Three ad formats will get at least 80% of online dollars through 2015

As US online ad spending closes in this year on $40 billion, the bulk of that spending will go toward just a few formats: search, banners and video advertising.

These three formats will make up upwards of 80% of all spending through 2016, eMarketer predicts.

Search is and will remain by far the leading format, although its share of total online ad spending will slip slightly from 2012 to 2016 as online video ad spending nearly doubles its share from 7.9% in 2012 to 15% in 2016.

Video continues to be the fastest-growing online ad format, with spending increasing by nearly 55% this year, following growth of 42.1% in 2011.

Strong double-digit growth will continue throughout eMarketer’s forecast period.

Growth for several other formats remains strong as well, especially with the prospect of a major national election and summer Olympic Games in 2012 to boost rates.

The continued dominance of search as the leading digital advertising format comes as little surprise, with its near-universal adoption rates among consumers and popularity on both the desktop and mobile web.

Meanwhile, the continued strength of banner ads across desktop and mobile devices, coupled with a surge in video ad spending on both platforms, constitute the two most important and related story-lines in display advertising.

Pages and profiles on social network given undue prominence, claim detractors

By Juan Carlos Perez | Article Courtesy of:  TECHWORLD

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30495/25-Eye-Popping-Internet-Marketing-Statistics-for-2012.aspx#ixzz1iapGFxzw

10 Social Media 2011 Highlights (Data Included)

Article  Courtesy of:  Heidi Cohen

2011 was a pivotal year for social media marketing (For those of you who are interested, here’s 2010′s social media marketing highlights. Driven in part by consumers who spend roughly one quarter of their time online with social media and blogging sites according to Nielsen, marketers tested and expanded their use of social media and integrated it into their overall marketing plans to achieve their business objectives.

Given the increased use of social media marketing, it’s notable that no marketing campaign had the reach or attention last year’s Old Spice videos or Pepsi’s Refresh did (Note: This campaign is still going!).

Here are 2011′s top 10 social media marketing highlights.

1. Facebook remains the global 900-pound gorilla of social media networks. Facebook reached 55 percent of the world’s global audience accounting for roughly 75 percent of time spent on social networking sites and one in every seven minutes spent online globally according to comScore’s October 2011 data. It’s important to note Facebook is blocked in China.

Source: “It’s a Social World,” comScore, Dec. 21, 2011

For many marketers, these sheer numbers make Facebook usage a must-have in their marketing mix. Before you jump in, make sure you understand what Facebook can and can’t do for your offering.

2. YouTube is still number two. YouTube doesn’t need to try harder. It’s the second largest social media site and the second largest search engine. Since online video consumption and engagement continues to increase, YouTube should be on every marketer’s to do list for 2012. To help marketers, YouTube introduced new analytics late in 2011.

3. LinkedIn starts to get respect. Aided by its high-flying IPO, LinkedIn made inroads on gaining attention of marketers, particularly those in the B2B space. Not sure how to use LinkedIn’s treasure trove of content marketing, think beyond job search paradise. In particular, spend time in groups and answering questions.

4. Twitter is where we turn for news as it happens. What’s interesting is the news shared on Twitter where content was personal, sports, and entertainment compared with the information shared across social media platforms was breaking news sprinkled with a bit of gossip. Throughout 2011, Twitter continued to grow while its advertising platform progressed.

Source: “It’s a Social World,” comScore

Source: “Sharing Trends in 2011,” AddThis

5. Google half-heartedly enters the social media fray. Google introduced its latest social media platform, Google+ and it broke records in terms of gaining 25 million visitors.

Source: “It’s a Social World,” comScore

It lacked real buy-in from Google’s senior management team. It took them months to get involved and then without embracing social media’s principles. Further, despite being late to the game, they didn’t learn from Facebook’s mistakes. As a result, Google+’s initial momentum has lost most of its steam. That said, omit Google+ from your 2012 marketing plans at your own peril since Google will eventually get the product on track. As a point of reference, look at Gmail’s history.

