Correlation, Causation and Confirmation Bias
Posted by Nate Walton on May 11th, 2010
Data mining is an essential weapon in a marketing arsenal, but consumer behavior is complex, and human intuition is what fosters brand relationships.
Archive for the 'Knowledge' Category
Fumes of Data, From the Woods to the Highway
Posted by Paul Burani on March 18th, 2010
Data exhaust is the trail of numbers that consumers leave behind them. We’re all used to smelling exhaust on the road, but what about in the woods?
Social Media Gladiators: a Fight to the Death?
Posted by Paul Burani on February 27th, 2010
If social search continues to evolve in Google and Bing, the absent half of Facebook’s data in each index will become ever more apparent – and costly.
The trials of Toyota, brought to you by Google
Posted by Paul Burani on January 31st, 2010
The 2010 Customer Complaint Index frames Toyota’s misfortunes in a discussion of tactical marketing. But it’s an American auto brand which is still hurting the most.
Social Media ROI Through Retargeting
Posted by Matthew Cronin on January 22nd, 2010
Measuring revenue ROI from Social Media and online word of mouth through tracking and retargeting.
Peer Purchase Influence: Quantifying the power of word-of-mouth
Posted by Paul Burani on January 15th, 2010
With insight into the dynamics of social media, marketers gain a sense of how & why to take control of WOM in managing their brands’ reputations.
Long and Short: URL Shorteners & Social Media
Posted by Paul Burani on January 7th, 2010
We’ve assembled a short guide to URL shorteners, and set the table for future discourse on where their impact will most be felt in 2010: social media analytics.
The Internet is coming to your television
Posted by Alain Portmann on January 4th, 2010
TV and internet convergence is finally a reality driven by video on demand services such as Hulu, iPlayer, BigPond TV and XBox. On demand services such as video on demand (VOD) presents a whole new set of challenges for broadcasters, who have never dealt with the costs of distribution. The dual costs of piping internet video into the home and licensing content from producers might – both paid out on a pay per view basis – will challenge long term profitability and even survival.
Response to “Let’s Kill the CPM”
Posted by Brad Hutchins on December 16th, 2009
Shelby Bonnie, founder of CNET, wrote a very interesting article for Tech Crunch in September, arguing that the time has come to for both advertisers and publishers to do away with the CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions) model. Bonnie offered several reasons as to why the CPM, a pricing model commonly appearing on media plans [...]
Participation is the new ROI
Posted by Alain Portmann on December 2nd, 2009
Participation is the starting point of the purchase decision; it initiates both the consumption of content and the researching of a brand’s offering. Marketers often broadcast messages to consumers without providing a mechanic for participation.
Fast Times on a Sinking Ship: Publishers and Search Engines
Posted by Paul Burani on November 30th, 2009
Is Rupert Murdoch serious about turning his back on Google? If he’s just negotiating, how does he intend to replace two-thirds of the search audience?
Usability Pushes Standards on SEO, Consumer Behavior
Posted by Paul Burani on November 20th, 2009
With a smoother web-based experience, consumers are less encumbered by the operational aspects of their purchase behavior, leaving them to focus their energies on spending money.
Extending Root Keyword Search Query Volumes in PPC
Posted by Paul Burani on November 17th, 2009
Bidding on extension keywords presents a significant opportunity to extend reach in the PPC channel, at a relative discount of approximately one-third (measured in Estimated Average CPC terms).
Video: “Using PPC Data to Improve SEO Efficiency”
Posted by Paul Burani on November 10th, 2009
In this video: PPC leaves marketers sitting on a gold mine of insightful data; an SEO campaign will generate a stronger return if it is seeded with this data.
More Evidence of Social Media driving Holiday E-commerce
Posted by Paul Burani on November 6th, 2009
Nearly half of online retailers plan to ramp up social media marketing in time for the 2009 holiday season; evidence suggests their efforts will pay off.
The Risks of Clickthrough Determinism
Posted by Paul Burani on November 2nd, 2009
Marketers need to resist the temptation of giving in to “Clickthrough Determinism”: the tendency to boil down consumer behavior into the simple arithmetic of click patterns.
Webinar: Using PPC Data to Improve SEO Efficiency (Nov. 4)
Posted by Paul Burani on October 21st, 2009
If you’ve ever done any paid search advertising, chances are you’re sitting on a gold mine of insightful data! An SEO campaign is far more likely to generate a strong return if it is seeded with PPC data.
When online display ad spending is performance based
Posted by Alain Portmann on October 14th, 2009
A study by the IAB/PWC indicates 57% of display advertising was purchased on a performance basis last year. What are the implications for publishers, agencies and clients? In my view it is not necessarily about the buying model; CPC, CPA or CPM – it is about how the inventory and communication is continually optimized and managed to deliver both revenue and brand growth.
