With its ability to target consumers based on their actual shopping preferences, behavioral advertising has become a very popular tool among marketers and retailers. And the behavioral targeting trend shows no signs of slowing down, being applied not only to traditional online marketing campaigns but to mobile marketing as well. That’s because behavioral marketing has proven to be more effective than non-targeted advertising, converting consumers into buyers at more than two times the rate. It’s also more profitable, generating 2.68 times the revenue per ad than non-targeted advertising, according to the Network Advertising Initiative.

How behavioral targeting works

Behavioral targeting uses the cookies from a person’s browser to show that person ads for things they have a proven interest in. So, for example, let’s say you have a client who sells consumer electronics (digital cameras, camcorders, printers, etc.). Using behavioral targeting (and an ad network; see below), you can find consumers who recently performed a search for “digital cameras,” and show them ads for digital cameras just about wherever they go online that features ads.

Similarly, if the person just purchased a digital camera, you can use behavioral targeting to show them online ads for, say, photo printers or photo editing software.

As a marketer, that kind of targeted approach to advertising is incredibly powerful as you can now target campaigns based on consumers’ actual buying and browsing behavior instead of having to guess – and achieve better results (more clicks, higher conversion rates).

As an educated consumer, I realize that online ads are not going away any time soon — and if I’m going to be served ads on all my digital devices (I have too many) why not make them relevant to me? But I also realize this comes with a price. Ads can quickly become irrelevant to me, and marketers may misinterpret my online behavior or invade my privacy.

Privacy advocate groups have the similar concerns. In fact, Google and Mozilla are now introducing Do Not Track features to their browsers (due in part to pressure from the FTC). There is also talk of an opt-out registry, which could be similar to a telemarketers “Do Not Call” list. However, it will probably be a while before advertisers and ad networks adopt such a system.

Targeted mobile marketing

As stated above, one of the hottest areas where behavioral targeting can make a big difference is marketing to a mobile audience.

Mobile devices (namely smart phones) are increasingly becoming a part of the shopping process, as well as a way for brands to really connect with their target audience. More and more, shoppers are using their smart phones for comparison pricing, looking for coupons and discounts, and sharing information about products and services on review and social media sites.

Using mobile behavioral targeting (aka mobile and location marketing) you can now target customers when they check in at locations (using Foursquare, for example) or scan products, pointing them to products or promotions they might not have otherwise been aware of.

Advertising networks and behavioral targeting

To implement your behavioral advertising campaign, you are going to need to partner with an advertising (or ad) network that understands and tracks consumer behavior. Similar to media buyers, ad networks allow you to run targeted ads across hundreds, even thousands, of websites, rather than just on specific sites.

However, all ad networks are not the same. So make sure the ad network you work with understands your target audience (and defines it in the same way you do) and can and will place your ads on sites your target audience is likely to visit.

How behavioral targeting benefits your clients

Not only is behavioral advertising more targeted than traditional advertising, it also tends to be less expensive. So clients don’t need a big budget in order to cast a wide net to catch their target audience. Additionally, the returns are higher, because behaviorally targeted marketing campaigns and ads are reaching the right people at the right moment.

“So where do we start?” This is a good question to ask before jumping into social media. Many companies have already started without knowing it, and others are so paralyzed by the fear of exposure or lack of control that they never get out of the gates.

To get on the right track you first need to develop a strategic plan to control and participate in the ever-changing social media universe. Don’t start prematurely with fancy campaigns to build a Facebook fan base or begin production on a hit viral YouTube video. Hold on to those ideas for now and start with the basics: research, planning, and listening.

But before we even get to the good stuff,  we have to make sure that management is convinced that social media is the right thing to pursue—and sometimes that is easier said than done. We’ve observed that many C-level executives of large corporations were born before 1980 and quite frankly are not typical users of social media. Of course they feel the buzz, but often they don’t have firsthand knowledge of the medium, nor have they experienced their viral powers. So how do you build the business case for your unconvinced boss or client?

The first concern a CEO might have is about the audience: “I’m not certain our niche audience is using this stuff.” This is why you need to come prepared with the compelling facts:

• More than a third of the U.S. population is on Facebook
• Half the human race is under the age of 30, and they’ve never known life without the Internet
• One-third of women between the ages of 18 and 34 check Facebook before breakfast
• Half of all online time is used in social media accounts
• Communications within social media accounts have surpassed email

The stats go on and on, and the numbers keep growing.