6. Blogs remain underused by marketers. Despite the ability of a well-executed company blog to feed social media, support sales, and aid search optimization, many senior executives still consider them a cost of doing business. May be it’s that they’re just not sexy. For my marketing dollar, they’re worth the investment if done well. (Here are some blogging examples to show you how.)

7. Social media is not just for kids anymore! What a difference a year makes. Across age groups social media usage is similar. There’s more difference between men and women. This is attributable to the fact women tend to be more social via communications platforms.

Source: “It’s a Social World,” comScore

In terms of time spent, there’s a bigger discrepancy between teenage social media users and older segments. This difference is attributable to the fact teens communicate via social media instead of IM, text, and phone.

Source: “It’s a Social World,” comScore

8. We’re connected. Mobile, specifically smartphone and tablet usage, support social media engagement. Across mobile operating systems and age groups, Facebook is the number two site or app accessed. Across age groups, YouTube’s app is accessed by over 50 percent of users and Pandora’s app is accessed by over 20 percent of users.

Source: “Mobile Media Report,” Q3 2011, Nielsen

9. Shopping is social again. Social commerce evolved and took off in 2011. It wasn’t just social media engagement. Social commerce came in a variety of forms. Driven by smartphones, they were used in retail establishments to get product information and customer reviews.

Sources: Nielsen, NM Incite

Also, it included snapping a photo and sending it to family and friends before purchase. Marketers should understand that if shoppers discover a lower price via mobile, they may buy from your competitor before they leave your store.

10. Social media metrics gain attention. No surprise here. As social media becomes an increasing portion of marketing budgets, marketers must be able to show measurable results for their investment. For many, tracking social media return, particularly ROI, remains elusive. Chief Marketer research revealed 40 percent of marketers weren’t effective at assessing social media results.

Sources: eMarketer, Chief Marketer

To ensure that your social media marketing can be tracked, incorporate a call-to-action and a related, targeted promotion code. Further, before you start your marketing campaign, ensure you can measure these elements after your campaign.

What’s notable about this list? Social media continues to be an important element of every marketer’s plans regardless of whether you’re focused on B2C, B2B, not-for-profit and solopreneurs. Over the coming years, businesses will become more adept at handling social media and integrating it into their marketing mix in a way that yields positive, measurable results. Additionally, it’ll be incorporated across corporate functions so it’s no longer just marketing’s responsibility.

What do you think of this list? Are there any other social media events that you’d add to it? If so, please include your suggestions in the comment section below.

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy New Year.

Happy marketing,

Heidi Cohen

Article  Courtesy of:  Heidi Cohen

Posted by Paul Rios

Article Courtesy of:  HubSpot

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30278/Everything-You-Need-to-Sell-Your-Boss-on-Business-Blogging.aspx#ixzz1hxoUeFGQ

Dealers, Why Aren’t You Blogging?

4 Reasons to Create and Leverage a Dealer Blog

• Posted by Justin Braun
• Article Courtesy of:  Automotive Digital Marketing

“Blogging is the most underutilized yet powerful marketing force that dealers have at their disposal.”

That’s what automotive thought-leader Ralph Paglia said in a recent interview.

No matter if you love Ralph and his advice or think he’s ‘full of it,’ studies indicate that he is absolutely right on this matter.

According to data analyses by HubSpot, a leading Inbound Marketing company, small businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors, 102% more Twitter followers, and 126% higher lead growth than non-blogging businesses.

A successful blog is one that is updated on a regular basis and discusses topics of interest to your current and potential customers (but we’ll get more into best practices at a later time). Naturally, a blog’s ROI will vary from dealership to dealership but there are several clear benefits to blogging that should not be ignored.

4 Reasons to Create and Leverage a Dealer Blog

1)     Tell your story and demonstrate industry knowledge

Information has empowered consumers to educate themselves about what product to buy, how much to pay, and where to shop.  Consumers do the majority of their purchasing research online and, moreover, consumers read blogs to find the answers to their questions.

Why not provide them with that information yourself?

Help the consumer make an educated buying decision through your writing and you will find them more inclined to do business with you because you have established yourself and your company as reputable, transparent and knowledgeable.

