Mobile Marketers Most Interested in Apps, Barcodes

Mobile Marketers Most Interested in Apps, Barcodes

Mobile apps (43%) and mobile barcodes (41%) rank highest as mobile marketing strategies companies would be interested in deploying in the next 12 months, according to [pdf] a December 2011 survey from AT&T. Data from the survey indicates that banner ads (40%) follow closely as a potential strategy, with mobile web (35%) and SMS messages (34%) not far behind and digital signage (17%) appearing the least desired.

According to a November 2011 study from the e-tailing group, sponsored by Bronto, SMS marketing tactics are far less likely to be used by marketers than other mobile capabilities such as mobile commerce sites and mobile applications. Just 14% of marketers currently collect SMS opt-in from customers in all channels, while only 7% text to send out marketing messages, and 6% text to send out transactional support messages such as confirmations and order status. Between one-quarter and one-third of respondents plan to employ these capabilities in the next 12 months.

By contrast, 29% of respondents said they currently use a mobile commerce site, with a further 42% planning to employ one in the next year. 19% reported currently employing a mobile application, with 27% more planning use in the next year.

Mobile Programs To Increase

88% of respondents to the AT&T survey expect their mobile marketing program to increase in the next 12 months, while 52% reporting use of mobile marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy. Of those who do not currently have a mobile marketing strategy, more than half plan to implement one in 2012. Meanwhile, of those who do use a strategy, 51% say they are still trialing mobile marketing, while 46% say it is an integral aspect of select marketing initiatives.

Consumer Demand Will Determine Barcode Adoption

87% of marketers say that consumer demand is an important or very important criterion for them to increase their use of mobile barcodes, followed closely by the proportion who cite cost structure (84%) and security (83%). Perhaps marketers should look to mothers first for demand: according to a November 2011 joint study between BabyCenter and comScore, just 4% of mothers say they would not use a QR code, compared to 19% of the general population.

Overall, two-thirds of marketers responding to the AT&T survey agree that mobile barcodes will drive innovation in mobile marketing in the next year. 44% of respondents believe barcodes can help brands engage with customers, while one-third believe they can increase awareness of products and services.

Facebook rolls out Timeline feature

Facebook has officially started rolling out its new Timeline feature that will enable users to show off the most important moments of their lives on their profile page.

The new feature, which was unveiled in early September, will first be introduced in New Zealand before it is rolled out to other countries, the company revealed on its Facebook blog today.

Facebook said Timeline would keep important life events on profile pages while less-important posts would drop off .

"Now you can share photos of what you did last weekend, and updates about how you feel today," the company said in a previous blog post.

"But since the focus is on the most recent things you posted, more important stuff slips off the page. The photos of your graduation get replaced by updates about what you had for breakfast."

The new feature will allow users to choose which life events, such as birthdays or weddings, are permanently illustrated on their profile.

Timeline raised privacy concerns in its development stage, after it was revealed it would be visible on the Timeline when you "unfriended" certain people, social media website Mashable reports.

Facebook said this was a glitch that had since been corrected.

Story: www.ninemsn.com.au

Internet a 'surveillance machine'

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has blasted the mainstream media, Washington, banks and the internet itself as he addressed journalists in Hong Kong via videolink from house arrest in England.

Fresh from accepting a Walkley award for journalism on Sunday, Assange spoke to the News World Summit in Hong Kong on Monday before keeping a regular appointment with the police.

He defended his right to call himself a journalist and said WikiLeaks' next 'battle' would be to ensure that the internet does not turn into a vast surveillance tool for governments and corporations.

'Of course I'm a goddamn journalist,' he responded with affected frustration when a moderator of the conference asked if he was a member of the profession.

He said his written record spoke for itself and argued that the only reason people kept asking him if he was a journalist was because the United States government wanted to silence him.

'The United States government does not want legal protection for us,' he said, referring to a US Justice Department investigation into his whistleblower website for releasing secret diplomatic and military documents.

The former hacker criticised journalists and the mainstream media for becoming too cosy with the powerful and secretive organisations they were supposed to be holding to account.

In a 40-minute address, he also accused credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard of illegally cutting WikiLeaks off from funding under a secret deal with the White House.

