Mobile Trends for 2012

A look back at 2011

Monday, December 19, 2011 | 8:00 AM

Mobile turned a corner this year. As smartphones and tablets became a part of our everyday lives, business owners’ conversations shifted from 'Why should I advertise on mobile or build a mobile website?' to 'How do I get started?’.  

Five major industry trends emerged in 2011 that will carry us into 2012, and beyond.

1 - Everyone goes mobile
Smartphones and tablets proved that they weren’t just for the geekiest - er, ‘tech savviest’ - among us.  These devices are increasingly becoming the norm and they continue to change how people connect with each other, and with businesses, everywhere.  According to our research with IPSOS earlier this year:

• 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, to finding more product info, to locating a retailer.
• 70% use their smartphones while in a store.
• 77% have contacted a business via mobile, with 61% calling and 59% visiting the local business.

It’s not just that more people are using smartphones and tablets (though the numbers are skyrocketing at an accelerating pace)—it’s that a huge, and fast-growing base of smartphone users, now expect to engage with businesses on mobile. The mainstream consumer got mobilized in 2011.

2 - Mobile search transforms shopping, forever   
Analyzing mobile search trends helped the industry better understand how people were using their mobile devices in 2011.  For starters, we learned a lot about the ‘timing’ of mobile and tablets.  These devices enable us to be constantly connected to the internet, as mobile usage has proven to be complementary to the desktop.  We got a clearer picture of how search is changing the ways we shop and connect with businesses.  More people are looking for deals both en route to stores and within them on mobile - in the retail category, “Black Friday” related mobile queries were over 200% higher this year than in 2010.  Users have also developed some mobile-specific shopping habits - for example, 44% of all searches for last minute gifts and store locator terms are projected to come from mobile devices this holiday season.  For procrastinators, mobile has come to the rescue!

In October, we looked at some of the newest ways marketers can build their businesses via mobile search.  But, this is only the beginning - whether people are trying to find or call a business, compare prices in a store, or visit a site or app directly from their phones, search and search ads will be the tools that shape a new shopping experience, enabling us connect with businesses, research and buy products on or offline, all via mobile.

3 - Progress with the mobile advertising pipes
As an industry, we came a long way in terms of improving the ‘pipes’ - the systems, products and technologies that advertisers use to build, serve, and measure mobile ads.  It’s still early days, but the progress with standards like MRAID and the momentum behind HTML5, are helping to rally the mobile community and make it easier for marketers and customers to connect on the platform.  Getting existing tools to ‘speak mobile’ has been another key to helping mobile advertising grow-up as quickly users and businesses want it to.  Across search and display, the tools the industry is already familiar with are getting mobilized.  There’s plenty of work still to do, but significant progress is being made - watch this space in 2012.

4 - Tablets join the mobile party
Tablets made quite a splash this year.  Usage trends sharpened - we’re seeing that people people use these devices to shop, consume media, have fun, and they do so most frequently in the evenings.  Tablets are a third screen to be reckoned with for marketers - we saw a 440% growth in traffic from tablets in November 2011 compared to December 2010 on the AdMob network.  The business potential is tremendous: not only are users more inclined to shop and make purchases on tablets, but because campaigns can be more effective running across several screens instead of one, tablets offer an incremental opportunity for marketers.  Our research with Nielsen showed that campaigns on several screens can be ‘Better Together’ - indeed, in cases like Adidas’, that proved to be true.

5 - Businesses start (actually) thinking mobile first
Smartphones and tablets aren’t small desktop computers - they’re new devices being used in entirely new ways. This year, businesses began to embrace this at scale and many saw good things happen when they built ad campaigns and websites specifically for mobile.  Ticketsnow’s success with a mobile optimized site - increased site traffic, and more ticket sales - is just one example of the benefits of building for mobile.  Initiatives like GoMo and platform-specific ad features will help businesses better connect with mobile customers in the coming months, and beyond.

It’s hard to believe, but as far as the industry has come in 2011, we’re still in the earliest chapters of mobile’s story.  The ways people connect to businesses on their mobile devices and the tools they’re using to connect from them progressed by leaps and bounds this year and soon, we’ll see the mainstream shift that changes the way mobile connects people with brick-and-mortar storefronts as well.  Mobile will be moving full speed ahead in 2012 so keep those sleeves rolled-up and those seatbelts fastened - we’ll see you then.

