Analytics / Reporting : Growth in Video and Non Video Rich Media Impressions

Adding videos to your online campaign can be an option to improve marketing results. Here are a couple of points to include & optimize Online Video advertising

• Online is an unparalleled branding tool and provides levels of engagement.

• Video Growth has outpaced Rich Media Growth by 60% in the last three & half years

• You can track how many videos are interacted with, played only half way through or full, all these metrics reported in Real Time

• Video Out performs in the News, Sports, Music and Finance sections and lags in social networks and games environment

• Roll-Over user initiated video performed best, followed by auto-initiated video; click user-initiated performed worst (note : media owners will have their specific interaction requirement)

• An increase of video length by 5 seconds reduces Video Fully Played rate by 2.8%, on average

• Weekdays from 9am to 5pm is users’ preferred time to watch in-banner and floating video ads – It’s Prime Time at the office

• Weekend engagement with video is vastly different than engagement during weekdays – distributed across 9am-10pm

• Media team can set to serve out video ads only during the ‘active’ time and sustain with flash banners to better stretch media cost and improve engagement metric

Listening / Research 2.0 : Trends in Digital Marketing

1. FACEBOOK REPLACES EMAIL

It is a phenomenon that facebook may be the default email platform between friends. It is permission based, no spam and no address book. While brands are not included in the conversation, they can be part of, or hosts of, the party.

Opportunities in social media marketing seem boundless; the best do not seek to disrupt conversations but to integrate – to add something useful and compelling.

(ZED APPLICATION – rethink iMAIL!)

2. OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE MAKES MONEY IN THE CLOUD

It becomes possible for big ideas, with cutting-edge online experiences, to be developed. Ideas can be ‘beta’ tested with limited investment without costly fat-piped environments. Even developers can test on modules that won’t disrupt core application work.

(ZED APPLICATION – work with Howie to develop a way to gather consumer data without paying costly research funds)

3. MOBILE COMMERCE – A PROMISE YET TO DELIVER

The game changer is the iPhone/iTunes platform. In-app purchases tempt users to buy upgrades and updates, while iTunes holds their credit card information. All is handled seamlessly enough to promote impulse purchases. It would seem an easy task to extend to other platforms with PayPal or Google Checkout.

Mobile commerce has the power to drive ‘paid’ models. Brands can test subscription models, including micro payment systems, which have potential for news/magazine media. If the experience is good enough, people will pay for what’s on offer.

(ZED APPLICATION – can we develop an iPhone app for one client. Eg eTicketing for WRS with loyalty programme)

4. FEWER REGISTRATIONS – ONE SIGN-IN FITS ALL

Brands must alter policies dictating what they require from people regarding information and measurement. By embracing OpenID/Facebook Connect-type registration, brands will see a lift in traffic and conversion.

(ZED APPLICATION – work with our client’s backend to facilitate this process. We might just see a lift in their sales!)

5. DISRUPTION VERSUS CONTINUITY – ALTERNATIVES TO THE ‘BIG IDEA’

As social networks grow, businesses are investing in community building as a market driver. According to Deloitte’s recent Tribalization of Business study, 94% of businesses will continue or increase their investment in social media and, for the majority, their marketing function will drive this investment. As shown by the release of ‘free floating’ social tools like Google Wave and Sidewiki, there is also a shift towards social activity integrated into networks, rather than concentrated within discrete platforms. While advertising seeks to distinguish itself by disruptive ‘big ideas’, the emphasis is shifting toward persuasion – fitting organically into the consumer’s social sphere.

(ZED APPLICATION – Creating social groups within Facebook may run out of steam. Brands need to rethink their social media strategy)

Blog Outreach / Viral Seeding : Drive Traffic to Blogs

How many of you have wondered questions like “How did the top bloggers build up their readership base?” etc.

I googled the world wide web recently and found some interesting articles on this. Though most pointers mentioned may seemed very much logical, these are pointers that were often neglected by bloggers within the blog-sphere. And with these pointers neglected, it might result in their lessen opportunities for advertising.

Some examples are (extracted from the article):

1)       Submit to search engines regularly, especially when you blog is very new. Once in a couple of months is a good time to submit your blog to search engines. If you are publishing a blog, submit to blog search engines as well.

