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Archive for the ‘Digital Marketing’ CategoryRecord High for U.S. Internet MarketingMonday, June 14th, 2010  Yet more indication that the internet is the future for much of our marketing spend: in the first quarter of 2010, internet advertising revenues in the United States reached $5.9 billion, a 7.5% year-on-year increase. The new figures, from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, show the highest ever first-quarter revenue levels for the online media industry, indicating that interactive advertising campaigns continue to prove their value and effectiveness – or at the very least their measurability. These figures seem to tie in with recent Bellwether Report statistics, showing that UK digital budgets were revised upwards in the first quarter of 2010 for the third quarter in succession, with digital the fastest growing of all advertising mediums. Meanwhile, eMarketer has revised upward to 10.8% (from 5.5% in December) its forecast for US internet advertising spend this year compared with 2009. It predicts that internet ad spending will total $25.1 billion in 2010, after declining 3.4% last year. In more specific terms, search spending is expected to increase 15.7%, banner ad spending 8.2%, and video spending a massive 48.1%. Digital Marketing on the RiseTuesday, April 6th, 2010 A new report, published this week by Outsell, predicts that spending on digital advertising and marketing will this year, for the first time ever, overtake print advertising and marketing spend. According to the ‘Marketing and Ad Spending Study 2010: Total US and B2B Advertising’, which is based on an online survey of more than 1,000 U.S. marketers, $111.5 billion will be spent on print (which includes both direct mail and newspaper/magazine advertising), and a whopping $119.6 billion on digital strategies. Overall advertising and marketing spend in the United States is expected to increase by 1.2% this year to $368 billion. Meanwhile, total business-to-business advertising/marketing spend will grow 0.75% to reach $129 billion. It is expected that most of this growth will be in the ‘interactive’ area, which is predicted to see a rise of 9.2% to $51.5 billion. More Marketing in 2010Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 
Everybody knows that 2009 was a tough year, with marketing budgets in particular feeling the strain. Yet things are looking more promising for 2010 already – and on both sides of the Atlantic! A survey conducted at the end of 2010 in the United States showed good news for marketers after a year in which 60% of b-to-b marketers slashed their budgets. BtoB’s “2010 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans” report, based on an online survey of 376 B2B marketers, found that although almost half plan to maintain their existing budgets, nearly 40% will increase spending in 2010. Just 13% will be reducing their marketing spend this year. As with last year, online marketing – including website development, e-mail marketing, search, social media, online video and webcasts – looks set to see the biggest boosts. This medium is widely acknowledged as being both cost-effective and measurable. Spending on innovative direct marketing and customer events both look set to rise also. More about this report can be found here. Meanwhile, in the UK, the latest IPA/BDO Bellwether report indicates that optimism and confidence are growing. In spite of the report showing a ninth consecutive quarter of declining marketing spend, the rate of decline is clearly slowing. Spend is down only 7% compared to 15% in the previous quarter. Indeed, marketing budgets for 2010 have been set higher than those in 2009 and, with 35% of businesses surveyed seeing improved prospects, companies are the most optimistic they have been for the past five years. As with the trends seen in the US, online advertising budgets were revised upwards for the second quarter running while direct marketing budgets have also increased (by 2.2%) for the first time since 2007. Why not read our white paper, Marketing Strategies in a Recession? Thank Crunchie it’s FridayFriday, October 23rd, 2009 
Caroline Harrison this week takes a look at a current promotional campaign which gives us all another reason to be glad today is Friday. It’s one of the top challenges for marketers: how do we drive more traffic to our website? There are many different search engine optimisation and search engine marketing tactics we can employ to help us in our quest, but we shouldn’t necessarily forget some of the good old fashioned basics: aside from creating an informative and user-friendly website, we can try to make the site – or a feature/section within it – different and unique, make it engaging or interactive, offer website-only deals and special promotions…basically give people a reason to visit in the first place and to return. Of course, increased traffic to your website doesn’t automatically translate into increased sales. There is, however, clearly some correlation. More visitors give