Since their alliance in 2009, this is the first time Nielsen and Facebook have offered a product of this kind outside of the US. More than 70 studies have been conducted across various sectors in the US.

Any digital agency stands to benefit, as Stephen Haines, UK commercial director at Facebook reportedly said, “Helping marketers measure the effectiveness of advertising using Facebook has been a priority for us and working with Nielsen helps us continue doing just that. Marketers have responded positively to BrandLift studies in the US and we know marketers in the UK will also benefit from a better understanding of how people react to their online PR campaigns.”

Louise Ainsworth, EMEA Managing Director for the Nielsen Company Online added, “The power and scale of Facebook’s community provides a unique platform for research and this offering complements the portfolio of tools available to marketers in the UK with simple and fast insights on brand advertising.”

The results of earlier studies highlighted the importance of gathering this data from consumers. 97% of the studies showed that at least one brand lift metric, such as brand awareness, had increased after an online PR campaign, and 85% of the studies showed increases in at least two key metrics.

The information will help brands make best use of online PR, ensuring that any digital agency working with them is focusing on the right areas of their campaign from search through to display advertising and social media helping ensure the right messages are being pushed to the right audience at the right time.

Understanding brand perception could also help to influence decisions about traffic and strategy such as budget allocation to activities such as SEO and link building making sure that all channels are being effectively maximized for optimum ROI.

As a simple example, if a digital agency has attempted to promote a product’s slogan via social media, but a BrandLift poll shows that consumers could not remember what it was, the agency could then analyse why this was the case and adjust future campaigns accordingly.

And with the sheer volume of users on Facebook, this could prove to be the most valuable source of online market research yet.

BrandLift could represent an excellent development in measuring the effects of social media and digital advertising strategies for lead consumer internet brands. Gary Collins, CEO at Status Media, a UK based digital agency commented that, “It seems that social media marketing is still for the early adopters with many companies still focussing much of their budgets on traditional SEO, link building and PPC. As an agency we’re proposing social strategies as part of an integrated approach, it’s all about customer engagement and consumer interaction really”.

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With all this extra time on their hands, singletons have apparently been turning their attention to the quest to find love, and there has been a reported surge in the number of people exploring online dating sites.

Two online dating sites which invest significantly in online PR and digital advertising, Mysinglefriend.com and Singles365.com, both reported huge traffic increases during the week ending 8th January. Mysinglefriend.com saw a massive 55% increase in visitors on Tuesday 5th, with Singles365.com seeing an increase of 27% over Tuesday and Wednesday.

Katie Mowe, spokeswoman for Singles365.com, said, “January is our busiest month anyway, as many single people make it their New Years Resolution to find a partner. However, the increase in traffic over the past two days has been very unusual, as typically they are quiet days for us – we are usually busiest at weekends. We can only put this down to the bad weather meaning more people are staying at home.”

Similarly, Sarah Beeny, founder of Mysinglefriend.com, said the snow was “proving to be an icebreaker for singles out there. January has always been our busiest month, but this surge in traffic is unprecedented.”

Elsewhere in the online dating world, IllicitEncounters.com, which provides a platform for married couples to conduct affairs, said it gained a record number of new users during the week – 37% more than usual – with the majority of new members coming from areas such as Hampshire, Berkshire and the West Country, which were among the worst hit by the extreme weather.

Spokeswoman Sara Hartley said, “In light of these figures, I’d be interested to see how much work those working from home have actually done!”

These findings can help other online dating agencies to fine-tune their online PR campaigns to take full advantage of this unusual scenario. Any dating company employing a digital agency must ensure they are doing everything to optimize their website’s visibility during this period, and using tools such as strategic link building to ensure their sites achieve the highest possible search engine rankings. And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the timing could not be more critical.

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Malaga holds the number one spot, with Tenerife and Alicante occupying second and third place. In total, eleven Spanish destinations make the top fifty, with five of them being in the top ten.

