Justin Bieber to Overtake Lady Gaga for Most Twitter Followers: Who Cares?
CNN (and numerous other news sources) reported that Justin Bieber will soon overtake Lady Gaga as Twitter’s leading account. As the Biebs inches ever closer to ultimate Twitter rule, we have to wonder: who really cares?
While seemingly just another insignificant indicator of “success,” a large Twitter following is actually more than just a cool piece of info to drop at a party. A large Twitter following shows relevance. It shows adaptability. It shows power.
Here’s why Justin’s rapid Twitter growth is big news: Continue reading
Can you do a Barrel Roll?
Can you do a barrel roll? How much do you love Easter egg hunts? Did you know Google likes to play clever pranks on you?
Hidden beneath the surface of programming, there lay little jokes called “Easter eggs.” Have no idea what we’re talking about? Open a new tab (in Firefox or Google Chrome), go to Google and type “do a barrel roll” into the search bar.
Online Marketing Budgets Just Keep Growing—Is Yours?
While advertising budgets worldwide will experience steady if unspectacular growth for the next several years, a new study suggests that online advertising will see double-digit growth every year through 2015. The increase in online advertising will be even stronger in the United States, and will continue to make up a bigger and bigger portion of total advertising budgets.
What does this mean for you as a small or local business owner? It means that your competitors have probably already realized the importance of the online advertising market, and if they haven’t yet, they soon will.
If you’re not committing a significant part of your advertising budget to online marketing, you’re going to be in trouble. You might already be.
US Internet Ad Revenue sets a Record High in 2010
We’ve known for a long time that a solid Internet presence is the key to success for local business. But a 15% increase in Internet ad revenue last year shows that lots of other folks are seeing the value, too!
Reuters recently reported that online advertising revenue jumped to $26 billion in 2010! With “five consecutive quarters of growth since the great recession impacted interactive advertising in 2009,”—according to Sherrill Mane, senior vice president of industry service at the Interactive Advertising Bureau—it’s clear that Internet marketing is taking center stage as the place for businesses to invest.
So, where are businesses investing their money online? In search. Continue reading
The ‘Like’ Button: Consumers Really Like It, They Really Do
A recent study by City Grid Media reports that consumers are more likely to show their support for a business by clicking the ‘like’ button than filling out an online review.
We Want to ‘Like’ You
According to the study, 40% of people under the age of 35 will ‘like’ a business compared to only 18% who said they would write a review. If your business does not have an active presence on this popular social media platform, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity for others to learn about your business through important online recommendations from their friends.
We Want to Know You
But perhaps the most interesting takeaway from this study is the idea that consumers are doing their homework before choosing to do business with a company. Continue reading
Go Where the People Are
Are you a marketing professional? Have you thought about the value of social media websites have in developing your marketing strategies? If not, you need to.
Here’s why: an article by eMarketer revealed that every form of media lost percentage points in terms of users except for mobile devices and the Internet. The Internet continues to grow at a constant 6% each year; mobile device usage increased by 28.2% this year!
What can be gleaned from this? That fewer people are using print resources for information and are converting to the digital realm. With so many people online and using smart phones, where are they all going? Continue reading
People Like YouTube More Than Facebook?!
With the digital craze still afoot, web marketers are continually searching for ways to enhance business for clients and users alike. We’ve talked a great deal about the recent marketing statistics regarding Facebook and the impact it could have on business in the near future. While Facebook is great and will continue to be a powerful marketing tool for businesses in the next few years, video is equally important. Continue reading
Getting Smart with Smart Phones
The world of communication and information systems is changing thanks to the brilliant tech minds at organizations like Apple, Verizon and LG.
With the emergence of crafty smart phones like the iPhone and Droid, shifts in the world of technological communication are afoot. emarketer recently provided statistics showing that the amount of users investing in smart phones is rising. By 2014, 43% of all US cell phone users are predicted to have a smart phone. In 2010, smart phone usage went up more than any other medium at an astounding rate of 28.2%. Continue reading
New News on Online Ad Spending
Yah…we know that we have bombarded you with a lot of information regarding the increased budgets going towards online advertising.
But there’s more.
Why?
Because we cannot express how important it is that you understand the necessity of generating an online marketing campaign when the majority of the world’s largest and most successful businesses are continually pulling out of hard-copy ads and Continue reading
Analytics and Social Media
One of the primary reasons that businesses online were attracted to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies like Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click was because they offered ways to track marketing investments dollar for dollar.
As more and more users are being found to be on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, businesses are investing more and more dollars into targeting audiences there. As more money is being invested, more and more businesses are calling for the ability to track ROI as pertains to social media marketing (SMM) campaigns.
Why?
Investments in SMM is increasing.
eMarketer predicts that over 3 billion dollars will be invested into targeting users on social media sites in 2011. With this much money being spent, businesses want to know how effective their dollars are. Continue reading