AT&T spent an average of $270,000 a day throughout June (largely on promoting the iPhone4).

Image source: What Big Brands Are Spending on Google – Advertising Age

One surprise that jumped out at me was that there were less than 2000 advertisers spending more than $10,000 in the month of June.

The document shows 47 advertisers that spent more than $1 million in June; 71 that spent between $500,000 and $1 million, and 357 that spent between $100,000 and $500,000.

To me this seems an incredibly small number given the number of advertisers we know personally who are spending at this level.

It wasn’t until I read that the data is for “Direct Advertisers”, that the penny dropped.

Most of the very large spenders will bypass agencies and likely have in house teams.  However it makes much more financial sense for smaller advertisers ($10k-$100,000k) to use agencies such as ourselves.  As such the number of US advertisers spending more than $10,000 a month is likely to be much more than 2000.

Related posts:

1. New YSM Search Platform Open to all US Advertisers
2. The Month In Numbers – April 2007
3. The Month In Numbers – February 2007

Being in the company of lawyers didn’t prevent me from indulging in a bit of iPhone 4 geekery. This clip shows the finale, recorded in  iPhone HD and then uploaded through Pixelpipe (via WiFi) to Vimeo and YouTube simultaneously.

Edinburgh Fireworks with MBM Commercial from Attacat Internet Marketing on Vimeo.

So now you know who you need to suck up to! (And here’s hoping that this post is enough to earn me an invite again next year!)

Related posts:

1. Google Street View Goes 3D

More is not the best policy when it comes to using punctuation and symbols in keywords. In fact in most cases, it’s simply not allowed.

Mary Hayes

The Final Word on Punctuation. Period. | The Search Agents.

No related posts.

Not a brand new link but a lovely SEO infographic here.  This was produced by Datadial – very useful overview to show to clients and as always the visual beats the lengthy email or phone discussions! I particularly like the SEO tactics matrix.

Datadial: SEO In Pictures – Our SEO Infographic

Related posts:

1. LINK: Link Bait Case Study – How We Got a Link from The New York Times

We’re looking for a graduate for an entry level position. You’ll need to start from the bottom, expect to do a lot of learning & work your way up through the ranks.

Yes, quite a bit of the work is going to be a bit same old, same old but you’ll get the chance to learn all about Internet Marketing – starting with PPC…

No experience required but you’ll need a passion for digital, amazing attention to detail, a way with words & be happy with a bit of maths here and there!

Salary starts at the bottom but for the right person it will go up pretty fast. Also we have a profit share for everyone & some pretty generous holidays.

Sound good? Good.  Find out more and apply for this entry level job.

****************************************************

Job 2: Internet Marketing Account Manager

Working across a varied client base covering Internet Marketing disciplines such as PPC, SEO, Social Media and Web Analytics.

What we’re looking for:

• Enthusiasm
• Some great Internet Marketing experience (preferably agency but the most important thing is that you know what you’re talking about!).
  We accept all major types – PPC, SEO, Analytics, Social Media, E-Mail etc
• Attention to Detail
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• A penchant for digital geekery
• Confidence with copywriting – be that 35 characters or a full landing page
• Funny stories and/or jokes to tell in the office!

Want to find our more:

• Phone: Ben or Tim on 0131 220 1441
• Email: enquiries at attacat.co.uk

Related posts:

1. Job in Edinburgh: General internet marketing experience? – Position Filled
2. Internet Marketing Bedtime Reading: 4+ Books that all Attacats are required to read

In between, we get a continuous onslaught of minor shifts in the landscape. Here’s three that have happened in the last ten days or so.

Facebook Places

The “check-in” concept pioneered by the likes of Foursquare, has come to Facebook (the US anyway).

Could this be the event that brings the concept of sharing your location with friends into the mainstream? (Or perhaps could it be the first step in Facebook’s decline?)

Either way, if it’s not part of your marketing mix already, it’s time it was.

The New Digg

Finally it’s launched. I discussed how the new release might make Digg relevant to a wider audience. Since then I’ve mucked around with the pre-release. Sadly, as discussed in the comments of that discussion, it doesn’t give me faith.

However I’m still willing to give it a crack. You can find me on Digg as timbarlow, we also have an Attacat account and individual ones for the team but due to the current sea of glitches in the system, it’s easier said than done to find them!)

Microhoo

It seems like an eternity since Yahoo decided to give up on search and allow Microsoft to power its search engines. Bing results are now on Yahoo in the US.

We still have to wait before Yahoo gives up its approx 10% share of the UK market to Microsoft.

Not much to worry about here from a marketing perspective because you should be considering Bing anyway.

Related posts:

1. Yahoo Search Marketing Cremation Confirmed for 2011
2. Yahoo! Search Marketing adding in Demographic Targeting
3. 2 new jobs with Attacat Internet Marketing

Blogging: never has so much been said by so many to so few.

One way people will gauge if your blog is one of the exceptions, is if your posts get comments. But getting people to comment is easier said than done.

photo credit: macinate

There are many ways of gaining comments and I’m looking forward to hearing fatBuzz Gordon speak about this tomorrow (Friday 27th August) in Glasgow and on the 16th September in Edinburgh at the New Media Breakfasts (Booking details).

One tip Gordon gave me an advanced preview on, was to simply ask for comments.

So I decided to try it.  I asked five individuals, who I know are regular commenters (but not necessarily on this blog) to comment on the Maintaining Blogging Momemtum post I wrote recently.  The result: 4 out of 5 commented within an hour of asking.

No related posts.

Shock horror, look what’s happened!

Quel Désastre!

Nobody has added anything to the Brain for a whole week!

