Social Media has now become a major piece of the search marketing puzzle. You can already see how important it has become with the number of sessions offered at SES London this year about this topic. Lisa Myers , CEO, Verve Search , in her session at SES Introduction to Social Media gave some valuable tips on how to use it effectively. So whats social media? Personally I use Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube,

Have you ever looked over your shoulder because you have that unnerving feeling that you are being watched or possibly, *god-forbid*, stalked by a particular website or ad when surfing around cyber space? You have! Well carry on reading Remarketing or retargeting as it is sometimes known is the maligned and much misunderstood child of the digital marketing family. It often gets a bad rep right across the media spectrum because of overzealous use by inexperienced marketers.

On the 1st March at 11.30am, our EMEA Director for the Microsoft Media Network Zuzanna Gierlinska will be joined by Mark Zablan, Managing Director of Experian Marketing Services in the UK & Ireland, to deliver a keynote presentation at Technology for Marketing & Advertising in Londons Earls Court. Heres a deep-dive into what theyll be talking about: The Future of Digital Advertising For Brands: How to Target the Right People with the Right Message,

We love a bit of engagement on our Twitter handle. We dont see our foray into social media as being all about broadcasting our news, but very much about listening to our audience as well. For the last few months Ive been following @MichaelGillet whos been following Microsoft for some time now, and we struck up a conversation about advertising as I wanted to know his thoughts. Im 39 gulp! and have been working in online advertising for over 10 years,

Last week, I wrote about the fabulous opportunity were giving young marketers to travel to Cannes for the International Festival of Creativity in June. The Young Marketers Cannes Lions Competition , in association with USA Today, hopes to attract the best marketing leaders of tomorrow and have them create an exquisite digital campaign on behalf of our chosen charity. Today were revealing that that charity will be Kiva .

Traditionally advertisers place significant resource and emphasis on their pre-purchase marketing strategy, but in a recent study released by Microsoft Advertising entitled New Shopper Journeys compelling new evidence came to light about the importance of having - in addition to a strong and integrated paid advertising campaign - a robust post-purchase plan in place to support the ongoing dynamic sales cycle feeding back into the pre-purchase discovery journey.

This week I attended Social Media Week in New York, held at the JWT offices . I was lucky enough to give a brief presentation on new ad formats weve developed that incorporate social into the ad experience and then had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with some fantastic colleagues from our industry. As a group, there was no shortage of thoughts on ways to incorporate social media into advertising programs.

This Wednesday, at the IAB's London offices, we'll be speaking at an event designed to excite and delight media planners and creatives all over town. The mini-conference entitled The Games Brands Play , is being run in conjunction with brand-e who are experts in bringing insight on branded entertainment to the advertising industry. Our team will be speaking )with a Kinect for Xbox 360 in tow(, along with 6 others from advertising/creative agencies,

What is marketing leadership in a transparent and interconnected digital world? Who are the consumers of tomorrow? How will technology enable and change us? How do we, the global advertising community, transform? To address these questions and ignite dialogue on the most pressing challenges and most brilliant creativity in marketing and technology, were hosting an invite-only event called Imagine: The Marketing Leadership Summit from March 29-31 at our campus in Redmond,

Social Media Week began with a bang yesterday in several cities around the world including London and New York. Youll hear from Jenn Creegan, Senior Director of Brand Advertising at Microsoft Advertising , on this blog later as she gives her thoughts on what she heard on the Paid, Owned and Earned panel she hosted in The Big Apple on Monday.

Are you under 30, work client-side, live in the US, and fancy supping espresso, exchanging ideas with, and learning from top creatives and digital marketers on the Cote dAzur? If you fit le bill, were looking for entrants for our 2011 Young Marketers Competition in association with USA Today. It really is as easy as un, deux, trois! Register your team of two by 24 th February 2011. The brief is to create a marketing brief for a charity of our choosing and submit it online.

Following on from our interviews in Asia with Barry Cupples from Omnicom , Pushkar Sane from the Starcom Mediavest Group and Bill Hunt from Back Azimuth , we end the series with a chat I had with online PR and social media expert Lee Odden - @leeodden - from TopRankMarketing.com . In the 4 minutes we had at SES Hong Kong, Lee helps small businesses, who may not have a whole load of time on their hands,

This is my very first blog post as the new Director of Global Insights and Analytics for Microsoft Advertising. And, speaking of firsts, I am thrilled to be a part of the first in a series of insights-driven webcasts. I use the word 'insights' very deliberately - I hate the word research. This may be a slightly lofty example, but chefs don't deliver recipes; they deliver meals that you eat and enjoy. Similarly,

Communicating the Digital Landscape: A marketers guide to digital advertising has been getting quite a bit of traction in the Twitterverse recently. For those outside of the ReTweeting fan club, the report is an outcome-oriented exploration into digital advertisingwhat it is, its role in your marketing mix, audience targeting, banner ads, and more. It also discusses measuring those results; whether youre a small business owner,

It was a groundbreaking way to immerse consumers in a brand. It had never been done before, and advertisers flocked to the new concept because, for the first time, they could communicate with audiences in a truly visceral way. You probably think Im talking about Kinect. I certainly could be, but Im actually talking about an advertising technique that debuted to great success four decades ago : scented strips in magazines, or as they are more commonly referred to,

To echo Carolyns post last week, my brand advertising team is very excited about the new creative opportunities that we are bringing to market for advertisers. In discussions Ive had with CMOs, time and time again we hear them say that digital represents 10% of their spend but over 50% of their time and effort. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to realize that math doesnt add up.

While attending the Consumer Electronics Show )CES( earlier this month, I was struck by the wide range of people in attendance and how that has changed in the four years I have been attending. Historically CES has attracted the techies those involved in equipment manufacturing or supporting innovations in software. And this year, there were certainly plenty of offerings to satisfy people looking for that next shiny object, including several Windows 7 PC laptops,

Working in new media it is easy to think that ink-on-your-hands newspapers and magazines are quickly on their way to becoming media relics. Increasingly few website staffers have ever seen a flat-plan, or know about dummy covers and gatefolds. While sales of newspapers and magazines decline it appears online media can do no wrong. Largely free, easily accountable and with the capacity for video and social media integration,

Celebrating a new year and my six month anniversary at Microsoft, I turn the corner feeling incredibly energized by the industry we call home. Since joining Microsoft Advertising, I have listened to your feedbackas a matter of fact, I have met with over 200 clients; every major agency holding company and their leadership on virtually every continent. I have taken note of your concerns, our clients and agencies,

Since we started experimenting with advertising on Xbox in 2007, Ive raved to just about anyone who would listen about its potential for advertisers to reach a broad and growing audience. But sometimes even I, one of the biggest cheerleaders for the business, am surprised by the success of Xbox. The numbers we announced at CES this week are the best example of exceeding my already high expectations.