Posts Tagged ‘digital marketing’

HOW TO: Know What Google Knows About You

Have you ever wondered what make the ads you see on the web more interesting, well Google uses your personal and social sentiment to help determine which ads to show you.

Google uses your Google account information, such as items you +1′d on Google websites and across the web, to personalize content and ads on non-Google websites.

How it works ?

Many websites, such as news sites and blogs, partners with Google to show ads to their visitors. Your interests are associated with an advertising cookie that’s stored in your browser. Google actually gives users the ability to edit/correct the personal information stored in the cookie Google has about you.

Simply go to: Google Ads settings page and Google will tell you what it knows about you, and it gives you the option of changing it if you like.

Here’s what they think about me: [screen shot]

HOW-TO--Know-What-Google-Knows-About-You

It’s actually pretty accurate,  so i do know the ads i expect to see.

Google is Watching and Measuring Your Search History

Google also uses your actual search history to determine what ads to show to you. This is most apparent on the Google Display Network, where you are likely retargeted to no end after visiting an advertiser’s web site.

In search, Google uses “session-based ads” to show ads to you for products that are totally unrelated to your current search, but might have been something you searched on in recent memory.

So what does Google know about you ?

 

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Top 5 Influential Channel for Online Consumers

Recently, i have been working on a couple of e-commerce websites and kept pondering whether 2012 will be the year e-commerce, due to its increased enquires from prospective clients. Despite its increased popularity, stats as shown that only four percent of visits to retail websites result in a completed shopping session.

Personally, i feel TRUST has always been an issue when it comes to online transactions most especially in developing countries where internet users would rather socialise than purchase online. It is interesting to note that few startups are interested in finding a solution to online retail problems.

As a marketer, it is important to understand social consumers in terms of behavioural patterns. In a recent survey, 1,500 participants were asked about products and services they recently researched online and how they went about it. According to data from M Booth and Beyond, different product categories compel people to seek information and reviews from different sources on the web. Consumers tend to go the company website for electronics, they rely on search for travel and they go to discussion forums to see what people think about different car models.

The top five influential online channels include search results, brand websites,news articles, product review sites, online ads respectively.

The infographic below explains where consumers go for product information — suggesting to marketers that some aspects of digital marketing deserve more attention than others. As a consumer, what influences you to buy online?

online-channel-influences

Infographic courtesy of M Booth and Beyond

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The 10 Most Popular Facebook Fan Pages Right Now

While there is much more to social media marketing than running Facebook pages, it has become the main platform for social media given the fact that is being harnessed by brands all over the world. This article like this previous article previews the  10 most popular Facebook fan pages right now.

The world’s top 10 most popular Facebook pages reflects our movie, TV shows and music tastes such as, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Shakira, The Family Guy. The world’s popular Facebook  page, the social media game Texas Hold’em Poker  is still at No. 1 with over 43 million fans.

What you will notice also is that brands which is where the primary strength of these social media pages is dependent not only on the popularity of these brands in the real world but also various criteria such as the integrated marketing mix, budget, digital strategy being employe

  1. Texas Hold’em Poker – 43, 759,083

fb-texashold-em-poker

2. Facebook – 43,216,718

Facebook Page Facebook

3. Eminem – 38,181,604

Facebook Page Eminem

4. Lady Gaga – 36, 098,721

Facebook Page Lady Gaga

5. Youtube – 35,981,563

Facebook Page Youtube

6. Rihanna – 35,105,533

Facebook Page Rihanna

7. Family Guy – 31,803,381

Facebook Page Family Guy

8. Shakira – 31,396,579

Facebook Page Shakira

9. Linkin Park – 28,998,729

Facebook Page Linkin Park

10. Coca-Cola – 28,548,329

Facebook Page Coca-Cola

Facebook Page Coca-Cola

This list also reveals that social media marketing success is becoming more integrated and very important for brands as it can serve as an authentic voice, as to what people want to hear versus what you want to tell them thereby allowing brands to permeate and leverage on the web.

Data sourced (Monday, May 30, 2011) from Inside Facebook.com

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10 Things Nigerians Have Been Searching For On The Web Over The Past 30 Days

With Social media now at mainstream and also the rise of convergent technology- blackberry, iphone, smartphone at its peak, i decided  to probe into what Nigerians are searching for on the web with the aim of identifying the rising searches, that have experienced significant growth in a given time period, with respect to the preceding time period.

Over the past 30 days, Nigerians have been most interested in information related to Nigeria, Facebook, Email, Google and News.

