Mobile Marketing

In Canada, the majority of the population are mobile subscribers, with techvibes stating that numberto be 70%.  Most of these users are active, with more than 4 million accessing the web on our mobiles more than once a week.  However spending on mobile advertising and marketing is less than $5 million annually, which is only a small portion of what the US spends on advertising and marketing.

Mashable.com lists the top 5 mobile advertising trends to watch on their website.

1. Continued Importance of SMS
2. Experimentatio with Rich Media
3. Mobile Sites vs. Mobile Apps
4. Interest in Geo Location
5. The Growth of Mobile Video

In Canada, mobile marketing is not be utilized as effectively as it could be.  It is a trend that will continue to rise until its full potential is tapped.  Since technology evolves so rapidly this is an area that requires constant attention if a company wishes to be successful witht their mobile advertising.

Email Marketing:”Permission” is Not Optional

“Permission is basic equipment, not an optional extra” – Lyris HQ

According to Lyris HQ, “when you market to people who have told you expressly that they want to hear from you, you can expect to see these results:

1. Better response rates
2. Increased trust and brand affinity
3. Better deliverability”

Express permission is defined as coming from “the user himself, when he checks a box requesting your emails on a site-registration form or point-of-purchase postcard, agrees in person or sends in an email request.”

Virtual Worlds: A huge source of revenue

Marketers have found a way to make real revenues in virtual worlds.  One of the biggest virtual worlds on the internet is Webkinz.  An online world that is targeted to young children between the ages on 7-12.  There is also a Webkinz Jr website ehich targets children age 3-6.

In order to access the online world, you must purchase a plush toy from a physical store and use the product code to gain access to the website.  A quick look at the Webkinz website will reveal that these children are exposed to many advertisments.

“By the year 2011, eMarketer predicts that 53 percent of all American child and teen Internet users will visit virtual worlds at least once a month.” – Alycia de Mesa

Webkinz has also set up an online store where virtual items can be purchased with real money.  Obviously this takes the co operation of the childrens parents to facilitate these payments.

Many other companies have joined the virtual world such as Disney, Mattel and Lego.

According to the NY times, “Disney’s biggest online world is Club Penguin, which it bought in August from three Canadians in a deal worth $700 million. At the time, more than 700,000 members paid fees of $5.95 a month, delivering annual revenue of almost $50 million.”

Interactive Advertising

Do you remember the last banner ad you saw on a website?  probably not!  this is because we have become so accustom to seeing these ads that we have learned to tune them out, and simply ignore them.  So what can companies that utilize online advertising do to get their ads noticed? the answer: interactive advertising.

“Of course, consumers always have the option of not paying attention to, becoming involved with or ignoring the ad. In the case of the Internet, however, the control has switched (for the most part) from advertiser to consumer.” – Shelly Rodgers and Esther Thorson

Advertising can occur in many different formats, which are constantly changin to reflect industry trends.  Here are the breakdown of ad fomats for 2010 from the Interactive Advertising Bureau

The Internet is a medium where users must be engaged in order to use it.  Advertising works the same way.  It is more effective when users are activley engaged in what they are doing.  The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada even specifies Canadian Interactive Advertising Standards and Specifications.

You can check out the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Facebook Page

Search Engine Advertising

Search Engine Marketing is widely used today as the Internet continues to be a widely used platform for information seraching.  Markers have found a way to use the prevalence of the internet and the popularity of search engines to taget customers and increase brand and product awareness.  Since search engines are the go to for almost anyone trying to find information on the Internet, here are some “Effective Search Engine Marketing Strategies” to consider.

Serach Engine Marketing has been around since 1996, but is now more popluar than ever.  According to Alan Lim

“Between 2002 and 2006, the budgets for this method of marketing have increased across the board by 750%.  That’s even though this form of marketing is also one of the most affordable. In fact, all advertisers in North America in 2006 combined spent more than $9 billion on search engine marketing.

Search engine marketing can basically be divided into two categories, Organic, and Paid.  Organic listings are the unpaid, and most companies strive to be the first on google.  These positions are taken by content rich websites which are easy to navigate and full of keyword.  Paid advertisments, on the other had, are when something like Google AdWords are bought, and your advertisment shows up as when someone searches for those AdWords.  Although organic listings may take longer to reach the top of the Google ladder, they generate higher traffic and are seen as more trustworthy – and they are FREE.  Google AdWords are less timely, but expensive.

There are some key differences between SEO and SEm which can be looked at “Search Engine Marketing vs. Search Engine Optimization“.