Following our first place win at the Innovate!2010 Seattle Pitch Slam, Optify will be named one of the 100 most promising startups of 2010 on Guidewire Group’s Innovate!100 list. The official list will be released later this year once the Pitch Slam Tour is completed and include startups from across the U.S. and Europe.

Optify competed against six other pre-selected semi-finalist startups at the Innovate!2010 Pitch Slam in Seattle. Optify CEO and co-founder, Brian Goffman presented a five-minute pitch to audience members and a panel of judges. The competition took place on August 17 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.

Optify Pitches at Seattle Pitch Slam from Guidewire Group on Vimeo.

Optify to Be Listed Among Top 100 Startups is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

This week in the blogosphere

• One of Twitter’s Promoted Tweets advertisers recently claimed seeing as much as a 50% increase in engagement across a sample of Promoted Tweets when compared to regular tweets.
• Search engine Topsy asserts that they maintain a collection of past tweets dating as far back as May 2008, putting them ahead of Google and Twitter in terms of archive search.
• Google’s revised ranking algorithm now allows one brand to dominate a single page of search results.
• 72% of online users report that they find behavioral targeting disconcerting.

Promoted Tweets Are Super Effective, Advertiser Says

TechCrunch | Robin Wauters | 8-25-10

According to Zecco, an online brokerage firm and one of the few companies currently advertising through Twitter’s Promoted Tweets program, they experienced (on average) a 50% boost in engagement across a sampling of 50 Promoted Tweets over a two-month period in comparison to their other tweets. Some of the company’s Promoted Tweets (like, product release-focused tweets) resulted in as much as a 200 to 300% increase in terms of engagement. Zecco claims that they plan to utilize the ad platform to highlight real-time insights from their user community and to suggest investment-focused material to their followers. Promoted Tweets, which kicked off this past April, essentially serves as paid advertising for a small group of companies (selected by Twitter) and allows them to buy specific tweets and keywords, which then appear at the top of Twitter Search results when users search for those particular queries.

Main Takeaways:

• Zecco, one of the few companies invited to participate in Twitter’s Promoted Tweets, claims that they’ve seen a 50% rise in engagement in a two-month sample of 50 Promoted Tweets when compared to the company’s other tweets.
• Some of Zecco’s tweets, such as those centered around product releases, saw as much as a 200-300% boost in engagement.

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Topsy: Now Searching Tweets Back To May 2008

Search Engine Land | Danny Sullivan | 8-24-10

Topsy, a tweet-powered search engine, recently claimed to offer the most comprehensive Twitter archive search with more than 5 billion past tweets, dating back as far as May 2008. This puts Topsy ahead of major players in Twitter archive search, like Google and Twitter itself, which only search tweets as far back as February 2010 and four to seven days, respectively. Topsy began gathering tweets in May 2008 by sifting through and selecting all tweets with links via search.twitter.com. Topsy states that they recently entered into a contract with Twitter to index the entire Twitter stream. The post’s author emphasizes that Topsy’s tweet search is far from infallible and contains some major bugs, such as difficulty in tracking down a user’s first tweet. Topsy and Google really run the show when it comes to archive search for past tweets, says the author. Twitter has stated that they don’t plan to invest time in archive search, but plan to move in a unique direction that other companies haven’t tapped into yet.

Main Takeaways:

• Topsy made the claim recently that they now offer users the largest Twitter archive search, with over 5 billion tweets from as early on as May 2008.
• Twitter says that they’ve made no plans to go up against Topsy or Google in terms of archive search for past tweets, but plan to focus on search product innovation that others haven’t begun work on yet.

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Official: Google Now Lets One Domain Dominate Search Results

Search Engine Land | Barry Schwartz | 8-20-10

Google has confirmed a recent change to their ranking algorithm that allows one brand to dominate a single Google search engine result page (SERP). Before now, Google only permitted up to two results from one brand to appear on any given result page. Google has responded that this will allow users who demonstrate interest in one specific brand to uncover numerous search results from that domain in a single search, as well as to offer more than just surface-level results from a single domain–all while maintaining diversity in results on any given SERP. The post’s author points out that in the past, Google has emphasized that users want diversity in search results, and suggests that this change from Google means that the search engine is now claiming that there can still be diversity in search results, even if they’re from the same domain.

Main Takeaways:

• Google’s revised ranking algorithm now allows one brand to dominate a single SERP.
• While in the past, Google only allowed up to two results from a single domain on any given result page, they now claim that there can be enough diversity among search results, even if they come from the same domain.

