Media Two Point Oh!

Ignite Raleigh - Creative Community On Fire!

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:58:00 +0000

If you were given 5 minutes to stand on a stage in front of an audience and the spotlight was on - what would you say? That is the question posed and the premise of Ignite_(insert city here) events. Last night, it was Raleigh's turn and I was proud of our creative community and the evening's presenters. While the common thread was social media - it was more about the conversations and the community and less about the medium. You'll read all about the specifics on Twitter (if Twitter was working today) by following the hashtag #IgniteRaleigh and I'll post the videos of some of my favorites here, too.

@ZachWard did a fantastic job as MC and Rhett and Link tickled everyone's funny bones with their songs and style. If you haven't checked them out yet, you're missing out on some very entertaining local talent; they dub themselves Internetainers. The duo is NC's own Flight of the Conchords.

The evening worked like a talent show but without an air guitar band act or a Wizard of Oz skit. There was nothing business about it - all fun, some inspiration and a lot of motivation. Ignite is about sharing and spreading ideas. I was blown away by photojournalist and cell phone photographer Shawn Rocco's work - check it out at CellularObscura.com . James Avery had the best slide deck, IMHO and gave great ideas on how to bootstrap it through startup phase. What Would Jesus Tweet caught everyone's attention and earned it - Derek's delivery was exceptional and really funny. Ryan Allis, CEO of iContact got up and did his thing and shared really, the one idea of the evening that could change the world; working to end poverty globally. He lives his slide deck every day and did a terrific job of encouraging us to recognize our good fortune and to work to help others who are not as fortunate. I'm a ladyist and it was a real pleasure to have so many smart women represent for us all, all night! @Ruby kicked it off - check out her thought provoking work at OrangePolitics and Kristin Zaccheo made a strong case for getting science and research online and not just stuck in the laboratory.

While host Wayne Sutton's presentation on Why The Triangle is Better Than The Silicon Valley was funny and he made some decent points... his envy was showing. ;o) Wayne, I think you have to at least go to the Valley before you make such claims. Full warning: you'll be hard-pressed to leave my friend! I was.

But it's nights like last night that make me proud to live where I do now and grateful to be a part of the intelligent, collaborative and creative community that we have found here in Raleigh.

I hear you but I still haven't made up my mind

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:55:00 +0000

"There will be no interactive agencies or traditional agencies in a few years - there will just be advertising agencies and each will do it all under their one roof."

Recently, I've spoken to a few recognized thought leaders and also a few regular media Jacks and Jills and it seems that a lot of us are talking about the sustainability of specialization in this field. The reason this is a buzz-worthy topic within my network today is because interactive shops are now taking on traditional services. Traditional shops have been bringing on interactive arms and touting full service for years now; there are plenty of full service agencies who were once TV, Radio and Print powerhouses which now "do interactive".

Some of us think that the move towards Full Service - where ad agencies will direct the entire media mix and the sum will be in theory, greater than all the parts - is happening now for digital shops and it's a good thing. And it could be - digital should drive the marketing mix (for all the reasons frequently stated on this blog). However, traditional shops have done a pretty lousy job of integrating interactive into their core competencies at the level that delivers real value to the client. The two fields move at dramatically different paces and are held to very different expectations. Undeniably though, each needs the other to reach optimal results and it makes a great deal of sense to have one firm directing the mix and capitalizing on all that data, negotiating cross-channel pricing and effectively communicating intelligence under a sole set of objectives. Others say "specialization breeds excellence" and there are too many parts for one company to do well.

I'm on the fence but I'm leaning... How do you feel?

Blog Neglect or Anticipation Building?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:17:00 +0000

There are plenty of new things going on at Media Two including our very cool new office digs located at 319 W. Martin Street in the warehouse district of Raleigh. The street level sign just went above the door this week as shown in the picture… We had our mid-summer interns get started, we are hosting the SEO/SEM Meetup next week, we’ve had several clients over, 10-15 vendor partners (if you count each of Louise’s trips – we’ve had like 100!) and a whole lot more going on!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their patience as moves are never fun – and just as importantly let you know that our Media Two Point Oh! will be resuming shortly with a whole new look and feel. Yes, we are finally dedicating time to updating our own blog – and we’re actually going to get our content updated on our website so that everyone knows we have full service media capabilities (yes – we even do traditional), a rock star design & development team as well as social media capabilities and a whole lot more.

We're excited to be in Raleigh - and we welcome everyone to come visit us! If you can't make it - there are a lot of exciting changes that we'll be posting online as well - so stay tuned! Thanks from all of us at Media Two!

Search Engine Marketing: Bing Review

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:11:00 +0000

Well – we’re early into Microsoft’s release of their latest search engine Bing (code name Kumo, formerly known as Live Search, formerly known as MSN Search, etc, etc), but I wanted to give my 2 cents on the early launch.

I’ve found some interesting things, such as try searching on the words “google”, “yahoo”, “aol” or “ask” (all competitors to Bing), and what you’ll get is one single result found for each. At first, I thought that was very impressive and nice of them – but then I realized, it is completely eliminating all of the other components to those such as eliminating their analytics, or eliminating companies that offer Google services, etc… I still haven’t decided whether this is good or bad – just interesting. Now do a search on “bing” – and you get a little bit of everything. One has to imagine that because you’re on Bing already, you’re probably searching for something other than Bing – but who knows. So I did a search on “MSN Search”… Interestingly enough – Live.com was there – but no bing?

Of course the thing I’m interested in the most, is searching on “Media Two”. As you can see from the screen shot – we didn’t quite make the number 1 spot. This is interesting to me, as I know our traffic numbers are greater than the first one (according to Compete we have more than 10x the unique visitors), the name is used in our title tags, description and our URL – whereas the person in the number one spot is missing it in their description… So just another interesting observation, but it appears that a “.com” address holds more weight than a “.net” address.

