First, know how you can make use of Google analytics The first step is to know what you can make use of Google analytics to deliver the marketing results you desire to achieve. There are mainly four types of Google analytics' statistics you can obtain, namely, traffic source, visitors’ demographics, page content and Google intelligence. Apart from tracking website performance, Google analytics also supports result tracking for Google AdSense, Blogger, Google Sites and wordpress as well.      Second, know what you are looking for Given that there are a lot of data and statistics that can be analyzed in Google analytics, the very first step is to understand what data is available in analytics, and then identify several key measurement metrics that are the most important to your business.   Third, know what your goals are Goal setting is one of the very important steps because you can know what  you exactly want to achieves. Google analytics allow you to set goals related to ultimate URL destination, visit's duration, or the specified pages to visit, which helps you better focus at the key result measurement for your whole marketing campaign.    Forth, know how to measure and track From time to time, it is important to measure the current result against with the targeted results to understand how far you have achieved. Suggested key measurements are, namely, number of website visitors, visit duration and page visit etc.   Fifth, know how to generate report from analytics You can generate report from Google analytics, or you can extract data from analytics and design tailored made reports by yourself .

Before undergoing your next web marketing plan, it is essential to identify the company business and marketing goals, and prepare for the right plan to meet them. In the end, result measurement is based on the objectives you set. But it is also important to know how to measure, track results and adjust marketing plan that leads to a greater marketing success. Below we are going to introduce you several result measurement techniques that leads you the right and better way to present your marketing result.   Identify and define recommended metrics to track Below are the recommended measurement metrics to measure the result of your web marketing plan:     Direct Navigation (type in traffic, bookmarks, email links without tracking codes, etc.) Referral Traffic (form links across the web or in trackable email, promotion & branding campaign links) Search Engines (queries that sent traffic from any major or minor web search engine)   Analysis the keywords and phrases Make sure if you have used the right keywords and phrases in your web marketing strategy to bring traffics to the company website:     Identify new trends in keyword demand Gauge performance on key terms Find terms that bring significant traffic Check for seasonality issue (keywords that are only in demand certain times of the week/month/year) Key words ranking   Evaluate conversion rate Your web marketing plan involves money investment, so it is important to understand the actual return it can bring to the company. Website visitors Page visits Sales enquiries Click rate for marketing materials/quotation

No matter what enterprise and industry you are working in, sales and marketing is the driving force to move the company forward. With the launch of Apple ipad, the standard of presenting sales information to clients goes to a new high level. It is time for B2B marketers to consider using ipad apps to help company achieve business goals. Below we will introduce you several typical ipad apps solution to better optimize your marketing return ROI.    Sales apps Creating mobile sales apps better assist sales and marketing professional to deliver sales and marketing pitches and present better company image. Instead of presenting traditional marketing communication materials to potential clients, a multimedia-based ipad apps can grab customers' attention in a more effective and interactive manner.    Below are several suggested Sales apps’ functions:   -Product/services search -Company and product/service introduction -Multimedia elements -Financial calculator -Promotion and news update -CRM integration    Benefits of Sales apps:   -Deliver compelling sales and marketing messages   -Trigger users interest and enhance their experience -Enhance consumers’ loyalty   Branded apps The key purpose of developing branded apps is to present a better brand image to consumers, investors, stakeholders and the public. With branded apps, people can view all the comprehensive corporate information such as company introduction, news and events in a vivid and interactive manner. To bring the interactive element to a higher level, company’s social media and youtube channels can be incorporated into the branded apps as well.   Below are several suggested branded apps’ functions:   -Company search -Corporate location mapping -Interactive and multimedia elements e.g. videos, graphics -360 degree product view -Social media connection    Benefits of branded apps: -Enhance brand image and corporate identity -Increase users’ engagement -Increase brand awareness 