'Issues that should be decided in open court are being decided in back rooms in Washington,' he said.

The internet itself had become 'the most significant surveillance machine that we have ever seen', Assange said in reference to the amount of information people give about themselves online.

'It's not an age of transparency at all ... the amount of secret information is more than ever before,' he said, adding that information flows in but is not flowing out of governments and other powerful organisations.

'I see that really is our big battle. The technology gives and the technology takes away,' he added.

The anti-secrecy activist then held up a handwritten sign from an aide telling him to 'stop' talking or he would be late for a mandatory appointment with police.

Assange, 40, is under house arrest in England pending the outcome of a Swedish extradition request over claims of rape and sexual assault made by two women. He says he is the victim of a smear campaign.

How Blogs Influence Purchases and Recommendations

Bloggers comment on brands and post to social media, expanding reach

Bloggers, from hobbyists to professionals, often write about brands, and their growing influence should make brand representatives continually evaluate the relationships they have with these bloggers.

Most bloggers write about brands in some way or another. According to the “State of the Blogosphere 2011” report from blog directory website Technorati, 38% of all bloggers post about brands that they love or hate and 34% write product or service reviews. Professional full-time bloggers or part-time professional bloggers who write as a way to supplement their income are more likely to blog about brands than their hobbyist, corporate or entrepreneur counterparts.

Bloggers are increasing in their influence over readers and other bloggers. Last year’s Technorati “State of the Blogosphere” reported that 29% of bloggers are influenced by other blogs they read. This year, that number jumped to 68%.

As bloggers gain influence and write about brands, the relationships between blog writers and brand representatives are important for companies to focus on. Most bloggers have a good relationship with brand representatives. Nearly half of all bloggers (49%) characterized their interactions with such representatives as somewhat or very favorable. Only 3% said their interactions were not at all favorable. However, 40% of all bloggers said they didn’t know how to characterize their interactions with brand representatives.

This large group of unsure respondents could have mixed feelings about the communications they receive from these brand representatives, affecting their relationships with the reps and their brands. Of all bloggers, 17% said brand representatives had asked for things that would compromise the credibility or content standards of the blog. This is roughly the same percentage of those that said the representatives were knowledgeable about their blogs and content (14%), are genuinely interested in building a relationship (16%) and provide information that has value for readers (23%).

As bloggers continue to grow in influence, their coverage of brands and their interactions with brands’ products, services and employees will be of greater interest to companies. Brand representatives who connect with bloggers must be sure to work with these writers to keep the relationships thriving.

Study: Half of all social media campaigns fall flat

Before you launch your next big social media campaign, you may want to ask: Is anybody really listening?

A new TNS report reveals that as many as half of all social media marketing campaigns are going unnoticed.

Matthew Froggatt, the company’s chief development officer, says in a press release that 57 percent of consumers in developed markets do not want to engage with brands in the social sphere. The number is as high as 60 percent in the U.S., while 61 percent in the U.K.

TNS’s Digital Life study drew on findings from 72,000 consumers in 60 countries. It also revealed that 54 percent of people admit that social networks are a good place to learn about products.

Fear not—there’s hope for us yet.

Froggatt has advice for social media marketers:

“The key is to understand your target audience and what they want from your brand — social networks aren’t always the right approach. If consumers in one market don’t want to be talked to, can you use an alternative online method — creating owned digital media platforms, targeted sponsorship or search campaigns — to engage in an appropriate way that will achieve business results without adding to the digital waste pile?”

Story source: www.prdaily.com

How Well Do Companies Respond to Customer Complaints?

Many marketers still ignoring dissatisfied customers on social media

Marketers are well aware that social media is a double-edged sword when it comes to word-of-mouth. Not only does it give rave reviews and glowing recommendations a chance to be seen by millions, but it also does the same for negative feedback. How to best deal with negative buzz online is a perennial question.

Some companies are confident that their customers use sites like Facebook and Twitter to complain about them, according to a September 2011 survey by feedback management software provider MarketTools. But nearly half of companies surveyed think their customers don't comment or complain about their products and services online, and almost a quarter did not know whether their customers did so or not.