One feature I do like is the mouse-over effect on the right of the listings… It continues the description from the meta description into a convenient pop up window. This however, is not new technology as places like Ask.com have been doing it with preview windows that even include imagery for a while now. And I do like that the results seem to be fast, and for the most part pretty relevant – but I think that’s been established in the industry for a while… So what is new and great about this search engine called Bing? In their current preview stage, it just doesn’t appear to be the next best thing in search, and until someone comes out with that, they’re still going to called acronyms such as the one I’ve heard twice already this morning: “But It’s Not Google”.

DOES SIZE REALLY MATTER?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike_Atkinson) — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:28:00 +0000

As I "re-imagine" interactive advertising design as part of IAB's new task force to update their new standard ad guidelines, I ask myself, "Does Size REALLY matter?". The answer is less than you might think.

I have a feeling that more people will jump to the conclusion that increasing ad sizes will magically reverse the trend of declining online metrics. Not so fast my friends. The answer is in positioning, not size. Think about it. Where do you see most large rectangle units? Homepages and within content/stories. Now, where are the smaller units? They are on the peripherals within the navigations - where no one is looking. It's not about the ad size of a takeover ad. It's about the take over itself. Same thing with a Welcome Ad. To this point, there has been chatter of getting rid of the leaderboard unit based on performance. The size isn't obsolete, the position is. Hey, I've been on the publisher side, so I undertand the need for buttons, leaderboards, skys. But if we want to really improve the performance of the online channel, then we'll put our thinking caps on and come up with better positioning and user experiences.

Quick quiz: Without looking, which one of these is in the header of this blog? A. Clouds, B. Trees, C. Birds. Don't know? Thought so, but I bet you saw the ad for the Entertainment Book.

(Media Buying Tip: Ad networks or any buy that involves remnant inventory will charge the same rate for a bundle of ad sizes (468s, 160s, 728s and 300s) compared to portals or contents site, which put a higher value on the bigger sizes - as well as they should. So take advantage of this and opt to run only the bigger sizes, or the 300s only. You'll end up with better metrics and more importantly, better positioning as well.)

Interactive Media Design

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:42:00 +0000

The IAB released an announcement on April 30th that it was bringing together a task force of “TopTalent To Re-Imagine Interactive Advertising” – and as a member firm of the IAB, Media Two Interactive was quick to jump on board.

For years, interactive media has been reliant on great creative execution to become successful. Publishers and sales reps alike are the first one to blame creative when a campaign is unsuccessful, which is why about 8 years ago, Media Two started up a media design division (award winning division I might add!). After so many years of doing great media strategy (which includes a combination of media & design), this is a great opportunity for Media Two to help out in the relevance of interactive advertising for years to come.

Although the consensus with our designers is they’d love to eliminate small ad formats, increase file size restrictions (especially now that broadband is widely accepted), and even do away with the original leader board formats that are typically not as responsive as the larger, 4:3 ratio ads – there is more thought going into it than just that… Look at TV for example… DVR’s and Tivo’s of the world are fast-forwarding commercials. Unless the 30-second spots become a Super Bowl caliber entertainment value, people are tuning out most of them. So what you are seeing are more and more product placements within the content themselves... With the advent of Social Media online and consumer interaction at its highest – let’s figure out how to create a non-intrusive placement that consumers want to interact with, can create that coveted brand awareness, and oh yeah, publishers can make their money so the online experience continues to be a free one. I don’t believe TV made a mistake – I believe the consumer experience evolved past that – so let’s not model an online ad experience after one that consumers have already passed by. I’m looking forward to our interaction and involvement with the IAB – as this will be changing the way we work for years to come! If you want to keep updated on things progress, I encourage you to follow our Creative Director Rachel Rumsey on Twitter – she is @rachrum !

Five words your communications team should never utter

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:15:00 +0000

"Now what do we do?"

If you're a marketer and you have heard of the "Domino's Video", you likely have given some thought to what would you do in Domino's situation. So, what did you come up with?

Word of mouth tips and flames spread globally within minutes. You have to react. Doing nothing is clearly the wrong action to take. So what would you do?

If you think because you're not currently using social media marketing tactics to promote your brand or product, that your brand is not at risk - you are ignoring today's marketing realities.

Whether you are actively engaged online or not - you are sending a message to your consumer. Those who think that social media is trivial or a fad or something to be avoided, are totally missing the bigger opportunity! Yes, marketers are faced with risks that present challenges for them online. But the rewards online are far greater. Today's online culture is a modern marketer's dream!

The Opportunity:

A good social media/online media strategy will outline initiatives to create real value for all the major stake holders: goodwill for the brand, value for the customer, buzz for PR, outlets for marketing, revenue for sales, and support for customer service. Additionally, campaigns and the media itself should offer ways for the end user to engage with a brand in meaningful ways and reward that engagement and promote all of the above!

The web is social now. That's what "Web 2.0" has been all about - we're all on the bleeding edge of Web 3.0, as cloud computing becomes standard and mobile cross pollinates with the internet more and more - you had better catch up!

If you don't yet have an answer to the Domino's question - consider taking this step: Gather the team, talk with your trusted agency partner and work together to develop your crisis communication plan.

If you think social media is separate from online media - again - come talk with us. The web is social media, your consumers are online and today, they expect that brands are online and engaged, too. We have the tools to show you what people are saying about your brand, your team, your products and to help you to first, listen and then to join their conversation where it makes the most sense for you to do so.

Times are tough. Search shouldn't be.

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Despite the bad economy, computers are still popular and Google is still in business. Imagine that…any way, here are some tips to make the most of your search campaigns no matter the current economic condition. These tips are not inclusive nor are they groundbreaking, but hell, our clients aren’t complaining.

Monitor your accounts…every day

Again, probably a no brainer, but with all the automation that Google offers it can be easy to ‘set it and forget it.’ For instance, Google offers an ‘optimize’ ad serving option that automatically shows your ‘best performing’ ads. Google determines performance by CTR. So what if your campaign needs to back to a certain CPA, but some of your highest converting ads have low CTRs? They won’t show. You can’t ignore the human element.

