Twitterers Don't Mind Promo Tweets

ClickZ reports that "only 11 percent of Twitter users get annoyed by Promoted Tweets, according to a new study by market research firm Lab42. And 25 percent of the study participants said they had seen Promoted Tweets from brands that were relevant to them. Chicago-based Lab42 surveyed 500 Twitter users in August to arrive at the data. Twenty-two percent of them said they have discovered a discount offer via a Promoted Tweet, while 14 percent said they had retweeted a Promoted Tweet. Four percent didn't know what a Promoted Tweet was." Read more.

Search Results Improving

"To borrow a few wise words from Leo Burnett, "regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable." Since Google's 2011 Panda update, black hatters [companies using dishonest methods to generate search engine results] are suffering the repercussions of years of questionable practices, and ethical marketers are seeing their sites moving into the places they deserve." Read more.

Consumers Want More Personalized Messages

With Internet advertising, marketing companies can target messages to specific customers. Customers like it, and want more of it. "Brands of all stripes are working toward delivering personalized messages to their target audiences. Despite their best efforts, however, consumers say certain industries are not meeting their needs. Service providers, such as cable and utility companies, and regulated companies, such as insurance and finance brands, appear to be behind the curve in terms of delivering personalized digital experiences." Read more.

Companies with Excellent Internet Marketing Campaigns Honored

"An impressive list of marketers and agencies have been honored today, receiving nominations for their groundbreaking work in online advertising, as finalists for the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) seventh annual international MIXX Awards. With new platforms gaining momentum in the interactive advertising space, this year the IAB international MIXX Awards includes two new single execution categories, Tablet Marketing and Location-Based Advertising." Read more. You could use this link as a source of companies about which you could write your long report.

Users of Social Media and Marketers

eMarketer reports that "as Twitter evolves its advertising platform, with the latest development being Promoted Tweets to followers, there is concern as to how consumers will react to seeing ads from brands in their Twitter feeds. Market research firm Lab42 surveyed US Twitter users in August 2011, asking about their habits related to brand engagement. Only 11.1% of US Twitter users said that following brands was the leading reason why they use the site. The top reasons include following friends (17.4%), to get a good laugh (15.6%), to get the news (15.1%) and to share the news (13.9%)." Read more. See previous post.

What's Google Got that Facebook Don't--a Marketing Purpose

A website may capture the imagination, but that does not make it a great marketing opportunity.

"Let's begin with Tumblr, a niche social-media site with a rabidly loyal and rapidly growing user base, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, is seeking a whopping $800 million dollar valuation, despite having absolutely no revenue model or brand offering. The most successful use of the platform by marketers thus far has been via 'reblog contests,' yet another gimmicky abuse of social media by brands essentially bribing users to promote their content," writes David Teicher of AdAgeDigital. "Which brings us to Facebook. What's so upsetting to the social-media marketer in me, is that despite the sheer number of consumers and businesses on the platform, many of whom want to engage with each other, the resulting engagement predominantly comes in one of two, equally ineffective forms." Read more.

How RadioShack and Unilever Use Twitter-Based Advertising

"In this month’s Top Picks, for example, we showcase a report, “Twitter Advertising: Four Marketers Test the New Ad Platform,” in which case studies from the likes of RadioShack and Unilever illustrate how Twitter-based advertising techniques and best practices are developing." according to a post from eMarketer. Read more.

Using APA Citation for Previous Posts

During the semester you will cite sources using APA techniques. I used examples of in-text and Works Cited citations in the previous dozen posts. I will not for the remainder of the semester.

When you quote or paraphrase an author, the citation immediately follows the quote or the paraphrase -- with no punctuation. "For example, this is an in-text citation for a quotation" (Author's Family Name, Year). For example, this is an in-text citation for a paraphrase (Author's Family Name, Year). At the end of your email, letter, presentation, or report, you will list the source on a separate Works Cited page. It appears as follows.

