Online advertising is serious business

With the recent announcement that Chris O’Neill will head up Google’s operations in Canada, the online advertising scene might be about to change. Chris is Canadian, with roots in a family operated Canadian Tire store, and the feeling is that he will be able to convert Canadian digital business strategy and consumers click patterns.

While we surf with the best of them, there is still a reluctance to make online purchases in Canada. If you are operating a website and you are not using an online ad strategy, perhaps you feel that this is justifiable because Canadian consumers are slower to convert their shopping behavior. You could be missing out on a ground floor level of opportunity, as business and consumer internet behavior patterns start to shift.

Online advertising campaigns can deliver viewers to websites in many different ways. Not everyone is selling a product over the internet. Many businesses are using social media and e-marketing strategies just to build connections. Cost effective ad campaigns can quickly boost your websites visibility when it is brand new or when you have an important new message to deliver. The key is understanding and analyzing website performance and knowing where your visitors originate. Gathering the data and understanding the context of the results will allow you to refine your web presence.

Wanted “Online Marketing Associate”

The following text appeared in a major Canadian newspaper under the above heading.

The person they are looking for should be ” dynamic, results orientated and data driven.The ideal candidate should be enthusiastic about learning, energized by the prospect of heading up this initiative and capable of working marketing talents”. Also, the position would appeal to one who is a self starter, entrepreneurial in nature and someone who thrives in an action paced environment that emphasizes creativity, initiative and team work.

Who wouldn’t want an employee with those skills on their team!

Perhaps you already have someone with that skill set and would like to put their talents to greater use?

Context Canada has all of the above mentioned skills and is actively looking for companies that would like to partner with us to kick start their e-marketing or social networking campaigns. Our expertise also includes the training that will provide your marketing “guru” with the  skills to implement an online presence at a very low cost to start and will remain cost effective for the future.

Free WordPress App for Blackberry

This is breaking news from WordPress regarding WordPress for Blackberry. The news release is available at http://blackberry.wordpress.org/2010/08/03/release-1-4/ and I have downloaded the free app and I am in the process of checking it today. Here is a link to the installation video http://wordpress.tv/2009/07/08/introducing-wordpress-for-blackberry-beta/. Overall the install and setup were very smooth and I can’t wait to go mobile with this!

Canadian Internet Usage-Consumers

Are you still trying to decide if you need to have a web presence?

Read the following statistics from Statistics Canada.

Among Canadians living in communities with a population of 10,000 or more, 83% used the Internet. In 2009, 80% of Canadians aged 16 and older, or 21.7 million people, used the Internet for personal reasons, up from 73% in 2007 when the survey was last conducted.

Based on household income, the vast majority (94%) of people from households with incomes of $85,000 or more, used the Internet, compared with 56% among households with incomes of $30,000 or less.

Searching for health information online was reported by 70% of home users, up from 59% in 2007.

Online transactions were more prominent in 2009, with 50% of home users reporting ordering goods or services over the Internet and 67% going online for electronic banking or bill payment.

In 2009, 31% of home users reported downloading or watching TV or movies, while 27% reported contributing content by writing blogs, posting photographs or joining discussion groups