CaliberPulse

It will come as no surprise to those of us paying attention to trends that advertisers are asking more of their audiences than ever before. In previous years, the modus operandi has been for advertisers to show pictures, play music, and try to impress while target consumers relax on the couch. Relax no more, audiences. In 2011 and beyond, advertisers will be putting audiences to work. The new rule of engagement is, in fact, “engagement”. New online ads will require the audience to “click” for the full story or experience that will drive a message home. It is predicted that online ads will, more and more, link an end-user directly to the point of purchase, cutting out any waffling a consumer may feel while considering a buying decision. The engagement revolution is not exclusive to online ads. Print and TV ads are, increasingly, requiring that audiences scan a code to find a hidden message or receive the chance to win some coveted opportunity that only those “in the know” get to access. The end goal of these more complex processes is to create loyalty through participation and to turn that loyalty, ultimately, into sales and evangelism.

In this age of web-enabled Smart phones and other “Smart” devices that are flooding the market, we here at Adworkshop have noticed that the number of “apps” (applications) and mobile sites being downloaded is skyrocketing. As a matter of fact, our advertising agency in upstate New York came across an eMarketer report on a recent survey conducted by Adobe which found that most mobile users prefer to get their content from mobile websites rather than mobile applications. The only categories that showed a higher mobile application download preference were games, music and social media.

In December, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released new guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising (now including blogging and microblogging). These guidelines are intended to ensure that consumers are made aware if third-party endorsements are influenced by advertisers and marketers. Translation: blogging and micro-blogging evangelists (including celebrity spokespeople) must reveal that they have received free products or incentives of any kind that may have influenced a positive endorsement of a brand or product.

In 2010, social media played more of a key role in the marketing, advertising, and public relations industry than ever before. More companies, large and small, used social media to increase interaction with their consumers, promote company news, events, and sales, and much more. As the use of these platforms increases, it is important to take note and understand the constant changes occurring in the world of social media in order to plan for using it most effectively.

LinkedIn posted a list of the top ten most overused buzzwords in U.S. user profiles. You’re sure to have seen them, and may have even used some of these words and phrases; the ambiguous descriptors that have diminished impact or meaning. The 2010 top ten overused terms in U.S. LinkedIn profiles are:

I attended the BOLO 2010 conference organized by AgencySide. BOLO’s mission is to help agencies profit with new digital marketing technologies. I was as impressed by the attendees I met - mostly agency principals or management- as by the speakers and sessions that addressed many of the technologies our firm is now recommending to clients. The marketing and advertising industry will experience more change in the next 5 years than it has in the past 50 years. It is imperative to keep ahead of the changes while continuing to follow classic, solid business practices. Below are my top ten takeaways from the conference.

There are hundreds of thousands of outlets in the U.S. that serve as resources of entertainment and news for millions of consumers. To achieve placements in these outlets, PR professionals and publicity seekers must provide a service to the publications; providing impactful, pertinent information that their readers can use. Interpretation: pitches must be targeted to publications and writers that are interested in providing your story to their readers. Building a targeted media list entails finding topic-specific publications, becoming familiar with their content, combing through previously printed/posted articles to find the editors and writers on a particular beat, and digging for their contact information. While this process is educational, it is time-consuming and may be prohibitive if there is a wide swath of publications and consumers you plan to reach.

When buying online advertising the approach is very different from that of purchasing traditional media. The language, the method of determining ROI, and the overall strategy have all changed. A BOLO workshop I attended introduced several web tools to help sort through the mystery and unknowns of online ad purchases. Remember, the internet is very transparent, researching the “audience” of an online advertising outlet is easier and cheaper than any other media. You don’t have to pay the high fees charged by the various TV, radio and newspaper quantitative research companies to find out who is visiting a specific website or how long they are staying there. The information you search for can be found through several free or low cost web services. Here are some recommended online research tools to help you determine the potential audience reach of a particular website;

E-mail is one of the simplest and least expensive methods to market your business. There are no materials or overhead costs like with a paper mailing. You’ll know almost immediately whether the address you’ve sent to is still active (or spelled correctly) and you can ask for a read receipt to indicate whether your target has received the message. Perhaps best of all, you stand a good chance of getting a response since the easiest time to click on “Reply” or link to a Web page is while the target is actually reading the e-mail. Your number one e-mail marketing tool is your signature block. Use e-mail signatures to educate clients/customers and allow for them to refer business to you each time your message gets forwarded.

The holiday season brings a wave of ads and promotions. Messages about sales and new products or services to buy as the perfect gift are everywhere. Getting your company’s newest promotion noticed during this time of year can be a challenge but there are tools available to get your product noticed. Yelp’s newest Check-in Offers service is one of those tools. Similar to Foursquare, Yelp is allowing business owners to reward customers who repeatedly check-in to their location. This tool is ideal for retailers and restaurants this time of year. Read Yelp introduces ‘Check-in Offers’ to learn how this tools can be a way to increase your visibility.

Has the daily job of sifting through Google alerts or the local media for company or product mentions turned into a time and resource drain? If you’ve been tasked with gathering media mentions and evaluating results from a variety of national and international sources, a paid media monitoring service is the best tool for the task. Sifting through the options to find the right service can be intimidating at the onset. Several reputable companies offer media monitoring tools that can save time and effort and help deliver comprehensive reports to stakeholders and the executive team. We’ve recently had the opportunity to evaluate several of the products on the market and will share our findings here.

Throughout my 23 years in advertising and marketing, the one thing that perplexes me most about business owners is how they could respond to the question, “Who is your customer?” by saying “Everyone.” Mom taught me a long time ago, you can’t be all things to all people, you’ll forget who you are. This goes for businesses as well. There are many ways to determine who your core customers are. Read about six great suggestions that will help you identify your high-value customers in How to Define a ‘Good Target’ in the Digital Age. These are the customers that will give you your highest return on your marketing and advertising investment.