As an online marketing strategist I am always conscious of, yet fascinated with, the effect specific tactics have on one another. Some call it the ripple effect; I prefer to call it integrated marketing.

In theory I think it would be safe to assume that search traffic would ultimately increase as social media traffic increases. Using the www.SpyderTrap.com site for my mini-study, I consulted our Google Analytics account. Overwhelmingly, website traffic from search was almost always half of our overall traffic, compared to traffic from social media. In other words, as social media traffic increased, search traffic increased proportionately as well. Roughly 40 percent of search traffic was caused by Spyder Trap-related (Brand Name) searches, 56 percent of which were new visits.

Although this finding is neither shocking nor overwhelming, what is interesting is considering the factors that influenced this spike in traffic. What it does is partially answer some questions surrounding: “what role does social media have in online marketing integration?” In my opinion (speaking specifically to search marketing and social media marketing) it plays a major role for the following reasons:

1. Brand Awareness – Social media can be a great source of brand awareness, and social media marketing can drive direct leads. With increased brand awareness comes increased searches, clicks and eventually conversions.

2. Brand Recognition – In a world of competitive rankings, brand recognition is key! People are in general more likely to click on an organic and paid placement when they are aware of the brand and/or URL.

3. Marketing Reach – If done correctly and evident in the results above, social media marketing is a great tactic for attracting new interest in your brand, product, etc. Along with increased reach comes increased search volume, meaning more traffic and more conversions.

4. Loyalty and Quality – I have experienced first hand with clients and our own Spyder Trap site that website traffic associated with social media tends to have a dramatically reduced bounce rate, a drastically higher pages per visit ratio along with an increase in time spent on site. No kidding!

My point is that, much like traditional media, we need to look at online marketing with a holistic approach rather than tactical in order to optimize for every penny spent. We need to understand how social media fits into our marketing mix, not how our marketing mix can fit in social media.

The next question is what does social media integration look like and how should it be deployed? I have a few thoughts of my own, but I’d love to hear from you too. Any thoughts, ideas or examples? Stay tuned. More to come…

Note – Per a request via Twitter from Nathan Eide @nathaneide regarding the Minnesota Wild’s new 3rd jerseys. I think they are very “Minnesotan” and old school which is very cool, but they do remind me a bit of most college and All Star game jerseys. Overall I don’t mind them. Just my take? Any additional thoughts and or feedback on that topic?  

Google Analytics iPhone App

Web geeks on the go can now keep tabs on their websites through a new Google Analytics iPhone app now available at the Apple App Store. The $5.99 app developed by http://analyticsapp.com provides 29 standard reports including overview reports, visitor reports, traffic reports, content reports, event tracking reports and custom reports. I have not used the app personally (I’m a BlackBerry user), but they appear to be getting some rave revews. Some notable ones are as follow.

“Now that Google Analytics is available for the iPhone, that addiction is only going to get worse.”
“Woohoo! Now I’ll finally be able to obsessively check my traffic stats from the palm of my hand.”
“Absolutely sublime! This is a ‘must-have’ for anyone running websites with GA. I can’t believe how well it works!”

If you have used this app before or one like it please comment and let us know what you think. Love it? Hate it? I am trying to convince myself to make the switch, and applications such as the Google Analytics app is making the switch that much more tempting.

Since we are on the iPhone topic, Apple announced today the App Store has reached over 1 billion downloads in nine months. Not surprising but quite a feat to say the least. Congratuations Apple!

Mike Rynchek
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Today Spyder Trap Online Marketing showed its analytics side today by participating in the Evantage Consulting and Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) Web Analytics Panel. The purpose of this panel was to gauge and discuss the level of investment, usage and sophistication of web analytics across multiple industries and disciplines. The outcome is a comprehensive survey and white paper that focused on key issues surrounding the web analytics industry and how it influences not only marketing decisions but general business decisions respectively. In 2006 Evantage Consulting worked with the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) to form a web analytics usage survey in the Twin Cities marketplace. The survey was also paired with a white paper that was very well received on a national level and even made it to some of the web analytics most respected blogs and news sources.

We can all gain key insights from determining the movement of the analytics industry over time Additionally this year, we would like to expand the survey somewhat to understand the role that web analytics plays in marketing decision making, and address some of the key issues facing the industry. Our hope is that this survey will be one piece in helping to foster more of a sense of community and develop best practices amongst Twin Cities analytics practitioners. Andrew Janis – Senior Marketing Consultant at Evantage Consulting.

Spyder Trap Online Marketing would like to thank Robin Carpenter, Kate McRoberts and Andrew Janis for allowing us to be a part of this web analytics panel. We all eagerly await the results of this survey and the impact it will have in the online and offline marketing world.

Other Attendees Included:

- Mike Rynchek – Spyder Trap Online Marketing
- Josh Dahmes – Risdall Marketing Group
- Jason Douglas – Risdall Marketing Group
- Tim Carpenter – Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
- Lisa Carlston – Marvin Windows and Doors
- Debbie Zuckerman – Think Link Solutions
- Bridgette Schwartzbauer – Independent Consultant

Josh Dahmes of Risdall Marketing Group taking a moment off of the analytics discussion to enjoy the sweet life as an online marketer.