Marketing Pilgrim Published: "Online Ad Dollar Breakdown Shows Who Is King" plus 4 more

Online Ad Dollar Breakdown Shows Who Is King
CMO's: Plan Increase of Social Media Use Though 7 Out of Ten Feel Unprepared
Holiday Shopping: Most People Will Buy At Least One Gift Online
Adwords Location Improvements Help Local Advertisers Target Better
Google Maps API Charge A Sign of Things to Come?

Online Ad Dollar Breakdown Shows Who Is King

Posted: 01 Nov 2011 05:58 AM PDT

It is already well known that Google gets the lion's share of online ad revenue. It's known in that it is said often and simply assumed to be true.

Often times we need to see things in picture form and this comes to us by way of the SAI Chart of the Day and Darren Herman. A picture does say a thousand words and 46 % of online ad spend going to Google paints quite a picture, doesn't it?

So what's the price of being this big? A lot of scrutiny and scorn. Government concerns. Sounds like a real good time. Do you see anyone, like everyone's "Most Likely to Succeed in Denting Google" winner Facebook, approaching this kind of market share? 46% is a huge chunk of change.

But let's be real here. A $23B pot left to divvy up amongst "the rest" is still nothing to sneeze at, correct? Agree or disagree?

CMO's: Plan Increase of Social Media Use Though 7 Out of Ten Feel Unprepared

Posted: 01 Nov 2011 04:14 AM PDT

The more that is written about the world of the CMO the less attractive it seems to be. Sure it would be nice to have the big salary and the perks of being the top marketing dog but if recent research is any indication it appears as if being a CMO also means you are a bit out of the loop.

I have likened the plight of today's CMO to that of climbing a burning rope. Most CMO's are likely to have about 20 years or so experience before they reach the top of the food chain at a major company. That time may shorten at a smaller firm and there are those that are very young for the role as well. What has happened though is that as they climb the rope to the top of the marketing food chain many of the techniques and skills needed to get there have gone away away thus leaving them at the top with no way to get down except to fall

According to a study by IBM entitled "from Stretched to Strengthened: Insights from the Global Chief Marketing Officer there is quite dilemma facing this group as it relates to social media. emarketer presents the findings that show social media as a prime desire.

That's all well and good but why do folks insist on calling social media a technology? The technology piece is the tool part of social media. The application of social media is much less about the technology and more about the psychology of marketing. Referring to social as a tool implies that it is something you use and the job gets done. But it's not like that at all. Another analogy I often cite is that a screwdriver is a fantastic tool but you wouldn't paint your house with it. Looking at social as a tool rather than a system and a process is the easy route for CMO's but it is far from accurate.

Maybe they know this deep inside. Look at the next chart and the story is told quite clearly. While CMO's know social media is important, about 7 out of 10 admit they are unprepared to deal with it. I bet the remaining 3 out of those 10 are lying to some degree about being prepared as well.

The two things that go hand in hand, social media and the tremendous amounts of data it can generate are what the CMO crowd are not prepared to handle. So who's really in control in the world of marketing these days as it becomes more and more prevalent and integral to a business' success?

It's like having a captain of a ship who recognizes that he doesn't understand the shifting tides but will keep sailing anyway. That usually doesn't end well. How can this "preparedness" gap be solved? The most obvious way is to have CMO's come down out the ivory tower, roll up their sleeves and learn what social media is. That sounds nice but most CMO's won't have the stones to do that.

Marketing Pilgrim's Social Channel is proudly sponsored by Full Sail University, where you can earn your Masters of Science Degree in Internet Marketing in less than 2 years. Visit FullSail.edu for more information.

So what will happen? Most likely there will be tremendous C-suite crashes and burns and next will come a younger crowd of CMO that will suffer from the opposite problem. Complete understanding of social media but limited business experience in which to apply it properly. Either way we are in for a rough transition in the upper levels of marketing for quite a few years to come.

What are our thoughts?

Holiday Shopping: Most People Will Buy At Least One Gift Online

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 12:15 PM PDT

Tomorrow is November 1, and that means that if you aren't already hawking your holiday wares, you're late. But don't worry. MarketLive just published their 2011 Holiday Shopper Survey and it's loaded with information that will help online retailers see black this holiday season.

83% of those surveyed said they were planning to buy at least some of their gifts online. This is a small rise over last year. One in four said they plan to do most of their shopping online.

Even if they aren't buying, consumers are using the internet to research products. 61% said they'd use their computers and mobile devices to get the lay of the land before plunking down their hard-earned cash.

Which brings us to saving money. 79% of shoppers said saving was one of the reasons they preferred shopping online. Saving time, the ability to locate hard-to-find items and avoiding crowds also made the list.

Shipping was a key point with 73% saying they like the ease of shipping gifts when you buy online. But that doesn't mean they're willing to pay for it. 83% of shopper said that free shipping is the feature most likely to influence their decision to buy.

Marketlive recommends an emphasis on shipping, with clear holiday deadlines and cut-offs for delivery zones. Not only will your customers feel more secure, there's that added bonus of the ticking clock. Nothing helps a consumer make a decision faster than the knowledge that time is running out.

