Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

When did "opt-out" become a best practice?

I need a moment -or a paragraph - to rant.  As I highly professional business blogger (nosering notwithstanding) it's not something I generally make a practice of, but on this fine Monday, I'm going to make an exception. Here's my issue:

When did it become okay to preselect subscriptions for visitors to your ecommerce site? Wasn't "opt-in" always the way to go?

Back in my early days in this industry, I worked for one of the original, fastest-growing B2B online pubs. We adhered to best practices like zealots, and we even penned a few of them ourselves.

Now, I realize that I'm getting old and that 2000 was a long time ago, but I could have *sworn* that email marketing was strictly OPT-IN. Opt-out, as I recall, fell under "worst practices."

There's a reason for this. While preselecting subscriptions for your visitors upon checkout will undoubtedly boost your numbers, you're not likely to cultivate QUALITY leads in this way. The travel newsletter (to which I was just unwittingly subscribed as I booked a hotel) will either be deleted promptly before it's read, or - if I'm feeling particularly ambitious - I'll simply unsubscribe as soon as I see it.

Had I seen an offer that appealed to me, I would have opted in. I've opted-in for tons of industry newsletters, a few cool parenting emails and a handful of other niche publications. What Orbitz has just crammed into my inbox is of no interest to me because I don't travel much. I use their site, among others, to book rooms for the sales team when I send them out to industry events. So I won't care if they've got cruise discounts next month, nor will I care if Jamaica's on sale. Their emails are of no interest to me. I didn't opt in, and I'm not buyin'.

I'm a waste of email.

The principal behind best practices in all online marketing channels is basically this: Be respectful. Don't piss people off. That holds for email, search, blogging, everything.

The idea of opt-in only emails may be an old one, but it's still good -- and it's still a best practice.

While we're on branding...Coca Cola or Google?

Just posted about Madison Avenue leveraging online for brand-building. Here's an article on how online brands are gaining greater popularity.

While Coke has long been considered the greatest brand every, a recent poll (of Geeks?) put Google in the top spot. (Coke came in at number 9. It was beaten by, among others, MySpace and Ikea.)

Google retained its title as the world's most influential brand, and video-sharing site YouTube and online encyclopedia Wikipedia were catapulted into the top five at the No. 3 and 4 spots, according to the annual survey by online branding magazine brandchannel.com.

While brandchannel's survey is not uncontroversial as it asks 3,625 branding professionals and students [like I said, Geeks.] "Which brand had the most impact on our lives in 2006?," rather than measuring economic impact, the evidence of the result is everywhere...

Yes, I supposed Coke hasn't had the privilege of becoming a verb. (Nor has Google earned a spot at the deli counter.) And the fact is, you'll interact with your can of Coke for about 10 minutes, whereas you'll be on Google or MySpace all day long.

See the results at BrandChannel.

Marketing View: Looking back at 006 and ahead to 007

2006 was a big year for the Web. The 10th anniversary of our industry saw the beginnings of Web 2.0 realization with the wildfire adoption of YouTube and the continued astronomical growth of MySpace, CraigsList and Wikipedia. We saw many more (TOO many) original podcasts, and a lot more people relying on their mobile devices. And we saw the introduction of the addictive SecondLife. And...

• We saw more Google domination, some - if not quite enough - forward-thinking (and a reorg) by Yahoo, and a new face for Microsoft's Web presence.
• We saw Microsoft lose to Apple in the public eye (Zune v. iPod) and Google lose control of the Web-at-large to MySpace, now the most-visited site online.
• We saw big agencies fail miserably in Web 2.0. (And we're watching one of them screw up again in 007... which, admittedly, I'm enjoying a little too much.) (...and let's not forget LonelyGirl15, while on the topic.)

So what else can we expect to see in 2007?

Well, for starters, eMarketer predicts (via MediaWeek) that the ad spend for us will exceed $20 Billion.  A nice (if not spectacular) leap. But with the changing face of Web marketing...where will all that money go? What changes will we see in the market?

