Understanding the Landscape Vital to Digital Marketing Success in 2009
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a new report, The comScore 2008 Digital Year in Review, which recaps key trends in U.S. digital marketing for the year. The comprehensive report highlights the key trends in several areas of digital marketing, including e-commerce, top-growing sites and site categories, search, online video, online advertising and mobile, and how digital marketers can capitalize on these trends in 2009.
To download a free copy of The comScore 2008 Digital Year in Review report, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/2008-digital-review/
Job Search Leads as the Top-Gaining Site Category for 2008 in Tough Economic Environment
One of the trends that heavily affected U.S. Internet usage in 2008 was the economic meltdown, with several of the top gaining site categories reflecting the current environment. Notably, the Job Search category ranked as the top-gaining site category for the year, up 51 percent to nearly 19 million visitors in December 2008, as the millions of Americans affected by the deteriorating job market sought online job resources for assistance. Other top-gaining categories in 2008 included Coupons (up 46 percent to 31.6 million visitors), Politics (up 43 percent to 12 million visitors), and Classifieds (up 27 percent to nearly 53 million visitors).
Other key findings highlighted in the report include:
· Search query volume on the five core search engines increased 21 percent in 2008 from the previous year, with Google Sites accounting for nearly 90 percent of this growth.
· Online video viewing accounted for 12.5 percent of Americans’ total time spent on the Internet in November 2008, up from 8.5 percent the previous year.
· U.S. Internet users viewed a total of 4.5 trillion display ads during the past twelve months, with the average person viewing more than 2,000 ads per month.
· Retail (non-travel) e-commerce spending grew 6 percent to $130.1 billion in 2008. The year ranked as the softest year for retail e-commerce spending growth since comScore began tracking the industry in 2001.
· The mobile industry continued to witness the growing popularity of smartphones in 2008 with subscriptions to smartphones increasing more than 100 percent during the year.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Contact:Sarah Radwanick Senior Analyst comScore, Inc. 312-775-6538 press@comscore.com
Sonic Branding For Social Media: Engage, Align, Connect
By Chad Cook -- With more than five billion people accessing social media daily, savvy brands understand the importance of cultivating a strong social identity. They devote massive resources toward brand awareness, audience targeting, content strategy and community engagement. Yet, while they know that social platforms are critical to boosting sales and attracting new customers, many neglect one of the most effective tools for connecting with consumers: sonic branding. Marketers often associate sonic branding with catchy mnemonics used by big brands like McDonald’s, Netflix and Intel in their advertising. But that is a very limited view of what sonic branding is and what it can do. Sonic branding is a way to build awareness and stimulate engagement across all touch points, from advertising to broadcast digital, in-person and social. And it’s not limited to members of the Fortune 500. Brands at all levels can benefit from a sonic identity that is memorable, engaging and reflective of its core values. Sound has been scientifically proven to be deeply tied to memory and emotion. There’s a reason that certain songs stick in your head and bring back memories formed years or even decades earlier. So, it’s surprising that sonic branding is often an afterthought in marketing plans. That is especially true in social media marketing. Faced with tight deadlines and strained budgets, creative teams are often tempted to select music for their content simply because it “fits.” Unfortunately, that may result in content that is in tune with what’s trending but is out of tune with brand identity. Effective sonic branding, by contrast, requires thoughtful strategic planning,... Read More