A great tool for brainstorming
May 10, 2013 Mobile, Social Leave a comment
We’ve been looking for something like Trello for a long time. Trello Is promoted as a project management system. As a digital marketing agency we’ve got that down. What was really missing was a global collaborative space to share ideas and brainstorm. At the core of Trello are cards that are used to share and organize ideas. People can collaborate using tablets, smart phones and traditional browsers. This is ideal when trying to brainstorm with folks in different locations and time zones. People can also vote and share ideas outside of the group. As more of the best creative’s in the business ditch their commute and learn how to work from home apps like Trello become very valuable. Think of it as a digital whiteboard that doesn’t end up a scribbled mess, or have the words “do not erase”, scrawled above it. I’ll let you know how it goes.
More here https://trello.com/
Recent poll : 71% of consumers would consider using a mobile coupon on a date!
April 30, 2013 Mobile, Social Leave a comment
When my wife and were saving for a first home I remember going through a phase where I printed out coupons for free entrées in local restaurants. These coupons and other discounts like the entertainment card would always raise eyebrows with the wait staff. It was especially fun when your coupon was rejected and had to be returned to you. ” Sorry sir this is only for our Plattsburgh location, you will need to pay the entire check” . After a while I gave up on them as I am sure many restaurant goers did. But now as I pull out my iPhone 5 redeem a 50% off Groupon at a nice local seafood place it just feels a lot like handing them your American Express card. In fact American Express has even built in some offers with foursquare. Waitstaff response “that’s cool”.
Our recent recession combined with rapid acceptance of smart phones has really changed this whole process from something very difficult to something so easy so that it’s just second nature for many people now. In fact a recent study has shown that only 9% of consumers believe using a coupon would label someone as “cheap”. So here’s the big number – 
71% would consider utilizing a coupon on a date and not attempt to hide it! However I would most likely not recommend this on first dates. see study below via Warc
US consumers rely on coupons
AUSTIN: Consumers in the US are spending less on meals at restaurants, new clothes and higher-priced groceries than five years ago, while relying more on discounts and coupons, a survey has found.
RetailMeNot, a digital coupon site, polled 1,101 consumers online for the financial literacy edition of its Shoppers Trend Report and found that more were actively saving money than before.
“Consumers are emerging from the Recession of 2008 having learned a valuable lesson, that saving money is a good thing,” said Trae Bodge, senior editor for RetailMeNot.
“Today’s consumers have higher expectations for what they can do with their hard-earned paychecks,” he added. “They also want more for their money and are willing to take the necessary steps to ensure that they get it.”
Significant proportions of respondents had reduced their outlay on meals at restaurants (49%), expensive groceries (44%) and new apparel (46%).
At the same time, 51% of consumers who used coupons stated they used them more today than five years ago, while 37% said they used them more than a year ago.
Economic factors were the main reason for the increased usage of coupons, either because respondents’ personal finances had declined (43%) or because the recession had made them more conscious about the importance of saving (31%).
But 23% indicated that their increased use of coupons was simply because technology had made it easier to find and use them.
“Couponing as a necessity gave people a taste for savings, and consumers will continue to look for ways to get more for their money,” noted Bodge.
In general, coupons had a positive image, with 59% of respondents regarding people who used them as “savvy” while just 9% reached for the description “cheap”.
Interestingly, some 71% said they would consider using a coupon on a date and would not attempt to hide it.
Data sourced from Wall Street Journal; additional content by Warc staff , 30 April 2013
Read more at http://www.warc.com/LatestNews/News/EmailNews.news?ID=31332&Origin=WARCNewsEmail#KRVVAcRUpLk7Ajvm.99
Engage Your Consumers on their Mobile Devices
March 28, 2013 Mobile, Social Leave a comment
Photo sharing contests are a great way to connect with your consumers and prompt them to engage with your brand. And, using Facebook as the vehicle to bring awareness and participation to your campaign is fantastic … unless those consumers are primarily using a mobile device to access the Facebook platform. Currently, Facebook desktop and Facebook mobile operate like two completely different platforms. Facebook is in the midst of optimizing the mobile newsfeed to engage their mobile consumers, but that doesn’t expand to facebook apps.
Your brand spends money to advertise to and engage your consumers on Facebook; it’s affordable and effective to build your Facebook community and social media presence. The number of active daily visitors visiting Facebook on mobile devices (680 million active users) now exceeds the number of traditional desktop users.
