The 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing Blog

Facebook is rolling out new features and marketers are rolling their eyes August 22, 2012 – 5:52 pm				Damjan Dano

Today the largest social network made few updates to their Open Graph platform… it allowed users to tag their friends in 3rd party apps like social games (ex: FarmVille) and geo-location apps (ex: FourSquare)… it also announced that sponsored links will be shown in user’s searches on Facebook.com.

Now your friends can tag you on 3rd party apps and you will receieve the notifications about the tag – via a Mention or Action method.

The difference between these two is outlined below:

This feature will not be added by default, users will give permissions for tagging to the apps, the same way they do now when they want to interact with some app. (tip: If you currently have some active apps on your profile, in order to use this you’ll need to renew the permissions, you can do that with  going to Account settings > Apps).

The second update marks a direct poke from Facebook to Google (maybe because of this Google is running around crazy), and will allow businesses to bid for user’s query in the search box and results page like shown in the image below:

While the tagging feature update is clearly a long awaited and requested from the 3rd party app providers and many users, the second feature update is clearly a shot to make the shareholders happy and to bump the price of current low-performing stock on the market.

Most likely the first feature will be accepted very well by the users, and the second one will likely be highly ignored with very low click-throughs as most of the current sidebar ads on Facebook. I have trouble figuring out why Facebook – platform that has tons of data and behavior patterns for all of us, still can’t figure out how to make money and how to properly integrate semantic marketing and targeting, but are copying some old-school concepts.

Posted by Damjan Dano
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, Business News, Content Marketing (Pillar 1), Digital Media (Pillar 4), eCommerce, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Online PR, Pay Per Click (PPC), Public Relations, SEM (Search Engine Marketing), Social Media Marketing (Pillar 6) | No Comments »
Tags: Digital Media (Pillar 4), facebook, Facebook marketing, foursquare, google, Internet Marketing, search marketing, semantics marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media Marketing (Pillar 6), social networks, tagging, tags

Where did Google make their money in 2011? January 24, 2012 – 7:37 pm				Damjan Dano

The internet marketing software company WordStream published an interesting infographic about Google’s 2011 revenues. The data in the infographic is based on Google’s investor reports and financial tables and is stating the facts in a very nice visual format.

Google’s 2011 revenues were a total of 37.9 billion dollars… yes, 37.9 billion, with a B. The most interesting fact is that 96% of the revenue came from advertising.

Thanks to companies like StateFarm, Progressive, Amazon, Macy’s, Sears, Quicken Loans, Lowe’s, Booking.com and many others like them that spend millions of dollars per year bidding for keywords like “new york hotels” with average CPC of $7.68 (used by Booking.com), “zumba dance dvd” with average CPC $5.18 (amazon), “self employed health insurance” with a extremely high CPC of $43.39 (eHealthInsurance), “cheap hybrid cars” bidding for average CPC of $15.57 (Cars.com) Google made its billions.

Below you can find the infographic with all the breakdowns and stats…

Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/01/23/google-revenues

Posted by Damjan Dano
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), SEO / Search Engine Optimization (Pillar 3) | No Comments »
Tags: advertisers, Advertising, AdWords, cost per click, cpc, google, google revenue, google revenue 2011, paid search, pay per click, ppc

Skype Voices The Middle East Spring Protocol June 1, 2011 – 2:48 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

The newswire has flashed stories of internet communication’s impact on global developments.  Social media has been utilized to create support communities in the light of natural disasters.  These support communities share meeting locations, access to goods, and topics of discussion.  The recent dissident springs in the Middle East have spotlighted the mechanizations of a popular communicative software.  As this story displays, an ecosystem could be developing which affects speech first, then discourse into the present and future. Third-party software developers have created applications in this vein.

A feature in today’s Wall Street Journal talks about how Skype has been utilized as a tool for dissenting parties.  Many citizens know of Skype as the software to execute free and low-cost international calls over a live Internet wire.  Youth groups in Egypt cite its effectiveness in leveraging their movement to topple the Mubarak regime.  Skype was designed with a high level of security encryption, making it a fortuitous dissident tool.  The web application runs multiple calls through one computer. Other nations in the region, however, are making efforts to block certain content with negative sentiment, then store said content in government records.  Smaller technology firms like Gamma and HackingTeam have developed programs to circumvent those firewalls. Law enforcement agencies are sitting back to accept all offers.

