One of the most effective new-media platforms to emerge in the past decade has been online video, and the stats prove it. According to ComScore, a source of digital marketing intelligence, U.S. internet users watched 178 million videos in the month of April alone.

As both production and delivery technologies have advanced to make the medium a low-cost and high-quality platform for marketers, most b-to-b marketers are now regularly using online video on their websites to provide interviews with executives, customer testimonials and product demos, and some are using video in display ads and e-newsletters.

Since web video has become a vital part of the marketing world today, it is imperative to optimize web videos for search. Currently, less than 20 percent of marketers told Forrester, a technology and market research company, that they insert keywords into the filenames or videos on their site, and even fewer use more advanced tactics, such as writing keyword-rich captions and annotations, or creating online video libraries. After a search engine experiment, Forrester reported that by using keywords and videos, sites stand a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of results than any given text page in the index. For successful marketing in today’s world, use web video!

For more information on both articles, visit

http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/6/comScore_Releases_April_2010_U.S._Online_Video_Rankings

And

http://blogs.forrester.com/interactive_marketing/2009/01/the-easiest-way.html

Good question. According to BtoB Magazine’s online survey of nearly 400 U.S. marketers, almost half of survey respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Twitter’s ability to generate quantifiable ROI. That being said, it’s important to note that a majority (approximately 70 percent) of survey participants acknowledged only devoting 30 minutes to their respective Twitter streams.

While Twitter is quick and easy to manage, it has not yet been directly linked to revenue increases. So, is Twitter, as a marketing tool, worth your time? Arketi Principal Mike Neumeier chimed in on the debate, “Twitter has proven to be an effective communications tool, but in all likelihood its relevance will fade over time. It is not a marketing strategy, but rather a single communications channel.”

But, as one would imagine, you get out what you put in. The more time and thought companies allocate to their Twitter engagement is directly correlated to the output they can expect to receive. As the survey suggests, “marketers who generate revenue via Twitter are more active and commit more of their time to using Twitter.”

To read the full article, visit http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100614/FREE/306149964/1445/FREE.

According to a recent study from the Center For Media Research, the Internet has challenged the usefulness of trade publications in almost every industry sector. While not particularly surprising, the Canadian-based study could potentially provide insight into the Internet’s impact on trade publications in the U.S. marketplace.

Debunking common beliefs on the increasing dominance the Internet yields on specialized trade publications, this study suggests that specialized business publications have remained relatively stable over the past decade. Primarily due to their ultra-focused content, specialized business publications have served as a legitimate and valuable resource, providing targeted information and news to industry consumers. The pubs have remained useful and are, subsequently, ranked right behind the Internet in this particular study.

Among the seven diverse industrial sectors examined in the study, six are identified as traditional BtoB media:

• Specialized Business Publications
• Salespeople
• Trade Shows
• Direct Mail
• Conventions & Seminars
• Business Directories

The seventh information source, the ever-expanding Internet, has experienced a 23 percent increase in usefulness since 2004, according to the survey. Recognizing the growing role the Internet plays in today, many BtoB companies are now offering digital capabilities.

To learn more about the survey and read the rest of the article, visit http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=129203.

Very strong ad. Great use of copy. Whitespace. And a visual that says it all.

Source: http://scottrope.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/3mmoneyglass1.jpg

Great news coming out of the Associated Press in the form of updates to its AP Stylebook (the grammar, definitions, use cases and rules bible for journalist and PR folks). After about 10+ years of getting it wrong — yes AP had it wrong — “website” is now one word! To read about the 41 other new social media guidelines check out the article below from Mashable or simply visit: http://mashable.com/2010/06/02/ap-social-media-guidelines/.

One interesting observation for AP: is a website really “social media”?

Another great (but very old now) technology styleguide is Wired Style: Principals of English Usage in the Digital Age (published 1996). It’s a great read if you can get your hands on one.

Source: Mashable

AP Stylebook Adds 42 New Guidelines for Social Media

The AP Stylebook has released its new social media guidelines, including the official change from “Web site” to “website” (a move first reported back in April) and 41 other definitions, use cases and rules that journalists should follow.

Among the more interesting changes –- at least from a grammar and style standpoint –- are separating out “smart phone” as two words, hyphenating “e-reader,” and allowing fan, friend and follow to be used both as nouns and verbs.

Beyond that, the AP has also defined a number of acronyms that are commonly used in texting and instant messaging. While most of them should be fairly well-known to regular web and mobile phone users (ROFL, BRB and G2G are among the definitions) one actually was new to me: POS.

According to the AP, this stands for “parent over shoulder” (I’ve used POS to refer to something else occasionally, but I digress), and is used by “teens and children to indicate, in an IM conversation, that a parent is approaching.” Elsewhere, other terms making the cut include “trending,” “retweet” and “unfriend” (“defriend” is also acceptable, though the AP concludes it’s less common).

Finally, the AP also offers some basic rules of thumb for how social media should and shouldn’t be used by journalists, with a focus on making sure they continue to confirm sources and information they find on blogs, tweets and other forms of social media.

The full 2010 AP Stylebook, which includes the new social media guidelines, was released today and is available on the AP’s website.