Better

So OK, we set higher standards than most for post frequency, but the problem that afflicts us all has kicked in.  Posting has just been pushed down the agenda a bit.

What are your tips for maintaining the posting discipline? (I’ve done the fierce tantrum bit already)

(P.S. I’m going to be talking about the SEO impact of blogs as part of the forthcoming New Media Breakfast on blogging.)

No related posts.

If only I had discovered this little video created by Common Craft.  These videos are their business so they don’t allow me to embed it here.  You’ll have to head over to their site to see it.

Have a watch, and once the penny has dropped, come back here and hit the orange RSS button on the right  —->

(Thanks to the ever insightful Darcie (@darciec) at Civic for telling me about this)

No related posts.

Yes Social Media can be used for marketing etc, but how about as a tool for actually delivering sales? This was the focus of Gordon Mackintyre-Kemp’s presentation at this morning’s New Media Breakfast in Edinburgh.

Gordon (from Intelligise) kicked off with a number of questions on attitudes to social media. The response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic about social media, but the interesting observation is how quickly these attitudes have changed. LinkedIn has come from almost no recognition in Scotland to almost ubiquitous recognition among the Scottish business community in less than 18 months.

The Four Trust Aces of Sales

When is the best time to close a deal? “As early and frequently as possible” – old school pushy sales

Low trust = high objections / No USP or ROI case = price negotiation

Gordon presented a concept of the Trust Aces you need to have to achieve sales:

• Historical Trust – testimonials – client lists – linked in recommendations – previous dealings – brand reputation
• Capability Trust – case studies, expert blogs, qualifications, awards. Do you have an ROI calculator you can use in sales meeting?
• Interpersonal Trust – professionalism, ask thought provoking questions, rapport, attire, humour
• Social Trust – the new one! Do you look approachable, do you have a personal reputation, do you engage in conversations?  Opportunities to engage and network

Gordon expects LinkedIn to become increasingly dominant as a search engine. He also expects the Social Trust will be the ace that trumps (points for discussion below!)

Where does Social Trust fit into the Decision Process?

1. Blissfully unaware

2. Becoming aware

3. Understanding the problem

4. Looking for solutions (first point that you might want to talk to a salesman)

5. Evaluating vendors

6. Comparing prices

The best point to engage is at “Blissfully unaware” and take them to the “Understanding the problem” stage. Blogging is one of the best ways of doing this. (Gordon recommends teasing, not giving the complete solution, so they have to get in touch (another discussion point for below!).  Nature of knowledge has changed (you need to be the first to share otherwise you won’t get the credit).

Back on topic, chance of conversion is actually much higher the earlier in the process you are. Gordon estimates that having a 90% conversion rate,  if you engage at blissfully unaware, drops to 10% by the time you get to comparing prices.

Integrated Business Development

3 way Venn diagram of:

• Social Media Marketing
• Sales
• Marketing

Exhibitions/Conferences & Events fall into the sales and marketing overlap.

What overlaps in the three? If you can get all of these working before anybody else in your industry then you have a great opportunity, on the other hand you stand a huge threat if you don’t. Still need to be good at all three.

It’s still very rare for anybody to be doing this all well (Gordon observes that you get case studies of someone doing something well, but you don’t see case studies of someone doing it all well)

Our Survey says…

Gordon has recently conducted a survey of 551 UK companies.  The survey has been distributed through social media but significantly through the Drum and the CBI.

• 63% fully committed to using social media as a marketing tool (doesn’t mean they are doing it). Further 30% looking to commit and only 7% had no plans to use social media
• 86% increasing budgets on social media this year (0% planning to cut)
• key commercial benefits looked for were:
  • brand awareness
  • better customer relationships
• 22% use LinkedIn, 22% use Twitter, 20% are on Facebook (dropping?), 13% blogs (Gordon believes blogs are key), 10% use YouTube (Expecting YouTube and LinkedIn to increase significantly over next six months at the expense of others.  Predicting YouTube to be No.1 in 18 months), Flickr less than 1%
• Biggest barrier is a lack of time (27%) but can you actually save time by being able to close with fewer meetings? 17% sight lack of strategy. Lack of CEO buy-in 11%
• Only 50% monitor social media brand mentions.
• 66% are considering contacting an outside agency, but who they intend to approach is interesting! 25% Social media marketing agency, 9% PR firm with specialist division, 1.2% business development consultant!

Why…by example

Gordon then illustrated reasons for being on different social network by way of examples.

Why Twitter for Sales?

Example: @RichardMcKay – has successfully increased business despite the property downturn and he attributes this almost entirely to social media.

Why Blog?

A great way to generate and showcase creative ideas.  Again used the McKay flooring example of whisky barrel flooring.  Reached over a million people by the time regular PR picked up on the story. Not bad for 500 words!

Another example: Gordon’s own guest blogging on the Drum

Why LinkedIn

Gordon is gaining clients from across the world as a result of having optimised his LinkedIn profile.

Aim for 20+ and at least 10% of your followers having given you a recommendation.

Why Make Your Website Social?

Example – The Ford Story has become Ford’s social hub and outranks all other sites and has driven 60,000 product orders (compared to other sites e.g. the glossy, slick but unsocial Ford focus)

Gordon believes that online community is the killer app that’s coming.  Adapt or be in trouble!

Why YouTube?

The example: Gordon’s channel.  People feel they know you if they’ve watched you for 40 minutes on YouTube.

….

Find out more about the New Media Breakfast Series.

Related posts:

1. New Media Breakfast: Facebook Privacy Settings, Pages & Advertising
2. SEO and PPC: New Media Breakfast in Glasgow & Edinburgh with Tim Barlow
3. Link: 35 SEO, Twitter & Social Media Statistics