Investing in Advertising....

I have just finished writing the June 2010 submission to the Marketing Magazine. As I was writing, (the column is about how to review advertising opportunities), I recalled an interestingly conversation I had a few years ago with an advertising rep from a niche magazine.

We were having Friday night drinks after work and during the conversation she admitted that she had no idea how many copies of the magazine (the one she represented) were sold, let alone printed, despite making claims about its circulation in client proposals. Ouch. I will never forget that conversation. Maybe they only printed a few hundred? Who knows…..

Does it really matter you ask?  The short answer is yes!  For magazine advertising for example, the price of your ad is based on how many people read the publication and therefore to misrepresent this information is a big NO NO.   Do you have a similiar story to tell?  Would you like a copy of the column when it is published, drop me a line to touch base.

Have a safe and Happy Easter and a nice four days off work!

Marketing – the Apple Way

I am writing this bulletin on my MacBook Pro. I answer calls, check emails and send messages via my iphone. I listen to music on my ipod. I love all things MAC. My obsession was cultivated further when I received last month’s edition of Marketing Magazine (the digital issue) to discover that the feature article was on ‘Marketing at Apple’. My delight!

If you are curious about what they do at Apple – you may be interested to download this free e book – it is a good read and something ideal to ponder over the Easter break - I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and confirmed that I am MAC!

Want to know more about your database?

Do you have a database or newsletter sign up on your website? Do you find that you only get minimal information about the people who want to hear from you on a regular basis? If so, then here is a tool that you may find helpful.

Flowtown is an application where you can turn an Email Address into a Social Profile. Essentially, when all you have is an email address, Flowtown can give you a name, age, gender, occupation, location and all the social networks that person is on. It pulls data from Facebook etc… Whilst it isn’t perfect, it is worthwhile seeing if you can fill any gaps in your database.

How to measure Online advertising and its worth?

If you are considering or currently purchase online advertising (in any form) an important question to ask the advertiser is if their figures are audited. In Australia, Digital Audits provides audited services for digital media, including email newsletters, stand-alone digital publications and the soon to be introduced Web Measurement solution.

What happens if your advertiser quotes Google Analytics figures?
Google Analytics is great tool (I use and recommend it) and whilst it is good, it is not a reliable source of audited information. For example, a common mistake when quoting google analytics figures is to report total traffic, which includes international traffic instead of Australian only traffic, which is often the preferred metric used by Australian businesses.

Next time you buy online advertising, ask if the advertisers figures are audited.

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