Online PR appears to have "weathered the recession" in the first half of 2009, growing by 4.6 per cent despite the rest of the advertising sector contracting, new figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) have revealed.
Chief executive of the IAB Guy Phillipson noted that this expansion has "beaten all expectations", particularly given the difficult market conditions.
"Online display has performed notably well against its peers in TV, print and radio despite more than £1.5 billion being wiped off the advertising industry," he said, adding that the year ahead will be challenging but those involved in online marketing services are still aware of the inherent value of internet advertising.
The report further highlighted that the web has surpassed television promotions to become the biggest medium in the UK for advertising.
Earlier this month, a report from Econsultancy revealed that the email marketing industry in Britain is expected to grow by around 15 per cent by the end of the year.
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Digital advertisers could increase their conversion rates by enhancing their pay per click landing pages, an expert has said.
According to Graham Charlton, writing on the Econsultancy blog, when carrying out very specific searches on the internet, consumers are likely to already have an intention to purchase.
Therefore, it is necessary for those involved in online PR to guarantee the web page brought up following a mouse click is relevant and contains sufficient information to convince the shopper to convert.
"A good landing page is one that reinforces ‘conversion intent’," Mr Charlton observed, adding that marketers would improve the incidence of click-throughs by uniting the paid search ad to the landing page.
Earlier this month, Mr Charlton further advised advertisers and brands to consider reducing the number of buttons on their shopping pages, following the success of retailer Laura Ashley, which improved its conversion rates by 18.87 per cent after removing its ‘update shopping bag’ feature.
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Online marketing is to be increasingly directed towards women, following changes in the sector, an industry expert has said.
According to Chris Sanderson of forecasting consultancy The Future Laboratory, the fact that there are more women using the internet than men suggests that "the web ad industry [has] turned female".
This is down to the fact that women are earning more, are in stronger business positions and are the ones purchasing online experiences, as well as remaining in control of the family purse strings, he explained.
Mr Sanderson further predicted, during his speech at ad:tech London – an interactive advertising conference – that the next 150 years for those involved in internet marketing services would be very much female-oriented.
His comments follow research from IPC Media, a consumer magazine publisher, which revealed women are logging on to the web more now than they were two years ago, with an average of 4.2 times a day, compared to 4.01 times in 2007.
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Digital advertisers have been further supported by Google with the enhancement of its search service, which provides graphical representations of the 100 fastest-growing search terms that give extra information.
Data such as how fast the query is rising over time and how popular it is will be demonstrated on the charts, according to Aaron Wise and Hioshi Kuraoka of the Google team.
In addition to the revised search model, Google has also decreased the number of topics on the Hot Trends homepage from 100 to 40, to "make for a simpler user experience and help you focus better on the top, most interesting content".
Earlier this month, search engine marketing services received a boost from Google with the implementation of its new Web Elements programme, which was designed to improve search engine results for those trading online, as well as increasing AdSense revenue.
The system also allows users to bring in other Google products on their sites, thereby improving the shopping experience for customers.
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Digital advertisers need to spend time with young people in order to truly understand their wants and needs, an expert has suggested.
Jonathan Attwood, founder of online swapping community Swapitshop, observed that the only way to gain an appreciation of the way kids use their time is to "ask them and really engage with them".
Recent research from The Nielsen Company, which revealed that time spent on the web by children in the US aged between two and 11 has increased 63 per cent in the last five years, is an indication that those involved in internet marketing services could benefit from taking his advice.
Mr Attwood, speaking at ad:tech London, further stated that while kids are "incredibly bright" and "incredibly savvy", they are also "ruthless people" in relation to both their time and attention span.
If advertisers do not get their campaigns right and "don’t give them a reason to do something", they will not do it, he said.
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Digital advertisers are continuing to use search as a marketing tool because it offers good return on investment, even during the recession, it has been suggested.
