Earning attention is the key to mobile advertising success.
About time too! I was delighted to read last week that the UK’s Information Commissioner Christopher Graham has imposed a hefty £440,000 fine on the two SMS spammers responsible for bombarding me and the other 840,000 mobile users with unsolicited texts about personal injury claims.
This news is a timely reminder to all brands that they must respect consumers’ privacy when engaging in mobile marketing and mobile advertising: The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations exist to protect mobile users from receiving unwelcome messaging from brands.
Likewise, a scatter-gun approach to mobile advertising be viewed in the same light as SMS spam:
Responsible marketers should be aware of the risk of intruding on consumers’ mobile lives with unwanted advertising.
Richard Eyre, Chairman of the IAB UK, summed up the issue earlier this year at IAB…
Focusing on algorithm changes and new SEO team structures
Here’s a useful infographic from SEO agency Fuzz One. It summarises:
Major Google Algorithm updates in 2012 - if you don’t know it, the SEOmoz Google algorithm history gives more detail
The new SEO approaches now relevant in 2012 and into 2013
New ways to structure the SEO team - internal and external
I found the new team view most interesting, so I’ll pull this out...
It shows the creative input needed to be successful in SEO. The social media role is shown, although I hate “SeoCial”. Still it does reflect the joint SEO/Social/Content marketing roles we’re seeing more and more with clients. It's arguably how you integrate SEO resources with other specialists in PR and Social media that's most important.
Here is the full infographic:
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Building a business case for investment in SEO
One of the joys of running an SEO business is there's a huge range of organisations out there for you to target: everyone, after all, wants to rank. But actually selling and delivering SEO services to a wide range of organisations can bring challenges as well as fulfillment.
I hope this post will be useful both to consultants and agencies selling SEO services, but also marketers and business owners looking to hire SEO agencies.
When it comes to selling SEO, I believe one of the biggest challenges we face is engaging with people who have different views of SEO and online marketing. Figuring out how people view their online environment and what it means for them and their business is fundamental to building a business case for SEO and a productive ongoing client-agency relationship.
How misunderstanding of SEO can lead to confusion
I think that there are…
New techniques to assess the impact of Facebook ads on conversions
Value (larger businesses): [rating=4] (smaller companies): [rating=1]
Recommended link: Techcrunch summary
With recent research being used to assert by Forrester and Business Insider that Facebook and Twitter Do Almost Nothing for Sales, this is an interesting measurement initiative by Facebook that urgently needs to prove to advertisers and shareholders alike that Facebook does influence sales.
The measurement approaches applies to Facebook advertising rather than wider Facebook marketing using company pages. There is certainly a need to prove the value of Facebook advertising with high profile advertisers like GM terminating a $10 million investment in Facebook advertising earlier in the year.
The new ad tracking options in Facebook
1. View tags give a method of placing cookies on users’ devices where they view a Facebook ad. View Tags are supported for Marketplace ads and Premium ads in Self Serve. I’ve marked this feature as…
Find out more about the future of online display ads and tips on how to be successful with your advertising
Following on from our post on conversion rates for Google Adwords ads, including rates for the Google Display Network, this new infographic from Prestige Marketing reminds us about the role that display (banner) ads can play in your marketing.
It gives a quick summary of how display can be used to generate reach and awareness on different online platforms and outlines future growth rates.
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14th November 2012: Pinterest launches business pages
Importance: [rating=4]
Recommended link: Pinterest blog post about new business pages
Well it had to happen… Following Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter Business pages, Pinterest have now launched their own business accounts. For now the main benefit it will give you is a verified account, the layout of the boards is identical.
It’s a quick job to convert to a business page, here’s how.
What is the process for getting setup as a Business on Pinterest?
This is the order in which I upgraded our Pinterest page to a business account.
Step 1. Verify your site . To do this go the Account Settings page and choose “Verify”. You will then be able to download an HTML file which you upload to the root folder of your site and this then proves it is connected to your…
Facebook responds to brand backlash...
Last week I explained the changes to the Facebook algorithm which resulted in a huge drop in organic reach for brand pages.
Facebook has responded with a small tweak, just rolled out in the last day or so, which will enable fans to choose to see all a brand's notifications to their wall. AllFacebook.com have more on how Facebook's new notifications work.
Once brands realise this is now out of beta be prepared for a slew of notifications instructing fans to tick the Show in News Feed option. So my advice would be to "get in early".
And given that just posting a request to Fans to get Notifications on Facebook is probably likely to get to a measly 10% of your fanbase, you probably have no choice but to make it a Promoted Post.
On the…
Take inspiration from buddy films to get the best from your affiliate programme
I often say that affiliate marketing is a people-led business, and that the better relationships you can build with your affiliates the more you (and they) will get from the partnership. I love an analogy, so I have looked at some of the fundamentals of building good, solid partnerships with inspiration from some of the best partnerships out there. From Wayne and Garth, the stars of Wayne’s World, to Donkey and Shrek, there are some great lessons to be learnt from these classic ‘buddy movies’.
1. Be honest
Honesty is the best policy. With affiliates you need to be honest with what you can and can’t do. Don’t commit to something and cancel at the last-minute. Do this too regularly and you will find affiliates are less keen to work…
Using analysis tools to diagnose a fall in Google search rankings
Google’s ranking algorithm is increasingly sensitive to the smallest of changes and continues to use an ever-growing number of signals to rank websites. As such, it’s commonplace for site administrators to find themselves in the predicament where natural rankings have dropped, visits have fallen and site revenue or conversions have dwindled. Fortunately – we are here to help!
A pro-active approach to any drop in positions is crucial as it’s important that you maintain the trust of your client/boss through this difficult period. There is no issue which can’t be fixed with the correct understanding, approach and action plan.
Dig, Dig and Dig A Little More!
Before we can fix any issues, we first need to understand the root cause of the drop. There are a variety of tools which we can use to help us do this.
Google…
How Facebook's push for more ad revenue is causing challenges for advertisers
Facebook marketers have been having a pretty torrid time the last few weeks. Organic reach on posts from brand pages has been slashed in Facebook's drive to extract as much cash from commercial sources that it can. Even consumers can pay to have their status updates promoted nowadays.
The result has been a big increase in revenue for Facebook that's above their target, but the company is still struggling to keep shareholders happy amidst a sliding stock price. And all is not well with brands. There have been numerous grumbles across the blogosphere in recent weeks as the kind of reach levels brands previously enjoyed free of charge are only now attainable with some hefty advertising spend. This sudden change has caught many brands unawares and has been a bumpy ride for many used to enjoying free promotion…
