strategy

Digital Magazine Advertising

September 8th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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A recent discussion on the MediaPRO community site prompted me to address digital edition magazine advertising.  Specifically, web based banner ads in and around digital magazines.
I agree with the need for publishers to view their digital editions as a unique brand element. Editorial multimedia and augmented ad or commercial capabilities are also excellent in digital format.  We want our print readers to be excited about the same magazine issue in their email inbox as the digital version to see the “interactive and multimedia version” of the issue.  We also want them to view web based elements that have been optimized for the website.
However, I don’t think a digital edition issue or platform is “monetized” by adding player frame banners or ad serving zones inside the issue.  Especially generic served ads.  Show a bank of text ads or an ad for a product/service with no connection to your brand and you’ll let everyone know immediately the value of your advertising program. Every magazine is different in terms of objectives online, but most publishers want to achieve a quality cover-to-cover browsing experience with their digital magazines.  Let’s not forget that a full page ad in a digital edition is an advertisement (much better than a banner ad) and should be producing ad revenue in that digital display format.  And even more revenue if the ad has been enhanced, optimized, or provides interactive elements.
I feel that relevant ads, quality creative guidelines, within the digital magazine, that enhance the reader experience, and maintain a proper multimedia balance for reader expectations will produce higher long term value and revenue to the publisher.
Please share your ideas and examples of digital magazines that are producing audience development and advertiser results.

A recent discussion on the MediaPRO community site prompted me to share my take on digital edition magazine advertising.  Specifically, web based banner ads in and around digital magazines.

2009-09-08_1032_digitaleditions

I agree with the need for publishers to view their digital editions as a unique brand element. Editorial multimedia and augmented ad or commercial capabilities are also excellent in digital format.  We want our print readers to be excited about the same magazine issue in their email inbox as the digital version to see the “interactive and multimedia version” of the issue.  We also want them to view web based elements that have been optimized for the website.

However, I don’t think a digital edition issue or platform is “monetized” by adding player frame banners or ad serving zones inside the issue.  Especially generic served ads.  Show a bank of text ads or an ad for a product/service with no connection to your brand and you’ll let everyone know immediately the value of your advertising program. Every magazine is different in terms of objectives online, but most publishers want to achieve a quality cover-to-cover browsing experience with their digital magazines.  Let’s not forget that a full page ad in a digital edition is an advertisement (much better than a banner ad) and should be producing ad revenue in that digital display format.  And even more revenue if the ad has been enhanced, optimized, or provides interactive elements.

I feel that relevant ads, quality creative guidelines, within the digital magazine, that enhance the reader experience, and maintain a proper multimedia balance for reader expectations will produce higher long term value and revenue to the publisher.

Please share your ideas and examples of digital magazines that are producing audience development and advertiser results.

Image: Digital Editions Discussion Group from MediaPRO

Storytlr lifestream

August 26th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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I was recently reading My Thoughts on Posterous as a Lifestreaming Platform at the lifestreamblog.com by Mark Krynsky.  Have you ever thought about your own interactions with multiple social tools?

I’m interested in aggregation, optimization, and ease of use when sharing my own ideas and stories.  But I also understand and enjoy the specific social media platforms and know that the benefit of those features exists when directly accessing the platform.

Sweetcron is an open source php sysql favorite that I highly recommend. I use it as a news feed for my own industry. Posterous seems to be a great way to share posts in a way that drove my interest in Ping.fm.

Enter Storytlr!

storytlr

Storytlr seems to be a good fit for an individual that wants to have a clean lifestream.

Import your web 2.0 life.

Pick your sources and they will appear as a lifestream directly on your site. We currently support the following services:
Storytlr Social Media

Post anything you want

In just a few simple steps you can update your status, share a song you liked, give your opinion or link to an interesting site.

via storytlr | your life online.

I’ve started my storytlr account and I’ll let you know how I begin to use the service.

WordPress URL Shortening like Bit.ly and Tinyurl.com

August 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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I will be installing this WordPress URL shortening plugin Link Shortcut on my blog.

Got this and some additional info on the 301 (vs 302 redirect) update from Rae Hoffman at http://outspokenmedia.com.  My first install had something error and I did not receive the plugins settings but did get a flush of info on my admin page. So without further delay, I give you “How To Easily Create Your Own URL Shortener With WordPress.”