The interesting development is where the benchmark lies in future regional conflicts. We are seeing the convergence of public and private elements with interactive marketing, an embryonic, largely public forum.  These energies are testing censorship, especially in the voice communication sector.  Research In Motion has run into conflict with Middle Eastern and Indian government bodies for maintaining proprietary control worldwide of their user storage content, despite being in Canada.  They seem to have the customer’s interest in mind when it comes to protecting intellectual property.  With Microsoft’s purchase of Skype, it will be interesting to see which strategy they pursue when it comes to data storage.  As a leader in business software technology, the private sector would welcome some data storage protection. What are your thoughts?

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, Click Fraud, Marketing, Mobile Applications | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, click fraud agency, digital marketing agency, Social Media Marketing (Pillar 6)

The Truth Behind A Quality Score April 25, 2011 – 10:03 am				Abdul Fattah Ismail

A quality score is a simple number between 1 and 10 assigned to every keyword in your account for Google AdWords, according to PPC Hero writer Craig Danuloff.  The value of that number is important for determining a lot of your online advertising initiatives.  A solid quality score can put your advertising up for auctions, determine keyword positions, and scale your pay-per-click rates.    

Danuloff goes into more depth to unveil that the true value of a quality score is more than meets the eye.  I’ll explain a couple of his insights in the following paragraphs.

The Visible Quality Score

This is a simple approximation of a quality score that offers different metrics by range and distribution.  That simplicity is good for novices to PPC advertising strategy and web analytics, but is limiting to all involved.  The visible score does not draw out enough details to make it commensurate for a user.  Quality score only the performance of a search query that is relevant to the keyword.  A keyword with a broad match, for example, surfaces from 100 different searches.  Only 5 of them are identical to the keyword in question.  Here is a clearer example.   You type ‘green sneakers’ into the search box.  Your result index shows landing pages from footwear, shoes, sandals, etc on the first page, rather than a site with “green sneakers” in the list.  That lack of detail can cost a marketer critical revenue.

Critical Details That Visible Quality Score Does Not Monitor

The visible quality score does correlate with click-through rates, also an essential metric for your e-commerce strategy.  It does not, however, monitor these statistics:

Search Query Performance

Geographic Performance

Ad Copy Differences

Details are answered by clicking here.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Interactive Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), SEO / Search Engine Optimization (Pillar 3) | 1 Comment »
Tags: Blueliner, digital marketing agency nyc, google adwords, ppc news, ppc strategy, seo media agency nyc, seo news

Yeah, There’s A Privacy Violation For That App April 5, 2011 – 12:20 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

In a morning headline from the Journal, federal prosecutors in New Jersey are probing about smartphone applications obtaining personal information from users without proper disclosure.  The case bears following for several reasons.  As the investigation draws on, legal experts will wonder if the result brings civil or criminal charges.  The prosecutors are seeking whether application developers violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  The legislation was designed to protect citizens from unsolicited information gathering.  Marketers should pay close attention to this story for several reasons.

As I’ve reported on this page, the marketplace pits Apple’s proprietary software standards with Android’s open source platform. Web developers have created programs for both companies.  Marketers also are aggressively investigating through industry associations on scaling personal information. Facebook’s spread into a personal hub of digital content factors into the equation.  Certain renowned companies have been subpoenaed, as you will see in a video installation below.  In the same vein, consumers must read firewall disclosures very carefully before accepting allowance of certain applications.  The source should appear credible in your mind before making the decision.  Identity theft is a terrible thing to experience.  I’ve been a victim, and would prefer to not experience it again.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Blogs with Videos, Business News, Click Fraud, Marketing, Mobile Applications | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, click fraud news, digital marketing agency nyc, mobile marketing news, new york click fraud agency

Classified Folder On Cross-Media Metrics: By IAB, 4As, and ANA March 1, 2011 – 5:23 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

This is hardly a new theme in the discussion.  Consumers are embracing content on various channels in various forms. The interactive marketing sector will need to find appropriate methodologies for measuring viewers.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau, the Association of National Advertisers, and the American Association of Advertising Agencies are collectively taking the matter into their own hands.  I admire this level of aggressiveness because trade bureaus are the gatekeepers to an industry. They understand the purchasing habits, the ecosystem, and the neuroses.  The Federal bureaus have stepped in to regulate the transfer of content through net neutrality.  It will be the first of several legislative acts bandied around Capitol Hill.

