Our official entry into the social media explained with, craze.   We think it’s best explained over a cold beer.

Brands have a great opportunity to close the consumer engagement gap via social media.   Brands are spending millions of dollars to reach consumers via traditional outbound marketing while many customers are already knocking at their door.  Great survey.

Via WARC LONDON: Marketers in the UK are failing to engage consumers making comments about their brands on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, new research has revealed.

Marketing Week, the trade title, and Maritz Research, the insights provider, polled 1,000 adults, 81% of which had uploaded opinions about goods specific and services on the web. A further 77% expected to do so in the future.

Some 85% of the participants who had entered comments on the net concerning a brand did not receive a reply. In all, 47% would be “happy” to hear back from a business in such a way, and 32% would “love” this kind of response.

“The large percentage of people who had never been contacted after posting a complaint is a real example of where companies are missing a trick,” said Maya Robert, content editor and social media manager at uSwitch, the price comparison website.

When discussing the 15% of consumers who had received a message from a brand, 32% “loved” it and 47% ranked their engagement simply as being “OK”.

“I think we will always be surprised by how much people want you to be visible and step in and give help,” said Stuart Handley, EMEA director of communication for Dell, the IT group.

Nearly half of the panel had utilised social media to air their views relating of companies, with 24% providing favourable feedback in this way and 23.5% “venting feeling” to friends and family.

For 14% of interviewees, this medium had been a “last resort”, and 8% opted for such an approach in anticipation of achieving a rapid reply from the organisation involved.

Overall, 74% of contributors who had mentioned brands on Facebook generally adopted a positive tone and 26% complained, figures hitting 17% and 5% respectively for Twitter, and falling to 10% and 2% for YouTube.

Among those shoppers making remarks about goods and services online, 58% would have a “higher opinion” of corporations that responded, the analysis added.

When complaining, 74% of customers were seeking an apology, 39% sought offers or vouchers, 34% wished to be thanked by a firm and 29% hoped to gain financial compensation.

“More than 90% of the incoming traffic on our social media channels is customer-related comments or issues,” said Jakub Hrabovsky, head of web relations and social media at Vodafone, the telco. “The vast majority just want a solution and don’t care whether you apologise or offer them compensation.”

Data sourced from Marketing Week; additional content by Warc staff, 2 April 2012

contact ApolloBravo for consumer engagement strategies.

via Warc.com NEW YORK: Companies making the most effective use of digital media typically adopt a distinct set of strategies in areas like mobile, social networking and data analytics, a study has argued.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the advisory group, polled 489 US firms with annual sales of over $500m, and identified a selection of “top performers” boasting the strongest revenues, growth, margins and innovation credentials.

It revealed that 50% of these leading players planned to spend a minimum of $1m on building mobile tools for their customers to use in 2012. The same was true of just 29% of other enterprises.

Moreover, 66% of the premier digital businesses described their interaction with consumers on mobile devices as “quite or very significant”, measured against 45% of all the corporations assessed

A 30% share of “top performers” deployed social networks to reach shoppers, versus 37% of firms not attaining such a status. But while 41% of the former group yielded “significant benefits” from this tactic, a smaller 24% of “the rest” said the same.

“Interestingly, though, there seems to be little connection between use of social media for external communications and actual commercial success,” PwC study stated.

“We have found that the organisations that achieve solid results from their social media efforts are those that use it not only as an outreach platform but “also as a method to listen and engage.”

By contrast, the companies enjoying the most impressive returns are making greater usage of social media internally, and 36% should spend at least $1m on this channel in 2012, standing at 22% for “the rest”.

Similarly, although 56% of the entire panel intend to collect more consumer data in the next year, this rises to 66% for “top performers”. Exactly 50% of the best organisations will exploit such insights for R&D, falling to 28% elsewhere.

Some 89% of top performers also agreed their company had a strategy in place that was likely to succeed, and 86% said their CEO actively championed new technology to achieve success. This beat average scores of 68% and 60% in turn.