While it's possible that some business-to-business companies really don’t have to worry much about customers turning to Twitter to vent their frustration, for consumer-facing firms, the probability seems high, raising the question as to whether executives are aware enough of online complaints.

MarketTools also found that while a sizeable number of marketers respond to customer complaints on Facebook or Twitter at least some of the time, many leave questions and negative feedback completely unanswered. On Twitter, 29% said they responded to such feedback seldom or never, while 17% said the same of Facebook.

Consumers may not be happy with this frequency of response. Research tends to show that social media users want businesses to answer them, and that an interaction with a company representative online can defuse negative feedback sometimes simply by offering attention.

Top 5 Social Media Scams

We’re wired to be social creatures, and sites like Twitter and Facebook have capitalized on this to great success. According to its COO Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook draws 175 million logins every day.

But with this tremendous popularity comes a dark side as well. Virus writers and other cybercriminals go where the numbers are -- and that includes popular social media sites. To help you avoid a con or viral infection, we’ve put together this list of the top five social media scams.

5. Chain Letters
You’ve likely seen this one before -- the dreaded chain letter has returned. It may appear in the form of, "Retweet this and Bill Gates will donate $5 million to charity!" But hold on, let’s think about this. Bill Gates already does a lot for charity. Why would he wait for something like this to take action? Answer: He wouldn’t. Both the cause and claim are fake.

So why would someone post this? Good question. It could be some prankster looking for a laugh, or a spammer needing "friends" to hit up later. Many well-meaning people pass these fake claims onto others. Break the chain and inform them of the likely ruse.

4. Cash Grabs
By their very nature, social media sites make it easy for us to stay in touch with friends, while reaching out to meet new ones. But how well do you really know these new acquaintances? That person with the attractive profile picture who just friended you -- and suddenly needs money -- is probably some cybercriminal looking for easy cash. Think twice before acting. In fact, the same advice applies even if you know the person.

Picture this: You just received an urgent request from one of your real friends who "lost his wallet on vacation and needs some cash to get home." So, being the helpful person you are, you send some money right away, per his instructions. But there’s a problem: Your friend never sent this request. In fact, he isn’t even aware of it. His malware-infected computer grabbed all of his contacts and forwarded the bogus email to everyone, waiting to see who would bite.

Again, think before acting. Call your friend. Inform him of the request and see if it's true. Next, make sure your computer isn't infected as well.

3. Hidden Charges
"What type of STAR WARS character are you? Find out with our quiz! All of your friends have taken it!" Hmm, this sounds interesting, so you enter your info and cell number, as instructed. After a few minutes, a text turns up. It turns out you’re more Yoda than Darth Vader. Well, that’s interesting … but not as much as your next month’s cell bill will be. You’ve also just unwittingly subscribed to some dubious service that charges $9.95 every month.

As it turns out, that "free, fun service" is neither. Be wary of these bait-and-switch games. They tend to thrive on social sites.

2. Phishing Requests
"Somebody just put up these pictures of you drunk at this wild party! Check 'em out here!" Huh? Let me see that! Immediately, you click on the enclosed link, which takes you to your Twitter or Facebook login page. There, you enter your account info -- and a cybercriminal now has your password, along with total control of your account.

How did this happen? Both the email and landing page were fake. That link you clicked took you to a page that only looked like your intended social site. It's called phishing, and you've just been had. To prevent this, make sure your Internet security includes antiphishing defenses. Many freeware programs don't include this essential protection.

1. Hidden URLs
Beware of blindly clicking on shortened URLs. You'll see them everywhere on Twitter, but you never know where you're going to go since the URL ("Uniform Resource Locator," the Web address) hides the full location. Clicking on such a link could direct you to your intended site, or one that installs all sorts of malware on your computer.

URL shorteners can be quite useful. Just be aware of their potential pitfalls and make sure you have real-time protection against spyware and viruses.

Bottom line: Sites that attract a significant number of visitors are going to lure in a criminal element, too. If you take security precautions ahead of time, such as using antivirus and anti-spyware protection, you can defend yourself against these dangers and surf with confidence.

Copyright (c) 2010 Studio One Networks. All rights reserved.

Source: Norton Anti Virus