Additionally, consumers will be more inclined to do business with you if they can form an emotional connection with your dealership. To do this, you need to tell your story.

“Dealers have to find the compelling stories that will make people want to do business with their dealership,” says Ralph.  “Every dealership has something very interesting or compelling about them that would make great fodder for a blog.”

2)     Higher Google Ranking (SEO Opportunity)

I think HubSpot said it best in its Inbound Marketing University white paper How to Blog Effectively for Business:

“Search engines favor fresh over old content. Old content might no longer be accurate or relevant to the searches. Fresh content, in contrast, signals to search engines that the information is up-to-date and more relevant to searchers’ needs. As a result, blogs, a generator of fresh content, help with search engine optimization, which in turn drives site traffic and promotes a business.”

A regularly updated blog ranks highly on Google.  Additionally, dealers that blog can optimize their posts for commonly-searched keywords specific to their brand, vehicles, or frequently asked questions so that their dealership is easy found during the consumer research process.

Blogging is a practice that doesn’t cost a lot of money and has the potential to result in a continuous payout in the form of increased traffic, engagement and lead-generation.

3)     Crisis management and humanizing your brand

Blogging can put a face and a voice to your dealership, communicating the subtle aspects of your brand’s personality.  Blogs can help consumers get a sense of how you do business and how your employees treat customers.  By being less “corporate” than your website, blogs can add the personal touch of 1-1 customer service and relationship-building to your digital showroom, similar to the benefits of live chat.

Furthermore, blogs can help manage a crisis and prevent damage by online negative word-of-mouth.  To survive any online reputation crisis, it is essential to embrace Coca Cola’s motto of“our consumers control our brand.” Dealers can use their blog as a forum for customers to share their issues and for you to address them in a personal and transparent manner.

4)     Involve potential and current customers in your brand’s discussion

Social Media has empowered consumers to share product and brand insights with their peers, transforming them into brand advocates and authorities.  If you give readers of your blog the information they seek end encourage interaction, you will be able to develop and nurture a relationship with them early on in the sales process.  The opening up additional channels of communication between your dealership and its customers is always a good idea.

According to HubSpot, “Folks who comment on your blog may be sales leads, or they may just challenge or support your views.

Either way, comments beget comments, and you will soon be at the center of an industry-relevant dialogue with customers and partners.”

This dialogue is the core benefit of the practice of blogging and is what drives traffic to your site and highly qualified leads to your showroom.

Media Crush Takeaway:

It’s very simple.  This informative article applies to everyone.

Plug in the category of your business and start blogging!

Media Crush has set up and launched scores of blogs on behalf of customers, for both large and small businesses.

Contact us for more information.

By Cindy King

Are you looking for some social media tips to grow your small business?

We asked eight small business pros for their hottest social media tips.

Here’s their advice for you to take your business to the next level.

#1: Show Them the “Real You”

Use Facebook to show prospects, clients and customers the “real you.” Sure, provide the occasional business tip. Or link to your new blog post. But that’s what everyone else is doing. So why not show them you’re a real person by posting updates about things you’re passionate about?

I love to cook, so I’ve been known to post pictures of my grilled masterpieces. Or I’ll quote something one of my silly kids just said. Or I’ll pose a question, such as “How can we encourage more young entrepreneurs?” Either way, I try to keep it interesting, humorous and different. And always authentic.

Oh, and I know I’m going to ruffle a lot of feathers by saying this, but I really do believe that less is more. I get more engagement by updating five times per week than five times per day. Plus it fits my personality. Because offline, I would never call attention to myself that frequently.

Ed Gandia, founding partner, International Freelancers Academy.

#2: Pick One Thing and Do It Really Well

Small businesses are faced with having to prioritize their resources toward the activities that deliver the most impact. With social media, it’s easy to feel like you need to have a presence on every social media channel. It’s also easy to get lost in managing too many networks.

Being on 5 social networks and giving all of them half-effort will not generate results. Therefore, I recommend that small businesses first find which network has the highest concentration of their audience using tools like Follower Wonk, Facebook’s free advertising platform and LinkedIn’s search features.