According to Karin von Abrams, a senior analyst at eMarketer, the industry is likely to see an "increasing commitment to search", even once the downturn is over and the online economy has recovered and despite other formats emerging, such as video and rich media.
Speaking at the technology conference ad:tech London, Ms von Abrams noted that "search does seem to have proven to be in the downturn the real bedrock of online advertising", adding that it was likely this growth would continue for the next few years.
Her comments follow a survey from ZenithOptimedia, which revealed that those involved in internet marketing services saw their industry survive better than expected in the first quarter of the year. The study also predicted that most of the expansion seen in internet advertising will come from paid search.
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Digital advertisers must ensure that their marketing output is focused on quality in order to entice customers, it has been suggested.
Writing on the Econsultancy blog, Kevin Gibbons noted that taking shortcuts in campaigns could potentially put brands at risk, through alienating their clients, or worse – "looking ridiculous".
He advised those involved in internet marketing services to ensure strategies employing search engine optimisation avoid concentrating on quantity, as these methods "now actively hurt many optimisation endeavours" and engines can restrict attempts at influencing search results.
Mr Gibbons further stated that "everything you do to promote your brand needs to be driven by quality", recommending advertisers take care with email marketing messages and devote effort, thought and time to social media campaigns.
Earlier this month, Nicholas Carson from Business Insider stated that marketers should steer clear from banner advertising as it is click-reliant, cannot tell a story and cannot engage with an audience without being irritating.
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Britain’s email marketing industry is expected to show an approximate growth of 15 per cent by the end of 2009, findings from a new Econsultancy report have indicated.
The Email Marketing Platforms Buyer’s Guide has revealed that, as those involved in online marketing services continue to see a return on investment (ROI) from the service, it will continue its progress from 2008, which also saw a 15 per cent rise, to be valued at £292 million by the end of the year.
Such growth has been driven by the industry’s inherent accountability and capacity to be measured, Econsultancy’s research director Linus Gregoriadis said, adding that, because it has a high ROI with relatively little cost, "many companies are diverting budget from direct mail to email marketing".
Earlier this month, brands were advised by Marc Munier, writing on the Econsultancy blog, to maximise their results from email messaging by spending more time on the subject lines in order to encourage click-through.
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Brands should consider aiming their ad campaigns at young metrosexuals and jockettes, who make up a large proportion of the teenage market, findings from a new study have indicated.
According to the Teen Segments report, compiled by Euro RSCG Discovery, of the 11 categories identified in the study, jockettes – young women with active lifestyles – constitute more than 25 per cent of teenagers, while young metrosexuals – those concerned with their outward appearance – also make up over 25 per cent, Adweek reports.
This suggests that those involved in online marketing services could benefit from tailoring their ad strategies to appeal to these demographics.
Other masculine segments identified in the survey include ‘technosapien’ and ‘tuned inward’, while girls are also categorised as ‘most likely to succeed’, ‘style meets thrift’ and ‘in-style socialites’.
Last month, marketers were advised by Just Retirement that they could profit through targeting silver surfers as an increasing number of older people are doing their shopping over the web.
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Five ways for brands and their promoters to improve their lead generation programmes have been identified by two industry experts ahead of Marketing Sherpa’s sixth annual B2B Marketing Summit.
Brian Carroll, chief executive of In Touch and Dr Flint McGlaughlin, director of MarketingExperiments, have named "five key levers" that will help those involved in internet marketing services enhance their lead generation.
These include the necessity of developing service level agreements between sales and marketing, accelerating leads already in progress and optimising lead qualification to concentrate on those of higher quality.
Writing on the Marketing Sherpa blog, senior reporter Sean Donahue recommended advertisers use these ideas "as a framework to examine each aspect of your lead generation campaigns".
Earlier this month, the publication spoke to advertiser Michael McCathren, who stated that through enhancing the interactivity of the content of his email marketing messages, the clickthrough rate went up to 15 per cent.
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