Friday Roundup 8th August 2008

Doh!

We had a "doh! moment" a couple of months back when ITV's Ben Ayres suggested we should have blog buttons / badges so that MarCom Professional members can show their support for the network and promote their membership.

And here they are. Simply click on the one you like to get the code to paste into your blog or website.

We've kept the Roundup light this week, as it's summer and so-called silly season (at least for our northern hemisphere readers).

Best regards, Andrew and the MarCom Professional team.

“80pc of SEO consultants are scammers”: Peter Kent, author, SEO for Dummies

by Andrew Smith of escherman

SEO for Dummies author Peter Kent has been making some pretty scathing comments about the SEO industry in a new interview: “Over the last few years as I speak to more clients and hear their stories, it has led me to believe that 80% of the business is scam.” Kent qualifies this remarkable statement by adding: “By that I mean that 80% of people in the business doing SEO consultancy are either running an outright scam, or they thought it was good to get into SEO because it’s a hot area - but they don’t really know what they’re doing.” More...

Most PR people believe print coverage is more valuable than online: an exercise in cognitive dissonance?

by Andrew Smith of escherman

Gordon Macmillan at Brand Republic reports on a new survey which claims that “most PR people professionals still favour offline media coverage over digital despite recent consumer research identifying online as the more influential medium.” He continues: “More than half, or 53%, see it as more valuable, but the real story is that it’s their clients who are still deeply attached to print. Apparently nearly two-thirds or 64% of PRs believe their stakeholders prefer print coverage more than online, television or radio and more than half or 53% believe their stakeholders are more influenced by print coverage than television, online or radio.” More...

Brian Solis Introduces the 'Conversation Prism'

by Trevor Young of One19

Mapping the amorphous mass that is 'social media' is no easy task, particularly as it's an rapidly changing beast.
Once visualised, however, it's a lot easier to 'get' the the size and scope of social media, and of course better understand the challenge it presents brands, companies, marketers and PR people etc.
Prominent blogger Brian Solis has, in conjunction with Jesse Tomas of JESS3 created the conversation prism that shows graphically how online communities and networks connect to form the social web. More...

Don't forget - the Internet exists "within" the real world - it's not a separate place...!

by Graham Jones of Internet Psychology

Sometimes data comes along and you just have to go - "oh my goodness, how daft is that?". Well, new research from search engine marketing specialists, iProspect, shows that the vast majority of online marketers appear to have forgotten there is a real world out there. That's because this study shows that the majority of people responsible for marketing their businesses online tend to ignore offline marketing.

Say that again? That's right, the study shows that online businesses are largely ignoring the offline marketing they could be doing. More...

Junta 42 releases eBook: ‘How to attract and retain customers with content NOW’

by Matt Ambrose of The Copywriter's Crucible

A great blog if you’re a believer in the benefits of valuable content for converting browsers into buyers (which I am), Junta 42 has released a new eBook on content marketing and why you should implement it as part of your marketing strategy. The eBook’s 11 pages long, and provides some inspiring case studies and excellent advice on getting your campaign rolling.

Here are a few points I scribbled down:

2007 Forrester research showed that 90% of purchasing decisions begin online More...

Mobile Ad Watch July 2008

by si crowhurst of We Love Mobile

Another month, another innovative form of mobile web advertising catches our eye. The new T-mobile mobile web portal has been branded in conjunction with the new release of the new Batman film ‘The Dark Knight’. This is the first time we’ve actually seen a takeover on an operator portal. I must say it is visually engaging and also offers some above average content, including a free trailer. Some operators are still charging users for this type of sponsored content. Doh! The takeover concept has also been used to promote the film in magazine and newspaper ads, so an interesting case of the mobile mechanic reflecting the approach in other channels (which actually works!). More...