Marketing

What Hollywood gets wrong about Facebook marketing

Jan 092013

Some Hollywood executives are questioning the value of Facebook ads and fan pages, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The report says film execs “confide privately they are considering cutting their spending on Facebook ads,” though everyone on the record said the social network was still one of a number of important channels to drive awareness about upcoming films. The article suggests that studios, like companies in other industries, are skeptical of the returns on paying for Likes, especially as News Feed changes limit the organic reach of page posts.

But with the way most studios approach Facebook ads, it’s no wonder why they would think the cost is too high and the results aren’t there. That doesn’t mean Facebook is an ineffective channel; it means Hollywood isn’t using it in the best way for its business. Movie marketers are emphasizing Likes at the wrong point in the funnel, and they’re not using the right ad formats for their goals.

Facebook’s head of entertainment measurement Fred Leach told the LA Times that 99 percent of all films released in the past year advertised on the social network. Yet, when was the last time you saw a sponsored movie trailer in your desktop or mobile News Feed? Most people would say “never” because studios typically run ads in the Facebook sidebar — the unit with the lowest clickthrough rates and highest costs per click. Few studios, if any, are taking advantage of the more prominent placement directly in the feed. Not only are users more likely to click and engage with these ads, the branding is more significant even at an impression level. For Hollywood, which likes to wrap buses and buildings with promotional material and take over web homepages, it’s a surprise the News Feed isn’t regularly swamped with movie marketing.

Instead, studios often run marketplace ads with a small image, body copy and a Like button. First of all, it’s odd to ask users to Like a movie before they’ve seen it. Similar to many advertisers in other industries, studios are leading with Like campaigns when awareness and content marketing make more sense. For studios’ other online advertising, trailer views are typically the most important KPI, but often on Facebook they inexplicably run Like ads rather than video ads.

MORE: What Hollywood gets wrong about Facebook marketing.

3 steps to improve marketing productivity

Marketing 322 Responses »

Jan 082013

By leveraging marketing analytics, SMBs can visualize which campaigns are working and which ones are not. This helps SMBs allocate resources to the campaign activities with the highest payoffs. Below are three steps for how your SMB can turn marketing data into valuable information to improve campaign productivity and support better decision making in 2013.

Embrace the marketing analytics concept as a new way of doing business

The average SMB owner does not have a lot of time to investigate, evaluate, or pilot new marketing initiatives. She is starved for time and focused squarely on her business. In many cases, that business faces a fine line between success and failure, and marketing is a key factor in which side of the line the business lands. Outside of personnel, the average SMB’s largest investment is in marketing. And yet, the SMB owner is overwhelmed by the number of online marketing tools and their return-on-investment claims.

MORE: 3 steps to improve marketing productivity – iMediaConnection.com.

How to balance traditional, online, and social media

Marketing, Your Brand 279 Responses »

Jan 042013

In the past, marketing teams placed media “buys” in a limited number of traditional channels, such as broadcast or print ads. These channels acted largely independently. Measurements were straightforward, typically in the form of reach and audience. Social and mobile media are different in every respect. The new engagement channels are deeply inter-dependent, and their performance linked tightly to each other. This phenomenon has a name — its called media convergence.

Consider this data point. By 2013 lead management campaigns across four or more digital channels are expected to outperform single- or dual-channel campaigns by 300 percent. Thats because of the way customers use social and mobile media.

Yet CMOS are struggling. One study conducted by SapientNitro revealed that 82 percent surveyed believe improving marketing coordination across traditional, online, and social channels is moderately or extremely challenging. And the number one obstacle cited to digital marketing growth was lack of a single, cross-channel digital marketing platform.

Heres why. Customer behavior is extremely nimble across this landscape and buyers are influenced — and influence others — in buying decisions and brand loyalty as they move in and out of various websites, social platforms, and mobile media. For example, 83 percent of consumers globally are likely to visit a website recommended by a friend on Facebook, and more than half say comments posted on retailers Facebook and Twitter pages, whether positive or negative, also influence their opinions

MORE: How to balance traditional, online, and social media – iMediaConnection.com.

How Facebook’s latest monetization efforts may take shape in 2013

Internet News, Marketing 92 Responses »

Jan 032013

After eight years focused on user growth and building the foundations of its platform — News Feed, location and Open Graph, among others — Facebook went into 2012 prepared to go public and become more serious about monetization.

The social network launched several new ad types and began a number of other potential money-making ventures. Here’s a look at Facebook’s monetization efforts last year and how they might evolve in 2013.

News Feed/Mobile Ads

News Feed ads, starting with Sponsored Stories, launched in January. These same ad types came to the mobile feed in March, and over time, the social network began allowing page post units and other non-social ads. Mobile app installs came to the feed in August. Facebook previously allowed feed-based ads in 2007 but it had never shown ads on mobile devices until this year. Now, the social network is earning $4 million a day from News Feed ads, with three-fourths of that from the mobile feed.