2)       Allow readers more than one way to keep in touch. Twitter, Facebook, Technorati are good examples that millions of readers use to track authors. Subscribing to feeds is another non-intrusive way to connect with your readers

3)       Be consistent on your subject. You may have decided to create niche content or publish general content. But if readers want to keep coming back is because they find you as an expert or someone with good sincere opinion on the subject. If you have too much variety, like you talk to movies & physics in the same blog, you are trying to become a small mediocre news magazine

Read more here: http://www.promediablog.com/15-easy-ways-to-build-traffic-to-a-new-blog-or-new-website-tips-for-new-bloggers/

• There are many factors that client’s consider before deciding which blog they would tie up with, for their campaigns.

• Besides looking at the relevance of a blog content, clients often tend to consider site traffic of the blog site as well.

• Should a blogger be able to up and maintain his/her blog traffic (i.e. popular blogs), their blog sites will definitely be within the client’s visibility.

• One very successful blogger whom uses most of the pointers mentioned is Leonny. Read more on her blog on: http://www.oureverydaythings.com/

Virtual World : Real life, virtual world

A new start up is shaking up the realm of virtual worlds (or the 3D internet as more and more in the know seem to be calling them). Micazook, a UK company claim to have built a complete 3D replica of planet Earth that they say makes Google Earth pail into insignificance.

It’s been done using a variety of sources such as openstreetmap.org .

So far, inner city areas are in full detail, but the further out of cities you go in the world, the more 3D shells you will find. The idea to fill in the blanks is to employ the crowd. Users who come on to the platform can roll up their sleeves and do the work for the world! The benefit for anyone who does that is that they become moderators of their own section of the world.

Eventually, users in the world will be able to buy and sell property, and this is where Micazook hope to make their money – by imposing a 30% tax on any transactions within the world!

• Just as in Second Life, there will be opportunities for brads to place digital ads. But, the difference is that this will be an exact replica of the real world, so like it or not, our clients will have property within it – which could be ‘owned’ by anyone! Even by their competition.

• In all probability, this venture will probably fail. It relies massively on gaining enough interested participants building the world to make it viable, and it seems that the rewards for building a business for Micazook are scant. However, it does seem inevitable that at some point, the likes of Google Earth and Street View could become a fully fledged real world / virtual world. Until this happens, the implications for advertisers are low.

Youth/Trends : Phone Casting

What is Phonecasting?

Also known as phlogging or phone-blogging, involves the ability to use your mobile phone to broadcast directly to the internet live.

Phonecasters use the phone as a microphone unlike podcasters, who typically use a microphone and other recording software to create their programming. Recording software is not required, only a phonecasting service or application is needed to allow users to dial a number and record.

Phonecasting.com is an online social network that provides services such as podcasting, phonecasting, mobile and video content along with simple tools for people to publish their content to the net podcasting community. Phonecasting’s patent pending phone number assignment service allows people to assign their podcast a phone number allowing listeners to hear the latest podcast from any mobile phone.

There are also services provided for corporate clients. Services include a content delivery network that offers ingestion, trans-coding, archiving, hosting, distribution, vanity phone numbers and unlimited RSS channels. Publishers are then able to share, sell and monetize podcasts, music, photos and video clips.

In short, Phonecasting.com allows people to:

• Listen to and create podcasts from the net
• Create and listen to Phonecasts from anywhere in the world via any phone
• Monetize your media through premium billing channels
• Generate revenue through show sponsorship
• Create professional shows with the ‘PhoneCasting Studio’
• Blog / Chat with your friends
• Create online communities
• Upload, share and monetize your photos and video clips

Do U know?

Third Party advertising

-          Ads appearing on the website are delivered to users by Phonecasting.com’s web advertising partners

-          Cookies can be embedded so tracking can be done and it allows an ad network to deliver targeted advertisements to specific target audiences.

Some extra features

Also able to share text news with rest of Phonecasting.com community and the rest of the world through the Phonecasting Global News component

• The ability for corporate clients to share their content with the rest of the network will create higher consideration of brand for target audience with the availability of more useful information.
• Also, there is engagement when audience actively seek out these phonecasts and spend time listening to the information
• Lastly, if audience were to share the following info with their friends and family should it be useful, it will be part of advocacy from the target audience.