More specifically, 63% of the highest-ranking operators believed that their chief information officer and chief marketing officer had a “strong” or “very strong” relationship, a total that fell to 42% of all featured corporations.

“Leading firms … understand that being behind the curve on the strategic use of technology not only puts their firms at a competitive disadvantage, but weakens their ability to interact and strengthen relationships with customers,” PwC said.

Data sourced from PricewaterhouseCoopers; additional content by Warc staff, 3 February 2012

This is a great info-graphic visualizing how inbound marketing stacks up against traditional outbound marketing. We call  inbound marketing, consumer engagement primarily because we see it as two-way communication where marketers provide value and are rewarded. See more about inbound marketing and our consumer engagement services here

Via Mashable

Thanks to the Internet, marketing has evolved over the years. Consumers no longer rely on billboards and TV spots — a.k.a. outbound marketing — to learn about new products, because the web has empowered them. It’s given them alternative methods for finding, buying and researching brands and products. The new marketing communication — inbound marketing — has become a two-way dialogue, much of which is facilitated by social media.

Another reason why inbound marketing is winning is because it costs less than traditional marketing. Why try to buy your way in when consumers aren’t even paying attention? Here are some stats from the infographic below.

• 44% of direct mail is never opened. That’s a waste of time, postage and paper.
• 86% of people skip through television commercials.
• 84% of 25 to 34 year olds have clicked out of a website because of an “irrelevant or intrusive ad.”
• The cost per lead in outbound marketing is more than for inbound marketing.

Inbound marketing focuses on earning, not buying, a person’s attention, which is done through social media and engaging content, such as blogs, podcasts and white papers. This content is interesting, informative and adds value, creating a positive connection in the eyes of the consumer, thus making him more likely to engage your brand and buy the product. So it costs less and has better a ROI.

This infographic from Voltier Digital highlights the differences between the two kinds of marketing. Let us know your opinions in the comments below.

The rise in tablet ownership is growing faster than most industry analysts predicted. This includes smaller tablets like the galaxy tab and the new smaller Kindle from Amazon. Companies need to re-examine how their websites, micro-sites and  product specific landing pages will appear on these devices as well as smartphones. Reach out to ApolloBravo for a free mobile readiness evaluation.

via WARC 

NEW YORK: Nearly a fifth of consumers in China, the UK and US now own a tablet, up from less than 5% late last year, according to a new report.

Citigroup, the financial services provider, surveyed 1,800 people in these three nations, and found the proportion of respondents possessing slate devices had grown from 3% to 18% since November 2010.

Penetration has reached 21% in China, ahead of 17% for Britain and America. Similarly, 26% of the Chinese sample were “very likely” to purchase a tablet, falling to 12% for both the UK and US.

Citigroup’s analysis revealed 31% of its panel were at least somewhat keen to buy such a gadget, versus 14% late last year. In all, 77% of this group would like to obtain an iPad, climbing from 73% in the same period.

Alternatives powered by Microsoft Windows witnessed a slide from 52% to 40%, and equivalents utilising Google’s Android operating system enjoyed a two-percentage point gain, to 38%.

Price remained the “primary inhibitor” to greater uptake, mentioned by 39% of adults questioned, although a “lack of functionality” when compared with PCs was another common factor.

A 62% share of tablet owners saw it as a “toy/gadget”, growing from 44% in 2010. Meanwhile, 18% had acquired one for work, a lift from 13%, while giving someone the device as a gift logged 18%, down from 27%.

Overall, 94% of iPad owners have downloaded apps, with 63% accessing 11 or more such tools, totals standing at 79% and 37% in turn for individuals using competing products.

Thus far, 81% of the iPad population have paid for applications, measured against just 43% of customers for rival brands. Equally, iPad users had paid for 39% of apps, declining to 22% for users of other slates.

