By Paul Adams in Social Media
As I read, watch and listen to other people describe the changes in our industry, I’m consistently seeing two problems:
- Not enough people are recognizing that the web is being fundamentally rebuilt around people, and that this is going to change how all of us do business.
- Too many of the people who are thinking about social, are thinking about it as a distinct entity.
Let me show you an example of each.
I really like A List Apart. But in their reader’s review of 2011, where their readers talked about the biggest changes they saw in 2011, I think they missed the biggest change of all – that the web is being rebuilt around people. They talked about apps, mobile first, emotional design, measurement. But social design was a glaring omission. All designers should be recognizing, and should be on top of, this shift. Yes, “social” has become a buzzword, and there are many charlatans selling themselves as “social media gurus”. But this shift is very, very real.
At Le Web a couple of weeks ago, George Colony, the CEO of Forrester, gave an interesting talk where he described three social thunderstorms. The first and third thunderstorms were interesting – moving from browsers to local apps interacting with the cloud*, and the rise of social design within enterprises. But the second thunderstorm is where George missed the same shift as the readers of A List Apart.
George misunderstands the shift with the social web. He said “social” is:
- Running out of hours: people have a finite amount of time in the day and are already interacting with social applications more than many other activities such as exercising.
- Running out of people: penetration of people interacting with social applications is hitting 80 to 90% so doesn’t have much room to grow.
This analysis makes no sense. Social is not a feature. Social is not an application. Social is a deep human motivation that drives our behaviour almost every second that we’re awake. It doesn’t matter if we’re online or offline, on a browser or using an app. Humans are social creatures. George says 86% of US online consumers are social, and describes a “post-social” world. Again, this makes no sense. 100% of online consumers in every country in the world are social because it’s deep in our DNA to make connections and interact with other people.
The big shift that George is misunderstanding is that the rise of the social web is a structural change being driven by online life catching up with offline life. The winners in this world will be the ones who assume social behaviour in everything they do. It won’t be the ones thinking about social as a feature or product in isolation. The winners will be existing businesses who build on top of social platforms to rethink how their business operates. Here are three recent, and simple, examples:
- When you buy tickets on Ticketmaster you can see whether any of your Facebook friends have bought tickets, and if so, where they are sitting. Simple. Want to spend time together? Sit next to them. Want to do your own thing? Sit far away, or don’t buy a ticket.
- When you book flights on Air France, you can see if any of your Facebook friends are on the same flight and where they are sitting. Same as Ticketmaster – sit close by, or far away.
- When you browse for gifts on Etsy, you can use the things your friends have liked on Facebook to filter your results. Your friend likes Bill Murray? Here are all the products about Bill Murray. This moves the experience from a random and almost limitless set of options, to deep social personalization.
These are three dead simple integrations that substantially improve the core product/service experience. The leading businesses are recognizing that the web is moving away from being centred around content, to being centred around people. That is the biggest social thunderstorm, and all of us are going to have to understand it to succeed. So stop talking about social as a distinct entity. Assume it in everything you do.
*You should watch George’s talk to hear his pitch about the first thunderstorm. I’m not sure I buy it, but it’s a fascinating perspective.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Marketers Slicing from TV Budgets for Online Video in 2012
About two-thirds of marketers say they’ll increase their budgets for online video advertising in 2012, and some ofthem will be snagging that money from the TV ad budget.That’s the finding of a study conducted by Break Media, released today. Of course, the big caveat is Break has ahuge stake in the online video ad economy since Break Media Network is a large video ad network reaching more
than 120 million visitors each month, and also owns Break.com, the popular humor video site. Even so, the study’sfindings dovetail with those from marketers and research firms also expecting another robust year for online video
ads in 2012.Specifically, about 32% of advertisers who plan to up their online video ad spend in 2012 will take money from TVbudgets, 54% from non-video display budgets, and 38% from organic budget growth, Break found in its survey of
more than 300 decision makers at ad agencies and marketers. More than 90% of advertisers plan to use video adnetworks in the year ahead and expect to allocate 20% to 41% of total video dollars through ad networks.