Keep your ad copy fresh and keywords relevant

This suggestion isn’t to say that you need to be changing your ad copy constantly. Let your campaign gain some traction then analyze which ads are not delivering according to your performance metrics. It’s surprising what a few minor changes can do. For example, for one of our clients, I just changed the headline in the ad and left the body the same. It is now the best performing ad in terms of conversions for the month. As for keywords, make sure they are backing out to your goals (clicks? conversions? cpc?). Those goals will determine how you go about optimizing your keywords. General keywords have a tendency to negatively skew metrics, make sure your keywords are relevant to your audience.

Adjust your bids

The search landscape is constantly changing, it’s important to keep a close eye on your keyword bids as competitors are always making moves to secure that prime real estate. So with your performance metrics in mind make the necessary adjustments to remain competitive, but efficient. Another area where Google provides automation, but again, if you’re in your accounts everyday there’s no need.

Ongoing Research

Google offers a variety of helpful research tools when it comes to mining for new keywords. So use them! It may spark new ideas for your campaign. Think about what themes you may be missing from your target market. It’s rare to see a campaign go from start to finish without needing an infusion of ad groups and keywords. You never know, it could save your campaign.

Search Engine Strategies New York (#SESNY)

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:28:00 +0000

What an incredible first day at SES – and for none of the reasons I expected. The day started off with Guy Kawasaki telling us how he spams everyone, yet people love him. The woman 2 seats over from me fell asleep in her chair and was snoring loud enough for 4 rows over to hear. 30 minutes later I found out that she was the lead speaker in the next session I sat in on! Then the first three session breakouts I attended talked about Twitter twice as much as they did search strategy (I proposed a name change to TES over lunch – but the conference went on as SES). I watched a panel on Universal search that included Ask, Yahoo, Live Search and more – but Google was no where to be found. The final session I sat in was incredible – and it was led by CMO’s discussing do’s and dont’s of search…

If you aren’t following me on twitter, you can do so at http://twitter.com/mediatwo and I’ll be live tweeting Day 2 as well. But here’s a few more details on first and last sessions I sat in on:

SES NY Key Note: Guy Kawasaki
Guy kicked off the day with the keynote speech. As he was speaking I was twittering and noticed that he was too… Only he wasn’t near his computer??? As he spoke deeper, he revealed that he spams people, he uses ghost writers, he doesn’t pay attention to anyone that follows him unless they D or @ him. He also revealed his ultra scientific way of coming up with his “non-automated” post-topics: randomly grab links that sound interesting from a couple sites (one being Alltop.com – his own). With all of this information in the palm of my hand – I still choose to follow him on twitter (as do 90,000+ others). I know – it sounds crazy – but you know what – he’s a very likable guy. That, and he revealed some very useful tools that I re-tweeted earlier in the day including:
• www.Twibs.com helps you monitor companies
• www.Retweetist.com Good gauge of how many people are RT you.
• www.epenis.nl. Check out that site! It's your twitter penis size!
• www.adjix.com it shows stats for your links
• www.Twirl.com allows you to monitor multiple twitter accounts in the same window.
• www.cotweet.com is for multiple tweeting companies.
• www.Tynt.com quotes the original source when copied.
• www.Twitterhawk.com "the ultimate spamming tool". Looks for keywords and auto tweets content.
• www.twitterfeed.com allows you to post to others twitter - huge opportunity to build affiliates. It is a custom feature "beg Mario"

Dozen most common search engine mistakes that CMO's make
I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this panel. My objective from this conference was to get a pulse on what CMO’s thought of search and interactive. As immersed as I am personally in interactive strategy, I sometimes find myself talking over clients – and in particular, C-Level types. I went to this session because the panel consisted of top-level marketers from brands such as Ameriprise, World Travel Holdings, Constant Contact, and more – and I felt like this would be a great representation to CMO’s everywhere. Well – if it is – then congratulations CMO’s – you get interactive! The reality is, this was a group of seasoned veterans that understood their marketing mix, and there is a lot that can be learned from them. Below are the 12 mistakes that they pointed out during their session:
1. Failing to set measurable goals.
2. Failing to assign monetary values to each action
3. Assessing the SEM success Solely on a direct marketing model
4. Treating SEO as a project rather than a process
5. Making a #1 ranking your most important objective
6. Focusing on big keywords and forgetting the long-tail
7. Engaging in paid or natural but not both
8. Using your language and not that of your customers
9. Optimizing your web site but not other digital assets
10. Integrate SEM with your other marketing initiatives - don't silo it
11. Failing to bid on terms for which your site already organically ranks high
12. Bidding solely on branded terms

All-in-all – I’m looking forward to day 2! I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m looking forward to it…

Social Media: 140 Random Strategies on Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:25:00 +0000

In my previous post, Building a Social Media Strategy, I referenced 5 items that needed to be tackled in order to create your social media strategy. What I’d like to do is give some of my observations to what can be done to help build out point #3 – “Identify Strategy & Opportunities”.

Even though Twitter is now in its 3rd year, I think there is still a ton of untapped opportunities, so I will try and define 140 strategies that might help your brand on the social media phenom that is Twitter. Please keep in mind, these are more action items than strategies as everyone’s business is so different – but some of these are fun, and may spur additional thoughts for you (if they do spur thoughts – please comment – b/c I need help getting to 140 of them!):

