So… I’ve been busy my first month at Viget. As the new marketing services director, I’ve spent a lot of time learning from colleagues, meeting new people, redefining our marketing services, and working with a wide range of clients.  Like everyone else, I wish there were more hours in the day. There’s always someone else I could call, an email I could have sent, a blog post to write, or cool tool to check out.

One of the many things I’ve learned this past month is if you’ve got something to say, blog. So in talking with the team, we decided to continue sharing what we’re learning in a more regular format. It’s about giving other online marketers a peek at what’s working (and what’s not), and our take on "why." We’re calling it “Under The Hood” because, just like any well-maintained car, there’s a certain amount of maintenance required for true marketing success. And good marketers will tell you there’s always an opportunity for some fine tuning and performance enhancements.

Continue reading "Introducing Me and “Under the Hood”"

Ryan and I recently returned from ad:tech Chicago, and I thought I’d add my two cents to Ryan’s summation. As a warning, this post has two parts which, although related, could be completely separate posts. Accordingly, I’ll save you the pain of attempting to create a lame analogy in an effort to connect the two topics and just split it up.

Part 1) Clay Shirky Was Awesome.

Part 2) Case Studies.

Continue reading "“If It’s Being Discussed, It’s Marketing” & Case Studies from ad:tech"

Banner advertising has long been the bane of web surfers around the world.  Garrish, annoying and ineffective, it’s rare that a campaign actually expresses any level of creativity or effectiveness.

As social networks entered the scene - ripe with rich, detailed demographic data about each and every user - advertisers simply couldn’t resist. But, an odd thing happened on the way to targeting users in online communities. No one clicked on the ads.

It seems once inside the walled garden of Facebook or among friends on MySpace, users weren’t in any mood to search for new mortgage rates or purchase airline tickets and avoided the ads at all cost. In the latest attempt to earn more clicks through banner advertising on social networks, the social media advertising firm SocialMedia launched "social banners," which create banner ads that incorporate you or your friends into the ad. CNet writes:

For example, instead of a banner advertising The Incredible Hulk movie, a social banner would ask which of your close Facebook friends, among a short list, you’d like to invite to see the movie. Or a social banner might inform you that a friend Jim just ranked Iron Man with three stars, and it might ask to "click here to buy tickets at Fandango."

While the intent may be, "to make ads suck less in social networks," said Seth Goldstein, founder of San Francisco-based SocialMedia Networks, this move could bring a backlash similar to the Facebook Beacon uproar from last year. The privacy issues that arise are incredibly complex.

Continue reading "Social Banner Ads Continue to Frustrate"

One of my favorite tools for the online marketer is Google Website Optimizer. I’ve been planning on writing a post with some solid case studies regarding Google’s Website Optimizer; but in the meantime, I just wanted to let our readers know that Google is hosting a website workout contest.

What is a website workout? Here is the official explanation:

Our consultants will work with you to discover ways in which we can increase site performance. Using Website Optimizer, our free website testing and optimization tool, a team of experts will work with you to determine the page layout, headlines, images, and text that will drive the most business from your site.

The short of it: You can win a chance for Google’s team to optimize your website using Website Optimizer.

The deadline for entry is June 17th, so check it out here!

 

By Josh Chambers & Ryan Moede

It’s easy to spot the two schools of thought in marketing and advertising today.  You’re either a "new school" marketer (you think Twitter is going to save the world), or you’re an "old school" marketer (you still double-click on hyperlinks and think TV spots are the future). The two groups don’t seem to communicate—and, worse yet, they actually seem to dislike one another.

In a recent discussion with Lisa Throckmorton from Speakerbox, we were talking about that very thing—the polarization of old school and new school marketing. Long story short, we decided it might be a good idea to get a few DC marketing professionals together with a variety of backgrounds to toss around ideas on how to navigate the current marketing waters—marketers who value traditional marketing, as well as who "get" newer online marketing. The "middle school" as Lisa called it.

Yesterday morning was our first gathering—and, we have to say, it was a blast. It was encouraging to hear other marketers resonate with the discomfort surrounding this polarization and hear their insight on why that is, and how we can move past it.

Continue reading "Our First “Middle School” Marketing Gathering"