effinite wisdom
effinity's thoughts on digital marketing and the world around us.
Posted by: Megan Krug
on Nov 27, 2009
Since 2005, the biggest increase in internet-use has been with 70-75 year-olds. 45% of 70-75 year-olds are currently online.
(2009 study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project)
84% of Germans aged 19-29 said they would rather do without their current partner or their car than forego their connection to the Web. Living without a mobile phone was also unthinkable for 97% of those questioned in that age range.
(itfacts.biz)
73% of Americans go online in November 2008
(itfacts.biz)
As of May, 2009, 58% of online consumers currently own a mobile phone capable of connecting to the Web. Of the online consumers with Web-enabled phones, 21% own a smartphone, 8% own an iPhone(TM), and 29% own another type of Web-enabled phone.
(itfacts.biz)
57% of TV viewers in the US who have Internet access use both mediums at the same time at least once a month
(itfacts.biz)
12% of Americans create or work their own online journal or blog, while 23% of Americans contribute writing, files or other content to their employer’s website.
(itfacts.biz)
An average US household spent $1,229 on consumer electronics products in the past 12 months, $176 less than in the prior year, according to Consumer Electronics Association.
Posted by: Megan Krug
on Nov 25, 2009
For a few years now the average American has been engaged in what has lovingly been coined, “Social Networking.” Social Networking is defined as a website or online community where people with shared interests and/or activities are attracted to places on the web where they can share those interests with others.
You can reconnect with old friends from high school on Facebook, find a local band on MySpace, request a recommendation on LinkedIn, or read celebrity tweets on Twitter. Sounds great, but “user” beware, not all social networking is good social networking. Here are 7 cons of social networking that some don’t consider:
1. Time Suck- according to Facbook.com, more than 8 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide). Wow.
Posted by: M Charles Egan
on Nov 24, 2009
So a lot of client’s come to us asking for a website, thinking that is the best way to take advantage of marketing on the internet. The truth is that while a good website is key to most digital marketing plans, it is only one element. Digital marketing is a broad category that includes banner advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click, email, RSS, blogging, advergaming, and social networking. You get the idea.
Digital marketing is about interaction, highly targeted demographics, and quantifiable results. This may seem like a broad topic, sometimes it’s easier to define what is not digital marketing. Print Advertising, direct mail, Radio, TV, and outdoor do not offer the instant response and analytical data of digital and should be thought of as more traditional marketing. While these are still viable channels it is hard to get an exact calculation of outreach, and response times are much more variable. There are many innovations in these mediums that are giving more direct data, but they still lack the precision of digital channels.
Because of its reporting capabilities digital integration with traditional campaigns can make it easier to benchmark success and adjust messages quickly to respond to audience preferences. This allows marketers to more effectively gage the effectiveness of broad based outreach campaigns.
Another key aspect to digital marketing is that it is constantly evolving. It is possible to reach out to audiences at different levels and get them more engaged with brands in new ways. For instance using a well-planed social networking strategy it is possible to create a dialog with your customers that gives them a sense of brand ownership. If done correctly this will lead to an increase in word of mouth referrals, effectively turning your audience into another marketing channel.
At its heart digital marketing is about using internet based communication to get closer to your customers. Digital marketing lets you reach out to highly targeted audiences and hear what they have to say. By effectively interacting with your audience your company becomes more agile and can expect quantifiable returns on marketing investments.
Posted by: Matt Henkle
on Nov 19, 2009
Green is in. Not only the color, but “green” is everywhere. In the housing market, finance, manufacturing, and most prominently marketing. Companies go out of their way to advertise their product as green, looking for any angle or way that they are, or can be, environmentally friendly, even if they’re not. Some companies will go as far as making changes to their business process, manufacturing techniques or even changing the products themselves if it means they can market it as green.
Posted by: M Charles Egan
on Nov 17, 2009
In my career I’ve been at agencies that have had differing opinions on how to treat clients. These have run the gamut from complete appeasement to yelling at them in front a crowd of their coworkers. While it is hard to justify the later, I think it is just as much a disservice to say yes to all client requests.
I think clients are looking for honest advice, sometimes that means telling them that what they are planning is not the most effective way to accomplish the task. Don’t get me wrong; our clients are very informed about their own products and services. The truth is that we do not really design websites for our clients. This may sound strange, but when it comes down to it, we are developing websites for our client’s customers.
Posted by: Matt Henkle
on Nov 12, 2009
With more than 85% of Americans active on the Internet, it is no big surprise that Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a great way to promote your business. So what do you to need know to get started? I’m going to attempt to get you on the right track to successful SEM and share with you my understanding of how search engines work.
Posted by: M Charles Egan
on Nov 05, 2009
1.Not defining goals for your site. It sounds simple-- but many companies approach websites as something they are required to have and consequently do not demand results. You should treat any marketing expense, including website development, as an investment. A website development plan that is not based solidly on your business goals is wasting marketing resources. If you don’t set realistic goals and measurements for your website, it is impossible to tell how effective your investment has been. This means that you need quantifiable business based website results. Website analytics make it easy to track results and tie them to concrete business goals (e.g. conversion rates, sales).
2. Building a site for you instead of your target audience. If our customers already thought like we did then marketing would be easy. The truth is that it can be very difficult to have the perspective of your target audience. As businesses, we become so closely involved with what we do on a daily basis that it becomes hard to remember what’s important to outside audiences. On the flip side--there is another tendency to overload your audience with all of the reasons that you believe set your company apart. Communicate with the people using your site and get to know what they are looking for. Then-- build a simple and distinct hierarchy in your message and site structure to educate your audience on your key competitive advantages.
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