News Update – Best of the Day

A good explanation why Apple often wins against competitors. Just see how they behave. Sure, no one of their competitors will comment here…

A nice copy of the Facebook referential advertising idea? Google +1 comes in late but follows the line of an old guest post I wrote a while ago on Mediamind blog (formerly Eyeblaster)…

A great commercial idea from Mercedes. The Sprinter applies for a job…

Social Media Monitoring is becoming mature, SocialCRM it’s future…

It seems to be the right time of the year. At the end of a quarter, companies are buying companies. Just look at how ebay grabed GSI Commerce yesterday. Suddenly the former number two in the retail industry is becoming a competitor for Amazon.

However, even more interesting for me was how quick the Social Media Monitoring (SMM) industry is becoming mature these days. The evolution started last year when the Attensity Group acquired Biz360…

At a time when marketers realized the importance of social media monitoring but still have their internal issues with the listening and analysis technology, Social Media Monitoring will become a boost of awareness by the deals that happened this week. In one week we have two mergers… Meltwater, a social media monitoring provider, buys the Social CRM company named JitterJam. And today Salesforce, one of the leading CRM technology companies acquires Radian6, one of the top Social Media Monitoring providers which will give the “new” companies the opportunity to become a leading supplier of SocialCRM in the future.

Alterian‘s James Eiloart, SVP Sales and Marketing Europe, gave me their feeback on the merger of their main competitor in the Social Media Monitoring arena…

“The purchase of Radian6 by Salesforce.com endorses the importance of the Social Media Monitoring market which we invested in 2 years ago when we acquired SM2/Techrigy, bringing this capability to mainstream marketers and highlighting these tools as something which all organisations need to embrace. However we also recognise it’s not just about the tools or access to tools, it is about having the skills to use them at the micro level, and also being able to use social media data at a macro level, in context of the broader marketing picture. This is why we acquired Intrepid last year who bring the Social Media Monitoring insight services and also consulting to help our partners and clients really use Social Media Monitoring to generate real value across the organisation.”

The micro and macro level will probably become the next challenge for marketers and business leaders. Identifying important communities and social influencers, or analyzing Social Media does only make sense if marketers understand how to answer the Social Media ROI question. And this is a question of understanding the value of conversations. Businesses are build upon these pillars and their ground will be the evolution and execution of SocialCRM which will speed up as a business topic now that these mergers are done.

Spot On!
Social Media Monitoring has become mature… and goes out to get married. Just some weeks ago, Gartner VP Michael Maoz predicted SocialCRM is taking holidays, the social media industry makes an interesting move towards aligning the best of breed from social media and CRM technology. The importance of the social media monitoring tools for the SocialCRM development becomes clear when listening to Forrester analyst William Bandt. He shows some real interesting examples of companies already making use of SocialCRM by showing the value for sales and marketing teams on targeting, acquisition, retention, insight and collaboration with customers.

News Update – Best of the Day

When companies start thinking about Social Media the question I get asked quite frequently is “How to: Evaluate and Compare Social Media Tools?”. Liza Sperling wrote a remarkable summary of the best tools available in the market from Social Media Monitoring (SMM), Social Media Engagement (SME), Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) to Social Media Specialized (SMS).

Sometimes it is good to simplify life. Simplifying Social Media with an infographic in order to get started can also help companies creating a strategic plan (once they have got rid of the five social media myths). Willis Lee shares an interesting infographic from Getit Comms, a Singapore based PR firm. This infographic offers 13 steps on how to get buyers and map key influencers.

Can we really imagine that 51% (8% in 2008!) of Americans ages 12 and up have Facebook accounts? Edison Research 19th study on digital media-related topics has tracked the growth of Facebook since 2008. The study called “The Social Habit” suprises especially when bearing in mind that Facebook said last week to have removed 20.000 users from their database of users underage.

Mobile marketing facts for today and tomorrow….

It seems that I am having a mobile information week. Mobile is the future in my eyes. And I thought it might be worth having a close eye on mobile business productivity, mobile access points for purchase decisions and now will provide some hard facts with an interesting infographic by Microsoft.

It is interesting to see the tiny differences. Some speak of 5 bio users subsribed, the following infographic illustrates the power of 4 bio. mobile devices in use globally. The question is who are the most active mobile users? You say, it is teenagers? No, it is women between 35-54 years of age. Sorry, but I cannot understand this, knowing the way my wife (and her friends) uses her mobile devices (how often do I have to try to get hold of her…).

The following statistics will open your eyes on the present and future of mobile use and marketing opportunities…

Learn More about Mobile Tagging at Microsoft Tag.

My quote of the year 2011

Every year, you create a quote that you use either to explain your business, to justify what you are doing or to establish some kind of heritage for those that you think are interested in what you are saying.