Once you’ve found which social media network actually has a concentration of your target audience, develop a strategy to engage them. Rather than spreading your energy across multiple channels, put 100% of your “social focus” on the best channel for your audience and do it exceptionally well. If you’re successful, you’ll have a much easier time justifying the additional investment to replicate your success on another social media network.

Nichole Kelly, founder of Full Frontal ROI.

#3: Turn Your Facebook Page Into a Lead-Generating Machine

One necessary component of a thriving business is a strong list of qualified leads. Collecting names and emails is essential to any small business because you can communicate with your ideal audience on a regular basis. Some business experts say that without a list, you don’t really have a business!

There are many ways to grow your list and one of the smartest marketing moves is to create an opt-in strategy on your Facebook page. To keep it simple, use iFrames to create a custom welcome tab. On this tab you can create a 2-step process called a “reveal tab.”

Step #1: Include a call to action to encourage non-fans to click Like and become a fan.

Step #2: Once you get the Like, offer a valuable giveaway in exchange for name and email.

With this model, you are increasing your fan base and growing your lead list at the same time. It’s a double whammy for your business.

Amy Porterfield, co-author of Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies.

#4: Invest in a Great Twitter Design

If your business or brand is geared toward a particular niche market, make sure that you go all out when designing your Twitter profile. For an example, see @HungerGamesPod. Make sure that it shows how serious you are about your niche and that by looking at your profile, people will see valuable content that they could get if they were following you on Twitter.

Next, go find other Twitter IDs that market to your exact niche market. For my Hunger Games brand, I did this with @TheHungerGames, which has over 76,000 followers. These 76,000 people are obviously interested in The Hunger Games niche and therefore might find my podcast on the subject interesting and want to follow.

Go through and follow that account’s followers. Most will get an email notification from Twitter, because they never turned off email notifications, telling them that you just followed them. Many will click through to your Twitter profile, check it out and if they’re interested, they’ll follow you back.

This is how I added over 4,000 followers to my Hunger Games Twitter account in less than a month.

Cliff Ravenscraft, founder of PodcastAnswerMan.com.

#5: Bring Your Company Onto Video

Without question, the hottest and most effective use of social media today is VIDEO. With all the recent changes in how Google and other search engines index web pages, adding short videos is the #1 way to get into the top of search results.

Creating a custom channel on YouTube is very easy. Creating a series of short instructional videos around your product or service and using testimonials from happy clients/customers are great ways to add credibility to your company and dramatically increase the chances of a viewer going to your website.

Use humor and graphics to get your key messages across. Remember, shorter is better—no more than 3 minutes.

Michael Crosson, founder of the second-largest LinkedIn group, “the Social Media Marketing Group,” with over 230,000 members.

#6: Learn How to Master Video Marketing

My hottest tip for small businesses to take their business to the next level is to learn how video content—when tagged, titled and published correctly—can increase your exposure in search results.

Video thumbnails in search results attract the eye more than text and can get your content seen over traditional text delivery. Plus, video can really highlight your company’s personality!

Gregory Ng, an advertising executive by day and the host of a popular webshow by night.

#7: Monitor Your Clients and Prospects

Create alerts for all of your important clients, add their blogs to your RSS reader, create a Twitter List and add it to a tool like TweetDeck. Explore whether your CRM tool allows you to add the social connections for your clients (BatchBook, Highrise or ACT!all have this function and the Rapporative plugin for Gmail can do this as well).

Monitor what your clients and prospects are doing and saying in social networks to anticipate and serve their needs and build relationships much faster. Next you can do the same with key journalists and strategic partners.

This step alone will make your social media efforts pay off immediately.

John Jantsch, a marketing consultant and author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine and the founder of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network.

#8: Give Away the Secret Sauce

In other words, start developing content about those industry secrets or how-to tips that no other competitor of yours would dare touch. This can be your competitive advantage. By creating the kind of content that really solves your customers’ problems, you’ll be linked to and shared. Your content will rise in the search rankings and be actively shared on Twitter and Facebook.

