Do you know which leads are most likely to convert to high-value customers? This morning, I attended Know Thy Customer 2011, an event hosted by SAS and Forrester, two of the big names in customer data mining and intelligence. The event, which took place in several cities including Montreal, spotlighted major companies who are successfully […]
The SEO community has been reeling for the past few days at the news that Google will start encrypting searches and blocking referrer data for searchers signed into Google accounts. The net outcome is that analytics tools (Google Analytics included) won’t be able to see referring organic keyword data for these signed in users. The […]
Recently, I stumbled upon a change in Google Places, when looking for an ATM within the mall. Below is a screenshot of the Places page. The strange piece of content here is the snippet from Wikipedia. “All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License – Wikipedia.” Alone this info would […]
The newest music streaming service to hit the scene is gaining users across the globe, causing advertisers and marketers to take notice. Boasting over 8 million engaged users globally, Spotify is finding new ways to connect customers and brands. Why Spotify makes sense for brands: Users hear audio ads every three songs, connecting advertising with […]
This is part three of a three-part series on SMX (Search Marketing Expo) 2011 at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Read part one here and part two here. The first two days of SMX focused on search marketers chasing Google and Google chasing the searcher. Day three was about everyone chasing the conversion. The sessions I attended […]
There’s been a lot of buzz leading up to the launch of Schema.org. The first thing that makes Schema.org a big deal is that it is agreed upon and standardized. The second thing that makes Schema.org a big deal is the essence of what it does. Schema.org provides a standard protocol to add more details […]
If you sell stuff online and you describe the stuff that you sell and you show me pictures of what you’re selling, you as the builder of this content own both the description and the media. But why in the world are you giving it away to others to rank? I understand the theory behind […]
The announcement of Google Offers will make a splash. No big deal. But what are the implications? Here are some factors to consider: 1. Conversion Tracking For many local businesses the hardest part about search marketing is tracking to conversion. If they could see the effectiveness, they’d probably spend more. Google offers could provide some relief. The […]
“Twitter and Facebook are more important to Virgin Atlantic than TV.” Virgin Atlantic VP of Marketing, Porter Gale’s assessment of Social Media’s advantages over traditional mass media further solidifies how forward-thinking companies are embracing and leveraging engagement media. Virgin cleverly capitalizes on Twitter as a guest-service/customer retention tool. When flights are delayed, Virgin uses Twitter […]
Norm Hagarty, CEO: By now most of us in the directional media industry have heard about TMP’s unfortunate demise. I don’t believe that this kind of turmoil is ever good. It certainly is not good for TMP’s staff, many of whom will face uncertain job prospects (at least in the short term); clients who now […]