Mobile marketing could turn out to be one of the biggest opportunities for marketers. Sending a message (whether it is a text or an email) to a PDA, cell phone, smart phone or MP3 player is a controversial topic; but it can also be very effective.

Mobile marketing has many benefits to marketers; firstly, there are no restrictions on location. The consumer or user can be reached anywhere (assuming there is service with their device). Marketers can also use the geographical aspects as an advantage; for example, if you know a user is in a certain high volume shopping area (or planning on being near one) a company can send a coupon or special offer via their cell phone. Privacy is another advantage; a user’s cell phone is a very personal device. No one but the user has access to the cell phone. This advantage also relates to marketers making the message very personalized. For example, if a user signs up for free alerts via their cell phone, companies can send a personalized greeting.

Even though there may be a lot of opportunities in mobile marketing, marketers must be aware of the liabilities. Firstly, there is a large security issue with mobile marketing. If a user’s cell phone is stolen or lost anyone who has the cell phone will be able to view any personal information. It can very scary for a user to have their cell phone lost knowing that banking information is on it. The second concern is related to privacy. This type of privacy relates to the user of the cell phone. Marketers must be aware that any unsolicited messages to a cell phone can be viewed as very intrusive. These intrusive messages will not be treated as ‘junk mail’; they will be viewed as much worse. Unsolicited messages could ruin or sabotage any opportunity a company may have of targeting that person; or in some extreme cases that demographic.

I’m sure we will see some form of mobile marketing hit the mainstream sooner or later. Mobile marketing is a great opportunity for marketers and they should take advantage of it. In doing so, marketers must be aware of the challenges they face. They must consider the security issues; marketers must also take the user’s privacy into consideration.

MMORPGS (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) such as World of Warcraft have become some of the most popular games online. World of Warcraft is just one of the many MMORPGS located online, it is also the most popular. Currently there are 9 million subscribers and over 3.5 million users, it’s not hard to tell how staggering those numbers are. But what does this mean in terms of marketing opportunities?  

For starters the number of users currently involved in MMORPGS provides a huge opportunity, it is simply amazing how many people subscribe to and play these types of games. In theory, if you could place an advertisement in the World of Warcraft game, somewhere in the interface you could have close to 3.5 million people seeing that advertisement. Of course this isn’t realistic, Blizzard (Warcraft’s parent company) simply will not allow this.  Putting an advertisement in the game would obviously take away from the experience.  Warcraft has no intention of becoming the next Facebook, I’m sure they want to remain advertisement free.

However, it is possible to partner with World of Warcraft in order to create marketing opportunities. Co-op advertising is a huge opportunity for marketers, it can produce an advertisement that is experienced by millions of people. Toyota Trucks did this with great success. Toyota came up with a commercial with their truck involved in a World of Warcraft scenario. The commercial was highly successful and was viewed by a large amount of people. Toyota took advantage of the game’s growing popularity and tried to ‘latch on’ hoping truck sales would increase. The advertisement was met with some discouragement though; World of Warcraft players felt that the commercial was commercializing the gaming world.

In order for advertising to succeed in MMORPGS marketers must make sure not to step on any toes. Marketers must avoid turning the gaming world into a commercialized world. I don’t want to speak for gamers, however I’m sure that they don’t want to see advertising placed in World of Warcraft. Marketers must considering co-op advertising in order to succeed. Even though Toyota was met with some complaints from Warcraft users, it was still a perfect example of co-op advertising.

Websites like YouTube and Facebook provide many opportunities for internet users, as well as marketers.

YouTube provides a place where users can upload videos and connect with people all over the world. All this user traffic makes YouTube an advertising goldmine. Until recently you were not able to locate advertising on YouTube. It is no coincidence that when Google purchased YouTube you started seeing more and more advertising. It only makes sense, Google is one of the largest advertisers in the world. Some say that Google is an advertising engine, not a search engine. Is it such a bad thing though? While watching poker on YouTube I am able to click the advertising on the side of the page where they will direct me to sites where I can purchase poker chips, or tables, or anything poker. It could be worse, I could be watching poker on YouTube and look over and see yoga ads. The advertising on YouTube is the new type of advertising; that is, it is not loud an intrusive. The advertising doesn’t pop out at you, nor does it effect the videos you are watching. It seems that Google has come up with a good way to advertise their links, for now.