  With the popularity of mobile usage and apps download, consumers are used to getting information, comparing prices, and searching for discounts from mobile devices. Apart from the average product catalog and coupon apps, what other mobile apps should retailers take advantage of in order to enhance consumers’ loyalty and drive sales at the same time? Below we will introduce you the mobile solution to achieve whatever your business goals are.   Mobile membership apps The purpose of developing mobile membership apps for retailers is to enhance consumers’ loyalty and drive higher sales.   Suggested key functions: -Membership recruitment -Content management system for promotion and news update -Consumers’ purchasing data collection and analysis   -Real-time promotional notice   Benefits to retailers: -Enlarge consumers’ database  -Better understand consumers’ purchasing behavior -Stimulate consumers’ consumption    Case studies: Starbuck has launched the Starbucks app called Starbucks Card Mobile which makes purchasing much easier and convenient. Consumers can treat the Starbucks app as a mobile payment channel and use it to pay, check card balance, redeem loyalty points, and buy friends with starbucks drinks. The apps had received wide popularity and usage once it was launched. 

According to the latest published data in advertising age and visible measures, the top 1 viral video - You Know When It’s the Devil – has the highest number of click rates. Watch this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGb8pMIeY6w   So what’s special about it?   1. It creates an illusion of expectation and surprise  The video starts when an exorcist standing in front of a mysterious house. When you see the nervous face of an old woman and the praying guy in the scary house, you can tell something unusual might have happened or is happening in the house. When the exorcist walks in the room, the door closes and the bible opens. A super scary supernatural is hanging on the ceiling and her body keeps moving back and forth. But then you will realize the reason of her oddly movement actually comes from the neighbor living on the upper floor! When the neighbor is using the vacuum cleaner to clean the dirt of the carpet, the vacuum creates a strong motion that the supernatural on the lower floor is stuck on the ceiling. Such an interesting ending really amuses audiences!   2. It has brand and message linkage  The caption at the end of the video, “You know when it’s the Devil”, correlates with the brand name “Dirt Devil”, telling people that dirt is devil, a bad thing at home. The video also tells people that, by the time you aware the dirt at home, it is time to use Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner to get rid of them

Interactive gesture display, to some marketers, may seems unfamiliar. This is actually a new interactive marketing tool that is useful for companies to bring consumers a vivid experience on product and service concept, features and benefits.   How it works? This highly interactive tool enables consumers to play and engage with breathtaking visual effects, company ad and games with hands and body motions, significantly enhancing consumers’ perception and understanding on product and services. Real-time body and face tracking is used to place a person’s dynamic digital image onto video projection display, interactive advertising signage or interactive window.   Who needs it? Retail chains Location-based entertainment and arcades Restaurants/Hotels Trade show and event planners Audio visual integrators Electronics manufacturers Exhibit builders/fabricators Creative design/planning firms Advertising and direct marketing agencies   Want to know more about the application?   You can watch the below cases for more understanding:  Interactive game installation at Hong Kong Housing Authority:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK7_9VsKrOA&feature=fvsr SHKP | boutique luxury residence launch:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRD-WfCgNmY&feature=related Snibbe Interactive's Word Wall at the Shanghai Expo:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyICKL_BtEM&feature=related

According to the official announcement from Facebook, a photo tagging function were launched in United States. People can tag photos with brands, products, companies or person's Facebook pages. This Facebook photo tagging function is useful to promote a campaign, event, product, person or location. By utilizing this function, brand exposure, users’ interaction and search visibility of the company will be enhanced.     About photo taggingfunction -              A Fan page/pagecan be tagged anywhere -              A page can be tagged by anyone on Facebook -              Privacy of the photo is always respected when a Page is tagged in a photo -              Page admins can always choose to disable tagged photos -              These photos will appear on the Photos tab on the Page   Advantages for business -              Enhance brand exposure -              Increase users’ interaction and engagement -              Increase search visibility of the brand -              Spread viral effect   For more details, please go to http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-pages/feature-launch-photo-tagging-for-pages/10150168953654822

