Majority of BtoB Marketers to Launch New Ad Campaigns in 2009

Published
by
Eric Dudley
on December 30, 2008
in Online Marketing
. 0 Comments
This month BtoB Magazine conducted a survey that found more than 6 out of 10 business-to-business marketers are planning to launch new ad campaigns next year.  Despite the current recession, it’s refreshing that sophisticated B2B marketers realize that they still need to invest in marketing.  Research shows that companies which continue to invest in marketing during tough economic times are significantly stronger on the back end. 

 Majority of BtoB Marketers to Launch New Ad Campaigns in 2009

If you’re a B2B marketer, are you planning on launching a new ad campaign in ‘09?

Online Sales Channel Outlook for B2B Marketers Strong

Published
by
Eric Dudley
on December 30, 2008
in Lead Generation, Online Marketing and Search Marketing
. 0 Comments

Traditional marketing channel use for B2B marketers is projected to be off, while the online sales channel is expected to increase according to a recent study from Hearst Electronics Group and Goldstein Group Communications. Interestinly, online was the onlysales channel more respondents said they would use in 2011 than in 2008.  Websites and search engines were said to be the best sources of leads, showing that the trackable nature of the online channel is increasingly valuable to marketers.  Online Sales Channel Outlook for B2B Marketers Strong

Our B2B marketers continue to re-evaluate sales channels and are shifting budgets to what’s measurable and showing return on investment.  It’s no surprise to me that more dollars are expected to shift online, are you?

Google’s New Search Wiki Promotes Search Results

Published
by
Eric Dudley
on December 22, 2008
in Online Marketing and Social Media
. 0 Comments

When logged in, Google allows users to adjust their organic search results by using ‘Promote’ and ‘Remove’ buttons next to the results.  Although Google SearchWiki will have no impact on traditional page rankings and will only be visible to the specific user making the changes, users will be able to use the “See all notes for this SearchWiki” link to see what other users have re-ordered, removed, or added.  This now becomes a useful tool to share your page preferences with others.

In this example, I’ve promoted the most relevant Internet Marketing Agency, WebsiteBiz of course… :-)

Googles New Search Wiki Promotes Search Results

Are You Tracking New Keyword Search Trends?

Published
by
Eric Dudley
on December 15, 2008
in Customer Acquisition, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, Paid Search, SEO and Search Marketing
. 0 Comments

Trends in search marketing are changing as market demands change and new consumers enter the space to use the medium.  It is important to be able to these research trends and track them relative to our campaigns so as trends emerge, we as marketers can leverage them.

Among other subscription tools, Google’s free Insights for Search tracks keyword trends over time, giving marketers the advantage of knowing what people are searching at any given time.  Marketers can leverage this information to improve the effectiveness of their search marketing campaigns.

Take a look at this example comparing searches for Ford, Honda and Toyota throughout 2007 and 2008. 

Are You Tracking New Keyword Search Trends?

The graph below shows searches for Honda peaking around June of 2008, probably in part due to the brand’s perceived fuel efficiency during a time of record gas prices.

Also noteworthy is the ability to compare keywords geographically.  Using this chart, you can see that the highest concentration of Honda searches comes our state of North Carolina.

Are You Tracking New Keyword Search Trends?

The reasons for the different trends can be speculated based on keyword intent, however the results can be extremely helpful to online marketers.  Using this fee tool you can quickly better understand search queries relative to others and geographical interest.  Our clients rely on us to generate strong return on marketing investment; we leverage research tools like this to help.  Bookmark this site for free keyword research trends:  www.google.com/insights/search/ 

Connecting Social Media with Facebook Connect

Published
by
Kyle Bumgardner
on December 15, 2008
in Social Media
. 0 Comments

Facebook Connect is a new application of the Facebook Platform which allows users to seamlessly integrate their Facebook data into their own site. Users are able to connect their Facebook profile with any partner website. This gives your website a new level of dynamic social context because you are able to link your Facebook friends and publish information back into the News Feeds on Facebook.

Facebook Connect further socializes and integrates the Web as facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerburg points out at the F8 Conference this year.

Connecting Social Media with Facebook Connect

So, What’s the big deal?  For marketers, the launch of Facebook Connect, and other Open identity programs from Google friend Connect and MySpaceID, marks an advancement in social advertising.

By applying a small piece of code, Facebook Connect enables seamless integration with the Facebook platform.  For example, a visitor would login to a “connected” blog with their Facebook ID, which would  enable their profile to appear on the blog and link commenting back into their Facebook activity feed.

As more sites integrate with Facebook Connect and other services, advertisers will be able to have broader ad-targeting capabilities.  While other ad platforms provide behavioral and demographic targeting, none of them provide a self-service solution that can be managed and controlled in a similar to Google Adwords

Current Facebook partners include Amiando, CBS.com, CitySearch, CNET, CollegeHumor, Disney-ABC, Evite, Flock, Hulu, Kongregate, Loopt, Plaxo, Radar, Red Bull, Seesmic, Socialthing!, StumbleUpon, The Insider, Twitter, Uber, Vimeo and Xobni.

For more information, Check out Facebook developers demonstrating how to add facebook connect to your blog in 8 minutes.