Top ten most searched destinations:

1. Malaga, (Spain)
2. Tenerife (Spain)
3. Alicante (Spain)
4. Orlando (USA)
5. Dalaman (Turkey)
6. Faro (Portugal)
7. New York (USA)
8. Palma (Spain)
9. Lanzarote (Spain)
10. Geneva (Switzerland)

Two major US destinations have crept into this year’s top ten – Orlando has risen twelve places since last year and has now made it to fourth, and New York has climbed five places to seventh position. In fact, a number of long haul and medium haul destinations either climbed, or made their first appearances in the top fifty. Bangkok, Sharm El Sheikh, Auckland and Las Vegas all received significantly more searches, and Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong appeared in the top fifty for the first time.

Johannesburg and Cape Town were also new entrants, with an increase in interest due to the forthcoming World Cup in 2010. This increased interest in longer haul destinations is a good indication that holiday makers are willing to spend more money on the perfect break, despite the recent economic climate.

Several destinations dropped significantly in the top fifty – Fuerteventura, Edinburgh, Murcia, Salzburg and London all lost more than ten places this year.

The full top fifty can be viewed here

From a digital agency point of view, this means that travel firms need to be investing in SEO campaigns that raise their search engine rankings for keywords relating to the top destinations via strategic link building and other appropriate methods. Link building is a particularly strong SEO tool, which combined with an overall online PR campaign can give one travel firm the edge over a competitor.

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The goal of SEO is to gain the highest possible position for your company’s website in a search engine’s “natural” search results. That’s the results that appear in the main body of the screen on Google for example, rather than the “paid” listings that appear on the right hand side or top of the results. These are the results that 91% of consumers prefer to browse and select from, when looking to make a purchase (Tamar’s 2008 search attitudes report). This statistic alone should highlight just how vital SEO has become.

More than half of all internet users use search engines at least once a day, and when browsing search results, 92% of consumers select a result from within the first three pages.

SEO is therefore extremely effective for online lead generation, increasing online sales or simply increasing your website’s online presence and brand awareness.

There are a number of reasons why SEO is a highly effective part of an online marketing strategy, one of the main reasons being it’s return on investment. Companies do not have to pay search engines to appear in “natural” search results or when a link to their site is clicked, so any click-throughs could be classed as “free” traffic, and investment in an SEO strategy is regarded as being more cost effective than “pay per click” or banner advertising.

Due to the complexity of SEO, many companies choose to employ a digital agency specifically for this task, and one of the many essential aspects they will incorporate into the strategy is link building. Link building consists of the strategic placing of links to your company’s website on third party websites, forums, social media sites and directories, and within the content of press release articles. This increases your website’s overall relevance to Google and in turn boosts it’s position in the search rankings.

Without good SEO a company risks it’s website sinking into obscurity and a significant loss in internet traffic. It also risks it’s brand not being taken seriously and loss of reputation as a result.

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Throughout the journey, these “Happiness Ambassadors”, chosen by online voters from all over the World, will take photos, make videos, conduct interviews and send out updates via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and other social networking sites.

Along the way, the trio will visit events like the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the World Expo in Shanghai, giving real-time feedback as they go. Suggestions of places to visit or stay at each location, the places where they dine and shop, and the activities they get up to, will all come from replies and comments made by the public online.

In the build-up to the launch of the campaign, Coca Cola’s Group Director of Digital Communications, Adam Brown, in an interview posted at www.socialmedia.org, stated, “The first mantra we came to live by at Coke was to fish where the fish are. We realize the importance of putting content in the places where our fans already are. The second idea is keeping fans first. Online, our brands are really what our fans say they are. When we participate on Facebook and Twitter, we’re in many ways invited guests.”

He also stated, about Expedition 206, that, “It’s like a reality TV show, without the TV”

Perhaps unusually, the idea for Expedition 206 did not come from a digital agency or marketing department, but from Coca Cola’s senior vice president of Global Public Affairs And Communications, Clyde Tuggle, indicating how seriously big companies are taking social media and online PR.

The expedition itself will begin in January next year, starting from Madrid, Spain and will end in December at Coca Cola’s birthplace in Atlanta, USA.