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Behavioral Targeting Brings Clear Benefits to Publishers

eMarketer | Jared Jenks | 8-23-10

Seventy-two percent of publishers provided audience targeting (aside from contextual) to their clients, according to a May 2010 survey by DM2PRO and AudienceScience. These U.S. online publishers claim a range of benefits from this strategic audience targeting, including the ability to sell inventory at a higher CPM (according to 15.9% of publishers), improved performance (13.4%), more inventory sales (12.2%) and gaining new customers (9.8%). Consumers take a different perspective, however, with 71.5% of U.S. Internet users taking issue over the amount of personal information sites were gathering about them, 22% claiming indifference and just 6.5% stating that they didn’t have any concerns. A study authorized by PreferenceCentral found that once consumers discovered that particular ads they encountered were specifically designed based on their past Internet activity, they were far less inclined toward those targeted ads. At the same time, though, respondents in the study appeared relieved once they learned that their personal information would be kept anonymous and once they were given the ability to determine how this collected information would be used.

Main Takeaways:

• 72% of publishers report providing their clients with audience targeting and believe there to be a range of benefits in doing so, whereas 71.5% of Internet users in the U.S. find behavioral targeting disconcerting and worry about how their personal information is being used.
• Consumer demand for insight as to how their personal information is being used and for more control over how their online behavior is tracked will only continue to grow, and marketers must acknowledge this and meet consumer concerns.

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Promoted Tweets: Does It Have a Future Beyond Beta?

We’re interested to hear your thoughts and comments on this blog post. To receive this weekly summary, or any other Optify updates, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or subscribe to our RSS feed. Here’s one question we’d like to hear your feedback on:

• While Zecco has offered Twitter high praise for their Promoted Tweets ad platform, critics will inevitably question their small sample size and regard their assessment as skewed. Some people also suggest that if and when the program is opened up to to all advertisers, the prominence of Promoted Tweets will cease to exist and consumers will perceive them as part of the regular tweet stream. Do you think there’s much promise in Zecco’s endorsement for the effectiveness of Promoted Tweets, or do you believe Twitter hasn’t quite figured out how to make a profit out of tweeting just yet? Share your thoughts with us.

Google’s Revised Algorithm, How Consumers View Behavioral Targeting is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

Optify Pitches at Seattle Pitch Slam from Guidewire Group on Vimeo.

Participants were ranked based on the following seven categories:

• Business Viability is scored on three of these categories: overall concept, market size and opportunity, and competitive market risk.
• Execution on Business & Product evaluates the successful progress of the business and its products against key milestones.
• Team assesses the appropriate skills, mentor-ability, and completeness of founders and key management and functional team.
• Business model evaluates pricing and channel strategy and its relevance to the given customer or market conditions.
• Funding indicates the level of outside capital raised by the company.

The criteria above is known as G/Score methodology, engineered by Chris Shipley and the Guidewire Group analyst team.

Innovate!2010 commenced in March and will continue through October, with qualifying Innovate!100 semi-finalists competing in Pitch Slams at more than 20 technology centers nationwide and in Europe. Seattle Pitch Slam took place in conjunction with the pii2010 (piracy identity innovation) and Seattle Geek Week at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center on Aug. 17.

A big thanks to the judges: Brady Forrest of O’Reilly Media, David Geller of WhatCounts and Eyejot, Rebecca Lovell of Northwest Entrepreneur Network, Fran Maier of TRUSTe, Rob Monster of Epik.com, Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome and Gnomedex, Sam Rosenbalm of Microsoft and Mike Sigal of the Guidewire Group. Also, thank you to all audience members, Innovate!2010 global Sponsors and Partners, as well as to the local organizations and businesses who helped out with Seattle Pitch Slam: Northwest Entrepreneur Network, pii2010 (privacy identity innovation), Seattle 2.0, Seattle Geek Week, Seattle Startup Digest, Startup Weekend and thinkspace.

*Source: Innovate!100′s official website

Optify Wins Innovate!2010 Seattle Pitch Slam is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

• Microsoft and Yahoo have taken the next step in their search marketing alliance, in competing against Google.
• Facebook currently ranks among the highest for video site popularity, yet still lags behind others in terms of video advertising profit.
• Social network ad spending has continuously increased and is expected to continue rising through 2011.
• Marketers continue to report seeing value in the use of company blogs, and more and more are expected to start blogging over the next couple years.

Bing Finally Comes to Yahoo

WebProNews | Chris Crum | 8-17-10

Yahoo! and Microsoft have just announced that the transition for Yahoo! Search users has begun and that users will now begin seeing Bing results for organic searches. Paid search and a “transition portal,” which marketers will eventually be able to access from their Yahoo! Search Marketing account to help with the changeover, are still in the testing stage, says Yahoo. Based on comScore findings, Microsoft’s Tina Kelleher reports that Bing and Yahoo’s combined search market share will reach 31.6% (recently revised to a calculated 28.1%) in the U.S. following this transitional step. Yahoo claims that the Yahoo and Microsoft search marketing alliance aims to provide more relevant organic search results for Yahoo users and to draw in more purchase-focused customers for marketers to target with their ads. Yahoo claims that they hope to complete the transition pre-holiday season, yet they’ll push back their launch date to next year, if they believe it will be to the benefit of users and their Yahoo experience.

Main Takeaways:

• Yahoo! Search users will now start to see Bing results for their organic searches.
• Yahoo suggests that this transition will help render more relevant organic search results for users and provide advertisers with a more consumer-driven audience to target with ads.

