21 Internet Marketing Stats That Will Blow Your Mind

Kipp Bodnar | HubSpot | June 29, 2012


Sick of hearing the same "the internet is changing marketing" speeches? Want hard data to reference so that you can properly forecast and adjust future marketing plans and budgets? Just want to sound smart in board meetings? Look no further; this post will show you some current data about the state of the internet marketing world that are both helpful, and frankly kind of shocking. Take a gander!

21 Internet Marketing Statistics That May Surprise You

1) The more posts per day, the less engagement -- when a brand posts twice a day, those posts only receive 57% of the likes and 78% of the comments per post. (Source: Track Social) Be mindful of your publishing frequency on Facebook, and start testing with your own page to see what frequency is right for your community. Tweet This Stat!

2) The click-through rate on triggered messages is 119% higher than “Business as Usual” messages. (Source: Epsilon and DMA) Using personalized and timely lead nurturing with marketing automation is an important strategy for improving the overall performance of your email marketing and customer generation. Tweet This Stat!

3) On average, companies respond to only 30% of social media fans' feedback. (Source: Factbrowser) Engagement is rare. Stand out from your competition by caring and engaging with your social media community. Tweet This Stat!

4) The average tablet user spends 13.9 hours per week with the device. (Source: OPA) The tablet is quickly becoming the new laptop. Survey your customers and leads to understand how they are using tablets, and let that data influence future marketing strategies targeted at tablet users. Tweet This Stat!

5) Text messaging users send or receive an average of 35 messages per day. (Source: Forrester Research) Peer-to-peer communication through text messaging has become of core part of society's communication infrastructure. Is there is any possible communication that your customers and prospects would like to receive via text message? Tweet This Stat!

6) Email opens on smartphones and tablets have increased 80% over the last six months. (Source: Litmus) Mobile devices have become a major source of email usage. Make sure that your email marketing message displays properly on mobile devices to maximize the results of your sends. Tweet This Stat!

7) 27% of TV sets shipped worldwide in Q1 of 2012 had internet connectivity. (Source: Display Search) Internet connectivity is becoming standard for all devices. With the internet becoming a bigger part of the living room, plan for how this change might disrupt your current broadcast marketing tactics. Tweet This Stat!

8) By 2016, more than half of the dollars spent in US retail will be influenced by the web. (Source: Forrester Research) Commerce is shifting more and more online. Make sure that you have a method to easily sell your product or service online. Tweet This Stat!

9) In any given week, less than 0.5% of Facebook fans engage with the brand they are fans of. (Source: Marketing Science) Brands aren't providing the right kind of content and experience to engage their fans. Ask your Facebook fans what type of content they want to see, and then give it to them! Tweet This Stat!

10) 45% of the world's 2 billion internet users live in Asia. (Source: Ecommerce Europe) If you actively sell and market to Asian markets, the internet is a channel that can't be ignored. Understand how internet usage and habits differ in Asia compared to the United States. Tweet This Stat!

11) 61% of emails received at professional email accounts are non-essential. (Source: Mimecast) Inboxes are overflowing with marketing email. Use personalization, proper timing, and offers valuable to the recipient to break through the clutter and be seen. Tweet This Stat!

12) 20% of Facebook users have purchased something because of ads or comments they saw there. (Source: Ipsos) People are influenced by, well, other people. Use paid and organic marketing on Facebook to influence the conversion actions that drive your business. Tweet This Stat!

13) 17% of the top 1000 search terms on Twitter "churn over" on an hourly basis. (Source: Twitter) Twitter is all about novelty and news. Publish more frequently and focus on timely content to appeal to Twitter's hungry users. Tweet This Stat!

14) U.S. consumers send 2.304 trillion text messages per year, up from 2.052 trillion in 2010. (Source: CTIA) Wow! That is a ton of text messages. If you are marketing to heavy texting demographics, consider incorporating a text message opt-in as part of your campaign. Tweet This Stat!

15) 40% of the accounts and 8% of the messages on social media sites are spam. (Source: Businessweek) Email isn't the online platform with a spam problem. Take the time to customize your social media account and content so you stand out from the spam bots. Tweet This Stat!

16) 88% of adults in the US have a cell phone, 57% have a laptop, 19% own an e-reader, and 19% have a tablet. (Source: Pew Internet) The cell phone is the dominant communication tool in the United States, but information consumption is fragmented. Optimize your digital marketing for all of the screens and devices used by your target audience. Tweet This Stat!

17) 64% of smartphone owners are using their mobile devices to shop online. (Source: eDigitalResearch) The smartphone is ripe with impulse shopping revenue. If you sell goods online, target specific campaigns to smartphone users. Tweet This Stat!

18) YouTube users watch more than 3B hours of video per month. (Source: YouTube) Video is a major part of the online experience, but it's different from traditional broadcast productions. When integrating online video into your inbound marketing strategy be sure to consider not only production value, but length. Most successful online videos are less than two minutes long. Tweet This Stat!