If your CEO is still not convinced that her customers and potential customers are on Facebook, show her Facebook users by geographic region. You can easily find the number of  Facebook users in remote zip codes or tiny cities through Facebook’s targeted ad generator. Comparing your current customer numbers in a small city to Facebook users in that same city will show undeniable opportunity. Maybe you need a compelling quote:

Social media is the same today as it was yesterday. It’s just now reached such a critical mass, it’s too hard to ignore. You don’t want to be “that guy” or “that brand” who refuses to adapt to change and loses touch with reality.

—Julia Roy, Senior Manager, Coach, Inc.

If you’re still getting pushed to the back burner, show them what the other big boys are doing:

• 80% of the Global 100 companies are using at least one social media platform
• At least half are reaching audiences through Facebook (54%) and YouTube (50%); one-third maintain corporate blogs
• Global 100s have four or five Twitter accounts, two or three Facebook fan pages, one or two YouTube channels, and four or five corporate blogs
  
  ^{Source: Burson-Marsteller Evidence-Based Communications}

By this point, let’s hope you’ve quickly proven the need to start a strategy, but it’s possible that your company is still not seeing the potential benefit. You might be asked, “How is this going to improve sales or sell product?” This is the end game for all forms of marketing, but social media is a long-term commitment and not an event that brings in immediate returns. Paul Adams, a senior user experience researcher at Google, put it wisely:

Social media…is a way of thinking…it’s not about sales, or ads, or click-through rates. It’s about pursuing relationships and fostering communities of consumers. It’s about rethinking how you make plans when your customers are in the center and in control.

There are many dangers in not being involved that upper management should be made aware of, such as:

• Your employees are already doing it—yes, they are doing it for you, without guidance or brand continuity
• Discussions about your brand are taking place without you
• Incorrect statements about your company and products are living online without being challenged or corrected

Beyond promoting products and offers, there are many other key benefit areas, such as:

• Brand awareness
• Inbound marketing research (it’s an ongoing focus group)
• Community relations
• Customer support
• Recruiting and employee relations
• Investor relations
• Crisis management

Now that you’ve got the management team convinced that developing a social media strategy is the best place to start, you need to perform research, develop a plan, and do some listening. In my next post I’ll address these next steps and best practices.

Just before the holiday we received my oldest son’s current school progress report. (Thankfully he is a good student and always does well.) This reminded me of a useful tool I’ve found to help measure websites with regard to best practices for search engine optimization (SEO) and web marketing. The tool is the Website Grader.

This tool essentially scans your site for common HTML related to best SEO practices. It combines that data with other data from around the web, such as the web ranking in Google, the number of inbound links on your site, and where your site stands in relation to social media. It then generates an overall grade and a summary report.

Using a tool like this can help you gauge your site’s current rank and determine where you can most effectively put additional resources and time to improve the SEO of your site, and also to get more inbound traffic and converted leads.

Here are some screen shots of what you can expect if you use the tool to generate a report.

After entering your URL, you get a summary grade for your site:

The grader tracks on-page SEO:

It also tracks off-page SEO:

It determines whether you have a blog, and if you do, grades it:

It analyzes what’s happening on your site with regard to social media:

It helps you track information about your competitors’ sites:

Finally, the grader looks at the forms on your site that help convert visitors to leads:

When I was a creative director at HomePC magazine back in the early ’90s, there were lots of articles making predictions about the convergence of PCs, TV, and telecom. Along came WebTV in ’96, a big box with a wired keyboard that made your TV into a monitor for accessing the Internet. Microsoft bought WebTV, but it never took off; it was very clumsy, with a bad browser among other shortcomings (not surprising). Now here we are in 2010, and you can plug your ethernet cable or wi-fi into your TV. Presto, you’re on the Web—sort of.

I don’t claim to be an expert on the television/Internet space, but I can assure you that something’s very wrong with this picture. I’ve been doing a little research and I’ve looked closely at Web-enabled Sony, LG, and Panasonic TVs. These sets do not offer the big, open Internet we know and love; instead, they provide widgets and content channels chosen for us based on licensing deals between TV manufacturers and content providers such as Google, Yahoo, Netflix, and Time Warner.

