Nov 18, 2009 9:40 AM WCCO.com now the clear number two local site in Minneapolis/St. Paul
In the media world, we base success off of ratings. We are surrounded by ratings and statistics; Rating Points, Rating Periods, Rating Books, Shares, etc. The online world has been no exception to the race for the largest share of eyeballs. The web, however, has had a tougher time developing a ratings system.
The two biggest differences between traditional ratings and online ratings have been:
1. Every website can pull exactly how many visitors they get each day/week/month. TV and Radio still use estimates.
2. There is no one rating system or company that is looked at as being the standard. (TV and Radio use Nielsen, and Print can use audited circulation numbers)
These two differences leave us with some challenges:
1. Local media sites do not normally or regularly share their actual numbers with each other. This keeps advertisers and agencies from getting an actual ranking of local media site traffic numbers.
2. No one is auditing or holding local sites accountable for the numbers and “facts” that they publish in media kits.
3. Sites can artificially inflate their numbers. i.e. Separating an article onto six pages instead of one, forcing a user to view all six pages in order to read the full article:
4. The biggest challenge is which ratings system to use. There really is no standard right now, and most sites use the data from the system that gives them the highest number, which is understandable. WCCO.com uses honesty and transparency when talking web ratings, and we focus more on campaigns and results vs. number of viewers. For those of you who are curious about what the current numbers look like, I compiled a list of all the recent ratings data that I have access to. Also, keep in mind that a lot of these systems don’t count more then the 6-8 largest sites in the market:
Nov 2, 2009 4:29 PM There is a lot of talk and buzz about how social media and traditional media are interacting with each other, and how it is affecting traditional media companies like CBS. Here at WCCO, we have chosen a strategy a little different then most traditional media companies, and I thought I would share a little bit of how we are doing.
A lot traditional media companies are trying to create their own social networking sites/microsites as part of their strategy. Our social media strategy has been more about pushing our content to existing social sites and creating a presence within those sites that is meaningful and authentic. The idea is not to just join Facebook and Twitter and expect people to just want to interact with us. The idea is to listen to our viewers, not just speak to them. I included an example of interacting with our viewers via Twitter in a screenshot below (I blurred the Twitter user name of the viewer).
I also thought it would be cool to share some interesting stats about how social media sites are driving people back to our traditional site. One of WCCO’s digital minds here at WCCO explored this topic last week. He pulled the number of unique referrals WCCO.com received from Facebook each month in 2009 vs. 2008.(see below for results).
This type of strategy is where the concept of The Wire was born. We have no plans on creating another social networking site, but we do have plans to be a part of people’s news consumption. If people want to consume news via social media channels, then we need to adapt to meet those needs.
Oct 12, 2009 7:13 PM  My Wife Alissa and I It has been a while since I have blogged, and I wish I had a better excuse of why that is, but I don’t. I am not going to take the easy road out and just say that I’ve been too busy. (Find me someone in today’s world who claims not to be busy). I would attribute my lack of posting more to some recent changes around our office that have taken me a few months to get used to. Now that I have my work schedule back in order, I should be able to keep up with my monthly posts. The good news(or bad news) is that I only got 3 emails and two Twitter DMs asking me why I haven’t been posting. So thank you to those five readers! Anyways, on with the AdBlog! Also, in case you missed it and are interested, I did get married during my AdBlog Vacation(see picture). Aug 5, 2009 10:21 AM  2010 Ford Focus Trading in a Ford Explorer for Smaller Car Tops the List
Not many surprises in this week’s report from The Detroit News showing the top ten clunker trade-ins and the top ten New Cars bought with “Clunker Money”. Six of the top ten are Ford Explorers, and all of the top ten are domestic cars. The winner so far on the new car side is Ford, with their Focus model taking the top spot after the first week. Julie Roehm's genius Ford Focus marketing of the late 90's seems to still be paying dividends for Ford.
The battle for moving new cars this quarter is just beginning. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the new $2 billion extension should allow the Clunkers program to continue through September. Giving dealers another month to fight for every last penny available, and strategically move as much new car inventory as possible. The big question is whether or not any dealers will face new car inventory shortages, and actually have to turn away business. There are only so many Ford Focuses sitting on these lots right?
[Source: The Detroit News]
The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers Trade-Ins:
1. 1998 Ford Explorer
2. 1997 Ford Explorer
3. 1996 Ford Explorer
4. 1999 Ford Explorer
5. Jeep Grand Cherokee
6. Jeep Cherokee
7. 1995 Ford Explorer
8. 1994 Ford Explorer
9. 1997 Ford Windstar
10. 1999 Dodge Caravan
The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers New Cars:
1. Ford Focus
2. Honda Civic
3. Toyota Corolla
4. Toyota Prius
5. Ford Escape
6. Toyota Camry
7. Dodge Caliber
8. Hyundai Elantra
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevy Cobalt Jul 30, 2009 7:59 AM If I knew how many calls I would have had about our iPhone app, I would have pushed to launch it even earlier than this past June. The interest on mobile apps is almost as high as in streaming and in-banner video. It doesn’t surprise me considering the most recent “Media Advertising Forecast” from MAGNA shows mobile and online video advertising each growing at 30% or higher. Mobile is expected to surpass $400 million by 2011, with online video hitting the $1 billion mark by 2011.