19) About 1 in 3 bloggers are moms. (Source: Nielsen) When looking for blogging expertise, look no further than the mommy bloggers. Everyone has influence and expertise you can learn from and leverage. Tweet This Stat!

20) 73% of smartphone owners access social networks through apps at least once per day. (Source: Lightspeed Research) Social is mobile. Make sure that content you're sharing on social networks -- like your blog articles and landing pages -- are optimized for mobile devices. Tweet This Stat!

21) 91% of online adults use social media regularly. (Source: Experian) Social media is fully integrated into communication culture. Make sure it is an integrated part of your marketing strategy, too. Tweet This Stat!

Which of these internet marketing statistics was the most surprising to you?

Photo Credit: stevendepolo

Original Article...

13 Little Landing Page Tweaks That Can Make a BIG Difference

Pamela Vaughan | HubSpot | June 28, 2012


It's no news flash that inbound marketers have to produce a lot of content and offers. After all, without these valuable assets -- and plenty of 'em -- inbound lead generation would be quite a challenge. And with every new offer, marketers must also spin out a new landing page to go with it.

But because landing page creation has become such a regular practice, and considering that many tools make it so quick and easy to create a new landing page in minutes, attention to landing page optimization can also easily fly out the window. So if you've been guilty of launching landing pages left and right all willy nilly, you may be overlooking some little details that can take the performance of your landing pages from good, to great. Got 15 extra minutes on your hands? Audit one of your landing pages, and see if you can make any of the following little tweaks that can make a BIG difference in your lead-gen results.

13 Little Tweaks That Can Make a BIG Difference in Landing Page Performance

1) Punch Up Your Headline

Every landing page should have an attention-grabbing headline that clearly indicates what the offer its featuring is about. If your landing page visitor read nothing else on the page but the headline, would she know exactly what she'd receive by completing and submitting the form? If it's not clear, make it so.

In addition to clarity, punch up the prominence and language of the headline. Does it stand out? Make it bold, and use a header tag. Is it compelling? Use strong verbs, adjectives, and keywords (for SEO!) like you would in a blog post title. Your headline is probably the first thing your visitors' eyes will gravitate toward when they reach your page, so you need to make it count. For example, just take a look at HubSpot's landing page for one of our ebooks, pictured below. The headline is bold, it clearly states what the visitor will receive ("Free Guide"), and it uses compelling language ("Mastering").

2) Shorten Your Copy

If your landing page looks more like a blog post than, well, a landing page, it's probably a good indication that you need to shorten your copy. A landing page with lots and lots of explanatory text is not only initially daunting to the reader, but it also buries the value of your offer. Shoot for around 100 words of copy or fewer in your landing page description so your visitors can quickly read and understand what your offer is about -- and be enticed to convert. 

3) Make the Value Clearer

Speaking of value, does your landing page make it totally obvious what your prospects will get out of redeeming your offer? It's not just enough to tell them that they'll receive, say, an ebook on creating calls-to-action; you need to emphasize the value in it. Remember, you're trying to convince your landing page visitors that filling out a form and providing their personal information is worth what they'll get in return.

In our landing page example above, for example, the copy on our page clearly indicates that our CTA ebook will teach you how to "improve your calls-to-action and optimize them for maximum conversions." In other words, as a potential ebook downloader, you 'get' that after you've read our ebook, you'll know how to get more conversions out of your CTAs. When visitors clearly understand the value of downloading the ebook, and they're more inclined to fill out the form to obtain that valuable information.

4) Break Up Text

A final point about landing page copy to piggyback off the last two. You may only have 80 words of copy on your page, and it may clearly emphasize the value of your offer, but if it's all in one big chunk of unformatted text, it might also be all for naught.

Separate your landing page text into bite-size chunks that are easily scannable. As I said earlier, your landing page visitors don't want to waste their precious time trying to understand why they should redeem your offer. And if at any point, they feel like it's not worth determining, they'll leave -- offerless. Consider using bullet points to help describe your offer and highlight the value it provides, as we've done in our previous landing page example above.

5) Move That Form Up 'Above the Fold'

Do your visitors have to scroll down on the page or search high and low to find where or how they can redeem your offer? No bueno. If your form is below the fold (in other words, your visitors have to scroll down on the page in order to find it), move it up so it's more prominently visible. Worse -- if they don't understand that they need to fill out the form to redeem the offer in the first place, make it clear. There should be no guesswork involved in offer redemption from your prospects' perspective.

6) Shorten (or Lengthen) Your Form

"(Or Lengthen)"? Stay with us folks. First of all, understand that the more form fields you have, the less likely it is people will want to fill them out. Therefore, the length of your form needs to align with your lead generation goals.