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Facebook Now The Third Most Popular U.S. Video Site

All Facebook | Caitlin Fitzsimmons | 8-16-10

According to research from comScore, Facebook is currently ranked as the third most popular U.S. video site. Based on this July 2010 data, YouTube owner Google ranks No. 1 with 143.2 million unique visitors per month, Yahoo! sites comes in second place with 55.1 million and Facebook in third with 46.6 million. Microsoft is close at Facebook’s heels with 45.6 million unique visitors per month, whereas Hulu came in 10th place for unique visitors in July, yet still ranked highest for video advertising across the board, with 783 million ad impressions last month. In July, 84.9% of U.S. internet users viewed online video and 3.6 billion video advertisements were released. Facebook didn’t rank among the top ten sites for video advertising, yet as the article’s author points out, sites were only judged by their streaming video ads, rather than any other ad format. The author also suggests that if Facebook continues in this direction of growing their user base and popularity as a leader in online video, but without making a concerted effort to profit from video advertising, then the video hosting cost might outweigh the return on their current video advertising efforts.

Main Takeaways:

• Facebook presently ranks third for most popular U.S. video site with 46.6 million unique visitors per month, with Google and Yahoo ranking first and second, respectively.
• Despite their popularity as a video site, Facebook didn’t make the Top Ten list for video advertising.

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Social Network Ad Spending to Approach $1.7 Billion This Year

eMarketer | 8-16-10

According to eMarketer forecasts, social network ad spending by U.S. advertisers will increase by 20.3% in 2010 and will continue to rise in 2011, with an estimated 24.2% increase. Facebook is expected to earn half of all U.S. social network ad spending, Twitter’s estimated to begin receiving a portion of this spending (now that they’ve launched their advertising platform), whereas MySpace is anticipated to continue moving off the social media map. Social network ad spending outside of the U.S. will continue trending upward between 2010 and 2011, rising from 49% to 50.9% of total social network ad spend worldwide, whereas within the U.S., spending will decrease from 51% in 2010 to 49.1% in 2011.

• Social network ad spending among U.S. advertisers will rise by 20.3% in 2010 and is expected to increase by 24.4% in 2011.
• Social network ad spending will rise more quickly outside of the U.S. between 2010 and 2011 than within the U.S.

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Steady Gains in Blogging by Marketers

eMarketer | 8-17-10

Thirty-four percent of U.S. companies are believed to be using a blog for marketing purposes this year, and 43% of companies are expected to run blogs by 2012, according to eMarketer. While many businesses invest more heavily in social networking, they typically don’t perceive this as a substitute for blogs, but instead acknowledge the necessity for both. Research suggests that marketers view blogging as one of the most significant social media channels. According to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research, company blog use is lower among Fortune 500 companies and greater among private companies on the Inc. 500 list.

Main Takeaways:

• It’s estimated that 34 percent of U.S. companies are using blogs for the purpose of marketing in 2010, and based on eMarketer forecasts, that percentage is expected to rise to 43% by 2012.
• Studies show that some marketers view blogging as the most valuable component to their social media marketing.

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The Yahoo & Microsoft Search Alliance: A Real Threat to Google’s Search Marketing Dominance?

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this weekly update and that you’ll share any feedback you might have with us. To get the weekly summary, or any other Optify updates, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or subscribe to our RSS feed. Here’s one noteworthy question we’d like to get your thoughts on:

• Microsoft and Yahoo are attempting to differentiate their new search marketing alliance from Google by emphasizing how Yahoo! Search and Bing combined will attract more purchase-focused consumers for marketers to target with their advertisements. Do you think they offer a strong enough alternative to Google that they’ll continue to grow their search market share and serve as an actual threat to Google, or do you believe competitors like Facebook offer far more competition in the long-run?

Bing & Yahoo Take On Search Marketing, Facebook Video Ranks #3 is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

• Twitter announced last week their recent partnership with TweetMeme and the introduction of their new Tweet button, which they plan for publishers to switch over to in lieu of TweetMeme’s widely used Retweet button.
• Facebook recently alerted publishers that as of August 23, all custom tabs on Facebook Pages will be downsized from 760 pixels to 520 pixels and sidebar boxes will be removed.
• According to Google, 55% of U.S. online users claim not to “Like” any brands on Facebook, whereas less than half of users report having become fans of brands on the social networking site.
• People are looking to traditional media for their news consumption less and less and are instead focusing on the social news stream, which is largely generated through social sharing on social networks and e-mail.
• Research suggests that 50.1% of mobile phone users will access Internet from their mobile devices by 2013.