As we all know Facebook is one of the fasting growing sites on the internet. Right now there are over 15 million users on Facebook (that number may go up before you finish reading this blog). Facebook was once like YouTube, young and pure, free of advertising. That has all changed, Facebook users have become increasingly aware of the ads that are taking up their space. It is not all bad though; Facebook is yet to intrude on users (I say ‘yet’ because it is bound to happen). Also the ads have some correlation with the user’s interests.

 Advertising on these sites is not cheap; however, it allows marketers to reach an enormous amount of people. Facebook has over 15 million users and 35,000 videos are uploaded on YouTube every day. Both have huge market shares; even though marketers have to pay a high price for advertising it is well worth it. If marketers don’t act quickly they may lose their chance; advertising may become too intrusive, it may become more of a nuisance. It seems that day is soon approaching us.

It is a different world we live in today. Advertising is ever changing and marketers must keep up with technological advancements. We all know what type of impact the internet has had on the way businesses advertise.  The internet has also impacted on how companies spend their advertising dollars.

Several years ago getting to the top of a search result was solely based on good optimization techniques (natural or organic techniques).  In today’s business world it common to see businesses try to “buy” their way to the top. Meaning that the more money a company can spend on “key words” the better chance they have of being at the top of the search.

This may seem like a perfect solution; if you want to find something on the internet you search it, and hopefully you get the best possible match. Unfortunately, it seems that the only companies that come up are ones who can afford to buy as many “key words” as they can. It can be very frustrating and difficult when trying to find something local or unique to Nanaimo. Small companies simply cannot afford to “buy their way to the top”

It may seem that this issue is not that big of a problem, right now. However, I can see a future where search engines become a place where companies can simply advertise; that’s it. Being at the top of the search will go to the highest bidder, who ever that may be. I realize that companies like Google and Yahoo must make money in order to survive, but I see this problem going too far.

A happy medium must be found; a search result should contain paid links, and ones that have come up because they were the best match. “Key words” should remain the focal point of any search; however, a big budget should not determine who gets those keywords.

What would happen if search engines didn’t exist? With all the information that is on the internet it can be an extremely difficult task to find what you are looking for. Search engines like Google and Yahoo make our life much easier, and sometimes we take them for granted. A study by iCrossing (2005) revealed that when adults go to make a purchase online, most, if not all, use search engines.

In order for a company to be noticed in a Google search, they must meet strict criteria. Your content MUST be relevant to the search; by researching different keywords companies have a better chance in having their result in the first three pages. The top three pages of results in a search engine are very important; 90% of all users click on a result that is within the first three pages.  Sponsor links are a great way to ensure your company is on the first page of the search result. However, the only problem with sponsor or paid links is that most users tend to click on the organic (non-paid) results. Sponsor links tend to have a bad reputation. I am a perfect example, I never click on the sponsored links; I just don`t trust them.

To ensure that your company is placed in the first three pages you must have a list of keywords that are relevant to the search. These keywords are usually thought of by a group of researchers that have a complete understanding of the market. Placing your keywords in your website`s title tags, headline, or title is another way to ensure that you will be placed in the first three pages.

In order to be successful in an online world, companies must be focused on search engines. Search engines like Google and Yahoo allow consumers to find companies they didn’t even know existed. The use of powerful and relevant keywords allows consumers to find a particular business.

One of the most important aspects to designing a website is the information architecture. A flashy/eye catching website can still displease the user if it is difficult to navigate. Website navigation may by the most important aspect to consider when creating a website. When a company creates a website they are able to have their company information accessed by almost anyone. It is in the best interest of the company to make this information easily attainable to the end user.

