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.

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Tom Angley Pete Allen Dick Adkins Fred Applegate Walter Zink Walter Anderson

George Abrams Elbert Andrews

Joe Ardner Gus Alberts

Originally posted at Subash Gives Nothing for Anything , blue tooth has moved to the wrist watch.  Sony has started to produce a watch with blue tooth where as your phone rings a simple glance at your watch will show who is calling.  Great concept that promises to add additional functionality to the watch.  Now, check the time, check the date, and who is calling you…or called you.  Read the whole story here.

Spend anytime on the Internet and you have to quickly stay on top of acronym after acronym.  SEO, SEM, PPC, LOL, SMM, Y2K, TTL, OMG….and now, Meme.  What the heck?  That is what my kid calls my wife’s mom ( his Granny ).  Well, that aint the kind of Meme I’m talking about. 

A Meme ( sound it out like Mem e ) has a couple of boring and confusing definitions:

1. An idea that can replicate and evolve.
2. A unit of cultural information that is a basic idea posted by one person that can then be transferred from one person to another and then subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation.
3. The cultural counterpart of genes - a value or pattern of behavior that is passed from one generation to another.

 Huh?

An Internet meme is any kind of viral information ( such as a funny video or blog post ) that prompt inspiration from other bloggers.  Meme’s can be questions like: “What is your favorite Movie?” or “Tuna fish. Water or oil? What do you add to make yours?”  They are quick inserts that prompt people to react and expand on the submissions and thoughts of others.

If you are looking for a collection of meme’s to get you going, check out The Daily Meme.

I guess the next obvious “big, hip thang” will be the Papa.

Cigarrest explains the dangers of smoking cigarettes.

There in the dentist waiting room sat Entrepreneur Magazine. I had forgotten about that magazine and flipped to a page where the subscription card would most likely be. ( yeah, last minute Christmas gift to myself … I let that magazine lapse about 2 years ago ).  And there it is: “The Truth About Truemors - An interview with Guy Kawasaki.”  Guy and I go way back…..ok, he doesn’t even know that I am alive but I’ve been a big fan of his.  Anyway, the piece is a nice read.  It is a glimpse into the mind of Guy Kawasaki and his new venture, Truemors.  The site www.truemors.com let’s ‘citizen journalists’ express themselves and “tell the world something without having to run a website or a blog.” 

Truemors is another one of those “Social Communities” where the content is created solely by the site’s visitors.  The community fuels the site, its path, and even its online personality.  The online masses can choose to embrace or bash a site within a very short amount of time. 

“The blogosphere is full of angry nay-sayers who are good at tearing things down but not at innovating. They should move out of their mothers’ houses and start dating.” - Guy Kawasaki

Truemors makes money with Advertising and Sponsorship - a common method for funding such communities.  So, does this mean that companies are spending ad dollars with Social Media websites?  Do they even know the difference?  The opportunites to market a company online is quickly moving beyond just PPC and SEM/SEO ( Search Engine Marketing/Search Engine Optimization ). 

Take for example www.fthebigthree.com.  The site was created to illustrate the opportunities available to find products and services through communities rather than search engines.  For example, if you respect my opinion then maybe you will check out Truemors.com.  If you don’t….well, I guess you won’t.  But, a search engine doesn’t give you that same two-way, push/pull feel.  It pretty much just does the pushing - hoping to serve up the best match to your keyword search. 

A buzz can run through a community very quickly ( positively or negatively ) leading to the success or failure of a campaign ( even if their wasn’t a campaign to start with )…..

OK, I’m getting off track here…

Guy was asked: “What advice would you share with other entrepreneurs about this startup exercise?” 

Guy Kawasaki: The most important lessons are: Do things quick, dirty and fast; don’t wait for the perfect time/market/product; ignore the naysayers–odds are they are right, but you’ll never know unless you try; and keep things cheap so you can make a lot of mistakes.

Wow, how the Internet makes starting a business a much different process than just a few years ago.  Where is the planning and planning and the endless business plan wrapped around 100 pages of double-speak?