• We'll see wider Web 2.0 adoption, to be sure. As big as MySpace has grown in the last year, the majority of the world (while they may finally know what a "blog" is) hasn't gotten on board with the user-generated content thing. There will be more MySpaces and FaceBooks and YouTubes popping up this year, and they'll gain and broader adoption across a user base who can both vote AND drink legally. (And maybe even a few AARP members!) ...a CraigsList for people who don't want to buy stuff, perhaps?

We'll also see more agencies attempting to leverage Web 2.0 -- and many of them failing spectacularly. (I'll be waiting with baited keyboard!) A few will get it right, and they'll probably be smaller shops.

...and for greater insight on this, see Randy Morin's excellent Web 2.0 predictions. We agree on some points, disagree on others...but he's a lot smarter than me, so listen to Randy.

• We'll see a lot more mobile, too. With Blackberry back and hotter than ever, the mobile Internet is gaining popularity. All it needs is a price drop in the service (how about INCLUDED with your mobile service, folks??), and I think mobile Web adoption will get the shot in the arm it needs.

And I know all you agencies have been getting ready to serve the growing demand for mobile sites and services, of course!

• And we'll see the Web get more vertical, and more local. This was something we saw beginning in 2006, but I think we'll get even more vertical this year. I predict that a lot of those 30-somethings who don't fit into MySpace of FaceBook (and who can't find enough stickiness to hang out on LinkedIn) will find some more specialized communities to get involved in and voice their opinions. And I have a feeling net-entrepreneurs will be scrambling to create communities to meet the demand.

• Look for more in the way of vertical search, too. Yahoo's jumped on this one, but I think you'll see more of it and richer versions of it this year.


• One final prediction: Pay-per-call will become a household name for marketers in 007. With a lot of silence around all those VoIP purchases made in '05, I suspect this will be the year we hear a lot more about that particular channel.

See also, John Battelle's predictions, which include the buyout of AOL...but surprisingly, nothing on local search or verticalization. And eMarketer's, which jibe with mine somewhat in their prediction of a $1billion ad spend on social networks - more than double the 2006 spend.

Finally, I have to point you all to David Berkowitz's touching (without a hint of irony, I swear!) look at 2006. Excellent article.

I guess I should add, as I close this, that these predictions are solely mine and if you disagree or find them offensive, yell at me, not DigitalGrit. And DigitalGritters, if you disagree, use comments to correct me or add predictions of your own. I'm sure I'll be adding (and revising) these predictions myself!

The Zune Gallery

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an iPod fan. I'm the only one at DigitalGrit, for the most part, who isn't.

I love my tunes, don't get me wrong -- it's just the whole "everyone has one" thing that gets my back up. Even though Apple has always been the preferred brand of the truly cool kids, the ubiquity of iPods just brings out my (never-latent) inner rebel.

That said, I'm loving the creative Microsoft's done for the Zune. Some of it was featured in last week's Ad Age (it took me this long to skim the issue) and it's really cool. Nevermind the anti-Apple branding - "Welcome to the Social," which I happen to think is a smart differentiator. This is great stuff, no matter who's behind it.

View the gallery at zune-arts.net.

Three cheers for the "other-guy-pod." Do I think this smart campaign will crack into iPod's 75% marketshare? Probably not. But that's probably why I'll get one.

Yahoo/HotJobs in deal with local newspapers

Yahoo's struck a deal with seven major newspaper publishing groups will use its technology to sell ads and offer search on the Web sites of over 150 daily papers across 38 states. Ads placed in these papers will also appear on Yahoo HotJobs.

According to Reuters:

Yahoo aims to expand its reach into local markets, viewed as a key growth channel for the newspaper industry as it faces circulation declines and a migration of readers to the Internet and other media...

..."We believe the local segment is largely untapped and provides significant opportunities to expand audience engagement and subsequently grow local advertising," Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel said.

Local search is just getting hotter by the day. If you haven't started thinking about this as part of your marketing plan, START.

