Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

Building Brand Awareness with Paid Search

Do you think "search" for building brand awareness for your company? Of course; search is a powerful vehicle for eCommerce and/or traffic building. But for building brand awareness? The answer, according to a study conducted in July is a resounding "yes."

A study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Search Engine Effectiveness Committee has determined that brand awareness is indeed enhanced by the use of paid search placement.

Results were stunning. "On average, when respondents were asked to name a specific leading brand within a tested industry, they were 27 percent more likely to name the brand displayed in the top spot compared to a control group not exposed to the ad," reads the study. Unaided brand awareness jumped from 43.9 percent for the search control to 55.6 percent for the top position. This result is for brands generally already well-known, which makes the results even more exciting.

Many brand marketers consider unaided brand awareness scores a highly valid measurement of advertising effectiveness. Marketers want consumers to consider their brand at every stage of the buying cycle. Higher unaided brand awareness increases the likelihood a consumer will include the brand in a purchase selection set.

For the eMarketer, this study should help you to implement a full three-prong strategy of building brand awareness, driving traffic and delivering ROI in the form of sales conversions or high quality leads.

Click here to read the full article.

Stephen Harris, Director; DigitalGrit

Building Brand Awareness with Paid Search

Do you think "search" for building brand awareness for your company? Of course; search is a powerful vehicle for eCommerce and/or traffic building. But for building brand awareness? The answer, according to a study conducted in July is a resounding "yes."

A study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Search Engine Effectiveness Committee has determined that brand awareness is indeed enhanced by the use of paid search placement.

Results were stunning. "On average, when respondents were asked to name a specific leading brand within a tested industry, they were 27 percent more likely to name the brand displayed in the top spot compared to a control group not exposed to the ad," reads the study. Unaided brand awareness jumped from 43.9 percent for the search control to 55.6 percent for the top position. This result is for brands generally already well-known, which makes the results even more exciting.

Many brand marketers consider unaided brand awareness scores a highly valid measurement of advertising effectiveness. Marketers want consumers to consider their brand at every stage of the buying cycle. Higher unaided brand awareness increases the likelihood a consumer will include the brand in a purchase selection set.

For the eMarketer, this study should help you to implement a full three-prong strategy of building brand awareness, driving traffic and delivering ROI in the form of sales conversions or high quality leads.

Click here to read the full article.

Stephen Harris, Director; DigitalGrit

Blogging Tips to Munch on Over Thanksgiving

Debbie Weil had this great list on her BlogWrite for CEOs Blog:

Top 5, er 7, DOs and DON'TS for Writing a Business Blog

Great tips on blogging from the likes of Seth Godin and uber-blogger Robert Scoble.

Debbie's personal #1 tip:

DON'T: "Don't cross the line, whatever it is, for your organization or company."

In other words, be mindful of your company's corporate guidelines, privacy & confidentiality policies and other legal & HR directives. Just makes sense, unless you want to lose your job.

Give this a read on Friday. It should delay your inevitable mall trip by at least 15 minutes (enough time to read the article and post to your blog)!

Blogging Tips to Munch on Over Thanksgiving

Debbie Weil had this great list on her BlogWrite for CEOs Blog:

Top 5, er 7, DOs and DON'TS for Writing a Business Blog

Great tips on blogging from the likes of Seth Godin and uber-blogger Robert Scoble.

Debbie's personal #1 tip:

DON'T: "Don't cross the line, whatever it is, for your organization or company."

In other words, be mindful of your company's corporate guidelines, privacy & confidentiality policies and other legal & HR directives. Just makes sense, unless you want to lose your job.

Give this a read on Friday. It should delay your inevitable mall trip by at least 15 minutes (enough time to read the article and post to your blog)!

eBay Storefront, a hot eCommerce Channel

Is eBay hot or what? Sure, you sold some old stuff hanging around in the attic or bought some cool-looking trinket. But did you ever consider eBay as an eBusiness channel? If not, you should.

More mainstream corporations are selling their products online, often using the eBay Storefront. The storefront is as it sounds - a special area branded for your business; a destination for selling your wares online.

With fixed pricing (not auction), you can control your inventory sales -- and even use the channel to push clearance or out-of-date stock in a cost-effective manner.

And vendors such as Macromedia (makers of the HTML programmers Dreamweaver software), are helping to enhance your store's look and appeal.