10 Things Nigerians have been searching for on the web An insight into these searches confirms what really Nigerians are searching ranging from topics such as the demise of Osama bin Laden, the suggestions by Nigerian youths to cancel  National youth Service Corp (NYSC), The Nigerian Army (probably recruitment) and also the ongoing reality TV Show Big Brother Africa with a Breakout which means  that the search term has experienced a change in growth greater than 5000%.

Here are the Top 10  Rising Web Searches  in Nigeria For the Past 30 Days:

1. Big Brother Amplified

2. Osama

3. Osama bin Laden

4. Big Brother

5. Big Brother Africa

6. Nigerian Army

7. Nigeria Army

8. NYSC

9. University of Ibadan

10. ICAN

So what have  you been searching for  and what else can you infer ?


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Top 20 Most Visited Sites in Nigeria

With an estimated number of over 43 million Nigerians online, it is definitely worth it to know where they are visiting and why, understanding trends, demographics of the internet savvy Nigerians benchmarking these top sites by impression indexes based on Alexa.com Web Directory.

The most visited websites in Nigeria include those of Facebook (Expected), Twitter (On the increase), Conduit (Surprisingly), Youtube (Tube lovers), BBC online (News) , Goal.com (Football fans) and not forgetting Google (Synonymous to SEARCH…*I hope their robots are indexing this*)

Analyzing these websites, one would notice that the top ranking indigenous site includes nairaland.com (#1) which offers a broad discussion forum for Nigerians. The 2nd, 3rd and 5th position of the top indigenous website respectively belongs to Punch Newspaper, Vanguard Newspapers, Sun News belongs to which is largely due to their readily available contents (news). GTbank is at the 4th because of the bank’s online and offline popularity in the country.

One may derive the conclusion that Nigerians tend to “face their book”, tweet, and send mails via their gmail, yahoo, msn(hotmail) dot com’s addresses and also video lovers tend to visit youtube (The booming music industry) .

Also, this list also reveals that Nigerians prefer a site that gives them the opportunity to participate and interact, which is why the top ranking sites do have those features. What are the learnings? With the increasing use of the internet by Nigerians, brands seeking to get visibility, a lot of effort is required to rank high by creation of content which is readily available online by newspapers and publishing outfits, awareness, engagement and sustenance of online users.

For SME’s and brands, it is imperative for them to harness traffic going to such sites by advertising their products and services to the world.

Without further ado, here are the top 20 most visited sites in Nigeria as at January 2011.

20. Conduit.com

I am quite surprise this site is coming up at Number 20, the site’s users are disproportionately African, Majority of visits to this site are bounces and visitors to conduit.com from Nigeria has 0.9% compared with the overall internet population. Conduit-Website

19. Linkedin.com

At Number 19, is a networking tool to find connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners. Allows registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. It is estimated that 0.7% of the site’s visitors are from Nigeria. Linkedin.com has been online for more than eight years. LinkedIn-Website

18. Sunnewsonline.com

Sun News Online is a Nigerian based newspaper with a penchant for ‘British Tabloid’ styled journalism. The paper and its online version lean strongly towards entertainment, politics and other semi-dramatic local stories. It is estimated that 86% of the site’s visitors are in Nigeria, Sunnewsonline.com has been online for at least seven years. Sunnews-Website

17. Amazon.com

Amazon.com is a customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. The site has been online since 1994. Amazon-Website

 

16. Gtbank.com

Guaranty Trust Bank plc is a leading African Bank that offers Online/Internet Banking, Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Investment Banking ad Asset Management services. Almost all visitors to Gtbank.com come from Nigeria, where it has attained a traffic rank of 16. The site has been online since 2002. GTbank-Website

 

15. Goal.com

Goal.com is a site that provides soccer news and entertainment through its internet and mobile platforms. It is estimated that 9.8% of its visitors is in Nigeria, where it is ranked #15. Goal.com Website

 

14. Bbc.co.uk

The BBC Homepage – Your gateway to BBC Online. Visitors to Bbc.co.uk spend about seven minutes per visit to the site. About 1.3% of visitors to the site comes from Nigeria, where it has attained a traffic rank of 14. BBC-Website

 

13. Msn.com:

Portal for shopping, news and money, e-mail, search, and chat. Msn.com has been online since 1994 and msn.com is ranked #11 in the world according to Alexa traffic rankings, and the fraction of visits to this site referred by search engines is approximately 4%. Msn-Website

 

12. vanguardngr.com

Online version of a Nigerian daily newspaper covering general national news, politics, business, sports, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle human interest stories and the Niger Delta region, etc. Vanguard is ranked #12 and the time spent on a typical visit to the site is approximately five minutes. About 85.1% of visitors to the site comes from Nigeria and approximately 15% of visits are referred by search engines. Vanguard-Website

