That Girl From Marketing Live Feed
Display Ads + Search Ad = $$$, Gender Marketing in Web Design, SEO Addiction & Microsite Shelf Life
Are Microsites the Brochure sites of yesteryear? Like a new toy for Christmas, we wait with anticipation for it to arrive, someone pays a lot of money for it, and once it arrives we play with it, show it to all our friends, they “ohh” and “ahh” over it and then soon all the shine is gone and we move ont the next one… and someone wonders why they paid so much for a toy that no one longer plays with. Of course, at less than 100k companies can afford to build and burn microsites (I’ll save my thoughts on how companies can build and burn sites, yet balk at the price of SEO services for another date.).
When I think of the microsites that will have a long shelf life, I think of Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty and Converse’s ConverseGallery.com. What do these microsites have in common? They have moved from simply being glorified brochures to giving people a way to interact. Is the point where I mention Consumer Generated Content or Social Media Optimization (SMO post count:2)?
The What Have I Been Reading Reading List:
- Consumers exposed to both display and search ads convert at higher rates – “Consumers exposed to both display and search advertising converted at a 22% higher rate than those using search alone, according to a study from the Atlas Institute. Atlas also found that search-click-only users converted at a rate 3.3 times higher than the display-click-only group. Combined display and search clicks converted at a rate 4 times higher than display click only.” See the full PDF: The Combined Impact of Search and Display Advertising
- Gender Marketing Web Design Differences – “If your target is men, make them happy now because they’ll probably forget you before the next page loads or they leave the store. …Women want to know more up front than a man does; men are more willing to gamble a bit in the hopes of a greater reward. Women will gather together but will make their individualized decisions in the end. Men, on the other hand, will make ‘individual’ decision based on following the herd” See also: The Power of Personas
- Top 21 Signs You Need a Break from SEO – (via the Daily Searchcast - And yes Danny, you have gotten funnier) “The S, E, and O keys on your keyboard are broken. When your son tells you he wants to go play in the sandbox, you fear you won’t see him again for eight months. And this one is actually a great idea. …your brilliant idea for 2007 is to create an alter-ego for yourself called ‘SEO Shaft.’ Your blog’s tagline will be ‘Can ya Digg it?’” I’ll add my own: You need a break from SEO when you read a post about an SEO idea and then buy the domain.
See also: You Know You’re Working Too Hard…
The I Also Glanced Over Reading list:
- Viral Ads: It’s an Epidemic (via: Church of the Customer Blog)
- Estée Lauder Launches 1st Online Campaign – Welcome to 1999, I mean 2006.
- Scripps Network Opens Online Marketplace
The Too Cool: Goes to Graffiti Research Lab. I have a love of Graffiti and Street Art - my previous logo for this site should have given a hint (I need to find a way to incorporate that here) - so this is too cool. From the website: “The Graffiti Research Lab is dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protestors with open source tools for urban communication. The goal of the G.R.L. is to technologically empower individuals to creatively alter and reclaim their surroundings from commercial and corporate culture. G.R.L. agents are currently working in the lab and in the field to develop and test a range of experimental technologies for the state-of-the-art graffiti writer. This site documents those efforts with video documentation and DIY instructions for each project.” WHAT!!! How cool is that?! (via: PSFK)
“They say I should be more focused / and be more patient /and find a better way to let off my fustrations” - Doin Me - Little Brother
Posted by: Natasha “That Girl From Marketing” Robinson
You bought the domain!!!??? I knew someone would do it!! Woo-hoo!
Natasha - you rock. Can’t wait to see that site in 2007. Do I get 5% of the Adsense proceeds?
Comment by Matt McGee — September 22, 2006 @ 2:53 pm
Matt,
Boy you wrote a good post that a lot of SEOs can relate to, myself included. Seriously, I was rolling when I read the “Can you digg it” attached to the name, clever. Yeah, I bought the domain.
