Digital Shopping

As we learned in class, more purchases than ever will be made online this holiday season. Free shipping, shipping discounts or pick-up options are key attributes consumers look for when deciding where to shop. Additionally, mobile will be used to research products 38% of the time, and 21% of the time people will actually buy the products on their mobile devices.

It seems as though to stay competitive during the holiday season, retailers will need to ensure their websites are mobile optimized -- or they may miss out on 40% of potential customers. Additionally, offering shipping discounts will be critical to maintaining a healthy level of customer sales.

http://www.bsminfo.com/doc/almost-half-of-all-holiday-shopping-will-be-digital-0001

Coordinating TV & Smartphone AD Campaigns

A new study by Salesforce indicates that coordinating the timing between traditional TV marketing and digital marketing campaigns creates more value than running each campaign independently. Twitter was the digital marketing channel used in this study, however, the results could have implications for how all digital marketing channels should coordinate their campaigns.

Given the significant and continued growth in the number of people using a second screen (smartphone, tablet) while watching TV, the market for TV & digital campaign synchronization seems largely untapped. Brands should strongly consider a coordination tactic, and online advertising channels should invest more resources to ensure they have such capabilities.

Vincent Verdeschi

Tsū: A new trend in social media marketing

Currently Facebook is the leader in social media marketing given its strong and active user base, however, Tsu may be upsetting the balance. Tsu's unique ad model is based on splitting ad revenue with users (content creators).

Tsu's model motivates the production of original content and incentivizes its users to invite more members to the community. Given the success that advertisers have on this platform in terms of engaging content creation, it seems as though other social media sites may benefit from adopting this ad model. As the popularity of user generated content grows, it seems likely that Facebook/Instagram/Twitter sites need to evolve their ad-models to inspire continuous publication of content.

http://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/news/social-media-marketing-has-a-new-competitor-drawing-action-from-facebook/

Vincent Verdeschi

Data & Digital Marketing

Data is growing increasingly important in terms of being able to connect marketers to consumers. Yahoo is a company that recognizes this importance as it acquires digital marketing analytics firms and social media platforms such as Tumblr. These acquisitions seem are an attempt for Yahoo to understand their consumers and ideally sell ad space at a premium competitive with Google.

As the digital marketing space continues to expand, it will be critical for internet-based companies to invest in data-driven technologies. Purchasing ad-space will be more compelling to marketers if they know it can reach their desired customer segment.


http://focustaiwan.tw/news/ast/201511100021.aspx

Email Marketing Trends

Email marketing is a cost-effective digital marketing tactic that has the potential to influence purchasing decisions for a large audience. Unfortunately for digital marketers, spam filters are reducing the proportion of marketing messages that actually end up reaching consumers (even when they opted in to receive the email!).  Latest data indicates that only 79% of marketing emails reached their intended consumer (down from 83% last year).

It's an interesting trend that could have long-term impact if it continues. As spam filter algorithms become increasingly sophisticated, marketers will need to fully understand these algorithms to ensure their message is received by the intended recipients. If this trend continues, perhaps there will be an increasing shift towards text-based marketing...maybe even using the free messaging software of WhatsApp, Groupme, etc.

Source Article: http://www.netimperative.com/2015/10/email-marketing-inbox-placement-drops-4/

The end of rented set-top boxes?

As the number of customers using subscription based services over traditional set-top box shift, so does the importance of digital marketing. The FCC (along with the major subscription providers Netflix, Hulu, Amazon) may be pushing for a "new, national consumer-friendly standard that will allow consumers to choose their own video box".

Today a consumer cannot purchase their own box without renting it from a major cable TV provider, an arguably archaic practice. If the FCC passes the new regulations consumers could essentially pick & choose both subscription services and pay-TV services -- further customizing the TV experience to the consumer. This could have large implications for the digital advertising field, as a hybrid cable-top box may allow for more demographic-specific customization of marketing messages for traditional pay-TV.

source: http://adage.com/article/media/google-break-cable-s-grip-set-top-boxes/300617/

The challenges of picking the right SEO firm

The high ROI of search engine optimization makes it a highly desirable digital marketing tactic -- however, with hundreds of SEO firms out there how do we select the right one? Below are some tips to consider:

• Look for companies with SEO copy-writing specialists
• Ask how the SEO firm will determine target keywords (inquire about their research program)
• Don't trust firms who promise quick results -- restricted search techniques can get you banned from a search engine
• Ensure they have a google places strategy that differs from their SEO strategy

Ultimately picking the right SEO is an important process; long term strategies should be weighted more heavily than quick "guarantee 1st search result on google" strategies.

References:

http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2267471/how-much-should-you-spend-on-seo-services

http://www.tributemedia.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-seo-company-what-questions-to-ask-them