 

11. Punchng.com

Punchng.com is ranked #11 with about 88% of visitors to the site coming from Nigeria and approximately 40% of visits to this site consist of only one pageview (i.e., are bounces). Visitors to the site view an average of 3.1 unique pages per day. Visitors to Punchng.com spend roughly five minutes per visit to the site and two minutes per pageview. Punch-Website

 

10. Live.com

The site has been online for more than sixteen years. About 4% of visits to the site are referred by search engines, and the site is located in the US. Visitors to Live.com view an average of 6.0 unique pages per day. Live.com-Website

 

9. Nairaland.com

A big, broad discussion forum for Nigerians. Covers dozens of topics including romance, technology, careers, business, and entertainment. With over half a million members, the number one Nigerian community online continues to grow. Nairaland.com has been online for more than five years, and about 49% of visits to the site consist of only one pageview (i.e., are bounces). The fraction of visits to Nairaland.com referred by search engines is roughly 27% with about 74.4% of visitors to the site coming from Nigeria. Nairaland-Website

 

8. Wikipedia.org

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia built collaboratively using wiki software. Wikipedia has been online for at least nine years. Visitors to this site spend approximately five minutes per visit to the site and 59 seconds per pageview. Wikipedia-Website

 

7. Twitter.com

Social networking and microblogging service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface. Relative to the overall population of internet users, the site’s audience tends. It is estimated that 0.7% of visitors to the site come from Nigeria, where it has attained a traffic rank of 7. Twitter-Website

 

6. Youtube.com

YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide! Youtube.com is ranked 6 in the world though its visitors is quite negligible compared to overall population of internet users which is largely due to the fact that Nigeria’s bandwith is not strong efficient for video streaming. Youtube.com has been online since 2005. Youtube-Website

 

5. Blogspot.com

Blogger is a free, automated weblog publishing tool. Blogspot.com is the seventh most popular site in the world and has been online since 2000. The site appeals more to users who browse from home and school; Approximately 20% of visits to Blogger.com are referred by search engines while 0.6% per cent of traffic is from Nigeria. Blogger-Website

 

4. Google.com

Google enables users to search the web for map and images. Features include email, pagerank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. About 0.6% of visitors to this site comes from Nigeria. The time spent in a typical visit to the site is about thirteen minutes, with 34 seconds spent on each pageview. Google-Website

 

3. Google.com.ng

Almost all visitors to the site come from Nigeria, where it has attained a traffic rank of 3. Roughly 35% of visits to the site consist of only one pageview. Visitors to Google spend roughly eight minutes per visit to the site. Google-Nigeria-Website

 

2. Yahoo.com

Features of this site includes personalized content and search options, chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager. Yahoo.com is ranked #4 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings. It is estimated that 1.3% of visitors to the site comes from Nigeria. Yahoo-Website

 

1. Facebook

A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos. This site has been online since 2004, and the time spent in a typical visit to Facebook is roughly 32 minutes, with 35 seconds spent on each pageview. Relative to the overall population of internet users, It is estimated that 0.8% of visitors to the site comes from Nigeria. Facebook-Website Data sourced from Alexa.com

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So which of these sites do you visit most?

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How To Run A Successful Online Marketing Campaign: Case Study

Bytesize, a Nigerian Digital Marketing Agency  was briefed by Coca-Cola Nigeria to handle its online marketing campaign during the African Nations Cup (ACN) 2010 in Angola. The brand wanted to position itself in the mind of its target audience as a brand  that “Open Happiness” to Super Eagles Top Fans and also as the Official Softdrink of the Super Eagles (Nigeria’s National Team).

The campaign produced some results worth noting largely to its success.

Client: Coca-Cola Nigeria

Campaign: The Campaign’s Objective was to increase awareness of Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the Super Eagles using the Nations Cup as a platform by targeting football loving Nigerians on sites regularly visited which includes Goal.com, Facebook, Vanguard, Yahoo, Google and Google Content Network for a duration of 2 weeks

The Creative Execution used:

1. Online Sponsorship

Bytesize created the first online sponsorship for Coca-Cola. A completely branded African Cup of Nations section on www.goal.com. Coca-Cola had a 100% visibility across all ACN content with a Home Page Takeover.

Coca-Cola's ACN Homepage Takeover on Goal.comQuick Facts about Goal.com

  • Goal.com is the largest football destination in the World with over 12 million unique users a month.
  • Goal.com is the largest and most popular football destination in Nigeria with over 20 million page views on Mobile and over 500,000 unique users each month online.
  • Its Nigerian audience is male bias and middle class working and reasonable disposable income.

