ROI | Internet Marketing Blog

Mobile's biggest ad challenge: fat fingers?

With smartphone usage skyrocketing in key global markets, one thing is clear: mobile is the future, and the future is here.

Not surprisingly, everyone is rushing to capitalize on the significant opportunities that mobile is creating.

Publishers are trying to make sure they have attractive mobile offerings that produce compelling mobile ad inventory that advertisers are increasingly looking to snap up.

by Patricio Robles 05 September 2012 15:07pm 7 comments

Facebook's Custom Audiences targeting allows advertisers to stalk their customers

For advertisers obsessed with racking up 'Likes' on the world's largest social network, reality can be harsh: not every consumer you're targeting is going seek you out and like you on Facebook.

So what are advertisers to do? Facebook may have the answer.

by Patricio Robles 04 September 2012 16:02pm 8 comments

Twitter unveils interest targeting, segmentation for advertisers

While Facebook struggles to prove to the world that it can deliver big revenue -- eMarketer estimates the world's largest social network will pull in $1bn less in revenue than previously anticipated -- one of social networking's largest still-privately-held companies, Twitter, is doing what it can to convince advertisers to increase their spend.

The company has several ad offerings, including Promoted Tweets, Promoted Accounts and Promoted Trends, and much to the chagrin of developers, has been making changes designed to ensure that it has the control over the Twitter ecosystem necessary to maximize monetization opportunities.

by Patricio Robles 31 August 2012 16:42pm 3 comments

Facebook experiments with sponsored search ads

While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has always publicly reiterated that he's focused on his social network's long term success and not short-term profit, with his company's shares down 50% since its disastrous IPO, there are reports that the twenty-something billionaire is waking up to the harsh realities of running a publicly-traded company.

With insiders dumping their stocks and billions of FB shares becoming available as employee lock-up periods end, one thing is clear: if Facebook doesn't show Wall Street something in the short-term, the world's largest social network could have big, big problems.

by Patricio Robles 22 August 2012 14:44pm 1 comment

Facebook's new enhanced post targeting: what brands need to know

If Facebook is going to keep brand marketers on its side, there's little argument that it's going to have to give them a greater level of insight into their Facebook audiences and campaigns. And when it comes to engaging with all those people who 'like' a particular brand, Facebook is going to have to give marketers a greater level of control.

It appears to be doing just that with new enhanced post targeting functionality that is being rolled out to Facebook Page admins.

by Patricio Robles 02 August 2012 15:24pm 3 comments

Five ways marketers can deal with social media fatigue

Prior to Facebook's IPO, a survey asked Americans what they thought of the world's largest social network. The results: more than half believe it's little more than a passing fad.

Right or wrong, talk of social media fatigue is on the rise and that has marketers, many of which have been investing substantial sums into social initiatives, on alert.

by Patricio Robles 31 July 2012 15:48pm 3 comments

Facebook and its changing metrics

Brand marketers may 'like' Facebook, but the world's largest social network has created numerous challenges. ROI is often hard to find; Facebook says it can take a year to produce. And despite the promise, certain kinds of initiatives may simply not work.

Now that it's a publicly-traded company, Facebook is under even greater pressure to live up to its valuation, which currently reflects the fact that investors believe the social network has significant room to grow. To deliver the necessary growth, it has to find ways to convince marketers that it's a productive marketing platform.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, that may not be easy, and it may create big headaches.

by Patricio Robles 20 July 2012 21:18pm 3 comments

This week's top six infographics

Here's a round up of some of the best infographics we've seen over the past week.

Topics include social video, the rise of shopping APIs, how social influences purchase decisions, and PPC ads...

by David Moth 20 July 2012 10:56am 0 comments

The ROI of personalisation [infographic]

37% of companies surveyed are able to target personalised web content in the right context in real-time, according to stats from our latest Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing.

June's briefing, sponsored by Adobe, looks into the latest trends around personalisation, the importance of customer trust when implementing this, and measurement of ROI.

This infographic shows how companies are personalising the web experience, and how ROI is measured...

by Graham Charlton 18 July 2012 10:18am 3 comments

Oracle continues social shopping spree with Involver acquisition

Many businesses may have little idea what their social media marketing and ad campaigns are producing in the way of ROI, but by and large companies continue to up their investments in social.

That has created a booming business for firms that popped up to help companies manage and track their social campaigns. A booming business that caught the attention of some of the biggest names in tech.

by Patricio Robles 10 July 2012 18:38pm 1 comment