1. Register your brand name, and every variation of it (I’m baby stepping you into this – work with me).
2. Create a follow list. Identify the newsworthy individuals as well as who you want your brand to be associated with, and start following them with your brand.
3. Follow your competitors – but not with your brand. Don’t give them the satisfaction or SEO benefit of linking to them, instead, create a personal account to follow them. Keep your enemies close.
4. Always follow back who follows you (unless rule #3 invoked). If its your brand, you want to build good will, and who doesn’t appreciate the warm and fuzzy of a return follow.
5. Direct Message. If they follow you, and you follow them back, then shoot them a D. Again, personal correspondence is great.
6. Don’t be afraid to direct message special deals to your followers first, and then open it up to your normal post. Again – warm fuzzies.
7. Follow everyone – if they don’t follow you back, stop following them. This one is not set in stone, but for a starter to twitter, you don’t want to be that person that is following 1,260 people and only have 3 people following you – I believe they call those people “affiliates”.
8. Find more people to follow. Try things like http://search.twitter.com, www.Twitseeker.com, www.MrTweet.net, http://twitter.grader.com, etc.
9. Be transparent. If you’re using Twitter to market – let people know that. Don’t let them discover through a “leak” – just bad PR.
10. If you’re marketing to them – don’t market a snow shovel to someone in Florida. People fill out where they’re twittering from, send them market specific information just like you would any other medium.
11. #FollowFriday. Try to get people to recommend you – sometimes all it takes is recommending them.
12. Use of the RT… First person to RT (re-tweet) my name, URL, etc wins a free rocket ship. Get’s people talking.
13. Use of the RT part 2. Say something worth re-tweeting. (this was a RT from someone, I just don’t remember who)
14. Twitter can feed into your blog, website – heck, it can be distributed to anyone you want it to – just give them the code and you now have your own news network.
15. SEO benefits. Recently, our twitter account passed our blog on Google for brand name searches. Now I’m having to blog about Twitter to take that position back.
16. Create a twitter poll. Here’s your modern day focus group, and it’s free. You can even direct them to Google Docs and do it free (http://www.ehow.com/how_4615530_survey-using-google-documents-free.html)
17. CRM. Direct people to appropriate departments, who to call, how to handle things, etc… Let’s face it – everyone hates the voice mail systems, so let’s give them direct access.
18-140. Coming Soon...

I’ll keep updating as results come in – so check back, but I want to get to 140! If you think of any yourself, feel free to comment – or follow me on twitter @MediaTwo.

Building a Social Media Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:20:00 +0000

The terms “social media” have seemingly overtaken “emerging media” for the new catch-all that ad agencies are pitching to their clients. The reality is, social is part of emerging, but I tend to think that when people don’t fully understand something such as Twitter they want to lump it into a general category so they can speak to a broader topic and not get questioned on specifics. With that being said, I’d like to take you into a hypothetical social strategy, but first, I want to identify for you the 5 elements Media Two categorizes are mandatory for your strategy to be successful:

1. Identify Personality. Although Media Two will do all of the heavy lifting, the brand personality should come from within your organization. As a brand cannot speak, this person will be the spokesperson for your brand. The only way to not come off as fake is to be real – not a made up agency person or avatar. We want you to interact in a way that only you know how.

2. Set up brand monitoring. Using a software such as Radian6 Media Two will identify what your current social buzz is, and identify a benchmark plan with ROI objectives in place so that you can see what your actual return on investment will be.

3. Identify Strategy & Opportunities. Depending on where your industry buzz is taking place, whether its blogs, communities, micro-blog’s, news outlets, video, etc – we will identify and define a strategy designed to hit your ROI objectives as previously defined. For example, if we see that you have a strong following in the Twitter community, we will set up a strategy that continues to bolster that.

4. Competitive Analysis. We will keep you updated on what people are saying about your competitors as well. Part of our strategy may even be to go after individuals with our strengths and benefits upon finding dissatisfaction with your competitor’s products or services.

5. Protecting Your Brand Identity. As new trends hit the airwaves, we know that you have other things going on. Media Two will continue to monitor the trade shows, tweet-up’s and what have you to identify where you should be protected. We recommend registering any brand URL’s, Facebook accounts, LinkedIn groups, Twitter names, Instant Messaging names, and Gmail accounts that might be needed in this ever changing interactive environment. This list continues to grow, and you need to stay on top of it.

Every company in the world has an online reputation – whether it’s good or bad is of no relevance. It’s what you learn from yours that makes it an important part of your marketing process. Think of the internet as the modern day Focus Group, only this group isn’t being paid for their thoughts on you in a controlled environment; they’re openly discussing them with their friends and even with strangers in an anything goes format. In my next blog post, I’m going to give you some sample strategies ideas that could be put to use for your own campaign.

Work for Wireless Association Hits the Wire Today!

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:45:00 +0000

Media Two Interactive Develops New ‘Look’ for the Mobile Marketing Association

Association Debuts New Website Featuring Ease of Use and Cleaner Navigation

Raleigh, NC [February 10, 2009] – Media Two Interactive produces newly launched website for the Mobile Marketing Association.

Media Two Interactive, a digital advertising agency was engaged to develop and design the global website for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com). The MMA is the premier global non-profit association that strives to stimulate the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technology. Given that the MMA has grown to more than 700 members in just a few years, the MMA determined that its website should reflect the needs of the global community and better serve the association’s members, press and influencers.

“The MMA decided it was time to update our look and provide an updated ‘face’ for the mobile marketing industry. The new website provides members and the industry at large with the latest information on guidelines, news, case studies and more, in an easy-to-use and navigate platform,” said Laura Marriott, president emeritus for the MMA. “The MMA was pleased with Media Two Interactive’s redesign and have received very positive feedback from our members and the industry as a whole. We are happy with the results.”

The Mobile Marketing Association selected Media Two Interactive to design and develop their website after a thorough request for proposal assessment against several agencies’ capabilities. The site was launched at the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum in San Diego in November of 2008, and included the following key upgrades:

• Support for Global, Regional and Local Content
• Enhanced Navigation
• Unique Research from Industry Leaders
• Knowledge Sharing and New Robust Networking for Members
• Improved Visibility for Member Companies & Improved Access to Member Benefits

Media Two Interactive chose Drupal, a leading open source content management system, as the foundation for the new MMA website. Media Two’s development team then customized the platform and modules.

About Media Two Interactive:
Media Two Interactive is an interactive advertising agency that specializes in the strategic planning, buying and creation of digital media. Our clients like Microsoft, MF Global, Entertainment Publication and the Mobile Marketing Association depend on the business we generate for them online and the cost-savings they earn as a result of our commitment to their goals. We empower brands to identify a new audience of consumers on the web and grow their business. To learn more about our design and media strategy services, please visit www.mediatwo.net.

Contact:
Ellie Johnson, Client Services Director
Media Two Interactive
919-553-1246 x 28
ellie@mediatwo.net
http://www.mediatwo.net

Something Fresh

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Hargrave) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:46:00 +0000

Here lately I think most marketers feel like their battles are all uphill. The economy is down, the cost of living up, and demand for products is disappearing (unless you're Budweiser of course). So what's an ad agency to do?