Last year my quote was “Talking is online, silence is print!”. Although, I have had many tweets and many likes on this, there was also some critics coming with it… which is good. It shows that people think about the value and impact of the quote… and they start conversations. That’s what we want to initiate in business… not only with our social media activity.

For this year the quote will be about social media strategy…

“Community Strategy and Social Media is NOT a discipline. It IS an attitude to strategy in business.”

And before you start asking… By “discipline” I mean departments (like marketing, sales, customer service, HR, or other) that are responsible for using, handling, organizing and planning the business tactics around the brand, product line or service offering of business relevance.

… and now start discussing!

Study: Mobile Commerce is happening – mobile search is the access point…

A recent 2011 Mobile Search Insights study conducted by ROI Research Inc. for marketing firm Performics, shows that 49% of consumers who use the mobile web at least once a week made a purchase on their mobile device in the past six months. Compared with a Compete study from last year this shows the increased use of mobile commerce opportunities.

Although these results sound impressive, we have to bear in mind that the study focussed purely on heavy users of the mobile web. These heavy users are familiar with using sites for private shopping and business productivity.

The key findings of the study among 502 weekly mobile web users also state that 30% of mobile search users are likely to select sponsored search results. 77% of surveyed people used mobile search more than five times in the last month.

“Mobile paid search has surged as a percentage of overall paid search spending for our clients, particularly over the last 15 months. (…) We expect March to be the double-digit tipping point, when mobile paid search will represent at least 10% of paid search impressions for all Performics clients.”

Daina Middleton, CEO, Performics

The habits of people searching mobile is changing the way how they gather information from the web, say 63% of repondents. Mobile search is used more often than search engines on the computers (32%) and is the access connection to online retailers and manufacturers.

- 84% look for local retailer information (phone, address, hours).
- 73% find a specific manufacturer or product web site.
- 68% search for the best price for a product or service.
- 63% search before purchasing offline in a store or from a catalog.

And mobile search is not used from the outside worls… but from home.
- 81% use it in the evening
- 80% at the weekend
- 61% at work and 59% before work

Spot On!
The study illustrates the power of mobile search and the opportunity of mobile ads in search results. Mobile search is accessing our daily lives and we suddenly forget to use the laptop or the desktop, it seems. Marketers will have the opportunity to get involved in the purchase process straight from the beginning of the evaluation of products and should integrate mobile (search) marketing into their mobile strategy.

Some insights in mobile business productivity

This week I came across two studies which illustrate how much mobiles are changing business productivity these days and what the outlook is for business decision makers if they want to stay ahead of times.

Leaders in their field will take a close look at the 2010 year in review for mobile (video), the use of the multiple devices that enable more work mobility, flexible web access to inhouse technology and sales property, as well as the problem of fragmentation as tablets seem to re-define the business use of mobiles.

For (IT) managers the question for the future will be how much tablets can overcome the desktop history and in which technology to invest to increase business productivity.

A recent study by the University of Heilbronn gives insights in the latest market development of device shipment.

If we align this with the “always on” philosophy, then we can imagine that the way we will be working in the future will get away from desktop towards a mobile workplace which could be the hotel lobby, a restaurant or on the couch, working in a relaxed atmosphere at home. The desktop won’t be the place of work. With increased mobile technology opportunities there will only be “working or not working”. The way to this new world will be changed when management enables their employees to have access to information anytime, anywhere. The study states that the “use of mobile technology can increase productivity of business travellers by 30-50%”.

How much smartphone could make a difference in this changing process of the future workplace highlights an infographic by the Sybase blog, part of SAP today, which is documenting compelling proof points of which IT and other executives need to be cognizant.

When I was chating (obviously via mobile) to my business contact Sarah Goodall, business blogger and social media lead EMEA at SAP, she gave me her personal thoughts on the changing mobile market yesterday… and I absolutely agree with her view.

“Smartphones and mobiles will be crucial for business productivity going forward. Mobile devices, similar to social media, are fast becoming part of everyday consumer behavior. It’s only natural that these behaviours will transfer and are adopted in business life. People want access to information real time – they want accuracy, they want it immediately and they want it at time of thought. It’s an instant world now and information needs to be transferable and accessible in real time. This will help professionals make informed decisions in real time. It will give them flexibility and agility to make decisions on the move. All of this will help toward productivity.”

The two studies show that having the right mobile app strategy in place will definitely boost the productivity of businesses. So, business decision makers should better hurry up and make their business “social and mobile ready”.