Data from the US and UK showed 67% of the tablet audience surf the web via this route, with 55% sending email and instant messages, 31% reading ebooks, 33% social networking and 17% playing games.

Looking forward, the number of people expecting to log on to social networks in this way fell to 29%, with gaming also sliding to 14%, but both pastimes are likely to see rising interest.

Elsewhere, the study reported that laptop ownership rates had climbed from 62% to 81% since November 2010, figures hitting 28% and 59% respectively for smartphones. 

Data sourced from PC Mag, Barron’s, AllThingsD; additional content b Warc staff, 28 September 2011 

As brands scramble to adapt to the rapid rollout of QR codes by retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Home Depot it’s important to understand both the user and the retailer experience. By year-end wireless industry watchers expect nearly 20% of mobile phones to have some type of QR code reader. Which leads to the question, ” what about the other 80% of users”. We believe that integrating QR codes into short code keyword campaigns solves this problem and also gives users a quick and easy way to download a reader if they don’t have one.  Another  important aspect of QR codes is the destination, making sure users have a good experience on their mobile device. This means building sites that automatically redirect when a QR code is scanned. It is not a good idea to send a mobile user to a traditional website as it will not be a great experience.

Take a look at our ShortQR code below and notice you can reach our site by texting or scanning the code. You’ll also notice that your phone will redirect to a mobile version of our website www.apollobravo.com .  Feel free to contact us for more information on how we can quickly integrate QR codes, short codes and mobile optimization into your next campaign.

Read more on the QR code revolution from warc.com

NEW YORK: Companies like Home Depot, Starbucks and Macy’s are using QR codes to engage shoppers.

Home Depot, the DIY chain, first used these tools in advertising and bricks and mortar stores earlier this year, a move it expects to gain popularity across the industry.

QR codes are images that can be scanned by smartphones to find out information about goods and services.

The Home Depot material made available to people “snapping” a relevant symbol included “how-to” guides and suggestions discussing different aspects of home improvement.

“This is where other large retailers are heading,” Tom Sweeney, Home Depot’s senior director for online strategy, told the Los Angeles Times.

“We wanted to make sure we were in line with the retail world. It’s definitely coming into its own and becoming a more prevalent way for retailers to connect broadly and engage with customers.”

Colin Gibbs, an analyst at GigaOm Pro, the research firm, equally believes enthusiasm for such tactics was noticeably growing among brands.

“Advertisers are regarding them as the hottest new tool of mobile advertising,” he said.

“They love QRs because they’re cheap and easy to deploy, and you can put them anywhere from print ads to the back of stadium seats.”

Last month, Starbucks rolled out a “scavenger hunt” linked to a tie-up with singer Lady Gaga, and involving solving puzzles on the web.

Access to this game was secured by activating QR codes in the company’s stores, thus integrating the digital and physical spaces.

Running over several stages from May 23 to June 3, this initiative sought to encourage social interaction between participants.

“We wanted to make it so that there’s things to talk about and share,” said Matthew Guiste, Starbucks’ director of global social media.

Department store chain Macy’s unveiled a similar programme, “Backstage Pass”, in February, offering 30-second films containing fashion hints and tips.

Users could also watch longer-form content starring founders and representatives of various brands, like Martha Stewart and Tommy Hilfiger, as well as influential bloggers.

In order to educate customers, large signs were displayed in stores presenting guidance about how QR codes worked.

Martine Reardon, Macy’s executive vice president, marketing, asserted this approach yields a variety of potential benefits.

“[This] is an exciting evolution that brings our stable of fashion experts and designers directly to the customer while they’re shopping in our store, through their hand-held mobile devices,” she said.

“By providing fun and informative video features … we are connecting and engaging our customer in a personal way that enhances and adds a new element to their shopping experience.”

Research firm Forrester revealed last year that just 1% of all mobile subscribers – and 5% of the smartphone audience – had interacted with QR codes.