Work harder? Sure, that's a given. Work smarter? Hopefully, but some of us are more capable than others. Even with this approach though, it really comes down to how much of your efforts really shine through to a client when times are tough.

Across the spectrum agencies and marketing budgets are getting dropped like flies, but as a direct response agency, I've always felt we've got the distinct advantage of being able to show the empirical truth for every dollar our clients spend. That said, sometimes it's a little more evident than others. With this in mind, I'd like to share a little mini case study on one of the biggest suggestions we're making to our accounts... keep your marketing fresh!

Instead of putting what money you have into media spend and cutting production costs, I would recommend almost the exact opposite. Of course don't cut your media entirely, but find the right mix so your buy is optimized. Then follow it up with strong messaging on a regular basis.

Last month, we A/B tested new creative for a client against an old "standby" ad they've been running. Their approach was simple. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Ours was the opposite. We can do better. Here's what we found out...

A 39% lift in clickthroughs for the new creative
53% more leads generated through new messaging
A 28% decrease in their overall cost per lead
A 200% increase in sales
And finally, a 63% reduction in their overall cost per sale

Anyone up for some new creative?

Me vs. Adwords

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:20:00 +0000

I thought tests were a thing of the past when I graduated college over 2 years ago. Seeing as how I have successfully eluded tests since that time I figured I was in the clear. I was wrong. This coming Tuesday I am scheduled to take the Google Adwords Certification Exam. A test I am told that was forged in the belly of a Pacific-Rim volcano by a breed of Googlers that can only be described as, well, EVIL. A test of might, will and the ability to click on the right radio button enough times to merit a passing percentage. Survivors have told me that if the test does not strip you of your soul it sure as hell will try.

So how have I prepared for my battle with the almighty of online you might ask? I’ve been studying. Totally lame I know, but repeatedly sticking oneself in the abdomen with a cattle prod apparently has no correlation to helping learn search, it just makes one badass. Instead, I’ve been perusing Google’s learning center each day in hopes that my brain can retain enough search data before Tuesday’s throw-down. Not to mention managing a bunch of campaigns. The learning center is a great resource and a good place for reference, but I’ve found the best cerebral saturation, like with most things, comes from hands on experience. Everything from setting up a sensible campaign structure to developing optimization tactics tailored to each of your campaign’s goals. I have really benefited from being exposed to multiple campaigns. I can use methods or tactics associated with one campaign, and either build off those or cultivate a new approach on another.

A general explanation I know, but there are so many ways to achieve your goals in SEM it’s hard to point out one part of the whole. My time is limited, IT nears. Come Tuesday I will awake a common man and hopefully go to bed as a Google Adwords certified man.

How much does a new website cost?

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:57:00 +0000

I wish I had an easy answer for you! Unfortunately, too many variables need to be considered by your team and addressed in your RFP before we can begin to estimate our time, materials and costs.

To get the ball rolling towards a budget - start by asking yourself - "what does our website mean to our business?" Is it simply a way for customers to find your contact details online or is it your primary sales and marketing vehicle? Either deserve a proper investment to insure that your business/products/services are represented in an attractive, easy to use and easy to share manner. If your company's sales depends on the cash register ringing online - then you must do a thorough vetting of the platform, shopping cart and complete ecommerce solution that any design agency proposes. And you will pay more for those tools then the business who simply needs to hang their shingle.

What you need your website to do for your business should also determine who does the work. Web designers and web developers can be professionals at specialty shops, independent freelancers, students and outsourced firms you can find on Craigslist. Their costs will vary and so will the quality of their output.

If your website is a brochure site or if it requires more complex functionality will also determine how the site is built. At M2i, we build some websites "from scratch" and others we construct by customizing templates and modules using open source content managment systems or blogging software. The development costs tend to end up where we predict at the beginning of a project. Design and creative concepts are where most projects can affect the original estimate. Well, conflicting aesthetic opinions and indecision are typically the chief culprits to be fair. (Disclaimer! M2i is not responsible for their client's inability to make up their minds! :o))

Design that is of good quality, that stands out and that reinforces the site's key functionality and overall user's exerience should be left to the professionals who have experience creating modern business tools for the web and who take the time to really understand the best practices for your business now and as your business grows. Design should be a consultative relationship and make sure that you enjoy working with the team you select for your project. Your website can look great, average, mediocre or stunningly beautiful and the quality of the aesthetic will affect the price tag.

In my experience, not enough thought goes into considering how a company's website should net a return on investment and every website should today. When you're coming up with your budget ideas - think about making the investment accountable to the spend - and consider spending more to get more out of it.

Your company's investment could foster better communication with your customers and therefore lessen your operation costs. Good customer communication will also build your brand's value and the customer's loyalty. Logically, your business will grow because of good referrals from a valid source - happy customers. Ideally, your website will allow your customers to connect with one another and get more out of their relationship with your brand! Or, your ROI will come in the form of stronger sales because your customers can find what they're looking for easily and your site provides a clean, simple purchase path. ROI can come in many forms and make sure to ask your agency selection to help you identify the possibilities for your business.

The benefit of working with M2i on your next website design project is that we are experts in the next phase of marketing that follows a website launch - advertising and bringing the crowds to your new cyber doorstep. This means that we build sites that consider your customers needs today and your prospective customer's demands tomorrow. And there my friends, is your ROI. How much is it worth to you?

Oh the kids these days... I just don't get it!

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Sorry Peter Madden, I usually value your insights but today's post in Ad Age makes me want to throw a blanket over your lap after I pull your rocker closer to the fire.

If you're a marketer considering how your brand can advertise on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or any other social community tool and you share Madden's opinion - I encourage you to save your budget and stick to direct mail.

One of my favorite conversations I enjoy having with our clients are those where we explore the opportunities that these community-based web tools allow for advertisers and weigh their unique risks and rewards for their brand.

The first bullet point on the agenda is typically: * Don't interrupt.

