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Twitter Gives A Peak Under the Mobile Nest

Written on September 3, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing

Twitter has made some strides to get the mobile experience working better as of late. They have been very successful in this area which is critical since the geo-location movement promises to make mobile even more important in the not so distant future.

Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, gave some telling stats on the Twitter blog

Mobile users have jumped 62% since mid-April

16% of all new users to Twitter now start on mobile (it was 5% before Twitter started doing branded mobile clients)

46% of active users use some sort of mobile Twitter experience

78% of people who interact with Twitter still do so through twitter.com — though that number includes people who use more than one app

m.twitter.com is the second most-used Twitter interface at 14%

SMS and Twitter for iPhone are tied at 8%

Here is a chart showing the most used ways to access Twitter. One thing I will note that while the post started out concentrating on mobile numbers it becomes less and less clear which numbers are about overall Twitter usage and which are about Twitter use overall (at least for me that is).

Of note as well, there are now more than 145 million registered Twitter users that use some 300,000 registered applications to get the most from the service. Remember the days of being excited about hitting 20 million users? Those are getting smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror for sure.

Twitter keeps rolling along but there was no talk about making money. That might ruin the mood of the celebration.

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Twitter Gives A Peak Under the Mobile Nest

Is There Any Room in Retail for the Small Business?

Written on September 2, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: Advertising, book, marketing

At least once a week, my husband laments the loss of a mom & pop record store we had near our home. They carried mostly used albums and rock and roll memorabilia and a visit there was like hunting for treasure on the beach. If we go to eBay, we can find all those same albums and more but it simply isn’t the same as flipping through stacks of worn cardboard and finding a gem you didn’t even know existed.

It’s a sad fact that the small business is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. comScore is reporting that small business is down 5.6% over last year with those dollars going to the big box retailers we drive by every day. Usually we blame it on the economy, but the big boys are seeing a rise in profits, so why aren’t the mom and pop stores seeing it, too?

The National Federation of Small Businesses (NFIB) says that a poor economy forces prices down and small retailers simply can’t afford to take the same cuts as a Walmart or Target. The Gap can put a 50% off deal on Groupon but what’s a pet shop owner in Sheboygan to do?

Since small businesses can’t compete on price point, they need to compete in other ways such as service and community. Cake companies that create one of a kind masterpieces stand head and shoulders over anything you can buy at Costco. I have a clothing store that I return to again and again because the staff there takes the time to help me put together a look and they’re honest about what works and doesn’t. Try getting that kind of service at Walmart.

Creating a sense of community is also important for the small business. Sponsoring a local sports team, donating to local charities, participating in community fairs and events all help sway customers your way. We have a small chocolate shop that offers free candy making classes for kids once a month. The kids may burn through a few dollars in supplies but while they wait, moms consume coffee and snacks at full price.

When it comes to advertising, social media is the great leveler. Twitter and Facebook are virtually free to use and small companies don’t have to worry about jumping through legal hoops before making a statement online. Now that everyone is going “local” with Foursquare and Facebook Places, it’s the perfect time for small businesses to step up and get customers.

Do you have a favorite small business that is no more? Tell us about it.

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Is There Any Room in Retail for the Small Business?

How To Use Social Media Monitoring Tools For Outreach Marketing

Written on September 2, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: Object, marketing

Social media is all about engagement. Because of this, it is the perfect tool for outreach marketing efforts. Outreach marketing is the practice of seeking out individuals or organizations that have a shared interest in what you or your company has to offer. Sometimes, it is used in conjunction with direct sales, but often times [...]



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How To Use Social Media Monitoring Tools For Outreach Marketing

Win a Free Pass to MN Blogger Conference

Written on September 2, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing, seo

TopRank Online Marketing is proud to be a founding sponsor of the first Minnesota Blogger Conference. Tickets for this event “sold out” within a few hours and there are over 100 people on the waiting list. Thanks to conference founders Melissa Berggren, Arik Hanson,  Suzi Magill and Katie Schutrop, it’s already one hot event.

The date is Saturday, Sept 11 (the day I fly to Hong Kong) and the location is at CoCo MSP in Saint Paul.  Topics to be presented range from “how to blog” to “how to get your blog published as a book” to “how to make money with a blog” to “blog analytics” to a “business blogging panel” that will include Adam Singer from TopRank Marketing.

If you’d like to attend this networking rich and information packed event, you can’t.  It’s sold out!

However, what you can do is win a free pass from TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog.

All you have to do is:

• Write a blog post explaining the most important thing you’ve learned from blogging yourself
• Or if you don’t blog yet, one thing you’d like to learn
• Why you should get to attend the MN Blogger Conference
• Use the MN Blogger Conference logo above in your post and also include a link to the page you’re reading right now: http://tprk.us/mnblog

All blog post entries must be published and we must be notified (mnblog at toprank dot org) by Friday 9/3 at noon Central.   Once received, all posts will be linked to from the bottom of this page and the TopRank Online Marketing staff will read the entries and decide the winner.  THE WINNER of a free pass to the sold-out MN Blogger Conference will be announced at 5pm on Friday.

