iMedia Connection Blog

Whether a business owner is looking to strengthen their online company or add an online store to their existing business, there are a lot of benefits that can come from focusing on selling online. True, maintaining an online stores (and an online presence) can take a lot of time and energy, but the benefits of an expanded clientele is well worth it. Often times, people are apprehensive about trying an online component to their business because there is so much competition online. With all of the content on the web, how are business owners supposed to get the attention of their customers? Well here are some tips for boosting online sales and outshining the competition:

1. Climb the Ranks Search engines are responsible for a large portion of the traffic that most sites get. When there are many competitors within a market, it’s important that a business’ website appears above the rest in relevant searches. For example, Seattle is known for being at the forefront of the tech industry. Along with many large, mainstream companies, there are many smaller, independently owned tech businesses in the area. Those smaller businesses will use specific Seattle SEO keywords on their site to get locals... Read more

I get strange looks when I tell advertisers that switching from an awareness objective to a direct response objective requires a complete replanning of a digital campaign.  While many advertisers understand why this is, there are many more who don’t.
Changes in objectives can happen for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes, advertisers focus on metrics that aren’t compatible with the campaign objective, simply because response metrics are easily obtained.  In other cases, marketing objectives might shift and advertisers erroneously believe they can simply swap creative to efficiently garner clicks.  Whatever the case, there are three solid reasons why, when objectives are moved from DR to awareness (or vice versa), the agency needs to replan and re-quote fees.
Cost Basis
Awareness campaigns are characterized by running in environments that are high-profile or selected due to appropriate context.  In other words, many of the placements will command a premium.  In such cases, CPM is the dominant pricing model.  While other pricing models can play a role on an awareness campaign, generally your first digital ad dollars are going to go toward placements that are priced on a CPM basis.
DR campaigns tend to use a combination of pricing models.  Depending on the advertiser, there may be... Read more

If tablet adoption continues at the rate it’s currently at, tablets will overtake PCs by the first quarter of 2013. It’s no wonder eMarketer estimates that by 2015, over half of Internet users will be logging on via their tablet devices. With tablets gaining more and more market share, now is the time to look at your tablet monetization strategy and get the most out of the increasingly popular device.
A key factor in monetizing your tablet ad inventory is understanding (and applying) how it is different from its smartphone counterpart. The Online Publishers Association released a study that tablet owners are more likely to interact positively with ads, and the more a consumer used their tablet, the more likely they were to make a purchase through an ad. To take advantage of tablet users’ greater willingness to interact with mobile ads, publishers need to ask themselves a few critical questions. What device types and platforms are driving the highest traffic and click through rates? Are banner ads or mobile video accounting for the bulk of your mobile clicks? In fact, ComScore found that tablets have quickly reached critical mass in the U.S. The report indicates that tablet users were nearly three times more... Read more