When Retail Goes Social, the Customers Go Searching
Posted by Paul Burani on October 7th, 2009
To Walgreen’s we tip our hats. Their progress in social media is an indication that they have embraced Service over Solicitation. The resulting increase in search activity around their brand name will also spawn demonstrable commercial gains.
Green Monday is Coming!
Posted by Paul Burani on October 6th, 2009
It’s the first weeks of October, which means we can still be comfortable knowing that we won’t walk into a store and hear smooth-jazz Christmas carols… at least not for another little while. For marketers, however, in October ’tis the season to prepare for the e-commerce blitz — if in fact we are to be [...]
PPC Economics: Aiming for the Middle
Posted by Paul Burani on August 28th, 2009
With new research from Google indicating that ad position does not impact conversion rates, we gain a fresh perspective on how to treat average-performing keywords.
Upcoming Webinar – Social Media & HR: Collaboration & Community
Posted by Paul Burani on August 25th, 2009
[This webinar will be held on Thursday 9/3/09, at 12pm EDT. Click here to register.]
“Marketing brands in the social media space has provided us with insights into the power of community co-creation. Our goal is to illustrate that these best practices also lend themselves to building collaborative resources within an organization.”
Paul Burani of Web Liquid [...]
SEO: Keyword Research
Posted by Paul Burani on May 1st, 2009
It’s tempting to target keywords based on high-traffic search queries… the obvious keywords are rarely the most profitable for SEO.
SEO: Content & Link Strategy
Posted by Paul Burani on May 1st, 2009
We believe that good content creates its own links for SEO, especially if its development mirrors insights from the Keyword Research phase.
SEO: Server & Domain Configuration
Posted by Paul Burani on May 1st, 2009
Search engine spiders are pretty smart, but we take nothing for granted. Our goal is to make their jobs as easy as possible.
SEO: HTML Markup Analysis
Posted by Paul Burani on May 1st, 2009
Where SEO gets technical: streamlining website markup to optimally targeted keywords for peak visibility in search engines.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Posted by Paul Burani on May 1st, 2009
Search engines are fundamental to the Internet user experience, from planting the brand’s seeds through to the last click in the purchase funnel.
Consumer behaviour during the recession: four key consumer trends
Posted by Alain Portmann on April 16th, 2009
Recessions can bring upon radical and disruptive changes in consumer behaviour. The OTO Research report confirms that during this recession 80% of consumers are going to change their spending habits. 89% of consumers are going to systematically check online what and where the best products are, and what their value for money is. Consumers are [...]
Web Liquid at the 2009 Dubai Digital Marketing Conference
Posted by dev on March 9th, 2009
Alain Portmann, Founding Partner of Web Liquid was a speaker at the 2009 Digital Marketing Conference. The conference held at the Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort and Spa in Dubai was organized by AMEinfo and Middle East Business Intelligence.
Pay per Performance Advertising – 9 Tips to Drive Incremental Revenue
Posted by Alain Portmann on January 18th, 2009
Cost per performance advertising applies to any media purchased on the basis of a defined action, including engagement (cost per visitor), click (cost per click), registration (cost per lead) and purchase (cost per sale). Cost per performance advertising shares the investment risk between advertiser, agency and media owner ” payment is only made once the user completes a specific action. While affiliate marketing and Google AdWords are the most recognized cost per performance programs, there are a multitude of programs and publishers that offer payment on performance.
In this post I reveal the nine most significant factors to consider when launching or evaluating an existing cost per performance program that contributes incremental revenue and return on investment.
Ad agency compensation is all about WORTH CREATION.
Posted by Alain Portmann on February 27th, 2008
Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a woman approached him. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art. When asked how much he was owed, Picasso asked for five thousand dollars. The woman [...]
The Nexus of Persuasion and Confidence
Posted by Matthew Cronin on December 18th, 2007
As digital marketers our job is to help clients achieve greater commercial success through the use of digital channels that improve brand health and deliver sales. Generally, efforts that support these goals are persuasive in nature – for example: inspiring, compelling and convincing a consumer to book a Hilton instead of another hotel because of [...]
Purchase Funnels 2.0
Posted by Matthew Cronin on August 31st, 2007
The purchase funnel has been around since the very first human commercial transaction but it was only identified once social scientists and marketers began to dissect the behaviors and emotions that lead one to transact and with whom. Ever since, it has been a core tenet of marketing – my own awareness of the purchase [...]
If your brand was a person
Posted by Alain Portmann on August 23rd, 2007
Ask yourself this question.
If your brand was a person, what type of person would it be? How would it act, what it would look like? More importantly would its value be solely determined by how many people knew of it?
These questions are at the heart of branding and the value of branding.
Branding is normally [...]
