Get rid of the click as the de facto standard to measure the success of an online campaign. It’s outdated and doesn’t represent real success. So says Gian Fulgoni, chairman and co-founder of comScore, at the MediaPost OMMA Metrics & Measurement conference in San Francisco, Calif., Friday.

In the keynote, Fulgoni told attendees the Internet is far more successful in increasing sales. And it may be the most measurable medium, but not everything measurable matters.

So, what now? Fulgoni says advertisers and marketers need to forget the click, focus on the sales impact on campaigns and conduct post-buy analysis. They also need to realize that display ads help search advertising succeed and vice versa. Don’t forget the power of creative display ads. Online branding campaigns can be effective. Internet advertising has had an impact on retail that is on par with television.

Advertisers and marketers just want some type of metrics that show the online campaign reaches the demographics and promised target segments. Fulgoni says that in any new medium, it’s easy to make promises that exceed the ability of the technology. And to some degree, Internet advertising has done that. “One problem is, it’s too easy to exaggerate the promises and claims that can be delivered,” he says.

Fulgoni believes the industry has failed to eliminate the click as…(Read more)

Post by Property Centric.

When you’re looking to purchase, what mechanisms drive your opinion and finally form your decision? As media changes, so do the channels that we rely on for information and the weight we give to those channels.

Word-of-mouth has always been a major influencer, with friends and family topping the trusted list. But it is the advice from strangers with experience in what we’re seeking that has nearly doubled in value in the past 10 years.

Other influentials include teachers, religious leaders and then media such as newspapers, magazines, radio personalities, TV news reporters, followed by bloggers, advertising and finally, telemarketers (from eMarketer’s chart, “Trusted Sources of Information according to US Consumers, 1997 & 2007″). But a revolution is well under way: we now trust the opinions of strangers whose material we read or view online as much as our friends!

So when did strangers become such a heavy influencer of our decisions? The boom of social media has given us access to billions of ratings, reviews, videos, blogs and micro-blogs, from people we don’t personally know. This state of affairs has been referred to as the “democratization of influence to the masses.”  This is a serious call-to-action for all marketers. Social media is now key in our hierarchical decision-making processes and must be recognized as a tool to meet your audience on the new communication grounds.

So how do we come to trust Stranger X’s opinion more than Stranger Y and Z? What strangers have to say is obviously important, but perhaps as important is strangers’ ability to identify with us that makes the difference. As we look at avatars, read profiles, skim comments and blogs and view video clips, we look for clues that help us decide whether this is an opinion we’d trust. It might be abstract, but it’s the little things that influence whether we identify with that someone in one way or another.

It might be their work or life experience, notoriety, social life, family situation, appearance, personality or their style of communication that help form our “online” opinion of these strangers. As we gather those clues, we filter them through our own prisms of experience and knowledge. Does their opinion add up? Can we supplement our knowledge base with the views expressed by Stranger X? We’ll count or discount these influencing factors, and move onto the next review, comment, tweet, chat message, email or video until we’ve reached our own decision-making comfort level. And, we’ll add in a dash of traditional media opinion if applicable, and wrap it all up into our defendable decision.

You may be a little ahead or a little behind this curve, but the reality remains that the opinion of the masses is increasingly important in our lives. Its wise to join the conversation but don’t jump in without some preparation.  Transparency and good user experience are essential ingredients if your goal is successful viral marketing. Consumers want to know what makes your company tick, they want to see the faces behind the image and most importantly, they want a great product or service.

Post by Jennifer Gosse.

Movers in the rental realm are getting slammed with higher moving costs in 2008 and being advised to shop around and negotiate for extras. As much as apartment dwellers are encouraged to take advantage of move-in specials and amenities in rental communities, they are also pushing for incentives with professional movers, truck rentals and storage facilities, to name a few. It can be worthwhile to look past the big brands and consider some local alternatives. On the East Coast for example, Safeguard Self Storage boasts impressive package deals, modern facilities and high-end security to protect your belongings. Smaller brands like this accommodate local movers and those from afar, but sometimes you have to do an extra layer of digging to discover them. Niche local search engines like WeAreNetwork are a great way to find these gems of local establishments, because their content is more specific to a metro and its neighborhoods, rather than being more franchise and national based as the major engines typically are.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

With today in increasingly sketchy economic times, how could companies not be more likely to seek out better values in their marketing efforts? I might sound overly optimistic (to the point of possibly being laughed off the internet), but I am excited that marketers are going to have to get more resourceful and creative. Since marketing budgets in companies everywhere are plunging, it’s likely that business owners and executives will begin employing less expensive and more free methods for keeping their name on the map.

