News Round-Up: On Measurement

Source: ComScore via Ad Age

In the graph above, shown on AdAge Digital we find that YouTube views are falling.  But how can this be? After all "60 hours of video are uploaded every minute." Well, it looks like in an effort to monetize the service further, YouTube is becoming more channel driven and changing it's metrics away from views. "On March 15, YouTube altered its recommendation system to make the time spent with a video or channel a stronger indicator than a click in determining which videos to surface to a user," says Ad Age. It's no competition for Hulu yet in terms of long-form viewing, but perhaps HBO's decision to air their new programs on YouTube could be a foreshadowing of growth in this area.

So, YouTube is moving away from clicks and towards engagement. How else are we measuring our new media?

A post on Ad Age says of Web Video "You still have a large subset of the ad-buying population that is either overwhelmed by the data itself or don't think it's measurable. People do not have [video] built into their media-mix models, and I think some still don't believe there is a [gross rating point]-equivalent number they can get to. A number of different providers have been pushing GRPs, but most of the media-buying population has not been educated yet on how to plan around them. "

Social Media Today says "We are currently in the third iteration of social media, and adoption is quickly becoming more measurement-focused," noting that "An Altimeter Group report found that 70% of businesses believed social media could meet business objectives, but only 43% had a formalized strategy for how social would meet their specific business goals."

Shared on the Community 2.0 LinkedIn group was the following Infographic: User Activity on Social Networks via Web100 blog. (In keeping with our last post from Millennial Mega Mashup, we see that 26 – 44 year olds make up 50%+ of Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn & Pinterest users.) Time spent and unique users are the two key elements tracked for these stats.

A recent BIA/Kelsey U.S. Social Media Advertising Forecast predicts social ad revenues climbing from $3.8 billion to $9.8 billion citing "improvement in ad unit performance" as one of the reasons for the growth.

One of the easiest ways to see success with this social media ad spending is on the local front. As Forbes pointed out "The numbers also explain why local merchants keep coming back to the daily deal model, despite its numerous drawbacks." The mixing of social and mobile drive sales directly to stores in a very measurable manner.

The key take-aways here? Measure what matters to you (conversion rates, referrals, engagement? Find what matches your overall strategy.) Go beyond clicks to a deeper level of engagement. Play to the strengths of the medium.

What are you measuring in social media?

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com 

Mobile & Social Insights from #MegaMashup

In case you missed it, some of the Mobile Marketing Conference team headed back to Miami this week for the Millennial Mega Mashup event. Focused on understanding the mindset of the millennial, there was obviously a lot of talk about Mobile technology.

Some highlights and key takeaways from the event were:

Instagram has already passed the Web verb test. You know something is sticking around when you can use it as a verb, and the kids are into "instagramming." Part of the "new-stalgia" trend, Instagram provides millennials with the ability to be nostalgic for a moment that never even truly existed.

Shazam! Social TV is here to stay. Rick Liebling, Creative Culturalist, Young & Rubicam spoke about the many ways brands can use new social apps to create a seamless advertising experience. A viewer may look away from the screen during a commercial, but they will be turning their eyes to their phones and using apps like GetGlue and Shazam you can incorporate this trend into your advertising strategy. Read a post by Rick on this topic on Mashable here.

The panel of older Millennials expressed a love hate relationship with technology, meanwhile the younger millennials in the live focus group called Facebook "boring" (despite not being legally old enough to use it!)

We also heard about ways that businesses are using social media to recruit Millennials and learned that "Generation Innovation" is putting aside traditional education and paths to success, saying you can now "Google how to be a CEO."

To read full event coverage visit megamashup.tumblr.com

 

Digital News Roundup: What's New? What's Next?

One of our favorite pastimes around here is keeping an ear our for trends happening in the digital and social space. Inspired by our recent learnings at The Mobile Marketing conference and always eager to know what else is out there, let's use this space to browse and share together throughout the year.

In the mobile space, Marketing Profs shared some findings from Sensis and White Horse (pictured left) on Hispanic use of mobile for "showrooming"


In fact, Mobile continues to grow with many audiences leading to innovative uses worldwide. This Springwise post highlights "Korea’s Waffle platform, which enables businesses to offer free internet access to customers who like them on Facebook." as well as a WiFi portal that rewards responsible dog walkers. It may sound silly, but it is further evidence of a trend away from "the web" being a destination towards the internet being always all around us.

This piece in Forbes claimed "We will never have Web 3.0, because the Web’s dead." warning that web giants will "will have all the money in the world to try and adapt to the shift to mobile but history suggests they won’t be able to successfully do it."

Weather they will be successful is still up in the air, but they certainly seem to be making a go of it. Chief Facebook Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg recently stated “Mobile is a key area of growth for Facebook,” and new mobile search ad improvements recently announced for Google.

Facebook is deeply embedded in other trends right now as well. Most recently, a trend towards bridging online and offline for retailers. One Brazilian retailer is displaying "likes" in real-time and other stores are allowing users to give away free gift cards to friends in exchange for Facebook attention. Additionally, the impact of their recent decision to purchase Instagram has yet to be fully understood, but chances are it will pay off.

Meanwhile we would be remiss not to mention that the other social network, LinkedIn, is having a bit of a moment right now. The site "rose to the highest price since its market debut after reporting first-quarter sales and profit that beat analysts' estimates amid a jump in membership" and purchased SlideShare as well. Given this news, it doesn't appear that any of our current web giants are going to be out for the count anytime soon, but we'll be curious to see how these trends play out.

Have you noticed any digital marketing trends lately, share with us in the comments!


Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com