Get More from Search - Trends in Search & Social Media

Is the touch and feel element of shopping in person really worth the hassle? More consumers responded with their wallets and an implied “not always” by pouring 24% more dollars into online shopping in 2006 compared to the previous year. Interestingly, it would appear that consumers are not only increasingly satisifed with the online shopping experience, they also trust the shipping giants to deliver orders on time, despite tight deadlines, according to a new report by comScore. 

It’s the everything’s-on-sale season. And, maybe it’s your mother’s birthday, your colleagues’ first child, or your anniversary that is just around the corner. Stressed with all the gift giving trips? Know what you want but don’t want to traverse around town trying to find the perfect size, color or model? No need to opt for the gift that states “I didn’t have time for anything personal” gift card.
Instead of having to deal with the stress of running from store to store, determine instead to visit your favorite retailer or Web 2.0 local search websites. Large retailers and some malls across the nation are starting to provide product availability via their websites and data feeds. This feature’s real appeal is that ready-to-buy consumers get instant verification of product availability in local stores. Despite search’s tremendous research-to-purchase value, most purchases still take place offline – in the local store locations. In fact, recent studies show that 92% of post-search purchases are made offline.
Local search sites that integrate this feature will greatly enhance repeat visits by their users – conceivably, every time they’re looking for a specific item, they’ll visit the local site to find it at the retailer with the product stocked.
The more that people utilize local search, the more exposure local businesses will receive, along with the greater possibility for foot traffic to their web and brick-and-mortar stores, which in turn will provide a better return on investment for their advertising dollars.

Everyone’s turning toward the Internet to advertise for their products and services. And with good reason. The idea of online advertising is enticing. Once an online ad campaign goes live, your company has the potential to reach millions of people – almost immediately. As the statistics and case studies are showing, advertising on the Internet can be an important step for just about any company. But is it the right time for your company to shift away significant budgets from traditional advertising to focus your gains on the virtual landscape? Don’t fail to plan: jumping in without proper planning will most certainly not yield you the best return on investment.
Even though your company may be a relative newbie in the online realm, your customers almost assuredly aren’t. Savvy web users demand well-organized, easily navigable and searchable sites that make them feel more than comfortable that your business deserves their dollars and their trust. Becoming a repeatable destination for your prospects and customers means good site architecture including persuasive copy and navigation, as well as a stellar customer service policy and easy access to your inner workings – i.e. your employees – even though transactions take place or are facilitated online.

Thus, the first step is to either establish or recreate your web presence to capture the interest of your advertising respondents. In traditional advertising, what your audience sees in print or on TV must be backed up by the product on the shelf, the customer service agent on the phone or the information package delivered to their door – otherwise, there’s “no deal.”

Similarly, your web site performs that function of engagement with intent to develop a mutually profitable relationship. So unless you’re a very small business and your sales cycle dictates only in-person and/or phone conversations with prospective customers, before you advertise – get your company’s face to the world ready to capitalize on every dollar you spend. And don’t try to go it alone – there are numerous third party consulting services available that will analyze your site, reorganize your value propositions for the best ROI, rebuild your site architecture and plug in the latest verbiage and persuasion wisdom to prepare you for the new prospects that will show up at your virtual door due to your online ads. The best ones have the case studies to prove their value. Don’t just redesign your site – make it appealing to your knowledgeable audience, and then you’ll be ready to rack up the profits.

A few of our favorites include: http://www.futurenowinc.com (persuasion architecture), www.marketingprofs.com (free and inexpensive articles, case studies and seminars for online marketers), http://www.marketingexperiments.com< (for learning what really works), and http://responsys.com (full marketing and email services lifecycle marketing).

Fox is streaming its prime-time shows on MySpace.com, Cars.com is sponsoring six NBC shows on NBC.com for the fall and Google is buying YouTube.com. It looks like more people are looking at the internet to bring them more entertainment. They have already used it to play games, get updates on the news and weather, and now as companies look toward the future it seems to be toward streaming video. Could this mean soon we will be watching the new movies over the internet instead of going to the theater or watching your favorite sports team online? New advertising campaign will most likely feature streaming video in some aspect whether it is the ads for the television shows or marketing a new product on the internet instead of on the television.

“When you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

But what if you don’t know how to join them? Will you be left behind and have to settle for a slow painful decline of your business?

Many small and mid-sized businesses (SMB) want desperately to join the ranks of the millions spending billions in online advertising. While those SMBs that have taken the leap to online plan to spend just over half of their marketing budgets online, the barriers to entry must be reduced for the lion’s share of SMBs to feel confident with the realm of Internet advertising.>

And yet it’s more than just confidence in the medium: it’s more about human relationships, actually. Trust – in the advertising company – and in its representatives – makes the biggest difference in the minds of SMBs considering the online ad world.

Other barriers include not knowing how to properly track results achieved online. Education and relationship building are both vitally important to encouraging small businesses to shift dollars to Internet advertising.

The good news is that there are services out there to build the relationship and act on behalf of the SMB. Check out this month’s article for an intro to WeAreNetworkâ„¢ – not just any local search engine.

This week, the Online Publishers Association (OPA) released a first-time study of 350 people, tracking their activities every 15 seconds. The study, “A Day in the Life: An Ethnographic Study of Media” reveals that the Web is quite clearly a mass media, accounting for 20-25% of consumers’ overall media time. The Web outpaces other media at work with 54.6% reach (TV was 21.1%) and was in the top two of at-home media influence. The online population also regularly consumes other media such as TV and radio simultaneously or near their Web time./p>

Yet, the Web only accounts for about 8% of ad dollars. While the shift of ad budgets to online has been happening in recent years, there is still a vast untapped opportunity in online advertising. Advertisers everywhere: take note! That’s why we say, no need for bubble talk anymore.

Pam Horan, OPA president, stated, “Based on our real-world observations, it is clear that consumers are consistently online even while they’re watching TV or listening to the radio. This unique attribute of Web usage means that advertising messages receive a dramatic boost when online is part of the buy.”