Small business owners can start by increasing their visibility with the free search listing tools available at Google’s Local Business Center and Yahoo’s Add a Business page. By ensuring their information is visible and fresh, they become more accessible, therefore increasing their rank and visibility in search results with every curious click. And how could any local business go wrong by making sure they appear in various local engines such as WeAreNetwork where you can add a free listing at any of their U.S. and Canadian city sites? TrueLocal offers a similar service.

While niche search companies are typically confident in their specialty and highly value their own services over others, they still know they are fresh on the scene and might have the flexibility to cut you better deals to join your campaign.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

Is it far-fetched to say that businesses offering products or services that are remotely connected to the Olympic games are missing out if they aren’t advertising online right now? I don’t think it’s a stretch because of people who behave like me. I was watching the table tennis competition and became so inspired, I searched for “ping pong tables” online. As I browsed some product sites, I wondered how many actual impulse transactions like this might actually have real follow-through during some of these events? I quickly came to my senses before reaching the “Add to cart” stage, but there could conceivably be others following a similar behavior patterns who actually do have the space and disposable income to buy what they want, when they want it. There is just something so motivating about the Olympics and the desire to relive that energy. The same could happen during a volleyball tournament or women’s fencing. Why not buy keywords or rich media that lets customers buy a gift card in one click and get a free volleyball with the purchase? How about capturing the thrill of fencing and advertising for fencing classes? Or a link to the private sports instructor’s website? Not everyone has an Adidas size budget to directly sponsor the Olympics but why not ride the coattails of $200 million campaigns with the same powerful concept on a smaller scale?

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

The social media hype continues and is enticing companies of every shape and size to dabble in creating new networks. To facilitate the craze, dozens of open source social networking platforms have launched. Jeremiah Owyyang’s blog lists over 60 brandable software platforms that can plug into your existing domain, allowing you to create your very own social network.  But does every company really need to have a social network?

In a Deloitte study of 100 businesses with online communities, Ed Moran found that 35% of these communities have less than 100 members and less than 25% have 1000 members. 6% of the businesses studied spent over $1 million on their social networks. Sadly, all too many fail at their attempts to connect customers to their brand because instead of focusing on the community itself, businesses are focusing on the value that social community could provide for their business.

Despite the failures, there are definitely industries that DO have ready-made communities with well-established brand alliance, and have a greater chance of building successful online communities. The multifamily is definitely well-positioned for this. Other verticals include: local television networks (daily news watchers), radio (listening audiences), niche local communities (customized hyperlocal search) and education (school districts, private schools, universities).

Most multifamily companies have a couple clear-cut missions in life (e.g. collecting rents and driving occupancy rates), but a newer mandate is to establish and promote your brand for a longer-term connection with an increasingly transient population.  Before signing a rental contract, an individual needs to identify with what that apartment provides – far deeper than price points, the rental market is now driven by amenities. “Lifestyle” is the buzzword for providing more than a roof over people’s heads. Now, apartment companies need to provide easy to use services ranging from online rent pay to pet sitting to VIP concierge services and customized local search while hosting real live community pool parties, golf instruction classes and more. While it may sound exhausting (and it is), apartment companies are finally optimizing their built-in community of residents and finding creative ways to connect the residents together, along with meaningful lifestyle amenities that cement the value of their brand, while gaining loyalty in the minds of renters.

Riverstone Residential, the nation’s third largest apartment management company, offers a moving program, Riverstone-to-Riverstone which helps transfer residents to another Riverstone community sans application process and deposit fees. Combined with their Living Made Easy features, including “Your Neighborhood Directory,” a local search engine launched in three metros, where users can find “just down the street” local businesses via a true search results format (e.g. not just Yellow Page data), residents benefit from buying into Riverstone’s “community” and the value it provides to their daily lives.

