Advertising

February 17, 2009

Maximize your marketing dollars during the recession

Nine ways to maximize your marketing dollars during the recessionToday's news is all about the economy and how we are in the worst recession since the Great Depression. The company I serve as marketing director, Bizzuka, wanted to put a "recess" to all the negativity and discuss some ways to use the Internet as a cost-effective marketing tool, not only during difficult times, but at anytime.

We interviewed some of the best and brightest people in marketing today, people like David Meerman Scott, Paul Gillin, Ben McConnell, Ann Handley, Todd Defren, David Alston and a host of others, gleaned their insights and created a nine-part series we've entitled, Nine Ways to Maximize Your Marketing Dollars During the Recession.
 
Each video is only a few minutes long, yet contains a wealth of information we know you will find helpful. Take a few minutes to watch, then share the videos with your network via Twitter, Facebook, your blog or email.
 
Click here to watch the nine ways video series.

February 11, 2009

Social network advertising...my ambivalence is showing

Before I delve into this post, I should mention that, in my previous post I used the term "social media advertising," when, in actuality, it is better stated "social network advertising." Thus, I refer to it here in that manner.

ManHoldingQuestionMarkSmallCroppedIf you're a fan of advertising, raise your hand. Come on, raise em high. Anyone?

In my last post, I raised the question of what the new advertising model for social media (er...networks) will be. In this post I want to express my ambivalence over the viability of advertising in general, especially in its relationship to social networks.

As you will soon plainly see, I have a love/hate relationship with it (maybe "love" is too strong a word; hate, too, for that matter... "disdain" might be more accurate).

Oops, my ambivalence is showing

Even though I run some banner ads in the lower right-hand column of this blog, the fact that I run them in the lower r-h column tells you I'm ambivalent about running them at all! (That's not counting the Kindle 2 ad. I'm hoping to make some quick cash off of it. Hence, higher placement, but we'll see.)

It's not that I'm ambivalent about the products themselves. In fact, I feel strongly about everyone of them, and have used most of them too. I even created a page called Recommended Resources which contains those and other products I hold in high regard. 

It's just that advertising is interruptive, and I hate interrupting anyone for any reason, least of all to view an ad. It's not in my nature. I'm hoping someone will just "happen" to see them and sort of be "led" to click on one. (Lame, I know.)

It's Seth Godin's fault

Ever since Seth Godin wrote the book Permission Marketing a decade ago, I've pretty much sidelined advertising as a viable option, which may explain my ambivalence to run ads on this site. If you want to talk to me, ask my permission, don't just stick an ad in my face. Once I grant it, we can have a conversation and you can advertise to me all you want. 

The exception to this (for me at least) are pay-per-click ads. I'm okay with those since I'm searching for information anyway. But, only in search, mind you, not otherwise. 

Advertising in social networks

Let's cycle around to social networks. If people visit a social network for the purpose of interacting with friends and followers, doesn't it seem imprudent (not to mention impolite) to embed an ad in the sidebar, or, worse, in the conversation stream? 

I rue the day when we see them in our twitterstream, though I don't think it will take long for us to become blind to them. Either that, or ditch Twitter altogether in favor of a less offensive option. 

Observations about social network advertising

Click-thru rates are abysmally low, anywhere from .003 to .011. While CPMs are low as well, it takes more impressions to generate anywhere near substantial activity. 

Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow said in a comment to a post on social network advertising at Marketing Pilgrim that, "At Buddy Media we believe the branded application...will be the new ad unit." 

That same post remarked about a study done by Razorfish which said, "Content, in our view, will become advertising." 

That reminded me of something Dave Winer said, "When they finish the process of better and better targeted advertising, that's when the whole idea of advertising will go poof, will disappear. If it's perfectly targeted, it isn't advertising, it's information."

A new company set to launch in Q2, uVizz, says it will solve the social network advertising dilemma once and for all. The company is not yet revealing what it has up its sleeve though. 