Interestingly, marketers may shift away from the cost-per-thousand model that has been the bedrock of TV andvideo advertising in favor of a cost-per-view model. Break said that model has doubled in use in the past year. The
growth in the cost-per-view model likely comes from the increasing use of video ad networks, since that pricingmodel is most commonly offered by ad networks. Pre-roll is still the most preferred ad format, while mobile will be
second, overtaking in-banner in 2012.
The expectations for 2012 stem in part from how video performed this year. Many advertisers plowed more moneythan originally planned into video this year. About 57% said they spent what they planned, 14% spent less and 29%
spent more than they expected to in online video. But online video will face obstacles in 2012, including difficultymeasuring ROI and a lack of standard metrics. The ROI issue has been cited in many studies this year as a major
hurdle, including most recently by Casale Media. – vidblog.com
than 120 million visitors each month, and also owns Break.com, the popular humor video site. Even so, the study’sfindings dovetail with those from marketers and research firms also expecting another robust year for online video
ads in 2012.Specifically, about 32% of advertisers who plan to up their online video ad spend in 2012 will take money from TVbudgets, 54% from non-video display budgets, and 38% from organic budget growth, Break found in its survey of
more than 300 decision makers at ad agencies and marketers. More than 90% of advertisers plan to use video adnetworks in the year ahead and expect to allocate 20% to 41% of total video dollars through ad networks.
Interestingly, marketers may shift away from the cost-per-thousand model that has been the bedrock of TV andvideo advertising in favor of a cost-per-view model. Break said that model has doubled in use in the past year. The
growth in the cost-per-view model likely comes from the increasing use of video ad networks, since that pricingmodel is most commonly offered by ad networks. Pre-roll is still the most preferred ad format, while mobile will be
second, overtaking in-banner in 2012.
The expectations for 2012 stem in part from how video performed this year. Many advertisers plowed more moneythan originally planned into video this year. About 57% said they spent what they planned, 14% spent less and 29%
spent more than they expected to in online video. But online video will face obstacles in 2012, including difficultymeasuring ROI and a lack of standard metrics. The ROI issue has been cited in many studies this year as a major
hurdle, including most recently by Casale Media. – vidblog.com
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Where do people get local business info? Pew report, plus 10 ideas for publishers
The holiday shopping season is generally a revenue-booster for ad-supported news venues—but new Pew research indicates that more people are turning to the internet than newspapers when seeking info about local businesses.
How might this insight help local news publishers update their revenue strategies for the coming year?...
By Amy Gahran
Where people get information about restaurants and other local businesses is a just-published report compiled by Pew’s Project on Excellence in Journalism and the Internet and American Life Project, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
A few highlights from the Pew report:
Local restaurants, bars, and clubs. 55% of U.S. adults say they get news and information about local dining and nightlife—and just over half (51%) go online to get this information. In contrast, a total of 31% turn to printed newspapers (26%) and news sites (5%) for this info—even though news venues tend to publish local event calendars, dining/nightlife guides, and annual local “best of” ratings.
“Specialty websites” (probably such as Yelp, although the report does not name any specific sites) are a more popular source of local dining and nightlife info: 38% of adults use them. Furthermore, 23% rely on word of mouth, 8% turn to on local TV, and only 3% use social networking services.
Other local businesses. According to Pew, 60% of adults say they get news and information about local businesses besides restaurants and bars. Here the internet is still the most popular resource, but not quite as popular (47%). Specialty sites (again, think Yelp) are less popular here, cited as a resource by just 16% of adults. And social media is used by only 1%.
For the local general business sector, newspapers are the next most popular resource—29% of people look to printed copies for this info, but only 2% turn to news websites. Word of mouth: 22%. Local TV: 8%. Local radio: 5%.
Demographics. The Pew report contains charts showing the demographics of people who seek each type of local business information. In general, these consumers tend to be wealthier and more upscale.
But there are some differences between the sectors. Pew notes: “The 55% of adults who get information about restaurants, bars, and clubs are more likely to be women, young adults, urban, and technology adopters. The 60% of adults who get information about other local businesses are also more likely to be tech users.”