Morals of the story:

• If you don’t have a pre-existing community, don’t assume that you can create one (and don’t spend a lot of money trying to create one).
• If you do have a pre-existing community (and they already visit your website regularly), focus on the value that your social network will provide to your users.

Post by David Gosse.

A major distinction between online search advertising and traditional advertising is that an online searcher is looking for choices and recommendations while a television user may not be. Both users are bombarded with offers, though the online user is more likely to accept irrelevant offers as a self-inflicted experience they simply expect to endure. This is an age where digital recording services are coming standard with cable services after all. Ignoring a television commercial is as easy as flipping to the next page in a magazine. 

Some may argue this contrast alone elevates a viewer’s intolerance and increases their likelihood of flipping off the tube. They can easily switch to the laptop instead or often simultaneously. But whether they turn it off or keep it on, consumers are likely to follow up what interests them on TV with research or shopping online. Events like the Super Bowl pull in a tremendous amount of pre-kickoff and post kickoff searching. Recently Bob Parsons, CEO and Founder of GoDaddy.com delivered a keynote address at AIM 2008 (Apartment Internet Marketing Conference) in April about how he catapulted his business from small to world leader in domain names and web hosting by reinforcing Go Daddy commercials with online branding and direct marketing. The point is that people are advertising online more than ever, whether it’s to reinforce more traditional campaigns (or not).  Either is good for search sites that offer relevant content and either is good for the actual advertiser.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

Do you ever log into an online community, see an ad and think, “Nice try but no cigar” and go about your business? I don’t think I’m alone in feeling superior these days to some of the irrelevant online advertising attempts that I’m hit with daily. For example, Myspace thinks they’re going to “reel me in” with giant electric blue hyperlinks to buy “Frank Lloyd Wright Gifts” just because this world famous architect is listed in my interests? I might read about his work and appreciate his style, but I doubt I will ever be shopping online to get all my friends an FLW keychain. I suppose if I cared to be more liberal in exposing my personal likes and dislikes, the ads generated for me might make more sense?
 
In a recent Online Media Daily Commentary entry called Shopping 3.0 In A Web 2.0 World by Gordon Gould, a refreshing concept is posed, “The question should be: how can consumers discover products (or brands/companies) that fit their unique tastes? And not how can data be used to tell consumers what products they want/need?” Facebook, though not super discreet in some ways, practices this concept well with a small rotating ad space within a permanent left panel of their site navigation.

Once logged in from the ad-free homepage you are greeted by a newsfeed of your friend’s recent activity, complete with icons and descriptions. Occasionally I’ll become consumed by the sometimes enticing feeds and perhaps click one. After all friends share interests, right? But in the more traditional sense of plain ‘ol ads, the permanent ads in the left panel are almost always more relevant to me than the marketing from other online communities.

Today I experienced an ad offering a photo booth rental. Perfect for someone with quirky tastes and who cites their status as being engaged in their profile, right? Well, let’s just say my fingers did the clicking and I was on their site and having a phone conversation about their services within minutes. Even though I’d been suckered, I didn’t care. I was too busy imagining how cool it would be to have a photo booth at my reception. 

How do they know my quirky tastes you ask? Well for one, they know which feeds interest me and then they proceed to track my activity. But even if an individual barely utilizes them or ever at all, enough of your online friends are likely to use them and likely have similar tastes which are also linked to your profile. Secondly, the groups you join and other movement within the site tell even more about you.

So it’s all about the clues the user leaves behind and how intelligently a site uses those clues to market to a specific user. The trick is not to bombard the user but rather provide a sense of ease in finding unique new products and services.

Post by Stephanie Santoro.

Search engines help your audience find you but they can also be a top way to manage your brand’s reputation. MediaPost’s Search Insider rated paid search as the third most important reputation management tool in a list of 17 tips.

Other tips include: establish your company as an expert and write relevant content for your own site or other blogs and create a blog on your own domain. Remember, anything you put on a web server can become search content someday (without proper use of robots.txt files), so be careful with what you post online and to your web servers. Again, remember the impact that search results have on shaping people’s opinions.

Gone are the days when your About Us page could be a one-page campaign for your good name. Today, you’ve got to diversify your coverage online and include reputation management as an ongoing marketing task. It takes a bit of effort, but positioning your brand or yourself online in a positive way can become one of your greatest assets.

Post by David Gosse.