eMediapalooza

Disturbing trend in website subscriptions

2010-07-26T07:22:00.000-04:00

Twice in the past few weeks I have registered on websites to view their exclusive content. In both instances, I was told via pop-up and a followup email that my request was in a queue awaiting the publisher's permission to access content. Whaaat?

The sites? Hulu + for iPad, and Flipboard for iPad.

Hulu + subscription would allow me to watch TV shows and video while connected to the internet, and Flipboard is a new magazine-style content aggregator that in addition to providing news and features scraped off other sites, also allows consolidation of Facebook and Twitter account feeds. The latter feature was the hook that I chomped on.

Both have been heavily promoted with enticing PR campaigns and I was looking forward to checking them out, so I downloaded the apps and registered.

And now I wait for the gatekeepers at Flipboard and Hulu to grant me access to the info they invited me to join to see.

Lesson for other website developers. If your site is not ready for prime time, do not tease visitors into registering until you can deliver on the promise.

Ads Online Gaining Acceptance

2010-07-26T07:10:00.000-04:00

From our friends at the Center for Media Research, comes this post:

According to research conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates with Magid Media Futures 2010 study, half of respondents now watch online video weekly or more often, an increase from 43% in 2009. Viewers aged 18 to 24 accounted for the greatest increase in weekly online video viewership. Consumers also said they expect to watch more video online over the coming year.

Erick Hachenburg, CEO of Metacafe, says that "... the dramatic increase seen over the last year in viewership from the coveted 18 to 24 year-old demographic raises the stakes for online video ad spend... these consumers are the ‘entertainment drivers' that define pop culture and determine breakout hits in the social media world... "

Short, professional videos accounted for eight of the 10 most popular video genres, including music videos, movie previews, clips of TV shows, sports and comedy. More than 25% of consumers overwhelmingly said watching short, professional videos online is just as entertaining as watching full-length TV shows on television. Ads in online video content are also increasingly seen as equally or more acceptable than TV ads.

Attitudes Toward Online Video Ads (% of US Online Video Viewers, May 2010)

Agree That: % of Respondents

Ads in Online videos more acceptable 7%

Ads in Online videos just as acceptable as ads in TV shows 48%

Ads in Online videos less acceptable 24%

Not sure 22%

Source: Magid Associates, "Media Futures," June 2010

Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid Advisors, said "... the findings represent an important shift in behaviors and attitudes over last year... professionally produced short-form content preferred by the majority of respondents further solidifies this entertainment genre... "

The research for trends and insights into consumer behavior, and response to online video content and advertising, yields these key findings:

• Half of Internet users now watch online video weekly or more frequently, up from 43% in 2009

• Viewers aged 18 to24 have the most voracious appetite for online video, with 85% of males and 68% of females now watching online video weekly

• Time spent watching online video is expected to grow by 5% over the next 12 months

• Three out of four respondents watch some type of short professionally produced videos online regularly, with the highest percentage among 18 to34 year-olds (83% of males and 75% of females)

• Short professional online videos rival TV shows in entertainment value, with 31% of respondents finding them equally or more entertaining than watching full-length TV shows on a television

• 63% of online video viewers regularly watch music videos, movie previews, clips of TV shows, sports content or video game content

Millennials, the biggest fans of online video, were also the most comfortable with the ads. Nearly a fifth of men ages 18 to 24 thought online video ads were more acceptable than TV ads; 10% of women the same age agreed. Older users tended to view the two as equivalent.

Younger viewers may feel so positively toward online video ads because they realize how few there are in comparison to television commercials. Two-thirds of cross-platform TV viewers told comScore in December 2009 that watching online was better because there were fewer ads, but the same study indicated users would tolerate more interruptions.

US advertisers to spend more on eMedia than print in 2010

2010-03-12T07:08:00.000-05:00

We've crossed the Rubicon and there is no going back.

Research firm Outsell predicts that thanks to a 9.6% increase in digital advertising in 2010, US advertisers will for the first time ever spend more advertising on the web, search marketing, eNewsletters, social media, direct-to-customer communication, and mobile web than on traditional print magazine and newspaper advertising.

Significant? A game-changer for those of us who straddle the worlds of eMedia and Print media? No doubt. But also, no surprise. The momentum has tilted in favor of eMedia for the last 10 years, growing faster and picking up speed every year.

Thankfully for traditionalists, the value of print is still strong, borne out by Outsell's optimistic prediction that print advertising, too, will see an increase this year--of almost 2%. That's good news for publishers who have been slashing costs associated with our magazines, journals and newspapers to offset the declines of previous years.