I think I'm going to use Madden's opine to add color to our already colorful presentation - an example of what not to do.

I left these comments for him:

I'm not sure which hat I should be wearing to read this post. If I'm reading AdAge as interactive media professional, your sentiments about how to market to the audience on Facebook are well... showing your age and you shouldn't be responsible for anyone's social media budget. You don't get it. Frankly, advertising should not be an interruption any longer online or offline. If that's what you're after, you're doing it wrong now.

If I'm wearing my thirty something, lover of most things digital, mobile mama hat - I would simply say Facebook and probably any other community-fueled tool is just not for you. And that's ok.

Either way, I'm thinking that your sister should have left well enough alone.

Advertisers who will do well in these digital communities will figure out what these tools are intended to be used for, they'll respect how they are being used by the masses and then they will put the user guide down and break a mold or two. They'll create something that is unique, that is useful for the audience and that is easily shared.

Advertisers who interrupt should realize that just like in an offline conversation - that's just rude.

Ellie Johnson - Media Two Interactive

Marketing/Media Plan for 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:47:00 +0000

I think everyone is in agreement that 2008 ended horribly, and 2009 is starting off with longer lines at the unemployment office than at Disney these days (FYI unemployment office workers – Disney started a “fast pass” program a number of years ago that is awesome – you may want to consider it for 09). Every morning my inbox is filled with 10% layoff notices at this agency and that agency, and everyone on the OldTimers List and my Twitter is networking and appealing to the masses. So how are companies going to survive 2009? Well – if you haven’t figured that out already, chances are you’re not going to – so let’s move on.

I sat in on a great strategy and recap session yesterday between our account services team and the client themselves. The client was asking how they could catch up to their number one competitor who had dominated their industry. We just started with them in September and we’ve already hit a lot of their goals and expectations, but we’re playing catch-up to their competitor, and so the point was brought up by our media team for the client to start thinking ahead. We’ll worry about planning and executing for 2009 and make it a success – but what is going to differentiate them in the future. How are we going to get ahead and have their competition trying to figure out what hit them?

The most common theme brought up was mobile and new applications such as iPhones that make desktops a thing of the past. According to a new study by Parks Associates published on Media Post there will be more than 140 million US consumers paying for mobile broadband services in 2013. I personally have used my laptop for maybe 5 things since getting my iPhone in November. So if your website isn’t currently mobile enabled at the very least – now’s the time to be doing it. Then starting to look at technologies such as the iPhone where it registers as a web browser rather than a mobile device, and it doesn’t yet accept flash… So you need to take that into account – but understand that in the future flash will be there – so don’t spend millions now to only have to change it later. Road map your audience by age category and target usage, and build your mobile site appropriately.

The key to your success is still going to be knowing who your audience is and what marketing principles have worked in the past. Saving yourself from the grey hairs (and unemployment lines) is going to come with aligning yourself with the right partner who understands all of the changing technologies and can guide you through the process.

I love that Twitter thing (now what exactly is it again?)!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:40:00 +0000

As you may have read, last month I made the Twitter plunge! I jumped in, tweeted my every move, searched for fellow interesting tweeters, and even made a couple friends and business connections. Now that I’ve done it – I feel compelled to answer the question “So what the hell is Twitter?” that I’ve been so frequently asked over this past year. Here’s my top level take-away for you…

1. Real Time Connections. You have 140 characters to tell the world what you are doing. If anyone cares, they connect with you and follow you and you have the opportunity to do the same. My take-away is it’s kind of like an Instant Message to the world. According to companies like Dell, they’ve sold millions of dollars of product simply by announcing new deals to their followers. Others aren’t as good at it.

2. Twitter Feeds the Ego. It took me all of about 4 minutes before I had my first follower. I was pumped – I was on top of the world… I was the next rock star of twitter world. When I didn’t reciprocate and follow them, they blocked me and moved on. What??? I learned very quickly that when you follow companies and certain individuals that they will instantly start following you. A sort of interactive warm and fuzzy for you that makes you want to hang on their every word (or at least not block them). I also learned that some people feel VERY important if they have thousands of people following them – so they reach out to EVERY person in the twitter universe simply to gain those reciprocal followers. Think of a bad link strategy that’s starting to evolve…

3.Curiosity Growth. I started to follow only agency and marketing happenings, but I quickly found out it’s fun to see how the “other half lives”. I find myself clinging to my holiday candy as I see that Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) is working out indoors as it’s too cold in Austin today. I don’t know why – but I love it when inspirational people like him share their every move. Something tells me if he were to sign a deal with a chocolate company and tweet about it, I’d be a new consumer for that product. Just saying…

4. Search.Twitter.com. Research has been one of my primary uses… I’ve been able to see in real-time what people are saying about potential clients, products, etc. It’s the modern age focus group.

5. Some Get It. Some… I’ve enjoyed following places like @mashable, @bmorrissey, @agencyspy, etc… But there are still some that I wonder why… To name a couple @richardbranson and @adage simply let me know when they blogged or posted an article somewhere else. If I wanted that – I’d look at their blog or somewhere else… That being said, I’m about to go twitter that I posted this blog – so something about the pot calling the kettle names…

There are a lot of new things evolving out of twitter, and it’s still yet to be seen if it just becomes a facebook application, but for now – it’s been a fun experiment that I will continue to follow @mediatwo.

New Year’s Resolutions in Interactive for the CMO

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:55:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I sat and watched with great interest at the Internet Summit a panel of venture capitalists as they gave their forecasts for when the economy would turn around. There were 4 panelists, and their answers started out with 12 months, 18 months, 24 months… And then it got to the last person, and I could kick myself for not remembering who he was… “I have no idea” was his response.

Finally! It is ok to admit that nobody knows… So why is everyone so intent on trying to guess what 2009 will bring for Madison Avenue? After 13+ years in this industry, you’d think that I’d understand that it’s just the “big guns” trying to sound intelligent, and the reality is all of us in the trenches who are actually defining the industry are still focusing on delivering tangible results for our clients. So with that in mind, I’ve created a New Year’s Resolution list for Chief Marketing Officers everywhere (regardless of whether ad spend in 2009 will go up or down in each channel):

Test something new: I still believe 20% of your budget should be set aside to test new campaigns, technologies, solutions, etc… And by “new” – it can be something that is simply new to you – you don’t always have to be the first out the door launching your new Facebook Connect campaign. But if you know text ads work for you, maybe give SMS ads a try in a controlled environment. Just keep testing, as people’s wants and needs are changing every day - so too should your testing.

