Online Marketing Archives

How mobile friendly are you?

Mobiles and tablets are becoming the most used internet device, taking over desktop computers and laptops.

And, it’s forecasted that their use with only continue to grow.

Now, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your brand and customer experience on a small device is your number one priority.

There is no point ignoring the rise of the smart phone as your business will be left behind.

Besides getting your website mobile friendly there are many ways you can utlilse the rise of smartphone use to benefit your business…

Apps – Work great for online stores or where you can offer an extension of your services.

Advertising – There are various forms of mobile advertising including In-App & In-Game advertising. App use equates for 80% of mobile use so this can be an effective tool when you want to engage in very specific targeting.

SMS Marketing – An easy way to get a message or offer to your target consumers wherever they are and whatever they are doing.

Most of us are permanently connected to the internet these days, you only have to lift your head up when out at a café to see how many other patrons have their head down consumed in their smart phones.

If you haven’t considered how mobile friendly your online presence is, or you don’t even know if your website is mobile friendly, now is the time to call QA. We can arrange an assessment of your website and online offerings and advise you on the next steps you need to take.

Media Consumption and how our habits are changing

How much media do you consume? On a Daily basis? A weekly basis?

Here’s an average day for me:

30 min of TV in the morning before work
15 min of Social Media on a Mobile Device
15 min of Radio on the way to work
15 min of online news on a PC
8 hours of listening to the Radio at work
2 hours minimum online throughout work
15 min of Social Media or browsing over Lunch on a Mobile Device
15 min of Radio on the way home from work
15 min of Social Media on a Mobile Device
3 hours of TV at night
30 min of online browsing on a Mobile Device across the evening

My daily habits mean that I consume a massive 15 hours and 15 minutes a day of media. This is potentially several hours of advertising each and every day; I’m a great target for advertisers.

One of the major changes to media consumption in recent years is reflected in my usual day by the usage of a mobile device being either my iPhone or iPad which lets me access the internet at virtually any moment.

So how does this all fit together within the world of advertising. Here is a simple example of my own habits explains. After spending the last few days browsing online furniture retailers I have been considering purchasing a few items for my home, obviously there are so many options around today that this becomes a tedious task. After noticing the end of a winter sale on TV last night I grabbed my iPad which was sitting in its usual spot (on the coffee table in front of the TV) and had a quick browse, no purchases were made. This morning on the way to work I heard a radio commercial from the same retailer, on my lunch break I decided to jump on my mobile phone and have another browse which ended in purchasing a new dining suite which will now be delivered to my home within 3-10 business days.

Mobile devices give us the ability to search, browse and shop online and make decisions anywhere and anytime of day. Making advertising your product even more important.

We all face an overload of media each day but if your advertising is not being seen or heard it will be your competitors advertising that will be catching the potential customers that you will be missing out on.

Does anyone pay attention to Online Advertising?

We all know there is advertising online because we have all seen it. But when it comes to placing online advertising, clients always ask with hesitation ‘Does anyone pay attention to Online Advertising?’

Roy Morgan research reveals that consumers do notice online advertising but the level of engagement is linked to their age.

Source: Roy Morgan, July 2012 – June 2013 (n = 9,743).

Generational definitions: Pre-Boomers: born pre-1946; Baby Boomers: 1946-1960; Generation X: 1961-1975; Generation Y: 1976-1990; Generation Z: 1991-2005

As to be expected, the younger the audience the more engagement they have online. The younger generations of today have grown up in the digital revolution and as more of them are online, own smart phones and watch online video, they are much more likely to see and also notice online advertising. The 65+ market are the least likely to get engaged with online advertising, both because there are less of this age group online, and because they are less likely to trust online advertising.

How to best target your audience online?

According to Roy Morgan Research consumers aged 39 and under spend close to 17 hours online a week, and 40% of them are willing to click through on an online ad. This is an age group you could effectively target online through banner ads, display ads and digital videos.

If you want to target the 50+ market online, who spend an average 5 – 13 hours online a week you will reach a higher audience with an email newsletter rather than that of a banner ad. 65% of the 50+ market are willing to read an email newsletter, as opposed to only 35% of the 39 and under market. The older audience are more trusting to a personalised email and more likely to engage.

The next thing to get right of course is your creative! (And that’s another topic in itself!) You won’t get any success from online advertising if your ad is annoying, intrusive or simply not informative.

