Marketing Pilgrim

In retail, the sales goal is the sword by which you live or die and with online sales eating into the holiday profits, it’s going to be a tough balancing act for many a store manager. Next year, though, things will be a little better for the manager at your local Walmart.

Starting on February 1, Walmart stores will be given credit for online sales that originate in their area. AdAge says this is just one part of a huge push to make the retail chain a contender in the online marketplace.

Earlier this year, Walmart switched their Facebook page so it presents results at the local level. They’re also experimenting with a variety of shipping options, including ship-to-store. This option allows consumers to shop online, knowing that when they hit the store for pick-up, they’ll likely buy more items before they leave.

The electronics department of Santa’s workshop will be putting in extra hours this year as more kids are adding tech items to their holiday wish list. What’s number one? It’s not a video game player, it’s an iPad.

According to a new survey by Nielsen, 44% of kids 6 to 12 years old are interested in owning an iPad, and iPod Touch came in next at 30% and 27% want at iPhone.

Here’s how the tech items stack up:

All things considered, video game consoles are pretty low on the list, which is a good indicator of where we’re headed. Why own a player that can only handle one brand of game, when you can own a device that allows you to play multiple games, including Facebook games and connect with friends while you do it?

OK SEO’s we need your help. We knew this day was coming and now it’s here.

Yahoo’s Site Explorer is closed as of today with this clinical sounding post from the Yahoo search blog:

With the completion of algorithmic transition to Bing, Yahoo! Search has merged Site Explorer into Bing Webmaster Tools. Webmasters should now be using the Bing Webmaster Tools to ensure that their websites continue to get high quality organic search traffic from Bing and Yahoo!. Site Explorer services will not be available from November 21, 2011.

So the question now becomes “What will be your “go to” source for link information?” What engines out there will still help your efforts? What are your favorite third party tools to get this work done? Had you already pushed Site Explorer to the wayside?

We often talk in general terms about the impact of mobile on marketing in very broad terms. That’s important and has its place but in order to really understand the impact of mobile you have to look at its reach in individual areas of people’s lives. If you can find where there is a higher than usual density of mobile phone use (beyond the usual 35-40% of all mobile phones are smartphones stat generally accepted today) you may be on to something.

Pat Coyle of Coyle Media LLC, a sports marketing consultancy, has conducted research with some 3,000 fans about smartphone use and put together a pretty cool infographic. The comparison between leagues, types of phones preferred and which social networks are the home of which types of users makes for interesting reading and thought for marketers looking to make their mark in mobile.

As for me? I am an Android user (for now) and a fan of ABN (anything but the NBA). What about you?

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This is part 2 of a series of posts from Chris Lorence, the CMO of the Independent Community Bankers of America. Chris is working to get a very traditional group to “buy in” to social media and we are letting you in on the process he is going through. His first post introduced us to the battle he faced just getting his members’ attention. Today we see how Chris helps the uninitiated see the social media light.

This series is part of our ongoing effort here at Marketing Pilgrim to show the real world of social media rather than just the industry hype and drivel. Let us know what you think or even what you would like to see in the future.

One aspect of the current mobile revolution is that it costs money to be mobile and to be truly active on mobile devices. From the cost of the device to the cost of monthly data plans there are many people that will not have access to the mobile web much like the concerns that were in place regarding the Internet in general during its early years.

Of course, certain groups like high finance types have no problem here. It’s this kind of clientele, in fact, that has allowed one traditional publisher, The Financial Times, to see significant increase in mobile access of their content. They produced an infographic to make this point and it is a testament to the impact of mobile on those products where price is not an issue.

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