Posted by: Karim Temsamani, VP Mobile Ads

Social Business Planning in 2012

December 5, 2011

Originally posted on Edelman Digital

Today marks my two-year anniversary at Edelman, or what we affectionately like to refer to as an “Edelversary”. So much has changed in the industry since joining the team here—we are truly working in a real-time business environment. We’ve seen “social” move from an item to be checked off the list from major brands to something they are genuinely grappling with in terms of integrating at scale across the enterprise. At Edelman Digital, we’ve always approached social a bit differently from others—focusing on the fact that much if it revolves around human-to-human interactions (we now call this community management), but if social is to scale—it must begin to spill out of the marketing silo and truly influence how we do business. We believe a connected business is better positioned for the future than a business, which remains disconnected and non adaptive.

Today, we’re announcing a partnership with Edelman Consulting led by Mike Kuczowski, in which we are actively elevating our services around social business to meet what we believe will be the opportunity in the years to come. In order for a business to truly extract value from social initiatives, we must consider not only marketing but how it impacts research and development, human resources, innovation, business intelligence and other facets of an organization which help drive a business forward. Michael’s team has deep experience solving complex business challenges while our digital team possesses incredible savvy and a global perspective for how social-digital operates at scale (folks like Michael Brito, Zena Weist, Robin Hamman, Dave Fleet, & Chuck Hemann to name a few).
Social Business Planning

View more presentations from Edelman Insights

Together, we’re looking forward to elevating the game for companies who truly wish to push their social initiatives beyond acquiring fans and followers. As an initial gesture, we are openly putting our approach out on the social web, which outlines not only our joint philosophy on social business planning but also, the methodology we use when working with clients. We believe that over the next ten years, most businesses will move past the ROI question of social—and get to work on doing business in a connected age. This will require gradual if not steady change and a commitment to evolving business practices.  We’re looking forward to partnering with likeminded organizations and individuals who see the world in a similar fashion.

You can read more information on this initiative here.  We’re excited to play our part in moving the discussion of social business from philosophy to action.

Six Social Media Trends for 2012

Originally posted on Harvard Business Review
Each year at this time, I look forward and predict trends in social media for the coming year. But first, I look back at my predictions from last year. How'd I do? Not bad.
Social media continues to move forward toward business integration, a trend that I identified last year. In a joint study from Booz & Company and social platform developer Buddy Media, 57 percent of businesses surveyed plan to increase social media spending, while 38 percent of CEO's label social as a high priority.
I was also partially accurate in predicting that Google would "strike back" in 2011. They did, with Google Plus, a formidable initiative that acts as Google's "social layer" to the Web. Part social network and part social search, Google Plus has industry observers scratching their heads, wondering if Facebook will be given a run for their money or if the service evolves into something complimentary in a highly social Web.
I had one big swing-and-miss on Facebook's intrusion in the location-based services war. While Facebook still supports location tracking in a number of ways, it has not put Foursquare out of business. Foursquare still enjoys a niche audience of highly active participants who enjoy telling the world where they are and post pictures to prove it. It is however worth noting that Facebook recently acquired location based network Gowalla, so continue to watch this space.
So what can we expect in 2012 in a world that seems to grow ever connected by the hour? Here are six predictions to ponder, in no particular order:
Convergence Emergence. For a glimpse into how social will further integrate with "real life," we can look at what Coca Cola experimented with all the way back in 2010. Coke created an amusement park where participants could "swipe" their RFID-equipped wristbands at kiosks, which posted to their Facebook account what they were doing and where. Also, as part of a marketing campaign, Domino's Pizza posted feedback — unfiltered feedback — on a large billboard in Times Square, bringing together real opinions from real people pulled from a digital source and displayed in the real world. These types of "trans-media" experiences are likely to define "social" in the year to come.
The Cult of Influence. In much the same way that Google has defined a system that rewards those who produce findable content, there is a race on to develop a system that will reward those who wield the most social influence. One particular player has emerged, Klout, determined to establish their platform as the authority of digital influence. Klout's attempt to convert digital influence into business value underscores a much bigger movement which we'll continue to see play out in the next year. To some degree everyone now has some digital influence (not just celebrities, academics, policy makers or those who sway public opinion). But for the next year, the cult of influence becomes less about consumer plays like Klout and more about the tools and techniques professionals use to "score" digital influence and actually harness, scale and measure the results of it.
Gamification Nation. No we're not taking about video games. Rather, game-like qualities are emerging within a number of social apps in your browser or mobile device. From levels, to leaderboards, to badges or points, rewards for participation abound. It's likely that the trend will have to evolve given how competition for our time and attention this gaming creates. Primarily, gamification has been used in consumer settings, but look for it in other areas from HR, to government, healthcare and even business management. Perhaps negotiating your next raise will be tied to your position on the company's digital leaderboard.
Social Sharing. Ideas, opinions, media, status updates are all part of what makes social media a powerful and often disruptive force. The media industry was one of the first to understand this, adding sharing options to content, which led to more page views and better status in search results. What comes next in social sharing is more closely aligned with e-commerce or web transactions. For example, Sears allows a user to share a product or review with their networks directly from the site. Sharing that vacation you just booked, or recommending a product, or service from any site to a social network is where sharing goes next. We probably don't know what we are willing to share until we see the option to do it.
Social Television. For many of us, watching television is already a social act, whether it's talking to the person next to you, or texting, tweeting, and calling friends about what you're watching. But television is about to become a social experience in a bigger and broader sense. The X Factor now allows voting via Twitter and highlights other social promotions, which encourages viewers to tap social networks while they watch. Another way media consumption is becoming social comes from a network called Get Glue which acts as something of a Foursquare for media. Participants can "check-in" to their favorite shows (or other forms of media) and collect stickers to tell the world what programs they love. Watch for more of this this year as ratings rise for socially integrated shows.
The Micro Economy. Lastly as we roll into 2012, watch for a more social approach to solving business problems through a sort of micro-economy. Kickstarter gives anyone with a project, the opportunity to get that initiative funded by those who choose to (and patrons receive something in return). A crowdsourcing platform for would be inventors called Quirky lets the best product ideas rise to the top and then helps them get produced and sold while the "inventor" takes a cut. Air BnB turns homes into hotels and travelers into guests, providing both parties with an opportunity to make and save money. These examples may point to a new future reality where economic value is directly negotiated and exchanged between individuals over institutions.
These are a few emerging trends which come to mind. As with anything, looking to the past often gives us clues for what may come in the future. Please weigh in with your thoughts: where do you see "social" going in 2012?