So what are you waiting for? Get started now on a compelling, creative and persuasive blog post that explains why you should be the winner of a very rare MN Blogger Conference pass.

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TopRank

AOL Renews with Google, but Nearly Ordered Chinese

Written on September 2, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

Is anyone surprised that AOL renewed its search deal with Google?

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong was one of the executives that negotiated the deal the first time around–albeit while “playing” for Google at the time.

So, with AOL about as competitive as Yahoo in the search space, Google the incumbent provider, and Armstrong’s connections, it made a lot of sense to just push this one through quickly, so that AOL can focus on its new content provider goals.

Interestingly, although Microsoft was the other serious option for AOL, the company was rumored to have considered partnering with Yahoo. Er, doesn’t Yahoo get its results from Bing now? Maybe someone forgot to tell Yahoo that its not a real search engine anymore. Even more bizarre? China’s Baidu was in the running!

Baidu!

I can see how that would have worked out just fabulously!

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AOL Renews with Google, but Nearly Ordered Chinese

Is BP Just Trying To Buy Its Reputation Back With Advertising?

Written on September 2, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: Advertising, Object, book, marketing

Because it is our nature to do such things, most of the world has moved on from the anger or whatever was experienced during the BP Deepwater Horizon oil mess in the Gulf of Mexico. There are still pockets of activism but the mainstream has started to flush that story out of its faulty and extremely short-termed memory and is moving on to something that is deemed more current and important like maybe politics (Oh, please God help us!).

In the wake of this waning uproar it looks like BP is working hard to put its reputation back together and a big part of that is the amount of advertising spend they have put into the stream.

The Wall Street Journal reports

BP PLC spent more than $93 million on newspaper advertisements and TV spots in the weeks following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, paying out three times as much money on ads as it did during the same time last year, according to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.

BP also expanded the scope of its marketing efforts in newspapers during that time, running ads in 17 states—including Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi—up from just two states last year.

Of course, these activities have gained the attention of headline grabbing politicians who need some press leading up to the November showdown. Regardless of why, this kind of ‘marketing’ is part of the new normal course of action in how to repair a broken reputation that may not have much left in the tank (pun intended). So what is all this ad spend really for?

“Our objective has been to create informational advertising to assure people that we will meet our commitments and tell them how they can get help—especially claims,” said BP spokesman Scott Dean. “It is an important tool to help us be transparent about what we are doing.”

Not everyone is buying that explanation though.

Some lawmakers, however, are more suspicious of BP’s motives. Florida Democrat Kathy Castor, for example, was among the first representatives to take an interest in BP’s ad spending and believes the company is merely trying to burnish its image.

“She has been concerned by all the advertising showing BP polishing its corporate image,” said a spokeswoman for Ms. Castor.

Here’s my question. Because of the moral uproar that all of this mess caused and the hyper sensitivity of people in general when there is a ’cause du jour’, coupled with the new activism (I “Liked” it on Facebook so I participated! Yeah!), should there be any concern about who is taking the advertising money that is being spent to repair the damage?

I am not trying to create something out of nothing. I think it is a reasonable question to ask what outlets are taking this BP money gladly and not caring that it could be aiding and abetting the very ‘criminal’ it was trying to hang just a few short months ago.

I hope we are paying attention here. With the “if it bleeds it leads” mentality that the press takes there is a business reason for it. It sells ads. The news is the means to an end. The end being revenue in a time where it has been tougher to come by than maybe ever in history.

This unnatural and unseemly relationship between those who pay for advertising and those who have decided that human misery is always the lead story is heading in a new direction. Could it be that the media is just fine with feeding their revenue streams from diametrically opposed ends of the same issue?

The company that one day creates news by trashing the Gulf is the same company that is shelling out dollars to make reputation related amends. All that money all ends up with the same media that is supposedly reporting it (not benefiting from it). If that’s not a system that is designed to be abused and bled dry every day then there never will be one.

Maybe there is no sense in questioning this because I bet dollars to donuts that not one of the media outlets will turn down BP advertising money that is designed to make the company whole after it was torn to shreds by these very same people who ‘report’ the news (without any bias Ha!).

This dysfunctional yet symbiotic relationship is something that may be a dilemma for some marketers. Maybe not. So what’s your take? Mountain out of a molehill? Is this really as broken as it looks? As marketers, is there a moral side of our actions or are we just to do whatever it takes to make the bottom line sing? Any thoughts on this one?

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Is BP Just Trying To Buy Its Reputation Back With Advertising?

Ping: Another Social Network …. Woo-Hoo!

Written on September 2, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing

Yesterday, Steve Jobs announced Apple’s foray into the world of social networks with the iTunes centric Ping service. Maybe I am experiencing some social network fatigue, but despite this probably being a good idea, I am not sure just how people will jump in even if the “water is fine”.

The picture below hits the highlights of the service in that now familiar Apple announcement / press event look.

TechCrunch reports

It’s like “Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes,” Jobs says. “But it’s not Facebook, it’s not Twitter,” Jobs is quick to note — “it’s a social network all about music.” And guess what? It has 160 million users in 23 countries built in right away (Apple will presumably be opening it up to other iTunes users later). And it’s available on your iPhone and iPod touch — right in the iTunes Store.