Ask -- not Google or MSN -- Powers Lycos Search

That's right -- Lycos has selected the dark horse, IAC's Ask.com, to fuel its search. See the article on MediaPost today:

STRIKING A BLOW AGAINST TWO of its far bigger rivals, Ask.com will replace MSN and Google as the natural search and sponsored listings provider on Lycos. Previously, MSN Windows Live powered organic search results and Google supplied sponsored search listings.

By partnering with Lycos, which had 25.7 million unique visitors in September, Ask.com will be able to boost its brand and expand its paid listings business. Lycos generates about 125 million search queries per month, according to internal company numbers. 

Ask has made headlines since its February relaunch, becoming the fastest-growing search engine among users this year -- but still owning only 5% marketshare, next to Google's 44%. The new partnership will help fuel that growth, making Ask.com a much bigger contender in the space.

Google Up, Yahoo Down

While Yahoo hangs its head over a 38% drop in revenue for Q3, Google reports more than a 70% increase over last year's revenues, exceeding analyst expections by a good $50 million. With $2.69 billion in reported revenue for the quarter, I think they're OK to cover the YouTube deal.

$40 and a Dream -- Cocaine is a WOM Success Story

hI'm a little late with this one, but I just read this MediaPost story about Cocaine, the new energy drink that has 350x the caffeine of Red Bull. (Yum, liquid migraine.)

Regardless of how good or bad the stuff is, they've gained national recognition with a marketing budget of less than $40.

"Our entire marketing and promotional investment in the launch was $37.50," says Jamey Kirby, senior partner and founder of Redux Beverages, Las Vegas, which launched the controversial brand Sept. 9 during Fashion Week in New York "That's what we paid a courier to deliver a case to the New York Post."

Between a contraversial product name, a product that should sit on shelves somewhere between Stacker2 and "Jackass" DVDs, and a brilliant marketing team sporting a serious pair, Cocaine has become a true WOM marketing success.

While not all PR is good PR, Cocaine is basking in the glow of inevitable medical warnings, parental outrage and the prestige of government attention. When you're targeting the cool kids, the more ire you can raise, the better, it seems.

So, although this product is likely to be pulled from shelves (or at least black-boxed) in the very near future, it's going gangbusters during its bi-coastal rollout. Nevermind that it allegedly tastes like sick and is likely to cause a premature death via ventricular fibrilation. It's cool.

Good or bad, when you get mentions in the New York Times, the Daily Mail and pretty much every other major news outlet on $37.50 -- you're doing something right. Most products couldn't withstand the flames fueled by Cocaine, but this product is in a place where the more contraversy it stirs, the better it looks to its target audience.

Read the MediaPost article.

More Google News: Pact Sealed with Firefox and Real

Google's grabbing more headlines than Mel Gibson this week...

From Reuters:

Google Inc. has extended a multi-year deal with RealNetworks Inc. to promote Google software across Real's entertainment and multimedia products, the companies said on Wednesday.

RealNetworks and Google, together with Web browser maker Mozilla Corp., said they had agreed to distribute the Mozilla Firefox browser together with the Google Toolbar along with Real's RealPlayer audio and video playback software.

No financial terms were disclosed.

Reuters was also quick to point out that this move is a deliberate strategy to head off Microsoft prior to the release of Vista, scheduled for late 2006/early 2007.

More Google News: Pact Sealed with Firefox and Real

Google's grabbing more headlines than Mel Gibson this week...

From Reuters:

Google Inc. has extended a multi-year deal with RealNetworks Inc. to promote Google software across Real's entertainment and multimedia products, the companies said on Wednesday.

RealNetworks and Google, together with Web browser maker Mozilla Corp., said they had agreed to distribute the Mozilla Firefox browser together with the Google Toolbar along with Real's RealPlayer audio and video playback software.

No financial terms were disclosed.

Reuters was also quick to point out that this move is a deliberate strategy to head off Microsoft prior to the release of Vista, scheduled for late 2006/early 2007.