Overnight Facebook Posts Drive More Engagement

September 15, 2011

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Facebook posts made by retail brands during the overnight hours of 8 PM to 7 AM drive 20% more user engagement, in terms of like and comment rates, than posts made between 8 AM and 7 PM, according to a September 2011 report from Buddy Media. However, data from “Strategies for Effective Facebook Wall Posts” indicates 89% of retail brand wall posts are made between 8 AM and 7 PM.

Buddy Media analysis indicates these are “busy hours” for most consumers, when they have less time to visit their Facebook accounts. Buddy Media advises retail brands to use publisher tools to automatically schedule posts during the overnight hours.

Wednesday Best Day for Retail Posts

Fan engagement for Facebook wall posts made by retail brands spikes on Wednesdays and Sundays. In particular, Buddy Media finds wall posts made on Wednesdays have fan engagement 8% above average, followed by Sundays with a fan engagement rate 2% above average. Posts on Saturdays have a fan engagement rate slightly above average.
Conversely, wall posts made on Fridays have the lowest fan engagement of any day of the week (6% below average), followed by Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (about 2% below average each).
Yet retailers spread out their wall posts roughly equally during weekdays, with a slight spike on Thursdays. Far fewer wall posts are made on Saturdays and Sundays, despite their relatively high rates of fan engagement.

1-2 Posts a Day Produces Optimal Engagement

The report indicates that retail brands posting one to times per day have fan engagement rates 40% higher than retail brands posting three times per day or more. Like rates for brands posting one to two times a day are 32% higher than like rates for brands posting three or more times a day, while comment rates are 73% higher.
Buddy Media advises retail brands to focus on quality of posts more than quantity, and to only post more than twice in a day if posts contain exclusive content such as highlights of a sale that changes during the day.

1-4 Posts Per Week Boosts Engagement

The report also finds that Facebook user engagement with a retail brand decreases drastically as the number of posts in a given week rises. Posting one to four times per week produces a user engagement rate 71% higher than that achieved by posting five or more times per week.

ROI Research: Consumers Prefer Infrequent SocNet Communication

The highest percentages of online consumers say products, services and companies should communicate via social networks once a month or less and once a week or less, according to an April 2011 study from ROI Research and Performics. Data from “S-Net: A Study in Social Media Usage and Behavior” indicates 28% of online consumers say social network communication should be conducted once a month or less, while 26% say once a week or less.
Only 3% say more than once a day and 7% say daily. In one piece of good news for brands who communicate via social network, only 4% of online consumers say they should never use this form of communication.
About the Data: Buddy Media analyzed user engagement of Facebook wall posts from nearly 100 global retail brands between January 1 and June 30, 2011.

