Adsoka

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2010-03-11T10:49:00.001-06:00

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Ever wonder what a Bounce Rate means?

2010-03-09T17:18:00.000-06:00

Hey, it's okay to ask!

Bounce rate is the total number of web visitors who only visit one page divided by the total web site visitors.

So, if 10 people visit your home page (and only your home page) and 100 people visit your site your "bounce rate" is 10%.

The next question is, "What is a good bounce rate?"

Well, it would seem like the lower the number the better, but it depends.

According to Google analytics specialist Avinash Kaushik, "It is really hard to get a bounce rate under 20%, anything over 35% is cause for concern, 50% (above) is worrying."

Think about your own web site and the typical site visitor. Adsoka believes that three key audiences visit most sites. They are:

CUSTOMER/PROSPECTS

This site visitor is likely to dig through the site for information about products and services as they develop either a shopping list, or a set of questions for your next meeting together. If they have never purchased, they are evaluating you to see if you are a credible choice. If they have purchase before they are organizing for the next: order, conversation, etc. Bounce rate = LOW

FIRST-TIMERS

This site visitor has found you purposefully: in either a determined or happenstance manner. Either way you want to have content dedicated to them early enough in the home page to keep them browsing the site until they are compelled to take the next step in the relationship and: order, call, email, stop-by, etc. Bounce rate = LOW

WAYFINDERS

This site visitor may be buying or selling or ... something else. The main thing we know about them is that they are in a hurry. They want your email address, your phone number, your web address confirmed, etc. They want one-and-done information. Bounce rate = HIGH

So, your bounce rate for CUSTOMER/PROSPECTS should be low. Your bounce rate for FIRST-TIMERS should also be low. However, your bounce rate for WAYFINDERS is going to be really high - even 100% depending on if you have contact information on your home page or not.

You are likely to have more WAYFINDERS than any other site visitor. So, look at your site and see if you have content for each of these three main site visitors on your home page. If you are getting good feedback about your site, sales are happening and people are contacting you offline as well, then your bounce rate is probably perfect.

Domain Name Price Increase

2010-02-25T16:49:00.000-06:00

A note from GoDaddy.com that was sent out today.

On July 1, 2010, VeriSign®, the registry for .COM and .NET, will increase prices – .COM will go up 7%, and .NET by 10%.

The increase will be passed to registrars like Go Daddy and then, unfortunately, to consumers like you.

As of July 1, we will be forced to raise registration and renewal* prices for these two popular top-level domains.

If you wish to avoid this price increase, you can renew your domain names by June 30 and add another year to your current expiration dates. You have the option to register or renew for multiple years and lock in long-term savings. Of course, should you have any questions, please give us a call at 1-480-505-8821.

Thanks as always for being a Go Daddy customer.

See the Show!

2010-02-05T13:46:00.001-06:00

Get $10 off tickets to see the show Rock ‘n’ Roll (closes February 7) at Park Square Theatre. Call or order online and use the promotional code ADSOKAVIPS (no transactional fee with phone orders).

http://www.parksquaretheatre.org/plays/2010_rock.php

Can a small digital camera produce?

2010-01-24T08:29:00.000-06:00

This "action" shot caught an interesting moment. It used a digital camera in evening light and was accomplished by moving the camera with the action for a split second.

Adding Creative Value Award

2010-01-18T15:14:00.000-06:00

Adsoka recently launched a new award program called Adding Creative Value. Learn more at http://www.addingcreativevalue.com. Why launch another creative arts design award? Well, we felt that there was something missing from the present awards landscape. Many awards recognize excellence that comes from experience and well-sized client budgets. Other awards programs seek a specific skill such as film, or outdoor, or digital sign, etc. Still others offer recognition to students within the framework of their school. Some contests take a look at a specific region.

The Adding Creative Value Award is focused on a specific time-frame in the career of a creative talent: their starting point. By being open to only those soon to, or recently graduated this award will spotlight emerging talent. It is less likely that this group will have mega-budgets at their disposal, so the work will be creative in both its end product and how the product was produced.

