Just Another Manic Cyber Monday

It's Cyber Monday, the online shopping cousin of Black Friday. Historically, this is a day when Internet retailers pull out all the online sale stops to engage consumers to act. But more than any year in recent memory, the day after Thanksgiving seemed to have the same goal. Online holiday shopping powered by social media check-ins and blowout price reductions seems to have fared well this Black Friday. So why the fuss over Cyber Monday? Considering the propensity for heavy shopping traffic to effectively shut down websites, the answer ironically might be a more reliable customer experience.
Let's take in-store check-ins for instance. In order for these types of online to offline social media campaigns to be successful, employees of participating retailers must be kept in the know. The Gap recently launched a social media campaign offering free jeans to the first 10,000 people to check-in at Facebook Places. According to some shoppers, several Gap employees were completely unaware of the free jeans promotion. Though a full scale revolt was prevented, those customers that did not score swag were displeased. Needless to say, this is the not the kind of brand awareness businesses are looking to generate especially around the holidays. For online shoppers, check-ins could generate coupon codes or increase sale offerings. The incentives are optimized and tested within the website. This provides customers with cost assurance, alleviates stress and makes for a more merry and bright shopping experience. Though I doubt The Gap will be offering free pants anytime soon.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The holiday season is fast approaching. You know what that means – turkey (or tofurkey depending on your culinary preference), football and online shopping. Black Friday, traditionally regarded as a nationwide day after Thanksgiving raid on retail storefronts, is becoming more of a digital force. Based on the number of Black Friday sales offered online, Black should be replaced with Bargain. Friday branding aside, performance marketers across all channels should begin tailoring highly targeted campaigns for the day after Thanksgiving and the holiday season as a whole to drive results for advertisers and publishers.

Online coupons figure to be used heavily by savvy shoppers but focusing primarily on this tactic to generate new business could alienate existing customers. Media buys on top-performing, contextually and lifestyle relevant sites must target shoppers with purchasing intent, not passing site visitors. Opt-in campaigns must be more dynamic and consumer friendly. Banner ads need to be more engaging to increase conversions to sale. For seasonal Search initiatives, driving highly relevant traffic is key.

The strategies outlined are consistent with those of performance marketers year round. However, the holiday season presents digital marketers with a shorter window of opportunity to drive ROI. Hitting the right target, whether that is a new or current consumer, is essential.

The Implications of Do-Not-Track

Every week it seems a new wrinkle in the privacy debate makes the news wire. Late last week, the Federal Trade Commission announced preliminary plans for the creation of a Do-Not-Track list. The goal of Do-Not-Track would be to levy stricter regulations on behavioral online ad targeting. Is that a collective gasp I hear along digital advertising channels? Grab a paper bag and take some deep breaths. Upon further examination, there’s not much cause for alarm.

Online advertisers are not telemarketers. They are not hamstrung by the telephone. And their processes for the consumer, notably opt-in and opt-out functionalities, are already user-friendly making Do-Not-Track more of a political tool than an advertising detriment. Do-Not-Track will not reduce the number of ads consumers see. It would prevent ads from being targeted to sites a user has visited. But if a user likes receiving targeted ads, he or she simply wouldn’t subscribe to the list.

Given the attention privacy issues have received this year, it is understandable and somewhat commendable that the government wants to act. But by drafting up weightless and needless legislation, continuing to focus on platforms like Do-Not-Track does not make sense.

Privacy Moves Beyond Facebook

It has finally happened – privacy now transcends Facebook. Potential congressional legislation spearheaded by Virginia Democrat, Representative Rick Boucher, would require ad networks to obtain user consent to track their third party activity by way of an opt-in option.  Ad agencies are understandably miffed by Boucher’s proposal fearing it will stifle their ability to market brands and services in what has always been a free-flowing Internet.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is also up in arms over the proposed legislation, especially the section that calls for consumer consent when agencies collect information via cookies, IP addresses or unique user names. On the flipside, consumer groups fear the legislation does not go far enough instituting protections. In this curious game of privacy 'He said, she said', one must ask why this is a relevant political hot potato.

Rick Boucher uses Twitter. He is on Facebook. How can someone clearly trying to benefit from social media, so-called privacy infringing social media, be so hell bent on passing this type of bill? Welcome to campaign season. Representative Boucher is facing a serious challenge to his seat. Positioning himself as a champion of the people could serve him well in his campaign. Considering Facebook came out of its privacy battle relatively unscathed, Boucher's fight could help him without adversely impacting the digital landscape.

Interactive should take a collective deep breath. In a world where people routinely divulge their location via mass tweet or subscribe to mobile applications trading personal info for a great deal on designer shoes, Boucher's bill - pass or no pass - will go a long way toward eventually killing itself.

Tweeting for Cha-Ching

Twitter has announced its intention to enter the world of advertising, posting ad tweets to searches. When word broke, a collective tweet of horror emanated from Twitter’s vast online networking space. But are the alarm bells unwarranted? If there was a tweet for the word yes, this would be the perfect time to make that little blue birdie sing.
Twitter’s simple, non-invasive advertising plan goes like this – brands with websites on Twitter or those interested in developing such an online presence will be able to purchase what Twitter’s calling Promoted Tweets about their products; the goal being top placement on search engines. In actuality, Twitter has been an unofficial advertising medium for some time. Unlike those informal ads, Promoted Tweets will be obvious enough to get noticed but understated enough to ward off mass user hysteria.
Twitter’s marketing model seems like a well-executed no-brainer but if you read between the lines, you’ll grasp its underlying significant message – Twitter needs loot. And their mechanism for generating profit should prove fruitful for both the social media giant and advertising brands, especially if the latter are wise enough to acquire Promoted Tweets on trending topic searches.
Promoted Tweets, as currently constituted, is a PPC system, charging companies for every 1000 people who view a tweet. So how does this news positively affect performance marketing? Perhaps the question should be posed as follows – How can savvy marketers effectively incorporate Promoted Tweets into their marketing spend? Our agency needs to strike while the ad tweeting is hot to help advertisers recognize precisely when potential customers are seeking information on desire products or services, thus, enabling them to get the highest return on their marketing spend.