The 435 Digital Team kills it during their Integrated Marketing Panel.

As Social Media Week winds down here in Chicago, we continue to hit the books (okay, really, our laptops and smartphones) each morning to stay on top of the latest news in digital marketing. Here’s a look at what we’re reading today:

We got a lot of questions yesterday about paid search and whether online ads are worth the cost, given that so many people claim they don’t pay attention to them. iMedia Connection weighs in on this very subject:

Getting started is relatively easy. To determine the incremental value of exposure to unclicked ads, marketers can easily compare samples of users who previously encountered a display ad to users who arrived at a site without exposure to an ad. Marketers can also look to search data. There’s a small mountain of evidence showing that even if you don’t click on a brand’s ad, exposure to the ad makes you more likely to search for the brand and click on its search ads.

But the best case of all for view-through is perhaps that it dates back to the origins of advertising itself. Or, in other words, view-through is not so different from offline advertising in many respects. Agencies running off-line campaigns can point to powerful correlations between campaigns and increased sales, but, in most cases, can’t definitively prove that any given customer is responding to campaigns. And yet no one would suggest that offline campaigns have zero value or that attempting to measure their success is pointless.

And view-through is superior to most offline campaigns in an important respect. If someone arrives at a Walmart store, Walmart can’t be certain that they saw the Walmart billboard on the highway or the full-page ad in the local paper. With a view-through, a brand at least knows that the user was exposed to the ad, even if only briefly.

Think that you don’t need a responsive or mobile website? You might want to think again, says Google:

In this world of constant connectivity, consumers expect to find the information that they want, when they want it – especially when they’re on the go. We know that this applies to their web browsing experiences on mobile, so we took a deeper look at users’ expectations and reactions towards their site experiences on mobile. Most interestingly, 61% of people said that they’d quickly move onto another site if they didn’t find what they were looking for right away on a mobile site. The bottom line: Without a mobile-friendly site you’ll be driving users to your competition. In fact, 67% of users are more likely to buy from a mobile-friendly site, so if that site’s not yours, you’ll be missing out in a big way.

Finally this morning, if there’s a more creative ad out there right now, we haven’t seen it. Coca-Cola turns its print ad into an iPhone speaker.

The weekend is almost here. Thanks for stopping by!

The post What We’re Reading: Thursday, September 27, 2012 appeared first on 435 Digital.

Senior Social Media Specialist Julie DiCaro moderated the panel, in which Paid Search Specialist Rich Funk, Account Manager Sarah Reid, and Social Media Specialist Joan Daluga dispensed their vast knowledge of Facebook Ads to a packed house. The 435 Digital Team walked the audience through the difference between various types of Facebook Ads, discussed best practices, and even gave advice on what might be going wrong when an ad ceases to be effective.

Highlights from the panel:

“Brands should be posting engaging content on a regular basis. If you don’t want to be social and interact with customers, don’t use Facebook or Facebook Ads.” — Sarah Reid

“There’s no point in spending money to direct people to a Facebook page that is collecting cobwebs.”  – Sarah Reid

“While Facebook is particular about the copy and images used in Facebook Ads, the Facebook representatives do have some discretion and not all ads are approved by the same person. If your ad gets denied the first time, re-submit it for approval in a week or so. It might get through.” — Joan Dalulga

“You want your ads to be able to run and not immediately run out of budget, so consider your bid price and targeting when you set up your ads. Don’t budget past what you’re comfortable with, as Facebook Ads can add up quickly if you’re not paying attention to your settings. If one ad is getting significant traction, you can always up the budget or re-allocate funds later on.” — Rich Funk

“In order to get a good sample size for ad testing, let your ads run for two weeks before you starting changing things up. But don’t let ads run more than 3 weeks without changing up your ad copy or image. Facebook recognizes “stale” ads.” — Rich Funk

“Be realistic in what you expect to gain from Facebook Ads. Like all social media, Facebook Ads are not about the hard sell, especially if you’re driving traffic back to your Facebook page to get more “likes.”" — Joan Daluga

“If you want to ‘set it and forget it,’ Facebook Ads aren’t for you. These need to be monitored and updated on a regular basis to keep things fresh.” — Sarah Reid

After the panel concluded, some of the 435ers headed on over to the VIP reception at Rockit Bar and Grill. The appetizers were great, the drinks were copious, and we got to spend time meeting and networking with our colleagues from around the nation. Kudos go out to Zocalo Group, the Chicago Tribune, Brickfish, and Billy Dec for throwing a great party!

Up next for the 435 Digital Team? We’ll be hosting another panel on Wednesday afternoon, this time on integrated digital marketing strategies.  Even though the panel is technically sold out, we anticipate there will be some additional room, so please drop by!

The post 435 Digital Storms Social Media Week appeared first on 435 Digital.