Twitter Takes Over The Tweet Button From TweetMeme

TechCrunch | Erick Schonfeld | 8-12-10


Twitter announced last week the launch of their new Tweet button, which publishers can add to their website, enabling visitors to share links to their content with the click of a button. Of course, there are several variations of these buttons floating around on the Web, like TweetMeme’s hugely successful, green Retweet button, which pulls in 750 million impressions daily. Just as Twitter has expanded and developed by reaching out to successful startups in the past, Twitter has publicly stated that they’re partnering with TweetMeme (licensing some of TweetMeme’s technology), and both are making the push for publishers to switch to the new Tweet button. Twitter’s new button offers a new feature, as well, which allows website owners (who implement the Tweet button) to recommend Twitter accounts for following to users, which will appear as an additional message after a user sends a tweet using the Tweet button.

Want to learn more about Twitter’s new Tweet button?

• In their YouTube promo about the new Tweet button, Twitter claims that their new feature will provide social sharing analytics on the number of times each URL is shared either via Twitter, the Tweet button or via any other Twitter clients.
• Twitter has provided a simplified, instructional guide for publishers to follow when adding the Tweet button to their website.

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Facebook Makes Branding on B2B Pages More Challenging

Social Media B2B | Jeffrey L. Cohen | 8-11-10

This past week Facebook alerted Facebook Page administrators that as of August 23, all custom tabs will be reduced from their existing 760 pixels down to 520 pixels and sidebar boxes (and the Boxes tab) will be removed. Until then, Page publishers are urged to revise their pages using the preview option now available to Page owners, or once the deadline hits, their custom tabs will appear in a cropped format to all users. The post’s author points out that over 30% in the Page’s width will be reduced with these changes. When a user currently views a Page’s custom tab, the left-hand column (that appears on the Wall and Info tab view) is not displayed. According to Facebook’s preview option of their imminent changes, this column will now appear in the custom tab view. The author argues that due to Facebook’s limitations for Pages, the concept of a landing page for the B2B company was really the best method for effectively branding one’s Page. With these upcoming changes, he says, the B2B business will lose a great deal of space for such customization.

Main Takeaways:

• All Facebook Pages will face mandatory changes come August 23, including the reduction of all custom tabs to 520 pixels and the removal of sidebar boxes.
• Page admins can preview how these changes will be implemented for their current custom tabs and are warned to revise before the deadline, or their tabs will be automatically resized and appear cropped to all users.

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Google Looks at Why People Follow Brands on Facebook

WebProNews | Chris Crum | 8-12-10

In this post, the author points to recent research Google conducted about how many U.S. online users “Like” brands on Facebook and why. Fifty-five percent of users reported not “Liking” any brands at all on the social network, whereas 18% of users reported “Liking” one or two brands, 11% “Like” three or four brands, 10% “Like” five to nine brands and 6% “Like” ten or more brands on Facebook. According to Google, the most common response among users as to why they have become fans of brands on Facebook was to potentially receive discounts (so said 25% of users), as well as to demonstrate their personal advocacy of that brand, according to 18% of users. The author points out that Google and Facebook are growing increasingly competitive, and that Google likely desires that users shift from brand interaction on Facebook to Google’s Place Pages or Google Buzz/Profiles.

Main Takeaways:

• According to Google, a little less than half of U.S. users “Like” brands on Facebook, whereas 55% of users claim to not “Like” any brands on Facebook.
• 25% of users report that they’ve chosen to “Like” brands on the social network in order to possibly receive discounts, and 18% of users said that it’s a sign of their brand loyalty.

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How News Consumption is Shifting to the Personalized Social News Stream

Mashable | Vadim Lavrusik | 8-10-10

In this post, the author examines the dramatic shift in how news is consumed today compared to just five years ago, in that there’s an increasing reliance upon a “personalized social news stream.” This has left social networks, media organizations and tech companies scrambling to meet consumer demands and understand users’ news consumption and social sharing habits. In the past, people didn’t have access to a global platform like the Web, in which to share news with friends, so the public was entirely dependent on media companies for news, says the author. With today’s technology, people have, in a sense, replaced traditional media with shared news from their friends via this social news stream. This has become increasingly evident with findings like: 75% of online news consumption is generated through the sharing of news either via e-mail or social networking. To meet this evolving shift in news consumption, media companies and social networks are working to revamp their websites (like the LA Times’ “Newsmatch,” which helps users create a personalized content page) and uncover effective tools (such as the Washington Post’s use of Facebook’s social plugins).

Main Takeaways:

• Fewer and fewer people rely on traditional media for their news consumption, but have moved to a much more targeted, social news stream, largely based on shared news from friends and other connections.
• Research shows that as much as 75% of news consumed online is acquired through this social stream, namely via social networking sites and e-mail.

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Half of Mobile Users to Be Web-Enabled by 2013

eMarketer | 8-10-10

Research firm Nielsen reports a steady increase in the number of U.S. smartphone users over the years, rising from 16% of the U.S. mobile phone audience in Q2 2009, to 23% the next quarter and 25% in Q2 2010. By the end of 2011, Nielsen estimates that smartphones will surpass feature phones. eMarketer predicts 34.7% of mobile phone users will use their mobile devices for Internet access in 2010, 50.1% in 2013 and 53.9% will access the Web via mobile in 2014. Based on reports from comScore, smartphone user growth increased 111% between April 2009 and April 2010, whereas feature phone user numbers decreased by 6% during that timeframe.