Window displays, in-store exhibits, banners and posters are traditional ways to capture people’s attention in retail business. However, those advertising methods are static and harder to strengthen brand loyalty and consumers’ satisfaction. Digital signage, on the other hand, is highly interactive and able to display series of promotional content. This up-and-coming digital media channel is highly regarded as the future’s retail marketing tool to drive sales and increase customer’s satisfaction.   With the emergency of various digital products, people are getting used to reading content in digital screens. You may begin to see digital signage such as plasma,LCD monitors andprojection displays are getting highly visible in retail stores, events and exhibitions. Given the incredible values, richness of experienceand the highly interactive content digital signage gives to consumers, companies and advertisers,  digital signage technology is very regarded to evolve and advance. At the same time, more companies will start to adopt and switch to this new advertising channel as well.   Compared to the traditional retail advertising, digital signage can bring much more value to retail business in a long-term perspective. Below we introduce you several benefits that digital signage can bring to the company: -Influence customers to make purchase decision on the spot -Easier to change promotional messages and news   -Consumers experiences is much more than banners, flyers and even promoters -Brand building -Easy to capture people’s attention -Enhance consumers’ interaction   Anyone who are interested to suggest this new advertising channel for the company should consider the issues on creative execution, set up and maintenance plan, and not to mention about content update matter. Understanding the latest digital signage technology and trend will also help you to pick the right digital signage effect and technology that are the best for your company.

After a period of hard work, online marketers need to stop a while to see whether results have been achieved. But how to trace and measure traffic results? What are the easy-to-use and free analytical tools?   Google analytics is the free and the most popular web-based analytical tool, helping you find who view your website, how they find it and the duration of visitation etc. The tool can also measure effectiveness of paid ads, offline ads and email campaigns. For sophisticated users, advanced features and added-on functions are also readily available to use.   Understanding what the tool can offer is the first step, while marketers should understand how to interpret data and result for campaign evaluation and improvement. Here are several tips we can provide:   -              Halt spending on paid keywords that have high bounce rates -              Identify unpaid keywords with high bounce rates -              Identify top 3-5 landing pages that calls for stronger actions with a high bounce rate -              Adjust keywords when they are not found to be effective at the campaign period -              Link Google adwords & adsense accounts to Google analytics   To better optimize traffic, we recommend marketers to clearly set up their website goals (i.e. completing contact form, subscribing newsletter or buying products) and create various strategies to achieve these goals. Another important reminder is to feature content for which visitors most often search, and most importantly, include site searches in order to maximize users’ visitation time. 

The goal of email marketing is to entice your targeted readers to open messages. Personalize your emails always help you reach that goal easier and faster. Before you integrate the idea of “personalized marketing” into your email marketing campaigns, here are some practical advices that help properly executes your email marketing campaign.   Segment email list  Executing your marketing segmentation plan is actually not as complex as you imagine. You can make it simple by creating personalized email campaign by segmenting your customer email list based on demographics, interest as well as previous purchasing behavior. Remember, personalizing your email content is important so that right messages can be delivered to the right customers successfully.   Personalize email content You have a list of emails of your entire segmented customer. Now it is time to think about how to create personalized messages so that the needs of your targeted customers can be catered. Personalizing subject-line, call- for-action content and key email messages has a good chance to capture recipients’attention.   Add interactive elements To increase the effectiveness of your email campaign, integrating videos, graphics and social media buttons into emails is essential because all these interactive elements can trigger people’s curiosity and induce them to take action such as clicking the website, viewing product pages, or even purchasing products online. 

