Performance advertising success stories in social media (#SocialMedia)

In marketing Social Media branding and advertising services, we are often asked about the efficacy of these emerging marketing tool. While it is easy to illustrate the obvious benefits of being able to monitor the web presence and increased traffic which are produced by the social media campaigns, businesses are still seeking comfort as tot he effectiveness of these campaigns.

Lightspeed Venture Partners has found some interesting dynamics and case studies which support the credibility and utility of these campaigns on their blog:

Comscore recently noted that performance advertising adopts online media faster than brand advertising because it is easier to measure results over short time periods. The knock on social media ad inventory has been that CTRs are low. This is less relevant for performance advertisers who only pay on the click or the action anyway. We heard about some terrific success stories for performance advertisers in social media on the panel who are seeing ROI on their ad spend comparable to Google. more....

Our friend, Scott Rafer has been taking advantage of this phenomenon at Lookery.com:

Lookery has exactly aggregated 60M+ social profiles of “age, gender and location, the three key elements for targeting,” which advertisers can use on any ad network, anywhere on the web for a flat fee. In our particular case, we’ve assembled those profiles in a white-hat, no-PII, privacy friendly manner that we’re happy to discuss in detail. We should be at 100M+ profiles by the end of Q2 2009. All the profiles are in English-speaking countries, Western Europe, and the Gulf states.

NYTCO Ad Revs Plunge 27%, Internet Revs Sag

It seems like all the old business models for advertising are falling apart...I don't want to watch blinking ads on the page or to sit through boring pre-rolls to see my video, do you...are we moving to premium fees for services and micro-payments on the web? Will this lead to a bifurcated audience, those that pay and enjoy, and those that have to suffer ads?

Here is the latest news form the Media Post:

NYTCO Ad Revs Plunge 27%, Internet Revs Sag

Feeling the effects of a long-term decline in print media combined with one of the worst economic downturns in recent history, the New York Times Co. revealed disastrous first-quarter results Tuesday.

Total advertising revenues plunged 27% in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, from $458.3 million to $334.6 million. This drove a total revenue decrease of 18.6%, from $748 million to $609 million. Operating profit plummeted from $77.7 million in 2008 to just $16.5 million this year.

Read more....

Leave comments below :-)

Internet Ad Spending Increase Stands Alone in 2009 Forecast

According to a new release and ad spending forecast by ZenithOptimedia, current ad expenditure forecasts predict a steeper decline in North America and Western Europe, with all regions joining in the general decline. The report forecasts global ad expenditure to shrink by 6.9% over the course of 2009.

Entering Q2, 2009 says the report, there is limited long-term visibility in the market as most advertisers wait until the last moment to confirm their spending commitments. Many are treating advertising as a discretionary expense, and one they find convenient to cut. Unprecedented economic problems and events affecting the predicted 6.9% decline in global ad expenditure in 2009 include:

• Lack of quadrennial events (Olympics, elections) creates tough year-on-year comparisons for markets like the US
• Poor corporate confidence means very limited visibility in the market
• Consumers are putting off big purchases and shifting consumption from premium to value products, opening opportunities for advertisers with value to offer
• Consumers are spending more time at home, consuming more media, particularly television and the internet
• Search is driving internet growth as consumers use it to find bargains

Read more at MediaPost

An interactive map of vanishing employment across the country.

I love what's going on on the web with the manipulation of data. Information is only valuable if we can access it! The article and map below are interesting in not only the content, but also the methods applied to make it relevant.....

FROM: SLATE MAGAZINE By Chris Wilson

Posted Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at 2:00 PM ET

The economic crisis, which has claimed more than 5 million jobs since the recession began, did not strike the entire country at once. A map of employment

gains or losses by county tells the story of how those job losses first struck in the most vulnerable regions and then spread rapidly to the rest of the country. As early as August 2007, for example—several months before the recession officially began—jobs were already on the decline in southwest Florida; Orange County, Calif.; much of New Jersey; and Detroit, while other areas of the country remained on the uptick.

Using the Labor Department's local area unemployment statistics, Slate presents the recession as told by unemployment numbers for each county in America. Because the data are not seasonally adjusted for natural employment cycles throughout the year, the numbers you see show the change in the number of people employed compared with the same month in the previous year. Blue dots represent a net increase in jobs, while red dots indicate a decrease. The larger the dot, the greater the number of jobs gained or lost. Click the arrows or calendar at the bottom to see each month of data. Click the green play button to see an animation of the data.

Read more.....

Gapminder.com

See countries change in ways that challenge old myths. You choose from the best statistics.

Check out this site: www.gapminder.org

Hundreds of different choices for the x and y axes to create your own charts comparing all the nations of the world on a statistical basis. You can then save and export your charts...by clicking on the link icon on the upper right hand corner of each chart.

For instance, plot out the carbon emissions or broadband penetration of all countries charted against average age of the citizenry. For instance, here is a chart of the average life expectancy of citizens against carbon emissions per capita:

The uses are endless..lots to discover....click on the image and play with it......cool!

On-line video: People are watching longer videos...Internet is the broadcast TV killer

The other night, we missed the 9pm showing of 24 on FOX in NY. So I hooked my computer up to the TV and watched the episode in almost high def off the internet on FOX.COM....who needs cable?

The article below from Media Daily News lends some interesting statistics to this trend.....now we need to figure out how to monetize this exposure:

Trending Up: Nielsen Says Online Video Usage Soars
by Wayne Friedman, Yesterday, 4:07 PM

Online video continues to expand -- now up 40% versus the same levels a year ago.

Nielsen Online says March's 9.6 billion streams and 130 million Web users are a 38.8% hike over March 2008. Total streams for viewers during March were at an average 74.4 with the total time per viewer, in terms of minutes, at over three hours per month -- 190.7 minutes.

Nielsen says the total time per viewer in March -- which includes progressive downloads but excludes video advertising -- was up a big 12.6% versus February. This seems to suggest -- as other research has found -- that users are watching longer-length videos

more....

Thoughts on marketing

I have been thinking about marketing a lot lately. The guy in this video is annoying, but I find his message compelling and applicable to a broad set of opportunities....

What are we doing on Twitter?