2008 January

Email Marketing Solutions/Packages

January 31, 2008 By Manoj Jasra 2 Comments

Email marketing campaigns are still widely used in online marketing strategies. It becomes very important to measure the overall effectiveness of a campaign so that when you deliver content your readers actually engage with it. Many of the standard email marketing solutions offer metric tracking such as:

Email Opens
Bounces
Email Forwards
Links Clicked (ClickThroughs)
Spam Detection
Amount of Successful Deliveries
New Subscribers
Opt Outs

The most successful email campaigns are the ones that measure the email message related metrics and take it a step further by tracking website usage after a reader clicks through to a given website. By combining the metrics mentioned above in addition to tracking email campaigns down to website content viewed/conversions/purchase, this can truly help you create a customized campaign which will result in far fewer bounces and opt-outs.

Below I have compiled a list of some of the most popular email marketing solutions, most of which offer some type of free trial period:

Constant Contact starts at a price of $15/month for up to 500 members in your mailing list and comes with a 60 day trial version. Constant Contact also has a survey module which can be added for an additional monthly fee starting at $15/month.

Lyris has an advantage in that it has a tight integration with CMS (Hot Banana) and Web Analytics (ClickTracks). It offers different versions of desktop/web based solutions but I found the price a little difficult to find on their website.

MailChimp offers a 30 Day trial version and offers free support, email templates, sign up forms and starts at $15/month (500 members). If you’re a non-profit organization you get a discounted rate of $12.50/month. MailChimp also integrates with Googel Analytics.

EmailLabs offers various solutions including Newsletters, eCommerce, Enterprise and Agencies. I wasn’t able to quickly find a price but was impressed with the number of features EmailLabs offered. The website also mentions an integration with HBX (now SiteCatalyst HBX).

Campaign Monitor’s pricing is per email which makes it easy to expense. They also have a service aimed at designers who manage the mailings for their clients. They also offer some neat email testing so you can test your emails in various clients and against various spam filters before you send (for a per use fee).
“I like the ala carte pricing model…and nice looking stats.” – Software Developer, Jonathan Bowers

Responsys offers a complete campaign solution by being able to provide email, direct mail and mobile marketing integrated together. Additionally it provides very comprehensive segmentation and reporting to really help target customers.

I am sure there are other great resources available, let me know and I will add you to the list!

Filed Under: Email Marketing, Web Analytics

Google, Facebook Up, Yahoo, Time Warner Down in 2007

January 30, 2008 By Manoj Jasra Leave a Comment

comScore has just published a press release containing a review of internet activity in 2007. Google, Facebook, OfficeMax, Demand Media were amongst the largest gainers from 2006 to 2007. Both the Yahoo and Time Warner sites saw a drop of 4 and 5% respectively from 2006.

comScore Core Search Report *December 2007 vs. December 2006 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University LocationsSource: comScore qSearch 2.0
Core Search Entity	Search Queries (MM)
Core Search Entity	Dec-06	Dec-07	Percent Change Dec-07 vs. Dec-06
Total Core Search	8,348	9,636	15%
Google Sites	4,317	5,629	30%
Yahoo! Sites	2,300	2,211	-4%
Microsoft Sites	871	940	8%
Time Warner Network	465	442	-5%
Ask Network	396	415	5%

Top-Gaining Properties in 2007

A study of the growth in visitors among the top 100 U.S. Internet properties revealed that 2007 was a strong year for several of the largest properties.

comScore Top 20 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.) December 2007 vs. December 2006Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet UsersSource: comScore Media Metrix
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Dec-06	Dec-07	% Change
Total U.S. Internet Audience	174,199	183,619	5
Everyday Health	2,690	12,073	349
Glam Media	7,994	25,028	213
OfficeMax	5,130	15,339	199
Demand Media	5,999	14,958	149
Yellow Book Network	4,386	10,388	137
ValueClick Sites	6,339	13,013	105
Facebook.com	19,105	34,658	81
WorldNow – ABC Owned Sites	8,714	15,474	78
Craigslist.org	14,075	24,468	74
Experian Interactive	8,054	12,500	55
Yellowpages.com Network	16,168	24,453	51
AmericanGreetings Property	11,982	18,102	51
Comcast Corporation	18,716	26,445	41
UGO	8,450	11,912	41
The Mozilla Organization	10,948	15,267	39
Answers.com Sites	10,707	align="right">14,899	39
Wikipedia Sites	38,585	51,851	34
iVillage.com: The Womens Network	13,545	17,234	27
AT&T, Inc.	23,833	30,212	27
Internet Broadcasting Systems	9,894	12,394	25

