Tag Archives: metrics

AdMob has released its May report on iPhone apps that are served through its own mobile advertising network, giving us a glimpse into the consumer behavior around applications designed for the popular mobile device. The result? Five percent of applications have more than 100,000 active users, which totals 322 actual applications.

That boils down to quite a longtail distribution of applications, and only a handful of these apps reach extreme popularity. Is anyone surprised? Isn’t that how the longtail works?

It’s a distribution model similar to most digital/virtual content that’s easily replicated and downloaded. And AdMob’s own data can be likened to Apple’s overall iTunes content distribution, as very few songs, for instance, achieve a high amount of downloads. The upside is that there is a great deal of content *readily* available to the consumers. The downside is that the content that gains the most attention is often backed by powerful advertising campaigns.

This all translates into a lot of search required on an individual consumer level. It’s one of my biggest issues with iTunes, as its search capabilities leave a lot to be desired. This just factors into all the other reasons why the longtail exists the way it does for iPhone apps in particular. Consumers have a lot to choose from. The barriers to entry for developers creating iPhone apps are far lower than creating other apps, websites or services. And Apple gets to select which apps it partners with, as well as which it promotes on the front page, commercials, ads.

When it’s all said and done, AdMob’s numbers merely remind us that accessing the longtail of iPhone apps is still something that we need to tackle in order to make it easier for consumers. Whether this occurs through improvements made to iTunes search, or we rely on third party social search engines, the iPhone app platform is pretty awesome but still has room for improvement.

What’s in store for PR’s future, and how does it relate to Digital Advertising?

At the AdRevenue08 Conference on Friday November 14, I was able to catch up with PR executives from Horn Group. The following is my interview with Ben Billingsley, Managing Director (New York), and Martha Feingold, Vice President and Media Director (San Francisco).

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Marissa Louie: At the first conference panel, I asked the leading ad network executives what they thought was in store over the next 5-10 years for the online advertising industry. The consensus was that there would be a trend towards media becoming more addressable and efficient. In that light, what do you think is the future of PR as it relates to digital advertising?

Martha Feingold: If you look at it from a micro perspective, the PR landscape changes every 6 to 12 months. Over the next 5-10 years, we’ll tackle how to blend into the conversation. We’ll tackle how to help companies communicate.

Ben Billingsley: As all media becomes social, we’re going to have to change from being information gatekeepers to becoming information brokers. As more media becomes digital, media becomes more quantifiable.

ML: How have you seen PR change recently?

BB: PR no longer stands for Public Relations. It now stands for Public Relationships. Still, the objective is the influence opinions and engage in conversations.

ML: How do you capitalize on the Web 3.0 (Semantic Web / Intelligent Web), and tie it into your PR efforts? As PR is so much about communication.

BB: This is a question we’ll tackle and stay on top of as the new technology is rolled out.

MF: Everything has evolved so much over the past 2 years that we’re really just keeping up with that.

ML: At the conference, I pointed out that data collection and management is essential for digital advertising strategies. How do you take advantage of data collection and management in PR?

MF: PR 2.0 is about managing customer relationships and data trends. PR is continuing to find ways to manage those two modalities. I agree that data collection and management is becoming increasingly important.

ML: Why are data collection and management important to you?

BB: It gives you a share of voice. In a digital world, the ability to think analytically is very important.

ML: Which tools do you use for data tracking?

BB: We use Omniture and Google Analytics as our basic tools to measure influence, plus a few other additional niche tools for data collection. We’re also using various different tools to manage.

ML: Which metrics do you use? What matters most?

MF: It’s much easier to figure out the reach of traditional media than the reach of social media. Essentially, the formula for calculating reach is:
Reach = (how many times you were mentioned) * (audience reach of the media, i.e. subscription base)

BB: It’s about thinking about your business strategy and mapping it back to your PR strategy. Develop communications to map between them.

ML: What do you think of the AdRevenue08 conference today? What objectives did it accomplish?

BB: It helped create thought leadership, incorporated the ad optimization category, and helped define the current online advertising ecosystem.

MF: I think there was a lot of concern in the economy with online advertising and what’s going to happen in the first half of next year. It clarified the difference between different players in the online ad industry. Overall, I think the industry is going to continue to head in a positive direction after a few bumps in the road.

ML: Thanks, guys!

NOTE: For more on the future of PR and communications, I also recommend reading PR 2.0 by Brian Solis of FutureWorks PR. Check out his innovative formula that calculates the allocation of resources (time, personnel, budget) to conversations in The Essential Guide to Social Media. He also defines action items for leading companies into future of integrated communications in The Social Media Manifesto.

Marissa Louie is the Founder and CEO of AD Village (http://ad-village.com) which helps bloggers monetize and advertisers optimize. Her previous entries include The Wheels of Viral Marketing, 10 Types of Ad Targeting, and 10+ Funniest Angel and VC Blog Posts. She also announces Entrepreneur 2 Entrepreneur office hours via Twitter.