Online Video Goes Mainstream

This year, eMarketer estimates that 66.7% of US Internet users—147.5 million people—are watching video online each month. By 2014, that figure is forecast to rise to 77% of Internet users, or 193.1 million people. In the same period, online video advertising spending will surge from $1.4 billion to $5.2 billion.

The roots of a content-delivery platform rivaling that of TV are beginning to take hold and will continue to grow over the next five years as consumers become comfortable with watching all forms of video content—long and short, professional and amateur—on their Internet-connected phones, laptops, desktops, tablets and TVs.

But by 2014 the notion of monthly viewership, eMarketer’s current standard, will likely be outdated. Daily or weekly viewing will be the relevant frequencies, with usage perhaps measured in minutes and hours spent each day, as it is for a small yet significant and growing portion of teens and young adults who expect content to be available anywhere on demand.

Already, 29% of Internet users under 25 say they watch all or most of their TV online, according to a survey commissioned by Retrevo.

A closer look at viewership rates by age shows classic early-adopter patterns, with 18- to 34-year-olds exhibiting the highest viewership.

eMarketer projects significant growth in video viewers across all age groups in part because of how easy it is to share content online. But the amount of time baby boomers and seniors will watch online video will be smaller compared with their younger counterparts because of their familiarity with traditional TV viewing.

Another trend marketers are watching is pay walls, but how much professional content will be put behind them is unclear. Subscription models would have a dampening effect on overall consumption and advertising dollars. The free long-form content on Hulu.com, for example, has been a factor in widening viewer demographics and increasing ad spending.

Get ready to take advantage of the expanded reach coming soon to Bing with the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance. You can prepare your search advertising campaigns by improving the relevance of your keywords and ads, importing your Yahoo! and Google campaigns, and joining the expanded Microsoft Media Network.

1- Improve the relevance of your keywords and ads
Relevance means giving Bing search users what they ask for: If your keyword is kayak, make sure that the associated ad and the ad’s landing page feature kayaks. Not sure where there’s room for improvement? Run a quick report in adCenter. If you have ads with low impressions, consider changing your keyword match type to better target relevant users. If your ads have high impressions but low click-through rates, try making your keywords more relevant to your ads and landing pages. Improving relevancehelps ensure that your ads are displayed to relevant search queries and users—which increases your chances of converting more users into customers. And now, the Bing and Yahoo! search alliance gives you the opportunity to reach nearly 577 million searchers worldwide¹—just think about all those potential conversions!

2- Import your Yahoo! and Google campaigns
Start strong in the unified Bing and Yahoo! marketplace—and take advantage of the increased reach—by importing your high-performing Google and Yahoo! campaigns into Microsoft adCenter. When you’re ready, use the adCenter Desktop (Beta) tool to make bulk updates and create campaigns with ease. Or use Microsoft Advertising Intelligence to mold your Google campaign content into high-performing adCenter campaigns. This keyword research and optimization tool provides keyword expansion, research, pricing, and KPI data to help you maximize your return without doing the heavy lifting.

3- Optimize your Content Ad campaigns for the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance

With the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance, your Content Ads campaigns will also be capturing a bigger piece of the Internet audience.  Continue to drive your ROI by maintaining control over where your Content Ads run. Use the Publisher Placement Report to see how well your ads are performing on new traffic sources in our expanding network.  Remove any under performing sites with the Website Exclusion feature. Finding sites in the Content Ads Network that convert better than others for you?  Then use Site Bidding to bid for particular websites in the content network. Click here for a refresher on how to optimize your entire Content Ads campaign.

Why Twitter Is a Ripe Target for Multicultural Marketers

African-American and Hispanic usage above average

Evidence from Edison Research’s “Twitter Usage in America: 2010” survey suggests that marketers targeting multicultural audiences would do well to note the service’s diverse ethnic makeup.

Edison found that African-Americans make up nearly one-quarter of the US Twitter population, twice their share of the total population of the country. eMarketer estimates non-Hispanic African-Americans make up just 11% of US Internet users. Hispanics were also overrepresented on Twitter, at 17% versus 13.4% of the US Internet population.

In contrast, whites make up more than 69% of Internet users but about one-half of Twitter users.

The report said that high usage in the African-American community could be related to the mobile nature of Twitter. While many users update their status with a PC, mobile devices are a major conduit of microblog posts, and research shows that African-Americans and Hispanics are both more likely than whites to use the mobile Web, especially among younger users.

Edison also found that Twitter users were significantly more likely than members of other social networks to friend or follow brands.

Overall, the “Twitter Usage in America” survey found there were 17 million users of the microblogging service in February 2010. eMarketer forecasts Twitter usage based on December of each year, making this figure most comparable to eMarketer’s estimate of 18 million users in December 2009.

eMarketer projects 26 million US Internet users will be on the site by the end of 2010.

Edison’s figure is based on Twitter penetration of 7% of the total population. Awareness of the service is much higher, however, at 87%. That means Twitter has gained the mindshare of Facebook in just a short time—as usage and media coverage skyrocketed in 2009—but that awareness has generally not translated to uptake.

Online Retailers Socialize Shopping

More plan Facebook presence than customer reviews

A March 2010 study from the e-tailing group and PowerReviews found that one-half of Internet users research online before making any type of purchase—on the Web, in a store or through any other method. They typically said doing their own research online saved them time and made them more confident about their purchases.

Retailers’ sites played an important role in the research process, and respondents said the most critical capability for a retailer to have was customer reviews. A lack of user-generated reviews would cause nearly one-half (49%) of respondents to leave a retailer’s site.

Though the “2010 Social Shopping Study” found that customer reviews had a strong influence on the purchases of 71% of respondents—while only 25% said the same about Facebook fan pages—an earlier e-tailing group study of Web merchants found Facebook had caught on so strongly that more planned a presence on the social networking site in the next year than would have customer reviews.

Nearly as many retailers planned to publish on Twitter, but only 17% of respondents to the “2010 Social Shopping Study” said Twitter had a significant effect on their buying decisions. Overall, that survey found social media sites were the place shoppers were least likely to do research (6%).

Similarly, sharing tools were the capability rated important by the fewest shoppers (20%), but they were merchants’ top choice in social strategies.

“Customer reviews have become a critical piece of the marketing puzzle, based not only on consumer demand but also on the sales they deliver,” said Pehr Luedtke, CEO of PowerReviews, in a statement.

How Effective Are Corporate Social Media Policies?

Banning usage may not be best choice

Many IT professionals are down on social media usage in the workplace, both because they believe it hinders productivity and might compromise security. As companies adopt usage policies, employees continue to check out Facebook and other potentially forbidden sites.

According to a survey by security solutions provider nCircle, about three-fifths of US security and IT professionals say their company has a social media policy, and two-fifths ban all usage of social media on the job.

Those bans may stem from legitimate concerns, but researchers have warned that security and productivity problems can be combated while allowing employees to harness social media in ways beneficial to their business.

“Even though almost 40% of respondents ban employee social media use, this type of policy is a knee-jerk reaction to the serious security risks associated with social media and is not necessarily effective,” said Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle, in a statement.

Social activities that blur the lines between personal and professional likely persist even where usage is frowned upon. Nearly one-quarter of Facebook users surveyed by Web security firm F-Secure said they used the site “all the time” while at work, and even more had friended their boss. Another 35% visited Facebook occasionally on the job. Just 14.3% of respondents said their company did not allow access—much lower than the 39% of companies in the nCircle survey that reported bans.

Tellingly, nearly one-half of the IT professionals polled by nCircle admitted they were unsure whether employees at their companies adhered to the rules in place.