Coca-Cola's ACN Ad on Goal.com

2. Paid Search/ Search Engine Marketing

Tactical use of search which generated tones of relevant traffic. When Nigerians were looking for news or information on the Super Eagles or the Nations Cup, Coca-Cola appears with a message and directs them to the sponsorship page. Display ads were targeted to keywords on high reach sites. This means the Coca-Cola ad would appear on pages that mention African Cup of Nations, Super Eagles or related terms.

Coca-Cola's ACN Google Adwords

3. Online Display Advertising

To increase awareness, Coca-Cola placements appeared on Yahoo and the Vanguard online.

Coca-Cola's ACN Ad on Yahoo.com

The Result:

Over 5 million pages views on the online sponsorship in 2 weeks. Over 20 million impressions and 40,000 clicks to the online sponsorship. It was a huge brand response success.

What strategies do you use for your online marketing campaign and with what results?

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Top 5 Facebook Games for January 2011

In my previous post, The World’s 30 Most Popular Facebook Pages Right Now,  Texas HoldEm pokers  is the highest facebook fanpage, a game developed by Zynga.

Analyzing facebook social game via its monthly active users (MUA) shows, CityVille’s Zynga’s new city-builder has found itself at the top with nearly 85 million monthly actives ; a plateau breached by FarmVille.

Here are the highlights for the Top 5 Facebook Games for January 2011:Top 5 Facebook Games for January 2011

• For the first time in over a year, a new #1 appears in the form of Zynga’s CityVille with over 97 million MAU. The long running FarmVille still holds onto #2, however, has a total of approximately 57.7 million users.

• In fact, most Zynga games have grown this past month, with only one of its oldest applications losing users. At #5 remains Mafia Wars,with 19,0055,698 MAU.

1. CityVille :97,827,688 MAU

Top 5 Facebook games for Janauary 2011

2. FarmVille: 57,674,398 MAU

Farmville

3. Texas HoldEm Poker: 36,109,648 MAU

texas-holdem-poker

4. FrontierVille: 28,788,438 MAU

frontier-ville

5.  Mafia Wars:19,055,698 MAU

Mafia Wars

How often do you engage yourself with this social games ?

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Digital Glossary for Marketers

Advergame - Advergaming is the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint.

Ad Impression – An ad impression occurs each time a consumer sees an ad.

Ad Serving – Delivery of online adverts to an end user’s computer by an ad management system. The system allows different online adverts to be served in order to target different audience groups and can serve adverts across multiple sites. Ad Technology providers each have their own proprietary models for this.

Ad Unit – Any defined advertising vehicle that can appear in an ad space inside of an application.

Affiliate Marketing – An affiliate (a web site owner or publisher), displays an advertisement (such as a banner or link) on its site for a merchant (the brand or advertiser). If a consumer visiting the affiliate’s site clicks on this ad and goes onto perform a specified action (usually a purchase) on an advertisers site then the affiliate receives a commission.

Algorithm – The set of ‘rules’ a search engine may use to determine the relevance of a web page (and therefore ranking) in its organic search results. See also organic search results and Search Engine Optimisation.

Application Service Provider (ASP) – An online network that is accessible through the Internet instead of through the installation of software. It is quickly integrated with other websites and the services are easily implemented and scalable.

Avatar - A picture or cartoon used to represent an individual in chat forums, games or on a website as a help function.

Bandwidth – The transmission rate of a communication line- usually measured in Kilobytes per second (Kbps). This relates to the amount of data that can be carried per second by your internet connection.

Banner – A long, horizontal, online advert usually found running across the top of a page in a fixed placement. See also Universal Advertising Package, embedded formats.

Behavioural Targeting – A form of online marketing that uses advertising technology to target web users based on their previous behaviour. Advertising creative and content can be tailored to be of more relevance to a particular user by capturing their previous decision making behaviour (eg: filling out preferences or visiting certain areas of a site frequently) and looking for patterns.

Blog – An online space regularly updated presenting the opinions or activities of one or a group of individuals and displaying in chronological order.

Broadband – An internet connection that is always on and that delivers a higher bit rate (128kbps or above) than a standard dial-up connection. It allows for a better online experience as pages load quickly and you can download items faster.

Button – A square online advert usually found embedded within a website page.

Call to Action (CTA) – A statement or instruction, typically promoted in print, web, TV, radio, on-portal, or other forms of media (often embedded in advertising), that explains to a mobile subscriber how to respond to an opt-in for a particular promotion or mobile initiative, which is typically followed by a Notice.

Click-through – When a user interacts with an ad and clicks through to the advertiser’s website.

