Get the information to navigate complex business decisions related to all aspects of the Internet. From e-commerce to emerging internet technologies and internet user statistics, InfoEdge has the research your need to manage today’s internet business issues.
Web 2.0
The monetization of user-generated content will depend in part on
how successful user-generated content sites are at continuing to
attract large audiences. Furthermore, marketers will have to take
consumers’ ad-type preferences into account in order to avoid
alienating their audience. A January 2007 Harris Poll study showed
that up to 73% of consumers would visit YouTube less if the site’s
clips were preceded by short commercials.
On the other hand, banner ads on YouTube would be tolerated by
63% of US Internet users polled by Wired magazine in October 2006.
So, while user-generated content sites have great potential to
attract advertising dollars, there are obstacles that marketers and
content owners will have to overcome in order to reap profits from
this area.
"User-generated video is going to have a lot of issues to resolve
before it becomes an effective advertising medium," said Screen
Digest senior analyst Arash Amel."There’s how will people react to
personal media with ads, and how will advertisers feel sitting
around rude or offensive content."
from User-Generated Content: Will Web 2.0 Pay Its Way (EM-2289)
Women Online
Today, women are less likely to view video online
than men. Even though women make up a
greater proportion of Internet users, their
influence on online video has yet to be fully felt.
eMarketer believes this will change quickly in the
coming years.
eMarketer estimates that in 2006, 55% of female Internet users
viewed video online, compared with 71.2% of males. eMarketer
defines an online video viewer as someone ages 3 and older who
downloads or streams video (content or advertising) at least once
a month.
The proportion of female Internet users who view video online will
rise to 66.1% this year, vs. 78.4% of males. By 2011, 84.6% of
females will watch video online, eMarketer predicts, nearing the
88.8% of online males.
from Women Online: Taking a New Look (EM-2273)
Teens Online
For marketers and Web sites, there is a significant
uptick in Internet use during the tween/young
teen years. Though the overall population in this
demographic group is not expected to grow
dramatically in the next few years, the
percentage who go online will continue to
increase, as will the time they spend online.
Significant changes in online usage take place as children mature
into teens.Young teens between the ages of 12 and 14 spend more
time online than tweens ages 8 to 11, and their interests broaden
and deepen correspondingly. But they also use the Internet to stay
in touch with things - and people - they already know.
For the youngest members of this age group, market to their
comfort zone, the things they are familiar with. To reach online
users who are more media-savvy, engage them in your brand.
Make them feel like they have a say in your marketing efforts by
giving them opportunities to create a video, dress up their social
networking profile or blog, or create their own mash-ups of music,
video and more.
However, be cautious in the arenas of viral and guerilla marketing.
Surveys reviewed by eMarketer show that tweens and young teens
have a distinct distaste for things done on the sly. If you do engage
in viral and guerilla marketing, make it crystal clear what it is.
from Tweens and Teens Online: From Mario to MySpace (EM-2251)
Online Business-to-Business Marketing
The growth of spending on the Internet can be attributed at least
partially to the increasing pressure on marketers to prove (and
improve) the effectiveness of their spending choices.Two-thirds of
the marketing executives surveyed by the Economist Intelligence
Unit agreed with the statement "Marketing will be forced to
quantify its direct contribution to the bottom line more than
before." However, while data on Web clicks, search terms and
open rates are easily attainable, their usefulness is limited by the
marketing department’s ability to analyze and extrapolate from
the numbers.
Despite this challenge, the Internet is expected to be the most
effective marketing tool, by far.Through 2008, according to 78% of
the manufacturing marketers surveyed by SVM, Web sites would
make the best marketing investment; 65% chose search engine
marketing, 55% said e-mail marketing and 48% said Webinars.
Only 31% felt that banner ads would be more effective in three
years, while 53% said they would remain the same as today and
16% expected less return on their investment.
Two studies show marketers are making progress in their ability to
measure their marketing ROI, albeit only slightly. In May,
MarketingProfs and the Lenskold Group released the results of the
2006 Marketing ROI and Measurement Trend Study, which
surveyed more than 800 marketing executives worldwide. As BtoB
reported, 16% of the respondents described their ability to
measure financial returns on marketing efforts as either "a real
source of leadership" or "as good as it needs to be" - compared to
just 8% of respondents who had made either statement only one
year earlier. Respondents who answered "a long way from where
it could be" dropped to 42% in 2006 from 53% in 2005.
from B2B Marketing Online (EM-2257)
Business Travel Online
The business travel segment is a relatively untapped and lucrative
market for online travel agencies. Overall, corporate travelers are
technology-savvy and more profitable than leisure travelers, since
convenient airline scheduling and hotel proximity to business
meetings matter more to them than lowest price.
While two-thirds of corporate travelers worldwide book their trips
online, only 13% do so through an independent Web site.An
additional 31% of respondents indicated they book offline via a
travel agent. These are some of the findings of a survey by KDS, a
European-based supplier of online business travel management
solutions. The KDS survey was selective in the sense that a high
percentage of respondents took at least 10 trips per year and
worked for companies with over 5,000 employees based in
Europe or the US.
In a recent sign that online travel agencies are making inroads with
business travelers, Travelocity, in June 2006, announced a five-year
agreement with the large defense contractor Lockheed Martin to
make Travelocity Business its global corporate travel management
provider. Around the same time Travelocity Business also
announced plans to expand its UK presence.
from Online Travel Worldwide: A Mosaic of Separate Markets (EM-2240)
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