PalatnikFactor.com

MarketingCharts reports on a survey conducted by Anderson Analytics of the top marketing trends for 2008.

“Web and green marketing are hot; Boomers are still the most important demo, though women, Gen X and Y, and Hispanics are catching up; and marketing basics are more important than ever, according to (pdf) a new survey of marketing executives conducted by Anderson Analytics.

The first annual survey of Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), a nearly 1,700-member organization of marketers at a VP-level or higher, sought to identify the top marketing trends in 2008.

The survey focused on top marketing concepts, buzzwords, global areas of opportunity, targeted customer demographics, as well as the books that marketers look to for inspiration and growth opportunity.”

"“Green Marketing” (32%) was another important emerging concept - and it was identified as the trendiest marketing buzzword." Wow, Green Marketing really did emerge in a big way.

"When asked about the most important customer demographics, senior marketing executives rank Baby Boomers highest, with 88% ranking them as either very important or somewhat important." I don't know if I agree with this, I think the most important target demographic is from 14-27.

"However, Gen X (86%), Hispanics (86%), Women (85%) and Gen Y (84%) are catching up to Boomers as customer targets." This hispanic demo is the one to really watch for in the coming years.

If you’re wondering what or how Google will continue to come out with new marketing channels for advertisers, MOBILE is the target at the moment.

Now, from what I’ve read and understand from a short press release from Google, it is basically Google Maps for mobile.

“With Google's new My Location technology, users who don't have GPS-enabled mobile phones will now be able to take advantage of the added speed and convenience afforded by location information. The My Location technology also complements GPS-enabled devices, as it delivers a location estimate faster than GPS, provides coverage inside buildings (where GPS signals can be unreliable), and doesn't drain phone batteries as quickly as GPS. Whether users are trying to locate a restaurant in an unfamiliar neighborhood, get directions to the nearest hotel while traveling, or just find a place to grab some coffee while shopping for the holidays, Google Maps for mobile with My Location can help them get what they need quickly and easily.”

So, why does Google spend all this money on technology for a GPS system? Google can care less about a GPS system, but with the amount of people that will download this free tool to their cell phone, the opportunity to make money of the advertising is incredible! Google doesn’t do or create anything without advertising in mind. Watch Google earth keep coming out with different versions and you’ll see ads there at some point, unless they really keep that one application for what it really is, which is just plain awesome.

The Google GPS can have a great impact on local advertisers for the obvious. It’s by far one of the best forms of local marketing…you have someone on their mobile while they are out trying to find something and BAM, they can find you right away while being near you.

So far, it’s just starting so its early to tell how it’ll play out with advertisers but it seems promising.

It’s about that time of year when you’re probably having your best sales to date since the holidays are around the corner and people are starting to shop as of now.

If you’re selling a product on your website, besides having quality pictures of the product itself and good content, what else could entice the user to make the purchase? PEER FEEDBACK. I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while now until I just saw this research study by the e-tailing group which proves this very important aspect of shopping online.

Reviews from buyers are so important…buyers are sheep (for the most part) and that’s why trends become trends…people tend to follow other people if other people think its good or cool. Product reviews act as that for many online buyers.

“The study sought (1) to understand how online shoppers use reviews to make informed buying decisions, and (2) to explore consumers’ preferences and interests in “Social Navigation” - or the ability to narrow product selections based on reviews from like-minded people with similar interests.
Some 70% of all online shoppers said customer reviews and ratings on a retailer’s website were extremely or very important when they are selecting and purchasing products, followed by 62% citing a top-rated products list (as rated by customers):

Among the respondents, 65% were identified as Social Researchers - consumers who actively (always or most of the time) seek out and read customer reviews prior to making a purchase decision:

Social Researchers were found to engage in the use of reviews across all behavioral areas at a rate 20% higher than average online shoppers:

* 86% of Social Researchers find customer reviews extremely or very important, vs. 70% of all online shoppers.
* 76% of Social Researchers find “top rated product” lists to be extremely or very important, vs. 62% of all online shoppers.
* 64% of Social Researchers research products online more than half the time, no matter where they buy the product (store, web, catalog, etc.)

