Online Video Advertising Powered by Social Sharing with Automotive in Top 5

Video Advertising is Empowered by Social Sharing across Multiple Retail Segments with Automotive showing plenty of room for growth!

Digital video has viral potential, and advertisers are increasingly trying to tap into the social-sharing instinct among viewers. Unruly Media Inc., a video technology company, studied social shares worldwide and found that the fast-moving consumer goods and consumer products category (FMCG) made particular strides in the first quarter of 2013, capitalizing especially on Super Bowl placements and increasing the number of social video shares by 78.2% over Q4 2012.In total, entertainment garnered the most social video shares in Q1 2013, which is unsurprising given the adeptness of the industry at creating video content. Impressively, the FMCG sector was right behind. The two industries accounted for over half of total video ad shares.Looking specifically at social video ad shares around the Super Bowl, the study also found that the auto sector—a major Super Bowl advertiser—performed fairly poorly.The Super Bowl is where auto advertisers devote a significant percentage of their yearly budget, and that allocation showed in the increased shares the auto sectors’ videos received in the first quarter of this year—377% more than in Q4 2012. But that didn’t help boost auto above fourth place in the percentage of total shares garnered during that period. It seems auto manufacturers have more work to do to bring their TV ad-spot know-how to the web.While creating unique, compelling video is critical to getting social shares, there is also a bit of science behind the phenomenon.Unruly Media looked at social video sharing during 2012 among the 200 most-shared brand videos and found that the first three days after an ad’s debut determined a lot about its success: 10% of total shares occurred on the second day after debut, the apparent high point for video ad sharing. And the first three days saw one-quarter of total shares.Social networkers are ready and willing to share video; they are simply waiting for content worthy of their attention and endorsement. Online video sharing was a top internet activity among US web users, according to a December 2012 study from NetBase, especially among younger consumers. It was the No. 2 online activity among those between 18- to 34-years-old. And even among those in the 35-to-54 age group, more than half reported sharing video.

Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Video-Ads-Success-Hinges-on-Social-Sharing-Early-Days/1009852#J8Rmtmo0LSFGXso5.99

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Is Your Mobile Website Ready for Enhanced Campaigns?

Today's car shopper prefers a mobile-responsive experience. Tomorrow's search ads demand it...

In an attempt to drag all of its advertisers into the new multiscreen reality, willingly or otherwise, Google recently announced the impending switch to Enhanced Campaigns. Ads in all campaigns will have the potential to run across all devices, so whether your prospective buyer is researching a car on a phone, tablet, or desktop, she may be served the same ad.

If your site isn't flexible enough to take users directly to the page they want – regardless of the device they are shopping on – then it's time to start tweaking your stylesheets. Otherwise, you risk wasting thousands on mobile and tablet users who bounce the moment they're redirected to your homepage instead of the inventory, lease offers, or service coupons advertised.

What's changing?

Along with disabling the ability to select which devices you want your campaigns to target, Google Enhanced Campaigns usher in greater flexibility in device preference, ad extensions, geographic targeting, and conversion optimization.

In legacy campaigns, AdWords set device targeting and ad extensions at the campaign level. So, all ads in a particular campaign were set to show on phones, tablets, desktops, or a combination thereof, all with the same sitelinks, phone number, or address extension attached. Enhanced Campaigns let you drill down and select devices and ad extensions in a much more granular manner.

Here’s an example of a new Enhanced Campaign in action:

A dealership is ramping up its Service Enhanced Campaign. During business hours, mobile users are served ads with copy boasting quick wait times, an address with one-click directions, and a click-to-call phone number. Desktop users see coupon-focused copy with a tracking phone number and expanded sitelinks to soft-sell service pages. Once the dealership closes, ads with links to service forms go live in place of the phone numbers.

Another big change arriving with Enhanced Campaigns is geographic bid adjustment. Dealerships can now boost bids in zip codes where they sell the most cars. Before, advertisers chose geographic targets for their ads at the campaign level, and you were forced to create different campaigns for every zone in which you wanted to have separate bids. With Enhanced Campaigns, you can easily adjust bids by location without having to create dozens of separate campaigns.

Here’s an example in action:

Browsing sales reports, a dealership sees that a significant number of their new vehicle sales are coming from users in select zip codes. Using bid adjustments in Enhanced Campaigns, the auto dealer can quickly and easily increase their bids by 50% for targeted keywords in that zip code, leading to a greater market share in an already receptive area, while decreasing bids in zips known to have a weaker return.

Four things dealers can do right now:

1. Ensure that you have Google Analytics installed on your site, and link your AdWords and Analytics so that you can measure the effectiveness of your ad traffic.

Before you begin upgrading your account, make sure that you know what's happening with the traffic you're paying for. If you're not looking at what's happening after a user clicks on your ad, then you're flying half-blind.
Linking accounts is easy – just make sure you're an administrator on both your AdWords and Analytics accounts, and you're halfway there. Follow the instructionshere to close the loop.

2. Make sure the destination URLs on ads for inventory or other deep links won't redirect mobile users to the homepage.

If you have a responsive-mobile site – that is, a singular site for all devices that doesn't redirect mobile users to a mobile.yourdealership.com or yourdealership.com/mobile/ version of your site – then you're already ahead of the game.
Otherwise, contact your PPC provider and make sure that they create new Enhanced Campaign mobile ads with destination URLs that go right to the relevant page. Even if they have separate mobile campaigns right now, once they're upgraded to Enhanced, those ads will show on any device.

3. Adjust bids based on location to make sure you dominate in zip codes you know have high sales numbers.

Take a look at your sales data over the last 12 months and send your PPC provider a list of the zip codes where you know you do well. Start with those locations, and concentrate on building out more sophisticated targeting in the future. Focus on areas aren’t ranking well Organically.

4. Use upgraded call extensions to get free call tracking on your search ads.

Upgraded call extensions on Enhanced Campaigns no longer charge $1 per call, so take advantage of that free call tracking by adding it to any ads where a phone number will make a difference. You can also set up conversion tracking through AdWords to register any call greater than a specific duration to count as a conversion. That extra data will help guide on where the call extensions are most effective.

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Twitter; More Customer Engagement on Weekends

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Twitter; More Customer Engagement on Weekends

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Setting Up Best Chat System Ever Developed; Apple iOS Devices

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OverviewWhat’s NewWhat is iOS
If you’re a texter, you’ll love Messages on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Now they all come with iMessage, a service that’s an even better kind of texting. Because it’s free for you and anyone texting over Wi-Fi using an iOS device or Mac with iMessage. And it’s unlimited.* So say as much as you want.Exchange words. Or photos. Or videos.iMessage lets you send messages back and forth with anyone on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or a Mac running Mountain Lion. Send photos, videos, locations, and contacts, too. If you have more than one Apple device, iMessage keeps the conversation going across all of them. And you can text and send photos and videos via MMS to other mobile phones over cellular networks. Even ask Siri to text for you. Just say “Tell Peter I’m on my way” and Siri writes your message and fires it off.Text one. Text all.Send a message to one person or to many friends at once — along with photos, videos, or links you like. When someone replies, everyone sees it. With more people you’ll get more texts, but remember, it’s iMessage, so every text is free over Wi-Fi.*Get the message?It’s reassuring to know your text was read — or even received. iMessage tells you if your text was delivered. If the recipient has read receipts enabled, you’ll see that your message was read, too. And iMessage shows you when someone’s in the middle of a reply, so your conversation can continue naturally.Blue is best.On iPhone, when your text bubble is blue instead of green, you’ll know you’re using iMessage instead of SMS. You’ll know that you can get a quicker response. You’ll know that the text session is free. You’ll know it’s been sent to all your recipients’ Apple devices. And you’ll know they received the text. SMS texters will be green with envy.Go to Settings and tap Messages.Turn on iMessage and tap “Use your Apple ID for iMessage.”Note: iPhone screens shown. On an iPad and iPod touch, you won’t see the screen on the right, you’ll go straight to the Sign In screen below.Enter your Apple ID and password.Learn more about Apple IDTap “Sign In”Any phone number and all email addresses associated with your Apple ID will be displayed.Note: A phone number will be displayed only if you are setting up your iPhone, or if you are setting up another iOS device after you’ve set up your iPhoneTap Next.Tap Send & Receive.Choose which email addresses and phone numbers you want people to use to send you messages.Under “Start new conversations from,” choose the email address or phone number you’d like to use to send outgoing messages.If you’ve already set up other devices for Messages, they’ll alert you that a new device has been set up for Messages.Note: iPhone screens shown. iPad and iPod touch screens have the same options shown but differ in appearance.

*Messages may be sent as SMS when iMessage is unavailable; carrier messaging fees apply.Some features may not be available for all countries or all areas. Click here to see complete list.