Family Name, First Name (Month Day, Year). Title with only the first word capitalized. Name of  publication in italics. Retrieved from URL

Dunks Relies on Internet Marketing

"The Offer: As part of Dunkin' Donuts' Get Dunk'd campaign, New York metro-area customers can visit stores at select times to be eligible to win tickets to 
New York Mets and New York Yankees baseball games, as well as entry to amusement parks in New Jersey 
and Pennsylvania. 


"The Data: Dunkin' Donuts contacted bloggers to generate buzz for the campaign, but the offer relies primarily on Facebook and Twitter to drive consumer awareness and interaction. No contact information is being collected." (McKeefrey, 2011). Read more.

McKeefrey, Kevin (Aug. 1, 2011). Dunkin' Donuts urges customers to get Dunk'd for baseball tickets. Direct Marketing News. Retrieved from http://www.dmnews.com/dunkin-donuts-urges-customers-to-get-dunkd-for-baseball-tickets/article/208797/

Marketers Find Opportunities with Gamers

"Online gaming is gaining in popularity as consumers play their favorites across multiple platforms—social networks, consoles, PCs, smartphones and tablets. As the audience broadens, marketers have rich opportunities to make lasting connections" (Phillips, 2011). Read more.

Phillips, Lisa (Aug. 2011). Online gaming audience: Lines blur as the market grows. eMarketer. Retrieved from http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?code=emarketer_2000815

Twitter Catching on with Marketers

"After debuting in 2010, Twitter’s Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends and Promoted Accounts have proved successful for many companies. While Twitter’s ad platform is not as mature as those on other social sites, there are several ways in which this social network offers a different type of program. As of June 2011, Twitter has worked with more than 600 marketers on nearly 7,000 promoted trend, tweet and account campaigns" (Maul, 2011). Read more.

Maul, Kimberly (July 2011). Twitter advertising: Four marketers test the new ad platform. eMarketer. Retrieved from http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?code=emarketer_2000776

Google+ Adding New Dimension to Social Media

"Google+ has catapulted onto the social media scene, with over 25-million users registered at the start of August 2011. Much is being documented about its innovative use of circles, sparks and huddles (which, I might add, sound more like nursery school playgroup names than social media tabs). But what does it mean for business owners?" (Brews, 2011). Read more.

Brews, Keryn (Aug. 30, 2011). Why marketers should pay attention to Google+. Marketing Web. Retrieved from http://www.marketingweb.co.za/marketingweb/view/marketingweb/en/page71654?oid=137418&sn=Marketingweb+detail&pid=71616

International Online Advertising Increasing

"eMarketer predicts advertisers around the world will spend nearly $500 billion in 2011—a growth rate of 4.5%. Online ad expenditures of $80.2 billion are growing at a rate of 17.2% and fueling total media ad spending growth" (Oser, 2011). Read more.

Oser, Ken (Aug. 2011). Worldwide ad spending: online drives growth. eMarketer. Retrieved from http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?code=emarketer_2000800.

Younger Buyers Check Out Brands on Social Networks

"Older social media users have grown more likely to follow brands on social media sites as they’ve gained more experience interacting on them, but younger adults still outnumber them in this activity. Millennials’ enthusiasm for making friends with brands, though, may not be too far above average.
The 'American Millennials' survey, conducted by Barkley in advance of September’s Share.Like.Buy conference, found that over half of millennials, defined here as consumers ages 16 to 34, liked checking out brands on social media sites. That compared with just over a third of older adults" ("How Younger," 2011). Read more.

How Younger Adults react to brands on social networks (Aug. 29, 2011). eMarketerer. Retrieved from http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008564.

Search Advertising Losing Market Share

"Marketers buying media now have a greater number of options from which to choose. Search will continue to dominate -- taking the largest piece of the interactive pie, growing from more than $18 billion in 2011 to more than $33 billion during the next five years -- but it will lose share from 55% today to 44% of all interactive spend in 2016, according to a Forrester Research study" (Sullivan, 2011). Read more.  

