With all of the talk these days around if the recently launched iPad from Apple will change the publishing industry, it is interesting to really look at what’s behind people’s viewpoints. Those in the conservative camp tend to discuss the future in terms of how they understand the present, trying to adapt existing business models, or worse, fit new disruptive technology into existing business models.

On the other hand, while no one can ever be sure about how new technology will unfold, those who are open to change, are open to seeing how new business models can develop around new technology. The difference is they don’t allow limitations of current technology to limit their thinking regarding how these developments may unfold.

In this brave new world of constant change, maybe that’s the key. The iPad has all the attributes of a genuine game changer for how we consume content, and consequently how the publishing industry may look in years to come. This ‘limitation thinking’ reminds me of the 19th century philosopher  Arnold Shopenhauer, who once said that all great new truths go through three inevitable stages. First, it is ridiculed, secondly it is violently opposed, until finally it is accepted as self evident.

How many times have we seen that play out with new technology?

My current favourite is Facebook - Recognise this?

1. Ha, I will never have one of those Facebook pages
2. I don’t care how many people have Facebook pages I won’t be one of them.
3. Ah well of course you can find me on Facebook, isn’t everyone there!

Guess that’s what creates the opportunities for those who are brave enough to jump in and start learning, while the rest wait for the crowd to show up.

Stephen

By combining news items, images and video assets, you can increase your visibility in search results. Over the last year the main search engines have been providing so called blended search.  A recent study by Jupiter Research shows that within blended search results:

• 36% of search engines user click “news”
• 31% of search engine users click “image” 
• 17% of search engine users click “video”

What does this mean for marketers? It allows you to leverage all of your digital assets to pull more people into your web presence. So, the video footage or poster that you use as part of a conference or presentation can be used online to attract more of your target audience to your page.  Searchers are more likely to go for the easiest option on line - news headlines, images & video allow searchers to decide more quickly. 

The results above show how important it is for marketers to recycle & reuse all of their marketing activities to increase visibility online and to give a better return on investment, keeping you and the bean counters happy!

”Email should always and only be plain text”, whether you agree or not with this statement, it’s clear that HTML email is here to stay, with recent reports showing that email marketing gives a return on investment of around 30 euro per euro spent. HTML emails have consistently outperformed plain text, garnering more opens, more clicks and better response rates.

Done well, HTML email can provide a much better reading experience. Unfortunately designing lightweight, accessible modern HTML emails is not an easy task. Widely inconsistent rendering across the 12 or more email clients makes it a frustrating job. That’s why the Email Standards Project was launched recently. Initiated by software company Freshview, it’s a group working with email client developers to move towards consistent support for a subset of HTML and CSS standards.

This is not about defining new standards, but about better implementing existing ones. Email clients already support HTML and CSS, but there’s much room for improvement. As mentioned recently by Mathew Patterson from the Email Standards Project, the key to it’s success will be support from web designers and developers everywhere.

So the next time your asked to design an email template and find yourself going through endless rounds of changes and testing, remember the Email Standards Project. Check it out for yourself at www.email-standards.org

Two recent surveys on the growth and usage of Search Engine Marketing in Ireland show how SEM has become the fastest growing adverting medium in the country. Long used by small and medium sized businesses who were quick to see the how this most direct of advertising mediums can measurably drive sales, search is now becoming a critical component of major brand marketers plans.

Currently estimated to be worth approximately €30 million in Ireland by Amarach Consulting and growing fast, search engine marketing is moving centre stage as a key component of engaging with online consumers, who are increasingly using search engines as the most efficient way to navigate the internet.

Welcome to DirectBrand Blog. As one of Ireland’s longest established digital marketing agencies (we’ve been around since 2001) we are excited to part of an industry that is changing so fast and so fundementally. It is truly an exciting time to be a marketeer, where the rules of the game are being re-written at incredible speed. Frightening if you don’t embrace it, exhiliarting if you do. Everyone is learning as the industy moves from a world of traditional advertising defined by a more passive, brand awareness driven model, to one where the focus is  a more active, interactive model focused on finding meaningful ways to engage with customers that recognise they have a choice to pay attention or not.

 Our intention with this blog is to share interesting insights and opinions that we believe are relevant to marketeers today. We don’t have all the answers, in fact we have lots of questions, ideas and aspirations about where the world of digital and direct marketing is going. But that’s why this is the best time to be in marketing. Because nobody has all the answers, and only the most inquisitive and open minded will be really embrace the new world.

 We hope you come and visit regularly, and please feel free to comment when you do.