My gut tells me that eReaders like Apple's new iPad will push the margin between print and eMedia even wider. I also think that colorful, graphic-rich devices like the iPad, Sports Illustrated's Tablet, Hearst's Skiff, and an new HP tablet, all due out soon, will either force current eReaders like Kindle and Nook to upgrade to magazine-like layout, navigation and multimedia or be kicked to the curb by the sexier newcomers.

And what of mobile reading? If you've tried it, it's not ideal for obvious reasons. Mobile works best for quick bites of information, not for a leasurly perusal of a magazine. And the advertising community--main source of revenue for all media--is voting with their feet, planning to spend 16% less on mobile this year than last. Maybe the financial model for mobile media is paid subscriptions or sponsored content, but ads just don't move me on my phone.

Conclusion: 2010 is a bounce-back year for most media and we need to take full advantage of the increased attention we are getting from advertisers to strengthen the bond with our readers to ensure a successful future, whatever the medium we employ.

The email signature phenomenon

2010-02-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

Look Familiar?

Michael DeLuca l President l Meister Media Worldwide
Office Direct: (440) 555-5555 l Mobile: (216) 555-5555
37733 Euclid Avenue l Willoughby, OH 44094

This email signature style has gone viral. Everywhere I look, folks are using this format to give their emails, both business and personal, a snappy, sophisticated look.

I wish I could take credit for creating it, but I can't. I first saw it in 2004 or 20055 in an email from Mark Willis, a friend who worked at the Cincinnati advertising/marketing/pr firm Northlich. I immediately appropriated it and have been using it since. If I'm not the creater, maybe the propogator, though. Makes me wonder: did Northlich create it or appropriate it, too?

It's appeal must be universal, because wherever I work, people who were using another format or no format at all in their email switch to this format or slight variations thereof. Likewize as I meet new folks and develop email relationships, I often find their subsequent return emails suddenly sporting the new signature style.

I've seen entire corporations like it so much they have mandated their employees adopt it.

Don't get me wrong. I like it. I just wonder what is so special about it that is seems to be sweeping the emailing world. I've not seen another signature style that has been copied like this one, and wonder if we might try to come up with one and watch it spread!

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

eMediapalooza: Resolved. . . be a better boss

2009-12-27T10:16:00.000-05:00

eMediapalooza: Resolved. . . be a better boss

Resolved. . . be a better boss

2009-12-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

Ever notice that a conversation overheard on a plane, in a theater, in an elevator or some other place in which you are confined is alternatively boring as hell or obnoxious--or both? Maybe it's me.

Next on the list has to be some clod reounting their New Year's Resolutions.. I am going to start exercising, eat better, go to church, learn a new language, read a book a month, blah, blah, blah.

Rather than go that route, I take this one: resolutions on conducting myself in business. As a newly minted president of Meister Media, I am both humbled by the charge and excited about the opportunity of what we can accomplish in this new decade. But since wishing and hoping is a pretty lame strategy, I lay out for anyone who is interested, my plan. Here are 10 things I resolve to do in 2010.

1. Show up early, but enough with the 12-hour days (so I can get home before 7 and exercise, eat better, learn French, read a book . . .)

2. Ask "What if?" What if we were a startup. . . What would we write, produce, promote? What would our processes look like. . . our staff?

3. Walk around the building every day I am there. Look for fires, listen to the staff, be accessible and open to their opinions and ideas.

4. Read a magazine a day--one of ours, a competitor's, a trade magazine, or just for fun. Plus go deep into one of our websites. Look hard at our content and how we present it. Think about ways to make it better, or learn from other media.

5. Schedule as much of the must-attend meetings and events as we can for the year. Let everyone know where I am going and what I am doing, and give the staff my office days for client interaction or brainstorming. Also, try to keep meetings to 30 minutes or less. Any more than that and your are probablty wasting someone's time.

6. Every month give the company an update on how we are doing. Revenue, profit, performance metrics, project progress, awards, and what's ahead for the next month or so.

7. Smile, be upbeat. Be an enthusiastic cheerleader and an inspiring coach.

8. Expect the very best from everyone; recognize them when they do their best, but don't let anyone get away with sloppy or careless work.

9. Talk to at least one reader or customer every day. Thank them for allowing us into their lives and businesses. Ask them about what concerns them most this year. Promise to help them.

10. Block 30 minutes each day to:

Think.
Play guitar.
Exercise.
Call Mom and Dad.
Study how other media companies are changing
Review my resolutions and keep myself on track

What do you resolve to do this year? Post your answers here and I will enter you into a drawing to win a red 1st generation 4gb iPod Nano that one of my kids bequeathed to me when she got the Touch. It's old, but it does the job. Great for runners. Happy New Year, friends.

