Online Behavioral Advertising

Cookies Are Your Friends

After reading the blog by Joanne Frears: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/mar/20/online-behavioural-advertising-rules, I have reconsidered my take on cookies and other forms of internet tracking, at least the non-intrusive types. I used to worry about privacy, information protection, and the like. Reading her take on advertising made me think how much more annoying pop-ups, banners, any online advertising would be if companies had no way of targeting their ads to specific audiences and just bombarded everyone randomly.

 

I would rather receive ads for products and services that I am interested in than women's hygiene products. I mention that because for awhile the coupon printers at a retailer's POS consistently gave me coupons for feminine hygiene every other time I shopped there. Made me wonder if the company really paid someone to print these pretty colored coupons without targeting to individual's purchasing habits. Gave me a pretty poor impression of the company and its use of funds.

 

As for the whole privacy issues and personal information gathering, corrupt companies and individuals will always find a way around any laws, guidelines, and protections meant to secure these. I would rather we utilize new technology to its best advantages instead of trying to squeeze it so tightly that only the dishonest companies who ignore rules and guidelines prevail.



 

Direct Mail Marketing

Should Companies Move Away From Direct Mail Marketing?

 

My mailbox is flooded daily with postcards for lawn work, clipper magazines, credit card offers, etc. My response to these well placed ads consists of tossing them directly into the trash can. It is not that I am disinterseted in saving money or trying new services, but this outdated mode of advertising does little to nothing to encourage me to utizile a specific product, service, or company. Now John Robertson disagrees with me in his article: http://biznik.com/articles/eulogy-on-the-death-of-direct-mail-marketing. While I do like his point about reading postcards, I would still consider this too costly and ineffective as more companies would just start to flood mailboxes with postcards, thereby reducing their effectiveness.

 

It is my contention that if these companies were to better utilize their resources and move to a more online approach that my chances of "buying" would increase ten-fold. I at least scan over every email that is sent to me, and I have repeated purchases at stores that offer online coupons and discounts. In fact, my android phone notifies me of every email and displays the first few lines automatically until I clear it from my notification bar, read the email, or delete it. Companies are also advancing green initiatives to entice environmentally sensitive consumers to them, so why not put direct mail marketing "out to pasture" and move to completely digital advertising?

 

I would like to hear your thoughts on this. I have read many articles against letting go of direct mail marketing because it is described as incorrectly executed, but I think it is time to let go of the past and expand into new horizons. Please feel free to share any thoughts, questions, links, etc...

PayPal is making much easier mobile payments for retailers and shoppers

There is no doubt smartphone and tablet shopping is thriving. Sales from smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices grew 81% in 2012.
As smartphone infiltration continues to climb, retail sales made from smartphone devices are expected to reach $27 billion by 2016, according to one study by Forrester Research, Inc. that excluded tablets. That would be 8% of forecasted e-commerce sales without even considering sales from tablet devices.

As mobile and tablet shopping continues to rise, so does the need to ensure your payment system to adapt to a mobile lifestyle. PayPal is making that happen for many retailers and shoppers with PayPal checkout. According eBay CEO, John Bonahoe, PayPal grew by 26 million users in 2012 and handled almost $14 billion in payment quantity. They expect mobile payments to exceed $20 billion in 2013!

Its a convenience and ease way of using PayPal checkout from a mobile device that can save you time and money. There are many shoppers already know about PayPal that are using it to make a purchase online or even to transfer money to your bank account. You just need to set up an account, put your payment information and saved then you are ready to go!

So, why not have PayPal account set up on your mobile device or tablet?

Groupon as an Internet Advertising Strategy for your small business….

One very popular strategy for today’s small business owners to attract new customers is to target people who are searching online for discounted products and services by using an online coupon company, such as Groupon. Companies like Groupon will partner with a local business each day to offer a deeply discounted deal of at least 50% off. Groupon has become a popular addition to many Internet advertising strategies for local small businesses and the fastest growing Internet Company in history and the first to reach $1 billion in sales in only seventeen months since its establishment. Groupon is a deal-of-the-day website that provides discounted printable or digital vouchers for purchase at local businesses. Groupon offers one "Groupon" or group coupon per day in each of the cities it serves. People can sign up to receive notice of these local Groupon coupons in their city or community.

The site allows merchants in various markets around the world to open an online store and post their daily deals via the site. 

Groupon has cut spending on US-targeted display and contextual ads more than 80% in the past few years- a amazing cut for a company spending $100 million a month on advertising. Now that daily deal giants have entered the fight, what does it mean for local online advertising? Obviously, as one can imagine, companies like Groupon can change the local search game. Before they entered the domain, it was a gold mine for local businesses trying to make the most of how customers were finding services.

Do you think Groupon is a good marketing strategy for small businesses?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupon

Location Based Social Network

Have you ever heard of Four Square, Urban Spoon or Yelp?  These are a few location based tools that users can take advantage of to find services, restaurants and other businesses.  It is just another form of advertising on the internet.  Companies are finding more interactive ways to advertise their local products to people on the go. 

When facebook analyzed their advertising revenue, one thing stood out.  Many of their users were accessing the site via a mobile device.  There was no advertising on the mobile site and this meant much lost revenue. With the company now on the public stock market, the main  goal of the organization is to increase the wealth of their shareholders.  Advertising on their mobile sites is critical to sustaining growth and a strong revenue stream.  There are several companies that work with facebook that offer local services. 

GPS, global positioning systems, allow for social networks to identify the location of a user.  This technology is a critical tool for internet advertisers to reach their potential consumers.  There is a Boston based company called Bytelight.  The company uses LED lighting technology to track a consumer's movements based on the mobile device.  The technology can provide coupons to consumers as well as analyze the patterns of movement in a business so that owners can better interact with customers. 

Source:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/225436

Minding....MY business

Privacy may be a thing of the past... Today, many sites are collecting data from you without your knowledge.  The information may not always be stolen, but sometimes willingly provided. How do we willingly provide our personal information without knowing?  It's simple... Ask yourself this question. How often do you read all of the terms and conditions on sites that require you to approve before proceeding?   I am certainly guilty of just clicking accept without reading the fine print.  I say that I would never physically sign a contract without knowing what I'm getting into, but that's exactly what is happening.

Internet advertising is a growing business. "Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. reached $9.26 billion for the third quarter of 2012, making the quarter the biggest on record, according to the latest IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report figures..."  This gives advertising companies a big reason to learn more about their target audience.  The more information Advertising companies have, the more successful their marketing attempts can be.  Advertising companies are experiencing a high volume of business thanks to consumers divulging information on the Internet. The potential revenue growth could force companies to find more creative ways to gain your information.  

Who's minding your business?

Source: http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-121912