Internet Marketing

The use of social networking websites as an online marketing tool is not a new concept. Recent findings have suggested a potential impact of marketing via the social networking platform.

This particular research was conducted by comScore. The research firm has highlighted the fact that popular social networking websites such as Facebook contributed to 26 percent of the total 13.8 billion display ads in the month of August this year. This figure is evidence to the alarming increase in incorporating the social networking websites for marketing purposes.

The research revealed the fact that such innovative marketing strategies reach the youth of the population in an efficient manner. Around 29 percent of the 15-24 age groups occupy these particular demographic statistics.

The study also revealed that no particular age group dominates the entire statistics. According to Mike Read, Managing Director of comScore Europe, this particular report is proof of the overall reach of ads on these websites. He also said that advertisers ignoring this medium are losing a viable opportunity. They are in fact permitting their competitors to gain a competitive edge through a higher market voice.

Jason Falls, Consultant with Socialmediaexplorer.com, had previously said that the marketers who fail to tap this medium will not be able to promote their brands effectively.

The social bookmarking website, Digg, took a huge risk when it introduced online advertising onto their site. This gamble could easily have backfired, given the selective nature of Digg users, who could have even gone so far as to abandon the site, believing it to be corrupting quality content with online advertising.

However, the makers of Digg will now be heaving a huge sigh of relief, as they have survived this potentially disastrous move. Kevin Rose, who started the company in 2004, has been pleasantly surprised to see online advertising flourish on the Digg site. It seems that yet another one of Rose’s experiments has been a success, especially considering that Digg itself began as an experiment for entrepreneurs Kevin Rose, Owen Byrne, Ron Gorodetzky, and Jay Adelson.

The chief strategy officer for Digg, Mike Maser, has said that the response towards the online advertising on the site has been mostly positive. Many speculate that the reason Digg has done so well is that it continues to use the tried and tested formula that made it so popular to begin with. Users can ‘Digg’ ads that are popular, which therefore makes them cheaper to display. In contrast, the more unpopular ones slip lower down the ranks and have to pay higher revenue to remain on the site.

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has recently launched a new website specifically intended to educate consumers about internet marketing. This website principally focuses on behavioural advertising, offering people an insight into the practice and providing information related to complaint procedures and how to opt out.

The IAB’s Good Practice Principles that Google, AOL Advertising, Microsoft (Atlas Technology) and the Yahoo! Network must adhere to, are presented on the website as a guide to what customers need to watch out for. Additionally, there is a list of instructions regarding privacy on the web.

The head of regulatory affairs at IAB, Nick Stringer, encourages consumers to visit the site to search for more information and increase their awareness of appropriate and inappropriate advertising so that if they wish to, they can easily opt out of businesses that do not comply with the Good Practice Principles.

This announcement was made after threats to online privacy were reported in the press, soon after the news that an extensive phishing scam has infiltrated one of the biggest webmail providers in the world, affecting thousands of email addresses. Therefore, it now seems time for the advertising sector to reconsider their online practices.

According to the latest research, over the past few years, the usage of online display ads has increased considerably. The findings from Nielsen Online Survey indicate that the statistics involving online display ads reached approximately 22,794 in the second quarter of 2009. Also, the Net Imperative reports state that it is a growth of 11 per cent compared to the similar period in 2008.

The commerce and gaming industry recorded the maximum rise in the industry, reaching 25 per cent and 39 per cent respectively. UK-based communications director for Nielsen, Alex Burmaster, stated that the economical change and the wish for better accountability in advertising were some reasons that accounted for the growth in the particular sector.

Alex said that with online display ads, one can easily do quite a bit even on a lower budget – especially if one purchases advertisement on a cost per acquisition basis. The recent study from comScore Ad Metrix indicates that the social media sites are more and more being preferred by those who are involved in the online marketing services as a way for hosting the display ads. With an increasing number of people using social networking websites, advertising your brand using the online display ads would be the best and cost effective option.

Online internet marketing is extremely important in the modern world. Many companies are now reaping the rewards from getting involved in online internet marketing. And it is not something that is reserved for the larger companies; in fact, any company can benefit from internet marketing.

To meet the high demand for this, BT consulting service has come out with a new method to aid small scale and medium scale organisations.

BT has increased its consultancy services by offering the clients advice pertaining to budgeting, campaign planning and placement of online promotional campaigns.
These are all online marketing services and require expert advice and expertise.

BT will also advise the firms on keywords and the amount required to be paid for ad words.

BT has recently become a partner of Google and has formed a committed group of marketing professionals. These professionals will be well-versed with the Google Ad words course.

According to Ivan Croxford, the fee for administering the online campaign of firms is around 30 per cent of the allocated budget.

BT has assured the clients that the promotional campaigns will be designed on the basis of demographic requirements.