When the first data-packet-message was sent from University of California, Los Angeles to Stanford Research Institute in 1969 – what would become the groundwork for internet today – founders Robert Taylor and Lawrence Roberts had no idea it would ever become public. At that time ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) was still being funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Neither of them had any idea it would quickly become the platform in which would disrupt global communications forever. More surprising is just how rapidly the world adopted the internet for communications – Only 1% of two-way communication occurred over the internet in 1993, rocketing to 51% in 2000, before almost doubling to 97% in 2007.

The rise and adoption of the modern-day internet for communications proved to be a major pivot point. At that time the U.S. government failed to keep up with the new technology. It’s a dangerous situation anytime laws lag behind technology, and as Tim Hwang of Government Executive Media Group describes It restrains our economy and creates inefficiencies in companies regulated by the government.

Unfortunately, this situation aided potential hazards in online advertising, some to the point of no longer being considered “potential”. Perhaps the most common hazard consumers face in online advertising are feelings of invasion of user-privacy. Today’s online ads tracking our every click, and many consumers feel they are being followed around on the web. Some describe it as being stalked. According to Zeynep Tufekci – They are. She explains how Internet Cookies, Machine Learning, Algorithms, Persuasion technology and techniques – aimed at manipulating consumers specifically based on their values, weaknesses, and habits – are doing exactly that.

Another major hazard in online advertising, is having it used for unethical or nefarious purposes. From a business perspective it’s never been easier for a brand to profile, target, and persuade consumers. Farhad Manjoo of The New York Times describes the huge advances in advertising that Machine Learning provides as a powerful marketing tool;
“As the online ad machine gets better, marketing gets more efficient and effective, letting companies understand and influence consumer sentiment at a huge scale for little money.”

The mechanisms Manjoo describes are not just exclusive to million dollar companies either. The only thing needed to influence consumers is a bank account. For example, it was the same mechanisms used for online advertising that were abused and used for nefarious purposes by Russia’s Internet Research Agency, during the 2016 election to influence American politics. Accounting details show it cost them roughly $46,000 for Facebook ads – which then “were seen by nearly 150 million Americans.”. To implicate online advertising further, Russian operations used many common marketing tactics like A/B testing and Landing page evaluations to focus their ads and encourage negative social influence.

How dangerous is this, really? At first the answer might seem to depend on which side you’re on. Looking at it objectively, this is an extremely serious issue undermining legal U.S. political structures – no matter the side. I’m of the personal opinion that something needs to change in this situation to prevent future political interference. At the same time, I don’t see a way online advertising can stay the way it is and prevent interference. I believe it would not only take major regulation of global communications, but also an effective enforcement strategy. Because of how far laws lag behind technology and the speed of regulatory bodies, I believe this is a major issue. On a scale of 1 to 5 – with 5 being highly dangerous – I think the current landscape is very concerning and I give it a 3 out of 5.

At this point you might be asking why there isn’t a standardized code of ethics for digital marketers. It’s a great idea, but involves quite a bit of politics. Currently it’s best for marketers to follow their own code of ethics, or code of conduct, and be smart in their actions. If you need sort of a basis for creating your own code of ethics, I’ve adopted 7 principals from Business 2 Community. Use the following list as a jumping-off point!

• Know Your Audience – preferences, interests, and choices.
  
• Stay Away from Biases – avoid negative or controversial topics like politics, religion, ethnicity, or cultural bias.
  
• Never Compromise on Privacy – violating privacy rules can have large financial negative impacts.
  
• Be Transparent – avoid hiding business relationships, endorsements should be clearly stated as such.
  
• Speak Truth – avoid or effectively communicate affiliation, especially when involving payment.
  
• Think Before you Tweet – consider all perspectives, and ensure content is free of errors that lead to embarrassment or negative brand perceptions.
  
• Imagine the Impact – Public perception of messages from the ‘mouth’ of a brand matter a lot. That content can change perceptions greatly with a single message. Ensure content is on-band and is achieving the contents goal.

If you would like to read more about Marketing codes of Ethics, check out Tahir Akbar’s article on Business 2 Community right here.

Thanks for reading!

Website didn’t rank as well as you had hoped? Read on!

That’s okay, that just means there’s more room for growth. Grab a coffee and keep reading because there’s a few different aspects we can look at to improve your website’s search rankings. Remember, don’t be frustrated if your website isn’t doing as great as you thought it would. The tips in this posting will help, but don’t expect to see immediate results. Even small changes take time to update in various databases across the web.

Let’s get started!

