Google is responding to the surge in mobile web traffic by adding website optimization to the list of factors it uses to serve mobile ads. According to Google, paid search campaigns utilizing mobile-optimized pages, “will generally drive more mobile traffic at a lower cost. ”
Category Archives: What We’re Reading
Reading: The New Facebook – 3 Major Implications
Mark Zuckerberg’s look may not change much (does he own anything other than greenish-grey T-shirts?), but Facebook is about to get a makeover. On September 23rd Zuckerberg took to the stage at the f8 conference and announced major modifications to Facebook’s interface and functionality. ReadWriteWeb has a succinct breakdown of the new developments, and what they mean for users and brands. Will these changes have an affect on your social media marketing?
Reading: 3 Important Ecommerce Trends To Watch
Like Mark McGwire’s head, ecommerce is big and getting bigger:
eMarketer estimates 87.5% of US internet users ages 14 and older, or 178.5 million people, will browse or research products online this year. Of that group, 83% will make a purchase online, for a total of 148.1 million online buyers in 2011. By 2015, 170.3 million people, or 76.3% of the online population, will make a purchase on the web.
Reading: MediaPost Publications 4 Reasons To Watch Tumblr
Is Tumblr part of your digital marketing plan yet? Maryanne Conlin at the MediaPost blog Engage:Moms suggests that Tumblr will soon be the new blogging platform for the segment every marketer loves most: moms. Tumblr has been around since 2007, and so far the visually-striking fashion brands are the only ones to really embrace the social media/micro-blogging platform. But because Tumblr marries eye candy (photos and media) with the blogging platform so well, Conlin suggests that time-pressed moms with an interest in visual content will soon find Tumblr a richer platform on which to share. Already, ComScore reports that half of the site’s 13.4 million users have children. For brands with visual appeal (food brands, event planning services, the cosmetics industry, etc), Tumblr might be an extremely effective way to reach young parents in the coming years. Continue reading
Reading: The Growth of Social Media: An Infographic
Skeptics have long harped that social media sites were a fad. This excellent and extensive infographic from Search Engine Journal shows that not only are social networking sites growing quickly, their user bases are diversifying. Social media is international, used by people of all ages, and majority of companies utilize social media for marketing and hiring. Just a few of the many fascinating stats contained within the infographic:
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Reading: 5 Reputation Management Lessons from Prince, Dell and Beyond
As much as it pains me to see anything critical written about The Purple One, Geoff Livingston is absolutely right to use Prince as an example of reputation management backfiring in this excerpt from his book Welcome to the Fifth Estate posted on Jay Baer’s Convince and Convert blog. The internet poses unique challenges when it comes to reputation management. Fortunately, having social media monitoring and online reputation management programs in place before issues occur can keep a minor problem from escalating into a full-scale crisis. Continue reading
Reading: How Does Google Work? A Fantastic Google Infographic
Ever wondered how Google works? The exact formula is a closely guarded secret, but this infographic by the folks at PPCblog does an excellent job of illustrating the process behind the PageRank algorithm. Why is this important? The higher your site ranks in Google, the more traffic you get. Search engine optimization is a must for businesses, organizations, and individuals seeking to increase brand visibility and amplify profits. Click the image for a larger version. Continue reading
Reading: 5 Ways to Measure Social Media
Ron Jones from ClickZ shares 5 ways to ensure that social media efforts are achieving measurable results. Because consumers are more likely to purchase goods or services from a brand they’ve engaged with, measuring the penetration of a brand’s social media influence can help show social media ROI — something every marketer struggles to do. Jones’ approach, while not groundbreaking, breaks down these measurement tools succinctly. He highlights several ways to measure brand awareness in the social sphere, share of voice and sentiment, influence (or ability to inspire action), brand engagement, and popularity. Marketers should identify the specific goals of their brand’s social media strategy, and choose the individual metrics that best fit those goals. Continue reading
Reading: 5 Reasons Why Brand Marketers Should Use Search Retargeting
Search Engine Land‘s Frost Prioleau explains how search retargeting, also known as remarketing, supercharges your PPC campaigns. Roughly 98% of visitors to your website will leave without converting. Remarketing serves display ads to those visitors on other sites, keeping your brand top of mind and offering more opportunities for messaging. Prioleau writes that retargeting offers access to consumers at the top of the purchase funnel, but the real value of remarketing is connecting with visitors in the middle or bottom of the funnel. Any target of a remarketing campaign is already interested enough in your services that they have either searched for your service or visited your site. Continue reading
Reading: A Magazine Bets on Readers Playing Tag
Magazine publishers are looking to mobile action codes to bridge the gap between offline content and online engagement. Like many major successful social media marketing campaigns, Glamour’s latest initiative paired exclusive access to a star with their own significant social following (Rihanna: 44 million Facebook fans) with attractive financial incentives from advertisers. Continue reading