Click-through rate (CTR) – Frequency of Click-throughs as a percentage of impressions served. Used as a measure of advertising effectiveness.

Click to Call - A service that enables a mobile subscriber to initiate a voice call to a specified phone number by clicking on a link on a mobile internet site. Typically used to enhance and provide a direct response mechanism in an ad.

Contextual advertising – Advertising that is targeted to the content on the Web page being viewed by a user at that specific time.

Cookie – A small text file on the user’s PC that identifies the user’s browser and hence, the user so they are ‘recognised’ when they re-visit a site eg: it allows usernames to be stored and websites to personalise their offering.

Conversion rate – Measure of success of an online ad when compared to the click-through rate. What defines a ‘conversion’ depends on the marketing objective eg: it can be defined as a sale or request to receive more information…etc.

1-Cost per Action (CPA)- A pricing model that only charges advertising on an action being conducted eg. a sale or a form being filled in.

2-Cost per Acquisition (CPA) – Cost to acquire a new customer.

Cost per Click (CPC) – The amount paid by an advertiser for a click on their sponsored search listing. See also PPC.

Cost per Mille (CPM) / Cost per Thousand (CPT) – Online advertising can be purchased on the basis of what it costs to show the ad to one thousand viewers (CPM). It is used in marketing as a benchmark to calculate the relative cost of an advertising campaign or an ad message in a given medium. Rather than an absolute cost, CPM estimates the cost per 1000 views of the ad.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management.

Deep-linking Advert - linking beyond a home page to a page inside the site with content pertinent to the advert.

E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce) – Business that takes place over electronic platforms, such as the Internet.

EPC (Average Earnings Per One Hundred Clicks) - A relative rating that illustrates the ability to convert clicks into commissions. It is calculated by taking commissions earned (or commissions paid) divided by the total number of clicks times 100.

Expandable banner/skyscraper - Fixed online advertising placements that expand over the page in the response to user action eg: mouseover. See also Rich Media.

Geotargeting - The process of only showing adverts to people on a website and in search engines based on their physical location. This could be done using advanced technology that knows where a computer is located or by using the content of website to determine what a person is looking for.

GPRS – General Packet Radio Service or ‘2.5G’ is an underlying mechanism for the networks to deliver Internet browsing, WAP, email and other such content. The user is ‘always connected’ and relatively high data rates can be achieved with most modern phones compared to a dial-up modem. Most phones default to using GPRS (if capable), and Incentivated is able to develop services that utilise this delivery mechanism.

Hit - A single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server.

Image Ad – An image on a mobile internet site with an active link that can be clicked on by the subscriber. Once clicked the user is redirected to a new page, another mobile internet site or other destination where an offer resides.

Impressions – The metric used to measure views of a webpage and its elements- including the advertising embedded within it. Ad Impressions are how most online advertising is sold and the cost is quoted in terms of the cost per thousand impressions (CPM).

Interstitial Ads – Which appear between two content pages, it is also known as splash pages and transition ads. See also Rich Media.

Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) – The use of a broadband connection to stream digital television over the internet to subscribed users.

Lead - When a visitor registers, signs up for, or downloads something on an advertiser’s site. A lead might also comprise a visitor filling out a form on an advertiser’s site.

Meta-tags/ descriptions – HTML tags that identify the content of a web page for the search engines.

Microsite – A sub-site reached via clicking on an ad. The user stays on the publisher’s website but has access to more information from the advertiser.

Natural search results – The ‘natural’ search results that appear in a separate section (usually the main body of the page) to the paid listings. The results listed here have not been paid for and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms according to relevancy to the term searched upon.

Online Video Advertising – Video advertising accompanying video content distributed via the internet to be streamed or downloaded onto compatible devices such as computers and mobile phones. In its basic form, this can be TV ads run online, but adverts are increasingly adapted or created specifically to suit online. Video advertising can be placed before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll) and after (post-roll) video content. There are also a variety of other methods of delivery including:

  • Embedded within rich media adverts – a video advert can be triggered by a user clicking on a banner ad.
  • Subsite - a video advert loads in a separate browser window behind the site a user is looking at. The video advert then starts playing automatically when the user leaves the original site.
  • In-text video – allows video footage to be delivered when a user rolls over a double underlined word within editorial.
  • Email – allows video to be embedded within an email.

Opt-in – An individual has given a company permission to use his/her data for marketing purposes.

Opt-out – An individual has stated that they do not want a company to use his/her data for marketing purposes.

Organic search results – The ‘natural’ search results that appear in a separate section (usually the main body of the page) to the paid listings. The results listed here have not been paid for and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms) according to relevancy to the term searched upon.

