 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Fake web traffic has long plagued the online publishing world, but Dr. Paul Barford, computer science professor at the University of Wisconsin, is claiming the problem might be worse than suspected. And it's costing some of the top online advertisers millions in wasted ad impressions.
Dr. Barford, who is also the chief scientist at startup MdotLabs, is slated to present a study at an Internet security symposium Wednesday in Washington, D.C., where he we will claim that 10 traffic networks are serving up more than 500 million invalid ad impressions a month.
"We estimate the cost to advertisers for this fraudulent traffic to be on the order of $180 million annually," he said in a statement in advance of the presentation.
Dr. Barford reached his conclusion by posing as a web publisher and signing up for several different traffic generation services, also called PPV networks, which he filtered through software that uses anomaly detection to identify fake website traffic....
Did you know that a recent study showed that almost half (44 percent) of moms have gone on to make a purchase after a friend posted a recommendation or liked a product on a social media site? We’ve been here before, of course (many times), but it bears repeating – moms and social media make a great mix, and if these socially savvy ladies are a demographic fit for your business then you should absolutely be engaging with them – frequently – within your marketing campaigns. You need more proof? Moms love to share information about products. Your products. More than nine in ten (92 percent) pass along information about deals or finds to others, and 78 percent of moms follow brands on social media to get coupons and discounts (compared to 55 percent of other folk). They’re mobile, too – 89 percent of moms use their smartphone to check social media on the move....
85% of consumers say it is important or very important to them to do business with a company for which they have strong emotions, per survey results [download page] released in November 2012 by rbb Public Relations. But that connection is more important in some industries than others, and appears to matter more in industries where products are more complex and less of a commoditized.
For example, 76% of respondents say that an emotional connection is important from healthcare providers, with that connection built upon personal and proactive communications from the provider. Banking (63%) was next, followed by professional services (62%). A high proportion also value emotional connections when it comes to travel (56%), insurance (55%), auto (52%), technology (44%) and food (also 44%)....
Do you know why your content marketing campaign is going to fail? It’s not because you can’t write great content… it’s actually because you don’t know how to promote it.
You can learn how to write great content, but if no one reads your content and links to it, there’s no point in putting it out there....
Check out these 13 marketing musts and get your business ready for the New Year! ...There is clear evidence that we are still watching TV, reading magazines and newspapers (more online) and listening to the radio. Add to that, the parallel world of content marketing with blogs, podcasts, e-marketing, mobile, text and social media platforms and we can and do get overwhelmed with all the choices. Here’s what’s most important to figure out: * The marketing vehicles that are best for you and your customers.
* A clear brand and marketing message about you, what you offer, why you. * Being consistent, looking professional and staying fresh....
According to stats-meister Nielsen, in July 2012, US consumers spent 121 billion minutes navigating the shark-infested waters of social media. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the rest — up 37% from July 2011 and that’s quite a feat. The majority of the time was spent using a traditional computer, but look at mobile. The larger square represents Apps, the smaller, cell phone looking icon represents browser use through a mobile device. Together, they show a 63% increase over last year.
Breaking the numbers down, Nielsen found that women were responsible for most of the social media usage both on the PCA and through mobile. Ages 18-24 ate up the most minutes on the PC but Ages 25-34 snuck ahead on the mobile site, but not by much. Ethnically, speaking Hispanics were way out in front on mobile usage with PC usage being fairly evenly divided.