So if your sales team has too many leads on their hands and they don't have the time to qualify them all, you might want to make your forms longer so they gather more information about your leads, enabling your sales team to better qualify them up front. If you're not generating enough leads, on the other hand, it might make sense to shorten your forms. The fewer fields you require, the less friction you'll create, and the more people will be willing to complete the form. Get it? Got it? Good.

7) Improve Your Form's Submit Button Text

What does the text on your landing page's submit button read? It it reads, "Submit," you might want to make a little tweak. According to research conducted for the Science of Lead Generation, landing pages with submit buttons actually labeled "Submit" tended to have lower conversion rates than those that used other wording. Why? We think it's because of the level of commitment the word "submit" implies, compared to other words like "Click Here" or "Go."



Use this data as a starting off point, and test different button text to see what works with your pages and your audience.

8) Add a Link to Your Privacy Policy

Try this quick and simple trick for reducing visitors' landing page form anxiety. You have a privacy policy that explains how you'll use your leads' information, right? (If not, add this to your general to-do list.) You know how to create a link, yes? Great.

Add a link to your landing page -- preferably right on the form itself -- that directs form-wary visitors to a page that outlines your privacy. This will help quell any fears they might have about how you plan to use their information, and make them more likely to complete the form. It will also make you seem transparent, trustworthy, and credible (because you are!).

9) Add Social Sharing Buttons

Want to easily extend the reach of your offers? Put your visitors to work! Your landing page visitors have their own networks of contacts, and many of them are likely not in yours, so if they share your landing page in social media, you'll be expanding your reach beyond your direct network.

But really, you don't want to actually make it work for them to share your offers with their networks, so how about you just make it as easy as possible for them to do so? Add social media and email sharing buttons to your landing page and its thank-you page! Just be sure that the URL you include in these pre-populated updates links to your offers' landing page, not the thank-you page where leads can access the offer (remember, you want to capture that conversion first!). If you're not sure how to create these handy little buttons, check out our guide to creating social media sharing links and buttons here.

10) Add a Visual (or a More Compelling One)

We humans are visual creatures, so it's no wonder we've seen an increasing emphasis on visuals in marketing lately. (Think about all those infographics, memes, and the rise in visual-centric social networks like Pinterest.) Hey, they don't say "a picture is worth a thousand words" for nothing. So if your landing page doesn't include some kind of visual -- or a compelling one, for that matter -- adding one is an easy upgrade. Even though you've explained what the offer is and the value they'll get from it through your copy, it can still seem like a mystery to your visitors. Thus, we recommend including a visual that more tangibly shows the visitor what they're actually going to get.

At HubSpot, for example, you'll notice that the majority of our ebook landing pages feature an image of the ebook's cover page. This gives potential downloaders a very tangible idea of what they're going to receive when they fill out the form. Remember: Surprises are fun when it's your birthday, not when you're providing a random company with your personal deets.

11) Remove Distractions

Think of your landing page visitors like kids in a candy store. If you put a lot of bells, whistles, and different choices in front of them, you'll never be able to corral them. That's why it's critical to limit as many potential distractions as possible on your landing pages. You want your visitors to focus on one thing and one thing only -- completing the form to redeem the offer. So don't include anything on your page that might prevent them from doing just that.

Remove any website navigation so visitors aren't tempted to visit another part of your website, and get rid of any other calls-to-action for other offers you might have on the page.

12) Conduct an A/B Test

A/B tests are great for tweaking and optimizing your landing pages, especially because sometimes even the simplest A/B test can yield really powerful results. Another great thing about A/B tests is, there are so many possible variables you can test -- and you don't even have to limit these tests to your landing pages.

But since landing pages are the topic at hand today, let's focus there. Some simple landing page variables you can try A/B testing include page layout, design, copy, images, and number of form fields. Be sure to pay close attention to your analytics so you know how your A/B test performed. To learn more about how to conduct A/B tests the right way, you can download our complete guide here.

13) Promote It!

While promoting your landing pages may not exactly be a "tweak," it's important not to overlook. After all, if you don't promote your landing pages, all of the above tweaks won't really make much of a difference! Be sure that along with every offer's landing page, you create CTA buttons that you can use in blog posts (just check the bottom of this blog post for an example) and on other website pages. Furthermore, promote links to your landing pages in your website's resource center, social media updates, email marketing sends, and lead nurturing campaigns. You put all that work into creating the offer and optimizing the landing page, so make sure you squeeze the most ROI out of it as possible!

Speaking of ROI, let your landing page analytics be your guide as you make tweaks and optimize your landing pages. If you notice a tweak has actually hurt, not helped your page, you'll be able to track that, and switch it back!

What other little landing page tweaks have you noticed made a BIG difference in the performance of your landing pages?

Original Article...