Marketing through Search: Yes – I say this a lot… It is Search Engine MARKETING – so test different products on different keywords, test pricing and discounts, test in-store promotions… Some of you that stayed awake in Marketing 101 are starting to hear some familiar P’s… Don’t lose track of what got your company where you are today. Search is the medium - marketing is how you use it.

Set Your Metrics: This goes without saying – right? Well knowing your metrics and dictating your marketing to hitting them while keeping a good marketing mix are a lot more difficult than you may think. That being said, if you know that your product retails at $20, and you need a COGS of $10 to be profitable, make sure you have a media campaign set up as a whole that will accomplish that. Don’t judge one medium independently of another. Even though interactive may appear to be the cheapest, there are offline occurrences that affect your online campaigns.

Own Social Media: The words social media seem to now be what “emerging” media was 2 years ago… A catch all for everything you don’t understand. Grasp the areas of social media that are relevant to you. Set up Google Alerts on your company name, your competitors, etc… Own your online reputation. Set up a Twitter account for your company, set up a LinkedIn account for your company… These are all free tools that are available for you to communicate with your customer. If you find they’re not working (make sure you review your site analytics before you make that judgment), then move on. But allow your customers to interact with you in the way they want to… You need to own Social Media – not let it own you.

Happy New Year CMO’s!

It ain't viral til it is.

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:53:00 +0000

Classic. I will use this line from Ad Age's column today - FOREVER.

Read more here.

At M2i, we strive to build something for our clients that gives their consumer something of real value - something that is worth passing along to friends. It's probably not worth their investment otherwise...

Interactive Media Education: Value of the View-Through

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:23:00 +0000

In the last couple of weeks, I have talked to agencies and clients alike about the value of how Microsoft's Atlas utilizes Engagement Mapping and MediaPlex' MOJO utilizes Path to Conversion. Both products are fantastic, and they help you establish the number of online touch points it takes from start to finish of a conversion cycle (among many other things of course). But when I try and talk to people about it in "plain English", I find myself referencing View-Through Data - which seems to instantly draw a red flag.

For those of you relatively new to the industry, it might not conjure up negative connotations, but for those of you that have been in interactive media for a few years, it probably takes you back to the early days of publishers claiming credit for everything. A great example is when you are running ads on an ad network like Advertising.com that has approx. 90% internet market penetration, and at the same time you are running ads on a search engine. When an ad is displayed by advertising.com, a cookie is instantly set and when the conversion happens, that cookie pings the ad server letting it know a conversion has happened. If the ad was only served, and not clicked on - it is considered a view-through conversion. The problem is, the last click may have occurred on the search engine you were running on, and now your publisher (advertising.com) is taking claim for a conversion and your search engine is taking claim for a conversion - but you only have one conversion. So naturally, the view through got discounted in the past and was instantly labeled a black sheep.

Jumping at least 14 years ahead (FYI - Internet years are the equivalent of dog years), the view through still has a negative connotation, and when I speak to people about it now - they immediate stop me and say "oh no - I'm not paying for view through conversions again!" The reality is - a view through is just another metric that helps me do my job better. If we know that 12 people viewed your ad on Yahoo and eventually converted on a google search term - then we know our ads were targeting the correct people - but the offer just didn't immediately resonate to the "buy" mode. That being said, we have started to compile frequency data through the help of our ad servers that let us know exactly how many view-through's or touch points it takes our clients to convert an offer.

Imagine if you knew that it took your ad being displayed 12 times before someone actually purchased your product or service. You could tweak your messaging and work to get that down to 6 times, and essentially cut your advertising costs in half. Then imagine if you were able to insert an offline ad right after your first touchpoint... Imagine what your media mix could do if it all worked together seamlessly!

So before you cringe when I talk about view-through's... Just know that like everything, the view-through has evolved as well, and its making our job of defining the media mix all that much more enjoyable.

Media Two Interactive joins SEMPO

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:44:00 +0000

Media Two Interactive is now a Circle Member of SEMPO... In our never ending quest to stay on top of everything search and how it plays well together in the media mix, we have joined the leading professional Search Engine Marketers organization. Coupled with our IAB membership and search committee participation as well as our corporate certification with Google, Media Two is in the enviable position of being able to help define the search engine industry and how it affects the online and offline marketing universe.

Although this is starting to sound more like a press release than a blog post - I really just wanted to keep everyone in the loop of our continued drive to not only educate but to be educated. Too often people put search in a vacuum and assume nothing else matters - when the reality is, there are online and offline events that happen every day that shape the way people think, and ultimately search. Media Two published a case study about a year or so ago that talked about how display advertising can lift your search conversions by over 20% (go to http://www.mediatwo.net/mediatwo-casestudies.html#/Case%20Studies/ and read the one titled "Increase SEM Results"), and just recently, Microsoft Advertising's Atlas division posted a very similar case study for Alltel.

Search is being looked at in all new lights, and there are more and more opportunities for companies that continue to grow and learn - and I'm proud to say Media Two continues to strive to be a leader in the Interactive Media industry with it's dedication to Search Engine Marketing.