How do you get started? Write down all of the most interesting and hard-to-answer customer questions and create online content from each question.

Do this every day for six months and you’ll see a significant difference in your business.

Joe Pulizzi, author of Managing Content Marketing and co-author of Get Content, Get Customers.

Social Media Marketing:   Creating a Community

In recent posts authorDavid Johnson has had a LOT to say about Social Media in the Automotive industry.  In his post “Creating Word-Of-Mouth Through The Creation Of Community”  we find so much community in our perspectives on methods to achieve great results.  Perhaps you are already ahead of the curve and are already working on developing a community – if so congratulations for getting it!  If you read this article and want some help in finding a path to success get in touch with Media Crush / Media Garage / New Car Networks -  CLICK HERE  we will create a custom plan for you!

CLICK HERE to RSVP!

Secrets Revealed…  # 1 Rum in the Caribbean!

CLICK HERE to reserve your invite!

Macallan Single Malt Scotch is pleased with the services we have delivered to them!

We are driving interest in the product and events associated with Macallan Scotch.

Media Crush is working along with Axiom Mobile Technologies on brand and marketing strategies; Media Crush is also involved in their online commercial and social network build-out.

We are very excited to be part of the team that will bring the one stop Mobile APP to market!

More to come…

Media Crush wanted to meet, talk to and interview as many participants as possible to help the Fort Point ArTs Community.  The videos are up on the Media Crush YouTube account as well as on the geo targeted sites like Fort Point Channel Boston.

We hope you enhoy the interviews and support the artists community at Fort Point Boston.

For the complete video Interview Library head over to Media Crush on YouTube – Click Here

Great focus is being put on the areas of Boston known as Fan Pier, The Seaport District, Fort Point Channel all part of the New Boston Waterfront;   Media Crush knows this area is integral to its growing network  to provide a variety of services to clients and users.  The sites are fleshing out with custom content via photos, videos and posts as well as aggregating information from other credited sources.

With more and more businesses and public money  ( Start Up Massachusetts a public and private collaborative) being poured into the area Media Crush will continue to keep you updated on the news and events surrounding these areas.

We are always looking for contributors and welcome input.

Please visit our Boston waterfront sites:

• http://www.fanpierboston.net
• http://www.seaportinnovationdistrict.com
• http://www.fortpointchannelboston.com
• http://newbostonwaterfront.com

Article Courtesy of: Simon Heseltine

Are you listening? Twitter users want complaints read, addressed

St. Louis  – It’s no secret that social media has revolutionized how consumers communicate with businesses. Instead of complaint letters exchanged over weeks, a quick 140-character tweet can garner a direct response within minutes. A recent poll conducted by Maritz Research and its social intelligence arm, evolve24, found that frequent Twitter users who have used the social media tool to complain about their customer experience with a company overwhelmingly want those companies to be listening to their comments. And, these tweeple want their public complaints addressed.

According to the September study, while only 1/3 of these respondents actually received some type of follow-up after they tweeted their complaint, 83 percent of survey participants who received a follow up to their tweet said they liked or loved hearing from the company they complained about. And just under 75 percent of those people who received a response were very or somewhat satisfied with the response they received. A little more than 15 percent said they were either very or somewhat dissatisfied with the company’s response.

For the two-thirds of respondents who didn’t receive an answer to their complaint, a similar number, 86 percent, also would have liked or loved to hear from the company. However, a striking 63 percent said they would hate or not like it if the company contacted them about something other than their complaint.

“In today’s business environment, social media is having a profound impact on the level of service customers expect,” says Anthony Sardella, senior vice president and managing director at evolve24. “Businesses cannot effectively compete without being tuned in to social media to improve the customer experience. But they must get the messaging right. The best brand marketing provides responsive customer service, and does not use a customer experience event as an opportunity to sell something.”

While the study reinforced the trend of using Twitter as a way of getting a company’s attention, Sardella says all methods of customer service and support should be treated with the same consideration.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Consumers expect companies to understand their individual wants and needs. If that’s responding to a complaint via Twitter, YouTube or the old-fashioned phone call, businesses need to have the right tools ready to listen, understand and respond,” says Sardella.