What happens to your brand’s consumer promotional engagement on a mobile device? Is that Facebook Like-Gate page collecting mobile fans or the Facebook Photo Sharing Contest App even reaching your consumers? Currently, on mobile devices like smartphones, it’s not.
Think about it. What device do you use most frequently to check Facebook? Are you satisfied having your brand top-of-mind only from the comfort of a desktop computer? Let’s face it – your phone is a social device. You have it with you at all times. By the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices on Earth than people. (Source: Cisco, 2013)
Don’t despair, ApolloBravo makes Facebook Apps mobile! Apollobravo builds mobile-friendly apps allowing your fans to access, view and interact with your Facebook Desktop version of the contest or sweepstakes app.And the best part is that the mobile app and the facebook app are seamlessly synced. Advertise your promotion in a Facebook Ad or simply post to your fans’ newsfeeds with the confidence to drive awareness and increase participation …. Even on a mobile device!
Check out our current Jagermeister Brother in Your Corner Photo Contest apps.facebook.com/jagercode … from your desktop OR your mobile.
Explosive mini tablet growth to fuel m-commerce, and hasten PCs decline
January 15, 2013 Mobile, News Leave a comment
Here come the mini tablets. Or are they just big phones? With devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note its hard to tell. But if that size doesn’t work for you there’s many more like the iPad mini or Kindle fire HD. The widespread availability and low cost of these new devices is accelerating the mobile impact on PC shipments, and the PCs role in e-commerce. Results from research firm Gartner indicate that PC shipments were down 4.9% to 90.3m units, a drop which it did not attribute solely to a weak economy. ”Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, “not so much by ‘cannibalizing’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs.”
Additionally these mini tablets are highly portable and are being used more and more for impulse purchases. Like a phone many have built-in 4G access, cameras with QR code scanners, and even NFC near field communication. Here’s a list of several hundred mobile devices that are NFC enabled. http://goo.gl/IrqDX
So how does this all impact mobile commerce? One example, at CES we saw a demo from the first chain of NFC supermarkets in Paris. So forget about 3-D or HD have just old-fashioned 2-D where consumers can quickly scan to purchase items and have them ready for pickup or delivery. So in fact you could have a C store display in a Metro station linked to a vending machine for a fast automated shopping experience. Read more about the NFC supermarket here http://goo.gl/JfY8Z
NFC and QR code scanning is just the beginning. Engaging consumers in this way allows brands to opt in consumers for future offers, promotions, more product info.
Questions about m-commerce? Reach out to ApolloBravo the consumer engagement experts. http://www.apollobravo.com/contact/
Note to Chief Marketers: Get in the social currency game.
December 7, 2012 Social Leave a comment
This survey shared by socialmediatoday is another in a long string of data pointing to the fact that among consumers interacting with brands it’s more about social currency then social media. The study points out the disconnect between brands and consumers. Here are a few of highlights.
- 65% of consumers connect with a brand for the games, contests and promotions
- 79% to take advantage of special offers and discounts
- People are connecting with brands via social media because they expect something in return
- Consumers see this as social currency
- When CMO’s or asked this same question they believed that these consumers were looking for content and only 27% of the same CMO’s believed that consumers were seeking special savings, experiences or rewards.
That’s a big disconnect. So the challenge for marketers is to engage consumers as the first step in starting a conversation. Pony up your social currency at the front door. This is especially true with new product introductions or brand extensions which 55% of consumers want to hear about.
From the looks of things not many CMOs and marketers are putting enough weight to the idea of social currency…
And one more chart just in case the message is not loud and clear. Read more about the study here http://goo.gl/rc3ev
Mobile show-rooming spells trouble for unprepared retailers
October 22, 2012 Mobile Leave a comment
Show-rooming points to big troubles for brick-and-mortar stores. Recently while shopping for a new refrigerator I thought I would give showrooming a try. It’s pretty easy to do, you can use an app like Amazon or Red Laser and quickly scan barcodes on appliances other items in any store for a quick comparison. To capitalize on this trend many online retailers are offering free shipping and set up for large appliances. My results – I could’ve saved $250 online. However the retailer was prepared and offered free set up, haul-away and a gift card. Lesson learned if you’re going to showroom give the salesperson at least a shot at matching the price. For retailers think about embracing show rooming with your own scannable codes and price match offers. Make sure you remind consumers about services and guarantees you may not get from online retailers. More about growing show rooming trends.
VIA WARC
CouponCabin, the deals website, and Harris Interactive, the polling firm, surveyed2,361 adults, and reported that 43% of people owning a smartphone or tablet participated in this activity.