Android Claims More Than Half of the U.S. Smartphone Market in April 2012

Jason Hahn | DM Confidential | June 27, 2012

According to the latest numbers from comScore, Google’s Android took control of more than half of the U.S. smartphone market in April. Meanwhile, more than half of U.S. smartphone subscribers used downloaded apps in April, while a third played games on their phones.

More than 107 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in April, up 6 percent from January, according to comScore.

Using a three-month average ending in April, comScore found that 50.8 percent of U.S. smartphone users were on the Android platform, up 2.2 percentage points from the 48.6 percent share in January.

Apple followed with 31.4 percent of the market, up 1.9 percentage points from the 29.5 percent it had in January. RIM was third with 11.6 percent, down 3.6 points from its 15.2 percent share in January.

Microsoft followed with 4.0 percent of the market, down 0.4 points from its 4.4 percent share in January. Symbian was fifth with 1.3 percent of the market, down 0.2 points from its 1.5 percent share in January.

According to comScore, Samsung was the top mobile original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in April with 25.9 percent of the market, up 0.5 points from its 25.4 percent share in January.

LG was second with 19.2 percent of the market, followed by Apple with 14.4 percent, Motorola with 12.5 percent and HTC with 6.0 percent.

During the three months ending in April, 74.1 percent of U.S. smartphone users sent text messages to another phone, down 0.5 percentage points from the 74.6 percent who did the same in January. Meanwhile, 50.2 percent of smartphone users used downloaded apps in April, up 1.6 points from the 48.6 percent in January.

Forty-nine percent used a browser on their smartphones in April, while 36.0 percent accessed a social networking site or blog, 33.1 percent played games, and 25.8 percent listened to music on their mobile phones.

Separate numbers from inneractive take a look at the top three countries, by ad requests, in major app categories across all mobile platforms.

According to inneractive, the U.S. leads the arcade and action mobile app category with 19.75 percent of ad requests, followed by India with 10.51 percent and the U.K. with 6.01 percent.

The U.S. leads the news and info category with 10.72 percent of ad requests, followed by Russia with 8.70 percent and Germany with 5.48 percent.

The brain and puzzle mobile app category is led by the U.K. with 12.02 percent, followed by the U.S. with 10.73 percent and Turkey with 6.64 percent.

The U.S. leads the tools category with 11.26 percent, followed by Mexico with 11.17 percent and India with 8.63 percent.

India leads the entertainment category with 13.34 percent of ad requests, followed by Russia with 7.17 percent and the U.K. with 7.03 percent.

Original Article...

Hulu Serves 1.7 Billion Video Ads in May 2012

Jason Hahn | DM Confidential | June 27, 2012

According to comScore, Hulu led all U.S. online video ad properties when it came to video ads viewed in May, and Americans viewed a record number of video ads during the month.

comScore’s Video Metrix numbers from May reveal that U.S. online video viewers watched a total of 10.1 billion video ads in May, an all-time high. Hulu accounted for 1.7 billion of the video ads delivered during the month, with 55.5 ads served per viewer and a reach of 9.8 percent of the total U.S. population.

Google Sites followed with 1.4 billion video ads served in May, with 18.6 ads per viewer and a reach of 24.3 percent of the U.S. population. Meanwhile, BrightRoll Video Network served 1.1 billion video ads, with 10.3 ads per viewer and a reach of 35.8 percent of the population.

Adap.tv (966 million video ads), TubeMogul Video Ad Platform (897 million video ads), Specific Media (752 million video ads), Tremor Video (726 million video ads), SpotXchange Video Ad Marketplace (615 million video ads), Auditude Inc. (570 million video ads) and ESPN (490 million video ads) rounded out the list of the top 10 U.S. online video ad properties ranked by video ads viewed.

Separate numbers from Nielsen reveal the top online video destinations in May, ranked by unique viewers:

1. YouTube (136 million)
2. Yahoo (45.3 million)
3. VEVO (42.0 million)
4. AOL Media Network (25.6 million)
5. MSN/Windows Live/Bing (24.3 million)
6. Facebook (23.2 million)
7. The CollegeHumor Network (22.9 million)
8. Hulu (15.5 million)
9. Perform Group (12.0 million)
10. ESPN Digital Network (11.4 million)

Nielsen also listed the top online video destinations ranked by total streams:

1. YouTube (16.5 billion)
2. Hulu (968 million)
3. VEVO (727 million)
4. Yahoo (434 million)
5. AOL Media Network (331 million)
6. Netflix (301 million)
7. Dailymotion (229 million)
8. ESPN Digital Network (219 million)
9. MSN/Windows Live/Bing (205 million)
10. Facebook (121 million)

According to Nielsen, there were 163 million unique video viewers in the U.S. in May, and they streamed a total of 26.2 billion videos, good for 160.1 streams per viewer.

Original Article...

