Digital Lifescapes

Do you remember the time when it was in vogue for nearly all upcoming marketing consultants to claim that they were "experts" in search engine optimization (SEO)? I remember it well.  After most of these folks discovered the social media trend, then they quickly shifted their focus. Regardless, today search remains a key component of savvy digital marketer campaigns. Perhaps the huge flock of self-proclaimed social media experts will rediscover search, once the current "social everything" fad has lost its appeal -- we'll have to wait and see. According to the latest market study by eMarketer , search can help to build strong brands by bettering their brand-health metrics. But creating long-term relationships with their valued customers is usually the top priority. eMarketer says "even though a majority of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers now believe that search affects brand-building, digital marketing executives sometimes still find it tough t...

During the last decade, the smart marketers have used a variety of search engine optimization (SEO) methods to attract traffic to their web sites. As more consumers adopt smartphones, and visit app stores to find useful software applications, today marketers must learn the evolving art and science of mobile app promotion. During a recent market study ABI Research asked a key question: Can an independent developer with a nonexistent marketing budget have the largest number of top apps in Apple’s ecosystem for three months in a row? And especially when the average rating for those apps is only 2.9 out of 5? This is the case for independent application developer Michael Quach, who continuously has the highest number of titles among the top iOS apps tracked by ABI Research. In February 2012, he had an average of 40 titles per country, out of a sample size of 5,250 in each country. This sample covered the highest-ranked 250 apps in all 21 categories. What can other app developers le...

As American marketers choose to invest more of their budget in social media marketing and search engine optimization activities, a new eMarketer report highlights the accelerating downside for traditional advertising. Is 2011 set to be the year of Facebook, even among search marketers? Based on what U.S. advertisers told search marketing agency Covario, it's definitely the year that social media and social networking is adopted by everyone -- including the prior market laggards. Traditional advertisers that are also savvy about unpaid search results have discovered how social media marketing can help build their search engine optimization efforts. Respondents to the Covario survey said their top priority for SEO next year was integration with social media programs. Social media will also play an important part in paid search efforts next year. Search ad campaigns on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn were top of mind for nearly half of advertisers surveyed -- far ahead of p...

Editorial content marketing approaches are gaining momentum in the online marketplace. eMarketer reports that U.S. Internet users are more likely to act after viewing ads in editorials, according to longitudinal research conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation for ARAnet. The survey found respondents were most likely to act based on reading an online article with brand information, at 53 percent -- up from 51 percent last year. In addition, nearly six in 10 Internet users said they searched for products and services they read about in online articles at least somewhat frequently. According to the March 2010 survey, brand-related articles interest key demographic groups, with younger and higher-income users more likely than average to take action after reading them. "We're seeing that article-based advertising rates highest with these important and discerning audiences," said ARAnet president Scott Severson. "Compared to other online advertising option...

eMarketer reports that beginning this year, Piper Jaffray anticipates that local online advertising spending will outpace the national spend within the U.S. marketplace. In 2008, national and local ad spending levels were equal. But while the research firm projects a drop in national online ad spending for 2009, local is expected to increase by 5 percent. Over the next five years, Piper Jaffray predicts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9 percent for local online ad dollars, compared with 4 percent for national Internet spending. Borrell Associates, on the other hand, forecasts only a 2.9 percent CAGR for local online ad spending over the next five years. Borrell puts spending at $16.4 billion in 2013, compared with $19.18 billion for Piper Jaffray. While Borrell believes the local online ad market is approaching saturation, Piper Jaffray indicates in its report that small businesses will begin to catch up with consumers online, bringing significant growth to the local online se...

eMarketer reports that according to a poll of U.S. marketers by Bredin Business Information, the primary challenges in marketing to American small businesses are funding new projects, growing the business with limited resources and increasing awareness. In addition, marketers say the outlook for small business marketing has changed in 2009. They are increasing their online activities, becoming more focused and conducting segmentation research to better target their customers. It is no surprise that the local online marketing space is where many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are moving their efforts -- and their marketing investment. It's apparent that digital marketing has gained increased adoption at the expense of legacy advertising approaches -- in particular yellow page directory listings and direct mail coupons. The leaders in both forms of mass-media publishing failed to migrate their value proposition to the online model. Clearly, in 2009 more savvy SMB marketers ...

As tough times force many people to spend less -- and to be pickier about what they do buy -- online Search is becoming ever more important to marketers. "The recession is driving marketers to concentrate on gaining new business, even more than on customer retention objectives," says David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst. "Search is the ultimate online acquisition tool, and therefore is positioned to do relatively well in this economy." The four basic search options are paid search, contextual advertising, paid inclusion -- all three are types of advertising -- and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). All four options will experience increased spending through 2013. By then eMarketer estimates total U.S. search marketing outlays will surpass $23 billion. While paid search traditionally has received the attention and money, as they seek to acquire new customers, marketers are now increasingly turning to SEO. There are key differences between paid search and SEO. ...