 According to Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville “Information architecture involves the design of organization, labeling, navigation, and searching systems to help people find and manage information more successfully.” 

Companies that focus on the website’s information architecture are more successful in delivering important information to users. This is the case because end users typically don’t like to “think” about looking for information. End users would rather go to the site and have the information presented to them. The process of designing a website’s information architecture can be a very time consuming and costly one.

There are four typical outputs associated with information architecture. Site maps, Information flows, User site paths, and Wireframes or site schematics. All four of these outputs valuable to the success of the information architecture of a website, however, I believe that the site map is the most important. An effective sitemap allows the user to find the information they are looking for quickly and easily. Finding the sitemap should not be a difficult task either; there should be a link to the sitemap located above the fold of the webpage.

I believe by focusing on the information architecture of the website more and more companies will come to realize that in order for information to be found, it must be put in the right place.

In recent years marketers have been striving to find new and more efficient ways to collect and analyze data. Data Mining allows marketers to look at large quantities of data in order to find patterns in customer behaviour. When using data mining marketers may ask the following questions: what time of year are most of our products being purchased? What is the most dominant age group? By unlocking the answers to these questions marketers are able to serve the customer for efficiently. When the customer is served efficiently marketers are able to cut costs.

Here is a little background information. So what is Data Mining? Data mining is the process of acquiring and storing large amounts of data which is then analyzed. By analyzing the data marketers are able spot trends in their costumers’ purchases. There are two ways in which data can be collected: offline and on-line. Offline refers to credit card sales, smart card sales, or any real time sale in which data can be collected. Whereas on-line refers to consumers purchasing or entering information on our website.

I believe that in order to use data mining effectively, marketers must be able to analyze the data effectively. Recent technology allows us to acquire a lot of important data; the real challenge is in analyzing that data and making correction decisions. By analyzing the data we can spot trends in our consumers’ behaviours. By focusing on these behaviours we as marketers are able to serve the customer better. Data mining has many other different uses; it can even be used to fight crime. Finding the right software can be a very difficult and costly process. It takes a very sophisticated product to be able to analyze the amount of information one company can receive. SPSS is a very popular software that is used by many companies, I also have had the opportunity to use this software. By choosing the right software, a company can accurately predict their consumers’ trends. Data mining has an umlimited potential and every markter must take advantage of its opportunities.

In week #2 we talked about trust issues with the internet and relationship marketing. It was still a shock to see that over 1/3 of Canadians still avoid the internet because of security issues. I understand where those Canadians are coming from; the internet can be a scary place. However, it seems that security is as high as it’s ever been. If the site is reputable I won’t feel uneasy about giving away some personal information. Maybe I’m just too trust worthy.

We also talked about permission marketing. Permission marketing can be a very powerful tool in the online world. However, it seems that many companies are using permission marketing incorrectly. Companies are either asking for information too early, or asking for information that has no relation to the purchase or inquiry they are making. For more information on permission marketing http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/permission.html

In the lab we talked about the marketing challenges the music industry faces.  I found this topic very interesting because like many Canadians I download a lot of music. I don’t mind paying for new music, I have bought a lot of CD’s and I will continue to buy more. I enjoy purchasing the tangible CD, I like having a physical product in my possession. It is like a status symbol, if you own the latest and most popular CD it makes you feel like you are connected with the thousands of others who bought that same CD. In today’s world, technology is making it very difficult for record companies to market their music. It is much easier to simply download music and burn it onto a CD. Record companies must constantly think of new and exciting ways to get consumers to purchase their music.

In a study conducted by Susannah Fox, Janna Quitney Anderson, and Lee Raine found that “50% of them (experts) believe that anonymous, free, music file-sharing on peer-to-peer networks will still be easy to perfrom a decade from now.”  http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Future_of_Internet.pdf

This article is a little bit older but it still provides some very intertesting ideas relating to record sales and the relationship with illegal music downloading http://www.azoz.com/music/features/0008.html

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