Coca Cola’s Facebook fan page has almost 4 million fans proving it has already become more than just a soft drink brand. There are also discussions about it’s famous “holidays are coming” Christmas TV ad, which has had over a million views on Youtube.

Gary Collins, CEO of Status Media, a specialist digital agency, based in the UK commented, “It’s no surprise with the growth of social media that big brands such as Coca Cola are investing in global strategies to engage with their audience. We’ll be boosting our online PR and social media strategies for brands in 2010″.

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One of the products of WTM is the publication of the WTM Global Trends Report, which is produced together in association with international market intelligence firm, Euromonitor International. The report identifies seven key travel trends for 2010:

1) Funemployment (North America)

As unemployment rates continue to rise, many of North America’s jobless under 35’s are taking advantage of the situation by using their new-found free time, alongside money awarded through redundancy settlements, to take extended holidays to long haul destinations like the UK, Europe and Australia, and on world cruises. These longer stays are helping resorts generate more money in out-of-season periods.

2) Pop-up hotels (UK)

“Pop-up” hotels are pre-built units that are incorporated into a steel frame, which can be erected and demolished in half the time of traditional methods. Travelodge opened it’s first one in 2008, and plans to open another 20 by 2020. The aim is to provide affordable yet quality accommodation, on a temporary basis, when and wherever needed.

World Travel Market chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “Pop-up hotels are a great concept. In such uncertain financial times, managing the overheads of a fixed place hotel can be difficult. However, pop-up hotels only have to fill the bedrooms for a set period of time. The buzz created by a pop-up hotel leads to positive online PR and word-of-mouth marketing.”

This kind of word-of-mouth marketing could easily spread via social media networks and provide great online PR for hoteliers and travel firms.

3) Concierge travel (Europe)

Concierge travel, which is essentially holidays which are customized to the taste of the individual traveler, have generally always been targeted at the richest end of the market. In Europe, travel companies are planning to offer this level of service to a much wider audience, as more and more people are demanding more personalized services. This will enable companies to differentiate between each other based on the tailor-made options they offer, in turn offering more choice to the traveler.

4) Female-only accommodation (Middle East)

As Middle Eastern culture has evolved, more women have now become interested in travel, presenting a new opportunity to the industry. In some Muslim countries this is frowned upon by Arab society, and so the development of female-only accommodation, like the Luthan Hotel & Spa in Saudi Arabia, means women will be able to travel alone, without a male escort. This will also benefit Western women wishing to travel to the Middle East who may have been deterred in the past.

5) Obama effect/roots tourism (Africa)

Many African Americans are now interested in visiting Africa to explore their ancestral roots in what is described as “roots tourism”. President Obama’s recent visit to Ghana has contributed to this. According to America’s ITA, office of travel and tourism industries, US air traffic to Africa increased 34.1% in 2009. This is also reflected in Google search trends, seeing sharp increases in American searches for “Africa holidays” and “Africa vacations” from September onwards.

6) Golf tourism (Asia)

China now boasts fifth spot in the World for golf with over 300 golf courses to date and more in the pipeline. This passion for the sport has increased the demand for golfing holidays and led golf resorts to look for new ways to attract regional and international high-spenders. Chinese Google searches for “golf” have been steadily increasing throughout the year, according to Google trends.

7) The new luxury destination (Latin America)

A new buzz word “eco-luxe” has emerged for holidays which combine “natural” with “luxury” and with huge natural parks and a wide range of wildlife, Latin America offers a great opportunity for travel companies to cash-in. The region has seen large investment in luxury infrastructure and the smallest slump in wealth in 2008, offering huge potential to the market.

Awareness of these latest travel trends such as “eco-luxe” will help travel firms decide how and where to direct their online media budgets and find new sources of revenue in difficult times.

Most popular channels for online travel agents already include SEO, PPC, online lead generation, social media and display advertising with many ecommerce companies employing a specialist digital agency such as Status Media to manage their online marketing strategy.