This report has the finer details of the initiative named, “Making Measurement Make Sense”.  It will be interesting to see how these trade organizations conduct their research.  As the release states, the purpose is to give a benchmark for digital buyers to organize their finances and set currency for cross-channel content.    

It will be interesting to see the end result for several reasons. Will greater priority be given to nascent industries like mobile, especially with smartphone technology enabling content to travel between the laptop? Apple and Google are prime players in software for both the software and hardware marketplaces for consumers.  Who will they align with?  How will the trade association handle the growing chasm of ISP service quality between metropolitan centers and agrarian landscapes?  Do they have the clout to lobby for federal involvement? It is a neglected marketplace where growth is possible.

I am also curious about the currency.  Will small digital marketers have a say when new metric categories arise that may better accurately reflect demographic habits?  Are advertisers willing to be flexible for that education to see the light of day, enabling a marketplace to set the price for those technologies? We will stream content live for the answer.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Digital Media (Pillar 4), Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Pay Per Click (PPC), Web Analytics | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing agency nyc, marketing trade associations, new york digital marketing agency, new york interactive marketing agency, online advertising agency nyc

Taggify Monetizes Your Images December 27, 2010 – 5:14 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Taggify is an online advertising widget that helps small businesses add value to their images.  The service allows web publishers the freedom to choose appropriate images that are relevant to page content.  For example, on Taggify’s website, you have an image of Tiger Woods.  When you scroll over, images of featured products pop up with a description and price details.  This mechanism can be found on certain e-commerce websites such as eBay.  The benefits of this service are tremendous.  Your company’s conversion rates increase greatly, as customers will spend longer time on specific pages and click on parent along with third party websites.  Web developers can get started by simply pasting the provided code into your blog header.  Taggify provides account managers to answer any troubleshooting issues. They will also back up your progress with web analytics to gage the effectiveness of the campaign.

Bloggers and publishers are making money with this interactive service.  Shouldn’t you? Click below for more information.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Business News, Content Marketing (Pillar 1), Digital Media (Pillar 4), Interactive Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), Small Business, web development | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing agency nyc, internet marketing ny, new york online advertising agency, online advertising news, ppc conversion agency, taggify, taggify.net

2011: The Year Of Online Video Advertising? December 15, 2010 – 4:47 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

As the year of Mark Zuckerberg soon closes, many advertising executives are moving on to forecast new developments for 2011. One of them involves the movement towards online video advertising.  A lack of data standardization to scale content has been one of the fundamental reasons to hold back video advertising.  Executives say this is necessary to leverage cookie data and optimize for campaigns.  They also want to know if audience buying metrics will rise to acceptable levels.

I think that with the continued emergence of tablets into the marketplace, you will see much more creative digital video in development that can be shared across multiple channels.  Third party ad service is a big key in the burgeoning movement of online video advertising.  Third party ad service pushes advertising out to websites and enables the manager to track their performance.  These performances, as we know, are measured through banner ads, interstitials (pop-up ads, full-page ad between sequential content), and paid search listings.

According to eMarketer daily,  video spending will have the highest growth from 5.5% a share in 2010 to 11.3% in 2013.  Brand managers continue to shift their ad budgets online as the hardware market spreads across devices.  This bar chart here illustrates strong movement.  Therefore, brand managers are heeding the transforming of viewing habits to maximize their online advertising revenue.  Television still has strong results for long-term gain.  Nevertheless, a change to online is coming. Professional video spots, please apply.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Blogs with Videos, Business News, Content Marketing (Pillar 1), Digital Media (Pillar 4), Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), Small Business, Video Production | 3 Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing agency nyc, Digital Media (Pillar 4), eMarketing daily, internet marketing ny, mark zuckerberg, new york interactive marketing agency, new york podcast production agency, reelse.com, time person of the year

Software Advice Launches Marketing Automation Software Guide December 8, 2010 – 3:29 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Small businesses and organizations need to find the right marketing strategies for solid ROI.  Once this is settled, then the true spirit of B2B (business to business) marketing practices will be fulfilled.

Our friends at Software Advice have designed a new website, Marketing Automation Software Guide, that aims to achieve your solutions with aplomb.  As I recently noted on the blog, consumer behavior towards e-commerce is making waves onto the cyberspace and it is crucial for businesses to use the proper to engage them.  We know that social media is growing as a means of intimate communication for managers wishing to solve customer issues.  We also know that web analytics are becoming a measuring platform to gage online activity.  Marketing automation, however, plays a larger part in synchronizing the cycle between seller and purchaser.

Marketers will get an embarrassment of riches from a solid market automation system.  They can track online behavior, manage sophisticated campaigns, and sales intelligence applications.  All these systems operate under the umbrella of Revenue Performance Management (RPM).  RPM seeks to optimize the transaction cycle for a more efficient level of engagement with consumers which leads to brand loyalty, resulting in consistent sales growth.  The marketing automation website will also improve forecasting for chief marketing and executive officers.  Some particular features should strike not only officers, but managers. Here they are, courtesy of Lauren Carlson, CRM Market Analyst.

• User Reviews – We write original reviews of leading marketing automation software systems. We’re kicking off the site with 12 reviews, including Marketo, Pardot and Aprimo, to name a few. Visitors will also contribute reviews if they have first-hand experience with a product.
• Technology Guides – Instructive articles and primers on the latest technologies for B2B marketers. These guides will help you get up-to-speed fast on the market. For example, “Best Practices for Success with Marketing Automation Software.”
• Side-by-Side Comparisons – Detailed, side-by-side comparisons of the leading products for each market segment. We’re kicking off the site with comparisons of lead nurturing systems and marketing automation software.
• Software Advisory Board – We welcome industry experts and end-users to share their opinions and experience with our visitors. If you or one of your colleagues is interested, please let us know.

Click on the logo above for more insight into this promising software.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, CRM (Pillar 5), Digital Media (Pillar 4), eCommerce, Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Pay Per Click (PPC), SEO / Search Engine Optimization (Pillar 3), Small Business, Social Media Marketing (Pillar 6) | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, CRM Solutions, lauren carlson, marketing automation software guide, new york e-commerce development agency, software advice

Numbers Can Lie November 18, 2010 – 6:08 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

With Twitter announcing the impending release of an analytics toolboard this week, social media gains a little more credibility as a distributor of real-time content.  According to Twitter executives, the microblogger will measure user accounts’ tweets for the most popular, unfollowed users, and hashtags.  Tweets also can be filtered into specific categories.  It is a sound strategy to ensure corporations that social media has tools to get an accurate reading of consumer products and the value of their services. One interesting point in the article, however, was this.  Twitter and Gnip, a social media data aggregator, currently entered an interesting partnership.  Businesses are able to buy and analyze specific tweets, but not display and resell them. It is possible that Twitter executives fear that security protocols would be compromised.  I also think that Twitter will take this step and find a third party suitor in the future.  They have a methodical business strategy and it has worked well for them.

We know that the days of clipping images onto a cork board and rubber cement are over.  Nowadays, you have programs like Adobe and Avid to brush up images.  Web analytics help corporations become more accountable with their account strategies.  You can gain an understanding through pay per click advertisements, unique page visits, the percentage of time spent on a site, and conversion rates (linked sale transactions).  These are just a few metric categories.  Carl Warner wrote a reflective piece on AdWeek discussing the nature of today’s advertising philosophy.  He warns that “metrics can illuminate things we couldn’t dream of being able to see 25 years ago, but the science should complement the ‘art’ in a decision, not supersede it”.  This is the danger of viewing metrics too closely. Numbers can fill in a space, but they don’t tell the story.  Hastiness can also hurt your business twice as much.  Be careful when pulling the plug.

At Blueliner, we are using analytics to improve client campaigns and website performance, but a report will never tell you everything. It takes a person analyzing the numbers to determine what they really mean and what the implication is. This is our mission, and we carry it outside of the box daily.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Affiliate Marketing, blog, Blog Marketing, Business News, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), Social Media Marketing (Pillar 6), Web Analytics | No Comments »
Tags: adweek, Blueliner Marketing, carl warner, digital marketing agency nyc, new york seo media agency, new york web analytics agency, online advertising agency new york, twitter analytics