Digivate - More money for your blog

Online marketing is the most lucrative form of advertising, according to a joint study by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The industry achieved above-expectation growth of 41.3 per cent this year, taking its market share to 14.7 per cent.

Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the IAB, commented: “The online market is developing at an astounding rate and once again we see exceptional growth and a significant increase in market share. Ninety per cent of internet users are on broadband now and nearly 40 per cent are using wireless.”

He added: “Importantly, marketers have a much better understanding of how online works and how to measure the effects of brand advertising as well as direct response.”

Classified advertising now accounts for 20.8 per cent of all internet advertising spend, growing by a staggering 72 per cent over the past year to £277.7 million.

Meanwhile, internet display advertising - which includes banners, skyscrapers and rich media formats - was up 33 per cent to a share of 21.5 per cent.

Sportswear super-brand Nike is set to increase its spending on online marketing.

The sportswear company has just appointed AKQA as its global digital agency for its online projects in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the US and Canada, India’s Economic Times reports.

All of the projects are football-related.

Nike already works with AKQA on a number of web-development initiatives.

The company currently spends just £269,000 of its £9.2 million UK media budget on online advertising, according to Nielsen Media Research. However, that is expected to increase significantly with the new appointment.

Nike is keen to promote football to youngsters ahead of Euro 2008. Its ‘urban football’ scheme involves a number of UK-based, Nike-branded sports events.

It has already managed a similar project in the Asia-Pacific region, a special training programme for youngsters called ‘90 days of football’.

The world’s leading supplier of sportswear and equipment, Nike takes its name from the Greek goddess of victory.

More than three-quarters of UK businesses have increased their affiliate marketing spending since 2005, according to a new survey by E-consultancy.

And the same proportion said they expected spending to have increased by a similar amount in two year’s time.

It is not hard to determine why, with 95 per cent of respondents deeming affiliate marketing to be cost-effective.

The survey suggests that multi-channel retail is now the norm, with 78 per cent of those questioned working for organisations which sell both online and offline.

Kevin Cornils, chief executive officer of buy.at, said in a statement: “As broadcast advertising has started to decline, performance marketing has emerged as the silver bullet of the marketing industry.

“Within that search marketing has reached its peak, but affiliate marketing is still in a high-growth phase.”

The survey shows that the vast majority of organisations are generating at least £1 million in online sales every year, with 42 per cent earning at least £10 million.

Stumble It!

Ireland is today hosting a free online marketing seminar at which industry experts will share their experiences and knowledge.

Digiweb Network Operations Centre, College Business and Technology Park, Blanchardstown will host the event, the aim being to provide an interactive forum for delegates to gain practical and creative ideas.

There are three keynote speakers, the Irish Developer Network reports.

Alastair McDermott, a log-on internet marketing expert, will dispense advice including how to make the best use of Google AdWords and discussion forums.

Damien Mulley of the Sunday Tribune is to discuss what blogging can do for a business in terms of both SEO and increasing website traffic. He will also consider the potential of blogging and how to run a successful online PR campaign.

Finally, Barry Hand, an online marketing specialist from Digiweb, will look at a range of topics including the best practice in web analysis.