Who is using eBay Store front? Here are a few highly visible examples:

• HP MarketPlace
• SonyStyle  (created & managed by DigitalGrit!)
• Sears Liquidation Center

Is eBay right for you? Find out more at the eBay Store helpCenter.

eBay Storefront, a hot eCommerce Channel

Is eBay hot or what? Sure, you sold some old stuff hanging around in the attic or bought some cool-looking trinket. But did you ever consider eBay as an eBusiness channel? If not, you should.

More mainstream corporations are selling their products online, often using the eBay Storefront. The storefront is as it sounds - a special area branded for your business; a destination for selling your wares online.

With fixed pricing (not auction), you can control your inventory sales -- and even use the channel to push clearance or out-of-date stock in a cost-effective manner.

And vendors such as Macromedia (makers of the HTML programmers Dreamweaver software), are helping to enhance your store's look and appeal.

Who is using eBay Store front? Here are a few highly visible examples:

• HP MarketPlace
• SonyStyle  (created & managed by DigitalGrit!)
• Sears Liquidation Center

Is eBay right for you? Find out more at the eBay Store helpCenter.

"Never hurts to have a second set of eyes..."

I'm not generally one for cliches (okay, yes I am) but it's true. That second set of eyes is always incredibly valuable. Here's why:

1. You never know when you'll miss a typo -- no matter how meticulous you tend to be. Even yours truly makes a mistake every now and again.

2. It's incredibly important to be sure you haven't offended anyone. The world's a diverse place, and some phrases that are in some people's everyday vocabulary really *aren't* okay to use. And those political views you have that you're sure everyone agrees with -- guess what? Everyone doesn't.

3. You need to make sure people understand your point. The thought in your head may be crystal clear to you -- but your proofreader will make sure it's as clear to everyone else.

Yes, you *could* file this post under "incredibly obvious," but you know what? Sometimes it's good to reiterate the basics.

PS -- Notice how I sneaked in another photo? I'm starting to get into this whole TypePad thing!

"Never hurts to have a second set of eyes..."

I'm not generally one for cliches (okay, yes I am) but it's true. That second set of eyes is always incredibly valuable. Here's why:

1. You never know when you'll miss a typo -- no matter how meticulous you tend to be. Even yours truly makes a mistake every now and again.

2. It's incredibly important to be sure you haven't offended anyone. The world's a diverse place, and some phrases that are in some people's everyday vocabulary really *aren't* okay to use. And those political views you have that you're sure everyone agrees with -- guess what? Everyone doesn't.

3. You need to make sure people understand your point. The thought in your head may be crystal clear to you -- but your proofreader will make sure it's as clear to everyone else.

Yes, you *could* file this post under "incredibly obvious," but you know what? Sometimes it's good to reiterate the basics.

PS -- Notice how I sneaked in another photo? I'm starting to get into this whole TypePad thing!

A moment to vent: Setting up the blog

Just wanted to take a sec here -- when I took on the role of "Queen of the Blog," part of my task was to select a blogging application.  Based on the recommendation of a dear friend and fellow blogger, I selected TypePad. (MovableType didn't work in our server environment, and the idea of WordPress, an open project, made me a little nervous.)

My friend assured me that TypePad was simple to use and really intuitive. But you know what? I usually pick up applications really quickly, and I'm having a heck of time with this thing. It took me ages to figure out where the nice templates were, and now that I have one, I can't sort out how I can have my pictures appear in the third column. (That's why I've popped one in this post - it's a test to see if I can get it to show up there!....and it's worked.)

And honestly, it took me days to figure out how to get the author's names to appear on the posts.

So if someone as comfortable with online apps as I am can't figure this out easily, how's it going to work the for the new-to-the-Web business owner trying it out?

Maybe I'm just losing grey matter as I hit my twenty-teens.

A moment to vent: Setting up the blog

Just wanted to take a sec here -- when I took on the role of "Queen of the Blog," part of my task was to select a blogging application.  Based on the recommendation of a dear friend and fellow blogger, I selected TypePad. (MovableType didn't work in our server environment, and the idea of WordPress, an open project, made me a little nervous.)

My friend assured me that TypePad was simple to use and really intuitive. But you know what? I usually pick up applications really quickly, and I'm having a heck of time with this thing. It took me ages to figure out where the nice templates were, and now that I have one, I can't sort out how I can have my pictures appear in the third column. (That's why I've popped one in this post - it's a test to see if I can get it to show up there!....and it's worked.)

And honestly, it took me days to figure out how to get the author's names to appear on the posts.

So if someone as comfortable with online apps as I am can't figure this out easily, how's it going to work the for the new-to-the-Web business owner trying it out?

Maybe I'm just losing grey matter as I hit my twenty-teens.