Under 60 Character Email Subject Lines Increases Open Rate

2008-09-04T08:21:00.003-04:00

From the Center for Media Research comes the following post:

According to eROI's latest email marketing survey, The Elements of Email, email marketers are missing opportunities to increase their deliverability, opens, clicks and conversions. The study examines several elements of an Email, recommending that readers test their positions to compare to prevailing practices.

50% of the respondents say they use the company name as the best "from" name choice, while a third say it's based on the campaign. Responses are based on the question: How do you address your "from" line?

The Company... 50.89%
Depends on the Campaign... 31.95%
Individual... 17.16%

Email authentication verifies messages, allowing recipients to automatically recognize the nature of each incoming communication. About 60% of marketers do not know how they authenticate email. Of those that do, Sender ID is the type of authentication used by the majority, with Domain up about one-third. Based on "How do you authenticate your email?" the response is:

Don't Know... 55.07%
SenderID... 32.16%
PF... 28.19%
DomainKeys... 24.67%
DKIM... 10.13%

Many companies avoid blacklists by verifying senders and certifying the email they send. These services are growing, but are still used by only about 25% of marketers. With the majority of email marketers not currently doing this, a large opportunity is presented. Methods of certification include:

None... 70.09%
Sender Score... 10.28%
Other... 10.33%
GoodMail... 7.94%
Habeas... 7.01%

Email marketers seem to be paying close attention to the content of their subject lines, finds the study. 75% say they try to ensure subject line relevance to the content of the email and 50% focus on keeping it concise.

Studies have shown that using a subject line with 72 characters or more gives added relevance, with click through and conversion tending to increase. By going with a 60 character or less subject line, the open rate will tend to increase. The area between 60 and 72 has been shown to be a "dead zone," according to the report.
Respondents report subject lines as follows:

Relevant content... 72.57%
Short and to the point... 50.44%
Testing subject lines... 28.32%
Personalized... 19.03%
Other... 2.21%

Nearly 30% of marketers duplicate their site navigation in email. Of those, 15% find it more effective than the main content in driving clicks, while 11% of marketers find their navigation converts better than the main content of their email.

Magazine Websites Stats Beat Other Sites

2008-08-22T15:55:00.001-04:00

Traffic to consumer magazine websites in the second quarter rose 8.5% over the same time period in 2007, it was announced today by Nina Link, President and CEO, Magazine Publishers of America. Consumer magazine websites averaged 69.7 million unique monthly visitors* during the second quarter of 2008 while 64.2 million unique visitors logged onto magazine websites during the same span in 2007. The increase is more than double the rate of growth for the overall U.S. Internet audience, which rose 4% in the second quarter. The information is based on a MPA analysis of Nielsen Online-supplied data from 314 consumer magazine brands online.

The analysis also showed that the average second quarter monthly reach for magazine websites grew to 42.2% of the total U.S. Internet population, posting a 4.3% gain over second quarter 2007. Magazine website users accounted for an average of 462.8 million sessions per month during the second quarter, a 9.9% improvement over the same period last year, in which an average of 421.1 million sessions were recorded.

Magazine websites were stickier in Q2 2008 compared to Q2 2007. Visitors to magazine websites spent an average of more than 2.05 billion minutes per month during the second quarter, resulting in a 21.5% increase versus the same three-month period in 2007.

"This latest data shows that the audience for magazine brands continues to grow," said Ms. Link. "Visitors to our sites are attracted to our filtered content and unique voice, and they want to be part of the vibrant community that flourishes around great magazine brands."

They Want it Their Way

2008-08-22T09:01:00.001-04:00

A new consumer segmentation analysis from Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) shows that nine percent of U.S. adults belong in the "Ads on Emerging Media Vehicles" segment, the group of consumers who say they are most interested in advertising delivered via such non-traditional media as mobile devices and product placement in video games, movies and in TV shows. The median age of this segment is 35.5, younger than the median age of the other five segments.
Ads delivered via mass media are preferred by 17% of U.S. adults, and an additional 17% of consumers are most interested in ads delivered in print. 32% of U.S. all adults are either disinterested in advertising delivered by any medium or they have not been exposed to a particular ad platform.
The 9% of U.S. adults who prefer "Ads on Emerging Media Vehicles" are far more likely than the average adult to agree with the following statements.
A celebrity endorsement may influence me to consider or buy a product.
I'm always one of the first of my friends to try new products or services.
I follow the latest trends and fashions.
Brand name is the best indication of quality.
Anne Marie Kelly, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning at MRI, says "Consumers who prefer advertising messages delivered through their mobile devices and product placement tend to be younger, pro-innovation, pro-celebrity and pro-fashion... this segmentation analysis helps them to target... consumers most receptive to their media plan." -- plucked from the Center for Media Research's latest newsletter.