Facebook transforms the way companies getting to know and interact with consumers in the global context. There is nothing comparable to Facebook Page that companies can socialize with consumers and treat them as friends. Facebook Page implies a friendly gesture to make people feel the personal intimacy. The significance behind the Page also implies the power of connection and interaction in the virtual world. But Facebook goes beyond the online kingdom. Facebook Place –the next big Facebook product, combines virtual world with reality which links up people with places all around the world.   Facebook Places Share where you’re and what you’re doing Knowing where your friends are and what they are up to is easier than ever. You don’t have to make any phone call or mobile text message. Simply go to mobile Facebook, it takes less than a minute for you to know where your friends locate and who they are hanging out with. You can also tag your friends in the place you both visit, and leave comments about the place. Meet your friends nearby Is your friend around the corner? Are you just down the street? Don’t miss the chance to meet them up at the same place at the same time. When you use Facebook Places to check in, you can see who are just nearby! Hang out for a drink! Check in to get good deal! No matter you are searching for business opportunities or looking for special deals, Facebook Places will make you excited. As a business owner, you can design special check-in offers to get people visiting your places. As an ordinary individual, you can check special promotions and hot deals at anytime and anywhere! No matter it is for personal or business purposes, the Facebook Places had attracted millions of user! The benefits of Facebook places bringing to business are undeniable. Not only it creates a positive and organic impression towards your business place, but also extends brand reach to new consumers. Most importantly, it is FREE! 

Staying closed with the latest website design trend and keeping your company websites in line with those trends help project a current, refreshing and eye-catching brand image for your company. Here we will reveal the upcoming website design trend for 2011 to help you better plan for your company’s branding and marketing initiatives. This article will help you understand the way to improve the visual appeal of your website, and how to make a user-friendly and effective company website.   Website design Simplicity is the key for any new website. Typical notebook type or column-like designs are out of fashion. Instead, minimalist, editorial, typography design layouts are going to take place in the upcoming 2011. Huge animation and flash with the use of strong color tone has left its placeas they hurt people’s eyes. Professional light designs with user-friendly navigations should be considered in your new company website. Remember to add link-rich headers and footers on your revamped website to increase your website usability and traffic. Big and highly visible headers highlighting your company products and services can quickly and easily let people know what your company can offer. Also, don’t forget to add your company’s affiliated websites at the header to improve your company’s SEO.    Mobile web design Mobile website is becoming less of a trend and more of a necessity for many organizations. So many internet users are choosing to access websites and online information through mobile devices. Never disappoint your potential customers with a mobile website that is difficult to scroll through and navigate. For example, the mobile home page of Dig, containing only 10 simple headlines and links with basic navigation options, is a really good reference for you to design your mobile web design layout. If you realize your company’s mobile web has an excessive content, now it is time to cut it short and leave what is the most important for your customers to read. Prioritize and format your content well. Too much content and lack of space often result in slow internet connection. Another important point is keeping minimal images as much as possible. Too many images will make the website harder to read and slow down internet connection too. 

For anyone who is a self-starter in website marketing, there are two key terms that you should master. One is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and another is Pay per Click (PPC) Advertising. They are the 2 key ways to promote your website. Combining both ways work wonders to increase website visibility and sales leads for your company.   1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) A significant amount of website traffic originates from major search engines(i.e. Yahoo, Google, Baidu).Most Internet users will go to a search engine, type in keyword phrasesand look through the top 10 - 20 results. So make sure your website is being listednear the topto grab the attention of your target audiences.  When conducting SEO for yourcompany website, you shouldapply couple of keyword phrases in different variationsfor each web page. Also, avoid using general one-word keywords, as your websitedefinitely won't rankshigh in the Search Engines. For example, if your website focuses on “Clothes", please don’t use"Clothes" as one of your keywords. Why? Because people usually type in specific keywords to search for specific things, so you should use specified keyword phrasessuch as "Men pants” or "Women wear". Another important issue: When your company is going to revamp or develop a website, don’t forget to ask your agency to do search engine optimization for you.   2. Pay Per Click(PPC)/Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising Unlike SEO which helps companies to generate natural search, paid search is an instant way for your customers to get to know your website. There are two ways to employ your paid search marketing strategy. The first is Pay Per Click(PPC) and the second way is Cost Per Click (CPC).Pay per click involves a fixed cost payment for you to bid on keywords that you think your customers would type in search engine to find your site.You can use Yahoo SM, Google Ad Words keywordsto check out common typed keywords for your business. On the other hand, cost per click requires you to pay for a lump sum payment to search engine providers and other internet publishers to direct their traffic to your website.  No matter you are doing B2C or B2B business, creating website is the first step, conducting search engine marketing is the second step. These two methods we introduce you can increase your website traffic, sales leads and ultimately drive sales revenues. Last but not least, don’t forget to incorporate your website address or keywords with your integrated marketing communication plan to increase your website visibility. 