Gary Collins, CEO at Status Media, a UK based digital advertising agency, added, “Natural search is proving to be one of the most cost effective media channels for online travel agents. Many travel companies are using our unique link building solution to drive high ranking Google search results which is resulting in major cost savings and increased bookings. I would also expect to see a rise in CPA driven marketing activity during 2010 and more travel companies investing in social media, online PR and improving on-site conversions whilst improving user experience with companies such as Thomas Cook, LetsGo2 and Travelsphere leading the way.”

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In a bold statement during his keynote address at the industry event he is reported to have referred to agencies handling brand’s media budgets and online PR,

“The people who run agencies tend to be of an older vintage – to put it politely. They tend to be resistant to change and want to spend the last three to four years of their careers traveling around the World rather than dealing with fundamental strategic issues on a daily basis”

He stated that brands in general invest only 13% of their overall marketing budgets in online activities such as online lead generation, link building, SEO, PPC and display advertising.

Whilst this may be true of many companies, some are more proactive in their approach to online PR and marketing and recognize that online advertising is delivering more sales pound for pound than other media channels.

The World’s biggest premium spirits brand Smirnoff, announced in October it was to increase its’ digital media budget to 20% of it’s overall advertising spend, as did fashion house Burberry. Fiat also announced it was to increase it’s online spend to 40% for the launch of it’s new Alpha Romeo MiTo model.

The European Interactive Advertising Association conducted a survey of European marketing executives, and found that 83% have already increased their online spend this year, with 93% by 2011. Much of this money is being diverted away from direct marketing budgets and TV advertising budgets. Alison Fennah, executive director of the EIAA, said, “Online advertising is continuing to thrive and grow due to its flexibility, accountability and ability to offer brands a robust return on investment while the recession has an impact on overall marketing budgets.”

Gary Collins, CEO at Status Media, a digital agency based in the UK, commented that, “we are definitely seeing a trend in rising SEO and link building spend with companies exceeding their targets for natural search, likewise the trend for online lead generation is also very positive. Perhaps the biggest growth next year will come through CPA driven advertising with companies measuring their return on investment more closely, Status Media is perfectly placed to offer this type of results driven marketing.”

Ad:tech continues it’s World tour in Beijing this week, from 17–18 November.

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Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision, the game’s developers, described it as “one of the largest entertainment launches of any media of all time”. On the first day alone, analysts predict that it could easily sell as many as 5 million copies, with an estimated total of 7 million in the first week, amounting to £300 million in revenue.

For the uninitiated, Call Of Duty is a wartime combat game where the player controls their character from the first-person perspective, carrying out missions in various locations, alongside other team members which can be controlled by the games console or PC, or by other human players.

There have been 11 releases to date, starting from the very first Call Of Duty game, released only for the PC, in January 2003, and subsequently evolving it’s gameplay and storyline over sequels released on Nintendo GameCube, Sony PSP, Playstations 2 and 3, Xbox, Nintendo DS and Wii and, perhaps the most significant, Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Internet search activity around the game’s release has been frenzied, Google Trends showing a three-fold rise in searches for “Call Of Duty Modern Warfare” in the week prior to launch, and a monthly global average of 823,000 keyword searches for the same search phrase, reported on Google’s Keyword Tool.

Activision’s online advertising campaign has been largely centred around it’s Youtube trailer which has received over 2 million views, and it has also run an official Facebook page with over 130,000 fans.

If you’re looking to purchase a copy of the game online, a cursory UK search on Google for “Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2” will point you in the direction of Play.com, ShopTo.net and SimplyGames.com via natural search, and Play.com, Game.co.uk and Argos.co.uk in paid search.

According to figures published on vgchartz.com, the top selling console games Worldwide in October 2009 were:

1 ) Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo Wii)
2 ) Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360)
3 ) Wii Sports (Nintendo Wii)
4 ) Tekken 6 (Playstation 3)
5 ) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Playstation 3)
6 ) Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo Wii)
7 ) Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (Playstation 3)
8 ) Borderlands (Xbox 360)
9 ) Grand Theft Auto – Episodes From Liberty City (Xbox 360)
10 ) Mario And Sonic At The Olympics (Nintendo Wii)

With competition for online retailers fierce at this time of year, search and social media plays an ever more important role in the online marketing mix. Gary Collins, CEO, at Status Media, a digital agency based in the UK, commented, “I’m a big fan of Call of Duty on the Xbox! Online retail is the fastest growing area of retail with brands investing heavily in channels such as PPC, SEO, banner ads, affiliates and customer engagement strategies. Status Media is uniquely positioned to drive online retail sales with innovative solutions. For example our link building solution helps sites to rank in Google for chosen keywords and through our online lead generation channels you can drive awareness of offers and vouchers for Christmas”.

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The site contains photos of members of the public sporting their Burberry trench coats in a variety of locations and situations. The photos can then be sorted by gender, trench coat colour, popularity or even by the weather depicted in the photo.

Burberry invites photographers and trench coat wearers to submit their pictures via a connection with Facebook, then picks the best ones to appear on the site. Facebook members can add their comments and share their trench coat experiences.

This is a great way for the company to promote itself whilst giving consumers a chance to interact with them directly. It comes after Burberry announced, back in May, they were planning to increase their digital advertising spend to 20% of their overall marketing budget, which is good news for Burberry’s digital agency.

Burberry isn’t the first company to try this social media approach to marketing either. Another British company, Mothercare, also runs it’s own social networking site, www.gurgle.com, which contains all kinds of comprehensive parenting advice, as well as opportunities for users to share and discuss experiences. Online fashion store ASOS is another example, with it’s community page allowing users to post status updates, comments and participate in discussions.

Car manufacturer Alpha Romeo recently launched a social media campaign on Twitter to help promote it’s new MiTo model. It placed 1300 stencils of the Mito car around major cities and invited users who spot them to take a photograph and Tweet it on their profile, with the intention of creating a buzz amongst a younger audience than it has perhaps previously targeted.

Creating groups on Facebook is another social networking tool being adopted by various brands and businesses. Marks And Spencer’s claim to have 80,000 followers, and other retailers like House Of Fraser, Debenhams, Homebase and Argos all have Facebook groups, though it’s hard to determine which are official and which have been set-up by members of the public or employees.

Clearly social media marketing is becoming increasingly important to businesses and will need to be employed alongside traditional PPC marketing, SEO and online lead generation strategies. It seems to be a way to encourage consumers to build a relationship with a brand or company and generate an interest and desire, rather than just bombarding them with overt sales pitches.

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With the introduction of Ad Sitelinks, advertisers will be able to add these “deep” links within pay per click search results.

The main advantage of having Ad Sitelinks is that advertisers can direct web users to specific parts of their site, directly from the Google search page. For example, if a supermarket had a special Christmas promotion on cocktail sausages, a Sitelink could be placed below the main website link, taking the user directly to the webpage where the special offer can be found, thus taking them closer to making a purchase. An Adwords ad can have up to four Sitelinks.

At this stage, it’s not available to everyone, only to advertisers whom Google says “meet a certain high quality threshold”. Companies can check if Ad Sitelinks is available to them by doing the following:

1) Log into your AdWords account
2) Click on the Campaign Settings tab and go to the “Show additional links to my site” section under “Ad extensions”
3) List the names and URL’s of up to 10 internal links (prioritizing the most important links first)
4) Click “Save” when you’ve finished adding links
5) If a user search triggers your ad to run with Ad Sitelinks, Google’s system may include up to four of your additional links on your ad, along with the main landing page.

Examples of companies already using the service include Play.com, Adidas and Direct Line Insurance.

The aim of adding Sitelinks is as Google says, “to increase choice and relevancy” of search ads, and this certainly adds an extra element to a company’s online, PPC advertising and lead generation strategy. From a user’s point-of-view they make it easier and quicker to identify the most relevant part of a website and reach it with the least amount of clicks.

You can find some more in-depth questions and answers about Sitelinks in general here

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