“The only game in town”, we humbly say

We have searched in vain to see if we are navel-gazing and to our delight and surprise found that we are running the only open web marketing event in Canada until 2008. Plexus 2007 is a conference and exhibit format using the Demo model which has taken silicon valley by storm. Anyway if you can correct us we will accept our challengers humbly.

Plexus foresees well over 2,000 attendees

The interest in on-line marketing is approaching its crest i.e. it is as high as it can get. Especially here in Canada. The solutions, platforms and services now available to reach customers are unprecedented  in lowering acquisition and maintenance costs. And becoming more relevant and resonant to each customer.

We are negotiating so many outstanding exhibitors for our Demoplex (who will also present on stage) in all facets of on-line marketing that I am confident no visitor will leave Plexus 2007 without feeling on top of the game. Here are just a few of the category players which we will reveal soon:

1. web analytics,
2. search engines,
3. ad networks,
4. email platforms,
5. marketing survey platforms,
6. sales generation platforms,
7. tons of digital media options,
8. mobile advertising,
9. mobile in all of the above,
10. rich media solutions, platforms, services,
11. social media
12. marketing project management
13. CRM

We will be starting a massive attendance campaign soon which will last 3.5 months using all methods available. That should not be too difficult with the investment we are making in top-rated keynote speakers and authors.

Yes, we are trying to set a record for attendance in Canada for an on-line marketing event. After all, AdTech which is well established in USA pulls in a reported 3,000+ in Chicago and 12,000 in New York. Our numbers are bang on; but, we are aiming higher. 

Search engines results should be dated

I don’t know about you but when I use any of the myriad of search engines, I like results that are not from 1997 to 2005. We’ve all learned, and the consensus is, that knowledge doubles every three years. There is value in archives but for the most part we all want current information whether we are searching for answers, inspiration or products. Hopefully someone is working on capturing authoring dates on content and making it visible in abbreviated results. Content relevance is good but not so if it is old.

A few days ago I ran searches for “trends in on-line advertising” and the results were targeted BUT they were over three years old. That’s not a trend.

When I feign to spend time clicking on results, I look at the copyright at the bottom of a site to see if they have updated the year–if not, I am suspicious especially when there are no dates on the site. I can’t count the many posts in the blogosphere that do not date their material, many under the guise of being current.

My point: there is a lot of dated, superceded, “dead” information on the web that may lead folks down the road no longer travelled. I’ll guess it is at least 30%–maybe much more. As one pundit said, “search engines are in their infancy”.

What I love about Amazon.com search tools is that you can change the search according to date of publication, not just subject relevance. That’s why New Releases is a whole other kettle of fish in the book and video biz–everyone wants to be au courant.

When doing searches the internet is looking old.

I’m just sayin’…

First results: what our marketing customers want

We conducted an on-line survey of our customers and viewers, marketing execs and agencies, in reference to web marketing and the results were somewhat in line with other larger scale surveys with a few surprises. The question was, “how do you feel about the following subjects scoring 1 as not important and up to 5 as most important”. In order of importance here are the topics ranked from highest to lowest:

Ranked 1st: web analytics

Ranked 2nd:

• Social media marketing

• Search engine marketing

• Advertising on the web

Ranked 3rd: Improving web site content

Ranked 4th:  eMail marketing

Ranked 5th: Rich media in on-line advertising

Ranked 6th: mobile marketing

The disparity between analytics and mobile marketing surprised us but this is still directional data. We are continuing the surveys and will adjust the results as we advance. Bear in mind these are Canadian executives and their vision and needs likely differ from their US counterparts.

As results come, they confirm that our growing line-up of keynote speakers at Plexus 2007: the Web Marketing Conference & Demo is bang-on.

Two high profile keynotes for Plexus 2007

Now that Plexus 2007 is refocused on internet marketing–email, search, networks, streaming media and much more–it seemed fitting to invite Kevin Lee, Chairman of Did-it.com and John Stichweh, Global Digital Marketing Director for Coca-Cola. They are leaders in search and email email marketing and will give our audiences on November 27 and 28 the knowledge they need now to leverage the internet’s deep reach of consumers. Watch for the growing list of top Keynotes and Presenting Demoers at Plexus 2007.

MARIE’S PICKS: Semantic Search Engine Hakia

I truly enjoy using Hakia for my queries — not key words–I get more focused (hence less) answers. I use it first before Google. “Search for meaning” indeed. Here is the value described by Hakia verbatim:

hakia is building the Web’s new “meaning-based” search engine with the sole purpose of improving search relevancy and interactivity, pushing the current boundaries of Web search. The benefits to the end user are search efficiency, richness of information, and time savings. The basic promise is to bring search results by meaning match – similar to the human brain’s cognitive skills – rather than by the mere occurrence (or popularity) of search terms. hakia’s new technology is a radical departure from the conventional indexing approach, because indexing has severe limitations to handle full-scale semantic search.hakia’s capabilities will appeal to all Web searchers – especially those engaged in research on knowledge intensive subjects, such as medicine, law, finance, science, and literature.

Dr. Riza Berkan, CEO, states that searches take an average of 11 minutes and 50% are abandoned. He also claims that web search is in its infancy.

The search biz has ballooned with vertical applications including search engines for videos (Purevideo) and blogs (Blogdigger). There are hundreds now. There are Clustering Search Engines (Kartoo), Meta Search Engines, Talking Search Engines (AbbyMe – truly an avatar like person talks to you – great fun!), Filtered Search Engines… There is a lot out there to challenge the supremacy of Google which frankly is the time-gobbler among them all. It is truly this factor that has spawned so many.

Soon we will need a search engine of search engines.