How to get Earned Media? The HonestTea case…

For some companies the PR and marketing strategy is heading towards a new tactic called Earned Media. Although Earned Media is not a brand new topic anymore, it is important to understand the difference to paid and owned media. This little infographic by Forrester Research explains nicely the value proposition of each of the communication channels and how the user leverages it (or not)…

The best way to describe it is to have a good case. HonestTea started a social guerilla campaign with the help of their agency SS+K. The company set up unnamed tea stalls across the seven largest American cities to leverage the brand from it’s niche status from niche to a well-known brand. The questions were: Are people honest and pay a dollar for it’s iced tea when no cash-point is a there – just by motivating the people to throw the money in a bowl? And: Can people steal from a company called “HonestTea”?

Then the experiment was recorded with hidden cameras to proof the outcome. The case study showed that 87% of Americans were honest and paid their dollar. And the idea attracted a lot of local, national media and bloggers to grow the brand reputation not only national but also international. The videos were presented in HonestTea’s Youtube channel and got many reviews, brilliant comments and lot of social media coverage. The KPIs of the campaign showed a double in sales and generated 2,79 Mio. USD in Earned Media according to the summary video. But… watch yourself!

HONEST TEA from SS+K on Vimeo.

PS: The biggest challenge for companies is how to messure Earned Media and what the KPIs are. The number of 2,79 Mio. USD sounds a great deal but how did it sum up for the company that just merged with CocaCola? Maybe this post will get some feedback from the CEO Seth Goldman?

News Update – Best of the Day

In the US, almost 80% of children between the ages of 0 and 5 use the Internet on (at least) a weekly basis. This is the results from a report by Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop. The report, assembling data of seven studies, also illustrates the increasing parallel consumption of different formats of media at the same time. Some key findings: 60% of kids under the age three watch video online, 47% is the amount television accounts for those using all formats of media and 36% of kids between 2 and 11 use internet and TV simultaneously. It is also interesting to see how the use of mobile phones is on the rise in the young age target group. Of children ages 6 to 11, 20% own cell phones,
compared with less than 12% five years ago.

Stop talking to your mobile, talk to me! This could be the message that arises from a post that Rohit Bargava posted under the title “Overtweeting: Are We Becoming Socially Antisocial?”. And I think this is a valid question to ask ourselves these days: Is social media becoming a conversation killer and going against the odds of the Cluetrain Manifesto? I would say: No! It will just take some time to find the right balance. Let the hype period move on. Let people understand that the world is changing. Then we are becoming Socially Social. It is just a matter of accepting that the world is changing, that technology will become our bred and butter, and that we see how much more we could participate in information around people we know. Agree?

Old school versus new school. This was the motto when Mike Ferry met Matthew Ferrara at the Coldwell Banker Generation Blue Conference where they had an intense debate if “social media is stupid”…

Cebit Interview – Über die Zukunft der Arbeitswelt

Die Arbeitswelt verändert sich. Die Menschheit fägt sich, ob Social Software, Social Media, Social Networking oder Web 2.0 harte Arbeit ist, oder die Produktivität der Businesswelt an den Abgrund treibt. Geht es nur um die Erhöhung des persönliche Reputationsindex, des Personal Scoring Index, oder ergibt sich nachhaltige Lead Generierung -erst kürzlich als Salestainability umschrieben- und neues Business einfach selbstständig aus Gesprächen?

Wenn man zum Interview auf der Cebit von IBM eingeladen wird, kann man in ein paar Minuten nicht alles sagen, was man gerne sagen würde. Man kann auch keine 3-Säulen-Strategie im Detail erläutern, die man in der Zukunft als essentiell für den erfolgreichen Einsatz des Social Web für die Webstrategie eines Unternehmens ansieht.

Ich wollte im Interview so verständlich wie nur möglich auf die wichtigen Trends und erfolgversprechenden Taktiken eingehen, die sich abzeichnen und teilweise heute schon gelebt werden in der Businesswelt. Hoffen wir, mir ist es gelungen…

Die Idee der Visualisierung meiner Gedanken von Anna Lena Schiller während des Interviews finde ich sehr gelungen. Sie greifen den Gedanken des Personal Web Managers auf (links oben), sowie die zukünftige zentrale Herausforderung für den Einzelnen, einen 24 Stunden Tag so effizient mittels Social Software zu nutzen wie einen 36 Stunden Tag.

Der IBM Social Business Channel gibt im übrigen noch weitere Einsichten diverser Vordenker im Social Web. Ich empfehle sich auch die Meinungen mal anzuhören bzw. anzusehen.

Nun interessiert mich eure Sichtweise der Zukunft der Arbeitswelt. Wie stellt ihr euch den Arbeitstag von morgen vor? Was fehlt euch heute, was wünscht ihr euch morgen? Bin gespannt, auf eure Gedanken…

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