Overlay – Online advertising content that appears over the top of the webpage.

Paid Inclusion – In exchange for a payment, a search engine will guarantee to list/review pages from a website. It is not guaranteed that the pages will rank well for particular queries – this still depends on the search engine’s underlying relevancy process.

Paid for listings – Paid-for listings within general search services. This includes all of the non-graphical search advertising formats from keywords to direct feeds, local search and pay per call. Search is sold on a pay-per-click basis where the advertiser pays only when a visitor to the search website clicks on their advert. This does not include the search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques that can be used to make a website ‘search engine friendly’, nor does it include services specifically designed for recruitment, automotive, property and other traditional classified sections which should be counted in the classified section. See also Organic search results, PPC (Pay Per Click).

Pay per lead – The commission structure where the advertiser pays the publisher a flat fee for each qualified lead (customer) that is referred to the advertiser’s website.

Pay per sale – The commission structure where the advertiser pays a percentage or flat fee to the publisher based on the revenue generated by the sale of a product or service to a visitor who came from a publisher site.

Pay Per View (PPV) – Is an ecommerce model that allows media owners to grant consumers access to their programming in return for payment. Micro payments may be used for shorter programming whist feature films may attract larger sums.

Podcasting – Podcasting involves making an audio file (usually in MP3 format) of content –usually in the form of a radio program- that is available to download to an MP3 player.

Polite loading – Fixed online advertising placements that load and display additional Flash content after the host page on which the advert appears has finished loading.

Pop-under - An ad that appears in a separate window beneath an open window. Pop-under ads are concealed until the top window is closed, moved, resized or minimised.

Pop-up – An online advert that ‘pops up’ in a window over the top of a web page.

Portal – A browseable portal of links to content, pre-configured usually by the network operator, and set as the default home page to the phone’s browser.

Pay per Click (PPC) – Allows advertisers to bid for placement in the paid listings search results on terms that are relevant to their business. Advertisers pay the amount of their bid only when a consumer clicks on their listing. Also called sponsored search/ paid search.

Post-roll - The streaming of a mobile advertising clip after a mobile TV/video clip. The mobile advert is usually 10-15 seconds.

Pre-roll – The name given to the adverts shown before, or whilst an online video is loading. There can be more than one and although they all vary in length, they average 21seconds in duration.

Reach – The number of unique web users potentially seeing a website one or more times in a given time period expressed as a percentage of the total active web population for that period.

Real time – No delay in the processing of requests for information, other than the time necessary for the data to travel over the Internet.

Rich Media – is the collective name for online advertising formats that use advanced technology to harnesses broadband to build brands. It uses interactive and audio-visual elements to give richer content and a richer experience for the user when interacting with the advert.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) – Software that allows you to flag website content (often from blogs or new sites) and aggregate new entries to this content into an easy to read format that is delivered directly to a user’s PC. See also blogs.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - The process which aims to get websites listed prominently in search-engine results through search-engine optimisation, sponsored search and paid inclusion. See also PPC and SEO and Paid Inclusion.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – The process which aims to get websites listed prominently within search engine’s organic (algorithmic, spidered) search results. Involves making a site ‘search engine friendly’. See also organic listings.

Simulcast – watching an existing TV service over the internet at the same time as normal transmission.

Site analytics – The reporting and analysis of website activity – in particular user behaviour on the site. All websites have a weblog which can be used for this purpose, but other third party software is available for a more sophisticated service.

Skyscraper - A long, vertical, online advert usually found running down the side of a page in a fixed placement. See also Universal Advertising Package.

Social Media – We refer to social media, in a commercial sense, as: the creation of useful, valuable and relevant content and applications by brands, or by consumers with specific reference to brands, that can be shared online, facilitated by web 2.0 technology.

Solus email advertising – where the body of the email is determined by the advertiser, including both text and graphical elements, and is sent on their behalf by an email list manager/owner. Solus email advertising is conducted on an opt-in basis where the recipient has given their consent to receive communications.

Sponsored Search – See PPC (Pay Per Click).

Sponsorship - Advertiser sponsorships of targeted content areas (e.g. entire website, site area or an event) often for promotional purposes.

Superstitials – A form of rich media advertising which allows a TV-like experience on the web. It is fully pre-cached before playing. See also Rich Media, Cache.

Tenancy - The ‘renting’ out of a section of a website by another brand who pays commission to this media owner for any revenue generated from this space. EG: dating services inside portals or bookstores inside online newspapers.

Text Ad – A static appended text attached to an advertisement.

Text Link – Creative use for mobile advertisements – represented by highlighted and clickable text(s) with a link embedded within the highlighted text. Usually limited to 16-24 characters.

