Marketing Pilgrim

It’s been a little more than a month since I purchased my first iPhone and I did purely because of the fantastic list of applications available. Now comes one that mixes my love of the iPhone with my internet marketing needs: the Google Analytics App.

When I’m on the road, the Analytics App is the perfect way to check in on the Google Analytics of all my web sites, and is worth every penny of the $5.99 purchase price.

Just in case you don’t want to give up the cost of a McDonalds Value Meal today, Michael Jensen (the guy behind Analytics App) has offered up 4 free copies of the iPhone application! Yay for free stuff!

Over at Frank Thinking, contributing Pilgrim Frank Reed shares a study that reveals just why it’s so hard to get small businesses to break their local newspaper/yellow pages advertising habit.

Why? Because they’re still using the darn things!

While 82% of consumers turn to the search engines when finding a local business, only 69% of small business owners do the same.

Even though a staggering 44% of small businesses don’t yet have a web site–with 78% of them spending 5% or less on internet advertising–there is some hope that small business owners are (finally) waking up to the web.

Over the past two years, 43% of small businesses say they have increased use of search engines in their marketing efforts. In contrast, use of traditional small business advertising mediums is on the decline:

Vegas should forget the Super Bowl or March Madness, the real action is betting on what Twitter will pick for its revenue model.

Forbes lays down its wager by pointing out the vast amount of data that passes through the micro-blogging service each day.

Twitter is developing a range of analytics and metrics products and services built around the information contained in "tweets," the e-mail and text messages that pass through its platform. "We can measure the tweets," Twitter’s Kevin Thau says. "We’re trying to figure out what are the appropriate metrics around engagement and how to convey those."

There’s certainly a possibility that businesses might have an interest in the aggregated data that comes from Twitter’s stream of consciousness, but with free data already floating around the web (e.g. Google Trends) will companies really open their wallets and pay for it?

As I was sitting down to a nice comfortable night at home I was alerted via Twitter about a change in the Terms of Service (TOS) at Facebook that could be pretty significant. Since I am not totally aware of the protocol for referencing tweets as sources, I will simply give you the whole deal here so the right people can get their Twitter props:

@Mack Collier: RT @jeremymeyers: RT @NealWiser: Facebook Now OWNS Your Content? http://bit.ly/lEobm Please Re-Tweet (via @perrybelcher)

The source of all of this concern is an article on The Consumerist site. It appears that Facebook has changed its terms to imply that they own your content on your Facebook page in perpetuity whether you have your account open or not. While many of us are not too concerned about that fact because of the nature of the content we put on Facebook there may be some that whose hearts skip a beat or two with this knowledge.

We love to talk about the successes of online video. The viral nature of a good campaign can mean significant impact to the bottom line of a company. Just ask Blendtec. Most are familiar with the “Will it Blend” video phenomenon that still has legs after almost 2 years. To a lesser degree, big brands like Dove and Levis had had success getting their brands in front of folks in ways that couldn’t happened just a few short years ago.

So viral video works. The question is how often and to what degree? Take the example Trident gum. Trident is remembered mostly for one of the most successful tag lines in advertising by claiming that 4 out of 5 dentists prefer Trident sugarless gum for patients who chew gum. There have even been some funny TV ads speculating what happened to the 5th dentist. Good stuff because it sticks (to your brain not your dental work). Apparently this magic touch has not translated to the world of viral internet video as explained in the WSJ.

We’re so grateful to have so many great advertisers on Marketing Pilgrim. Please consider showing your appreciation by visiting their websites below.

SES New York – the original search marketing conference returns to New York with a great line-up of speakers.

Text Link Brokers – increase your traffic and search engine rankings.

WPromote – offers a wide range of professional search engine marketing services.

NetPartner – join NetPartner’s affiliate marketing network and get you hands on some great gifts!

Sponsored Reviews – bloggers earn cash for reviewing products and services. Advertisers build buzz and links for your web site.

Vertical Leap – offers search engine optimisation and PPC management services.

PRWeb – the next time you send a press release, try PRWeb–it’s the newswire I personally use.