Quaker Oats Enlists QR Codes, Facebook – and Nick Jonas

Christopher Heine  |  September 14, 2011 

Quaker Oats Company last week kicked off a six-month campaign for its granola bar line that incorporates pop star Nick Jonas, QR codes, Facebook, and online video.
If in-store customers with smart phones scan a QR code on the box of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, they can watch a video message from Jonas on their devices. In the recording, the pop star encourages the consumer by first name to buy the product, while purchasers get a code inside the box that will get them a shareable e-card from him. While the QR code is on the back of the box, the front of the packaging targets mothers with the copy: "Send your kids a custom message from Nick Jonas!"
The box also advertises the opportunity to log onto ChewySuperstar.com/nickgreetz, where consumers can enter an e-card code from the back of the product box and then choose to send people a "Happy Birthday," "Good Luck," or "Congratulations" voice message from Jonas. The messages can be personalized according to recipients' names. The same execution can be attained by "liking" the brand on its Facebook page and entering the e-card code.
The overall effort employs StarGreetz's e-cards and personalization technology. Eric Frankel, CEO of the Santa Monica, CA-based firm, said the system acquires the user's name for the video message personalization by making an API call to Facebook's server. The user must tap an "Allow" button to view the Jonas video, while giving the campaign app permission to access his or her name.
"Social media allows us to develop a strong relationship with our consumers through direct, one-to-one engagement with our fans," stated Nidhin Mattappally, associate marketing manager at Quaker Oats' parent PepsiCo, in an email to ClickZ News. In the campaign, the marketing team "wanted to make sure that we provided a new and unique way that moms could engage with their kids. The customization element of Nick saying your name and delivering a message that was relevant for mom fit well with this goal."

How consumer insight makes or breaks a new brand

By Jack Gordon (AcuPOLL); Bill Vernick and Bob Sukys (BrandMine)
Published by The Wise Marketer in November 2005.
When developing and launching a new product, the brand marketer needs consumer insight to get the market positioning right. So how do you begin the process, and how have others succeeded in the past?
The kind of consumer insight needed when developing a new product or brand is all about what target consumers are saying and thinking, and what truly matters to them. With that kind of insight in hand, we can create a product that fully delivers the benefit highlighted by the insight - and then 'hit a homerun' executionally with advertising, packaging, and marketing that highlights the benefit and sells it in a believable way.
Smart and successful marketing executives know how to juggle all these factors and still end up with a great new product that fulfils the terrific idea you started off with. The key is simple: managing the consumer insight. In other words, you have to keep the insight in sight. By finding and then keeping the insight in focus, it becomes the guide - the pathway to your product's ultimate success in the marketplace. Or to look at it another way, if your product isn't relevant to the target audience, or it goes against the way they think or feel, it won't succeed.
Six steps to follow
There are six ways to set about product development and marketing, and the whole procedure always starts with the insight:

1. Finding and identifying your insight
   The key to finding a big new insight is understanding consumer needs, wants, and how they view and use the category. Trying to "sell the consumer" on your views is seldom successful, but listening to their language and watching their actions will point you straight to terrific new insights. Ask yourself this: what is it about your product (or organisation) that triggers an emotional response stronger than the commodity itself? Once you have possible insights identified, these insights should be objectively and quantifiably tested to determine if they are truly bold, new insights (or just old hat rephrased). This should be done before writing concepts as there is a totally different set of questions necessary to identify the potential of an insight. Only when the insights are determined to truly have ground breaking potential should you proceed to the concept development phase.
    
2. Concept development and screening
   A truly good insight has the ability to be executed in many different ways. If you can develop only one possible concept from an insight, it is simply not an insight. Insights allow for multiple executions - so when you have identified all of these directions, you can develop the concept executions and screen them to find the most compelling (and unique) delivery of your insight.
    
3. Product development and quantification
   Having identified the right concept, developing the product to deliver on the promises of the concept (delivering the insight through product performance) is critical. The product must live up to the promises made in the concept, or your business proposition will fail. At this stage, your concept fulfilment, cannibalisation estimates, and volumetrics can tell you if you have been successful.
    
4. Advertising development and screening
   This stage is too late for the advertising or public relations agency to get involved and start reinterpreting the product's benefits. Good marketing communications should "sell the insight". If the product's unique selling point (USP) is not conveyed properly in the advertising, it's just a waste of money. By engaging the agency in the development process they can aid in guiding the project and will be in a much better position to write copy that's true to the original insight. Working closely at the conceptual stage with the brand research and brand marketing agency is critical, as advertising is not the place for trial and error. Screening multiple campaigns to objectively find the one that does this best is essential as well. Not only should the winning campaign be motivating and unique, it should convey new information, communicate the features and benefits that are most important (that is, the ones that consumers have already indicated they bought into), and it should generate the emotional reaction necessary to get consumers to bond with the brand. Each element is part of a successful advertising testing effort.
    