Guess what kind of mobile application had the biggest hit? Game? Music? Utilities? Actually, social networking was the leading mobile application category that had achieved the strongest growth by far. In 2010, global users of social networking mobile applications had increased 240 percent to 14.5 millions. The growth rate was so tremendous that no other mobile applications could compare to. In the years ahead, we think that the below mobile applications will be the rising stars in the Apple store.    Location-based services (LBS) Location-based services (LBS) applications make people life easier. You can save the time of copying addresses of the locations where you are going to visit for the day. With LBS mobile applications, no matter you are finding ATM, hospital or restaurants, they instantly tell you how to go at your fingertips.   Mobile payment Every weekday, everyone is on the rush. If there is a powerful smartphone application that takes care of our miscellaneous payment like transportation fares, parking services, tickets and so on, wouldn’t it be so perfect? Well, this happy scenario might not happen at the present, but technology will take us there in the near future.   Mobile Health Monitoring The aging population and rising health problems make everyone realize the importance of health. A portable and convenient smart phone device with health monitoring application that allows you to keep track of your health status, seek instant health advices and even arrange medical consultation would certainly let you take control of your health easily.   No matter what kind of mobile applications you want to create and make money from it, the key point is to create something that is beneficial to customers and most importantly, it should be easy to use! The best-selling mobile apps are actually those with a simple concept as well as a good user experience. Mobile technology trend is always changing and will continue to evolve. It is always good to keep updating yourself with the latest smartphone trend and technology in order to take advantage of any upcoming business opportunity.

The Year of 2010 has already marked the digital transformation in Asia. In Hong Kong, wherever you go, you had been seeing people with their iphone/ipad playing games, talking to friends on Facebook or reading digital newspapers. In 2011, the power of digital communication impacting on consumer’s purchasing behaviors will only be stronger. To gear up for the new opportunities ahead, don’t miss out our tips to plan out your digital marketing plan for the Year.   Understand the available digital marketing tools Digital marketing extends beyond Web 2.0. Marketing teams can make use of viral videos, social media pages, mobile applications, or multimedia technologies (i.e. AR technology) to start a digital marketing campaign. No matter you start to plan your first digital marketing initiatives or further expand the scale of your digital marketing campaign, do you know where to start and which channels to choose from? Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo are two-way communication channels between you and your target audience, where provide good platform for your company to post quick questions or polls to gather consumer’s insights. Viral video, on the other hand, is a cost-effective alternative of traditional TV advertising and generates measurable results. Creating a portable product catalogue and mobile payment system for your brand would not only build a better brand image, but also increase market reach and sales. No matter what digital marketing channel you want to choose, you may want to understand the nature of different digital marketing tools and think which one helps your business most.    Align your digital marketing with objectives Do you aim to acquire new member’s data, or simply want to build fans and followers? What messages do you want to communicate? What is your ultimate objective? All these questions needed to be well-thought before you start to explore your digital marketing initiatives.   Make your digital campaign creative and fun Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing is a highly interactive media. So, when it comes to developing digital marketing approaches, simply following the previous practices or traditional marketing approaches may not lead to success, instead, open your mind and try something new and creative to impress your targeted online audiences.   Don’t take digital marketing as an isolated campaign Please don’t isolate your digital marketing initiatives from traditional and other online marketing practices. For example, your viral campaign can be supported by email marketing, online advertising, forum seeding and blogging to maximize the viral effects and achieve tremendous number of views.

