eMarketer recently released an article discussing Dayparts. What is that? Well, this schnazzy jargon simply refers to online ads that can be delivered at specific times of the day. I guarantee this won't be the last we hear of them - they make sense and they should have been used a long time ago. But there is more worth noting in this article than Dayparts.

"In all three mid-day and early evening time slots from 8 am through 6 pm US consumers use the Internet more than radio, TV or newspapers."

"Research shows the Internet as a greater influencer than traditional media such as radio and magazines."

"The top Web site category during the daytime daypart may not be news and information as some industry observers seem to believe. Instead, search engines and portals lead the pack, at 12.4% of US Internet users."

Read the entire article at eMarketer

We are constantly trying to encourage our clients to look beyond "having a website". It is no longer enough. The site must be an extension of their sales force 24x7. It must draw targeted traffic from search engines and persuade those visitors to take action! Making my case is difficult given the bad pictures that have been painted about "the web" and ".com's". Yes, that bubble burst a long time ago - get over it. Nowadays a company's website - if properly planned, developed, maintained, and marketed - can deliver sales and put cold hard cash in their pockets. Luckily, the folks at Marketing Sherpa recently attended the eTail 2003 conference and have some great commentary that supports my case.

Search Marketing is the biggest new sales driver

The new term on everyone's lips is "search marketing." It's a combo of:

1. Search engine marketing -- paying for listings via Overture, Search123, Google AdWords, and other services that feed search engines.

2. Search engine optimization -- making sure your site pages are copywritten and structured in such a way that search engine robots rank your site high in the no-cost listings.

(Best quote: "PPC search doesn't mean you should exclude search optimization," Eric Sternbach, VP Ad Sales Overture.)

3. Paid shopping portal listings -- such as mySimon, SmartBargains, Dealtime and other middleman sites online shoppers surf.

4. Improving your site's internal search function results.

All of these tactics take advantage of the uniqueness of the Web -- you can put yourself in the path of a shopper at the exact
moment they are looking to buy precisely what you're selling.

Read the entire article at Marketing Sherpa