Social Media Ad Spending - “Top Priority”There is a new report out from the Society of Digital Agencies and reported on by Marketing Pilgrim suggesting marketers plan to further shift budgets from traditional forms to online media. The top budget allocation considerations are as follows:1. Digital Infrastructure2. Digital Advertising3. Search Optimization4. Social Networks5. Mobile6. Viral Campaigns7. Blogger Outreach8. Email Marketing9. Games10. OtherDirectly from the report at: http://sodaspeaks.ning.com/page/digital-marketing-outlook:
- 81% of Brand Execs expect an increase in digital projects for 2010
- 50% will be shifting funds from traditional to digital media
- 78% of global participants believe the current economy will actually spawn more funds allocated to Digital
Social Media is propelling the rise of the Consumer:
- “Rather than spending another misguided year trying to “engineer” viral campaigns that will propagate themselves, regardless of consumer intentions, it’s time to refocus our marketing efforts to align with the way that people actually behave.” – Ivan Askwith, Big Spaceship
- “2010 will be the year that social media-fueled technology and behavior is responsible for more content consumption choices than ever before. As the media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented, marketers will need to become more nimble than ever, and start getting on the leading edge of trends, as opposed to waiting for them to emerge.” – Ian Schafer, Deep Focus
- “The most effective digital platforms have shifted from “disruptive” to “productive” by providing a service or utility…[They] fundamentally change the approach from “how we reach our customers” to “how we make their lives better.” - Ken Martin, Chief Creative Officer, and Ivan Todorov, CEO & CTO, Blitz
“The web can be anywhere, and physical interaction with brand and the extension of commerce into the real world are the convergence point in the next wave of digital marketing.” – Peter Connolly, Obscura DigitalTeeth Laser Whitening
According to comScore Inc., online retail sales during the holidays were up 5% over the same period last year topping $4.7 billion. Among the biggest days was Cyber Monday when the sales reached over $885 million matching a 1-day record set last season. Surprisingly, the day AFTER Cyber-Monday ( Tuesday ) sales reached $886 million.
“We have now passed the halfway point of the season with the 4% growth in online spending to date slightly exceeding comScore’s forecast of an overall 3% growth rate for the entire season,” says comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “It will be interesting to see if the encouraging growth continues as we head into the busiest days of the season. Nonetheless, I do expect that we will see the industry’s first $900 million online spending day during this next critical week of the season.”
Those with the distinctive competitive advantage were the larger, more established retailers. Larger retailers were more equipped to offer considerable discounts in an economy where price was a major determining factor.
The other hot holiday choice for consumers this year was “Free Shipping”. 44% of those purchases during the final weeks before/after Christmas included some kind of shipping offer which as up 40% over 2008. Consumers clearly recognize “shipping” as a major deciding factor when choosing to spend money online. In fact, during the week of Thanksgiving, 50% of the purchases included a shipping offer.
If you are a retailer consider the following: “The average value of orders that include free shipping is 15% higher than for orders without shipping offers.” This suggests that retailers are convincing customers to buy more to meet thresholds for free shipping.
It is almost time for baseball! Make sure your Little League players have the baseball equipment they need for a successful season. Check out online retailer HitRunScore.com today! See also: http://hitrunscore.mlblogs.com/
Tom Angley Pete Allen Dick Adkins Fred Applegate Walter Zink Walter Anderson
George Abrams Elbert Andrews
Joe Ardner Gus Alberts