As I am speaking to Tourism organizations yesterday and today in Florida I am talking about budget allocation and where the Interactive budgets are allocated. Take a look at these predictions by Forrester Research:

• Interactive marketing spending in the US expected to triple over the next 5 years, reaching $61 billion by 2012
• Search marketing will triple in 5 years, reaching $25 billion by 2012
• online video ads will increase by 72% to reach $7.1 billion by 2012
• Spending on social media will grow to $6.9 billion

(Forrester Research, US Interactive Marketing Forecast 2007 to 2012)

With this kind of spend and the fact that there are only so many proven ways to really get ROI on the spend, it becomes critical that any organization really fine tune and continually test their online strategy and tactics for return on investment. I always have said, "you can't manage what you don't measure".

Till next time....

Leah Woolford CEO, USDM.net

DID YOU KNOW:

36 million women actively blog every week (publish, read or comment) 

43% of Women stated in a recent survey that they would give up reading newspapers and magazines to continue blogg reading or blog psoting

Regarding the shift from traditional media to online; 22% of women surveyed say we watch less television and read fewer magazines and newspapers because we're blogging because we're blogging

The statistics are compelling for blogging and the need for marketers to embrace it as a part of the UGC of their program. But more and more women are reporting that blogging is a big deal in their lives and their decision-making process about what and when to buy.  More than half of women online consider blogs to be one of their reliable sources for advice and information and say that blogs influence their purchasing decisions, especially about travel. 

We have been developing Web 2.0, digital convergence elements and Social Networking into virtual communities for clients for a couple of years now. While it might have been trend-setting to do it back then, today it is a necessity for marketing travel and many other products and services. It is especially important for those that depend on women as the primary decision maker about purchases.

Developing these elements into your web site and Internet marketing program can be a complex undertaking. There are many decisions to be made and many options to consider.  This is an exciting time in online marketing and blogs, social networking and deploying these empowering technologies for women buyers is exciting also.  Don't ignore the research. Move your program toward a more Web 2.0 offering. Your web visitors who are women will especially appreciate it.

Till next time....

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan.

Leah Woolford

CEO, www.usdm.net

The hot topic is search engine marketing... every company these days understands the importance of search engine marketing, especially organic search marketing. But be careful of who you hire to provide this service. Recently we have taken on several clients in the vacation rental management industry. These companies provide valuable services to vacation home owners by running professional rental companies to lease their clients' properties to tourists. Vacation home rental management companies rely heavily on search marketing to have their web sites rank so that online consumers know that there is a choice for lodging beyond the standard hotel rooms.

As I was speaking at the recent Florida Vacation Rental Management Association in Orlando this month, I had several companies ask me to take a look at their web sites and consult with them about their program and how to improve it.  My SEO department was stunned when they found company names, other than the rental management company's name, in the meta tags. As we researched this some more we realized that this company had actually done this across the board.  One of the vacation rental management companies said to me, when I told them what I had found, "well if that's not illegal it is at the very least unethical" and yes, it is.

My point is that if you hire a company to perform search marketing for you, check the work after it has been done. Make sure that no company that you are paying is taking you for a ride by hijacking your web traffic. The reality is that there is enough business out there for every professional search and Internet marketing company. If you have to play that way to get your own web site to rank in the search engines you should not be in the business.

If you have discovered this or other unethical practices I would like to hear about it, but I hope it has not happened to you.

till next time...

Leah Woolford