Filed Under: AOL, comScore, Facebook, Google, Yahoo

Global Thoughtz This Past Week

January 30, 2008 By Manoj Jasra Leave a Comment

GlobalThoughtz.com this past week featured the top web properties in Japan, Blogging Stats in Russia, Google Finance in Canada, MySpace Widgets and much more, read below…

Top Japan Web Properties December 2007
Source comScore: Yahoo! Sites continued to lead the market in Japan with more than 42 million visitors in December. Google Sites captured the second position with 32 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 30 million visitors. The top 25 properties held relatively constant in their…

Mobile Local Search: Moving Away from Early Adopters
We all know that Mobile Search is the next big thing. Frankly I’m surprised that it’s not bigger than it is right now. New devices and apps are starting to bring mobile local search beyond just an early adopter medium. Mobile Search is starting to catch on in North America…. you might want to…

Media in Russia – Blogging Stats for Russia
There are a lot of great resources about Russian Media. One such resources is Johnson’s Russia List which contains a variety of categories from media to politics to business and economics. I was going through the media section and noticed a number of great stories related to the online space. Some…

Using QDOS to Find Your Digital Status
QDOS (pronounced like Quodos) is currently being beta tested in the UK. For those not familiar, QDOS is a new way to manage your digital status and manage how you look online. It’s designed to give you a starting point for managing and taking control of your online status. Be seen how you [...]

Google Finance Canada
Just a reminder for our Canadian readers. Google Finance Canada is a great resource for finding out information about the markets and business in Canada. Google Finance Canada is a great tool for finding items such as: Top financial news from Canadian sources Search with a preference for…

Baidu is officially open in Japan
Chinese search engine Baidu, which has 74% search share in China, has officially open its service in Japan. The Japanese version of Baidu offers web search, image search, video search and blog search services.Baidu’s CEO Robin Li said, “We are going to add the services and the functions that…

MySpace Widgets Reach Largest U.S. Audience
In November 2007, nearly 148 million U.S. Internet users viewed widgets, representing 81 percent of the total audience. MySpace.com widgets had the widest audience, reaching more than 57 million Internet users, while Slide.com ranked second with 39.2 million viewers. Google.com has the sixth widest…

Do NOT use banners on your own web pages
It’s a BIG difference in how you should use banners for external marketing and banners on your own web pages.On other people’s sites you don’t really have to worry that much about it, just measure and optimize and you’re good. But if you forget that effect and use banners on your own sites,…

Search Engines in Finland
Google dominates the search engine market in Finland. According to my own little research with IndexTools web analytics system and TNS Gallup ’s national interviews, Google’s market share is approximately 95 % in Finland. So, if you plan to do some search engine marketing here, Google is…

More than 200 people interested in web analytics gathered in Oslo yesterday
I had the pleasure to be attending and speaking at the gathering yesterday. WebTrends had invited their clients to a user forum, and more than 200 people showed up. It’s the first time in Norway that I have seen more than 10 people, all interested in web analytics, in the same room. And this…

Russian Investors Inject $30 Million into Badoo
According to Tech Crunch UK , Russian investor Finam has purchased 10% for $30 million. Finam estimates the number of social network users in Runet to grow 5-fold over 2007. Russian IT review site, CNews writes “Finam does not plan to expand its share in Badoo.com. However, the company does not…

Filed Under: global thoughtz

eBay Growth – Last 6 Years

January 29, 2008 By Manoj Jasra Leave a Comment

The Compete Blog had a very interesting post on eBay last week showing how the online auction Juggernaut had performed over the last 6 years.

The chart below (provided by Compete) shows the steady quarter over quarter growth of eBay from 2001-2007. The data on the chart represents eBay’s revenues in millions.

Additionally, Compete.com’s post shows how eBay’s revenue per visitor has steadily increased as well. This was after a significant drop in 2001.