Main Takeaways:

• The percentage of the U.S. mobile phone audience who use smartphones has steadily increased over the years from 16% in Q2 2009 to 23% the following quarter, and it’s expected to keep climbing, with an estimated jump to 25% in Q2 2010.
• eMarketer projects that in 2010, 34.7% of mobile phone users will be Web-enabled, 50.1% by 2013 and 53.9% by 2014.

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The Tweet Button: Twitter’s Attempt to Dominate Social Sharing?

We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this weekly summary and that you’ll share your thoughts with us. To get the weekly summary, or any other Optify updates, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or subscribe to our RSS feed. Here’s a follow-up question we’d like to get your feedback on:

• We think that Twitter is trying to own the retweet button that they previously let third party applications maintain and control. Is this Twitter’s response to Facebook’s “Like” button for the control of social sharing?

Social Sharing: What’s Next for Social Networks, Media & Users? is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

This week on the Blogosphere

• Google now allows advertisers to produce location-based mobile ads.
• VoIP network Vonage now allows users to call their Facebook friends for free (using the Vonage Mobile for Facebook app).
• This year the number of U.S. mobile video viewers is estimated to increase 30%, totaling 23.9 million viewers.
• In the next year, CMOs estimate their social media budgets to rise from 5.6% to 9.9% of their total marketing budgets.
• Brands worldwide send out 75% informational tweets and just 16% consumer-engagement tweets

Google Launches Location-based Mobile Ads

ClickZ | Jack Marshall | 8-2-10

As of this week, Google now allows advertisers to produce ads with embedded maps pinpointing their businesses, which will be displayed across mobile sites and applications within Google’s network. With this new addition, marketers are able to specifically target their mobile ads based on a user’s geographic location. When a user expands a business’ ad, the business location is automatically highlighted on a map, as well as optional directions and a clickable phone number. If the user simply expands the ad, an advertiser is not charged. It’s only when the the user clicks through to call the business or to link to the business’ website that the advertiser incurs a fee. The location-based ads are automatically generated through IP addresses, yet if a user provides more specific geo-location details, Google might be able to offer more advanced targeting for advertisers, according to a company spokesperson. The post’s author suggests that this latest development from Google will probably be picked up largely by local businesses, like restaurants and retail stores.

Main Takeaways:

• Google now offers marketers the ability to generate mobile ads that include embedded maps, which auto-locate a business’ location and specifically target users based on their current geographic location.
• It’s anticipated that local businesses, such as restaurants and retail stores will hop on this offer.

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Call Your Facebook Friends for Free From Your Android or iOS Device

Mashable | Christina Warren | 8-4-10

VoIP network Vonage recently announced the launch of their new, free Vonage Mobile for Facebook app, which lets users call their Facebook friends free of charge from their Android or iOS devices. Users aren’t required to have a Vonage subscription, yet both the caller and anyone they choose to call must have the app installed. Even if a user doesn’t have the app open on their mobile device, they’re still able to receive calls via the Vonage Mobile for Facebook app. When a user receives a call via the app, the caller’s Facebook picture will appear, along with their current profile status. Even if a user’s Facebook friend doesn’t have the app installed, as long as the friend is online, the user is still able to communicate through chat and is given the option to send an invitation to download Vonage’s app.

Main Takeaways:

• Vonage now allows users to call their Facebook friends for free, using the Vonage Mobile for Facebook app.
• Non-Vonage subscribers can still use the app, yet both callers must have the app installed in order to use it.

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Mobile Video to Double Reach by 2013

eMarketer | 8-3-10

According to eMarketer, the number of American mobile video viewers in 2010 will increase by 30% (since 2009), totaling 23.9 million viewers. The 23.9 million viewers only encompass 7.7% of the total population and 9.7% of mobile phone users, yet in 2013, these numbers are expected to double and to climb even higher in 2014. Between 2009 and 2014, mobile video viewers are expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.8%. The post mentions that while mobile video has experienced slow growth over the years due to cost and poor video quality, technological advancements and growing demand have introduced a profitable opportunity for video producers. Between 2009 and 2014, eMarketer estimates mobile video profit to triple from $436 million to $1.34 billion.

Main Takeaways:

• In 2010, eMarketer claims the number of U.S. mobile video viewers will rise 30%, equaling 23.9 million viewers.
• eMarketer predicts mobile video revenue will triple between 2009 and 2014, increasing from $436 million to $1.34 billion.

