Digital Lifescapes

Why are savvy marketers using promotional video content in their online campaigns? Because they believe that it effectively engages their target stakeholders, but they're really not certain of the actual impact. With online video advertising in the U.S. expected to experience steady growth -- eMarketer now estimates that spending will climb from $3.1 billion in 2012 to $9.3 billion in 2016 -- marketers will need to figure out how to best employ metrics to gauge the value of campaigns on a more individualized basis. As marketers continue to expand the slice of their digital ad budget that's being applied to online video, a better understanding of metrics in this area has become a key part of the process. But due to the common inexperience with online video, as well as the absence of any clear measurement standards, setting goals that define meaningful outcomes will likely present challenges to marketers as these types of campaigns mature. In its latest survey of ad a...

comScore reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 25 days of the November through December 2011 holiday season. To-date, $12.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 15 percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 25) saw $816 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2011 and representing a 26 percent increase versus Black Friday 2010. Thanksgiving Day (November 24), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 18 percent increase to $479 million. "Despite some analysts' predictions that the flurry of brick-and-mortar retailers opening their doors early for Black Friday would pull dollars from online retail, we still saw a banner day for e-commerce with more than $800 million in spending," said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. With brick-and-mortar retail also reporting strong gains on Black Friday, it's clear that the heavy promotion...

Mobile coupons currently represent a small portion of marketer's digital promotions, but usage is growing at a fast pace. The adoption of redeeming retailer coupons extends the trend of searching online for product discounts -- which emerged as a widespread, money-saving activity during the U.S. economic downturn. "Even as the sputtering economy attempts its recovery, the popularity of couponing has continued, spurred in part by the burgeoning daily deals space," said Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst. "Mobile coupons will play a central role in broadening the appeal and acceptance of digital coupons among shoppers." eMarketer estimates that nearly 20 million American adults will redeem a mobile coupon this year -- including coupons or codes received via SMS, applications and mobile web browsers; quick response codes for redemption online or offline; and group buying coupons purchased via mobile. By 2013, the number using such coupons will ...

Thirty-five percent of UK consumers will make more online purchases via their smartphones this upcoming holiday season, according to the latest market study by eDigitalResearch and IMRG, as the popularity of shopping and browsing on mobile devices continues to increase. The latest results show that 61 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed will browse more frequently via their phone over the next 12 months, with just under half (49%) of these making a purchase from their smartphone as well. Derek Eccleston, Research Director at eDigitalResearch explains, “Christmas is by far the most important time for retailers. This year will be one of the first Christmas shopping periods where mobile shopping will be readily available to the majority of consumers. The rapid development in mobile technology and the quick uptake by retailers of mobile sites and retail apps means that more and more brands have the opportunity to connect with potential customers, encourage purchases and increase ...

Location-based retailer advertising is evolving. However, according to the latest market study by ABI Research , businesses are now being primed to spend $1.8 billion on this emerging category by 2015 -- as part of overall mobile marketing budgets. "It's still early days and there's no single right approach to location-based advertising," says ABI practice director, Neil Strother. "This remains a very fragmented market that is full of experimentation." Nonetheless, the options are becoming more clearly defined. Location-based ads are enabled by three sets of technologies -- GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile phone network Cell-ID. According to ABI's assessment, the most successful campaigns use a mix of some or all of these technologies -- depending on the product or service, the region, the consumers, and the location accuracy required. New location-based services are catering to mobile shoppers. Some are check-in services, such as Loopt, Gowalla, Foursqua...