In September 2010, Maritz Research acquired evolve24, a business analytics and research firm that uses traditional and social media to measure perception, reputation and risk. Through their combined capabilities, both companies offer business clients customer experience research that is more relevant and actionable, helping companies improve their businesses and their bottom lines.

Methodology:
Maritz Research conducted its Twitter study between September 9 and 12, 2011, during which it surveyed an online panel of 1,298 US consumers, who had pre-identified themselves as Twitter users who frequently tweet, had complained via Twitter about a company with whom they do business, and who were at least 18 years of age. The survey had a maximum sampling error of 2.7 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

Courtesy of:  ReelSEO – Jeremy Scott

Source: The Social Video Blueprint – A Social Video Checklist of Tips

http://www.reelseo.com/social-video-blueprint-9/#ixzz1YPXKY2fm
©2008-2011 ReelSEO.com Online Video Guide

Media Crush is going to be on hand with Herb Chambers Companies to cover #FNOBoston!

Newbury Street will be closed from 2:00 till after 10pm!

Come on down and check out the highest caliber of luxury and super cars in the area courtesy of Herb Chambers!

It’s Official Facebook Places has been executed!  Killed off and done with not to show its face again…Well let’s not get carried away here.  The information is shocking as to Facebook actually not crushing Foursquare in the local check in space let alone that many  thought they would do quickly.

There are many stories out there surrounding the news:

Here is a segment from the Huffington Post:

Tucked near the end of Facebook’s 1,200-word blog post detailing a slew of privacy changes was a short obituary for a Facebook feature unveiled with great fanfare last year: Facebook Places, a check-in service that allowed users to share their locations on Facebook and redeem coupons.

Facebook quietly admitted that it would be “phasing out” Places, which had been available only on cellphones, while at the same time expanding the ability to add locations to posts by allowing users to tag cities, venues and landmarks in everything from status updates to Wall posts using any device.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/facebook-axes-places-who-_n_935082.html

 Foursquare!

Was it the power of Four Square that led to the execution?  Is this a tactic simply a graceful  exit or surrendering of the location based check in war?  Facebook clearly was out to crush FourSquare – so congrats to Foursquare for prospering.

Segment from TechCrunch:

TechCrunch’s MG Siegler counters that Facebook’s shift may signal the social networking site is “doubling-down” on location and attempting to place it front and center on every Facebook post, even as it moves away from check-ins. Its approach, moving forward, will be different from Foursquare’s, but its determination to tap into location just as fierce. After all, location information offers one more salient piece of data that can be used to sell more–and more targeted–ads. “[N]ow that location is being emphasized on every Facebook action (though it can easily be turned off) — and not just on mobile — a lot of people are going to use it. Location as a layer of context is about to get a big upgrade,” wrote Siegler.

Having teen children it is clear to me that they prefer Facebook Check Ins over FourSquare, I do wonder what they will allow those teens to do so to tap into some form of that local data goldmine.

Inbound Marketing – Brand & Reputation Management – Custom Ad Network Landing Pages

CLICK for Knucklehead AI Kickstart !

Media Crush is working with KnuckleHead AI (KAI) on the first AI apps and games for the Android and iPhone platforms.

This is a game changing project with endless applications. Knucklehead is almost ready to release its first four games ( yes pitiful pun intended) and is seeking a little more support via the Kickstart program.

KAI just formed in June and has over 25 Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) driven game apps we are scoping from our list of over 100 AI game concepts. They’ve started building it’s first one, “Backyard Bird Shooter” for smart phones and smart pads.  Plans are to finish up the first and another three for it’s KickStarter program. The premise is that KAI can build a great game app company around its AI driven game concepts.  We  hope you will agree and help us with a real kick-start for the first four games.

KnucklheadAIGames@Kickstarter.com

From Knucklehead AI Kickstart….

Why build games with AI in them?

