Marketing Pilgrim Published: “EU Doesn’t Get Digital World” plus 3 more

EU Doesn’t Get Digital World
Cracking Local Ad Market Is Top Google Priority
One in Three Consumers Follows Through on Social Media Recommendations
Does the Rise in Social Media Marketing Equal a Rise in Holiday Sales?

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:19 AM PST

I think most of you know how we have felt about the EU / EC’s attempts to investigate Google as a monopoly based on complaints by a few whiners in the search space. Well, it is refreshing to see someone who doesn’t have a US accent talk about the EU’s apparent lack of understanding of the digital world of business.

Matthew Lynn of Bloomberg gives his point of view in the video below (there is an ad at the start).

Lynn Says EU Trust Busters Fail to Understand Monopolies
Uploaded by Bloomberg. – Up-to-the minute news videos.

I am not trying to prove that I am right but what I am relieved by is that not everyone in Europe is accepting the EU’s approach to trying to control ‘what companies can do what’ in Europe.

I got chuckle out of the fact that Lynn even went a step further than I have in my concerns when he broached the idea that the EU’s actions are anti-American. Nice!

Lynn has also written about the subject and it is worth a look.

Cracking Local Ad Market Is Top Google Priority

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 05:55 AM PST

Google's local ad performance is one of the top priorities for the company according to Susan Wojcicki, who is a senior VP overseeing the advertising business at Google (and Sergey Brin's sister-in-law). With the Groupon deal being a thing of the past Google is on to the next way to crack this critical market. It's actually interesting to see a monster like Google struggle to get its arms around how it can capture one of the most elusive, and potentially lucrative, market segments in business: the SMB.

According to the Wall Street Journal

"That is my biggest focus," said Ms. Wojcicki, one of Google's early employees who was interviewed during the D: Dive Into Mobile event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. "How can we enable you, when you're walking around, to find out the best local offers around? As an advertiser, how can I find out if someone saw my ad and went to a store? The local market is a huge market, we've always wanted to be in it."

They and everyone else have wanted to be in it but in the online space the pace of adoption has been excruciatingly slow from the SMBs of the world. Of course, there are early adopters that are doing very well from the SMB side and they probably hope that no one else catches on because they can garner more success with less of a crowd to fight through.

With Google though, they are need to do something quickly. It's not that there are many other competitors out there that have their scale and data. Those that are even somewhat comparable are still way behind the Google curve. Google's desire to make this happen is, of course, about revenue but also being the leader. They have lost any chance at being a real threat in the social media space so this area is one where, if they can make a real good mousetrap, could actually stave off some of the Facebook erosion they have experienced as of late.

Wojcicki pushes the failure to get into this market back on the SMB but I think this is a cop out.

So far, local Web advertising has not taken off because existing services have been too hard to use for time-strapped small business people, said Mrs. Wojcicki. "For small businesses, they don't have a lot of time," she said. "You need to create a model that works for them. And it needs to be easy for them to sign up. On the back end, everything needs to just work for them."

Why is this a cop out? Because it makes it sound like the SMB doesn't have the time to do something that could help their business. What they really don't have is any good reason to believe Google will actually help. Many struggle with AdWords already and feel like they are throwing money into Google's black hole. They don't necessarily trust agencies either because, let's face it, they haven't done much to be trusted for in the past. And just building something that Google thinks is easy could look like rocket science to the average SMB. Right now, their idea of easy is Boost but many SMB’s don’t know about it (Google’s marketing incompetence hard at work) and the solution is to turn over the keys to Google and trust them! Yikes.

What the SMB needs, and I don't think Google can ever provide, is the relationship small businesses desire to engage in virtually anything. This is where Google will always, and I mean always, fall short because they are an engineering company that doesn't understand people like they think they do. They get algorithms and large systems but they don't get people and people are the ones running these local shops. Until they humanize their delivery there will be a significant disconnect that will hurt their business. This gap currently exists because most business owners are a bit older than the generation that has grown up with Google so they get it like others. Maybe in 10-20 years Google’s machine like handling of people will be more accepted but right now it hurts them a lot. They just won’t admit it or maybe they are just too arrogant to even see it as a problem.

This doesn't mean that Google can't grow in this area with who they are. There are enough SMBs who are on the edge of jumping in despite the lack of support and general communication from Google. The problem exists in getting widespread adoption. They won't and honestly, maybe having two long time employees (Marissa Mayer and Ms. Wojcicki) at the helm of these efforts is a bad move since they helped develop the current culture of "We build it, you use it and if you have questions go to a forum" is the wrong way to go.

I'm not sure just how Google plans to master the SMB local ad market but one thing I think they will need to do is the thing that Google seems to dread the most and that is talk to people. Actually have conversations with customers. Yuck! Even then though, the Google ‘customer service’ results can be less than stellar as I experienced recently.

So what's your take on Google and the SMB in the local ad market? Will the little guys just have to capitulate or will they find other ways to survive without having to be assimilated into the Goog?