5. Packaging development and screening
   For many brands, the packaging is the primary (if not the only) advertising consumers will ever see. Packaging development needs to clearly focus on the insight and sell the benefits that come out of it. Like advertising, your packaging agency must understand the insight and not try to reinterpret the product's benefits. Furthermore, multiple packaging options should be considered to find the direction that is most motivating, unique, does the best job of communicating benefits, and leaves consumers with the emotional reaction you want to achieve.
   Out of interest, the brand packaging firm should be brought into the equation early in the process - before final concepts are designed - allowing the packaging firm to offer experience and advice on how to execute the idea efficiently, effectively, and at the best cost level. The best idea, if unable to be executed (or if executed at tremendous cost) is not a bargain!
    
6. Introductory marketing/promotional materials
   These should also be true to the insight. Having focused on this winning consumer insight so long, why risk it by not telling consumers that it's now in their power to buy it? Introduce the product as the breakthrough it is, not just another line extension.

So remember that you owe your insight to the consumer, who should always drive your efforts. If you get off track and the consumers tell you, you must listen. This is the reason you have to keep checking with them, to make sure you have stayed true to their original guidance. Simply listen to consumers, because it's the best way to improve any new product, advertising, marketing, and packaging. Keep an Insight Manager on board to keep all these development efforts focused on the insight and its benefits. Sometimes, depending on your corporate culture, this can be an internal manager, and sometimes it is best accomplished by having an outside agent come in on the project - and that's what Cincinnati-based consulting group Insight Manager does.
Our top ten insights
To finish off, let's take a look at some examples - ten of the best we know of - that worked just they way they should:

1. Folgers Coffee
   Until the "Best Part Of Wakin' Up" came along, we all thought that the ability to brew a good-tasting cup of coffee for our annoyingly picky friends was an effective measure of our self-worth. But then the people at Folgers uncovered a simple, obvious, but nevertheless earth shattering insight: Coffee is mostly about waking up, and we wake up to the smell of the coffee before we even get to take a sip. This insight drove the business from a 17% to 36% market share.
    
2. Oreo Cookies
   How do you increase sales volume for what is already a national institution? Well, the people at Oreo told Americans to "Eat the middle first and save the chocolate cookie outside for last". Was the campaign the actual insight itself? Not quite - the insight was actually that children love what they instinctively discover for themselves: this is simply the best way to eat an Oreo. The clever part is that tens of millions of individual Oreo eaters still think they came up with the idea first, and they love when the adverting reminds them of their apparent genius. This also led the company to create Oreo Double-Stuff for those who just can't get enough of the creamy middle bit. Brilliant!
    
3. Quaker Oatmeal
   Remember Wilford Brimley telling the world that "It's the right thing to do"? (If you're not American, you'll have to take that on trust.) What most people don't know is that insight behind this was that many consumers were being told, "You're doing the wrong thing! You're eating wrong and you're not listening to your doctor - or your mother!" But eating Quaker Oats was as healthy as anything you could eat, it was easy to make, and it was a hallmark of old-fashioned traditional values - a way of finally "getting it right". Furthermore, when someone as honest as Wilford Brimley says it, you know you're doing the right thing. The genius of the choice of spokesperson was that Wilford Brimley = Trustworthy.
    
4. Whiskas Cat Food
   The insight provoking question is this: If you could give your cat US$10 and send him off to the grocery store to buy cat food, what would he bring home? The answer (albeit theoretically) is: Live meat! Now, that insight propelled the Whiskas campaign "Cats would buy Whiskas" into Effie Gold by doubling awareness, getting consumers to try buying it, and setting record sales for the brand in a category that was fast becoming commoditised in the early 1990s. And to bring the notion alive even further, Whiskas featured a "spokesbird" who represented the gold standard for what cats love (the live meat). Hungry cats joyfully devoured Whiskas, ignoring the irreverent bird who stood next to the bowl of cat food extolling the virtues of the brand.
    
5. DeBeers
   When you watch those intriguing Diamond commercials, who are they aiming at? Men or women? Actually, it's both. That's the beauty of this particular insight: The woman thinks: "If he really, really cares for me, he'll give me a diamond," while the man thinks: "If I come home with anything other than a diamond, I'm history." The brilliantly executed "A diamond is forever" campaign will forever be on our top ten insights list.
    
