Client site A was competing with site B for traffic about a similar topic. The two sites were competing for search results and traffic to promote a similar physical location. Site B was a bit out of date, but had been on the Internet a lot longer than site A. The information on site B complements the information on site A. Client A had a good relationship with the owner of site B, so we decided to pursue merging the two sites into one. The final merged site is still in development, but the immediate result after setting up a redirect from site B’s domain to site A’s domain is a good increase in traffic to site A. Client A is happy, which means we are happy and more importantly people looking for information on this topic will only need to go to one site instead of two.
Traffic in 2009 compared to 2008
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Daily visits doubled and tripled after June 19th
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Monitor your analytics and statistics log files to see the impact of any significant changes you make to your site, marketing plans and overall online presence. Sometimes you may be surprised by the result. (Hint: Results are not always good, but mistakes will help you learn.)
Social Media spending is predicted to grow by 34% from $716 million in 2009 to a forcast $3,113 million in 2014. Advertising on mobile devices is expected to grow by 27% from $391 million in 2009 to $1,274 in 2014.
Why is this no surprise?
Social media is more easily accessibly on mobile devices
Mobile devices are more accessible (read cheaper) to own than laptops and desktop computers, so more people have them.
What do you carry with you all the time? Your keys, your wallet and…. that’s right, your cell phone.
People are much more accustomed to getting information anywhere anytime, than having to wait to look it up at a specific location, like a library, newspaper stand or even their own desktop computer.
People are much more mobile, traveling more frequently, because being away from the office doesn’t mean being disconnected from work.
Your mobile device is personal and social media keeps you connected with all your friends, colleagues and the relationships that make your world go round.
Mobile application development is rampant.
Smaller is better (i.e. carrying a phone instead of a laptop) and your phone is not just a phone – it’s also your email, your SMS, your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, web browser, your music and almost anything else you want to use it for.
Attention spans are getting shorter and quick messaging is en vogue
Your mobile device is the only thing an advertiser can be pretty sure paying attention to when you’re available to receive information
Because everything is digital it’s much easier to track usage, trends and customer behavior online than it was with traditional media and this leads to innovative ways to personalize information so that it is valuable to each consumer.
If you’re not participating in social media yet, jump right in. As Brian says “Participation is Marketing” and you have to participate first as a person (not a marketer) in order to understand the medium and how to work within it.
I highly recommend Putting the Public Back in to PR by Brian Solis and Deidre Breckenridge. The marketing field is evolving and you need to know how to keep pace with it.
Shock with your talent, your _____, your downright boldness, baby!
Be real, be you and really show me who you are, because until you do, you’re just like everyone else and I’m tuning out.
When I first saw a funny flight safety announcement I was in awe at the creativity and courage it took the flight attendant to put on such a show, all in the name of flight safety, but guess what, people listened. People heard the message instead of ignoring it as usual and people took off on that plane with a good understanding of how to be safe.
Check out this example and tell me you wouldn’t listen. The fact that it is a Southwest employee is interesting and that is something for another blog post (think case study) coming soon.