We think that improving on silly games by adding artificial intelligence will make them vastly more amusing.  No seriously! Our games are all made with machine intelligence components, and as we go along, the games will learn something about your behavior and performance in the game and how you use your smart device. In fact, we are looking at monitoring and adjusting for all smart device-bound sensory input during game play in the future as smart devices gain more processing power and sensory capabilities.  We can already use the smart device “sensory input” to adjust the game (harder, easier, etc.) and provide other nifty learning related or otherwise amusing features.  So the experience will be different with our games, and more so over time.

Also, while there is still a bit of a wait before artificially intelligent computers save the world, we think that AI based software and networks have already become very useful. Some of the games we are developing could not exist without the underlying, sometimes sophisticated, computer science. We believe that early exploitation of these technologies in games will ultimately lead to other, possibly useful, commercial applications.  Useful applications from knuckleheads…  Imagine that!

What else is different about your game apps?

It’s our approach to smart devices.  We are thinking of all of them as game controllers and creation devices.  So we have an augmented reality framework where we always try to include your personal environment in the game.  These are mostly not couch sitting games and many of them suggest going outside for best results.  We are going to warn people to hold onto their phones during game play.  And we can even imagine knucklehead closures with hand conforming grips.

Also, almost all of the games have a multi-player viral aspect to them.  For example, Backyard Shooter is a game where you make your own video; the AI targets moving objects for you, and then you play the game.  The games can be shared on our game board and can show up on YouTube and Facebook, and other people can download them and play them.  Game scores of all the people who play your game are posted (if they want to post).    So this kind of thing can be extremely viral.  In addition, most of the games have both single and multiplayer modes, which help make them viral too.

Where will the games be available?

We’re building the games for smart phone and smart pad devices so they will be available first in the Apple app store, and then a little later in the Android app store.  Once we are really cooking, we may also manage to have some of them distributed on other game platforms.  But right now we are focused on the Apple and Android platforms only and on delivering the first four games on iPhone and iPads and then a little later on the Android platform as well.

One day soon, we’d also like to see these games start showing up in virtual reality worlds too.  The future seems open to all kinds of wild and exciting possibilities.

How will you market them?

Our goal for the initial two apps is huge!  However, we think we need to be producing 4 new games a quarter to get in there and compete.  On the reasonably optimistic side, we would like to see the first 4 games hit 50-100 thousand downloads by the end of Q1-2012.  We will need more than our kickstarter-funding goal to get there, so if we exceed our funding goal, and if the initial two apps were to go seriously viral, that would obviously help.

On a more practical note, we will start by marketing our own personal extended networks and with all of you at Kickstarter who like game apps.  We will also create branded websites to drive awareness and work closely with our friends in affiliate marketing and advertising who have SEO traffic networks and are willing to help us out at the start.  Of course, we will also hit the blogs and social nets where gamers and app hounds hang.  In addition, if we have extra funding from this KickStarter program, we will test SEM and other less freely available application promotion avenues.

Because most of the games have single and multi-player modes, and all of them have a viral component for score comparisons and game video sharing, we hope they will spread quickly through user invitations as people enjoy them.  But we know we need more than a couple of games to drive our marketing.

What happens after the first four games?

Well, as we said, we’ll play it by ear and see how well we do with each of you to meet or maybe even exceed our Kickstarter funding goal.  But suffice it say, we will fight all the way until we start to grow and can build things faster.  Our goal for 2012 is to put out 2-4 new games a quarter.  The more funding and success we find along the way, the faster we can go.

Here are the next four game apps we are planning for 2012:

Will you charge for the games?

We do plan to quit our day jobs and become KnuckleheadAi guys forever, so we will be looking for that public support and delivering as much game value as we can for a fair exchange.

Almost all of the games we plan will have at least a free beginner or feature limited version.  Some may have upgrades for 99 cents.  Some may have free but advertising driven versions.  Some may come paid for by a single sponsor.  Some may be on the more expensive side, like the upgraded version of Backyard Bird Shooter.

For more information please visit Knucklhead AI Kickstart program by clicking here

Inbound Marketing – Brand & Reputation Management Domination