A similar tactic is the "scarcity play." Feature hot items along with reminders that it's better to buy now rather than scramble for those popular gifts later on. This year, 32% of people said they'd be willing to pay full price for the "perfect" gift, up from only 17% a year ago. Proof that great customer service can trump a low, low price.

Finally, for those with a brick and mortar store, Marketlive points out the importance of linking both the "e" and the "brick" sides of the business. Offer buy online, pick up at the store options so customers can save on shipping. And be sure to take full advantage of mobile with constant updates on in-store promotions and events.

Sure shoppers want a bargain, but you don't have to give your stock away in order to make the sale. Says Marketlive,

There are ways to engage shoppers beyond simply instituting deep discounts. The key is to communicate the value of the brand and the products on offer, during every phase of the holiday season.

Adwords Location Improvements Help Local Advertisers Target Better

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 12:05 PM PDT

One of the most important features of Google Adwords has been the ability for advertisers to target specific locations to ensure that their ad spend was happening in the geography of their business. This goes a long way to being more efficient with spend and helps stretch an ad budget due to less waste.

Today Google has announced improvements in how local marketers can target their Adwords efforts. This comes from the Inside Adwords blog.

Today, many businesses are using location targeting in their online ad campaigns to reach the right customers and improve campaign performance. Online agency iProspect, for example, uses location targeting to focus on top performing geographic areas for their client Talbots. As a result, they were able to lower their cost-per-click (CPC) by 36 percent, driving higher quality leads at a lower cost.

To provide an even better experience for our advertisers, we've connected the location targeting feature within AdWords to Google Maps. This will allow us to provide more information about locations, make relevant location suggestions, and improve the level of accuracy of our location targeting. We think these changes will make location targeting an even more useful tool for improving your campaign results.

Today we're announcing the first of these changes: a makeover to the location targeting interface within AdWords. The new Location Targeting Tool will make it easier to discover and obtain more detail on potential target locations.

The post disappoints a bit because there is no video so now it's best that you go to the post and actually read about these improvements. How 2010 of you, Google!

Here is an overview of the features:

1. Easily discover locations: Just start typing your location in your campaign settings section and Google will start to make suggestions for you (how considerate!)

2. Look at these locations on a map. Hey this one only makes sense, right?

3. Reach numbers

We now offer reach numbers to help you estimate the audience within your selected target. These reach numbers are based on the number of users seen on Google properties and may differ significantly from census numbers. Reach should be used only as general guidance to help you determine the relative number of users in a location target compared to other locations. For example, you can see from the screenshot below that targeting the Dallas metro area could result in three times the reach of the city of Dallas.

When you target a radius (also known as proximity targeting), we'll show 'Locations within this target' so you know exactly which areas are covered by your radius. You can also choose to 'Add all' of the individual locations within your radius.

There's more at the blog post if you want a deeper dive.

I claim to have no paid search expertise at all. It is a science and art unto itself that requires serious study to be mastered. But as someone who has considerable experience with local businesses trying to stretch limited budgets and cut down on just wasting money, the more targeted you can be geographically with your ads the better. It's just a common sense play.

So while Google looks to make money in other areas it is also looking to make sure that its flagship cash cow, bread winner, revenue monster that is paid search is working to keep advertisers happy. Google is more than aware that while they are looking broaden their revenue streams to include other parts of their offerings, paid search is going to rule the roost for the foreseeable future and beyond.

Better to keep it all shiny and new for folks so when the full integration of Google+ into all things Google eventually takes place at the local business level, even those resistant to going all in can always rely on Adwords for what it has always done well and that is deliver results.

Google Maps API Charge A Sign of Things to Come?

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:31 AM PDT

As of January 1, 2012 Google is going to start charging for API calls to Google Maps that exceed 25,000 per day.

According to Management Today

Websites that are likely to be hit by the 'map tax' include travel firms, hotel chains and big corporations that use Google Maps to direct customers to headquarters, destinations and tourist hotspots.

So, the question is, how much will companies pay for the map privilege? Word on the web is that Google will charge $4 per 1,000 views in excess of the daily limit.

Google denies reneging on its 'do no evil' mantra with the charge, insisting that it 'will only affect 0.35% of users'.

Now, the news here isn't really anything that Google is doing wrong or out of line. What is interesting is seeing more and more signs of just where Google envisions its revenue coming from in the future as it starts to wean itself off its current major dependence on paid search ads for somewhere north of 90% of their total revenue.

Google introduced Google Anayltics Premium services recently as well and it appears as if they are looking to go after the heaviest users of their services to get something from them. Kind of like an OccupyInternet approach where they are looking for the 1% to goose the bottom line.

Signs of things to come? Pay per search over a certain limit? Who knows?

What do you think Google could ultimately charge for in the future and why?

P.S. – You rarely get any mention of Trenton, NJ in anything that doesn't involve crime or politics (although they are usually the same story) so here's to my home state capital getting some Google Map love .