• Data Reveals Social Graph Impacting Brand 'Lift,' As Well As Direct Response by Joe Mandese

    In what may be the most robust and detailed data analysis on the impact the social media connections of consumers have on the effectiveness of advertising and brand metrics released to date, marketing analytics firm 33Across is distributing eight months of so-called "brand graph" data used by 100 consumer marketers to target 250 online campaigns during the latter part of 2011. The most significant finding is that targeting ads on the basis of consumers' social media conversations and content significantly boosts the performance of all advertising metrics -- both direct response as well as the more elusive element of "brand ... ...Read the whole story

  • Savvy Marketers Utilize Digital Data To Optimize Ad Targeting by Gavin O'Malley

    Among marketers, what separates the good from the bad? Effective real-time audience measurement. Smart marketers are already shifting from traditional data focused on products, channels and campaigns to the real-time identification and optimization of consumer audiences. ...Read the whole story

  • Media Companies With Digital-Only Sales Staff Perform Better by Mark Walsh

    A new Borrell report indicates that companies with dedicated digital salespeople outperformed those without by a factor of two-and-a-half times in gross online revenue per rep ($185,900 versus $73,300). Among TV stations -- many with no sales reps dedicated exclusively to selling online advertising -- those with online-only reps average three times the gross online revenue ($208,200 vs. $70,300). ...Read the whole story

  • Smartphone Reach Hits 46% In 2011, iPhone Tops Android by Mark Walsh

    Last year ended with smartphone penetration in the U.S. reaching 46%, according to the latest data from Nielsen. Helping to drive adoption in recent months has been the iPhone 4S, launched in October. ...Read the whole story

  • Social Media ROI Metrics Still Chaotic by Laurie Sullivan

    Brand marketers continue to struggle with determining ROI for social media campaigns. Most admit to gaining positive ROI on campaigns, but a study released Wednesday from Wildfire, a social media platform company, shows the metrics remain all over the map. Inconsistencies make it difficult to create and follow industry standards. ...Read the whole story

  • Google Joins SOPA Protests by Wendy Davis

    Unlike Wikipedia, Reddit and a host of other Web companies, Google won't go dark on Wednesday to protest controversial anti-piracy legislation. But the search giant says it plans to campaign against the bill on its highly trafficked home page. ...Read the whole story

  • Blinkx Gets Video Content From 'International Business Times' by Erik Sass

    International Business Times has formed a partnership with video search engine blinkx, giving the latter access to video content in an array of categories, which blinkx will monetize with contextually relevant advertising. ...Read the whole story

  • Social Wrapp Proves Entrepreneur's Gold Ticket Into U.S., VC Funding by Laurie Sullivan

    Social gifting service Wrapp, which lets consumers give retail gift cards for free through a mobile app, has secured $5 million in funding from Greylock Partners. The venture capital firm co-leads the Series A round with Atomico, an international venture capital firm formed by Niklas Zennstrm, Skype co-founder. ...Read the whole story

  • Facebook Taps Strength Of 'Weak Ties' by Mark Walsh

    With people having hundreds or even thousands of "friends" on Facebook, it's clear that most tend to interact with a much smaller group of connections on the site. A new study from Facebook, however, suggests the site is more than simply an echo chamber where like-minded people share information and opinions with each oth ...Read the whole story

  • Situation Interactive: Uses Social Media To Promote Broadway by Carrie Cummings

    Damian Bazadona built Situation Interactive to create marketing that influences people just like him: Consumers who weren't originally theater fans, but have the potential to be. Situation's use of on-the-spot social media has helped promote long-running Broadway hits like "Wicked" and "Mamma Mia!" ...Read the whole story

  • Online Video Views Skyrocket, But Overall VIewership Dips by Gavin O'Malley

    After an unexpected dip in November, domestic online video viewership regained its footing in December, according to new data from comScore. The firm recorded over 43 billion video views -- breaking the standing record of 42.6 billion views in October. However, the total U.S. video viewing audience declined a bit. ...Read the whole story

  • Mobile Start-up Qriously Expands To U.S. by Mark Walsh

    London-based mobile start-up Qriously is entering the U.S. market with the launch of a New York office led by Joe Zahtila, former chief revenue officer and COO of Dynamic Logic. The company, which replaces regular mobile ads with short survey questions on behalf of brands and publishers, is also rolling out a pair of new ad offerings. ...Read the whole story

  • Markets Turn To Social Media To Gauge Event Buzz by Gavin O'Malley

    More and more, marketers are using social media fluctuations to understand the buzz around big events. Take the 69th Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, which generated significant social activity, and, with the help of special analysis, revealed exactly what draws viewers to such shows. ...Read the whole story

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