Jane Wamsley
Behavioral Targeting, Branding, Ratings & Reviews, Reputation Management, blog
Do you remember when you read your first blog? I do. It was about five and half years ago when a co-worker recommended I check out this “really funny” blog that chronicled the life of a then twenty-something guy living in the Big Apple. I won’t reveal the blog here, because it’s slightly NSFW (that’s blog speak for “Not Suitable For Work”). But the recommendation turned out to be a good one, because it’s a blog that I still read regularly.
Did I know what a blog was back then? I think I had a general idea. But I remember recommending the aforementioned blog to friends and some of them being a little confused by the concept. It seems strange to think about now, but blogging really didn’t become the phenomenon it is today until the turn of the century. While journalists and writers began experimenting with “web logs” in the mid to late nineties, blogging really took off after Pyra Labs launched the free blogging service Blogger (which is now owned by Google) in August 1999 (Peter Merholz first coined the term “blog” in early 1999, when there were 23 known blogs in existence).
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25Jan
LeAnn Hoksch
Behavioral Targeting, Google, SERP, Search News
If you’re anything like me, you probably have a personal log-in for multiple websites, including online retail stores, a personal bank account, maybe a news source and, of course, social sites. If you are an observant Web searcher, you may have noticed that, while logged in, these sites display advertising or recommendations based on your recent purchases or information supplied in your profiles.
For example, if you’re a Netflix subscriber, the site will make future rental recommendations based on the previous movies you rented. The same tactics are used on social sites such as Facebook, which often shows ads it feels are relevant to your interests. Even YouTube logs a record of the videos you view, and it will remember these during your next visit to make suggestions.
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08Dec
John Albers
Behavioral Targeting, Mobile
Do you remember your first cell phone? Do you remember when the main purpose of the phone was to communicate with others? I do, and, compared to the phones available today and the services they offer, mine was an antique.
Cell phone usage is increasing, and people are expecting more out of them. People want to be able to communicate and get information at any time and anywhere. Businesses realize this and are planning accordingly. Read the full article…
12Nov
Nicholas Grohne
Behavioral Targeting, Google, Ratings & Reviews, Social Media, Social Networking, facebook, online marketing
Google and Facebook are rarely looked at as competitors at first glance. When you think of Google’s top competitor, Yahoo comes to mind. Likewise, Facebook’s top competitor is often thought to be MySpace. However a change has begun, and Facebook is prepared to go toe-to-toe with the search giant for a battle of all that is online.
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29Jun
Jamie LeRoy
Behavioral Targeting, Branding, IYP, Local
In a recent study released by YPA & comScore, local search grew 58% in 2008, whereas overall searches only increased by 21% year-over-year. This is great for businesses working towards targeting consumers in their geo as well as national brands trying to target consumers on a local level. Online has long been touted as not very “brand” friendly because consumers that do go online to perform a search (especially on Internet Yellow Pages or Local Search Sites) often don’t have a brand in mind but just want the best and most relevent solution. Brands still hold a place online, but local search is definitely finding the consumers that are at the end of the purchase funnel – the “ready-to-buy” consumers.
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01May
Jamie LeRoy
Behavioral Targeting, Personalization, SEO, Social Media, Social Networking, Usability/Design, online marketing
I came across an article today that was refreshingly honest. There is a lot of great advice out there on how to get your consumers to pay attention to your site, click on certain links, how to create “calls to action” that speak to the consumer, but the first thing that any marketer needs to know before they start out with this great advise is, what does the conumser want?
Aaron Kahlow writes about this in, “Understanding Human Behavior to Drive Marketing Decisions” and advises marketers to Listen to their consumers. It can be really easy to get wrapped up in how to make your site look sharper, provide content that draws in the consumer, but because the Web goes both ways, users may feel like they’re not in control and lose patience because you’re trying to oversell your product/services.
To combat this, one suggestion is to employ usability testing on your site. This way you can really listen to the consumer and see how they percieve what you already have, see what you need to change, or add in anything that may be missing from the user experience.
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05Feb
Scott Phillips
Behavioral Targeting, Personalization, Search News, Social Media, Social Networking
The old adage goes, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This is advice Facebook has taken in stride with the launch of their new market research database program Engagement Ads.
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02Feb