This may seem to be a huge improvement for consumers. We can get movies instantly from Netflix and YouTube and great content from some of the best media companies in the world. In return, the media companies expand their audience, which will help them weather the recession and diminish their advertising woes. This is great for Sony and Google. But it’s bad for us. As Dan Frommer from Business Insider puts it, “We want a TV with a real Web browser that offers full access to the entire Web via wi-fi/broadband—not some crippled gimmick.”

As a marketer and consumer I have serious concerns with the direction the new Web-enabled TV movement is taking. I’m reminded of the AOL days, with closed proprietary systems where content was pushed and interactivity was limited. The only true convergence happening here is the merging of services provided by ISPs, telecoms, and TV manufacturers.

My exploration into the world of Web-enabled TVs has renewed my appreciation for the current Web—the Web that is free, open, and innovative. We need to remind ourselves that we have a wonderful and fragile resource that needs to be fought for and defended. I hope we haven’t lost the battle when it comes to Web TV, and that it will evolve based on user demand and not on corporate enrichment. Content providers, telecoms, and manufacturers need to realize that with an open Web they’ll have their biggest audiences and happiest sponsors.

If you’re interested in the fight for the open Web and Internet neutrality, please visit these sites:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

http://www.freepress.net/

http://www.wearetheweb.org/

http://www.openinternetcoalition.com/

http://stopbigmedia.com/

Black Friday & Cyber Monday may have come and gone but the spending season has just begun and if you have an iPhone, as nightmarish as it may seem, every minute of every day can be Cyber WhateverDay.

Like the DVR did away with having to clear your schedule to make it home to watch your favorite show at 9PM, dedicated shopping apps can let you shop whenever you feel like it without having to rush home to your laptop or even worse – the store.

Amazon Mobile

With about a year on the competition, Amazon Mobile has had some time to refine what was an already great app last holiday season. Being able to see an item in a b&m store, look it up on Amazon, find a better price and purchase it before you even make it back to your car is a pretty cool experience.

Best Buy

Best Buy’s app provides great interaction with their physical stores by allowing you to search inventory and reserve an item at a location close to you. I did find that I had to jump through as many hoops as I would have to on the desktop to actually place an order, which is something that the Amazon app managed to avoid. But still, being able to browse the weekly ad and see what they have on sale saves you a little time digging through the newspaper and a bunch of time actually going to the store.

Target

The Target app has the most limited purchasing options of the three. You can browse anything in the store and like the Best Buy app, see the weekly ad deals, but if you want to purchase an item, you are kicked over to the full-flavor html site which really defeats the whole purpose of mobile shopping. The coolest thing the Target app does though is allow you to set your local store and not only will it tell you if an item is in stock – it will tell you what aisle you can find it in.

Mobile shopping is still in it’s infancy but the experience is really beginning to take shape. Already there are expectations forming of just how the experience should work and it’s interesting to see all the major players take a stab to see what works.

For b&m stores, location awareness, stock checking and item reservation are a must because they save customers time and pull customers into the store. For online-only stores, robust personalization options and one-click purchasing (or as close as you can get to it) are important to recreating the impulse purchase, press-a-button-and-get-it experience that has worked so well for Apple’s iTunes and AppStore.

I’ve worked at Loewy Design for five years, and over time I’ve noticed a growing trend in requests for content management systems (CMS). After building out a handful, I noticed another trend that struck me as odd. Some of the clients wanted me to make edits to their sites post-launch, even though I had just handed them a fully functional, easy-to-use CMS.

How could this be? Did I do something wrong? Was the training I gave them on the software not good enough? A lot of thoughts like these ran through my mind. Maybe, or perhaps…there’s more to this trend.

