As a marketing author I tend to be hyper-aware of the marketing surrounding me. From the minute I entered Giants stadium my mind switched to overload. Talk about marketing noise! Everything is sponsored from the tickets to the garbage cans. If they can squeeze someone’s logo on it they will.
Easily there were hundreds of sponsor companies marketing throughout the stadium, so why can I only remember two? Read more…
This unusual security hole in IE has exposed millions of users the have their computers hijacked, allowing the hackers the ability to steer their victims to infected Web sites. This flaw in Internet Explorer‘s programming code is rare and extremely dangerous in that users do not have to download anything for their computers to get infected.
As many as 10,000 sites have been compromised since last week. Criminals have loaded malicious code onto those sites that automatically infect visitors’ machines if they are using Internet Explorer.
Currently, Microsoft is suggesting a complicated series of workarounds to avert the hacker’s code and plans to have a security update available today. In the meantime security experts suggest switching to an alternative browser for Windows such as Firefox or Google Chrome until Microsoft releases a patch for the vulnerability.
*Update: The security patch has been released. You can learn more here.
Security fixes for Microsoft’s browser software are rare outside of its regular monthly updates. Previous fixes were last issued in October, and then a year and half before that.
For more information see Microsoft Security Advisory (961051)
Why are Online Video Contests becoming increasing popular with Corporate Marketers?
Online Video Contests are by far less costly and much more effective than traditional forms of advertising. Have you noticed the rapid decrease in traditional ad revenues?
Online Video Contests provide huge and valuable Feedback in the form of user comments, and ease of tracking from viewers.
The online viewing audience decides if your content is viral, and spreads to e-mails, newsletters, blogs and other online sites.
A successful Online Video Contest spreads quickly to Online Video Sites like YouTube, Myspace Trailer Park, and social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, and many others.
Online Video Contest are extremely measureable, and clearly your quantity and quality of online viewers will let you know if your message is working.
YouTube is by far the king of online video sites. Lee Gomes from the Wall Street Journal recently reported on some fascinating You Tube Data.
In a single month the number of videos on the site grew 20% to 6.1 million
YouTube has some 45 terabytes of videos
Video views reached 1.73 billion
70% of YouTube’s registered users are American, roughly 50% are under 20
The total time people spent watching YouTube last year is 9,305 years
WOW!!!! Now it is clear why big and small companies alike are using Video Contest as a powerful marketing tool. Here are a few examples of YouTube Contest.
Acer – Enter the Aspire One Video Contest today and have your movie uploaded to YouTube for judging by the entire world!
Johnson & Johnson - Submit Video on how you share traditions with baby on thanksgiving
Kraft Video Cooking Challenge - Ten cooking superstars will earn $1,000 each
Google Video Contest or go to YouTube and select from the hundreds of thousands of other video contest available.
Video Contest Web Sites should have certain information available. Let’s use the Acer Aspire One Video Contest as an example:
Ok, now have some fun with Online Video Contest, enter some, and best of luck on winning some great prizes. If you are a Facebook or MySpace member, look up my groups called YOU TUBE CONTEST
Jim Farrell Social Networking Contact Information
Facebook Groups
Here it is, 7:00 on a Sunday morning and I am browsing for pre-holiday bargains in my comfy chair with a cup of coffee and the toasty warmth of the fireplace. (Here in the northeast, an early cold snap puts the morning temperature at 23 unbelievable degrees!) Like other shoppers, whether you intend to visit a brick and mortar or not, you can easily plan your shopping and grab up discounts and coupons with the ease of a click. Which lead me to click on a call to action from Target.com.
Sign up for the 2-day sale preview!
Sounds great! I sign-up, they send me sale information before anyone who didn’t click! It’s a compelling call to action for someone in the holiday buying mode.
Now, I’m totally sensitive to design. It’s my passion…that is, until it disrupts usability. Target is a great brand. No living, breathing American doesn’t recognize their red target logo or Bullseye the Bull Terrier mascot.
There’s a time when you want to maintain design conventions: colors, patterns, and style. Then there’s time to realize that maybe those conventions might not work as intended. They may actually impede the customer’s intent. That’s when you need to stop and re-evaluate and re-design.
That’s what I found when I clicked that call to action. A very pretty overlayed registration box. I entered my email address twice. I clicked the opt-in boxes. Then…
I clicked the Cancel button.
Why? How can that happen? I wanted to sign-up. I got this far. What was I thinking???
Here’s why. Take a look at the two action buttons. The more prominent button is the Cancel button. It has more visual contrast and is featured on the right: the path I am more likely to take if I am expecting to “move forward.”
Why would they position it that way? Why would they make the Cancel button the most prominent action and image on the screen?
Sometimes it’s the simple things that escape us. I am a big proponent of not making it easy for someone to say no, particularly if they have made it this far in the purchase funnel. If they are not interested, they can always click the close window option.
I did go back and tryit again after I realized what happened. I wonder how many other people quickly filled-in their email address and instinctively clicked the more prominent option and didn’t go back. Ah, consider their disappointment when they don’t get their 2-day sale reminder.
Don’t make simple mistakes in an already difficult economy and shopping climate, particularly at what is the biggest shopping time of the year. Even though something may be designed one way, keep an eye on results and analytics, and change what doesn’t work or can work better…and change it fast!
Hey Target…Consider this a little free advice.
Happy Black Friday!
Last week we explored how search trends recorded by Google may be a good predictor of our next US President. And Google’s trends were correct: Barack Obama was the winner.
Taken from the “I saw it on the news at 5:00 this morning over coffee” category, Google’s user’s search habits are being used as a predictor of flu outbreaks. Google touts the following on their Outbreak page…
We’ve found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional systems.
People are increasingly jumping on the web with symptoms before contacting their doctor. So what’s up with this aching, runny nose, stuffy head feeling I have coming on? Let’s check Google and see…to the tune of 75% of Internet users polled between October and December of 2007 according to the Pew Internet Project.
With trends, it’s all about timing. A rise in search terms indicates an increased interest. A fall would indicate decreasing interest. There wouldn’t be mass numbers of people searching for flu-related terms in the middle of summer, for instance, as that’s not a typical time for the flu. Watching trends on a regular basis will help you to see where the rises are and prepare accordingly.
Trends are a huge factor in seasonal topics. If your business is trend-oriented, you should keep an eye on what Google’s data shows.
Paging Doctor Google…it hurts when I do this…