The virtual general store

I favor a comment made by Wayne Hurlbert in our recent Blog Talk Radio podcast. He likened social networks to the old general store, which was much more than a place to purchase goods, but a gathering place, a watering hole, a community center where news, information and gossip was shared among neighbors (and sometimes about them). 

I wonder if there's a way to recreate that environment via virtual social networks and online communities. Have the goods and services nearby and handy for when people need them, but don't put an ad in the middle of the checker board.

Reflecting on that idea, I wonder if niche social networks aren't the way to go. You offer only those products and services you know will appeal to the community because you are a part of it. 

For example, one of my Twitter friends, Marek Eby () is a huge fan of paleontology, so much so that he's created his own community around the topic, including a store. Since only those who are interested in the paleontology would be routine visitors, it stands to reason they won't be put off by relevant advertising. In fact, they may consider it a value-add.

Another great example is the Womens Wisdom Network, started by my friend Terri Murphy. It's a place for businesswomen to gather to discuss whatever businesswomen discuss. There is a book store associated with the site, along with some other resources, but it is tangential. Community comes first.

Now, I think THAT is a social network advertising model worth emulating! 

Conclusion

One thing is absolutely certain -- advertising in one form or the other will always be with us. We may call it content, app-vertisements, or something else, but it will be here. The trick, then, is to make it as unobtrusive as possible, even welcome. 

It is also certain that there will be continued experimentation with social network advertising models until we find one (or more) that resonate with the community. In the meantime, those of us who frequent social networks will have to become used to the Frankensteinian monstors that pass for such models. 

Be patient though. If Facebook Beacon taught us anything, they won't be around for long before another takes their place. Over time, it will get better. It has to. Money is at stake.  

February 10, 2009

Advertising in social media, what does the future hold?

2674552465_9526a30f63Ever since Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow said "the app is the new ad unit" (paraphrase) during a panel at OMMA Social, I've been intrigued with the notion of how advertising and social media successfully converge, or whether they will at all.

Conventional wisdom says advertising and social media make for strange bedfellows. Nobody goes to their favorite social networking site to see ads after all. At the same time, advertising is not going away, no matter how badly we wish it would.

What seems to be happening is, rather than social media adopting to traditional ad models, advertising is adapting to social media in the form or "app-vertisements."

Two companies leading the charge toward a more engaging, shall we say "creative" form of advertising, is the aforementioned Buddy Media, based in NYC, and PopularMedia, based in the Bay area.

Buddy Media creates interactive Facebook applications for large brands and PopularMedia offers what it calls Influencer Ads, which are standard ad units with a social element.

A report released today by research firm InsightExpress says, "According to the social networkers themselves, opt-in advertising works best, while behavior-based campaigns and randomly generated ads are far less successful." It goes on to state that 40% of social networkers condone the practice of opt-in advertising.

"Recognizing the rapid growth of social networks and social networking audiences, advertisers have focused on creative engagement and how to apply their brands within a new environment," said Drew Lipner, vice president and group director of the Digital Media Measurement team at InsightExpress. 

Is this the future of advertising in social media? Is it a matter of creating a better mousetrap? It the app the new ad unit as Lazerow suggests? At this point, all I have are questions, but am watching this space to see if oil and water can indeed mix to generate profitable ROI.

February 03, 2009

Namecheap real winner in GoDaddy ad debacle?

GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons reports that "Go Daddy's 2009 Super Bowl campaign results shattered prior records for both new customer sign-ups and total orders, with 10 percent more new customers joining than last year's Super Bowl Sunday." 

Despite the salacious nature of the ads, Go Daddy knows its customer base and, in the domain name registrar bowl, it appears they are the clear winner. 

Or maybe not...

I think there is a sleeper that, thanks to their  along with some creatively conceived and well-timed marketing campaigns, gained a measurable degree of marketshare as well. Certainly, they garnered plenty of buzz. If nothing else, they saw a 32% increase in traffic, according to , social media marketing consultant for whom Namecheap is s client.