I wanted to give advertisers a peek into what kind of metrics we are looking at for local mobile apps. Local being the key word here. Our iPhone app is barely a month old, and is already closing in at 10,000 downloads and hundreds of thousands “opens”. If you haven’t heard the term “open” when referring to mobile apps, it is basically the same a visit on a website. Most of our iPhone advertising opportunities will be based on a person’s physical location. Below is a map that plots where people are “opening” our iPhone app everyday(orange and red nodes are clusters of 50,000 or more opens). You can see that the map is so populated, that you can’t even see the names of the MSP metro cities below.
Our app is growing like a wildfire and it is very encouraging and exciting to see people using it with such frequency. I have a video of our iPhone in action that I will post in the next few days so that those with other types of smart phones can see what it looks like. Our app should be compatible with Android and other platforms very soon. Jun 5, 2009 4:08 PM WCCO.com debuts a site design refresh
I have received several questions about the new look that we debuted this week on WCCO.com. Our goal of this site refresh project was to achieve a better user experience through design. This isn't an all out redesign because our framework and back-end remained the same. The layout and appearance was changed to improve the following:
- Much more news and information centric
- Cleaner and easier to read layout and font selections
- Modern presentation of information
- More desirable, market savvy and tightly integrated sales opportunities(http://www.cbslocalsales.com/adgallery/)
We also put a lot of emphasis on our new video player design. The updating of the redesigned video player was focused on User Interaction Best Practices for Online Video. The new video player has arguably the best user experience in this market. The load times are extremely fast, and the ads are spaced out evenly so that a user is not being hit with ad after ad after ad. I challenge you to look at the other video players in the market and find one that is better!
New Video Player:
May 18, 2009 9:51 AM
Online display ads have been fighting a tough battle lately. Most research companies are projecting online display to either lose share of ad dollars in 2009 or at best, stay pretty flat. However, at the local level, we are continuing to add new online advertisers every month. The combination of local online display and video has proved to be a very powerful way to generate results, and the study that came out this month is helping to reinforce that. The key when looking at display or video campaign results is to look at all the ways a viewer can take action on an ad. This does not just include clicks. The chart below shows the percentage of viewers who saw an ad they were interested in, but rather then clicking, decided to research the product using a different method:
Where Minnesota companies have a big advantage in online display is when they can promote the fact that they are local and part of this community. The second part of the iProspect study shows that online display ads perform much better if the viewer has prior knowledge of the company that is offering the product. When we create banner and video campaigns for clients, we focus a lot on reminding viewers of who is talking to them; with messages like: “We’re Local”, “You Already Know Us”, or even “Minnesota’s #1 xxxx Company”. This is also where television can play a large role in the effectiveness of an online campaign. Worried that not enough people know about your company? There is no faster way to get your business known to thousands of Minnesota women than with a TV schedule in Oprah!
Apr 2, 2009 11:04 AM  Source: Inmagine.com If you are a publisher or advertiser who thought online advertising snuck up on you, wait until you see how fast mobile advertising is coming. I shouldn’t even say coming, because it is already here.
Three years ago, mobile advertising really wasn’t advanced enough to bring any type or ROI. Most phones used what were called WAP browsers that were mainly text with a few small images. Nowadays with the emergence of smart phones, mobile browsers can show richer, more dynamic content as well as more targeted, impactful ads. Targeting by a person's current location will also be a big selling point on mobile advertising. Mobile Market View released a study recently by The Kelsey Group stating that 18.9% of mobile consumers in the United States are now using smartphones, with 49.2% planning to pick one up within the next two years. I wouldn’t suggest pumping dollars into mobile until your own mobile presence and strategy is solid, but I would plan a good amount of time and money in 2010 to be dedicated to mobile.
Just a glimpse of how the spending is projected in the mobile space:
I am sure you will be hearing a lot more from me on this topic, so stay tuned, and comment below if you have any thoughts or questions on this topic. Mar 12, 2009 5:45 PM  Sarah Zielie - Senior Digital Media Specialist Thanks to Sarah Zielie for being our second guest blogger! Sarah is one of the top Digital Media Strategists and Planners in the Twin Cities. I have worked with her on numerous campaigns, and she always impresses AE's with her creativity and attention to detail. I asked her to put together some tips for traditional media buyers/planners who are now in charge of planning digital campaigns. Please contact me if you are interested in being a guest blogger on the WCCO AdBlog. - Dan
Five musts when planning an online campaign
Anyone who has ever planned, implemented, and reported an online campaign knows how different it can be from some of the traditional media channels.
It’s no secret that online usage and time spent continues to grow, and media spend is following, albeit slowly. So how does one start thinking about online media? What are some basics to keep in mind?
1. Define clear objectives and success measures.
Many advertisers love the measurability of online advertising such as CTR, post click and view through conversion tracking, interaction rate/time with rich media, etc. The tough part is determining what success looks like in this sea of numbers! You should set clear goals in the upfront, plan accordingly, set the necessary benchmarks and implement tracking mechanisms. With these in place you can optimize against the goal and there will no surprises when the campaign is complete.
