June 2010

New data found by marketingresearch firm eMarketer indicates that banner ads have a "subliminal" effect on customers' purchasing habits, reports MediaPost.

According to the eMarketer senior analyst David Hallerman, 18 percent of consumers searched the web for a brand's product after viewing display units featuring the item. The effectiveness of a brand's targeting strategy may play a large role in this, though, notes Hallerman.

Banner ads complement other marketing initiatives, especially searchadvertising. Hallerman says that companies will spend $12.4 billion on search advertising - 45 percent more than what they spend on various display formats.

Hallerman expects internet marketing budgets to begin to cannibalize more traditional channels, like newspapers and magazine. By 2014, the analyst projects the web will account for 20 percent of total ad spend.

Display ads will account for some of this growth, especially as in-banner video becomes more popular. A recent eMarketer report projects that the value of video display ads will increase 33 percent this year.

Mediaagency Group M recently reported that the web is leading worldwide ad spend in terms of growth. The group expects internet expenditures to rise 10 percent over 2009.

With many consumers beginning to research products and services online, search engines have become invaluable lead generation tools. For business owners looking to maximize traffic generated by these portals, a new study conducted by online ad network Chitika found three-term keywords to be the most effective.

Three-word terms were the biggest drivers of traffic, indicates the report, accounting for 26 percent of all queries. Two- to four-word phrases tended to be the most popular, making up 62 percent of the total searches. Beyond five words, traffic dropped off tremendously, making up only 15 percent of queries.

While the ideal keyword length for search engine optimization seems to be between three and five words, slightly longer key phrases may be better for paid search. The highest ad click-through rates on various Chitika network sites went to queries of four, five or six words. With this in mind, business owners may want to consider more niche search terms, rather than broad umbrella terms.

The Direct Marketers Association recently found that paid search could act as a conduit to other marketing platforms. For example, businesses can use search queries to direct potential consumers to websites where they could request additional information.

A recent survey conducted by ClickZ polled entrepreneurs on the most challenging aspects of running a successful emailmarketing campaign, among which were building lists of active subscribers and measuring returns on investments.

Cultivating active email lists was the lead obstacle for many business, with 36 percent of respondents saying it was their biggest struggle. Additionally, segmentation and measuring ROI were seen as challenges by 27 percent.

Issues in determining ROI may be a result of not having a clearly defined measurement system. According to the survey, 44 percent of respondents calculated success by measuring customer engagement. The remainder indicated they counted aspects such as revenue, customer churn and list size and growth to determine success.

When asked why most businesses used email as a marketing tool, the majority responded that they viewed the channel as a lead generation tool.

The survey also mentioned that many companies are anticipating the impact that mobile platforms could have on email. This is understandable, as a recent survey from Litmus showed that consumers are increasingly spending more time reading emails from their smartphones, relays MediaPost.

With more than 100 million consumers using the social networking site, Twitter represents a huge market of potential customers that businesses can engage. A new study conducted by Fleishman-Hillard has found that not only can companies use Twitter to promote their products, but it also boosts consumers' trust in a brand.

According to respondents, 75 percent said they view companies that use Twitter and other microblogging services as more deserving of their trust than those that do not.

Reuters speculates that this increased trust may be fueled by the number of mega corporations that suffered crises this year, like BP and Toyota. When disaster strikes, businesses can use microblogs to quickly notify consumers and address their concerns.

"What really matters here I think is that the rules of crisis engagement that we've known for years and years still apply, but they still apply in a much more accelerated way," Dave Senay, CEO of Fleishman-Hillard, told Reuters.

While Twitter is a powerful marketing channel by itself, experts agree that it's best used in conjunction with other advertising platforms. For example, a recent report from GetResponse indicates that marketing emails can be enhanced with social sharing options.