[Valuable insight into social media trends and booming mobile sector for marketers, social media, PR pros ~ Jeff]
Social media statistics from The Social Habit by Edison Research includes several very interesting data points about Facebook, Twitter and beyond. You think social media is reaching maturity, and the whipsaw behavioral shifts that change like a Dwight Howard trade request are things of the past? Uhhh, no. Released yesterday at Blogworld New York, findings from social media behavioral researcher Tom Webster and the team at Edison Research show some shocking changes in how Americans use and consume social media. You can access the entire presentation at The Social Habit microsite, but 11 social media statistics in particular stood out for me. Two quick notes: This is not data dredging. This is real, random sample, tightly controlled research from the same company that is the exclusive provider of Presidential exit polls in the USA.... [There were some social media research surprises worth noting ~ Jeff]
As a creative marketing guy, I love a good idea. In fact, I’ve spent many hours sitting in conference rooms brainstorming with teammates to come up with them. So when I first saw Verizon Wireless’ big new campaign called Share America – I was instantly engaged. It is a great concept involving an up and coming band (Hot Chelle Rae), a tour bus, multiple cities, and a concept to unite people across America by inviting them all to sing one of the most iconic holiday songs ever: Jingle Bell Rock. The video was just released on their Facebook page this weekend and has already racked up more than 25,000 likes and been shared nearly 7000 times. The YouTube version is taking off more slowly, with just 1000 views to date (but will likely pick up in the coming days). The problem with the campaign is that it makes the same mistake that many brands are making today with social media … they forget about the power of the people involved to create engagement and help the campaign succeed. Verizon isn’t the only brand to miss this opportunity. It happens all the time. So in an effort to use their campaign as a learning moment, here are five suggestions that could have amplified this campaign and used social media far more effectively to involve the people behind the video and make their shared passion for the project a much bigger word of mouth driver for others to engage in it.... [Rohit Bhargava shares valuable social media lessons and insight for brands ~ Jeff]
Instagram is most definitely its own beast. Businesses thinking they can parlay a Pinterest strategy into Instagram will be sorely mistaken, thanks to strikingly different user engagement styles on the two platforms. Without clear “transactional” support, Instagram is proving to be much more about brand building and brand allegiance. If your company doesn't hold the term "brand" highly, simply stay off Instagram for now -- there are other platforms more worth your transactional-based time. However, for the brand-conscience, recent metrics show Instagram might be a worthwhile marketing tool.... [Bryan Boettger offers insight into marketing on Instagram ~ Jeff]
In this special 'Ask Entrepreneur' feature, marketing expert Jason Falls discusses how business owners can convert followers into paying... In this special feature of 'Ask Entrepreneur,' Facebook fan Amy Clark Braden from Austin, Texas, asks: Which social network is better for converting followers into customers? So far we haven't had much luck with Facebook. What about Twitter or Google+? Converting customers through social channels is not as cut-and-dried as most business owners think it should be. Put yourself in your customer's shoes and ask, "Why would I engage with this brand on Facebook?" Often, the answer is not, "So I can buy stuff from them." Perhaps a better question to ask is, "Where would I buy things from a brand?" Chances are, Facebook is not going to be the first answer for many.... [Jason Falls answers a great question with practical suggestions for marketers ~ Jeff]
With input from experts at ClickZ, this year's survey focuses on the key areas where digital marketers need to excel in order to ensure online marketing success: social media, mobile, personalization, and customer experience. The results reveal how:
* Social media has taken a valued role as a bona fide marketing channel
* Agility is crucial to take advantage of and understand new customer insights
* Testing throughout the conversion funnel helps marketers identify the direct links to conversion behavior... [Valuable report on best practices for better online ROI, free with registration ~ Jeff]
Social media is no longer just about Facebook. Social media is splintering and fragmenting as more users find increased activity about their interests and passions residing on other social networks, such as Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter. Facebook knows that it cannot evolve internally fast enough to keep up with this dispersion and so is resorting to identifying and buying fast emerging start-ups such as Instagram.
Through the rapid rise of smart phones and mobile platforms globally such as tablets led by the surging iPad, the way we use and view media is changing business and marketing.
Maintaining your business marketing momentum on a social web requires constant updates to identify and understand how and why users are using social networks.
Here are some of the latest facts, figures and statistics to help keep you on top of the rapidly changing social media ecosystems....
