Or at least why the assumptions behind the review are off-base

According to the nifty pie-chart to the right and the related study, because  print newspapers reach people who are actively looking for, or “checking,” ads, they are still a solid advertising medium.  How these people can conclude one thing from the other is utterly beyond me.

While newspapers may be a medium that still draws people  who are actively searching out ads, that hardly means newspapers are…

...continue to read "Radio and the Internet Put the Smackdown on Newspapers"

There has been plenty of hot air blown into the bubble that’s getting ready to burst on Internet marketers again. I watched it happen the first time. With all the financial chaos crashing around us now, the last we need is the blind ignorance of the “new economy” happening again.

Earlier last month some hot air came from Interactive Advertising Bureau CEO Randall Rothenberg, who wants to prevent the Internet advertising economy from becoming “performance based.” This week provided another more…

...continue to read "Building An Optimization Culture"

In my tenure here on GrokDotCom, I’ve done a pretty good job avoiding the snarkiness and sarcasm that permeate my whole being.  I open with that so you’ll indulge me on this one

Recently, I went to MySpace.com to look up a semi-obscure band.  Why did I go there instead of my usual search engine query?  Because every band is on MySpace.  If you are a band, and live in the Milky Way solar system, you are…

...continue to read "Step Right Up and Try the Latest Disruptive Advertising!"

While most copywriters have avidly studied Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising, very few have even heard of Theodore MacManus, let alone read his book, The Sword Arm of Business.  And yet MacManus was, in some ways, a more successful ad man, having:

Established his own (very successful) ad agency Launched the Dodge and Chrysler brands Hired and mentored Leo Burnett, creator of the Marlboro Man, Tony the Tiger, Pillsbury Doughboy, and many other advertising icons that made his clients rich Turned positioning…

...continue to read "Sword Arms vs. (Semi) Scientific Advertising"

Are you getting the most from your pay per click (PPC) campaigns? How would you know? Are you as efficient at getting clicks and converting visitors as you would be carrying water with a leaky bucket? Let me give you 7 signs to tell that you are not optimizing your PPC spend:

1. You use the set it and forget it strategy to PPC. If you setup your PPC campaigns months ago and haven’t adjusted a thing in it, I can practically…

...continue to read "7 Signs Your PPC Campaigns Needs Optimization"

The financial crisis is here. It’s not a matter of if it will affect you and your company, only a matter of when and how much. Clients and friends are checking in with varying reports, some are watching their growth plateau, others are watching sales trend downward.

Overall, conversion rates are starting to trend downward.

Almost everyone I speak with is looking for areas to cut expenses in and approaching spending from a more frugal mindset. Some are beginning to make drastic…

...continue to read "Online Marketers Can Weather the Financial Crisis"

Steve Rubel’s post on “Why We’re Like a Miliion Monkeys on Treadmills” made me smile. Bryan and I are also way too often asked questions about how to create a Facebook, blogging or Web 2.0 strategy. Our answer is similar to Rubel’s:

Surely, channels are where the action is at. However, it’s important to remember they are just that – and they change. Circa 1998, perhaps when many of you were 10, The Globe.com, GeoCities and Tripod were all the rage.…

...continue to read "Monkeying Around With Web 2.0 Strategy"

Have you ever found yourself in this situation: you’ve done tons of testing and optimization and you’ve tweaked your website and your landing pages to the point there’s almost nothing else you can do. You’ve made progress, then SPLAT! You’ve hit the optimization wall.

I was speaking with a client about this very point: What do you do when you reach a plateau in the optimization lifecycle? The problem is, you’ve tested everything that’s there, but what you don’t know is…

...continue to read "Hitting the Landing Page Optimization Wall"

All politics aside, observing the 2008 US Presidential election from a marketing perspective alone will be quite fascinating.

How effective will the candidates be at using the the web and all it’s mojo? techPresident is a blog set up to do just that, check out this post about how the current candidates are utilizing (or not) Google Pay Per Click (PPC).

It’s time all candidates recognize the power of search to drive highly-targeted traffic to their fledgling websites. Get cracking, everyone! We’re watching.

We’ll be…

...continue to read "Search Engine Marketing and the 2008 Election"

From Dow Jones MarketWatch…

Keyword inflation, low conversion rates sending merchants elsewhere

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A growing number of online advertisers are bidding a partial goodbye to Google Inc.

Frustrated by the soaring price of Internet-search advertising and diminishing returns from the ads they buy, mid-sized advertisers say they plan to reduce how much business they do with Google this year — in some cases, significantly.

Last year, for example, eBags.com co-founder Peter Cobb spent between $5 million and $8 million to peddle…

...continue to read "Some Google Advertisers Cutting Spending"