ING's I-Needtogo Viral Campaign

This is one of the best interactive online advertising campaigns I've seen in a long time. Created by Emakina, this online advertising campaign breaks new ground for big banks, and goes a long way to creating some freedom in that corporate banking space.

This is the perfect application for a this type of creative with ING promoting a free online bank account. It's perfect for a younger target market that's easily engagable online. This campaign also gives off a fantastic viral vibe while providing you with code to insert into your Blog, Facebook or MySpace.
Check it out at I-NeedToGo.com
Or, you can simply play it below - however, it's a lot nicer and larger on the official web site. But again, this is a very obscure campaign (but it smartly engages the users) - please feel free to leave your thoughts on this in the comments section.

How YouTube Video Advertising Will Work

Firstly, view the YouTube video advertising clip below. The buzz is here & it's flying through the blog-sphere. YouTube's new video advertising has been seen, live on YouTube for the first time. Was this their engineers caught out or a live Beta test for their new video advertising platform?


Ofcourse, the advertising has now been pulled - or at least I can't replicate it going back to this YouTube Link now. Is anyone else having any luck getting the video advertising on YouTube now?

So the verdict - the new YouTube video advertising platform seems to be right on the money. It's non-intrusive, it's clean, it's sleek, it's as user friendly as anyone could have predicted. A small transparent bar across the bottom of your videos fades in, and the advertisement slides across. You can minimise the video ad panel or bring it back up. (Great option.)

Clicking a video advertisement on YouTube then shows the thinking of a great company - it doesn't just launch a new window to the advertisers website, it pauses your current clip, and launches a panel with in the current video to play a full streaming ad.

When you think about it, we are already accustom to this format. Australian tv networks already do a very similar thing, they run small ads horizontally across the bottom of popular programs with out too much debate. I personally won't be upset by the launch of YouTube Video ads by Google.

It's looking very positive, a lot of skeptics that were worried about ads taking over YouTube will "hopefully" be satisfied with this. There will of course, be negative publicity from with in various circles - but in the end - something has to pay for the bandwidth and on top of that, everyone is out to make a buck.

So finally, after all the worry, it seems we need not about YouTube being over run with Google Video Advertising. Would love your comments on this topic!

Why Crowd Baiting Doesn't Always Work.

The Social Networking boom has certainly created a multitude of new Online Marketing techniques, strategies and locations. Take Digg.com for example. It's a social networking website (news & articles) that is powered by user created content. You can submit, share, comment, vote, promote and discover anything from anywhere.

For marketers, it's better than blogging & myspace combined. Digg.com is a promotional paradise, waterfront with penthouse styled 5 star marketing opportunities. This website has millions of people log-in on to look for something to read. Not only that, articles are ranked so the more diggs you have, the more traffic you get, the more people want to read your article to see why so many people before them digged your article!

Obviously, this gives marketers a juicy platform to launch any style of campaign they like and get server crashing traffic! BUT. Be warned. As with any campaign, at the end of the day it's about sales - not traffic. And if it's about sales - it's about people, not just clicks.

Digg.com delivers traffic in the bucket loads, but they are only there for a caffeine fix, not the friendly chat that goes with it. And since your bottom line requires your campaign to increase sales, it's now about building relationships - something Digg.com users don't have time for.

There are 2 important lessons learnt here;

1. Traffic Doesn't Always Generate Sales
2. Choose Your Social Media Platform Carefully

Next time you're investing time into social marketing, don't just jump into high-traffic websites. At the end of the day, it's about sales - not clicks. And as we see the change in online marketing with mediums such as PPC bids getting increasingly expensive, optimisation will become one of the most important factors in sales generation. Spend less - Get more.

Search Marketing Campaigns

We all know how great Google is, they talk about it in movies, on our TV shows & you’re probably one of the people who have used the phrase – Google it!

But how can your business utilise the power of Search Marketing?

Sure, your customers can find your website when they search for the name of your company. But those people already know who you are; they’re already looking for you. If you’re lucky, they’re repeat customers. But what you really want. What you really need, are new customers to help grow your business. Creating a Search Marketing Campaign specifically utilises search engines by driving targeted traffic to your website – affordably.

This targeted traffic is no longer searching for your business name, in fact, this targeted traffic has probably never even been to your website – they’re searching Google for products & services. And that’s where the value lies.

Running a Search Marketing Campaign gives your business access to customers who never knew you existed, that are specifically searching for the products & services you offer. So this means your conversion rates and RIO are going to be substantially higher, and in comparison to other forms of media, your advertising spend is much lower, but still has a more direct impact because your customer intentionally found you and didn’t just randomly flick past you in a newspaper.

When setting up a Search Marketing Campaign, your agency should compile a detailed keyword strategy. Targeting words & phrases that are relative to your business’ products and services. Breaking up keywords and phrases into Adword Groups so you can easily customise the creative, set maximum key word bids and analyse clicks, conversions & ROI – all key things in keeping your campaign optimised for the best results.

While you can easily set up a Search Marketing Campaign your self, I’d highly recommend speaking with a Search Marketing Strategist like my self before jumping in, as Google’s Search Marketing bid tool can certainly get tricky to master the best value campaign for your business. There are also certain key word strategies and creative needs that are critical to the success of a campaign, and with the competition that can appear on popular services and key words, a cutting edge strategy can save you thousands and generate a better conversion rate for a much higher ROI.

If you only make one online marketing investment for your business this year – make it a Search Marketing Campaign. You’ll be glad you did.

Google, Yahoo, Ninemsn & Sensis all provide Search Maketing Services.

Stay tuned for advanced Search Marketing Strategies and Tips.
(Note. this article is directed at clients and business owners who are contemplating Search Marketing for their business & not Search Marketing professionals)