The 435 Digital Crew is thrilled to annouce that both our panels at Social Media Week Chicago, How to Make Facebook Ads Work for Your Business and 435 Digital On Integrated Marketing, sold out in short order. But we’d be lying if we said we weren’t looking forward to checking out the multitude of other panels, parties, and networking events that will be put on by our industry colleagues and peers.

Of course, if you’re visiting Chicago for the first time, you also want to make sure to take in some of the sights and sounds of our fantastic city. 435 Digital members recommend taking the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s river cruse, taking a picture of your reflection in Cloud Gate (or, as locals affectionately call it, “The Bean,” hitting up Gino’s East for a slice of deep dish Chicago heaven, and heading up to Second City for some belly laughs. Of course, you can’t beat a stroll up the Magnificent Mile no matter what time of day (or year) you can fit it in.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Social Media Week Chicago schedule,you can do so here. You should also make sure to follow the Social Media Week Chicago blog, which, in addition to insightful posts on the current state of social media in our world, is also interviewing and previewing many of the week’s speakers.

Registration for Social Media Week events is free, but you do have to register and reserve a seat for most events, so get to it! We hope to see you all next week.

The post 435 Digital Takes On Social Media Week Chicago appeared first on 435 Digital.

While most of the activity is checking posts from friends and posting one’s own updates, more and more people are interacting with brands and organizations on social networks. About 58% of users in the U.S. read posts from companies, and around 32% say they are likely to click on ads while networking.

The number of people engaging in social networks through mobile devices – phones and tablets – is massively increasing. The 64.2 million is up 77% from the year before, and the 38.2 million engaging daily is up 88%. With increasing smartphone adoption, these numbers will continue to grow rapidly.

With the upcoming Facebook integration with iOS 6, these numbers will soar even higher.

With iOS 6, Siri can now post Facebook status updates. If you had iOS 6 right now, you could ask Siri to post to your Facebook wall that you’re reading a great blog post from 435 Digital – or that you’re leaving in five minutes to try out the new Korean BBQ place just a few doors away.

In Apple’s new App Store, you’ll be able to “Like” a song, which will appear on Facebook. This might lead more people back over to Apple’s App Store.

Twitter is already integrated; with iOS 6, Facebook will also be integrated. If you want integration with Google +, you’ll surely need an Android device.

Whatever mobile platforms and devices people are using – mostly iOS and Android in the U.S. – any business that wants to reach people through social networking must get serious about not only their social presence but also their mobile-ready websites.

The post The Steady Rise of Social Mobile appeared first on 435 Digital.

Facebook, Google+ vie for news distribution

Facebook is  reportedly working with a dozen news organizations to create exclusive versions of their news content to be delivered via app, reports David Cohen of AllFacebook. A Forbes report says these sources could include  CNN, The Washington Post, and The Daily. Meanwhile Google is said to be in negotiation with media companies to create a portal of its own, Cohen said. The new Google+ beta has surpassed 10 million users and introduced its news badges last week, which basically amount to bragging rights for news junkies. 

Could Facebook be the bank of the future?

Facebook has a mall called Payvment that  has 60,000 retailers and is adding 400 a day, reported Tom Groenfeldt  of Forbes July 15. Facebook also has a cozy relationship with credit system and game builder Zynga, Groenfeldt reports.  Together the two could conceivably create a retail powerhouse running its own payment system. Original source: Chris Skinner at The Finanser.

Yelp hits the 20 million review mark

With its reviews business, Yelp continues to outpace  Groupon, LivingSocial and Google in the local business space, Mashable reports. Yelp reported  that as of July 11, it had recorded  20 million reviews with 53 million unique visitors. View a heat map showing numbers of Yelp reviews

Twitter will add promoted tweets,  accounts

Twitter users will soon be seeing tailored, automated and bulk-published ads from major advertisers in their feeds, reports Alexei Oreskovic for Reuters. A beta test will allow a limited number of partners to deliver Twitter ads via application programming interface, or API, starting 4th quarter 2011. Reuters reported that Twitter only began offering advertising on its service in April 2010. The microblogging service currently has  600 advertisers that will generate about $150 million in ad revenue this year, according to research firm eMarketer.

Heads up!  435Digital Masterclass this Friday, July 22

The 435Digital masterclass is an all-day seminar designed for business owners and communications professionals. It will be held Friday, July 22 at Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago.  Topics covered include website development, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media strategy.

The Masterclass will also include a panel featuring Chicago business leaders who excel in social media. Panelists include Geoff Alexander, executive vice president Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises and managing partner of Wow Bao; Lindsay Avner, executive director of Bright Pink; Mari Luangrath, owner of Foiled Cupcakes; and Scott Kleinberg, director of social media strategy for RedEye. Learn more.

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