6. Jif Peanut Butter
   How do you maintain market leadership for over 25 years without ever changing your benefit? The answer, in Jif's case, was to find an insight based on a fundamental human value, such as nurturing. Mothers want only the best for their families and they're very picky about what they feed them, so why would they settle for anything less than the peanut butter that tastes most like fresh roasted peanuts? That's why "Choosy Moms Choose Jif". It's an insight that will never stop delivering results.
    
7. California Milk Processor Board
   We've been told about the virtues of drinking milk for a long time: it's wholesome, builds strong bones, and helps to keep us healthy. Yet milk by itself can be a little boring. But pair it with your chocolate chip cookie, your favourite fudge brownie, or your health breakfast, and it becomes the exclamation point to a favourite snack or meal. Without milk, it's just a cookie... So think of how devastating it is when you go to the fridge with your cookie in hand, only to discover there's no milk. That's the insight the brilliant minds at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners came up with when they asked milk drinkers if we were sure that we "Got Milk?".
    
8. Volkswagen Beetle
   Think back to the gas-guzzling giant monsters (many with tailfins!) prowling the highways of 1950s America. Suddenly this small, strange-looking car arrived, getting 50 miles to the gallon (and fuel was US$0.19 per gallon). They told America to "Think Small". But their insight wasn't small at all. It wasn't just the need for a smaller car - there was a sizable group of people who needed to be different and didn't express themselves based on the size of their car. A later variety of this same insight - appealing to individuality against all odds - is Apple's "Think Different" campaign.
    
9. Life Cereal
   If you tell a child that something's good for them, they'll never do it, eat it or listen to you. And so it goes with breakfast cereals. But the child who hates everything that's healthy hungrily devours Life Cereal, which claims "It's s'posed to be good for you". Mothers are told not to tell their kids that Life Cereal is nutritious. It's reverse psychology at it's best: Don't say it's healthy, and they'll defy you and eat it anyway.
    
10. Dannon Yogurt
    In another "must be good for you" story it was noted that many men and women in Soviet Georgia live past the ripe old age of 100. Many of these citizens eat a lot of yogurt and so, because trying to uncover a "fountain of youth" is a fundamental human endeavour, tying a particular habit to longevity tends to make it very attractive to the consumer. The French drink red wine, the Italians use olive oil, and Soviet Georgians eat yogurt. "Just ask Temur Vanacha who has been eating yogurt for 105 years! Stuff must be good!" - and that insight was good for Dannon. Sales grew for 14 years.

Three Ways NFC Technology Will Create a Brand New Form of Social Media Engagement