Upon being asked if they were worried that this might cause bricks and mortar stores to go out of business, some 44% of the panel proved “not at all concerned”.
A further 41% were “somewhat concerned”, while 12% were “very concerned” and 3% were “extremely concerned”, the study found.
By category, the uptake of such behaviour was highest when considering home electronics, hitting 50%. Entertainment products like books, DVDs and CDs logged 40% here.
These figures stood at 31% for the apparel segment, as well as 29% for footwear, and 24% for desktop PCs, the analysis revealed.
Overall, a 97% majority had ultimately bought an item researched in this way at a lower price than was available in stores.
Within this group, a 28% share of shoppers either “always or often” did so, and another 68% “sometimes” adopted the same strategy.
“Consumers are using technology to find as many ways to save as possible, and showrooming is a prime example of that,” said Jackie Warrick, president of CouponCabin.
“As showrooming becomes more widespread, some stores are concerned and are changing their strategies, offering new incentives and providing special offers to keep shoppers buying at their retail locations.”
Research from Deloitte has suggested that over 50% of consumers were likely to be carrying smartphones when Christmas shopping this year, compared with 40% last year.
“Those [chains] who adjust and are able to be nimble with their customers will have a great holiday,” said Alison Paul, retail and distribution sector leader at Deloitte. “Showrooming is a phenomenon, but it will not end retail as we know it.
“Retailers recognise that having the customer in the store is nine-tenths of the battle,” she added. “There’s nothing like the immediate gratification of walking out with what you came to get.”
Data sourced from CouponCabin/Chicago Tribune; additional content by Warc staff, 22 October 2012
67% of smartphone users say mobile friendly sites turn visitors into customers
September 26, 2012 Mobile, News Leave a comment
The following post originally appeared on the Google Mobile Ads Blog.
In this world of constant connectivity, consumers expect to find the information that they want, when they want it – especially when they’re on the go. We know that this applies to their web browsing experiences on mobile, so we took a deeper look at users’ expectations and reactions towards their site experiences on mobile. Most interestingly, 61% of people said that they’d quickly move onto another site if they didn’t find what they were looking for right away on a mobile site. The bottom line: Without a mobile-friendly site you’ll be driving users to your competition. In fact, 67% of users are more likely to buy from a mobile-friendly site, so if that site’s not yours, you’ll be missing out in a big way.
- When they visited a mobile-friendly site, 74% of people say they’re more likely to return to that site in the future
- 67% of mobile users say that when they visit a mobile-friendly site, they’re more likely to buy a site’s product or service
- 61% of users said that if they didn’t find what they were looking for right away on a mobile site, they’d quickly move on to another site
- 79% of people who don’t like what they find on one site will go back and search for another site
- 50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn’t mobile-friendly
- 48% of users say they feel frustrated and annoyed when they get to a site that’s not mobile-friendly
- 36% said they felt like they’ve wasted their time by visiting those sites
- 52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company
- 48% said that if a site didn’t work well on their smartphones, it made them feel like the company didn’t care about their business
Study : Marketers Underspending on Mobile Marketing
August 31, 2012 Mobile, News Leave a comment
This is something we see a lot and it is part of the reason there is such a big opportunity in mobile. With many companies devoting less than 1% of their total marketing budget to mobile the door is wide open to reach consumers in this category that has arrived.
NEW YORK: via WARC US marketers should increase their spend on mobile marketing by a factor of seven, according to a study commissioned by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).
The research by Marketing Evolution, a marketing measurement and analytics firm, concluded that the optimized level of spend on mobile advertising for US marketers in 2012 should be 7%, on average, compared to the current budget allocation of less than 1%.
“Finally, we are able to give marketers a level of empirical data that takes out the guesswork,” said Greg Stuart, CEO, MMA Global.
He added that the research “offers a baseline for further discussions on what a rebalanced marketing mix should look like to achieve a stronger ROI on every dollar they spend.”
The precise level of spend will of course depend on the marketing goal and industry category. The study also indicated that mobile’s share of the media mix will only increase in the future, to at least 10% by 2016 as more people use smartphones.
Rex Briggs, CEO of Marketing Evolution, said: “It’s clear that marketers, on average, are spending significantly less than they should on mobile and are losing out on sales and profits by settling for a sub-optimal media mix.”
The information was welcomed by B. Bonin Bough, vice president of Global Media and Consumer Engagement at Kraft Foods.
“We’re committed to making a difference in mobile innovation,” he said, “so I’m very pleased that the MMA is leading the industry with this valuable data.”
The MMA estimates that mobile marketing in the US is currently worth $26bn.
