Troubled with an inability to track the effectiveness of his advertising dollars, John Wanamaker, the father of modern marketing, famously quipped: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” The lack of hard metrics available to measure the success of traditional advertising has since been dubbed the Wanamaker problem, and has eluded marketers for years. While it was understood then as it is understood now that advertising is a compulsory part of doing business, the value of a print ad, radio spot, or TV commercial is inherently difficult to determine. Beyond calculating reach, there is little marketers can do to measure the effect an advertisement has on their bottom line. Luckily, the shift to Internet advertising and specifically, search engine marketing, has presented marketers with new opportunities to deliver more transparent and fiscally-responsible ad campaigns. Pay-per-click advertising revolutionized the industry allowing … Continue reading
Author Archives: Amanda Moshier
Google gets bigger, acquires mobile ad network AdMob
Today’s big news comes from the Google camp in the form of a $750 million deal to acquire AdMob, the mobile ad network that has seen impressive growth in just a 3-year period. While overall spend on mobile advertising is nominal in comparison to spend on regular search and display, the trend towards mobile phones becoming personal computers is well on its way, and the amount marketers spend on mobile search can only increase as our knowledge of the space and metrics we use to we understand it become more sophisticated. Google’s acquisition of AdMob transforms Google into an all-in-one solution for marketers looking to spend their dollars online; assuming the deal closes (it will be scrutinized by the FCC as most of the search giant’s big moves are), Google will be in the position to place both display and search ads on regular and mobile sites, as well as … Continue reading
Why Good Copy Is Like Good Music and 5 Ways to Tell If Your Copy Is In Tune
There has been a wealth of search-marketing related news over the past few days: the deals Google and Bing have made with Twitter, Nokia’s lawsuit against Apple, and Google’s launch of ‘social search’ are a few highlights I noticed while scanning my Google reader yesterday. I also noticed something else while scanning my reader – the power of a good headline or subhead to grab my attention and make me stop and read – and no matter what happens with Apple, Bing, Google, or Twitter, the power of the written word (or spoken, in the case of a radio jingle for example) is one thing will never change. From editorial content to sales copy, our world is driven by letters strung together forming calls to action. Images are important, good design helps convey your message, but when it comes to taking the next step, it is ultimately copy that drives … Continue reading
4 Ways to Get More Out Of Your Online Marketing This Holiday Season
The fourth quarter (Q4) represents the end of a fiscal year and marks the entrance of the holiday season. Traditionally, this is a time when businesses ramp up their marketing efforts, having taken stock of what has been working, what needs improvement, and what they can do that they still haven’t. In addition to doing a big, end-of-year push, Q4 is also a time to appeal to holiday shoppers by fine-tuning your marketing message. Send a creative e-Card or video you produce yourself – and ask for feedback We realize most holiday and Q4 plans are already well under way, but there are still some things you can do that don’t require long-term planning and are more than likely to yield results! Without further ado, let’s look at four ways to optimize your online marketing and get more out of the holiday season. 1 – Send a Multipurpose Greeting Giving … Continue reading
Horror Flick Goes Viral…Why Marketing ‘Paranormal Activity’ via Social Media Made Sense
You couldn’t follow the same strategy if you were marketing Titanic. You would be hard-pressed to find the same success at the box office if you were marketing the latest Disney tent pole release. But for a low-budget horror flick like Paranormal Activity, relying heavily on social media marketing was a smart move. After grossing $500,000 in one weekend of midnight screenings in 12 select markets, the studio has expanded to a regular distribution schedule in 46 markets and 170 theaters, and executives at Paramount/DreamWorks are sitting pretty. According to an article in the online edition of today’s Advertising Age, the film cost a mere $15,000 to make and originally caught the attention of Steven Spielberg at last year’s Slamdance Film Festival who then took it to Paramount/DreamWorks with the intent to remake the movie into a major blockbuster. But the studio had different ideas. Turning the film into a … Continue reading