Who is this sleeper? Namecheap.

Look at this Blogpulse trend graph comparing Network Solutions, Namecheap and Dotster:

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You'll note how Namecheap and Dotster were in a dead heat for second place well behind Network Solutions. However, thanks to their seizing an opportunity when it appeared, Namecheap was able to break out and place themselves in contention more closely to NetSol.
 
For example, the day of the Superbowl they created a "Make the Superbowl 43 Switch" campaign which asked, "Not happy with your current registrar or their advertising models?" The company offered a switch to their service for $6.99 per domain. 

If that's not enough, a few days prior to the game they came up with their own answer to GoDaddy's expensive Superbowl ads by creating the Namecheap Big Game Video Contest

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"We are asking you, the NameCheap customer, to come up with a funny NameCheap commercial around the same time," says their pitch. "We can't air it during half time, but the ones we like will be published for others to see in our blog and of course, to our YouTube channel. Feel free to browse through them while drinking beer, eating chips and queso, and arguing offsides calls with your friends."

They went after user-generated content to build buzz and, while it's a spoof, the campaign is creative and fun. The contest winner gets the Creative Vado HD pocket video camcorder, a prize valued at $225. Not too bad for less than one minute's worth of video.
 
Finally, on game night and the day following they maintaned a strong presence on Twitter promoting the switch campaign and coupon code.

It will be worthwhile to track whether Namecheap can hold the ground they've gained. They spiked before in recent months, according to Blogpulse, but receded to previous levels of notoriety in terms of buzz created in consumer-generated media.

What do you think of my surmise? Is Namecheap a "sleeper" winner in the registrar bowl? 

February 02, 2009

Interview with Shashi Bellamkonda regarding Network Solutions' response to GoDaddy ad debacle

9407ba9e-dd67-43ba-9830-906b433fcf22Shashi Bellamkonda SEO 2007 I had the opportunity to do a quick phone chat with , Network Solutions' "Swami of Social Media," earlier today to get his reactions to the GoDaddy Superbowl 2009 ad debaucle. 

My intent was not to sensationalize or stir up controversy, but to try and view this issue through Shashi's eyes as well as to see what lessons could be learned and best practices gleaned. 

To give you some background, GoDaddy rolled out their usual tasteless, cheap, tawdry, tittilating, sexist, demeaning to women, <insert adjective of your choosing> ads, which featured Indycar driver Danica Patrick and other females showing off certain parts of their anatomy. (BTW, Patrick is an Indycar driver, not NASCAR driver.) A few years ago, it had shock value... you know, the first time they tried it... but, now, not so much.  

In fact, what it did was unleash a groundswell of negative sentiment within the social media sphere, namely Twitter. (Mack Collier did a pithy synopsis that I think best sums up the prevailing attitude, so I'd ask you to visit his post to learn more.)

Seeing Shashi on Twitter, I and a number of others (, and to name a few) suggested he to encourage people to transfer their domain to NetSol. Apparently, lots of people are taking him up on the offer too. 

2009-02-02_1315

To be clear, Shashi didn't "opportunize" this of his own accord. He responded to requests and suggestions being made by others he knew and respected. Not saying there's anything wrong with seizing an opportunity, mind you, which is why I suggested he do so. 

In response Shashi created a for anyone wanting to transfer. 

2009-02-02_1320

Then, he waited and watched to see if the groundswell would respond in his favor, and it did. The post got retweeted numerous times (see ). Shashi's hope was that, rather than him tweeting about it, others would do so on his behalf and that hope seemed to be realized. 

Not only that, mentions of Network Solutions, which average between 6,000 - 7,000 per month normally, went up 10 fold, according to Shashi. 

Now, if you're a small business, you can pretty much do these types of things at a moment's notice. Not so if you're Network Solutions. 

Shashi had to alert his customer support and call center staff as to what was going on. Imagine the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing? Happens all too often in online vs. offline world. Shashi made sure that base was covered. 

