Recessionary reasons for really ramping up online marketing
Isn't it a shame when you can't finish a headline alliteratively? Anyway, despite the odd politician claiming they can already see the green shoots of recovery, the economic downturn continues to kick the nation's finances squarely in the groin.
Fortunately for my industry, there are many financial savvy reasons for continuing to spend money on search engine optimisation (SEO) and other online marketing strategies. I have listed the ones I consider most pertinent below but please feel free to add more.
Paid content: big publishers missed the boat
It's funny the difference a couple of years can make. Two years ago, the global economy was roaring along and everyone was excited about internet advertising.
Growth in spend was strong and many companies big and small saw unlimited potential in their future advertising revenues.
LinkedIn's traffic grows rapidly but is its value dropping?
With the global economy still in a tailspin and waves of layoffs still hitting major industries, it's no surprise that websites catering to professionals and job-seekers are increasingly popular.
After all, business and jobs become far more important when business is harder to build and jobs are harder to come by.
Woolworths resurrected as online retailer
All of its stores are now closed after the retailer's collapse last year, but the Woolworths name is to live on as an online brand with a relaunch due in the summer.
The brand name, along with that of its Ladybird clothing range, has been acquired by the Daily Telegraph owners, Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, and will fall under the Shop Direct Group, which runs Littlewoods and other brands.
Microsoft joins the layoff party
It's not the type of party that one usually wants to attend but sometimes you have to make an appearance.
Microsoft today reported disappointing results for its fiscal second quarter. Those results included an anemic 2% revenue growth from the same period a year ago - $900m less than expected.
Will the recession strain 'the long tail'?
I've been critical of Chris Anderson's long tail 'theory', which argued that "the future of business is selling less of more".
The quantitative evidence suggests that Anderson's thesis was a bit too aggressive. In most industries, from retail to music, the 'head' is still as important as it was decades ago.
Report: remnant ad prices fell nearly 50% in Q4
Companies with exposure to online advertising are entering 2009 facing a lot of uncertainty.
Will the global economic slowdown result in drastic cuts to online ad spend as some have predicted? Or will online hold up well as others have predicted?
Balderton Capital raises £285m for downturn startup investments
Who said that funding wouldn't be available to startups in the downturn?
Balderton Capital, which was formerly Benchmark Europe, made $140mn
when portfolio company Bebo was sold to AOL and a small fortune when
another portfolio company, MySQL, was sold to Sun. Its other
investments have included Betfair, the UK's most popular betting
exchange, and Yingli Solar, a Chinese solar company that is now public.
Report: US retailers upped paid search spend before holidays
Facing perhaps the toughest retail environment in decades, multi-channel retailers in the United States turned to paid search in the run up to the holiday shopping season in an effort to boost sales.
SearchIgnite, a search management provider, today reported that US multi-channel retailers increased their spending on paid search by 12% in Q4 2008 as compared to Q4 2007.
Consumer trends to watch during the recession
The seriousness of the economic downturn is now an undeniable reality, with the optimistic prediction that digital would be unaffected exposed as a false hope. With Britain facing the 'worst recession in living memory,' this will inevitably impact on consumer trends and behaviour.
As economic woes worsen, understanding how this affects customers becomes even more critical. Businesses that have a deeper understanding of the relationship between the economy and emerging patterns of consumer behaviour are far more likely to emerge from the crisis unscathed.
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