you more chances to showcase your services and, with it, more opportunities to turn those visitors into brand advocates and loyal customers. I read in the marketing press recently (further note to marketers: don’t forget to generate a PR buzz around a quirky website feature or promotion) about a ‘freebie’ being offered by Cadbury at its Crunchie chocolate bar website, www.getthatfridayfeeling.com. (Why is it that my Thursday Night Insights always seem to be about Cadbury’s chocolate??) In its latest digital campaign for this brand, Cadbury is, for a limited time, giving away a free Crunchie to the first 500 visitors to register on the site each Friday. Now, for those international readers of this blog who aren’t so familiar with a Crunchie, the brand has been associated with a ‘Friday Feeling’ advertising concept, encapsulated by the well-known strapline ‘Thank Crunchie, it’s Friday!’, since the mid 1980s. I remember when Cadbury first introduced this strapline. Somehow it just struck a chord – certainly with my peers in the school playground, many of whom, in retrospect, would have been avid guzzlers of this chocolate bar and among Cadbury’s prime target markets. Even today, many years on from the start of the campaign, I regularly see ‘Facebook friends’ – all now in their 30s – update their ‘status’ at the end of the working week with those immortal words ‘Thank Crunchie it’s Friday!’. Friday is, after all, the day to treat yourself…What the heck, it’s nearly the weekend – I’ll have fish and chips for lunch, a Chinese takeaway for dinner, let’s open another bottle of wine, give me that chocolate bar… So, do sales of Crunchie rise significantly on a Friday? Does a sizable proportion of the UK’s population effectively promote the brand by word of mouth one day a week? If so, I guess you could call it a pretty successful campaign. But, let’s face it; Cadbury won’t want sales to suffer the other six days out of every seven. By encouraging us all to ‘Get That Friday Feeling Every Day’, Cadbury is trying to associate its brand with feeling good, enjoying life, treating ourselves. Why should we only feel happy as we’re leaving work or finishing school on a Friday? Life’s too short to be miserable the rest of the week! This latest campaign centred around getthatfridayfeeling.com might not be groundbreaking as such, but it’s still pretty inventive and a clever way to encourage people to go to the site. Giving away 500 Crunchies a week for 6 weeks won’t exactly break the bank for Cadbury, but there are bound to be far more than 500 website visitors trying to get their hands on a free chocolate bar. Why, with 500 available every Friday, it certainly seems within the realms of possibility that you or I could be munching away on a free Crunchie soon. Even if you’re not one of the lucky ones, it’s still brought the brand to front of mind. If you haven’t had a Crunchie for some time, it could just whet your appetite for one. Next time you’re in the chocolate aisle at the supermarket, Crunchie might just get the nod ahead of your usual preferred snack. This wasn’t my planned Thursday Night Insight for this week, but seeing as the promotion finishes next Friday (30 October), I thought you might appreciate the tip. I’m afraid this offer is only available to UK residents, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any tasty global freebies. How To Get Customers To Spend MoreWednesday, May 6th, 2009
An interesting article appeared recently on AdAge.com. Apparently the major U.S. pizza chains now do around 20% to 30% of their business online, but are keen to make that figure climb a lot higher. While this story clearly relates to consumer markets and may not have any obvious relevance to b-to-b organizations, the reasons why these pizza chains are so keen to improve and increase their online transactions are of potential interest to companies across the board. The online customers of the major pizza chains spend more and are more satisfied than non-online customers. Those who order their food online are also more likely to take advantage of special promotions used to drive interest in new products. As an added bonus, serving online customers is more efficient for each individual store. Pizza Hut expects to do $1 billion in online sales by the end of 2012, which would be an immense increase from $100 million in May 2007. Domino’s, meanwhile, claims that its average online buyer spends $2 more than its customers who order by phone or in person. According to Google’s director of local and B-to-B markets, the major pizza chains have all been quick to take advantage of shifting spending from traditional media to banner ads and search engine optimization. They are also constantly looking for ways to help their customers place their orders more quickly – whether they are first-time users setting up an account or return visitors wishing to repeat a past order. So, while you may not be looking to sell pizzas, their experiences may give you some food for thought. |
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