There's something else he did that I appreciate. He didn't trash the competition just to drive traffic to his offer. Nor did he need to. This is a situation where a measured response was all that was called for. "Discretion is the better part of valor," as they say and Shashi certainly displayed that characteristic. If that is also the character of Network Solutions, I applaud them. 

It is too early to determine if there will be any discernable positive ROI for NetSol, or the adverse for GoDaddy. In tracking Twitter mentions of the two, GoDaddy is receiving tons more. However, most of those are of a negative tone and the conversation is beginning to morph over into GoDaddy's alledgedly poor customer service.  

If you think all this is overblown, I would remind you of what happened a few years with a small bicycle lock company called Kryptonite. (See for background if you're unfamiliar with the story. It still lives to haunt them to this day.) Also, consider the Motrin Moms controversy as another case in point. 

If you think the same thing can't happen again, you're mistaken. It can and in spades. 

The saddest thing of all is that GoDaddy has at least one staff person assigned to monitor Twitter, , who, at the time of this writing, had yet to respond to any of the commentary.  I think that's inexcusable! One thing is for certain, Twitter users are . 

I suspect there is much more to come before this issue becomes yesterday's news. Perhaps it is the controversy du jour, but I believe there are lessons that can be learned that having bearing on how companies do business in the era of the social web. 

March 31, 2008

When advertising becomes information...three blogger's opinions

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A few months ago in a blog post about Google OpenSocial, Internet pioneer Dave Winer said, "Advertising will get more and more targeted until it disappears, because perfectly targeted advertising is just information."

A few days ago Blog Business Summit blogger Jason Preston echoed Dave's sentiments when he said, "One of the things about advertising on the internet is that it seems to blend more and more with marketing and with content. Good, relevant advertising is content."

Today CMSWire blogger Gerry McGovern said, "Google has become one of the most successful companies in the world by selling lots and lots of these 17 words of text that help us find what we are searching for. In a money-rich, time-poor economy, helping busy people complete their tasks is the new advertising."

What is it that each of these comments have in common?

Continue reading "When advertising becomes information...three blogger's opinions" »

March 11, 2008

Speaking to AAF Lakes Charles on business blogging

Today, I'm speaking to the AdFed club in Lake Charles, LA, on the topic Top 10 Strategic Business Benefits to Using a Blog. I appreciate the invitation and look forward to not making a complete fool of myself sharing some insights about business blogging.

February 05, 2008

Super Bowl advertisers failed to connect viewers to online, especially social media

Superbowl42logo The reports are in: Not one Super Bowl XLII advertiser sent viewers to any type of social media site. Not one. That's pitiful.

MediaPost blogger Joe Marchese had this to say in response...

Besides making Monday a miserable and unproductive work day, the Super Bowl is a great example of why no media buy can really ever be done in a vacuum. A few times during the big game, fans were prompted to visit MySpace.com to view and share the commercials they see during the game. The idea that is so intuitive, yet so hard to practice, is this: For today’s brands to get the most out of their traditional media buys, they must have a plan to extend those campaigns into social media.

Continue reading "Super Bowl advertisers failed to connect viewers to online, especially social media" »

January 10, 2008

Contextual advertising? I don't think so. (Short shot #1)

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Let's see. Digital cameras, laptops, MP3 players...no...cell phones, printers, desktops...no...oh, there it is, jewelry! Just what I was looking for.

Somebody want to tell me what a jewelry ad is doing sitting in the middle of a Web site about all things digital? Not my idea of contextually-based advertising. Is it yours?

December 14, 2007

Blogging at Beneath the Brand

Btb I was honored to be asked to blog at Beneath the Brand, a group blog sponsored by Atlanta-based Talent Zoo which covers the worlds of marketing, advertising and media. The site features frequently-updated, industry-relevant content with just a twist of humor.

I'm happy to be a contributor and hope you'll add the blog to your blogroll.

BTW, here's my first post.

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