INSIGHT blogArchive: September 2008

Archive for September, 2008

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E-mail Marketing Tips

29
September
2008

As e-mail marketing becomes an increasingly popular channel to target consumers, marketers should follow certain best practices.

Ryan Moss
Media Coordinator

According to a survey done by the Direct Marketing Association in 2008, 79.1% of marketers surveyed use e-mail as a marketing tactic. As this survey shows e-mail is a popular strategy among marketers. In order to have a successful e-mail marketing program there are several best practices that every marketer needs to know. Earlier this month I attended an e-mail marketing best practices conference, below are some important tips that were discussed.

  • In order to be can-spam compliant, make sure every e-mail has an opt-out/unsubscribe link and lists your company’s address listed.
  • When reviewing your analytics remember that there is no standard industry benchmark and it is better to compare results internally and develop realistic goals
  • Use alt tags with every image, in case the recipient doesn’t view the image
  • An e-mail is only classified as "opened" if images are viewed or a link is clicked

To have a successful e-mail marketing program, it is important to stay up to date on best practices, industry recommendations and the can-spam law. Below are a couple resources that can help your program.

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The Growth of Online Video Advertisements

24
September
2008

While banner ads are dying, video ads are growing.

Stefanie Berliant
Media Coordinator

Currently, studies are proving that online display ads are ineffective while other forms of online advertisements, such as video ads, are showing great promise. Most online users watch short-form videos, such as news clips, but as the growth of online long-form videos (TV episodes, Web-only shows, full-length movies, etc.) continues, it will create a vacuum for ad inventory space. The growth of online video advertising depends on the audience, the inventory and the content. There needs to be enough people to watch the ads, enough space to encourage marketers to buy the ads, and trusted, professional-quality video content.

According to MarketingSherpa, video ads, which receive a 49.5% response rate, are highly efficient and require minimal effort. Video ads allow advertisers to deliver more information about a product or service to a targeted audience, thus easing the conversion funnel from ignorance to purchase.

A report from eMarketer shows that in 2008, 66.8% of all Internet users have viewed some form of video advertising (in-stream, in-banner or in-text) at least once a month. They predict that this percentage will increase to 80.6% in 2012. eMarketer also projects that the number of people who view an online video ad will be 183.3 million in 2013, a large rise from the 129.5 million in 2008.  The US online video ad spend in 2008 is $505 million and is expected to be $1,150 billion in 2013.  eMarketer also estimates that while only 2% of total Internet ad spend will go to video in 2008, that share will be nearly 9.8% by the end of 2013.

According to a Bain and Company study, video ads generate more revenues. They found that while video CPM rates are approximately $43, or about three times higher than the $15 average CPM for display ads, companies can experience a 1.39% to 5.83% increase in direct sales for video ads than display ads. A recent study from The Diffusion Group estimates CPM rates will rise gradually through 2013.

DoubleClick conducted research that found that large sized, in-page video ads got a higher click through rate (.12%) versus non-video ads (.09%).  Also, large sized, in-page video units got higher interaction rate (2.45%) than the non-video ads (1.30%).  Additionally, expanding video units received higher expansion rates and times (2.18% and 9.37 seconds) than the non-video ads (1.85% and 6.63 seconds). Furthermore, in-page video ads had the highest video complete rate at 55%.

If publishers and ad networks want to capitalize on the profit that can be made form online video advertising, they need to offer more video content which can support more video ad inventory.

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Hard Times for Online Display Ads

23
September
2008

Display ads have fallen on hard times. The graphic ads that border a Web page are among the slowest-growing formats in the online-ad marketplace, and they are seen by many marketers as stodgy and ineffective.

George Assimakopoulos
Principal Manager

By the time consumers search for a product or service, they’ve often already made up their minds to buy it. Display ads are often an important factor in their reaching that conclusion. However, part of the reason display has fallen out of favor is that it’s been hard to prove that the ads work. Skeptics point to low click-through rates – a fraction of a percent (at best) – and scientists have coined the term "banner blindness" to refer to the way Web surfers ignore display ads.

According to Emily Steel of The Wall Street Journal, Nielsen Online reported in mid-September a 6% year-over-year decrease in display advertising during the first half of 2008, including a 27% decline in spending by financial-services companies. Meanwhile, spending on so-called rich-media ads increased 60% overall in the first half of the year, and overall online ad spending – including search-ad dollars – increased 11% during the first half of the year, Nielsen says.

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Facebook Expands Scope of their Buzzworthy Tool, Lexicon

22
September
2008

Facebook releases its new version of Lexicon, which will now track personal, recreational and political sentiments.

Christine Pepin
Media Coordinator

With Facebook’s release of its updated version of Lexicon, users are now able to gauge more than just the popularity of certain words and topics.  Since its release in April, this tool has only allowed users to view how many times a word or phrase appears on profiles, walls or event groups.  The updated Lexicon will now feature the following:

  • Trends between users from different genders and ages
  • Maps displaying where topics are being discussed within the US, Great Britain and Canada
  • Word and phrase associations to other topics over a period of time
  • Total unique users mentioning a topic and posting about it
  • Comparison of topics based on emotional appeal and overall user sentiment of a particular topic
  • List of keywords mentioned most often in profiles

Today, users can view these features in a sample format with only 17 terms including: Obama, McCain, soccer, football, baseball, dancing, basketball, politics, hip hop, techno, hockey, jazz, volleyball, republicans, democrats, Palin and Bidden.  Although the interface may change when Facebook creates the platform for individualized searches, this new version appears user-friendly with a variety of charts and graphs. 

The sample version of Lexicon focuses heavily on political words and topics, providing campaigners with additional marketing insight to the younger demographic segment that Facebook serves.  This information may be extremely valuable in the final months of the campaign and for each political party’s positioning strategies.  Users can now stay more in tuned with what their peers are discussing and fulfill their curiosity of other’s political and recreational sentiments.  

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MoMA selects EyeTraffic Media as their strategic advisor for interactive marketing planning and program management

19
September
2008

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City has selected EyeTraffic Media to assist them with strategic planning, testing, and managing long term interactive marketing programs that will generate awareness for the museum events, exhibits, and educational programs. ‘We are thrilled to have this opportunity to support MoMA’ says Principal Manager George Assimakopoulos.  [...]

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City has selected EyeTraffic Media to assist them with strategic planning, testing, and managing long term interactive marketing programs that will generate awareness for the museum events, exhibits, and educational programs.

‘We are thrilled to have this opportunity to support MoMA’ says Principal Manager George Assimakopoulos.  ‘During the the next several months, we will introduce MoMA to various digital media tactics that will engage audiences everywhere to learn more about the museum – and the spectacular exhibits it hosts.’

In addition to serving as the interactive marketing strategic advisor to MoMA, EyeTraffic Media will also work closely with the museum’s retail store www.MoMAStore.org to optimize a paid search engine marketing program that will yield higher conversions to sales at a lower cost per acquisition.

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