Data Driven: The Video Decade

Video is the number one growth rate for online marketing budget spend. Dwarfing all other categories with approximately 50% year on year growth forecast. Additionally, video is seen as the most important marketing tool for online retailers in 2009. This is largely due to the 40% increase in retail videos views and it being attributed to overall sales and customer satisfaction

Ad Network Prices Take a Hit - eMarketer via kwout

Retailers Take Note: Video Sells! - eMarketer via kwout

Ad Network Prices Take a Hit - eMarketer via kwout

Data Driven: Everything in its place!

There is a place for everything and the place for retail is online! And the place of advertising is not social networks. I have reported in previous blogs the power of social networks as the fastest growing and most compelling place for consumers to get brand information and make buying decisions. I have also noted that in this consumer driven space conventional advertising is not only ineffective, but unwanted.

Research continues to confirm this. We see more and more persons of all socio-economic backgrounds moving online to find their information and entertainment. It is necessary to understand the unique dynamics of this space before launching in. This is a space driven by communication at a peer to peer level. This is engagement marketing, not distraction marketing. Businesses that understand this will be successful. Those that don't may find themselves without clear understanding why their most brilliant advertising strategies fail to garner attention.


Points to take away:

1. The place for business to be is social networks
2. The place for advertising is NOT social networks
   

Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Dougherty - US: Traffic to Web-only retailers increases on Thanksgiving and Black Friday via kwout

Social Networkers Aren’t There for Ads - eMarketer via kwout

Data Driven: Customers on line, but where is business??

A slew of studies have come out just in time for the holidays with predictions about our shopping behaviour. In lieu of the financial crisis, it is not surprsingly many are turning to the internet to save money. What is surprising is that, despite the fact that customers are flooding the internet, business still has a very small foot print there. Additionally, the figures show that those online are increasingly older and monied! Business had better get its game on!

Less than a third of business have a social media presence even though this is the #3 choice for consumers to make brand decisions.

Retailers Turning to Facebook — Social Media Optimization via kwout

Customers turn to online channels to save money on gifts. The value ads up in many ways, from better comparison shopping to saving on gas for driving. And think of your poor nerves, stay home and quietly shop with a glass of holiday cheer.

Pinching Pennies Online for the Holidays - eMarketer via kwout

Video is becoming the clear choice for information and entertainment. But the myth that it is an exclusive domain of the very young continues to get debunked. The fastest growing segment on online video viewers is the choice 35 - 54 age bracket. These are the people with the real money! Well, except me that is.

Online Video Streaming Reels in Women, Older Adults via kwout