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Social Media Spend to Double This Year

BrianSolis.com | Brian Solis | 7-30-10

In this post, Solis highlights the key takeaways from a 2010 study led by Duke University and the American Marketing Association, which focused on marketing budgets, company spending on social media and the most preferred job skills among marketing hires over the next year. Marketing budgets are expected to see an average increase of 5.9%, with CMOs reporting social media marketing as a major component, according to the study. In the next 12 months, social media budgets will grow from 5.6% to 9.9% of total marketing budgets and are estimated to rise to 17.7% in the next five years. While B2B service companies expect to see the largest jump in social media spending in the next 12 months (from 6.5% to 11%), B2C product companies follow closely behind with an expected leap from 7.5% to 11.6% over the next year, to nearly 19% in the next five years. B2B product and service companies, on the other hand, are expected to see a 15.3% and 18.9% change in social media spending within the next five years.

Main Takeaways:

• According to a 2010 study, CMOs reportedly estimate an average 5.9% increase in marketing budgets within the next 12 months, with much of the focus on social media.
• Social media budgets are expected to increase from 5.6% to 9.9% (of total marketing budgets) in the next year, and to jump to 17.7% over the next five years.

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Boosting the Power of Marketers’ Tweets

eMarketer | 8-4-10

In this post, eMarketer points out that while it’s important for a brand to focus on content syndication via Twitter, marketers appear to be sending out far more tweets that are focused on information sharing rather than engaging with customers and prospects. According to a white paper from 360i, a digital marketing agency, brands worldwide send out 75% informational tweets and just 16% consumer-engagement tweets. Consumers, on the other hand, send out conversational tweets 43% of the time. There’s research suggesting that consumers desire these information-sharing tweets, however. MarketingSherpa claimed findings that over 60% of people who follow brands online said they do so to learn more about new features, services and products. In fact, 43% of consumers reported that their motivation for mentioning a brand on Twitter was sharing news/information about that brand, and only 21% claimed it was to share an opinion, according to 360i. Additionally, the largest portion of retweets consisted of informational tweets (38%), whereas 34% of retweets shared an opinion.

Main Takeaways:

• In order to encourage brand advocacy from consumers, eMarketer stresses the significance of marketers both fostering conversation and content syndication on Twitter.
• According to digital marketing agency 360i, brands send out 75% informational tweets and only 16% consumer-engagement tweets.

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Twitter Best Practices for the B2B Marketer

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this week’s summary and that you’ll share your feedback and questions with us. To get the weekly summary, or any other Optify updates, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or subscribe to our RSS feed. Here’s one question we’d like to hear your thoughts on:

• What do you think about the research highlighted in eMarketer’s post, Boosting the Power of Marketers’ Tweets? Do you think it’s important for brands to create a balance between information-sharing tweets and customer-engagement tweets? Just because consumers make up the majority of Twitter users, do they set the tone for how marketers (B2B marketers, specifically) should tweet as well?

Twitter Best Practices & the Latest Mobile Marketing Strategies is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

Why Content Matters for SEO

Many say that great content is outperformed on search engines by crummy content with great marketing. While this might be true, consider the following: great content is easier to market. To be sure, content is important for SEO. The text of a given web page serves as the main data that the many search engine web crawlers view as they constantly categorize the web. Beyond this, when you have interesting, exciting, relevant and informative content, people will read what you have written or posted.

If the information is great, many will link to you and you will then gain a key type of online currency—inbound links. If you are running a social media campaign too, you will gain links to the various wide-reaching corners of the social media world. When you have a great blog post or video posted on your site, you can be sure that your link will get shortened, linked to, posted by others, and tweeted and re-tweeted. This is the goal! Content very much serves as a way to draw people in to your site—good content can spread far and wide and draw new visitors to your site who drive up traffic and expand lead generation potential.

Content that is well thought out and well written can also position you or one of your colleagues as thought leaders in your industry or service niche. Such expert positioning can also have the effect of building your company’s brand by aligning itself with such a thought leader. There are great branding benefits when you are able to align your brand with a smart, thoughtful and incisive personality who is a member of your organization. There are people in almost any organization who have expertise that they have not necessarily shared with a broader audience: a blog or social media campaign (perhaps via a new Twitter feed) may be the right way to build such a person into a thought leader.

Below we have compiled some pointers to help you get started in the push for great content.

Ten tips for creating great content

1. Understand your space
   The best way to understand your space is to read other blogs religiously (and the comments on them). Set up an RSS reader or series of bookmarks to keep tabs on relevant blogs. Also, make sure to read professional materials such as magazine articles and industry newsletters.
2. Uncover trends
   Read the news, use Twitter, Google, Technocrati, and other social media monitoring tools to discover and understand the trends in your space. Set up a Google Alert and browse Google Trends for further access to what is going on.
3. Offer a fresh perspective
   Unless you have uncovered news that nobody else has, and you are the first to write about it, it is safe to assume that there is already written material available on the web on the topic you choose. Great content, content that people will want to share, should bring something new to the topic at hand; whether it’s a different angle, a new insight or an interesting way to present the data or the topic, you should find a unique way to write about the topic.