In the last part, we analyzed the reasons for the unsuccessful viral marketing in Hong Kong. In which, we also mentioned the concept of  ''Social Object''. This time, I'll further illustrate on that. What's Social Object?  I define ''Social Object'' as talking-point or attention grabber. It can be simply a word, an image, a script, a movement, a style, an event or a character. In production of a viral video, character is always attractive to audience. Do you recognize these local characters? Let's recall some well-known movies or TV dramas. I'm sure even if you forget what the story is about, you must still remember those popular characters whom were once the talk of town. TV Drama's characters such as 'Laughing Gor' (Starring Tse Tin-Wa), 'Hor Ma' (Starring Lee Sze-Kei) and 'Ah Wong' (Starring Kwok Chun-On), as well as the movie characters like 'Chan Wing Yan' (Starring Tony Leung) and 'Inspector Lau Kin Ming' (Starring Andy Lau) are typical examples. Do you know why Stephen Chow's movie always has open casting for new actors? If you notice, the post-Chow's movies (such as 'Shaolin Soccer' and 'Kung Fu Hustle') contain 'Ke Le' (means strange, weird and funny) characters as ''Social Object''. And of course, Chow is already a ''Social Object''. I've heard an experienced director said, 'a box-office movie doesn't always need a good story, but must have an outstanding character'. The human mind is most sensitive and familiar to human figure. And this is also one of the reasons why we need spokespersons for products promotion. Check out the typical Viral Videos in Hong Kong Still remember those hot topics I've mentioned last time? Do you know why they're so 'hot' among the online users? Let me list out some examples of these social objects: Non-Commercial: - Bus Uncle: the Uncle's dialogue and gesture VS the Boy's extraordinary calm reaction; most importantly, the Uncle's classic phrase, ''Not solved!'' (Chinese:『未解決!』) - Woman missed her flight (Tantrum at the HK Airport): the Woman's strange and funny dialogue; lying and crawling on the ground after her roar of  ''No mercy'' (Chinese:『無陰公』) - RTHK's Tuesday Report : Otaku, ''Kong Girl'' & ''Leftover Ladies'': Interviews of characters such as 'the Kong Girl who earned thirty thousand per month' and 'the generous leftover lady' - ''Kong Girl'' Chiu Yen Ping: her rude manner VS polite salesperson Commercial: - BaWang Shampoo (Jackie Chan & Ponyo Remix): if it's not Jackie Chan, the effect will not be so viral; Ponyo is a cartoon character of the new 'hot' movie during that time - KellyJackie's (Amateur Pop Singer) ''He invites me to Disneyland'' : Good timing because the song was released to the Internet around the HK Disneyland's opening period; Special and attention-getting name of ''KellyJackie'' - Long-legged 'Kong Girl' VS Glasses-wearing 'Pork-chop': the real outlook of the long-legged pretty and the fat girl in exaggerating dialogue and gesture. - C-Cup 'Kong Girl' takes revenge on ex-boyfriend: the funny and memorable dialogues; her sudden act of showing her C-cup (Sex Appeal) The above topics were actively discussed among the online users (or even become the gossips of town). Whether there're enough social objects is actually the key for a successful viral video. Of course, the social objects should be ideally relevant and well-connected to your promoted messages. However, it's also the hardest part to do and mostly depends upon the ability of your hired agency. Next time, we'll talk about other successful viral marketing methods in different forms. (To be continued …)