Tuesday Is the Best Day to Deploy a Facebook Campaign

Jason Hahn | DM Confidential | June 27th, 2012

A report from Yesmail titled “Using Digital Market Intelligence to Drive Multi-Channel Success” examines campaigns deployed via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and email. Among the findings is that Tuesday, surprisingly, is the best day of the week to deploy a Facebook campaign, while the five most engaging brands deployed 45-70 Twitter campaigns per month.

According to the report, Facebook campaigns deployed on Tuesday get the highest level of engagement, despite the fact that Tuesday ranks fourth in terms of number of deployed campaigns.

Meanwhile, Facebook campaigns deployed between 10 p.m. and midnight Eastern time get the most engagement. However, this is the least utilized time slot for deployments. The least engaging time of day to deploy a Facebook campaign is 1-4 a.m. Eastern time. The most popular time of day for deploying Facebook campaigns is 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Eastern time, though this slot is in the bottom 30 percent in terms of engagement, according to Yesmail.

While Yesmail didn’t see a clear-cut answer when it comes to determining the best frequency for Facebook campaigns deployed per month, a look at the five most engaging retail brands on Facebook revealed that they deploy 20-32 campaigns per month. Meanwhile, the five least engaging brands deploy an average of 54 campaigns per month.

Yesmail also found that on Facebook, photo content is the most engaging campaign type, probably because it’s easy to share, quick to browse and doesn’t require lots of time.

The study revealed that Facebook engagement increases by about 50 percent when one email campaign is deployed, and by 100 percent when two email campaigns are deployed in the same time frame. “Given the wide adoption of social share buttons, this relationship makes a compelling case for multi-channel marketing programs that are spearheaded by email,” according to Yesmail.

When it comes to Twitter, the highest levels of engagement happen on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. While 20 percent of all Twitter campaigns are deployed on Fridays, that day displays the lowest level of customer engagement.

Yesmail also looked at the commonalities between the most engaging Twitter campaigns. It found that they often adhere to one or more of the following practices:

• communicate purpose by identifying the desired customer behavior
• provide an incentive for performing a specific action
• empower the customer by putting them in charge
• feature a celebrity mention
• include a famous saying or a celebrity quote
• incorporate fun, feel-good tweets with fun, feel-good hashtags

Twitter engagement also benefits from email marketing, as engagement rises by more than 25 percent with one email campaign and by more than 40 percent with two campaigns.

For YouTube, Monday and Tuesday exhibit the highest levels of engagement. While Monday displays the highest engagement, it’s one of the three least utilized deployment days.

Yesmail also notes that a third of top performing YouTube campaigns are shorter than 30 seconds, while 28 percent are 60-90 seconds, 17 percent are 120-180 seconds and 11 percent are longer than 180 seconds.

Original Article...

Americans Spent 4.5B Minutes With Video Ads in May

Daniel Mickens | June 19, 2012 | ClickZ

Video ads have posted another record-breaking month in May, going over the 10 billion mark for the first time. ComScore reported Hulu was at the top of the list with over 1.6 billion video ads delivered. YouTube and Google sites followed with nearly 1.4 billion video ads. BrightRoll Video Network was the only other video ad property to break the billion mark with 1.1 billion video ads delivered.

ComScore includes only streaming-video advertising in its report, and does not measure other types of video monetization, such as overlays, branded players, matching banner ads, etc.

Americans spent over 4.5 billion minutes watching video ads in May. Hulu led this category as well with 725 million minutes. BrightRoll Video Network and Adap.tv were the next two leading properties with 673 million and 556 million minutes, respectively.

Video ads reached 52 percent of the U.S. population an average of 64 times during the month of May. Hulu once again topped the category by delivering the highest frequency of video ads to their viewers with an average of 56. ESPN was second in the category with an average of 29 ads per viewer.

Despite being a leader in those three categories, Hulu ranked near the bottom of the list in reaching the U.S. population. Compared to the leaders in this category - BrightRoll Video Network (35.8 percent) and Specific Media (31.9 percent), Hulu reached just 10 percent of the population.

ComScore also released data from the comScore Video Metrix showing that over 180 million U.S. Internet users watched 36.6 billion content videos last month. YouTube, VEVO, and Yahoo Sites topped almost every category of the video content rankings.

Top U.S. Online Video Ad Properties Ranked by Video Ads Viewed, May 2012
Property	Video Ads (000)	Total Ad Minutes (MM)	Frequency (Ads per Viewer)	% Reach Total U.S. Population
Total Internet: Total Audience	10,076,499	4,517	63.6	51.7
Hulu	1,666,846	725	55.5	9.8
Google Sites	1,385,273	143	18.6	24.3
BrightRoll Video Network	1,130,983	673	10.3	35.8
Adap.tv	966,204	556	13.1	24.1
TubeMogul Video Ad Platform	896,787	259	17.4	16.8
Specific Media	751,542	359	7.7	31.9
Tremor Video	725,944	408	14.1	16.8
SpotXchange Video Ad Marketplace	615,290	326	13.5	14.9
Auditude, Inc.	569,862	219	11.6	16.0
ESPN	490,103	169	28.6	5.6

Data provided by comScore Video Metrix.

