Marketing

Vistaprint’s Facebook fail just the tip of the iceberg

Internet News, Marketing, Your Brand 1,180 Responses »

May 282013

Marketers at Vistaprint, Dove and Nissan will have been very busy recently. All three have fallen victim to advertising appearing next to compromising content on Facebook. The companies found their collateral next to materials supporting and making light of domestic abuse which has led to a customer backlash and severe criticism in the media.

Both companies were quick to respond to the issue, with Vistaprint posting an explanation on their Facebook page, and Nissan on their Twitter feed. While Dove hasn’t replied on either platform, it’s written to campaigners to apologise. However, the fundamental problem with the Facebook platform is that it targets individuals and not the content of each of the pages where the adverts land. Because of what might be totally innocent searches of Facebook or page ‘Likes’, adverts can then appear on pages which have the worst kind of content on them. And according to Facebook’s own rules, it’s up to users to self-regulate the site. There are no protective measures in place for brands.

All of this comes at a time when the pressure group the Everyday Sexism Project has been challenging brands to better manage where their advertising appears. The group wants companies to introduce stricter practices to help prevent against them appearing to support such material.

MORE: Vistaprint’s Facebook fail just the tip of the iceberg « iMediaConnection Blog.

Know Your Place! Where to Put Ads on Facebook

Marketing, Your Brand 433 Responses »

May 212013

Since the beginning of last year, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of ad placements and supported platforms available to advertisers on Facebook. Now, knowing what options you have at your disposal is more important than ever!

Facebook took improvements in ad space pretty seriously and implementing these changes proved to be a successful – Facebook’s mobile efforts, in particular, are starting to achieve impressive results.

During the first quarter of 2013, 30% of Facebook’s ad revenue came from mobile devices, rising from 23% during the previous quarter and 14% the quarter before that. In the first quarter of 2012, Facebook mobile constituted 0% of its total revenue. The company has also begun focusing more on ads in the News Feed, opening up a lot of opportunities for advertisers.

Ad Placement Options

Currently, there are six different ad placements available to advertisers:

Homepage

All Facebook

News Feed (desktop, mobile)

Typeahead

Logout Page (available only through Facebook IO)

MORE: Know Your Place! Where to Put Ads on Facebook | Social Media Statistics & Metrics | Socialbakers.

Do Facebook ads work?

Internet News, Marketing, Your Brand 147 Responses »

May 212013

Facebook is maturing as an ad platform, but are brands really seeing ROI? Here’s a case study that examines the true potential of this social network.

When Southeast Toyota Distributors decided to focus ad spend on Facebook, it didnt guarantee dealerships that sales would rise. However, after launching several local Facebook campaigns, revenue with a Facebook footprint started to pour in.

MORE: Do Facebook ads work? – iMediaConnection.com.

Google Maps Gets a Brand New Look

interface, Internet News, Marketing 622 Responses »

May 202013

Google has announced a revamping of Google Maps and it is much more than a few changes. It is a reworking of the entire Google Maps interface from the group up, designed to make Maps more intuitive for users.

One major change is users can now click on any area of a map, and Google will respond by showing you information about what is in the area that you could be interested in, such as restaurants, businesses, and hotels. This is designed to make it easy for visitors to see what is near a particular location, such as discovering what is located near a hotel when someone is visiting a city.

There is much more connection with Google+ and what they display on the map popups, meaning it is much more critical for businesses to make sure their Google+ page is active with correct information, including hours and photos, and user reviews of their business.

MORE: Google Maps Gets a Brand New Look | ClickZ.

The 7 deadly sins of digital marketing

Marketing, Your Brand 293 Responses »

May 152013

If only all brands made such contemporary and edgy digital content. Unfortunately, they don’t.

No doubt, digital drek is common, but fear not! If brands avoid these seven deadly sins of digital — which are as annoying as 10 straight head-on ads and as passé as an Avril Lavigne concert — they’ll be well on their way to success.

Corporate tone on social media

Kudos to companies like Kraft and Lowe’s that engage consumers with two-way conversations and social media teams. Both understand social media is not about posting $2 off coupons for cheese or lawn chairs that you have to buy right this minute. They post items that engage consumers and humanize their brand by acting like normal people and less like a car sale at the end of the month. It’s less about “sell, sell, sell” and more about “hello, hello, hello.”

MORE: The 7 deadly sins of digital marketing – iMediaConnection.com.