I’ve noted that the clients who end up not using their new CMS software have these traits in common:

1. They’re terrified of breaking something.
   Even though it’s been explained to them that it would be very hard, if not impossible, to truly “break” the site, they still show tremendous trepidation about hitting that save button.
2. They’ve underestimated the learning curve
   Everything new has a learning curve to it. Although we strive to use the simplest systems out there, everyone learns at his or her own pace, and some people pick up things faster than others. Either frustration sets in, or it’s too costly for them to spend all day playing with new software. And some people just don’t want to learn anything new.
3. They generally work for larger companies
   Strangely enough, the companies that have larger budgets are the ones that don’t tend to use the systems. Clients like the idea of being able to manage their own websites, but quickly realize that although a CMS is easy to use it’s another task they need to add to their busy schedules.

My third point brings me to a question: “How do you, as the client, know when a CMS is needed?”

There are lots of possible scenarios, but in general, if you have a little time to invest in learning the software and a good development team supporting you along the way, you can’t beat the value and independence a CMS provides.

The recent widespread rise in popularity enjoyed by content management systems such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and MODx has changed the way clients feel about their websites. No longer are they just hiring someone to build something. They are now really part of the process: able to affect their websites directly, without needing any programming knowledge or having to pick up the phone.

So are you ready to move to a CMS?

In a previous post, I talked about trimming the fat from content. But let’s face it: trimming the fat assumes you had good meat to start with. In a world where people have precious little time, if you’re thinking site redesign, content strategy has to be a main priority.

I’ve been working with a client recently on a large site redesign. Like many of my other site-redesign projects, this one was long overdue. Much of the content was outdated. It had been managed by a host of individuals, all from different countries, who each had their own way of doing things. The jargon was so product- and business-specific (filled with acronyms and marketing brand names) that it was hard for anyone outside the company to understand. Images (yes, images are content too) were old and poorly optimized, and they incorporated a myriad of photo styles, none of which went together. The client was going to implement a new content management system, which is very robust but needs a lot of management on the development side to institute roles and define content types. What was needed was a true content strategist.

A content strategist works with a client to understand what content will end up on a site, how that content will be organized, what processes will be in place to manage content of different types, and how various types of content relate to one another. Content strategists are part information architects and part copywriters, with a dash of user advocate thrown in. They create rules-based approaches for refining existing content, enhance search optimization of content through metatags and keywords, and develop new content.

While working with an information architect (IA) is necessary in nearly all web and application design projects, for large brochure and information-rich sites a content strategist on the team is also invaluable.

The benefits of working with a content strategist:

• Content strategists are more focused on the specific content of the site and not just the organization of that content as it relates to the overall architecture, as an IA would be.
• A content strategist can develop a matrix that defines content types and sets up relevance relationships to shape how content is linked throughout the site.
• Content strategists can set up keyword, data tag, and metatag information for content elements and pages.
• Content strategists can set up rules for content, such as whether a page title also becomes the menu title to navigate to that page, or whether images should have captions. These details are often too granular for an IA to be involved with.
• A content strategist can define data elements for individual page templates and help the IA structure the priority for those elements. This can be a way to organize existing content, or to help understand what important content elements might be missing.
• Content strategists can help define roles for those who edit content. In complex companies, multiple levels of access and workflow processes might be needed. This “behind the scenes” look into content creation is something information architects don’t often perform.

I recently gave a lecture to the advanced web design class at Farmingdale College. When I met up with professor Jack Harris, he informed me that the kids, mostly juniors and seniors,  saw Loewy Design’s page in the Flash/Dreamweaver Genius Guide, and they were looking forward to meeting with me. A bit embarrassed and very flattered, I asked Jack what book was he talking about and where could I get one.

I later found out that the book is published by Imagine Publishing and promises to be the essential guide to dynamic design and development. We were recognized for our website’s approach to animation and design using purely CSS and Javascript, a technological accomplishment but not exactly what I wanted to talk about in my little seminar. My talk was about the real world lessons that you can’t get from a textbook. I wanted to focus on the process of solving business and branding problems with the online medium.

I tried to push their tech questions aside but they kept coming. I eventually got my point across that the technology we’re using today will be completely different when the students immerse themselves in the job market. They’ll need to educate themselves on the latest versions of Flash and Dreamweaver and keep up with always evolving programming languages throughout their careers.

The most valuable information I could share with them was to describe our thought processes, not only about making a website look great but about creating one that will actually help your clients solve their business challenges. I gave them our secret sauce on how we deliver positive results to our clients and improve their bottom lines.  As a take-away, I provided them, and now you, with a list of reference tools organized by each phase of our process.

