The Changing Face of Digital Media & Marketing : e-marketer

Global Expansion of Social Networks

Scott Berg — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:46:00 GMT

While reviewing the latest e-marketer article on Social Networking I found it interesting that Russia’s growth in people who created a social network profile was at 85.3%. India, China, Brazil follow with growth in the 60 to 70% some odd range.

Frankly those numbers surprised me… let me explain:

1. Technology – the technology pipeline in these countries seems to be developing faster than what I estimated….allowing for stable platforms, etc.

2. Time Spent – if these countries follow the US… look for shifts in media time spent to shift more to the digital side vs. the traditional media landscape.

3. Content Growth – with higher demand and usage will come the increased demand for content… with more video shifting to digital/online for viewing vs. current TV or satellite use.

We live in an increasingly “connected age”…as technology continues to expand, the world gets smaller, the access to information becomes easier and the authenticity of our brands is more important than ever.

Scott

Are We Teaching Future Marketers the Right Stuff?

Scott Berg — Sun, 03 May 2009 02:07:00 GMT

Great article from a survey by e-Marketer on the changes in digital spend. I won’t recap it in this blog post…but for those of you who keep predicting the comeback of print, you won’t be happy with the article.

And what I read between the lines… is the need for people who understand the entire digital marketing mix as well as individual experts within the specific digital domain. That being said, I am concerned our colleges and universities are teaching marketers skills that aren’t remotely what we need today and in the future.

I work with a couple of major universities on curriculum and it’s certainly something they are reviewing as well. So what can all of us do?

Get Involved – with your local university or college and help them understand the changing marketplace.
Ensure your HR department understands the change in skill demand and communicates it the schools you recruit from.
Mentor – students to ensure they understand the requirements and skills they will need.
Internships – offer them to students during the summer… (NOTE: don’t have them fill your coffee cup or make copies). Have them get intimately involved in the digital programs and initiatives your company is working on.

Scott

New Blogging Stats from e-Marketer

Scott Berg — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Saw this recent post from e-Marketer on blogging …. the statistics are staggering. E-marketer estimates that in 2009, 96.6 million internet users in the US will read a blog at least once a month. That’s amazing… to think that many people want to interact with once another.

In 2013, e-Marketer estimates the number to increase to 128.2M or 58% of all US internet users.

For those who think social media is a fad – I would recommend you “wake up & smell the coffee.” People are communicating in a completely different way through the world’s largest connection engine – the internet.

Scott

Facebook Hits 200 Million Users

Scott Berg — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Wow! That’s about the only word I can use to express my amazement over Facebook hitting the 200 million users mark.

But what I find interesting is the disparity between male and female users who are signing up – about 1/3 more total females vs. total males. In addition, the growth of new user especially in the 45 – 65 year old category. The other age groups are easy to understand. My take… the younger groups are pushing parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles to connect via Facebook in order to share family activities, photos, etc.

What that can mean to marketers is a broader age group to target as well as the use of Facebook as the platform for influencing the product and service recommendations usually people get from making a phone call.

Scott

2009 Digital Media Trends – Update & Scorecard

Scott Berg — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:28:00 GMT

Late last year I posted my 2009 Digital Media Trends. I thought it would be a good idea to see where they stand as well as add in a few other trends I’m starting to see emerge.

It’s the Economy Stupid...

More newspapers and print publications will go out of business -- I hate to actually say this one is dead on. All you have to read are the following articles on the demise of newspapers across the US.

San Francisco Chronicle Might Shut Down

Denver Rocky Mountain News Shuts Down

Derby Daily Reporter Shutting Down

Taconic Group Newspapers Shut Down

Accuracy: Dead On

Weaker online sites will see advertising revenue sales fall – the economy is not only pushing pure “print” revenue down, but newspapers online revenue as well as “pure play” digital advertising is taking a hit as budgets get tight.

Search Revenue Falling

Online Video Ad Revenue Decreasing

Digital Shops Begin to Feel Effects of the Economy

Accuracy: Dead On

Sponsorships will take a beating….

RBS Sports Sponsorships

Sports Sponsorships Take a Beating

Accuracy: Dead On

Social Websites will see a decrease in ad revenue –

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Community development will be a priority – marketers will engage differently with the end customer by developing stronger communities and/or engaging with current standing communities.

