Article Feed

Digital Pret-a-porter

damianpaulryan@gmail.com (Damian Ryan) — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:46:40 GMT

Why social media is like the fashion industry and what's next for the world of marcoms!

Ten years ago I ran an online advertising agency in Dublin. We used to have a saying which used to make us chortle as we poked fun at the digitally uninitiated...."if you don't think that email is the new fax then go ahead and telex us about it"

Gosh weren't we witty!

Now of course we're twitty,,,,,, and facebooky and stumbledupon and "dug" and to poke someone can have several different meanings instead of one.

Business cards now face real estate issues as good old fashioned addresses and phone numbers make room for email addresses, urls, skype addresses, mobile numbers, twitter handles, linkedin labels and more.

Many would say social media has to start experiencing consolidation and we can't possibly keep up with the explosion of new digital media brands adding more and more buzzwords to the mountain of destinations available - there's a list of around 400 or so I have been perusing while researching this piece

The other $240m* question hanging over Social Media is monetisation - how on earth are all these fab new online media properties going to make a return on their investment for shareholders?

We hear from a recent piece of Sapient Research that over 40% of UK marketers don't invest in social media because of a lack of understanding.

We also hear Facebook revenues are now projecting $230m for 09 (emarketer.com) but against this achievement there is still a burn rate of$20million per month (techcrunch.com)

Yes it's certainly all happening in the fast moving world of social media but I suspect, unlike other media trends we have encountered throughout the digital story to date, and at risk of sounding dangerously tabloid....a new dynamic has arisen: the blistering pace of adoption.

Future of Digital: Q&A with Richard Eyre

calvin@understandingdigital.com (Calvin Jones) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:31:34 GMT

{jcomments on}This Q&A with Richard Eyre, Chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau, on the future of online marketing features in the book "Understanding Digital Marketing" by Damian Ryan and Calvin Jones.

Where do you think DIGITAL MARKETING is heading over the next 2-3 years?

Continued blurring of the lines between ‘traditional media' and digital media. Continued march to mobile.

Which components of "digital" (ie: search, affiliate, display, etc.) do you believe will be more widely used in say three years time?

Future of Digital: Q&A with Alain Heureaux

calvin@understandingdigital.com (Calvin Jones) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:27:58 GMT

This Q&A with Alain Heureux, President IAB Europe and IAB Belgium, on the future of digital marketing features in the book "Understanding Digital Marketing":

Q. Where do you think DIGITAL MARKETING is heading over the next 2-3 years?

A. Digital will take centre stage in any strategic media strategy, and will top €25 billion in terms of European advertising expenditure. It will be the medium through which consumers engage with brands, deliver brand impact and communicate their purchase intentions.

Q. Which components of "digital" (ie: search, affiliate, display, etc.) do you believe will be more widely used in say three years time?

A. We'll see much more targeted marketing emerge: marketing that combines and consolidates search, display and content; delivered through social network platforms and information sites on PCs, portable and mobile devices.

Q. Which components of "digital" (ie: search, affiliate, display, etc.) do you believe will be LESS widely used in say three years time?

Holistic Marketing -- looking to the future

calvin@understandingdigital.com (Calvin Jones) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:23:35 GMT

Prominent Irish blogger Damien Mulley recently pointed out the folly of focussing on some elements of online marketing at the expense of others.

Pursue more established online marketing strategies and ignore social media and your letting a golden opportunity slip by – but by equal measure, if you put all your efforts into social media and eschew more established online avenues you could be missing the lions share of online business.

Or as Damien puts it:

How many people have an email address, how many have a Facebook account?

Consider all your options

You absolutely can’t ignore the online "conversation"… but then neither should you neglect the more established elements of online marketing, like e-mail, SEO, PPC, affiliate programmes and even online display advertising if it dovetails with your particular audience. Also, its often worth considering how offline marketing can augment and complement your online campaigns.

12 Online Market Research Tips

calvin@understandingdigital.com (Calvin Jones) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:22:06 GMT

The internet is a superb market research tool for your new or growing businesses. It can provide all sorts of useful insight into your industry, your competitors and, most importantly of all, your customers. In this article and the next in our series we take a look at twelve ways that the internet can make gathering marketing intelligence more productive and less costly for your fledgling business.

Read industry association websites: A quick search for industry related websites in your favourite search engine will unearth all sorts of valuable information: up-to-date news, white-papers, research and best practice guidelines, and more to inform the strategic direction you take with your new business. Decide to join, and you’ll probably get access to even more online resources, training and support….
Subscribe to analyst newsletters and report updates: one of the main sources of information for market research is reports from analyst firms like Forrester Research, Gartner Group and others. Stay ahead of the game by subscribing for e-mail updates on new analyst reports for your industry. You’ll get up-to-the minute summaries of the latest research direct to your inbox, and can invest in a full report or two if you feel it will help your business.
Use news aggregators to keep up-to-date: know what’s going on in your industry by searching for relevant keywords on news aggregation sites like Google News (news.google.com) and Yahoo! News (news.yahoo.com), both of which offer convenient, easily accessible window to global and local news stories, press releases and other material. You’ll have access to a much wider range of material that’s infinitely more useful than scanning through hundreds of print publications.

Read more...

Social Media Rules of Engagement

calvin@understandingdigital.com (Calvin Jones) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:18:53 GMT

Social media offers a wealth of opportunities for consumer engagement and building brand awareness, but in such an open and dynamic space it's critical to consider what you're doing carefully. Social media is consumer driven, and the very characteristics that make it such an enticing proposition for marketers - the interconnected nature of online consumers, and the staggering speed at which information traverses the network - can just as easily backfire.

The ‘rules' of social media are really about applying a bit of common sense to what are essentially human relationships. The key thing to remember is that this is social media - people are going online to interact and exchange information and content with similar, like minded people. They're unlikely to be interested in your latest sales pitch, and they're certainly not interested in promotional hype. They want interesting, fun, informative, quirky, addictive... whatever turns them on. When it comes to social media, you're not just sending out a message, your inviting a response, and what you get might not be quite what you're expecting. You need a plan to engage in social media marketing, but you also need to be flexible and respond to the community.

Online trust... it's a fragile thing

calvin@understandingdigital.com (Calvin Jones) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:22:09 GMT

I've just been reading a post over on Damien Mulley's blog on some of the things that make him trust an online business more, and others that make him trust them less.

I'm going to commit a cardinal sin here and block-quote Damien's lists (one of the "Trust Less" items) in the interest of clarity. Hopefully I'll get away with it by adding more than one line of commentary ;-).

First Damien's "Trust More" list:

Companies that have personalities and a team that adds humanity to their business both online and offline.
Companies who care enough to monitor what blogs are saying and react, even when people have negative issues.
Companies who contribute to online discussions and mailing lists without pimping their solutions and help even when the topic matter isn't in-synch with their business area.
Companies that ask for help, contributions, feedback
Read more...

Social Media Marketing is Good For Business

no_email@example.com (Emer Lawn) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:44:17 GMT

The amount of people talking about social networks in the online marketing industry today is tremendous, but the reason they are doing so is because the benefit it may have for your Business is even more tremendous. The “next big thing” in Ireland is no longer social media; because it already is the “big thing.” As traditional advertising methods continue to see drops in their level of effectiveness, Social Media Marketing can help to resolve people’s “ad blindness.” Businesses can reap the benefits of a social media marketing campaign; and Interactive Return has been actively encouraging new and existing clients in Ireland to consider its value.

First, consider the benefits. SocialMediaTrader wrote on this topic, specific to the benefits for small businesses. In addition to developing a deeper relationship with your customer, the practical benefits may include: