The days of digital as an add-on have officially been declared dead. Regardless of your industry, business, or customers, digital needs to play a larger part of your brand and marketing. Today, users are becoming more accustomed to a highly interactive and integrated experience across all channels and devices. They want they information they’re looking for, served up in the best possible way depending on their device at the time, and they want it consistent when they switch devices.

Digital Redefined: Social, Video & Mobile

Being “social” no longer means a Twitter account or a few icons on your page. Today, social media must serve as an extension of the brand and should be treated as such. A way for users to connect on a more personal, intimate level with all levels of the organization from customer service to sales.

Leveraging video isn’t about just showing what your product can do in a screen capture. Instead, users are now seeking to hear from real customers how your product solved a problem. Video today should be part of your storytelling process, not an afterthought.

For integrating mobile into the mix, it’s all about delivery of content. You now need to deeper understand the motivations, behaviors, and goals of the mobile user and deliver your message to them in the appropriate format across multiple devices. Each device with its own set of qualities and limitations as well as usage patterns. Mobile can no longer be an afterthought, it must be integrated.

Stay Aware and Take Chances

The bottom line: integrate for tomorrow, today. Stay aware of changes and opportunities within the current digital landscape and keep an eye out for new ways to leverage existing technology. Take chances by adopting new digital technologies and allow them to become an extension of your brand.

When it comes to web and digital technologies, tomorrow is already here. If you’re still trying to duct tape on a technology from yesterday, well you’re already a couple of days behind.

We can tackle all the specific benefits more in-depth at another time (or visit this Ragan article for a quick review), but what I want to convey immediately is that now is the time for businesses to immerse themselves.  There’s a new door opening to join (if you haven’t already) or to improve your Twitter ROI.

Twitter is changing in big ways, fast

In December, Twitter launched branded pages.  If you are unaware of this development, you’ll want to review Twitter’s Enhanced Profile help page.  Basically, in December, Twitter launched a branded page as an option, which “increases your brand’s Twitter presence by prominently featuring your most important content and visually branding your page.”

With the enhanced profile pages in mind, Twitter is now moving forward with a new focus on creating a new “experience,” both for businesses and their customers.  In my mind two major developments capture this new focus entirely.

1. The Open Platform

Twitter’s end goal with an open platform is to create new ways for customers to engage with your brand.  The industry’s majority agrees with Richard Macmanus in that open web services is a major web trend picking up and Twitter’s new API (Application Program Inteface) is an ideal platform to see the advantages.  By opening their platform to independent developers, Twitter allows “brands to create deeper interactions with consumers through custom experiences,” says Mashable’s David Clarke.  From smaller mobile applications to versions of Twitter visually recreated, developers now have the capability to build onto Twitter’s infrastructure and expand the user’s experience exponentially.  A brand is not limited to its look and feel living on Twitter.  You can now combine Twitter’s functions with your own ideas.  Biz Stone says “The API has been … inarguably, the most important thing we’ve done with Twitter.”

2. T-Commerce

Facebook failed at it, now Twitter will attempt to succeed where it’s adversary failed.  E-commerce on Twitter has pronounced itself loud and clear just recently with multiple real opportunities for e-commerce companies that you’ve probably overlooked.

• First and foremost, the most easily forgotten, the call-to-action: you must provide a link in every tweet.  If someone is interested in a product or service, make sure you’ve given them a way to act.
• Provide great customer service. Everything is public, so customers will gain trust that you will stand by your offerings.
• Pay on Twitter.  Yes, customers can now pay directly via Twitter.  This will expedite purchasing process and reduce consumer hesitation.  Look into Cherpify and Twitpay.

Are you currently using Twitter to help grow your business and reach customers?

Here at FVM, we’re the first to talk about the merits of embracing content marketing for reaching customers in new and innovative ways. That said, the massive shift to social media does not signal the death of display advertising in any way. In fact it is only helping to accelerate the necessary evolution of display advertising.

What’s wrong with banner ads?

It should come as no surprise that traditional banner ads are viewed by many as white noise. After all, the average CTR is only about 0.1%, that’s 1 click for every 1,000 impressions. Part of the problem is the massive number of ads that are put in front of viewers. In 2011, every internet user viewed about 30,000 banner impressions. How many of those do you remember? Probably not a lot. Display advertising has become an annoyance, and not surprisingly, advertisers are abandoning banner ads except in direct response industries. The question is, how can advertisers and networks move the needle when it comes to display advertising?

Changing how we think about display advertising

Even with low CTR’s for years, display ads have remained a constant holdover from the earliest days of the internet. Why? Mostly due to the fact that banners are the closest thing the digital world has to traditional magazine or other print advertisements. Suddenly, with the explosion of mobile and social, publishers and content producers are now being challenged with finding new ways of engaging audiences. Advertisers must evolve not only their tactics, but the fundamental way they think about display advertising. Today’s digital experience is all about integration, not interruption. Here’s how display advertising is fighting of death and evolving in 2012 and beyond:

In-ad interactivity and engagement

If you’re not leveraging the power of the modern web in your display ads, you’re missing out a huge opportunity for clicks and conversions. Incorporating in-ad engagement opportunities such as videos, galleries, questionnaires, etc gives you an opportunity to make a valuable impression and increase brand awareness without pulling the visitor away from their desired content. Take a look at IAB’s Rising Stars video below for a few examples of new ways highly engaging ads are being served.