Why the Click Is the Wrong Metric for Online Ads
Posted by Alain Portmann on July 30th, 2007
Digital Marketing has introduced a profusion of new channels to reach prospects with the aim to persuade, drive engagement and relationship; including PPC advertising, affiliate marketing, pay-per performance network buys, display advertising and email marketing. The proliferation and inherent advantages of multi-channel advertising have existed well before the advent of Digital Marketing.
As early as 1989, [...]
Online Word of Mouth Part 1 – It’s all about the consumer
Posted by Matthew Cronin on May 24th, 2007
With the recent launch of the Avis blog and the ever growing focus on consumer generated content tactics we thought it might be helpful to take a step back and have a look at the strategic side of CGC in a multi-part series starting today, quite appropriately, with a focus on the consumer.
The world of [...]
Solutions to the problem of low product and price differentiation in the travel industry
Posted by Alain Portmann on May 10th, 2007
At the Travolution Summit in London last month, Lastminute.com chief executive Ian McCaig issued a warning that as the online travel industry matures, product and price differentiation will “tend towards zero.” If Ian McCaig is correct in his assessment, it is important to understand what factors, in addition to price and product, should be the [...]
Measuring Commercial Search and Organic Search
Posted by Alain Portmann on April 28th, 2007
While advertisers are allocating close to a third of their online advertising budgets to search (commercial and organic) very few have a clear and unified measurement methodology for the channel. Before examining the optimal measurement methodology for search, lets review how search works through the use of the “people in the room” metaphor.
Imagine search engines to [...]
Granular vs. Tonnage Media Buying
Posted by Alain Portmann on April 26th, 2007
While online media planners boast loudly about the flexibility, measurability and accountability of online advertising, their planning and buying approach does the medium little justice. The average online media planner and buyer is satisified following the traditional broadcast media approach ” allocating a lion’s share of media spend to a handful of properties. The McKinsey [...]
Google Blog Search Patent Application
Posted by Alain Portmann on April 20th, 2007
Google recently filed a patent application for ranking blog search, ushering a new set of considerations for the optimal ranking of blog content across Google. The patent application for “ranking blog documents” filed the 13th of September 2005 listed high ranking members of Google including Vinod Marur.
Google’s patent application describes two distinct sets of data used [...]
Ten questions to ask your search agency
Posted by Alain Portmann on April 11th, 2007
With commercial search budgets increasing, advertisers and their respective search agencies are facing pressure over the performance of the channel.
On one end, search agencies are challenged to maintain operating margins given the increased resource required to manage increasingly complex PPC campaigns. On the other hand, advertisers are demanding higher return on investment from their PPC investments.
If you outsource [...]
Web 2.0 Definitions: UGM, CGM, UGC, CGC – What’s the difference?
Posted by Matthew Cronin on March 15th, 2007
These terms are thrown around quite frequently with the rise of web 2.0 and social media but often they’re mistakenly used to describe the same thing when, in fact, the differences are rather important, particularly for marketers. Although these terms are the latest buzzwords to join a long list of industry terminology, it is important [...]
Video is the new darling of the online industry
Posted by Alain Portmann on February 26th, 2007
It is official, video advertising is the new darling of the online industry.
The growth of video has been spectacular. In 2005 video advertising accounted for a scant $121 million in spending. In 2006 that figure grew by 82%, to a respectable $410 million. In 2007, that figure is expected to reach $775 million; accounting [...]
PPC search obsession flies high!
Posted by Alain Portmann on February 15th, 2007
The UK commercial search accounts today for a staggering 90% of the search marketing spend or £1.26 billion whilst, natural search accounted for £147 million in the UK in 2006 (Travelution, November 2006).
Research from Nielsen/Net Ratings indicates that in 2006, 265m people used a search engine (81% of the internet population) creating 27bn search [...]
Why ad agencies need to change
Posted by Alain Portmann on January 29th, 2007
The advent of Web 2.0 in which consumers are empowered to promote and shape the persona of a brand will challenge the role of advertising agencies. The same way in which media congolomartes, owners of the airwaves and print press used to be the custodians of public information, advertising agencies used to be archites of [...]
More Advertising 2.0 than Web 2.0
Posted by Alain Portmann on January 29th, 2007
When YouTube, the darling of the social media revolution was acquired by Google, many hailed it as valuable advertising partnership, which would see Google AdWords and Ad Sense programs propagated across the site. This approach was further cemented by the agreement signed between Google and News Corporation which will see the search giant deliver at [...]
Word of mouth becomes CGC
Posted by Matthew Cronin on August 31st, 2006
Our Consumer Generated Content research and marketing practice has been stirring up quite a bit of interest from savvy marketers recently as CGC garners more attention and recognition as an exceptionally insightful and influential channel. Still, we find that whilst many people understand the concept of word-of-mouth online they struggle to see how it [...]
