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Repetition Works, Repetition Works, Repetition Works

posted on July 26, 2011

Put aside your Facebook page, your mobile apps and skywriting, it’s time to get back to basics. Casale recently released a report about the good old fashioned banner ad and though the results weren’t surprising, they do bear repeating. Repetition is good.

The study found a huge jump in response rate for ads shown five or more times.

The study also reinforces the concept of “above the fold” saying that those ads are seven times more effective than those that go below. People are lazy, they don’t scroll, but what about on a tablet where it’s as easy as swiping your hand? Will the “above the fold” rule still apply? Will it become even more important? Will we eliminate the “fold” altogether by designing pages that fit the screen size in the way an app does?

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Mobile Email and Purchasing: Perfect Togther

posted on July 26, 2011

Marketers are faced daily with a deluge of statistics and ‘proofs’ that whatever it is they chose to hitch their wagon to yesterday has now been replaced by something bigger, better and faster. It makes one wonder why anyone would want to be in online marketing if it always feels like you are a half-step behind the cool kids.

One thing that has stayed pretty consistent over time however is the power of e-mail marketing even with the continued proliferation of the mobile online world. According to research from ExactTarget (Warning: Research as PR alert level 5) email marketing drives purchases in the mobile space. eMarketer shared the data

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Should Traffic Ever Trump Taste?

posted on July 26, 2011

In the world of online reputation management there are a few times when the “Did they really do that?” quotient goes off the chart. Naturally, one of the most obvious times where this can happen involves a tragedy. This weekend’s passing of singer Amy Winehouse shows just how willing people and companies are to put taste to the side for the sake of sales and traffic.

The two culprits who were just fine initially with using the singer’s death to try to get something for themselves were Microsoft and the Huffington Post. First, the Microsoft version of how not to use the Internet in times of tragedy.

On Monday, after Winehouse’s death over the weekend, the Microsoft UK PR account posted the following tweet.

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ShareThis Ads FastShare Feature

posted on July 25, 2011

ShareThis, the social media sharing widget, just announced an upgrade that should help boost both your onsite time as well as your reach.

They call it FastShare and it really does make sharing any blog post or article faster than ever. The widget works along with OAuth to automatically authorize the accounts of repeat users.

The first time a person clicks through a ShareThis social media button, they’ll be asked to enter their email and password for the matching site (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) The next time they hit a ShareThis site, assuming they haven’t cleared their cookies, they’ll see a green checkmark on the pre-authorized site icon. If they have a green check, they can enter a comment and share without having to log in again.

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The Tablet, the Hockey Stick and the Future of Online Shopping

posted on July 25, 2011

First there was the traveling salesman, then the mail-order catalog. Then, TV shopping networks made it even easier to shop right from the comfort of your own home. When the internet came around, we thought that was the ultimate home shopping experience, but it’s about to go one better. Forrester’s new white paper says the tablet is going to be the next big thing in e-commerce, trumping even the much talked about mobile phone.

Though only 9% of web shoppers currently own tablets, Forrester expects to see a “hockey stick” develop for adoption stats over the next five years. A hockey stick. You know, a short, slight rise from the tip to the heel then a near vertical rise four times the size. (I assume that’s what they mean, someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.)

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Think Women and Tech Don’t Mix? Think Again

posted on July 25, 2011

Since the invention of the calculator watch, it’s always been noted that men are more comfortable with tech than women. Well, not anymore. New research for Women at NBCU shows that 75% of women disagree with that statement and they have the online presence to prove it.

The survey shows that on social networking sites, women have more brand friends and social friends. “They check their profiles four or more times each day and spend 3.3 hours online daily for non-work related activities.”

Other results include:

  • Proliferation of flash sales: 87% of women prefer a one-day deep discount to a moderate weeklong sale.
  • Privacy: An overwhelming 91% of respondents would give their email for a discount, 50% are willing to give their phone number, and 25% would share their GPS location.

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Google Think Quarterly Released

posted on July 25, 2011

The news is a tad slow today. The summer in search can be that way unless of course you are the mood to whine about every little thing that did or did not happen with Google+.

So we don’t have to figure out what to do next on our own, Google is “premiering” their periodical Think Quarterly.Here’s Google’s description of the ‘periodical’ from their blog

We use research, analysis and insights—from inside and outside Google—to inform our decision-making and our products. We’ve spoken to a lot of our partners about how to help them access the same insights and conversations that inform our strategies, and today we’re announcing a thought experiment for our clients called Think Quarterly. It’s intended to be a snapshot of what Google and other industry leaders are thinking about and inspired by today.