Data sourcd from MMA; additional content by Warc staff, 31 August 2012
Contact ApolloBravo for a free mobile + social readiness evaluation.
Three “Must do” marketing investments.
July 11, 2012 Mobile, News, Social Leave a comment
Excellent article on 3 must do marketing investments shared in Tech crunch. Before making the investment companies need to explore how mobile, social and content can be linked and delivered efficiently. With over 50% of search now conducted via apps and mobile devices is important to put mobile 1st in this trio.
Summer signals the beginning of budget season. Before making marketing investment decisions, analyze this year’s three marketing must-haves: social media, content marketing and mobile. While aspects of these marketing formats may not have direct costs, they all require budget and resources.
1. Social Media
Social media provides platforms, enabling marketers to interact with their target audience. Social media involves more than a Facebook page or Twitter account. It requires an integrated social media strategyincluding a social media persona to ensure it’s an integral part of your marketing.
- Assess current social media presence. Is your brand present on appropriate social media networks? Are you actively managing your presence? Are there emerging social media platforms relevant to your firm, focus, or target market where you must establish your presence?
- Evaluate your brand’s portrayal across social media platforms. Is your brand consistently presented? Do your branding guidelines need to be enhanced?
- Determine the engagement level you need on social media platforms. Remember, you can’t rely on three tweets a day written by your agency. You need a human face behind your social media presence. Ensure you’ve got appropriate in-house resources to respond to social media requests.
- Create relevant content to feed social media needs. Assess requirements across content formats and social media platforms. Include formal content marketing as well as social media interactions like Facebook comments and Twitter responses.
- Support your social media presence with targeted advertising. Do you need to enhance your social media presence with related paid advertising? Consider the use of social media ads.
2. Content Marketing
Content marketing is promotion-free information that fuels social media and overcomes purchase decision hurdles. (Here’s an outline of content marketing’s basic steps.)
- Analyze content marketing needs. Assess the existing content within your organization. Then determine where you have content marketing needs and where you have holes in your existing offering. Specifically examine the entire purchase process and social media interactions.
- Integrate content marketing into an editorial calendar. Determine where content is needed, the format and topic required, and the timing of its creation based on your assessment. Incorporate this information into a plan across platforms to ensure it’s synched with your promotional calendar. Plan for content reuseto extend the life of each element.
- Acquire appropriate resources for your content creation team. At a minimum, you need an editor and a copy editor. While you can encourage employees and customers to contribute content, determine where you need additional support. Don’t underestimate the need for designers, photographers, writers and technology support. These resources can be internal, freelance or agency-based.
- Expand content marketing reach. Make it easy for readers to share your information with social sharingbuttons. Where appropriate, use advertising to promote your content and build an audience.
- Ensure content marketing closes sales. Content marketing by itself can’t drive sales. It needs calls-to-action and related dedicated promotional codes. Further, create tailored landing pages and streamline the sales process to efficiently convert prospects to sales.
3. Mobile
Mobile is a must-have for every business with a retail presence or that competes with a business that has a retail presence since mobiles and tablets go shopping.
- Be present on mobile search. Mobile search is separate from web search. Local businesses that people seek on-the-go must be findable on mobile search.
- Build a mobile website. Don’t just assume people can read your web-optimized site on a mobile device. Create a streamlined mobile website focused on the information customers want on-the-go.
- Build a mobile phone number house file. If you don’t have a mobile phone list, start building one now.
- Optimize your emailings for mobile devices. Email is the primary content consumed on mobile devices. Ensure readers can easily read and take action on your emailings via a connected device.
- Assess need for a mobile app. In the past year, mobile app usage has surged ahead of mobile web, according to Flurry. Depending on your business, this shift may require investment in a mobile app.
According to IBM’s State of Marketing 2012, marketers face an array of challenges. Top on their lists are channel and device choice expansion and customer collaboration and influence. This is no surprise given social media’s exponential growth, increased smartphone usage, and the quick adoption of tablets. These elements require new ways of engaging and selling prospects and customers through content marketing and social media delivered via various mobile devices.
At a time when marketers need additional funds to test these emerging channels and platforms, more than a quarter of those surveyed believe their biggest challenge is financial constraints and ROI accountability. This is to be expected in light of weak economic growth. Many businesses using social media, content marketing and/or mobile are still testing these strategies and haven’t developed effective tracking yet.
Social media explained with beer
April 18, 2012 News, Social Leave a comment
Our official entry into the social media explained with, craze. We think it’s best explained over a cold beer.
