Call for Entries -- 2011 Internet Marketing Awards
Hosted by the Internet Marketing Association (IMA)


The Internet Marketing Association has announced the call for entries for its 2011 Internet Marketing Awards, open to businesses and other organizations as nominated by members of the IMA. The Internet Marketing Awards will recognize the best use of Internet marketing in a wide range of categories. Entries must be received by midnight EDT on Aug. 22, 2011. The complete entry kit is available at www.imanetwork.org.

"The Internet Marketing Awards, now in its second year, brings together top professionals from a broad array of fields and types of organizations to honor those who have achieved a high level of success in the constantly and rapidly evolving online world," said IMA Chairman Sinan Kanatsiz. "This will be a world-class event with the most qualified speakers in a spectacular setting, the one-of-a-kind Aria Sky Villa overlooking the beautiful Las Vegas strip."

Winners will be announced and receive trophies at the Internet Marketing Association Awards Gala hosted on Sept. 22, 2010, at the new Aria Hotel at CityCenter in Las Vegas.

Fee for award nominations is $95 and includes admission to the Awards Gala. Event sponsors include CityCenter Las Vegas, University of California, Irvine and Knowledge Marketing.

Transmedia Storytelling for Marketing and Branding
By Bonnie Buckner and Dr. Pamela Rutledge, University of California Irvine Extension


There are three reasons why you should be using transmedia storytelling for branding and marketing:
  1. Persuasion: Transmedia stories are the most fundamental and immersive form of communication, engaging our brains at the intuitive, sensory and executive levels
  2. Audience Connection: Transmedia strategies create many points of entry that reach and link multiple demographics and target different user needs to effectively expand the customer base
  3. Financial Impact: Transmedia storytelling redefines ROI, extends brand self-life, and creates value-added IP assets and ancillary revenue streams.
Marketing 10 years ago was competing for your audience's attention. Today you're fighting for your audience's whole brain because you've got to deliver your message amidst the din of digital noise. This sophisticated transmedia landscape is full of social networks and 24/7 interactive information. You're not on Madison Avenue anymore. You're on the new Main Street.

Today's Main Street Mayor is Transmedia Storytelling. Transmedia storytelling is telling a story across multiple media outlets. It's not one story repurposed for multiple media. Each platform furthers the story with a unique contribution, yet is a satisfying experience on its own. Together, the stories across the media platforms create a deep, rich narrative experience. It's one part psychology, one part new media technology, and two parts story.

Continue reading this article »
Inbound Marketing Channels More Cost-Effective
eMarketer -- Blogs and Social Media Generate Cheapest Leads


Measuring the overall ROI of many online marketing efforts, especially social media campaigns, is still a challenge. But research continues to show that social channels and other forms of inbound marketing deliver leads for less.

Inbound marketing refers to efforts that provide web users with information or tools of value to them, as opposed to outbound or interruptive marketing that pushes messages in front of them. According to research from inbound marketing solutions provider HubSpot, businesses dominated by inbound marketing have a 62% lower cost per lead than firms that do mostly outbound marketing. This result was similar to HubSpot's findings from 2010.

Overall, respondents will spend 41% of their 2011 lead generation budgets on inbound channels and another 24% on outbound marketing, with the rest unclassified. Within the inbound portion, SEO dominated as the tactic with the greatest budget. Social media budgets increased between 2010 and 2011 to overtake paid search and the No. 2 inbound channel.

HubSpot also found that inbound channels were effective at turning leads into customers. Nearly three in five respondents had acquired a customer through a company blog or LinkedIn, while almost half had acquired one through Facebook and 42% through Twitter. Facebook proved the most effective inbound channel for customer acquisition for business-to-consumer firms, while LinkedIn performed best for B2Bs.
Key Contacts

Tyler Holliday
Executive Director
949-350-3084 tel.
tyler@imanetwork.org
Vince Walden
Board Member
940-230-4648 tel.
vince@imanetwork.org
Visit Us Online
www.imanetwork.org
Follow Us

Copyright © 2011 Internet Marketing Association (IMA™). All Rights Reserved. United States Patent and Trademark Office, Registration Number 3,682,956. Visit Us Online