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Enterprise Automotive Marketers Use 16 Content Marketing Tactics

The most successful automotive marketing professionals use an average of 16 different types of content marketing tactics...The Top Three most widely adopted content marketing tactics are:1. Videos (87 percent)2. Website articles (86 percent)3. In-person events (85 percent)B2B enterprise marketers use all tactics more frequently than their B2B peers overall do. Like those peers, they find in-person events to be the most effective tactic.Marketing professionals, including those specializing in automotive use an average of four social media platforms, with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube being the most popularB2B focused automotive marketers use Facebook (80 percent) as often as their B2B peers overall do; however, they use YouTube more often (74 percent vs. 61 percent), and Twitter and LinkedIn less often (76 percent vs. 80 percent, and 71 percent vs. 83 percent, respectively).Nearly half plan to increase their content marketing budgetsForty-six percent of B2B enterprise marketers, including those specializing in the auto industry plan to increase the amount of budget they allocate to content marketing over the next 12 months, compared with 52 percent of their B2B peers overall.Sixty-five percent of automotive marketers responding to the survey report outsourcing their content creation tasks...B2B automotive focused marketers outsource content creation more frequently than their B2B peers overall do (65 percent vs. 43 percent).Their biggest challenge is producing the kind of content that engages targeted automotive decision makers and consumers...While their B2B peers overall cite producing enough content as their biggest challenge, B2B auto industry marketers are more challenged with producing content that engages. They also are three-times more likely than their B2B peers overall to be challenged with a lack of integration across marketing.Just 32 percent believe they are effective or very effective at content marketingLike their B2B peers overall (36 percent), enterprise marketers struggle with their effectiveness at content marketing. However, B2B marketers across companies of all sizes appear to believe that continued investment in content marketing will pay off: Approximately half of those who rate their organizations as least effective are planning to increase their content marketing spend by nearly as much as their more successful peers are.Want to learn more? Download our full report to get answers to questions like:What goals do B2B enterprise marketers have for content marketing?How do they measure content marketing success?How do they tailor their content?What does the profile of a best-in-class B2B enterprise content marketer look like?What do you think of the findings? Are they consistent with what you are experiencing? Let us know in the comments!Special thanks to MarketingProfs for their participation in the annual survey on content marketing and the overall B2B North America comparisons made here.

First Things First – Content Strategy Before Social Strategy

Landing Page Basics: Making Your Content Marketing Convert

2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends [Research Report]

10 Must-Have Templates for Content Marketers

Follow Author: Joe Pulizzi

Joe Pulizzi considers himself the poster boy for content marketing. Founder of theContent Marketing Institute, Joe evangelizes content marketing around the world through keynotes, articles, tweets and his books, Managing Content Marketing and Get Content Get Customers. If you want to get on his good side, send him something orange. For more on Joe, check out his personal site or follow him on Twitter @juntajoe.Other posts by Joe Pulizzi
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GM Goes Head to Head Against Toyota and Nissan in Small Trucks

GM President Mark Reuss, shown here with the updated Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.
General Motors is counting down for the launch of two all-new midsize pickups which will likely reach showrooms in time for the 2015 model-year.GM hopes to buck the industry trend that has seen a sharp decline in demand for small trucks in recent years – and led both Chrysler and Ford to abandon the once lucrative market segment. The maker intends to target buyers who want something sportier and more fuel-efficient than current full-size offerings like the Chevrolet Silverado, said Mark Reuss, president of GM’s North American operations.

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But Reuss also promised that the smaller pickups will maintain most of the capabilities of their full-size siblings.It remains to be seen what names the two new models will get. There’s a good chance GM planners will opt for something entirely new rather than picking up the Chevrolet and GMC nameplates the maker stopped producing last year.“Don’t think of them as (Chevrolet) Canyon and (GMC) Colorado replacements because they’re not,” said Reuss, during an industry breakfast marking the start of the annual Society of Automotive Engineers conference in Detroit. “We’re researching the names as we do any new products to see where the legacy names are, do they mean something to people.”That would suggest GM is quote open to using entirely new names that would give the company the chance to completely reposition the new trucks. Without competition from Ford and Chrysler, the all-new Chevyand GMC offerings would have a cleaner shot at the Japanese imports that now dominate the segment, the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier.Just how much of a market there will be for the Chevy and GMC offerings remain to be seen. Clearly, its cross-town rivals don’t see much of an opportunity. But GM planners are convinced that if they can deliver solid products that are not only fuel efficient but highly capable it will draw new buyers into a segment that, a few decades ago, actually outsold full-size trucks.Critically, Reuss promised that there will be far more differentiation between the Chevrolet and GMC models than ever before. That extends to not only their basic design but also the way they will be marketed.“We’re going to really target different buyers with these two trucks,” the executive explained. “We’d love to have a truck like a Chevrolet…attack the West Coast with a lifestyle truck that is really beautiful and fun. It’s a different positioning than a semi-serious duty cycle truck that we might do with a GMC Canyon.”For now, GM officials are remaining mum on specific details, though Reuss let slip a diesel option just might be in the works — something reportedly also in development for the Chevy and GMC full-size truck lines.The new midsize trucks will be assembled at GM’s Wentzville (Missouri) Assembly Plant now that the old midsize line in Shreveport, Louisiana has been closed.Reuss hinted that GM will pull the covers off the new models this coming autumn – which would strongly suggest a formal introduction at the Los Angeles Auto Show. They’re expected to go on sale by mid-2014, less than a year after the launch of the re-designed Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups.The four new trucks are among 29 new or significantly updated cars, trucks and crossovers GM plans to introduce in North American this year and next. Returning to the market with the midsize trucks, while also updating the full-size models, could prove particularly critical if GM is to achieve its goal of regaining the market share it has lost over the last several years.
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Ralph Paglia arrives at PHX for http://ADMblogs.com