More targeted, relevant ad delivery

Every day more data about users is being shared with publishers and networks faster than ever before. This gives potential advertisers a very rich and real-time profile of your interests. Just like amazon shows you what other products were purchased with the item you’re viewing, ads can be delivered based on what other users are clicking on. This increases relevancy to users and effectiveness to advertisers thanks to bigger, faster data.

New metrics for measuring effectiveness

ROI is still the elephant in the room when it comes to display advertising, but new metrics are coming into play that will help change the CTR mindset. Neal Mohan, VP of Display Advertising at Google, a guy who knows a little bit about advertising metrics, predicts that 35% of campaigns will primarily use metrics outside of clicks and conversions. Instead, metrics more closely related to those of off-line advertising, such as emotional engagement and behavior impact, with become commonplace.  A lofty notion, but when you look at online consumption compared to that of traditional channels, it’s time for digital measurements to evolve.

Display Advertising in 2012 and Beyond

How display advertising will look in the future is currently up for debate. Some suggest it’s already dead and the entire internet will become social, branded content. Others view display as a necessary revenue stream for publishers that is here to stay. What is clear is that there will be a change in the way online users perceive advertising. With more relevant ads being delivered in newer unique ways, the display ad industry is evolving to survive. It’s up to us as marketers to adapt measurement techniques in a changing landscape and find the best way to engage customers without interrupting their online experience with irrelevant noise.

The PPC environment is constantly changing, as no two searches are alike. Though most anyone can write PPC ads that produce run-of-the-mill results, why settle for mediocrity when you can craft exceptional ads that will not only attract your audience, but also help you stay inline with the competition. To do this, follow these 3 tips to writing effective PPC ads: 1) write relevant and concise ad copy, 2) chose keywords carefully, and 3) include a clear call to action.

Tip #1: Write Relevant & Concise Ad Copy

For starters, in order for your ad to be relevant, it needs to answer: “What are you selling, and why should I care?” Your offer should be clearly stated, and your keyword(s) should ideally be in the title, or “Headline,” of the ad. Including an answer to “Why should I care?” in your ad text allows you to engage your audience on a more personal level. A couple of examples: “escape to hawaii,” “activities for the whole family,” “best shape of your life,” and so on. Second, keep in mind that you only have 95 characters (including spaces) to sell your product or service, so be as concise as possible (character counts for different sections of PPC ads below). Given you only have a small allotment of characters to work with, “write tight” and find a fair balance between including your offer, keywords, and call to action.

Tip #2: Choose Keywords (KWs) Carefully

Include targeted KWs in your ad text. Use Adwords free Keyword Tool to research keywords relevant to the goal of your campaign. If a user enters KWs that match the KWs in your ad, not only is it more likely that your ad is relevant to their search, but these KWs will appear in bold within the ad text, signifying its relevance to the users’ search. Lastly, avoid using a company name in the title. Users are more likely to search for products and services. Save this real estate for your KWs.

Tip #3: Include a Clear Call to Action (CTA)

To maximize your return on investment, it’s important to include a clear call to action highlighting the benefits of your product or service. Answer “what” you want the user to do by telling them the “action” you want them to take. Use CTAs like Buy, Save, Find, Order, Try, and Act Now. A CTA motivates the user to click your ad and tells them exactly what they should expect once they arrive at your landing page.

These 3 Tips to Writing Effective PPC Ads provide a great starting point to building your campaigns within Adwords. Remember, this is only one piece of the puzzle. For a more detailed summary of Pay-Per-Click Best Practices, visit the Adwords Help Center.

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Reference each bullet point with the image below, and you’ll be one step closer to a better optimized website. Now get to it!

1. Quality Content is Key: Write compelling content that users will not only want to read, but share as well. The higher the viral potential, the more traffic to your site.

2. Page Title (or Title Tag): The contents of the page title are displayed on the Search Engine Results Page (also know as SERPs), so it’s important to ensure the keywords (KWs) in your page title are relevant to the user’s search.

3. Meta Description: This is the description below the page title on the results page, providing a summary of the content to be found. Include relevant KWs where appropriate.

4. H1/Heading Tag: This is the heading above the main copy on a webpage. Again, include relevant KWs where appropriate.

5. Keywords: Users type in KWs or KW phrases to find information relevant to their search. In order for these users to find you, you’ll need to include targeted KWs where relevant within the areas mentioned throughout this article. As for researching which KWs to include, Adwords’ “Keyword Tool” is a good starting point.

6. URL (or Alias): Memorable URLs, like <www.toprankblog.com>, are easier to remember and more likely to be revisited without search.

7. Image Optimization: Image traffic has great potential to bring visitors to your site, so it’s best to optimize images in the following two places: 1) the File Name should include relevant KWs (i.e. <a-b-testing-email-marketing.jpg>), and 2) ALT Text, the KW phrase that appears upon mouseover.