Last time we’ve talked about the reason why Viral Marketing is generally unsuccessful in Hong Kong. In order to get better result, not only the media marketing strategies of the advertising agencies need to be adjusted, but marketers’ mindset has to be changed. According to the latest Nielson report, online marketing spending has occupied 13% of the entire budget plan in year 2009, growing rapidly to the substantially double amounts when compared to the index in 2008 (That’s truly awesome!). Although online marketing has been recognized as a “small investment, big gain” promotions approach, in the end it only accounted for a small part of the marketing budget. The form of online marketing can be multifarious. When marketing heads still haven’t figured out the benefits of Social Media yet, they have to learn about ‘Viral Marketing’. Besides, since Viral Marketing is a new approach, not many marketers are willing to invest in it. Even if they do, they’re just the minority. (If I were the boss of advertising agency, I’ll also ask my account servicing colleagues not to engage in it! Even when you’re doing well in viral marketing, you may not earn much profit. But if you cannot manage it, you’ll definitely receive complaint from clients.) Of course, if the client demands to run a viral marketing campaign, agencies still have no choice but to take it up. Without enough resources, most of them will just simply propose some standard solutions to temporize the client. (You can never imagine how many times that famous “The best job in the XXX” has been repeatedly adopted.) In fact, a lot of my friends are interested to know what exactly the ‘Social Object’ (the term I’ve mentioned last time) is. Try to keep you curious, I list out some Hong Kong viral videos that were once the hottest topics in town.  Non-Commercial: Bus Uncle Woman missed her flight (Tantrum at the HK Airport) RTHK’s Tuesday Report: Otaku, ‘Kong Girl’ & ‘Leftover Ladies’ ‘Kong Girl’ Chiu Yen Ping ‘Brother Sharp’ (Homeless Fashion Icon) TV Singing Contestants: LokYanMing & Tan Jiexi Commercial: BaWang Shampoo (Jackie Chan & Ponyo Remix) KellyJackie’s (Amateur Pop Singer) ‘He invites me to Disneyland’ Long-legged ‘Kong Girl’ VS Glasses-wearing ‘Pork-chop’ (Two girls fighting for a guy) C-Cup ‘Kong Girl’ takes revenge on ex-boyfriend All of them share something in common. What are they? Let’s talk about it next time. (To be continued …)

Is the moon in foreign sky really rounder than that in Chinese? After seeing many successful cases of Viral Marketing from foreign countries, I cannot help asking this question. I wonder if those foreign advertising agencies are more creative than we are. Or are there any critical reasons that we didn't find out yet? Where does your media money go to? Most of the agencies in Hong Kong adopt the 50:30:20 budget strategy when they initiate a new campaign. In which, 20% of the budget is invested for the R&D (mostly contracted out to the IT vendors); 30% of which flows into creative and production; while the largest part of the 50% is for the media purchasing. In most cases, the amount for online media is always found to be 1 to 2 times of the core investment. However, it always comes to a waste that the promotion messages in Online Ad Banners (or ‘Crazy Ads’) are often skipped by either your target users or the potential customers. Or inadvertently, people just click the ad and bump into your mini site by mistake. That’s why many Hong Kong advertisers doubt about the cost-effectiveness and the power of online media. Yet, the conventional experiences tell agencies that the 17.5% commission of these media is the most easily earned part, so they often suggest marketers that online media placement is highly effective. As a result, it becomes a static practice in running a campaign. What’s so good about Digital Marketing? However, based on my own experiences, we don't always need a media execution to run a successful viral marketing campaign (I’m not kidding or try to negate myself. That's what I’ve told my clients, too). The success of a viral marketing campaign always depends upon interactivity and user involvement, with a real social subject for users to participate into or discuss about. For this point, I'll further illustrate it next time. I believe it’s not hard for the Hong Kong marketers to find one common situation that most of their employed digital marketing agencies are actually forced to move their way from traditional media towards digital media. But, it’s ironic that the former media is always one-way oriented while as the latter one is extremely interactive! Entertain You, or Your Clients? In fact, the general advertising agencies fear to interact with the real clients; in their heart the client is definitely the ‘advertiser’, rather than the target user or potential customer. (To interact with your clients, are you kidding?!) In most cases, agencies just want to earn their deserved share of media commission or creative concept fee in the peace of mind. They assume that  their works are finished once the advertising or promotion campaign officially launched. Those responsibilities on ex-post evaluation or actual interaction with the clients are left to the PR agencies or even the advertisers themselves. What they remain to do is just sending out a campaign report or making some brand recalls. Afterwards, they expect that all their duties have come to an end. Online world keeps changing everyday However, if we simply follow the above agencies’ practice, it’s obvious that your viral marketing plan is doomed to be unsuccessful from the very beginning. Most of the time, it's normal to find that those social objects planned at the first stage are far from expectation after the campaign launched.  Those tactics in title and description setting, as well as online seating, are changing every day and are supposed to be adjusted accordingly. No wonder those traditional digital agencies would avoid spending extra time and effort to earn this money. Nevertheless, I’m confident that Viral Marketing will get more and more concerned by the marketers in Hong Kong, because the advertiser will gradually be aware of the unexpected high performance aroused by their associated social objects. The well-known BaWang case is the best example! (To be continued …)