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New PHX SKY TRAIN is now operational http://ADMPC.com

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Buddha on Reflection and Planning

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." - Buddha.

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Harvey Fierstein on What Others Think and Say

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." - Harvey Fierstein.

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Which Types of Websites Influence Car Buyers the Most?

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TrueCar Vehicle Sales Data Shows Continued Strength in Automotive Vertical

March 2013 New Car Sales Expected to Be Up Almost Five Percent According to TrueCar; March 2013 SAAR at 15.42M, Highest March SAAR Since 2007

Estimated incentive spending unchanged at $2,523 per vehicle

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --TrueCar.com, the authority on new car pricing information, trends and forecasting, today released its March 2013 sales and incentives forecast. The forecast shows the following:(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110118/LA31413LOGO )ForMarch 2013, new light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including fleet) is expected to be 1,466,956 units, up 4.5 percent fromMarch 2012 and up 23.1 percent fromFebruary 2013 (on an unadjusted basis).The March 2013 forecast translates into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate ("SAAR") of 15.42 million new car sales, up from 15.4 million in February 2013 and up from 14.1 million in March 2012.Retail sales are up 4.2 percent compared to March 2012 and up 20.2 percent from February 2013.Fleet and rental sales are expected to make up 21.0 percent of total industry sales in March 2013.The industry average incentive spending per unit will be approximately $2,523 in March 2013, which represents a decrease of 1.7 percent from March 2012 and is unchanged from February 2013.Used car sales* are estimated to be 2,891,896. The ratio of new to used is estimated to be 1:2 for March 2013."The rally in the stock market, improved availability of auto financing and compelling new products continued to propel new car sales in March," said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for TrueCar.com. "The Domestic 'Big Three' will all have their highest level of sales in over four years thanks to their much improved lineup of vehicles."Forecasts for the top eight manufacturers for March 2013:Unit SalesManufacturerMarch 2013 Forecast% Change vs. February2013% Change vs. March 2012Chrysler170,09122.4%4.1%Ford232,49419.0%4.3%GM261,14116.4%13.0%Honda139,87029.5%10.1%Hyundai/Kia113,97321.5%-10.4%Nissan136,60437.1%0.2%Toyota206,70824.2%1.7%Volkswagen53,02725.3%10.1%Industry1,466,95623.1%4.5%Market ShareManufacturerMarch 2013 ForecastFebruary 2013March 2012Chrysler11.6%11.7%11.6%Ford15.8%16.4%15.9%GM17.8%18.8%16.5%Honda9.5%9.1%9.0%Hyundai/Kia7.8%7.9%9.1%Nissan9.3%8.4%9.7%Toyota14.1%14.0 %14.5%Volkswagen3.6%3.6%3.4%Incentive SpendingManufacturerMarch 2013Incentives% Change vs. February2013% Change vs. March2012Total SpendingChrysler$3,2640.8%-0.2%$555,100,503Ford$2,843-1.8%0.1%$661,025,806GM$3,4532.3%5.7%$901,689,922Honda$1,5319.3%-31.0%$214,187,015Hyundai/Kia$1,369-6.2%10.6%$156, 001, 622Nissan$2,7653.6%-9.4%$377,698,832Toyota$1,515-4.6%-13.2%$313,083,236Volkswagen$2,341-1.2%-5.2%$124,162,555Industry$2,5230.0%-1.7%$3,701,126,407"Automakers have continued to maintain discipline in incentive spending throughout this past year, and in March, unit sales reached their highest levels since August 2007," said Kristen Andersson, analyst for TrueCar.com. "Toyota is spending at its lowest levels in almost two years while seeing its highest sales month since summer of 2009."TrueCar.com bases its forecast on actual transaction data. The transaction data based forecast is refined by other current and historical factors that impact vehicle sales, including sales, inventory, incentives, fuel prices, and macro economic data (major stock market indexes, consumer confidence, new home starts and CPI). TrueCar.com does not adjust for selling days in year-over-year percentage change calculations.*Used car sales figures include sales from franchise dealerships, independent dealerships and private party sales
About TrueCar, Inc.
TrueCar, Inc., headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., with offices in Santa Barbara, Calif., San Francisco, Calif., and Austin, Texas, is an automotive pricing information and analysis company that creates a better buying experience for dealers and consumers. As an online publisher of unbiased new and used car transaction data, TrueCar.com provides price reports that empower dealers and consumers to agree on the parameters of a fair deal by supplying a transparent, simple understanding of what others recently paid for similarly-equipped new cars in their geographic area. TrueCar also owns ALG, the benchmark for vehicle value information in the auto industry and has been forecasting residual values for nearly 50 years in the U.S. and Canadian markets.
TrueCar is a data-driven company that sources, compiles and analyzes car-buying information unlike anybody in the industry. Since its founding in 2005, TrueCar dealer partners have sold over 700,000 vehicles across the country. Its national network of nearly 6,000 Certified Dealers is committed to provide no-hassle pricing for some of the country's largest membership and service organizations, including American Express, AAA, USAA and Consumer Reports that collectively represent more than one million monthly in-market customers.You can follow TrueCar on Twitter (@TrueCar) and become a fan of TrueCar on Facebook and Google+.
Disclaimer
This press release and the information contained herein is for noncommercial use on "as-is, as available" basis and may be used for informational purposes only. TrueCar makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information contained in this press release and the results of the use of such information, including without limitation, the implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. The information contained in this press release may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Neither TrueCar nor any of its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates or respective partners, officers, directors, employees or agents shall be held liable for any damages, whether direct, incidental, indirect, special or consequential, including without limitation, lost revenues or lost profits arising from or in connection with your use or reliance on the information presented in this press release.
SOURCE http://TrueCar.com