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4. Be clear
   Draft, edit, share internally and revise your content for best results. Great content takes time to write, and you should have a process in place that utilizes various perspectives and knowledge within your organization and allows you to tap into the collective brainpower at your company.
5. Keywords are…well, key
   Optimize your content using the keywords relevant to the topic and trend you are writing about, or for which you have discovered a new angle. (You can read more on this topic on a previous post we published: 7 Steps to Build Your Keyword List)
6. Link out and link back
   The web is all about links and connecting series of articles and information. When you mention sources and websites on your blog post or Twitter feed make sure that you link to those mentions. In addition, when you syndicate your content remember to include links back to your website with tracking parameters that will tell you what asset and link generated the visit. This will help you analyze and understand what content is resonating with your audience best.
7. Straightforward content
   Though you don’t necessary have to dumb down your content, you should make sure you are always reaching beyond an audience that is already informed and knowledgeable about your subject. Not everyone knows what SEO stands for or represents (Search Engine Optimization), or what real time marketing is. If you are using jargon or industry-specific lingo, you can either explain the meaning or definition in your piece, or link to a page that explains it. When you can, avoid using acronyms without spelling them out and steer clear of technical terms.
8. Put the news upfront
   When it comes time to craft your message and put content into context, think about writing like a news reporter. The best news articles have an information-rich paragraph at the top of the story laying out the news and highlighting what is important. This lead paragraph, chock full of data, is then unpacked during the following paragraphs as more and more background is explained. This style of newspaper writing is called the inverted pyramid style and means you should start with the key message and then expand from there.
9. Above the fold
   In a similar vein, just like a newspaper, make sure to place the most important content on your website or blog “above the fold.” That means that when someone arrives at your site they will see the critical information without having to scroll down and look for it.
10. Imagery helps
    Use images, videos and illustrations to make any piece more digestible. Because the web is a digital medium you want to make your materials easy to read and easy to approach in a variety of formats. Illustrations and photographic images serve to break up long paragraphs of information and make data more palatable. Also, images and increasingly video are having more important and larger roles in search results.

Want to Rank Higher? Create Great Content is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

No matter what your business, one of the keys to success is understanding your customers. Who are they? What products resonate with them? Which are most likely to convert? You could always survey all your customers to gather the data you need, run various analytics programs to identify demographics and usage and try to track the market shifts on your own, but at Optify, we have an easier way

Optify Lead Intelligence Export

Now you can take the rich, unique lead data that Optify provides, export it into Excel as a CSV file and analyze it according to what you need to know. Find out which industries visit most often, areas of the country that are most interested in your product, the job titles of the visitors that would be most open to your value proposition and so much more. The sky’s the limit!

Download the Lead Intelligence Export overview sheet.

Optify Lead Intelligence Export is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

Keyword Import

We know you’ve been there: You have been working on your keyword strategy and now you want to get all those delicious terms into Optify to watch your ranks climb. Well, goodbye manual entry!  You can now import up to 1000 keywords and tags directly into the Keyword Application from an Excel or CSV file.  Formatting is easy and you can use the time you save to play with your exported Lead data…

Lead Export

Some of the most interesting data for both Sales and Marketing organizations is the understanding of who is visiting their site, which of those visitors are converting to a lead and what is driving their behavior.  There are many ways to slice and dice this information depending on your specific goals and now you’ll have the data you need at your fingertips. With this release, you can take the powerful data from Optify, export it into Excel as a CSV file  and analyze it according to your needs. Find out which industries visit most often, areas of the country that are most interested in your product, the job titles of the visitors that would be most open to your value proposition and so much more. In fact, we’re excited to hear what you learn when you dive in.  The sky’s the limit!
In the next few weeks, we’re going to share on our blog and Facebook Page several basic analyses that can be performed on this data. The templates and charts will be available for download (the images below are an example of the type of analysis you’ll be able to perform). Make sure you follow Optify on Facebook and subscribe to our blog to get the most recent templates. Read more about this feature and download the overview sheet.

Dashboard Tables

You’ve watched as we continue to build upon our Real Time Dashboard over the last month and this week we added another option for your widget displays: Tables! Previously you could add charts or summary views of data but in some cases, there’s just nothing like a table to give you the info you need. Try it for your Traffic by Keywords reports – we think it will really hit the spot.

New Features Demo

We’ve put together a demo to provide you with an overview of all three of these new features.

Keep those suggestions and requests coming – we’re listening!

What’s New: Import, Export and Table Widgets is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify

1. Online ad network Chitika recently reported findings that Bing generated 50% more ad clicks than Google.
2. Google Images’ new design has topped the list of many online conversations lately, with many comparisons being drawn to Bing’s Image Search.
3. Facebook now allows publishers across the Web access to “Like” data for their pages.
4. Marketers appear to be lagging in the adoption of mobile marketing, especially compared to social media marketing.

