Marketing in an Interactive World

Come On! Everybody's Doing It!

Jon Cogan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:07:48 -0500

A very respected colleague of mine said to me recently; "I don't really believe much in social media. I think companies are using it mainly because they are afraid they are missing something if they don't." Because I feel so much respect for this man (he is a brilliant marketer and entrepreneur), I had to digest his words and let them enter my thought stream before calling him crazy. And the more I thought about it, the more his second statement seemed true. Let me be clear. It's the first statement I have a problem with. I don't think social...

Mobile Paid Search Connects Deeper into Purchase Funnel

Jon Cogan — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:15:00 -0400

One of the top activities on smartphones is search. It is becoming increasingly important for marketers to take a serious look at extending paid search campaigns from the desktop web to the mobile web, especially as improvements in the quality of mobile devices are happening simultaneously with the more affordable access through aggressively priced data plans. Recent research by Google and Ipsos OTX MediaCT adds even more ammunition to any marketer trying to get a mobile paid search budget through to execution. Their study showed that smartphone users performing a search are more likely to be in the later stages...

Community Management is Key to Fostering Loyalty

Jon Cogan — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:18:28 -0400

This is probably something most brand marketers don't want to hear, but it needs to be said. A "Like" on Facebook or a "Follow" on Twitter is not "mission accomplished." It is just the beginning of the mission itself. It is essentially "I want to get to know you better," nothing more. Or, if it is a case, for instance, where a Facebook Like was achieved in exchange for a discount or entry into a contest or sweepstakes, all you have done is bought her a drink. The tough part is getting her to go home with you, and then,...

Why Twitter is Considering Facebook-Style Pages

Jon Cogan — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:21:22 -0400

Earlier this month, Marketing Magazine announced that Twitter is considering pages for brands, much like the kind that Facebook has been offering for years. The non-committal "considering" by Twitter is an obvious attempt at crowd sourcing the reaction to taking such a measure, and gauging the support, or lack thereof in the Twittersphere. Marketing Magazine reported that Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is leading the charge alongside his right hand man, President of Revenue Adam Bain. So if you are looking for a more concrete answer as to whether or not this is going to happen, you are best to ask...

LinkedIn's Company Pages a Must for B2B Marketers

Jon Cogan — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:35:52 -0500

It seems now that LinkedIn has finally positioned themselves as the primary social network for b2b. It wasn't always this way, in fact up until recently, myself and others considered LinkedIn to be a job bulletin board on steroids. But LinkedIn's new "Company Pages" has helped to change that perception in a hurry.

"Implied Consent" of Canada's New Anti-Spam Law Helps Marketers

Jon Cogan — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:23:54 -0500

Canada's new anti-spam legislation, referred to as FISA - the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act - was passed in mid-December and is expected to come into law later this year. Most expected new anti-spam laws to require marketers to obtain actual expressed consent before adding any email address to their marketing lists. Pardon me if this sounds confusing, but in some ways FISA requires this, but in some circumstances, it allows for implied consent, which, when read into further, actually seems to create a much more liberal approach. Allow me to explain: While the new law does describe the...

Major Threat to e-Commerce – Compulsory Do-Not-Track Picking Up Speed

Jon Cogan — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:03:22 -0500

From CMA Watching Brief: The creation of a compulsory, universal do-not-track mechanism that would threaten e-commerce by giving consumers the type of control they gained over marketers with the national do-not-call registry is picking up speed. Most recently, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission this week called for the implementation of a universal do-not-track option that would allow consumers to opt out of all online tracking and interest-based (behavioural) advertising. Noting in their opinion that online companies have failed to protect the privacy of Internet users, the FTC specifically suggests the do-not-track mechanism take the form of an add-on to browsers,...

Cyber Monday Sales Up Nearly 20% in 2010

Jon Cogan — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:49:19 -0500

Cyber Monday numbers are in from Coremetrics and as expected, the results are even more encouraging than a pretty strong showing on Black Friday. Cyber Monday 2010 saw nearly a 20% increase in online sales from the same day last year, and the average order was increased by almost $15 per sale, or an 8.3% lift. Online sales on Monday were up 31.1% from Friday's totals. The average order value was also up from Friday - from $190.80 to $194.89, a 2.1% increase. And if Friday was a mix of browsing and shopping, yeseterday was much more about buying, with...

Black Friday Sees Big Increase in Online Spending

Jon Cogan — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 09:13:50 -0500

The initial Black Friday reports are in from Coremetrics. Online shopping saw a huge boost with spending increasing 15.9% from a year ago. The average order was also up 12.1% from $170.19 to $190.80. Health and beauty saw some very encouraging numbers on Friday, with a rise of 73.1% of new consumers completing their first purchase on their sites and 53.4% jump in conversion rates (number of visits where consumers completed an order). Jewelry retailers saw a 17.6% increase in online sales indicating a boom day for luxury goods. The way consumers were shopping online this past Friday indicates a...

SCVNGR Continues to Mark Its Territory

Jon Cogan — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 10:48:51 -0500

We learned yesterday that SCVNGR, a direct competitor to Foursquare, is being used by Coke to target teens in Simon Malls across the United States on Black Friday. SCVNGR is a location-based mobile game platform that allows players to collect points, complete challenges, earn badges and broadcast to what they are up to on Facebook and Twitter. By completing challenges, players can unlock badges and earn real free items or discounts. This offers some serious value for companies continuously looking for new ways to connect with the consumer. Teens and college-aged young adults represent the core of the SCVNGR user...