  Posted September 9, 2011 by George Guildford with 148 reads

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As the number of smartphone users continues to grow at an incredible rate, the challenge facing many retail brands is to continue to find ways of utilising smartphone technologies to effectively connect and engage with consumers. In recent months many retail brands have focused on smartphone features that integrate with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, to not only create something new and unique as part of the consumer journey, but to also take advantage of the fact that through successfully integrating social media with the overall brand experience, the likelihood of fans and customers “sharing” branded content and increasing brand visibilty in the social space is also increased; something that more and more companies are continually striving to achieve across multiple social media and online PR campaigns. Interestingly, something that an increasing number of people are now starting to talk about when looking at the ways smartphones are shaping consumer and brand day-to-day lives, is Near Field Communication technologies (NFC) and the possibilities that they present.
In short, Near Field Communication technology enables smartphone users to gain instant access to digital data from another NFC enabled handset or NFC tag simply by placing or waving their phone next to the NFC tag. Much like scanning a QR code or connecting via Bluetooth, the tag then sends content automatically between the handset and the tag - be it a Foursquare-style check-in at a record store or access to an exclusive in-store promotion. Although at first this may not seem all that different to what we have seen recently with the introduction of QR codes, the possibilities we are seeing for NFC technology are far greater. So much so, that we're not only seeing an increasing number of smartphone brands integrating the technology into their latest handsets, we are also starting to see large named brands such as Google, Visa and MasterCard getting involved at what is a very early stage.
In light of this, below are three reasons as to why we will soon start to see NFC technologies appearing more and more:
1. Real-life Facebook “Likes” – Much like we saw with the recent Diesel “Like” campaign, finding a way to enable consumers in-store to “Like” and share real-life content back onto their Facebook and Twitter pages will surely be invaluable. Up until now “Liking” and sharing on Facebook has remained for the most part an online activity, liking content via Facebook buttons on websites or within Facebook news feeds. By taking this process into the real world, NFC technology will enable users to “Like” and “share” anything they see with an NFC Facebook tag. For example, imagine browsing in a Levi’s store and wanting to tell friends about the latest pair of jeans you are looking to buy, via NFC on your smartphone you will now be able to “Like” the item from within the store and post this onto your Facebook wall. By making it easy for fans and customers to “share” and “like” as part of the in-store browsing experience, the possibilities for brands to extend their reach and visbility into social media are huge. Additionally, there is also the consideration of the impact this could have on social search. For example, the possibility that retailers could introduce a real-life Google+ button for shoppers to +1 items via NFC in-store would ultimately create a whole new side to search engine optimisation, which for the first time gives weight to content outside of the online space.
2. Quick payments – With Google, Visa and Mastercard already closely involved with developing NFC technologies as a brand new form of payment, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that we could be very close to seeing a whole new way of spending and transferring money. The perfect example of this at the moment is with Google’s new Google Wallet, an Android app that works alongside Near Field Communication technology to transform your smartphone into a virtual wallet, storing information and access to multiple accounts all in once place. Eventually, the aim is for your Google Wallet to be able to store all your gift cards, boarding passes, subway tickets, even your car keys. It has even been suggested that payments via NFC could lead to the creation of a whole new type of social media currency, with automatic wall posts created upon purchases and exclusive offers for users sharing check-ins on their own social media profiles. All of which will be accessible automatically simply by waving your NFC enabled smartphone next to an NFC tag.
3. Ease of use – With QR codes, users were required to find and download a QR code reader application and open this application each time they wanted to scan a QR code. Whilst to some smartphone users this was all part of the fun, it certainly hasn't received the levels of mainstream uptake first expected. As is often the case with newer technologies, wherever there are barriers to use there are always going to be questions as to just how many people will make the most of utilising these features as part of their day-to-day lives. However, one of the biggest benefits of NFC technology over QR codes is that with NFC technology the code reader is already inside the phone. There is no requirement to download an app and open this each time - users simply touch their smartphone to the NFC tag and the phone instantly connects with the code automatically. The result of which is instant check-ins, instant access and engagement with current and upcoming in-store promotions, and instant transfer of exclusive digital content such as mp3s, competitions, coupons, videos, and games. We have even seen in some instances, NFC technologies being used at subway stations to access subway maps, timetables, purchase digital tickets and even transforming the smartphone into the ticket scanned to access the subway station.
Although we are still very much in the early development stages with the use of this kind of technology, as the number of smartphones with NFC enabled technology continues to grow as well as the number of credit card companies jumping on board, it is surely only a matter of time before we start to see more and more people using their smartphones to pay for their morning coffee. Similarly to QR codes and location-based services, much of the success of NFC technology will depend on the adoption of big-name brands to not only raise consumer awareness but to ensure that the benefits for customers to use NFC as part of their browsing experience are unique, rewarding, relevant and appealing. Additionally, those brands working alongside a creative tech PR agency that are able to effectively integrate NFC smartphone technologies into their overall social media and marketing campaigns will almost certainly be at the forefront of a whole new type of real-world social media engagement. 

Digital Storytelling: 30+ Social Tools to Create Sharable, Memorable Stories

Tags: BehaviorBest PracticesContentEngagementSocial Media

comments     Posted August 16, 2011 by Heather Whaling with 148 reads

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How often do we see companies leverage social media for generic asks: “Follow us on Twitter,” “Support our cause,” “Like us on Facebook.” But, why? How does having Brand X in my online world benefit me?
One core tenant of effective public relations is storytelling — getting beyond facts and figures to communicate value, impact, need. Social media isn’t just about amassing a large network. Rather, this idea of “humanizing” a brand can spark meaningful action.
Instead of simply asking someone to connect online, organizations should use social media to convey meaning and context. Offer compelling reasons to follow, support, endorse, review, interact or take some other “next step.” As PR pros, that’s where our storytelling instincts should kick in.
Beyond Facebook and Twitter, what storytelling tools are available — and affordable? Here are 30+ of my favorite “Storytelling 2.0″ tools to explore:
Combining Multimedia

• Pitchengine


• Storify

Video

• YouTube


• Vimeo (think interviews with the people impacted by your organization, videos that visually show the impact of your group. Put your journalist hat on and think about how to package a story.)


• UStream (can you live-stream an event or a conference? What about live video chats?)


• Tout (15 second video status updates)

Audio

• Podcasts


• Blog Talk Radio


• Cinch

Mobile Photo-Sharing

• Instagram


• Picplz


• Flickr


• Animoto


• Tweegram (tweets for Instagram)

Citizen Journalism

• CNN iReport


• CBS EyeMobile


• Yahoo You Witness News

Blogging

• Tumblr


• Posterous


• WordPress

Group Texting

• GroupMe


• Beluga (recently acquired by Facebook)

Location-Based Services

• Whrrl


• Foursquare


• Gowalla


• Foodspotting


• Yelp

Some other tools to consider:

• QR Codes


• Slideshare


• Scribd


• Infographics (these are all the rage … for a good reason. Visually appealing, effective method for conveying data.)