[Great info, stats for your next social media post or presentation ~ Jeff]
|
...Among other things, baby-boomer marketers need to accept the fact that millennials have not inherited their parents' love for the "touch" of paper. They do not naturally go gaga over double-page spreads of either editorial or advertising in magazines. They do not feel compelled to seek their fashion and beauty direction from the magazines that served as bibles for older generations. Nor do millennials feel the need to park themselves in front of a TV at the time appointed for their favorite show, or even to watch TV on a TV at all. Millennials spend a huge amount of their lives online: on smartphones (59%), on tablets (35%) and on their laptops (70%). As of 2011, 91% of millennials are regular internet users, according to Forrester Research....
Measuring the efficacy of social media marketing still isn't an exact science, regardless of what the gurus and ninjas tell you. So how can we whittle all the thousands of social campaigns we've seen this year down to a definitive list of the '10 best of 2012'? Do we gauge it on the number of new fans acquired, retweets, ROI, YouTube views, the number of people it reached, sentiment analysis, the amount of traffic it drove or maybe the number of new brand advocates it created? The answer is any of the above and any number of other social metrics, so for this list I've instead gone for the campaigns that I found to be most memorable, innovative, or downright funny....
One in eight (12%) consumers in the UK have stopped using or buying a brand due to negative comments on social media, according to research from SAP UK & Ireland.
The survey of 1,000 UK online shoppers highlighted the need for brands to engage with customers online. Twenty-two percent of consumers have bought from a specific brand or retailer based on a recommendation they have seen on a social network....
The rise of Big Data provides marketers with an unprecedented level of insight. But too often, it's easy to get buried in the data. Using billions of transactional data points from thousands of Eloqua customers, 40 Must-See Charts for Modern Marketers contains ready-to-use benchmarking data that you can compare your own results to.
Download your free copy of these key insights gathered from real marketing performance data across several disciplines, including:
Email marketing;
Lead management;
Social media;
Events management....
Business is a warzone: If you stand still, you die. No matter how good your product or service, you’re at the mercy of cause and effect. The market’s evolving needs must be met by evolving products. ...But perhaps companies like Microsoft aren’t like yours? They deal in products that constantly change and have a short shelf life; change and fluidity are normal in their particular market.
So what happens when you’re not one of these companies? How do you deal with the speed at which social media and the spread of connected devices has changed the balance of power between a company and its customers and made it difficult to market using traditional advertising tools?... In the transition from Jerome McCarthy’s 4Ps of Product, Place, Price and Promotion to what he calls the 4Es of Experience, Everyplace, Exchange and Evangelism, we also see the morphing of traditional businesses into social ones... [This is a really thoughtful article on how business must evolved from traditional into social business models ~ Jeff]
Despite marketers and consumers generally believing that traditional media is best for advertising, print, radio, and TV advertising campaigns are rated poorly for their lead generation capabilities, according to results from a Software Advice survey conducted in partnership with Eloqua and CMO.com. Looking first at opinions on lead quality, just 4% of respondents rated leads generated from print, radio, and TV ads as high quality, tied with display/CPM advertising at the bottom of the list of 14 identified channels. On the other spectrum, 40% rated the leads generated by email marketing (house list) as high quality, with organic search (SEO – 36%), telemarketing/cold calling (35%), and trade shows and events (35%) also seeing a significant proportion rating their leads as high quality. That trade shows appear towards the top of the list confirms recent research finding that B2B content marketers rate in-person events highly for their effectiveness....