What's search advertising? Advertising place ads on website, search result site and others, based on the information individuals use to search--primarily keywords. Market share: The percentage of the total marketplace to which an individual (or group of individuals) sell or buy.

Sullivan, Lauri ( Aug. 26, 2011). Searches reach $33 billion but lose market share. Media Post. Retrieved from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=157514

comScore Ranks Internet Sites

"Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in July with 182.3 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 177.6 million and Microsoft Sites with 174.3 million. Ask Network jumped 1 position to rank #8 with 84.9 million visitors, while AT&T Interactive Network jumped 7 positions to #26 (38.4 million visitors). Fox News Digital appeared in the top 50 ranking at #46 with 26.1 million visitors.

"Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Google Ad Network led the July Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 93.3 percent of Americans online, followed by Yahoo! Network Plus (87.5 percent), AOL Advertising (87.2 percent), Yahoo! Sites (82.6 percent) and ValueClick Networks (82.0 percent)" (Flosi, 2011).

The company press release covered other findings, such as ticket purchasing sites were the most popular during July 2011. Read more.

Flosi, Stephanie Lyn (Aug. 19, 2011). Press Release: comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for July 2011. comScore. Retrieved from  http://www.comscore.com/content/download/9799/166281/file/comScore%20Media%20Metrix%20Ranks%20Top%2050%20U.S.%
20Web%20Properties%20for%20July%202011.pdf

Amazon Enters Online Advertising

"Amazon...[is] entering the world of advertising by using its consumer data to deliver targeted advertising on third-party sites across the web, but it's big news for online retailers and advertisers. Amazon will now use its huge supply of data to pool consumers into buckets based on the products they looked at or purchased on the retailer's website. The company will help advertisers reach these consumers with targeted media, using behaviorally targeted display ads to drive them to any URL" (Habegger, 2011). Read more.

Habegger, Jay (Aug. 11, 2011). Why Amazon is about to become a force in online advertising. Adage. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/amazon-a-force-online-advertising/229205/

Interactive (Internet) Marketing Growing

"By 2016, advertisers will spend $77 billion on interactive marketing – as much as they do on television today.  Search marketing, display advertising, mobile marketing, email marketing, and social media will grow to 35% of all advertising spend within the next five years. What does this growth mean for you?" (VanBoskirk, 2011). Read her blog to find out more.

VanBoskirk, Shar (Aug. 25, 2011). Interactive marketing will spend nearly $77 billion by 2016. Forbes. Retrieved from http://blogs.forbes.com/forrester/?p=231.

Internet Radio Threatens Traditional Radio

"Internet radio service Pandora posted its first financial results as a public company yesterday, six months after filing for an IPO. While the company may not yet be profitable, they're off to a pretty good start in terms of growth. Its total revenue grew 117% year over year and its total listeners grew 125%. Contained amongst these investor-pleasing stats was another takeaway: The company is now commanding ad rates comparable to those sold on terrestrial radio stations, as GigaOm pointed out" (Titlow, 2011). 

What could this mean? Advertisers are not placing their ads on Pandora because they "like" it. Advertisers place their ads where they expect their primary audience (potential) buyers to be listening.


Titlow, John Paul (Aug. 26, 2011). As digital revenue goes up, will the web finally disrupt radio? NYTimes.com. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2011/08/26/26readwriteweb-as-digital-revenue-grows-will-the-web-final-92688.html?ref=internet.

Half of America Using Social Networks

"For the first time, half of all adults in the United States said they use a social networking site, according to a survey released Friday by the Pew Research Center. That’s 50 percent of all Americans, not just those who say they are online. Six years ago, when Pew first conducted a similar survey, only 5 percent of all adults said they used social sites, like Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace. It is a sign of how deeply and widely social networking companies have penetrated the lives of ordinary people and in turn, transformed the ways in which people communicate, authorities govern and companies sell things" (Sengupta, 2011).

Sengupta, Somini (Aug. 26, 2011). Half of America Is Using Social Networks. NYTimes.com. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/half-of-america-is-using-social-networks/?ref=technology.