It’s time to wrap up the news and get ready for another turn of the calendar. The staff here at Stukent wishes you and yours a happy and incredibly successful 2015.
1. INSTAGRAM GETS RID OF FAKE FOLLOWS AND CAUSES AN INTERNATIONAL STIR
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Instagram[/highlight]
Key Point: What do Justin Bieber and Barack Obama have in
common? Sure, they are both skilled orators, but something else hit the news this month: They now have significantly fewer Instagram followers. Instagram flushed out the fakes and cut Bieber’s follower count by 3.5 MILLION “fans.” Obama didn’t get hit quite as badly, but still dropped almost 6% of his Instagram base. The President now has the same number of followers that Bieber lost! (No correlation intended.) Bieber’s count now stands at 20.5 million. Others hard-hit include National Geographic (229,000 followers lost) and the NBA (minus 196,000). Read all about it in this Adweek article by Garett Sloane (@GarettSloane) … Getting Rid of Instagram Fakes
2. WHY DON’T MOST COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TEACH INTERNET MARKETING?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Higher Education[/highlight]
Key Point: Stukent got the nod from Inc. online this month, when John Rampton (@johnrampton) sounded off on our favorite topic. The catalyst for Stukent’s birth was a sensitivity to the frustration professors feel when trying to collect timely resources to teach a course as dynamic as internet marketing. Rampton covers the major reasons that frustration exists. Read all about it here: Greasing the Wheels of Higher Education
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3. CLICKZ’S DIGITAL MARKETING PICKS FOR 2014
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Digital Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: From Facebook’s twists and turns to the rise of Alibaba, 2014 has seen dramatic changes in the digital world. It’s impossible to choose a definitive Top 10, of course, but it’s a way to think back on the year through the lenses of greater hindsight. What stories would you add (or take away)?
Here’s how ClickZ called it: 10 Digital Marketing Highlights From 2014
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4. DOES LIGHT IN THE BOX SIGNAL THE END OF AMAZON AND WALMART?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Ecommerce[/highlight]
Key Point: Dennis Berman (@dkberman) doesn’t hold any punches in his assessment of where online marketing is headed. Berman cites the internet’s effect on global trading (take a look at Alibaba) coupled with the rising popularity of global shopping (consider the birth of Light in the Box) to predict tomorrow’s shopper will be cutting out the middleman in a big, big way. Perhaps China’s reputation as a provider of high-quality goods isn’t stellar … but “cheaper” is a predictably effective sales strategy for the masses. Here’s that article: Buy Direct.
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5. IS GOOGLE PAGERANK ON THE WAY OUT?
Topics: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight] | [highlight type=”dark”]Google[/highlight]
Key Point: Updates have been few and far between – now Google’s John Mueller says Toolbar PageRank “probably” won’t be updated ever again. Mueller’s statement gave rise to speculation about whether PageRank will be dropped from the algorithm altogether – or only hidden from public view. Seo by the Sea’s Bill Slawski (@bill_slawski) took a deep dive into the murky waters of page ranking and Google patents in this treatment of the situation: A World Without PageRank
6. USING AD CUSTOMIZERS TO BOOST PPC RESULTS
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]PPC[/highlight]
Key Point: Ads that can adapt to specific searches or pages – that’s the magic behind ad customizers, allowing you to make changes to ads on the fly. For instance: You’ve a sale countdown going on … just 5 more hours and the price goes back up. Make that 4, 3, 2, 1 … and you don’t have to do a thing but set the counter up and watch it roll. Moreover, since different ads can be shown, depending on the actions of the customer, ad customizers allow plenty of scale. Here’s a YouTube to learn all about it: Learn to Use Ad Customizers
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7. EMAIL MARKETING IN 2015
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Email Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: America’s digital savant, Natasha Smith (@natashasNYC), interviewed two industry experts on the ins and outs of email marketing for an article in this month’s issue of Direct Marketing News. Smith proposes predictive analysis, responsive design, hashtags in subject lines, and real-time personalization as the winners. On the losing end, the pundits nominate batch-and-blast (was that EVER in?), static emails, and standard subject lines. Here’s the link to find out more: Email Best Practices Revealed
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8. MARKETING INSIGHTS FROM GOOGLE ANALYTICS
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Analytics[/highlight]
Key Point: Google announced the “new improved version” of the Customer Journey to Online Purchase this month. Aimed at allowing a better view of why customers buy and how they get to that crucial point of decision, here’s a powerful tool that can help you better understand which messages and channels more effectively influence buyers. Read all about it on the Google Analytics Blog: Sell more with improved analytics
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That’s December, 2014, for you. All told, internet marketing is a discipline that never ceases to surprise, challenge, and (often) flabbergast even the most astute disciple. We’ll keep an ear on the tracks and look forward to seeing you in January – a year yet unwritten.
Be a Stukent field observer: When you find a news tip, send it in. Let’s help one another stay current. The internet won’t slow down for us … we have to keep up!
