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MyBlogLog Reacts to Boycott, Reinstates Shoemoney

posted on February 24, 2007

UPDATE: Eric at MyBlogLog has posted about as close as you get to an apology to Shoemoney and reinstated his profile. Clearly the number of bloggers revolting against MBL caused the team to re-think their action. I’m happy to see Shoemoney back on MBL and, in response, will add back to Marketing Pilgrim the code that allows you to see your image on comments. I’m also logging back into MBL, so you’ll see my face popping up on your blog again. :-)

I still think MBL has some work to do to improve the service, but at least they’re working on it. My advice, create an advisory board of bloggers – not just the influential ones – and get their input on everything from tracking to features, to flaws. Anyway, nice move Eric.

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4 Comments

Radio Ads Enhance Internet Ads

posted on February 24, 2007

The Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab has released a study on the effectiveness of Internet ads. “Are they confused?” you ask yourself. No, no: it’s the effectiveness of Internet and radio ads. Specifically, it’s how memorable these repeated ads are.

The “Radio and the Internet: Powerful Complements for Advertisers” study (Executive Summary) found that:

Recall of advertising is dramatically enhanced (27 percent versus 6 percent) when a mix of Radio and Internet ads is used compared to website ads alone.

Overall, the study found that an effective radio+Internet ad (compared to two Internet ads) can influence visitors to:

  • better recall information
  • visit the site
  • increase the likelihood of buying from that site
  • increase the likelihood of describing the brand as one which they like or love

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9 Comments

Is Your Site StumbleUponAble?

posted on February 24, 2007

StumbleUpon is one of my favorite ways to browse the web, though I have to admit that I haven’t used it much lately. As the number of users nears 2 million, lots of Internet marketers are thinking about the best way to take advantage of the traffic.

After all, StumbleUpon offers a steady stream of qualified, interested visitors—if your content is good enough. If your content gets the “thumbs up,” it will be shown to more stumblers. If it gets “thumbs down” or no votes at all, it will be shown to stumblers with decreasing frequency.

How can you be sure your site is really ready for StumbleUpon?

StumbleUpon’s paid inclusion program FAQ gives a few guidelines:

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Reputation Monitoring Firm Cymfony Acquired?

posted on February 24, 2007

paidContent is reporting social media monitoring company Cymfony has been acquired by UK-based research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres.

No details on the value of the deal – paidContent estimates double digits based on Cymfony’s $24m raised in VC – and we don’t have any official word yet.

Without knowing much about either company, I’d guess this is a smart move for TNS, and a poor decision by Cymfony. We’re only just starting to see companies wake up to the concept that they need to monitor and engage social media, so Cymfony likely sold way too early. Then again, Cymfony may have gotten triple digits and smiling all the way to the bank!

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On the Road for Two Weeks

posted on February 23, 2007

As you may recall, I’ll be speaking at Australia’s Search Summit next Thursday and Friday. That means I’ll be heading to LA on Sunday and then flying to Sydney on Monday. With the time difference and speaking, my blog posting will be light next week.

But wait, it gets better. After Sydney, I’m heading to Tahiti for a vacation and NO BLOGGING! Yikes!

But don’t panic, we’ve got you covered!

Regular contributor Jordan McCollum has my super secret list of RSS feeds and she’ll be checking the latest news, filtering out the junk, and providing you with the Marketing Pilgrim point of view. In addition, Jeremy Luebke will continue his awesome posting, and Ben Wills has even threatened to come out of retirement, to throw in his 2 cents.

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Welcome New Pilgrim Partner – 3FN.Marketing

posted on February 23, 2007

We’re delighted to announce the addition of 3FN.Marketing as a sponsor and Pilgrim Partner.

If you’re an advertiser, 3FN offers a wide range of PPC services.

If you’re a publisher, 3FN’s AdBlocks work similarly to AdWords and pay up to 80% revenue share.

If you’re interested in advertising on Marketing Pilgrim, view our advertising info.

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10 Comments

New SEM Scholarship Contest Coming in March

posted on February 23, 2007

I wanted to give you advance notice that we’ll be running a new Search Engine Marketing Scholarship contest at the end of March. I’ve listened to a lot of feedback, and addressed two common suggestions:

  1. The next contest will be judged over a longer timeframe. This will allow entrants to apply many SEM talents, such as link building, and will ensure the winner wasn’t necessarily the one who managed to get a spike of traffic in a few days.
  2. You asked for advance notice, so here it is. Sometime mid-March, I’ll make the official call for entries. I’ll give a two week entry period, so you’ll have plenty of time to digest any rule changes or formulate your strategy. With this post, regular readers are getting even further advance notice. ;-)