Top 10 Activities of Canadians Online


Jane LeeApr 20, 2011

Canadian Household Internet AccessCanadians lead the world when it comes to the Internet. 83% of us have Internet access from any location, and almost a quarter of us (22%) are connected through a smartphone or PDA. We spend more time online than any other country in the world, according to a recent comScore study. The average Canadian spends 43.5 hours a month online, compared to the worldwide average of 23.1 hours.

So how do we spend all those hours online? Here are the top 10 online activities, according to the latest IpsosReid Canadian Internet Fact Guide:

  1. 89% visited news or information websites
  2. 86% visited a newspaper website; 34% do so at least weekly
  3. 78% conducted banking; 44% bank online at least weekly
  4. 78% purchased product or service; 20% make purchases online at least monthly
  5. 75% comparison shopped
  6. 72% clicked on a website advertisement
  7. 70% looked for movie times/critic reviews
  8. 68% used instant messaging
  9. 66% listened to radio
  10. 65% visited a magazine website

Mobile Search Advertising: Tips & Benefits


Vikas KalraMar 23, 2011
Mobile Optimized Search Ad

Mobile Optimized Search Ad

According to Google, searches on mobile devices with full internet browsers have grown 4 times over the past year. This is not surprising considering smart phones are selling like hot cakes these days. With iPhone and BlackBerry constantly introducing umpteenth apps and features, it’s almost hard to ignore these little tools of great technology. According to another study done by Mobile Marketing Watch, Mobile Search revenue will soar to $8B in year 2015 which will represent 11% of total search revenues. Google currently manages 97 percent of queries searched on mobile devices. These numbers indicate only one thing – start planning for Mobile Advertising on Google Search.

Even though a normal search campaign targets mobile devices as well, it’s never an ideal way to target your mobile audience. To make it effective, you must optimize your mobile campaign separately. First, create mobile friendly web pages with easy call-to-actions. Next, set up your campaign on Google targeting mobile devices only. You can do this on the Google Adwords interface or Adwords Editor. You can always pick only the high volume terms to run for this campaign. So what are the benefits of doing this? Here’s a list!

Bid Optimization – Buying traffic on Mobile advertising is relatively cheaper than non-mobile (i.e. desktop, laptop, netbook) traffic which means if campaigns weren’t separated, you would most likely be paying higher CPC (cost per click) overall. Also, on Mobile you are competing on 5 spots compared to 10 on non-mobile. Once you learn the pattern of Mobile traffic, you can bid accordingly and manage keywords.

Text Ad Optimization – You can create mobile specific ads that are shorter in length with calls to action such as “Get quote on your phone now”. You can also add features next to your ads such as Ad Sitelinks, Click-to-Call and Location.

  1. Ad Sitelinks – A great way to provide other important links in your site which will be listed below your ad. Links such as “Branch/Store Locator” or “Popular Products” are quite beneficial.
  2. Click-to-Call – Another wonderful feature to provide your call center numbers along with your ad. As users click on your phone numbers and connect to your call center, you will be able to track performance even better.
  3. Location – You can also add your location. If you have multiple locations, create geo-targeted campaigns.

All these features can be found under Ad Extensions on your Adwords interface. These are also available for your desktop campaigns, but they are more geared towards mobile campaigns.

2011 Predictions & What Marketers Need to Know


Jane LeeFeb 14, 2011
Computing Device Market Forecast

Source: DTTL, 2010

Deloitte recently produced their 2011 Predictions for Technology, Media & Telecommunications. I’ve combed through these predictions for you to highlight the ones that marketers need to know:

  1. Rise of Tablet Computers. Deloitte predicts that more than 25% of all tablet computers in 2011 will be bought by enterprises, and that figure is expected to rise in 2012 and beyond.  The retail, manufacturing and healthcare industries are presumed to become early adopters. This means that marketers need to pay attention to how their online communications come across in tablets (in addition to other mobile devices).
  2. Tipping Point for Non-PCs. Correlating with the first point on the rise of table computers, the era of the PC is coming to a close.  While traditional PCs (desktops, laptops, netbooks) will still be the main platform for 2011 and immediate years to come, the landscape is changing rapidly with the increase of tablets and smartphones.  Along with the increase in non-PCs has come the growth of the application industry which is only in its infancy. The industry is expected to grow 60% in 2011 to over $10 billion.
  3. Operating System Diversity. While the adoption of non-PCs is rising, no dominant operating system (OS) has yet to emerge, which means that there is no defacto standard.  In a fragmented OS world, it means that no one app developed for a single platform can address the entire market. Marketers will need to understand that developing customized apps or versions for each OS requires time and money (between $5,000 – $500,000, depending on complexity) so they will need to pick and choose the markets they want to target wisely.
  4. Social Networking Advertising Continues to Grow. While social network advertising revenues are still less than 1% of the global advertising spend, the potential for this channel is huge.  Deloitte predicts that 2011 will see over one billion unique social network members and a 40% year over year growth  in advertising revenues.  In addition to advertising revenues, other forms of revenue for social networks include serving as a payment platform for apps and e-commerce.  A blended e-commerce store model may be one where networks charge for online retail space and earn a commission on any sales.  What is certain is that marketers need to expand their use of social media to protect their image and reputation in online networks as people overwhelmingly trust peer recommendations (78%) over advertisements (14%).

Canadian Social Media Marketing


Jane LeeDec 1, 2010

The majority of Canadians consume social media on a regular basis, according to eMarketer.com. Nearly 60% of Canadian internet users are on social networks monthly, and that rate is expected to increase to 68% by 2014, when 18.4 million people in Canada will be socializing online at least once a month.

Of the top social media sites, it’s no surprise that Facebook is by far the number one visited site, trailed by Windows Live Profile, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace. For more details, see the full article.

Online Advertising Campaign Checklist


Jane LeeNov 15, 2010

Start producing top shelf online ads

Recently we had a client approach us to provide them with online advertising best practices to help guide and improve their creative process. As a result, we held a session to present and discuss online creative best practices. The feedback we received was that the session was valuable, informative and validated a lot of their thoughts.

At the end of the session we provided an online advertising checklist, best practices tip sheet and an online creative brief for their reference.  The online advertising checklist is presented below. Note that the checklist is particularly relevant to online display ads, but many of the points can be used as a general guideline for all online campaigns.

1. Conducted strategy and planning for online campaign.

Determined campaign goals, target audience and desired level of engagement.

Chose media channels to best meet the goals and reach the target audience.

Evaluated different types of online ads for the campaign and selected type of online ads with consideration to level of engagement desired.

2. Ensured online creative was adapted optimally for the channel when integrating creative across all media channels.

Integrated and enhanced the campaign message for the online channel, instead of simply duplicating ad from other channels.
Kept in mind that audiences digest advertising differently online than they do for print, TV, billboard.

Ensured best practices were considered when adapting ads for online.

3. Kicked off all campaigns with a solid online creative brief.

Reviewed the brief at the start of project with agency and internal stakeholders to ensure everyone started on the same page.

4. Highlighted the brand prominently throughout the ad.

Every frame of the ad contained the brand logo to help viewers ‘get the ad’ and promote the brand regardless of the frame they see.

5. Communicated primary ad message to audience within 1-2 seconds.

Ensured the ad supported the message at all times and throughout all frames, be it brand awareness or a call to action.

6. Kept it simple.

Used no more than 1-2 messages per ad.

7. Provided value to audiences.

Included something of value. Value is anything that is worthwhile to your audience – i.e. tools, entertainment, education, etc.
Did not annoy users with the ad and placement of it. Did not disrupt their online experience. Provided user interaction without being intrusive.

8. Tracked and analyzed success metrics for campaign.

Reviewed past metrics and results of online campaigns. Leveraged lessons from past ad campaigns and tests to optimize this campaign.

Implemented tracking metrics for this campaign.
Optimized ads/media where appropriate and feasible while campaign was still in execution.

If you think a session on online creative best practices would help your marketing team, we’d love to hear from you!

Display ads lead the charge


LiQuid TeamOct 13, 2010

Online Advertising got a much needed shot in the arm this week with the release of the IAB’s (First Half, 2010) Internet Advertising Revenue Report. Online spends are up 11.3% over last year with display advertising leading the charge. Display was the only category to make significant year-over-year gains. Search, Classifieds, Rich Media and Video, Lead Gen and Sponsorship all plateaued or declined as a share percentage.

Another interesting (though not-at-all-surprising) statistic bears out the trend away from the impression-based (CPM) model and towards a more performance-based pricing system. CPM down 3% and CPC (etc) up 3%.

The (very attractive) report can be downloaded here.