By no means is this the complete list, since it too is always evolving, but it could serve as a nice resource and good starting point for students, clients and peers.

The history of branding goes back nearly 4,000 years; it was originally conceived to promote ownership. Branding today represents something far more complicated and even elusive for many companies. Today the concept of branding has much more to do with engagement than with ownership. And the act of branding has less to do with a product or service and more to do with the way a company engages an audience with that product or service.

Take a positive experience you’ve had with a brand. What about the experience made it enjoyable? Everything about that experience was an example of branding, from purchasing it to opening up the package (assuming it was a product) to using it for the first time and every time since. If you love that product then the company is doing a good job of branding.

Now think about how this translates online. Take, for example, large media sites like Google or Yahoo. For many people these destination sites have become their default homepage. It is because they are engaging with their users over and over again. In some cases a site you like may have only been a temporary stop for you, or as in the case of Google one you return to often. The point is that if you remember them and go back they are also doing a good job of branding.

If you’re looking for ways your company can do a better job of branding online, here are some suggestions:

1. Interact with your own site often.
It doesn’t matter if you have a social media, product brochure, news, or any other kind of site. You should know it backwards and forwards and should be able to tell what’s good about it and what’s not. You should consider this from both your and the typical user’s perspective. Think about where your site is presenting compelling information, where it’s asking users if they want to connect, and how those connections are nurtured and maintained. Make a list of things you’re doing well. Note where things can improve and what should get tossed altogether.

2. Make sure that the design and usability of your site match the intended position you want your brand to have.
Do you have a fashion product, a toy, a set of corporate services you’re selling? How is the design of your site reflecting that? Who are the audiences that come to your site? Are they the audiences you are trying to cultivate? Are you engaging with them in ways that are most comfortable for them? A brand audit can help you identify how users are connecting with your brand, and what their perceptions are.

3. Offer ways for your users to connect with you.
These can be in the form of a user’s forum, or a Twitter or Facebook page. The point of these is to be engaged. Talk to your customers and allow them to talk to each other. For many businesses this sounds like a dangerous proposition but more often than not, repeat business and referrals are the best ways to build brand loyalty. What’s also good about this is you can help frame the conversation and if something negative does come out of this interaction you can react to it before it snowballs out of control.

4. Talk to a professional.
Branding is complicated. In many cases it requires nuances that only a professional who’s been doing it for a while can provide. Understanding where your brand is today, how it got there, and where it’s headed is often very difficult for someone on the inside and too close to that brand. It often takes an outside perspective to get a full understanding and a new brand strategy.

Recently a client asked us for our opinion on a Digimag (or whatever-you-call-it) service called Ceros. I’ve seen this technology grow in popularity over the years, and I have to admit Ceros has taken it to a higher plane. Their product and experience is rich with video, animation and interactivity – but so what.

I can see how print publishers would really love for this page-flipping technology to take off. Their print advertising windows are closing quickly, yet their online advertising windows are not opening fast enough. With Digimags, they are offering an online add-on, attempting to close the deal with the advertiser on that expensive print inside cover or center spread.  In my opinion, this is just another way of putting off the inevitable transition from print to true online publishing – publishing that is centered around knowledge exchange, content that takes place on a variety of platforms and advertising programs based on audience relevance and brand engagement.

Furthermore, is there really a mass audience for Digimags? Nxtbook Media, another digital magazine service, has an interesting real-time map illustrating how often Digimags are read across the globe.  While this is a cool use of Google’s API, showing a reader or two per second – this map is an insult to a publisher’s intelligence.  According to their site, 1.3 million people read a Digimag per month.  That sounds like a lot – but it pales in comparison to the number of people who read online magazines every day.

Digimags are not the panacea for publishers’ woes.  They sacrifice the standards and best practices of web publishing. The content has poor search visibility; there is no room for user-generated content; you need to click and enlarge to read; and you have to drag your electronic paper around to navigate.  Perhaps their future is better suited to a different device, such as the Kindle, as stated in this article.

Finally, producing an issue of a Digimag can cost as much as $100 per page.  Why not put that towards building a sustainable online magazine for your audience and your advertisers?