Over at the DraftFCBlog I have a new post up all about how to be a savvy marketer you need stop simply reading about new products & services like Twitter and Foursquare and you need to jump in and experience them for true insights:
It’s clear to everyone that old world disruption advertising models have a smaller role in the future of marketing. As advertisers we need to be able to know how to engage with our audiences in meaningful and valuable ways. The only way we can do this is if we invest real time in experiencing and learning the new media landscape. We need to stop asking what tweets are or why someone just became “mayor of the 33rd & 5th street Starbucks.” We need to sign up for these new and unusual (or possibly scary or stupid) products and services, or we’ll be left behind.
Read the post and let us know what you think. Are you jumping in?
A key part of marketing is understanding the right way to engage your audience and message within an environment. This is particularly challenging in the online space because the web is changing rapidly and so with it the user experience, as well as user expectations. To be successful in building relationships with their consumers online, brands need to invest more time understanding the landscape. Recently emerging web evangelist Robert Scoble wrote an interesting blog post outlining his thoughts on the characterstics of the web in 2010. While I believe he has keyed in on many of the important trends defining the web experience today from an infrastructure standpoint, I am more interested in exploring the trends in terms of how they shape the user experience. I’ve embedded below a short presentation I put together interpreting Scoble’s “principles of the 2010 web” from a user perspective. As marketers we need to continually develop these insights into the ever changing web to be smarter about how we provide value to our audience within the digital space. Visualizing & Interpreting Robert Scoble’s 2010 Web From the User Perspective
This is a work in progress and meant to be a thought starter. I’d love to hear your feedback and your own interpretations on the 2010 web, the implications to marketing, and your outlook on web marketing moving forward. Also, what are your expectations for the web as user? And thank you to Robert Scoble for starting the conversation.
On Tuesday I attended Social Media Boot Camp, a half day conference put together by SocialMedia.com, with the focus on actionable social media thinking. I was looking forward to the conference specifically because Fred Wilson and Ian Schafer would both be speaking there, but virtually all of the presenters did a great job at delivering case studies and strategic thinking that made the 4 hours incredibly worthwhile. Lately I’ve been seeing collective communal intelligence around social media take a step forward beyond the initial chaos of social media to moving towards deeper understanding and more defined courses of action. For the benefit of the UsableClicks community, here are 15 key insights and themes that were discussed at the Social Media Boot Camp: (more…)
Yesterday afternoon I attended an interesting presentation & discussion session hosted by VideoEgg around the idea “7 Minutes to Reinvent the Internet for Advertising.” 7 highly credible engaging speakers were each given 7 minutes each to speak free form on how they believe the advertising industry & related businesses need to reinvent themselves to see success moving forward. The presenters came at the challenge with different perspectives, likely due to their varied backgrounds (agency, technology, analyst), though a few common themes emerged.
The most interesting theme to me may have been the emerging understanding of the factors that make advertising online such a different beast from traditional media. Several speakers discussed the clear shared dynamic advertising and media had in traditional forms. Television, for example, is a full video platform, and a small break in time with what the consumer is watching for another video segment is a natural transition. Print news as an informative piece even managed to turn advertising into something consumers actively perused for learning about new purchase and sales opportunities. The Internet, on the other hand, has evolved into a life platform. Most of the time, users aren’t in the right frame of mind where they are at all receptive to advertising, and they aren’t interacting with content in a way that allows messaging to be digested properly. Advertisers need to understand this new environment and their audience within, and properly engage the consumer with respect to the different need states that form in the digital sphere. (more…)
Pretty much every marketer right now is trying to figure out the best ways to use social media. Sometimes the best way to learn is to look at what’s working. Mobile marketing company Ansible Mobile has set their sites on using social media to create differentiated brand identity and develop trust in a crowded competitive space. Here’s how they are doing it: (more…)
Earlier this month, the Online Publishers Association announced that a broad set of its members would be adopting new larger ad units. The initial list of participants is fairly impressive, including more than 2 dozen top tier publishers such as CNN, The NY Times, WSJ Network and ESPN. The full list of publishers reaches over 66% of the total Internet audience, or roughly 108 million visitors. These heavy hitters are adding some truly massive units to their arsenal of ad units.
The “Fixed Panel” – a 336×860 pixel banner. It’s wider than standard skyscraper and follows users as they scroll down the page.
The “XXL” – a 468×648 pixel box with expandable video capability.
The “Pushdown” – a 970×418 pixel unit that takes up over half of a page before rolling up.
There’s little doubt that these ads performed in tests leading to rollout. On a limited basis I’m sure they resulted in a lift in CTR, engagement, and possibly even conversions or transactions. It’s hard to disagree with the OPA’s intent to foster innovation and efficacy in the online space, but this particular move is a dangerous one that could easily backfire in the long term.
I am a Senior Strategist at SS+K. I handle digital & social media strategy for a number of clients. I also keep a personal blog here. View Kevin Skobac's profile
A key part of marketing is understanding the right way to engage your audience and message within an environment. This is particularly challenging in the online space because the web is changing rapidly and so with it the user experience, as well as user expectations. To be successful in building relationships with their consumers online, brands need to invest more time understanding the landscape. Recently emerging web evangelist Robert Scoble wrote an interesting blog post outlining 
![Bring Partner Back [via @videoegg]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3510727516_1573c02316.jpg "Bring Partner Back")
Pretty much every marketer right now is trying to figure out the best ways to use social media. Sometimes the best way to learn is to look at what’s working. Mobile marketing company 
View Kevin Skobac's profile