Traffic - Number of visitors who come to a website.

Unique users – Number of different individuals who visit a site within a specific time period.

User generated content (UGC) - Online content created by website users rather than media owners or publishers – either through reviews, blogging, podcasting or posting comments, pictures or video clips. Sites that encourage user generated content include MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr. See also blog, podcast.

Video On Demand (VOD) – Allows users to watch what they want, when they want. This can be either ‘pay per view’ or a free service usually funded by advertising.

Viral Marketing – The term “viral advertising” refers to the idea that people will pass on and share striking and entertaining content; this is often sponsored by a brand, which is looking to build awareness of a product or service. These viral commercials often take the form of funny video clips, or interactive Flash games, images, and even text.

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) - Technology that allows the use of a broadband Internet connection to make telephone calls.

Web 2.0 – The term Web 2.0 – with its knowing nod to upgraded computer applications – describes the next generation of online use. Web 2.0 identifies the consumer as a major contributor in the evolution of the internet into a two-way medium. See also user generated content.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) – Standard for providing mobile data services on hand-held devices. Brings Internet content such as news, weather, travel, etc to mobile phones and can also be used to deliver formatted content such as wallpapers, ringtones, video, games, portals and other useful links. Incentivated provide the mechanisms to write and deliver mobile Internet content to subscribers.

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) - The ability to connect to the internet wirelessly.

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3 Ways Brands Should Plot Their Digital Drive for 2011

Today brands are moving beyond marketing in exploiting new communications channels. Brand owners having recognized the enormous potential of digital media  are seeking to leverage on digital media across its marketing, sales and operations, it is important to note that tactics are going to have to evolve quickly because everyone’s experience online is evolving quickly, so creativity and consistent innovation will be essential to long-term success.

Here are 3 Ways Brands Should Plot Their Digital Drive for 2011

1. Blogging/ Social Media Integration

Blogging, for this post would refer to consumer interaction across all platforms with social media integration. Brands need to start taking control of their own market by creating compelling content via their company blog, which  should offer a stronger level of engagement with the activities on facebook, twitter, youtube.

In 2011, consumers are more likely to visit  brands facebook fanpage instead of its corporate website, so if possible make “facebook your homepage”.

• Brands need to action on this by integrating social media into website, by adding facebook & twitter share buttons for content areas which helps SEO.

• Brands can also make do of influential bloggers to drive your product online and then upload feedback to sites including Facebook and YouTube, which helps customers solve common problems, could prove vital.

• Also brands hoping to unveil new products should leverage on Facebook fan pages by taking advantage of live streaming features rather than at an industry event, which comes at a far lower cost much broader coverage.

2. Mobile

In 2011, I foresee convergence of the access point. The digital experience would now be more and more living on a smartphone than anywhere else.

The mobile platform has made it easier to connect with consumers on facebook, twitter, youtube apps at your fingertips.

• Going forward, it is important to start planning to have a mobile site and also develop mobile application on mobile platforms for target audience thereby providing information quickly and easily.

• Mobile Apps should address issues in which consumers may be able to interact or provide interactive and rich content that is compelling

• Mobile Apps should also integrate online shopping to make it easy for customers to shop.

3. Search Engine / Facebook Marketing

In 2011, Ad Spend on digital media should increase because digital media over the years has proven to be a particularly effective tool for brands.

As the US advertising recovery continues to strengthen, brand owners like Procter & Gamble, AT&T and General Motors have started to boost their spending and take advantage of Online Display Advertising, Social Media Advertising and other digital platforms.

• Advertise on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and other search engines, if Google to you is not synonymous to search engine.

• If you are doing this already, intensify your effort by taking into cognizance ROI using key performance indexes to weigh objective set out initially at campaign outset.

• Engage digital consultant/agencies to help with your digital strategy roadmap in achieving this.

• Try Ad formats that targets your consumer demographic and that which is most effective such as text ads, banners, interactive web video, etc.

Involved in the driving your brand digitally? If the answer’s yes, can you share how you are involved?

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Online Advertising in Nigeria: overview of trends, challenges & benefits

Over the years Internet marketing has evolved in Nigeria. According to Africa Internet Usage and Population Statistics, internet penetration in Nigeria is now 28.9% at estimated 43,982,200m users and as a result, owing to the huge marketing potentials inherent in digital media as a part of the overall marketing mix, coupled with the increasing use of the internet by Nigerians, brands are seeking to hire agencies (tra-digital agency) with in depth knowledge of the digital marketing and how to use them to maximize media spend (ROI).