Always do right, Twain said

2008-08-22T08:51:00.004-04:00

Although I am now in a business management position with our media company, I still consider myself a journalist at heart. It's all I ever wanted to be and I am fortunate that over the past 30 years in media, advertising, public relations, and internet development I have never strayed too far from that passion for the written word, in whatever form it is delivered.

That said, since I was a kid reading Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and other classics, Mark Twain has been a hero of mine. I share with you today, this quote from the estimable Mr. Clemmens:

"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest."
-- Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)

Online Video Viewing Surges

2008-05-22T09:13:00.001-04:00

According to data from the comScore Video Metrix service, U.S. Internet users viewed 11.5 billion online videos during March, 2008, representing a 13-percent gain versus February and a 64-percent gain versus March 2007.
In March, Google Sites ranked as the top U.S. video property with more than 4.3 billion videos viewed (38 percent share of all videos), gaining 2.6 share points versus the previous month. YouTube.com accounted for 98 percent of all videos viewed at Google Sites. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 477 million videos, followed by Yahoo! Sites and Viacom Digital.

Other notable findings from the March survey include:
• 73.7 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• 84.8 million viewers watched 4.3 billion videos on YouTube.com (50.4 videos per viewer).
• 47.7 million viewers watched 400 million videos on MySpace.com (8.4 videos per viewer).
• The average online video duration was 2.8 minutes.
• The average online video viewer watched 235 minutes of video.

Less Than Half of Advertisers Use Online Display Ads for Branding

2008-04-23T16:14:00.002-04:00

From our friends at the Center for Media Research comes the following, cut and pasted in its entirety becasue I am too lazy to edit today. My comment? All advertising--even lead generation efforts--had better be about building your brand or you are wasting your money.

"Marketing Sherpa, in it's inaugural Online Advertising Handbook with 2008 Benchmarks, using both primary and secondary research, reports that less than half of advertisers use online display ads for branding purposes, despite overall increase in branding effectiveness of online ads, low click rates getting lower, and 80% of all clicks coming from the same 20% of all Internet users. According to the report, to choose an advertising strategy that will affect ROI, not clicks, marketers surveyed said the two tests they ran that were most likely to "significantly increase ROI" were online ad effectiveness studies and online focus groups.

The included eyetracking study shows that most individuals don‘t see most ads served to them -- especially ads served below the fold. And, says the Executive Summary, media delivery reports rarely include information on whether, or what percentage of, a media buy was served above or below the fold. According to the included chart of placement results, just being above the fold makes a significant difference.

The study notes that advertisers rate the ability to use behavioral and contextual targeting to be important as key ROI drivers, and quotes InsightExpress research, showing that targeting is a key driver of effectiveness and that ads are more effective in 2007 than they were previously.

The summary concludes that the key takeaway for advertisers is that the context in which an ad is served is just as important as the ad itself.

28 Million Mobile Subscribers Responded to At Least One Mobile Ad

2008-04-02T08:47:00.002-04:00

From the venerable Center for Media Research comes this recent post on the troubling (to me, at least) continuing breach of the cellphone by aggressive, and apparantly successful efforts to induce mobile users to respond to display advertising on their devices.
As a marketer and media professional, I applaud the development of a new medium that can help sell our customers' products and services. But as a heavy smartphone user (for email, text messaging, web browzing for specific info like weather, directions and news), I must admit to annoyance at being pitched on my 2-inch screen when I am looking for something specific. We'll get used to it in time, I suppose.
Anyway, here is the statfest from Nielsen as reported by CMR:
"According to a new report from The Nielsen Company, twenty-three percent (58 million) of all U.S. mobile subscribers say they've been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days. Half (51% or 28 million) of all data users who recall seeing mobile advertising in the previous 30 days say they responded to a mobile ad.The bi-annual Mobile Advertising Report from Nielsen Mobile, of more than 22,000 active mobile data users, reveals that:
The number of data users who recalled seeing mobile advertising between the second and fourth quarters of 2007 increased 38% (from 42 to 58 million subscribers)
Teen data users (ages 13-17) were the most likely age segment to recall seeing mobile advertising (46% recalled seeing some type of mobile advertisement, compared to 29% of all data users)
Asian-Americans and African-Americans are more likely to recall mobile advertising (42% and 40%, respectively) than all data users
26% of those who saw an ad responded at least once by sending an SMS text-message, the most popular ad response. 9% say they've used click-to-call to respond to a mobile ad
32% of data users said they are open to mobile advertising if it lowers their overall bill
13% (18% of males) said they are open to mobile advertising if it improves the media and content currently available
14% said they are already open to mobile advertising so long as it is relevant to their interests
23% expect to see more mobile advertising in the future (up from just 15% in Q1 2007)
While just 10% of data users said they think advertising on their mobile devices is acceptable, an increasing number of mobile users appear to understand the value proposition of ad-supported mobile content, says the report
The report concludes that advertising researchers must examine the ways in which audiences are and are not willing to engage with mobile advertising, as media companies and marketers explore the unique ways they can interact with consumers supporting mobile media content through advertising revenues."