One in Three Consumers Follows Through on Social Media Recommendations

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 04:01 PM PST

Empathica, Inc wanted to know more about how consumers were using social media in regard to brands so they sat down and interviewed 15,000 people from both the US and Canada. Okay, they didn't actually sit down with all those people, but they asked the questions, the people answered and they published a nifty new report called The Empathica Consumer Insights Panel – Q2 2010, Issue 4.

I can't say that their findings were very surprising but empirical validation is always nice, don't you think? So here are the two key points:

When it comes to social media, six in ten consumers said they followed at least one brand. 40% of those people said they did it for coupons and promotions while the 30% said they were simply looking for "additional information." I'm bad at math, remember, but that does seem to leave a few people unaccounted for. Maybe they're following brands for nefarious reasons and didn't want to say.

The takeaway here is that there's really no avoiding the "deal" monster. If you want people to follow and friend you, you're going to have to throw them a bone now and then. 10% off an order, free shipping, free samples, buy 1 get 1 – but you should mix it up. Get creative. 10% off for everyone who posts a photo of themselves wearing a fake mustache. Buy a sweater for yourself, get a sweater for your pet. I think we worry a lot about hitting the lowest common denominator, but the truth is, though less people will post a photo of themselves, those that do will share that photo and you get more eyeballs on your brand. Listen, 10 people who really like your brand and will buy from you, is better than 100 who will abandon you when the deal is done.

One in Three Consumers Recently Followed-Through with a Recommendation Made Via Social Media

That's the other big takeaway from this report. More and more people are using social media to help them decide on what to buy, what movie to see and where to go for lunch. The pros say it's a trust thing. Personally, I think it's a lazy thing. For example, I'm going to order takeout for dinner tonight. I hate picking a place, so if I see that my friend had Pick-up Stix for lunch, it's likely I'll think Pick-Up Stix. If I go to their Facebook and find a coupon, then I'm sold. Same goes for new music. I don't seek out new artists, but if my friend links to a song on Twitter, I might click it and enjoy it. I clicked, not because I think my friend's taste in music is great, but because its human nature to want to please others and following my friend's advice will please them. Yes, I checked out that tune and you were right, it's terrific!

On a funny side-note, the study found that 25% of Americans made a recommendation on social media but only 17% of Canadians did the same. They suspect this is because American's are almost twice as likely to follow ten or more brands compared to our neighbors from the north even though both countries favor Facebook by roughly the same percent (Canadian – 64% and American - 67%). What do you suppose that is all aboot, eh?

So there you have it, more proof that you need to include deals and encourage recommendations on all of your favorite social media networks.

Want to learn more? Visit www.empathica.com/insights/ and they’ll hook you up.

Does the Rise in Social Media Marketing Equal a Rise in Holiday Sales?

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 01:05 PM PST

There’s no doubt that this is the year of the social media holiday marketing blitz. More folks than ever are using Facebook, Twitter and other sites to encourage holiday shopping.

According to eMarketer, 27% of retailers said they’d spend most of their marketing budget on social media, up from 18%. And 75% said they had a social media strategy this year as opposed to only 51% last year. But does this rise in activity mean a rise in sales?

We’ve been told that Black Friday and Cyber Monday both did very well this year, but is it as a result of all the social media air time?

Practical eCommerce took a look at this very question and came up with some interesting answers. They began with numbers from Hitwise who said that, “social networks referred 4.39 percent of traffic to the top 500 retail sites on Black Friday 2010.”

4.39? That’s not so much.

Their expert, George Eberstadt, CEO of TurnTo Networks says:

“The social stigma against shilling is as strong today as it's ever been, and that limits the amount of commerce-related sharing that's ever going to go on – the popularity of social media hasn't changed that.”

Shilling. Haven’t heard that word in awhile, but it’s a valid point, except during the holiday season. Because everyone is on a buying spree, we’re much more likely to tolerate a barrage of sales Tweets and updates. But imagine if marketers maintained that same enthusiastic level of social media marketing throughout the entire year? I love a good deal, but I’m already growing weary of the onslaught.

The article goes on to say:

“Eberstadt added that he believes social commerce will ultimately be more important to brands and stores than social media marketing. "Social will be more important as a discovery and decision-making tool for people that are in-market for goods and services than as a way to promote and advertise."

An interesting distinction and one I believed we’ve addressed here before. It’s the difference between conversational Facebook updates and a continuous stream of sales pitches.

So while your Facebook and Twitter followers might be okay with “Save 50% on Blu-ray Players” today, after Christmas they’re more likely to respond to “what’s your favorite movie on Blu-ray?” They’ll not only respond but they’ll share their answer with their Facebook friends who will also come and answer, resulting in more “likes” for you and more potential customers when one of them decides to buy a Blu-ray player.

What do you think? Are your social media efforts paying off in actual sales, or is brand awareness the ultimate goal?