Since Adsoka opened in 2003 we have seen resumes and interest in our industry daily. Sorting through portfolios, deciphering resume details, deciding about informational interviews, internships and yes, even hires has been fun work for us, but so few of those sending in information have also enjoyed the process. So, we present the Adding Creative Value Award as an opportunity to get recognized for your work as students at the start of your career when it will impact your personal confidence, earning potential and stand-out-from-a-crowd potential the most. We have seen many talented students and know that there are many more.

We all feel that creative talent deserves great attention.

Favorite Coffee Shop?

2010-01-08T13:47:00.000-06:00

What does the coffee shop you prefer say about the brand family that you are part of? Brand family discussions are fascinating at discovering the connections consumers make between brands.

Do you prefer Dunn Bros? Maybe this means you also visit pitchfork.com more frequently than say a Starbucks customer does. Which customer is more likely to have ridden a bike in the past 30 days? What type of mobile phone and service plan does one choose over the other more often?

As a marketer, you can often learn a great deal about your customer by understanding the make-up of their brand family.

Email marketing insights

2009-12-31T14:35:00.000-06:00

According to the Internet Retailer survey of IRNewsLink e-newsletter readers conducted last month with e-mail marketing and survey firm Vovici Corp., about half of retailers report between 1% and 10% of all online sales stem from e-mail marketing; 15.7% say 1% to 2.5%; 15.7% say 2.6% to 5%; and 15.4% say 5.1% to 10%.

[Half of retailers with a connection to the Internet Retailer web site get between one and ten percent of their revenue from e-mail marketing]
...

[Some] stores give a shopper $5 off a purchase if they give you their e-mail address. The typical annual worth of an e-mail address is about $20, so that $5 is a good investment.”

Retailers are using many other tactics today to improve the effectiveness of e-mail marketing:

—38.8% are triggering e-mail marketing messages based on behaviors or events.

—36.5% are personalizing messages (such as by addressing customers by first name).

—28.2% are adding Forward-to-Friend links.

—22.7% are leveraging transactional messaging for marketing communications.

—18.4% are providing multiple options (for example, opting out of promotional e-mails but remaining on the e-newsletter list) during the opt-out process.

—17.6% are including customer reviews.

—14.1% are adding Share This links to social networks.

—13.3% are adding more video-related content.

All of these tactics help make e-mail marketing messages more relevant to customers—and in e-mail marketing, relevancy rules. {more}

Retailers will get more serious about social media in 2010, report says

2009-12-31T14:27:00.000-06:00

(From Internet Retailer)

Online retail marketers this year have been testing social media tactics, ranging from Facebook and Twitter pages to blogs and communities. In 2010, marketers will move out of the test phase and treat social media as a mature channel, setting budgets and establishing formal listening and measurement plans, says a new Forrester Research Inc. report.

This will push the value of social media and its insights deep into company departments beyond marketing, leading retailers to set up organizations to fully embrace social media and to become more transparent and interactive with consumers, according to “Top Social Computing Predictions For 2010: Social Computing Gains Credibility And Accountability.” As social media matures, both marketers and vendors will feel pressure to not only prove profitability but also to ensure consumer privacy, the report says.

Following are six social media predictions Forrester Research makes for 2010:

Retailers’ social media teams will attain formal budgets and power. In 2009, a host of companies created “social councils,” typically cross-functional teams tasked with sharing ideas and exploring social media opportunities. However, many of these councils remain informal and without mandate, reliant upon the budgets and abilities of their members. In 2010, these councils will emerge as central groups made up of social media strategists who are empowered to allocate resources and prioritize initiatives across departments—giving them a chance to roll out actionable strategies that include cohesive social media policies, the report predicts.

Retailers will distribute more widely within their companies the insights gained by listening to what consumers are saying in social channels. While many companies engaged in efforts to listen to consumers on social networks in 2008 and 2009, few shared the insights they gained outside of their own interactive marketing or customer intelligence groups, the report says. In 2010, no good interactive marketer will make a move on social media without having a listening plan in place, it contends. Additionally, advanced companies will begin to push what they’ve learned through those listening efforts out to brand and product managers, as well as integrate those efforts into customer service, public relations and other areas of the company.