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Rise of the “Un-Badged Employee” – most people use reviews before making a product or service purchase… but in an economic downturn, that input revs up to make sure the purchase is what the consumer wants. Check out this article.

Accuracy: Dead on

SEO will become more important – with decreased budgets, SEM will also feel the budget pinch, so advertisers will focus more attention on SEO to decrease costs and increase search page placement.

US Search Spending Falters

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Again, mobile will struggle – tough to tell right now… but keep your eyes/ears tuned in the coming months.

Mobile Marketing Watch Newsletter

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Google will continue to gain share – ok this is a “duh” prediction, I admit it. But with Yahoo in turmoil, the recent layoffs, Microsoft not making headway on revenue in the online space… Google will extend it’s lead – either by sure will might and force or through acquisition.

Google’s Share Extends

Accuracy: Dead On

Online Upfronts get more momentum –

Accuracy: Too early to tell (but if I was a betting man) – I’d say I’m way off on this one. Prices are falling as demand craters… who wants to get locked in on long term inventory when the short term rates continue to fall.

Digital television platform (aka Canoe Ventures) will get serious attention – Certainly the new administration pushing back the digital transition date didn’t help, but frankly with the advertising world in a tail spin right now, Canoe still holds promise of better targeting….although I think most advertisers wished it were live and ready to go today.

Accuracy: Too early to tell

CRM and database marketing will make a comeback – well I’m not seeing it yet… although my email box is deluged daily with a great deal more email than ever, but I can’t attribute that to better CRM or just desperation on behalf of marketers. Plus, with the economy in the dumper, big tech projects are harder to sell unless they can guarantee a result.

Accuracy: Seems I was a bit too optimistic

Media inventory costs will decline – regardless of whether you’re buying upfront or not. This one is definitely on track… with the networks taking a bath on inventory, newspapers having difficulty selling pages prices are falling. What’s concerning is we’re only in March…what will this look like in July?

Accuracy: Dead On

Scott

It’s Going to Get Worse Before it Get’s Better

Scott Berg — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:44:00 GMT

And you’re saying to yourself, duh Berg – think of something a bit more original.

First, check out this article on e-marketer, which predicts newspaper revenue will slide another 15.9% in FY09. The article goes on to say “The future for print media companies is online, as evidenced by the growth in Web readership of sites such as The New York Times. Small and local businesses that once depended on newspapers to get their ads in front of customers now have other more measurable options such as paid search advertising.”

And I agree with the statement in general… but let’s dig a bit deeper at what the newspaper industry faces and the tough choices they need to make.

ISSUE 1: CPM’s for online are much lower than CPM’s for print. So they’re just not going to make as much revenue per CPM for online then they would for print.

SOLUTION: Either increase the number of the visitors to the site (and make it up in volume of visitors) or provide such unique value they can charge more for an online CPM. First, make your content free as the NYT.com did a little more than a year ago to boost online visitors. Second, distribute your content outside your web site to aggregators, etc. Third, make your content easy for bloggers to utilize, so they can distribute the content for free.

ISSUE 2: Fixed costs for printing a newspaper. A big old printer to print those newspapers costs a ton of money to run – labor, electricity, purchase cost, financing, real estate, etc. Not to mention the variable costs of paper, ink and maintenance.

SOLUTION: Start making the tough choices – get efficient with those fixed costs, eliminate the ones you can and get much leaner. Then focus on the “digital” property and invest the savings to make your content the best, web access the easiest, etc. You still need reporters – but as opposed to having a paper deadline of x time, these folks work a 24 by 7 shift and upload data to a data center.

ISSUE 3: Provide a better digital product. Let’s face it… most papers that have a web site… don’t easily migrate to new technology. If you don’t have an active blogging program, a social community site, robust search programs, widgets, mobile content, etc. then get in the game.

SOLUTION: Provide the above… but more than that… upgrade and provide new exciting reasons why the consumer and advertiser should continually come back to your site.

Even if you do all the above, the competition is fierce and much of the financial damage has already been done. FY09, and I predict first half of FY10, will be extremely difficult for the media industry. When local newspaper chains begin to file for bankruptcy protection… I think that will be the signal of a bottom. But it’s going to be a rough and very unpleasant year. Let’s hope the stimulus package Congress and the President is pushing is the medicine we need to cure the patient.

Scott