Original Article...

What Is a Good Click-Through Rate for PPC?

Lisa Raehsler | ClickZ | June 26, 2012

A commonly asked question in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is "what is a good click-through rate (CTR)?" There is no easy answer and it can vary greatly depending on channel, targeting, keywords, and more.

First, the basics of the CTR:

Defined: The number of clicks received divided by the number of impressions generated. For example, an ad that is displayed 1,000 times and receives 10 clicks has a click-through rate of 1 percent.

Channel differentials: Search and display channel results are very different. We tend to see higher CTRs in search because the searcher is looking for specific information, and is therefore more likely to click when they find it. With display ads, the viewer is passive - doing something else when the ad is served to them.

Why do people care so much about CTRs? The CTR can be an indicator of how relevant an ad is to the searcher or to the audience targeted. It can demonstrate interest in a product message or show what "resonates" with searchers. I also have a theory that there can be an ego factor with CTRs. The bigger the better, right?

Several factors can impact CTR on an ad, which is why there is no definitive answer to the question. A few of the factors to consider include:

• Audiences and targeting
• B2B or B2C
• Brand or non-branded
• A keyword's place in the search funnel
• Ad copy's creative messaging - CTA
• Type of offer
• Display URL
• Images/design
• Industry competitiveness

There are some observed trends in the industry based on PPC managers' experience and the channel's own data.

Search: In a healthy account you will see CTRs vary depending on the type of campaign. For example, branding campaigns typically earn a much higher CTR than non-brand. Advertisers may see 1 percent to 7 percent for non-brand with brand ads being 3 percent and up. Consider the differences in each campaign, but focus on optimizing ads with a CTR less than 1 percent.

Display: Typically advertisers could see 0.05 percent and above, with retargeting campaigns' CTR as much as double the percentage of site targeting campaigns. Try to optimize any ads with CTRs lower than about 0.03 percent, if clicks are a consideration. Most of the time, display ads are used for branding so impressions are a more important metric.

Facebook: Facebook offers two different types of CTR. One is ad CTR, which is the percentage of times the ad or sponsored story is clicked on. The other CTR is the social CTR. This number represents clicks on ads shown with the names of the viewer's friend. Facebook reps have said that CTR is not important and have not shared an average or goal CTR. This seems to be counterintuitive since part of Facebook's algorithm is based on an ad's CTR. Many advertisers will see 0.020 percent to 0.040 percent on average, but I regularly see several CTRs of 0.063 percent and up to 0.5 percent. Focus on optimizing or pausing any ads with less than 0.02 percent.

LinkedIn: According to a LinkedIn rep, the average CTR for ads on LinkedIn is about 0.025 percent. I see that percentage on the low end and then up to 0.06 percent. Focus on optimizing or pausing anything under 0.018 percent.

Determining a good CTR is also common-sense marketing. Sometimes to increase awareness or achieve a goal, advertisers have to bid on less relevant or complementary keywords or audience targets. This can result in a lower than expected CTR. This happens. It's OK. The bottom line is if campaigns are achieving their goals in conversions, traffic, or branding, the CTR is only one piece of the data pie.

Original Article...

10 Examples of Facebook Ads That Actually Work (And Why)

Dan Slagen | HubSpot | June 22, 2012


Facebook ads. Facebook ads are what bring us here today.

While there has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the effectiveness of Facebook ads lately (you remember the whole GM thing, right?), Ford and Coke recently gave their seal of approval in a Wall Street Journal article about Facebook ads, with both saying they were finding value in Facebook ads, and with Ford planning to expand its use of Facebook's advertising platform.

Content Marketing Drives Social Media and Sales - Are You Spending Enough?

Heidi Cohen | ClickZ | June 25, 2012

Content marketing is critical to feeding social media and driving engagement on these platforms. Further, it's an effective tool to build brand, support the buying process, and provide post-purchase support. Whether it's B2C or B2B products, customers research their purchases online first. They seek non-promotional, informational content to help assess their product needs. Effective creation and distribution of content marketing supports this process.

Top on marketers' list of content marketing challenges is coming up with topics for original content and finding the time to create original content. Look deeper at these challenges and you'll see that marketers' true problem is that they're not allocating sufficient resources, both human and financial, to meet their content marketing needs.



3 Ways to Feed the Content Marketing Engine Cost Effectively
To support your content creation engine have an ongoing process within your organization to ensure you've got a constant flow of potential articles. To that end, follow these three idea-generating tactics that long-time blogger Chris Brogan made at BlogWorld Expo New York.

