Jan 31

With 20 million members, StumbleUpon helps users to discover and share the best of the web. As you rate websites, your interest is shared with other like-minded users. The StumbleUpon experience is about seeing the exact content you want to see.

StumbleUpon has introduced a new ad system, titled Paid Discovery. Users can choose to use this system as a way to post their website to the constant stream of content that users are “stumbling” onto. Up to 5% of stumbles are dedicated to Paid Discovery. The system guarantees the right audience is landing on your content. An ad is not created. Your website is the ad.

What content is StumbleUpon Paid Discovery looking for? The StumbleUpon community wants to see photos, articles, videos, experiences that them smile, laugh, or in thought. Entertaining, informative, and visually appealing content works the best with users as more scores will rise in your favor, thus increasing the chance your content goes viral.

If you do choose to start a marketing campaign with Paid Discovery, there are different options for how quickly and how many users will reach your content. The engagement of users are measured carefully as you are only charged for the users who engage in your content at the level you specified. Factors that play into this include time spent, share rate, page interaction, activity, etc.

The benefits of using Paid Discovery are worth the awareness you will produce. The system will guarantee
discoveries, reach an engaged audience in relevant traffic, and pay for only the unique visitors you targeted.

Jan 25

Malware exists everywhere. It exists even to attack your Android phone. It’s even been seen in the Android Market at one point or another. But how big is this issue? Lookout, a company specializing in software for mobile security released a new app called Mobile Threat Tracker that allows Android smartphone users to see the location of every malware incident happening around the globe.

Lookout’s app shows streak upon streak strike with the three-dimensional spinning globe. The attacks displayed are shown close to real time as the date and time is displayed at the bottom of the screen. It gives us a good representation of how phones are becoming ideal targets for malware creators on a daily basis. Lookout also included information of the top three threats for that day and spyware vs. malware percentages.

With all this talk about the threats of malware, it looks like the ideal time to start installing a security app for your Android smartphone. Lookout might just be your solution.

Jan 24

The expanding digital industry, as Jonathan Gardner of Vibrant Media puts it, is “destined to affect what we discuss, buy and watch, who we friend, what we Like, and how we share — all year long.” Along with eMarketer’s projection of a 14.4% increase in U.S. online ad spending, there is no question digital will make an impact in the new year. The best practices with optimal results will be the ones that will carry into 2012, even for digital marketing agencies.

  1. Take initiative into obtaining keywords using search engine optimization. Look to the future for insight on the next hot key term. Word ownership will do the work for you, setting the path for your brand to gain ownership of its voice around the web. Focus on your consumer when constructing your marketing strategy. What do they want, hope for, aspire to?
  2. Focus on your the product’s value. Consumers are becoming more spending-conscious. Focus on what content your audience wants to watch and read. Deliver ads to people who actually want to see them.
  3. Content is crucial. The most successful display ads connect content with the context of the page. The best digital marketing in 2012 will have to be dynamic.
  4. The revolution in tracking consumer behavior continues. With all the content on the web, it is quality that will produce the results in the end.
  5. Can you believe 98% of 18- to 24-year-olds use social media? More reason to develop new ways to make your social media assets deliver as seen by Best Buy and “Twelpforce” and Axe with their social toolbar.
Jan 23

We all know that the Internet has revolutionized the way companies do business. Companies used to build their reputation through employee to customer contact, this person-to-person to form of communication now seems sort of archaic. With corporate communication booming over social networks like Facebook and Twitter companies are now faced with the challenge of maintaining their reputation in a growing number of mediums. New analytical tools are coming on the scene in order to measure companies’ reputation, taking into account the influence they are having online.

Companies like PeerIndex, Twitalyzer, Talentag and PostRank, all owned by Google, use online analytics to determine an individuals or business’s influence online. These tools measure questions like, how many people are exposed to your messages, and who takes action as a result of your efforts? The results can determine the amount of “social capital” that you or your organization has.

A digital marketing agency can be very useful for companies that would like to utilize tools, like Google Analytics, to measure effectiveness and optimize their web sites. An agency measures the effectiveness of your web site based on keywords, landing pages, traffic sources, site visitors, time on site, bounce rate, and more.  If I were behind the helm of a start up company I would definitely want to have some data to work off of, and fortunately enough Google Analytics is a quick and easy way to measure your web site traffic.

Jan 23

More and more people are adopting smartphones in order to become fully connected to the world through their mobile device. Companies are also making moves to connect with employees by giving them smartphones and developing mobile applications as a way to increase employee engagement. At first glance, it is great to be able to access your work email 24/7, but this continuous feeling of being plugged in can also be draining. In fact, a new study from the University of Worcester has found that the feeling of being constantly connected without the ability to freely disconnect induces stress.

Companies, like Volkswagen, are now starting to react. The German automaker’s employees all use blackberries, and the company has decided to limit the email server to only be activated during business hours. This means that employees are free from constant communication with work once they leave the office. Roger Cohen, a reporter for The New York Times is one of the many who think that this is a smart move. Cohen says people often fall subject to a, “contemporary state of anxiety in which focus on any activity is interrupted by the irresistible urge to check email or texts.”

Remaining plugged in arguably increases employee productivity, but it is important to also address its potential downfalls. In the future, more and more companies will surely address this issue. As an intern, I have yet to feel the 24/7 pressure of having your phone connected to work. However, I have witnessed the poor effects this connection can have. For example, I have experienced many vacations when a family member gets their relaxation time derailed by incoming messages that blow up their smart phone. It is important that employees can be reached in the case of a work emergency while away from the office. On the other hand, I also think that employees deserve to have a feeling disconnect when they leave the office, if they so chose, especially during vacations. I would guess that Volkswagen employees appreciate this move and that the company is well on its way to having great employee satisfaction.