As content creators look to keep audiences interested and clicking on more assets, they would do well to consider audience composition, as research suggests demographics can have a substantial effect on how web users behave once they have found interesting content. Research from content optimization firm nRelate shows that age is one major factor in how users engage with content online. An October 2012 survey found that younger US web users, especially younger males, had a high propensity to click on related articles and videos after reading online content. Older users tended to click on links to related content on a weekly basis, and women—especially older women—were more likely to be drawn to a story that featured a photo.... [Useful social marketing insight ~ Jeff]
Retailers are mining personal data to learn everything about you so they can help you help yourself to their products. Black Thriday is over. So is Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Today, in case you didn’t know, is either Green Tuesday or Giving Tuesday, depending on whether you feel like eco-shopping or giving to charity. Not sure what tomorrow may bring (How about Weird Relative Gift Wednesday?), but I suppose shopping does feel less chaotic if someone’s organizing it into theme days, although that doesn’t always stop it from devolving into a contact sport. Can you imagine American shoppers embracing something like iButterfly, a mobile app popular in Asia where customers earn coupons by tracking down virtual butterflies with their smartphones? Me neither. In the U.S., it’s about cutting to the chase and here the chase is after the sweetest deals, pure and simple, without having to bother with running after faux flying insects. And retailers have ratcheted up the competition, using the latest tracking technology to closely monitor their competitors’ pricing decisions and undercut them, in close to real-time, on their own websites. When Best Buy, for instance, published advertising saying it would be selling a $1,500 Nikon camera for $1,000, Amazon responded on Thanksgiving morning by cutting its price for the same camera to $997.... [Smithsonian offers a valuable marketing context for Black Friday shopping phenomena ~ Jeff]
You might be asking 'what are the biggest marketing trends for 2013?' or 'how can I leverage the latest marketing initiatives to improve my business?' Well I think the biggest shift change in how we go to market will be all about the social website. And that doesn't mean adding a share or like button to your home page. I honestly believe that within 3 years more consumers will be finding product information, reviews, news and information on your business through already established social networks than through company owned websites. The days of www.yourbusiness.com are limited. Imagine LinkedIn.com/yourbusiness, Facebook.com/yourbusiness or Pinterest.com/yourbusiness as 3 examples.... [Thoughtful reflection on the future of marketing through social media ~ Jeff]
Consumer commerce has changed radically over the past half century. Today, abundant supply is chasing relatively scarce demand, and new technologies have empowered individuals, giving rise to a new breed of consumer. Consumer commerce has changed radically over the past half century. Today, abundant supply is chasing relatively scarce demand, and new technologies have empowered individuals, giving rise to a new breed of consumer. "Consumer 3.0" is firmly in control of the shopping landscape. To succeed in this environment, all companies in every industry need to be engaging customers online and meeting their expectations, though the expectations bar has never been set higher. The world of retailing is no longer built around products but around consumers. It is critical in this environment that companies adopt a thoroughly customer-centric focus. Five principles can guide companies, pointing the way to strategies that captivate Customer 3.0 and turn the new market dynamics to competitive advantage. In this HBR webinar, Jeffrey Rayport explained the forces that have reshaped the consumer landscape and five principles that can help companies leverage the opportunities of the new reality....
Do you have a team listening to what is being said about your company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and discussion forums?... It’s very likely a company will engage in the customer service scenario described above, according to the third edition of the Social Customer Engagement Index, a study conducted by Social Media Today and sponsored by SAP. Chances are growing that customers will use a channel other than a phone call or in-person and instead opt for a social media channel for service, whether Twitter, an online forum, a Web site or a social networking site such as Facebook. SocialCRM thought leader Paul Greenberg of the 56 Group, who wrote the foreword to this study report, describes “a company like me,” as how consumers engage with companies through commonalities – such as social engagement channels. Key Findings Adoption of social media as a channel for serving and engaging with customers is accelerating, and it looks like there’s no turning back. Over a third of respondents (34%) said their company has gathered two-plus years of experience using social media tools for customer service, compared with 20.3% in 2011. Even more dramatic is the increase in the percentage of customer inquiries being addressed over social channels. The number of companies handling greater than 25% of customer service inquiries via social media doubled this year, growing to 18% from 9% last year. The number of companies handling fewer than 5% of customer inquiries over social channels decreased to 41%, down from 56%.... [if you're not serving your customers and engaging with themthrough social media, your competitors soon will be according to the research ~ Jeff]
|
![Traditional Media Not A Good Source of Leads, Say B2B Marketers [Corrected] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/jk6aL60r0VtBbsssLEutnjl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
![What's A Company Like You Doing In A [Social] Place Like This? | Forbes | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/5Lk_mf_eBFL0boVKaWdZITl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Fascinating research into social marketing and the growing problem of fake web traffic.Well worth reading.