Email Segmentation Works

2008-03-16T14:52:00.000-04:00

From SubscriberMail comes this press release:
With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, everyone has green on their minds. If you’re an email marketer, there’s a lot of “green” to be made by following some simple email segmentation guidelines from SubscriberMail that are guaranteed to bring some Luck o’ the Irish to your email marketing program.

1. Guinness or Harp? Not everyone is a Guinness drinker so why treat everyone the same? Take the time to get to know your subscribers’ preferences, then deliver the content that is relevant to them. By segmenting your email lists, you can send customized messages with tailored offers that result in a better return for your campaign.

2. The Pot o’ Gold. Dynamic content is an email marketer’s pot o’ gold because it is an easy way to send individualized content to many subscribers. With dynamic content you create a single email message and the dynamic content engine delivers multiple versions of the message based on the recipients’ demographic profile or other data. Messages can be customized to replace groups of text or images based on variables such as a subscriber’s personal data, past purchase history, past email activity, website activity, etc.

3. Shamrocks & Luck. What would shamrocks be without luck? The same is true when it comes to email personalization. Most email marketers use name personalization, but “where’s the luck?” Personalization allows you to insert any text for which you have a data field. Here are some other examples for using personalization: contact information for a salesperson in the recipient’s region, location information for the closest store, or a reference to a recent purchase.

4. Crafty as a leprechaun. To gather the most information possible about your subscribers, you don’t have to be crafty, just smart. The best way to collect information is when subscribers sign up to receive your emails. Periodically ask subscribers to re-register and gather data to make sure their information is up-to-date. Finally, you can gather subscriber information by conducting a short survey and offering a premium or prize for participating.

Product (and website) Names Matter

2007-12-28T15:47:00.000-05:00

I always thought it would be a blast to be the guy who got to name cars: Impala, Chevelle, Sunbird, Cordoba (of the fine Corinthian leather infamy). The folks at Strategic Name Development (kind of prosaic, given what they do, don't you think?) offer this research factoid:
Names starting with the letters X and Z suggest innovation, complexity and masculinity. For example, XBox, XTerra, XM Radio, Xeon processors.
Further, they say, consumers perceive product names that begin with B, C and S as classic. Close behind those letters on the classic connotation scale are T, L, R, and D. Think Bentley, Cadillac, Rolex.
I like this kind of information because it makes me think about how we name our websites. Usually they are as prosaic as the name of the company who gave us this research. But prosaic names don't always make good brand names. And after all, aren't we in the brand business?

Online Advertising Continues to Bolster Newspapers

2007-11-27T15:49:00.000-05:00

From our friends at the Center for Media Research comes this gem: Preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America show that advertising expenditures for newspaper websites increased by 21.1 percent to $773 million in the third quarter versus the same period a year ago. This is the fourteenth consecutive quarter of double digit growth for online newspaper advertising since 2004. Newspaper website advertising now accounts for 7.1 percent of total newspaper ad spending, compared to 5.4 percent in last year's third quarter.
Now, that is the kind of news an eMedia professional can get excited about.

Preview Pane readers are higher than we thought

2007-11-09T16:27:00.000-05:00

Sent to me from our eNewsletter engine, Real Magnet, some revealing stats that challenge the value placed on open rates. Only under certain circumstances will an email viewed in a preview pane register as an "open." So, chew on this: 52 percent of B2B email newsletter readers say they always use the preview pane. A further 17 percent say they frequently use the preview pane to read email.
It follows that if we are reporting open rates of 23%, we can effectively add to our opens some 50% of those delivered, as well. More views, whether in an opened email or one viewed in a preview pane means more value for our advertisers and sponsors.
How about you? Take my poll.