However, it reported 25% of people with a handset powered by Google Android, and 7% of their iPhone counterparts, interacted in this way during the three months prior to the study.

Alongside driving awareness, concerns related to privacy, a worry covering many elements of the digital sector, also need to be addressed.

“Theoretically, over time companies can build up their database and amass a collection of information that leads to a profile of who I am and what I buy,” said Julie Ask, an analyst at Forrester.

Data sourced from Los Angeles Times/Mashable; additional content by Warc staff, 13 June 2011

We found it interesting that politicians are up in arms about Apple and Google smart phones tracking location data. Carriers have been doing this for years as part of their service well before the iPhone or android phones were introduced.

Folks on Capitol Hill are probably very concerned that anyone knows their location at any time.  Sounds like a great opportunity for a company to introduce some sort of blackbox phone or app that blocks carrier data tracking.

I am sure they would get a lot of customers in DC.

See original article from 2009 here. You can watch actual tracking in the video. http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention

Tell-all telephone

Green party politician Malte Spitz sued to have German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom hand over six months of his phone data that he then made available to ZEIT ONLINE. We combined this geolocation data with information relating to his life as a politician, such as Twitter feeds, blog entries and websites, all of which is all freely available on the internet.

By pushing the play button, you will set off on a trip through Malte Spitz’s life. The speed controller allows you to adjust how fast you travel, the pause button will let you stop at interesting points. In addition, a calendar at the bottom shows when he was in a particular location and can be used to jump to a specific time period. Each column corresponds to one day.

From Warc.com  results from latest MMA study.

NEW YORK: A majority of brand owners are planning to increase their mobile marketing activity this year, a study has found.

Trade bodies the Association of National Advertisers and Mobile Marketing Association surveyed senior executives, mostly drawn from the ANA’s membership – and found that 88% of the panel intended to follow such a route.

Interviews were then conducted with 97 client-side marketers that had expressed a desire to make enhanced use of this channel in 2011.

The report also found 62% of the panel had used the medium last year, alongside 26% expecting to run their first initiatives.

To date, 71% of corporations had afforded responsibility for this discipline to an existing in-house unit – generally digital marketing teams – while 19% assigned these duties to a newly-created group.

Regarding budgets, 75% of participants projected expenditure levels on behalf of their brands would climb by an average of 59%.

At present, contributors already boasting a mobile presence had collectively adopted around 12 different formats to promote products.

The top five – deployed by at least half of the featured firms – were mobile websites, apps, SMS, display ads and search.

Among the main advantages of embracing this form of communications were portable web access, and the capacity to deliver content and deals to consumers on the move.

Furthermore, it was argued to offer convenience in terms of providing immediate customer and sales support, and help build loyalty. However, only 25% of executives stated their previous mobile efforts had performed “extremely” or “very” well, and another 53% described these programmes as “somewhat” successful.

The characteristics demonstrated by the most effective marketers included a longer history of using mobile, utilising a larger number of individual platforms and pursuing an integrated strategy.Establishing meaningful measurement tools and employing a wide variety of monitoring techniques also typically yielded stronger results.

Similarly, the absence of metrics to properly allocate mobile within the media mix and an ability to prove ROI were named as two primary obstacles to greater uptake.

A lack of understanding on the part of key colleagues had also slowed this process, the ANA/MMA research revealed.
“Mobile is clearly a fast-growing platform for marketers, but it has yet to attain its full potential,” said Bob Liodice, the ANA’s president/ceo.

“With the anticipated increase in adoption this year, we expect to see fresh, innovative approaches, increased brand-building success, and better accountability for this exciting channel.” Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola was praised by respondents for its mobile advertising, and retailer Target received accolades having combined the mobile web with reward programmes and a “wish list”.

Data sourced from MMA; additional content by Warc staff, 2 February 2011 http://goo.gl/4nMdh

Contact ApolloBravo for a free mobile marketing readiness evaluation. 703-548-3400