Posts Tagged ‘marketing consulting firm’

7 Social Media Listening Tools that Will Help Refine Your Online Web Marketing Campaign

Monday, December 28th, 2009

3818265053_0ece9c1a57_mIf you’re running an online Web marketing campaign that makes regular use social media services like Facebook and Twitter, then you already have a leg up on your competition. But how are your listening skills? In 2010, the most successful online Web marketing experts won’t just be tweeting, but they’ll also be listening to their targeted audience. Listening to your audience is a crucial way to become more engaged with your audience. Here are 7 listening tools that can help you refine your social media message.

1. Hootsuite: URL shortening is going to remain an essential online Web marketing tool in 2010. And while there are a range of choices out there, Hootsuite is one of the best, since it can give you some useful stats related to who is clicking on your links.

2. Collective Intellect: As a newer, paid Web service, Collective Intellect is a little different. The ci/listen application is an advanced system that provides intricate real time listening and tracking services. Things like automatic categorization and filtering technology make Collective Intellect one of the most intriguing paid listening apps we’ve seen in a while.

3. Google Alerts: If you’re not ready for the host of services that Collective Intellect offers, then Google Alerts can be the powerful online Web marketing tool for you. You can quickly and easily set up keywords and get nearly instant alerts.

4. Technorati: Google blog search is a great tool for quickly finding the latest online trends. But for specific, tailored search it still can’t beat Technorati, the most powerful tool for finding useful information in the blogosphere.

5. Monitter: When you visit Twitter, you can see the ten most popular keywords of the moment. But if you’re like most online Web marketing specialists, that’s not enough. Monitter offers real-time updates on a range of keywords and popular topics.

6. Twendz: Another useful Twitter monitor, Twendz uses Twitter Search and can provide more tailored real-time updates. You’ll be able to monitor up to 70 tweets at a time.

7. Lexicon: Just as Monitter and Twnedz track the latest tweets, Lexicon is an online Web marketing tool that tracks the latest trends on Facebook. You can get instant updates and you can measure the volume of chatter for a range of specific keywords.

Why Targeted Marketing will be One of 2010’s Most Important Internet Marketing Strategies

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

internetmarketingstrategiesAccording to a recent report put together by Advertising.com and the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, some of the most underutilized Internet marketing strategies in 2009 were targeted campaigns. So will businesses and marketing companies finally discover the power of targeted marketing in 2010? It’s hard to tell. One of the chief obstacles for pursuing targeted Internet marketing strategies seems to be a misunderstanding of the nature of targeted ads. And its not just businesses who aren’t getting targeted marketing. Many Internet marketers themselves aren’t using targeted Internet marketing strategies either. According to the survey, only 30% of Internet marketers were using targeted display ads. What’s more, only 18% were using geotargeted ads, which many believe will see lots of growth in 2010. So what is targeted marketing? There are actually several aspects to targeted marketing. Here are the four most important targeted marketing strategies that all Internet marketers should be familiar with.

Geographic Targeting – Currently one of the most talked-about Internet marketing strategies, geographic targeting lets marketers reach consumers where they are. With the increase in Internet-equipped smartphones, geographic targeting has the potential to reach consumers on a local level.

Contextual Targeting — Probably the oldest and most well-known form of targeted Internet marketing strategies, contextual targeting is based on things like search engine results and specific Website content.

Demographic Targeting — The rise of social media has made demographic targeting one of the more important internet marketing strategies. Marketers can tailor their ads to reach certain people based on things like age or gender.

Time Targeting — While few Internet marketers are concerned with time targeting right now, expect this to become more and more important aspect of Internet marketing strategies. As real time search becomes more popular, so should time targeting. That’s because it can reach consumers specifically when they may need or want a certain product or service.

A related study by Econsultancy and the Rubicon Project shows that those who have used targeting marketing online have already experienced positive results. It’s likely that the companies that are taking full advantage of targeted Internet marketing strategies will be primed in 2010 to overtake ones that aren’t.