More Digital Marketing Seminars and New Courses to Respond to Explosive Online Advertising Industry Growth

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL–(EMWNews – July 28, 2008) – In response to continued explosive

growth in the online industry and the need for more and better trained

interactive and integrated advertising and marketing professionals, The Laredo Group, Inc. today

announced new and expanded courses through December of this year. The

company is the leading training and consulting firm dedicated to helping

publishers, agencies and marketers increase sales and decrease costs.

A new study from WPP’s GroupM shows that Interactive media’s share of

worldwide advertising expenditures is expected to hit 15 percent in 2009,

almost double from four years ago, and will remain the main source of

growth as ad spending in traditional media continues to decline. As online

ad spending continues to increase, Laredo Group is poised to help

traditional advertisers and marketers transition to and integrate online

advertising, and to help industry veterans better measure and more

effectively spend their ad dollars.

The Laredo Group’s expanded digital marketing

training calendar includes New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco

and Chicago, as well as Dallas, Washington, DC, and Orlando. In addition to

adding more cities and dates to their calendar, The Laredo Group is also

expanding its course offerings. Today, The Laredo Group also announced a

new course, Intelligent

Research, Targeting & Measurement of Interactive Ads and Audiences.

Recently the CMO Council announced a study that said one of the top areas

marketers are addressing in 2008 is measurement of marketing campaigns.

This new course is perfectly designed to give marketers and agencies the

knowledge and tools they need to identify their target audience, how to

reach that target and then how to measure the effectiveness of their ads.

“During these recessionary times when budgets are being sliced, CMOs and

agencies have to be able to justify every penny,” says Leslie Laredo,

Founder and President of The Laredo Group. “CMOs know that if they can’t

show measurable results with their interactive advertising, their CEOs are

going to cut their budgets. Marketing staffs and agencies need to

understand that it involves much more than just measuring impressions and

click-thru rates, and they need to be able to explain that to the C-level

executives.”

Intelligent Research, Targeting & Measurement of Interactive Ads and

Audiences will teach “how to” use the tools of interactive media to better

understand and be more efficient in reaching online audiences as well as

how to use the results of online campaigns to refine and optimize

campaigns. The course will give agencies and advertisers the insight they

need to find and measure the effectiveness of online campaigns through web

and media analytics. Publishers will gain the insights on how their clients

use research and measurement and how to better understand their needs and

demands for campaign effectiveness. The training covers the fundamentals

of campaign goal planning and data collection, how to use collected data to

identify opportunities, how to use behavioral and other targeting

approaches to reach the right audience, and how to use the many research

tools available today to ask the right questions and get the right answers

surrounding online marketing strategies.

“We are committed to helping marketers and agencies understand and execute

successful interactive and integrated advertising campaigns,” says Jeff

Leibowitz, CEO of The Laredo Group. “In this course, industry veterans and

newcomers alike will learn the full depth and breadth of the tools and

techniques available to measure an interactive advertising campaign, and

leave with a step-by-step plan to ensure their interactive advertising

programs are properly targeted and/or measurable.”

Upon completion of all Laredo Group courses, students will be awarded a

Certificate of Interactive Media & Advertising. Registrations are now being

taken for all courses. Cities and dates can be referenced at The Laredo Group’s

Interactive Seminars page.

Founded in 1996 and now headquartered in the greater Fort Lauderdale,

Florida area, The Laredo Group (www.laredogroup.com) is the leading

training and consulting firm dedicated to helping clients increase sales

and decrease costs through knowledge and efficiencies related to online

advertising buying and selling, search engine marketing, and site

optimization. The Laredo Group provides customized general sales training &

coaching for companies and individuals, media training for buyers and

sellers, and custom consulting services designed to increase the revenue

potential and production of staff and products for both traditional, online

and cross-platform sales and marketing activities. The client list of The Laredo

Group includes many of the world’s largest and most successful

companies as well as smaller firms, start-ups and many industry

associations.