1. Maintain a list of content marketing topics and suggestions. To guarantee your organization always has sufficient subjects to cover, invite all of your employees, regardless of title or position, to submit their ideas. Additionally, get your sales and customer service representatives to let you know the common requests prospects and customers have. Go one step further and put a link on your website. Also use social media to gather insights for new posts through customer comments.
2. Develop a structure for various types of content. Combine this with an editorial calendar or other form of scheduling system for your content to give content creators a jump on composing your content. As part of this initiative use a special hook for a set of regular features. Make sure that you have sufficient content to share on the social media platforms where your organization is active.
3. Let your passion shine through. Human feelings and an authentic voice are critical to social media and content marketing. To this end, it's important to avoid corporate speak. Write where the emotional value is and skip what your third grade teacher said about writing!

5 Content Marketing Areas Every Organization Needs to Cover
To ensure your organization's content marketing is on track, it's important to offer your prospects, customers, social media fans, and the public a wide variety of information and monitor what they respond to. Here are five areas where you can expand your content creation ideas.

1. Offer an insider's perspective into your organization and your employees. This means explain your products in your own words (vs. using suppliers' information). Get a cross section of your employees to give their insights into your offering and current trends. Don't overlook your corporate stories!
2. Teach prospects and customers how to use your products and services more effectively. This isn't education in the traditional sense. Rather provide your audience with suggestions for expanding their use of your products as well as giving them new options through recipes and patterns.
3. Report the news in your business category. Provide insights that your audience can't get elsewhere. Think about topics related to your core business that are of interest to your readers.
4. Ask area experts for their insights. Use round-up posts, interviews, and webinars to integrate expert advice into your content offering.
5. Use media formats other than text. Especially with the growing interest in photographs and videos, it's important not to limit your content usage solely to text. Use a variety of different types of content. Of course, don't forget to associate text with images, video, and audio.

While you can streamline your content creation, it's critical to allocate sufficient budget to ensure that you have enough to distribute across your owned and social media sites.

What else would you add to this list of content marketing topics to drive social media and sales?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

Original Article...

23 Eye-Opening Mobile Marketing Stats You Should Know

Corey Eridon | HubSpot | June 21, 2012

Marketers are starting to realize that the mobile upswing isn't just a fad. Thing is, if you haven't already made an investment in mobile marketing, starting now could seem a little daunting. I mean, it's just one more thing to add to your ever-lengthening to-do list, right?

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider it, even if it just means you start mobile-optimizing your emails. Or maybe you invest in optimizing your site for mobile visitors. Or even do a little mobile SEO. Wherever mobile marketing stands on your list of priorities, there's no doubt it's here to stay -- and these stats should help you understand just how important it is, and perhaps help you prioritize your efforts.

23 Mobile Marketing Statistics You Should Know

The State of the Mobile Union

1) 1.08 of the world's 4 billion mobile phones are smartphones. 3.05 billion are SMS enabled. (Source: Microsoft Tag) Tweet This Stat!

2) Mobile internet usage is projected to overtake desktop internet usage by 2014. (Source: Microsoft Tag) Tweet This Stat!

3) Apple and Android represent more than 75% of the smartphone market. (Source: comScore) Tweet This Stat!

Mobile Optimization

4) 74% of consumers will wait 5 seconds for a web page to load on their mobile device before abandoning the site. (Source: Gomez) Tweet This Stat!

5) 46% of consumers are unlikely to return to a mobile site if it didn't work properly during their last visit. (Source: Gomez) Tweet This Stat!

6) 71% of mobile browsers expect web pages to load almost as quickly or faster as web pages on their desktop computers. (Source: Gomez) Tweet This Stat!

Mobile Search

7) 7.96% of all web traffic in the U.S. is mobile traffic. That number skyrockets to 14.85% in Africa, and 17.84% in Asia -- up 192.5% since 2010. (Source: Pingdom) Tweet This Stat!

8) One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. (Source: Microsoft Tag) Tweet This Stat!

9) Mentioning a location in mobile ads and search results can increase click-through rates up to 200%. (Source: ThinkNear) Tweet This Stat!

Mobile Commerce

10) Only 19% of US retailers have an M-Commerce app. (Source: eMarketer) Tweet This Stat!

11) That might be okay, since only 4% of consumers prefer to shop via an app. (Source: eMarketer) Tweet This Stat!

12) 24% of US tablet owners use their tablets to shop 2-3 times per month; 20% use them to shop more than once per week; and 12% use them to shop every day! (Source: eMarketer) Tweet This Stat!

13) 29% of mobile users are open to scanning a mobile tag to get coupons. (Source: Microsoft Tag) Tweet This Stat!

14) 1 in 5 smartphone users scan product barcodes, and nearly 1 in 8 compare prices on their phone while in a store. (Source: comScore) Tweet This Stat!

15) 39% of instances where a consumer walks out of a store without buying were influenced by smartphones. (Source: Motorola Solutions) Tweet This Stat!

