 25 percent have gone directly to an online retailer or ecommerce site after learning about a new product or brand.  Twenty-five percent have recommended a product or brand to friends through social networking sites while 20 percent have discussed them on social networking sites after seeing an ad elsewhere. 

Want to engage your target audience?

Twenty-seven percent reported being receptive to invitations to events, special offers or promotions received through social networking sites. 

Just like with any public relations or advertising campaign, a social media program needs to be based in strategy and provided the resources needed to succeed.  But the real question is for those companies out there who still wonder if social media is just a fad.   They continue to hesitate to truly get involved or invest the time and resources to get involved successfully.  Well, if those companies wait for much more evidence, that ‘bandwagon’ will be long gone…. Full article at BrandWeek.

Change is inevitable; success comes from harnessing its power

Sacramento Business Journal - by Debi Hammond Contributing writer

Are you in the zone? People love the zone — the end zone, the “I’m totally focused” zone and their comfort zone.

Let’s take a closer look at that last zone. The comfort zone is extremely easy to fall into, but one of the most difficult to get out of.

The comfort zone keeps us doing what is comfortable and familiar. It also keeps us from changing and trying something new. It keeps us in the same place, avoiding the ever-frightening unknown.

Well, in today’s business and marketing landscape, a lot is changing, which means there are a lot of unknowns. We need to step outside of our comfort zone and start to embrace change.

Keeping up with change

So, what’s really changing and why should we care? Here’s a list of five significant changes and tips on how you can capitalize on them.

(more…)

Don't be a Jesse James

It seems as though, if given the opportunity, marketers will try to blur the line between fact and fiction and this holds true no where better than the ‘wild wild Web.’ Since the first blog was posted, marketers have been seeking ways to capitalize on those blogs with significant audiences, and at times (shocking!), they have forgone transparency for the sake of the sale. 

A perfect example is Wal-mart’s Walmarting Across America blog (no longer active).  Basically the premise was about a  couple who just “happened” to drive their RV around the United States, parking in Wal-Mart parking lots as they went and blogging about their great Wal-mart experiences. The problem was it was billed as authentic when, in fact, it was a carefully scripted (and paid) campaign by Edelman (a well-regarded worldwide PR agency) for Wal-mart. 

There are many examples of the misuse of blogs and bloggers by companies marketing their products and services as well as a blatant disregard for disclosure and as such, the FTC has stepped in with guidelines to help keep unethical marketers (and companies) at bay. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued final changes to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. While advisory in nature, the new guidelines will reset standards of behavior that public relations, marketing and advertising professionals should adopt to avoid violating underlying laws against unfair competition and false advertising.

As outlined in a notice provided by The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the FTC Guidelines  make three key departures from previous guidelines that could impact marketing professional’s practices:

• The FTC advises that “endorsers” as well as advertisers can be held liable for false or unsubstantiated claims or for failing to disclose material connections between the parties.
• The Guides no longer offer the “safe harbor” whereby testimonials can be qualified by a “results may vary” disclaimer.
• Regarding endorsements, the Guides specify that celebrities should disclose relationships with advertisers.

While the FTC will approach each potential violation on a case-by-case basis, the new guidelines will impact how professionals should approach some common practice scenarios. Here are some applications of the guidelines:

• Bloggers who receive cash or in-kind payment (including free products or services for review) are deemed endorsers and so must disclose material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.
• Any firm that engages bloggers by paying them outright to create or influence editorial content or by supplying goods or services to them at no cost may be liable if the blogger does not disclose the relationship.
• Advertisements or promotions that feature a consumer who conveys his or her experience with a product or service as “typical” should clearly disclose what results consumers can generally expect or specify how the results were unique to the individual circumstances.
• If research is cited in an advertisement or promotion, any sponsorship of the research by the client or the marketer should be clearly disclosed.
• Celebrities who make endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media, should disclose any relationship with the advertiser or marketer.

A note to marketers, we owe it to ourselves and our profession to do what’s right by, not only our clients, but by the general public as well.  Consumers are already wary of advertising, so let’s not ruin it in the online community too.  Just because it’s the ‘wild wild Web’ doesn’t mean we need to act like Jesse James.