February 2007 Monthly Newsletter :: Anduro Marketing
2007 Internet Marketing Trends Signal Opportunity
According to leading market research and advisory company, Outsell, Inc., the online landscape is changing, with new opportunities for marketers, beyond what we now view as the status quo: "Companies like Google and Yahoo! might appear set to dominate for decades—but their positions are not guaranteed. Efforts in vertical search, new ad models, social search, user aggregation, and hyper-personalized results point to future change." Understanding the latest online marketing trends can help position your company for success in 2007.
Consumer Generated Media (CGM) and Word-of-Mouth Provide Retail Power
Recent research conducted by market research firm Compete, Inc. indicates that consumer generated content (that found in blogs, social networking sites, etc.) is even more powerful at persuading potential customers than brand advertising. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Research Blog provides telling statistics that help put the topic of how social media influences Internet users into perspective. In a recent blog post, the WOMMA Research Blog stated that according to the research marketing firm Compete, Inc. Spark! study: ! "71% of car and travel consumers are influenced by CGM, and just 35% of those same consumers say they are influenced by brands."
The WOMMA Research Blog also relates research from DoubleClick, discussing how new media can help create discussions and affect decision making by influencers. Creating, encouraging, and managing online conversations about your brand can help you build brand loyalty and trust with your customers. Illustrating the tendency of Internet users to value their relationships in their online communities, the 2007 USC-Annenberg Digital Future Project states: "Online communities are online havens for interaction among members; 70.4 percent of online community members say they sometimes or always interact with other members of their community while logged in." The Digital Future Project mentions a! nother important fact: "Growing percentages of Internet users are going online to post information, whether on a blog, posting photos, or maintaining a personal Web site."
Since Internet users greatly value the opinions of others in their online communities, it will be important going forward to take this fact into consideration. Your customers are already talking about your brand online. By guiding discussions about your brand within popular social media outlets and creating new discussions on your corporate blog, you can engage today's Internet users who wish to communicate with you. The additional advantage you will receive from your blog is the opportunity to include key phrase rich text and links back to your site, which will help build your search positions.
The CEO need not be the only one who blogs. All staff members should be encouraged to blog, and through their unique viewpoints they can help promote your brand. Setting up a corporate blogging policy which sets general parameters is a good idea, then let the creativity of your staff take over. For example, if you sell ice cream, have each staff member blog about their favorite flavors and invite user feedback to generate conversations about your products.
Online Video Advertising Spending Will Grow in 2007
Maria Mandel from Ogilvy Interactive, in Search Engine Watch's article "Online Video Advertising Builds Momentum" said: "50% of Ogilvy's clients are producing online video this year." "In many cases, Ogilvy's clients are even starting to produce web-only video and creating content specifically to show up online bypassing TV altogether." The trend is that more Internet users are viewing video online, and marketers are discovering that they need to treat online video as a whole new medium, not just a replay of what they show on TV. The key to making the best use of video content online will be to research what resonates with your target audience, and creating and placing the video content online where they will! be able to interact with it. One way to include video content where it will be seen by your target audience is in an effective "old tech" marketing vehicle, the e-newsletter.
Don't Forget "Old Tech": Email is Still the Most Popular Online Activity
Even though social media marketing is gaining popularity, it is important to note that email remains the main activity performed by Internet users. According to the October 5, 2006 Pew Internet Project article "Riding the Waves of Web 2.0" in this age of social networking, email is still the #1 online activity: "Fully 53% of adult internet users sent or read email on a typical day in December 2005 – a figure virtually unchanged since 2000 when 52% of online adults emailed on a typical day. That’s more than instant messaging, blogging and online shopping—combined." A well planned email marketing campaign can help you reach your customers and prospects with targeted messages about your products and services. An e-newsletter is also a cost-effective way to maintain and build customer relationships, and can be the perfect spot to link to your blog and invite readers to view video and other content on your site.
For more information on any of the products available from Anduro Marketing, contact us at info@anduro.com or (403) 410-3803.
Partners