Print Advertising Drives Web Traffic

2007-10-25T09:23:00.001-04:00

A new study by the Magzine Publishers of America indicates that traditional print advertising are the best way besides eNewsletters to drive traffic to a website. Some key findings:

--Magazine ads had a major impact on building web traffic, with a lift of more than 40% over the control group, on average
--Magazine ads generated web traffic at each stage of the purchase funnel, especially purchase intent
--Including a URL address in magazine ads significantly increased web visits. When the URL was included, the percent change in visits tripled

eNewsletter Dos and Don'ts

2007-10-19T14:49:00.000-04:00

eNewsletters serve three purposes:
--Reinforce your brand relationship with your magazine readers in an interactive medium
--Drive traffic to your website
--Generate incremental revenue for your group

If you are not accomplishing at least two of the three, you need to seriously consider the viability of your eNewsletter as it currently exists, whether it is worth it to refocus your editorial in a new direction, or whether you should abandon the medium and concentrate your efforts in another area.

Do:
Link all content somewhere, preferably to your own website (rule number 2).
Don’t:
Include articles that are self-contained in your eNewsletter unless they relate to the newsletter itself, as in, “This week’s XYZ eNews features a new content section on technology.”

Do:
Keep news items short—two-to-three sentences max—and offer readers a click here to read more or read more link that takes them to the entire story you have posted to your website.
Don’t
give them the entire story in the lead. Tease them and entice them to click thru.

Do:
Keep columns and commentary to the same length as articles and link them back to your posted column on your website.
Don’t
write multiple paragraphs under your byline as commentary without jumping the story to your website. Also, I recommend you do not lead your eNewsletter with your column. Since it is an eNewsletter, lead with news. Instead, run your column as another section after your first news content section. If you feel your column is strong enough to lead your eNewsletter and run in its entirety, we can explore the viability of taking it out of the eNewsletter, repackaging it as an opinion blog and giving it a dedicated mail date.

Do:
Link photos to the same article on your website to which the accompanying news item links.
Exception is your photo that accompanies your column or commentary. That should link to your email address.
Don’t
run photos that do not link anywhere. Readers expect them to be clickable.

Do:
Ask for feedback, prominently and often; especially in commentary.
Don’t
ignore the feedback when it comes. Include some of it in future issues as a follow-up on the original story. This generates additional click-thru activity and keeps the issue simmering.

Do:
Include a reader poll in every issue. Does not need to be more than 1 question long, but the format is always multiple choice (that includes “yes, no, maybe”). Why am I harping on this? Polls are a cheap and easy way to get into your readers heads, find out what they think, what bothers them, what they are doing. They also give you instant intelligence that you can use for editorial content development across all media platforms: online, print, in-person.
--Further, consider taking four weeks of poll results and creating a Pulse department in your print magazine that consolidates those results with a little analysis. This is a perfect example of using each medium to their best advantage and leveraging content across multiple platforms.
Don’t
think it is difficult to do. Your WebDev team will help you.

Do:
Study your article click thru patterns. Knowing which topics resonate with your readers helps you choose articles they will like to read.
Don’t
be afraid to jettison a topic that is not generating click thrus. You are doing your readers a favor.

Good news about MMW eNewsletter metrics

2007-10-16T13:12:00.000-04:00

From EmailLabs comes a thought-provoking look at eNewsletter metrics.

The average Open Rate for all B2B eNewsletters (taking EarthLink users out because of their aggressive opt-in spam filter) across domains is 26.4%. Drilling down, at Meister Media, our eNewsletters are averaging about 23% companywide, so we are in good company.

An increasingly more meaningful metric is Click to Open Rate (CTOR), which expresses the measure of click-through rates as a percentage of messages opened, instead of messages delivered. Taking out EarthLink again, the B2B average is 26%. On our Benchrunner last week, our CTOR was 47.6 Almost double the average for b2b.

Click thru rate? B2b averages 4.39 (EarthLink excepted), we hit 6% average companywide last week. Benchrunner and TGC Retail Scan are usually well over 10%.

Just Say Hello

2007-10-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

A "Welcome" Message Keeps 'Em Coming Back
The Email Experience Council and the Direct Marketing Association announced the release of its second annual Retail Welcome Email Subscription Benchmark Study, examining the welcome emails of 118 of the top online retailers to identify best practices and benchmarks in the areas of merchandising, relationship-building, deliverability, and CAN-SPAM compliance.
Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan, Ph.D., DMA's executive vice president and chief operating officer, says "... welcome emails have significantly higher open rates than regular emails...", while Kara Trivunovic, director of strategic services at Premiere Global Services, notes that "... emails should set the tone of the program... (and) properly executed welcome messages actually create anticipation in the recipient for the next message."
The report says, in the Executive Summary, that In 2006, only 66% of major online retailers sent welcome emails. With 72% sending welcome emails this year, it appears that more retailers are recognizing the value of these critical emails. Instead of engaging subscribers with incentives and links to products, departments, loyalty programs, catalogs and other shopping-related material, a great number of the largest online retailers simply say hello and leave it at that.