Local news “junkies” are especially likely to want info about local businesses. According to Pew: “Heavy local news junkies are considerably more likely than others to get material about local restaurants. ...When it comes to restaurant information, 71% of those who used at least six platforms monthly got news and information about local restaurants—compared with 34% of those who relied on just one or two sources.”
Also: “72% of those who used at least six [local news/info] platforms monthly got news and information about [other] local businesses, compared with 39% of those who relied on just one or two sources.”
This kind of data could be a reason for local businesses to advertise in local news venues, compared to search advertising or other marketing.
Mobile has become a leading way for people to get local news and info. This could have profound implications for local advertising.
Pew noted that 47% of U.S. adults get local news and information on their cell phones. “These mobile consumers, who were younger and more upscale in terms of their household income and educational levels, were even more likely than others to get material about local restaurants: 62% of mobile local news consumers got information [about local bars and restaurants], compared with 48% of others.”
Also: “65% of mobile local news consumers got information about other local businesses, compared with 55% of others.”
LESSONS AND IDEAS FOR NEWS VENUES
1. Make local business information easy to find, especially to search for, on your website, in your mobile offerings (mobile site as well as apps) and through your print or broadcast offerings. The staggeringly low number of people who currently turn to news sites for local business information indicates that this info either isn’t there, or it can’t be easily or reliably accessed.
2. Search-friendly repurposing. If you publish a local business directory, “best of” ratings, or an event calendar that lists venues, explore ways to surface this information in general searches of your site. Ideally, each listing could become a basic mobile-friendly landing page. This could be a simple database, and it might be seeded by scraping data from regular search engine queries for local business info. (An upsell service might allow business owners to update or expand their own listings, at will.)
3. Realize who your competition is: paid search ads. SearchEngineLand reported on a recent study which found that paid search drives $6 in local sales for every $1 in online sales. News publishers will have to work hard to demonstrate that their ads can compete with—or at least complement—that performance. So…
4. Create links between your content, ads, and local business info. This could be a key advantage of news publishers, and it should be multidirectional. If you maintain a database of local businesses and events, you might be able to automatically augment each listing with links to stories and upcoming events which mention that business, as well as current ads that business may be running in your site or paper. Then you may be able to adapt your content management system to link stories and ads back to your database listings, making it easier for people to get more info, context, and targeted exposure to advertising.
5. Sell USEFUL local mobile advertising units. Position mobile ads as an actionable information service that adds value, rather than just space to display a banner. Recently SearchEngineLand published a good guide mobile marketing guide for local businesses, as well as an overview of social-local-mobile marketing, and a guide to small business advertising planning for 2012. Read these, and consider how your venue could fit into this picture—from the local advertiser’s perspective.
6. Geocode local business info and ads with latitude/longitude and street address data. This can support “search nearby” functionality, which you can add to your main site search engine, and possibly even support via GPS in mobile devices.
7. Support user bookmarking, sharing, ratings, and comments/tips of local business info on your site. These features can either be a matter of personalization for registered users (visible only to individual users), or a source of additional public content or context for your site. For bookmarking, an option to forward a business name, address, and phone number to your cell phone via SMS text message might be especially useful—especially for the majority of mobile users who still use feature phones.
8. Monitor search requests for local info on your site, and user activity (such as bookmarking, sharing, link clickthroughs, click-to call phone numbers), to spot opportunities to fill in information gaps or meet emerging local market needs. This can be used as feedback to advertisers, or as selling points for prospective advertisers or upsells.
9. Regularly publicize in your print or broadcast channels all the options you offer for finding local business information, and explain how people can use them—and benefit from them. Consider this an ongoing marketing/education effort, and dedicate space and time to it. Don’t just expect people to find these services on their own.
10. If you cannot feasibly build or maintain your own database of local businesses, and connect that to your content management system and ad delivery tool, then consider partnering with (or at least linking to) relevant local business listings in places like Yelp, Google+ brand pages, public Facebook pages, and Bing.