How online shoppers, particularly Social Researchers, perceive Social Navigation was also examined.

* Some 82% of Social Researchers (vs. 75% of all online shoppers) found reading reviews better than researching a product in-store with a knowledgeable sales associate.
* 76% of Social Researchers (vs. 69% of all online shoppers) are more likely to shop on a retailer’s website - vs. its competitor site - if it offers social navigation.
* 75% of Social Researches (vs. 64% of all online shoppers) found it extremely or very helpful to narrow product selection based on feedback from people like them (with similar interests).

If you are selling product on your website, I'd advise to start putting up some product reviews or ratings and test if it starts to convert better.

Ask.com has spent about $100 million in advertising and branding its search engine to the public. I think they put a really good marketing campaign but nevertheless, with market share growing, so have the market share of the other 2 giants, Google and Yahoo…even MSN.

Is Ask.com a legitimate competitor in the search market? Yes and no. If you’re an online marketer, you’re not seeing great results from you ask.com campaigns if you’re running campaigns in the search engine, even though they still use Google results in their paid search results as well. I’m not even sure if Ask.com has an Adsense program but if they do, they are hurting in that market as well.

Now, for the general public, as a website and product, I really do like ask.com. I think it’s a unique search engine offering a different type of search for the user. If you haven’t done a search in a while, you’d be really surprise as how it has developed from a year or two years ago. It loads a bit slow but that’s because it pulls images, videos, etc…and obviously doesn’t have the hosting power Google does.

Hitwise reports, “…Ask's share of executed searches in the U.S. growing 23.7% from 3.49% of all executed searches in August 2007 to 4.32% of executed searches in September 2007.”

But then again, MarketingVox reports, “everybody had a good September. Google and Yahoo gained more search market share in September than Ask, with Google jumping to 63.55 percent of all searches. Even AOL caught up to and surpassed Ask.”

It comes down to owning properties and how many partnerships each engine has to distribute ads. Millions of sites display Google adsense…there is the key to Google, besides making billions of the engine search itself with the Adwords platform. Yahoo Publisher Network has some good distribution but doesn’t come close to Adsnese…and now Microsoft is in the game landing Digg as a distributors and probably other big sites.

Where is Ask in all of this? They will have to form partnerships and have a good ad distribution channel and volume to compete in the search market.

If you are an affiliate marketer in any of these industries, AOL just released their search trends for certain industries.

Top Searched Purse Brands on AOL Search
1. Coach
2. Louis Vuitton
3. Vera Bradley
4. Gucci
5. Chanel
6. Prada
7. Burberry
8. Dooney and Bourke
9. Brighton
10. Cartier

Top Electronics and Gadget Searches
• 1. iPhone
• 2. iPod
• 3. Computers
• 4. Cell Phones
• 5. GPS
• 6. Nintendo Wii
• 7. PSP
• 8. TV
• 9. Digital Cameras
• 10. Blackberry

Top Auto Searches
• 1. Toyota
• 2. Honda
• 3. Ford
• 4. Nissan
• 5. Jeep
• 6. Lexus
• 7. Dodge
• 8. Chevrolet
• 9. Chrysler
• 10. Hyundai

Top Vacation Destination Searches
• 1. Hawaii Vacations
• 2. Las Vegas Vacations
• 3. Disney Vacations
• 4. Mexico Vacations
• 5. Florida Vacation Rentals
• 6. Outer Banks Vacation Rentals
• 7. Maine Vacations
• 8. Orlando Vacations
• 9. Cancun Vacations
• 10. Myrtle Beach Vacation Rentals

Hitwise this week released a its 2008 Data Election Center which reveals which candidates websites are visited the most.

This study will also continue through the election by Hitwise but shows Clinton, Obama, and Paul are leading the race online with traffic volume to their websites.

Top Democrats Websites:

Top Republican Websites:

Top Search Terms: