Healthy Blog Reviews

In an effort to turn Twitter’s captive audience into dollars, Twitter has launched @earlybird, a new account that give followers exclusive deals from a variety of sponsors. Up first is Disney Pictures and a Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal on tickets to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” The account has only been live for a week and this is the first deal to be sent through, but already they’ve picked up nearly 50,000 followers. The irony is, these same 50,000 people were probably the ones complaining about Twitter’s decision to add sponsored tweets to their feeds earlier this year. Now they’re paying (granted, not in cash) for the privilege of having ads sent their way. But just because a 50,000 tweeters clicked the follow button, doesn’t mean that @earlybird will be a success. That will depend on two factors: 1. Frequency – Twitter’s blog post says that @earlybird deals will be sent out several times a week. Does that mean, one pitch and it’s done? Or am I going to get multiple reminders ‘not to miss’ this fantastic offer. I could tolerate a daily post. More than that and I’m probably going to sign off unless. . . 2. Value of the Deals – . . . the deals are too good to miss. There are already hundreds of excellent websites and Twitter accounts that offer great deals, so for @earlybird to stand out, they’ll have to have something really special. Looking at the debut deal, it’s a pretty good one if you’re interested in seeing that movie. With ticket prices in the $10 to $15 dollar range in most places, it’s a tidy savings, especially if you can use it to buy multiple tickets for a family. Since the deal works off a coupon code and not a sophisticated Twitter Followers Only link, the deal has already been posted to dozens of websites with no mention of @earlybird as the source. Disney probably doesn’t care. They just want the ticket sales, and maybe Twitter doesn’t care either since the success of the program can be measured in sales not click-throughs. With holiday shopping already on my mind, I hit the follow button and as a die-hard coupon user, I’m more likely than most to act on the deals. But how long will it be before I see one enticing enough to click? Are you one of the 50,000 @earlybird followers?

Tags: deal, deal-on-tickets, deals, disney-pictures, feeds, follow, mind, shopping, Social, source, Twitter, want-the-ticket
Posted July 14, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Whether it’s a function of the economy or the same ills that have plagued shopping carts since the dawning of e-commerce, there appears to be no letting up in abandonment rates for websites at the true point of sale, the checkout. eConsultancy reports on several recent surveys and studies that show the trend continuing but few solutions to the trouble being found. Thanks to a range of factors, including increased customer expectations, as well as behavioural factors such as comparison shopping, basket and checkout abandonment rates are rising. A recent Forrester survey found that 88% of consumers have abandoned shopping carts, and named the top five reasons given by customers. The top five reasons for cart abandonment were: 1. High shipping costs – 44% 2. Not ready to purchase – 41% 3. Price checking – 27% 4. Price too high – 25% 5. Wanted to save products for later – 24% The high shipping costs comes as no surprise especially since most sites make the consumer go through the checkout process before they can find out just how much those costs will be. While I have no scientific backing for this assumption other than how I feel, I am usually waiting for bad news when it comes to shipping costs because they feel ‘hidden’ since you have to go through the process to learn just how much it is. By setting up this kind of system, it could be helping to set up a negative mindset in the consumers’ mind that may not exist if they were told beforehand just what shipping costs would be. Another source of data on this important issue for ecommerce players was a survey by Webcredible . Leading the way on the list of reasons why consumers abandon checkouts online is the revelation of hidden charges at checkout. While there is not a definition of what exactly hidden charges are, shipping could be placed in that category as well. Here are the rest of the reasons most cited to cause shopping cart abandonment. The bottom line is that as online shoppers become more and more savvy they will become less and less tolerant of ‘tricks’ used by online retailers. This can create trouble for even the best online retailers who don’t resort to many of these tactics. Why? Because people like to generalize, they start to project these ‘sneaky’ tactics with everyone. It’s online retailing’s version of guilt by association. What do you perceive as the main culprits in shopping cart abandonment? Have you experienced a rise in abandonment rates? What are some solutions possible solutions to making this issue less of a barrier to online sales?

Tags: assumption, checkout, cloud-computing, cloud-hosting, hidden-charges, leading-the-way, revelation, shipping-costs, shopping, show-the-trend, source, usually-waiting
Posted June 14, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Well, maybe this signals the beginning of the end. Maybe this is the sign of the end times. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance that things like losing deals happen for Google just like, gulp, the rest of the business world. Despite big wins in the past year like the city of Los Angeles moving to Google Apps for e-mail and more it appears that Google is not just gonna steamroll their way into enterprise accounts normally reserved for Microsoft. Mashable reports The University of California – Davis has stopped using Gmail for its 30,000-member staff and faculty body. The university was trying Gmail for faculty and staff with plans to roll out service to the entire campus. But school officials say this email system isn’t secure or private enough to meet their standards. CIO Peter Siegel, Academic Senate IT chair Niels Jensen and Campus Council IT chair Joe Kiskis said the plug was pulled on Gmail because faculty were concerned that Google’s services wouldn’t keep their correspondence private enough. Many privacy experts also say that Gmail’s social component, Google Buzz, is the source of privacy and security vulnerabilities. Ouch. That’s gonna bruise. If Google Buzz was indeed one of the reasons for a 30,000 seat deal going down the crapper then treating everyone’s privacy like it didn’t exist may hurt Google where it really hurts: in the wallet. Apparently this is not the first time that security concerns from a prominent institution of higher learning has put the brakes on “going Google”. About a month ago, Yale University made a similar decision. Yale’s concerns centered around security issues, technological risks and the way Google manages data in the cloud. It’s interesting that big city governments like LA and Washington, DC have gone with Google no problem. Wonder how the Google Buzz privacy debacle went over in those accounts? Well, maybe Google’s products aren’t what they claim to be since they appear to be just “close enough for government work”.

Tags: academic-senate, Business, California, campus-council, correspondence, google-buzz, more-it-appears, Peter Siegel, source, university
Posted May 6, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

YouTube first started testing a rental program with four Sundance films in January. The ten-day experiment netted an estimated $10,000 . In March, YouTube apparently expanded the rental option to all its users . As YouTube looks to further expand its rental program, they could also use some work on publicity for the titles they’re already offering. MediaPost reports on YouTube’s plans for future rentals : YouTube engineers are working on a self-service method that will give moviemakers the ability to upload and provide their streaming content for rent, Hunter Walk, who heads product management at YouTube, told MediaPost. The option aims to keep Google’s video site on a path to continually simplify the site and its features. Walk says engineers also have been working on a process that simplifies the ability for people to upload movies to the site that have been created on a mobile phone. Meanwhile, as AllThingsD notes , YouTube already has plenty of professional content available for rental. A partnership with Lionsgate film studio , inked in July 2008, may be the source of the company’s film rentals on the site, available starting last week. Movies ranging from classics like Reservoir Dogs to more recent releases like Gamer and Precious are available for $1 to $6 for a 24-hour rental. However, apparently few know about or are interested in the service. With 135M video viewers watching 96 videos a month (as of March, from MediaPost), you’d think a $4 rental on an Oscar winner would attract more than 1500 views a week. Not the case, according to NewTeeVee . YouTube’s US-only rental store garnered just over 6000 rentals among its top 10 most popular films last week. If NewTeeVee’s figures are accurate, the top ten films grossed $21,200 their first week. Not exactly a box office take. But, then, the service also hasn’t gotten the press of a new release—or even an independent film. If they really want to make off this effort, maybe they should focus on that aspect first. What do you think? Did you know YouTube had “real” movies to rent?

Tags: ability, hunter-walk, media, press, rental, reservoir-dogs, says-engineers, source, streaming, sundance, video
Posted May 3, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Sounds scary doesn’t it? Well, apparently behavioral targeting is music to advertisers ears because the technique works. Of course, this very same practice is what makes the hairs on the back of the neck of government regulators stand on end. The controversial and growing practice is going to be around though until it is asked to leave the building. Why? It converts. cnet tells us some more Want to get digital-policy regulator types fired up? Start talking about behavioral ad targeting, the business of serving up digital ads that are fine-tuned to a user’s Web surfing habits, and you’re sure to get all kinds of wildly varied opinions about privacy and sensitive data. But a new study from a group called the Network Advertising Initiative, or NAI, claims that behavioral targeting is more than twice as effective as non-targeted ads, and the inventory from behavioral ads is worth double that of their non-targeted brethren. The study found that 6.8 percent of people who click on behaviorally targeted ads turn into buyers, versus 2.8 percent of those who click on non-targeted ads. Ok, so let’s review. Companies will pay top dollar for this kind of advertising and it converts at a much higher rate to boot? Many advertisers are starting to say “Sign me up!”. Let’s also look at the source of these numbers as we try to always do here at Marketing Pilgrim. The National Advertising Initiative’s About Us page tells us that The NAI (Network Advertising Initiative) is a cooperative of online marketing and analytics companies committed to building consumer awareness and establishing responsible business and data management practices and standards. As increasingly sophisticated online advertising technologies evolve, consumer concerns about their impact on online privacy mount. The NAI is prepared to meet these concerns with both effective industry self-regulation and sensible protections for online consumers. Gee, a rosy picture of an online advertising technique from a group that is made up of online marketing and analytics companies. Hmmmm. The group has also been around since 1999. That’s ten years and more questions than answers thus far. Since 1999, the NAI has been working with the online advertising industry to provide consumers with clear explanations about data collection, data usage, and choice. Central to our standards are the privacy concepts of notice, consent, control, and dispute resolution. Looks like industry folks must be missing some of these meetings considering the high degree of government and consumer concern about just how vague most online privacy policies are and the trouble that is created by these less than clear policies. Once again we are faced with the interesting dilemma of an industry where everything is supposedly tracked to the nth degree. This tracking and gathering of boat-loads (hat tip to Carol Bartz!) of data creates the classic double edged sword that cuts in both directions. In addition, statistics were made to be manipulated just as much as records were made to be broken. this has resulted in many more questions than answers over the years and that is not likely to change anytime soon. So if you are using behavioral targeting in your marketing efforts the NAI is just the organization for you. As for the future of this practice? That’s anyone’s guess because it’s effectiveness is based on knowing so much about a person that you can predict with greater accuracy their propensity to buy a particular product or service. While this may sound incredible to a marketer it may sound scary to others. It’s the others that marketers should pay very close attention to. Any thoughts on behavioral targeting and the ‘too much information’ possibilities?

Tags: advertising, Business, Display, efforts-the-nai, interesting, makes-the-hairs, marketer-it-may, marketing, network, online, Online Advertising, online-marketing, organization, source, tracking
Posted March 25, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media