Web Marketing Association SmartBrief

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April 11, 2012

Current News and Ideas for Web Developers and Marketers

Top Story

Viral stunts help Nescafé take root in Mexico
Nescafé is going digital to reach Mexican consumers. The company has seen results from a series of social media, blog-based and viral-stunt campaigns, says Alejandro Olascoaga, who handles the Nescafé account at Flock Advertising. "The key is the value-added content. If a user finds added value, he or she is more likely to share it with others," he says. Portada-Online.com (4/10)

Trendwatch

IAB offers improved standards for Web video ads
The IAB is promoting three new standards for online video to clear away the many different technologies and tactics that make it difficult to launch broad-based Web video campaigns. The objective is to provide a way to produce video ad content that any publisher can use to meet the needs of the advertiser. Adweek (4/10)

Don't despair if nobody clicks your display ads
A display ad that doesn't get clicked isn't entirely useless, writes Russell Glass. Online ads, even those that apparently go unnoticed, can serve as a customer's first contact point with your brand, and can increase the likelihood of a real-world sale somewhere down the line. "Although the prospect may not click on the ad, the display advertisement will create brand familiarity and trust," Glass writes. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (4/10)

Getting the Word Out

How to turn e-mail browsers into buyers
E-mail is a powerful marketing tool, but too few companies use the platform effectively, writes Nathan Richter. It's important to use campaign data to tailor your brand website to what you know about incoming e-mail recipients, and ensure that your brand is consistent across the various platforms on which you operate. "Using these simple actions that leverage the knowledge you already have about your customers will help you improve conversion rates and turn email browsers into buyers," Richter promises. ClickZ (4/10)

Word-of-mouth beats traditional advertising, consumers say
Word-of-mouth recommendations remain the most-trusted source of product information, according to Nielsen's Global Trust in Advertising report. Consumer confidence in conventional advertising has decreased since 2009, the report found. Marketing Land (4/10)

Developer Update

Instagram devs' secret to success: Dull, reliable tools
Instagram is an impressive technical achievement under the hood, writes Scott Gilbertson. The application's developers say they set out to use existing, proven technology wherever possible in order to increase stability and scalability. "In other words, go with the boring stuff that just works," Gilbertson writes. Webmonkey (4/10)

Design Corner

How CSS elements can fine-tune your brand
A few simple HTML and CSS tricks can help burnish your branded websites, writes Tara Hornor. Headers, links, blockquotes and paragraph text can all be given a fresh look using CSS, and it's easy to experiment until you find a brand-consistent look for your site. "The great part about using CSS is that your entire site can be updated within only a few minutes," Horner writes. I Can Be Creative blog (4/10)

Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs

What it takes to turn Facebook into a sales engine
Small businesses can use Facebook to drive social commerce, says Payvment founder and CEO Christian Taylor. Be sure to fill your pages with quality photographs of your products, give a prominent position to your "shop now" application, and use polls and promotions to engage your potential customers. SmallBizTechnology.com (4/10)

Association News

Best travel website of 2012 to be named by Web Marketing Association
Is your travel website a top destination? Is it the best in its industry? If you think it might be, then enter the Web Marketing Association's 16th annual international WebAward Competition for website development. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets benchmarks for 96 industries, including travel, airline, and hotel & lodging websites, based on the seven criteria of a successful website. The deadline for the best travel websites to enter to be judged is May 31.

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