Since it’s entirely possible to shorten our own URLs and I’m not super technical, I went in search of a WordPress plugin that could help me along in the process and came across Link Shortcut. This appeared to have all the functionality I wanted (you can define random strings or generate your own, you can specify a sub-folder if you want and you can set a default length for the URL to ensure you don’t go over the “Twitter max”.)

via How To Easily Create Your Own URL Shortener With WordPress.

Here is a manually generated short URL:
http://davorado.com/8e

Which was created using the following URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishing

Download Plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/link-shortcut/


Facebook vs. Twitter – Oh Ya, It’s On!

June 26th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments

It’s clear Facebook is watching the popular objective of capturing the answer to “What are you doing now” or “What’s on your mind” or how ever you want to say it.  Funny that the most simple of user requested feedback is the backbone to the most popular social tools of the new information age.

Any doubts that Facebook has Twitter in its sights were laid to rest yesterday as the most popular social network announced very Twitter-like changes to its Publish feature. Users now will be able to send messages to “Everyone” and not just their network of subscribed friends. This makes messages visible to Google searches and other Facebook feeds or people who are not subscribed as friends.

via Facebook vs. Twitter: It’s On! :: MinOnline.

Viigo – Living Life Untethered

June 17th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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Grabbed a great tweet today with a frame bar by Viigo.  Since I’m in an office with Blackberries running wild, I thought I’d better share this link.   The key here is a focus on wireless (again I find the word wireless a bit dated in modern use) content.

Viigo™ is revolutionizing the way people access information on their smartphones. Every day, Viigo addicts around the world rely on Viigo as their gateway to a vast array of useful, up-to-the-minute content and services, wherever they are and whenever they need it

via About Us | Company | Viigo | Living Life Untethered.

Content you can take on the road.  It’s one app you’ll want to watch!

Facebook User Growth and Revenue Strategy

June 13th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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A recent story I dugg, gave me a moment to consider again advertising models for Facebook. So I decided to make a blog post based on the recent announcement and some ideas about Facebook and advertising overall.

The TechCrunch story, “Facebook Nabs The Man Who Engineered Google AdSense For Many Years” cites Facebook’s official statement that Greg will be a director of engineering.

Greg J. Badros’s Home Page

After three years at InfoSpace, in March 2003, I left Seattle and moved to Mountain View, California to work in the systems lab at Google Inc. where I am currently employed. From 2004 to 2007, I led Google’s AdSense engineering team. From February 2007 to March 2009, I led several of the consumer Apps engineering teams including Gmail, Calendar, and Reader. From March 2009 to the present, I lead the Application Platform group.

via Greg J. Badros’s Home Page.

There are many opportunties for revenue from facebook. But these all depend on the continued growth Facebook.

Facebook was extremly intriguing for me when I first learned of how to connect with old friends. I quickly realized that the streams of professional contacts, personal family contacts, and new social media friends were not all suited to the same information access privelages. This was not completely solved with the ability to create friend lists. Friend lists still don’t support a privacy methadology that would allow someone to truly control group relationship dynamics.

This is the one reason that Facebook has left the door open for a future competitor to address these aspects directly (probably Google) or the right power user social solution may come via the extension of Twitter to aggregate content like Facebook and provide users complete and not limited control.

Thus, the ultimate revenue model for Facebook would be supported by insuring more control to the leader users. It’s the advanced users that want these features, even if they come in the form of premium features. Hint, hint; there’s money in giving power users the control they need to make Facebook the hub of their online profile, social, and communications management.

Next, “get the ads right.” If you show the right ads to the right people, everyone wins. Create a commercial real estate district on Facebook for people seeking pages, groups, or information related to user interests.

Allow both page owners to pay premium fees to remove ads and charge advertisers for contracting a page position. Continue to get add feedback and ratings. Asking users for thumbs up and down is a great way to keep relevant ads in front of your users. An ad headline of “$72/hr summer job pay” is probably misleading -I thumbed down and classified it as such. Keeping excellent creative and real value ads will be critical or users will tune out the ads very quickly.

Wired Magazine Fan Page

Wired Magazine Fan Page

Consumers like ads. The complaints about ads and marketers are always driven by poor ad experiences. Most magazines understand the need for the right ads to balance editorial, enhance the presentation, and please readers. I read many magazines for the ads alone. I use many products and services advertised to me via the right magazine.

When I’m on facebook, looking at the WIRED magazine page, show me ads for gadgets, tech, online tools, and apps – not the ad you have right now with the headline “Owe Over 10K in Debt.”