I’m surprised after the popularity of that post it was even available. Once developed we can talk $$$ 
Comment by natasha — September 22, 2006 @ 3:29 pm
[…] Natasha, you rock! […]
Pingback by SEOShaft.com … coming soon? » Small Business SEM — September 22, 2006 @ 3:29 pm
Thanks for flagging Leigh’s “Persona” post, Natasha….and great perspective on microsites. I’m with ya on that one….
Comment by Ann Handley — September 24, 2006 @ 7:21 pm
Ann I was introduced to the concept at the company I work for and thought Leigh’s piece gave a great overview of the concept - because while I grasped the concept I didn’t completely “get it” until I read her piece.
BTW, Ann, thanks for stopping by. I’ve been a Marketing Profs sice back in the day when there was a short lived Marketing Research Blog on MP, which I still miss….
Comment by Natasha Robinson — September 25, 2006 @ 8:57 am
New blog is gorgeous! subscribed
Comment by Robyn Tippins — September 25, 2006 @ 8:59 am
Robyn,
Thanks for stopping by. I finally moved this blog and the template is by Darjan Panic and Brian Green (see below for links to their respective sites.
BTW: I’ve been out of the blog loop for so long that I didn’t notice that you launced: Social Riots (http://www.socialriots.com) until last week. Now If I ever get a chance to add all the blogs I read to my blogroll, that will be right up there with Sleepy Blogger (http://www.sleepyblogger.com)
Comment by Natasha Robinson — September 25, 2006 @ 9:08 am
Natasha - I am so glad that you saw Matt’s article on the top 21 signs you need a break from SEO. I thought of you when I read it! Do you think #22 would be something about talking SEO at dinner party? We’re so cool.
Comment by Bess Lauer — September 26, 2006 @ 2:52 pm
Bess,
I’m mad you thought of me! LOL. That’s a good addition… though I’m sure you have a lot more to add to the list, yourself! Check out the additions at:
http://www.seomoz.org/blogdetail.php?ID=1413
http://www.stuntdubl.com/2006/09/22/11-more-signs-you-need-a-break-from-seo/
BTW: Let me know which you want for your Bday
! http://www.cafepress.com/buy/seo/-/cfpt2_/copt_/cfpt_/source_searchBox/x_0/y_0
Comment by Natasha Robinson — September 26, 2006 @ 3:28 pm
[…] That Girl From Marketing […]
Pingback by Linkbaiting for Small Businesses (or, What I Learned Last Week) » Small Business SEM — September 26, 2006 @ 9:47 pm
Love the shirts! Wow - I think I will need to purchase a mug so I have something to drink my coffee from so I can continue to think about SEO.
Comment by Bess Lauer — September 28, 2006 @ 6:14 am
[…] The Future of the Micro Site – Consumer Generated Content: (via: Marketing Vox) As I was about to reply to Collin about an off the Blog conversation regarding my feelings on Microsites, (Yes, you do need to blog what you wrote, good stuff) I came across an article about the report from JupiterKagan “Microsites Becoming More Popular” (I can’t seem to find this report, anyone know where I might find it?). “An important component to campaigns that include microsites will be the movement toward consumer-generated content, 34% percent of advertisers planning to use microsites intend to use consumer-created content in their overall marketing efforts. Advertisers who plan to use microsites are planning to use weblog and viral advertising nearly three times as much as those advertisers who are not planning to use microsites. While only 30 percent of companies whose annual revenues exceed US $500 million used promotional microsites in the past year, 45 percent of such companies plan to use them in the coming year. The movement toward consumer-generated content will be an important component of microsites. Such sites are dependent on viral promotion, and allowing users the ability to add their own created content is a great way to engage users and get them talking about the campaign.” In the article they note the microsite created by Organic for X-Men: The Last Stand on MySpace.com as a microsite example, you can read more about the campaign on Search Engine Lowdown. See also: How-To: Harness Word of Mouth as a Media Channel […]
Pingback by That Girl From Marketing » The Future of Microsites is Consumer Generated, Teens: Goodbye Buddy Icon Hello Social Network, Social Commerce & Connectivity — October 13, 2006 @ 11:45 am