Companies learning your habits, email marketing tips and privacy

• This article in the New York Times Magazine about how companies use advanced analytics and research to identify consumer habits in order to target marketing messages may make you look differently at both your habits and your next email from Target.
• While the email marketing module might be a few weeks past, it doesn’t mean that tips for growing your email subscriber list are less relevant today.
• According to eMarketer, a brand’s perception about privacy (or lack thereof) affects a consumer’s desire or propensity to engage with it.  That 62% of consumers indicate they don’t trust companies with their data is pretty telling.
• Speaking of privacy, Pew Research released a report that social media users are now taking more steps to manage their privacy online.
• How many of you who use Facebook pay attention to the ads?  While they may not seem like much, they account for 6.5% of all online ad spending in the U.S., or $2.58 billion in revenue.

Alliances, Bubbles & Branding

This week’s module delves into online business strategy, including alliances, acquisitions & branding.

• The founder of LinkedIn has a very insightful look at alliances with individuals.
• While I didn’t mention Facebook’s upcoming IPO in the module, it’s one that appears to be extremely highly valued.  Some say overvalued.
• According to a recent study on the top consumer brands, men & women have very different views on brands they trust. There are a few brands they do agree on however, including Southwest Airlines.

Pizza industry innovations, social search, social commerce & more

Week 7 already? This means that we’re moving into the latter half of the quarter.  It also means there are plenty of articles relevant to subjects we’ve already covered.

• I mentioned Google’s personalized search in last week’s module.  For many, change in this arena is not good, as recent research indicates that over half the US Internet users surveyed prefer traditional (read: not social) search results.  What say you?
• Remember the discussion question about how much information you are comfortable sharing online? Forrester Research released a recent study on this very topic, and guess what?  The concerns many of you voiced are similar to the survey findings.
• Here’s an interesting case study on how the pizza industry has adopted new technologies and promotional strategies to stay competitive.
• Not monitoring marketing programs and not having a plan are but two of the top 10 marketing mistakes to avoid, according to MediaPost.
• As I indicate in this week’s module, social commerce is growing, but it’s still in the early stages of adoption, as noted in this article.
• Does your business really need a Facebook page? Food for thought.

Online ads, search and consumer acquisition costs

Module 6 is a bit meaty, covering a lot of topics.  So it would follow that I found more than a few relevant articles to complement your reading.

• Online ad spending is forecast to grow in 2012, according to eMarketer. What’s interesting here is that this year is forecast to be the first year that total online ad spend actually surpasses total print spend.  TV advertising isn’t expected to be affected though, perhaps even taking some of the print advertising market share.
• More research from the Pew Research Center, this time about those activities U.S. adults engage in most frequently.  If you guessed search, you’re correct, as 92% of U.S. internet users do use search engines on a daily basis.
• I talked briefly about Google’s recent announcement of Search Plus Your World.  I found this article a succinct review of the announcement and the subsequent explanations, concerns and issues surrounding it. Whether you look at it from purely a user perspective or that of a marketer, it’s useful background.
• Remember how I mentioned the S in the AIDA model? I really like this clear explanation of customer satisfaction.
• For those of you curious about how to calculate customer acquisition costs, I did find this simplified calculator.