Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!
A recent report revealed that while budgets for digital marketing are expected to increase across many specific channels, including email marketing, SEO and mobile, one major component of digital marketing is decreasing and has in fact been falling steadily since 2010.
The report, a joint effort between Econsultancy and Responsys (full disclosure: the latter is my employer), highlights the findings of a survey conducted of more than 800 company and agency marketers.
When it comes to content marketing the prevailing thought among marketers is that the longer the content the less likely it will be used on a mobile device. The thought being that people will not engage with long form content marketing on a mobile device thus that type of content is best served on a PC.
Well based on the results of a recent joint campaign between Chevy and mobile media company Zumobi, marketers may want to rethink long form content marketing and its potential use on mobile devices.
Marketers and advertisers the world over are constantly trying to find the “next big thing.” The one thing that will allow them to stand out from the crowd. Back in the day of course it was TV, radio and direct mail or email for example. Then came the digital revolution and mobile marketing and social media marketing took center stage – and rightly so.
Today, it’s content marketing.
While all the aforementioned mediums remain and always will be key players in any integrated marketing communications campaign, clearly content marketing is the next big thing – at least for right now.
And a major tool in the content marketing arsenal may be one that many of you have heard of and visited, but perhaps have not used to date – SlideShare.
Failure. It’s a word no marketer, business owner, entrepreneur wants to hear, but it can be a valuable lesson. Earlier this year, I wrote about the one mistake retail brands make when it comes to Twitter: not engaging with customers on a regular basis.
That’s one big failure.
Alan E. Hall has seen many related mistakes during his 40+ years as a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist. Like most of us, he’s made his fair share of foolish business mistakes along the way. Some even caused the end of a venture.
He’s watched others make mistakes in their businesses as well, some very visible. Fortunately, Hall learned something powerful and vital from each mistake, no matter the outcome. Big lesson learned: Don’t make them again.
By now you’ve all heard the news I presume. The news from the United States Postal Service that they will stop delivering first class mail on Saturdays (packages will continue to be delivered six days a week) starting this August. Whether this means an increase in other channels such as email, mobile, radio, and so on, is obviously not known, yet.
Rest assured though marketers across the country, those who currently included direct mail as part of their integrated marketing strategy, are busy making plans for the switch.
At least they better for be for August will be here before they know it.
A little over a year ago I wrote a piece entitled Direct Mail: Alive And Kicking. In that article I touched on survey conducted by Target Marketing magazine, the channel that delivered the strongest ROI for customer acquisition for B2C marketers was direct mail. Direct mail also scored the highest among B2C marketers for customer contact and retention.
The Super Bowl is now two days removed but most assuredly it is still a topic of discussion among sports fans and marketers alike as we discuss the highs and the lows from the play on the field and off it on their mobile device, via social media and of course around the good old water cooler.
For the record I did predict the Ravens would beat the Niners in Super Bowl XLVII. I had the final score at 31-27 but hey, I was close enough. And no, I had no great insight, I just figured the Ravens would find a way to win, which they did.
So while the sports fan in me would love to write a piece about the game itself and specifically why I think the Ravens won, in this forum and in this context, the name of the game is branding and advertising. I’m sure each of you have your own personal favorites or perhaps you’re like me and were not “blown away” by any one particular spot
Before I get to the one brand I think both won AND lost in Super Bowl XLVII, let me not-so-gently remind everyone that in reality we don’t what spot won or lost and we won’t know for some time.
Why?
The word “transparency” has become quite popular over the last few years. It is most often used in the social media world and anything related to anything in the online space for that matter.
The need for brands, marketers – truthfully all of us, to be completely transparent is paramount in today’s world.
This past July I wrote an article A Transparent, Live Case Study Of A Company Going Social which told the story of a company called Domo, its CEO Josh James and his very forward-thinking ideas on the use of social media among his employees.So that’s one example of the use of the word “transparent.”
Back in 2010 I wrote a piece entitled About that whole transparency in social media thing…
The sordid tale of Lance Armstrong is unfolding right before our eyes across the web, social media and of course TV in addition to pretty much every other channel known to man.
Back in August of this year I wrote an article about Penn State and if their brand had received the death penalty. While obviously different on many fronts, there are some similarities between Penn State and Lance Armstrong when it comes to branding and there’s a lesson for all marketers and advertisers.
The opening two paragraphs of the aforementioned Penn State article fit like a glove when overlaid onto the Lance Armstrong saga:
Many moons ago I wrote an article entitled simply Are You Disruptive? In that piece I openly questioned if marketers or business owners, brands, etc., were in fact, disruptive. As I wrote then which is still very true today. I myself am “disruptive” by nature, disruptive not in the breaking mom’s china manner, but rather questioning the accepted norms. Or as Howard Jones would put it, “challenging preconceived ideas.”
I was reminded of my earlier piece while reading something from Forrester Analyst Corinne Munchbach. In a blog post she used the term “Embrace digital disruption.” Now she was using it in the context of something CMOs need to do in 2013 and she was in fact referring specifically to B2C CMOs but I absolutely believe it applies to ALL CMOs – B2C and B2B CMOs alike.
As we close out 2012, one topic that got a lot of “airtime” in 2012 will surely stay on top of many marketers minds as we enter 2013: Big Data.
The title of my article is a paraphrase of sorts as it comes directly from a study done by IDC which revealed, among other things that in “2012, 23% of the digital universe would be useful for Big Data if tagged and analyzed. However, currently only 3% of the potentially useful data is tagged, and even less is analyzed.”
The “even less” part comes out to less than 1%, 0.5% to be precise.