One Bing-er Worth a Googler and a Half

Chitika | Daniel Ruby | 7-27-10

Based on user activity on their online ad network, Chitika reported findings this week that Bing brought in 50% more ad clicks than Google. Using a sample of almost 15 million impressions for the study, Chitika found Bing users to have an ad click rate of 1.67% compared to Google users with a 1.09% rate. Ask and AOL  still generated the highest ad click rates in the study, though, reaching 2.92% and 2.48% respectively. Bing-driven Web traffic has continuously increased throughout Chitika’s network, reaching 6.6% in July–up from 4.4% in April. With Bing increasingly driving more Web traffic and generating a higher ad click rate than top search engines like Google and Yahoo, the article’s author emphasizes that site owners shouldn’t overlook Bing’s influence. Chitika suggests that Bing’s success metrics can be partly attributed to their creation of the Cashback program, which specifically targets and attracts online consumers.

Main Takeaways:

• In a study conducted on their online ad network, Chitika claimed that Bing generated 50% more ad clicks than Google.
• Chitika reports seeing growth across their Web traffic analytics in 2010 from Bing, with an increase from April (4.4%) to July (6.6%).

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Should Google Be Getting More Bing-Like?

WebProNews | Chris Crum | 7-26-10

With the recent launch of their new Image Search, Google’s new look has recently become the subject of many blog posts and conversations, especially in respect to how closely the new Google Images resembles Bing’s Image Search. Google Images now allows users to scroll through and view multiple image results pages instead of having to click between pages. Users also have the ability to view a larger thumbnail version of an image just by hovering over a result. Some website owners have voiced dissatisfaction with the new layout, in that they believe it actually lengthens the path of a user’s image search before reaching their site–and most importantly, their ads–since clicking on an image sends the user to a Google landing page rather than to the actual website. Some criticize Google for their increasingly Bing-like appearance and question why Google would make such a move when they’re one of the biggest names in Search.

Main Takeaways:

• Google’s new Image search has generated a great deal of buzz recently, with many making comparisons between the new layout and Bing’s existing Image search.
• Site owners have verbalized concern over the new layout, saying that the revised Image Search pushes their ads further out of the reach of users.

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HUGE: Facebook Lets Publishers Contact “Likers”

All Facebook | Nick O’Neill | 7-23-10

Last week Facebook announced several new upgrades, which will effectively begin to put “Like” data in the hands of publishers who use Facebook social plug-ins on their sites, just like Facebook Page publishers, who have had access to this data for some time. The recent changes allow publishers to send content to the news feeds of people who “Like” a specific page, as well as place tracking parameters (via the “ref” attribute) on “Like” buttons, so as to gain insight as to where their site’s new visitors originated from on Facebook (i.e. Profile, Search, Home, Other). Additionally, Facebook has enabled commenting with iFrame versions of the Like button, meaning when a user posts a comment on the iFrame section of a “Like” button, their comment will be highlighted and shared with their friends. O’Neill emphasizes the significance of these upgrades, suggesting that as a result, “all webpages on the Internet immediately have become two-way communication channels.”

Main Takeaways:

• Facebook now provides “Like” data for publishers of all pages on the Web (who are using Facebook’s social plug-ins), providing them with the same tools as Facebook Page publishers.
• Publishers can now publish targeted content updates to the news feeds of people who have “Liked” their particular pages, as well as add tracking parameters to their pages’ “Like” buttons.

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Marketers Slow to Integrate Mobile Tactics

eMarketer | 7-28-10

More U.S. marketers are flocking to social media than mobile when it comes to marketing strategies, says eROI, an interactive and e-mail marketing agency. eMarketer conjectures that almost 80% of Americans currently have mobile phones, yet still marketers are seemingly lagging in their adoption of mobile marketing. Just 31.6% of U.S. marketers say they believe an optimized mobile marketing experience is valued by their customers, eROI reports in their April 2010 survey. Whereas, almost 75% of respondents claimed to believe that social media is having an impact on their marketing efforts. Only one-fourth of marketers reported incorporating mobile into their e-mail marketing campaigns, yet nearly two-thirds of respondents claimed to use social media in their e-mail marketing. While some marketers are adopting mobile into their marketing strategies, some of them are overlooking important steps to keep tabs on and improve their efforts. Sixty-three percent of marketers reported that they have not calculated the number of their e-mail users who are actually using mobile to view messages, and only 23% claim to have optimized their websites for mobile.

Main Takeaways:

• U.S. marketers appear to be more readily adopting social media marketing strategies than mobile marketing, with only 31.6% of marketers reporting that they believe their customers value an optimized mobile marketing experience.
• Nearly three-fourths of respondents claim that they believe social media’s having a positive impact on their marketing efforts.

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Facebook and the “Like” Button: Google’s Greatest Competition?

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this weekly update and that you’ll share any comments or questions you might have with us. To get the weekly summary, or any other Optify updates, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or subscribe to our RSS feed. Here’s one noteworthy question that we’d like to hear your feedback on:

• What kind of competition could Facebook’s “Like” button and Open Graph protocol pose for Google’s supremacy on the Web, if any?

Mobile Marketing Still Underused & How Facebook’s Sharing the “Like” is a post from: B2B Marketing and Lead Generation | Optify