3 basic ingredients for an online social community to exist and thrive
It's still happening! Brands are doing their best to manufacture social communities using the social web with varying degrees of success. The majority of 'forced' online communities would appear to be made up of family, friends and those willing to give support...but not really going anywhere.
How many such company-originated Facebook groups have you seen that are genuinely thriving and active? Most don't really go anywhere, but on the rare occasion some really do take off.
I've tried to analyse why and I think there may be a need to go back to basics; your feedback is most welcome on these thoughts.
The beginning, middle and end of brand storytelling
Storytelling is being hailed as the new big idea, but it's not that new. What makes a good story in this viral, user-generated, post advertising world has always made a good story.
From papyrus to pulpit to plasma screen, the attributes of a ripping yarn have remained the same: credibility, digestibility, and most importantly, emotional resonance.
For Procter & Gamble, the indirect approach increased sales
Social media is very popular these days. But is it effective at bringing in revenue? Yes. This week, Josh Bernoff spoke at IAB's Social Media Conference to show how not only can social efforts increase sales, they can do so more effectively than traditional advertising.
Should brands ignore social media criticism?
Social media has given brands a new medium in which consumers can be engaged. Most agree: there's something really important about this, even if we disagree on just what that is.
At the same time, social media has given consumers a powerful new tool for interacting with brands. It's now possible to provide feedback, issue praise and voice complaints in a manner that can have a real impact very quickly.
New projections show lower internet ad spend
The online ad business was worse than thought last year, and it will be worse than projected this year. Brighter days will have to wait until 2010, according to recent data updates.
The first comes from Barclays Capital, which had already checked in with bad news last December. Over the past year the investment bank has gone from predicting 16 percent online ad spend growth (October report) to a six percent rise (December) and now pegs online ad spending calls for a 2.3 percent increase over last year to $23.7 billion. This joins recent reports from Bernstein Research's prediction that global online ad spend will grow only 5.9 percent, and Veronis Suhler's call of 4.9 percent
Online ads: it's a buyer's market
The global recession that has hammered stock markets around the globe continues on. Some people are even seriously referring to the 'D' word.
This hasn't been good news for businesses relying on advertising dollars. Advertisers are cutting budgets and for some ad-supported online businesses, that means cutting back on services, cutting back on staff and trying to come up with new business models.
10 differences between UK and US affiliate marketing
A month after our UK affiliate census went live, we’ve just published our first US Affiliate Census, produced in association with MediaTrust. I thought it was worth outlining some of the key differences - and also the similarities - between affiliate marketing on either side of the Atlantic.
Both the US report and the UK Affiliate Census (produced in association with Affiliate Window), were based on surveys of affiliates carried out in January.
Turn your catalogue into weather-based targeted ads
All those creative assets gathering virtual dust in your catalogue, database, or inventory system? Tag them snowy, cloudy, sunny or rainy and turn them into dynamically-generated, weather-targeted ads.
Weather site Weather Underground has partnered with Dapper to create WeatherMatch, a real-time system that delivers ads that match local weather conditions, paired with items from a catalogue or other electronic inventory database.
Good Copy, Bad Copy
It’s surprising how much bad copywriting exists online, ranging from PPC ads through to content on websites. Ultimately, this can affect a company’s internet presence and damage any digital strategy they may be engaged in. But how do you create effective, eye-catching copy?
Web 2.0 tries to hide from reality
ReadWriteWeb's Sarah Perez believes that "today, if you're not staying current with Web 2.0 technologies' impact on business, then you're just not staying current."
In her post entitled "Businesses Can't Hide From 2.0: A Look At 2.0's Impact Across Industries," she states:
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
