MarketingSherpa recently released a report describing how online marketers are responding to the recession.
Here are some of the tactics they’re using that may also apply equal to entrepreneurial Internet marketers:
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According to eMarketer, search engine ad spending was 21.4 percent higher in 2008 than it was in 2007.
Although the increase was less than the 29.5 percent increase between 2006 and 2007, search advertising is proving to be much more ‘recession resistant’ than other media.
(more…)
Among other things, MarketingSherpa’s annual email marketing study confirms that email marketing is ‘IN’ in 2009.
Based on the input of 1,763 Internet marketers, MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark Guide found that 60 percent of business-to-business marketers said they planned to invest more in email marketing to ‘house’ lists in 2009, while an impressive 29 percent planned to invest in rented lists.
Good news for Internet marketers in a craft niche. As the recession deepens, craft sales are booming.
Craft stores, from giant chains such as Michaels Stores to small scrapbook suppliers, are reporting higher sales this holiday season than they did in 2007. At the same time, online marketplaces for handmade goods, such as Etsy, are experiencing record listings and transactions.
Silicon Alley Insider has provided a nice summary of Google’s moves to boost revenues and cut costs over the last few months. And no, if you noticed more ads on Google’s search pages, it’s no accident.
Here are eight ways in which Google is driving revenues, followed by two ways it is cutting costs…
Brian Solis writes in TechCrunch that the recession has, as expected, given rise to a general sense of fear and panic among the entrepreneurial community. But while desperate times may call for desperate measures… those measures may NOT be in the long-term best interests of those making them…
Some of the advice being disseminated seems calculated at helping companies survive declining demand for their products and services. For example, Sequoia Capital’s position is that companies shouldn’t worry about getting ahead, but should instead focus on surviving by cutting costs.
While more and more people are using social networking sites, eMarketer has revised downward its projections for U.S. social network ad spending. The research firm now expects advertisers to spend $1.2 billion on social networks in 2008, down from its previous projection of $1.4 billion.
Similarly, eMarketer expects spending to be $1.3 billion in 2009, down from its previously forecast of $1.8 billion. eMarketer attributes the lower numbers to the recession and slower-than-expected revenue growth at MySpace.
eMarketer has also revised downward its forecasts for MySpace and Facebook. Previously, eMarketer expected MySpace to earn $755 million and Facebook to earn $265 million in U.S. ad spending this year. Now, eMarketer expects MySpace to earn $585 million and Facebook $210 million.
Source: eMarketer, “U.S. Social Network Ad Spending Growth Lowered,” eMarketer, December 10, 2008
Who would have thought there would be a market for virtual celebrity accessories, such as Elvis Presley’s jumpsuit or Snoop Dogg’s Dobermans for online avatars?
Well, according to an article in The New York Times, these and other obscure virtual goods are big business. Moreover, the recession has not slowed sales of virtual goods. Not yet anyway.
On the contrary, virtual worlds such as Gaia Online, with 7 million monthly visitors and which sells more than $1 million in virtual goods per month, are thriving. Very interesting article.
Check it out at the link below.
U.S. ecommerce sales over the weekend following Thanksgiving - ‘Black Friday’ through ‘Cyber Monday’ - were up 13 percent over those last year, according to comScore data.
In particular, the Monday after Thanksgiving (December 1, 2008) saw the second highest level of online sales ever achieved (the highest being sales on December 10, 2007). Online sales this past Monday were $846 million, 15 percent higher than those in the previous year.
Such promising sales online are not, however, likely to be indicative of holiday sales overall. Not only does e-commerce constitute just 7 percent of all retail sales, but online sales are still 2 percent lower than in 2007. Indeed, most industry pundits expect the recession to severely impede retail sales during the coming months.
Source: Claire Cain Miller, “An Online Sales Boom That May Not Last”, The New York Times, December 3, 2008
Jason Calacanis, founder and CEO of Mahalo.com, has offered some keen insights into the economic crisis besetting much of the world. Why we got ourselves into this mess, and how we’re likely to get out of it. And there’s a message in there for Internet marketers too.
Although Jason’s article is targeted at people in the United States… I look around me and can’t help but see a similar situation in Australia. It may not be as bad, but there’s something worrying about an almost universal belief that ‘it couldn’t happen here.’
Jason makes the point that the U.S. got into the current mess because people have:
“overspent, taken expensive vacations, built absurd homes (in both scale and quantity), run our savings into the ground and skyrocketed our debt to record levels. Our addiction to consumption and our sense of entitlement have killed us.”
And it’s not just Wall Street to blame. It’s EVERYONE.
Same thing in Australia. Until recently we’ve smugly looked at the rest of the world, deluding ourselves into thinking we can keep on spending too much and getting ourselves deeper into debt (household debt being at an all-time high) because the commodities boom will keep on propping up the economy.
In other words, because China will keep on buying our commodities, we’ll be ’shielded’ from the economic crisis.
Hmmm… did it ever occur to anyone that if people in the U.S. and other developed nations are forced to cut back on spending… then they’ll buy less stuff from places like China… which means China won’t need to build so many new factories, manufacturing plants, buildings, etc… which means it won’t need to buy so much of Australia’s iron ore and other commodities?
Which means Australia’s economy will slow down just like the economies of other countries!
Well, the writing is on the wall and apparently we WILL be going into recession next year.
Again, although one of the most popular games in Australia is the ‘blame game’ - our favorite teams being ‘the government’, ‘big business’, ‘the banks’, ‘the rich’… and funnily enough, ‘the unions’… the truth of the matter is that, as in the U.S., we are ALL to blame.
But no-one wins the blame game and it’s much better to focus on solutions.
Enter Jason Calacanis with what he calls the ‘120 percent solution’.
Essentially, the 120 percent solution is based on the idea that everyone will need to work about 20 percent harder (and smarter) in order to get through these challenging times.
What does that mean for Internet marketers?
First of all, let’s stop kidding ourselves that we are somehow immune from the economic crisis. Let’s see things for what they are… and then see how we can turn the situation to our advantage.
And how we do this may well lie in the 120 percent solution.
The implication of this is that if you’re starting, building or growing an online business, you should be prepared to put in, not 5 percent or 10 percent extra effort, but 20 percent extra effort. Wherever there’s room for improvement, you should aim to improve by no less than 20 percent.
And guess what? By putting in that extra effort, you’ll not only beat competitors who are struggling, but also those who think 5 or 10 percent extra effort is enough. If Jason is right… 5 or 10 percent extra effort will NOT be enough.
20 percent extra – 120 percent of what you’re doing now - is what’s needed to survive and thrive over the next few years.
Again, Jason is talking to Americans… but I reckon his final message applies equally to Australians and probably those in many other places:
“We need to put down the remote, cut our credit cards in half and start new companies with new ideas. Our entrepreneurial spirit and hard work will get us out of this mess. All we need to do is release them.”
Source: Jason Calacanis, “The 120% Solution,” Calacanis.com, December 3, 2009
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