Marketers will focus less on fuzzy social media metrics and more on real marketing metrics. Marketers don’t think they’re very good at measuring social media: On average, they rate their own efforts to measure social initiatives at 4.5 out of 10, the report finds. With top management more likely to demand accountability, marketers can’t keep pretending that fans and followers are useful success metrics—in 2010, marketers will finally start to focus on metrics that match their objectives, metrics that chief marketing officers already know and trust, Forrester says. For most, this means using brand surveys and sentiment analysis to measure how their social programs have changed users’ awareness and opinions—and tracking leads, conversions and revenue to gauge how they’ve changed users’ purchase behaviors, the report says.

Twitter will become profitable or get acquired. Twitter must find a revenue stream by selling ads on searches, permitting targeted ad tweets, licensing premium content access to search engines or selling data analytics—if a combination of these puts the company on a path to $100 million-plus in annual revenue, it will take its place as another Internet powerhouse, the report says. But if these revenue streams do not emerge in 2010—and Forrester suspects they won’t—Twitter will not remain independent. The report suggests Google, Microsoft, Yahoo or Facebook will acquire it, enabling the acquirer to offer a valuable new element to the experience of its existing users, the report predicts.

Facebook will get more hands-on to protect users’—and its own—interests. Privacy remains one of Facebook’s few major challenges—expect the site to protect its own interests by helping users to protect their privacy, offering new tools that furnish even greater and more intuitive ways to limit the visibility of their photos, updates and data to different sets of followers, the report predicts. But multiple privacy management tools on Facebook could create new challenges for marketers; for example, consumers with multiple pages—some private—will be harder to target, it says.

Incompatible mobile devices and siloed social applications will shatter the social experience. Already, consumers are dividing their attention among Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social applications, each of which requires its own identity. Yet, the dream of a common identity won’t be solved in 2010—in fact, users’ identities will grow more distant as mobile social networking becomes more common, the report predicts. Rather, consumers who connect most through social channels will focus on Internet-centric mobile devices because such devices are always near at hand and incorporate location and photo abilities. But with incompatible iPhones, BlackBerrys, Androids, Palms and Windows Mobile-based devices running social apps, the social experience will further splinter, the report says.

Holiday shopping season sales rose nearly 5%, says comScore

2009-12-30T18:16:00.000-06:00

Online retail sales this holiday season—Nov. 1-Dec. 24—totaled $27.12 billion, a 4.9% increase compared to $25.85 billion a year ago, reports web measurement firm comScore Inc. From the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve alone sales grew by approximately 3.5% (after adjusting for the additional shopping day this year).

More people buying online helped offset a slight decrease in the amount spent per buyer, says comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

“The season featured a strong start as a result of early retailer promotions and a very strong finish helped by the snow storms that occurred the weekend of Dec. 19-20, retailers’ willingness to offer free shipping later in the season, and consumers’ confidence in expedited shipping arriving in time,” says Fulgoni. “This was also a year when retailers substantially boosted their use of social network marketing and the larger retailers significantly outperformed their smaller brethren. In these tough economic times, the retailers with sufficient financial resources and a willingness to invest in aggressive marketing and free shipping offers were clear winners.”

The strong finish to the holiday season was helped by the heaviest online spending day in history—Tuesday, Dec. 15, with $913 million—as well as the huge snowstorm that blanketed must of the eastern portion of the nation last weekend when sales shot up 13% compared to the final weekend before Christmas last year.

Latest Search Ranking - Google's share grows; search activity grows.

2009-12-16T17:08:00.000-06:00

comScore released the latest data today. From their release:

Google Sites led the U.S. core search market in November with 65.6 percent of the searches conducted, followed by Yahoo! Sites (17.5 percent), and Microsoft Sites (10.3 percent). Ask Network captured 3.8 percent of the search market, followed by AOL LLC with 2.8 percent.

Americans conducted 14.4 billion searches in November, up 1 percent from October. Google Sites accounted for 9.5 billion searches, followed by Yahoo! Sites (2.5 billion), Microsoft Sites (1.5 billion), Ask Network (548 million) and AOL LLC (401 million).

Not surprising: Amazon and Ebay saw increased search activity in November. Also not surprising Facebook increased 7%; MySpace decreased 7%. Bing, from Microsoft, clearly gained from its launch efforts - but the gain may have come from its own: other Microsoft sites, partner Yahoo! and "old" tech Aol.

