How to make native ads a big deal
May 22, 2013 Mobile, News, Social Leave a comment
Earlier this week following Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr they announced that they would begin integrating native ads ” sponsored content” into news streams. This type of advertising fits naturally on sites where people can post anything. Think Twitter, Facebook, and now Tumblr, Flickr. It’s a great opportunity for brands, but the content needs to be much more than a banner. This is especially true if a brand is sponsoring content to appear in newsfeeds of people who aren’t already following them. So here are some of my thoughts on native advertising.
- The content should be unique “think beautiful images captured with a Nikon camera” versus the traditional yellow banner ad
- The content should fit the crowd, if animated gifs are popular on Tumblr then explore that opportunity with unique cinemagraph images
- Offer something of value, a free app download or Tumblr only clips from an upcoming episode or book sample
- Ask for user content as part of a contest or sweepstakes, share examples
- Take advantage of the excellent targeting tools these sites offer
We also see these native ads to be ideal for mobile advertising as they are generally appearing in stream versus small banners. These in stream ads have done well on Facebook to date and boosted mobile revenues significantly.
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
More Americans are dual screening
March 5, 2013 Mobile Leave a comment
Recent studies indicate that more and more Americans are dual screening, primarily using their tablet or smart phone while watching TV. More viewers we are engaged with content in multiple ways. This could include the sports fan checking out-of-town scores on his smart phone while watching the game on TV. The couple checking IMDb on a tablet to settle a bet over what year a movie was released. And sadly, more often than not workers clearing out some old emails on their laptop while watching Modern Family. Advertisers should explore more opportunities to reach dual screeners. Interacting with televised content by uploading photos sharing tweets or Facebook posts is growing in popularity especially among affluent consumers as the study here suggests.
SAN FRANCISCO: Most wealthy Americans use laptops, smartphones and tablets at the same time as watching television, research has found
The latest Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Barometer surveyed 1,055 affluent adults, defined as those who claim an income of at least $ 100,000, and included 192 high net worth consumers with an income of at least $ 250,000.
The Barometer established that 64% of Americans were dual screening on a regular basis. Most preferred to use his laptop (63%), but nearly as many smartphones used (58%) and tablets (53%).
“The technology is truly integrated into [consumers] lives to the point they find it difficult to stop using a device, even when they are engaged with one or two others,” said Steve Kraus, chief research and insights officer for Ipsos MediaCT, luxury Daily.
Just over half the sample used social media platforms while watching TV, with Facebook twice as likely to be used as any other network.
“The widespread media multitasking puts a higher premium on the involvement of consumers,” said Kraus. That means that “really reach them with messages that attract attention of consumers and talk to important consumer values.”
When asked what media channel that would be hard to live without, fully 70% of respondents said they would be your laptop.
Two-thirds could not live without your smart phone, but only one-third described their tablet.
The survey also found that affluent consumers are more optimistic about the state of the economy and their personal perspectives from which the merely affluent.
As a result, luxury marketers must “continue to focus on higher-end, ultra-rich consumers,” said Kraus.
“Luxury projections for growth are modest to affluent as a whole, and we currently see no signs of a return to widespread aspirational luxury shopping behavior that characterized pre-recession America,” he added.
Data supplied by Luxury Daily, additional content by WARC staff, March 5, 2013
57% Facebook users go mobile. Now how to reach them.
January 21, 2013 Mobile, Social Leave a comment
Excellent info-graphic courtesy of QWAYA via Social Media Today.
Facebook’s growth on mobile devices is a good indicator of how rapidly smart phone subscriptions are growing globally. Out of Facebook’s nearly 1,000,000,000 active monthly users 57% are accessing via mobile phone. If you’ve developed a great mobile website or mobile promotion, The Facebook Newsfeed is a fantastic way to drive traffic there.
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/
Smartphones fuel m-commerce
December 7, 2011 Mobile Leave a comment
Via WARC / Comscore NEW YORK: Increasing numbers of US consumers are using smartphones to research and buy products, a report has shown.
According to comScore, the research firm, 38% of smartphone owners – an audience currently standing at 90m people – have purchased goods and services through their handset on at least one occasion.
During September 2011, some 47% of individuals who acquired products via this route bought digital items like music, ebooks, ringtones, films and television programming content, the company found.
A further 37% bought clothing or accessories directly from a retailer, with tickets to events including movies, plays and sporting fixtures following on 35%.
In a demonstration of the integration between emerging digital platforms, 34% of the mcommerce population completed transactions on daily deals websites such as Groupon and LivingSocial.
This matched the total generated by gift certificates, while 32% of the mobile customer base opted for electronics like TV sets and computers.
Ordering food for delivery or pick-up, for example a takeaway pizza, scored 31%, hotel reservations yielded 29%, physical books registered 26%, and car rentals logged 24%, as did airline tickets.
Elsewhere, 13% of shoppers buying from a phone made purchases linked to the automotive category, suggesting this channel holds opportunities for a wide range of sectors.
“In September we saw two-thirds of all smartphone owners perform shopping activities on their phones, including comparing products and prices, searching for coupons, taking product pictures or locating a retail store,” Mark Donovan, comScore’s senior vice president, mobile, added.
Looking at the location of consumers as they bought offerings through their smartphone, 56% did so at home, and 42% engaged in this pastime at work.
Another 37% did so when travelling, and 36% actually utilised mcommerce tools in bricks and mortar stores.
Other outdoor sites, such as parks, schools and restaurants, posted a combined 42%, comScore’s analysis revealed.
Data sourced from comScore; additional content by Warc staff, 7 December 2011