In the Nigerian landscape, marketers and their clients are becoming aware of the need and underlying effects of online marketing, the trend has started to build where agencies ignorantly advise clients to use banner ads and display ads for campaign on facebook, yahoo, local news and entertainment sites, as opposed to looking critically at what the clients want to achieve and advising them on all the various digital marketing platforms available and what each of them can achieve and how to use them.

Based on the facts above, it is pertinent to ask if digital marketing/ online advertising is important for Nigeria?

In answering such question is noteworthy to state that digital behavioral changes of the Nigerian consumer is evolving rapidly and accessibility of mobile phones has increased, handset sophistication is also on a rise.

According Nigerian Communication Communications (NCC) Nigeria has over 75 million active mobile phone lines as at March 2010. The factors that contribute to this is a result of the growing middle class, disposable income, TV viewing habits are changing due to lack of time, the facebook generation is rising if about 60% of Nigerians are below 25 years, there is the need for brands to pay attention to this trend in their marketing approach.

Also media consumption is changing too, the rise of convergent technology, social media is growing, consumers online are different from the usual offline customers because the internet makes their lifestyle easier. It is a functional tool and they tend to shop around more because they have access to several other points of information, they use the internet to research before committing to purchase, are early adopters of technolog and do have a world view. The next logical step would be e-commerce but in Nigeria, skepticism still exists around making online payments even for savvy individuals.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE ONLINE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA.

According to an industry source (MMS 2009), Total Ad Spend in Nigeria for 2009 stands at over $400 million, with digital media accruing less than 1% of this spend. Despites huge leaps in ad spend and mobile operators in Nigeria, digital media spend was still negligible compared to other mediums.

If these are true, can we continue to do just what we did in the past and expect a different result?

It is also of noteworthy to state that some agencies don’t even measure display ads for client, measuring ads makes it possible to know which website is working for the campaign and removing the website performing poorly in the campaign thereby confusing the clients most often. This points to the fact that in Nigeria, we have very few specialized digital marketing agencies/consultants that can offer professional services, as a result affects the output and results got from test campaigns thereby making organizations think of online advertising and interactive marketing in Nigeria as ineffective.

CONSUMER VIEWPOINT: Internet marketing requires customers to use newer technologies rather than traditional media. Low-speed Internet connections are another barrier. If companies build large or over-complicated websites, individuals connected to the Internet via dial-up connections or mobile devices experience significant delays in content delivery.

BRANDS VIEWPOINT: After careful observation of the online market scene based on survey from few marketing executives, the following are barriers to entry for large companies looking to market online: insufficient ability to measure impact, lack of internal capability, and difficulty convincing senior management.

BENEFITS OF ONLINE ADVERTISING IN NIGERIA.

With this projected growth of Internet penetration in the country forecasted, there is the need for digital marketing campaigns to be carefully planned and executed in line with the objectives of key performing indices (KPI) clearly spelt out. It is of utmost importance to develop an effective Internet marketing strategy for your business by pondering over what the company is trying to achieve by answering questions such as:

1. Does the company want to communicate news?

2. Is it to build a corporate identity?

3. Is it to distribute marketing information?

4. Does it want to provide a live information source?

5. Does the brand want consumers to purchase/find best buys?

6. Does the brand want sell – advertise, auction, or perhaps get people to call?

On the basis of these would benefits be derived for online advertising. Against the above, it is therefore necessary to highlights benefits to both agencies and brands respectively.

BRANDS/CLIENTS: The following highlights potential benefits to brands/clients, which includes; consumer involvement and interaction, brand engagement through content creation, media accountability, measurability and effectiveness, customer relationship management.

AGENCY: The benefits to agencies/marketers includes; effective advertising approach which creates synergy between diverse media, higher margins – increased innovation and development of unique services and tools, more robust planning platform – using strengths of traditional media to drive awareness and users to digital touch points, creates a point of differentiation amidst other agencies.

It is therefore noteworthy to state that online marketing for Nigerian brands should move beyond awareness and fulfilling all righteousness, rather it should be about engagement; a reason to notice, a reason to stay with your consumer because Nigerian brands cannot ignore the power of the internet. In order to achieve a strong corporate presence, the first step is to consider the brand’s Internet strategy by identifying the overall goals of the business, as the case is in all traditional business and strategy planning. Once you have planned your overall strategic goals, you need to decide how your online internet strategy can complement your off-line plans. An Internet marketing strategy should include: specific business goals, objectives for Internet activity, and a programme of actions that will achieve your business goals, benchmarks for measuring achievement, a business model – what it will cost and what it will achieve.

Lastly, digital media should be used in a complimentary role alongside traditional media in the real sense of integrated marketing communications to achieve better results.

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