Which do you prefer; Be specific

2009-11-28T14:19:00.000-06:00

A recent report by Context Marketing finds that when it comes to food choices, a specific claim is better than a vague one. For instance, 60% of those surveyed stated that it was important to them when they read that "No Pesticides" were used. This compares to 35% that said that "Organic" was important.

"Natural" lead "Organic" scoring a 50%; "Produced in the U.S." 57% and "No Artificial Hormones" 58%

Marketer's Insight - 2010 Outlook

2009-11-28T13:51:00.000-06:00

BtoB Magazine recently reported on their "2010 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans" survey. Interesting insights include:

25.7% plan on increasing their staff in 2010 (66.5% expect no change; 7.8% expect a decrease)

61.0% have a primary marketing goal of customer acquisition in 2010; 15.5% customer retention; 15.0% brand marketing (8.5% other).

39.2% plan on increasing their budget; 47.5% expect no change and 13.3% see a decrease.

Heading into the recession 57.7% cut budgets, so this predicts a shift away from a conservative approach.

Fact of the Week: Courtesy of BusinessWeek

2009-11-28T13:42:00.000-06:00

"Travel spending in the U.S. has fallen by 12% since peaking in 2008. That is already a deeper drop than the last recession's 11% peak-to-trough decline." BusinessWeek - November 30, 2009 issue, page 17. Data source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Staffing company, True Talent Group looking for Graphic Designer

2009-11-25T09:03:00.001-06:00

Adsoka client and staffing agency True Talent Group is looking...are you?

True Talent Group www.truetalentgroup.com
Graphic Designer/Production Artist
We are currently looking for a Graphic Designer for one of our clients in the north suburbs. In this position you will be focusing on concept to creation design/production and Powerpoint presentations!

If this is you, please send your Word resume, samples of Powerpoint, design/production and your part in the project to info@truetalentgroup.com TODAY!

Finding Adsoka - MetroTransit's interactive trip finder

2009-11-25T08:55:00.000-06:00

A smart tool for using transit to plan your visit to Adsoka.

Hey Foxy, browse like the rest of us

2009-11-18T11:58:00.000-06:00

Here are the latest (October 2009) browser usage stats.

12.8% IE8
14.1% IE7
10.6% IE6
47.5% Firefox
8.0% Chrome
3.8% Safari
2.3% Opera

New is Better

2009-11-16T18:26:00.000-06:00

Is it time to revisit your marketing for 2010? Setting up new strategies, new ad campaigns, new logo, better banner ads, smart email plans, new prospect lists are all important to keeping your business fresh and relevant. If you think it is time, Adsoka can help.

Get ready to GiveMN.org

2009-11-11T16:34:00.000-06:00

Give to the Max day is November 17, 2009.
If you support a non-profit, work for a non-profit, like a non-profit be sure to GIVE on November 17.Match dollars will be available on this day ONLY and typical credit card processing fees are being underwritten so your favorite non-profit will really PROFIT from your giving.

Monster Employment News

2009-10-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

The most recent reports for Canada and the U.S. by online career site Monster.com show slight uptick (Canada) and moderation (U.S.) in recruiting activity. Worth the time to click through and read. http://www.about-monster.com/employment-index

Outdoor advertising has unique opportunities

2009-10-21T17:55:00.000-05:00

The impact of an 3-d ad is often stunning when compared to 2-d options.

This could be approached as a 2-page magazine spread, but

This isn't easy to accomplish in traditional media.

Given the opportunity, what would your brand's 3-d message be?

About Adsoka

2008-05-31T08:32:00.001-05:00

Minneapolis-based Adsoka is a full-service marketing, design and communications agency. Adsoka serves business-to-business, retail and nonprofit clients. The agency’s integrated skills include branding, advertising, copywriting and public relations. Adsoka has served over 130 clients including Breadsmith, the American Red Cross, Star Tribune and MindUniversity. Award-winning work includes the back to school campaign for the Mall of America and an awareness campaign for the American Red Cross. The Adsoka newsletter, 6x, offers insightful marketing tips bimonthly. Creative Contributions is the company giving program for donating billable work to nonprofit organizations. Adsoka means adding creative value. Learn more at www.ADSOKA.com.

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