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Automotive Digital Training Featured on cover of AutoSuccess Magazine http://AutomotiveDigitalTraining.com

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AutoMarketing Pros Know Content Drives Car Buyer Engagement

For Driving Engagement, B2B Marketers Put a Premium on Content

Segmented, personalized content and more of it are top content marketing strategies
Since the days of company newsletters sent via snail mail, business-to-business (B2B) marketers have used content marketing as a lead generation and customer relationship technique.Digital makes content marketing easier—but not easy, according to a new eMarketer report, “B2B Content Marketing: Best Practices for 2013.” eMarketer defines content marketing as using content that is not, at its core, promotional material, but which is interesting or valuable for its own sake. B2B marketers should add one qualifying sentence: It is content geared to help businesspeople do their jobs better.An August 2012 Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs survey, sponsored by online video platform Brightcove, found that more than nine out of 10 B2B marketers in North America used content marketing. CMI is a consultancy that walks marketers through the process of content marketing.And surveys of B2B marketers suggest content marketing is only getting more investment. For example, the CMI and MarketingProfs study also found that the majority of respondents had planned to increase content marketing spending for the last two years. Fifty-four percent of B2B marketers in North America said they planned to increase spending in 2012, with 60% reporting the same in 2011.On average, B2B marketers planned to spend 33% of their marketing budgets on content marketing this year, according to the study, up from 26% in 2012. Ideally, B2B marketers can use content marketing effectively throughout the customer lifecycle. These marketers endeavor to not only attract customers’ attention but also engage them.A survey by content curation software provider Curata found that engagement was the most frequently cited objective of content marketing among US B2B marketers.As marketers put more time and energy into content creation and dissemination, there are certain best practices that B2B brands can apply across digital channels.B2B marketers that care to keep the conversation with the customer vibrant and flowing craft content for particular segments. The more personalized the content is, the more helpful and necessary the content—and therefore the brand—becomes to the customer.Mobile brings new opportunities for B2B content marketing as well. Marketers can bridge offline marketing with mobile by, for instance, creating mobile apps that direct prospects through an industry trade show.And content marketers must also keep the content flowing. A customer community is like a pump that one must prime. The marketer must remain an active part of the conversation.

©2013 eMarketer Inc. All rights reserved. www.emarketer.com

Source: http://www.eMarketer.com

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