Keywords

Keywords are arguably the most important part of the search process, so it’s a great place to start. In order to gain a footing in the search rankings, Forbes’ Jia Wertz recommends spending a few days doing some homework to identify the best keywords for each product/page of your site. It might take some time, but the better and more accurate your keywords are, the better your page will rank and visits will increase.

In addition to knowing which keywords to use, Wertz also strongly recommends optimizing for Long-Tail keywords – a [search] phrase containing three or more words. She details that identifying and applying Long-Tail keywords significantly help search engines to more easily rank your website. The more easily it can do that, the higher your site will rank.

Relevant Landing Page

A common pitfall both new and old search entries face is accurately sending searchers to the correct landing page. For example, if I was the automotive tire company GoodYear, I would be extremely careful to match landing pages to their search terms. A search for “What are the best tires for Subaru BRZ” should link to a search page on GoodYear.com displaying only the tires that would fit specifically on a Subaru BRZ. In this age of digital marketing, it’s simply not enough to link a specific keyword to a generic landing page. Customers who don’t land on the page they were expecting quickly become alienated and hit the exit button. If you are specific in your keywords, it should link to that specific item.

Fix Broken Links

Speaking of alienating customers and risking their departure, having dead or broken links is another bad practice that ends up being a huge turn-off to potential customers.
Luckily there are services available online to ensure your website is up-to-date and watertight, with no dead or broken links. A few services recommended by WebSolutions are Online Broken Link Checker and Dead Link Checker.

Test, Revise, and Apply

As the digital age evolves and consumer preferences change, it’s vastly important to stay flexible and change with them. It could be as unnoticeable as one color being preferred over another, or as small as a single word change, but utilizing A/B Testing is a great tool to figure out exactly what works and what doesn’t – with real, hard data.

A/B Testing can be incredibly useful – learn more about A/B Testing by reading QuickSprout.com’s Beginners Guide To A/B Testing

What are Conversions?

               Defining exactly what a Conversion is will depend mainly on the type of business, and how that business is set up. For instance, an e-commerce web store might be concerned with what percentage of viewers actually hit that BUY NOW button and purchase their product. An author of an email newsletter might be concerned with how many viewers enter their email to sign up. Maybe you are writing your own blog and want to know how many people are clicking ads on your page. Whatever the industry, your Conversion rate is essentially your goal, or a desired action you want the viewer to do once they’re on your page.

Attention-driven design

               The design of your Landing Page can directly make or break your targeted Conversion rate. Overly complicated website design, Too many pictures, and simply not enough information are some common practices that turn-away Conversions.

               On the other hand, an attractive design that captures the viewers attention and keeps it, will lead to the viewer clicking more and staying on your page longer. Finally, consider page elements that add value to your page, while being minimally distracting.

Call to Action Buttons

               Utilizing Call to Action (CTA) Buttons is possibly the most important aspect in increasing Conversions. Three Deep Marketing tells us that bold CTAs can increase conversion rates, and provides great details on how to do it well. Consider against generic CTAs – like “Buy”, “Shop”, and “Okay”. Instead, use fun, friendly, and unique buttons that are boldly colored, clear, but not overly aggressive. For example “Shop” could easily and effectively be replaced with “Discover our New Flavors!”. It checks all our boxes, while still communicating where the link goes and what the button does. Another great example is how Three Deep Marketing changed the “Enter” button and replaced it with “Stir up Sweetness”.

Mobile/Desktop

               With Statista reporting over “120 milion mobile buyers in the U.S. alone in 2015.” And the belief that number will increase to over “162 million” by the end of 2019, it’s now more important than ever for your site to be mobile-friendly. For the best possible chance of Conversions, every action you can do in a desktop browser, should be achievable by mobile-device users. If you still aren’t convinced, check out some statistics below.

Test to impress

               It’s no secret that today’s digital world moves faster than ever before. The wants, needs, and values of consumers can change at a moment notice. For this reason, it’s incredibly important to stay on-top of what works and doesn’t work for your consumers. The best way to do this is though testing. Aren’t sure if you should name that CTA Button “Enter Here” or “Join the Party!”? A/B testing is your new best friend. By looking at the data gathered from running your site with either Button-text, you can directly compare the effectiveness and impact to your Conversion rate.

… still here?

Want to know more about Conversions and tools to help analyze your Conversion rates?

Check out Shlomo Trachtenberg’s article at Big Commerce

More Sources

“MRKT 484 Ryan on Testing Landing Pages.” OSU MediaSpace, Oregon State University, https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_j1xoorhb.

“The 7 Principles of Conversion Centered Design.” Oli Gardner, Stukent.com, https://www.stukent.com/expert-sessions/the-7-principles-of-conversion-centered-design/.