• Mobile apps


• Google+


• Email (Seriously … it’s not dead. Don’t overlook it.)

7 Twitter Tools To Get More Engagement

Tags: ExclusiveSocial MediaSocial MonitoringSocial NetworksStrategyStreamingToolsTwitter

comment     Posted August 16, 2011 by Leo Widrich with 671 reads

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Despite the advance of a lot of other Social Networks entering the scene recently, particularly Google+, Heello or Subjot, Twitter's stickiness is still very prominent and growing fast.

Especially, the recent changes made to Twitter point to a very bright future. The activity stream in addition with the @username tab make the Twitter experience much more interactive I believe.

Twitter's eco-system continues to thrive and Twitter announced recently that there are over 1 million Apps connected to the Twitter API. Most of these Apps greatly enhance our Twitter experience and here are my top 7 Tools to get more out of Twitter.

1.) Buffer – Get 200% more clicks on Tweets 

It often happens that I read great posts late at night or early in the morning. Tweeting them then often puts my efforts to waste and no one sees my updates. By adding everything I find to Buffer, the App posts them at optimal times well spaced out over the day. Through optimal timing and higher frequency Buffer gives you over 200% more clicks, retweets and reach than non-buffered Tweets.

Top Tip: What I like best is that you can Buffer tweets right from the article you are reading with browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari. 

2.) InboxQ – Speak to the right people on Twitter

A tool I only discovered recently is called InboxQ. Trying to connect and get hold of the people that matter for your particular niche is key if you want to work efficiently on Twitter I found. Although directories already do a good job, InboxQ takes this to a new level. You can set up terms included by anyone asking questions on Twitter. Then jump in and answer them from within InboxQ.

Top Tip: Via the Chrome extension you can dip in to answer questions whenever and wherever you are. It is a great way to build new connections with relevant people.

 

3.) Twylah – Customized brand pages

Another App that has greatly transformed how I use Twitter is called Twylah. The App takes your Twitter content and turns it into a beautiful page for your followers to browse through. It is neatly ordered by topics most relevant to your Tweets and allows you to capitalize much more on the content you put out via Twitter. On top of all this you can add a little ad on the bottom right to guide people through to your product or service.

Top Tip: There is a great feature coming with Twylah called “Power Tweet”. This will create a special site on your Twylah allowing you to keep visitors engaged up to 4 times longer with your content.

 

4.) TweetBeep – Who is talking about you?

Although it might appear rather basic at first Twilert can change the way you are able to respond and give customer support via Twitter. You can set up search terms related to your brand or niche and every day the App will send you a set of alerts relating to it. It helped me greatly to find out who is talking about me and help people out with questions and support. I like to see this as a Google Alerts for Twitter.

Top Tip: I particularly like the sentiment analysis you can put in place so the quality of your alerts increases significantly.

  

5.) Rapportive – Learn about Tweets right in your email

A productivity tool that has helped me greatly to get more out of Twitter is Rapportive. If you install the Chrome extension, you are able to see a new column next to each email giving you detailed information about the persons activity on Social Networks. You can immediately get a peak of past Tweets and get a better feel of how to phrase your emails.

Top Tip: You can even go ahead and reply to Tweets right form inside Gmail to make your communication process more seamless.

  

6.) Commun.it – Who is in your Twitter network?

Another Tool that makes Tweeting way more worthwhile for me is Commun.it. The app analyses the people you follow and buckets them according to influencers, top members and many more interesting details. You can then go ahead and strategically interact with those that add most value to your Twitter network.

Top Tip: What I like best is that you are able to filter through people mentioning your brand. You can follow and interacti with them right from inside the App. 

  

7.) Formulists – List building made simple

The last App I want you to introduce to is called Formulists. As one of my top Twitter Mentors @MQTodd uses to say: "Being on Twitter without creating lists, is like building your Twitter presence in sand." Making an effort to focus on list building is key. With Formulists you can automatically set up lists whenever someone retweets, follows or @mentions you.

Top Tip: The App makes it very easy for you to have your lists available no matter where you are. Set up list columns in TweetDeck or HootSuite and the corresponding lists will automatically appear.

These are my top 7 tools to make the most of Twitter and using them regularly saves me time and effort. Most importantly it increases my impact tremendously and I can focus on genuine engagement with new people.