Jobs notes that this feature is all about discovery. You can follow both artists and your friends. And you can be followed. With it, you get custom song and album charts to discover new music. And you can post your thoughts and opinions about your favorite music. Plus, there are 17,000 concert listing in the network.

If Ping gets any real traction this will possibly be the death blow for MySpace who has tried to claim the music space social network thing for a while now. Honestly, though, any prognostications about this service are really kind of silly. This is Apple after all and right now they appear to have the ‘Midas touch’ and considering how passionate people get about music there could be something here.

On a complete side note, I wonder how the makers of ping golf clubs feel today? Is there some way to leverage the fact that their brand name just got more popular than ever in an area that has nothing to do with their product?

Let’s take an informal MP poll. Are you going to jump into Ping with both feet? Would you consider yourself curious, indifferent or chomping at the bit? Ping us and let us know your thoughts.

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Ping: Another Social Network …. Woo-Hoo!

Yes, Virginia, There Are Men Using Facebook

Written on September 1, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing

Texting may be the most popular mode of communication between men, but for men under forty, Facebook beats out phone, Twitter and even email.

The result comes from “The Great Male Survey,” a study conducted by Ipsos OTX for AskMen.com. eMarketer boiled the responses down into a nice chart that shows Facebook gaining on texting as you move from young teens up to the 20 somethings. By thirty, Facebook becomes just as important as texting and incredibly, that old fashioned thing called the telephone becomes an even more important tool for communication. Imagine that.

Even though most of the men in the survey didn’t choose Facebook as their main means of communication, an average of 69% of all the men who responded said they do log on to the site regularly. The 20-24 age range comes in on top with 78% of men using Facebook and as you can imagine, it drops off dramatically after 50.

What is surprising is the fact that Twitter barely makes it on to the grid with only 8.5% of the men surveyed saying they use it regularly. 60% said they found it useless.

Once again, these stats prove that I hang around with a weird crowd since I have a large number of men associated with my Twitter account. I imagine it’s because I deal with people in the marketing, online and entertainment business, all of which are heavy on the Y chromosomes.

As for Facebook, my numbers do match up. I follow a large number of men, but rarely do they use the site to send me an email or even comment. My girlfriends, on the other hand, do both with alarming frequency. And all of those Facebook game updates come from the women I follow and that alone is good reason to cut them off in favor of more men.

The bottom line? The men are out there, so keep that in mind when you set up your new Facebook campaign. They may not respond to your fun, daily trivia question, but they are out there reading what you have to say.

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Yes, Virginia, There Are Men Using Facebook

Google Maps Launches Brand Logo Test in US

Written on September 1, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

If you search Google Maps right now, you’ll see little gray generic icons beside the names of businesses to denote their field. Dollar signs for banks, fork and spoon for an eatery, a tiny shopping bag for stores and something that looks like a snail shell for art galleries. (??)

In the quest to make every single pixel count, Google is going to change some of those generic icons to tiny logos for popular brands. According to a report by Brandweek, Google has been testing the idea in Australia and now it’s opening it up to US users. Bank of America, HSBC, Target and Public Storage are the first icons you’ll see on your maps. Right now, Google says they are only offering the option to large brand names with multiple locations and they aren’t sure if it’s a feature that will stick.

Advertisers will be paying for the tiny ad on a CPM basis and they say they’ll be providing stats detailing the number of impressions and unique users. Still, this seems like it’s going to be a hard one to measure. Public Storage says they see this as an added bonus for their clients because “convenience of location is a very important benefit for our consumers.”

The question is, will they have to pay if my mouse skims over their icon while I’m looking for the nearest McDonalds? The pop-ups do offer a link back to the company’s website, so you could measure success that way.

What do you think? Is having a tiny representation of your logo worth paying for on Google Maps? Guess we’ll find out, if and when they roll out the program to customers of every size in the US.

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Google Maps Launches Brand Logo Test in US

Study: 83% of ALL Holiday Shoppers Influenced by Reviews

Written on September 1, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

ChannelAdvisors’ 2010 Consumer Shopping Habits Survey is out just in time for the holiday season. The free report provides valuable insights for anyone in the ecommerce, B2C space.

So, what jumped out at me?

Well, it wasn’t so much that 59% of those surveyed start their gift search at a search engine–with 28% heading straight to a marketplace such as eBay or Amazon–but what did intrigue me were the starts on just how inconsequential brand recognition is.

A surprising 67% said they would purchase an identical product from an unknown website if the retailer offered a better value. Better value? What do they mean by that?

Well, it appears low pricing and free shipping trump all:

Also of significance? Of the 92% of consumers that say they read product reviews, only 3% say they weren’t swayed by such reviews. That means a staggering 83% of ALL consumers are influenced by online reviews.

So, want to improve your sales this holiday season? If you’re a retailer, make sure you have product reviews, low pricing, and free shipping. If you’re a trying to improve the sales of your products on a merchant’s web site, you’d better make sure you’re receiving positive reviews!

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Study: 83% of ALL Holiday Shoppers Influenced by Reviews