LB's Rambles

Dash It All

Privacy advocates have long been engaged in a battle against what they perceive to be invasion of user privacy by websites. They object to the collection of data by sites - particularly the big sites, such as Google - which could allow advertisers to target users with what could be relevant ads. It's a topic and a complaint which has flared repeatedly over the years.

So it's worth noting that Google is now making a kind of privacy dashboard available to users, to let them know what different Google apps may be collecting about individual users (or groups, for that matter). According to Mashable, it's a good way to create in one convenient place a one-stop report on everything the communications giant may know about you. You'll find instructions at the link that will take you to your own Dashboad page, where you may also choose to alter some of the settings to limit the amount of shared information.

Measuring Success

We have all seen lots of articles about the importance of measurement in social media (and, for that matter, in most other areas of business). There's a lot of debate over what kind of statistics are really important - which ones are meaningful and which are a waste of time and effort. This morning, eMarketer tells us what kinds of stats people are actually using to measure the success of their campaigns and their messages.

According to the study, from King Fish Media, the #1 success metric is the number of new customers acquired, followed closely by leads generated. The study also found the corporate website is the most effective way to communicate with prospects, just barely edging out social media.

Interesting stuff.

"Paid Conversations," the FTC, and Bloggers

A great conversation today at the BlogWorld Expo about the new Federal Trade Commission rules about disclosure for bloggers. The FTC wants bloggers - and specifically bloggers - to disclose anything they may have received in exchange for - really, in commection with - any endorsement.

Which raises all kinds of problems.

What's an endorsement? Is it a favorable - or even unfavorable - review? What about book reviews, product reviews, game reviews, music? If a blogger is sent a product to review and returns it, does that count as value received for the blogger, to be disclosed? (The opinion of at least one lawyer in the room: yes.) It is enormous and extremely confusing.

The sentiment in the room today - several hundred people - was split, perhaps 60-40 in favor of allowing these "paid conversations," but there is little or no agreement on how best to fulfill these new rules - which apply to bloggers only.

And that fact today led the Internet Advertising Bureau to call on the FTC to dump these new regulations which, they say, unfairly target online media. There is, quite clearly, no intention to require the New York Times to disclose when publishers send review copies of their books - but that would be required of an online book review by a blogger, according to most interpretations of the new rules, even if the reviewer sent back the book after reviewing it.

I have always been a believer in transparency, in giving the readers/users as much information as possible to help them understand any possible influences on what they are reading online. But I think the FTC guidelines can and will only be enforced selectively - and that opens a whole new political can of worms.

Transparency and the FTC

As most readers, probably know, the Federal Trade Commission this week announced new regulations to force bloggers to disclose any freebies they may have received in return for product endorsements. I haven't read the 80+ pages of regulations, and I'm not an FTC lawyer, but I think, on balance, it's a bad idea.

Readers of this blog know that I have written frequently about the need for transparency - not just in advertising, but in virtually all kinds of communication. But I believe, strongly, that it is up to the blogger to be transparent. I also believe, strongly, that the nature of social media makes it almost impossible NOT to be transparent; there are plenty of other bloggers who will be quick to point out any lapses.

I would recommend two articles, because they take opposite sides in the debate and are, I think, both quite well written. Catharine P. Taylor thinks the new FTC regulations are necessary. Jeff Jarvis does not. I think he has the better argument, but I leave it to you to decide.

Measuring Up

About a month ago, I mentioned a post by measurement consultant Jim Sterne offering five ways to measure results in social media. I suggested that it might be better titled "five ways we would like to measure results," but it seemed to me to be a good starting point.

Today, Sterne is back, with a post at Online Metrics Insider that is both funny and insightful, called "The Numbers Just Don't Add Up." Watching someone try to explain (let alone justify) social media measurement to a CMO can be nerve-wracking to say the least.

By the way, a PR rep for eConsultancy was kind enough to forward another article - a question-and-answer session with Sterne - which reinforces my opinion that his comments are pretty much on-target, when it comes to measuring social media. He'll be keynoting at an eConsultancy event in New York next week, focusing on using social media metrics to drive a company's business. Sounds like he has some interesting ideas.

UK: Internet Advertising Pulls Ahead of TV

Here are some statistics that strike me as reflecting a major shift in the advertising world, at least in the U. K. According to this report in the Guardian newspaper, advertisers spent more money on Internet advertising during the first six months of the year than they did on television. 23.5 percent of all the advertising money spent in the U. K. for the six months ending in June was spent on the Internet - most of it for search advertising - compared with 21.9 percent spent on television ads.

Granted, that's in the U. K., but you have to wonder whether American advertising on the Internet will be pulling ahead of TV anytime soon.

Hat tip: MediaPost, which points out that it has taken the Internet little more than ten years to become the leading advertising sector in the U.K. Amazing.

Good Bye, Direct Mailer

The U.S. Postal Service has delivered its daily dose of stuff to my front door. Prominent among the unsolicited material arriving today was a color catalog from a company with whom I have never done business. Prominently displayed on the cover is a warning, telling me that I am about to be dropped from their direct mail list if I do not either subscribe to their catalogs for $5 or order something from them.

Sounds good to me. Good bye.

I am not a direct mailer's dream, I fear, because I tend to regard much of it as hard-copy spam, and it is just about as welcome as the electronic kind. As it happens, a new report today from MediaPost's daily Research Brief tells me that 63% of all the mail delivered to households around the U.S. last year consisted of advertising material. That's nearly 2/3 of everything you and I get in the mail.

I suspect that a great many people would agree with me when I say that SOME of that advertising mail is very welcome. I certainly do order things that are advertised to me through the mail or online. The problem comes with separating the desired ads, coupons, circulars and catalogs from the unwanted material. Much the same is true of the emailed ads and newsletters we receive every day. It's one reason why I seem to have less trouble accepting "targeted" advertising than many other people do. Maybe it would cut down on some of that excess paper that shows up every day at my front door.

Measuring Social Media

Here's another interesting commentary that almost got away while I was off skylarking someplace. Writing at Metrics Insider, measurement consultant Jim Sterne offers "Five Ways to Measure Social Media."

I think he raises a number of valid points, though I think it would be more accurate to have called it "Five Ways We Would Like to Measure Social Media." While he cites some of the useful tools that can perform some of the measurements, he admits freely that others are probably beyond us. He notes, for example, that in terms of learning "Did they get the message," you might as well try putting a finger in the breeze.

But as anyone involved in marketing knows, clients and companies need to demonstrate some return on investment. As Sterne says, "let's not forget that it's about doing business in the end." His commentary offers some useful starting points.

While I Was Away...

I don't know if you missed me while I was away last week, but I certainly missed some interesting newsletters and posts while I was gone, so I'm hoping to pass along some of the more intriguing ones that you may not have seen.

Let's start with this excellent piece from MediaPost's Social Media Insider blog by David Berkowitz, explaining what you can learn about social media and social marketing from an experience as a counselor at summer camp.

Moving Targets

I read a lot of articles in online publications (and some offline, for that matter) about the marketing opportunities presented by mobile web users. But, given the inherent limitations presented by a combination of short attention spans and limited on-screen space, what kind of job are advertisers doing in reaching those users effectively? At MediaPost's Mobile Insider, Steve Smith argues that there's a pretty intense need for better ways of reaching those users and drawing them in.

I think he makes a strong point - and so do some of the commenters on his post. We need to find more effective ways to attract the audience and make its members connect with your brand. And we need more meaningful measurement than a simple clickthrough rate.