McKinsey Survey: How Companies are Marketing Online

2007-10-02T13:15:00.000-04:00

A McKinsey global survey of marketers shows that companies are using digital tools—from Web sites to wikis—most extensively for customer service, least in pricing. Two-thirds are using digital tools for product development, almost as many as are advertising online.
Respondents consider online ads to be as useful for brand building as for direct response. Spending is expected to increase on all types of online advertising vehicles over the next three years.
In 2010 just over half of all respondents expect their companies to be getting 10 percent or more of their sales from online channels—twice as many companies as have hit that mark today. And 11 percent expect to be spending a majority of their advertising budgets online by then.
Most companies today don’t integrate their online and offline marketing efforts; companies that use online tools across the full spectrum of marketing activities are much more likely to do so.

Streaming Video Becoming a Habit At All Age Levels

2007-10-02T09:02:00.000-04:00

Advertising.com, in their Bi-Annual Online VideoStudy, comparing the first half of 2007 with the last half of 2006, reports that 62 percent of survey respondents are viewing video online and are comprised mostly of those ages 35 and older viewing news clips. Analyzed by age group, 31 percent of 18 to 34 year olds watch streaming video, while 69 percent of consumers ages 35 and older view streaming video online.
Approximately 83 percent of consumers surveyed indicated that their online video usage in 2007 has either stayed the same or increased since 2006. More specifically, 36 percent of consumers have increased their consumption of online video, with an even breakdown between men (36 percent) and women (37 percent).
The majority of consumers are streaming online video at home rather than work or school, with 45 percent of streaming activity taking place in the evening. 95% stream at home; 4% at work; 1% at school or university.More than 62 percent of consumers said they are most likely to stream news clips, with movie trailers and music videos next in line. Compared to the second half of 2006, consumers are streaming fewer music videos and streaming more news clips, user-generated videos and sports clips.

Stand out in the Crowd

2007-10-02T08:03:00.000-04:00

The average consumer is exposed to 3,000 ad messages daily, of which they notice 80 and react to 10. How will your e-mails break through the noise? Think about how you can gain entry into the recipient’s inner circle – the 10 to 15 companies whose e-mails they always read. Start by using compelling headlines and leads to direct the recipient’s attention to your call-to-action. Include graphic and textual links in your e-mails to complimentary downloads, Web commercials, recorded webinars and push-to-talk technology for richer end user experiences.

6 eNewsletter Reminders

2007-09-28T08:50:00.000-04:00

A good eNewsletter best practices article by Jordan Ayan, the chairman of Create-It! Inc., a technology consulting firm, as well as the CEO of SubscriberMail (www.subscribermail.com), an e-mail marketing company that provides permission-based marketers with services and tools to develop and deliver e-mail. This appeared in Chief Marketer magazine.

A new subscriber "opts in" to receive your newsletter. Great!
So you respond with a simple "Thank You" — right?
Not exactly. The right welcome message can—and should—do a whole lot more.
A recent study reported that 40 percent of Americans who use the Internet changed their opinions of brands as a result of information they gathered online. This underscores the importance of making sure the image you project online, especially the one you communicate in your email campaigns, accurately reflects your core brand values. Often, it all starts with something as basic as your welcome message.

Here are some tips that will enable your organization to succeed in creating and maintaining an email dialog with valued customers and subscribers in the moments after they click on the “subscribe” button.

1. Remember to say thank you. As Bogart put it in Casablanca “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” We all hope that the initial email message is the start of a long-term conversation with a subscriber, customer or prospect. Remember the old adage, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’? Make sure you welcome subscribers to your mailings with open arms using a concise welcome message that confirms who you are, their interests and preferences, assures their right to privacy, and reassures them that they can unsubscribe at any time.
Briefly highlight the content they can expect to receive over the coming weeks and set expectations regarding how often they'll receive it. This is also a good time to build trust with your subscribers. Reassure them that you will not share their personal information and provide a link to your corporate privacy policy.
Don’t forget to use the welcome letter to both reconfirm the value of the email they just signed up for.

2. Dress your welcome letter for success. Get your subscribers used to the look and feel of your email newsletters. Borrow the same or similar graphics used in your current newsletter, literature, or logo. With minimal effort, your welcome message can build brand identity and ensure that future emails will be read.
You've taken the time and trouble to design and develop a beautiful email newsletter that reinforces your brand image, so why send a plain text email to welcome subscribers to that newsletter? Get your readers excited to receive the first issue, and give them a visual preview of what the email newsletter they signed up for will look like. With the flood of email these days, anything you can do to build awareness helps get your email read.