Mobile Social Media

16) 91% of mobile internet access is for social activities, versus just 79% on desktops. (Source: Microsoft Tag) Tweet This Stat!

17) Over 1/3 of Facebook's users access Facebook Mobile; 50% of Twitter's users use Twitter Mobile. (Source: Microsoft Tag) Tweet This Stat!

18) QR code scans increased 300% in 2011 compared to 2010. (Source: ScanLife) Tweet This Stat!

Mobile Email Marketing

19) If all US mobile internet time was condensed into an hour, 25 minutes of it would be spent on email. (Source: Return Path) Tweet This Stat!

20) The entertainment, finance, publishing, and social networking industries see above average mobile email views compared to other industries. (Source: Return Path) Tweet This Stat!

21) From April to September in 2011, mobile email opens increased 34%, while webmail and PC opens decreased by 11% and 9.5%, respectively. (Source: Return Path) Tweet This Stat!

22) iPad users are loving it for email -- there's been a 73% increase in opens on those skinny little things. (Source: Return Path) Tweet This Stat!

23) Mobile email readership is at its peak on Saturday, and at its lowest on Monday. (Source: Marketing Technology Blog) Tweet This Stat!

Has the growth of mobile caused you to invest more in your mobile marketing strategy yet?

Image credit: Rhys Asplundh

Original Article...

Tablet Penetration: 47% by 2013

Jason Hahn | DM Confidential | June 20, 2012

According to the Online Publishers Association (OPA), in collaboration with Frank N. Magid Associtaes Inc., tablet penetration is expected to reach 47 percent by 2013. This would reflect a rather large increase from the 31 percent penetration tablets have in 2012.

The report from OPA and Frank N. Magid Associates is titled “A Portrait of Today’s Tablet User – Wave II.” The study surveyed 2,540 Internet users between the ages of 8 and 64, with the sample matching the U.S. Census with regard to age and gender. The data was collected from March 19-26.

According to the report, tablet adoption is pegged at 31 percent in 2012, up from 12 percent in 2011. Based on estimates of the U.S. Internet population from the U.S. Census Bureau and eMarketer, this means there are 74.1 million tablet users in the U.S. today. This figure is expected to rise to 47 percent by 2013, which would be equivalent to 117.4 million tablet users.

Fifty-eight percent of tablet users say they’re “very satisfied” with their device, while 32 percent say they’re “satisfied.” When broken down into operating systems, 95 percent of iOS users exhibit a 95 percent satisfaction rate (“very satisfied” or “satisfied”) while Android users exhibit a 90 percent satisfaction rate.

According to the study, 56 percent of current tablet users are male while 44 percent are female. However, 48 percent of new tablet buyers are male and 52 percent are female.

Sixty percent of tablet users use their devices several times a day, 14 percent use them once a day and 17 percent use them several times a week.

Meanwhile, the report found that 30 percent of tablet users spend 11-20 hours per week with their devices, and that the average time spent using tablets is 13.9 hours per week.

The peak time of day for tablet usage is 5-8 p.m. (59 percent) and 8-11 p.m. (53 percent), according to the report.

Virtually all tablet users, or 94 percent of them, use their tablets to access content/information, followed by 67 percent who access the Internet, 66 percent who check email, 61 percent who play games, 53 percent who use a social network, 51 percent who listen to music, 42 percent who read books and 31 percent who make purchases.

The report also indicates that tablet users download an average of 22 apps, and that 96 percent of tablet users have downloaded apps. Seventy-seven percent of apps downloaded in the past 12 months were free, while 23 percent were paid.

The U.S. tablet app market is $2.6 billion in 2012, reflecting a noticeable increase from the $1.4 billion valuation last year.

However, tablet users are showing that they are increasingly becoming fond of free apps with ads vs. paid apps.

According to the study, 54 percent of tablet content buyers have made a purchase after seeing an ad on a tablet in the past six months, compared with 38 percent of tablet users overall. Meanwhile, 38 percent of tablet content buyers have researched a product after seeing an ad, compared with 29 percent of tablet users; 30 percent of tablet content buyers have clicked on an ad, compared with 23 percent of tablet users; 28 percent of tablet content buyers have used a special offer or coupon, compared with 20 percent of tablet users; 25 percent of tablet content buyers have visited a product website, compared with 19 percent of tablet users; and 20 percent of tablet content buyers have gone to a product/business Facebook page, compared with 15 percent of tablet users.

According to the OPA and Frank N. Magid Associates, tablet users spent an average of $359 purchasing products on their devices in the last 12 months.

“Considering tablets have only been available for a little over two years, the findings of this study truly underscore the possibilities for publishers to grow their business as consumers are willing to open their wallets in order to have original content at their fingertips,” said Pam Horan, president of the OPA.

Original Article...