Rebecca Lieb

Rebecca is a digital marekting consultant specializing in content marketing and SEO.

She launched Econsultancy's US operations and helped grow the company from zero to a highly profitable operation in two years' time.

A digital marketing and advertising veteran, Rebecca was editor-in chief of The ClickZ Network for over seven years. For a portion of that time, Rebecca also ran Search Engine Watch. Earlier, she held executive marketing and communications positions at strategic e-services consultancies, including Siegel+Gale, and has worked in the same capacity for global entertainment and media companies including Universal Television & Networks Group (formerly USA Networks International) and Bertelsmann's RTL Television. As a journalist, she's written on media for numerous publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. She spent five years as Variety's Berlin-based German/Eastern European bureau chief. Until recently, Rebecca taught at New York University's Center for Publishing, where she also served on the Electronic Publishing Advisory Group.

Online ads rank third in influence

TV influences consumer buying decisions the most because it costs the most.

That was the finding in a Deloitte survey (as reported by eMarketer) of 5 major global markets, conducted between last September and October

by Rebecca Lieb 21 January 2009 14:30pm 1 comment

Will inauguration be a "Wireless Woodstock?"

Tomorrow's inauguration activities will stretch Washington's mobile networks, very possibly to the breaking point, according to The New York Times.

Crowds in D.C. are expected to number two million (or more) for Barack Obama's big day. It's a pretty safe assumption that the number of mobile devices on will number only slighty less.

by Rebecca Lieb 19 January 2009 16:25pm 0 comments

In-store phone users more inclined to buy

Those distracted-looking shoppers who are calling and texting in bricks and mortar establishments aren't just killing time or catching up on messages. 6% of them are more likely to buy, according to a ForeSee Results study.

In “Mobile Apps: The Next Big Thing," the study found shoppers using a mobile device in-store are 6 percent more likely to buy.

by Rebecca Lieb 19 January 2009 14:08pm 0 comments

Inauguration streams in on iPhone

How do you spur adoption of an iPhone app? Make it a must-have by Tuesday. Even if it hasn't yet been released.

Hard to concoct a better marketing strategy than live video streaming site Ustream has to spur buzz around a new product launch. You certainly can't fault the timing. Install their iPhone app now (if you can get it, which you probably can't), and you can watch Tuesday's inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States anywhere, so long as there's a mobile signal. No computer or TV set required.

by Rebecca Lieb 16 January 2009 20:57pm 0 comments

Online retailers start getting more social

59% of the 100 leading retailers currently have a fan page on Facebook, according to a study by interactive marketing agency Rosetta.

Originally conducted last April and updated in September, the study found 29 of the retailers surveyed added Facebook pages during that four month interim. And we're talking top brands in this consort: Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart being just a few examples.

by Rebecca Lieb 16 January 2009 17:19pm 0 comments

Personalized search helps online grocery shoppers

Online grocer FreshDirect offers its customers many options to make shopping from a large selection of inventory simple, ranging from search functionality, breadcrumb navigation (literal and figurative - they do sell breadcrumbs!), and shopping from previous grocery lists. Grocery buying is, after all, largely predicated on repeat purchasing of favorite or staple products.

FreshDirect recently made browsing and buying even easier for returning registered customers by personalizing its site search functionality.

by Rebecca Lieb 16 January 2009 14:58pm 1 comment

LL Bean tops in customer service

The NRF Foundation/American Express Survey just announced the winners of its Customers’ Choice survey, with L.L. Bean coming out on top.

The survey, conducted by BIGresearch which polled 8,167 consumers, named Bean the hand-down winner in online, as well as offline, customer service channels.

by Rebecca Lieb 15 January 2009 18:44pm 0 comments

American Idol teams with Habbo

Brand launches in virtual worlds were all the rage a couple of years ago - until they weren't.

It's been a while since an announcement came down the pike that a major brand was teeming with a vitual world for a major launch, but that's exactly what Fremantle's "American Idol" plans to do with kids and teens oriented Habbo. Ninety percent of the site's users fall squarely into Idol's top audience demographic: teens age 13-18.
American Idol has been something of a mobile sensation with this age group as well. Episodes generates up to 78 million text message votes for singing contestants in the talent showdown.

The Idol space will be free to Habbo members and open year round. It will be filled with branded merchandise for sale, as well as expose users to sponsors and advertisers whilst they are watching mini talent shows and other events on the stage.

by Rebecca Lieb 15 January 2009 15:42pm 0 comments

Obama continues to leverage social media and online democracy

He won the US presidential election in no small part due to a brilliant online strategy, which Barack Obama is encouragingly continuing at his Change.gov website.

Today, the soon-to-be American president launched a new social democracy-in-action feature on the site, The Citizen's Briefing Book.

by Rebecca Lieb 14 January 2009 20:34pm 0 comments

Recession collides with "Amazon Tax"

Since the dawn of US ecommerce, the question has been "to sales tax, or not to sales tax?"

Consumers and online retailers are squarely in the don't-tax camp, while state governments, which stand to reap the tax dollars, are of a differing opinion. New York state has been trying to get out of state sellers, such as Amazon, to collect and pay state sales tax on transactions, which could reap hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue for the cash-strapped government (particular now that once-lucrative Wall Street revenues are fading fast).

The rule of thumb has long been that if the online seller has a bricks and mortar local presence in the state, e.g. Apple.com has local Apple stores, state tax is levied on online transactions. Amazon, as well as other online-only retailers such as Overstock.com, challenged New York's attempt to get them to pony up 8.25 percent on all New York state transactions.