User Behavior & Digital Asset Optimization

June 30, 2010
 

Internet user behavior is always changing, but recent surveys by Nielsen and Pew show a significant shift underway. The average amount of time an individual spent online dropped from 57 hours in April to 54 hours in May, marking the second consecutive month-to-month decline. The number of Web pages a user visited also dropped, however the number of sessions per person held steady and the number of domains visited per person increased. As for how users are spending their time online, video viewing continues to rise, as does time spent on social networks or blogs. Almost one quarter of the time an average user is online is spent on social sites. Bruce, Susan and Virginia hypothesize what’s at the root of the behavioral changes and what that means for businesses online.


Considering the way users are dividing their time between numerous digital platforms of varying levels of engagement, it’s important that businesses consider how to optimize a range of digital assets. Steve Plunkett, director of search for advertising and PR agency M/C/C, shares a synergistic digital asset optimization strategy, including optimization of media sometimes overlooked. He talks to Virginia about PDF optimization, television interview optimization and press release optimization. He also shares a recommendation on using location-based services like Foursquare as a marketing channel for businesses.

Then Jessica, Susan and Virginia take a closer look at location-based services — how they’re used and the opportunities for marketers. At the SMX Advanced Seattle session Location Services: The New Local Search?, tactics for marketing on Foursquare, Yelp, Gowalla, BrightKite and other popular check-in services were explained. Speaker Will Scott pointed out that coupon offers on these services often come from competitors or nearby locations, so don’t feel limited to building loyalty when you can also create lures. The location-based services space is expected to be a $12 billion industry by 2014, but it’s still a good time for marketers to get in early.