Source: http://blog.compete.com/2008/01/24/ebay-traffic-growth-earnings-2007/

Filed Under: Compete, eBay

MacBook Air Parody Video

January 29, 2008 By Manoj Jasra 1 Comment

Recently at MacWorld, Apple announced the release of their newest, thinnest laptop the MacBook Air. It’s one of the most sophisticated technologies available in that it can hold all of the components which comprise a laptop yet still remain amazingly thin. Today over at the Wired Gadgets Blog they wrote about a parody MacBook Air Video(from YouTube) which poked fun of the “paper like” design and its cost of $3000.

Here is the original MacBook Air Video:

Here is the Parody of the same video:

Filed Under: Apple

Video Analytics by Visible Measure

January 28, 2008 By Manoj Jasra 1 Comment

Visible Measures Corp., today unveiled VisibleSuites at DEMO 08, the company’s flagship solution to help video publishers and advertisers understand and grow their online viewing audiences. VisibleSuite measures the in-stream viewing behavior of Internet video audiences.

The company’s patent-pending data collection approach captures every video interaction in every video from every viewer, from play to pause to rewind to forward-to-a-friend and more. VisibleSuite provides publishers and advertisers with precise performance measurements when planning online video marketing and advertising strategies, including how audiences find, view, interact with and share each online video.

http://www.visiblemeasures.com/ VisibleSuite enables video publishers to make data-driven management decisions about their content portfolios, distribution strategies, and audience targeting. As they look to grow their total audience while increasing viewing time and viewer involvement, Internet video publishers can now use Visible Measures’ technology to understand exactly how their online audiences engage with their video content.

Audience Engagement Screenshot:

With VisibleSuite’s ability to measure the behavior of their Internet video audiences, video advertisers can know not just that their placement was viewed, but how much the audience was involved in the message and then map results to specific campaigns.

At DEMO 08, Visible Measures will show audience behavior measurement results for the DEMO.com Web site, which features video programmed and distributed using the Brightcove Internet TV platform. “Audience measurement is becoming increasingly important for video publishers as they look to optimize their programming and advertising,” said Jeremy Allaire, chairman and CEO of Brightcove.

Available immediately, VisibleSuite is an on-demand Web service that requires minimal integration and is priced based on overall video consumption. VisibleSuite is already in use by such forward-thinking Internet video publishers and advertisers as DEMO, Funny or Die, Hill Holliday, HoneyShed / Droga5, Boston.com, Streetfire.net and others.

Filed Under: Video Analytics, Video Optimization, Web Analytics

Images and Video, The Lost Strategies

January 28, 2008 By Manoj Jasra Leave a Comment

Image optimization and video optimization are not secondary organic strategies anymore, they are essential in creating a well-rounded online presence. There are numerous resources you can turn to help perfect your strategy but I wanted to take a look at some techniques you may never thought of as well as some additional questions to ask yourself before applying any tactics.

Leveraging high image rankings: You may have top rankings for your images in both the image results and universal/blended results but what are visitors doing when they arrive at your site? Search Engines such as Google show the exact page where an image resides (after clicking throuh on an image) therefore this is a great opportunity to funnel visitors deeper to your site. The different images queries which refer visitors to your site can help dictate the type of content you should surround your images with.
Should you freshen up your images? You definitely should. Similar to textual content, keep visitors coming back with images that continue to match the visitor’s query (and intent). The most important point is to maintain the names of the images as well as the textual content within the alt attribute.
The ROI on Video: Video is an excellent way to promote your brand and services to visitors but how do you know when a given video has maxed out its potential. I recommend checking out trends for views, comments and clickthroughs (and again what visitors are doing after the click through). These trends should help show whether or not the video is still engaging visitors. If you are seeing the trends flat-line you know it’s time to add some new content.
Visitors know what they like to watch: If you’re thinking about enhancing your video strategy with some fresh content then I suggest you look to your visitors for help. Look at the comments they leave (if you’ve uploaded YouTube or MetaCafe) and secondly look at your internal search terms. Both of these areas are ways visitors have engaged with your content by providing feed back so why not show visitors what they want?

Bonus Tip*

This next strategy is not directly related to video or images but the concept is something you maybe able to apply elsewhere. I have two travel sites: BC Travel Guide (.ca) and British Columbia Tours (.com) and I am looking to rank highly for “Kelowna” or “Kelowna British Columbia.” So I created a Kelowna themed page on each site, both with keyword rich content, interlinking and images. The results are too early to tell but this allows me to test the level of authority per domain, the return per domain and the potential for having 2 sites rank highly for a few phrases.

Filed Under: Image Optimization, Universal Search, Video Optimization