Also keep in mind that the goal may be something that can’t be measured by traditional online metrics, such as lift in purchase intent or increased brand awareness. It’s important to address this and perhaps entertain using a third party research company such as Dynamic Logic to help you out.
2. Consider the opportunities.
There are thousands of ad-supported sites, hundreds of ad networks, portals, sponsored search and more. New behavioral and contextual targeting technologies are continually emerging. The best way to keep on top of trends is immerse yourself in them, read the trades (I like Clickz and iMediaConnection), talk to your fellow industry professionals, and engage in online and in-person forums such as MIMA or i612 LinkedIn media group. Online marketing is never boring or stagnant!
You know your product and target audience best and can align objectives with strategies and tactics once you have your finger firmly on the pulse.
3. Plan for creative.
Creative opportunities aren’t limited to static banners anymore. The possibilities have exploded with pre/mid-roll video, video overlays, podcasts, rich media banners and widgets. Work closely with your online creative team to align strategies. Budget for any additional serving fees that may be related to rich media. Build additional trafficking days into your timeframe to allow for resolving technical issues. At my place of employment, our Digital Media team is immersed with overall Digital. The conversation never ends because in online, media and creative have to be so closely synched.
4. Roll with the punches.
The flexibility of online buys can be a blessing and a curse. The rapidly-changing marketplace may make you rethink plans/buys you made months earlier. The current state of the economy may be shifting your objectives or budgets. Be prepared for changes and plan accordingly. Maybe buy a quarter at a time, or talk about goals and the need for flexibility in the placements, and be sure to double check your insertion order’s cancellation clause.
5. Use your sales reps as resources.
A sales representative can be a planner’s best friend. Often, they have been on the agency side and know where you are coming from and what clients expect from you. Regularly, they have case studies and resources to help you do your job better. They can help on new business pitches and come up with great “beyond the banner” ideas for your brand. You have to rely on your sales reps to execute your campaign so it’s important to work with those you trust. The combination of a great media product and a savvy and helpful support staff is a must.
Sarah can be reached via email at: szielie @ gmail.com
Mar 2, 2009 7:57 PM With more and more advertisers using paid search and SEO as a means of driving web traffic, I thought it would be useful to share my thoughts on how this impacts large publisher sites like WCCO.com. For the last six months, WCCO has focused in on creating online campaigns that help to increase our advertisers’ search efforts. It has helped us mold our digital product into an effective tool for advertisers that increases their overall web success. The big question now is: “Is online display advertising dying?” In December, comScore released a White Paper called, “Whither the Click?” in which they analyzed whether or not the overall decrease in average click-through rates is reason to believe that online display advertising isn’t working anymore.
WCCO Online Display Background:
On WCCO.com, our average click through rates range from as high as 6% on video and 1.5% on banners to as low .02% for remnant and below-the-fold inventory. However, because WCCO treats their display/video ads as a hybrid between TV and Online advertising, we use additional metrics as well to determine success. My favorite alternative metrics are Exposure Time and Interaction Rate. Exposure time measures the length of time(in seconds), that a user is exposed to an ad. This helps our traditional TV advertisers gauge success of any type of branding message. Interaction rate is great for rich media ads that have a message to deliver, but don’t necessarily need a click through to be considered successful. Optimization DURING a campaign, NOT after, is also important, but I will save that for another post.
Our metrics can only go so far in gauging overall success; and like traditional media ads (TV, radio, print and outdoor), advertisers need to be aware that there are more results to look at that which are not as immediate as a click. What I want to know is how banner campaigns improve an advertiser’s OVERALL performance, (i.e. search conversions, delayed direct-link visits, in-store purchases, etc). This is where comScore was able to step in. comScore used their proprietary panel of 2 million internet users who have installed comScore software on their computers to analyze the deeper impact online display ads can have.
comScore Study:
In, “Whither the Click?”, comScore examined 139 online display campaigns across a variety of industries: Retail, Travel, Restaurants, Finance, Auto, Entertainment, and more. Here are some of the findings, quoted right from the study.
comScore: "It’s clear that display advertising, despite a lack of clicks, can have a significant positive impact on:"
- Visitation to the advertiser’s Web site (lift of at least 46% over a four week period)
- The likelihood of consumers conducting a search query using the advertiser’s branded terms (a lift of at least 38% over a four week period.
- Consumers’ likelihood of buying the advertised brand online (an average 27% lift in online sales.
- Consumers’ likelihood of buying at the advertiser’s retail store (an average lift of 17%)
"Among 139 studies in which consumers’ online behavior was monitored following exposure to a display ad, the average lift in the number of visitors to the advertiser site (i.e. percent change in reach between the test and control groups after adjusting for any differences that existed prior to the start of the campaign) was 65.0% during the 1st week following the first exposure to an ad."
Link to full comScore report
This topic is long from being solved, but if you want to talk further on it, comment below or email me. If you want to hear more about what we are doing to help other businesses succeed online, just shoot me a message, and we’ll have lunch!
Until next time,
Dan | |