3. How to avoid spam filters and bulk mail folders. Subscribers won't read your newsletter if it never gets delivered or if it gets lost in a bulk mail folder. Make sure your email gets delivered to their inbox where it's easily accessible. At the location where subscribers sign-up, provide the address that the emails will be coming from, and invite them to add it to their address book or white list to ensure delivery (some mailers who know they have problems ending up in the junk folder even actively encourage recipients to check there for the message). Encourage subscribers to add the email address your newsletter will be sent from to their address book. Of course, make sure that you're in compliance with the latest CAN-SPAM legislation and that your email service provider is using the most up-to-date email authentication systems.

4. Give them something special. Everyone likes to get something special, and when you are new to something, it makes you feel even better about your decision. Try to offer subscribers something unique. Maybe it is a special article or white paper they can download, perhaps it is an extra ‘newcomers’ coupon. Whatever you choose, let the subscriber know that, in your eyes, they are special for having taken the time to give you their email address.

5. Make it easy for them to contact you. Don’t bury the 'Contact Us' or 'Unsubscribe me' links in tiny type at the end of the email. This will just annoy someone who needs to contact you. The needs and interests of your readers are always changing, so reassure them that they can easily contact you, update their email preferences or unsubscribe at any time, and provide an easy-to-find link where they can do so.
With a little extra care, you can make your welcome message a dynamic platform for action that makes subscribers feel connected and respected but also communicates a lot about your brand. If your email newsletter is easy to work with, your organization may be easy to work with too.

6. Design basics. Always choose a subject line that is simple and accurately reflects your message, whether it's "Welcome to XYZ newsletter" or "Thank you for subscribing to XYZ news."
Have a mechanism in place that sends your welcome message automatically and immediately after a subscriber signs up. (SubscriberMail and most major email service providers do this automatically).
Keep the message brief, with as much important content "above the fold" as possible.
Remember, first impressions count. And while the medium may change, the quality must stay the same - whether in person, online, on paper, or in your welcome message.

Who wants ads on their cell phone?

2007-09-27T16:29:00.000-04:00

How much of a sap does one have to be to allow advertising into a device we hold in our hand? Don't get me wrong, I am an advertising evangelist, but this makes me a little nervous:

U.S. mobile advertising is expected to grow from $421 million in 2006 to $4.7 billion by 2011. Worldwide, the market is expected to expand to $11.3 billion by the same year, and it is a market ripe for business information companies.

A recent Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) survey calculated that in five years, 52% of the brands surveyed expect to spend between 5% and 25% of total marketing budget on mobile marketing. Worldwide mobile media ad spending will reach $14.4 billion by 2011, up from $1.4 billion in 2007, according to Strategy Analytics.

I smell a backlash coming.

Global Findings Show Decline of TV as Primary Media Device

2007-09-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

I forgot where I plucked this. Whereever it came from it is interesting. . .

A new IBM online consumer study, a component of the upcoming report "The end of advertising as we know it" planned for the fall, shows that among consumer respondents, 19 percent stated spending six hours or more per day on personal Internet usage, versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing. 66 percent reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60 percent who reported the same levels of personal Internet usage.
When it comes to mobile and Internet entertainment, consumers are seeking consolidated, trustworthy content, recognition and community. Despite natural lags among marketers, advertising revenues will follow consumers' habits, concludes the report.

To effectively respond to this power shift, the study sees:
Advertising agencies going beyond traditional creative roles to become brokers of consumer insights
Cable companies evolving to home media portals
Broadcasters and publishers racing toward new media formats

Marketers forced to experiment and make advertising more compelling
Bill Battino, Communications Sector managing partner, IBM Global Business Services, says "Consumers are demonstrating their desire for both wired and wireless access to content... an average of 81 percent of consumers surveyed globally indicated they've watched, or want to watch, PC video, and an average of 42 percent indicated they've watched, or want to watch, mobile video..."
The steady growth of consumer adoption of digital music, video, and other entertainment services -- though markets are still small by comparison to traditional media -- show households are no longer one size fits all:

23 percent of respondents reported using a portable music service
7 percent reported having a video content subscription for their mobile phones
11 percent reported a PC-based music service
18 percent reported an online newspaper subscription

Saul Berman, IBM Media & Entertainment Strategy and Change practice leader, said, "The Internet is becoming consumers' primary entertainment source. The TV is increasingly taking a back seat to the cell phone and the personal computer among consumers age 18 to 34. Just as mobile communications have replaced traditional land-lines, cable and satellite TV subscriptions risk a similar fate of being replaced as the primary source of content access."
In the largest digital video recorder market, says the report, 24 percent of U.S. respondents reported owning a DVR in their home and watching at least 50 percent of television programming on replay. 33 percent in the U.S. reported watching more television content than before the DVR.