digitalCMO.com

Will Ad Verification Tools Go Away?

To be clear, this is a real question, rather than a rhetorical "would those ad verification tools just @#$& go away!" These tools (such as AdXpose and DoubleVerify)  perform what seems to be a necessary service: to alert advertisers when their display ads appear in a way that breaches the explicit or implict contract with the publisher or network: below the fold; to the incorrect user segment; in the wrong geographic area, within questionable content. Like the "click fraud" exposés (a...

Digital Sausage (for Managers)

Good digital marketers know to value  output over the input. As a matter of fact, the input “hits” is a term that got the industry so much trouble that we don’t even call it that any more when we talk about impressions. Impressions, clicks, conversion rate, average sales amount, lifetime value of a customer are all inputs that go into the most important output: profitable revenue (ROI).  [Note, this can be over time (LTV) or transactional]. This accountability for output vs. input is not news...

Like Data for Chocolate

In my career, and often at home, I use data to answer key questions:  At work: "how much should we charge...how should we allocate resources...what is the right incentive compensation plan...how do we measure the financial impact?" are some examples. At home: "should I buy or lease...should I clean my own gutters...should we get a season ski pass"? These questions are pretty straight forward, and I know that for many of you, upon reading these questions, you immediately see the Excel formu...

82% Search Clicks and 51% of Spend Navigational

Recently a few folks have asked me about navigational search (when consumers use a search engine with a clear idea of their destination.) I thought I would pull out a paper that I co-wrote (as second author) with Nico Brooks  in 2008. It was published by the academic International Journal of Electronic Business as paid content, and therefore did not receive wide distribution. Thanks to Nico, I think it was a pretty good paper. I was managing search media operations at Microsoft at the time, a...

Brent Turner on Management: Digital Leader Project (part 2)

This is the second installment of the digitalCMO Digital Leader Project. The objective: to hear perspectives on leadership and management directly from some of the most senior digital marketers. (The first installment is here, where we heard from the CMO of The Vitamin Shoppe Lou Weiss.) In this installment we hear from Brent Turner. Brent is EVP of Call Products at Marchex. Before that, Brent held executive roles in digital advertising product management at Microsoft Advertising and aQuantiv...

Manager Focus: Career Discussions

Microsoft requires all people managers to conduct Midyear Career Discussions (MYCDs) with each direct report. These include a discussion between both parties on the following:  Assessments on trend toward completion of annual objectives; Assessment of the level of employee’s competencies in the role; Choices, decisions, and considerations around the employee's next career move Like many internal things at Microsoft, this process is supported through several workflow tools, templates, ...

Digital Leader Project (Part 1): Lou Weiss, CMO, The Vitamin Shoppe

This is the first installment of the digitalCMO Digital Leader Project.  The objective: to hear perspectives on leadership and management directly from some of the most senior digital marketers. For the first installment the digitalCMO Digital Leader Project, I welcome Lou Weiss, CMO of  The Vitamin Shoppe.  The Vitamin Shoppe is a specialty retailer and direct marketer of vitamins, minerals, herbs, supplements, sports nutrition and other health and wellness products with over 400 locations i...

“Don’t Micromanage, but have Microinterest”

I enjoyed reading Tachi Yamada's perspectives on management today in the Sunday NYT Corner Office section. Mr. Yamada is president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program. While not explicitly applicable to digital marketing management, two of his comments address relevant facets of our industry: dealing effectively with details; and leading change. 1. "I dont' micromanage, but I have microinterest."  What a great distinction. I try not to micromanage as well, but s...

How to be a Great Digital Marketing Manager

One of my challenges over the past 5 years has been helping stellar individual contributors (IC's = people with no direct reports) become excellent people and business managers upon promotion. I found that exceptional ICs were often challenged with the transfer of their considerable skills to their new role as manager.  As a result,  I created- and continue to iterate -  the following Expectations of a Manager, which I share and periodically revisit with the front line managers in my business. I...

Atlas Selected as Preferred Ad Server by IPG North America

I have been working with the great folks at IPG North America over past three months on the agreement referenced in the Forbes article below. I am super excited about the new Atlas ad serving relationship with IPG. http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/08/microsoft-interpublic-partnership-google-rivalry-for-madison-avenue-cmo-network-microsoft-advertising.html?boxes=Homepagechannels  Here are my top 5 key learnings from the creation of this relationship: 1. Do not understimate the power of "ref...