The News Leadership 3.0 blog is made possible by a grant to USC Annenberg from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The Knight Digital Media Center at USC is a partnership with the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. The Center is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
By Amy Gahran, 12/14/11 at 11:25 am
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Tags: research, local, local news, business models, pew internet and american life project, advertising, pew project for excellence in journalism
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Tags: research, local, local news, business models, pew internet and american life project, advertising, pew project for excellence in journalism
Newspaper Digital Audience is Younger, Wealthier, Better Educated
The assumption has been that the newspaper's digital audience is younger, more affluent and better educated than print. Now, a recent Pulse Research national survey shows just how distinct and compelling newspaper's digital audience is.Demographics: The average age of a digital audience member is 44, seven years younger than the average age of 51 for a print household. In the 30 and under segment, there are 60% more digital households than print. The average household income of a digital household is $65,480, which is 21% higher than a print average household income of $53,776. Even more significant, 82% more digital households earn over $100,000 per year. Digital households are better educated; 22% more digital households have a college or post degree education. In addition, 50% more digital households have children at home; 48% compared to 32% of print households having children at home.
Purchasing plans: In the key real estate and automotive categories, the digital household has much higher planned purchases over the next 12 months. Personal home: 46% more digital households plan to purchase a personal residence in the next 12 months; 7.6% compared to 5.2% of print households.
Digital household purchasing plans for new cars in the next 12 months is 24% higher than print households; 8.4% to 6.8%. The same upward purchasing trends hold true for furniture stores. The planned purchasing by a digital household at a furniture store in the next 12 months is 51% higher than a print household; 24.4% compared to 16.2%.
The digital audience is defined as a household that has visited the local newspaper website in the last 30 days and owns a smart phone. – Pulse Research
The 20 Most Expensive Keywords on Google
Google makes a lot of money from online advertising. In the twelve months ended June 30, 2011, Google made $33.3 billion in revenues. Of that, 97 percent ($32.2 billion) was from advertising.
WordStream, a provider of software for keywords and pay-per-click marketing campaigns, has done research to discover which keywords receive the highest costs per click (CPC) in Google AdWords. WordStream compiled the data using its own Google Keyword tool to determine the top 10,000 most expensive keywords over a 90-day period. The keywords were organized into categories by theme. The largest keyword categories were determined by the number of keywords within each category, as well as monthly search volume and average cost per click of each
keyword.
Here are the top 20 keyword categories that fetched the highest costs per click:
1. Insurance - $54.91 per click
2. Loans - $44.28 per click
3. Mortgage - $47.12 per click
4. Attorney - $47.07 per click
5. Credit - $36.06 per click
6. Lawyer - $42.51 per click
7. Donate - $42.02 per click
8. Degree - $40.61 per click
9. Hosting - $31.91 per click
10. Claim - $45.51 per click
11. Conference Call - $42.05 per click
12. Trading - $33.19 per click
13. Software - $35.29 per click
14. Recovery - $42.03 per click
15. Transfer - $29.86 per click
16. Gas/Electricity - $54.62 per click
17. Classes - $35.04 per click
Mobile Alerts - Reminders/SMS Text Messages Now Available in Video Ads!
NEW! Mobile Alerts This month Mixpo launched a new video ad feature called Mobile Alerts. With Mobile Alerts, viewers can easily set a reminder for an event directly within the video ad. The alert can be customized with event name, time, date and time zone, as well as the subject and content of the text message. Currently, all mobile alerts are sent 30 minutes in advance of the event start time. Advocacy + Policy: Remind voters they have a week left to sign a petition or 1 day left to vote. Entertainment: Remind viewers when a new movie has been released in theatres. TV Tune-In: Encourage viewers to set reminders for upcoming shows and broadcasts. Retail: Remind shoppers they have 2 days left until the Annual Clearance Sale. CPG: Provide a way for shoppers to send themselves reminders of items needed at the grocery store. |
Experience the mobile alert feature within the FOX NFL video ad by clicking the "Set Pregame Reminder" button below the Twitter feed
Monday, December 12, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
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