Facebook is positioned for success. They continue to acquire talent. I’d bet they have a few aces ready for announcement this year and we will continue to see impressive growth results.

Facebook Username URL

June 11th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | 2 Comments
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Facebook will soon offer vanity username URLs.

We’re planning to offer Facebook usernames to make it easier for people to find and connect with you. When your friends, family members or co-workers visit your profile or Pages on Facebook, they will be able to enter your username as part of the URL in their browser. This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you. We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook username in the future.

via Facebook | Coming Soon: Facebook Usernames.

Implications: It’s likely that if you choose a vanity URL for your name or brand that your facebook page will appear in a very high if not the top organic search position based on a search.

Another implication is the statement on their blog, “We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook username in the future.”

If you use your facebook account as a brand asset, I’d keep the coffee hot for Friday night.

iPhone Apps Still Need Marketing

June 4th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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iPhone apps are certainly hot. AdAge recently wrote an article about the developer of the Brushes iPhone App.  The important take away is that there are many apps out there that don’t make money.  Getting the app to the store is just the first step.

All iPhone Apps must also be 3.0 compatible. TechRadar

Increasingly, apps have to be supported by traditional marketing; otherwise they have little chance of making it to many iPhone screens. “The App Store is not a marketing vehicle; it is a distribution vehicle,” said Raven Zachary, president of digital creative firm Small Society.

via Mobile Marketing: Just Having an iPhone App Isn’t Enough – Advertising Age – Digital.

Twitter Status – Unscheduled downtime

May 30th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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Scheduled or unscheduled, how do you satisfy a user base that is becoming increasingly dependent upon your service?  Twitter is to big to allow server and technology issues impede growth plans.  But the frequent mid-afternoon craw and now even weekend failure pose a threat to the leader.

The Internets are impatient!  And there will come a day when Facebook or another “like structured” micro blogging system takes advantage of an outtage to announce a better and different model.

Perhaps a model where real engagement drives success and not just followers. Perhaps a model that allows other users to rate content; delivery; and appropriateness of posts.  Perhaps a model that allows for separation and tuning of noise vs. signal.  Perhaps the client application like Tweetdeck builds in a bridge mode using Identi.ca or similar platform.  What’s Ping.fm working on these days…

TechCrunch covered the service problem citing others poking fun at the fail… Yes, Twitter is down. Yes, again. Yes, they’re looking into it. Yes, this is another Twitter post.

Official Twitter Status Update: May 30, 2009 7:50 PST.

Unscheduled downtime 1 hour ago

  • We are investigating the problem and will update status shortly.
  • Update: We have found the problem and are working to correct.
  • Update: We have corrected a fatal software error. The site is back up.

via Twitter Status.

Growing pains are bound to occur.  It’s tough being the best on the block.  If I were the Twitter CEO, well… lets just stop there. LOL!

Microsoft has announced the ‘Bing’ search engine

May 29th, 2009 | Posted in Blog, strategy | No Comments
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Search is very important.  It’s how we find answers and information everyday.

We are just getting our mind around Wolfram|Alpha a new type of search and Microsoft has announced their candidate in the search space dominated by Google.

WolframAlpha

WolframAlpha is different in that it can give us the information we seek instead of piecing it together with what we find on Google.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has unveiled Bing, the company’s revamped search engine and a key component in its online strategy.

via Microsoft unveils ‘Bing’ search engine – ZDNet.co.uk.

The current site bing.com has their Coming Soon splash page. 

Bing

According to Rupert Goodwins ZDNet.co.uk, Microsoft is calling Bing a “decision engine” rather than a search engine.

Cuil

Didn’t we have big enthusiasm with Cuil (read more) recently.  I really liked the visual presentation of Cuil results and the suggestions and related keywords.  

But for some reason, it didn’t end up on a bookmark where I would conveniently use it on a regular basis.  

It’s not reasonable to me that a new search engine player enters the market and changes habbits of going to Google.  If the new search entrants want to gain presence, they should be partnering with social media sites as the exclusive search tool.  Imagine if Bing was integrated better with Twitter search than any other tool?  Or if Cuil was acquired by Facebook and bacame all Facebook users “right column” search for everything tool.

I’m sure the high level strategy teams are thinking about these things.  You wan’t to see the game get interesting? Just wait until you hear about one of the big players announce what I just proposed.

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