A study from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas reveals some very interesting findings on the importance of product reviews on buyer habits. The findings draw from 165 participants who tested video games. They had no previous knowledge of the game, Plants vs. Zombies. I know, I know, but stay with me… The point here isn’t  really about video games.

The study, called, ”The Influence of Professional Critic Reviews,” divided users into three groups. One was exposed to positive reviews of Plants vs. Zombies, one was exposed to negative reviews, and the third was shown none. Participants then played the game for 20 minutes. Next, they filled out an exit survey, gave the game a review score and chose to either receive a free copy of Plants vs. Zombies or $10.

Positive reviews made a big difference.

Those who read positive reviews were twice as likely to choose the copy of Plants vs. Zombies instead of the cash. And they were 85% more likely to take the game than those not exposed to any reviews.  

Read more about the study ag G4tv.com: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/706037/New-Study-Suggests-Video-Game-Reviews-Actually-Important-To-Success.html#ixzz0tf5OS39o

Are you making use of buyer reviews? They clearly influence purchasing decisions, even if you’re not in the business of the undead.

Search is fundamental to customer acquisition. And search engine optimization (SEO) is projected to grow consistently, according to eMarketer’s Search Marketing Trends report.

Read the rest at blogs.aquent.com:  http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/author/kelly-boykin/2009/06/

What’s the return on investment of email marketing? It’s easy to get a bit jaded when it comes to email marketing, as we’re cleaning out our inboxes. It seems like on a good day the proportion of solicited messages to unsolicited messages is 1:10. On a good day. . .

But, marketers, don’t allow your assumptions to cloud your judgments. Email marketing has a very real ROI.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing returned $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009. Yes, the nice people at the DMA might have a dog in the fight. (I really hope people aren’t googling dog fighting and ending up on the TechnologyMarketingBlog.) But who else are you going to trust to measure it?

And while down a bit, they estimate email marketing is expected to return $42.08 for every dollar spent on it this year.

So, if you’re not consistently using email marketing, maybe you should be. And if you’re not getting a healthy ROI, it’s time to evaluate your methods.

The online ad marketing had it’s best quarter ever in Q4 09, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

This record $6.3 billion in revenues speaks to the worst of the ad slump behind us, according to PwC’s David Silverman.

Other highlights of the report:

• Search and display advertising is still the largest overall interactive advertising spend. Search revenues comprise 47% of the total spending.
• Digital video in particular is strong, with an almost 39% increase from 2008 to 2009.
• Based on data from PwC from 2005 to 2009 in tv, radio, newspapers, consumers magazines and Internet, the Internet’s share of combined ad revenue more than doubled from 8% to 17%.

Find out more at http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-040710

Small business use of social media is steeply on the rise in the U.S.  The third wave of the Small Business Success Index™ (SBSI), sponsored by Network Solutions® and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, reports that social media is being used by twice as many small businesses since last year.

How does your business measure up?

Read more and see the breakdown at http://growsmartbusiness.com/small-business-success-index-highlights/.

Here is a TopTenREVIEWS review of the top internet marketing companies. Various service areas are evaluated, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), link building, social media optimization and more.

Read the online marketing services firms review.

Forrester Research predicts IT spending will rise 6.6 percent in 2010. This is a stark contrast to 2009, where IT spending fell 8.2 percent in the U.S. and and 8.9 percent overall in international markets.

Hardware and software investments will drive the rise in spending, with software projected to rise 9.7 percent.

Read more from Nasdaq.com. Here’s to a strong tech marketing 2010!

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the much-talked-about stimulus spending law, is estimated to bring $2.5 billion in spending to technology vendors. This is according to IDC Industry Insights, as reported by David Hubler in Washington Technology.  

This is a “once-in-a-lifetime flood of new technology money,” says IDC. They estimated $101.2 billion in technology spending will be generated between 2009 and 2012.

Among the federal tech opportunities that law is expected to impact the most:

● The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) National Computer Center data center modernization—$500 million.

● The SSA’s claims processing program—$490 million. 

● The Homeland Security Department data center, law enforcement communications–$340 million. 

● The State Department’s security and network assurance technologies—$290 million.

● The Institute of Education Science’s high-performance computing and predictive services—$250 million.

● The Veterans Affairs Department data center and information technology services—$50 million.

● The Agriculture Department’s Farm Services Agency data center and systems services—$50 million.