Overview
For over 20 years, Greenfield/Belser has pioneered thinking in the marketing of professional services. We were the first to pick apart the sales process of finding, then choosing professionals. We detailed why services get on a short list and why services are ultimately chosen. We have helped firms build marketing strategies and tactics around this research.
Ten years ago, we pioneered research about how buyers use the Internet to find services, research that was updated last year as Digital Marketing 2010. We love to make our work beautiful but we care more that its marketing structure is solidly based in research.
As the pace of communication has picked up, we recognized that an annual research paper was not enough. So we introduced the Big Idea which we publish six to ten times annually. Each Big Idea represents a deep dive into a single issue of importance to marketers. Finally, if we notice things that we believe you'll find useful, we blog about them right away.
So dig in. There's a university curriculum housed in these pages.
Recent Big Ideas
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The Big Snore
A Census of Video on Professional Services Websites
We assume the rapid saturation of video across the Internet is not news to our readers. But if you need to embolden your organization’s truculent leaders to jump on the video bandwagon, more information might be helpful. We don’t want to drown you in stats that may be interesting but less than helpful. To wallow in data, go to 101 Online Video Stats to Make Your Eyes Glaze Over. Here you will learn the trend is up, up, up. Just two examples:
- “82.5% of the U.S. Internet audience viewed a video online” (ComScore, February 2011).
- Viewers watched 75% more videos online in December 2010 than December 2008 (ComScore, February 2011).
It’s so tempting to drown you in facts, hoping we might convert unbelievers to the power of video versus words on the Internet – pay close attention: Not “over words,” but “over words on the Internet.” Remember the Internet is a medium in and of itself. Words are a medium within a medium. Video, this giant experiment in communication, has already taught us that communication speed outpaces other communication criteria. For example, beautiful writing in the New Yorker is a fine wine to be savored. We can follow its nose, its nooks and crannies over pages. The Internet is all, now. Maximum efficiency. Instantaneous.
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Web Trends: Monitor Trends, But Be Stylish
For the third year running, I'm one of the judges for the Web Marketing Association awards. As part of the preliminaries before judging begins, the judges shared their reflections on web trends this year. I thought you all would be interested since the judges' panel represents a cross-section of the best and brightest working in the field (naturally, I would say that!).
Sweet sixteen
Let me set the stage: The Internet may be 30 years or older but the functional Internet that you and I use is really only 16 years old. Imagine. Just a teenager. In fact, if you run with that analogy, you'll remember that in its first few years, we really couldn't tell what the Internet would look like as an adult. Just a baby with poor bandwidth—crawling at best—with no appetite for anything other than words. Over the past decade, that kid has grown up. The Internet is very athletic and very smart with an inexhaustible appetite for…everything. We've got a better sense of what it's going to look like as a full-fledged adult. But the kid still surprises us. Seven years ago there was no such thing as Facebook. That said, here's what the judges see.