Matt Cutts: What to expect in SEO in the coming months

Internet News, Marketing 268 Responses »

May 142013

We just recently taped a new round of webmaster videos, and I thought this video deserved a full-fledged blog post. This is my rough estimate as of early May 2013 of what search engine optimizers SEOs and webmasters should expect in the next few months:

via What to expect in SEO in the coming months.

How to Be a Successful Marketer Without Being a Jerk

Marketing 214 Responses »

May 082013

The era of successful jerks in business and marketing is over, according to Peter Shankman. The founder of Help a Reporter Out HARO and now VP and small business evangelist for Vocus, which acquired HARO in 2010, has dealt with a fair amount of jerks throughout his career. ClickZ caught up with Shankman following the release of his latest book, “Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management is Over – and Collaboration Is In,” to learn more about his positive vibrations in marketing and how marketers can be effective without being a jerk.

As Shankman prepares to launch a new consultancy next month based on the teachings in his book, he describes how business leaders can generate more revenue by empowering their entire workforce to simply do what is right.

ClickZ: How does one become a successful marketer without being a jerk?

Peter Shankman: When you look at 50 years ago, no one really cared how you acted. You could do pretty much whatever you wanted and you didnt get in trouble because it was really hard to catch you, as it were. But, the problem is now you have everything out there. Everyone you meet, everyone you talk to, everyone you know has some sort of 24-hour connection to the Internet and the ability to grab anything – audio, video, or otherwise – anytime they want. That, fortunately, winds up resulting in the ability to lie disappearing. It used to be when you would screw up at some capacity at a company, there was nothing they could do about it. They were upset, they told their friends maybe. Now its everywhere and its very easy. So with this 24-hour connected world that were in, the easiest way to keep the clients you have and gain new ones is simply to be 1 percent nicer than what we always expect, which lets face it is crap.

MORE: How to Be a Successful Marketer Without Being a Jerk | ClickZ.

Is Your Business Benchmarking its Engagement Rate?

Internet News, Marketing, Your Brand 362 Responses »

Mar 142013

Do you now how to measure your Engagement Rate? It´s an important social media metric that expresses how successful you are in engaging your audience within a social network.

It´s also a key performance indicator that has a direct impact on reach, as proven here, and drives the conversion of your fans to paying customers. We monitored the average Engagement Rates of Facebook Pages of different sizes and industries for a whole year, beginning from January 2012 to the end of January 2013, and reached the following conclusion: the more fans you have, the more challenging it gets to engage and reach more Facebook users. It´s only natural that engaging a larger fan base is more difficult, as it sets higher demands on the quality of the content – you need more people to Like, Comment on, and Share your posts in order to be successful.

Why All Brands Need to be Real-Time Marketers

Marketing, Your Brand 280 Responses »

Mar 132013

Doan began by explaining that nine months ago, OREO made a concerted effort to figure out how to communicate with consumers “in a new social space.” The brand realized there was a huge opportunity to engage with millennials instead in addition to the brand’s core audience of moms. And social media was the perfect place to do so. While Oreo certainly did plan to engage during the Super Bowl, much to the chagrin of conspiracy theorists, the brand did not pull the plug at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Bough pointed out that brands must have the “willingness to prepare” for events that may present opportunities to engage with customers. Learning how to respond in real time will be an important new skill for brands to master and fear must be left at the doorstep.

To the point that brands must be willing to engage, Berkowitz noted that if everyone involved with a brand marketing team isn’t on top of large live events that may present opportunities to engage, “odds are you aren’t doing your job.” It was also noted the the mentality of the campaign is still far too ingrained in the minds of marketers. There is no beginning, middle and end any longer. While planning will always play a role — Berkowitz shared that his team had several “dry runs” in advance of the Super Bowl — brands have to be nimble and ready to act on a moments notice when an opportunity presents itself.

via Why All Brands Need to be Real-Time Marketers.

5 new developments in content marketing

Marketing, Your Brand 519 Responses »

Mar 122013

The most successful companies now understand that high-quality content draws people in, builds trust, drives traffic, mobilizes social media sharing, and results in sales. With more and more businesses jumping on the content bandwagon, there will be even more competition for audience attention. That means it’s more important than ever to make sure your content is useful, interesting, and engaging enough to draw readers in.

You must understand your audience. Go out of your way to learn their needs, desires, and frustrations. Once you know your target customer intimately, you will be able to craft content that stands out, gets attention, and has a long shelf life.

What it means for your business: Don’t just decide to ramp up your content marketing. To stay ahead of your competition, develop specific content marketing goals. By keeping a strategic focus, you’ll stay well ahead of those who are blindly jumping on the bandwagon.

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