October 26, 2007
The Discoverability Wars
Evan Schnittman of Oxford University Press has some thoughts about how discoverability and other publishing-oriented technologies have put book publishers in the catbird seat.
Posted by Bill Trippe at 4:52 PM
October 25, 2007
All the News that's Fit to Click?
eMarketer says that, "It’s wake-up time for the publishing industry. Like it or not, readers and advertisers are turning to the Internet, and print brands must follow." The numbers are compelling.
You can read some of the summary and purchase the report here.
Posted by Bill Trippe at 10:52 AM
October 24, 2007
Docmetrics Trial: Free $250 Credit
I've mentioned protectedpdf from Vitrium Systems in the past. I saw a demo and was impressed. They now have a companion technology, docmetrics, which allows you to measure reader behavior. They have a free docmetrics trial if you are interested.
Posted by Bill Trippe at 8:12 PM
A Billion Here, A Billion There
And sooner or later, you start talking about some serious revenue.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report covering the second quarter and the first six months of 2007. Internet advertising revenues (U.S.) for the first six months of 2007 were nearly $10 billion, setting yet another new record and representing a nearly 27 percent increase over the first half of 2006. Internet advertising revenue totaled nearly $5.1 billion for the second quarter of 2007, exceeding the $5 billion mark for the first time in a quarter, a 25.4 percent increase over the same period in 2006.
Posted by Bill Trippe at 8:06 PM
April 16, 2007
eCommerce Benchmark Guide
Or, as MarketingSherpa calls it, the Ecommerce Benchmark Guide. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a marketing affiliate of MarketingSherpa--and get a small commission on sales of certain products. But I have always admired their work. The new guide is an impressive piece of research, based on a survey of 1913 professional marketers and 2449 online shoppers. The numbers are compelling. 2006 saw a 25% in eCommerce over the previous year, and online sales now account for 3% of all retail sales (up from 1% five years ago). It adds up to almost $30B in retail eCommerce, though the report also notes that "the era of hypergrowth might be slightly slowing in the US."
You can buy the report by clicking on the ad at the right. If you would like to read a free excerpt, you can download it here (PDF).
Posted by Bill Trippe at 4:52 PM
December 19, 2006
Interview: How Taunton Press Built ROI, Customer Loyalty With Video, Slideshow for Sub Site
The Taunton Press' magazines, such as Fine Cooking, Fine Woodworking and Fine Gardening, have had an online presence for a number of years, with articles of past issues archived and for sale. And, they have an online store with more than 500 SKUs.
But in the last few years, company execs realized they had "a large body of great content that our subscribers and customers will consume in a lot of different media," says Interactive Marketing Director Michelle Rutkowski.
One way to offer readers more value while increasing Taunton’s revenues would be to create online paid products -- sites that offered some free content but that required subscriptions to access the rest.
The company created such a site with FineWoodworking.com, which rolled out in November 2005. "We built a big model and projected where we thought we would be, and we're pleased that we're where we think we should be in terms of a business," Rutkowski says.
An interesting case study, and I played a part in the development of FineWoodworking.com, working with Really Strategies and the Taunton folks to develop the requirements, write the RFP, and help choose the vendor, Ektron.
Posted by Bill Trippe at 1:31 PM
December 14, 2006
Drupal with Ad Serving and Web Analytics
A client is interested in adopting Drupal, but is simultaneously looking at Web analytics and ad serving software, mainly commercial packages. I would like to put together a snapshot of some Drupal sites that use different analytics and ad serving packages, including Drupal modules. Would anyone be willing to share what they are currently using? You can post here or email me. Thanks.
Posted by Bill Trippe at 11:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 21, 2006
Web Analytics Packages
A client is looking at web analytics software for a fairly complicated operation. They would like to track behavior from a number of domains (~40), and produce custom reports for both internal audiences and for advertisers. To complicate things, of course, the systems are heterogeneous (mainly Windows and Linux, but some Macintosh sprinkled in). They will be migrating to a common platform (TBD) in the foreseeable future, but may want to put the new analytics package in place before the migration.
They have started with the following list of packages to examine:
ClickTracks
CoreMetrics
WebSideStory
Sage Analytics
WebTrends
Omniture
Does this look the right list? Any others they should be looking at?
Any and all comments welcome, and feel free to contact me off the list as well (though no sales calls please).
Posted by Bill Trippe at 11:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 2, 2006
There's Fraud in Online Advertising?
Over at MarketingProfs, John Jantsch wonders if the click fraud problem is overhyped. Especially since the current issue of Business "Week screams across its cover" Click Fraud - The Dark Side of Online Advertising....
I enjoy this kind of perspective--Jantsch discusses the "analog" analogue to pay-per-click and wisely suggests people not overreact. At the same time, I think the democratization of PPC advertising puts more people at risk than, say, the phantom billboard example Jantsch suggests. Hence the need for the key parties to be vigilant, and also provide open, accountable, and measurable ways for buyers to know that their investment is being well spent.
Posted by Bill Trippe at 12:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2006
Currently Reading
Web Metrics: Proven Methods for Measuring Web Site Success by Jim Sterne. While the book is a few years old now (published in June 2002), the book is still selling well and I can see why. It is very readable, and it references a lot of good consumer research that still holds up today. Plus, as my post Friday on "functional web analytics" suggested, this is still a nascent arena in terms of real business impact, with lots of basic work still to be accomplished on many Web sites.
Any other books or resources on Web analytics you would recommend?
Posted by Bill Trippe at 4:54 PM | TrackBack
September 15, 2006
Functional Web Analytics
Writing at iMedia Connection, SEMphonics CEO Gary Angel asks some refreshingly direct questions about what companies actually do with web analytics:
Can you answer yes to all of these questions?
- Are the changes my web design team makes actually in response to measured web behavior?
- Has my web measurement ever suggested directions, products, services or systems that significantly changed my business approach?
- Do findings about visitor behavior on the website ever influence other media strategies and messages?
- Does anyone really read or do anything with the web measurement reports they receive?
I especially like the last one. This is not to say I think people are lazy, but that if a report isn't relevant or actionable, people will simply discared or ignore them.