Contact Sunny Media and we help plan your online campaign. Check out our website for more information www.sunnymedia.com.au

Digital Marketing 101 – What YOU Need to Know for 2014

Matt Travers is a Campaign Manager at Reload Media, Sunny Media’s digital marketing partner. Reload and QA work together to ensure that clients have an integrated marketing strategy across traditional and digital mediums. If you find this article useful, please share on your preferred social channel.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

What do you need to know about digital marketing in 2014? Well, there definitely is a world marketplace for more than 5 computers; in fact by the end of 2014 the number of personal computers in use is expected to topple 2 billion.

Take in to account the number of internet connected smart phones, tablets, watches and toasters (I wouldn’t be surprised) and you get yourself a great deal of consumer touch points if you’re a marketer.

In order to establish what you need to know about digital marketing in 2014, we need to take a step down Google lane and see how the industry has evolved so far.

Major milestones include the extreme growth of Google AdWords, display advertising and the uprising of mobile internet use.

So what can we expect this year?

Content marketing has already taken shape as one of the most important activities that your site/brand should be undertaking.

2014 will see content marketing not as an add-on to your digital marketing activity, but a necessity. If the Google search results were a mountain and your website a car, you better hope your filling the fuel tank with the premium unleaded 98 version of content; that provides value and helps your target market. Once your fuel tank is full, it’s all about how you drive it to ensure you reach the top of the mountain.

Mobile continues to grow rapidly, with search advertising on mobile devices expected to grow by 76% in 2014 and mobile banner advertising expected to grow by 100%. Mobile is a piece of the digital marketing pie (it’s a big pie) that you can’t ignore!

Social media is another hot topic when it comes to digital marketing. From a recent survey, 100% of business decision makers use social media for work purposes, 79% of marketers have integrated social media into their traditional marketing activities, and 33% of consumers cite social networks as a way they discover new brands, products or services. Social media is proving to be a great introduction piece to your marketing. Is your business utilising social to it’s full potential?

Driving a well-planned content, mobile and social strategy is all well and good…from a micro perspective. Making sure you look at the bigger picture and try and gain as much leverage off each channel is really what 2014 is going to be all about. Marketers will be looking to gain as much leverage as possible from offline channels to the online world, which, as proven by Google, is where the majority of consumer research is undertaken when looking for a product or service.

So don’t be surprised if more and more TV/radio ads plug specific URLs instead of a phone number or if a newspaper offer is redeemable purely online rather than in store.

So in short, what you need to know is leverage, leverage, and leverage. Visualise your marketing plan on a cork board and connect the dots if you have to, because chances are that there are consumer touch points you are missing out on due to placing your marketing activity in silos.

Remember, if you found this article useful, feel free to tip the author by sharing this article on your preferred social channel.

Matt Travers, Campaign Manager, Reload Media

Traditional and digital media proving to be good partners

Traditional media still has an important place in advertising campaigns as long as its understood how to leverage the benefits of an integrated digital campaign according to Sunny Media director Roger Delaney.

“Two years ago it became quite clear to us that as a media advertising agency we needed to embrace and lead the way in the digital space for all our clients. At that time we searched the country looking for a suitable partner who could help integrate traditional strategies with the brave new world of digital media and we eventually partnered with a Brisbane based digital marketing firm called Reload Media.

“Reload now works with our clients to boost their digital marketing performance and as one of the few Google accredited agencies in Australia we now work side by side on all media strategies. We’ve seen firsthand how traditional and digital media can work together to help improve our client’s overall presence in the marketplace.

“We call it the ‘leaky bucket theory’ and that ensures our traditional advertising spend is not wasted when people go to find the business on the internet,” he said.

Rhys Furner from Reload Media says businesses may have recently seen their websites drop in the Google rankings and this is a result of its recent change of its algorithm, now called Hummingbird.

“Hummingbird is a new program which will better reward those businesses who have invested in producing great quality content and optimised websites. It is designed to give people better search results for their query.

“Essentially Google has become more efficient at determining what information a searcher wants to see and the key to improving a site’s Google ranking is to produce high quality, unique, genuinely helpful and shareable content on your website through a blog or resource section such as articles, infographics or videos.

“We are working with Sunny Media’s clients to improve their search presence and rankings so that Google will pick up on the themes around this content and begin to identify their relevance for particular search phrases.

“Google’s goal is to give people the information they want so when you align this with your website, you will reap the rewards from search engines, especially Google,” he said.

Roger Delaney, Managing Director Sunny Media

Roger Delaney, Managing Director at Sunny Media

Rhy Furner, Digital Strategist at Reload Media

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