MORE: How Facebook’s latest monetization efforts may take shape in 2013.

Getting advice and investment for your startup

Marketing, Your Brand 434 Responses »

Jan 032013

Tanya Combrinck talks to North-East-based venture capitalist Jonathan Gold about what UK technology startups need to know when looking for advice and raising capital

This article first appeared in the January 2012 issue (#223) of .net magazine – the world’s best-selling magazine for web designers and developers.

.net: What does a new business need to do to appeal to you as investor?

JG: It’s about communication and having a clear vision of what your business is, not what the product is. A common mistake technology companies make is that they spend too long telling us about how wonderful the product is, but they forget that investors don’t want the product, they want a piece of the business, and all too often that’s what’s missing. So people need to have a better understanding of how the finances of the business are going to work.

The cliché is that venture capitalists are looking for a great innovative product and an investable team, so people forget about decisions such as where to rent offices, or whether to buy or lease a piece of equipment. All those decisions have a financial consequence, and those things are commonly left out.

MORE: Getting advice and investment for your startup | Interview | .net magazine.

Facebook: Five things to watch for in 2013

Internet News, Marketing 332 Responses »

Dec 202012

While 2013 might see another big acquisition — a run at Yelp or Pinterest, say, or some hot startup that suddenly has too much traction for Zuckerberg to ignore — thats not the path the company is on. Instead, itll keep scooping up smaller companies. And given all the changes that occurred in 2012 — a range of new ad products, the rollout of Facebook Gifts, closing the Instagram deal, and, oh, that big IPO that helped set the we-need-to-make money mindset — much of what happens next year seems somewhat predictable. Here are five things to look for:

MORE: Facebook: Five things to watch for in 2013 | Internet & Media – CNET News.

Google Sends Holiday Package

Agency News, Marketing 512 Responses »

Nov 202012

Check out this impressive Google Engage starter pack we received for the holidays. It’s got a nice business card holder, a stack of postage-paid postcards, and a stack of cards for $100 worth of adwords advertising.

So, we’ve got some good deals for you on internet ads for the holidays – give us a call.

Pinterest For Business Launched

Internet News, Marketing 389 Responses »

Nov 192012

One of the hottest and fastest-growing social networks ” Pinterest” has started a business Pinterest which allows business and brands to use Pinterest for online brand building and marketing.

A growing number of brands has started embracing Pinterest , and it’s no surprise that a growing number of brands are making the image-centric service a part of their social media strategy.

But up until now, their activities on Pinterest have technically been in violation of the service’s rules, which forbade commercial usage.

The official rules of engagement changed yesterday, however, as Pinterest officially launched Pinterest for Business.

via Pinterest For Business Launched | Online Marketing Trends.

Google Unveils Half-Page Unit For AdSense

Internet News, Marketing 393 Responses »

Nov 192012

Google has unveiled the so-called “half-page” 300×600 unit for AdSense, claiming that one of the top requests from publishers in the last year has been for larger ad sizes in AdSense accounts.To put it in perspective, see the above graphic. The half-page is that tawny-colored box in the center, offering as close to a full-screen takeover as a display ad can.

via Google Unveils Half-Page Unit For AdSense – MarketingVOX.

Why Facebook “likes” are useless to brands

Internet News, Marketing, Your Brand 424 Responses »

Oct 032012

So has being “liked” become just a popularity contest for brands? Consider that while Crest has 182,912 “likes,” Slim Jim has 1,066,138 “likes.” Does that mean that Slim Jim has five times more sales than Crest? Not even close, as Slim Jim has approximately $200 million U.S. sales vs. Crest’s $400 million U.S. sales. Does it mean that Slim Jim has spent more resources to have more “likes” than Crest? Probably. Why would a brand do this? Because it is the “in” thing to do.

For those of us who are old enough to remember, in the late ’90s the “in” thing for every brand was to rush to build a website. Large amounts were spent out of marketing budgets for this “strategy.” Then once these sites were built, featuring a brand’s history, maybe a static coupon, a recipe or two, and some other features that quickly became dated, brands realized that a website without constantly updated information had no stickiness and thus became a non-factor for consumers. The technology to change content didn’t come for years, so brands sat with these big, beautiful, static websites that drew little traffic and did virtually nothing to drive sales.

Back in high school, the most popular kids did not automatically make the football team, score the highest on the ACT, or graduate at the top of the class just because of their popularity. Kids (popular and unpopular) achieved those accomplishments by working harder than the others.

Brands should think the same way. To put forth resources to solely be “liked” is not the best strategy. Is it more important to be “liked” or to generate sales?

MORE: Why Facebook “likes” are useless to brands – iMediaConnection.com.

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