KnowThis Blog Postings

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Published on February 21, 2011

Posted by Paul Christ

How to Measure Your Brand's Online Influence (Inc.)

Marketers are creatures that feast on numbers.  Metrics are used for such important marketing functions as uncovering opportunities, creating marketing plans, and determining if decisions actually yield positive results.  While research has been an integral part of marketing for a long time, the explosion of data available from customers’ interaction on the Internet has vaulted analysis of metrics to a new level.  Unfortunately, not all of this information is easily understood.

For instance, one area that has been difficult to measure is the impact social media has on marketing.  Everyone believes Facebook, Twitter and the like are important for marketing, but placing an actual monetary value on this has been problematic.  One reason is that it has been hard to connect a social media posting to customers making an actual purchase.  Yes, the referral measures are there (e.g., Facebook’s Like, Twitter’s Retweet), but many marketers want the answer to a simple question: “If I spend the money to use social media what money am I getting back?”

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Published on February 14, 2011

Posted by Paul Christ

The Dirty Little Secrets of Search (New York Times)

As we discuss in our Internet Marketing tutorial, most companies looking to build a successful online presence must rely heavily on search engines to drive customer traffic.  In a perfect world, though, this is not what most marketers would want since they do not have complete control over an important method for acquiring customers.  But as things currently stand, performing well on search engine queries is vital and marketers have little choice but to deal with it by developing a search engine marketing strategy.

And what does it mean to have a successful search engine marketing strategy?  The best measure of success is high visibility on the list of links returned to someone’s keyword search (called organic search results).  Yet, what many marketers, especially those in small firms, do not realize is that gaining high rankings is not easy.  It takes work and it takes understanding how search engines operate.

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Published on February 05, 2011

Posted by Paul Christ

Taco Bell Using Ads to Battle Back on Beef (MSNBC)

What do marketers do when their company is under attack for its marketing decisions?  Some may take the approach that the best way to handle things is to diffuse the situation quickly by working hard to address the issues being raised.  With this approach, the marketer will often make concessions to those who are screaming the loudest.

For instance, a marketer may remove an advertisement that a certain group feels is offensive.  While the marketer may not really believe it is necessary to do so, the potential negative backlash that may arise if the ad is not removed may be viewed as too risky.