Is the moon in foreign sky rounder than that in Chinese? After seeing many successful cases of Viral Marketing in foreign countries, I cannot help asking this question. I wonder if those foreign advertising agencies are really more creative than we are. Or are there any critical reasons that we did not find out yet? Most of the agencies in Hong Kong adopt the 50:30:20 budget strategy when they initiate a new campaign. In which, 20% of the budget is invested for the R&D (mostly contracted out to the IT vendors); 30% of which flows into creative and production; while the largest part of the 50% is for the media purchasing. In most cases, the amount for online media is always found to be 1 to 2 times of the core investment. However, it always comes to a waste that the promotion messages in those Online Ad Banners (or ‘Crazy Ads’) are often skipped by either your target users or the potential customers. Or inadvertently, people just click the ad and bump into your mini site by mistake. That’s why many Hong Kong advertisers doubt about the cost-effectiveness and the power of online media. Yet, the conventional experiences tell agencies that the 17.5% commission of these media is the most easily earnedpart, so they often suggest marketers that online media placement is highly effective. As a result,it becomes a static practice in running a campaign. However, basedonmy own experiences, media executionis not necessary inimplementing a successful viral marketing campaign (I’m not kidding or try to negate myself. This is what I’ve told my clients, too). The success of a viral marketing campaign always depends upon interactivity and user involvement, with a real social subject for users to participate into or discuss about. For this point, I will further illustrate it next time. I believe it’s not hard for the Hong Kong marketers to find one common situation that most of their employed digital marketing agencies are actually forced to move their way from traditional media towards digital media. But, it’s ironic that the former media is always one-way oriented while as the latter one is extremely interactive! In fact, the general conventional advertising agencies fear to interact with the real clients; in their heart the client is definitely the ‘advertiser’, rather thanthetarget user or potential customer. (To interact with your clients, are you kidding?!) In most cases,agencies just want to earn their deserved share of media commission or creative concept fee in the peace of mind. Most of their works are almost finishedonce the advertising or promotion campaignsofficially released. Those responsibilities on ex-post evaluation or actualinteractionwith the clientsareleft to the Public Relation agencies or even the advertisers themselves. What they remain to do is just sending out a campaign report or making some Brand recalls. Afterwards, they expect that all their duties have come to an end. However, if we simply follow the above agencies’ practice, it’s obvious that your viral marketing plan is doomed to be unsuccessful from the very beginning. Most of the time, it is normal to find that those social objects planned at the early stage are far from expectation after the campaign launched.  Those tactics in title and description setting as well as online seating are changing every day and are supposed to be adjusted accordingly. No wonder those traditional digital agencies would avoid spending extra time and effort to earn this money. Nevertheless, I’m confident that Viral Marketing will get more and more concerned by the marketers in Hong Kong, because the advertiser will gradually be aware of the unexpected high performance aroused by their associated social objects. The well-known BaWang case is the best example! (To be continued …)