Peter Shankman, Internet Summit and IAB Q3 Revenue Report

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:42:00 +0000

Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind 7 day period in which plenty of things are going on in the interactive world. If you want to ask about my family’s personal tour of the White House we received during the G20 Summit last weekend – then we’re REALLY talking about a whirlwind week (I got to pet Barney without getting bit)! But back to interactive… Peter Shankman was in Raleigh speaking at the TIMA event – and if you have never seen him speak, or don’t follow him on Twitter – or really just don’t know anything about what he’s about – you’re missing out. He’s filled with plenty of stories – and filled with plenty of thoughts and ideas on where the social media/interactive world is going. I’d like to say he speaks with a lot of common sense, but driving 150 miles for a Hardee’s burger pretty much throws that out the window. That being said – he is in tune with modern day technology, and he is well connected and should be followed, tweeted, LinkedIn, etc…

This week was also the inaugural Internet Summit in Chapel Hill… I am happy to say, interactive finally has a major following in the Triangle! The event was sold out (estimated 700+ attendee’s) – and from what I could tell – a smashing success. Bob Young of LuLu and Red Hat fame spoke about how they’re a good company – but should be great if they can get their hands around everything new in interactive. Gian Fulgoni from comScore spoke about online lifts to the offline world. There were plenty of social media “experts” and what seemed to be even more legal folks in attendance. All-in-all – it was an impressive summit and one of the first that I’ve attended that I felt like I actually took more away from it than I paid for. Congrats to the group at CED and Tech Journal for pulling this all off.

And to cap off the week – in this horrible economy we’re in – the Q3 numbers were released by the IAB (which – shameless plug – Media Two is one of only 13 Associate Agency Members) and interactive grew by 11% to a tune of $5.9 Billion last quarter. No – it’s not the 20+ percent we’ve grown accustomed to, but I think you’ll all agree that showing some growth is still a positive. Lot’s going on at Media Two – so more to come, but I have a goal of getting a Twitter account this month. I’ve spoken about it, explained it, followed the phenom (including the latest Motrin/MommyBloggers) – and I think it’s about time I actually joined. Have a good one.

A Winning Online Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Ellie) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:21:00 +0000

“It was like the central nervous system of the campaign," said Julie Germany, the director of the Institute for Politics Democracy and the Internet at the George Washington University, today in the Times Online. She is commenting on the impact that Obama's online campaign and web tactics had on his election on Tuesday. The statement bears a striking similarity to our agency's mantra - let digital drive!

Personal politics aside, what the Obama strategists conceived, launched, analyzed and worked in their favor up until the 11th hour on Tuesday was remarkable and should significantly advance the ways which all marketers alike use the internet to drive their own brand's media mix. Ironically, it was in fact the strategic and sophisticated approach to grow and organize a community online and offline, that made a key difference in the overall success of his campaign - the value of which was lost on the GOP. This approach to online media inspired me as a consumer of all things digital and an online media enthusiast! Their work and results will be studied and will set new benchmarks for what is possible online - not just in a political race. I sincerely hope that our clients will allow us to work with their teams, to create a sophisticated, measured movement of their own.

I recognize that a campaign with the objective to elect a candidate for president is unique and that our clients have business that hold them to different returns. But when I break this down to simple campaign stats and ignore the product or service variable, most of our clients would drool over these returns (and that budget!):

Spend: $600,000,000 total for both online and offline media
Conversions: 3,000,000 new customers in the proprietary online database
Cost Per Acquisition: ~$20 overall (and this doesn't factor the following numbers)

Additionally:
- undeclared amount of mobile phone numbers and permission to re-market
- 1.5M + participants in branded online community network
- approximately 3M Facebook supporters joined branded profile page
- 867,000 friends on MySpace page
- 128,000 subscribers for branded YouTube page and nearly 20,000,000 channel views
- 120,000 Twitter followers
- undeclared numbers of volunteers and brand evangelists

Those are jaw dropping returns! If you're curious about where the money was spent (for online only) you can study their media plan here. The media plan itself was not revolutionary, but what I hope our clients and all marketers take note of, is how the campaign was about a brand who worked tirelessly to appear to service their "customers" so much so that the customers were motivated to serve the brand in return.

And isn't that what marketing aims to achieve?

Take aways:

* With smart strategists at the wheel, digital media should drive the entire marketing mix

* Invest in your campaign's destination site and invest in the tools that you provide there for your customers to become a part of your brand and expand your brand to their own network

* Unify the brand's creative and measure every tactic, make each accountable to the entire campaign's end goal

* Collect customer data reasonably and make sure it's useful to the brand's future initiatives

* Create! Motivate! Serve your customers well and enjoy the results!

Congratulations President Obama!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:24:00 +0000

I voted for McCain.

I think the better man for the job actually won the election, but I found a lot of things annoying about this election that didn’t seem to bother me in the past. Thankfully – we have a company blog that the company doesn’t back – but they don’t frown upon us voicing our opinion. So here are my top annoyances with this election:

1. Roughly 1% of McCain’s votes were from African American’s (stat I saw on TV – so who knows if that’s accurate or not). Before you label me a racist, please refer back to my statement that “I think the better man for the job won”. What concerns me is that this was a black/white vote – and not a vote about the principles. That being said, Obama was a good choice, so it worked out that we got the right person and had a historic first in our country – but hopefully this will be the last vote that we do black/white.
2. I was able to vote party-line without even looking at the candidates. So if this election weren’t a black and white vote – it would have been a Republican/Democratic vote. In reality – is that any better? How about doing away with that little box and actually making people fill in the circles.
3. And the best for last… My biggest annoyance… The marketers. I know! In my world, everything is about marketing. It is so important – and yet, I have never been more annoyed. I again heard on the radio that the combined marketing dollars spent by the 2 presidential candidates totaled $1 billion this year! Are you kidding me??? I love marketing, and it has it’s place, but with everyone talking about a horrible economy – you can only imagine what could have been done with that money.

So here’s a thought… How about the next election – we ban the candidates from marketing or advertising. Instead, we have one government website that allows the candidates to post where they stand on the major principles, shows their history of voting and so on. No political affiliation can be listed, only principles. For those people that don’t have access to a computer or the internet, they can submit a special request and the candidates will pitch in and send them one (for a billion dollars – they can probably send a few). This way the independent party will also be on a level playing field. One month before elections, they will hold 2 debates a week based on the most pressing issues that are submitted to this web site. I’m just scratching at the surface – but you get my point. There is $1 billion that just went to some marketing people and disappeared. We didn’t create more long term jobs, build any more cars, cure cancer… We apparently got a new President that has such a cool name even my 5-year-old wanted me to vote for him… Hopefully that will be enough.